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Ah, I'm Mike. We got Max. We got Shane. And we've all got each other, you know, the three of us, the listeners, manager ashes here.
We got each other. I need to naturally be listening this recording later to edit it. And hopefully we get this out nice and quick. Guys, what's going on?
We got big news. Let's jump right into it, Max. You've done something. You've accomplished something and you've announced it to the world.
Of course, Shane and I have both been aware of this endeavor of yours. We have engaged with it. We have read it. But now the world will get their chance when your book, Try Hard, comes out.
When is it coming out, Max? And April 22nd, 2025. Wow. Exciting.
Something to look forward to in the new year. Yeah, you know, normally, for whatever reason, I'm not that interested in talking with the nuts and bolts of the band on the pod, but talking with the nuts and bolts of writing a book is actually kind of interesting. But the book is about the nuts and bolts of being in a band. That's actually, that's a great line.
Are you preparing that for your book tour? Like for your interview site? I just came up with it right now. Here we go.
It's good. It's good. OK, good. Yeah.
Wait, all we talk about on this pod is the nuts and bolts of your band. I feel like... No, we don't. There's so much more we could talk about it.
I think we don't talk about it. You're as Ash as you should. We should talk about the band stuff way more. Oh, I feel like we're talking about your bits on stage and all that.
I guess it's a bit of that. Yeah. But yeah, I know it's been fun. The feedback's been really nice.
People have been texting me, really excited about it. It's so funny. I feel like every other job I just couldn't do, you know, like every job, besides for the things that I've actually done in my life, I'd be so bad at... You can't even name regular jobs.
I see you struggling. I can't even... It's a read in the book that was so great. It was ended up being so fun.
And I learned so much from it. And I want to thank you, Mike, especially, and Shane, obviously, who read the book and provided some very nice feedbacks and nice words. But Mike early on, I think he read like the first half of it when it was like a very early draft. I think he only had half.
I feel like I read in parts as you were doing it, as you guys were going along. Which is classic me, where I have something I just have to show somebody. I'm not a person that can just like, I've been working on this thing for two years and it's ready to go. I literally write five sentences.
I'm like, check it out. Well, here's a demo of a new song. Listen, listen, listen. I think that's good, though.
That's a good impulse that you have. Aside from your impulse to share and create, the idea that you just are enthusiastic about it, that you need to sort of get it out into the world in any state because it almost feels your enthusiasm to get feedback immediately. You know what I mean? Totally.
And I think I'll say is people... It's like I'll say an accomplishment to write a book. But it's like for me, I mean, I don't have kids. I'm not great at sitting still or watching TV shows.
I just kind of have to be active. So it's actually kind of my resting place to do something. I just couldn't... I would hate a lazy...
Not lazy, like a loungey day. You know, your brother Greg can watch seven episodes in a row of a TV show. I just couldn't do that. So this was actually the project.
The book was actually doing me a favor. Do you know what I mean? If that makes sense? Are you going to be writing more books?
You know, okay, this is one of the things I've learned is that I actually really like writing. I love writing, I think. I didn't think I'd like writing because so much of my life is short burst output. It's like make a TikTok or try to start a song.
But writing is such a marathon. But I really valued the first two or three hours of the day where it's just me and I can just hack away at it. And it's so different from the rest of my life, which is so much teamwork. I was just kind of with the books about it.
But there's pulling off anything in the present of the band, which I'm so lucky to have. It requires consensus from the other guys in the band. It requires lighting the team know what's going on. But with a book, you can just kind of quietly just like work away at it.
And then there's like none of the other politics that you have to deal with in your life. But the book was largely about you and your process in the band. You know, you're the leader of the band and the singer. Could you write something that wasn't Max Centric?
Oh, good. As excited about that. Great question. Great.
There's a whole good, well hunting thing about Matt Damon where he's so excited writing, good well hunting like I'm a genius. Now in every word. Great question. I'm working on have another thing I was thinking about working on.
And I'm it's a very different kind of book. We're going to talk about it, but it's not all about me. So I guess that's what I was saying. Let's talk about a book that actually exists.
Okay. Yeah, it started back to January's ago. So not this past January, but the previous January. Anybody who I've talked about it, you know, asks about how long it took or what was hard about it.
