The third MS fundraiser is happening on June 29 at Bottom Lounge. Returning guest/longtime friend Stubhy Pandav (Lucky Boys Confusion, Super Happy Fun Club, Shock Stars, etc.) joins me to talk about the event, as well as living with MS. Joining him in the conversation are MS Sucks team members Dan Volz and Lizz Lukes.
And because Stubhy and I have been friends forever, I just had them all come over so we could record the podcast in my backyard.
See MS Sucks on June 29, featuring the Dog and Everything, AM Taxi, Super Happy Fun Club and Night Spice!
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The summer season at Ravinia kicks off next month… and there’s no place more comfortable to see outdoor shows.
Load up your picnic basket and head to the show… or take advantage of some of Ravinia’s outstanding food options inside the park.
Violent Femmes are set to do an album play of their debut album with the Chicago Philharmonic. It’s been hard for me to imagine stripped down songs like Gone Daddy Gone and Add It Up done with a classical collaboration. Get tickets and see the full schedule at ravinia.org.
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Transform your living space with cutting-edge home automation. Experience seamless control over audio/video, lighting, climate, security, and more. Embrace the future of smart living – your home, your rules.
Get a quote by visiting Easy-automation.net, or call Dan at 630.730.3728
TRANSCRIPT
It’s Car Con Carne.
We’re not in the car for this, I’m going to read a quick, quick sponsored message or two.
Are you guys okay?
Can you talk amongst yourself?
Yeah.
Okay.
This is Car Cone Carne, a Q101 podcast.
I’m James VanOsdol.
Car Cone Carne, sponsored by Ravinia.
The summer season of Ravinia is here.
The summer season is here, Stubhy.
And it’s really one of the greatest places on earth to see music, to hear music, to consume music in the great outdoors.
Load up your picnic basket, head to the show, head to Highland Park.
Or if you don’t want to pack a picnic basket, take advantage of what Ravinia has to offer on site.
Tons of food options there.
Violent Femmes, as we record this in the beginning of June, Violent Femmes doing an album play at Ravinia of that very first album, the self-titled one, the one we all know with Gone Daddy Gone and Blister and the Sun and Kiss Off.
Except they’re doing it with the Chicago Philharmonic.
That’s what I’m saying.
Oh wow.
The Femmes and the Philharmonic, that’s happening at Ravinia this year.
Also, so many good things coming up.
Roger Daltrey, they have legitimate rock gods coming.
Daltrey, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are coming up.
Los Lobos, JD McPherson is coming.
ZZ Top is coming to Ravinia.
So much good stuff.
Go to ravinia.org to find out more and to get tickets.
Also, a smart home, this is unrelated to Ravinia, a smart home connects virtually all the technology in your home.
With an easy automation installed smart home system, you and your family can control nearly every device and system in the house in ways that are easy and fun to use, fun to use, Stubhy.
Transform your living space with cutting edge home automation, experience seamless control over audio, video, lighting, climate, security and more.
Embrace the future of smart living, your home, your rules, motherfucker.
Get a quote by visiting easyautomation.net easyautomation.net or call Dan, my guy Dan, at 630-730-3728.
I’m in my backyard.
It just seemed easier.
I live very close to one of my guests today.
A returning guest, a returning favorite, a long time friend and favorite, Stubhy, Stubhy Pandav of Lucky Boys Confusion, of Super Happy Fun Club.
I could just go right down the LinkedIn profile.
As it pertains to this recording, MS Sucks, MS Sucks, the third event, MS Sucks happening at Bottom Lounge on June 29th.
Joining us for this conversation, not band members, MS Sucks teammates.
We have Dan Volz, the raffle coordinator for this year’s MS Sucks event.
And Lizz Lamphere, Lamphere?
Oh no, that’s my maiden name.
You’re taking it back, Stubh.
I’ve been married for almost 20 years at this point.
You’re always gonna be Lizz Lamphere to me.
Like, I can’t change that.
No, I-
How dare you call her by her government name?
Seriously.
No, but hold on.
There’s another funny one.
So Pat married Joe’s sister, Angie.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, of course you know them.
Yeah, yeah, sorry.
But Pat from Super Happy Fun Club married Angie’s Joe self from Lucky Boys sister.
And I had them on the guest list for a show a long time ago.
And he’s like, yeah, Pat texted me on the day of the show.
He’s like, hey man, sorry to bother.
