Dylan Garcia

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Welcome back everyone to the Tron podcast. This is your host, Rashad Woods. On the west coast, we have a very multi talented musician artist, has been very ingrained in the music industry for the last 10 years and has toured worldwide. Mr. Dylan Garcia. Thank you very much, sir. Outside of Cal, right in California for us. [00:00:35] Speaker A: How you doing, my man? Thank you for having me, Rashad. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Good. You know, I got a chance to go on YouTube and listen to some of your music, man. I really like this. First of all, I love the way the visuals are. You know, I've been to California, San Diego, and I love your outdoor, you know, and how things were particularly in that video, vulnerable when you were in like the desert with the woman and you were really talking about vulnerability. I. It's really harmonic and the way the videos are shot are really incredible, to be quite honest with you. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. I try to be really intricate when it comes to deciding what kind of video I want to do. I've worked with diff, like every, I've worked with several different people that do videos. Everyone always brings like their own like G spot to it, you know, like you want, you want this type of video. This probably who you're best with. You want this type of video. And the guy that shot this video, he's from back in my hometown in Oxnar, which is about an hour north of El along the coast. And he's like the go to guy for like Chicano rap and like all the gangster stuff and the tattoos and the, all that stuff, man, all the gangster stuff that he's really, he's the go to guy to shoot all those videos. And I, I shot a video with him back in November of 2021 and we hadn't shot since then, but that's, that, that's 20 deaths, know, four years ago. And to link back up, you obviously know four years of more experience from the dope video we did already. And I said, hey man, you know, I moved out, I moved out here to Coachella Valley, out by Palm springs. I'm about 30 minutes from Palm Springs. I said, I got something because I'm pretty sure between all that gangster stuff you want to show some of your artistic side, right? As a, as an artist, right as a video guy, as a creator. [00:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:17] Speaker A: And, and, and he had mentioned before because we were going to shoot another video the year prior out here in the desert, but plans fell through and weather didn't turn out good that day because desert, desert weather can be really shifty at times, really quick. [00:02:30] Speaker B: Sure I can only imagine. [00:02:31] Speaker A: I can only imagine, you know, this is how much I'll charge you. I would love to come. I've never been out there. I'd love to come check it out. Because if you live in California, everyone's heard of Palm Springs. It's just a matter if you ever made it out here before. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Got it, got it. [00:02:43] Speaker A: You know, the Palm Springs is the Coachella Valley is what we call it here. It's a beautiful area, man. We're surrounded by Palm Tre Mountains. I mean, it's gonna be 105 degrees today. But I, before I jumped on, man, I just took a quick dip in the pool to, to get my mind right. [00:02:59] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, you know, you know, what I found fascinating about you was like, I always saw upbeatness in your videos, right? There was always a positive message. And I was like, well, maybe his Instagram is more serious. And it was like, no, it's all about positivity. And one of the quotes I absolutely love when I went on an Instagram page was the plate analogy. When it came to, like, somebody coming over for a meal, right? And it was like, they, they come to eat, but they don't actually bring anything to it. And that applies to the arts. That applies. I, I do martial arts, right. So it's still an art, even if it's different from yours. [00:03:30] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:31] Speaker B: But you still have to give something in order to participate. You can't just be a taker in life and in your circle and in your way of life. So how did that analogy really play itself out, whether it's through music and whether through your life? [00:03:43] Speaker A: Well, to continue, from our conversation prior to, we hopped on, this is something that I heard from ET ET down in the Deep and, and it just, it was so, like, hit me so hard. I'm like, man, you know, he's got so many nuggets that it'll make you really think about stuff. And made me think about, man, I've been doing this music thing for a long time. It's like when I first started that, like, from when. It was just when I bought a guitar back in college and just trying to teach myself and write songs to what I actually was like, hey, maybe I could do this. You know, after everyone telling me I can't do this, like, I could do it, you know, I always try to carry people with me, and it's because I'm, I'm a nice person, I'm a good person, and if somebody's gonna ask me for help, you're gonna do it. I'm gonna try to help them, you know, any way that I can. But in this music business, man, you know, it's. It's the people that I've tried to help, I mean, will be takers the first opportunity or, or you realize right off the bat, like after the first meeting, like, oh, this. They're only. They're only here for themselves. And when I've tried to make it like a communal thing where everybody can win, right? You know, it's like. And this is especially with the rap game, because I don't, you know, I'm a blend between rap and funk and funk. