Joe Rogan Experience #2177 - Chris Robinson

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumming) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumming) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. CRChris Robinson0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) Especially like the first seasons, like 1972 or '3, I think.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Columbo, I almost forgot about that show. They were, they used to tell him not to smoke?

   4. CRChris Robinson0:21

      Well, no, like the character. I could tell they're probably just building up. Like, like you notice that he has a cigar in his hands-

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:27

      Right.

   6. CRChris Robinson0:27

      ... the whole series, or every episode. But, but I, it's funny in 1972, people were like, "Please don't smoke in here." Or, or, "Mr. Columbo," or, "Lieutenant Columbo." He's always being, like, reprimanded for it.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:39

      Interesting. I forgot about that.

   8. CRChris Robinson0:41

      And he's always really, you know, Peter Falk's charact... He's always like, "Oh, oh, sorry." And he puts it out always. He's never like upset or anything.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:48

      Yeah, he was... That was an interesting character, right? Because he was like this bumbling guy who was actually not. He was kind of setting you up the whole time, letting you underestimate him. Acting all... "Pa- pa- pardon me."

   10. CRChris Robinson1:00

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       "But another thing."

   12. CRChris Robinson1:01

       He's always about to leave-

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:02

       Yeah.

   14. CRChris Robinson1:02

       ... but he's like, "Oh yeah." And he comes back and like hits the-

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       And he's annoying people, and they're like, "Ugh." And then all of a sudden-

   16. CRChris Robinson1:07

       Incredible, though, uh, aesthetic. And like the other day I'm watching this episode that Jonathan Demme directed, Steven Spielberg. I mean, like all of these famous directors start to cut their teeth in TV and on episodic things like that, but-

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       Oh, really?

   18. CRChris Robinson1:23

       There's a real tone to it and stuff that's cool, and the way everyone looked. But one other funny thing about it that I've noticed (laughs) in Columbo is there, always starts with a murder, and then... Usually, a l- a lot of times in the arc of the story, someone shows up to the crime scene, (clears throat) usually whoever did it or whatever, right? And so... But they're never upset. You know? (laughs) There's never someone who runs in, "What happened here?" "Your uncle's been murdered." "Oh, I didn't do it." You know? (laughs) Like it's kinda like how it starts instead of some dramatic, you know, like, "Oh my God," you know, "How could this have..." You know, no one's even f- They're just like, "Okay, uh, well, you're bothering me now." You know? In cop shows you can always tell police, even SVU, they're always like, "I've had enough. Can you guys leave?" And they leave. I'm like, is that how it goes? I- I don't know.

   19. JRJoe Rogan2:15

       No.

   20. CRChris Robinson2:16

       (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan2:18

       (laughs) It's weird how many of those shows there are where they catch the bad guy. Like that is, it's like something that I guess people with anxiety need to let them feel like if someone is a bad person and they do commit a murder, they're gonna get caught.

   22. CRChris Robinson2:33

       Like are the, are the interest in those kinda dark scenarios, you're only interested in them when there's justice at the end? Is that what you're saying?

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:42

       Oh yeah, for sure.

   24. CRChris Robinson2:43

       Like, because anything nebulous or whatever is like, uh-

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:46

       Right.

   26. CRChris Robinson2:46

       ... too real maybe.

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:47

       Yeah, there's those shows and then there's medical shows. Remember when there was, there was a time where there were like, every other fucking show on TV was about a hospital?

   28. CRChris Robinson2:55

       Yeah, yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:56

       Yeah.

   30. CRChris Robinson2:56

       And the only one that I really remember is Quincy. So Jack Klugman yelling at everyone all the... You know?
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. CRChris Robinson15:00

      be kooky, when it was a thing.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:02

      Mm-hmm.

   3. CRChris Robinson15:02

      But they were sponsored by Miller Lite and, uh, I just got into this thing where, you know, so we'd go on stage and do our thing and there's big Miller Lite posters all over the state or whatever, you know. And I got, in my little troublemaker mind, "We're the Black Crowes, you know what I mean? We don't li- we, no one gives us money, thi- we don't drink this beer, no one gives us fucking money. You know, I'm standing under this sign 'cause I have to be here tonight but I want you to know that no fucking beer company sponsors our music. No one owns us. No one..." You know what I mean?

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:40

      Right.

