D. Randall Blythe is the lead singer of Lamb of God

Wendy Valentine: Welcome back to the Midlife Makeover Show. I’m Wendy Valentine, and today’s guest is someone who knows a thing or two about transformation, both on stage and in life. You may recognize him as the powerful voice behind the legendary metal band Lamb of God, but there’s so much more to D. Randall Blythe than just his music. He’s a writer, photographer, actor, and a deep thinker. Thinker who isn’t afraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. In his latest memoir, Just beyond the Light, he shares his journey of self discovery, sobriety, creativity, and resilience, blending raw honesty with sharp wit and unexpected humor. So funny. We’ll dive into his reflections on life, loss, and purpose. Plus, we’ll explore his unique approach to staying grounded, whether through writing, surfing, or simply facing reality. Headon. Get ready for an enlightening, inspiring conversation with a true creative force. Please welcome D. Randall Blythe to the show.

You are a Midlife makeover. I am. I firmly fit the category

D. Randall Blythe: Hello, everybody. Yay. We’re all here together.z Feels so nice and cuddly. I’m.

Wendy Valentine: Big happy family.

D. Randall Blythe: There you go.

Wendy Valentine: Great to have you here. You’re probably wondering, like, when this came up on your schedule, like the Midlife Matt Makeover show, what the h*** is this? Why?

D. Randall Blythe: Well, no, not really. Because I’m. I’m.

Wendy Valentine: You are a Midlife makeover.

D. Randall Blythe: I am. I am a midlife makeover. I am. I firmly fit the category.

Wendy Valentine: And you slayed it, I must say.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, man, you slayed it.

Today is the birth of your book, Baby, which comes out today

Wendy Valentine: I have two wonderful birthdays to announce. Number one, today is the birth of your book, Baby.

D. Randall Blythe: Thank you. Yay. I’m very proud. it’s not a beautiful baby, but I love it.

Wendy Valentine: I forgot to ask you, should I call you Randall? Randy.

D. Randall Blythe: Randy most everybody calls.

Wendy Valentine: Okay.

D. Randall Blythe: D. Randall Blythe is my professional name because my parents named me David Randall, but they don’t call me either. And I’m asking them, like, you know, what the h***? And. And then my dad is like, yeah, but D. Randall. Well, D. Randall Bly will be a nice professional name for you one day. And this was when I was, like, in the fifth grade, and I was like, you’re right. So that’s. That’s what I put on my books. And I’m credited on records.

Wendy Valentine: It’s almost like the. The J.K. rowling, right? Like, it’s like a classic author’s name. G. Randle Blythe.

D. Randall Blythe: Trying. I’m trying to be a classic.

Wendy Valentine: Happy birthday to your. To your book. that comes out today. As soon. As soon as we get done running our Mouths. Y’all need to go buy the book. Dive into the book. In a minute. And then the other birthday is. Your birthday is on the 21st.

D. Randall Blythe: It is. Happy birthday.

Wendy Valentine: I sing to you. I can’t. You can sing. I can’t. See Rochelle.

D. Randall Blythe: I can. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Turning 50. four.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, 54. And I’m 50s rock.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, they’re great. You know, I’m just glad I’m here. That’s true. I’m just glad I’m here, man. Every, every day, the way I live my life for so long, I should dead. And so, you know, we never know when the reaper’s gonna come for us. So for me, every. I’m in overtime. The game is in overtime. Every day is a bonus, you know, so I love it.

Wendy Valentine: You know, I was telling you that last night, and I don’t. I get a ton of authors on the show and I, unfortunately, I don’t always get to read their books. I try my best. I go through them. last night. Yeah, yeah. But last night I read your book cover to cover, or I should say from PDF front of the PDF to the bottom of the PDF.

D. Randall Blythe: Lovely.

Wendy Valentine: Loved it. And I love. I, I feel like. Here’s the thing. I feel like not only did I learn more about you, I actually learned more about myself.

D. Randall Blythe: Right. Well, that is wonderful to hear because the book, we talked a little bit before. Like, I know the book will be firmly shelved on the music section in, in bookstores because I’m a well known musician within our genre, so. And my ego, kicks against that, you know, it really does. It’s like, it’s not a book about heavy metal. It shouldn’t be in the, in there. But then I’m like, you know, there are aspects to music for. And dude, you’ve been in this band for 30 years. So like, stop crying, stop being a little baby and just be glad your book is on the shelf, period. No matter what. What, what section it goes in. But the, as I said, it’s not. We were talking about it. It’s not a self help book because I don’t claim to have answers for anyone for anything. Because for me, life is a daily process of discovery. I feel like I have to constantly keep growing. I have to stay green. Because as soon as I stop growing, and stop seeing green, that’s when I start dying. And, and we’re all dying physically, day by day, from the second we’re born. But for me, mentally, I want to Grow until the day I die, whenever that comes. So the book for me is. It’s not a self help book. The main thing I wanted out of it, though, and a friend of mine. can we cuss on this?

The title of your new book comes from a Lamb of God song

I have to.

Wendy Valentine: Yes, you can.

D. Randall Blythe: Okay. Okay, cool. I have to cuss in order to say the title of this next book. my friend Mark, Manson wrote a book called the Subtle Art of Not Giving a. Which the title of the endorsed.

Wendy Valentine: And he endorsed your book.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes, yes, I love.

Wendy Valentine: I love. Yes, I love.

D. Randall Blythe: Because the title of that book comes from a Lamb of God song. Shut up. no, yeah, it’s. It’s called the Subtle Arts of. Of Murder and Persuasion is our song. And he took that because he’s a Lamb of God fan and has been for years. So I found that out through I think, like a Tim Ferriss podcast or something. And I’m like, holy. And I hit him up. I’m like, dude, because it’s a bazillion selling book. And I’m like, maybe you’ll check out my new book. Maybe do me a solid. since. Since our song title gave you an 8 million.

Wendy Valentine: Exactly.

