Protecting Original Songs: Summer Woods' Music Odyssey

We are live. Okay, I'm excited. I'm not gonna like fake it, obviously I'm excited. So today at Adrienne Barker Speaks Live, no prep needed, though I did a little prep because I am introducing you all to Summer Woods. If you're following me, you've seen her YouTube videos. I follow her on every social media channel except for Snapchat. Are you on Snapchat, Summer?

I am, but I haven't posted in about, uh, 6 centuries.

Oh good, that's how old I am, 6 centuries. I love it. So, uh, that's fantastic. Okay, and then I want— how did I meet Summer? Actually, how do I meet so many amazing people? That's because I have a lovely relationship and friendship with Shamim. Shamim, Shamim, you don't even— you're like Cher or Lady Gaga, you don't need a last name. So Shamim is the Autograph King. There's a movie coming out, and stay tuned at the end of this episode where Shamim's going to share with you exactly, uh, like a preview of The Autograph King, which is the name of the movie too. But Shamim and Summer have been friends, and Shamim said, hey, would you want to, you know, meet Summer and do an interview? And honestly, Shamim has sent me a few people and I don't get that excited. I didn't even know who Darth Vader was when we interviewed, uh, Nelson Andrew. I had no idea. But Summer, I love her music. So Summer, I want you to tell everyone about yourself. And, and so I'll start the first question. Summer, what made you even know that you enjoyed music? Like, what was that, like, first second? Did you pick up an equipment or an instrument? Like, how did you know that you had musical talent?

That's a really good question. I, uh, it's hard to say where like the first spark begins, but, um, I was in, in high school, I was really into this musician Beck. You probably know him from Loser fame, uh, that, you know, I'm a loser baby, so why don't you— so, so into him. He was like my first really big celebrity crush. I was like crazy over him, and, um, I wanted to write songs like him, and like I learned to play his stuff and then I started writing songs like about him and in his style, but it ended up sounding nothing like him. It ended up sounding like me. So really, he was kind of one of my biggest inspirations just starting out. And I was like, oh, I think I can actually do this. Wow. Okay, cool.

Is he still alive?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's— I think he recently won a Grammy. Yeah.

So how do we share this with him? How do we get— does he know?

He doesn't know. He's a little like under the radar. Like Weird Al is different. Weird Al is so like, he's my most recent like musician obsession. He's super like open with his fans. He will tweet at them and retweet people. But Beck, I've never seen him do anything like that. So I've never met him, but I was like, he's just a big inspiration to me.

All right, Shamim, you gotta get on that. So, and actually I've noticed Summer, you are very interactive with your fans on each platform. Is that why?

I try. Yeah, yeah, Al is a big inspiration in that way because I was wondering, like, you know, I'm not the most, like, extroverted person ever, and neither is he. I know he's, like, a little bit introverted, but he makes such an effort to, to care about the people who care about him. And I'm always thinking, okay, how would Al handle this situation? He would probably be very warm, open, inviting, nice. So I try to be that way with as many people as I can, even though I'm a little Nervous.

Are you saying, what would Al Yankovitz do?

We need to start making like bracelets, you know, what would Al do?

That is hilarious. Oh, let me just do a little, uh, can you keep it quiet down there? Okay, so I have a few. Oh, Shamim, go ahead.

Also, Beck actually passed away January 10th of, uh, 2023, actually.

I saw him though. I saw him in concert just recently.

Um, yeah, he passed away. If it's the same back, probably, um, yeah, back, back with Loser. And yeah, he passed away, um, due to, um, he passed away at the age of, uh, let's see, he passed away at, um This is a different— it's a different back. It says back from the band Back.

Uh, it's still going. I just— I literally just saw him.

Maybe, maybe Shamim, maybe, uh, maybe it was a fake article, or maybe we'll be able to now really reach him. Let's hold the ads and we'll have a seance.

Oh, which back is that? Uh, oh yeah. Oh yeah. Uh, let's see.

I will figure that out, Shamima, afterwards. Uh, let's, uh, let's continue because I really want to continue with some questions.

Okay, good.

So Summer, first of all, I love the name Summer Woods. Is that your real name or is that your star name? And what— and tell me what— who named you?

I think my mom suggested it to my dad and my dad said yes. I might be wrong, but, um They, they named me Summer Patterson Woods because my parents were in New York when they found out they would be having a kid, and they were in Patterson, which is a really small city in New York, and they were like, well, that's a pretty name, let's name her that. So, but the Summer part I think was just because I was planned to be born in summer. My birthday is August 8th, so yeah, I love it.

All right, so now you are— it's so interesting to me, so Um, you could tell me your age or not tell me your age.

And 26 and a half years old. Okay, I love it.

Your brain is fully developed, which is amazing. I'm kidding you, they always say that 25 age.

