# Indie Music Journey :Music History and Discovery with Singer-Songwriter Noah Floersch-New Music "Francis Aquarius"

An episode of [Music Saved Me Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1703080557), 14 Oct 2025, 33 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/038eec94-1ba4-451d-8945-b08f00e9f877/1ec6fd72-3fa6-4c21-8745-b37400dacf9c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=dfceda02-3624-42c7-b522-b25700f0584c

Welcome to this new episode with host Buzz Knight as he sits down with singer-songwriter Noah Floersch to discuss his indie music journey. Noah is an Americana/ Indie Pop artist with strong lyrical storytelling, blending pop, folk, and rock elements originally from Omaha, Nebraska before finding himself in Nashville. He takes time to share his creative process and discusses his brand-new project "Francis Aquarius". I hope you love Noah and his songwriting process as much as we do and you will share your experience as well as this new music podcast interview. If this episode of Takin’ a Walk – Music History on Foot struck a chord with you, we invite you to keep the journey going by exploring the many other stories, conversations, and musical pathways waiting in our episode library. Every installment of the podcast opens a new door into the world of music—whether it’s a deep dive into a legendary artist’s creative process, a walk through the overlooked corners of music history, or a compelling conversation with the people who shape the soundtrack of our lives. There’s an entire universe of rhythm, narrative, nostalgia, discovery, and behind-the-scenes insight spread across our past episodes, each one crafted to make your next walk, drive, workout, or moment of downtime more meaningful, more memorable, and more connected to the music you love. So don’t stop here, take a few extra steps and check out the rest of the Takin’ a Walk – Music History on Foot catalog. The stories waiting for you are as timeless, surprising, and inspiring as the songs that have carried you through your life. Keep listening and discover your next favorite episode. Takin’ A Walk: In-depth music interviews exploring the stories and music history behind the songs. Thanks to Claude for supporting us. Try Claude for free by going to Claude.ai/buzz Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://musicsavedme.net/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.
[0:01] Speaker 2: I'd love to leave a legacy that, you know, I
[0:04] Speaker 2: make something that's impactful enough that twenty years from now
[0:08] Speaker 2: people are like, I'm trying to make music like that,
[0:10] Speaker 2: or not even like that, but just I'm inspired by
[0:14] Speaker 2: this music to make music.
[0:15] Speaker 3: What a special thing.
[0:16] Speaker 4: I'm buzz night and welcome back to the Take at
[0:18] Speaker 4: a Walk Podcast. I am thrilled to be joined by
[0:22] Speaker 4: Noah Flourish. Now, if you haven't heard of Noah's music yet,
[0:25] Speaker 4: you are in for a treat. This twenty six year
[0:28] Speaker 4: old indie artist has been quietly building something really special,
[0:32] Speaker 4: blending folks storytelling with rock energy and pop melodies that
[0:36] Speaker 4: just stick with you. He's originally from Omaha, Nebraska, he
[0:40] Speaker 4: made the move to Nashville, where he's been crafting a
[0:42] Speaker 4: sound that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable. Since
[0:48] Speaker 4: launching his career in twenty eighteen, he's released over seventy
[0:52] Speaker 4: original songs and yes, you heard that right, seventy songs.
[0:56] Speaker 4: His breakout hit, Ghost of Chicago captured the listeners worldwide,
[1:01] Speaker 4: but it's his recent work that really has me excited
[1:05] Speaker 4: to dig into and go deep today, Taking a Walk
[1:12] Speaker 4: Noah welcome to our Taking a Walk podcast.
[1:16] Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.
[1:18] Speaker 4: So we like it's like an icebreaker opening question. It
[1:23] Speaker 4: comes out of nowhere sometimes like a freight train to people,
[1:26] Speaker 4: and the question is, Noah, if you could take a
[1:30] Speaker 4: walk with someone, living or dead, who would you take
[1:32] Speaker 4: a walk with?
[1:33] Speaker 5: And where might you take that walk?
[1:37] Speaker 3: What a great question? Living or dead? Man? Yeah, talk
[1:44] Speaker 3: about a freight train.
[1:45] Speaker 2: Holy cow, coming out of the gates, coming out of
[1:48] Speaker 2: the gates. I think I'd have to say this is
[1:53] Speaker 2: maybe a bit off topic, but I've always been very
[1:57] Speaker 2: fascinated by Abe Lincoln and I we just I've never
[2:04] Speaker 2: I've never really talked about this because I never have
[2:06] Speaker 2: a reason to. But he's just such a fascinating character.
[2:10] Speaker 3: And I saw.
[2:14] Speaker 2: I saw that movie Lincoln when I was younger, when
[2:17] Speaker 2: it when it first came out, and it just kind
[2:21] Speaker 2: of like actualized or humanized him in some ways i'd
[2:25] Speaker 2: never really thought about because you think about him as this,
[2:28] Speaker 2: you know, larger than life physically too. He was a
[2:31] Speaker 2: big guy figure in American history, and it's just kind
[2:38] Speaker 2: of an unbelievable weight on that man's shoulders and what
[2:41] Speaker 2: he dealt with I don't know, kind of a an
[2:44] Speaker 2: interesting figure.
[2:45] Speaker 3: I feel like he'd be cool to talk to.
