April Pride, host: Howdy. Hi. Thank you for having me to your ranch. Thank you for all of us coming out. Yeah, yeah. I’ve never been to Austin before. Never? Never. I’m from Virginia originally. It’s a big trip. Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Austin’s is happening these days.
April Pride, host: For a while, it just. I haven’t made it down here, so thank you for the opportunity to make that happen. Yeah, certainly. Yeah. Cool. And never obviously never been to South by Southwest. Mhm.
Adrian Grenier, actor: That South by is how I actually ended up discovering Austin.
April Pride, host: Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. Where are we in the schedule. We’re the middle weekend of two weeks, so.
Adrian Grenier, actor: I used to come every year, and we used to. I used to be in music. I had an artist run label and we used to do a showcase here every year. So I used to come and love being here and out in the mix. Now I have a family. We went into town yesterday and we were like, whoa, oh yeah, people are here, let’s go. We retreated back to the ranch.
April Pride, host: It’s not a bad spot. Yes. Yeah. Cool.
Adrian Grenier, actor: The keys are yours.
April Pride, host: Okay. So, um. So I work in psychedelics. I worked in cannabis, and. But is that really work? Some. Depends on how you look at it. Depends on the day. Depends on the day. Um. That’s a it is a really lucky. I mean, one could ask you the same thing. Yeah.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Well, I designed my life so I don’t have to work, you know? Definitely. Yeah.
April Pride, host: Right. Yeah, it’s working out. Let’s just say that. And I think one of the things that I’m most excited about is I’m actually get to help people. Yeah. To. Right. So, um, I was a person that wanted to just design cool products, cool stash accessories and have a good time. And then I was really informed as to what was happening when I was working in cannabis. Right. So what was your path? At some point you were introduced to a mission. You were introduced to a cause that really kind of like yanked you and made you go, huh? What am I doing here? What would you what was the first one? Because you have so many. Yeah.
Adrian Grenier, actor: I mean. At my age now, I’ve had many different growth journeys, many iterations of self and um, yeah, I don’t know. I think that right now I’m really just, I think stepping into my divine masculine and grounding in like deep deepening my connection to my family I’m having I have a family. Like when I was younger, I was flying high, and I couldn’t imagine having kids because they would take me away from all the fun South by parties. And now, um, my mission really is to just, you know, build the safest, most abundant home for my son. So that and my wife so that my wife so that her nervous system is relaxed enough to be the best mother she can be. And that my son has a present father and a mom who’s lit up and happy. And I think the rest sort of will, I think, fall into place in theory instead of having to, you know, dictate or teach. We can just create an environment which our son can explore and be curious and learn out on the land, not necessarily in a classroom or behind a desk, but he can learn everywhere. And I think we one thing that we’re building here at Kintsugi are opportunities for creativity and education everywhere. Like there’s it’s it’s sort of no boundaries and no lines between what you’re learning and what you’re what creates curiosity and the work you’re doing. So the work becomes a learning moment.
April Pride, host: How is the childhood that you’re creating for your son different than the childhood you. Totally. Yeah, I.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Mean, I my mom, my mom raised me in New York.
April Pride, host: In the city, in.
Adrian Grenier, actor: The city. And she plucked me from Albuquerque, New Mexico, with all my cousins and family and and the big open, you know, skylines and brought me to New York and it was a total shock to my system and I had and I realized in retrospect, I, I had to survive that experience. I had to learn how to adapt to that insane insanity. And and I did, and I thrived, I guess, in that, in that world. But it wasn’t until I left New York and came here and started doing this work and coming back to that deeper self that I had left when I was that age, that I realize it’s it’s an insane proposition to raise kids in New York. And I called my mom. I’m like, mom, now that I have a kid, I’m like, what were you thinking? And obviously my mom had her own journey, right? And she was she was running from something more than she was running to New York. But in her her mind, she wanted to give me culture and opportunities and and and arts, all the things that New York has to offer. And and for that, I’m very thankful. But I was there with my son just to leave the hotel and get into a car like the stroller. And it was so stressful. And I’m just so more accustomed to this vibe that, um, yeah, I don’t think that I would want to raise my son there. So yes, very different than my upbringing.
April Pride, host: And do you think that he will then immediately move to New York? Yes.
Adrian Grenier, actor: I’m. I can hear the words now. You mean you could have raised me in New York and you raised me out in the boonies? Yeah, I can see it now.
