Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey, this is Tyler Jones with the element and you're listening to the Son of a Blitz podcast. Hey everybody.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Welcome back to the Son of a Blitz podcast. I am your host, george Blitz, and guys. I had a great interview today with Tyler Jones. Those in the outdoor industry you might have heard him or seen him before through the element. He's got a podcast that he and Casey Smith have been doing for, you know, about eight years now, and then that's also been a lot of the filming and the hunts that you'll see on the YouTube channel, the element. And most recently they have joined teams with the meat eater family of companies. You know they're under that meat eater umbrella now and so they've done buck truck. They've had a couple of different other things going on. They've had some really neat hunts those we've seen in and around the area where they're out here in Texas with some hog hunting, there's some Neil Guy hunting and there's a lot more to come. Some turkey hunting season is about to happen. So I'm sure there's some really cool videos with that as well in the works.

Speaker 2: 1:12

And you know we talked about Tyler's music career with being the guitarist and singer and Tyler and the tribe some really amazing songs. We dive into a few there. And you know we've talked about just kind of his past. You know he is a man of many talents, a man of faith, a man of just really trying to put the best in whatever he's doing out there in the world and he's done a phenomenal job. He's just super talented guy, great gentleman and, yeah, we just had a great conversation today talking about all the different things he's got going on.

Speaker 2: 1:44

So you guys tune in, enjoy and learn a little bit more about Tyler Jones. Y'all enjoy, take care, hey Tyler, how are you doing today? Man? I'm doing well, man, how are you Fantastic? Look, I'm really excited to have you on. I've been following your show, your podcast. I know you kind of, in and around Texas, heard a lot of different stories about you, whether it's on the football field or Tyler and the tribe and your music, and I kind of want to dive into all of this. But, as normally with my guests, I'd like to kind of start giving a little bit of background for listeners who might not know much about your history. Talk about where you're from, how you got into hunting and the outdoors lifestyle, and let's talk about maybe the beginning threads of that dream of what you're living so well right now.

Speaker 1: 2:24

Sure, man, I mean I appreciate the opportunity, George, and just excited to be talking to you, but this is something I wanted to do for a long time. I kind of grew up on Lake Fork, which is a historically incredible bass fishery largemouth bass in Northeast Texas, one of the best in the world and at the time when I was growing up and getting interested in this stuff in the 90s, I mean that was like the heyday of Lake Fork. I mean it was like the way they thought the world record was going to be broken there. They thought this is, you know, every fish that was caught was like man, there's this fixing to happen there at Fork and there was this perfect storm which really is interesting. I mean I can go, I'll probably try to keep the rabbit trails to a minimum, but like the lake sits, like it's in three counties, and a lot of times Casey and I talk about this a lot Casey is my partner at the element and he and I talk about stuff like this a lot, but a lot of times what a human boundary that is set is. It's actually set on some sort of geographical or you know some sort of boundary that, like was noticeable. You know, when people started setting these boundaries that maybe we don't notice today as much because of maybe the land is aging or whatever, but like or maybe we're looking at our phones too much or whatever you know, but like with these to me it makes sense because I look at this lake is like this kind of iron ore east side and this, the west side, as being in a different kind of thing, here in a different county, and then some of the north stuff being different, but there's two big, big sections that come into it. Anyway, it's a. It's a really cool, interesting lake and I'd like to actually do some video work on it sometime and talk about some of the origins of that lake and that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 4:25

But this was a place I grew up and there was. It was a public lake, so awesome bass fishery, underrated other fisheries like crappie and catfish, and I spent summers just catfishing like every day. My dad has a fishing lodge on the lake and has had it since 1993, I believe is when he bought it, so it's 30 years old as a lodge and my dad's had it the whole time. So I grew up there and in the summers I just would walk this retainer wall and just sight fish. Catfish like big ones, man, like 10 pounders, you know, actually at one point held the state record blue cat on a fly it was a 845, 8.45 that I caught on a fly rod sight casting to it with a brown wooly bugger and it was an interesting thing. Like we had fish in our dock too, but they would not buy flies. Flies in the dock but out on the wall. They get in these holes for whatever reason. They would, they would buy, but anyway I caught that there, spent a bunch of time duck hunting on the lake growing up and so like we used to have really good grass beds and I I would stalk these ducks like across a mode St Augustine yard, you know, at the lodge there and you know there would be hundreds of canvas backs out there.

Speaker 1: 5:45

I mean no, why like probably two to 300 canvas backs out in front and you know we'd have bluebills and ring necks and sometimes we had mallards and stuff like that. In fact you may have seen my one of my recent Instagram posts, so I stalked those. At the lodge there was mallards and you know, when they got up they go, they get up into a north wind. When I had a north wind that would float back into the lodge, into the you know property. So I didn't have to, you know, get a boat out or anything Right. And so I picked three, three drakes and smoked all of them and one of them came back and as it's floating in, it's sticking its legs up like this, you know, it's floating on its back and it's floating slowly in the north wind coming towards me, and I was like there is no way that that thing is double banded, but I think I see two bands on that thing and it was a double banded. Mallard Drake, you know, had a hundred hundred dollar reward band from there's only time. Washington DC probably will ever pay me any money, you know, but it was the first and only time, but it was.

Speaker 1: 6:44

It was cool growing up doing that kind of stuff and and being there and to hear the guide stories. You know, I mean, to me growing up, Lake Fort Guides were like they might as well have been the pro fishermen, you know, like they might as well have been the same category to me I, you know, and they were good at telling stories, right, I mean, that's the whole thing about fishing, but you know it was. It was really cool growing up there. So that's kind of where you know for hunting and stuff like that. That's where I kind of really just spent a lot of time outdoors. My dad got me into it and and and it also started there at the lodge filming. I've got.

Speaker 1: 7:19

I found some old videos recently with my dad had this big old VHS like tank that goes on your shoulder, oh yeah, and I used to video with that at the lodge there and besides James Bond movies I made some actual outdoor movies, you know, and I got it.

Speaker 1: 7:35

I got a funny one I saw recently where there's just a single teal sitting out there and, like you know, September or whatever, and on this grass bed and I'm just like 30 yards away video and this thing just talking about it narrating it like you know some sort of discovery channel thing or whatever. And this is I'm as probably eight or nine years old maybe. So that started for me early on and it's always been something I wanted to do and you know there's there's a million more things I could say about it, but I've talked a lot here already and I just want to say that that that whole thing has played out now. It's been a big blessing to do that for a living. It's something that I always thought I could do and I wanted to pursue and did, but it's it's different and more of a blessing, probably, than I thought it would be.

Speaker 2: 8:20

Well, I mean it's. It's amazing what kind of you put in when you were a kid, your loves, your passions, and I mean you talked about this, heard you in different interviews. You talked about the dream and like, whenever you met up with KC and you guys, like you said he got the dream and however maybe you formulated that or however it was maybe vague, but you knew the direction you wanted to go into. Obviously, those steps along the way, that time of prayer, of being able to see your, this chosen path, all the things that come to you when you're doing the right thing, and you see those, you know those next steps unfold. It might not have been known the day before, but you kind of have continually had this and moved forward and I think it's just so incredible to be, you know, sitting back and seeing a current, you know chronological order of, like you at a little kid with a video camera and doing this, and then now, all of a sudden, you know you're here with meat eater.

Speaker 2: 9:16

Obviously you had success alone with you know, with the you know element podcast, and then you know filming these shows, you know, I guess I'll kind of touch on for a minute, you know, one of the videos that I think maybe you're your largest view there too, talking about the buck from the ranch, and I wanted to. You know, have you spend a little bit of time maybe chatting about that real quick? And I know you probably talked about it, you know, maybe at Nazium, on some of the other shows. But I think it's like a the power of perseverance, and you know, these days you're sitting here, you're reading scriptures, you know, when you get in there early in the morning and you know, just talk about, like that very last minute thing, if you could maybe walk us up a little bit, because it was kind of a dream of yours to be able to have an amazing buck on your own property.