So you—

so when did you first start? When did you actually like— so I, I get that you, you're, you're like with Beck and he was inspirational to you. We're gonna tag him, hopefully he's alive to get the tag. If not, someone else will see the tag. I think it's amazing. That celebrities, you know, they don't realize how many people they impact, but you're doing the same thing too. So you're impacting other people, and especially those that are coming up, and, you know, just your, your music is fun. So what is the— so I want to get an idea, when you started to actually realize, I've got something here, I really can go out and promote myself, and then how did you decide how you were going to promote yourself?

I don't know. I think it was just YouTube in general. I was just like, well, YouTube is the best, you know. It's almost like, you know, TV for the common man. Like, if you want to make your own show, you got YouTube. There you go. So I just started putting things on YouTube. And then I got really into this band called Ween, which was my second, like, Well, I've had many musical obsessions, but one of my biggest musical obsessions is called Ween. And I— once I started posting covers of their music, their fan base found me, and that was what really started like blowing my channel up and stuff. Because, you know, certain, certain fan bases are really like diehard, uh, for their, for their bands. So that's basically how I targeted that audience.

Oh, that's a great tip. But now, so, but they don't mind that you're doing cover? Like, I really It's so interesting to cover. Do the big artists love having their covers done or do they not like it? Like, how do you know?

I think most are fine with it. The only, like, time you would know is if they really came for you and they gave you, like, a copyright strike and told you to take it down. But I mean, that's so rare. Like, technically when I posted my Weird Al covers, it's technically, like, unmonetizable. Like, YouTube can detect the copyright in it, but, but Weird Al is cool with it himself, so it doesn't really matter, you know.

Oh, that is— and what are you doing with Weird Al? Like, are you, are you doing a parody on his parody, or you're just singing his parody?

I, I did a compilation of his original music, so I, uh, yeah.

And, uh, the link will be in the show notes for this because I know I want to hear it.

I miss this Oh, thank you. Yeah, yeah. So he actually does write original melodies and stuff. So I just took all those original melodies and made huge compilations of all the original songs he's written over the years.

Were you ever at a show?

Oh, yeah. 8 times in 2022. I'm like a deadbeat.

Did you sit up front with the little— what does he give you for the watermelon?

For the watermelon.

Is he still doing that where he like the watermelon, it all goes all everywhere and people in the front wear like something to protect themselves?

I think that's his friend Gallagher, but Gallagher, uh, uh-huh. He did do that in the Weird Al movie though, which we needed umbrellas for because it was like a 4D movie experience, so you know.

Oh, that's so nice. So you have a nice relationship with Weird Al? If you don't know Weird Al, everyone, then I don't know where you're living. So come back to the United States and we'll introduce you to Weird Al Yankovic. Yeah, like, what the heck? And that shirt— tell us about the shirt, Shamim.

Well, so yeah, so basically this shirt was from Al's, um, Poodle Hat album. That's where me and how me and some actually met was on the— was it the 19th anniversary of Poodle Hat? Was that when we met? Yeah, the— so the Poodle Hat came out May 20th, 2003. That album is, um, a part of— that album is the main reason why That's one of its Grammy Award-winning albums.

And—

oh wow, okay. And come back and show us, that sounds cool.

Yeah, so speaking of which, um, this, this, and then get the CD. So basically this album is like Al's Grammy album that he did.

Hey, Shamim, it's okay. Will this be in the movie, The Autograph King?

Uh, yes, actually. Bermuda Schwartz, Al's drummer. There we go, got it. And I got, uh, the other thing. There we go. Okay, here is Al's Actual album, actual album right here. That's the actual album where this shirt actually, uh, and then here he was wearing the shirt in the album. Look at this in the liner notes. That is— I love it. That's Summer This is Summer's album called Chihuahua Hat, and this is ours.

Nice. Oh, I want to talk about Chihuahua Hat because I think that Summer may have— is that named after your chihuahua, Summer?

Yes. Yeah, and she's right, she's right here.

Oh, bring her up, bring her up, we'll talk to her. What's her name?

Questions? She helped me. She actually has a vocal part on the album, believe it or not. She Her bark is sampled in the album.

Oh my God, I love that, I love that. All right, so now I have another question. Who is Tool? I'm not really familiar with Tool, but I'm not that cool either, so, you know.

Well, they're a progressive metal band that I recently got very into, and all because of my uncle. My uncle is a very big, like, fan of their work and has been for a long time, and he keeps telling me, you gotta hear this song, you gotta hear this song, and it was just so overwhelming. I'm like, I don't know, That's a lot of music. And then finally I sat down and really listened to them. And I was like, okay, now I understand the obsession. Now I understand everything. Because he's— Maynard is one of the best lyricists ever. And the band is just one of the best bands ever. And then when you put it together and they have incredible music with incredible lyrics and incredible singing. And Tool now is just one of my favorite bands. And I realized that when I covered them for seemingly like no reason at all, every Tool cover that I do gets like 2,000% more views than any other band that I cover. So I don't know why, but I was like, okay, let's do Tool covers from here on out. Here we go.

