HATERS AND DIEHARDS Ft. hemlocke springs | Episode 201

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! The incredibly talented hemlocke springs joins us on the show this week!! Drew and hemlocke talk about her shows opening for Chappell Roan and Conan Gray, researching geckos, winning goldfish at church carnivals, find camaraderie in writing fanfiction, hemlocke gives Drew anime recommendations, and so much more. hemlocke IG: https://www.instagram.com/hemlockesprings/?hl=en hemlocke Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hemlockesprings?lang=en Follow The Comment Section on IG! https://www.instagram.com/thecommentsection/?hl=en 20% off at Sephora Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:32Drew Afualo?

  Your style inspiration is Miss Frizzle.

• 0:34Speaker 02

  I love Miss Frizzle. Oh my gosh, just so underrated, so.

• 0:39Drew Afualo?

  That is so tea. I love that.

• 0:41Speaker 02

  Do I give Miss Frizzle right now?

• 0:43Drew Afualo?

  Yes, absolutely. Honestly, you know what I was thinking of with your look right now? It's like Monster High.

• 0:49Speaker 02

  Really?

• 0:49Drew Afualo?

  I love like a Monster High doll, like, you know what I'm saying? Like a cunty little outfit.

• 0:53Speaker 02

  Thank you. I give cunt?

• 0:55Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:04Drew Afualo?

  Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Comment Section Show. Sorry, me, your fave, your host, Drew. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, clearly, or Merry Christmas Eve, whenever you're watching this. I don't know. Girl, I don't know your life. Anyways, on to the guests. Today, we have the iconic, the talented, the legendary Hemlock Springs.

• 1:27Drew Afualo?

  Welcome to the show.

• 1:29Speaker 02

  Thank you for having me, too.

• 1:30Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God. Thank you so much for joining us on this very special holiday episode. I'm sorry I didn't tell you it was a holiday episode.

• 1:38Speaker 02

  It's all good in spirit, literally.

• 1:41Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:42Speaker 02

  I'm with you. Yeah.

• 1:44Drew Afualo?

  I'm honored to have you here. This episode is presented by Sephora. And we're back. The next part, wow, you will not want to miss this. Get 20% off full-size fragrances and body mist at Sephora now through December 24th. That's right, I'm talking about saving 20% on brands like Sol de Janeiro, K-Alli, Valentino, Fleur, and more. Only at Sephora and Sephora at Kohl's. Exclusions and terms apply. How you doing?

• 2:12Speaker 02

  I'm good. No, just chilling, chilling here. I'm trying to figure out what to say.

• 2:18Drew Afualo?

  Oh, girl, don't worry.

• 2:20Speaker 02

  Already stumbling.

• 2:21Drew Afualo?

  Oh, don't even worry about it. That's my job. My job is to, I like, I always like to describe it as like, I'm just driving the ship. You just take in the sights.

• 2:28Speaker 02

  That's great. I can't drive. So that's awesome.

• 2:30Drew Afualo?

  There you go.

• 2:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 2:31Drew Afualo?

  Well, I'm happy to have you. Huge fan.

• 2:33Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 2:33Drew Afualo?

  Of you and your art.

• 2:34Speaker 02

  Same here.

• 2:35Drew Afualo?

  I would love to know, just for art, get into first, the history of your artistry and like how you became into, how you came into performance as a whole.

• 2:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 2:43Drew Afualo?

  I'd like to know that. Let's start there.

• 2:45Speaker 02

  Totally. I mean, I was doing school. I was up in Dartmouth. I was doing my master's program.

• 2:51Drew Afualo?

  Okay, T. Smarty pants.

• 2:53Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 2:53Drew Afualo?

  Love that.

• 2:54Speaker 02

  I sound a lot smarter than I actually am, unfortunately.

• 2:58Drew Afualo?

  Okay, you know what? We're gonna fix that because you are smart.

• 3:00Speaker 02

  Ah, thank you. I love it. I love it. Um, but yeah, no, I just, I discovered TikTok like after I got COVID, like the, like two weeks before I discovered TikTok.

• 3:11Drew Afualo?

  What year was this?

• 3:13Speaker 02

  It had to be like 2022, 2023. And so I was like scrolling and I was like, oh, yeah, okay, I see what this is. And then, um, I was like, you know, I, I did, I just recently did a song, like, how do I put it on TikTok? Cause I don't really wanna do my machine learning homework. And so I did that. And then now I'm here.

• 3:30Drew Afualo?

  And we're just doing, life finds a way.

• 3:33Speaker 02

  Finds a way.

• 3:34Drew Afualo?

  Well, I'm interested. You said you were pursuing your masters at Dartmouth.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:37Drew Afualo?

  Where were you getting a masters in?

• 3:38Speaker 02

  Um, I was doing bioinformatics and I was just looking at, I wanted to.

• 3:43Drew Afualo?

  Two seconds ago, you were like, oh, I sound a lot smarter. Girl, I don't even know what that is. I think smart.

• 3:51Speaker 02

  It sounds a lot smarter. I'm, they, I, it was just using like statistics and computer science to like, look at different like biological data sets. Could be DNA sequences, could be sicknesses, could be whatever. And so.

• 4:03Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you sound smart as fuck to me.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  Nah.

• 4:06Drew Afualo?

  So if you're trying to hide being smart, you're not doing a good job.

• 4:10Speaker 02

  Well, thank, thank you.

• 4:12Drew Afualo?

  That is so fucking cool. What got you into that? Women in STEM?

• 4:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, honestly, no, I went, I went to Spelman, which is an all, all black girls college in Atlanta. And I was like, I wanna do biology and I want, I wanted to be a doctor first, but that wasn't gonna work.

• 4:28Drew Afualo?

  Hey, I would trust you with my life as my doctor.

• 4:31Speaker 02

  Oh, don't. You're dead, I'm sorry.

• 4:34Drew Afualo?

  I'd come in and say, "Or I'm like, yeah, she's the one."

• 4:39Speaker 02

  I'm honored, thank you.

• 4:40Drew Afualo?

  What kind of doctor were you thinking about?

• 4:42Speaker 02

  You know, that's a great question because I went in, I was like, I want to be an OB-GYN. But then I was like, there's so many other doctors out there that I didn't know at the time. But I stuck with OB-GYN, but then I was like, I don't really want to do that.

• 4:58Drew Afualo?

  After a while, you're like, never mind. Well, that's the best time to decide.

• 5:02Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 5:03Drew Afualo?

  When you're sampling in college.

• 5:04Speaker 02

  Exactly. And so, I was like, you know, like, but I'm still gonna like see this through because I still do love biology and stuff and like that. And then I went into my master's program and I was like, yeah, I really don't want to do this. So I'm like, I'll be just like, do research and like be a researcher. And, yeah, I ended up not doing that.

• 5:24Drew Afualo?

  What did you love about biology?

• 5:26Speaker 02

  Um, I think I just liked learning about just life, the life around me, what's in my body, what's out there. And I mean, I, I grew up-

• 5:35Drew Afualo?

  That's really cool. I love that.

• 5:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I was like, I just, I, I grew up with a lot of questions and I feel like I just wanted to seek the answers to those questions. And biology was like, the way, I guess. I guess there are other fields, but biology was the one that made sense for me. So I'm like, oh, I'll do this.

• 5:54Drew Afualo?

  When did music come into play? Like, have you always loved music? Was it something you discovered?

• 5:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I was, I was honestly, I think it was something that, that like was just shown to me. I was with, I was in high school, I've always done chorus because I knew like, I could sing a little bit. Like, not like, it wasn't no Whitney Houston, but I'm like, I can hold a tune.

• 6:14Speaker 02

  Okay, let me go.

• 6:16Speaker 02

  Um, but one of my friends, who I'm still friends with, their name is MJ, they showed me like, they're like, oh, I did a song on GarageBand. And I'm like- What's that? And they're like, you have it on your computer, you dumbass. I'm like, okay. But I, uh, I started just looking on GarageBand and just like started playing in that ru- uh, realm. And then it just never ended. I was like, oh, I'll spend, um, I'm gonna spend some money to just continue doing this. Cause I like doing it and why question that? And so I just did it, but I did it in secret. Cause I was like, oh, like, I can like, it took me a while even now, like, to be like, oh, I'm an artist. Like I, I produce and I'm an artist. Like I think.

• 6:59Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, girl.

• 6:59Speaker 02

  And definitely back then, I'm like, oh, I, you know, I just, I just dabble here and there. Like I just, you know.

• 7:05Drew Afualo?

  Women in STEM for real. Like you took, you took that and applied it. It's like engineering, sound engineering. It's fucking cool.

• 7:11Speaker 02

  Literally. And so, yeah, no. And so I credit them. Thank you, MJ. I don't know where the camera is. Thank you.

• 7:16Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, whichever one you want.

• 7:17Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 7:19Drew Afualo?

  This is your close up.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  Wow. Oh my god. Thanks MJ. I just talked to them. Their house recently burned down. So.

• 7:25Drew Afualo?

  Oh no.

• 7:25Speaker 02

  I know. It was, it was actually crazy too. That wasn't the, I was like, oh, happy Thanksgiving. And they're like, oh, my house burned down. But I'm going to go to like Thanksgiving dinner with my mom. And I'm like, how is your house not burning down? Or how's your house burning down? Not the crux of your message.

• 7:41Drew Afualo?

  Honestly, I admire them.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  No, I know.

• 7:43Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, kind of an awful thing happened, but on my way to dinner.

• 7:47Speaker 02

  Ki, ki, ki. I was like, okay. I was like, alrighty. Um, but, um.

• 7:51Drew Afualo?

  Okay. So you got into engineering. That's kind of how you started? Just making beats? Or were you like, and you were singing on your own?

• 7:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, I would like, I would like sing in the library, but like, nobody would really be in the library.

• 8:01Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 8:02Speaker 02

  And so I was just like, oh, like, actually pause. I'll be in the library bathroom. There we go. And I would like bring like my mic and I'll just be like.

• 8:11Drew Afualo?

  Why the library bathroom?

• 8:13Speaker 02

  Be, nobody would be there. Interestingly.

• 8:16Drew Afualo?

  Quiet.

• 8:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, interestingly. And like.

• 8:19Speaker 02

  I don't know, there were classrooms, there were empty classrooms, but like, people liked being in the empty classrooms and not really the library. And so I'm like, well, I'm gonna go to the library and I'm just gonna, you know, nobody's gonna, who's gonna stop me? They don't know.

• 8:31Drew Afualo?

  No, you're right.

• 8:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, and so I was like,

• 8:33Drew Afualo?

  And show me where it says you can't record songs in the bathroom.

• 8:36Speaker 02

  Exactly, exactly.

• 8:37Drew Afualo?

  That's not in the rules anywhere.

• 8:40Speaker 02

  And so I would just, I would do that frequently when I should have been studying. But now, you know what? No, I did what I needed to do.

• 8:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're, you know, your spirit was for sure following something. Absolutely. Clearly, look. Look at you.

• 8:54Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 8:55Drew Afualo?

  You were following the right calling.

• 8:56Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 8:57Drew Afualo?