Speaker 2: 10:03

And you know, I think that there's a reason, even though it's a long video, and I suggest everyone check it out. You know, hour and 20 something minutes, hour and 30. I think it's a wonderful. I think you had like 18 or 19 sits. Let's just talk about that real quick because I think that's something that I think everyone should check it out. It's a wonderful video.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Thanks, man. Yeah, that's a it's kind of was a perfect storm that we didn't know was happening. When we're going through it, this was 2020. So obviously a time where the world was just like absolutely in distress, you know, and just nobody knew what was going on. You know, and so, and then, from an element perspective, you know we had, had, we'd been doing this we started filming Casey and I 2016, was really when we started filming Dear Hunting and it was just real, me just following him around, real informal.

Speaker 1: 10:52

I had an idea that, like, this was something I wanted to do. He was, you know, this is something I appreciate about Casey and his family that I I'll tell you why he's, his family's been pretty simple and I don't mean to say that in a negative sense at all, because that's what I admire about him is like they can go in their day to day and just be normal dudes and they and have community within, whatever that community is, that small and family and those kinds of things and still honor and glorify God through that and not really want for anything. You know, and it's okay to just like work, a good job, spend eight hours out there, go back to your family and do the thing and you're not pursuing anything and you're not working overtime, you're not working. You know the whole kind of plague of the, you know entrepreneurs. They say that's the only person who'll work 80 hours so they don't have to work 40, you know, and that's what I've had to do.

Speaker 1: 11:53

You know, and I look back at it, I'm like sometimes there's some sort of sacrifice at every level. You know, I mean, you think about these athletes and you've everybody's like, oh, it'd be great to be, you know, Patrick Mahomes or whatever, but it's like man at some point. You know, tom Brady has sacrificed a lot stuff that I would not sacrifice. You know to be the greatest of all time, I mean, and so I admire what he does. I love watching him play football, but I would it would be hard for me to not do that if I was him in the moment pursuing something. Right, you're like man, just a little bit more work and I'm the best of all time. You know it'd be hard enough to do that, but I'm actually very glad that I didn't actually encounter that, you know, so that I can look back with a different perspective and see. But anyway, that's one thing I like about Casey and his family, especially the patriarchs of his family, that they do really well. It's just like live in the moment and so you know, and that's what we were doing at the time.

Speaker 1: 12:56

But at the same time I was really like I had been pursuing this thing for several years. My church was wanting to hire me as a worship leader and they weren't gonna pay me very much, which is fine because I understand we got a bunch of blue-collar people at our church and we just don't. You know, tithes are what they are, so that's the main thing. So anyway, it wasn't. It was one of those things where I was like, man, I have this dream, I think I can do some decent stuff here and make a career. But I also got this pressure of like, hey, you're getting older and you need to provide for our family too, from my wife a little bit. You know she was super strong through the whole thing because I pursued music, as you know, for a long time before that.

Speaker 1: 13:40

So anyway, I spent, you know, 18 hunts over the course of maybe like 20 days or something like that, during kind of the COVID era, just, and I actually had COVID when I started hunting this year. I'd seen him on a new property that I had bought, that I was gonna build a house on, and I had seen him one morning and I just pulled up on the hill and he was just in the back of it small property, you know, and just rut-fest bucks everywhere hunted him for, like you know, like I said, 18 days, and the interesting thing is I, like you said, I prayed a lot because it was like Groundhog Day. I'd just get up every day. I was actually staying with my parents at the Fish and Lodge, because during the winter they don't have a whole lot of guests, you know, and we just I would take off and go over here, you know, 15 minutes, sit in the truck for five minutes, you know, get real warm, walk up the hill and go sit in the stand, and then I would have, like you know, more and more time a minute more every day, or whatever to sit there and pray in the dark or whatever.

Speaker 1: 14:43

And so I did that kind of stuff and it was good time, but I did a lot of praying about like hey, is this the path that I need to be on, you know, not like a send me a sign thing or anything, but just, you know, leave me where you want me. And I ended up I was. The church gave me an ultimatum of the last like by December we need to kind of know if this is something you want to do or not. And I was like okay. So I ended up shooting that ranch buck on November 30th and it was the fourth buck I had shot that year, and I actually shot a fifth one in later December as well, and it was just like but at that moment is where I was like, okay, I think this is me being led where I need to be, you know, and so it's worked out so far.

Speaker 1: 15:32

But you know, every day's a blessing. I can't say that I've. You know, you don't know what tomorrow holds. You know you get fired in a heartbeat, and especially in this economy. So you know that's. It doesn't scare me though, because you know, I think you kind of understand, but I can figure something out. If I got to go work at the local hardware store, then I'll go do it, whatever I got to do, you know. But you know we live in America, man, we got a lot of opportunity.

Speaker 2: 15:59

You know we sure do no and that's and you kind of talk about, you kind of drop some breadcrumbs there of your past, of like the idea that you know, like D1 college athlete, you're at SMU, you're standout safety and you're playing, and like the dedication and time that goes into that. I mean, for those who don't know, sometimes you have three, four hours a day of just doing that, plus your studies, plus if you're doing a job or doing anything else. You got friendship, you're social, there's a lot of things going on but there's a lot of work to do that and a lot of dedication. And then you know you talk about your music and your career there and I mean you still got music coming out, like I know you got a single drop in February 9th and you still have, you know, wonderful stuff and I want to dive into one particular song in a minute. But the idea was that you've kind of been, you've had success in this element, this element, like, and then this other one, but you've been able to ride that success and whenever it's time to move on to another track or keep them concurrent, like, I feel like no matter what you do, you have the drive, the discipline to do that. Obviously we've seen your discipline and what you've done with your show and your podcast and all the hard work you guys put into that, and I think that that's something that it's very true.

Speaker 2: 17:14

This something could end tomorrow. Something could change maybe this whole industry of the outdoor. You know, lifestyle starts. I don't think it's gonna fade, but if something does, it's okay. You're gonna pick up and you're gonna land on your feet and you're gonna work hard, whatever that is. So I like that perspective Diving into your music career a little bit. There too I'd like to chat. I mean, you, tyler and the tribe, you're playing guitar, you're singing, you're writing a lot of these songs. Tell me a little bit about the band and about kind of you know what your history has been. I mean, you guys played together a long time. I don't know if there's different players along the timeline, but you know, obviously you're still putting out some new stuff. Is there some shows that might be coming out at some point in time? Is there gonna be an album at some point? You're still working on things. You're still writing kinda. Walk us through a few minutes of your kind of music career and what you got kicking.

Speaker 1: 18:01

Sure man, thanks for the opportunity to do that, Absolutely. So I actually started playing guitar in high school with some buddies and then I kind of like the only one, kinda carried through for very long. You know, I guess really once we got to college especially, and so I'm in college, I'm still playing like I want nothing more than to be a musician. I love it, I love writing, I love the music the way that you know it makes me feel, and all this stuff. So I end up meeting a guy on the football team there at SMU who was I don't think he ever played it down, but he was hilarious, you know just a funny guy that pretty much everybody loved, you know, and he actually had recorded some music as a songwriter prior to me meeting him and I had a friend that kinda made the connection for both of us there that we were all on the football team and anyway. So his name is Clay, and Clay and I kinda hit it off and we ended up practicing a lot late at night. So we would I mean, it was tough times, which I loved it, though you know I was doing what I wanna do.

Speaker 1: 19:15

I had a lot more energy at the time, you know, but I would like end up after you know, if I had study hall or like we'd have meetings after practice or whatever, like I'd go grab something to eat and I'd go over to his apartment or whatever and we would. He was like right on the edge. It was in East Dallas and it was right on the edge of, like I mean, the ghetto pretty much. I mean it was rough, like it was the last house of new development. You know, on that street going East for a ways, I mean there was like a lot of drug stuff going on around us and I mean it was a rough neighborhood. But it also lent to us like being able to play music fairly loud and nobody being affected by it. You know it was perfect you know.

Speaker 2: 20:01

So yeah, you being drowned out over there by all those things there, yeah yeah for sure.