[2:48] Speaker 4: You're the second one in two days that has brought up,
[2:50] Speaker 4: Abe Lincoln. Uh, no way, You're in good company because,
[2:55] Speaker 4: uh the artist named Maggie Rose yesterday.
[2:59] Speaker 5: Maggie she said, well, she.
[3:02] Speaker 4: Said, she said, can I say to Paul McCartney because
[3:06] Speaker 4: he's Paul McCartney, And then she said, Abe Lincoln, that is.
[3:12] Speaker 2: So funny because I, I kid you, not like Scouts
[3:18] Speaker 2: on I was never a boy scout, but Scouts on her.
[3:21] Speaker 2: Paul McCartney was like my other answer, and I was like, ah,
[3:24] Speaker 2: bit bit obvious, you know, a bit obvious for a music.
[3:27] Speaker 4: Vodcast, you know.
[3:27] Speaker 3: I was like, you know, maybe I should spice it
[3:29] Speaker 3: up a little bit.
[3:30] Speaker 2: That is so funny, Sir. Paul McCartney would have been
[3:33] Speaker 2: my other one. I gotta I gotta meet this Maggie Rose.
[3:37] Speaker 4: Yeah, she's she's she's wonderful. But you know, listen, you know,
[3:42] Speaker 4: in the world that we're living in, we love true
[3:46] Speaker 4: to life characters that are authentic, and we also like
[3:51] Speaker 4: alter Eagle fictional characters such as Francis Aquarius that we're
[3:56] Speaker 4: gonna speak about as well. Yeah, so, but Abe is
[4:01] Speaker 4: somebody for the times certainly that I think is a
[4:04] Speaker 4: pretty important, you know, one that we would want to
[4:08] Speaker 4: get our arms around somehow. You know what he would be,
[4:11] Speaker 4: what he would be certainly thinking, you know.
[4:14] Speaker 2: Especially right now, Yeah, we're in a divided time.
[4:19] Speaker 3: How do you handle that? How do you lead that?
[4:22] Speaker 3: It's an interesting interesting query for that man, for sure.
[4:29] Speaker 4: So first of all, twenty twenty four was a pretty
[4:34] Speaker 4: good year for you. I would say, oh, yeah, you
[4:37] Speaker 4: had loneliest girl in the World's right clean and the
[4:44] Speaker 4: birds song That's right. Talk about as you reflect on
[4:49] Speaker 4: twenty twenty four how satisfying it is for what you accomplished.
[4:54] Speaker 2: I mean, the song releases alone were a real treat.
[4:58] Speaker 2: It was a time where we kind of just wanted
[5:01] Speaker 2: to put out whatever worked. I come from an era
[5:07] Speaker 2: of musician who who you know, I'm in the TikTok generation, right,
[5:14] Speaker 2: So that's kind of where a lot of my career
[5:17] Speaker 2: got its start. And the game of working songs or
[5:25] Speaker 2: trying to make songs work, versus releasing a song that
[5:28] Speaker 2: is already getting a response online, it's an interesting one.
[5:32] Speaker 2: And twenty twenty four was a year where I played
[5:34] Speaker 2: that game a little bit. I would tease so many songs,
[5:39] Speaker 2: so many songs, but I would never tease anything I
[5:42] Speaker 2: wasn't excited about. So when I tease Clean and Clean
[5:46] Speaker 2: got a response, it was like, oh, great, let's put
[5:50] Speaker 2: this thing out, like people are reacting to it. Let's
[5:53] Speaker 2: give it a chance, you know, let's record it, let's
[5:56] Speaker 2: get it down. And that was great. And the same
[5:58] Speaker 2: thing happened with Lonely as Girl, and the same thing
[6:00] Speaker 2: happened with the Bird Song. It was like, Okay, people
[6:03] Speaker 2: are reacting to this song for whatever reason they want
[6:06] Speaker 2: to react to it. Let's put it out and let
[6:08] Speaker 2: people live in it. So in a way, those were
[6:13] Speaker 2: not necessarily guaranteed successes, but it was like, we're sitting
[6:16] Speaker 2: down to record these songs that we already know people
[6:19] Speaker 2: are reacting to.
[6:20] Speaker 3: So that was kind.
[6:21] Speaker 2: Of the game we were playing that year, and it
[6:25] Speaker 2: was coming off of I had two tours that year too,
[6:28] Speaker 2: and that was the first time I'd ever got on tour.
[6:30] Speaker 2: So I toured in February and March of twenty twenty four,
[6:34] Speaker 2: opening for an artist named Ricky Montgomery, and that was
[6:37] Speaker 2: an incredible experience. The first time on the road. We
[6:40] Speaker 2: did like twenty six some shows of the course of
[6:43] Speaker 2: two months, and it was incredible. I got to see
[6:45] Speaker 2: parts of the United States had never gotten the sea before.
[6:48] Speaker 2: And then I did my headline tour in the fall.
[6:50] Speaker 2: So twenty twenty four as a whole was just an incredible,
[6:54] Speaker 2: an incredible year, and it was built upon it was
[6:59] Speaker 2: built upon things that we just like knew were working.