And I'd say the like 80% of the writing of the book took 20% of the time. And then the other 80% of the final 20%, which is like the editing and the rewriting took 80% of the time, which you guys write stuff all the time. It's like it's actually kind of in a way easy to vomit out a bunch of ideas, but refining them. And you guys have written up TV shows, like the refining process and that conversation is takes like four times as long.
What do we do? We do agree that ratio? That's when you know people are going to see it. The refined thing.
The vomit passes, they call it. You know, no one's going to see it. Much freedom just kicking it out. Great.
The refinements like, ooh, now I'm going to kind of walk out the door naked here and everyone's going to see me. So I love myself up a little bit. And here's the thing I really obviously love the vomit part, which is another way we could say that. The vomit pass is the fun part because it's the freest part if you allow to be a lot of creative people and writers.
It's like writing one on one is you don't, like if you start editing yourself as you're doing that first pass, you're going to be there forever, like for fucking ever because you're going to agonize over the first two sentences together. It's almost you just got to do it and then come back to it after. But the doing it is the freest and if you're doing comedy or something, like if we're writing a show, we're doing that. That's part of the part where you're laughing the most and just when any idea can go and you're throwing shit out and you're bouncing, you know, off each other, if you're doing it on your own.
I think that's probably one of the funnest parts. Although refining, I think there's fun and refining too, especially if it's comedy and you're sort of zeroing in a joke. Well, this is different. What surprised me, which is why the whole process kind of surprised me.
Is that actually kind of came to like the refining part? Yeah. It's like the satisfaction of getting it a little better and a little better. Like, oh my God, it's just kind of scratching this itch over and over and over again.
And so it's a different mind state, but yeah, another, I've heard this for a few people. It's like, oh, you can actually enjoy that part too. So the part that I thought would be like, it's fine. Just get it out the door.
Somebody else do it for me, which is what I normally do. You know, when it comes to a lot of my ideas, I'm just like, it's something we'll fix it and it'll be fine. I actually kind of like savored rereading it and rewriting it and it and it's trying to make it happen. It's like, I'm not sure what happens is when you have your finished piece or whatever you deem sort of worthy enough to go out, you look back and you compare it to what you had previously and you're like, oh, my God, what I, you know what I mean?
I showed that to people. Oh, my God. I thought about that with you, Mike. I was like, I can't believe I showed it to him.
I can't believe I just sent him these chapters. I was like, they're so fun. They're so terrible. So so terrible.
So now I know that's just all kind of part of it. That's part of the process, man. But I know you two are like two of like six people that have like read the book. So I was what I was going to ask.
Who has Reddit in your life? Like it's just people? There's a couple, I mean, some people that publish a company and in my life, just a few other friends, like not many people. Yeah.
But do you consider people who give you feedback, the only people who are Reddit? Cause I feel like you're a guy who would take it out to a large sample audience and maybe only a few got back to you. No, no, no, no, no. I'm trying to think who, no.
There's really just like you two, and I'm trying to think who else gave me some feedback. But maybe Ash is texting me with who it is. I mean, obviously Ash, sorry, she just wrote to me this bitch. Yeah.
I'm sorry, it goes without saying that obviously Ash is a huge part of his book. Yeah. And I don't want to go too much away because there's like a big chapter in the book about Ash and how and our working style and how even like this book, because it kind of becomes a little bit meta at times where I'm like, you know, we would just like walk around and like I'd read her parts of the idea, parts of the book, like through the park and then she like kind of takes a mental notes and then give me some feedback and then I go back and write some more, which is like kind of how we do all of our work together. But I think the most sort of telling example of what the book is about is literally how we produce the announce video.
Because I think that sort of like sums up the entire thing without giving away anything in the book because it basically was like, okay, we want to do something special. And you know, like Derek Wibley just put this amazing book from about 741. And when he announced that he was just in a studio just kind of talking to camera and that totally did the trick for him. But we're always, okay, that's gonna be a very popular book and he's such a massive band.
He'll have no problem with it. We need to like do something extra special because that's always like you kind of comment something from a bit of an underdog spirit, but also just like wanting to just kind of make it feel like really elevated and free to try it hard, man. You're trying hard. Exactly.
So I was like, okay, I kind of want to just ground the book because you want to be able to like to simply tell people what it's about. So it's like, okay, let's just go exactly to the place that the book exists in, which is the coffee shop around the corner from house that I wrote it out. So it's like, what if it's like a slow pan? And by the way, if you guys know me and my like any music video I've ever had, it's like, what if it's like a pan and then like always has to go, I mean, a slow push.