  It sounds like you've had multiple callings, but this was the right one.

• 8:59Speaker 02

  This was the right one.

• 9:00Drew Afualo?

  This was the one. Okay, so when you, when did you start like actually trying to make music? Like,

• 9:05Speaker 02

  Oh man, I think honestly, like when my, my first TikTok kind of went like viral, I was like, oh, ok- okay, like I'm, people like it. Cool. All, all righty, I'll, why not? You know, like, and I think my friends at the time, like, um, at the time, we're still friends. Why am I saying that?

• 9:29Speaker 02

  My friends were just like, hey, like, you know, you have an opportunity to do something and like, you would kind of be dumb to like, just not go for it.

• 9:39Drew Afualo?

  Let, like, let it pass you by.

• 9:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I feel like fear was kind of rocking me. So I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna be Dora the Explorer. Let me put the backpack on and let's see where it goes.

• 9:47Drew Afualo?

  Right, period. And thank God you did. Well, I think that's wonderful. What do you think? What were you afraid of?

• 9:54Speaker 02

  Hmm, I think failure, but I feel that that's just going to happen. Like, I think I'm gonna make a lot of mistakes. I'm gonna quote unquote, fail a lot, and that's not necessarily a negative thing. It's just a learning experience.

• 10:06Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely. And it doesn't mean you're not walking in your purpose.

• 10:09Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 10:10Drew Afualo?

  Cause you're absolutely walking in purpose. So when, when did you feel like it was like, really starting to like, oh my gosh, I think this is becoming something?

• 10:18Speaker 02

  Okay, honestly, I think it was when I got a, I, I'd gotten like little shout outs here and there, but I remember, like Doja Cat shouted me out and I was very confused as to like, the line of how,

• 10:34Speaker 02

  how, how does she like, how does she know me? Like, what, what? Oh my gosh. Um, and like, uh, like all my friends are just like, what the hell? Like, what is going on? What is going on with you? And I was just like, no, y'all, I'm a, I'm a artist. Like.

• 10:49Drew Afualo?

  And you are.

• 10:51Speaker 02

  I'm actually doing this. And so I feel like it was then, I'm like, okay, like, oh shit.

• 10:56Drew Afualo?

  Very cool though.

• 10:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, though, very, very cool, very cool. And since then, like, just, I've, I've just gotten like, honestly, it's, I think it's been the community, like the artist community that have been like, oh, like, I think that's given me the confidence to be like, you know what? No, I, I can, I can do this. I, I, and I like, and I love, like, just being that this is my job.

• 11:16Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're also so unique, which is fucking awesome. It's so refreshing. I mean that so sincerely. And I saw you perform at the Rose Bowl.

• 11:24Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 11:25Drew Afualo?

  For Chapel.

• 11:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:26Drew Afualo?

  We love here, we do love Chapel. We, and I know you love Chapel. She is wonderful and amazing. And oh my God, the amount of times, so what about Chapel? Everybody always asks me about her.

• 11:37Speaker 02

  Really?

• 11:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, because she did, she did my show and she doesn't really do interviews anymore. So like, but she did mine and that's because we're friends.

• 11:44Speaker 02

  I'm dead.

• 11:45Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like, but I was like, they're, they're just like, so do you like Chapel? Is she awesome? And I bet you get that question a lot, too.

• 11:52Speaker 02

  No, I do, but I love it.

• 11:54Drew Afualo?

  I love it. I, I'll sing her praises to the cows come home.

• 11:57Speaker 02

  I was like, she like stands behind her actions and stuff. She like reached out to me like, like when one of my songs was going viral and since then, like she's supported me all the way. So yeah, I'll answer.

• 12:09Drew Afualo?

  And why, yeah, hell yeah. Well, you're, you're getting cosigns from very like, unique people in the industry, like people who have broken through, which I think is quite the cosign.

• 12:19Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 12:19Drew Afualo?

  It's fucking amazing. And rightfully so, I watched you perform. I watched your whole set.

• 12:23Speaker 02

  Oh, which one?

• 12:25Drew Afualo?

  I did nights two.

• 12:27Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 12:28Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 12:28Speaker 02

  I was like, I was like, night one was very interesting, but night, uh, night two was also very interesting, but yeah.

• 12:34Drew Afualo?

  I thought you were fantastic.

• 12:35Speaker 02

  You're kind.

• 12:36Drew Afualo?

  And even, you know what's so funny is like when we were in the audience, um, my assistant, who is also like one of my best friends, Carrie was with us, my sister and our friend Cody, and we were watching and then I was like, we should ask her to come on the show.

• 12:48Speaker 02

  I'm dead.

• 12:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I, I literally had that thought and then she was like, it's funny, you say that because I'm pretty sure I've heard from their team before, let me reach out to them.

• 12:55Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 12:55Drew Afualo?

  Cause she's also my booker for the show.

• 12:57Speaker 02

  Oh, wait.

• 12:57Drew Afualo?

  So I watched your set and I was like, get that talented bitch on my show. Right now, in fact. So I love that. I thought you were incredible.

• 13:06Speaker 02

  Oh, thank you so much.

• 13:08Drew Afualo?

  And you're just so unique. Like, your sound is so interesting. How did you find your sound?

• 13:11Speaker 02

  Um, I mean, I think like I just listened to a lot of eighties stuff and a lot of, uh, I don't know, I, I always cite like Kate Bush or like Grimes or Prince or whoever and I'm just like, yeah, it probably all made its way there.

• 13:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like in eighties like synth pop, like that kind of thing?

• 13:30Speaker 02

  Any synth pop, but I think that, thank you. No, I just, you know, I, but when I like go and make music, like I don't really think that way. I'm just like, uh, gonna make a song and you know, whatever comes out is what comes out.

• 13:42Drew Afualo?

  And what sounds cool to you.

• 13:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I guess that sounded cool to me. But it's weird, I don't see myself as unique or that in any way. I see myself as like quite, quite like mundane, quite boring.

• 13:53Drew Afualo?

  Well, that's the problem. Let's start there. You should not be looking at yourself that way. You are incredibly unique in a beautiful way. And honestly, a very refreshing way, especially when you blend genres, like, uh, even like Rico Nasty is someone I think about who's done the art of blending genres. Ash Nego is another one. All of whom you remind me of. Like, it's very, you're literally operating in that very specific area. I love it. It's incredible.

• 14:20Speaker 02

  No, it's an honor.

• 14:20Drew Afualo?

  I was gonna ask like what were your like musical inspirations and you just kind of listed some. You said like Grimes, Prince.

• 14:27Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, I'm like, I feel like Kate Bush is my big one that I always cite that I'm like, I was like, I love her so much. Um, but yeah, no, I'm like, and just a lot of like, just not indie eighties band, but I feel like some, I feel like I don't know, I, I struggle with names, but I know one song, like, oh, this, I was like, this song and this song and this song and this song. All came together and that's, that's me. That's, that's the gist of it. Um, but yeah, I feel like those are like the main ones that I'm like, y'all, though their artistry is incredible and amazing and something that I hope to emulate, um, now in the future as well.

• 15:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, amazing. Who do you, um, like, listen to now? Like, what's, who's inspiring you now in the music space?

• 15:11Speaker 02

  Ooh, that's a good one. Um, I feel like,

• 15:16Speaker 02

  I feel like I've been trying to get out of my comfort zone a lot and like trying to cause I I will quite literally listen to the same song again and again and again.

• 15:25Drew Afualo?

  I get it, me too. I get that.

• 15:28Speaker 02

  So I'm like, no, you have to get out, you have to try stuff. And so I've been listening to this band. I think they're also, they could be eighties or nineties called Los Prisioneros.

• 15:39Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 15:40Speaker 02

  And they have a song called Tranalser, which I like how I'm like, oh, like I I don't like, I I try not to listen to a song again and again. I listen to that song again and again and again. I listen to it on the way here. But I love it. I was like, but I love it. And it's just something, it's now something new. So I'm like, you know what? I I I met myself halfway in that.

• 15:59Drew Afualo?

  Amazing.

• 16:00Speaker 02

  So, yeah.

• 16:01Drew Afualo?

  Do you have any like dream collaborations music wise? Like something you would be like, oh, I would die to do that. That would be so awesome.

• 16:07Speaker 02

  Oh, man. I say, see, my, I'm horrible at collabora- I'm horrible at collaborations.

• 16:14Drew Afualo?

  Collaborate, you're all really bad to collaborate with.

• 16:16Speaker 02

  I'm really bad. I'm like, I get too shy. Oh, I moved the mic. Sorry.

• 16:23Speaker 02

  I get too shy. I get like in my head a lot and I'm just like, oh, man.

• 16:28Drew Afualo?

  Well, let me tell you something about this show.

• 16:30Speaker 02

  Ooh.

• 16:30Drew Afualo?

  This is the manifestation hub.

• 16:32Speaker 02

  Really?

• 16:33Drew Afualo?

  So if you have someone you want to work with, you you say it here.

• 16:36Speaker 02

  Really?

• 16:37Drew Afualo?

  Because it shall come true.

• 16:38Speaker 02

  It shall come true.

• 16:39Drew Afualo?

  I I make it so. My third, my third eye's on and open.

• 16:42Speaker 02

  I'm dead.

• 16:44Drew Afualo?

  So if there is someone, like, who would you love to work with?

• 16:47Speaker 02

  Hmm. I think I would love to, I would love to work with Doci.

• 16:53Drew Afualo?

  Oh, that would be so amazing. Oh, the way I gotta chill.

• 16:58Drew Afualo?

  Lowkey, I gotta chill just now.

• 17:00Speaker 02

  Doci, I say, um, Tyler, the Creator, Vince Staples.

• 17:05Drew Afualo?

  Tyler, when you were talking earlier, because you remind me of him too.

• 17:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, thank you.

• 17:08Drew Afualo?

  So fucking awesome.

• 17:09Speaker 02

  I'm like, I'm trying, I'm trying to think. I'm trying to just like throw it out there. If it's the manifestation, um. I feel like those are, I was like, I feel like those are top three, though. Like, I was just like, I feel like that would be really, just a really cool combo.

• 17:22Drew Afualo?

  Oh, I would die to see that.

• 17:24Speaker 02

  Really?

• 17:24Drew Afualo?

  Yes, I would love that.

• 17:25Speaker 02

  I'm like, I'll, I'll work hard.

• 17:27Drew Afualo?

  Geniuses all in the room together.

• 17:28Speaker 02

  And, I mean, one of them, I'm just kinda there.

• 17:33Drew Afualo?

  Okay, Miss Dartmouth, Masters, and Robo.

• 17:37Speaker 02

  I was like, I'll just take their energy and just like, hopefully, like.

• 17:40Drew Afualo?

  No, I think that's incredible. And honestly, I feel like Tyler, the Creator, talks about that a lot, too, about like, not feeling beholden to one specific genre and being forced into one, but also like, being confident that you can transcend genre.

• 17:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:54Drew Afualo?

  And I feel like you can absolutely do that. I'll be confident enough for the both of us in that.

• 17:58Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 17:58Drew Afualo?

  Until you're ready.