[7:03] Speaker 2: Was it was an interesting time, but you get to
[7:05] Speaker 2: the end of it and it's like, okay. At that point,
[7:09] Speaker 2: I was pretty ready to dive into, or rather stop
[7:12] Speaker 2: playing the game of, you know, appeasing the market by
[7:16] Speaker 2: giving them what they want. I wanted to pull up
[7:19] Speaker 2: and make something for me and then give it to
[7:21] Speaker 2: the world because that feels a bit pure like and
[7:24] Speaker 2: the artist in me resonates with that process a little
[7:28] Speaker 2: bit more so, while twenty twenty four it was full
[7:31] Speaker 2: of highs, it was we were still playing a bit
[7:39] Speaker 2: of a game, you know what I mean.
[7:41] Speaker 5: You're incubating stuff and learning from that incubation. Though certainly, certainly.
[7:47] Speaker 4: And so it is it is experimentation and using the
[7:51] Speaker 4: tools at your disposal. But I do completely get the
[7:56] Speaker 4: fact that eventually you go this is a bit of
[8:00] Speaker 4: a game.
[8:01] Speaker 5: Let me just create.
[8:03] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[8:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, And that was something that you know, it's not
[8:08] Speaker 2: like that idea starts and stops. As twenty twenty five begins,
[8:12] Speaker 2: I was writing so much of the album that's coming out,
[8:15] Speaker 2: So much of Francis Aquarius was written in twenty twenty four,
[8:19] Speaker 2: so that sentiment had already kind of embedded itself as
[8:25] Speaker 2: Loneliest Girl began releasing, as The Bird Song began releasing,
[8:29] Speaker 2: it was like, Okay, it's time for me to you know,
[8:32] Speaker 2: bunker down and make something that means something to me,
[8:37] Speaker 2: and like it doesn't matter what the reaction is like that,
[8:42] Speaker 2: that is a pure form of creation in my mind.
[8:46] Speaker 5: So who are the Mount Rushmore impact artists that really
[8:52] Speaker 5: shaped you at an early age.
[8:54] Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll start with some. So I guess I get
[8:58] Speaker 2: four picks because that's how Mount Rushmore works. So all
[9:04] Speaker 2: do an easy one with Fleetwood Mac. That was something
[9:07] Speaker 2: that was a band my mom listened to a ton
[9:09] Speaker 2: growing up. So we had family. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska.
[9:14] Speaker 2: Originally we had family out in Denver and Colorado Springs,
[9:17] Speaker 2: so we would make that drive through Nebraska all the
[9:19] Speaker 2: time in our family Van and that we had like
[9:23] Speaker 2: a Rumors Deluxe CD, so it was like it was
[9:27] Speaker 2: rumors and then you'd get some like live versions of
[9:30] Speaker 2: songs and whatever, and I remember there was there was
[9:35] Speaker 2: the live performance of Tusk with the USC Marching Band
[9:42] Speaker 2: we had on that CD for somebody, even though that's
[9:43] Speaker 2: not on the Rumors. I don't know how it was
[9:45] Speaker 2: on the same CD or what the deal was. But
[9:48] Speaker 2: maybe you've heard that, maybe you haven't. But I hadn't
[9:52] Speaker 2: heard that song or that version or that rendition for
[9:56] Speaker 2: years and years and years, probably since I was driving
[9:59] Speaker 2: in the fan with my family like fifteen years ago.
[10:04] Speaker 2: I hadn't heard that version, and it popped up on
[10:08] Speaker 2: my TikTok and I rediscovered it, and there's this there's
[10:12] Speaker 2: this moment at the end of that particular track, that
[10:16] Speaker 2: recorded live track where I don't know if it's Lindsay
[10:20] Speaker 2: one of the members.
[10:20] Speaker 3: Goes USC Marching Band then.
[10:23] Speaker 2: And I heard that for the first time in like
[10:25] Speaker 2: fifteen years, and it like unlocked some some crazy memories.
[10:31] Speaker 2: For it was like, it's crazy how like certain sounds
[10:34] Speaker 2: or sense can unlock like distant memories and things like that.
[10:37] Speaker 2: So I would say Fleetwood Mac that's a that's an
[10:39] Speaker 2: easy pick. I would say Vampire Weekend. Third band I
[10:44] Speaker 2: have loved for the longest time, my oldest my oldest brother.
[10:49] Speaker 2: I've got a big family. My oldest brother was a
[10:51] Speaker 2: big Vampire Weekend fan when he was in high school,
[10:54] Speaker 2: and so I was in fourth, fifth, sixth grade getting
[10:59] Speaker 2: like some pretty interesting, pretty eclectic music tossed into my
[11:05] Speaker 2: ears from an early age by like a brother, by
[11:08] Speaker 2: an older brother driving me to soccer practice who happened
[11:11] Speaker 2: to have good indie music taste. So I was listening
[11:14] Speaker 2: to a Vampire Weekend early on, and I've been a
[11:16] Speaker 2: fan of theirs ever since. Everything they've released I cling
[11:20] Speaker 2: to and really really enjoy. So they're a big one.