I'm like, a slow push. He was always calling like a push in a pan. You know what I mean? Yeah, which goes to show like despite having been a part of the music video, still another terminology.
You mean a push in? I'm like, I'll push it. I'm really slow pushing. I was like, what if it's a slow push in and I'm like narrating it and you hear this intimate voice and it's like, and I talk about like, this is like, what does this guy do all day?
You know, like, you see this guy at the coffee shop all day. What do you do? And then it's like, and this is what the book's about. You can ask me any question you want to go like what I do every day.
And because maybe you thought it's like this mysterious thing, the creative person, but it's really not mysterious at all. I'm an idiot. I'm just enthusiastic. That was sort of like the original thought.
And then of course, we think, okay, what should we do? Okay, let's actually do it at morning parade and the coffee shop around the corner. Okay, Mark, of course, Mark is going to do it because we trust Mark to do all these things like perfectly incorrect. Mark Myers.
And they're like, okay, what's the script? Okay. I'm like, I'm like, okay, I'm all mic vermin, I'm like, it's like such an insect. And then Mike kind of rewrites it and punches up.
And we're like, what if it's not your voice? What if it's like a famous person's voice? And then there's like a very, because it's a very serious promo, but then at the 42nd mark, because maybe you're entertained by a slow push in the line. Mike, yeah.
Well, I was just like, cause the way he described it, where you were originally voicing it, I was just like, I can see it. I get it. Mark's going to shoot it beautifully. I just, I was like book writing and being an author in general occupies a bit of a pretentious space just to like a regular person or whatever.
I'm watching this. And I was like, if you add a bit of levity, one, I was like, you know, can you get someone else to voice it, get like a voiceover, and then we talked with the celeb, and I threw out some names, and Ash was like, boobly, and I was like, then they started rolling, you know? I was like, oh, you guys get boobly, that would make sense. And then I was like, and maybe just put like a couple jokes in there, like if the voiceover starts to reference itself that it's in a promo, and then it's like it shows that you're in the promo, and then we started spitball, and that was kind of like, that kind of got it to a place where it wasn't just so straight ahead.
Well, straight ahead can work for sure, but I think sort of having a bit of levity just shows like a bit of self-awareness. And the book is fun too, the book is not serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, so then the question goes, like how do I like politely ask Boobly to do this?
Cause like Boobly and I text a little bit, he's been so supportive of the man. And so I was like, I don't want to text it, normally I would just text it, but this is such a specific request and the D, and he's such a busy person. So I just like, you want to do, and this is very unusual for me, I'm going to make a video, and I'm going to like, just send it to him. And just be like, hey, Mike, I have this like, kind of ridiculous ask, I know you're the busiest person in town, but I want to like, I have this idea, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's like, oh Boobly. Yeah, I know you're the busiest guy in town, but sometimes when you need something done, you ask the busiest person, you know. So and also please, if you can't do it, no problem. No, you don't say no more, I totally get it.
And then he faced on me the next day, and he's like, oh, let me do it, I'll just do it. My iPhone and great, no problem. And it was so, so kind about it. So then, yeah, we shot the thing, we insert the Boobly video, we're talking about, like, I just should have music or just sound effects of a coffee shop happening.
You know, it's like, all these things had to line up to get this video done. And so, I think it's like, I'm very simple. Like, I think it should be in a coffee shop and you should try to speak to the book. But then if you're a fucking try hard, you have to like, okay, Mark's involved.
Okay, we're gonna call Mike. Okay, we're gonna get Boobly. And I was laughing with Mike Fairman here yesterday. I was talking to the phone.
I was like, isn't it amazing? Just to get something that's like good, that most people go, huh? I got Boobly to do it. Takes so much work.
Do you know what I mean? Honestly. And I know you guys know this from making TV show, but just to make something like good, where the writing is like tight and you're not missing anything and the spirit of it is there. It just takes a for a one minute promo, you know, that we're shooting for zero dollars.
But like, it takes so much work. But also, it was so fun. Like, you know what I mean? I had such a great time.
I'm like, I'm so proud of this stupid little thing we have. And I'm glad it exists. And it was just like, I don't know, to me it was like, how else do I wanna spend my time? Like, you know, that's great.
