"I'm Running for Judge" with Eric Atria

This week on Super Familiar with the Wilsons, Josh and Amanda sit down with local judicial candidate and longtime Gainesville music scene fixture Eric Atria for a chat about community, purpose, survival, creativity, and why Gainesville feels different from the rest of Florida. 

Meanwhile: Josh declares war on remastered albums, Winthrop continues his hostile takeover of car rides with unsolicited percussion, John the Scot returns with another phrase no living American can decipher, and Wilson Technology unveils a product that may or may not solve climate change using hamster ball engineering.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome back to the conversation. Tell me who I'm talking to. Get on down to imagination. You want me and I am you. Familiar. I want to be familiar. Don't be stranger.

Amanda 0:41

Welcome to Super Familiar with the Wilsons. I'm Amanda.

Josh 0:44

And I'm Josh, and this is the podcast about marriage 2.0 with kids.

Amanda 0:48

And side quests.

Josh 0:49

And today we interview Eric Atria, who's running for county judge here in Alachua County. We're usually not as Gainesville-centric, but those of you listening from around the world, Gainesville is an awesome place.

Amanda 1:01

And so you can you can deal just for Eric's a great guy, and he's got a really interesting story that I actually didn't know until we sat down to interview him. Somehow I missed this major story in his life.

Why Remasters Make Josh Mad

Josh 1:13

So he is running, and we will talk to him. But first, um, I've got something I gotta get get off of my um my rather broad, handsome chest here.

Amanda 1:23

Yes, very manly.

Josh 1:26

I cannot stand all of the remixes that I'm becoming aware of and remasterings, like everything now, all the music that you listen to, it's like remastered in 2017 or remastered in 2023 or or whatever. Every album that I loved as a kid growing up, I'll go back and I'll find this remastered nonsense. Yes. But what they do a lot of the times, they're not contenting themselves with just processing the sound using modern techniques. They will like change the mixes. And it is different from when I grew up. I don't like it, and they need to stop.

Amanda 2:04

Okay. So you've been on a Van Halen kick this afternoon. Are you listening to the remastered or were you using the original?

Josh 2:10

I am not. In fact, that's what got me so amped up about all of this is I was listening to oh, what was it? 5150, Van Halen Van Halen's first Sammy Hagar album. And I was listening, um, Why Can't This Be Love, right? was the song. And it, if you've heard the song, you're aware of the guitar like that happens uh in the beginning or right throughout the verse. And then there's a guitar underneath that that just holds out these rather obnoxious sounding just power chords. It doesn't sound good, and there's a reason why it's tucked back into the mix, it's done that way, or it was done that way, because that guitar is just meant to fatten the sound, you know, add to the sound, but not be a feature player. Some dingus decided that that should be turned up in the remix, and it sounds absolutely awful. And so I've just started to notice that all of these reissuing of this classic, whatever, that classic, whatever, and they changed the mixes. Why do they do that?

Amanda 3:14

I don't know, but let's take it past the mixes. Did you get upset when they did the um Nat King Cold duets album?

Josh 3:21

No, that was that was cool, that was different because it's a new thing. You're adding a new it's new instrumentation, new everything, but they just take the king's voice and then add like his daughter to it or whoever else.

Amanda 3:33

So I had no problem with that. They did that with Frank Sinatra too, right?

Josh 3:36

Yes, they did, and I there were some cuts on that that were I won't say good, but they were interesting. But what they're doing now is they're deciding that they either want to change the mix or change the arrangement. There was one uh song where they added a whole verse that had been cut. It's like the director's cut. Well, let me tell you something, they cut it for a reason and it wasn't worth doing. Um, it really just irks me. It irks me. And it has been bothering me for the past couple weeks when I became ultra aware of it because of this said Van Halen track, and I figured out why it bothers me so much. Well, it's a twofold reason. Number one, it bothers me because it's such blatant money grubbing. Yeah. You know, oh, let's let's do a remaster uh so that you know the fans might buy it or you know, new fans might listen because the mixes are different, or this and that. It's just a uh it's a money grab. It's ridiculous. But the other reason I don't like it is because I realize that our lovely nine-year-old son Winthrop has taken to thinking that he can add to whatever tune is playing on the car radio. Yes. So I'll have I'll I'll be listening in the morning driving him to school, and he's not only adding percussion, but he's scatting. Adding lyrics.