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Y. [00:05:03] Speaker A: But everyone's so worried about having that top spot. Not realiz. There's so much to go around for everyone. Like, we could all be winning together. But it's like, I don't know if I want to do all that, you know, because I got my own thing. And it's like three powerful forces coming together. You imagine what we could do, right? So many people worried about that. I think it's like that their ego. [00:05:27] Speaker B: Right? I can only imagine. I can only imagine. [00:05:53] Speaker A: We made some things happen really quick in Orange County. This is what I was doing reggae music. I was doing like, reggae and like, like acoustic stuff. Played acoustic guitar and, you know, wasn't really social. I mean, Facebook just barely came out. [00:06:06] Speaker B: I remember that time. I remember that time, right? [00:06:09] Speaker A: The music industry was in shambles because they're just coming out of Napster and trying to figure out, wow, how are we going to make money now? We can't sell CDs. Everyone's got scared. The music, everything was in turmoil. And I even questioned myself, like, man, this is a bad time to begin in the. You know, right? And because when I signed my first deal and when it came to the time to put out the, the, the. The music, there was no business plan. Oh, we'll play some shows and do like, no, dude, what's your business plan? Y' all are a label. You guys got to have a business plan, you know. And yeah, with that being involved, when I saw, like, everyone can say they have a label, anyone can have a studio, but, you know, it's a matter of people are working or partying. [00:06:50] Speaker B: Right? [00:06:50] Speaker A: You know, because a lot of studio I would work, I've worked in big studios where it's just, I mean, you're trying to get work done, but there' that have nothing to do with your production, have nothing to do with your music. But they're hanging out, people wanting to come and Hang out all the time because, oh, we're gonna go chill at. [00:07:06] Speaker B: The studio because it's a studio. Right? You know what I'm saying? [00:07:09] Speaker A: Back then too, it was still throw. Widely thrown around because they were coming out of the 2000s, the 2010s where we had the big mortgage boom. Everyone had money at that time. In the early 2000s, everyone was flipping houses, mortgage, all that. When they went on, all that collapsed. [00:07:25] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:25] Speaker A: You know, you couldn't be right around spinners no more. You think about it, man, we became that crazy as a society that we had that much money. People were putting spinners even on their channel. Like you get so much money going around. And then once in all, once in all, that that kind of died out and then. And that the big money behind it. I mean, you had to figure out how to be an independent artist, man, and do it on your own and be able to make moves on your own. I think. I think that your biggest asset that you can have is if you're a man of many hats, that you can record your own music, especially if you can produce your own music and do everything yourself. You're already one up the game because you just eliminated the producer you got to pay for for the beats. You know, you got your own studio. You just eliminated paying for studio time. And then if you imagine if you took the time to learn these. These softwares or just even learn the. [00:08:13] Speaker B: Basics, now you don't have an engineer. [00:08:15] Speaker A: You could be making money by using your studio to record other people and bring it in a side hustle. So there's like so many, so many things that people could do. But now at this day and age, man, with social media, now we fast forward because like I said, man, they weren't selling CDs or they went from making, you know, 15, 20, $25 on a CD. [00:08:35] Speaker B: Yep. [00:08:35] Speaker A: And then they're making them for only, you know, $0.02. They had so much money. There was just so much money. And then when everything crashed, man, there was like, all there was was itunes and Amazon. Those are the only places you could really get music at that time. So coming from that era, you know, I used to always wonder, man, like up until when I finally really started coming into my group, but I used to wonder like, man, was it a. This all didn't work out for me, man. I came in at the wrong time. You know, not only that I'm. But maybe it worked. In my opinion. I'm constantly having to evolve because if I still got that MySpace mentality, you're not going to keep up with what's going on. And what I realized, man, I'm 42 years old, dude. [00:09:14] Speaker B: Same age, Same exact age. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Okay. I got a full time job, I'm trying to do my. I mean I got like a label that I gotta take control, like my own business that I gotta take care of with my record label, myself as an artist, recording music, having a marketing budget so I can market my stuff. Like, there's so many hats that I'm wearing that it's like, you know, if you're not doing all that, you're either hoping somebody finds you to do that for you, you're paying somebody to do that for you and you're spending a lot of money. And I've told artists before, like, man, you gotta be able, like, like people just, it's like, it's like it's some kind of luxury. Like, as if it should just be some kind of luxury being an artist where everyone should cater to you when it's like, man, and I've had to evolve so I can keep up to what's going on to current day. Like I'm 43, man, I gotta post on social media too. I got, you know, well, the thing. [00:10:07] Speaker B: That, you know, and I didn't mean to cut you off, but like, it's like when I started this podcast, like you're either all in. You cannot wish anything in mind into existence. Right. And you can't be afraid to fail. And the thing is about it too is that if you're, there's, there's two different types of being tired. There's the tired from what you're. What you have to do versus what you want to aspire to be. And when you're tired from what you have to do, there's that I'm just gonna sit down, chill, watch TV and decompress and relax. But you have the same mentality where it's like, I want to do this. Like it's like this podcast, you know, I