I wouldn't have it any other way. 100%. I mean, that's kind of like the secret sauce, I think, to make, it's like, would this be fun anyway? And then it's like you still have all this collective experience.
And you know, Shane and I talk a lot too, like even making something like simple, just there, dessert. That is like years and years of collective experience and knowledge to be able to pull it off quickly and move quick and sort of like, knock it out and know which parts to keep and which parts to refine and all that stuff. But it makes the process fun because you're making stuff with friends. Like, I'll always have fun on a call with UNASH rapping about, oh, how could this work out?
And then when it exists in the world, that's super fucking fun. And that's exactly like how things happen with Shane and John and myself and like the way that we've sort of done anything, it's kind of like being in just different types of bands. I was kind of comparing it to like, like, I was in a band, you know, decade ago, since, and I loved, I just like being parts of collective with like my friends and we're making creative stuff that we're all kind of proud of. You know, like it doesn't feel like shit to us or it doesn't feel like a waste of time to us or it always feels like fun.
And even if it didn't turn out, the process was at least fun, you know what I'm saying? Totally. And you know, I think there's, you know, you're talking about like just all these things are just like being in different bands. And I like, I like drawing parallels to what we do, to what other people do.
And I was thinking even like with writing the book, I was like, oh, you're working with an editor is actually not that different than working with a producer as a musician. It's like, you know, you have an idea. And then the editor goes, well, you know, I think you should shift it a little bit more that or did you think about rearranging this part? Or here's a reference of another writer that does it in this particular way, check it out.
And I'm like, oh, that's sort of like how we talk to producers. Like, oh, do we want the guitarist to sound like ACDC or the national or do we want the drums to sound like this? Or, oh, did you think about maybe rewriting that lyric? So it's like, but again, back to this like team idea.
It's just like if you're, and here's like, if you're surrounded with like people that you trust and that have talent and that you like, it's like, oh, that's the gift itself. It's really, and I'm just avoiding working a real job. That's really the middle thing. Just not waiting in the book.
I mean, I should say Ash, it was a huge part of the edit. And then she was like, so, so helpful. But a woman named Laura, Laura Daski, so shout out to Laura, she's amazing. And also, because I'm a newbie, she'd say stuff that I'd be like, really?
And then, and then, and then, and then, and then I'm like, oh, no, she's totally right. She was totally right. And sometimes we did disagree on things. And she goes, oh, I understand what you're saying.
Okay, so it's just kind of a conversation. And then towards the end, another great talent named Meredith Powell, she hopped on the project and another woman named Chloe. But yeah, but also just even the job is like an editor. It's such a cool job.
You know, it feels kind of like a producer. Because it's like really technical stuff. So it's, it's like, I talked about how I met Nick in 2004. I was wearing a Sam Roberts band t-shirt.
And, because I just seen them perform. And then the copy editor goes, he was known as Sam Roberts up until 2006. And it wasn't Sam Roberts band until 2006. So he was just Sam Roberts before then.
Wow. But I'm like, but I think the shirts had Sam Roberts band. He's like, yeah, but the album say Sam Roberts. Like the first one does.
He wasn't known as Sam Roberts. I'm like, but what do we do? Because I think the shirt, and then I was like, can we find the shirt anywhere? And also, if you were to go to see, like on the poster, did it say Sam Roberts band?
Or did it say, so then there's all these technical questions that they're so diligent about, about like spelling and like, yeah, give us the answer. So what, what's your memory right about the shirt? Or were you wrong? I think we changed it.
I think I'm going to get this wrong. And I should probably correct me. Changed it to like Nick said, I saw Sam Roberts band. I was like, oh, I'm a big fan of the same Sam Roberts band.
So even though he might have been referred to officially as Sam Roberts, it's conceivable. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But if you had to bet your life savings, that it was a shirt that said Sam Roberts band, would you?
No, I say things. You can picture in your mind's eye, right? I can picture the shirt. I think it was just Sam Roberts that I'm second guess.
I love it. Also, it's like, for instance, my dad worked for a social services agency called YouthLink. And I don't even think it exists anymore, but she looked it up. And it's not two words.
It's one word, but capitalized, like Y and L. So like stuff like that. She's like, it actually turns out he's not even your father. You're like, oh my God, how much can you people figure out?
