We’re back in the studio!
Sep 30, 2025
Hey,
I hope you’re doing well. I’m actually enjoying the autumn view and weather of Drummondville, since it’s been cloudy and raining ever since I came back from Hamburg!
It’s already getting colorful and the air is getting crisp as well. I really love this time of the year when October is showing up, always too quickly for me, but since he brings a lot of great vibes, he’s forgiven!
Just went through a very inspiring week and I was so eager to share it with you, as always!
🎧 What I’m listening to
Bright Eyes - Kid’s Table
His brand-new EP, which came out on Dead Oceans last Friday, was a pure delight to my ears all weekend long! Bright Eyes is an artist whom Alex embraced more than 20 years ago, and of whom I became a fan as well a little later on. Ever since he went through hell and back several times in the last decade, his story has brought loads of compassion to my heart.
Hope you’ll enjoy!
📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering
As I hope you noticed, Alex and I are massive baseball fans! We don’t talk or post about it much, but this wonderful sport where probabilities meet execution, is something we always end up talking about on a daily basis… Baseball is the same as life in pretty much every aspect since it’s 162 games from April to October – note that there are 182 days in that time period, which means 20 days off in 6 months, where around 10 of those are used to travel. You can be the hero one night and be the zero the following one...! As they all say, it’s a long season!
Since Alex recently shared a lot on how he feels before every concert and even while he’s on stage, that article from The Athletic truly resonated and brought up an incredible conversation between Alex and me! I could’ve shared the article, but I’m not sure it’s a free one internationally, so here are the most important parts!
Enjoy!
I’m a Major League Baseball All-Star and I still get nervous before every game. Here’s how I deal with it.
Steven Kwan is a two-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner and the leadoff hitter for the Cleveland Guardians.
I get nervous. Every game. People who say they don’t get nervous are either lying, or they’re José Ramírez. I don’t know if José ever gets nervous.
The national anthem is my last chance to center myself before the first pitch. It’s a constant, a chance to maintain a routine. It’s something I can depend on and something I can control in a game in which there’s so much we cannot. So as I stand on the baseline, I start counting.
Breathe in. One.
Breathe out. Two.
As I make my way to 10, it’s funny how many thoughts can flood your mind: What am I gonna do in my first at-bat? What’s the third-base umpire’s name? Do I have time to go to the bathroom?
When you’re in the heat of the battle, you’re probably going to have hundreds of things cross your mind. Those thoughts can take over. But they’re just thoughts, and if you can identify that in the moment, the thoughts don’t seem so terrifying or real.
That breathing exercise during the anthem basically simulates what I’m going to experience at the plate when I lead off a game a few minutes later. As much as certain aspects of Major League Baseball have become desensitized now that I’m nearing the end of my fourth season, so much of it still seems surreal and, at times, overwhelming.
My wife, Sam, has been a huge help, too.
The thing I love most about her is she really doesn’t care about baseball. I’ll be upset about that we lost and she’ll lighten the mood and provide some perspective. She just got her Master’s in nursing. She’s saving lives. She’ll make in a year what we make in a week. That’s ridiculous.
There’s a level of that impostor syndrome that’s key to my success — never letting myself get complacent, never letting myself think I belong. It’s probably not healthy, but I think it helps in the grand scheme. It motivates me to keep up with my routines — the meditating, the breathing exercises, the journaling, the reading.
In a lot of ways, we are defined by our numbers, so it’s a constant struggle. The only solution is to play better. It’s why this game saps so much from everybody. All the stuff that becomes more and more difficult to stay disciplined with the deeper you get into the 162-game grind.
On Sept. 1, the Guardians had a 0.2% chance to win the Division, while the Tigers held a 99.8% chance. Now, this has completely changed since history has been made in grand style in Cleveland! I’m pretty sure Netflix or HBO will release a series about it next year...! Ha!
I truly was impressed and inspired by his humility and his dedication toward not only winning but being a winner no matter the pressure he’s under and how thoughts, sometimes, are just thoughts…! Anxiety is what I like to call pathless thoughts.
🎧 Podcast I’ve Enjoyed The Most
Sef shared this with me last week, and since I really enjoyed it, I thought I’d pass it along to you!
Rick Beato - The Les Claypool Interview: Primus, South Park, And The Art Of Weird Bass
As a bass player since high school, for me, the Godfather of Bass has always been and will always be Les Claypool, and this, from the moment I heard My Name Is Mud from his band Primus. Always keep in mind that everything you hear from him and his band is always weird, really hard to play, and on top of all that, this guy sings while playing bass – if we can call this playing.
To me, he’s not just a bassist but a storyteller and world-builder. Whether in Primus, Oysterhead, or his solo projects, Claypool crafts bizarre, surreal narratives filled with oddball characters, dark humor, and satirical social commentary. His lyrics are as distinctive as his playing: twisted, witty, and often absurd in a way that feels both comical and unsettling.
I’m always inspired by people who, like Claypool, always follow their own eccentric vision rather than chasing trends.
📸 My Picture Of The Week
We’re back in the studio, friends!!!!! New season, new vibes, new spirit: us being in the now, the right now!!! I used to always be doubtful when studio sessions were starting, but not now, not anymore, as in fact, I’ve never been that excited and fearless regarding what’s about to unfold here, now!
Stay close! So much more to come!!!!
💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week
As Alex shared in one of his latest Substack entries:
Transcending Time From One’s Heart Gravity is about freeing our self-imposed limitations and our impermanent passage in a monochromic projection of an existence we are not only contenting ourselves with but one that we are nurturing and are allowing to be governed from… Only to focus on the unchaining meaningfulness of a life forwardly lived through a purposeful awakening.
To me, this is one of the most empowering and inspiring things I’ve read in a long time, and this is what has been shared a lot between each other ever since its publication. We got back to working in the studio a few days ago, and this passage is still with us on a daily basis.
That paragraph is meaningful and important to me because it captures Alex’s core philosophy using music, words, and community not just as art, but as a form of liberation. In a few lines, he challenges the way we often confine ourselves: accepting routines, fears, and external systems that reduce life to a “monochromic projection.”
By naming those self-imposed limitations, he reveals how we unconsciously nurture them and let them govern us. The heart of the paragraph, though, is the shift: instead of being trapped by impermanence, Alex points toward unchaining meaningfulness, a call to live forward with purpose, presence, and awakening. It’s important because it reframes life not as something to endure, but as something to actively transcend, guided by the deeper gravity of our own hearts.
Not as a series of obligations, deadlines, or struggles we just push through until the end. Enduring means surviving in a passive way, accepting limits and shadows as if they’re all there is. But Alex’s vision is the opposite: life as something to awaken to, to embrace, to actively shape.
By anchoring ourselves in the gravity of our hearts, the place where love, creativity, and meaning reside, we find the strength to rise above those imposed patterns and open ourselves to possibility. It’s not about escaping reality but about transforming it into something luminous, intentional, and shared.
Let’s be great to one another!
Your friend and Chief Operator,
Jeff