want to do this. So you, when you fight through the fatigue, you start seeing tangible results. But people, whether they're trying to make music, whether they're trying to do the podcast, you have to put in the work. And just because something became successful later on doesn't mean that that person didn't have a journey that was very quiet for a very long time. Right? Right. So there's, there's a misconception about success and that is that you see this movie star on TV and you're like this person just Came out of left field and they're like, dude, I was acting in plays when there were 10 people in a crowd, right? There are people who are basketball or athletes, they'll be like, man, I was playing in empty gyms, you know, I had nobody to watch me, like. And it was like, either you were all in and you knew what you wanted or you saw, man, I'm not playing at that juco. I'm not playing in that, you know, empty arena. I'm sure in music you probably encounter people, man, there's nobody here or there's a small crowd. I'm not doing that. Well, then you're never going to ultimately reach what you want to. Because 99% of people had to deal with that exact same thing, including Taylor Swift. [00:11:40] Speaker A: You know, just two, two things. You made me, you made me. That I just thought about right now when you, what you were speaking. That discipline came from surfing, from boogie boarding. [00:11:50] Speaker B: Okay, okay. [00:11:52] Speaker A: I played baseball. I played football growing up. Pop Warner played in, you know, high school. Then I just went full time baseball. I was going to devote everything to baseball. You know, plan on getting, you know, getting, getting a scholarship, doing all that stuff at the same time. My family always pushed me. I come from a military family on my dad's side. They were pushing me to go to West Point. So you got to start that process when you're a sophomore. So I started that process of applying and getting into West Point when I was a sophomore in high school. You know, I got, I got accepted, I got nominated by the congressman, I was good to go. And then they were making an exception. I don't even know I could say this, man, but the colonel who was like my mentor was like, look, man, you got to get your SAT scores up. And I had taken my sat, but I couldn't break a thousand. I could only get the nine hundreds. And he said, there was the last test of the year and it was like, you gotta get a thousand or this is it. [00:12:48] Speaker B: That's, that's. Yeah, right. [00:12:51] Speaker A: But their minimum was 1200. They want. He was making an exception because I was just such a well routed camp. Like, they want it, man. It was, it was military time for me and, and it was something I thought I wanted. It just wasn't on God's path, man, because sure I got a 990 the last test that I took. You knew I, I wouldn't. Kind of thought they were still going to make an exception. You know, I'm like, I got a congressman, I got everyone pushing for me And I get the phone call, man, about a month. I'm planning, you know, everything. About a month out is when they start making all arrangements for you to go towards the end of summer to start your, you know, your boot camp basically out there. And they call me, like, we have to. We have to reject your acceptance. No backup plan, really. I applied to San Diego State, but it wasn't like, you know, I had no other. I didn't. I didn't pursue anything but that. But I'm really glad it happened that way because in high school, when I'm getting all this military stuff, I go to the ocean. And I'd go to the ocean, but then fast forward to going to UC Irvine. I didn't go to West Point. I played baseball at the junior college. Messed up my shoulder. I was more pissed off that I couldn't go surfing than I was about baseball. I promised myself I was never going to play baseball again. Healed up, transferred to UC Irvine, which is in Newport beach, so I could still serve. I ended up taking that on discipline, where I was going, surfing every day before school, regardless of how the waves were good or not. [00:14:11] Speaker B: Wow. Wow. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Because then I. I was like, okay, I want to see what I could do. I really believed in myself. I said, you know what? I'm gonna start competing. So I signed up on the pro amateur circuit. So now I'm going to school, I'm working, and then on the weekends, I'm going up and down the California coast. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Beautiful, beautiful. [00:14:28] Speaker A: Competing. And. And I tell my dad, I said, dad, you know, like when I was away at college, like. Like there was so much stuff that just little things that I learned growing up was like, you know, you raised, like, you raised us to do things on our own. So it wasn't like I had, you know, it wasn't like you were calling me at 6:30, waking me up to go to class, because I know there's some people. I mean, I saw, man, what I saw when I got to college was a bunch of privileged people with too much money. And I wasn't in that situation, man. Yeah, go to school. I had the loan, you know, I had to do a lot of stuff to make it happen. So it was do or die, man. And I was the only one to ever do something like this for my family. How am I gonna come, I mean, in West Point fell through. So what was. What was like, you know, I didn't want to come off like that just fell off and nothing else was gonna happen. So going to UC Irvine was a Big deal. But it taught me so much more discipline. Like, well, because it wasn't like nobody was doing. It was just like, okay, well if I surf every day, regardless of the conditions, because I never know what the conditions are going to be of the ocean. When I show up to an event, I'm going to be exact conditions. [00:15:33] Speaker B: Right, right. It's so funny you mentioned that. I don't know if I don't know how familiar you are or of a boxing fan you are. So I was listening one time to Andre Ward and he was talking to Joe Rogan once about, oh my