Amanda 5:01

You should be proud of his musical interests.

Josh 5:03

Well, he's not that good though. So he's nine. He's nine, yeah. He doesn't have the chops yet. But this is you taught him? Huh?

Amanda 5:10

Have you taught him anything?

Josh 5:11

Why are you laying this at my feet? I'm not the the people who gave him the recorder a couple weeks ago. Listen, not my point. My point is that he now does not have the ability to have music on the radio without him being, you know, the fifth beetle or whatever.

Amanda 5:24

That's okay. I think that it is charming, and I think that we should encourage his interests.

Josh 5:31

Oh, hello, ladies and gentlemen. This is holier than thou, Wilson, coming to you from Wilson Towers. Anyway, I know it's a me problem, not a hymn problem, but it just it just does irk me because I'm just trying to sing my songs, you know, on the way to school or whatever.

Amanda 5:49

And he's like, You were you were in the shower the other day, and Muffy came in the bedroom portion of our our room and to ask me something, and she said, Oh, it's cute. He's singing. You were just singing away in the shower, and it was very sweet.

Josh 6:05

I was just patronized by the 19-year-old. Yeah, what you're saying.

Amanda 6:08

Yes.

John The Scott Translation Game

Josh 6:09

All right. Well, before we get to this interview with Eric, we do have another installment of what in the world is John the Scott saying.

Amanda 6:21

No one ever knows.

Josh 6:22

No one ever knows. John is our Scottish friend, and he sends along phrases. He sent two this week. The first one I'm gonna let you hear. Okay. And I'm gonna let the folks out there guess, but I'll tell you the answer, and you're gonna know the answer right quick.

SPEAKER_05 6:39

Okay. You make a bit of door than a wendy.

Josh 6:42

All right, folks. Did you get that? So clearly, John is speaking in whatever language they speak in in Scotland.

Amanda 6:49

I'm pretty sure that was English.

Josh 6:50

I hear that it's English, but what in the world did he just say? Amanda, I'll bet you know this one.

Amanda 6:55

I do know this one.

Josh 6:56

All right, I'm gonna play it one more time here. You make a bit a door than a wendy. Amanda, what is that saying?

Amanda 7:02

John said you make a better door than you do a window. Well, he said wendy, but yes. The the yeah, I cannot see through you. My mom used to say things like that you make a better door than a window, or also your daddy must have been drinking muddy water. Meaning that when you were conceived, you were not see-through.

Josh 7:23

Okay. Well, and so that was your introduction to John if you've never heard him before. So here's the actual phrase that I want you all to suss out, and then we will give the answer next week. So if you want to email in and let me know what you think this is saying, familiarwilsons at gmail.com. Okay, here's John.

SPEAKER_06 7:44

Monia Mickle makes a muckle. Mornia Mickle makes a muckle.

Josh 7:49

All right, what do you Amanda? What do you think he was?

Amanda 7:51

I have no idea. Something about maybe money. I don't know what he's saying.

Josh 7:57

All right, folks. Here it is one more time.

SPEAKER_06 7:59

Monia Mickle makes a muckle.

A Fake Ad For Aquasphere

Meet Eric Atria And His Campaign

Josh 8:02

What do you think that John the Scott is saying? We'll let you know next week, but write in if you think you know. Familiarwilsons at gmail.com. Wilson Technology introduces the aquasphere. It's the wheel deal for beating the heat. As temperatures skyrocket due to global warming, staying cool is a breeze with this human-sized hamster ball filled with refreshing cool water. Picture yourself rolling through your day in your personal portable oasis, no matter how hot it gets. Aquasphere, roll in cool comfort and make a splash wherever you go. It's the coolest thing since the Wilsons. Joining me now is Eric Atria. Eric's running for judge in Alacho County, and we're gonna talk about that. How are you doing, Eric? I'm great. How are you? I am well. Now, full disclosure, I've known Eric for how long have I known you for? It's been a while. Gosh, the early 2010s, probably. Yeah, I didn't know you as a lawyer, and I didn't know you as someone when running for judge. I knew you as a musician and a bass player in Morning Bell.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

That's right. Yeah, we started spending time together when the bull would do those tribute nights. You pick an artist and everybody would pick a song or two. So yeah, that had I think that was 2010, 2011-ish. Something like that.