D. Randall Blythe: Great, dude. But he, he asked me a question when I was trying to come up with, like, subtitles and, and he is one of these weird people, and he admits it. That actually enjoys marketing and figuring out that stuff. And I hate it. You know, I, Like, I am not a marketing guy. I’m. I’m a. I’m a caveman. I’m a heavy metal band. But he was, he was asking me, he’s like, what is when? we were thinking about the subtitle and marketing and stuff. He’s like, what is the thing? What is the question you want, the reader to take away from the book? What is the number one thing? And I was, I was like, what? And I thought about it and I was like, the thing I really would like for the reader to take away from the book is not an answer, but a question. And that question is to ask themselves, what tools do I have at my disposal right here, right now, no matter where I am in life, that I can use to not only improve my own situation, but maybe even make the world a better place in the process. Right. So for me, for you to say that you read the book and it made you, I suppose, think about yourself. Yeah. Automatically makes me feel like a success because that’s what I wanted to do, you know, just have people think like, wow, how does this relate to my experience?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I Was fired up when I woke up this morning.

D. Randall Blythe: Yay.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Yeah. Several ahas. My favorite line of the book was, here it is, and see if I can remember it. Inside the car, it was so quiet, you could hear a mosquito fart.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes. That’s, that’s.

Wendy Valentine: That goes to grandma.

D. Randall Blythe: That’s pretty.

Wendy Valentine: To the tree.

D. Randall Blythe: That’s some Southern stuff. That’s a story. There’s a whole chapter about my grandmother who lived. Who lived to be a hundred and a half years old. And she was 100 and a half.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, my God.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, she. She almost made it to 101. but she lived to be 100 and a half years old. She was raised during the depression. And I, you know, I lived with her for a little bit when I was a child, when my parents split up, and I learned a lot from her. that. A lot of stuff that I didn’t internalize at the time, you know, because I’m like, you’re an old woman telling me this and that. The other.

D. Randall Blythe: But she had a really profound effect on my life. So I wrote this chapter about her and the things that I learned from her. And. And she’s dead, so this is not a spoiler alert. She’s. We’ve already discussed that. She’s 100 and a half. I was. I was right beside her when she died, which was incredibly important to me, that if not me, someone from my family was with her so that she knew she wasn’t alone. so. But my.

Wendy Valentine: I love what you said, actually. Oh, go ahead, Go ahead.

D. Randall Blythe: Grandmother was not a cuddly, sweet, get away with anything grandma. I love those grandmas. They’re awesome, you know, but that wasn’t my grandma. And so me and my brothers drove her crazy. And the story you’re referring to is we drove her so crazy one day that she wrecked her car into a tree. We were driving her so nuts, she lost her.

Wendy Valentine: And she needed lost.

D. Randall Blythe: She totally lost her. and, you know, of course, it.

You were there with your grandmother when she passed away

Maybe some people are horrified that I was actually like, it’s hilarious.

Wendy Valentine: I know. The. The title of your next book should be, well, go do, because that’s what she. Go do.

D. Randall Blythe: Go do that. She gets so mad. That was her only cuss word. And I tell about it in the story. We would start driving her crazy, and she would be say Southern woman. So she’d go. Which is Southern. Four will go on. Get the h*** out of here.

Wendy Valentine: Gone. Yeah, gone.

D. Randall Blythe: And she’s. Me and my brothers do that all the time. But when she was really Lost because she church going woman, you know, like didn’t cuss. But when he. We drove her over the edge, she would say her one cuss word, which was. And she’d be.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: Ironically, it’s also my mom’s one cuss word, who is like, this was my father’s mother, but it’s my mom’s one cuss word, which is as well. But she doesn’t say that. She sounds like someone has like popped a tire on a bicycle when she, when she cusses, cuss it goes. It takes a while to come out.

Wendy Valentine: Almost like. Want to finish it for like. Let me just.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. just say it, you know.

Wendy Valentine: So the one thing I really got out of that chapter, is this is from your grandma. I really don’t think people are as close as they used to be. Community used to be really close. People don’t come and visit like they used to. And going back to what you were saying, you were there with her when she passed away and, and yeah, I mean, isn’t that, And I think the point of like that whole thing was not just being with someone when they pass, but then also connecting with people again. Like, we, we don’t do it anymore. Like, it’s sad that we’ve lost so much connection just with the phone. Like we should be more connected, but really not.

D. Randall Blythe: Right. I think that the. See, obviously I, am not a Luddite. I am not anti technology. I’m talking to you from New York City. We can see in this magic device, you know, called a computer. And now we all carry these little tiny computers around in our pocket that are millions of times more powerful than the ones that guided our first space missions. You know, people went to the moon using computers the size of this hotel room. And we have ones that are bazillions of times more powerful. So the technology is good for us being able to talk. And I love talking to my friends overseas. I can FaceTime, my friends in Japan or Finland or whatever. And it’s amazing and it’s great. However, it is a. So it should be used as a supplement to real human interaction, you know, because there is empathy and nuance and all that stuff gets lost when you’re not, you know, pHS. It all gets lost when you’re not face to face. And and you can. You unconsciously are constantly evaluating someone’s body language and seeing how they’re carrying themselves and, and that will give you real clues as to their emotional state and therefore how you should, interface with this person face to face. So this, like I said, this technology is great, but it is a digital representation of real life and I think people have come to rely on it too much. Oh, I have lots of friends on Instagram or Tick Tock or Facebook or whatever. I’m like, really? Are those friends going to come help you when you blow a flat on the side of the road on your car and you don’t have a spare and you need them to go to the store to get one? You know, are they gonna do that for you, your 800 friends all over the world? No.

Wendy Valentine: I think you had said something too in one of the chapters about like, would you walk down the street and be like, hey, to lose some weight and I can help you and yeah, yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: It’s crazy.

Wendy Valentine: Is it okay on social media to say these things to people? Whether.

D. Randall Blythe: Guess what, guess what. It’s not. I know it’s not. Okay.

Wendy Valentine: I know, right?

D. Randall Blythe: Not if you want to. God. Particularly with regards to. I, think the way women can be treated on social media. Yes.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, I get it all the time. I especially get it.

D. Randall Blythe: You’re. You’re like, I’m not hitting on you. You’re a pretty lady. Right?

Wendy Valentine: Thank you. Yes, I get, I get.