gosh, right. Just incredible. He was talking about Bernard Hopkins and he was like, Bernard Hopkins stayed disciplined all the time, even when he wasn't fighting. And Andre Ward was the same way. It wasn't the discipline that you did during your six to eight week training camp. It was what you were doing when the cameras were off. It's what you were doing when nobody was looking. You know, he was. His quote exactly was, people like being champion because they like what it brings, but it's not you. You have to live the spartan lifestyle to make sure that that sustains itself. You know, it's interesting because when you said you were swimming in all conditions, you probably became very successful at it because you were acclimated. And so I just had a quick question. Number one, are you self taught when it comes to your music? I'm just curious. [00:16:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I taught myself in college when I was surfing because I felt acoustic guitar, reggae and surfing went hand in hand and I was pledging a fraternity. I was pledging Kappa Sigma. When I got recruited during the Met, some people, they wanted me to pledge doing the whole thing. Oh yeah, about nine weeks in some situations happen that I say, you know what, man, y' all trying to make me president of the pledge class, but I don't like the way this is going. And I'm the president of the pledge class. I gotta look out for my pledge bros. And I like the way some stuff came down. So I said, you know what? And it was always kind of weird because I've always been kind of a loner, solo kind of guy. Never, always travel with a group of people and, and still the same way to this day that it just, it started becoming too awkward to be around so many people and having the, the, the where I had to work and, and go to school and I'm doing. I always had a full plate, man, every day those years going to college that I say, I can't do this. My Jewish girlfriend Dumps me then after that, and then I'm like, man, I'm buy a guitar, man. Write sad songs about getting my heart dumped or getting dumped, and. And then that's how the guitar journey started, man. [00:17:34] Speaker B: Yeah. I gotta tell you, you know, first of all, I'm glad you persevered through all those things. And it looks like you just. You're the type of person that. That strikes me as, hey, life threw me a curveball. It's time. I know it sounds cliche, but it's like, hey, man, go keep it moving. You know, as long as I got breath in my body, I'm gonna make sure that I'm hustling and grinding to the next thing. And I thought one of the things that fascinated me the most about you was you. You were. You said you were visiting elderly people out when they got out of the hospital, right? So it was like. And when you were quoted, when you were saying, you're like, hey, don't think you're going to be young forever. People didn't just wake up old, right? They didn't just suddenly wake up and they're 75 years old, 70, whatever age they are, the gray hairs start to come in. And you will, if you're fortunate enough, live that long. And it's important that you said you don't live your life with regrets. You don't sit back and hesitate because of embarrassment. One of the reasons I taught myself personally with this. With this podcast was, okay, you're putting yourself out there. And most people are just, like, they get in their own head, right? Like, nah, man. You know, what if somebody laughs? What if somebody does? You know, what if. What if I come across as silly and stupid? What if Dylan doesn't like me and I have a bombed interview? And then at some point, you just have to be like, you know, what if I air ball the shot? So what? I don't care. I don't care. And it's liberating. [00:18:42] Speaker A: You know it is, man, because you just keep building. Like, there's a guy named Ed. Ed Miley. He calls it compounding, compounding, compounded, compounding, compounding, where you're constantly, like, the water's constantly breaking down that rock in the river. Like, you're constantly. You're constantly. You're constantly. Eventually, like, just like, going to the gym, man, you, you know, you keep doing it. You're eventually going to see results if you don't give up. And I think in life, man, we're just chiseling away at this sculpture, bro. We're just chiseling. [00:19:09] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:19:12] Speaker A: Some parts came out really quick, just like, like making a song, man. Some songs, man, take me two weeks to get done because, you know, but then like last night, man, I just did this. I think it's going to be my song of the summer. I finished in like three hours. You know, you just never know, man. And that's just like, to me, that's just life, man. We're just all sculpting this piece, man, and try to make it as best as we could. Some people are really devoted to it. Some people don't really care if it's polished or tarnished. And, you know, and one thing I learned at my job was, you know, when I, you know, because doing music, man, I was doing gig work. Walmart delivery, Sam's Club, Target, I did all of it. And I finally got in at this medical company, like, hit it off of. My boss got in, you know, started working. And just prior to that, I was doing prescription deliveries to hospice patients or like hospice residential, you know, living centers. So then I got this job and my boss was like, gotta understand, you're gonna be visiting different types of patients. You're gonna go into difference. And I, I'm going throughout the entire desert, man, all the way from the Salton Sea, way up. Like, bro, I have like such a big territory that I gotta go. And, And I, I do some, like, part for the insurance and the medical group, and I get this, just one little thing done that just needs to get done for just their process, and that's all they created my job for. But I see these people and, you know, some people recovering from knees, hip replacements, some people fell down, some people are older. I got to see these people. Some people's kids are