Transcript

- [aja monet] Hello listeners. I hope you all are doing well in these very challenging times. I want to personally thank you for joining me in The Sound Bath and extend the same question that I ask all of our guests to you. So click the link in the show notes to leave me a voice message and let me know, what sounds bring you a sense of calm or wellbeing? What does care mean to you? And what kind of care are you exploring right now? We can't wait to hear from you. And don't forget to like or follow us and leave us a review wherever you find your podcasts.

- [Hannibal Buress] If I am gonna be doing something, especially at this level, especially very visible, I have to be fully all in with my heart and brain in because it's heavy to be out there. And if you gonna be out and about in the streets as a public figure, being recognized as best, if I can control it and do it for work, that I'm really proud of, versus something else that is somebody else's dream.

- [aja monet] Good day listeners. My name is aja monet and you are listening to The Sound Bath, a podcast brought to you by Lush Cosmetics. I am so excited for today's episode because today my good friend Hannibal Buress will be joining us. Hannibal Buress started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" and at NBC comedy series, "30 Rock" in 2010. He made Variety Magazine's 10 Comics to Watch in 2010 list, he starred on Adult Swim's "The Eric Andre Show" and was featured on Comedy Central's "Broad City." He also played Griff in the comedy movie "Daddy's Home" and Coach Wilson in the Marvel movie, "Spider-Man Homecoming". He's performed on late night television shows hosted by David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, and Craig Ferguson. He also created a festival called Isola Fest, a comedy and music festival in a venue owned by his cousin called Playaz Palace in Isola, Mississippi, which I had the incredible honor of attending and performing for. More recently, Hannibal Buress has taken on his lovely rap career using the pseudonym Eshu Tune and released his debut EP titled "Eshu Tune". It is an incredible honor for me to have Hannibal Buress, AKA Eshu Tune, on this show with us today and I'm really looking forward to sharing this conversation. Thanks for joining me today, Hannibal.

- [Hannibal Buress] Of course.

- [aja monet] Yeah, I appreciate it. And making time in your busy schedule. I feel like people know you a certain way and you kind of come off in the world as like, the title that people know you to have as a comedian. Sometimes maybe actor, do people say actor?

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah, they do.

- [aja monet] You don't like it?

- [Hannibal Buress] No.

- [aja monet] Well this is why this question will be great. I'm wondering how would you like to identify as yourself?

- [Hannibal Buress] I just like, I like to make things that I enjoy and sometimes people enjoy them. I do not, as far as acting 'cause I don't even act that much, I've taken one movie in the past, three, four years or something and I work one day on it. Some people, "Are you a actor?" I'm real particular, I say I've acted before because there's people that work on it in a way that I never have and never will that call themselves actors. You know, they trained, they've done theater, they've done hella film, you know, and really they get into character, they write a journal for preparation, they think about how somebody walked. I'm Hannibal Buress in a different costume. I'm just, whether I'm a cop, or a dentist, or this friend or something, I'm not really pushing in a way when I'm acting.

- [aja monet] So you wouldn't even title yourself as like, do you see yourself as, oh I'm proudly a comedian because I've studied and I've worked and I've tried to learn. Would you ever say that's a title you take?

- [Hannibal Buress] I worked at the comedian, I put out comedy specials and really used to, at my most passionate and active, sometimes in New York do five, six shows in a night, type shit and really locked in, yeah. Comedy I spent a lot and traveled the world doing it and yeah. But then every other stuff was a byproduct of that, not more so me pursuing it. A lot of other things in entertainment came because of that.