• 17:59Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 18:00Drew Afualo?

  Until you're ready to come through with me.

• 18:01Speaker 02

  It's growing. I'll get there.

• 18:03Drew Afualo?

  It is, and it should be. You've earned it. But speaking of, we're gonna practice right now bragging on our own accomplishments. But like, what's been the coolest thing or the thing you're most proud of that you've done so far?

• 18:14Speaker 02

  Oh, the thing I'm most proud of, you know, okay, the thing I'm most proud of, there were, I like, I didn't wanna look at my manager, but I feel like he remembers this. There were, um, so I, I did open, I opened for Chapel and I opened for Conan. And there were gonna be six days where it was like Chapel, Conan, Chapel, or Conan, Conan, Chapel, Chapel, Conan, Chapel, Conan, Chapel.

• 18:37Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 18:38Speaker 02

  And I was just like, I don't know if I could, I, I don't know if I could do this.

• 18:44Speaker 02

  And, but I did it.

• 18:46Drew Afualo?

  Quite a good problem to have.

• 18:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was, it was a good problem. But I was just like, it was like, just like the jet lag and flying and then performing and then like, just like getting back and then I was just like, can I, can I do this for like six days straight? And I'm, I know that like, other people have, our other bands have probably done like more dates, like back to back to back.

• 19:05Drew Afualo?

  Doesn't take from yours.

• 19:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:08Drew Afualo?

  That is a lot to do.

• 19:10Speaker 02

  And so I was just like, I don't, I don't know if I could do this, but I'm gonna do it. Uh, and, um, I did it.

• 19:16Drew Afualo?

  And you did.

• 19:18Speaker 02

  I'm very proud of myself, cuz I definitely, the first half of it was very like, I don't, mm.

• 19:25Drew Afualo?

  I get it.

• 19:26Speaker 02

  But I mean, I'm like, I look back, I'm proud. Would I do it again? I don't know.

• 19:33Drew Afualo?

  Hopefully, hopefully but spiritually and physically, maybe not.

• 19:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:36Drew Afualo?

  Right, I get that. That is, that is incredible.

• 19:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, thank you.

• 19:40Drew Afualo?

  Like, performing is such a, like, taxing endeavor. Like, it's physically, spiritually, emotionally, all of it. The fact that you were able to perform multiple days in a row for two huge acts and then also perform to the level that you did, because that was night two. Was that in that same week?

• 19:57Speaker 02

  Oh, no, that was like...

• 19:58Drew Afualo?

  Different week? Oh, girl, you're tripping.

• 20:00Speaker 02

  It was like, different week, but it was like...

• 20:03Drew Afualo?

  That's crazy, then, you had multiple weeks like that.

• 20:05Speaker 02

  I know. I came, I came back from, we had just finished Conan, and I'm like, okay, I got a couple, it was like, two days, and it's like, okay, time to go back, and I'm like...

• 20:13Drew Afualo?

  Get back on that stage.

• 20:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, but no, I, I was like, I'm gonna go back on that stage.

• 20:18Drew Afualo?

  And you did, and you killed. That is, that is incredible, that is a huge feat.

• 20:22Speaker 02

  Thank you so much.

• 20:23Drew Afualo?

  How do you like touring?

• 20:24Speaker 02

  Oh, hate it. Absolutely.

• 20:26Drew Afualo?

  Girl, me too. And I'm so glad you said that, because every time I ask people who tour, they're like, "Oh, I love it!"

• 20:30Speaker 02

  No, you're lying.

• 20:32Drew Afualo?

  Oh, yeah, exactly. Liar. We can't be the only ones who hate touring.

• 20:37Speaker 02

  No, literally, I just, I, I love meeting fans and I love performing for fans, and that is...

• 20:43Drew Afualo?

  That is exactly what I've said.

• 20:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:44Drew Afualo?

  Everything in between ass.

• 20:48Speaker 02

  Sucks ass.

• 20:49Drew Afualo?

  It sucks ass, it's bad.

• 20:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I'm with great people, too, and sometimes I'm just like, I, I was like, I know you feel the same way, because I don't want to see your face.

• 20:59Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, it really, it really does get to a point where you're like, "I need five from you."

• 21:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was like, I need...

• 21:04Drew Afualo?

  Turn and face that way for a little bit.

• 21:06Speaker 02

  I was like, I wish I had five days, but five minutes, yes, I was like, please. Um, but, I mean, I was with good people, I think I just was just like, I, wow.

• 21:16Drew Afualo?

  It is, it, it really, I've described it as like, it feels like you're living on the run.

• 21:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:21Drew Afualo?

  Like, like someone's chasing me.

• 21:22Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 21:23Drew Afualo?

  That's how it feels, it feels like I...

• 21:24Speaker 02

  Never settle.

• 21:25Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like, I'm running and, and I can never catch my breath.

• 21:28Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 21:28Drew Afualo?

  Like, the only time I have time to do anything is to, like, shower, change my underwear, and then I gotta get back on there. And I'm like, ahh!

• 21:38Drew Afualo?

  And that's like, like, I'm, I'm bullshit talking about it, but like, all I do is like, sit, sit down like this when I perform live, like, I sit down like this, and I just talk my shit for an hour straight.

• 21:48Speaker 02

  That's

• 21:49Drew Afualo?

  Yours is way harder.

• 21:50Speaker 02

  Nah.

• 21:51Drew Afualo?

  So that's why I'm asking, how is it because like, physically, I'm sitting there and I'm like, God, I've to tell jokes for another hour. But you're literally doing cartwheels on the stage, very different.

• 22:00Speaker 02

  I don't know how you can tell jokes for, and like, are they like, like, do you do, like, a different bit, like, every, every time?

• 22:06Drew Afualo?

  Honestly, when I was on a long tour for my book and I was doing like, live comedy.

• 22:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:12Drew Afualo?

  We, the whole show is improv, outside of like, we do like, ten, twenty minutes in the beginning of just intro, like, talk about what, what we saw that day the city we're in, that kind of thing. And then the next, like, forty-five hour of it is like, we have a topic, we have people submit stuff, and then we just read them out loud and then riff for like, however long. So like, that's, it was a different show every night, but similar theme. Um, and I was like, reusing bits in certain areas of the country, like, I was like, well, this killed, so I'm gonna use it again. And then there were like, certain jokes that like, for some reason, would just absolutely murder a crowd in one city, and then the next city over, no laughs. I'd be like, oh, tabling that joke. You guys don't like Planet of the Apes jokes? Got it.

• 22:54Speaker 02

  Oh, I, I, oh, like, I hate when that happens. Like, just like, you get like, a dead city.

• 22:59Drew Afualo?

  Right, yeah, you're kind of like, okay, in the room by myself.

• 23:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, literally, but you at least like, are, like, how do I say, like, I at least have a script, like, kind of, like, with the songs. Like, I sing the same songs and stuff like that, but I'm like, I can't imagine just like.

• 23:13Drew Afualo?

  Well, that, that would make it harder for me, I think, because you're, because you're just performing, like, yeah, like, like, the set is the set, like, if you guys aren't vibing with me, I still gotta do the rest of the set.

• 23:25Speaker 02

  Like, you're with me for at least thirty minutes.

• 23:27Drew Afualo?

  You're right, like, at least mine, like, at least mine, if they're not, if they're dead, like, I'll find something to get them, like, eventually, like, or I just start attacking them and then they find that funny, like, then they'll be like, ah, ah, ah, that's funny, you know?

• 23:40Speaker 02

  What's been the, can you like, call out a city here? Like, what's been like, the?

• 23:44Drew Afualo?

  Like a not great city?

• 23:45Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'll share mine.

• 23:46Drew Afualo?

  Oh, yeah, please do.

• 23:47Speaker 02

  No, no, you go first.

• 23:48Drew Afualo?

  Oh, me go first, okay, let me think, let me think. Um, it depends, like, LA is great, but like, so I've done a couple of shows in LA where sometime- Sometimes I feel like the bar is higher, like, in, in cities where they're spoiled. Right, so like, so like, New York, like, LA, even like, I don't know, like, what's another ma- Like, San Francisco, like, just like, big, major cities, like, I think sometimes the crowds are a little, like, Like, they're like, make me laugh harder than that, like, a little bit, like, they're a little stingy with the laughs, but like, Uh, I would say that was probably, I didn't have a, no, actually, you know what, the worst Florida was Florida.

• 24:24Speaker 02

  Really?

• 24:25Drew Afualo?

  They, they great crowds in terms of laughs, but horrible in terms of just general manners, like, Because everyone, those shows just so happened to be like Friday Saturdays, and like, you know, people get the drunkest on Friday Saturdays. And so there's like, a bar in there, and so they're like, that's when they start getting like, I wanna heckle, like, I wanna yell, I wanna be a part of the show, like, So I would say Florida is probably like, where I had the toughest crowds. That's, and then like, I'm not even kidding, one show I did, I don't even fucking remember what city it was, But someone was being so rude, and like, talking too goddamn much, like, and it was driving me insane, and I've like, worked really hard to not be that person anymore, so like, I've been in therapy, so I'm like, trying to temper my anger.

• 25:06Drew Afualo?

  But I'm doing the show with my sister, and like, I, like, my sister was the first person I ever defended from bullies. So like, I really hate when people are rude to her, especially, and so, like, every time my sister was trying to talk, There was someone in the back, like, just like, oh, yeah, yeah, do it, like, talking over her, or like, interrupting, and it was like, throwing off the flow of the show. And then, uh, and then, we would have audience participation to some extent, like, we'd ask them questions. And so someone was interrupt, that same person interrupting again, and then at one, that person in the audience was talking to me, and then I went, Can you pause really quick? Who the fuck is talking? And then I, and then the whole room got quiet, and I said, shut the fuck up, this is a show, thank you very much, sorry, go ahead.

• 25:49Drew Afualo?

  Now, did I go a little too hard?

• 25:52Speaker 02

  No!

• 25:52Drew Afualo?

  Probably.

• 25:53Speaker 02

  No!

• 25:53Drew Afualo?

  And I was like, in, in personal life, no, but I did lose the room.

• 25:58Drew Afualo?

  Lost the room for about twenty minutes, I was like, I had- To earn their laughs back because then after that, it's like they're too scared to keep talking. So like they're like watching almost like a hostage situation and I'm like, hey, guys, guys, I know I kind of freaked out. Sorry about that.

• 26:14Speaker 02

  But justified though.

• 26:16Drew Afualo?

  I said, um, sorry, guys. I was like, I was a little too much. Sorry about that. What about you? What was your worst one?

• 26:24Speaker 02

  Damn, I'm like not, okay, so. I'm like, I'm about to throw under the bus. Sorry. I was like, so I'm, I was like, when I was doing Conan's tour, I'd never performed at Cincinnati before. And I did this, well, I had a song like with Cincinnati in it, like I like named, I name dropped them. And I was like, oh, I'm gonna, it was like that, that one show, I'm like, I want to do this song. Cause I'm not gonna do this song anywhere else. So I want to do this song because I specifically say Cincinnati in this. And so I go, I'm like, oh, like this is gonna be a great show, blah, blah, blah.