   5. CRChris Robinson15:40

      I had this, this (laughs) naive sort of thing about like, I don't know, and we, my brother and I talk about it a lot and as we've gotten older and especially since we put the band back together these last few years and have been in a really positive place and a really good place, I realize like, you know, part of our... Part of that that we were involved in, we believed in like as if rock, the ess- what we feel is really the true essence of rock and roll, is like, I, I, I describe it as like the movie Quest for Fire. You know, when they have to keep the fire burning in that little thing (laughs) and they're going across the swamp and they don't want the Neanderthals to get it or whatever. That's kinda how we felt, in a weird way, about everything that was out at, you know, one minute you're in control. Your kids were writing songs. We're in control of that. I'm in control of like this is what we're doing, this is how we look, this is what we are. And then you're in the grownup world and you've sold, you've made people tens of millions of dollars and I'm hardly a s- a savvy business person. I never could be, I never would be, it wasn't in the cards for me. Um, and so part of our, like, (laughs) being hard about it or being difficult, uh, not being compliant, was trying to f- s- in our minds keep this pure thing.

   6. JRJoe Rogan17:16

      Mm-hmm.

   7. CRChris Robinson17:17

      You know what I mean?

   8. JRJoe Rogan17:18

      Yeah.

   9. CRChris Robinson17:18

      And in a way that still is part of what we are today.

   10. JRJoe Rogan17:21

       How old were you guys back then?

   11. CRChris Robinson17:24

       Oh, in the summer of '89, Rich was 18, I was 23 when we made our first record.

   12. JRJoe Rogan17:30

       Wow.

   13. CRChris Robinson17:31

       Yeah, yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan17:32

       Just a young rebel. (laughs)

   15. CRChris Robinson17:36

       (laughs) Well, you know, the other thing is, is ro- you know, you remember, rock and roll was, culturally and socially, its place and- and its importance and its reverence was (laughs) a lot different than today.

   16. JRJoe Rogan17:49

       Yeah.

   17. CRChris Robinson17:50

       You know, I think... So one thing I think is cool about hip hop music is the hip hop stars have taken over the, that kind of attitude.

   18. JRJoe Rogan17:58

       Yes.

   19. CRChris Robinson17:59

       Um, which I li- when I see f- their fashion and I see, you know, I mean there's lots of, hip hop's not one thing, of course.

   20. JRJoe Rogan18:07

       Right.

   21. CRChris Robinson18:08

       And I'm 57. I like what I like. You know, I like old records anyway. But when I hear new things that I like and I'm like, "Okay, so they're singing about drugs, they're singing about sex and, you know, they're singing about, you know-"... may- may- maybe I can't really identify with the violence of poverty and stuff. You know what I mean?

   22. JRJoe Rogan18:28

       Mm-hmm.

   23. CRChris Robinson18:29

       Like the extreme (clears throat) nature of some of it. But- but instead, that's another form of rebellion as well.

   24. JRJoe Rogan18:38

       Yeah. And it's- it's- that's- isn't it... Hip-hop itself is an interesting art form, because there's not a push to pop-ify it. You know? Like the- the hardcore hip-hop artists are very successful.

   25. CRChris Robinson18:50

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan18:51

       And the lyrics are rough. (laughs)

   27. CRChris Robinson18:52

       (laughs) Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan18:53

       You know, they're- they're very hard-edge lyrics, but yet these are the lyrics that, you know, get millions and millions of views. You can't even say "millions of sold albums" anymore, because it's like... That's- that had to be the weirdest thing, to watch the sale of albums evaporate.

   29. CRChris Robinson19:08

       Not just the sale. You're absolutely correct. Not just the sale, but the- the meaning of a record.

   30. JRJoe Rogan19:15

       Mm-hmm.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Yeah. …

   1. CRChris Robinson30:00

      I, I, I spend a lot of my time reading. I read a lot of varied materials. And one thing that comes up is humans are dangerous. (laughs)

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:09

      Yeah.

   3. CRChris Robinson30:09

      And places where there's a shit ton of them are usually pretty gross and dangerous, you know? (laughs)

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:14

      Yeah. Well, it's just a numbers thing, right?

   5. CRChris Robinson30:15

      It's n- it's totally numbers thing. It's other things-

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:20

      Yeah.

   7. CRChris Robinson30:20

      ... ills as well-

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:21

      Sure.

   9. CRChris Robinson30:22

      ... that are hard for us to deal with.

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:24

       Mm-hmm.

   11. CRChris Robinson30:24

       And, and look, uh, if we're lucky enough to be walking upright and me- some s- how mentally stable or whatever, right? Um-... but (laughs) but you're, but ... I think cities have always been dangerous places.

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:41

       They certainly have.

   13. CRChris Robinson30:42

       Ancient Rome was a dangerous place.