Speaker 1: 20:05

So we were, we played music you know a lot at night from you know, maybe seven o'clock till midnight or whatever, and then we'd get back up and go lift weights and do the whole thing over again, you know, but it was a lot of fun. And then I ended up touring with him out of college and we were picking up a lot of steam and I won't go into this whole story because it's not, it's kind of a side from it, but basically he was one of the crazier people ever met and I love him. I loved him, you know, and I love him still, but he was crazy and he essentially he was a big part of what he had done at one point got us blacklisted from like a ton of venues. We're playing with a ton of artists and I won't go into that, like I said, but essentially that launched Tyler and the tribe. And so because I was like, well, I write, I have some songs and you know I had recently moved to Sulphur Springs, texas, and met these dudes that were like, oh, probably four or five years younger than me and they were like the drummer was really good, the other guys were like they had potential, but they weren't great. So we I had some stuff in my studio upstairs at my house that I'd bought during the recession and we started kind of just recording some music, you know, and I actually recorded an album with them and their college buddies all you know, six-part band or whatever doing their deal. And then eventually I was like man, would you guys wanna, you know, play with me or whatever? And so we did and we started jamming a little bit. Next thing, you know, I'm like man, I got a lot of connections from the last band. I mean, if y'all wanna tour some, and they're like, oh yeah for sure, so take off and start touring and picked up Steam again fairly quickly.

Speaker 1: 21:54

I was a little more determined. I had learned a lot of things about, like, what not to do with Clay and I was kind of determined, like, and focused really, really well, and we played a lot of great shows over the years. I had a the manager that managed Clay. He took us on and helped us kinda grow. He booked a lot for us and this kind of thing, and we got to where we were playing. You know, probably 110 shows a year and just you know the industry that we were in, the circles we were in was a little different than what I actually like. The music we actually produced a lot of times, which our music was. It's kind of a big spectrum.

Speaker 1: 22:37

If I was smart and you know, I would do things a little more. Like I did the element where, like I was like okay, whitetail deer, people like them, let's go kill a bunch of whitetail deer cause it's real fun, it's accessible and we're gonna focus on that kind of niche and I should have done that with music but I didn't. I was like, oh man, I'm an artist, like I gotta produce this wild, you know crazy rock song over here and this acoustic deal over here. That's like just nothing, you know, and you know I'll sing this one with more twang and sing this one more. Like you know, dave Grohlwood and the.

Speaker 2: 23:08

Food Fighter. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:10

And eventually, you know, it became kind of hard for us to fit in. You know, we had the connections. We just didn't like always translate. I can remember a time I played with a guy named Randy Rogers, who you know, you probably know and a lot of people may be listening, maybe may know as well, but very like indie country kind of guy, I mean pretty country-fied. But you know it would fit into the Red Dirt Country or Texas Country of like the 2000s that people talk about and we're playing down in Uvalde, texas, and there's a pretty big place it's got. I think it had like 1200 cap. There's like 1200 cap venue and it's like sold out, you know, and we had driven a, like a red van that I'd bought for like 1500 bucks. That was like missing. You know every. You know it was missing a, you know one of the cylinders what is missing every so often and it was just bad.

Speaker 1: 24:11

You know, we drove like seven and a half hours down there to play for 200 bucks because we're gonna open for Andy. And we get down there and we start playing, we play a couple songs and we wanted to come out with energy we're young guys, whatever. Well, we end up like playing this one song that's kind of riff based rock that I had written and I mean it was pretty heavy. And this crowd is here.

Speaker 1: 24:33

You know, first of all there's a lot of like Latinos or Hispanics and a lot of just like super country white folk there and they're all in this place down in South Texas, you know, to hear Randy Rogers and we open, we come playing this riff based rock. You know that's real heavy and I was like, oh, we're about to blow them out of the water or whatever. It's going to be awesome. And dude, they were like there was this like dude, this bro group of dudes that were just like. You know, I can remember them right over here kind of like stage, right in about in the middle of the dance floor or whatever, and they started chanting Randy Rogers. You know, like as soon as we got done and I can remember I just like walked with the mic, said thanks, guys, feels good. And there was a bunch of people that didn't share that sentiment in that crowd, you know.

Speaker 2: 25:19

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:20

I mean that's kind of like a motif I've had to kind of continue to realize, especially with YouTube and stuff, is like there's a, there's always a vocal group and they really don't usually, you know, represent exactly what's going on out there. So, but anyway, so it was. That's that's kind of like the early stages we end up. You know, we played a big festival called Texas Thunder and it was out in Midland. A bunch of big country artists that people would recognize, like Brad Paisley and Florida Georgia line and big and rich and those kinds of bands. Those are the headliners, you know, and we were playing like a side stage, but it was, you know, it was a big deal.

Speaker 1: 26:02

And you're there, you're playing on the bill.

Speaker 1: 26:04

Yeah, for sure I was. I mean, we were pumped and we had really we had done some pretty big shows at the time. We had, you know, we're pursuing. We actually were pursuing more of a like. We really wanted to be more in Nashville because we thought we had a broader sound than the regional sound a little bit, and so that was where we wanted to be right. Well, we played this big show. It was kind of a big deal.

Speaker 1: 26:28

We my wife was pregnant and fixing to have a kid, our kid, and so we I had driven her car and was going to go back and meet her. So there was only like there was two guys in the van and no three guys. One was a tour manager and our guitar player was driving. I'm trying not to make this too long a story, but essentially he gets in a wreck on the way home, totals the van. He was. He was kind of already I think he had kind of felt a little bit like an outcast in the band a little bit. We were all friends. He just kind of. There was a little rub I think between, because I play lead guitar too and I never tried to like make it. I wanted to split things up really really. But anyway, so he, I think, with that wreck and just all the things that were going on in his life, I think he just decided like man, I'm not loving this, you know. And so he decided to take kind of take off. The other guys in the band were really good friends with him and so they were like man, I just don't want to do this without him.

Speaker 1: 27:29

And essentially we took like a probably 18 month just hiatus and it was one of the most depressing times of my life, to be honest, because I pursued this for so long I mean, it was like nine years, you know and it just all failed and fell flat on its face and I couldn't do anything about it. And so we start playing again. I like I said I was trying to be too detailed. We start playing again, essentially without our guitar player and, long story short, we worked back in and we playing with a guy that was a guitar player in that band that I recorded when they were in college and that was friends with them and I was friends with two, and he decides to jump in and play with us and we start playing and turn and doing some more music and stuff like that. I wrote I had written a whole album called Bright Side of the Earth that released.

Speaker 1: 28:15

A few years. After that we started playing again and we have been. I mean we've been really good. I mean it's like the music has been like when we play live. It's incredible that, you know, jacob is our new guitar player, but he's been around since I don't know 2016 or something, and so 2017, he's been playing with us and recorded all the new music and stuff and I mean he's incredible. He's really worked hard to get better at guitar. He does a great job, he nails stuff and the band sounds incredible with them.

Speaker 1: 28:47

So we don't play live a whole lot anymore because COVID kind of squashed that. You know it made it tough on us, especially as original music, which is what we did. We didn't do cover band stuff too much. You know like we, if we played 12 songs, we might have two covers in it, you know, or whatever if we did like an hour opening set. So anyway, we've been recording some music. The last few years have been crazy for me with all the new stuff going on with the element and and that kind of thing. So it's it's taken a backseat, which I hate, but I've played a lot more guitar this this year in 2024 than I have in a while, so still ride and still got a bunch of stuff I haven't recorded. It's just kind of expensive and you know I got kids that are growing up and playing sports and that kind of thing and it just makes it. You know you got to figure out how to prioritize things, you know. So it's always a battle.

