Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of chatting with an old friend Josh Cobos, a talented musician from Big Drag, a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco. I’ve seen them play a few times, always a good time full of energy, stage presence and good vibes all around. I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out how it all began,  here’s his story.

How long have you been playing music?
I’ve been playing music since I was 10 so that’s 15 years now.

When did big drag begin?
Big drag began when I saw the movie Bikini Beach & found out Heidi could play drums

What inspires you to create?
Other art inspires me to create, seeing bands live makes me wanna go home and shred and learn how to play every good song out there. I also read the paper tons too, there’s always something weird or grotesque or obscene going on in there.

What influences your music most?
Musically we all sit around and listen to tapes or pick songs out at the jukebox and pass CDs or records back and forth so we’re all constantly getting exposed or reacquainted with something different. Then we’ll just go play songs that we hear in our heads, stuff that keeps us busy on walks or drives to work. If you open your eyes, life is constantly happening and you can interpret every action a million different ways.

What does living beautifully mean to you?
Living beautifully is making sure that your conscious decisions reflect who you are, breathe in the same honesty you breathe out.

To See when they will be playing a show next, click here.
To listen to them click here.

“It is my belief that it is far better to begin, than to wait for a perfect result which never seems to come.”- Quentin

I recently moved back from San Francisco, where I had the pleasure of working alongside Quentin Navia, a beautiful woman whose spirit could fill an entire room of charisma and positivity.  Her youthful attitude inspired me to self reflect and find inner happiness, but also to never let life become mundane. She toured the country playing music with a folk band, that opened for Peter Gabriel in the 70’s and somehow along the path she found herself opening “Pena Pachamama” a restaurant with the BEST raw vegan food I’ve had located in the heart of San Francisco’s North Beach, at one of the historic Speakeasy’s. She would always tell me the success was never forced, nor was opening a “business” but rather it formed naturally , and turned into a great success. She continues to play music every night at the restaurant along with her husband and son.  She’s living proof that regardless of age, if you do what you love, you’ll feel and look forever young. She recently wrote a book titled “The Art of Raw living” where she offers many delicious raw- vegan recipes as well as an insider tip at how her restaurant came to be. Here’s a little preview of the book.

“Each search, each story is notable and remarkable, because each individual is unique, one of a kind. Each has taken this journey in the material realm and experienced its joys, adventures, struggles, sufferings and successes. And even if we lack writing skills, our stories can inspire and encourage our compañeros along the way.

We all draw from the experiences of each other. We all offer true lessons from our own experiences. We read others stories to be inspired by them but ultimately the journey is our own. There are no complete recipes or guidelines for the trip, no one has taken exactly the same path. But one thing is for certain, that if it is true, we are all bound to find the same thing.

As with a raw lifestyle, I believe I’m in it for life. It is the adventure, with the fun, innocence and creative enthusiasm of a child, (in the end we are all bound to find the same thing-if its real- and raw living organic vegan foods are the closest we can get.”