D. Randall Blythe: I mean that is a compliment, but somebody’s. I’m sure people have said some up things to you and it’s like all the time.

Wendy Valentine: It’s. But you know what though? I feel like, Well, and thanks to the subtle art of not giving a. I don’t give a. Like. And it’s.

The Internet is a huge part of who we are and our creativity

I like. I feel like for me especially.

D. Randall Blythe: That doesn’t mean it’s okay.

Wendy Valentine: I know it’s not okay. I know, I know it’s tough, but I also, I feel like for me, almost like a, thing of like a Teflon pan, right? I just like, slides right off me. I’m like, whatevs. Detached, don’t care. Like, you poor thing. To actually, for you to actually say something like that to people or to behave that way, there’s something not right.

D. Randall Blythe: Right. It’s to me, the Internet, the interactions with men and women that I’ve seen and with many women friends of mine who are, public figures, you know, who are musicians or whatever, social media, like, I it. These comments from dudes, these foul comments and stuff, they are the online equivalent of. Let’s say we go out to a bar. You’re at the bar and some guy walks up to and he’s like, nice a**, baby. Yeah, right.

Wendy Valentine: Like does that ever a.

Wendy Valentine: I want to be your sugar daddy. I want. I want all your. I want to take your bills. Like, does, like, first of all, you don’t want my bills.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, but, like, it’s like, does that ever work? Like. Like these dudes. It’s like that. Like, what. That doesn’t work in real life. Why do you think it would work on the Internet? And why do you think that, your little a** is entitled to say something like that, you know, without getting punched in the face? Because it’s not real world, and it’s challenging for.

Wendy Valentine: For us right here.

D. Randall Blythe: We’re.

Wendy Valentine: We’re writers, we’re. We’re speakers. We’re doing our thing. You’re. It’s part of. Of who we are and our creativity, and unfortunately, we have to be connected with all of this. It’s in.

D. Randall Blythe: Right.

Wendy Valentine: I don’t know. I look at it like, all right, it’s. It’s another platform for me to get a message out. Take it or.

D. Randall Blythe: Sure.

Wendy Valentine: Don’t care. Like it. Don’t like it, whatever. I mean, just the same as the podcast, right? Some people are going to like it now. They’re really gonna like it just because you’re here.

D. Randall Blythe: We’ll see. We’ll see. They might really dislike it.

Wendy Valentine: Like, oh, great.

Your grandmother died at 71, and you wrote about it in your book

So, yeah, your grandma, very, very amazing woman. I can tell.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, she’s. She was tough, man. She was. She’s raising her during the depression. And the thing that. In that chapter, you know, I wrote it in the chapter is like, when I was whining and complaining as little kids do, you know, about, oh, this is tough. Or I don’t want to do that. Whatever she wanted me to do. Probably go pick corn in the. In the garden because corn is itchy. It sucks. Going to pick corn. You know, she would be like, I’d be complaining. She goes, you don’t know what hard times are. You don’t know what hard times are. And I was spoiled.

Wendy Valentine: Nowadays, we are.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: I was a kid and. And I was like, whatever, grandma. But then I. I learned as I grew up about, like, the depression and in the economic circumstances of everyone going on. And then, you know, I. As I grew older, I internalized that. I’m like, you’re right. I don’t know what hard times are. You do. You’re a hard woman. She was hard. Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: You know, brought me back. Like, I loved how you kind of described just being there with her. And then your advice, you had even said, let them know that you are there that they are not alone and that you will not leave them. Quietly fill the room with your support and love. Be patient, be kind, be present, sit and wait. You will not regret it. And that actually brought tears. My eyes.

D. Randall Blythe: I cried my. I was going to say I cried. I cried my eyes out writing that because it made me think, you know, and, and I miss my grandma very much. But like, she was ready to go. She was 100 and a half. You know, it’s like, time to check out dudes. Like, I’ve had enough. And I’m like, so I wasn’t when she died. I was not. I did not feel this overwhelming sadness at all because she had lived this long life and had been through so much and it had been such a good person. but the, the last few years of her life were rough, you know, because her body just wouldn’t quit. It’s like she was built like a tank.

Wendy Valentine: It just kept going and going. Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah. So. But it, but it. My friend Jamie, he sings for a band called Hate Breed. Dear friend of mine. And he. And both our grandmas are gone now, but we would send each other pictures of our grandma and his past first. And you know, when I told him my grandma died, I was telling him, you know, I am, I’m right there, I’m, with her. And it meant a lot to him because he was always seeing his grandma. And he’s like, I think people today in our society, they don’t want to deal with death, they don’t want to face death. They like, they don’t want to see that it’s coming. And, and that’s criminal. You know, if it’s your old people, you better be there. It’s like, you know, you need to be there. That’s. That’s when it’s most important. And it used to be different. I had, I have another, had another friend named Morris. Morris Frank. Right. Who was a sober guy I got to know. And, he actually had the. He got sober on the same day I did. I got sober in 2010. He got sober on the same day. October 18, 19, 71, the year I was born. Right. So he was an older dude.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: And I met him just in this community down where I wrote my first book down in Oak Island, North Carolina, at a rental house. But when he died, his best friend, and he died at a ripe old age, 80 something.

People have to start looking at death like that with their elderly loved ones

His best friend, D. D, Beal came and he washed Morris’s body. he, he helped Prepare the body for burial. and that’s the. The old school way. So it is a. A process of being engaged with someone’s life. If you’re. And they were best buddies, man. Best buddies. It’s a process of being engaged with someone’s life all the way to the end. Not like I’m. I’m. I’m with you until it’s uncomfortable for me.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

D. Randall Blythe: No, all the way to it. So if you’re in. Seeing my grandmother die, it was hard because it was a. It, was tough, you know, until the very end. She. She was suffering, but I was with her all the way to the end. I did not love her and. And was there for her until it got uncomfortable for me. I was there the whole time. And. And that’s the way I think people have to. They have to start looking at death like that with their. With their elderly loved ones. You know, it sucks, but you got.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I totally agree.

Your brother died of addiction in August of 2016

And this was. I’m gonna share my aha with after reading that. So it brought me back in my mind and in my heart to watching my brother. So my brother died of addiction. He was 49. Yeah, I know.