Speaker 2: 29:42

Yeah, it is Well, and I, you know, as a musician myself too, there's those times where maybe the guitar for myself, the drum set maybe is not it gets a little dusty. You're still having those experiences in that life that you can kind of bring through. It's like always like that, that first album that a band puts out, right, it's like you've had those, whatever it is 16 to 18 years of life and living and you know you've, you've got all this stuff. And then it's like, if you're working with record company okay, where's the second one? You're like, hold on, I had a lot of years to draw from. And now it's like, you know, and then you talk about life on the road or whatever. You see a lot of bands that kind of have that, you know, sophomore album kind of thing too. But you know you pick it back up and and you know, like you said too, it's about prioritizing and it sometimes it's just hard to juggle all these irons in the fire, because you've had a lot and yeah, I'm, I'm excited to hear the new track, excited to hear the new music, and when you get a tour kicking again, let us know and we'll promote it and then also make sure that we show up and check it out live. Man, you guys got some great tunes, really love it. In fact, if you see your count of plays, the born for a time such as this, if it has spiked and someone has listened to it a hundred times in the last week, that'd be me.

Speaker 2: 30:57

When you burst, I think, like I started following you on Instagram and kind of it. I'm fairly new to it in in a spectrum, but like I got in and I was checking out Time the Trob and I saw that particular song and you have a clip that you had of Dave Grohl, foo Fighters, looking at Taylor Hawkins, the drummer, who has since passed away, and in that video you have that cued up. And you said I was talking about this particular moment when I wrote this song and I want you to dive into that. I have some personal connection with Dave and Taylor, but that song, man it's, it raises the hair on the back of my neck.

Speaker 2: 31:37

I get the feels my eyes start to well up, like it's such a beautiful song and thinking about that particular moment and then thinking about Dave when he's pausing, he's playing at the Taylor Memorial and, just like you know, the silence and then the cheers of like. I picture these moments and these snapshots in time and I really would like for you to lay it out, and I mean that that is a phenomenal song. So when did you get inspired to write it? Putting that song together, if you can just kind of maybe chat about it for a minute, because I think it's just a magnificent song and I'm glad you wrote that.

Speaker 1: 32:08

Thanks man, thank you, I mean, and thanks for the opportunity to talk about it. It's I'm like I am an emotional person, man, so like I, you know, like my wife is, is kind of the strong one most of the time, you know, and I'm like I fall apart all the time. You know, that's just the way I am man and I can't really do a whole lot about it, you know, because it just it just happens, man. I just I cry a lot, you know, because things mean a lot to me, you know, and people and, and so anyway, I, I, you know, that moment is a moment from live at Wimbledon and basically to me, what it looks like is happening is they're singing best of you, which is probably my favorite song ever, you know, and one of the best rock songs of all time. Like most people would agree that that are rock fans, you know, and so anyway, he's Dave singing it and he's been like all over the stage. There's like a probably a 80 yard catwalk that he's been running up and down and he's he's done this for two hours probably, you know, and he and he screams and just shreds his voice all night, you know, and in between lines, like not even when he's singing, you know, in between songs and this kind of thing, he's just a powerful singer, powerful entertainer and he gets to this moment where, you know, there's this kind of like breakdown and then this build back up in that song where it's like it takes a lot. And I know this personally.

Speaker 1: 33:46

There's this weird thing that happens in a three to five minute song where, like by the end of the song there's something that happens like cannot get the notes, you can't hit the notes as well, but like you take a pause for a couple minutes and don't do anything. You play a musical deal or whatever and transition into the next song. You're okay until later in that song or whatever, and your voice gets tired. But it's a weird thing that happens within that song. And this is happening to him at the time where he's like not able to get the hit the notes, essentially, you know. I mean it's just it's high, it's screaming, he's worn out and the rain is like coming down and they're wet and their hair is like soaked. And here's this guy who is like just a rock icon, and then his buddy behind him who is like his best friend and he's he's also a rock drummer icon especially, you know, drumming for one of the best rock drummers in the world, and he looks back at him, dave looks back at him and you can see Taylor kind of be like like a little nod and it's like you got this. Dude, you can do this, you know, and it's just this like beautiful moment where you know, two buddies are giving a lot of, you know, support to each other and leaning on each other. You know, and and, and I'm thinking about it, this, it's a weird.

Speaker 1: 35:09

I wrote this song in a weird way where, like it almost is just so abstract, like I hate to even explain it because it seems so weird and I don't like it feels normal to me because it's just the way I think about it. It also seems weird when I, when I vocalize what it's about, but essentially, you know, it's like I think about that moment, but more than anything, it's like this thing happened and I don't like celebrity deaths don't really affect me that much, you know, I don't really like, even like there's not a whole lot of people that I consider, in my point of view, a celebrity, you know, like I that so, but like when he, when he passed me, and that was like a big hit. That was like a part of my childhood, like going away. You know what I mean, um, the part of my high school experience, you know, just kind of like going to the wayside, and so it affected me, you know, and I I was sad for a few days, you know, uh, but I write this song where, like, I think about it, like, okay, there's this big thing in the news right now where the drummer has died for rock, iconic rock group, and, um, you know, it's the best for the lead singer. What's the lead singer going to say?

Speaker 1: 36:13

Everybody wants to know how's Dave going to react? Right, so for me, you know, I don't really know a whole lot about these people, so it just it. It's just me being introspective and thinking about, like, how would I charge myself to behave in this moment? Not necessarily, but at the same time, like I'm writing it as if I'm writing to Dave yeah, uh, like, hey, here here's my charge to you, as if he would ever hear it. You know what I mean, um, and so, essentially, it's like you have an opportunity now to kind of stand and stand in the way of like hey, here is something that like Like a guy who has wealth and is good at something and loved by so many people, can still just die. You know what I mean. And it can be over, like we were talking about earlier. Things can be over in a moment, right, and even, like for Dave, like it's unsure as to what was going to happen in that moment, like whether they're going to carry on or not or whatever. You know probably so much just wreck their world, you know. And so you have this opportunity to say like, well, how are you going to deal with this? Because that's what everybody's looking at, they're looking at how is Dave going to deal with this?

Speaker 1: 37:28

And to me, I was reading at the time, I was reading Esther, the book of Esther in the Bible, and there's a really powerful moment there that a lot of people have, you know, put quotes out about in this and that, but essentially in 414, mordecai says, you know, because Esther is scared that she's going to die if she speaks up, and Mordecai is like, well, maybe this is the moment that you were born for, this is the time that you were born to stand between evil and good, you know, and to say something. So that's just a powerful, powerful moment in the Bible as well. So I just at the time, that was like my hook line in the song and it was like charging Dave, like hey, this is the time you were born for, like you need to say something about. You know life and death. You know what I mean, like the two things that are assured of all of us that are alive and that will die. You know so. And I'm not like, I'm intense man, you know like, but I don't mean to be intense towards him or condemning or anything like that. It's just like. It was just a moment that I was thinking I can write a song about this, as if this is how I feel. You know, whatever, it's not that I would ever like think any less of Dave if he handled it a certain way, and I'm sure, and it certainly seems like he's handled it well. So anyway, that's kind of. That's kind of how the song came to fruition.

Speaker 1: 38:50

And I had a bunch of music written for the song before I ever wrote the melody and stuff like that. Like the intro, which is like a it's like this pattern of guitar, but it happens over two different chords, but it's the exact same pattern of guitar. And then I had like the, the, the change in, like the time signature as well. That happens throughout the middle. Like I had already written these parts to go together, which it kind of modulates to a different core, different key during that moment. But that chord is within, you know, like it just works really well. I'm not like a, I don't know a ton about music, I'm all self taught, you know. But but I was like I did struggle a little bit like putting those two parts together and what chords needed to bridge into so that it didn't just sound like two songs that shouldn't have gone together. You know what I mean. But yeah, all the backstory there for you. I'm pretty verbose man sometimes, so I'm sorry if I'm going too long on this stuff man, there's no apologies there.

Speaker 2: 39:53

That song like when the heat when when Taylor passed like it hit me too, like it was kind of I had the same thing with Nirvana man. I remember going and seeing them in December of 93 and it happened to be that Kurt played. They walk out and then one of the stage guys grabs a pick from his his mic stand and throws it out. I get my hand on top of it. Next thing I know this adult I'm like 14 then hits me in the head. I kind of black out, kind of I'm like trying to figure out what's up. Next thing I know the police officers are grabbing us, bringing us backstage and it's like do you have a parent here? Do you want to press charges? I'm still disoriented and I look over and here comes Kurt and Dave Grohl and they're coming to check on me and Kurt grabs the guitar pick.