- [aja monet] I always say that when we used to do open mics in New York, the people you would see most of the time, aside from poets, were comedians coming up to do like, sets with you. It's really beautiful because I think Chicago and New York are similar in that way where I would say comedy, poetry like theater, there are places where like, you have to be a part of a community even if you're not really when you're starting up in a different way than now where social media I think allows for people to kind of, be isolated in their own experience. But when you're really starting out, I remember as a poet, you had to go to a venue, you had to wait on a line, you had to put your name on a list, you had to sit with the nerves and the memory of your lines and if you knew what you were talking about and then really feel an audience and like from feeling an audience, you would gauge whether or not you were effective at what you were doing. And so I wanted to ask, have you noticed the difference between the time you were coming up and having to be in community with people to really feel the scope of your work to now where like social media has taken such a big role, and people still I think engage with their audience, but it's a very, it's not so immediate. There must be something different that you feel, even if, I mean, I know that this sounds kooky but like spiritually, whatever you may say, but being able to see your joke or your line in someone else's face, like seeing their reaction and the gestures must have some kind of impact that's different than just sharing something online and getting a comment.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah, absolutely. The last thing, it's a lot. We just finished up the fifth of six shows of Iso sessions and it's gone by so fast. Because when you do something weekly, right after you're done, you gotta start working on the next week. You gotta get the fliers ready, you gotta start getting out, you gotta start preparing, advancing. And so it just made, whoa, we just did five shows that fast and I think it just attracts even just me putting the shows on, it's created extra momentum for outside bookings and other things it's just been nice. In L.A., I was becoming a bit of a a homebody. I was doing some gigs on the road or traveling and then, I would be here say, "Wait a second, I don't do live stuff on a regular here, but I'm in a major entertainment city, what the fuck am I doing?" And so I didn't realize I couldn't say, "L.A.'s weird" if I hadn't really made a effort to do something in nightlife. Now that I'm doing that, it is nice to have that hub, it's nice to have that to work towards. When I was in New York, I had a weekly at Knitting Factory and I was still doing a bunch of other stuff and touring and I didn't make it sometimes 'cause I was on the road. Now I have guest hosts but it was built and it ran it, and so having that regular thing was so dope. And then when I would travel internationally and it was, the room held a hundred some people. But we did it so many times over the year I go overseas, I go to London, I go to Australia, I go somewhere and folks like, "Oh I was at Knitting Factory, I was at Knit. I saw Knitting Factory." Because this is New York, you know, you playing locally but also people always, they're from everywhere. So you play into the world when you play New York. And that wasn't the intention when I was doing it. It wasn't to, "Oh I hope that people in, when I go to Korea I meet somebody that was at this New York show." But that's what happened.

- [aja monet] Do you ever think about creating something that's like a hub for comedy that will just outlive you? Have you thought about a legacy, in some sort of venue?

- [Hannibal Buress] In Isola we got my venue there in Isola, Mississippi. I do wanna start a, either monthly or weekly there that we just produce and come in every couple months just to show face and keep it moving. So we wanna build something there for Mississippi artists definitely. And stream it and have that. So we going do that over the next few months. We're supposed to start a couple weeks ago but then got kinda bogged down with gigs. But I definitely like building 'cause it's one of those things, you build it, folks going come through, they wanna come especially in a spot like Mississippi and they gonna bring they folks, people wanna have a spot to show they stuff. So it's gonna happen.

- [aja monet] I wanna know about, you know, I think people don't fully always know all the things that you're doing that are like really helping a lot of people. And I think you're a very thoughtful friend and considerate person and I think you have a really good heart and I think you try to do things that include and incorporate a lot of people. And so, can we talk about why that has become such a big part of this iteration of your life?

- [Hannibal Buress] When you put nice stuff together and people show up and enjoy themselves that have good results and that can compound. And so, wanting to do that at a high level and keep on doing it is 'cause it is nice to see people feel good after you've built something. And when we went to Isola, did Isola Fest last minute.

- [aja monet] How did Isola Fest come to be?

- [Hannibal Buress] Me and my cousin own a little club down there.

- [aja monet] Yes it is lil club.

- [Hannibal Buress] Initially I was trying to help him just kind of run the club from afar and you know, we were like, "Oh we'll do the digital marketing" and then I realized I can't just do it like that. I have to do something to make a splash at the club and then we can ride off the momentum of that. And so, I had to do a gig. Actually, I should do like a big one night show or something like that and then we'll ride off that. And so I was deciding to do a December, I think 13th because later would've been too close to the holidays and then it would've given us the time to plan for the next one. So December 13th we do it a couple weeks out. I asked T-Pain first he says yes, I'm surprised. And I said, "You know what? We doing a festival." 'Cause just thought for the moment-

- [aja monet] You was so shocked, you like, "T-Pain said yes."

