Cardboard boxes on the floor, a flight to catch, and a guitar that still knows the way to a cliffside bench—that’s where our conversation with Wax begins. We jump straight into the touring sprint behind Lifetime Achievement Award and zoom out to the bigger, messier story of how an artist stays steady through constant work, pain, and adversity. The Stutz framework becomes a recurring touchstone, not as self-help theater but as a workable playbook for anyone trying to make real things in an unpredictable world.

Wax opens up about the early days of raw, camcorder YouTube—when authenticity traveled farther than polish—and how that momentum led to a major label deal, big rooms, and bigger expectations. He walks us through the creative paralysis that comes from chasing a “radio hit,” the manager drama that drained time and money, and the surreal twist when Def Jam dropped him and he released Rosana the next day, igniting European charts and a whirlwind of festival highs. Through it all, he holds onto the practice that matters most: returning to the same bench at Sunset Cliffs, letting choruses arrive like weather, and building verses with care until the song holds.

We also go deep on sobriety. Wax shares how twelve-packs once fueled every session, why he got honest seven years ago, and how recovery changed the job without dimming the joy. Fatherhood reframes old lyrics; humor becomes a pressure valve that lets him face heavy topics without flinching. Onstage, he leans into crowd work, classic cuts, acoustic moments, and the kind of spontaneity that makes a room feel like a living room. If you’re chasing creative longevity, this is a grounded, generous map: accept the grind, use humor to cut through the hard parts, and find your hour of joy to power the rest.

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