Speaker 2: 40:35

He played the whole show with hands over to me and Dave's like hey hold on, let me get you some stuff, Got me some backstage paraphernalia and they checked on me and wanted to make sure they were fine and I was like ever since that moment I was like there's that connection to where I'm always like this guy is something super special, both of them. And then when Nirvana passed and it was like you know, it's rock and drummer man, those guys were like royalty for for that. And then later on down the road ended up getting to meet Taylor and hanging out with him and he did his tour of Taylor, taylor Hawkins and the Coat Tale writers back in like 0607, a place where there's like 18 people and probably two people know who it is. They're just like a local bar and Beaumont man it's like. And my buddy and I were like here we're helping them set up and everything and talking to them. And I've had all these connections and we had all these conversations and friends we knew and I had like a very real, like personal connection to these guys and although it hadn't been long hanging out, it's like we're buds. But there was something to me that both times, like when those things happened, I always felt like what's that like for him, like what's that like for Dave.

Speaker 2: 41:36

And at that particular day I remember listening to your song and it was just waterworks, man, and just all over again and Meg's like my wife's like you, okay, and I was like I remember I went and got some of the drumsticks that Taylor gave me and took a picture and just put a screenshot of about, like you know, kind of a nod to him and you know those things, that it's kind of a stranger. But, man, those were very powerful moments and it's that song. I still think about that moment and think about what it must be like for him to turn around and not see him anymore, and so I don't know, I'm very connected to that tune now. Man, I'm loving playing the heck out of it. So I might break Spotify I apologize in advance, it happens but now you write some amazing tunes and that's a very it's a really nice nod to Foo Fighters and your drummer. I got to give them credit there too and it's like there's a lot of respect and nods to Foo and to Taylor there. So it's a great tune.

Speaker 1: 42:26

And that's what we wanted. You know that my drummer is also a huge Foo Fighters fan, and was it? I mean, he was one of the first. Maybe he was the first person I probably texted when I found out that they're past, you know, and and because I mean a lot of his style has come from that influence and and so then when we went into record it, it was like dude, this has got you know, jordan is his name, this has got you written all over it. Dude, like you, just do what you know, do what's you, but also what's Taylor man, and that's what he wanted to do was. I mean, everything he did was just he's just man, he's such a good dude. I love Jordan and he just like he's very humble because he's he never wanted to do drum solos and I was like, man, I kind of need you to because I'm tired of singing, you know, but he wouldn't do it.

Speaker 2: 43:16

You know, but he was.

Speaker 1: 43:17

He's so talented. I mean he could have done a lot. I mean he's incredible man and like just something like you can hear the hi-hat clutches he does and stuff in there. I mean he's just like. He's so talented and and just also so humble and and and why I say that is because he, he really just wanted, he always wants what's best for the song and he thinks like if he thinks he can emulate somebody, he's like I don't have to make my own style or be my own person. It's like I'll, I'll give a nod to this guy because you know he influenced me or whatever, and so it turned out really great. I think he did. He always does a great job on the drums.

Speaker 2: 43:51

Indeed. No, it's a great nod, and I like to. In the music too, you kind of talk about that breakdown moment before musical breakdown, that moment where, like when they had to take a pause before they go in, that, like you know, that was kind of a source of inspiration. And then, even within that song, you guys have a buildup right at that four minute mark, man, where just kind of like it shakes a little pause and then brings it back up and it. I just love it. Man, it's a great one. I'm going to have a link down below. Everyone has to go listen to that. Make sure you subscribe and follow Tyler on the tribe as well. We could talk music all day.

Speaker 2: 44:21

I want to move into the next thing I want to chat about is, like when the elements started, you guys have been doing your podcast yourself filming. Obviously, you know Casey Smith is a hog killing man. I think he's 3000 plus now. He used to be hired by the county to go out and take him out to kind of. So there's like all these different things that I admire and follow and things of that nature, but I wanted to kind of really focus down in on the idea of where did you guys.

Speaker 2: 44:48

How did this connection with meat eater I mean, obviously the meat eater team and their family has picked up some other folks here in the last couple of years, you guys being one of them in your show and now you're under that umbrella and got some great exposure and a great team I mean wonderful people there and I kind of wanted to just chat about how that intersection happened and then what that has been like for you having another extra level of springboard behind you guys and your success and your reach. So if you could just maybe touch on that a little bit, Sure, yeah, thanks for the opportunity, man.

Speaker 1: 45:22

So you know, essentially and this man, this is like this is why I still just try to stay level headed and I try. I mean I don't when I shoot a deer or whatever, I don't feel like, just don't feel like it's me, man, you know, like I try hard, I'm disciplined, like you said earlier, I'm actually really hard headed and I don't think those are like great things all the time. You're like disciplined, sure, but like hardheadedness, or you know perseverance not like perseverance would be considered a good word and I think like what are you pursuing? You know, is really what more you know is the, you know what denominates, you know whether perseverance is good or not, you know. So if I'm pursuing, you know, like celebrity or fame or whatever, then I don't think that that perseverance is a great thing. So I have to always and I'm always balancing this stuff, I'm always thinking about like what am I actually doing, what am I pursuing? And so you know I have these qualities but I don't feel like like I feel like I'm just given great opportunities sometimes, man, and I'll. That hardheadedness is what kind of has delivered a lot of that, I think, because I'll just stay with something until I'm successful.

Speaker 1: 46:37

But at the same time, like I have to look at like like my parents are not, like they were not wealthy when I was growing up. They weren't poor either, like we were lower middle class, but like they still have given, like they've sacrificed a lot to be to for me. You know, like I mean even just like when I bought that first house that I was talking about, we did the recording in. You know, I didn't have a down payment because I was fresh out of college and this is before NIL deals and I'm newly wed we don't you know, and my wife is like still finishing college. I'm turning a band. I'm making like 600 bucks per week, you know, maybe, and actually I bet it was less than that, and I know for when we were first married I didn't even make money in the band and so just making not a whole lot got a new. Like we were married when I had my first kid. We were married 13 months, so we had a kid, like quick, you know.

Speaker 1: 47:41

So things were scary and but my you know my parents were they. This was a good deal on this house during the recession. That was a foreclosure. I needed a lot of work and I was willing to work on it. But they paid a down payment and I, when I sold the house, I offered to pay it back to my daddy when let me, and I paid for the house the whole time.

Speaker 1: 48:02

I paid every, every monthly payment, but like I wouldn't ever had it without them, you know, and there's just things, man, that, like my parents have done her grandparents especially have done for us, you know, and I just am so thankful. And these are things that people don't have, like a lot of people don't have parents or grandparents that can give extra to help out. And so I just want to, like, I want to start this conversation with the disclaimer that, like, maybe I'm not that special and maybe I just have an opportunity because of some people in my life. And if you don't have those opportunities, then maybe you don't have a chance to just stick your neck out and make no money for a long time, because you know your fallback plan is like your parents will take care of you if you do fall, you know and I never had that moment that I really needed.

Speaker 1: 48:56

I mean, there was times when I needed money and there was times when my dad would hand me a hundred in college or whatever, you know, when I came home, but like there, you know, I never like was like, hey, I need five grand to pay for this or whatever, and you know so. But I was close several times, you know. So I just want to, you know, to make sure that people know that like I am blessed man and I have had an opportunity above and beyond what a lot of people have had, because they don't have a parachute to fall back into, you know. And so, with that being said now you know I was able to during the element early years. I was able to, you know, we were just so poor man, like both Casey and I, because he was kind of self-employed carpenter and I was working at my parents' lodge for not a whole lot of money, but you know it was something and we just we were had flexible schedules so we're able to do a lot of element stuff too. And then when I sold that house, I took all the money I made on that house and it basically took. It basically took almost. I think it was like it's going to be three or four years four years before I was able to pay myself and I basically spent all the money I made on the house from like a foreclosure recession, buy and rehab and sell. Like the money I made off of that after selling. Eight years later I pretty much wasted all of it in trying to like essentially living expenses while I edited videos on the couch at home. You know what I mean. Yeah, it was risky, but at the same time my wife had a decent job as a teacher, which they don't get paid very much but it's enough.