D. Randall Blythe: One of my people.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He would have loved you. but he’s 49 years old. And going back to that moment of literally, like, feeling his last heartbeat. It was like this wild, like, it’s hard to describe, but just, like, honored to be. To be there while his spirit. Left. Right.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: And so the aha was here. I’m scrolling because I wrote this down because I want to forget it was your. You quoted Einstein. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be changed from one form to another. So it made me think about that. I was like, it’s not that there is an end. It’s not that there’s death, per se. That that energy is just transferring from one thing to another, whatever that is. And so I. I feel like, right. I mean, we’re all. Not to get all neuroscience geeky here, but we’re 99.999% energy. We’re all energy, just like, swimming in a big soup of energy. And to me, I felt. I. I felt like with my brother’s passing, not much change really. It’s hard to say. Like, yes, his physical body is gone. It’s in, It’s in a little jar that I plan to, to put on the Camino de Santiago. But his spirit, it’s just. It’s just another form. It just changes into something else, just.

D. Randall Blythe: Like Einstein said, yeah, it’s traveling eternally. And I don’t think with our limited human perceptions we can really understand, I know where that energy transfers or what.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, you even talked about that too in the book. Like, who forgot? I don’t know. Like, no one really knows.

D. Randall Blythe: Like nobody really knows. Yeah, but there’s, there’s this famous story from, from Zen Buddhism I talked about in the book, where this m. This young monk goes up to the, the wise Zen master and he says, Zen master, what, what happens after you die? And the Zen master says, I don’t know. And he says, what? You’re. Aren’t you supposed to be a Zen master? And he goes, yes, but I’ve never been a dead Zen master before.

Wendy Valentine: Exactly. I know, right?

D. Randall Blythe: Like, and in that uncertainty, you know, we’re talking about the technology. I think these computers we have. That unwillingness to accept uncertainty, is, is increasingly problematic within our society because we have these computers in our pocket where we can Google everything. How do you bake? you know, your favorite Portuguese dish. I can Google it. You know, what’s the best fish stew? You know, and it’s right there. But when it’s like, what’s going to happen next year if there’s a financial collapse? There is no answer. We don’t know, you know, and so.

Wendy Valentine: I, I totally agree with you. I feel like a lot of people are fearful of uncertainty, of the unknown.

Wendy Valentine: Why I feel like that they do stay stuck and they’re, they’re uncomfortable comfort zones. Right. Because they’re like, oh my gosh, if I leap out of this thing and I, you know, whatever, leave this s* relationship or this job I don’t like, or I start doing something else with my life. No, I’m gonna stay right here.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, that’s, that’s where the title of the book came from.

Wendy Valentine: I was gonna ask you that.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes, the title of the book came from that I was reading something or watching a documentary, I can’t remember which. And it was in August of 2016.

Today is publication day for Beyond the light book

Ah. And I have all these notes. And speaking of the phones, I have these random notes in the notes section of my iPhone. Right. And some of them just make no sense when I look at them later. Like, you know, go pick up run, DMC shirt. Like, what does that mean? I don’t own a Run DMC shirt. I have no idea where that came from. Right. I have a lot of like, fragments of lyrics and, and other little ideas and there’s one that just Says just Beyond the light book title. And I remember though where that came from because I was either reading something or watching a documentary, I cannot remember which. And they were talking about the history of the human race and how since early times we’re social, social animals. We gather together and during the darkness night we gather together around a campfire light since the caveman times because it keeps animals and predators away. And we gather and stay within this warm glow of, of the light, you know, within the, the campfire, the circle of the campfire light. And that’s good, we all do that. But if we stay safe all the time within this, this this circle of familiar comfort, it’s really hard to grow or attempt anything. Great. And it’s scary to step out beyond the campfire light.

Wendy Valentine: Leave that. Yeah. To leave that nice warm, cozy campfire.

D. Randall Blythe: It is, it is scary.

D. Randall Blythe: And yes, there are things out there, but there’s also like awesomeness out there. So you have to be willing, I think as a person to grow. If you’re stuck in your life, you know, you have to look at these patterns of your life and, and say, what am I doing? Again and again and again and again that is providing the same result. what can I do differently? How can I break up this, this straightforward path I’m on? And you have to step outside the, the boundaries of your comfort zone and try things. And yes, the, the results are unknown. Like, you know, I’m this book tour. Today is publication day. I’m going to a bookstore. I’m gonna talk to my buddy Alex Golnick from the band Testament. We’re in Brooklyn. It’s going to be great. And then I’m going to go on tour and I’m going to do every night about a two hour spoken word show where I’m, it’s, it’s re. It’s centered around the themes of the book, but it’s not stories from the book because everybody that comes there is gonna have a book. So they’re just going to read the book later. I don’t want to say yeah, yeah, just read the book. And so I’m nervous. I’m very nervous about this. I’ve never gotten up and talked for two hours and in front of everyone. I’ve been on stage in front of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. Like a crowd of over a hundred thousand people. That’s crazy. It’s a C, right? But on, on stage, I’ve been with my band for 30 years. I have my dudes with me. They are my security blanket.

Wendy Valentine: They’re like, they’re your campfire.

D. Randall Blythe: They’re a really hairy, sweaty, middle aged security blanket with a receding hairline, bad knees and lower back issues. Right. We’re safe. We know what we can. You know, it’s easy. So I’m not nervous this. I’m gonna get up there and, and I’m not gonna be having notes or anything. I’m gonna go off the top of my head. It’s scary, it’s something new. I don’t know how it’s gonna go, oh, no, you know, But I’ll never know. If I don’t try, if I don’t.

Wendy Valentine: Step out and try.

You’re going on a book tour and you’re nervous about it

Is there anything that you say to yourself in those moments to get you to like, okay, let’s go, let’s do this. Anything that you say or do.