there taking care of them. And what it made me realize the most, man, and I think God blessed me with this job because I feel like it's a divine assignment. Because sometimes when I show up to go see these people, I could have been the last person that they seen in the last three, four, five days. [00:20:54] Speaker B: For sure. For sure. 150. Absolutely. [00:20:57] Speaker A: No, it's like a fine assignment. And I, I realized another thing that I heard. If you start taking, instead of just thinking your job and your paycheck, if you start taking things as if it's a design, a divine assignment, you're going to realize what the assignment is because you're in that position for a reason. It made me. It made me. It's been such a blessing for me because it's made Me really be it really have a lot of humility for different people's situations. Different. I don't go to some people got fancy houses, some people living way out there in the desert, I mean lower income places. And it's really taught me a lot of humility, but it's realized, made me realize that I am getting older. [00:21:35] Speaker B: Absolutely. 100. 100. [00:21:38] Speaker A: You get some people in their 70s, 80s, and what it made me realize, man, the most important thing is to have just surround yourself with love, man. Love on your family, love on your people. Because when you get to that point, man, either your people ain't around anymore and if you still got them around, you hope they're out there helping you, you know. [00:21:57] Speaker B: Right. And the thing is, is like, you know, I would never have gotten the opportunity to talk to somebody like yourself had we not connected on this platform. Right. And so you attract what you put out, right. And so there's, it sounds like a cliche but you know, there's very easy. If you're looking for bad vices and negative energy, it's not going to take hard to attract that because there's so much out. It's. It just is. You'll naturally gravitate towards it. And so when you see people either A, in that position or B, trending in that direction, near death's door or recovering from a serious illness or injury, and you look at yourself, you're like, life ain't so bad. And then you start to wake up and say, man, even on it, it affects every way in your life. And I like the analogy used with the gym. If you're looking for immediate satisfaction and gratification, you won't get it at the gym. You just won't. You know, if I was looking for immediate satisfaction or gratification in music, it's not going to happen. In this podcasting space, it's not going to happen. The gym may take you two years to see exactly what you want to see and you better be willing to go when you don't want to. [00:22:58] Speaker A: And you know, man, like maybe, maybe we see things a lot because we come from this, we're the same age, we see from the same generation. [00:23:07] Speaker B: Right? [00:23:07] Speaker A: But I'm gonna say it, man. A lot of these, a lot of these youngsters, I have a 14 year old son myself, man, and, and they say it goes from generation to generation, you know, because from, from like my dad, my grandpa was in, it was a military guy from Korea from the Korean War and my dad was a tough dude and, and you Know, I just hope we just don't get too soft. [00:23:30] Speaker B: Oh, no doubt. [00:23:32] Speaker A: As a. As. As a population, man, that's. That's just. We needed some people, but just soft in a matter of won't get down and dirty and do the work that needs to be done where there needs to be done, to work on yourself, pay your bills, take care of your family. Because, I mean, man, who else do what other grown men do, you know, man, are still whining about, this didn't work out for me, and this didn't work out for me, and they still can't pick themselves up, and they're still telling the same story to what I was dealing with. With. With mental health stuff. Ever since my early 20s, I was. [00:24:03] Speaker B: Gonna touch on that. I was gonna touch on that. [00:24:05] Speaker A: And throughout my 20s, man, I was navigating this without ever telling anybody something was going on. Like, I was having these episodes where my mind would go off kilter, bro. Go to another. Another. Another distorted version of reality, and I would just kind of roll with it, like, oh, like, you know, just. I don't know how. It was just these crazy, crazy episodes, man. Sometimes I get really paranoid sometimes. It was just these crazy things, man, thinking, like. Like, people could hear me through the walls. Just, like, stuff that you would hear about somebody that's dealing with something with mental health stuff. [00:24:36] Speaker B: I don't want to cut you off, too. But it's not like we came from a generation, since we're the same age, that this was, like, normal to seek treatment for. I mean, like, dude, if anything, between the mid-80s, 90s, mid-2000s, there was not like, hey, I really, truly have something going on, and I need assistance with it. It was for lack. And it's. This is a disrespect to our parents generation. They're like, dude, go outside and play. Or, you know, figure it was a quote, unquote. Figure it out. There's just now been in the last eight to 10 years, like, hey, we have a large neglected group of people who all they needed was help sit down and talk with somebody, verbalize what's going on, and then get an understanding to get where the place they were coming from. And mental health has finally somewhat been a word that doesn't have a stigma attached to it. [00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So in 0909, so these whole 20s are going on, and I'm having these episodes, but they would go away on their own. I'd be able to. I was like, so tapped into my mind powerfully that I'd be Able to, like, talk myself out of these great. Like, it was just such a trip. And I'm just thinking, like, everyone else's mind would go through this stuff too, right? Didn't talk about it, didn't tell anybody. And then so I'm in. In Orange county, the guy finds my music. You know, six months