• 27:07Speaker 02

  I'm like, oh my god.

• 27:12Speaker 02

  And I did this song and like they seemed to like being name dropped, but it was just like.

• 27:18Speaker 02

  But also I feel that, so like sometimes I, I, sometimes I put like, um, how do I say like, I like do like a. Like I put like a lot of makeup on my face and that day I did like, I had like a pink corset. So I'm like, oh, I'm gonna make my face pink. So I did. So I walked out there with like my pink corset and my pink face and like, I think people were just like, and I was just like, okay.

• 27:41Drew Afualo?

  Cincinnati's boring then. They're boring. Oh, a bitch can't get, put a pink, a pink corset on with a pink face? Oh, boring.

• 27:51Speaker 02

  I'm like, I'm sure, but I was like, maybe inside they felt some type, like they felt some type of way. I don't know. I did cry after that show.

• 27:59Drew Afualo?

  I'm so sorry.

• 28:00Speaker 02

  I mean, like it, it happens. Like it happens and I've interestingly have, had, had worse shows. So I'm like, you know what? This is, th- this is okay. Like I'll win them over next time, but.

• 28:13Drew Afualo?

  That's a them problem. They're, they're late to the game. And honestly, when I had Muna on. And, um, have you met Muna?

• 28:21Speaker 02

  I, I was like, I think I've met.

• 28:30Speaker 02

  I think I've met everybody, but I was like, I meet Katie the most. I'm like, I feel like, I, I, yeah.

• 28:35Drew Afualo?

  She's amazing. They're all so funny and so amazing. When I had them on, I talked to them about Taylor Swift's tour.

• 28:42Speaker 02

  Really?

• 28:43Drew Afualo?

  And they were like, oh, we started calling ourselves the hot dog act. And I was like, oh, word? And they said, yeah, cuz you know, as soon as we come on, everyone goes and gets a hot dog.

• 28:52Speaker 02

  No.

• 28:53Drew Afualo?

  Like, really? They're like, I don't know if you've ever seen empty seats in a stadium before, but like, it's different kind of vibe, you know?

• 28:59Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 29:00Drew Afualo?

  And I was laughing, I was like, well, they don't know shit. They don't know anything if they don't know Moon. Are you crazy?

• 29:06Speaker 02

  I love Moon.

• 29:07Drew Afualo?

  I know. And that's, it was so funny. So like, it's, you're right. It is something that happens a lot. But it is one of those things where you're kind of like, alright, hey, my feelings are hurt. Hey, love you though. Love Ohio.

• 29:22Speaker 02

  I love Ohio. Like, just like, like, give me a little something, please.

• 29:28Drew Afualo?

  Right. No, seriously. I did a show, like a comedy thing in New York once. And it wasn't like my standard kind of show, so it was, it was a little bit of a different vibe. But all of that to say, cuz I'm trying to be nondescript about it, the, the audience was curated like to an extent, like they sold tickets to it. It was a very specific kind of crowd. Um, so when I did that show, like, that show was like, it was good. Like, for the most part, I had the room. Um, cuz I was just doing stand up. And like, for the most part, I had the room, but like, sometimes they were just not vibing. And then like, obviously, like, when I, I sometimes would like specifically tailor my jokes to be like about men, cuz like, I make fun of men all the time, and that's like my thing.

• 30:13Speaker 02

  Period.

• 30:14Drew Afualo?

  And so a lot, a lot, a lot of girls come wanting to see men jokes, like men, man-hating jokes.

• 30:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 30:20Drew Afualo?

  I was like popping them off, like, one by one. And then there was quite a few men in the audience, and like, some of them were really like,

• 30:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 30:27Drew Afualo?

  Just dicklers. Like, and I, and I even like, I did a little bit of crowd work, but like, one of the jokes in the beginning, I said something. I was talking to one girl, and then I was like, oh, is this your man? Like, are you, are you all together? And then the man, the, the dude got pissed because that wasn't his girlfriend, that's his sister, which, how the fuck would I know that? And so they, and I go, I was like, oh, is this your man? And then he goes, No, and like, kinda talks loudly and goes, "That's my sister, that's my fucking sister." Like, he's pissed off at me.

• 30:56Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 30:57Drew Afualo?

  And I said, "Oh, my bad." And then I said, "Well, also," because they were white, and this is important context. Right, and I was like, "Well, also, y'all be doing that." You guys do be doing that sometimes. And so I won the room after I did that.

• 31:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:10Drew Afualo?

  This dude was for real trying to press me, and I was like, "Bro, I'm telling you."

• 31:13Speaker 02

  Not in my shit, yeah.

• 31:15Drew Afualo?

  Sorry, my bad. What, do you think your sister's ugly?

• 31:19Speaker 02

  I'm saying. Don't answer that, or do, let's see.

• 31:25Drew Afualo?

  What's been, um, the best show? Like, the most memorable, like, or the funnest? Or, like, one where you're like, "I killed." Whichever one.

• 31:34Speaker 02

  Funnest, oh man, most memorable. I feel like, okay, I feel like I was, I was opening for Doja, and it was, I think we were in Paris? And, like, up until... It's gonna be, it's gonna be a regular occurrence, like, nobody really, like, like, no, nobody really knows me, but also, like, nobody really, like...

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• 32:33Speaker 02

  Sometimes, like, people are not fucking with the music like that. And I feel like Europe, it was like, kind of, like, "Ugh, yeah, in that, in that."

• 32:41Drew Afualo?

  Right, especially in Paris.

• 32:43Speaker 02

  But in Paris, for some reason, they really liked me in Paris.

• 32:47Drew Afualo?

  Maybe they liked that, that, the beats that you made. I was gonna say, you would think, you would think Europeans would be fucking with you. Because the, the beats that you make are like, very much so like, what they like to listen to.

• 32:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was like, I thought, I thought I would hit them a little bit more.

• 33:02Drew Afualo?

  And so they were vibing hardcore?

• 33:04Speaker 02

  They were vibing hardcore, like, I got lights, like, I got everything. I was like, "Oh, my gosh." And like, usually I try to, because I'm also a fan, and I'm like, "I wanna see Doja perform." Because if you haven't seen Doja perform...

• 33:15Drew Afualo?

  I can't even imagine.

• 33:16Speaker 02

  So, so good. And so I'm like, I'mma go like in the audience and like look. And so I'm going and there's like, it was the first time a crowd of people were like following me. And I'm like, oh, I have to go back.

• 33:29Drew Afualo?

  I actually can't enjoy the show.

• 33:31Speaker 02

  I was like, oh, I was like, oh shit. Okay. But it was, it was so much fun.

• 33:35Drew Afualo?

  That's so cool.

• 33:36Speaker 02

  It's nice getting reciprocations at, cause then I can just like, I don't know, I can just riff off and stuff like that.

• 33:42Drew Afualo?

  Well, yeah, and I also think too, it's like, that's the whole point.

• 33:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 33:47Drew Afualo?

  Of going to a concert.

• 33:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 33:48Drew Afualo?

  To have fun. Yeah, enjoy yourself, even if you're, even if you're unfamiliar with an act, like you're like, okay.

• 33:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 33:55Drew Afualo?

  I'm living with this.

• 33:57Speaker 02

  Literally.

• 33:57Drew Afualo?

  How fun. And in Paris too, it's so cool.

• 33:59Speaker 02

  It was so cool. But up until then, I would just see a bunch of TikToks like, who is this bitch? Like, what is that? But like, it's interesting, cause I have like a, there's a side, particularly on TikTok, that like really hate me. And there's a side that will like, go to the ends of the earth for me.

• 34:17Drew Afualo?

  And you know what?

• 34:20Drew Afualo?

  Trust me, I get that.

• 34:23Drew Afualo?

  If anyone understands that on that app, it's me.

• 34:27Speaker 02

  I was like, I love it. Cause I'm then I'm seeing like, you're not gonna talk about my girl Hemlock like that. I'm like.

• 34:32Drew Afualo?

  True.

• 34:33Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 34:33Drew Afualo?

  And that's what you need. Haters and diehards, that's what you need.

• 34:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly. I need both of them. Yeah, I was like, I need both, like, I need both crowds.

• 34:42Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 34:43Speaker 02

  I was like, I love that, like, that extreme reaction. I love, I do love, like, even if it's like, I absolutely hate her. You know what? I love that I'm causing that reaction.

• 34:54Drew Afualo?

  Well, art is meant to emoti- like evoke something out of you. So if it's hatred, well, first of all, you're a hater, but second of all, that's the point.

• 35:02Speaker 02

  Exactly. It's the point. It's, it's quite literally my job.

• 35:06Drew Afualo?

  And I think that's the beautiful thing about your artistry too. Because I feel like artists like you, like, that is, the point is to create. The point is not to like get famous. The point is not to like go viral. The point is to create something. And that's what you're doing. Like you're creating something so unique and special to you.

• 35:22Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 35:22Drew Afualo?

  That you're being cosigned by these enormous. Talented artists, right? Ones who are all one of one brains. Like, all the artists that you're naming that have cosigned you are like revolutionizing the music industry because they're doing something completely different.

• 35:36Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 35:36Drew Afualo?

  And that's, and that's the track you're on, bitch. Period. That's a, that's a wonderful thing. And also, like, the people who hate you on TikTok, first of all, fuck that. But second of all, it's fun to hate things for them. Like, it's like, especially people who are different. When, when people are different and, and very unique and like their approach to whatever medium is popular, like movies, TV shows, music. Like, they're, of course, they're gonna be like, what is that? I don't get it. And I get the same shit. To this day, I still have people telling me, I don't understand, like, her thing. It's not for you to understand. It's okay.

• 36:10Speaker 02

  And part of it is definitely racism, but I.

• 36:12Drew Afualo?

  Um, yes. Well, yes.

• 36:17Speaker 02

  I was like, adding it on there. But I'm like, you know what? You do you, you know what I mean?

• 36:21Drew Afualo?

  And if anything, that speaks to your artistry also because above all, you rise. Right? Like, you're still, you're still succeeding, even with all these invisible barriers in place, too. You're still fucking, you're still fucking doing it.

• 36:35Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 36:36Drew Afualo?

  Period.

• 36:36Speaker 02

  Do what you gotta do.

• 36:37Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I get, I get being polarizing. I'm very polarizing on that stupid app. On that godforsaken app. I'm also very polarizing on there.

• 36:46Speaker 02

  I, but I love it, though. I was like, I love, I love, like, it shouldn't be that polarizing, you know what I mean? But if it is, then I love it, you know? I usually do, so, yeah.

• 36:57Drew Afualo?

  And that's honestly, like, all the people you knew, that's how they all found me. Was on, was being polarizing as hell on that app.

• 37:02Speaker 02

  That's why you're here, so.

• 37:03Drew Afualo?

  That's how they found you.

• 37:06Drew Afualo?

  Clearly, something's working.

• 37:07Speaker 02

  Exactly, exactly.

• 37:09Drew Afualo?

  What's, uh, what's been the coolest, like, or like best piece of advice you've gotten from all these amazing people that have been working with you?