April Pride, host: Right? Right. Well, I mean, I think what you’re trying to avoid, right, is this conversation that I have so much in my work, which is about childhood trauma. Like to minimize the amount that your child could have, like you said, walking out of the door in Manhattan. You’re just like your nervous system is. You’re not going fast enough. You’re not doing enough. Right? And you’re for.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, I, I think at the end of the day, my presence is the most important thing. I didn’t grow up with my dad. So New York be damn like if my dad was there it might have helped. Sure. Yeah, yeah, he might have been able to help me navigate a little bit better. Um, and so I think my presence in his life is, is really the difference that I’m really trying to make. It’s not where you are. And wherever you go, there you are. So it’s just being there for him and modeling, uh, how I treat my wife and his mother and how I, you know, how he sees my work ethic and my, you know, desire to to take care and to protect him and and the land here. So for me, that’s that’s what it is.
April Pride, host: So if you didn’t have a father that was with you on the on the day we were estranged, correct? Yes. Yeah. Um, and you’re an actor by nature, right? Or by profession? So you’re preparing for your role. So how did you prepare to be the role? For the role of dad.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yeah, that that was a big, big, long, circuitous, um, scenic journey. Who took the scenic route to to growing up, right. Um, I didn’t grow up until, you know, 4 or 5 years ago. Um. Me too. Yeah.
April Pride, host: Or months.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yeah. Right. And I and I realized that I had to, um. Well, it wasn’t. I had to meet myself in very, uh, important and challenging ways and bear witness to things that I’d been repressing and avoiding since childhood. Not just the New York experience that wasn’t even it, but it was some of the figures in the, you know, the traumas that I endured in that in my youth. Um, psychedelics were certainly a helpful tool to bring some stuff up and, um. Yeah. And it took me, uh, you know, probably three, three years, 3 or 4 year journey to start to pull back the layers and find, like the deepest, deepest part of myself that was holding on to, um, to to ignorance.
April Pride, host: Yeah. The stories we tell ourselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Well, I need to escape.
Adrian Grenier, actor: I need to be numb. Wanting to not be here. Yeah, not be present. Wanted to just dip.
April Pride, host: Yeah. Not get to know yourself. Yeah. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Right. So what psychedelics did you choose to use to, you know, to explore them. Do you want do you mind talking about that a bit.
Adrian Grenier, actor: No, not what.
April Pride, host: You do. Yeah. People are super curious about this part of people’s lives. Right. And for men in particular, there’s not a lot of conversation around how it helped them feel about things in their past, is what I found.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, so I joked in the beginning about psychedelics being the fun thing. And yeah. So, you know, I’ve, I’ve explored psychedelics from a young age. And in earlier times it was it was more about creativity, you know, totally. The Beatles, Lucy in the Sky with diamonds, like, oh, I just want to, I want to meet the doors of perception and open them and, you know, explore, uh, other realms. Um, but. And then it became a more of a recreational thing, like an escape. And so another tool to not confront or not be part of, you know, um, the world, but but, but but dipping out. And it wasn’t until I started utilizing the tool of psychedelic medicine as a as a growth tool, which was less about the psychedelics, and it was more about the integration and the work that you do leading up to the experience, the setting of intentions, and really using it as a sacred, um, opportunity for meeting, you know, your higher self and that is work like that is tough, tough, challenging work. Um, that it that it didn’t until I started utilizing it as a tool of growth that um, that I start actually seeing the positive results of it. Yeah. So to answer your question, uh, I did some ayahuasca that was powerful. Um, Mushrooms? Certainly. And, um. Yeah. That’s it. Mhm.
April Pride, host: Have you tried MDMA?
Adrian Grenier, actor: Oh, MDMA. Mdma was another one that was very, very helpful in particular with my relationship uh, to my, my, my intimate relationships. Yeah. Right.
April Pride, host: Amazing. Yeah. With all people just allowing yourself to open up and connect.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yes to again for the audience who is curious. It’s not just about feeling good, it’s about with intention, going into a space that might have some discomfort or tension or your or your shifting into a pattern and seeing outside of that with an open heart so that you can really find yourself having a, um, putting yourself in the shoes of another person, having compassion for someone that, you know, maybe you’re in conflict with. Um, and then working through that, um, in a loving space, in a, in a heart space, not in a head space where you’re running a storyline or you’re projecting or you’re judging, but you can really sort of delve into a heart space that, um, I mean, all the answers are really here. You know, at the end of the day.