[11:26] Speaker 2: I would say probably the artist that had the biggest
[11:30] Speaker 2: impact on me emotionally from like high school to college
[11:35] Speaker 2: years would be Gregory alan Isakov. He's, you know, just
[11:39] Speaker 2: an incredible folk lyricist and his album The Northern Hemisphere
[11:45] Speaker 2: was so so impactful in how I just how I
[11:54] Speaker 2: would like to be perceived in Like the kind of
[11:56] Speaker 2: music or the kind of response I'd like to get
[12:00] Speaker 2: out of the music is like the response I get
[12:02] Speaker 2: seeing him. He came I was at the University of
[12:05] Speaker 2: Nebraska Lincoln, and he came to play a show in Lincoln,
[12:10] Speaker 2: and I ended up like front row because I got
[12:12] Speaker 2: there so early because I was dying to see him,
[12:15] Speaker 2: and man, I cried the whole time. And I never,
[12:18] Speaker 2: like when I go to shows, I never really get
[12:20] Speaker 2: into the music like that because I'm always studying. It's
[12:23] Speaker 2: like a curse of mine. I'm always just watching this
[12:25] Speaker 2: stage and being like, how can I do this? Or
[12:27] Speaker 2: how can I do that? I tell you what, that
[12:28] Speaker 2: is one of like very few shows that I was
[12:31] Speaker 2: not studying at all, and I was just actually in it,
[12:34] Speaker 2: like a real audience member, enjoying it. So I said,
[12:38] Speaker 2: Gregory allen Isakov's that's Fleetwood Mac Vampire Weekend Gregory allen
[12:43] Speaker 2: Isakov And who else is my number?
[12:45] Speaker 5: Four?
[12:47] Speaker 3: Ooh, this is tough.
[12:50] Speaker 4: I wish I had the you know, the game show
[12:53] Speaker 4: sound effects underneath you, like from Jeopardy, like you.
[12:56] Speaker 5: Know, yeah, I know it, I know it.
[13:01] Speaker 3: That would not help me think.
[13:03] Speaker 2: Then I'd feel like, Okay, the pressure's really on, tell
[13:06] Speaker 2: you what, I'll go. This is a bit of some
[13:09] Speaker 2: recency bias. I don't know, if you know if this
[13:12] Speaker 2: was like a pivotals position. Just something I've been listening
[13:15] Speaker 2: to a lot recently. I've had Cameron Winter and Geese,
[13:21] Speaker 2: the band Geese and then his solo project is his name,
[13:24] Speaker 2: Cameron Winter. I've had them go and go and go
[13:28] Speaker 2: and all year. This band Geese is just incredible. They're
[13:32] Speaker 2: really experimental and cool. And Cameron Winter's solo project, he
[13:38] Speaker 2: put an album out called Heavy Metal and it's mostly
[13:42] Speaker 2: just him at piano and it's beautiful. He's great, great writer,
[13:46] Speaker 2: just loving his vibe right now. So i'd put him
[13:48] Speaker 2: up there.
[13:49] Speaker 5: That's a fantastic list.
[13:51] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, have you heard have you heard Geese? You know,
[13:53] Speaker 3: Cameron Winter at all?
[13:54] Speaker 2: I have not, oh, highly highly recommend really really truly.
[14:01] Speaker 3: I think they're one of the better musical acts out
[14:05] Speaker 3: Like it's stuff out right now.
[14:06] Speaker 5: Yeah, I've heard of the others.
[14:08] Speaker 4: And as you were talking about Gregory alan Isakov, we
[14:16] Speaker 4: have this other podcast that Lynn Hoffman hosts has called
[14:19] Speaker 4: Music Save Me, and she had this artist, another Nashville
[14:22] Speaker 4: based artist named Jess Joe Kay, who was a major.
[14:26] Speaker 5: Fan of Gregory allen Isakov. Like she just just.
[14:30] Speaker 4: Was going on and I'm loving and inspiring, you know,
[14:34] Speaker 4: by him. So it's funny how all things come around.
[14:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, I I it's really cool to talk about artists
[14:44] Speaker 2: like this, and it's a goal of mine someday to
[14:49] Speaker 2: be that in some ways for other musicians, you know,
[14:53] Speaker 2: like I'd love to leave a legacy that, you know,
[14:56] Speaker 2: I make something that's impactful enough that twenty years now
[15:00] Speaker 2: people are like, I'm trying to make music like that,
[15:02] Speaker 2: or not even like that, but just I'm inspired by
[15:06] Speaker 2: this music to make music.
[15:07] Speaker 3: What a special thing.
[15:09] Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more of the Taking a
[15:11] Speaker 1: Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
[15:20] Speaker 4: Well, one of the joys for me of doing this
[15:22] Speaker 4: podcast is exactly it's my discovery of a particular artist
[15:30] Speaker 4: or their loves. I absolutely just adore that, and I
[15:36] Speaker 4: hope the audience listening adores it as well and supports
[15:40] Speaker 4: all of our sponsors as.
[15:41] Speaker 5: A result, so we can keep doing this. You know.
[15:45] Speaker 5: But as somebody who's released over seventy songs since twenty eighteen,
[15:52] Speaker 5: that's an incredible output.
[15:54] Speaker 4: First of all, yeah, ridiculous, but.
[15:59] Speaker 5: I don't think so.
[16:00] Speaker 4: So how do you decide which songs deserve to be
[16:02] Speaker 4: on the next release?