• 37:16Speaker 02

  Oh, man. I, I feel like it was, I don't know who said it either, so, might be.

• 37:25Speaker 02

  Comment thread. Yeah, it stuck with me. Um, but it was, it was such like, um, I feel like it's such like, like, yeah, like. I feel like if I say this, it's putting, kinda gonna put the person under the bus, but I don't mean it in that way. It's like, it's like, it's like things that I should know, but I feel like, it's like, yeah, like, yeah, like, like, like, almost like a, like a dumb moment for me. And it was just quite literally like, you need to keep doing what you're doing, you need to keep being yourself. And I think that, but I think it was given at a time where I was like, cause I got a lot of the, oh, like, she's this like weird quirky girl and stuff like that. And at first I was like, kind of like, you know, like, yeah, blah, blah, blah. And then I'm like, oh,

• 38:11Speaker 02

  oh, like, am I really that, am I really, am I really like?

• 38:16Speaker 02

  Starting to second guess a little bit. Uh, and it's, it's interesting too, cause like, I don't really, that's like, I don't view myself in like, other people's perspective, but I think like then I was like, really, really letting it get to me. Uh, and I think like, it being like, you know, you keep doing yourself and that's really all you can do. In this world, I'm like, you know what? Yeah.

• 38:39Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 38:40Speaker 02

  I was like, what's the, I was like, yeah.

• 38:43Drew Afualo?

  Well, it feels obvious, but it's not as easy to think about in the moment.

• 38:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:48Drew Afualo?

  Like when you're in that feeling.

• 38:49Speaker 02

  Definitely. I'm like, why am I thinking so hard on this? This is not, I, I would rather, like, this energy that I'm using to kinda like go down this rabbit hole. I could spend like doing a song or like,

• 39:00Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 39:01Speaker 02

  Doing something else. I don't know.

• 39:02Drew Afualo?

  Well, it's also, it's very true. And also the fact that it speaks to why you've succeeded is because it's authentic to you. Uh, there have been many a person who have tried on different like, looks and different things to try and be different. Like quirky, unique, like fake, a fake kind of quirky.

• 39:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 39:21Drew Afualo?

  The reason why yours is working is because it is authentic to you and audiences are not stupid, right? So like, I feel like especially now in the age of like TikTok, audiences are so like, hyper focused on, on shit like that. There's no way that they would be uplifting you if they thought for a second it was fake.

• 39:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:37Drew Afualo?

  People who are claiming it's fake are just, again, haters. But you know, you know what you like and you know who you really are. And in those moments too, it's hard to not feel like maybe I should change something or maybe something, or maybe I should just not do this because it doesn't feel good to hear that stuff, especially when you're being perceived on the internet. Like it's, the internet has a way of ruining anything, like, or, or, or making everything awesome. Like it does, and like, when it starts to make you think more about yourself, that's when you're like, you know what, I need to get off my phone, go spend time in the real world and remind myself why I'm doing what I'm doing. But I'm glad you, and you, I'm assuming and I'm hoping that you have a very good like support system.

• 40:19Speaker 02

  Oh yeah, no definitely.

• 40:20Drew Afualo?

  Who support your artistry and your art.

• 40:22Speaker 02

  No, definitely. And I have people really rooting for me and I think that, that, that helps a lot. Just like when people understand you and your project and just what you're trying to do.

• 40:37Speaker 00

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• 41:10Speaker 02

  Tremendously. And that's something that I think that is just, it's just important for like every artist to like, just have a good support system around you. Cause when you don't, it's really evident, like when you, it takes a toll on like, everybody and yourself, like, nobody, how do I say, like, nobody really, it's like nowhere's really happy. Like, I don't know.

• 41:32Drew Afualo?

  Right. No, you're, you're so real for that, cause I felt the same way when I started doing this. And I like tell people all the time to make friends and the, and the, like make community here, like in this industry, because it's hard to relate to your problems once you start doing this. But also it's like, without support system, I see now, I'm like, I get why people go nuts.

• 41:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's what I was. I get it.

• 41:56Drew Afualo?

  I get it.

• 41:56Speaker 02

  I will never judge, I'm so sorry that I judged.

• 41:58Drew Afualo?

  I've said the same thing. I've literally been like, I remember as a kid being like, well, I mean, you're rich and famous, I'm sure it's fine.

• 42:06Speaker 02

  No, literally.

• 42:07Drew Afualo?

  And now I'm like, damn.

• 42:09Speaker 02

  I, I get it.

• 42:10Drew Afualo?

  I get it.

• 42:11Speaker 02

  Understand, I'm sorry for judging.

• 42:13Drew Afualo?

  Especially women. I'm like, especially women. I was like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

• 42:19Speaker 02

  I get it, so I don't think, I would not have survived in the, I mean, it's still prevalent, but like, the, the whole like, oh, like, if you're a, like, you're, if you're a size like two or three or whatever, like, you're fat.

• 42:33Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  If you're like, what's it called, like that whole, just criticizing the looks, criticizing the, I'm like, wow.

• 42:39Drew Afualo?

  I know, in like the early two thousands.

• 42:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, that culture, I'm like, I wouldn't have.

• 42:44Drew Afualo?

  I was like, you're lucky any of them made it out alive, like, I'm for real. Now that I, I for real, I talk about it in therapy a lot.

• 42:50Speaker 02

  Really?

• 42:50Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, because I, because I truly believe now I am like suffering from agoraphobia to some extent. Uh, just because like being perceived on that level is something I never prepared for, could have never prepared for.

• 43:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:02Drew Afualo?

  Um, in person and stuff, so like, I've been working through that in therapy for years. Uh, no diagnosis, no arrival test yet, working on it still. Uh, but I remember my therapist told me this once when I was like, I was describing to her that sometimes, uh, the like, visibility I have and like, in, in public and shit like that, uh, makes me feel like I'm monkey in the zoo. And I was telling her, and it feels like, you know, they can jeer at me and yell at me and throw shit at me and like, hit my glass hard as shit.

• 43:32Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 43:33Drew Afualo?

  And I was like, and then like, when I like can't take it anymore, I like charged the glass a little too much and then they put me behind, they like dart me from the side and then put me behind that wall and then I'm not allowed to be on display anymore for a couple of weeks. And I was like, and it's making me feel like I'm going insane, like I was telling you, I feel like I'm going insane. And then she was like, well, you know, that makes sense because like we were kind of working through what makes me feel that way.

• 43:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:56Drew Afualo?

  And I was just talking about the internet and being perceived on it and all that shit. And then she was like, well, that makes sense, you know, because when you're damned if you do, damned if you don't, when you're presented with that, uh. morality choice over and over and over again, those are called double binds, right? And she goes, and honestly, like, you know, clinically and like statistically, those, when you encounter frequent double binds, um, it is known to induce psychosis, especially in women. And she said, especially in women. And then I said, and she goes, so, we'll work through that. Oh, so I feel insane, cuz I am going insane.

• 44:33Drew Afualo?

  I have to make a couple calls.

• 44:36Drew Afualo?

  And I was like, it was like weirdly validating, but it does start to make you feel like kooky.

• 44:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:42Drew Afualo?

  After a while, like, the, especially now that we're doing it in this era where like, we're constantly being perceived, not as a, just as a performer, but as like, a person too, like, everyone just feels like, cuz they know you from the internet, they know you as a person. So they're like, I know exactly who you are, and I know everything about your morals, and yeah, I think you're a bad person. I can't take that shit, bro. Oh, my god, it's, it's the most.

• 45:06Speaker 02

  It happens.

• 45:07Drew Afualo?

  It's crazy, and I, so that's why I, I feel ya.

• 45:09Speaker 02

  I'm.

• 45:10Drew Afualo?

  I, I'm glad we can have community on that.

• 45:15Drew Afualo?

  Two bitches going crazy together.

• 45:16Speaker 02

  Love it.

• 45:21Speaker 02

  Bound to happen, bound to, but I was like, but I'm glad that, um, I was like, I, I need to, I need to do therapy, I have, I'm not in therapy.

• 45:29Drew Afualo?

  Oh.

• 45:30Speaker 02

  I know, I have to, I have to.

• 45:32Drew Afualo?

  But I didn't either, like, the first, like, I think, like, year and a half I was doing this, I was free balling it.

• 45:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:37Drew Afualo?

  And then I was like, I wanna rip my eyelids off, maybe I should go to therapy.

• 45:43Drew Afualo?

  I gotta do something about this. I need intervention immediately.

• 45:47Speaker 02

  Oh, my god.

• 45:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, so thank god, but that is something I tell people all the time, especially if you do this, like, if you're, like, famous or known in any way, shape or form.

• 45:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:57Drew Afualo?

  Go to therapy, you need it.

• 45:59Speaker 02

  I need to implement this.

• 46:01Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, it's like, it's really nice, it's nice. And it's a nice place where you can, like, offload all of your anxieties and fears and, like, disdain with the industry in a way that doesn't. You know, come up like, cause my thing was that I worked through in therapy a lot is like when I do talk about what I do struggle with doing this for a living, it feels, well, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like it. I've seen people say it before where they're like, you sound fucking ungrateful. Which is like, I already struggle with that guilt because I am very grateful, but I also am being tortured mentally in ways I could have never prepared for.

• 46:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 46:35Drew Afualo?

  Let's split the difference.

• 46:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, no.

• 46:37Drew Afualo?

  I'm a big like meat in the middle.

• 46:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, different set of problems you're encountering.

• 46:40Drew Afualo?

  Right, right.

• 46:41Speaker 02

  I'm sure like, I was like, maybe like, I don't know. I was like, cause I, I, I see a lot, or maybe, I'm trying to think artist wise, so like people, people, people, I've been like, oh, like, you have like money and stuff like that. You have this, like, yes, you do. And it's like, and that offsets a lot. There's also another, there's also other problems that come, that come up that, like, you just might not be equipped to, to handle.

• 47:04Drew Afualo?

  And process.

• 47:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was like, it was just, and again, if you don't have the support system, it just, it quite literally is downhill.

• 47:12Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and I, that's why when you're like, I get it. I was like, I get it too.

• 47:17Speaker 02

  I get, I was like, I'm like.

• 47:19Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was like, wow. My empathy has only grown for famous women especially, as I've spent more time doing this. Like, my empathy is vast, but I'm like, I'm like, man, especially girls who've been doing it for a long time.

• 47:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was like, you are under that microscope.

• 47:34Drew Afualo?

  For real, girl. I'm like, you better than me.

• 47:37Speaker 02

  Never, it's like, never gets out, just always like on a slide. And then I'm just like, oh, wow, that is, that is, that's a lot.

• 47:48Drew Afualo?

  Well, I'm happy to hear you're like, supported and you have, you have a good network around you. I'm so happy to hear that.

• 47:54Speaker 02

  I'm like, great friends. I was like, great team. Pretty chill.

• 47:57Drew Afualo?

  That's great. Oh, thank God. You're too, you're too talented to not have any less. You need that. Okay, so I do have some fun facts about you.

• 48:05Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 48:06Drew Afualo?

  And this is everyone's, everyone's most nerve wracking part of the show.