I would never bother you on the day of the show.
I, you know that, but I’m not on the list.
And you told me I was on the list.
And I’m like, you’re on the list.
And, you know, we’ll go back and forth.
So I reach out to Jason, who’s turned on the list.
He’s like, yeah, dude, Angie Stahl’s on the list.
I’m like, oh.
I don’t know, I just can’t change it, man.
So what is your last name?
My last name is Lukes.
Lukes, yes, Lizz Lukes is here, of course.
By the way, as you talk about guest lists, this is such like a one percenter problem that doesn’t apply to many people.
I’ve been on guest lists before.
I stress out whenever I’m put on a guest list because nine times out of 10, you’re not on it.
Yeah.
And it’s the most anxiety inducing thing.
I went to, I was on the guest list for The Hives, which was a fantastic show at Bottom Lounge.
By the way, Bottom Lounge, the place where you can go see MS Sucks on June 29th.
I was on the guest list and I went with my friend who owns a music venue.
And I said, I’m on the list.
I want you to know as a venue owner how stressful this is for me.
I’m anxious going to the front of the line.
Sure enough, got to the front of the line.
My plus one had vanished.
So here’s my plus one.
Here’s my plus one.
So that resulted in like 30 minutes of phone calls and scrambling.
Like, no, seriously, help me out.
Bro, you need to get to the line, man.
Yeah, that’s it.
So I stress out whenever I’m on a guest list and the lesson, the moral of the story, just buy a goddamn ticket.
I was going to say that, or you should have just texted Kevin.
That’s what I did.
That’s problem solved.
Yep.
But luckily, like you were saying, like it’s a one percenter problem and oh no, poor us.
Luckily, we usually know somebody at the venue, you know, like between you and me, like usually know somebody after 25 years of doing this, you longer, but like you just kind of-
Because I’m older.
He is older.
Well, I mean, I’m sorry, but I’m just thinking about something.
I had a conversation this weekend after a couple of practices and some other music stuff that we were doing.
And they’re like, oh, you’ve had an interesting career or whatever.
And they’re like, you know, have you ever just been like, I’m so thrown back, I can’t talk from meeting somebody.
And I’m like, no, no, once.
Oh, yeah, once.
James Van Alzen, when I first met him, I swear to God, I couldn’t talk.
I was like, but you’re on the radio.
What are you doing here?
Why are you standing in front of me?
Shouldn’t you be in the little car speakers?
I have a picture from the MS Sucks one show with JBO.
And I tell people all the time, like literally Chicago radio royalty.
And I got to meet the guy.
I have a picture with him.
No, you’re in my backyard.
I know I’m in his backyard.
I’m like starstruck.
It’s crazy.
He like pointed at me in the picture, which is awesome.
And the thing about that kind of stuff is like with the thing with that, with like a musician, sure, I guess, like you’re listening to their music.
Maybe there’s a band that you listen to every day or whatever, or there’s an author that you read frequently.
But like the thing that you don’t understand, and I’m sure you do understand, but like the thing that affected our lives was that we listen to every day.
Every single day.
And the thing is that you were talking, and just like I am with my editor for the book I’m writing, I leave comments for her all the time.
So I talk to her all the time.
She doesn’t talk to me until I send in the edit.
You talk to me every day.
And like you would say things like, are you excited guys?
I’m like, yeah, I am.
You know, like I’m like, yeah, I am excited, man.
So that’s a weird relationship with the guy on the radio.
And we don’t have that anymore.
You have that a little bit with podcasts, right?
You do because you get, well, actually podcasts might even be better because you get a full like hour of it.
Instead of like a talk between a song.
It’s a cool thing.
It’s a different thing than a different kind of artist.
All right, I want to talk about MS Sucks.
I don’t want to talk about me.
We want to talk about you, JVM.
June 29th at Bottom Lounge, it’s the Dog and Everything.
It is AM Taxi, the return of Super Happy Fun Club.
That’s right.
And Night Spice, a nice varied bill.
Four very different sounding bands, all connected in some way, shape or form, but four very different sounding bands.
Last time we, previously on AM Taxi, we saw a stripped down taxi.
And stripped down dog, yeah.
And a stripped down dog, so this will be fun.
Yeah, they’re playing full band.
Dog’s playing full band too.
And I thought about, should we do it again since they just did it?
But that was like the day before New Year’s.
I mean, that was a long time ago and they were acoustic.