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:43

       Oh, yeah.

   15. CRChris Robinson30:44

       You know what I mean? I mean, I, it was so wild. We were just in Sicily and we went to Palermo for the day, and it was wa- Paler- have you ever been to Palermo?

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:51

       Yeah.

   17. CRChris Robinson30:51

       It's wild.

   18. JRJoe Rogan30:52

       Yeah.

   19. CRChris Robinson30:53

       It's a, that city is like a bl- like an electric wire that's got sparks shooting out of it and you can't get ahold of it, you know?

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:00

       That's where my grandfather's from. Yeah, when I-

   21. CRChris Robinson31:03

       From Palermo?

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:03

       Yeah. When we went to, um, uh, Italy, th- one of the, the most interesting things-

   23. CRChris Robinson31:07

       By the way, is this water?

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:08

       Yes. Yes.

   25. CRChris Robinson31:10

       Can I have it?

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:10

       And there's coffee in this if you want that.

   27. CRChris Robinson31:11

       Cheers.

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:12

       Um, one of the most interesting things is, well a- and just Italy in general, is like, I, every time I go there I'm like, "Maybe I should live like this." Like, they, they fucking know how to relax.

   29. CRChris Robinson31:22

       (laughs) Yeah, they have to.

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:23

       Those people know how to relax. Like, with the way they sit down and eat. No one sits down and eats for 40 minutes, you sit down and eat for two hours.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Like- …

   1. CRChris Robinson45:00

      Like-

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      I love talking on the phone.

   3. CRChris Robinson45:00

      For hours.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:01

      Yeah.

   5. CRChris Robinson45:01

      You know what I mean? About whatever. So it's... I, I, I get it, but I don't... Yeah, I'm one of those older pe- I don't know. I just-

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:11

      Well, you developed in a different time, and this, this time is fucking bizarre. It, it's-

   7. CRChris Robinson45:16

      I can't imagine spending your life... grown-ass people s- spending all of their time playing video games. That's a real thing.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:25

      Well, at least that's exciting.

   9. CRChris Robinson45:26

      It is?

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:27

       Uh, yeah. Video games are... Some video games are fucking incredible.

   11. CRChris Robinson45:29

       Why? Does it give you a shock or something? (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:31

       No, some video games are so immersive, man. You have 3D sound and incredible graphics.

   13. CRChris Robinson45:35

       Really?

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:36

       Running through corridors, and people are chasing you. It's very exciting. And it hits all of your dopamine receptors, and it just-

   15. CRChris Robinson45:42

       All right.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:42

       ... fires you up. I mean, video games are pretty fucking amazing now. But it's just that the world that we're living in today is... it's not designed for human beings. It's designed to capture human beings, capture your attention. It's not, it's not a, a... Like, if you, if you're, you're spending your time going from, uh, a coffee shop, to a restaurant, to a bookstore, to a record store, to a live concert-

   17. CRChris Robinson46:06

       Museum-

   18. JRJoe Rogan46:07

       Yeah.

   19. CRChris Robinson46:07

       ... to an art gallery.

   20. JRJoe Rogan46:08

       These are human experiences. These are human experiences.

   21. CRChris Robinson46:10

       (laughs)

   22. JRJoe Rogan46:10

       But if you take- spend your time arguing with people on Twitter all day, like... Nothing is more depressing to me than seeing old rock stars argue about politics on Twitter. It is so goddamn depressing watching rock stars virtue signal and, uh, attacking people personally for having differing political beliefs. Like, and, and then looking at their timeline and realizing these poor fucks are addicted to this shit, and they're, they're doing this five, six hours every day.

   23. CRChris Robinson46:38

       Get off my lawn!

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:39

       Yeah, it's, it's, "Get off my lawn."

   25. CRChris Robinson46:40

       You get off my lawn! I mean...

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:42

       But it's, you know, it's fucking rock stars. It's like, good Lord, man. Do you have friends? Like, get out.

   27. CRChris Robinson46:48

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:48

       Get out of the house. Stop doing this.

   29. CRChris Robinson46:50

       We just, we just... You know, it's funny. We were gone for three months. We did the States on this latest tour. We played a lot of new songs from our latest record. It was amazing. And then we finished in Europe, and, and my wife and I stayed in Sicily and went back to London, uh, at the end. And I've been doing it for 35 years of that, you know, 1990, first time I go to Europe.