Sorry, you have— your voice is so interesting, your talking voice, right? It's, it's fairly deep. It's got like a— I, I love it. It's got a really cool sound to it. Um, so, and are you— is it— are you considered a— excuse me, because it's been many years with music, but a baritone? What is your—

I sing alto in the school choir.

So what is alto? I don't remember.

I believe it's the lowest female voice you can have.

I don't really make sense though. Yeah, it does make sense because you don't try to like cheery. I like— what I love about your music is that you don't try to sound like someone else. You just try to sound like Summer Woods, and I think that's really important. So Summer, like, what are your dreams? What are your next steps? Like, where do you feel you are right now in your musical, you know, business and career, and where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Well, uh, right now, I mean, I, I— we, we have an album which is completed. And my dream is, you know, to just keep writing songs, release albums, and have people vibe with what I'm saying. That's literally my only dream. And so we have an album right now, which is recorded, done, ready. And it's just taking a while for us to chop it out and go over our options with it. But in 5 years, I want to have, of course, released my first album and hopefully a few other albums and at that point have people just really vibing with the songs that I'm writing and, uh, you know, kind of play it by ear at that point. No pun intended.

I love that. I love that. The other thing I noticed with you is that you— I love your lineup. So I see that you are— you're in California where the stars are. And what are you— do you have an agent or are you contacting and making the connections for you to play at different locations? Are you doing it yourself?

Um, I guess it's kind of 50/50 between me and my manager because my manager very conveniently is also my drummer. Um, so we— and we met at the school where I got my songwriting degree. So, uh, he is the guy really in charge of like negotiations and money. Like, because sometimes people will come to me and be like, hey, do you want to play for this? This amazing show that I'm doing, like, in my basement. And I'll be like, well, that sounds fun, sure, but you might want to talk to Dave first. So Dave is the one who's gonna, like, vet them and be like, hey, how much you paying? And what is it like? You know, so it's kind of 50/50 in a way because sometimes people will come to me, but I'd want to make sure they go through Dave first so I don't sign up to anything that's gonna, like, destroy me, you know?

So you guys are kind of on the same beat, you beat to the same drum.

Sorry, I had to get a pun in there.

I had to get that pun in, I just couldn't help it. All right, so you said something about a guitar, which I'm thinking that means that you're going to play for us. Is there— what song are you going to sing so that I can find out the inspiration behind it?

Or— I was just going to play whatever. I mean, I was— Shamim asked me the other day, what songs are you going to play? And I'm like, I I didn't know I was gonna play any songs, but—

I love the Pasadena. I love that song. Tell us about Pasadena. Sure.

That song was, I wanna say it was about 2:00 AM. I was about to fall asleep and I was just thinking about everybody that I had met in my schooling in Pasadena. And I had made so many good friends and it's just like the most accepted I had ever felt by a social group. And I was like, this is, It's just a wonderful thing. I'm so glad I went to school in Pasadena. And as I'm falling asleep, you know, about to drift off, of course, I get a great idea. And I'm like, I was like, man, now I have to get up and like record this. And I had to get up out of bed. And but I'm so glad that I did because now I wrote a song that I'm really proud of. And I played it for the class actually, because I wrote it for them. So I brought it to a vocal class that we were all in and I said—

All right, I'm muting us so that— I'm gonna mute us so that we can hear you play. So everyone, I'm excited to introduce you to Summer Woods playing Pasadena. Raise your— but quietly do it because she's playing. I'm muting you and me, Shamin.

Okay, let me know if the audio is okay.

I took a train to Pasadena. I never thought much of the ride. I didn't know a soul in Pasadena. I got to the station and cried. I didn't like the classy people, but I thought your jacket was nice. Your mind was like a mirror. I squinted at you and I smiled. I made a friend in Pasadena. We're passing all the stops and all the In old antique shops, yeah, my past behind the dusty glass. And you get all my jokes as we're walking down Fairoaks, yeah, and I just can't believe that I met you in Pasadena. On the couch at your apartment, we talked about the universe. Sing a song about belonging. Everybody knew the words.

Oh, oh, oh.

I met a friend in Pasadena. We're passing all bus stops in all some little antique shops, yeah. I pass behind the dusty glass, oh yeah. And you get all my jokes as we're walking down Fairoaks, yeah. And I just can't believe that I met you in Pasadena, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.

This is where everyone at home sings along.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah.

Woo!

Pasadena, we're passing all the stops and all the little antique shops, yeah. Might pass behind the dusty glass. Oh well, and you get all my jokes as we're walking down Fairoaks, yeah. And I just can't believe that. No, no, no, I'll always be around to dance to the rhythm of this old town, yeah. And now I'm so glad that I took a train to Pasadena.

Summer, Summer, there's something so special about you. Oh my God, you know what I love? First of all, I love that you're, you're willing to play and pick up the guitar. Even that, just like so many people are like, Oh, I'm not ready yet. I don't know, Summer just does it. You're fantastic. And there's something about the beat, right? Like, like that music, like the words are wonderful, your voice that I love, but that beat is like, it's almost like the more you hear it, the more you want to hear it.