Speaker 1: 50:40

We're pretty simple people and anyway, so I in those early years we were able to kind of make it to some different like media summits and these kind of things and these events just a few here and there and ATA and this kind of thing. We meet a guy who's a buddy of mine that worked at Sica for a while and when we met him he was at Sica, went to Wild Cheap and then ended up at Medeater and so that's that was our connection. And again, like I don't feel super like, it's not like I just impressed Medeater or whatever, and that's how it happened, because I did something great. It's like I knew a guy that thought, hey, these guys are doing it pretty good in the whitetail space and Medeater is kind of a Western deal, but you know, we like our whitetail guys and we we need to add a few more, and just he went to bat force. We were able to go do this thing and the job's been a blessing.

Speaker 1: 51:35

But it's also very tough, like there's, you know, there's this thing where like there's a little more financial stability but there's like a lot less freedom, and also even like there's this weird thing where mediators, like fan base is pretty vastly different a lot of times from then from me and KC, I mean, where Texans, we don't sound like a lot of them, we don't even sound like many other people at the company, you know, or any maybe, and we Think things really practically very redneck a lot of times, Very utilitarian. So you know, some the ways we hunt is like we, when we go out, I mean we need to kill something. You know, because for a business thing and for just like this is the way we've all we've always hunted, right, it's not. I'm not going out to walk in the woods. Yeah, yeah, after dinner I walk in the woods with my kids or my wife, and that's fun, you know.

Speaker 2: 52:42

I do it. Yeah, I'm going hunting.

Speaker 1: 52:45

You know I mean the. The object is to kill something. It's not really to think about Aldo Leopold, you know I mean. So if I want to do that, I can do that in a book at home, you know, or whatever. And you know that that's just. I'm not trying to be spiteful or anything when I say that, but like no, no, no, no, that's just it's, it's different, and so we have, we've been received Well and it's that, that kind of silent majority I think that I have to keep reminding myself of.

Speaker 1: 53:10

But there's also this very vocal group that that loves some of the guys at meat eater that maybe Don't love KC and I, and so when we put a video out on the meat eater channel, I can't read comments anymore, like I cannot look at them. It will ruin my whole day, man and people. I think people don't think that anybody ever reads those things, you know. So they just make these wild comments sometimes, but like I did read them when I first joined and like I've since, just it's been months and months now that I Will not. So I'll still read element comments on our YouTube channel. You know the element YouTube channel, but it's just different. We just attracted a different crowd there.

Speaker 2: 53:51

I guess that aligns more with who we are, you know so yeah, well, I think it's important to Not not read those comments in that sense. You know, it's one thing if it's constructive or something like that, but that's normally not the case online and especially when people decide they're gonna leave comments. You know, like some of this stuff, I've read on things I posted like ouch, what, why'd you even come on and you put the time to put that negativity out there, like Someone give that guy a hug, like you know.

Speaker 1: 54:20

Yeah, it's.

Speaker 1: 54:21

I mean, if somebody I'm not afraid of like you know, having some sort of you know discussion about something which I'm not really trying to do in a YouTube comment anyway, but it's like when you attack the way, I look, you know, or you know, just there's some, there's some randomly odd Things that you know come up, and I think what I really like is to have conversations with people in YouTube comments that are like, hey, why are you using that broad head or whatever you know, and it's like okay, well, I'll answer this person.

Speaker 1: 54:55

They seem like somewhat rational and they're wanting to know you know, or like, hey, it's really, it's really cool deal that y'all did and I don't need to like, I don't need them to tell me how cool I am, but like this is a cool opportunity on public land in Texas or whatever. Maybe you know, like those are, those are things that I'm like, man, this is, this is the community I want to be a part of. You know, whereas when it's people just tearing people down, you know it's just it's, it's a struggle for me. So I've had to, I've had to scale back on that a lot. You know, youtube's a wild place, man. It's while it is.

Speaker 2: 55:27

I mean you've been there for a while. You know that's like an especially get that next level of exposure With joining a team like that too. You're gonna get that next level of you know that. Many more those types of comments, but all those other fans because I know a lot of people love watching you guys. It's nice to have some representation in the state of Texas and seeing that.

Speaker 2: 55:46

I mean you go elsewhere too but you know getting a little piece of home, your hog hunt and stuff that's you know left and right, what we see around here and all throughout Texas very hog, heavy state and different things you're teaching along the way. It's educational, it's informative and it's fun and you guys are just good, genuine people, good hearts, and I think it plays well for Many audiences. So I I see it as multiple success and I'm glad that there's another spotlight on there and you know gives you a medium for your message and you sharing who you are authentically as well as KC. So those are important things before we go. I figure I just kind of let people Know a couple things that they can check out, like you guys did a series called the buck truck. You're traveling around hunt and is that going to be? Are we gonna see another season of buck truck this next year coming up?

Speaker 1: 56:35

So, essentially, buck truck is just a title for what we've always done, essentially so, and it's different. It's. There is some differences, you know, like what we. So buck truck was actually something we were, we were, they, we were assigned to do before we ever even joined me eater. So we did.

Speaker 1: 56:56

When, when they, when we came up with this idea of buck truck and pitched it to them, we had been in talks about us doing a series for them on whitetail to put on their YouTube channel and there was no talks of Us being hired by them, essentially. So when we came up with this idea, it was like, okay, we're gonna produce this like nothing we've ever done before. We had got two new interns that like had never really run a camera and we get them in August and we're starting to hunt in September, you know, and so like we got a crash course for like two weeks and then we take off and go start producing buck truck. So there's like there's some definite like and people probably don't see the stuff, but I see like I'm like man, there's some rough stuff there, you know, but it's cool and I think people enjoy some of that raw aspect a little bit. You know, yeah, there's, you know, as long as they're not getting sick. But you know that it was it was a really.

Speaker 1: 57:52

I mean it was. It was so much fun to put together it took. It was the longest, hardest project I've ever put together too, because there was a ton of footage and, instead of doing what we normally do, would do was which is like okay, when there's like a cool story and an Encounter with a deer, whether you kill it or not, if it's like decent footage and we think it can make like a 20 minute video, then let's make a video about it, put it out, you know, let people see that that little meaty story. And we thought more along the lines like, okay, we're gonna make a big story Around it at an entire trip and we're gonna make one video out of it. And I mean like, sometimes, like in our in our Kansas buck truck I mean we could have easily made that two videos probably, you know, because there's two two big deer get killed in it, but it makes a really cool long video to and the entire story really is cool. And I think that we had the challenge there with buck truck was a couple of things was it was taking five guys on the road, so three camera guys essentially, and and most like a lot of public land and and going and trying to kill deer on Public land, on the road, and with KC's help he had a great season that year. With his help we I mean we we killed deer everywhere we went and it was a great like said a great deal.

Speaker 1: 59:18

The other challenge we had was taking like we had Clay Newcomb and Mark Kenyon show up on that and Tony Peterson show up on that series, and so we take these, these other storylines, and this was was hard for me. It's like I edited the whole thing. I only saw my perspective when I was on the hunt. So going through footage, like I have to figure out I almost have to watch all the footage of KC's hunt and Mark's multiple times yeah, like to understand.

Speaker 1: 59:47

So then wrapping my mind around that, and then I would put it all on the timeline and it might be five hours and I'm like, okay, we can't put a five-hour video on meat eaters YouTube channel. You know they at the time they wanted us to do like 28 minutes was the top, the length they want us to do. They come from TV, so they think 22 minutes has to be done, that for so long. And then we're like, oh, you know what's the longest we can do 28 minutes. And I start editing this stuff and I'm like and somehow I talked to me until like it's like maybe 45, and then we put one that was like 52 minutes, you know ever.

Speaker 2: 1:00:21

We worked it out, but it ended up great.