[16:04] Speaker 2: Yeah, so when it comes to when it comes to
[16:06] Speaker 2: a project like a body of work, if it's an
[16:08] Speaker 2: album or if it's an EP, they have to exist
[16:11] Speaker 2: in the same space. I'm far less particular when I'm
[16:16] Speaker 2: releasing just singles. Right, So when we're talking about twenty
[16:18] Speaker 2: twenty four, I released clean, I released Loneliest Girl, and
[16:22] Speaker 2: I released the Bird Song as kind of untethered tunes. Right,
[16:26] Speaker 2: they exist kind of in their own universe. They are
[16:28] Speaker 2: their own things, and that's fine. That was my intention
[16:31] Speaker 2: with them. I didn't really want to bundle them up
[16:34] Speaker 2: into any particular body of work because I didn't really
[16:36] Speaker 2: have a place for them at the time. When I
[16:40] Speaker 2: create an album or an EP, I am much more
[16:44] Speaker 2: particular about what belongs on that.
[16:49] Speaker 3: When it comes to finding a space for an album,
[16:55] Speaker 3: a sonic space, or a narrative, this is typically my approach.
[17:01] Speaker 3: Have you ever seen I bring that.
[17:04] Speaker 2: I've brought this up before, and I think it's a
[17:06] Speaker 2: I think it's a good metaphor. Have you ever seen
[17:11] Speaker 2: somebody try to explain how gravity effects space in that
[17:19] Speaker 2: they will stretch out a piece of cloth or a
[17:22] Speaker 2: blanket or something and place a big ball in the
[17:25] Speaker 2: middle that would act as like the sun or that
[17:28] Speaker 2: would act as some sort of gravitational strong gravitational force,
[17:32] Speaker 2: and they'll throw marbles across the blanket and you watch
[17:36] Speaker 2: them kind of rotate around and then eventually gather towards
[17:39] Speaker 2: the middle wherever that center of gravity is.
[17:42] Speaker 3: I approach a lot of my.
[17:46] Speaker 2: Bodies of work in that way, where it's like, Okay,
[17:49] Speaker 2: if I have a pocket of songs that are fitting
[17:51] Speaker 2: together really well. Let's say it's three or four songs
[17:55] Speaker 2: that talk about some of the same stuff, have some
[17:59] Speaker 2: of the same sonic or energy, you know, space is
[18:05] Speaker 2: to them. That feels like a pocket of gravity to me.
[18:08] Speaker 2: And then I can start writing songs. That's like throwing
[18:11] Speaker 2: the marbles on the sheet, and I can start writing
[18:13] Speaker 2: songs in that direction. And if things are resonating and
[18:16] Speaker 2: if things are existing nicely, then you might have a
[18:19] Speaker 2: little solar system right there that's ready to be presented
[18:21] Speaker 2: somewhere else, or that's ready to be recorded. Really like,
[18:24] Speaker 2: once you have your proof concept in the songs themselves,
[18:27] Speaker 2: it's like, Okay, let's see if we can push forward
[18:29] Speaker 2: with this. Let's see if this can really be a
[18:31] Speaker 2: system that can exist. And so that's kind of my approach,
[18:35] Speaker 2: and that was my approach with France's Aquarius. I had
[18:39] Speaker 2: two or three songs that were sitting on that project
[18:41] Speaker 2: for a long time, and I kind of just was
[18:43] Speaker 2: testing everything I wrote. I would kind of throw in
[18:46] Speaker 2: the system and sometimes the system would spit it back out.
[18:49] Speaker 2: Sometimes it would float around for a while and then
[18:52] Speaker 2: find its way out, and eventually enough songs stuck that
[18:55] Speaker 2: I was like, this makes sense. This is a narrative,
[18:58] Speaker 2: this is a space and it's ready to be seen.
[19:03] Speaker 5: It's like a checklist for landing a plane.
[19:08] Speaker 3: Elaborate on that for me.
[19:10] Speaker 4: Well, I'm not a pilot, but my understanding is when
[19:14] Speaker 4: you take off or you land a plane, pilots have
[19:18] Speaker 4: very specific checklists to make sure this happens successfully. I
[19:25] Speaker 4: realize what you're doing is not the equivalent, but it
[19:28] Speaker 4: does go through a filter and a number of things
[19:32] Speaker 4: that are tangible and emotionally that have to fit in
[19:35] Speaker 4: for you. So, oh, maybe it's a terrible analogy. No,
[19:38] Speaker 4: it's probably a terrible analoms I would say.
[19:41] Speaker 2: I would say it's the perfect analogy on a song
[19:44] Speaker 2: to song basis, It's like, does this song exist in
[19:49] Speaker 2: the same universe? Is the landing gear down. You know,
[19:52] Speaker 2: does this song like satisfy a space that other songs
[19:57] Speaker 2: on the project don't do?
[19:58] Speaker 3: You know, are our are the lights on the airwork
[20:01] Speaker 3: on the tarmac on I don't know. I don't know
[20:04] Speaker 3: the checklist diet. I've never flown a plane. I probably
[20:06] Speaker 3: never will given that performance.
[20:09] Speaker 2: But I see exactly what you're saying as far as
[20:11] Speaker 2: like qualifications for a song to exist in that universe.
[20:14] Speaker 2: That's certainly a thing you go down, you go down
[20:16] Speaker 2: that checklist.