So this is going to be special.
So it’s going to be different.
And yeah, I’m really pumped that they both.
And I got to say, it was the most like a heartwarming experience asking both of those bands to play.
And because.
I think it’s meaningful for you.
It’s it’s awesome because those they.
They can go play another show and make money.
And they didn’t.
I’m like, guys, I’ll get you something.
I’ll get you.
They’re like, stop.
We want to do this.
We want to support you.
And I don’t know.
And I get it.
Like, you know, AM Taxi, obviously, we’re very close.
Dog and Everything, you know, very close and Night Spice, you know.
But it’s it’s wonderful to see how many people.
The world’s a tough place out there right now.
These kind of charity shows kind of make differences disappear, you know, makes people go, hey, we all care about helping people that are sick, no matter what our social or political liens are.
And it’s just nice to see everybody just go, I don’t need your money.
I don’t want your money.
I got this.
I got, you know, that’s sweet.
Well, I think what’s nice too is the fact that like, we’ve all grown up with these same bands.
And like you guys have all played at the same shows for many, many years.
And, you know, even going back to the teenage years.
So to now be in your 40s and all reconnecting for such a good cause, it’s, I think it’s pretty cool.
I love it.
I just, you just made me remember that I think the first, at least one of the first three shows that LBC played, we played with Ad Calum, who is the dog and everything.
Interesting.
Yeah.
So MS Sucks, this is, like I said, the third one.
It is a fundraiser.
It’s a charity event to raise money to fight or to find a cure.
Find a cure.
For MS So everyone has heard of MS Everyone has heard the words multiple sclerosis.
That said, I don’t think people.
Well, no, it’s tricky.
I still can’t say it either.
It’s the worst disease to have because you can’t see it.
Well, let’s talk about MS Mayo Clinic defines MS as a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body.
Eventually, the disease can cause permanent damage or deterioration of the nerve fibers.
That’s what the Mayo Clinic describes MS as.
Stubhy, as someone who has MS, how do you define it?
The best way to explain what’s happening is when your dog bites the vacuum cord, the electrical cord that goes to the vacuum, and the vacuum still works, but it zips because there’s a hole, that orange, or like an extension cord, right?
The orange sheath that goes around it or around your vacuum cord extension.
It’ll still work, but it’ll hitch and zip.
And our myelin sheath around our nerves is that rubber protection around the cord that carries electricity.
It’s literally doing the same thing.
It’s containing the electrical impulses that your brain is sending down to whatever part of your body to actually have it do something.
These are very, very, very, very small scars on the myelin sheath.
And what they do is they throws a hitch in and if the sheath is, the tear or the scar is big enough, your brain starts getting messages and thinking that whatever part of your body that’s affected doesn’t work anymore and it sends it into a, what do you call it, a dead zone.
So it doesn’t work anymore and you have to remind it that it works again.
So everybody, and the one thing that’s really important, and I shot a video the other day and to talk about this is everyone’s MS is different, far wider than cancer.
And the reason I say that is because if you have a lesion, the microscope is smaller than half your thumbnail, is on the front of your brain, your MS is going to be completely different than mine that’s on the back of my head.
So, a lot of times I’ll say, yeah, I got MS Oh yeah, my aunt’s got it too, I get it.
No, you don’t.
You don’t.
It’s not that.
You can’t.
I don’t remember if it was you or somebody else that explained it to me, but when I first got diagnosed, somebody told me it was like the snowflake disease, where it’s everybody’s so different.
I mean, even when I first called Kastube to say, hey, I just got diagnosed, the first thing he asked me was, what’s your symptoms?
When was this?
I was diagnosed at the height of COVID, so 2020.
I was actually at the first show as a supporter because we’ve been friends for a long time, and I had some symptoms, but I didn’t know exactly what was going on, and I didn’t realize I was kind of a ticking time bomb to figuring out that I also had it.
But yeah, somebody explained it to me as a snowflake, and honestly, I resonated with that because once we first started talking, he was like, all right, well, what are your symptoms?
I’m like, well, what are your symptoms?
And then it was like, okay, well, what meds are you on?
Well, what meds are you on?
And it’s interesting because there’s such a variety of medications that you can take for different things, and what works for him isn’t going to work for me, and what works for me isn’t going to work for the next guy.
So it’s very, very hard to pinpoint exactly what you need and what type of therapies, what type of drugs, what type of support you’re going to need, because it’s all so unbelievably different.