Speaker 1: 1:00:23

You know, like the series they thought did really well. It released in May, which is a really bad time to release deer hunting videos, and it still did pretty well. So they were happy. But, yeah, that wrapping my mind around that five-hour storyline, even once I get it down there, I'm like trying to understand what 45 minutes or less looks like, or so you know, like man that was, it was the toughest editing thing I'd ever done, man.

Speaker 1: 1:00:49

And Look, luckily, or thankfully, we were able to to rain it all in, put it all together. We ended up producing. We're only supposed to do six videos. We actually had seven.

Speaker 1: 1:00:57

So you know, everything just worked out really well and I guess what I, what I would say is that, going forward and in looking at the past, it was what we had done. It was just edited in a bigger, longer format. You know, yeah, and so it's the same thing that we did and it's the same thing we did this year, but this year we had a little more. We went, we like kind of split the difference between what we used to do and what we did on buck truck, where we're like we really the guys have gotten really good on the cameras really fluent and and they do a really good job, and so now our like Our footage is top-notch. Casey and I both had a good year this year and when I think, like some of the stories and stuff where we're starting to get better at storytelling, that's been a big point of mine to get better at Because I think in our generation man and I'm sorry if I'm going over your time here- it's all, good man Go on.

Speaker 1: 1:01:55

I think that in our I think in our generation, there's a little bit of loss of the ability to tell stories well because of you got to grab people's attention. It's just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like if I don't grab your attention in five seconds, like you're out. You know what I mean. And people are used to that now that are growing up, 20-something year olds are like sure They've been, you know, catered to and that short attention span their whole life. That's they're used to. And so I noticed this with my band actually. So our youngest member, he's real fast-paced kind of guy in his mind, you know, and I noticed that I couldn't tell him stories, like he wouldn't grab on to the store. He would like get distracted within seconds if I didn't get out what I was trying to say really quick. So I started talking like getting out points very quickly. Well, you know, in this video world, you know that I'm producing videos. I'm like man, I got to just be able to tell a story better. I got to do it better so that I can keep people's attention for more than five seconds, but at the same time I don't have to, like you know, do you know, sell out or whatever too much on that side of things, you know, or or just do stuff that's cheap, you know. So Anyway, that's been a big focus of mine. My sister is actually an author and super smart book smart. She's valedictorian, you know, and so so I've like leaned on her a little bit to try to understand how to write better. She's actually getting her masters right now in, I guess, english or some sort of it, and so she, you know, she has like some really high-level stuff, and she'll ask me, like we kind of go back and forth, because she'll get some ideas from me on certain things, especially In the outdoors, and it's weird how she'll connect these outdoor elements no pun intended to like literary elements and and right, like some sort of dissertation you know about it or whatever. So, anyway, that's that's where now, like we're trying to make we're pursuing the best White-tailed deer hunting video content that has been made. That's what we're trying, that's what our goal is right Now, like I said earlier, like to be the goat.

Speaker 1: 1:04:07

You know there's sacrifices, right, and so I got it. I'm always keeping in mind like, well, am I sacrificing too much? Because if I am, then I want to back off and maybe it's not worth being the best at this, but, honestly, the sports world has just millions and millions and millions of people trying to be the goat. The deer hunting world is, you know there's there's a lot, but Much smaller pool, so maybe it doesn't take quite as much sacrifice as like to be Tom Brady or to be LeBron or Michael Jordan or whatever. Maybe it doesn't take that, you know. So maybe I can get by with it and that's what we're pursuing for now. It's to try to make the best stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:04:49

When you talk about like the, the visual elements, the visual cinematic side of things, the storytelling and and and then just like the ability to like for somebody to leave and be like man, that was satisfying. I want to go back and watch that again. You know that's that's just what we want to do, man. We want people to want to watch deer hunting because it helps everybody in the hunting industry. If people at the end of the day or like it's actually not, and I think that's the, that's the pursuit of meat eater too, you know.

Speaker 1: 1:05:19

I think meter, probably before we ever started, was, was that. You know they wanted to produce something that lots of people could look at and say that wasn't distasteful. You know this is a little bit counter cultural of you know hunting TV in the 90s and 2000s and you know they can, they can leave, and the problem is Casey and I are maybe just a little more distasteful sometimes. Then the media crew crew try not to be. But you know, I mean you're kind of a product of the way you grew up and and Culturally Texas is just different than Montana or Michigan or New Jersey or whatever you know.

Speaker 2: 1:05:56

So it is man. Well, you guys you've done such a wonderful job. I feel like your intention, your focus, your heart and everything is in the right place and I think it shines through man and it just, you know it's already amazing content. It's gonna continue to get better and better and I'm just excited to see the journey as it unfolds and in the years to come Before we leave. I had a question. It kind of relates a little bit to, maybe, what it is you're hoping to do and that's about your own legacy I wanted to ask you about, like what is it that you hope, professionally and personally, to be able to leave behind the work You're doing now? Why is it important? What is it that you want to kind of have Be the thing that echoes on after you're done? You know, in this, you know, area of your life?

Speaker 1: 1:06:41

Man, yeah, that's a good question. So I'm trying, I I'm this is this is a hard one to answer, because it's actually not that hard to answer. I just know that, like these public platforms, I don't want to feel preachy. You know, I don't want, I don't want to feel it come off that way. So I apologize if that's the way, but I'm just gonna. I answer frankly and and truthfully. That's just the way I try to do things and so you know, for me they Really the only legacy that matters when I look at things is is like spiritually, you know. So I think about, I've been thinking about this a lot.

Speaker 1: 1:07:26

I have a look, I carry a little bit of guilt that my son is 12. He's never killed a deer and there's, it's a little bit, there's a lot going on there. One thing I bought him a cheap 410 when he was like five and Made him shoot it and he busted him his face hard with it, you know, and so like. Since then he's hated any sort of guns, you know, for the most part, and he actually likes duck hunting, but you know it took him a long time to get to where he would shoot without me having to like almost threaten him to shoot his gun, you know, and, and so there's a little bit of that going on. There's a lot of Me pursuing a career, so every time I'm hunting I'm like I gotta have a camera in the woods and I gotta film what's going on and I I feel really guilty about that and so like. But a big part of my legacy that I intend, the biggest part that I want to like carry on, is that when, when, like, when I pass away, man, I want my kids to remember me as somebody who was bold for the gospel and who would in every instance not just on George's podcast or the Elmett podcast or the Meteor podcast, you know proclaim that gospel. But even in those moments when me and them, one of my kids, are at the convenience store and I see an opportunity to say, hey, do you know Jesus? And let me tell you a little about it, without being the guy on the street corner with the megaphone, but more just like hey, this is a personal thing and I intend to not just this be a fleeting moment between you and I. This is something that I take very seriously and relationally, and so that's kind of like that is what I would like my legacy to be for them. I want them to see that like, hey, this is what he believes and this is his lifestyle. This isn't just something that he puts on for TV or whatever.

Speaker 1: 1:09:40

And hunting it would be great that my son would like to hunt and hunt a bunch. He loves fishing. So I mean I already got him hooked there, no pun intended, but like I mean, the hunting thing is, it's a little bit. He was like he's a lot like me, doesn't like loud noises too much. I never did.

Speaker 1: 1:10:00

When I was a kid I had, you know, like my mom loves to tell the story about when I was at SeaWorld one time and people were losing their mind about Shamu, you know whatever, and I just did this and was like everybody be quiet, yeah, I couldn't take it. So he's kind of like that and I think the gun thing is kind of hard for him. Yeah, I've been able to get him out with a crossbow some, we just haven't haven't killed one and so. But that would be like for me, the him to love hunting and fishing and just to know that like they have an emotional but intense but loving dad.