[20:18] Speaker 5: Filters part of it.
[20:19] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's filters, and it's math a little bit, it's spatial.
[20:23] Speaker 3: It's an interesting thing.
[20:24] Speaker 2: And people who aren't creating albums, people who exist outside
[20:29] Speaker 2: of music creation, it's something they don't really get to
[20:33] Speaker 2: peak at.
[20:33] Speaker 3: A whole lot A lot of people don't realize that.
[20:36] Speaker 2: You know, there's twelve songs on France's Aquarius probably wrote
[20:40] Speaker 2: like damn near one hundred to do that exist or
[20:45] Speaker 2: existed with the intention of potentially being on the project,
[20:49] Speaker 2: you know what I mean.
[20:50] Speaker 3: So it's an interesting thing.
[20:52] Speaker 4: So when you put France's aquariusts to bed, how long
[20:58] Speaker 4: did it take you to put that to bed? And
[21:02] Speaker 4: how much restlessness in that creative process, did you have
[21:07] Speaker 4: if any.
[21:08] Speaker 3: Oh a ton a ton that thing will not be
[21:11] Speaker 3: put to bed until it's out for me.
[21:15] Speaker 2: In my mind, like I'm still wrestling with Like just
[21:19] Speaker 2: yesterday I laid down in bed and I listened to
[21:22] Speaker 2: the album again all the way through, which I hadn't
[21:24] Speaker 2: in like a week, to be like, okay.
[21:26] Speaker 3: Is this still good? Like do I still like this music?
[21:29] Speaker 2: You know? But the idea of Francis Aquarius began years ago.
[21:35] Speaker 2: I think in late twenty twenty three was when I
[21:39] Speaker 2: had the idea for the title.
[21:42] Speaker 3: I had just put out my previous record, which was.
[21:45] Speaker 2: Noah, and that album was very proud and very It
[21:51] Speaker 2: was a very much like a It felt like a
[21:53] Speaker 2: freshman album. Wasn't my first album, but it felt like
[21:55] Speaker 2: a proper introduction of like my artist project. It was
[21:58] Speaker 2: very much like here I am, check me out. This
[22:01] Speaker 2: is what I'm on. And Francis is my middle name,
[22:04] Speaker 2: and Aquarius is my sign.
[22:06] Speaker 4: Francis is my middle name as well. Come on right,
[22:09] Speaker 4: Aquarius is my sign too.
[22:11] Speaker 3: What's your birthday?
[22:12] Speaker 5: January twenty eighth?
[22:13] Speaker 3: Oh you're January. I'm a February seventh.
[22:15] Speaker 2: But hey, this this album buzz is as much yours
[22:19] Speaker 2: as it is mine. Now, that's pretty funny. Francis Aquarius.
[22:21] Speaker 2: How funny is that? Okay? Well there you go. So yeah,
[22:25] Speaker 2: middle name for are you? Is it a saintly? Is
[22:28] Speaker 2: it a saintly name? Or you're named after someone in
[22:29] Speaker 2: the family? What's the France? Where's Francis come from?
[22:32] Speaker 5: For you? I think it's a saintly thing.
[22:36] Speaker 3: Yeah, I was at Saint Francis of a CC.
[22:38] Speaker 5: That's right.
[22:39] Speaker 3: Yeah, there you go.
[22:41] Speaker 2: So anyways, it came up with that title because it
[22:44] Speaker 2: sounds like a guy. It sounds like a cool guy.
[22:46] Speaker 2: I came up with that title.
[22:47] Speaker 5: I'd like to know him. I'd like to know this.
[22:49] Speaker 2: Yeah, right, And eventually the narrative kind of unfolded that, well,
[22:54] Speaker 2: he kind of sucks. He's kind of a bad guy,
[22:56] Speaker 2: you know. It's it's kind of parts of me. He's
[22:58] Speaker 2: fun though. It's parts of me that over the last
[23:03] Speaker 2: you know, year and a half have popped up every
[23:07] Speaker 2: now and again, and I've taken note. And then I
[23:10] Speaker 2: go into songwriting sessions and I go, well, hey, this
[23:12] Speaker 2: was interesting, let's talk about it. And it usually ends
[23:15] Speaker 2: up with a song from the perspective of a guy
[23:17] Speaker 2: who isn't doing the best.
[23:18] Speaker 3: You know.
[23:20] Speaker 2: This, A lot of these songs were written around the
[23:24] Speaker 2: same time that I was going on these tours, and
[23:28] Speaker 2: I was single at the time, and I was very
[23:30] Speaker 2: aloof and I think that certainly shines through in a
[23:35] Speaker 2: lot of ways via and secure lyrics and kind of
[23:41] Speaker 2: a biting tone in a lot of these tracks. So
[23:44] Speaker 2: I don't know, interesting to think about. But it was
[23:48] Speaker 2: as far as putting the thing to bed, I mean,
[23:52] Speaker 2: Francis Aquarius is still turning over in my mind, you
[23:55] Speaker 2: know what I mean. But with any release, like once
[23:59] Speaker 2: it's out, you I at least get to wash my
[24:03] Speaker 2: hands a little bit. I at least get to say
[24:06] Speaker 2: there's no going back. And that's that's a really In
[24:11] Speaker 2: some ways it's scary, but in some ways it's pretty comforting.