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah T-Pain said yes, fine it's a three day festival. And it was a fun time. Yeah, thank you for coming down and doing it. And it was dope to build at that level and do it somewhere where they don't get events at all. You can see how it affected folks and brought a lot of folks to Isola, that had never been there and wanna use that to kinda be the foundation for building other stuff in the town. It's a small town, with 1,000 folks, but they got their little main strip and I think there's room to have a little cafe there or maybe a one, two screen movie theater. And also having a venue, having weekly events, building that performance community down there, and make it where that's the small town that folks drive 45 an hour to. We gonna get another festival in probably next year, maybe Memorial Day weekend or something like that.

- [aja monet] Well, let me know I can help. My next question is about Eshu Tune.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah.

- [aja monet] You felt the need to have a different name for this person or this version of yourself. So where did this version of yourself come to be? How did it come into being?

- [Hannibal Buress] I was, been working on music for a while and, I was just trying to think of a stage name. I had a couple ideas but they weren't fully sticking. They felt cool, but they didn't feel like, "Do I wanna be called this in five years?" They were ideas for the moments. Wabansia Joe.

- [aja monet] Wabansia Joe?

- [Hannibal Buress] Wabansia Joe. Wabansia is a block in my old neighborhood in Chicago. And then Joe is what Chicagoans call-

- [aja monet] That's actually a really cool name.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah.

- [aja monet] Lowkey.

- [Hannibal Buress] Wabansia Joe, it might still live.

- [aja monet] It might come through.

- [Hannibal Buress] It might come through in some other way. It might be a feature and that might be me with a vocal shifter on. But Eshu, I was trying to come up this stage name and I looked up Nigerian mythology and Eshu is the trickster god.

- [aja monet] Yeah

- [Hannibal Buress] I saw that. And it resonated with how I think and things I've done. It just felt right, right away. And then it helped me kinda compartmentalize a little bit. I was able to view Eshu as a new act. And view Hannibal as the guy that's bringing Eshu to shit no matter what. And that helped me be able to have more momentum and work for ... 'Cause then a lot of times people wanna get Hannibal in for somethin and like, yeah Hannibal don't wanna do that.

- [aja monet] Eshu come.

- [Hannibal Buress] Especially at that price, that's, you're talking Eshu money. Eshu, Hannibal is a jaded industry veteran. Eshu is a hungry, wide-eyed open up and comer and he will take that $750. So now I'm able to work in that place of fun and doing open mics as a musician and performing for six people and enjoying it, and doing shows and losing money on shows but not tripping about it.

- [aja monet] When you think about what he represents in the Yoruba like tradition and religion, like, when you talk to people who come from the Yoruba tradition, they talk about, yeah, this dismissal of a binary of just good and bad. And that the idea that there is a trickster, that is a part of sometimes causing hysteria or chaos for the sake of actually unifying people even as it seems as if it's bringing people apart. Do you see what you do with Eshu Tune as a part of like bringing out, 'cause I think comedy in some way it gets people to make fun of themselves in order to see the ridiculousness of the predicament they're in. Do you feel like now that you're able to do this with music, that you see comedy showing up in a more like intentional way or does it just come, if it comes it's just part of Hannibal that comes out?

- [Hannibal Buress] The comedy still there.

- [aja monet] Cause I heard you rap one time as Eshu and I was like, you got bars.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah.

- [aja monet] Yeah, that's an immediate yeah.

- [Hannibal Buress] Because I've heard the doubts or whatever. So it's just, it's something I worked at for a while to even get to the point mentally to start really doing it publicly without fear. I worked at it a lot. I had these real, you know, these real songs that are grounded or honest and vulnerable. And then I had these songs that are kind of silly. So I struggled for what, oh can I do these type of songs and these type of, and then it was just do what do I feel, just do that, do all of it.

- [aja monet] You're listening to The Sound Bath brought to you by Lush Cosmetics and my name is aja monet. I'm currently in conversation with my friend Hannibal Buress a comedian, writer and rapper. Next up I want to talk to him about some of the struggles he went through before he started making music. But first ... Do you feel like you find yourself with Eshu Tune being able to really delve into some of the other parts of yourself that maybe your character as Hannibal Buress, or the person that people see you as doesn't allow you to?