D. Randall Blythe: About two days ago as relates to this tour, I was thinking, oh my God. And, and I’ve sent, like, I’ve practiced my whole thing and I’ve sent the, these stories that I’m going to be telling to, a standup comedian friend of mine. He’s a professional standup comedian and I’m like, tell me, what if this sucks or what? He’s like, it’s awesome. You’re going to kill it, dude. You just got to do it. So he’s a really funny guy. So, you know, I know he would be honest with me. So I’m pretty confident that it’s gonna go really well. Right? but since I’ve never done it, I’m, I’m nervous, I’m scared. I’m like, oh, this is, this is sketchy. What if I, you know, I’m catastrophizing. Before I left, I’m like, what if I, what if I get, strep throat? What if my flights get canceled? What if I get up there? What if there’s a snowstorm and there are snowstorms hitting the first part of this? What if nobody shows up? What if, what if, what if, what if? So I made up a little poem. I was like, washing dishes and, and I’m, washing dishes, trying, like, freaking out, like, oh my God, I have to go on book tour. And it goes like this. What’s done is done, the die is cast. So let’s hit the road and kick some a**. And that’s what I’m saying to myself like, before I go on stage during this tour, because I don’t know, I don’t know how this, I don’t know how this tour is going to go. I don’t know how the book’s going to do. You know, I’ve done everything I can to promote this thing and I’m here talking with you. Thank you very much. I’ve done podcast, I’ve done social media, I’ve done interviews, I’ve done all this stuff. It could flop. It could flop, you know, people. It could. And. But I’m never going to know unless I try. So I have to be able to step outside my comfort zone and, and.

Wendy Valentine: Just try and just enjoy it.

D. Randall Blythe: yeah. right.

Wendy Valentine: Just like you said earlier, like, like you’re alive, you’re breathing, like, yeah, yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: This is not the end of the world, but I am a catastrophizer, you know, I can like draw a logical sequence of events in my mind. As a child of the 1970s, like yourself. Yeah. And raised. Her. Raised. During the Cold War, I forget to go to the grocery store to pick up yogurt from my girlfriend and my brain kicks off and there is a logical sequence of events drawn that ends in the, like, just global nuclear holocaust. It’s ridiculous because. And it’s rude that, let’s face it, is narcissistic behavior. Right. It’s just the other side of the egomaniac coin because even though I’m thinking all this negative stuff about me, me, me, what is the common denominator at the root of those thoughts? Me. And so it’s like the social media algorithm, you know, the more I think about me, the worse it gets. You look at just one picture of a girl with a big b* and a bikini on the social media and the next thing you know, your feed is wall to wall a. Right? My feed is negative. and, and it’s horrible. So mine is just wall to wall Armageddon and you caused it. So I have to step away from that. I have to. I have to be like, dude, you’re not that important. You’re freaking out. Get right sized, man. and just do the best that you can.

You have two personalities that manifest when dealing with stressful situations

Wendy Valentine: Made me think about. Well, there was the. What was the one chapter. I think it was called the War or something like that. Basically like the war.

D. Randall Blythe: My war.

Wendy Valentine: Your war. Yes.

D. Randall Blythe: And my war. No, it’s called my war. That’s a black flag.

Wendy Valentine: Sorry, it’s not your word. My.

D. Randall Blythe: Well, you have your own war. Trust me, I have my own war.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And I think what the two guys in your head were, what was the name? Dark. Ms. M. The Dark. Mr. Mr. Dark.

D. Randall Blythe: The Dark one who is. Yes, a Dark one. And then Mr. Relentless Optimism.

Wendy Valentine: Yes, that one.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: That’s funny. So how do you manage those guys?

D. Randall Blythe: Like, I. Well, a. I recognize, trying to keep those guys because I was writing about it. I’m not schizophrenic for anyone listening. I don’t really have, like.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, in some ways, we all kind of.

D. Randall Blythe: We all are.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

D. Randall Blythe: You know, I. You know, I’m. I’m not having, like, there’s not voices telling me you must do the podcast. I mean, you need medication if you’re hearing outside voices. But we have two aspects of my personality that manifest when I think, when I’m dealing with. Particularly with unpleasant or stressful situations. And one is like, this overly optimistic guy, like, almost like toxically positive. Like, yay, the world. It’s good. It’s a beautiful place. We have so much, like, happiness and love, and then there’s so much progress. And, he’s just like, everything is great. Positive mental attitude. And that. That’s necessary. It is necessary to have a positive mental attitude. But there are real problems in the world, too, and there are real injustices and there are real things that if we’re going to fix them, we have to at least acknowledge them. So being overly optimistic all the time, you know, if you were to hear your friend got assaulted on the street, you’re not going to be like, yeah, you know, you’re gonna show some empathy because that’s up. and it’s. It’s upsetting.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: Now, on the other side, there’s like this dark one, this dark person inside my brain who likes to isolate himself from the rest of humanity. He’s really judgmental, he’s really cynical. He see these, foul motives beneath everything. And that guy, you know, there is up happening in the world, but that guy sucks, too, because he doesn’t see any of the good stuff. And so he. He is, You know, he’s no fun at parties. Nobody wants to hang out with the constantly angry, bummed out guy who hates everything. I mean, and. And so these two characters, like, if something’s like, stressful m. Or whatever, there’s one guy who’s just like, I knew it. I know it. The world sucks. And then there’s the other guy who’s like, it’s not so bad, you know, you’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay.

Wendy Valentine: Rainbows and sprinkles.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, exactly. It’s like, you know, unicorns farting everywhere. Like. Like there’s. There’s got to be a balance between those two Guys.

Wendy Valentine: So for me, it’s like the middle path, like the middle way.

D. Randall Blythe: Ah, yeah. Dealing with those guys is A, recognizing that those guys exist within myself, and, and B, just kind of when. When I get overly excited one way or the other, recognizing that, you know, whatever this situation is, this too shall pass.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I love that.

D. Randall Blythe: You know, no matter if it’s bad, this too shall pass. If it’s really good, this too shall pass. So, like, this happiness, constant happiness, is not a sustainable state because.

Wendy Valentine: Not realistic.

D. Randall Blythe: No, no. Happiness is a transitory emotion. And then being bummed out all the time is not a sustainable state either, because you’ll just. You’ll kill yourself eventually, you know?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I think I had said earlier today, I think it wasn’t. Oh, Instagram Live. And I had said, you know, we have 19 basic emotions as a human being.