April Pride, host: Yes, we are very good at this and intellectualizing things, making sense of things, but anything to just not feel into it. Right. Like that’s the last thing we’re going to do, right? We’ll think ourself into anything. Yeah. So do you. How do you feel about living in Watts, Texas? Like actually when it comes to being progressive with thinking like this, you live in the right spot. Austin’s progressive. There’s no issues to talk about psychedelics or even cannabis. But the rest of Texas? No. Like, what’s the attitude? Do you feel like Texas gets a bad break in terms of being open minded to this type of treatment?
Adrian Grenier, actor: Or I find Texas to be more open minded than New York. Okay. In so many ways. Um, I mean, I’m not trying to disparage New York because I, you know, I do love. But there’s a lot of in Texas, people are very down to earth and very, um, yeah, um, humble in many ways and open to getting to know you. There’s no status wars, you know, at least in my experience. Um, in terms of are you talking about, like, drug laws? Yeah. Openness in terms of.
April Pride, host: Yeah. I mean, would you.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Drugs have been illegal in the state. I mean, the country at large.
April Pride, host: I guess it’s just more if you go to a dinner party in LA or you go to a dinner party in New York, you go to a dinner party here, can you show up and talk about things in the same way?
Adrian Grenier, actor: Can you? I don’t know, are you.
April Pride, host: Are you going to be yourself? Lead with who I am. Yeah.
Adrian Grenier, actor: I mean that’s that’s up on you, I think. Right. Uh, if people have a certain reaction, I mean, certainly I, I think I’ve found that people on in the liberal coasts are a lot more comfortable using a lot of drugs.
April Pride, host: Okay. Yeah. Right.
Adrian Grenier, actor: And so they they fancy themselves very open, I see. Yeah, but almost, um, unhinged and ungrounded, you know, and.
April Pride, host: With not intention.
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yeah, yeah. So you may be hip and cool because you’ve done all the drugs and you’re going to do more tonight at the party. Mhm. And this is just a broad generalization and being very judgy. Yeah. Um but that’s, that’s its own sort of closed mindedness I find. Uh, for, for someone who has never experimented with psychedelics, but they go and they, they go to church and they pray and they have a relationship with a higher power. That to me is also, um, a a beautiful relationship to spirit. So, um, I personally am starting to find more and more courage, just being honest about what I’ve done in my life and how it’s helped me and not run the the story that’s been conditioned in my head about drugs bad. And I should be ashamed of it. And I should be afraid of, you know, the feds coming in and taking me to jail and and that’s really on me. Mhm.
April Pride, host: Right. Yeah. I’m asking the question more I think because it’s nice to hear from someone that’s lived in all these places. Right. And to what your, you are the same person as you move through. Do you have to change who you are? It doesn’t sound like you do, right?
Adrian Grenier, actor: Not. I don’t have to change myself for them.
April Pride, host: But it doesn’t necessarily mean that.
Adrian Grenier, actor: It will change myself for for for my son. Yeah. Um, you know, there’s there’s a lot of, um, I mean, there’s a medicinal medical marijuana place just down the block. There’s, um, there are a lot of sacred churches in town. Got it. Um, so religion is very, a very important aspect of culture in Texas. And so there are a lot of psychedelic churches that are cropping up. Mhm. So in that, in that respect I think there’s a lot more safety here because there’s a tradition of not letting government, um, infringe on your ability to worship in the way that you see fit. So you don’t have to answer to the government about how you worship or who you worship. Um.
It’s kind of cool.
April Pride, host: One more question. Do you think that’s going to change minds if it’s if someone if someone meets this medicine in a church versus, you know, they they get it from their kid. Unfortunately, they, they confiscate it from their kid. And so they’ve got these old ideas in their mind. Right. But if they find out that someone that they trust and love is going to church and approaching it in that way, do you feel like that will help us to change?
Adrian Grenier, actor: Yeah, I wouldn’t I don’t know if it’s the church that they go to necessarily. Right. If it’s somebody who’s resistant or scared of drugs, and for good reason, I mean, drugs. A lot of people have been lost to drugs. And so there is something very destructive, potentially about drug use. I mean, look at the fentanyl crisis, right? I mean, look at alcohol. Look at, um, I mean, a lot of condoned drugs that are promoted and, and, um, sold by the, um, medical industry are, are more dangerous and destructive than. Right. Um, some, some other drugs. But is it going to change their mind? I don’t know, I mean, that’s it’s a case by case basis I think.
April Pride, host: Yeah. Whitewashing it as church, I guess is the question. Well, thank you for your time. Certainly. Yeah. It’s nice to chat with you. Appreciate it. Thank you for having us.