Oh, also, okay, here's another great copy editor thing. So I talked about growing up like where I did. And I was like, you know, I was like, I just like, I love the neighborhood that I grew up in. You know, 500 yards from the public school, 500 yards to Chinatown.
You could write down on the sky down in 10 minutes. And then the question is, okay, it was called Skydon then, but do you call it Skydon in that sentence? Because you were referring to 90s? Yeah, so you do.
But then later in the book, I'm using another like, I referenced it's like, oh, it's 500 meters away. They're like, well, are we going with yards or meters? I'm like, well, I don't know. It's like, you know, yards is a more casual way of saying something, but it's also like a measurement, right?
So it's like, for the purpose of the book, like let's make it consistent. You can't say like it was 500 meters away in one chapter and saying, oh, it's like 600 yards down the road or whatever. You know what I mean? So there's all sorts of those kind of pesky questions where you go, yeah, what is it?
What is the answer? There's a style guys that you have to follow. You know, we got like a lengthy conversation about, you'll like this mic is the Beatles. It's obviously the Beatles capital T capital B, right?
It's on the drum head. It's on the drum head and it's like, our cows are just our cows. But when you see the Beatles and the Rolling Stones written in certain texts, I'm not talking about like the title of their album, but just like the Beatles, it's not always capital T. It depends on the style guide.
And so we're like, no, but it's the Beatles. But we were like, no, it's not though sometimes. Anyway, so there's, there's things that writer, writerly people like to argue about, which I was just like, Jesus Christ, I have no fucking clue. But yeah, that is a weird one.
Cause it's like, oh, I went to see the Beatles. I went to see the Rolling Stones. You know, I went to see the Beatles if that is part of the title. A part of the title.
And then they don't analyze the T if it's in a sentence. Right. I want to get the Beatles with a drop. You drop a the you don't.
Yeah, the name would just be Beatles in that sense. But I guess you could say I went to see Rolling Stones, not the Rolling Stones. No, but you say the rest of anyway. I don't know.
I don't know. I don't like the debates we're involved in. Interesting. So you signed a book deal.
That's like a big deal to do that. You know, that's a big step. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't know. They offered to put it out. You know, it's like a multi book deal or just one each book you write it like as you go. I don't even know.
I don't even know what the contract would say. Yeah. And people can order it right now though. We know it's not until April they can get it now.
Yeah, you can pre order it right now. That's exciting. W.S.I.B. presents the Lost Finger Club.
I just got here after a table saw me seven at work. Oh, coming through. That's a pinky pointy and thumbs. Oh, what's that guy's problem?
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Yeah, I think it's an achievable number. I'd love to add bestseller on the list of guys. Order your pre-order right now. I'll help with the first week's sales.
That's all I care about. This was the exact conversation Shane and I were having in the office yesterday at the desk. We're like, he's going to be a best on author. What's the number?
We're looking up the number. You're probably a best on author right now Max. Just with ourselves. No one's ready.
Yeah. Yeah. And the next part is getting some blurbs together. I need some big dogs to blurbs this guy.
So if you got any ideas, let me know. You want someone to say like how they felt about the book? Yeah, like a famous person. Okay.
I'm sorry. Gary Vee. I don't know what Gary Vee is. You're just always talking about Gary Vee.
I always thought, oh no. I don't want to. I would be talking about Gary Vee Mike. I would consider you like a guy that's a Gary Vee.
I've heard I've never heard of Gary Vee other than when you've talked to him. Not always, but you brought him up like three or four times in our relationship. It's like, we listen to a podcast and you hear how many times you say like or something like that. It kind of shocks you.
I don't think so. Or how many times you think you're. Oh no. There's certain guys that I feel like I don't I only know about through you like which is good.
Like Matt Rife. I wasn't aware of until you mentioned him to me. Gary Vee is someone that's come up a few times. So.
Shae's references are so funny. Oh, Shane, the Matt Rife Gary Vee guy. Getting hot in here. Play would be good.
Yeah. Yeah. I think he'll do one. Nick Nurse is doing one.
No, look at some good ones. But that's good. What about your boy, former podcast? One of the most famous authors in the world.
Oh, Michael Lewis. You know what? Really big authors like him? Like the biggest of the biggest authors.
They have like a no blur policy. They would be able to like do anything if they just had to blur while they because literally every single author. Think of the ability way. Yeah.