Josh 9:34

All I know is that I've got somewhere the Prince tribute night that we did on video. I don't know if you're interested. I don't remember doing that. Oh, yeah, yeah. And you did it, and Travis did it. He did, he did Kiss as one of his songs, and and you accompanied it. It was pretty good. Okay. But anyway, that's not why we're here.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

You're running for judge. Why are you running for judge? It's a very good question. And I'm glad this is a podcast because I've told my answer needs to be shorter for when I meet people. But it's a long answer.

Josh 10:01

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Are you ready for the long answer?

The Courtroom Punch Origin Story

Josh 10:03

I always want to know the long answer. So, Eric, what is your long answer to that question?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

All right. So I've been practicing law for 21 years this June, actually a month away from it. And in 2022, uh I was in the middle of a trial, and a client that I had uh sucker punched me in the back of the head. I didn't see it coming. He knocked me unconscious, fractured my skull. I woke up on the floor of the courtroom. And so there's a video of it. In fact, I have embraced the video. It's like what I call my origin story. So if you go to my website, it's on the front page in the video. So that's what happened. I woke up on the floor. I didn't know what had happened. Um, I remember uh seeing everybody looking up and seeing everybody circling around me. I thought I had a heart attack because I couldn't think of any other explanation for why I would have ended up on the floor of the courtroom in the middle of a trial. You know, my mom's side of the family has history of heart attacks. I try to take good care of myself, but you never know. So that was my thought. And I was just in shock, literally, uh, as to what happened. And so I try to sit up and they're like, Eric, who's the president? And this is 2022, and I say, Barack Obama, and that's not right. And I knew it wasn't right. Well, and I started laughing, but I was so dizzy because when you get hit in the head, there's these little crystals in your ear that can get knocked out. So I fall back down to the ground as I'm laughing, and everybody thinks this is very bad. Um, I guess head trauma is a bad thing to have happen. And one of the um people's like, oh, the ambulance is on the way. And I was like, Ambulance? Like, what the heck are you talking about? So they put me on the ambulance on the stretcher, they're wheeling me out. Um, the medic's calling in all these codes to Shans, and he's just like, you know, chest potential contusion, abrasion, abrasion, code seven. I'm like, oh, code seven, that sounds like a bad number of a code. And then he's like, some blood coming out of his right ear, possible brain bleed, code two. And I'm like, two is two better than seven, or is it worse than seven?

Amanda 11:53

Ascending or descending, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

So I'm laying there, like wondering this. Meanwhile, like I can't, I'm in traction, my jaw, I can't move my jaw. Um, as I'm laying there, um, I'm just like, what, why did this happen to me? You know, what I said karmic justice, what karmic justice brought this upon me. So I was thinking in my head. And as I'm laying there, I'm trying to assess, like, okay, you know, like, I'm in a lot of pain, something's very wrong. And I feel like it's I felt pieces of teeth in my mouth. Oh, God. But I'm moving my tongue around, I'm like, none of my teeth are missing. I was like, and my teeth, like, my bite is on, and like I'm able to think clearly, and I this thought comes to me, and I I I'm not exaggerating or making this up in any way, but this thought comes to me and says, Maybe your karmic justice is that you're gonna be okay. And people who are religious are like, Well, that was God talking to you, and people who aren't are like, you know, that was just the universe talking to you, or whatever, you know, you you choose what you think it is. And so as I'm being brought to the hospital, I don't know if you've ever been to Shans, ER, you wait like a day to be seen. They were like, You're going right in. And I'm like, Well, that's good. Not even realizing that meant I was priority one in that entire EED that day. Um, so I'm in this trauma bay, and there's immediately a team like waiting for me. Again, I have no concept. That means this is really serious. And so I'm just laying there and they're doing all this stuff.

Amanda 13:14

At this point, like, let me ask, do you still think that you had a heart attack, or did somebody say you got it?

SPEAKER_01 13:19

They told me that my client, they immediately told me my client had hit me.