I’ve dealt with some depression since I was a young kid

We are meant to experience all of these emotions. Right. You’re a human being. Being human, like, just. It’s normal. It’s normal to have this positive and negative. It’s the duality. It’s the dichotomy of life. It’s totally freaking normal. If you fight it, it’s gonna fight you back.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: It made me think. Did you ever hear the. The tale of the two wolves?

D. Randall Blythe: That story on each shoulder.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, that. Or like, the little boy went to the grandfather, and the grandfather was saying that he has this. This, like, awful fight, this conflict going inside of him all the time. The two wolves. And.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah. Which one do you feel?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, happy, angelic, peaceful wolf. And the other wolf is angry and mean, resentful. And little kid said, well, which one wins? He said, which? Whichever one you feed.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: And. But at the same time, it’s kind of like you do want to feed both. You can’t. Like you said, you can’t be all happy wolf all the time. You can’t be all angry wolf all the time. And just.

D. Randall Blythe: I. I don’t know.

Wendy Valentine: For me, I have found in my life, it’s just becoming aware of it, being able to just listen and recognize it. Like, oh, there goes my critic again. There goes my cheerleader. Like, okay, cool. Yeah, got y’all.

D. Randall Blythe: You know, critic and the cheerleader. Very real people.

Wendy Valentine: Yep. Yeah, I know, right? Yeah, exactly. And yeah, it’s. It’s normal. It’s normal to experience all that.

D. Randall Blythe: It is. And I think for me, I think the older I get, I think I’ve dealt with some depression since I was a young kid. I, was a very sensitive child, who wanted everything to be okay. And everybody to be okay. A great warrior. And then at a relatively young age, I learned that the world was not going to behave in a just and fair way all the time. So that made me upset. It made me sad. And then being. Feeling sadness for me kind of is like, I viewed it as wrong. I think in some way it’s like, what’s wrong with me? Why am I sad? Why. Why am I feeling these feelings? And so I struggled against the fact that I would feel these feelings of sadness or. Or, you know, being bummed out about things. It’s like, what. You shouldn’t feel that way. You know, that’s bad. That’s bad. And sort of repress that or. Or masked it in anger. A lot of anger.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

D. Randall Blythe: So, Yeah, I mean, basically that I was a walking middle finger for a long time. That was my entire existence. So I’ve come to in midlife, trying to do the midlife makeover here. Like, come. I’ve come to when I feel sadness now over the last. I don’t know, it’s been the last, like, I guess five to 10 years. It’s really this. I say to myself, you know what, You’re a little bummed out today, and you’re a human being. And. And sometimes I’ll be sad for no reason.

Wendy Valentine: Yep. Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: You know, no reason. And. And I used to be like, what the is wrong with you? Just square yourself away, soldier. Because I’m a man, right. And like. Like, that is not realistic. So now I’m just like, maybe you’re just sad today because the chemicals in your brain, the electrical impulses are firing.

I’m really sorry to hear about your brother’s addiction struggles

We’re today. And it’s going to be okay, dude, because this too shall pass. And just let myself feel it and be like, you’re human.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: Which is. Is been hard for me to accept, which sounds so stupid because I’m almost 54 years old and I’m like, dude, you’re a human being. That sounds idiotic. Yeah, it’s been a tough struggle.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I. I used to really fight my bad days. Like, I would try to turn it around. I’m like, yeah, just not gonna do it. I’m just not gonna. I mean, now I just like, yeah, it’s fine, whatever.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: I’m just the mood. And I’d. Have there been a reason? I don’t know. Yeah, I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. But it is what it is. Like. And I always like the next day I’m like, I’m fine.

D. Randall Blythe: Right? Yeah. And I think if you were continually like that. Yeah, you are continually. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not saying, like, just be bummed out all the time, because if you’re continually just in distress and. And upset and. And, I mean, the world right now is a crazy place. So, like, it’s like, it’s a lot of input that can really upset you, you know, that’s okay. But if you’re stuck in this, like, hopelessness, you need to evaluate, that and take a look at those feelings and maybe get some help or, you know, see what you can change in your life. But if you’re just having a bad day, man, it’s okay. Let it go. I was stuck in. You know, I’m really sorry to hear about your brother. It breaks my heart.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: Every time I hear that, because I said one of my people, and I cannot. I cannot count on all five of these being each hand. Fingers, 10 fingers and 10 toes. I cannot count the amount of friends I have who are dead now in the music business alone, you know, from addiction.

Wendy Valentine: So it’s awful.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, I was stuck in that, and I felt hopeless.

Wendy Valentine: I’m so, so grateful for him in so many ways, and his addictions actually. Like, his. I would. I’ve always said he’s my greatest teacher in life.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: Through his darkness, I learned more about light, actually.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: and I’ll have to tell you that the. The first time he went into a coma, I’ll never forget this moment. And I. I walked over the threshold in the. In the ICU, and my brother’s like. He was like 6 foot 5, big guy. His, like, feet were hanging off of the bed. You know, he was so big.

D. Randall Blythe: And I remember those weird details. You remember, right?

Wendy Valentine: I know, right? They’re like. Yeah. And the beeping and the machine.

D. Randall Blythe: That’s the writer in you, by the way.

Wendy Valentine: What’s that? What’d you say?

D. Randall Blythe: That’s the writer in you.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, yes. Thank you. Yeah. But I can remember, like, walking over that threshold. And the most. It was as that moment should be, the worst moment, but it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life because for the very first time, like, I just saw him, a soul with a body, not a body with a soul.

D. Randall Blythe: Right.

Wendy Valentine: Like, all of his labels, the addiction labels, the. All of it, like, there was none. He was just this beautiful soul. And I finally, like. Not that I didn’t have compassion for him before. I just really, really got it. It’s like, I get it. Like. And we used to call each other dude. Right? I’m like, I get it, dude, I get it. I, I know, like, you’re struggling so, so bad and your poor body is just like beat down.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: and, but that to me, I, I, I felt like from that moment on, like, as if I had different, I had rose colored glasses. From that I could see more of people’s struggles and challenges. And that I understand. I mean, we all have, right? We all have a story.