Even if they wanted to, it's just like they wouldn't have the time to read the books. It's one thing to like listen to a song, but to read someone's book and then like offer some words. I mean, they can lie, of course, if they want to not read the book. But yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, I don't know.
I just come at it all very humbly because I'm just like, I don't even think myself as a writer, but it's been fun to think to think like a writer and just trying to get better at it, which is which school. How long did you read the book, Mike? I feel like I've read it in different pieces and versions. It's a good question.
Okay. One thing for me is that I ended up getting sent after and I gave notes on, so I don't think I ever read it front to back when it was fully completed. But I think I didn't like two sittings. I got to train rides.
I sort of if I'm right, I could be wrong with that, but it's something like that. What about you? For me, I think well, I had the benefit of being sick about the book. So I just had like two full days mind you, I was kind of like in our consciousness.
I was going to take me a night for some reason, but it ended up taking me three days. Yeah. But I could've done it faster if I was healthy and had that allotment of time. But yeah, you were like dying from most of your COVID in recent memory.
How do you feel when you stumble across your name in the book? Oh, yeah. Are we at the T's role of the Michael Pats out there? By the way, a listener gave obviously no Shane.
People are Shane acts, which is a great name. I saw in the messages on the best thing Instagram that somebody said, I wish that you actually get to the show because he was like, I wish you and Shane had come out to the Halifax show and he said, you know, for the Shane, Shane acts in a Michael Pats and I thought Michael Pats is a funny guy. That's good. It's really good.
But somebody responded to my son, you Shane, that was like, you gave him props on the Michael Pats has been out there, but it's just not used enough because I think that is so clever. It's so clever. Got to mention it as much as we do D.R.V. on this pod.
Yeah. Our guy Colin Drake, so she edits the Colin Drake. When I came across my name, yeah, it was really nice. So I'm glad I made it into the final item.
I was like, I'm going to give this book to my grandma so she can see my name and print. And then it's going to be cut from the final version or something. Yeah, Mike. I was definitely seething with Jealousy when I saw your name.
The big question is, am I in the book? Am I not in the book? You'll have to wait and see. And that's all I'll say about that.
It's a great T's. It's a great T's. It's a great T's. Two.
Anyway, yeah, so it's been fun. How do your parents read the book, Max? They have not read it. My sister is reading it right now.
But I've told my parents about certain parts of it. Yeah, another pump to another happy about it. What's it like? I got asked me want to know.
Has the band read it? What do they are? Kel's got to send it to the guys in the band just to let them know. You need to be open to any feedback.
If I misremembered anything and they were all they're all cool. But you know I got to do in situations like that put in a fake chapter that's just ludicrous and like, and then we all did Coke and everybody. And that's the test. They did it.
That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. Tim was arrested. Yeah, the kick Tony out of the band.
Yeah, totally. That's a great idea. I, you know, I know we're not we're just teasing. We're not giving away elements of the book, but one of I think one of the strengths of the book is putting the band together and that's not that's literal.
That's literal. It's like it's because we know the characters. We know the players obviously are Kel's fans level five of you. It's fun to see each guy enter the scene in the movie, you know what I mean?
And then as it rolls out and unfolds and I think the book does an awesome job to of getting into not only just the creative work and the way that you do it, but also the journey that you guys went on. And that's that's some of the best shit in there. Oh, you know, I hope and we can wrap this up. But the last thing I'll say is I hope when people read the book, they see themselves in me or something that I work with, right?
I just think because each essay was like written with like hopefully some kind of like takeaway. I hope you see yourself in me. That's too much. That's not crazy.
No, no, I know you don't see it right now, but it's like it's like a sexual joke I'm making that's actually inside of you. Anyway, I know I did want to just really take over this entire episode, but what else is going on? Wait, that's it? Yeah, that's all.
I can't tell you my thoughts to give you any pleasure. Oh, sure. Let me tell you what you think of the book. Please tell me.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I really liked how one I could read it so quickly. And even though I had three days and I had three full days off the fact that I could read it and it was, you know, it was still written very smart, but very approachable for some like me who's not always reading a lot. And it was very much in your voice.
Sometimes people are like, Oh, I wrote a book and then you're like, they don't fucking talk like that. Really felt like how you talk on the pot. And it was quite heard a lot of these stories. I was feeling interesting.