- [Hannibal Buress] Not to say that I couldn't or it's not possible, but for me doing the music and not having to work for the laugh or not having to workshop publicly, it's still some element of it. I'll do songs before they're out, you know what I mean? But that song has been worked on in private and then I get it, I'm getting stuff to my taste. If it work in this room and I'm playing it 20 times before I take it out. And so it's nice to have that, you know, sometimes with comedy you can be telling a story to a friend and that can kind of be a little bit of a litmus, but for the most part you kind of ground it out in front of an audience. So I do think being able to really vibe with something and work on something and believe in it in private changes the vibe of how you perform publicly. It's like, "Alrighty, this music, this bar, I like it. I trust my taste, this shit goes. I made the beat, and some of this beat gold." I know what good beats sound like. I feel like I know what good concepts are. And so, that's the difference in it is, the audience holds a lot of the weight in comedy 'cause you, it's like, waiting for that, waiting for it. And so, I'm not doing standup gigs on a regular but I'm doing elite banter, you know, I'm still doing, I still got it. But because I'm not doing it in that setting it's less pressurized.

- [aja monet] Yeah, yeah.

- [Hannibal Buress] But the quality's still there, but it's not in the thing of them, It's in between songs. Preachers playing keys under it and so their minds is already relaxed by the keys. I popped up at the comedy club in New York and I don't really know how this feel, he's like, ain't no music and shit. Now I'm spoiled 'cause it is tougher. It's tougher. I stopped at this open mic in Philly, The Comedy John. I did the Adult Swim Fest and I stayed a extra day just hanging out in Philly and it was this little room upstairs, it had maybe 30 people, 40 packed super tight, just had a vibe to it. And I said, you know what, I'mma go go up. And then I get up there and I started doing a little bit of standup, but the standup, that shit was rusty and I just like, I just start rapping. And then it went over 'cause the flow was tight, you know what I mean?

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah. It's just, you can't-

- [aja monet] It was undeniable.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah. And so it was just, I had to go to that as far as just working the crowd in that moment. 'Cause I did not just have the, you know, as far as the standup in that moment, I would have to prep, that's the thing now. If I had to do it in a club, normal style, I would have to prep and really, okay, this is what I'm doing. I used to be able to just go up and be fine but now I have to really think about, 'cause I'm not doing it as much and so it's not as quick. And so that lack of preparation, sometimes I get up there, you know, ain't hearing no music or nothing. I'm like, woo. I'm like, y'all do this every day.

- [aja monet] It sounds like you're integrating the best parts of yourself at this stage of your career. And so I think like, what you're doing with comedy and also rap doesn't feel like it's necessarily different or that they're completely opposites, it's just deepening your practice.

- [Hannibal Buress] It allows me to do a just a bigger show. And even with my standup, if you go back and listen to my specials or my first album all the way up to here, all the breadcrumbs are there.

- [aja monet] You're like, go look at the breadcrumbs.

- [Hannibal Buress] Like, it's me talking about lyrics.

- [aja monet] Rap references.

- [Hannibal Buress] Me talking about being at a show and they did this. Having a DJ and having soundbites, having visuals in the show, having the auto tune it just feel good to have the shift. And the other part of it, the unintended result of it is, having folks reach out, being excited about it and then them wanting to do something else that they been putting off or want doing it like, "Oh I see you rapping, that make me wanna do the shit I've been", that's been really cool.

- [aja monet] So a question I've definitely always wanted to ask you that I never did was around your name, actual Hannibal. What was it like to be named after like a military commander? What was that like growing up to be who you are?

- [Hannibal Buress] It's heavy just because of the movie makes, it shifted the conversation and so it's just peoples people so they don't know what your experience is, but it's just a weird and even-

- [aja monet] That's a powerful name for your parents to like, decided to name you Hannibal. That's like a very-

- [Hannibal Buress] It's a strong choice.

- [aja monet] It was a very strong choice.

- [Hannibal Buress] It's a strong choice by John.