What can you control? Like what? Like the Serenity prayer

You have a story, I have a story. Everybody has a story. And it’s what you make of that story. Do the best that you can. And like you said earlier about what can you control? Like what? Like the Serenity prayer. Right?

D. Randall Blythe: The God 100.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. To accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Like, yeah, like what? Like, and I, that I would remind myself. I still remind myself of that. Like, what can I do?

Your brother was addicted to everything and then some

D. Randall Blythe: May I ask you a question?

Wendy Valentine: You, you may.

D. Randall Blythe: What was he addicted to everything and then some, right? Like, yeah, he’s a garbage can like me.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Yeah. And probably since, not probably since a teenager. Cocaine, alcohol, prescription drugs.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: He was sober for a few years, but he was still like, popping the pills.

D. Randall Blythe: Oh, I did that too.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. He was head of aa.

D. Randall Blythe: I did that for about, I did that for about four or five years. I would quit drinking for, at one time, I think I made it to three months. Right. Yeah. Because my, my ex, now ex wife at the time, she had had enough of my nonsense because I’m coming home and I being an, you know, and I can’t drink when I’m around her. So I’d come off tour and not drink. But I would still be eating. my favorite was pain pills. Eating a lot of opiate pain pills. It’s, a little placeholder. So I’m like, but at least I’m not drinking.

Wendy Valentine: Exactly. Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah. He’s like, I’m not sober.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I’m like, yeah, it’s horseshit.

D. Randall Blythe: So.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: But, it’s impossible, it’s impossible for, for people who do not have this addiction for them to truly understand it. And I’m very glad to hear that you had a moment of understanding because a lot of people never get there. I never get there. And it’s. And I know, like my mom, right? she, she is so grateful that I am sober. Clean and sober, you know, and she tells me, sweet Southern lady, she’s like, I’m, so I’m so grateful Honey, you’re so, you’re so, you know, in her sweet southern voice. But she doesn’t understand it, doesn’t get it. I took years, she, I took years off her life of her worrying, you know, that I was going to die. But she, and she understands that that’s a real thing for me. But she does, she can’t understand it because she at Christmas has a glass or two of wine and it’s like, that’s enough. Yeah. I don’t, I don’t wanna, I don’t want to drink too much more. I don’t like that feeling. And I’m like, you don’t understand. You’re just getting started. That’s when the good stuff happens. So we are, we are at an atomic cellular level. Different beings. So. Yeah, I’m, you know, I’m glad you had that moment of understanding. That’s, that’s a, that’s a gift that a lot of people don’t get.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I feel bad for him and my God, he, he really, really suffered and probably the, the most high functioning addict I’ve ever met.

D. Randall Blythe: Right.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, it’s incredible. I’m like, how do you do that?

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah. There I, I know people that, that functioned for a long, long time like that.

Wendy Valentine: Ah.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah. but then like your brother.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: And actually functioning.

Wendy Valentine: My love for writing started right when he passed.

Wendy Valentine: The creativity just started flowing.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah. Well, we all, we all process things in, in a different way. and it’s There. I’ve been through some really crappy stuff in my life and I am not grateful that those things happened. I’m not like, yay, it’s awesome that I went to prison in a foreign country, like, Right. But I look at that and I’m like, well that happened. What can I, what can I learn from this?

Wendy Valentine: Yep.

D. Randall Blythe: Can I take from this?

Wendy Valentine: Because if I don’t use again, if.

D. Randall Blythe: I. Yeah, if I don’t. It’s a shame. What a waste, you know, What a waste of the human experience. The good, the bad life in all its terror and glory.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I mean, at any moment you can always choose again. And it’s an opportunity to learn and to do something different. Right.

D. Randall Blythe: Like, yeah.

Right when Covid hit, you bought the land in Ecuador

Wendy Valentine: I love, by the way, the, the chapter was like. I guess it was right when Covid hit, you bought the land. And was it Ecuador?

D. Randall Blythe: Ecuador, Ecuador.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, how cool is that? So you’re doing good for the world.

D. Randall Blythe: I’m trying, you know, that was like Covid hit and my life was. Personal life was in Great turmoil at that time.

D. Randall Blythe: Beyond Covid. My professional life was in great turmoil because you. Nobody was touring. And I. While my supposed title is professional musician, in fact, I am a glorified traveling black T shirt salesman. That’s how musicians make their money is cotton.

Wendy Valentine: Not the Run DMC T shirt though.

D. Randall Blythe: No, not the Run dmc. I still gotta find it, whatever that means. I’m in New York City right now, so maybe I’ll go get one. I’ll go down to Chinatown, get a bootleg. but, like, like, my life was totally screwed up on multiple levels and my job was basically gone. And, you know, I can’t complain about that because a lot of people had it a lot worse. They, lost their businesses and everything. and people died. So. But I was very unsettled, you know, very unsure. Things were very uncertain. and my buddy in Ecuador, who I’d been serving with is like, hey, man, this land is for sale and it’s gonna go. And it’s cheap right now. And, you know, I know now sucks in your life and everywhere, but it would be a good time to buy this. And I’m like, I was so mad that my buddy Carlos had sent me that, knowing how up my life was personally and knowing how up the world was. And I was like, carlos, what the dude, Like, I love him. But I was p*. Almost teared up. I was like, you can’t. Like, you expect this of me. And then I thought about it and I was like, you idiot. Now is the perfect time to do this now. When it’s uncertain, this is when it matters. When you try to do the right thing, this is when it matters. When. When the rubber hits the road. When it gets hard. When it gets hard. If you see an opportunity to do the right thing, do it now. You know? Do it now. And I did. And it’s. It’s. It’s a wonderful thing. And so we bought. I think I have something like the equivalent of like 30 football fields.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, that’s.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: From singing on. That was a cameo or something like that.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do cameo. It’s been turned off for the last couple of months because I’ve been.