Well, I think it’s also the silent disease, because I think people think of people who have MS, and famous people, celebrities that come to mind, Richard Pryor, they see the wheelchair, right?
And that’s kind of what they think of, when in reality, most people that have MS look like us.
And they don’t, we can walk down the street.
I do.
That’s kind of the common theme.
But you can walk down the street and not be able to sort of point a finger at somebody and say, well that person has it, that person doesn’t.
That’s post 2004 though.
So if you got diagnosed before 2004, the likelihood of you being in a wheelchair, or you being with a walker is, I think it’s like 40, 50% higher.
It’s got to be higher.
Ty Sabry came out in 2004 and that’s what stopped everything.
And then Okravis came out in 2012, but it didn’t get approved here until 2017.
A lot of the medications, they’re all cancer related medications.
So they were initially started as some type of cancer treatment.
They realized that it worked better for these neurological deficits that many of us have.
And so they switched gears and became MS drugs.
When you have sports mixed with your pop culture, along with humor and celebrity interviews, your earbuds are enjoying the Rich Eisen Show.
Women’s basketball legends, Sue Bird, Kaitlyn Clark, obviously front and center for the WNBA season.
What have you seen over the first couple of games for her?
Part of professional sports is you’re going to have some stretches.
You’re going to shoot bad, your team’s going to lose, and how do you respond to that?
Everybody’s clearly got their defensive game plan built around her, which is a compliment, but you’ve got to figure it out from there.
Search for the Rich Eisen Show on YouTube or wherever you listen.
And then the thing with MS in general is that…
It sucks.
It sucks, and that’s why MS sucks.
But I will say that things that will work for one person won’t work for anybody else.
The one common theme, of course, is just…
The things that make a healthy person healthy are the same things that are going to make us healthy too.
So it’s healthier, healthier.
Of course, we want to maintain that kind of stuff.
But diet and exercise might work for me because where my lesions are, I need their affecting muscle, like muscle is picking up what my brain signal is saying.
But there’s other ways that mess with a lot more nerve ending kind of stuff that it won’t work.
But one other thing with the whole, with why what I did worked well for me is I have lower back problems.
Lower back is my biggest, hip and lower back is my worst.
So when I went to my doctor, he’s like, if you don’t lose weight, you’re going to be in pain for the rest of your life.
Somebody else with MS can have some weight on them and they will feel totally fine because all their problems are up here.
Sorry, up here for people that are listening.
I’m at my shoulders.
So it’s not the same.
What’s working for me is eating under 2,000 calories a day.
It helps.
But for somebody else, it’s not going to work.
Lizz goes on walks.
Going on walks doesn’t help me at all.
I was going to say nothing really, which is why I’m having surgery.
I’m very aware that I got lucky in that sense that exercise works.
I can do something.
I have a routine that will work without having to have surgery.
But not everybody is so lucky.
It just happens to be I have 4 lesions and they don’t affect the other stuff that’s affecting you guys.
Apologies, my area doesn’t have cicadas, it has mosquitoes.
I’m doing alright so far.
I’m slathered and off right now.
I haven’t had any.
It’s got some sweet, sweet blood, bruh.
I mean, nobody wants my stuff.
Mine’s just filled with THC and alcohol, so they don’t want it.
And the Miz.
And the Miz.
So, Stubhy, I probably asked you this before, but why take on putting together any kind of event is a monster?
If I can do something to make sure that my daughter doesn’t ever feel like this, I’ll do it.
I’m not looking for a cure for me.
I got this.
It’s fine.
I am, of course.
I will take it.
Don’t get me wrong, but that’s not the…
I’m doing this for our kids.
I’m doing this for people that find out they have MS and they’re like 60 years old and they just had all these plans to retire and enjoy the rest of their lives, and they can’t anymore.
That’s what I’m doing this for.
It wasn’t even a question.
It wasn’t even like…
Once I found out that I was going to be able to walk and…
Okay, so when I got diagnosed, I just needed to get my medication.
Once I found out that I’m not going to relapse, I’m pretty much going to stay the way I am.
Sure, I got depressed and all that stuff, but I was…
Okay, now.
Now what?
How can…
This sucks, so let’s do something.
You know, it was like, let’s see what we can do to help people.
You know, and I just think that life is bigger than us, right?
And I think as we get older and we have kids, we realize that even more.