Interesting.

Yeah, yeah, there's something to it. You really— I find that when I want to listen to you, I keep going back to Pasadena first. Because— and so it's original. So when you say originally original, like all the way through? Yeah, it's music notes.

Well, I mean, of course there's some inspiration. I mean, I took a lot of inspiration from this song called The Weight by The Band. You know that song?

Take a load off, Fanny, take a load for free.

I was really inspired. I was like, I want to write something like that. So inspired by that, but not really exactly, you you know, exactly everything is the same.

Intense. Oh my gosh. I, I, I don't— like, I just want everyone to absorb it because that's pretty, pretty amazing. So now you write the song, and then how do you protect it? How do you copyright that so nobody else can, can take it?

Well, I know you know someone.

You know someone who's been protective for you, kind of.

Yeah.

Well, is he a copyright, uh, he's an attorney in copyright. Oh cool.

Oh my God, Shamim, introduce somebody to protect your stuff.

When the band sues me, uh, your dad's got me, right?

Yeah, I think beforehand that we get you protected. That's a beautiful song. How do you— seriously, we don't want them to take your words and the music.

Yeah, well, I mean, in a court of law, really, as soon as you write a song, technically it's already your copyright. So if someone sues you for it, I mean, the judge can pretty much tell, you know, like, well, yeah, I mean, you obviously wrote it. There's a YouTube video from this date where she's playing it. But I mean, in case anyway, everybody should get their songs copyrighted on the government website where you can copy intellectual property, I mean copyright intellectual property. So I also have that done just as a backup. But I mean, normally it's not really that big of an issue because anyone can just see, well, I mean, you pretty much obviously wrote that. If you have a voice memo of you writing it, it's like, you know, who's going to dispute that?

Oh, I love it. Okay, good, good. Because we don't want you to have 34 counts of, you know, any kind of felonies going on. Okay, so now, Summer, Summer, what is a day like in Like, what is your day like? Like, just tell us like an average day, maybe not today because you're doing the interview, but what's your average day like for Summer Woods on a busy day, like your regular day and then a day where you are getting ready to play?

Well, it is kind of a regular day for me. I mean, I play a lot. So I mean, normally I get up, I will edit some kind of video or music that I'm doing. Like I do a lot of— I mean, I stay at home a lot. I'm mainly just like, okay, here's this YouTube video. Does it sound good? And I'm like editing in Pro Tools. Does this sound Does that sound good? And then I'll be posting it. I'll maybe work on writing. I have a New Year's resolution to write 2 songs every month. So I'm— that's been going pretty swell. So that too. And then I might perform a gig in LA or something and, like, you know, bring my guitar, do that stuff. And then when I have free time, I'm just watching Better Call Saul.

OK, so now— I never really got into Better, but I love Breaking Bad. So, Summer, I just, you know, I'm thinking about you, and, okay, so I have a podcast that I love, not that there's anything connected. I just love the host. It's called Seriously See, and Annie Easley, and I love her. But what I think is really cool with her is that she— and I really could see you doing this if you were looking to, um, actually scale and like monetize, because what's really cool is someone gets to know you, they love, they love your music, so they subscribe on YouTube. But then you have like special membership, even if you charge like $5, $10, and then you like once a month either talk to your fans and do a Zoom call with them so they can get on and meet you. And I don't know, I think that would be really a cool thing to do, and you can monetize that. Not a lot of money, but— and then you could also take like ideas for songs, or, you know, have some contests. You can have some fun, but you're interacting. I love that you interact on with each of the platforms, but imagine being someone who's following you, and then I get to be in like the same Zoom room with Summer as she's sharing her inspiration, doing a song. So just a thought on that, because I think that would be really cool for you. Are you, um, do you live home with your family? Do you live on your own?

Yes, I live at home with my family. I, uh, I lived in Pasadena before the end times, before the dark times. And then when basically all my roommates had to go home because of the pandemic, I just moved back here and it's just been very convenient. I mean, my parents and I are like best friends, so I don't, I don't even care to leave. I'm just, I always have a good time with them and I can easily do my work here. So I'm like, hey, It's pretty chill.

I think that's smart, and I, I would want my daughter to be home with me. I have a daughter, so come home, Alana. I would love my daughter to be home. I think it's really— she's with her boyfriend, but I, I think that it makes sense to take advantage of that because that's one less worry you have, allowing you to concentrate on your music. So that is really beautiful, and you sound a little bit like a homebody.

Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to be a little less of that because I'm just kind of like Yeah, I don't know. I want to be more social and be more outgoing and do more novel things in my life. But I mean, I also just enjoy making music so much that I almost don't want to leave the house. So, you know, it's like a—

I love that. What are you working on next?

For music? I mean, obviously I'm just working on more covers at the moment because I can't really do anything with my full album until we come to a decision on how are we gonna, you know, what label are we gonna use, how are we gonna, you know, put it out. We're gonna do it ourselves, or how are we gonna do vinyl, how are we gonna do this, how are we gonna do that. So it's mainly just a bunch of questions like that. So once we answer all those questions, then I will be releasing a full LP. Um, but at the moment I'm just working on covers and my fan base and stuff.