later, I'm working in the studio, sign a record deal, producers, the whole thing. But then my mental. My mental health was at his. All this is great stuff is going on, but my mental health is at its worst. Like, I'm bugged out. And this is what trips me out at that time. Like, how was I able to still be able to function, to do all this stuff? Like to show up, go steal, write music. But it's just. I don't know, man. I think like, us creative and that can tap into this. I try not to see it as a negative, but it's another source that we could tap into that sometimes we just need to keep it under control. And how I was able to. How I was able to function. So it all came to its head. I signed the record deal, I cut these records. Now I'm wandering in Orange county with just my dog. And I had only known my son's mom maybe like three weeks. This is before my son was born. And I went from my cool dude in three weeks to like, man, this guy's just literally lost his mind. Like, this guy's not in touch with reality. Ended up getting hospitalized. She finds me, takes me, end up getting hospitalized. And then it was kind of like, I still didn't realize I was so out of touch with reality. I didn't even realize. I thought I was like at some rehab. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know where I was. I was that gone. And finally I get medicated and then I wake up and it's like after I. They give me this injection, I wake up and it's like, wait a minute. This is what's been going on for years. [00:27:10] Speaker B: Years right now. [00:27:13] Speaker A: Now I got an answer that something that I thought was wrong was something was really wrong. I wasn't just crazy, but not just right. [00:27:20] Speaker B: It's not just in your head. You had an actual condition. You're an actual discernible condition, right? And it. [00:27:26] Speaker A: It 2009. So it's like, you know, they, you know, they're saying the word mental illness. It wasn't even mental health yet. It was mental illness. So then that just scared people, like, right? So the parents wanted to just assume that I was doing something with drugs or something that was making this. But it's like this has been going on for like eight years. We're talking years, right? And it just finally got to the point where I couldn't deal with it no more. And luckily the way, the way the circumstances happened that I finally got, you know, for the grace of God, that I got hospitalized, got medicated, and then it was a long journey after that, trying to get back to the work, to even go back to my music career. A lot of time, man, I deleted social media. I just kind of fly it off the radar. I would just go to the gym and just take care of my health and just, you know, just live in my own world. When you're not connected, like everyone's connected sometimes I felt like I needed to disconnect. But it was around like 20, 2017 when I said, you know what? I feel like I'm, I feel like I'm capable enough and I feel like I'm confident enough that I'm really going to give this music thing another. So we're now talking 20, 25. So we're talking like eight years since then when I said I was going to do this again. So we're in another eight years. But luckily, man, like I finally, I advocated to get the right doctors, I advocated to get the right tests and I advocated to get checked out the right way because a lot of doctors, if you're, if you're, if your mental health care is coming from, from the county system now, every state's different. You know, you're, you're out there in Michigan. But the system that I went through and depends on whether you, a low income community, all these factors play inside the type of care you're going to get. [00:29:10] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:29:11] Speaker A: When I finally advocated, man, and it was just because I was having, I was going to have my hip replaced. And I asked my surgeon, you know, during pre op a couple days before, hey, man, you know, I'm not doing good, you know, with my mental health. [00:29:22] Speaker B: Right, right, right. [00:29:23] Speaker A: Have somebody come see me. And he said, yeah. And I was literally in tears. I said, I'm not getting the help at the clinic back home. Like, man, I'm really losing it and I'm really trying to get my life good. And, and this is right after, this is a couple years after I decided to do music again and that I was fighting like, nah, man, this is what music. I'm married. I want to do all this stuff. Like, I want to get this stuff done. Sure enough, psychiatrists Came in to see me, asked me a couple questions, did, like, no other psychiatrist, did blood work, came back to try these meds, and there I'm waking up normal again. Like, for, like, man, how long was I gone for? And in that moment, you know, my wife and I were still young. We're still married. Only like a year and a half maybe. And it was like I had to make a promise not only to myself and to God, but to my wife, too. Like, okay, I'm gonna do everything I can in my power to not fall back to that. Not fall back and stay good. [00:30:11] Speaker B: Right? [00:30:12] Speaker A: And I think when you do that, it's like a superpower, man, because it's like you're doing every little. Every little nuance you can to keep yourself good. [00:30:19] Speaker B: Well, not only that, though, too, man, you're gonna find that it repels away certain behavior, right? Like, if I'm. If I'm somebody who's looking at your Instagram and I'm following you, watching your videos and I'm a negative, you know, quote unquote, you know, if I got a sulky demeanor, I'm turning off your videos immediately. Right? Because I'm like, why is this guy so happy all the time? Like, this isn't way I'm supposed to be, right? I'm supposed to be. So you made a point of emphasis to make sure that every day mattered. Right? [00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:44] Speaker B: And you. And you're following and pursuing your dream. You're helping people get out of hospice, you know, could be their last moments. You're touring, you're