But sitting by and doing nothing is not something I’ve ever been okay or able to do with anything.
I can’t.
I like, I’ve always felt like I’m here for…
I’m here to do something.
I’m here to help.
I don’t…
For Dan and Liz, you’re aware of what Stubhy did.
You’re aware of MS Sucks.
When did you say, count me in, I want to help?
I think naturally I’ve always been a helper.
And I think even with like what Stubhy was saying, like just thinking about what you were just saying, why you’re doing this, I think you’ve got to find where your strengths are and what you’re good at and how you’re able to like help the next person.
You know, obviously his strengths in music and just entertainment and those types of things.
So that’s how he’s giving back.
We’ve obviously, we’ve been friends for, I don’t know, 30 years, something like that.
So I don’t even know.
We go way back.
But at the same time, you know, I’ve always told him, even when I was at the first show watching it before I was diagnosed, I said to him, I said, I can’t make all of your shows, but I will always make the important ones.
You know, and that was always, you know, something that I had with him.
So I wanted to make that show.
But at the same time, like, you just kind of find what you’re good at and how you want to help.
I’ve always said I’d help, you know, in whatever capacity that he needs it.
But at the same time, I think getting diagnosed brings a whole other level to like really wanting to jump in, you know.
And this is just one way, but, you know, I’ve met other people.
It makes it real, you know, unfortunately.
It does, but you find peace with it.
No, you don’t have a choice.
Either you find peace with it or it consumes you.
Or you’re miserable.
And so you find peace, you find ways to get back.
I mean, I’m a school teacher and I had a friend at work that was also recently diagnosed with it in the past year.
And she said, she’s like, I can’t believe you just jump in.
I’m like, well, that’s kind of what you do.
Once you hit the piece with it, then you’re like, alright, who am I going to help with the next person?
How am I going to get back?
How am I going to, again, just somehow contribute to it?
You know, to again, find that cure, help someone who even maybe is just struggling with their diagnosis, but finding what your strength is and how.
Otherwise, you’re just sitting there and festering.
Yeah, and I can’t do that, you know.
It’s, again, you’re not doing it for yourself.
You’re doing it for that next generation, for those kids, because like you said earlier, you know, if I would have been diagnosed a few years before this, then maybe I would have been in a wheelchair.
I mean, I already have enough hard time walking, but at the same time, I’m in a good spot, you know, compared to where some people are.
And that’s what it is.
It’s like you always, you know, you just want to look at life and go, okay, Mike, I don’t know if you guys know Mike, Mike moved out to Colorado and got diagnosed.
And just like even saying this out loud, but like he’s done.
He’s got two more weeks in this rehab facility, and then he’s got to go to assisted living.
Wow.
Yep.
Well, Dan, talk about your coming on.
Yeah, so I got diagnosed in 2015.
Like my oldest son was five months at the time when I got diagnosed.
And, you know, after that, it was hard because I didn’t know anybody who had it.
You know, I was kind of dealing with it in a way that was internalizing it.
I was kind of just holding it all in because I didn’t have anybody that had it or even anybody that really knew someone.
And so it was hard to kind of lean in to other people and explain to them like, you know, the neuropathy, I think, was probably like the worst part.
You know, it’s like you’re walking on coals all the time and having to explain that or, you know, getting these random spasms.
People try to understand, but they can’t.
But so my I think my brother who knows Stubhy and he had mentioned, you know, hey, Stubhy’s looking to do this concert.
It was the first MS Sucks show and I got tickets.
I went to the matinee show.
Kids had to find a babysitter, but went to the matinee show and we met and after the show and we just sort of had this moment where it was just like a connection because, you know, I was able to sort of, you know, I literally was up front the whole show and I was just sort of watching just his performance and I was just like, man, this guy has the same thing I do and he’s up here rocking and just, you know, it was just an amazing show and I was like, I want to be a part of this, you know, and we had connected after the show, you know, text and, you know, Facebook and everything else and then COVID and it shut everything down.
We were on our way, man.
Yeah, I mean, we were doing it, but, you know, so then the conversation shifted to, all right, well, let’s, how do we, you know, how do we do this when all this is, you know, done, all this COVID is done and, you know, when we come back, like, and we did it, man.
We did it last year.
It was a good show.
Yeah.
And, you know, that was it, man.
It was just, that’s how we connected.
And we check in every once in a while.
Yeah.