So Adriana, um, Summer actually has a new song coming.

I lost you for a minute, Summer. Sorry about that.

Uh, should I repeat anything?

Summer?

Oh, we lost her. Oh, let me see. Let's get— wait, we lost you, Summer. I'm gonna remove you and then put you right back. Okay, there we go. Let's see if Summer comes. Okay, there we go. I just wanted to remove you, Summer. Um, I'm gonna hold on to me. We're gonna come to you in a second.

Okay.

But, um, Summer, wait, let's wait.

Let's see, one sec. Summer, back.

Can y'all see me now? Okay, okay.

So Summer, I have a question for you.

Yes.

So, oh, I hope it's not me. Okay, so my question is this. I don't know if it's me or not. Summer, my question is, yeah, do you think musical talent is something that's hereditary? Is anyone in your family also sing and play the guitar?

I, I believe it's hereditary, not, not only from experience. I mean, because my grandpa plays guitar, my dad plays piano, my grandma before she passed was a classical pianist. So just a lot of, you know, even my great-grandpa was a musician. He could play a bunch of instruments and stuff. I believe it from anecdotal evidence, and I also believe it from a book, this book that I read called Musicophilia, which is an insane read if you want to read it. But it's about like the neuroscience of music. And it talks about how certain people, their brains are just wired. And if they have some kind of brain injury, it affects their ability to play music. Either it gets better or worse, which is really strange. Like there's a story about a guy who gets struck by lightning. It affects his brain and he actually gets better at music in a weird way. So I believe it's something physical, but obviously it can be improved or neglected with um, nurture, you know what I mean?

Oh, that's a good— oh, that's a good point. Okay, so I will tell you my first concert. No judgment. Can you just say I won't judge you, Adrian?

Dude, I probably have more cringy interests than anyone, so I, I will not judge you.

Nope.

Okay, it was Andy Gibb from the Bee Gees. He ended up passing away at like a young age. He was 16, and I really loved him. But then I realized that his like little nephews, I think it is— do you see them on YouTube, and, and I mean TikTok. Oh my God, oh my God, they're so cute! They play all the COVID for their— and I was like, these guys are great. And then I saw they had like who they were, and I'm like, oh, that makes so much sense. Oh my gosh. Okay, so Summer, how could people support you? What would you like? We're all happy to do whatever we can to get you where you need to be.

I, uh, if anyone wants to join my mailing list, that's probably the best way because that's the best way you're gonna find out about like upcoming concerts, you know, freaking upcoming stuff that I'm releasing. So mailing list is the best way. But if you want to just follow me, you can always follow me on TikTok. If you want to support me monetarily, you can always be my like member on YouTube or join my Patreon. I also have TikTok memberships. I'm still— I'm very new to all this stuff.

What do we get though? So you are doing it. So what do we get for the membership? I love it.

I, I just started, so I, I haven't even seen a dollar from YouTube yet. But, um, I do a lot of like live streams and I release videos early. That's, that's the main thing. Like, all my patrons and members will see videos like 3 to 4 days earlier than everyone else. So that's, that's what I've been doing lately.

Oh, so I gotta do that. I'll be the first. I will be the first. I'll sign up. I love that. And then, and then you— and then, then I think it would be a great idea to do something private once you get, you know, a few. You do something neat. That would be very cool. Make sure your offerings are very clear why people should membership. And you can send me anything if you want me to review. If you need a second set of eyes for whatever you're doing, I'm happy to help you. So I'm happy to do whatever you need. I love it. And then they're going to find you as Summer Woods, Summer Woods Music.

Summer Woods Music. When in doubt, because you never know when you get like pictures of a forest and stuff. Oftentimes when you Google me or whatever, that's, that's what comes up. So it's like, wait a minute. But the music part really helps with that. So if you're getting pictures of green forests, then just, just add the music.

You guys, Summer is great. I also want to just say, if you have a podcast and you would like to interview Summer for yourself, do it. She could use all the exposure, and that would be really nice. She's a great guest. She sings beautifully. I really enjoy Pasadena. And, uh, and let's all support Summer. So raise your hand, everyone who's gonna supporter. Look at the millions of people!

Wow!

So thank you, I'm really excited. I mean, tell us about you, Shamim. Tell us about The Autograph King.

Well, okay, so The Autograph King, um, we— the idea came from this, uh, this lunch meeting we had with RJ Mitty in July of— July 2nd of 2002 with our good friend, me and someone's friend, um, Scott Zacharin, who is the director of The Autograph King, and his friend Eric Miedelman, um, my friend Sebastian— oh wait, it's just us now. So, um, and then that's okay, I mean, remove myself just a little bit. So, and then we, um, Sebastian Lewis, me, Steve Kryken, Scott, Eric, and RJ were in this meeting to talking about our disabilities. I have cerebral palsy, and we all would— that's how me and RJ connected, basically. Met him at the Hollywood show. He, he was a guest there. I went up to him and talked to him, let— told him, let's have lunch, um, Saturday, July 2nd, 2022. I said, I'll buy you lunch, like, you know how he is in Breaking Bad. When someone buys him lunch. And then—

no, wait, but who is he? Tell us. I don't know who you're referencing.