- [aja monet] There's so much in a name. I think what's really interesting is names, there's so much in a name and what it manifests, what it like puts into fruition.

- [Hannibal Buress] I studied Hannibal some and it is some stuff I try to apply and that is-

- [aja monet] Interesting, like what?

- [Hannibal Buress] Well, I'm a war monger.

- [aja monet] I'm like, wait, what?

- [Hannibal Buress] But strategically and just in planning Hannibal used elephants and that was, an alternative is to unexpected strategy was a surprise. And so thinking about that and how I work and how I plan and just, and how I come up with ideas for things or that part of it.

- [aja monet] That's really beautiful to hear because you, I mean, I don't know if people know you to be someone who I think is like actually very, I think very poetic. Maybe you don't see yourself in that way. But like even who you decided to take on as the name for your, this next iteration of your rap career, music career and the way that you're taking on this, it feels like very poetic, it almost feels like natural. Like, clearly I wrote this story out and I planned it this way.

- [Hannibal Buress] It feels good and people have noticed it. "You look happy, you look genuinely happy" 'cause I am and I was not at a time. And so to know that every day I'm really just hyped about the possibilities and, there's so much to do. There's so much new stuff, there's new ideas, there's visual video ideas to come up with, beats to make, songs to write.

- [aja monet] What was the struggle to do that though? Like you just said you weren't before. So that's interesting for someone to have the responsibility to kind of make people laugh or be a comedian when you're struggling with your own sadness. How did you handle that?

- [Hannibal Buress] Well, I think it was just doing work that I wasn't fulfilled by but look good or financially look good or is very visible work. And then doing that and then having to promote that and so that like realizing the gravity of that and how that feels when you do something that you're not connected to but then it's a big project and then you have to go sell it also. You're like, wait.

- [aja monet] So it's interesting going back full circle 'cause that feels a lot like acting.

- [Hannibal Buress] That's the real acting. The real acting is in the promotion. You gotta do 30 of them in a day or something.

- [aja monet] And then you find ways, you're trying to find ways to escape that feeling.

- [Hannibal Buress] You have to numb through stuff. And so that taught me, if I am going be doing something, especially at this level, especially very visible, I have to be fully all in with my heart and brain in it because it's heavy to to be out there. And if you gonna be out and about in the streets as a public figure, being recognized is best, if I can control it to do it for work that I'm really proud of versus something else that somebody else's dream. And so it was just like, okay, that's not what I'm here to do, that's what some folks might want me to do and I did it. And so it's just now knowing, okay, this is what I wanna do, I wake up hyped. You know, if you waking up like, or PA knocking on my door, I'm like, it's like okay I'm not supposed to be doing this if I'm showing up late and shit, start acting out in these ways, it's because I'm not connected to the work. It should be somebody else in those spots that want to be there. I'm not being the best version of myself when I'm doing that shit. And so that's why I have to remove myself from it.

- [aja monet] I wonder what role has being a father played in this phase of you.

- [Hannibal Buress] It's a big part. Initially, I wanted to get the music out before she was born. 'Cause in my mind I didn't want her to be like, wait, you talking about wanting to rap all the time, you ain't put out no music. So I imagined this.

- [aja monet] You didn't want your daughter to say that to you.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah, I imagined this confrontation where she was challenging me on having this passion and never really acting on it despite having all the resources to make it possible.

- [aja monet] Hilarious

- [Hannibal Buress] And no real obstacles. She's just like, "Wait, you have money, you have time, there's nothing stopping you from creating it and making stuff". And so I imagined her just being really disappointed in that. And so I didn't get it out before she was born but I did get it out and started to do it.

- [aja monet] That is really beautiful. It's like actually a very beautiful thing to hear. You know, how people like, write letters to their future kids or whatever. Your daughter was already speaking to you from the womb. What do you feel like your daughter has talked to you about love? What do you wanna show your daughter about love that you feel like you didn't maybe feel before?

- [Hannibal Buress] Just being present. Being in the moment as much as possible in the time. So I just think about this work and, it does take me away sometimes and so how to figure out smoothing that part of it out. I was going for 11 days recently, which was 11 day trip but then she's 16 months, so.