meeting incredibly talented people in the industries. You're personally, professionally satisfied. It's still working your way up. And I think that the steps that you've taken, the story that you tell is not a half an hour interview does a disservice to your full story, because there's so much to compress just in a short amount of time. It's amazing. And I love the positive energy you brought up. [00:31:12] Speaker A: And thanks, man, because we've just been flowing. It wasn't like, we've just been flowing back and forth, man. Yeah, the time. Time really quick. [00:31:20] Speaker B: Yeah. And the one. Yeah. And what I. What I thought was most special, too, when it came to your videos, man. I love the way you dress, man. Like, you're, like, dressed up. You're, like, swank. Like, you know, you got a little swag to you, man. I'm really digging, like, the circa 1950s kind of frank Sinatra kind of look kind of way too, like. [00:31:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:38] Speaker B: You know, it resonates with your music. Like how you with the songs you're putting out too. I'm digging that. [00:31:44] Speaker A: I mean I'm out here in the Coachella Valley. This is Frank Sinatra made Palm Springs famous canyon. It's like, you know, I moved out here because my son's mom, you know, God bless her. So could you did help me with what she could at that time when I wasn't doing good, you know, she was from out here and she brought me for the first time out here back in like 2010. The record producer I was working with, Ronnie King, he's. He's from the Coachella Valley. So it's like I always just was getting pulled out here and then finally made the move with my wife in 2023. Man, I was always coming out here on vacation, always visiting my son, always, always coming out here all the time. And then it was just like, okay, we need to make it permanent. And it's been. I mean I. You can't really see the surroundings, man. But luckily I got my. My own little recording studio, my own little slice of paradise, man. I got a view of the palm trees in the pool right out my studio, right off my recording studio balcony surrounded by mountains. Like I told it's gonna be 105 today, mama barbecue ribeyes and hop in and out of the pool, man, and tighten up this new song that I. [00:32:49] Speaker B: Got, Life is good. [00:32:51] Speaker A: Great to start the morning with you, Rashad, man. Good vibes. [00:32:55] Speaker B: Rashad from the D. Hey, real quick, you know I'm in the D. Just, just so people are aware. Like I don't want to rip somewhere where I'm not from. I grew up 25 miles around it but it's the metro general area. So I just want to be clear like if anybody says. But yeah, total clarification. Real quick. Where can people find Dylan Garcia? [00:33:13] Speaker A: Your best spot is just go to Dylan Garcia music dot com. That would be the easiest D Y L A N Garcia music dot com. It's got the social media links, all the music link links to the videos, links to the documentary that would came out about me. It's got a wonderful book me and just everything's just right there on that link tree. Also my Instagram ylangarciamusic everything's pretty much ylangarciamusic. I even got a TikTok. Man, it's kind of growing. [00:33:39] Speaker B: Nice, nice. [00:33:40] Speaker A: I'm realizing with the four major platforms, I don't really do too LinkedIn. I don't know. Never really tapped into LinkedIn. I tried but it's like everyone's corporate and business. [00:33:51] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not. You'll find out, you'll find out what works. Like certain social media platforms are more receptive to based on what you're putting out. It just is. [00:33:59] Speaker A: But then I never know, man. I'll create, I'll create content and it's like, okay, I'm gonna post it on Instagram, share to my stories. I'm all posting on Facebook. I'm sure who to my stores. Yeah, I'm gonna post it on YouTube shorts. Get it up on YouTube shorts and if review two shorts and I'm going TikTok. I did not make that decision until about like maybe four months ago. I started deciding that I wanted to take my content game. I want to raise the game of my content. And I did that. It's like, okay, I have a different, a different sense of people from every different platform. I'll post something on YouTube shorts of me working out in the gym, a motivational thing and that just goes, yeah. But then it doesn't do really anything on Facebook, you know? Right. But there's other people scrolling YouTube that want to see something motivational or like with TikTok, it's just, it just varies. [00:34:53] Speaker B: From, from it's the organic platform. [00:34:56] Speaker A: You never know what's going to hit. [00:34:57] Speaker B: Right? You don't. And the thing is about it, but the one thing that you can control and I say, you know what I saw from you is you can control you. Right. And so once we get out of that space of our own head, like just a 20 second overview of what I did with this podcast, I, I have a lot of varying interest. I read, I watch documentaries and even though I can't play a music note to save my life or can't sing, I've always been fascinated not only about the artists themselves, but the process and the science behind music making. How instruments created, when was the first instruments, you know the history of it. I literally, I know where my talents lie and it is not in your field. But I appreciate people who have stories like yours and the history of it. Whether it's music sampling, whether it's the shady record deals, record labels, all the intricacies of the world. Because when you only view what's in front of you and you don't see the trees and the life that's around you, you have very narrow viewpoint of how life in the world really operates. And that's why I'm glad I get a chance to talk to people like yourself. Because the world Is bigger than my zip code. The world is bigger than the freeway that I drive upon. It's all about the experiences that we share this space together and we ultimately