But, I mean, yeah, I remember, I remember meeting you.
And I remember, like, just that whole time I was out there trying to meet people, trying to talk to people.
And because it’s hard, it’s, you can talk to people that don’t have it as much as you, as you want.
But it’s, well, that’s what we’re trying to do, right?
We’re trying to raise awareness.
We’re trying to explain to people what this actually is.
And I had a good question, and, you know, I want to know if you guys agree with it.
I said, well, they’re like, well, what’s one thing that is common throughout everyone that has MS?
I thought about it.
I’m like, I’ve never met anybody that has MS It’s like, I’m just full of energy.
Yeah.
Or they’re like, I’m never in pain.
I would say that we’re always in pain.
And no, not a diet of ibuprofen.
I was going to say, yeah, like I’m in less pain now than I was, but like I’m always tingling and I’m always tired.
But the funny thing about being tired, like I used to when people used to be like, I’m so tired, I used to get kind of like annoyed.
And then I realized I’m like, it’s relative.
It’s so relative because like I’m tired, but that’s my life.
This is just what it is.
You just get used to.
Well, it’s a different kind of tired too.
It’s like a mental sort of, it’s like you have this physical exhaustion, but then there’s this mental part of it too, where it’s just like you struggle with, am I going to feel like this every single day now for the rest of my life?
And you know, there’s days that are good and there’s days that are bad.
And you know, it’s just in the bad days, you just have to think of, you know, we’re doing this for our family and we’re, you know, we push through and we do this for the kids and everything else.
But it’s probably hardest for people that don’t have somebody to live for.
Well, I think there’s a level of exhaustion, but I’ll be honest with you and maybe to feel the same way.
But the busier I am, the less exhausted I am.
If I’m at home just sitting there, I’m out cold.
I mean, I am asleep, I’m napping, I’m on the couch, I’m watching TV.
But when I’m teaching during the day, I just put it on and there I go.
And I’m happy doing what I’m doing and I want to do it.
So you do kind of push through things.
But as soon as you start to slow down, it’s almost like that fatigue really hits.
And especially like the cognitive fatigue.
Just really that takes over, the memory loss, those types of things.
Like I said, I walked back here and I said, did I lock my car?
Because I already forgot.
Is memory loss a symptom?
Oh, horrible.
For me, it is absolutely horrible.
I sit and watch shows with my husband and I’m like, how do you not remember this?
He’s like, we just watched this episode.
I’m like, it’s gone, you know, but then I’ll pull out something from like 30 years ago that I remember just fine.
That’s because we only lose new members.
We don’t lose old members.
Unless you check GPT.
When you have sports mixed with your pop culture, along with humor and celebrity interviews, your earbuds are enjoying the Rich Eisen Show.
Women’s basketball legend Sue Bird.
Kaitlyn Clark, obviously front and center for the WNBA season.
What have you seen over the first couple of games for her?
Part of professional sports is you’re going to have some stretches.
You’re going to shoot bad, your team’s going to lose.
And how do you respond to that?
Everybody’s clearly got their defensive game plan built around her, which is a compliment, but you got to figure it out from next.
Search for the Rich Eisen Show on YouTube or wherever you listen.
Happens to be on the memory receptors.
I remember, that’s why I remember everything from our, like we’re talking about old days and whatever.
But my wife the other day is like, we just talked about this.
How do you not remember that we have a space heater?
We got it for Avinash or my son.
And I’m like, I kind of remembered the conversation, but there’s a black spot.
Yeah.
I don’t know how.
It’s a good way to say it is a black spot.
I bet that’s frustrating.
And like it’s a total.
It is, but again, mine is so much better than other people.
Like I just passed a like exam.
I’m okay with that stuff.
My issues are my tingling and my pain never stops.
That’s my, that’s my thing.
Memory is okay.
Memory is okay.
Motivation, obviously is okay.
I know like I, I’m, I’m ready to go.
You know, I’m, I am.
You’ve always been like that.
Yeah.
MS didn’t take that away.
You know what’s crazy is like we have all these things, like the muscle pain or the memory stuff.
And it’s like, how much is that the MS and how much is just getting older?
Yeah, just getting older.
Like that’s what I always say too.
I’m like, I mean, I’ll tell you the tingling and the pain is 100% MS For sure.
But the memory loss, I mean, I’m also old, you know, older.