- [aja monet] 11 days is like 10 years.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah, 11 days out of, you know, she's only 365 and then oh, month, and on 20, so 485 days. Oh, so 11 out 485 is a strong chunk of days. Phonte had this line on a song and he say, "I come back from the road, look at my son like damn, when you get a mustache." And it's like, yeah when you go, especially these stages you go away, you come back and baby different than when you was there. It's subtle but she gonna be the same as because they always change it, yeah.

- [aja monet] Yeah, and you're gonna be different each time too.

- [Hannibal Buress] Yeah.

- [aja monet] Probably not as much but yeah. My next question is in a world where things are constantly, you're constantly being inundated with what's wrong, what's going wrong in the world and it can feel at times very discouraging. There's also so much possibility and there's a lot of really wonderful things happening and creative stuff that's being made. And so I wonder as someone who's creating in this time and like, feeling inspired again by this new part of yourself that you're exploring, creating, what makes you feel most free?

- [Hannibal Buress] When I'm in a soundproof room and they would just make stuff and just listening to music or working on music or in somebody else's studio, I went to T.nava's studio. T.nava is in in Free Nationals, I think it was our first time, I hung out with him a bunch but never been in the studio with him. And I played him this song I've been working on, "No Whip". And then he heard it and then immediately started grabbing for his shit to add something to it. And TK who made the beat, he was with me. And so it's a song, I recorded it in June of this year and I've been listening to it a bunch and whatnot. I put it up on SoundCloud but I haven't been pushing it yet. I'm happy with it now, but it's still, it's not a finished product. I love it where it's at is gonna get better. But to see somebody else react to it freshly and be like, I got some shit for this. That was really dope to have that feeling and me and TK was like, oh, shit. And he was snapping on it and just, he elevated the song. So moments like that with the music in studio coming up with stuff and you know, that's where I'm most free. And then on stage with the band when we locked in or when I'm improvising. Last night we was talking about what we gonna do for the October 30th show. I was joking around with the crowd and maybe everybody just dress up like preachers for Halloween and then since it's Sunday, everybody dress up like preachers. And I started talking about my experience with religion and I went to a Lutheran grade school and so it was kind of me, then I started improvising this song like, why am I Lutheran? I mean, you can come up with the whole detail of why, like, the base level part of it or you can get into the, you know, how did we end up in Chicago, blah blah blah, Jim Crow, jobs up north, blah blah blah. Like, let it blah blah, Lutheran. But it was just that moment of just, I hadn't really even talked about that ever in front of an audience. And then going from talking about it into free styling a song, why am I, and Lutheran, and the crowd going. So, those type of moments that were organic and that is the perfect combination of music and comedy in the live setting in that time, it was dope to have those type of moments 'cause then I'm not not thinking about nothing else except for the music for the moment, the crowd in that time or in the studio. That's why I love it in here 'cause you can't hear nothing else. So when it's bumping it's bumping, you know? And so, it's nice to do that 'cause there's a lot going on in the world obviously. And so, being able to really zone into the work, that's when we make the best work.

- [aja monet] Yeah, that's ultimate presence. So the last question I have, which is the question we ask all of our guests all the time is a question about what sounds really resonate with you.

- [Hannibal Buress] I mean, certain sense sounds sometimes I'm sitting here and just play sense, just vibe out, put visuals on and just play shit. I had this song "Veneers", that's just the basic, the sound off of the mode, it's actually off of the mode app, not the physical mode, but it's like, But then we put it through some remix plugin and then it kind of chopped it and like sped it up and so it was just took the one simple sound and then just changed it rhythmically. And it was just hearing that, that was like, oh, giving the sound a whole new life. The remix and just a sound we all already liked and you know, been hearing for a year and some change. So certain sense sounds, when I was leaving in Hawaii, the ocean was really, just being able to hear the ocean. You go out there, just that type of peaceful noise.

- [aja monet] Wow, Hanni, it's been so nice talking to you.

- [Hannibal Buress] Nice talking to you too.

- [aja monet] Yeah, thank you for making the time. Thank you so much for listening and please enjoy this beautiful sonic meditation.