   30. JRJoe Rogan47:16

       Hmm.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:15:00

   Yeah. It is a…

   1. CRChris Robinson1:00:00

      ... at a party. I was at a party, the ... Like, a Donatella Versace party in London, and there were a bunch of famous people there. But we ... They ... Everyone sat down at a table and, uh, you know, and different things. And he was a g- ... I was just like, "Oh, th-" ... And he was with Richard E. Grant. They were making Gosford Park. Richard E. Grant also I was impressed to see and meet because of the film Withnail and I is one of my favorite movies of all time, and there's Withnail, you know? Like, "There he is." I mean, it's Richard, but ... But there's Bob Altman, who is, you know, lord of my imagination and, you know, one of the best film- ... My favorite film- ... Some of my favorite films of all time. And so after ... When the dinner kind of, like, is, is less whatever, people are up talking to other people, I just go over to him. I'm, I'm like, "Fuck it, I'm just gonna t-" ... You know? 'Cause I, I would be a little bit timid or shy in that situation.... and I would never think anyone, and I still to this day, never imagine anyone knows who I am or what I do, or whatever. It's a good way to go through life, actually.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:01:09

      Yeah. It is a good way to go through life.

   3. CRChris Robinson1:01:09

      You know what I mean? I'm being, I'm being totally honest.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:01:11

      Yeah.

   5. CRChris Robinson1:01:12

      And then you find out most people don't know who you are, give a fuck what you do. (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:01:16

      (laughs)

   7. CRChris Robinson1:01:16

      But I go over, and I- I- I introduce myself, and I instantly recognize that he smells like weed, like he's, you know, got a roach in his pocket or something. And I'm like, "Bob, are you holding it?"

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:01:29

      (laughs)

   9. CRChris Robinson1:01:29

      He goes, "Yeah, you wanna get stoned?" I was like, "Yes."

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:01:32

       (laughs)

   11. CRChris Robinson1:01:32

       So he pulls out a joint, and like we're sitting there, and we're just talking about weed. And, you know, he's like, "It's hard to get, I get this from California, you know?" And I was like, "Wow, man," I, you know. And we smoked a joint and talked a little bit about music and jazz in London, and that was kind of it. And he was like, "Oh, you should come by the office." And I, I never took him up on it-

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:01:55

       Oh.

   13. CRChris Robinson1:01:55

       ... like the production office, just because I just, I felt out of my depth. You know what I mean?

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:02:01

       Mm-hmm.

   15. CRChris Robinson1:02:01

       Um, I should have, but that a- that was like one of those things that I will always remember.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:02:09

       It's interesting when you meet people that were heroes to you, and they're just, they're human beings. They're just normal.

   17. CRChris Robinson1:02:14

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:02:14

       And then you realize like, especially in your case, like you've become that to other people. And then some kid will come up to you, "Chris Robinson?"

   19. CRChris Robinson1:02:23

       Yeah, yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:02:23

       And you're like, "Yeah, a fucking normal person, just a person." But to them, you're, you're The Black Crowes, you're not a normal person.

   21. CRChris Robinson1:02:31

       Right, right.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:02:32

       You're, you're a fucking god. You know, it's, it's weird. You're an inaccessible like plateau of society that very few people ever experience.

   23. CRChris Robinson1:02:41

       I think music is a part of that as well.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:02:43

       Yeah.

   25. CRChris Robinson1:02:43

       You know, like you said. I mean, and I, you know, there will always be... I don't know. There... I think that there's a connection in the, in creation, art cre- you know, where does the idea come from? I mean, I think there's people who can manipulate that and make like, "I'm gonna make a pop song, and it's gonna sound like this."

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:03:04

       Mm-hmm.

   27. CRChris Robinson1:03:05

       And not saying that it's not special or not good, but then I think there's other things that there's... I'm not using it in a Christian way or whatever, but there's a divine spark of something that happens or whatever drops in your lap, imagination-wise.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:03:22

       Mm-hmm.

   29. CRChris Robinson1:03:22

       The muse.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:03:23

       Yeah.
6. 1:15:00 – 1:15:38

   Section 6

   1. CRChris Robinson1:15:00

      years had gone by since we first were Mr. Crowe's Garden and now we don't sound like that. And, uh, and George Chakoulias, our producer and our A&R guy and our lifeline to the w- to the music business, to the world, uh, (clears throat) who signed us and stuff. He was like, "We need, you know, new, gotta change the name." So there was a little bit of time where, before we said we'll be The Black Crows. And that's when Rick interjected that that's what he would... Because we're Southern. Aren't all Southern people fear-driven, ignorant bigots? Aren't, isn't every one of them? (laughs)

Episode duration: 2:19:57