And that is a little bit of a litmus test. If you can still be interesting reading a story you had already heard before. So I found I was still like carried it along and very into it. I felt like almost I was like, I was like, I was imagining if every human on earth had a book like this that just kind of described their life story up until that point.
You just have such a better understanding of how that person thinks. Like I felt like I knew person after I read it. And I was like, I wish I might grow one or like I could just. And then everyone could kind of understand the way people think fascinating.
When do you bring that? Honestly, Shane, I would love to read your version of this book too. Because you have such a fascinating way of working. And like obviously your work is incredible.
The quality of it, all that stuff like comedy, what your brain works. But also just the way that you strategize. I think in life, like business stuff, relationships, and then also just what you generate your creative. I think you would have an amazing book.
Like we speak to this sort of on the pod with the way that you'll sort of like coaching basketball or the things that you really get sort of focused on. How sort of your ability to sort of move those pieces around and sort of help affect outcome and sort of elevate. I would read your book. But I do think truly think every single person is interesting, right?
Like there's not interesting. So just have like a little Bible where you can be like, OK, I met this new friend, they give you a little book and you can read it. And you're like, OK, now I know how to like handle this person. I know the way they think and how to joke with this person.
I know how to like be a teammate with this person. It would just be valuable, but obviously it's impossible. But it was just like a thought I had while reading. I was like, no, this is like a little max fucking Bible.
I'm reading. Yeah, that's so yeah, because I think if you understood where people government, why and why they have the beliefs they do, you'd be like, OK, at least I can like I can appeal to them in a certain way or you know, you can connect more with them. Yeah, you're hearing about your parents and stuff like that. That informs where how you kind of think and what your parents do for a living and where you grew up, how you grew up, your experience, your school, the city you grew up and all of that kind of pain to you are right.
Totally. Yeah, it's like I really think about each man members, like how they come at and all my friends and anybody to do anything with. I'm just like, oh, why did they think that way about that? And if we had the book, we're like, oh, that's what your house look like growing up or that's what your parents did or that's what your grandparents had to go through or whatever it may be, you know what I mean?
And then you're like, oh, and that's how they conceived of their life, you know, because I even in the book, like I talked about like how my dad thinks about his work and that's really rubbed off on me. And then even how his dad thought about his work, you know what I mean? And I don't give too much away, but it's just like, but for sure, the way that's like when you get into your grandfather, yeah, I know that. Well, we'll just tease that so people can read that, but that's cool.
Yeah. And what's actually the greatest part though about writing is that it makes you think better. It really makes you like it. And that's why obviously people journal or keep a diary, it just kind of makes sense of their thoughts, which is basically what I've done here, which is like, oh, and it really makes you kind of like evaluate yourself.
But obviously you can kind of add yourself sometimes to it. So I say that like every every thought is pure, but there that sort of analyzation is, yeah, so good. And then you're totally right. That is such a smart thought that every one of our friends, if we can, because we all have a sense of where we came from and you know, it makes us tick.
But if you really knew like, oh, that's the thing that my shame does this thing all the time is because it kind of started from that thing when he was seven and he saw something and it's kind of stayed with him. You know what I mean? Well, you had to think it because when you know you're talking about your parents and your dad in particular and the way you were, you know, in the movie theater, how you are with like movie trailers and stuff. And I was like, why do I hate surprises?
Ah, I'm like writing my own book as I'm reading this. I'm like, OK, there's all these reasons I don't like surprises. And then I was kind of like mind mapping it, figuring it out. Oh, that's see, this is what I want the book to be.
This is what I really I just wanted hopefully to open up to. Oh, yeah. And how you and how anybody interacts with like trying to figure out what they like and what they want to do with themselves. And so I am going to write a book.
Is there such a thing as a worst selling author list? And what is the amount of books I need to sell? I'm not sure. It's exciting, man.
And like, you know, you were saying we were chatting on the phone, Maxie, that everyone reached out with people genuinely shocked that you'd write in the book because like, I also think you kind of kept it under wraps. Like, in a sense that like, I know we want to talk about on this podcast. People didn't generally like, obviously our friends circle was aware that you're writing a book, but I feel like people at large, maybe people just outside of your circle didn't know. So did you feel like the response was like, Oh, shit, you wrote a book.
You know, like what was it like for you out in Notsman? Yeah, there's a lot of that. Yeah. I guess I did kind of keep it under wraps.