Uh, he is Walter White Jr. from Breaking Bad. He's the guy with the, um, crutches. He's, um, he's Walter's son, the one that has the crutches.

The, the—

so you, uh, yeah. Yes, Walter White Jr. Oh, the one, the one with the—

oh, that's very cool.

Yeah, so me and OJ and Scott and Eric and Steve, Steve Kraken and Sebastian Lewis, all of us were sitting at dinner and, and, um, Scott was looking for a new, new idea for a new documentary. I was telling him I should be, and then Eric said That sounds good. And then OJ says, next time when, when you see me, um, I'll be happy to be in it. And then so after, uh, like September of 2022, me, Corey Orton, um, Michael Schmidt, and Scott all have started brainstorming, um, planning. And then on February 14th of 2023 All right, yeah, uh, we started filming my family and then we went to Fan Expo in Portland. We all did filming in Portland.

That's when you went to Blockbuster?

We—

no, no, actually, so we first, we went to— we filmed in Portland and Fan Expo Portland of 2023, and then we went to The Bay Area, which I was from, from July 2004 till about September 11th, 2018. So we filmed all around the Bay Area. My 30th birthday bash, we interviewed all my friends there. And then after that, we went to StocktonCon, July 8th and 9th of 2023. We did, um, we filmed, we interviewed Billy West from the Futurama fame. We interviewed Thomasin Nicholas and C. Andrew Nelson. It would show 2023. So, and then And then so after that, we actually, um, then we did filming in Burbank from October 5th through the 7th, going all around LA, going on, um, our first meeting was— for first interview was with Bermuda Schwartz, Weird Al's drummer. We got him in it. Uh, we had a, um Mexican dinner interview. Me and Bermuda, um, Aaron Marshall Cohen from Radioactive Chickenheads were there. Um, Michael Schmidt, my dad, and, and Scott were all filming John for my documentary. And then we went to the Hollywood Show the 10th— no, October 7th. Then we did interview with Summer. We did an interview with all my other Hollywood show.

Summer's gonna be in the movie.

Oh yes. And then, yeah, so, and then we did this whole big wrap party, and then Summer was the music talent. So after that, we, uh, we finished wrapping, um, the, the wrapping the, um, the post-production on that day. So after that, 2023, and then we started editing. Aaron is our editor. He edited 80% of the film. So as of— and then we, me and Scott, did our first convention together at LostCon 49 in LA. We had panels there, we promoted the film there, and then we actually As of January, then me, Corey Orton, and Michael Schmidt all went to, um, Fan Expo Portland this year, and we interviewed Rainn Wilson. We got 9 minutes with Rainn. We got Tim, Tim Jacobus, the Goosebumps guy. We did a lot of, um, we did the voice of Dora, Kathleen Hurless. Uh, we did Emily Swallow from Mandalorian. And then, um, after that, we, we, we dropped the new trailer, um, March 19th of this year. It can be found on Scott Zakarin's, um, YouTube. And then after, as, as we stand right now Scott has hired Summer to be in his next film, which is called Lydia, and she wrote an original song called, uh, Stand Together. And I think that would be— should be the last song of this interview because that song's really good.

Um, oh my God, this is so exciting!

If you think— if you think Pasadena's good, Stand Together is the next It's like the Edith of Who We Are Now. So, so that song is really good. Scott— Summer has a cameo in Scott's movie. She's in the scene, the big birthday party scene. She plays Pasadena, and she wrote the original song for Scott Zacharin. So, uh, Lydia is in editing, is almost done.

So where will this be released? Um, wait, wait, first tell us, tell us about some movies that like the average person may recognize that Scott has.

Okay, Scott's gonna have a cow, but this is his first big— first film he did in 1989. It's called Creating It's his first ever document— first film, feature film. It's a children's musical. It's called Creating Rem Lazar from 1989. So this is a kids film. It's about a singing superhero with our good friend Jack Mulhaney. And this is very entertaining. So, and then he has a couple of Corey created the art for the soundtrack of the film, and so that's his first film. But Scott mainly is known for this, these films. So I've known Scott for about, uh, since 2017. His three— his two films— should be films, so his three films that he worked on. So the story about me and Scott— so me and Scott met, um, so I started this project called The Comic Book: The Movie. Um, this is what he's known, best known for. So I started this project on the poster in 2015, and then I, then I said why not start a poster project of everybody who's the main cast of the movie? Um, Mark Hamill, Billy West, Jess Arnell, Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Donna D'Errico. So I— the first person who start— who signed the project was Tara Strong at BabsCon 2014. And then, um, I got Bill Morrison, Simpsons, then, um, Sergio Argus from Mad Magazine, then, um, Mike Mignoglia from Hellboy. So that what started it. And then the poster to date is— one second, right back, I gotta get the thing.