Wendy Valentine: Dang it. Wait until November 27th you’re singing for me.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, It’ll be back on before then. Y’all help. I won’t be a cameo. It’ll be back on by then. But I’ve had to turn it off for. For book tour, but, like. But I’ve been able to fund, like, this purchase of this land in Ecuador, which was former cattle land, by doing the cameo thing and singing people happy birthday or whatever. And it’s been wonderful. So. And we’re trying to, you know, we’ve been able to employ some local people there because my friend Carlos is Ecuadorian. I can’t just be this gringo guy that buys this land in Ecuador. And it’s like, look at me. I’m protecting the environment because, you know, there’s poor people there. And, yeah, you know, you. You have. If you want to help the world in the community, you have to also help the humans within it. So we’re trying to figure out a way to make this, you know, a valid form of, like, income for local people there. But, yeah, it was very scary at first because I was like, I’m just going to. I bought this land and it was, you know, it was cheap. Like, it cost millions in America, but I got it for thousands. Yeah. But it was a big chunk of my savings. And. And I was like, well, I’ll just go on tour because Covid won’t last forever. And then we just didn’t tour for, like, two years. I’m like, what the f***? You know? So, like.

Wendy Valentine: But you know what. What I found interesting for me and in my experiences of, like, should I do this? And there’s that quote of leap and the net will appear. And I have found that once you leap, even if it’s leaping into the unknown and the uncertainty, the net will appear. And really, to me, the net is you. Right?

Randy says trusting yourself is key to success in publishing

You. Like, it’s trusting yourself that you’ll figure this out. And.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: And when, When I feel like you. You do something, if you listen to your heart, you listen to your soul, you just trust. Like, the universe just rolls out this red carpet, like, okay, I got you. Like, the next thing comes in line and. And then that’s taken care of, and that’s taken care of, and it’s just relaxing and detaching from it all. Knowing you. You’ll figure it out.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes. And that is the big struggle in my head is, like, just not trying to figure everything out in advance because.

Wendy Valentine: The subtle art of not giving a. Yeah, I just.

D. Randall Blythe: I. I don’t have the answers. I just have to try. And the thing is, though, you know, it’s like when someone’s looking for a job and they’re. I remember a friend of mine was looking for a job a while back, and she was trying to get everything straight, and, like, I don’t know what to do. I’m not qualified for this. I’m not qualified for this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. And just paralyzed. And I was like, you know what? You are guaranteed to not get 100 of the jobs you don’t apply for. You are guaranteed that, that you know, it’s not going to work. So you, you just have to try sometimes. And, and it’s, you know, you just got to go out and have a little faith in yourself, you know?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

D. Randall Blythe: You have to. Don’t.

Wendy Valentine: Don’t allow the Dark One to take over.

D. Randall Blythe: That’s right.

Wendy Valentine: The Dark One. Randy, you’re so. Dark One, you are so awesome.

D. Randall Blythe: Well, thank you. I think you’re pretty dang on awesome yourself. And I like your glasses.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, yeah. Wait, look, let me show you.

D. Randall Blythe: This is so cool.

Wendy Valentine: Ready for it?

D. Randall Blythe: Oh,

Wendy Valentine: I know. Aren’t they groovy?

D. Randall Blythe: Getting. They’re getting thicker and thicker.

Wendy Valentine: I know, right? Oh, those are nice. You look good in glasses. I’m going for pink.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: So yes, everyone. I mean, if it’s not obvious, you need to buy the book. So good.

D. Randall Blythe: Please, please.

Wendy Valentine: Hopefully I’ll get to see when I’m on my book tour. Hopefully I’ll see you on.

D. Randall Blythe: Sure, man.

Wendy Valentine: Your book tour. I’ll be in Chicago in three weeks and then who knows, wherever the RV takes me.

D. Randall Blythe: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re going to be driving the rv.

Wendy Valentine: I’m driving the rv. You can come meet Felicia Sick. That’s her name.

D. Randall Blythe: I’ll look up. Yeah, I’ll look up your tour dates and around I will for sure come out. And when does the book come out?

Wendy Valentine: let’s see. Pre order starts I think in a few weeks and then pub date as you know, the link the lingo. Pub date.

D. Randall Blythe: Updates.

Wendy Valentine: Update. Pub date. Pub date is 9. 9.

D. Randall Blythe: None. 9.

Wendy Valentine: 9. It’s this whole book thing. It’s such a process.

D. Randall Blythe: It really is.

Wendy Valentine: And talk about trusting the unknown and uncertainty and.

D. Randall Blythe: Right. Well, you have an established publisher. but I’ll tell you, man, so do I. But m in publishing, the world has been turned upside down by technology and so we really have to,

Wendy Valentine: We’re, we’re the, we’re the salesman. We’re like selling the T shirts, right?

D. Randall Blythe: Yes.

Randy says he needs a podcast to promote his new book

That’s why I’m going on tour because like, you know, I’m wondering how like you already have a built in audience. You have your podcast audience. It does. Well, do you have a podcast? No. I need to have one. I have a substance.

Wendy Valentine: I was thinking you’d be really good at it. You’d be awesome.

D. Randall Blythe: yeah, I’ve got to do that. In between and touring with Lamb of God and being a photographer and the occasional acting gig, I gotta fit in the podcast.

Wendy Valentine: You can just podcast while you’re surfing?

D. Randall Blythe: Well, yeah, surfing is my disconnect from. From everything. but. But no, it’s like, you really have to. To push yourself, because the traditional routes of, of publicizing a book are disappearing, so.

Wendy Valentine: I know. I know.

D. Randall Blythe: So, yeah.

Wendy Valentine: I want to remember your poem, though, so I can say that when I go.

D. Randall Blythe: Okay. It goes, you know, when I go.

Wendy Valentine: On the Today Show.

D. Randall Blythe: Yes. What’s done is done. The die is cast. Let’s hit the road and kick some a. Kick some a.

Wendy Valentine: Kick some a**. You gotta say it like that.

D. Randall Blythe: Kick some a**.

Wendy Valentine: That’s like the Dark One comes in on that one. He’s like, yeah, fix the mash.

D. Randall Blythe: That’s right, baby.

Wendy Valentine: Thank you, Randy.

D. Randall Blythe: Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s been a wonderful discussion.

Wendy Valentine: Have an awesome, awesome book tour. I know you will. Kick some a**.

D. Randall Blythe: Gonna try my best. Ciao, ciao.