Speaker 1: 1:10:36

You know that things mean a lot to him and I take things seriously. I like that's, that's probably the most important things kind of in the secular world that I would, I would kind of want them to to take away. As far as legacy goes, now, if you're talking maybe like you know, like a legacy amongst people that don't know me, it would probably that's a hard one to answer. Actually, I don't. I don't know if I have an answer for that one. I just don't really think a lot about like what I want people to remember me by that. I don't know. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 1:11:15

It's. It's a different kind of thing there too, cause it's it's a trivial kind of pursuit of you don't really know what they would think otherwise, or if they even have some. You know, it's one of those YouTube commenters or whatever is it like who cares and then some expense. You know your family, your friends, the people you work with. You know your community, your church. Those people are the ones who really matter as far as you know what you'll respect their thoughts, opinions, feelings and kind of. That is maybe a measure of where you're at as a man, as a man of faith, as a hunter or whatever it is like. You know, those are the people that you're, those opinions and and thoughts that matter. So it's a yeah, I like how you you put that too.

Speaker 1: 1:11:52

It doesn't really it kind of, in my opinion, it doesn't matter the people you don't know it's, it's you know, I just think I, when I think about, like you know, evangelical stuff, it's like it just I never am, I've never been, and I don't know if this is me just like being scared or fearful. I try to think about this a lot but I don't feel like it is. But I never have been like man. I need to, just, you know, go to some random person and, you know, immediately get into what they believe spiritually and what's going to happen when they die. When they die, I'm a lot more like man. Can I get to know this person and they trust that I am who I am?

Speaker 1: 1:12:32

Because people don't trust anything anymore, you know, especially with the news, all the news blunders that's happened, you know, in the last five years or whatever. It's like nobody trusts anything anymore. We got AI making fake stuff, you know. So, like the only way people are going to trust you, in my opinion, is to be like personally involved with them and to show them that you care and then, and then that's when you know things are, you know, presented that actually changed lives, I think you know. So that's kind of the way, the way I've always been. So I guess, going back to what you were saying. It's hard to like put any weight on what other people think about you that don't really know you.

Speaker 2: 1:13:14

Yeah, yeah, no, it's important. Well, I really appreciate what you shared and opening up and kind of talking about all sorts of different avenues of your life and beliefs, and I definitely would love to chat with you more. I know you got something going on today. I do as well. I know you've got some really cool things coming up. I know you're going to be hunting here in Texas doing some turkey hunting with Casey and with Jesse Griffith, some mutual friend of ours. Can't wait to see that. I know there's some other things coming down the pike too, so I want everyone to go and follow your journey, all the different things you guys are putting out. So if you can kind of just take a quick minute, throw the websites the you know the handles where people can follow your journey and learn more about you and your hunting world, and music as well, please.

Speaker 1: 1:13:54

Yeah, thanks, man, and I would say this has been awesome, dude, and I think you're a really good interviewer and I think people should continue to listen to this podcast if they're listening at this point because it's you do a really good job, man. You've got things together, man. You do a great job with this. So I appreciate the opportunity and I hope that you know this journey goes well for you, man. It's you know it can be tough at times and beat you down emotionally and mentally, you know, but just keep going, man, you do a good job of it.

Speaker 2: 1:14:27

So appreciate it, and talking to people like you, man, that's really what it's all about Making those connections, those sincere, true connections, and make chat with great people. It's something that I find personally fulfilling, and I think that your story and other people is that we've chatted with, are worth sharing, and I just want to be a conduit for that and that goodness out in the world, because we need it. So that means a lot to me. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:14:48

Yeah, dude for sure. So, really like what we probably put our most effort into is you've maybe seen as the YouTube channel, which you know you can see some of our stuff at Mediator and in fact, we have to put out we're kind of not have to, but we're, we are putting out a lot of our best stuff on Mediator, but not all of it. So but but the previous six or seven years that, like has the element channel has the best of the best of that, you know. So there's a lot of great stuff to look at there. I think we've got 450 or more videos. I wouldn't watch them all y'all. There's some bad ones, there's some real bad ones, but there's some really good ones too. So, and you'll be able to see those, probably based off of view count as much as anything. So, but the element YouTube channel is where I appreciate the most support. If I'm being frank, the more people that subscribe on the element YouTube channel, the better it looks towards the Mediator company.

Speaker 1: 1:15:50

You know, for me, and I just want to, I just and really I just want them to know that they made a good move by hiring Casey and I. You know what I mean. That's what I just want them to have some to know, like, okay, well, we did the right thing here and we're not like always hated when I toured. I always hated headlining and it being like February, it being like 10 degrees. Nobody wants to go out, it's icy on the road and like you, just, you know you told the guy you probably thought there'd be a you know 75 to 120 people there and you end up with 15, you know, and it's like dead and you got to face that guy at the end of the night that's paying you and he's like man, I thought y'all have a better night. You know it's hardly worth keeping the place open for you know, and like I know I don't mean sorry. You know I hated disappointing people and that's what I. That's kind of the point of me. You know, telling people to subscribe to us and hopefully meat eater knows they made a good investment there but that you can see some good stuff at the buck truck series on meat eater YouTube channel. We're putting out kind of some one-off stuff on the media YouTube channel as well A lot of hog hunting stuff, some deer hunting stuff, and it'll continue. We'll have some pronghorn videos and some elk videos come out later this summer on the meat eater channel and on our channel as well, still lots of deer hunting stuff and, like you were saying earlier, we do like to teach a little bit and so we'll have like some how-to's and this and that we're doing.

Speaker 1: 1:17:27

We did we canned venison for the first time the other day and made a video about it. So it's kind of like here's what we did wrong and here's what thought, how it turned out. You know what, what was right, so some of that kind of stuff. And then the YouTube or the Instagram handle is the element wild. So just add wild to the end there, because I think it was going to be a lot of money to buy the element. You know, I think there was a rapper called the element a while back maybe, or something like that. So yeah, that wasn't an option for us. But yeah, you can check us out on Facebook if that's easier for you. I don't even know we dabbled in TikTok, but TikTok's real strict about oh yeah, shot, you know. So I don't think we have anything there. So pretty much you know anything. You know Instagram is a good place, facebook's a good place and then YouTube is where we really we work really hard to bring, like the coolest stuff that we can.

Speaker 2: 1:18:27

So well, y'all definitely do and I suggest you guys, all the places you just mentioned, go, follow them, have all the links below and make sure you go to Spotify or wherever Apple Music, wherever you listen to music, type in Tyler in the tribe look for the new tracks. I know you got the other one coming on February 9th.

Speaker 2: 1:18:43

Every time that'll drop and there'll be many more to come to great music. Make sure you guys go check out the track we were talking about, worn for a time such as this. Again, I'll have the links down below. It is phenomenal song and hey, tyler, this has been great man. I really, really appreciate you coming on. Thank you for sharing yourself with all the listeners and, yeah, we can't wait to see what you guys got coming next man.

Speaker 1: 1:19:04

Yeah, it's been a great time. It's been a good time. You know I forget that I even play music anymore sometimes. So I appreciate the plug. That song is actually. The song that's coming is a song I wrote for my wife for our 10-year anniversary. I miss our anniversary every year because it's 1st of October or 2nd of October and I'm always hunting. So I wrote it as like and I went and recorded it preemptively so that I could give it to her in an email while I was gone on that trip Nice, which worked out really well for me, except for that to go record it. It was during like it was like early season and it was like kind of it was not a fun, like hey, I got to go record some music, even though I don't really play music for a living anymore, you know so and she was not happy in that moment. She said I couldn't tell her, I couldn't spoil it Right, right right.

Speaker 1: 1:19:57

So but yeah, that one will be out. It's a different kind of song. It's not something I really intended to release to the public, but the guy recording it for me gave me a discount If I did ever release it. You know he's like, if you release this man, I'll give you a discount. So I was like, okay, all right. So that's why we're releasing this song. It's a personal song but you know, I think people will appreciate it too. So I appreciate the opportunity to come on George and just promote all the stuff. Man, it means a lot.

Speaker 2: 1:20:23

Great man. Well, hey, looking forward to meeting up in person some day, or in the field, and until that day, you guys take care, keep doing what you're doing and thank you for sharing everything.

Speaker 1: 1:20:32

Yeah, we'll see you, man.

Speaker 2: 1:20:33

All right, thank you.