• 48:11Speaker 02

  I'm like, oh, God.

• 48:13Drew Afualo?

  I guess you'll tell me if they're fun.

• 48:16Drew Afualo?

  You'll let me know. Okay, fun facts. Well, this first one we did already talk about, which was that you have a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in medical informatics?

• 48:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:27Drew Afualo?

  From Dartmouth?

• 48:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 48:29Drew Afualo?

  Smart, smart, smart, smart, smart, smart. That's all I heard when I read that. Okay, this next one says, "You once did research on the color variation between leopard geckos and lemon frost geckos."

• 48:39Speaker 02

  I did, holy shit. I did, I think at UC, was it UCLA?

• 48:45Drew Afualo?

  Yes, UCLA Summer Internship 2019.

• 48:47Speaker 02

  What the heck?

• 48:50Speaker 02

  How do you guys know that?

• 48:54Drew Afualo?

  That is so fucking cool.

• 48:55Speaker 02

  It was cool, it was like one of the, I'm like, it was, it was actually like, because it was my first time in LA, and I really liked LA when I first like got here, I was like, I was in like, different, different time.

• 49:06Drew Afualo?

  That's the, that's the allure of before you live here.

• 49:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm like, I did, I was like, and I had no clue what I was doing, and I was just like, oh my god, and my, um, my like, my lab partner at the time, Ryan, shout out to Ryan, like was helping me nonstop. I felt so bad, but I was, I was well versed in like the biology aspect, but not really in like doing the analysis. And I was like, yeah, but I loved it.

• 49:34Drew Afualo?

  Did you, do you like animals?

• 49:35Speaker 02

  No.

• 49:36Drew Afualo?

  No.

• 49:40Speaker 02

  Well, I'll study them, yeah.

• 49:46Drew Afualo?

  If I just generally ask if you like them and you're like, no.

• 49:50Drew Afualo?

  That's fair.

• 49:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 49:52Drew Afualo?

  And honestly, my fiance would geek about that fact because he, he loves animals, but especially like reptiles and insects.

• 49:58Speaker 02

  Really?

• 49:59Drew Afualo?

  So he loves geckos. When I tell him, he's like, which kind? Leopard? Like, he's so, he's so that kind of, what kind, what species? Like, he knows, he just loves animals, but that's why I was like, that's sick though, what a cool internship. Did you enjoy doing that research?

• 50:15Speaker 02

  I, hmm.

• 50:18Speaker 02

  I enjoyed the, I enjoyed the internship.

• 50:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, the experience of the internship.

• 50:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know about the research, but the experience was very nice.

• 50:29Drew Afualo?

  That is such a, a cool fun fact, honestly. It's fucking insane. All yours being smarty pants ones. Okay, uh, it says, "You once won a pet goldfish at a church fair that died the next day."

• 50:40Speaker 02

  It died the next day, and that, did I say that so clearly?

• 50:46Drew Afualo?

  Canon event. Canon event, I fear.

• 50:49Speaker 02

  Really?

• 50:50Drew Afualo?

  I fear that's a canon event, yeah.

• 50:51Speaker 02

  You also won a pet goldfish at church that died the next day.

• 50:54Drew Afualo?

  I did, yeah, but it was a church carnival.

• 50:56Speaker 02

  A church carnival?

• 50:58Drew Afualo?

  I'm starting to think we're the same person.

• 50:59Speaker 02

  I was like, they-

• 51:00Drew Afualo?

  Uh oh. Getting a little nervous.

• 51:04Speaker 02

  I was like, maybe they just have weak lifespan, weak lifespan, short lifespan.

• 51:08Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, they do. Well, weak too, apparently. Yeah, clearly not a very good immune system.

• 51:12Speaker 02

  No, literally.

• 51:13Drew Afualo?

  No, you're, you're so right for that, though. Were you sad?

• 51:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, but I was-

• 51:17Drew Afualo?

  You just don't really care for animals.

• 51:19Speaker 02

  It was like, I wanted to care for animals, but I feel like then I was just like, it's just not in the cards for me.

• 51:24Drew Afualo?

  That's tea.

• 51:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:25Drew Afualo?

  I get that.

• 51:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:26Drew Afualo?

  I feel that way about a lot of, like, a lot of animals. Like, I say, I'm laughing at you saying that, but like, if you were to ask me how many, what animals I don't like, I'd have a, I'd have an insanely long list. Like, there's like, I, I say like, not me, I love the animals, but a lot of them scare me and I don't like them.

• 51:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I was like, let's conserve the, the conserve, but also, oh, yeah.

• 51:47Drew Afualo?

  But I have a very, I, I have a similar, I think, like, like, relationship to like, sea creatures or like, birds, which are, like, they, they scare me all the most. I would say like, my relationship with them is very like, I don't want any problems. I, I don't want to harm you, I, I wish you the best, like, I just know my places on land and away from you. Like, that's all I know.

• 52:09Speaker 02

  Yes, and I-

• 52:10Drew Afualo?

  No beef. That's why I feel like, I respect you.

• 52:15Speaker 02

  I feel that a hundred percent. I'm like, a hundred percent.

• 52:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're like, I don't hate you, I don't want anyone, I don't want you to die, I just like, don't want to be near you.

• 52:22Speaker 02

  Exactly, and honestly, if you get near me, you might, which is why I'm like, don't.

• 52:28Drew Afualo?

  Don't make me do that.

• 52:29Speaker 02

  Don't make me do this. I don't want to.

• 52:33Drew Afualo?

  You're gonna turn me into a monster. I get that. That's true. Okay, this next one says that, um, you, you have said that your style inspiration is Miss Frizzle.

• 52:44Speaker 02

  I love Miss Frizzle! Oh my gosh, just so underrated, so underrated.

• 52:49Drew Afualo?

  That is so tea, I love that.

• 52:51Speaker 02

  Do I give Miss Frizzle right now?

• 52:52Drew Afualo?

  Yes, absolutely. Honestly, you know what I was thinking of, um, with your look right now? It's like, Monster High.

• 52:58Speaker 02

  Really?

• 52:59Drew Afualo?

  I love like, a Monster High doll, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, a cunty little outfit.

• 53:03Speaker 02

  Thank you, I give cunt?

• 53:05Drew Afualo?

  Yes! That's all you've served since you came in here.

• 53:08Speaker 02

  Really?

• 53:09Drew Afualo?

  I'm full.

• 53:12Speaker 02

  Thank you. Oh, I'm taking that compliment.

• 53:15Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 53:15Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 53:16Drew Afualo?

  Yes, please.

• 53:17Speaker 02

  It's gonna be my personality.

• 53:17Drew Afualo?

  Did you like, uh, the Magic School Bus?

• 53:19Speaker 02

  You know, I found it creepy the first time.

• 53:22Drew Afualo?

  I, I get that.

• 53:24Speaker 02

  I was like, but I think the first episode I watched was the one, like, they went inside one of the student's body.

• 53:29Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 53:30Speaker 02

  And I was just like, this feels so invasive. Th- this is so weird.

• 53:33Drew Afualo?

  Without consent.

• 53:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 53:36Drew Afualo?

  That's true.

• 53:38Speaker 02

  But, but I mean, I, I, I, I support. I support the-

• 53:42Drew Afualo?

  You like her aura, though.

• 53:43Speaker 02

  I like her aura.

• 53:44Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, what she's serving.

• 53:46Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:46Drew Afualo?

  I love that, too.

• 53:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:47Drew Afualo?

  You know what else you remind me of? Fancy Nancy.

• 53:49Speaker 02

  Who? Oh, wait.

• 53:51Drew Afualo?

  Fancy Nancy?

• 53:51Speaker 02

  Wait.

• 53:52Drew Afualo?

  It's like a children's book, and she loves, like, accessories.

• 53:55Speaker 02

  Does she have the scarf?

• 53:56Drew Afualo?

  Yes, she has a scarf, yeah. She wears, like, tutus.

• 53:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 54:00Drew Afualo?

  All kinds of colors.

• 54:01Speaker 02

  Wait, really?

• 54:02Drew Afualo?

  You're getting Fancy Nancy. Love that.

• 54:04Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 54:06Drew Afualo?

  I love that you love Ms. Frizzle. Like, that's your inspo. That's so sick.

• 54:08Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

• 54:10Drew Afualo?

  And she loved the theme.

• 54:11Speaker 02

  I know.

• 54:12Drew Afualo?

  She loved the theme.

• 54:13Speaker 02

  She loved the theme.

• 54:14Drew Afualo?

  And earrings always match theme.

• 54:15Speaker 02

  Literally. I was like, my earrings match. My leg one matches.

• 54:20Drew Afualo?

  Period. Okay, Ms. Frizzle. Well, I've never seen you and Ms. Frizzle in the same room, so.

• 54:24Speaker 02

  Uh, uh-uh.

• 54:25Drew Afualo?

  At the same time.

• 54:28Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Crappy, crappy.

• 54:33Drew Afualo?

  Okay, last, uh, fun fact. Amanda, this stupid one, she wrote, "You are both retired fanfiction writers." That's a fun fact about me, too. Not really. I've talked about it before.

• 54:46Speaker 02

  It's actually funny you say that.

• 54:47Drew Afualo?

  You've dabbled?

• 54:48Speaker 02

  I, I just, this week, looked on my Wattpad account, and I was like, and I was like, I was taking stuff down. I'm like, I am not this kid.

• 54:59Drew Afualo?

  You said, "God forbid they find this."

• 55:00Speaker 02

  No, literally. I'm like, please, please. I was trying to start, like, a book series. I'm like, please, they can't. And my real name is on it. I'm like, please, they cannot find, like, they cannot find this. And so I was taking everything down.

• 55:12Drew Afualo?

  Damn.

• 55:12Speaker 02

  But it's very funny. Very.

• 55:15Drew Afualo?

  It just happened?

• 55:16Speaker 02

  It just happened. So I'm like, again, I'm being under a microscope.

• 55:19Drew Afualo?

  What were you, uh, like, what was your inspo?

• 55:21Speaker 02

  What was my inspo?

• 55:22Drew Afualo?

  Like, what were you writing fanfiction about? Like, anyone famous, book characters?

• 55:26Speaker 02

  I will never tell. Oh, no.

• 55:27Drew Afualo?

  Really?

• 55:28Speaker 02

  Oh, no. That is on lockdown. Oh, my gosh.

• 55:30Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh. Okay, give me a general theme. Was it, like, a celebrity, or was it, like, TV show or something?

• 55:36Speaker 02

  I feel like, mm, I feel like-

• 55:41Speaker 02

  I was like, the problem is I've written multiple, so I

• 55:45Drew Afualo?

  Okay, pick the one you're least embarrassed about to tell me.

• 55:48Speaker 02

  The least embarrassed about.

• 55:49Drew Afualo?

  You don't have to tell me the subject, but you could tell me like, a clue.

• 55:52Speaker 02

  It was, it was a TV show. It was like, I watched, there's this, oh man, I'm really gonna out myself.

• 56:01Drew Afualo?

  We love fanfiction writers here. Oh, I've talked extensively about my fanfiction. I'll tell you all about mine, yeah, but you first, see first.