[24:16] Speaker 4: Is there a calling to the spirituality? I know, your
[24:19] Speaker 4: brother's monk, your aunt was a nun. Is there a
[24:23] Speaker 4: calling to the higher powers when you're completing a project
[24:28] Speaker 4: to push it over the finish line?
[24:30] Speaker 5: Ever?
[24:32] Speaker 3: You know, it's funny.
[24:34] Speaker 2: The the idea, the initial idea of France's Aquarius. When
[24:39] Speaker 2: I like I really when I when I came up
[24:41] Speaker 2: with the title, and I was like, what could this
[24:42] Speaker 2: be the album? There were no songs that really fit
[24:46] Speaker 2: this this space, but it was like the first time
[24:49] Speaker 2: I really thought about what kind of songs could exist
[24:51] Speaker 2: in there, and I thought about doing sort of like
[24:54] Speaker 2: a front half back half like songs that dipped into
[25:02] Speaker 2: the Catholic space a little bit, not not so much
[25:06] Speaker 2: that they were like worship music, but that just like
[25:08] Speaker 2: dealt in that tone, and then the back half being
[25:11] Speaker 2: more I don't know, aquarius, like secular or outside of
[25:15] Speaker 2: the church, and kind of like wrestling with the things
[25:18] Speaker 2: that I've wrestled with over the past. Anyways, it did
[25:21] Speaker 2: end up being that it did not end up being
[25:22] Speaker 2: that because I didn't want to.
[25:24] Speaker 3: I kind of like lost.
[25:25] Speaker 2: Deem for that idea pretty quickly because it was just
[25:28] Speaker 2: so heady. But it's not like I'm putting out a
[25:34] Speaker 2: song called wild Thing and then praying to God that.
[25:38] Speaker 3: It all, that it'll resonate or whatever.
[25:41] Speaker 4: You know.
[25:41] Speaker 2: It's funny like I I, yes, I have a brother
[25:44] Speaker 2: who's a monk. I just saw him two weeks ago
[25:46] Speaker 2: for the first time in like a year or so.
[25:49] Speaker 2: I don't you can't call him you can't. You know,
[25:52] Speaker 2: he lives in a monastery in an abbey. You can
[25:54] Speaker 2: reach him via a letter or going there in person.
[25:56] Speaker 2: So I saw him for the first time in like
[25:58] Speaker 2: a year or so with my family, just two weekends ago.
[26:02] Speaker 2: And it's so funny because I'm there on this monastery
[26:07] Speaker 2: with no service, and then I leave and I'm like
[26:10] Speaker 2: throwing up a TikTok about me drinking, you know, promoting
[26:15] Speaker 2: a song about drinking too much. It's just funny. It's
[26:18] Speaker 2: I wouldn't say, I'm so much like looking up to
[26:26] Speaker 2: God being like help me out on this one man,
[26:28] Speaker 2: as I am being like.
[26:30] Speaker 3: Sorry, you know, it's just shame there, you know, with
[26:34] Speaker 3: some of the subject matter and whatever else, which is
[26:36] Speaker 3: pretty Catholic of me. But yeah, I don't know. That's
[26:40] Speaker 3: an interesting question.
[26:41] Speaker 5: What does your brother think of what you're doing?
[26:45] Speaker 2: He when he really dove into initially he wanted to
[26:50] Speaker 2: be a diocesan priest, and when he really dove into
[26:54] Speaker 2: that after he graduated from college, that was one like,
[26:58] Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I'm gonna have a brother who's a priest.
[27:00] Speaker 3: That was crazy.
[27:01] Speaker 2: That was a crazy like I had never thought that
[27:03] Speaker 2: that was going to happen, and we would have discussions
[27:07] Speaker 2: all the time where he would rip me to shreds,
[27:10] Speaker 2: being like this song is too you know.
[27:15] Speaker 3: He he's a particular fellow, but he would be like,
[27:18] Speaker 3: this song is.
[27:20] Speaker 2: You know, too sexual, or this song is too you
[27:24] Speaker 2: know whatever.
[27:24] Speaker 3: So we would get at it all the time.
[27:27] Speaker 2: If he heard some of the stuff that I've got
[27:30] Speaker 2: on this album, I'm sure he'd be shaking his head.
[27:33] Speaker 3: But he can't.
[27:34] Speaker 2: He's a monk, now, so it's not like they got
[27:36] Speaker 2: iPods there or anything.
[27:38] Speaker 3: So I don't know. Maybe maybe it's better he doesn't
[27:42] Speaker 3: hear it, but yeah, that's funny.
[27:47] Speaker 5: You can't make that up.
[27:48] Speaker 3: No, it's I've got a pretty eclectic family. That's part
[27:52] Speaker 3: of I think it's it's an interesting part of my story,
[27:55] Speaker 3: and I appreciate it so much.
[27:57] Speaker 2: It's what a gift, you know, to have these differences
[28:01] Speaker 2: and still be as tight as we are. You know.
[28:05] Speaker 5: Yeah, it's colorful, that's for sure, right.
[28:07] Speaker 3: Certainly, certainly. Oh yeah, I don't take it for granted.
[28:11] Speaker 5: So when you.