I’m curious if I know, I did a baseline like maybe about a year and a half ago of just memory and cognitive functioning so I can keep an eye on it because I did feel like certain things were slipping where I don’t feel like it’s my age.
But at the same time, just to kind of see where it’s at, because there was so many, like you said, there’s just these black spots, there’s these dark holes of things and it was starting to drive me crazy.
So I did a baseline just to see.
So we’ll revisit that in a couple of years and I’ll let you know how it goes if I remember to do it.
So like a pass fail.
Actually, it was really awesome to do.
I mean, he had all kinds of different visual spatial games and like word things and I don’t know.
It was very cool.
I have two thoughts.
One, the fact that I asked you about the memory loss tells me I don’t know enough about MS, which tells me there are a lot of people who also don’t know a lot, which tells me that events like this are really important.
So it’s not just about the fundraising and working toward a cure.
It’s really raising awareness that other people are.
I’ve always been with them.
We do this all the time.
On our meetings, we talk about this isn’t about just having a show and raising money.
If people don’t come to the show and leave knowing a little bit more, or at least meeting people or gaining some empathy, we haven’t done our job.
We could just do a freaking LBC show at House of Blues and give half the money to that.
It doesn’t matter.
Why are we doing this?
We’re doing a special show for this.
It’s because we want you to take the flyer that we hand out in the beginning of the show, read it, learn a little bit about it.
Because a lot of people are just going to come because they know you and they know this means something to you, or they’re fans of one of my projects or whatever, and they just want to come support.
That’s great.
Your money is wonderful.
But your knowledge, your voice, your understanding is, I’d rather have that than any of your money.
Because with understanding will eventually come empathy, understanding.
Absolutely.
My other thought, this is just how my brain thinks as we’re talking about this.
Have you at any point entertained the idea of doing an MS Sucks podcast?
Take people like me out of the equation.
Have conversations like this.
That’s a really good idea.
You’ve already got the brand.
Just thinking out loud.
I’m here to help if you need it.
That’s a really good idea.
And you know, I’m not really doing anything.
Well, I’m trying to keep your minds busy.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
It helps with that memory.
It’s perfect.
I’m in the last 14 pages of my book, so yeah, this sounds like a really good thing to do because you know I can’t sit still.
I’m just thinking global reach.
I’m thinking all the things.
Not gears are just spinning.
Get it to your list.
Record your first episode backstage on June 29th.
I would like to do that.
June 29th, Bottom Lounge, it is the third MS Sucks.
So, Art Direction from Lizz, formerly Lampere.
Lukes.
See, he remembers.
Dan is the raffle coordinator.
Does that mean you’re going to like businesses and friends and family shaking them down for cool shit?
Or a public face?
Yeah, not quite.
So, I’m more the guy out in the crowd during the show, you know, handing out the QR code, you know, trying to encourage people to take part in the raffle.
I was able to do it last year, you know, as people were lining up outside the Bottom Lounge.
And, you know, it gave me an opportunity to sort of just…
I could talk to people and explain, you know, what it meant to me to be a part of the show and to, you know, kind of explain, you know, I have MS and, you know, this has been my journey, especially with people who also had MS that were there to attend.
Yeah, there’s a lot of people that, you know, for various…
I thought it was just going to be people that wanted to support, you know, it’s a lot of people with MS that are a lot worse than us that they’re coming in to, like, you know, to, yeah.
But to your point, it is that invisible disability.
You just don’t know.
Like, I wouldn’t naturally assume that, oh, well, they’re working on MS Sucks, they must have it.
It’s not like you’re presenting.
That’s what we always say to people.
I’m like, you wouldn’t know unless you know.
It’s like, it’s not a secret that I have it.
It’s literally, it’s the worst secret club to be a part of.
Like, we don’t even get a decoder ring or anything.
No, it’s like the Illuminati of pain.
But like, yeah.
No, it sucks.
It really does.
When I came up with the name, like, oh god, it’s such a, you know, but when I-
It is a catchy name.
But, hold on, here’s the thing, thank you, but like, what I, I had a whole bunch, a whole list of things that I wanted to call it, and I just kept on going back.
I’m like, is this-
No, it sucks.
Is this cheesy?
And I’m like, no, this really is the truth.
It’s the, it’s perfect, because MS, it does suck.
And the show is June 29th at Bottom Lounge.
It’s a Saturday.
In the summertime, it’s the Dog and Everything who are back.