• 56:08Speaker 02

  So like, I just watched, like, my, my friend recently had, my friend, no, I discovered it for myself. I, I got into, uh, when I was back at Spellman, uh, there was this, something that came up on my YouTube and it was called, oh, something with a string, but it was like this BL series. You know BL?

• 56:26Drew Afualo?

  No.

• 56:27Speaker 02

  BL is Boys Love?

• 56:29Drew Afualo?

  Got you, got you, got you, got you.

• 56:30Speaker 02

  It's like this, what's it called? It's, it's how it sounds like, two, two guys just loving each other.

• 56:36Drew Afualo?

  Tea.

• 56:36Speaker 02

  And so, I was like, it was something with a, until we meet again, that's the name of it.

• 56:40Drew Afualo?

  Okay, okay.

• 56:41Speaker 02

  And so, I remember like, going, like, I love this show, like, I, every, like, I forget when it would come on YouTube, but I would, I would order some food and I would go down, like, there was this computer room in my dorm and I would go down, I'll be like, crunched down, like, oh my god, like, I need to, I need to watch the show, I need to watch the show. Um, and so, I built upon that somewhere in the, well, I really didn't have to say all the details.

• 57:06Drew Afualo?

  You did like a spinoff of that?

• 57:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I did like a little spinoff of it.

• 57:10Drew Afualo?

  Tea.

• 57:10Speaker 02

  And that's all.

• 57:13Drew Afualo?

  No, you're so real for that, trust me. It is a safe space here to talk about that.

• 57:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, maybe, yeah.

• 57:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I've talked about it many times. I, I wrote fanfiction about the Jonas Brothers. I was like, I was so down bad for them, like.

• 57:24Speaker 02

  The Jonas Brothers.

• 57:25Drew Afualo?

  Oh, girl, balls deep in that white boy shit.

• 57:28Speaker 02

  Really?

• 57:28Drew Afualo?

  I, for real, was on my white boy shit at the time. And you know what's funny? It's like, I was a Nick girl and I always make this joke, but because it's true, I was like, I always, I don't know, maybe my, like, energy, my third eye just knew he was gonna be the only one to end up with a brown girl.

• 57:41Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 57:42Drew Afualo?

  Just like a non-white girl.

• 57:45Drew Afualo?

  And I called it and I was right. They hate a bitch when she's right.

• 57:50Speaker 02

  No way.

• 57:51Drew Afualo?

  That was like, if I really looked back, because like anytime there was like any popular form of media, like, I'm always team brown. So like whoever was not white, I was like, that's my fave. Right? Like that was like, well, like in the Twilight series, I was a Jacob girl. I was like, Jacob till I die.

• 58:06Speaker 02

  Oh, I never read Twilight.

• 58:08Drew Afualo?

  Really?

• 58:09Speaker 02

  Well, I was banned from a lot of things. I was like Twilight, Harry Potter, anything like kind of like fantasy and mystical, you name it.

• 58:17Drew Afualo?

  Witchy woo woo.

• 58:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, witchy woo woo.

• 58:19Drew Afualo?

  Like banned from like, oh, like parents, like or family. Oh, I see, I see.

• 58:24Speaker 02

  Well, I was like religious.

• 58:25Drew Afualo?

  You should watch, you should, you should watch it now or read it now.

• 58:29Speaker 02

  I feel like, I, I feel like I won't be, I feel like I missed my period of being like really into it. You know what I mean?

• 58:36Drew Afualo?

  That's tea.

• 58:37Speaker 02

  Like, that's what I meant. I, I wish I was a fan back then because now I'm like, oh, like I'm in the off brand, but I wish I was like, like going to the movies and like waiting in line. You know what I mean? Like, I want to be that type of fan.

• 58:49Drew Afualo?

  Oh, hell yeah.

• 58:50Speaker 02

  I miss my period.

• 58:50Drew Afualo?

  No, that's tea. The, the window was closed.

• 58:52Speaker 02

  The window has closed.

• 58:53Drew Afualo?

  Have you watched the movies?

• 58:54Speaker 02

  I haven't watched the movies.

• 58:56Drew Afualo?

  Oh. What have you watched?

• 59:01Speaker 02

  I mean, I've seen, I've seen clips here and there, but I haven't watched any of them.

• 59:05Drew Afualo?

  What kind of TV shows do you like?

• 59:06Speaker 02

  Hmm.

• 59:07Drew Afualo?

  Or movies?

• 59:08Speaker 02

  I've been watching, I've been watching Gravity Falls, which is like a-

• 59:13Drew Afualo?

  I love that show. I love that show. It's so cute and so fun.

• 59:19Speaker 02

  I watched that. There's this like Disney plus series called The Owl House that I was watching. And then there was like, what else have I been watching?

• 59:27Drew Afualo?

  You are all over the map. I cannot, I cannot predict where you're going next.

• 59:32Speaker 02

  I really am. I was like, I, I've been meaning to watch some anime, um, but I haven't really, no.

• 59:39Drew Afualo?

  You know what? That's honestly kind of tea because I recently have been thinking about delving into anime. I know anime is like such an expansive universe. Have you ever watched anime?

• 59:50Drew Afualo?

  You have, yes. Are you, are you a connoisseur?

• 59:55Speaker 02

  Do I have some shows for you?

• 59:57Drew Afualo?

  I would love, I, I recently saw clips of this on TikTok and I was like, and this is just tea for you, but like, I'm writing another book and I'm doing, I'm doing a fiction. Thank you. I'm doing a fiction series, like a romanticy kinda scene, series. So like, the thing with that is like, my, my goal right now, like, is to do a lot of research. So I'm gonna like read, read a ton of stuff.

• 1:00:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:19Drew Afualo?

  And I like, really wanna watch anime because I know that there are quite a few love stories in anime that are like epic and amazing.

• 1:00:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:00:27Drew Afualo?

  So I've heard. So I'm like, I wanna watch anime. I wanna watch maybe even like Bollywood films. Like I've been like looking into lots of different genres of romance, romance? Because I feel like it would be so wonderful. So I saw one called, I think it's called My Marriage Story? Is that what it's called? Something like that? It's like the guy has the long hair, a girl comes and li-

• 1:00:51Speaker 02

  I feel like I know what you're talking about.

• 1:00:53Drew Afualo?

  I need to like literally look it up while we're talking about it though, so I can, but if you have recs for me, I would love them.

• 1:00:58Speaker 02

  Oh, like a lot of, the, the, the, the bad part is a lot of them are pervy. There are some that are like-

• 1:01:04Drew Afualo?

  So I've heard and I'm okay with that. And I'm okay with that. Cause I'm a grown up. So, my glasses are on while I'm watching. This is research. You did research?

• 1:01:18Speaker 02

  I was like, a lot of, I was like, there, there is some that I'm like, mm, this is like weird, cause like why, like they're in high school?

• 1:01:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like why is she a teen and why are her boobs so big? What's going on there?

• 1:01:29Speaker 02

  What's going on? Um, but there is some that are like, just, just so sweet and so nice.

• 1:01:34Drew Afualo?

  Right. And so I even like recently, I told my friend to watch Howl's Moving Castle. Because she had never seen it before. And, and, and Studio Ghibli, I've only seen Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle. I need to, I need to catch up. But I told her, I was like, dude, re- watch Howl's Moving Castle. It's so good. And so, and she loved it. It was like, yeah, she loved it. But that's why I've been kind of tiptoeing towards anime because I was like, I need to get in there.

• 1:02:00Speaker 02

  Yes, you do.

• 1:02:02Drew Afualo?

  So I will definitely take your recommendations. Pervy, not pervy. I'll take them all.

• 1:02:07Speaker 02

  I got you, I got you. I'm like racking through my brain, got you.

• 1:02:13Drew Afualo?

  What's your favorite anime?

• 1:02:14Speaker 02

  Oh, man, wait.

• 1:02:15Drew Afualo?

  If you had to choose.

• 1:02:17Speaker 02

  Oh, man, that's hard. Oh, man, okay, wait.

• 1:02:20Drew Afualo?

  Okay, I'll give you three, top three.

• 1:02:22Speaker 02

  Top three, okay, top three, top three right now.

• 1:02:25Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:02:26Speaker 02

  There is the Apothecary Diaries, which is about, um,

• 1:02:33Speaker 02

  I'm so bad at like synopses. I don't know the words, I'm so bad. But basically, this, this, this girl is, she's like, she gets kidnapped and she has to like, serve like, the emperor and stuff like that, but she also solves murders and things along the, mysteries along those lines. And she's really into poisons and she's, she's a very interesting character, love her. Um, the Apothecary Diaries, Spy X Family, um, okay. There, there's an assassin, there's a, like a detective like person and then there's a child who reads minds and they come together, they make a family because they have to, to do, they have to solve world peace, like they have to make world peace.

• 1:03:18Drew Afualo?

  Cool.

• 1:03:18Speaker 02

  Something along those lines.

• 1:03:19Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 1:03:20Speaker 02

  I'm really not selling this right, but it's really.

• 1:03:24Drew Afualo?

  My understanding of anime, any, anything is possible. Like, the sky is truly the limit in anime and I love that.

• 1:03:31Speaker 02

  I was like, so I feel like there's that. And then, the third one, oh, why is the third one so hard? Oh, my, okay, okay, uh, uh. My favorite, I was, I feel like my favorite that I always say is Violet Evergarden, which is about this, this girl who was a, who was a soldier and now isn't a soldier and like, has to like, do something with her life and so she ends up being what's called like a doll, which is like, these like, people who write letters for other people and it's just going through like her adventures slash like her journey of being a doll.

• 1:04:04Drew Afualo?

  Nice.

• 1:04:05Speaker 02

  Made me cry the first time.

• 1:04:07Drew Afualo?

  Oh, I love that. That's honestly tea.

• 1:04:10Speaker 02

  Really?

• 1:04:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I love that. I love, I love your recs.

• 1:04:13Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 1:04:14Drew Afualo?

  Thank you, I'll definitely take them, I'm so excited. Like, to venture on my journey. I was like talking to one of my other friends on the show and we were talking about Housewives and she was like, have you ever watched? And I was like, no, I've never watched like any Housewives or anything like that. And she was like, oh my god, you're the luckiest girl in the world. You can experience it for the first time.

• 1:04:33Drew Afualo?

  And we laughed about it, so like, that's how, that's, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I've never really watched any anime. My, my fiance actually really loves anime too. Really? He watches a lot of the heavy hitters though, like, he watches like Attack on Titan and stuff like that. So like, the, the real popular ones, like, he's, he's into those ones too. Um, but he's watched other ones too that I can't remember the names of right now. Um, my brother loves anime also, and so my brother is always like, he'll text my man and he'll be like, can I have the login to the Crunchyroll account? Yeah. And like, and they're the only two who use it, like, just the two of them. Yeah. And then he's like, can I have the login? And every time he's at my house, that's what he's watching on my TV. So, I get it. And I know my brother's gonna geek when I tell him to, like, I have, I've yet to tell him that I'm gonna start delving in. Oh, I'm so excited.