Okay, so this is very exciting that Shameem is going to have— we have to find out where it's going to air, like how they're going to release it.

Yeah, I asked Scott about it and, uh, he was basically like, uh, he was a little stressed. He was like, oh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. So I'm still not sure, but I don't want to get everybody like too excited because I don't know how soon the movie is actually gonna release. Um, could be next year for all I know, but, uh, I'm just really excited about it. It's called The Reincarnations of Lydia, by the way.

Oh my God, I cannot, I cannot wait. I'm so excited about that.

Me too, guys.

This is a special treat. This is the poster.

Be sure you have to watch us on YouTube, everyone. Oh, I love this post. I'll put a— I'll put a link in the show notes too. Oh, I thought you were gonna show the autographed King one.

Uh, so this is the poster, has 1,030 signatures on it.

That is incredible.

And we have 30 Yep.

So here's, um, uh, we have, um, example, we have here is Dave Couillet, here is, um, uh, Jason David Frank, there's Stan Lee's autograph right there.

Oh my gosh, I mean, we'll be here all day if you name them all.

Well, a little bit. Yeah, so So as of right now, we have, uh, 12 of the main cast. Um, we have everybody but Mark Hamill.

Amazing.

So the director. And then we got other films. Is this one called Mind Melds with William Shatner and Nimoy? He was executive producer on Here's his pride and joy, which is the documentary with Stan Lee and Kevin Smith that he directed in 2002. So as of right now, Scott's love project is the Autograph King. And the Autograph King, the— this— Okay, so this is the autographed King— is here is the autographed King one. Oh, there it is.

Let me share, everyone. Let me share that with— I'm going to post the trailer so everyone can actually understand Shamim's love and how he— like, I go to these events, I'm scared to talk to anyone. I could never ask anyone for the audience. It doesn't come natural, but Shamim does.

Here it is. This is the— this is the art that my good friend Brian Ardent designed. It has— so I started— I started having people in it sign it, so This is supposed to— is the poster of the film.

Um, come on YouTube to see it.

And then here it is. So I— so what Brian and Scott had in mind was we, um, Scott told me to gather all the stuff that I enjoy and then put it in one big collage. Oh, so it's like, it's like a Where's Waldo, uh, my collection.

So yeah, I love it, Shamim. I love it.

And here, and so it's right now signed by, um, uh, Brian the artist, obviously, Sandy Harding from The Last Blockbuster.

I love it.

And then the cameo, Thomas, and, uh, also star Thomas and Nicholas. Hold on, let's see closer.

Yeah, I love it.

There's Thomas. There's Sandy. And my favorite guitar of mine is my special guitar that—

um, so Shamia, if you're not watching, he's going back and forth to his closet where it's probably got some crazy amazing things in there, some signatures, right? And then he's showing us. That's why it's faded a little bit, because he's looking for everything.

So this is my 2000, uh, 2009, 2006 Hello Kitty guitar by Squier. This is one of my favorite guitars I have, and I've been playing for since 2006, about 5 15 and 16 years, about I was 12, 13, 14, and I basically, um, how I learned to color was self-taught as well. And then, and so basically Sasha, my sister Sasha, who's also in the film, gave me this, um, so I, I technically borrowed, like stole her guitar when she was like, uh, when she was like 15, and then I just bought it from her, and then now it's my guitar. So, and then I, I decided to, um, have the voice actress in 2014, Tara Strong, sign it.

Amazing.

I, I actually Cleo coded it.

So we only have a few minutes left because, uh, I'll never be able to get this all downloaded. It's gonna be, uh, okay. So I heard something about Summer playing something.

Yes.

Did I hear that correct?

Yes, let's do, uh, Stand Together for the promotion for Lydia.

Okay, I don't even have the lyrics on me. I'm gonna have to go by memory because I've never— I've never played this song all the way through. Is that okay?

I think it is really good, Adriani. I like it. All right, let's—

it's, it's only like a minute now because that's all we— that's all I have. You ready?

Summer Woods, everyone!

Woo! This is huge.

Okay, wait, let me, let me think.

This is live, raw.

Hopefully I remember these words. Here we go. So this is for a scene that takes place at Woodstock.

People, I say it's time for revolution. Shut up or stand up and make your contribution. If you can't stand the heat, rise from the street. And break the grand illusion. We can stand together. A man can't keep you down. We can stand together. There's a change that's coming around.

Wow. Something like that.

Thank you both so much. I mean, thank you for introducing me to Summer. Summer, I'll get this up and out fairly quickly, probably be another week or so, and I'll send it to you. I'm gonna tag you, and I just want to support you. So you just— so, so, Mama here in Daytona Beach, even though I'm in Connecticut now, but if you need and if you want to get away and come to Daytona Beach, you're welcome to stay with us. And we'd love to have you, and we'd love to have you play in summer, and we'd love to have you play here in Daytona Beach.