It is AM Taxi who are back.
Super Happy Fun Club, what put them back on the game board?
Well, I was, you know, when we were, when we were playing the show, I was like, there’s always, you know, the guys in the band, you know, it’s like the Chicago little super group kind of thing.
But the guys, we always stay in touch and whatnot.
Every once in a while, once somebody will be like, reunion?
And this has been going on for like the last five years of the ten that we haven’t played together.
And finally, I just said, guys, I’m not asking LBC to play this year.
I’m just going to give LBC a break from it.
Next year we’ll do something or a year after whatever.
And I’m like, any interest in Super Happy Fun Club?
I did not think, not.
Phil’s like, I’ll fly.
Chris is like, I’ll fly.
So two of the guys are like, I live in Tennessee in Texas.
And they flew in Saturday to practice.
And this is, I just blew my mind and we sounded great.
And, oh man, it’s going to be such a good time.
Did they say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah?
They did.
They did.
And I didn’t have to do it this time because they all did it.
If you haven’t seen Super Happy Fun Club, you should come check it out.
It’s fun, good stuff.
It’s fun by definition.
And then Night Spice on the bill.
I was looking, Kevin of Night Spice, he wrote up a list of his influences for Night Spice.
He posted it on Instagram stories.
And Hans Zimmer was like number 10 on the list.
I’m like, that’s fucking badass.
That’s a good influence.
That Man of Steel soundtrack, I swear.
Yeah, that’s cool.
Kevin’s a fun, interesting guy.
He’s got Hans Zimmer on his list.
And he’s…
This is his story.
Not for me to talk about.
But he has a connection to MS, too, so we always try to have him on the show.
And Kevin also books Bottom Lounge.
I just want to give a lot of love there.
They give 100% of all money that comes in for the tickets to charity.
That’s awesome.
I think a lot of venues would do something for us, but 100% of the door, that’s just awesome.
Luckily, people that like stuff I do drink a lot, so at least they’re making money at the bar.
All right.
MS Sucks, I think it’s wonderful stuff that you’re doing, and I think it’s cool that you’re all taking the situation life handed you and finding a way to make it better for subsequent generations.
I think that’s a really noble thing you’re doing, so keep doing what you do.
I think we should shout out everybody else, too.
I know we have the common threat of this shit, disease, but there’s so many people behind the scenes with us every week or every other week that are sort of like in charge of something.
I’ll go with the list.
There’s Jenna Michaels and Eli that are also part of the raffle part of this.
Jenna does a lot of the picking up of the products, organizing, and when you go to pick up your raffle prizes, she’s the face of that part.
So she works with Dan on that stuff.
We got Alex Zarek, who does all of our video media and works with Liz on the art.
We got Sam McHale and Katie…
Is it Luso?
I don’t know what her new last name is.
See, stop changing your names, man.
There’s that black hole again.
So for our merch, we got Katie and Sam that are helping out a lot.
Anisha Gawurlik does a lot of organization with getting sponsors.
Of course, we have Lindsay Santiago, who’s with Accelerated Cure Project, and that’s the charity that we work with.
It’s Accelerated Cure Project for MS So I specifically found a charity that’s cure-based.
Who am I forgetting?
Oh yeah, Rebecca Abraham, who is going to be helping.
She’s the newest member, so she’s kind of like a floater.
So she’s going to do everything.
And then…
Didn’t we hang out with her at the street festival?
We did.
She’s a huge fan of you.
She was freaking out.
I’m like, I know him.
Can you introduce me?
I’m like, yeah, I can do that.
I can do that.
And then a few more behind the scenes.
Amr Mansuriya always provides us food.
Oh, Steve Bouda.
Oh yeah, Steve Bouda.
Steve Bouda, who’s another radio personality.
He’s going to be hosting this year.
Yeah, but yeah, I was like, anyway.
And yeah, so then behind the scenes, of course, Bottom Lounge, Kevin Singleton.
And I think that’s what we got.
There’s a lot of people that are helping though, man.
There’s a lot of people that will be there.
I feel like if this keeps going, we have to do like an Academy Award.
I was going to say like in a memoriam, you.
Know?
Yeah, right.
You got to play us off like Chappelle Show.
There’s a lot of people that are helping and the cool thing about it is none of them want any recognition.
Everybody is doing it because they want to help people not feel like this.
Thank you everybody.
Absolutely.
Thank you for having us.
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