People are like, how do you find the time? And I was just like, I just don't have kids. That's really it. Like, you know, I mean, like I just have the time to do it, you know, and I compared to some of the guys in the band that have kids now, I just have like more more time.
And I obviously just wanted to do it. But the other thing to, you know, you're like, Oh, you got like a book deal. I come through Penguin and all this stuff. And I'm like, and I know how privileged I am just to be able to be in a position where Penguin would be like, yeah, we'll put in the book because it's like, you know, they know the man has a profile, I don't probably move some copies, all good.
But that that I was saying to you, Mike, I think yesterday, I was like, I'm very aware. And this is kind of what the book is about is about like leveraging anything you have into more fun. That's kind of what you know, I mean, it's like you get one thing and then you have a little bit of cash aid and you leverage it into the next thing and you leverage it to the next thing and you just keep on leveraging in an attempt to never work a job. So it's like, you know, I mean, and now people go, Oh, Max, and maybe I'll be a best selling author and then I'm like, okay, I'm just going to use a little bit of that leverage to do that.
And that's what literally anybody in our world kind of has to do. And so it's very self aware in that sense. So it's all like, Oh, the quality of my pros is any better. It'd be worth, it's probably worse than it is worse than like your writing Shane and Mike, you know, like, and the book, not go nuts.
But yeah, but I mean, but I understand the privilege and the luck I have and I just want to like keep enjoying it and I just want to keep doing it. So there's that too. Well, you know, you mentioned that taking a little win and just parlaying it, keep parlaying the wins into something more and something more. And Shane, I was, I literally said, I related a lot with like something like the St.
Paul's Day, which was like, if we didn't make that into like a 30 minute special, back to our pilot thing, which everybody told us not to do, it wouldn't be alive as something going forward, hopefully, you know what I mean? It's like, you got to do those things to spin it into other things. And you know, we made there was choices by doing it that way. It meant, you know, we'd had to reinvest in ourselves and all of that stuff, but that makes it live to see another day and become another opportunity.
Whereas if you just sort of, you don't leverage that and grow it, then it's like opportunities tend to sort of shrivel up, I think totally. And you see, like, you know, like, I love that like Mark Duplas, as the director of that talk, basically the calorie is incoming. It's like you just have to go do yourself. And it never, no matter what, that guy's at like the top, he's on one of the best shows on Apple right now.
He's making a ton of money and the Calvary still isn't coming for him. And it's just a good mentality to have like you always have to try hard, be proactive, do it yourself. And there's a great TED talk that talks about what you were speaking on. And it's about the red paper clip trading.
Trading is about a person who starts with a clip and they keep trading until they end up with a Lamborghini or something like that. It's probably a parable, but it's told in a sense, like it's a real story. And I'd always use that mentality when even something like bringing a podcast guest or my wife's show, we started with a guest that was this big, trading up, trading up, until we had like Gary V. No, we got Dr.
Drew on a display. I guess that was pretty big for us. I'm not saying it's all based on what the same philosophy that Max is talking about. That's exciting.
Try out. So we can be pre-ordered now. Pre-ordered. Now, if you have money to spare right now, they're in the pre-order.
It's like 25 bucks or something. I got a steal of a deal. I'll double it. That's a change.
I'll double it. Thirty six bucks, actually. Oh, it's just going to be a good one. By then it's a pod.
It's like, yeah, 50 dollar book on the back cover. You're doing a big black and white glossy photo, right of the author? No, no, no. Oh, not only so.
I think maybe on the inner jacket. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Like Danielle Steele, like those photos of the author on the back.
That would be very cool and kind of funny, but also. Oh, yeah, it's not bad. Yeah, maybe for the next book, I'll do that. Yeah, just looking out at the ocean or something.
Like, I think I sent you an ash one of Danielle Steele and like a big flowing dress. My mom used to read a lot of Danielle Steele. It was your mom into that chain. Like I see the Daniel Steele books always around the fucking house.
When I was a kid. Maybe my step-on was I feel like I've seen them around a lot. Yeah. Thank you so much for listening.
That's all it's up. So thank you to Manager Ash. Thank you to Nathan Nash. And thank you to you, the listeners.
And thank you to Colin Drake for throwing out Michael Path. It's nice to have that one back in circulation. That's it. That's all.
My guys. Great hang. Maybe the best. Thank you.