I would love that. Thank you.

So, um, hey, hey, Summer, so tell us what's a quick, um, version of how did that come— song come back— come to be, Stand Together?

Literally just because Scott said, hey, we need a song for the Woodstock scene, and I was like, okay. So, so like Jefferson Airplane.

So, so the style is Jefferson Airplane, or what is your inspiration behind it, of Stand Together?

Yeah, pretty much just their songs, uh, the songs that they played at Woodstock, and a little bit of CCR, a little bit of Led Zeppelin.

That's cool. So, so some of that— let's do, before we go, last quick, um, Take Me Down to end it out.

Uh, as long as she's cool with that.

You cool?

I'm cool, I'm cool, I'm very cool. Okay, I'm probably about the coolest 61-year-old, you know. I'm like the coolest 61-year-old.

So, um, so this is a song that— how me and Summer— I found out about Summer actually is this song through, through our mutual friend, um, Zeb. Zeb told me, why not contact Summer and become a friend? And that's what I just did. And then Since then, I helped some of like meet interesting people like you, Scott, Jack. So this is a song that mainly brought us together basically as friends. So, Take Me Down.

So this is a song, um, that Weird Al wrote about his college town, which is San Luis Obispo. That's where the SLO comes from, S-O-L. So you'll see in the, uh, Wait, S-L-O. Jeez, I have dyslexia. Okay, here we go.

Someday I'm gonna pack up and then I'm going back up to the place where sentimental things arouse, where the grass is green and the air is so clean that when the wind is right you can even smell the cows. Take me down to that Good old slow town where time shifts into neutral and idles away. Take me down to that good old slow town. I've got to get back to that city today. If you're new in town, then you wanna look around, but you don't know where to begin. Bubblegum Alley and the local car rally, not to mention the toilets at Madonna Inn. Take me down to that good old slow town where time shifts into neutral and idles away. Take me down to that good old slow I've got to get back to that city today. It's not much of a hassle to drive up to Hearst Castle, and it's not too far from Pismo Beach or Morro Rock. You can visit downtown at your leisure because for your shopping pleasure, the stores never close down until 5 o'clock. Take me down to that —good old slow town where time shifts into neutral and idles away. Take me down to that good old slow town. I've got to get back to that city today. Take me down to that good old slow town where time shifts into neutral and idles away. Take me down to that good old small town. I've got to get back to that city today.

I really enjoyed that song. I mean, all three songs. I really, really like your music, your own, your voice. So you, Summer, everyone follow Summer Woods, she's amazing.

Yeah, so, um, so actually Weird Al himself, um, uh, gave her a compliment on his pod— his friend's podcast. So what did Al say to Summer Woods about that song? It was very sweet.

I can pull up the clip right now if you want to hear it. I have it like saved favorite. Yes, we're like 5 seconds, but we'll end it.

We'll end with the clip. But I love it, I love it. I could see Shamim. I could see why Scott— I just— either Summer Woods. Wait a minute, you are special.

Here we go. Thank you, thank you. Where did I save this? This is, this is what I'm— I don't know if you can hear this. I love Summer Woods' new version of Take Me Down, by the way. That was very cool. It was cool to hear you do a cover of the song I wrote when I was a teenager.

That was cool.

Yeah, um, most glowing review of my life.

Hey, Summer, so, and your barrette— is your barrette part of your, like, your thing? I love it. I notice you wear it, and I'm thinking this— it's got to be part of, like, who you are.

Yeah, I mean, in a way, it's more—

it's kind of like a branding decision. It's more like, hey, remember me? I'm the girl with the barrettes, you know? It's just more like something, you know, to make me stand out or anything. There's no, no real, like, significance or anything. It's just kind of like, it's cute, it goes with it. Brilliant. It's brilliant. It's brilliant.

I, I noticed it right away and I'm like, oh, I bet you this is— it's just, it's brilliant. Summer Woods, everyone, we're gonna end it here. 57 minutes, so we're gonna end it. Thank you. I don't— I haven't stopped smiling, and I actually have a little pain right now because you have been so happy. And Shamim, what is that? Shamim?

This is her first album EP available on Weird Al album available. And so this is Nope Me with the first 6 original songs. This is her Weird Al cover.

Wait, it's available where, Summer?

Where'd you say it was available? Yeah, I'm, I'm completely sold out of CDs at the moment, but, um, it is available on streaming, on YouTube, anywhere. It's all links in my bio. Whenever you find me, you'll find it on my website or whatever.

Yeah, tonight I'm going to sign up, so I'm going to be— I don't want to be your first subscriber, so someone else sign up. I'll be the subscriber.

Summer's next show is next Thursday at the Coach House. Yes. And, and I think you have a show tonight, right, Summer? I do.

Yes, unfortunately, show tonight.

So, oh my God, we're signing up today.

I love it. Thank you both so much. Summer, this was amazing. Thank you. I'm gonna end it right now. I hate to end it. I could just stay with you all day, but like