[28:13] Speaker 4: Dream into the future and you made reference to this
[28:18] Speaker 4: producing work that has staying power and that others can
[28:24] Speaker 4: admire or emulate or all the above.
[28:28] Speaker 5: You know, where do you where do you see the
[28:30] Speaker 5: future for me?
[28:33] Speaker 2: As far as like solidifying that legacy, Yep, it's twofold.
[28:39] Speaker 3: I think some of that is growth.
[28:42] Speaker 2: Some of that is like commercial success and like working
[28:47] Speaker 2: towards that, which is like a dirty thing in a
[28:49] Speaker 2: lot of ways, and it like certainly irks the my
[28:53] Speaker 2: my artist, you know, it irks me that reality, but
[28:58] Speaker 2: it's necessary and it's true, and I'm not going to
[29:00] Speaker 2: shy away from it. I think that's you know, obviously
[29:04] Speaker 2: a goal of mine is to run a successful camp
[29:08] Speaker 2: and play bigger shows and some more records and do
[29:15] Speaker 2: that whole thing. But I also think, uh, the opposite
[29:19] Speaker 2: side is addressing the responsibilities that come with being an artist,
[29:23] Speaker 2: which is breaking ground, doing things that haven't been done before,
[29:27] Speaker 2: saying things that haven't been said before, and trying to
[29:30] Speaker 2: do that more so, those are those are two doable things.
[29:36] Speaker 2: Those are two things that I feel like I can
[29:37] Speaker 2: accomplish that could solidify that legacy, but is not really
[29:42] Speaker 2: the purpose of the legacy, if that makes sense, because
[29:47] Speaker 2: I find what's worth having in a legacy because even
[29:53] Speaker 2: the legacy itself is an ego thing, like wanting to
[29:56] Speaker 2: be remembered is a bit soft, is a bit land,
[30:00] Speaker 2: is a bit boring, is a bit I don't know.
[30:04] Speaker 3: It's an old.
[30:05] Speaker 2: Way of thinking that doesn't do the artist in me
[30:09] Speaker 2: any good. Just like the commercial stuff, it's not so
[30:13] Speaker 2: different than the commercial stuff. Wanting to be remembered is
[30:16] Speaker 2: not so different from wanting to sell a zillion records.
[30:20] Speaker 2: I think for me what's important is like human impact,
[30:26] Speaker 2: like real human impact, Like my life in anybody's life
[30:30] Speaker 2: is a flash in the pan of like human history.
[30:34] Speaker 2: So like, forget legacy, Paul McCartney an incredible musician, Well,
[30:39] Speaker 2: people know Paul McCartney's music five hundred years from now.
[30:43] Speaker 2: Who's to say. Maybe maybe I'm not going to rule
[30:48] Speaker 2: that out. But at the same time, like what is
[30:53] Speaker 2: a legacy worth?
[30:54] Speaker 5: Then?
[30:55] Speaker 3: You know, for me, it's worth lies in the impact
[31:01] Speaker 3: that you make. It's like in its ripples.
[31:03] Speaker 2: It doesn't have your name necessarily attached to it, but
[31:07] Speaker 2: it may have some message of yours attached to it,
[31:10] Speaker 2: or it may have some good act or good feeling
[31:12] Speaker 2: attached to it.
[31:13] Speaker 3: It may it may be fifty years from now.
[31:19] Speaker 2: A fan of mine has a daughter and she shows
[31:23] Speaker 2: a her daughter that song and that daughter loves the song,
[31:27] Speaker 2: never learns my artist's name, hears it in her youth,
[31:32] Speaker 2: and it's a melody that sits with her, or it's
[31:33] Speaker 2: a message that sits with her and means something, or
[31:36] Speaker 2: they can sing it together or whatever, and my name
[31:39] Speaker 2: isn't even attached to it.
[31:40] Speaker 3: That's a beautiful thing that I like to imagine. Music
[31:43] Speaker 3: is a beautiful thing, and.
[31:47] Speaker 2: There are so many different ways to bastardize it or
[31:50] Speaker 2: to think about it wrong. And protecting those things selfishly
[31:56] Speaker 2: makes the art worth it, you know, and makes a
[32:00] Speaker 2: lot of the bullshit that comes with this industry worth it.
[32:05] Speaker 3: I don't know.
[32:06] Speaker 2: So as far as legacy, legacy is concerned, even that
[32:09] Speaker 2: can be a dirty word. I want my legacy to
[32:11] Speaker 2: exist in good feeling and good faith and good action.
[32:17] Speaker 5: And I would add on and being a breath of
[32:20] Speaker 5: fresh air.
[32:22] Speaker 3: I hope, so, I hope, so there's something there's I
[32:25] Speaker 3: would love to be fresh too. I would love to
[32:28] Speaker 3: be fresh.
[32:28] Speaker 5: You are a breath of fresh air.
[32:30] Speaker 4: Noah, And congratulations on Francis Aquarius and all the great work.
[32:35] Speaker 4: I so enjoyed it, and I hope you'll come back sometime.
[32:38] Speaker 3: Thank you, guys. I'd love to be back.
[32:41] Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
[32:44] Speaker 1: Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
[32:48] Speaker 1: and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
[32:51] Speaker 1: a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
[32:56] Speaker 1: and wherever you get your podcasts.

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