• 1:05:18Drew Afualo?

  My dive in, head, hands first. I even asked him, I was like, does Avatar count? Like Avatar, The Last Airbender is an anime? And then he was like, no, it doesn't. That's American made, it has to be made in Japan. And I was like, okay, my bad, master. My bad, professor of anime, my bad. But I did love Avatar, very much so. And it's interesting, I haven't watched Avatar. It's so good. I heard, I've read it so much. That is like, literally one of my favorite shows of all time. Really? Really. I hear that a lot. Genuinely, it's such a good show. Top to bottom, no notes, except one, um, he should not have ended up with her. Oh. That's it. You know what I'm talking about, I'm not gonna spoil it for him, but you know what I'm talking about.

• 1:05:59Drew Afualo?

  Well, I love that, now I got anime recommendations, I got your wa pad, info, all of that.

• 1:06:07Drew Afualo?

  And when I wrote, honestly, when I wrote Fanfic Girl, I like, I wrote that shit like, hand wrote it like a pilgrim, and then I, Whoa. And I ended up meeting the Jonas Brothers too, and I, No way. And the only reason I even got to meet them was because I wrote fanfiction and I've talked about it. Yeah. And I've talked about how much I love them and made videos, like, talking about how much I love them. Well, I made a YouTube video once with my sister when we were younger, and I like, used it. Yeah, so it's like, I was like a big fangirl of them for years.

• 1:06:35Speaker 02

  Oh, did you tell them that like?

• 1:06:37Drew Afualo?

  No, fuck no.

• 1:06:41Drew Afualo?

  No way, I was cool, calm and collected. Just kidding, they were really nice. If I had the time, I honestly probably would have told them.

• 1:06:47Speaker 02

  It would have come out of there.

• 1:06:47Drew Afualo?

  Oh yeah, I have no shame, no shame in my game. Absolutely not. I've seen, whenever I talk about it and I like go into even more detail because like the funniest thing about my fanfic is that it's not a first person one.

• 1:06:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:06:58Drew Afualo?

  I'm writing it as, as Miley Cyrus, essentially.

• 1:07:02Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 1:07:03Drew Afualo?

  And her lore and their world.

• 1:07:05Speaker 02

  Did you just not see yourself with one of the Jonas Brothers?

• 1:07:08Drew Afualo?

  No, I honest, I honestly don't know why I wrote it that way. I don't know if maybe I thought it would be like better if people thought it was someone real. Or maybe it's because I was destined to write fiction eventually because I was like, well, I'm not gonna write in first person. Like, I'm gonna write in first person, but I have to have a character. The character has to be somebody.

• 1:07:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:07:25Drew Afualo?

  So like, I think it was like, I was taking a very literal interpretation of it, like I was writing a book.

• 1:07:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, but it's like, what, like better person than Miley Cyrus? Or Miley Cyrus adjacent?

• 1:07:34Drew Afualo?

  And I don't think I've ever said this before, but I did start a sequel to my fanfiction, like never having posted it to anyone. I started a sequel, I think I wrote like a quarter of it. That one was a spinoff and that one was about Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas.

• 1:07:47Speaker 02

  Whoa.

• 1:07:49Drew Afualo?

  Their eventual love story.

• 1:07:50Speaker 02

  Whoa.

• 1:07:51Drew Afualo?

  And I started that one and just never finished it because then I was like, I guess 14, so I was like, well, I guess I have to go to school and stuff. Like, I'm like, this is taking up all my time. I have to go back to school. I have a job, I have to clock in.

• 1:08:05Drew Afualo?

  So I get it. We're kindred spirits, you and I. We're a lot alike. We're not so different, you and me.

• 1:08:14Speaker 02

  Oh man, will it come out eventually though?

• 1:08:17Drew Afualo?

  I, and everyone always asks me that, and if I, if I could find it, I really would. I'm not even kidding, I'm not ashamed at all. I would love to go live and read it. Like, I would literally do that if I could find it. I can't, and because I handwrote it, because I'm 100 years old. I like, don't know where it is. It might be in my mom and dad's house, like, but I've looked before and I haven't been able to find it. And I genuinely think if I can't find it, I think I was so violently ashamed of it at one point that I threw it away.

• 1:08:44Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 1:08:45Drew Afualo?

  And by that, I mean, I was probably just like, God, gold in my hands, didn't even, didn't even utilize it when the time was right. Lost art.

• 1:08:55Speaker 02

  It happens, you know.

• 1:08:57Drew Afualo?

  So I get that, you going in your Wattpad and be like, delete, delete, delete.

• 1:09:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, but it's same on Google somewhere, so. Like, maybe I'm hoping, I'm like, one day.

• 1:09:07Drew Afualo?

  Do you still dabble in reading Wattpad?

• 1:09:09Speaker 02

  I do, I actually, yesterday, I was rea- yesterday, I was reading like a, like a, I don't think it was a fanfiction novel, but I'm watching this series and it's inspired by a novel, and so I read the novel yesterday.

• 1:09:23Drew Afualo?

  Oh, nice, okay.

• 1:09:25Speaker 02

  I miss those days.

• 1:09:26Drew Afualo?

  Right, where you were like, couldn't wait to get in there.

• 1:09:30Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 1:09:31Drew Afualo?

  Or like, when you would like, see a new chapter and you're like, yes!

• 1:09:38Speaker 02

  Don't bother me, show's locked the door, don't bother me.

• 1:09:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, for real, I have plans.

• 1:09:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, literally.

• 1:09:44Drew Afualo?

  I get it. I recently read one on Wattpad, like, and I, it was a fanfiction and I can't say what it's about because it's not a good thing, but I'll tell, I'll tell you, but like, we have to cut this part out, but it was about [BLEEP]. I just, it just, someone DM'd it to me because I had said I was reading a book that was somewhat in that world.

• 1:10:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:10:03Drew Afualo?

  But it wasn't, it wasn't [BLEEP], so like, they were like, oh, you should read this. And I said, I literally read it, moved me to tears.

• 1:10:09Speaker 02

  No way!

• 1:10:12Drew Afualo?

  They are in their bag on Wattpad, like, for real, they know how to write shit on there.

• 1:10:17Speaker 02

  That's so true.

• 1:10:18Drew Afualo?

  You get it, though.

• 1:10:18Speaker 02

  I was like, Wattpad has been, has inspired probably a lot of songs.

• 1:10:25Drew Afualo?

  That's why I'm, like, I start to fear, I'm like, I feel like maybe this has more of a pull on me than I realize.

• 1:10:31Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, no, it definitely does. It's definitely like my personality, it's definitely like.

• 1:10:36Drew Afualo?

  It's touching everything I make.

• 1:10:38Speaker 02

  I love it, though, I love it.

• 1:10:40Drew Afualo?

  Me too, and I think it's amazing. I literally, I could, I literally, moved me to tears. I read it, I was like, this is a beautiful story.

• 1:10:48Speaker 02

  Have to have a good mix, you know.

• 1:10:50Drew Afualo?

  It was so good, and it was so dramatic, and it was like, there were so many stakes and all that shit, it was good.

• 1:10:55Speaker 02

  Modern literature, honestly.

• 1:10:57Drew Afualo?

  I'm telling you, get in, get, the bitches are in their bag on Wattpad, you have to get on Wattpad if you're not, it's so good.

• 1:11:03Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:11:04Drew Afualo?

  But, thank you so much for coming on the show.

• 1:11:06Speaker 02

  Oh, man, thank you for having me.

• 1:11:08Drew Afualo?

  Before we go, I would love if you could give everyone, just like, your best piece of advice for, if they're an aspiring artist, if maybe they're like, looking to become one, like, what's your best piece of advice for them, up and coming artists?

• 1:11:20Speaker 02

  Oh, up and coming, honestly, I feel that. I'm like, if you haven't already, like, learn how to produce. Like, it's really, it's a good, like, kind of skill to have on the, on the back of, in the back of your belt, just to like, be able to do, like, a song or something on your own. Like, I feel like that's a really good thing to do.

• 1:11:41Drew Afualo?

  That's tea. A lot of the, a lot of artists, Kaylani told me that when she came on the show, yeah. She was like, you should learn how to do your own thing, like, especially when you're in larger groups, when you're working, so you can, like, if you don't like it, you know how to do it on your own. Like, if you don't like how they're doing it, you can cop it.

• 1:11:58Speaker 02

  You can do it.

• 1:11:58Drew Afualo?

  Tea. Women in STEM.

• 1:12:00Speaker 02

  Women in STEM.

• 1:12:00Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:12:03Drew Afualo?

  Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. I fucking love you.

• 1:12:05Speaker 02

  I love you too.

• 1:12:06Drew Afualo?

  You're amazing, and you're so talented, and I can't wait to keep watching your star rise, like, and then I'll be, literally, just like Chapel, I'll be like, and she was on the comment section. Yes, of course.

• 1:12:21Drew Afualo?

  I'm claiming it here, take it to fame here, but I'm so, I am so happy to know you, and I'm so happy to see you. And, and I've seen you live, which is incredible. So, congratulations on everything. I can't wait to keep watching you.

• 1:12:32Speaker 02

  Thank you so much.

• 1:12:33Drew Afualo?

  Thank you all so much for tuning into this episode of the comment section. Thank you to my amazing guest, Hemlock Springs. For those of you that don't know, where can everybody find you?

• 1:12:41Speaker 02

  Oh, gosh. Um, I should know the answer to this. Everywhere. Uh, DSPs, like Spotify, and like, I'm so, why am I bad at it?

• 1:12:52Drew Afualo?

  What's your handle?

• 1:12:54Speaker 02

  Um, it should just be Hemlock, like Hemlock, H-E-M-L-O-C-K-E.

• 1:12:59Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:13:00Speaker 02

  And then Springs, S-P-R-I-N-G-S. I should be better at answering that question.

• 1:13:05Drew Afualo?

  Well, you know what? It's okay. It's all right. Because they're gonna have to, after they watch this episode, they're gonna have to go find you. They're gonna find you on their own. They don't need your help. They can do it.

• 1:13:18Drew Afualo?

  Do you have anything else you want to promote?

• 1:13:19Speaker 02

  Um, well, my, oh, my, uh, debut album, The Apple Tree Under the Sea, comes out February 13th. I am so happy for it and so excited for it to be released. So, stay tuned.

• 1:13:31Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh, how exciting. Congratulations. Everyone, please go check out Hemlock. She is fucking incredible. Like genuinely an artist to her core. Can't wait to see her keep being famous. And can't wait to hear all of you go, "Wait, wasn't Hemlock Springs on the comment section?" Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Thank you so much to my amazing guest Hemlock for joining us. Thank you so much for watching the comment section. Don't forget, new episodes of the comment section drop every Wednesday. You can stream the audio on all streaming platforms, but the video lives for free and exclusively on our favorite platform, Spotify. Thank you so much to my amazing guest Hemlock Springs. Thank you so much for tuning in and I'll see you next week. Bye. Merry Christmas.

• 1:14:06Speaker 02

  Merry Christmas.

• 1:14:19Speaker 03

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