can tell really good stories. [00:36:06] Speaker A: And you know what, man, that goes out. I wish everyone thought like that because people will be so much more well rounded. [00:36:13] Speaker B: Oh, for sure, for sure. [00:36:14] Speaker A: And open minded. [00:36:16] Speaker B: For sure. [00:36:17] Speaker A: People's views and viewpoints and people live part of boogie morning. I even went to the North Shore of Oahu to go, try to go, you know, go do my thing, Ryan and go with the big boy. With the big boy. Just like I said, just from trying to get in the water and get away from baseball. And the West Point thing ended up taking me, you know, I go to UC Irvine, competed, then I go. That was the thing is you go to the North Shore and I go test your, go test your cojones. And you know what I realized how when you, when you can appreciate and not judge and you learn how to appreciate the way other people live, man, we wouldn't have so much hatred in this world. Like, I mean, I'm living from, I went from Newport beach, right, living right by the beach for that school year and then taking off to go to the North Shore during the, the winter. And it was like, man, like, you know, we're on the North Shore. It's not Waikiki, it's country. It's like there's, I mean, it's the North Shore, it's just one girl and the people that live there. And I mean, you got chickens running around like, you know, to be able, like just like old school. We had the neighbors that were right where we stayed. They were always outside, they were barbecuing together. It just seemed like they were so tight knit and family, community and family orientated. It's like, man, why, why isn't this translating back home? Like, why isn't this like this everywhere? Maybe it's the Hawaiian culture, island culture, you know, Polynesian culture. But at the same time, for me to see that, you know, coming from a city like Oxnard, you know, mainly Latino, Chicano community, cultured community, a lot of fields where people go work, the strawberries, you know, the vegetable, the, the, the fields. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:37:55] Speaker A: I mean, obviously, I mean we had a gang on each side of town, right? Each side of town had a gang. And it's like, I mean we, I mean it wasn't a big city. I mean we're talking like 200, maybe 75, 000 people. But it's like every side of town, had a gang, and it was just like. I didn't understand it. I didn't, I didn't. I still don't understand it to this day. Yeah, I guess it dates back, but why our own people got to be killing each other, you know, never made no sense to me. And, you know, I just wish that, you know, people would get out of their hometown. If you get a chance, man, don't just take a trip to Vegas, like, go somewhere else, man. Go see how other people live. And. And what I did, not only that, but going out there. I was going to be out there for 45 days. I might as well immerse myself in it. And I did. When I was out there in Hawaii and I had the most beautiful time, even though I found out, man, I mean, Mexicans in the Pacific Ocean on the North Shore, man, I went way beyond my league. I almost drowned. Ripped up my knee on the reef. [00:38:54] Speaker B: But you do it all again. But you do. [00:38:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I would. And to be able to do that. So I was only 21 years. Yeah, man, you'd never, you know, and I always did that. My parents never agreed why I would always do these trips and go here and do this. Because you're never going to get that time back. [00:39:10] Speaker B: No. [00:39:10] Speaker A: And you plan for forever and you could keep planning and that planning time would just pass you by. You never end up doing something excel. Planning. Yeah. [00:39:18] Speaker B: And I'll leave you with that, because what's funny is you could end up being the talker about what you're talking about, what you're gonna do rather than you did what you wanted to do. So it's all about. It's all about more moves and less announcements in life. Right? So you're just gonna do it or you ain't gonna do it. And there's no little area where they're ever gonna meet up. And like, you know, it's like me with this podcast. Either you're gonna do it or you're just gonna. Or it's just gonna die in the back of my mind. [00:39:41] Speaker A: That's it. [00:39:41] Speaker B: And there's no middle ground to it. [00:39:43] Speaker A: And so like, my boy, my boy told me, my personal coach told me, I'm just getting ready to get ready, get ready to get. [00:39:50] Speaker B: It's like you got the gym bag in the car, you got sweatpants on, and then all of a sudden you go eat the ice cream, and you sit on the couch and go to sleep like, man, you got all that for nothing. So it's all about, like, I always say, now, today was tomorrow. Today is tomorrow. When I said, I'm going to do that tomorrow. No, that's today. So, yeah, you gotta. You gotta find a time to do what you want to do because, you know, I mean, like, to your point, life is short. So all I have to say is, Dylan Garcia, I wish this conversation could go on forever because I love picking your brain. You know what I'm saying? And that's. And that's real. You know what I mean? And so for me to get a chance to talk to you, I mean, three months, four months ago, before this podcast came out, I didn't give a chance to talk to somebody like you. But because I took the risk and got out of my shell and got out of my own head, I have the honor to be able to talk to somebody successful yourself. So I really appreciate you for that. [00:40:38] Speaker A: And you know what, man? I just want to say to you, man, good job for sticking with it. And you're pretty good at what you do. [00:40:44] Speaker B: Oh, man, thank you. Listen, man, I appreciate you. And like I said, this is the Tron podcast with Dylan Garcia. I'm sure I'll be seeing you up on billboards and up with the stars, sir. I appreciate you. [00:40:53] Speaker A: Take care, Rashad. [00:40:54] Speaker B: You too, brother. [00:40:59] Speaker A: Sam.