Amanda 13:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

And so I'm a wise guy, uh, as you may have figured out. Um, so when I'm laying on the ground, this is instantly after getting hit. Um, I look up, I go, What happened? And the bailiff goes, Your client hit you. And I see the judge. I go, Judge, I moved to withdraw from this case. I thought it was funny, but nobody laughed.

Amanda 13:38

Right.

Recovery And A New Sense Of Purpose

From New Law To Running

SPEAKER_01 13:39

I'm still proud of that one. Um, so no, I know what has happened. And that's the funny thing, is like everybody at the hospital is like, Who did this to you? And I'm like, I can't move my mouth. I'm like, my client, which is like, you know, they were all just like, what? Anyway, what happens is that all these different people in that room, there must have been 30 people, every specialty started clearing me. And so like they all started leaving to go deal with other situations. And at a certain point, it was just me, my wife, and the nurse. And they were just like, Your skull is fractured, but we don't have to do surgery, it's gonna heal itself. I don't know how my jaw wasn't broken. So he hit me right here between the ear and the jaw on the left side. They said this this molar right here is one the tip of it got sheared off, but it like my teeth were not cracked or fractured. Um, I had a concussion. But other than that, like everything that they did at the hospital, like we're sending you home. I couldn't believe it because I was fully prepared to be staying there for a couple weeks, whatever it had to be. Um, because in my mind, I never even considered that it was fate potentially fatal, but they clearly thought it was potentially fatal. So um coming out of it, like I go home, you know, and when I I remember I say this every time I tell the story, and this is the long, long version you're getting. But when I got home and my uh my kids were waiting for me, it was so overwhelming because they didn't know what happened. I mean, they knew what something bad had happened. I had like three big bloody uh things on my face, and my this left side was like swollen. So big like I had a grapefruit in my cheek, and the kids were very upset to see me. I mean, to this day, we they tell me that how upsetting that was. And so my whole process, the hot process of it was if it was what the doctors feared, or if I didn't wake up on the floor, that was the last day of my life. And what have I done? And I think you know, everybody can say, Oh, well, you've done this and you've done that. It's like, but to me, it didn't feel like enough. Maybe this is ego speaking, but you know, think about what people are gonna say at your eulogy and be like, Eric, you know, he played bass, he liked going to lunch with his friends. Like that, I'm not joking here. When my grandpa died, an old man got up. Wait, what does everybody remember about Sam? And nobody really liked my grandpa. And one old man, we didn't even know he lived in an apartment complex with my grandpa, he goes, he loved lunch. And we all just were dying. He was like, Sam Atria, lover of lunch. Um, and so I was like, I don't want to just die as a lover of lunch. You know, I want to somebody who who's made a difference. And so over the next couple of years, what ended up happening was uh they made a law because of me. So I was the face of this law. Uh I had to go in front of the Florida legislature. I wanted eight times. I spoke three or four times. Um, you know, I would I was a person who became known in the Capitol, uh, and I'd go in there and people be like, hey, Eric, it was wild. Uh one of the stories I like to tell is I was up there for something with my family, and the elevators open, and the guy who walked out just goes, Hey, Eric, and just keeps walking. Like my kids, I'm like, Do you that's impressive? Like that the first person we ran into in the Florida Capitol knows who I am. And so my thought was like, oh, what if I do something uh greater public service? Because that's my family. My mom, public school teacher, my dad, 28-year public defender, I'm 21-year public defender. We do public service in our family, we believe in giving back to our communities. So I was like, Well, what if I run for something? And as I lived through that legislative experience, I was like, I don't think this is the place for me. I don't think I'm gonna enjoy doing this. And so I kind of came back to work. My my former boss would just say, he's like, You were looking for something. From that moment, you were looking for something. And so what happened is in 2024, two of our judges retired and their seats were not up for re-election. So the governor replaced them. So my thought was like, oh, they just made a law for me. Like everybody up there is gonna know who I am. Let me put my name in. So I put my name in for both of them, uh, did not get picked for either, um, which was the best thing that could have happened to me, to be honest with you. And the minute that the second name was announced, I was like, well, I'm just gonna run against that guy because this is Alachua County and I know people, and I bet you I can put something together. And so from September of 2024 till today, almost two years later, I was like, let me get as involved in this community as I possibly can, go to every event, support or attend every nonprofit's this or that. Again, be a contributing member of this community to the level I wasn't before. That was parallel to wanting to run. It was also just, I realized that this is not the end point. This is a step on the path to becoming a more uh important member, more contributing member of our community. It's bigger than me. It's bigger than election, in my opinion. And that's my long-term goal, just continuing to become somebody in our community who makes a difference and impacts people. And uh this corresponds with a bunch of opportunities I had at UF over the last year. And so what happened at UF is uh I've got all these great pre-law students who I have access to because I speak to their groups. I taught a class last semester, I'm teaching one right now, and I said, if you want to work for a judicial campaign, I'd love to have you. And I'll make you an intern. You can put it on your resume, you'll learn. And what ended up happening is we had like 40 students regularly show up. We had a hundred sign up through the whole spring.

Amanda 18:35

That's a commitment from undergrads, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

With their help, we've already knocked on almost 3,000 doors, which you can't do by yourself. As I'm meeting with these students, what I'm seeing in them is their desire to believe that they can make a difference. They're being, I don't want to say told, but strongly suggested that it's that this this is a lost cause. You know, like our generation lived through a lot. They haven't lived through a lot. Like they were children when a lot of the things in our history have started to happen that a lot of people are concerned with. Um, so I think they hope they can change that, but they're looking for examples and inspiration and leaders. And what I realized is that they were all assigning that role to me. I wasn't signing up for that or looking for that, but that's what happened. And when I realized it, I was like, I better be a damn good influence on them. So anytime we get together, I always encourage them and explain to them you can make a difference. And I want you to learn by working with me that when it's your turn in 10 years, that the community will support you too. Like you showed up for me, somebody else is going to show up for you. Just believe in it and know you can do it because if you don't step up, nobody will.

Students Powering A Grassroots Campaign

Josh 19:44

So aside from your parents, because it sounds like they're a tremendous influence on you, who was that influence on you outside of the family, maybe in you know, this chosen field, or just someone that you looked at and who was really told you you could make a difference?

Mentors Who Shaped Eric

Why Gainesville Feels Different

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Uh there's two professors in college, and again, I realized that I'm 47 and I'm starting to feel old, but I also don't feel like an adult really yet. But I realized that a 19-year-old I am, a significant adult. So um the first one was Martin Siegel, a professor of law at the uh not uh business law, University of Miami undergrad. Uh my roommate took his class and said, You gotta take this guy's class. I took every one of his classes. He made it seem so rewarding and so enriching to be a lawyer. A lot of people maybe disagree that that's true, but it can be. And so one of the things he always would do at the end of his classes was he would tell all the students, he's like, Now that we're done, I want you all to know that you're now in the family. If you ever need anything, I'm always here for you. And so the couple times I've taught, I've always done that to my students also, because to me it was like that's the guy, that's why I applied to law school, is that guy. Um, so if I can be that for somebody else, that'd be great. There's another professor, he was a photography professor that I took him for, photography. My brother took him for what's called American studies, which isn't a lot of history and but he was an incredible human being. His name was Michael Karlbach. He was another type of person who his view of the world helped shape my view of the world as a I was a senior in college, and we stayed in touch with him till he passed away a couple years ago. We even visited him a few times. Um, and he was just somebody again who you wanted to follow wherever he was going. Like he seemed like he had it all figured out and he knew everything. My hope again is to maybe have that effect to some degree on the students that I work with. And look, I don't need the title of judge to make it happen, but I do think it would help uh to have like, oh, Judge Atrius said this, I've been believing that. I could just be Eric, and I think I'll have that same effect. Um, but to me that's been like a uh come come along with the uh the package of running is having that influence over other people, like people did for me. Why Gainesville? We moved here in two thousand two for law I came here for law school. And my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, wanted to go to veterinary school. So she started my last semester, which was December 04 or fall of 04. And so by the time she was done, we were here seven years. And at that point we realized uh what a great community it was. Uh that's how we met, the music community. It was such such a warm, nurturing, loving environment. Uh, we grew up in South Florida, didn't have that sense of community. Uh, University of Miami uh musicians were very competitive, uh, not friendly. Here, the best musicians in town would love to play with you and would love you to play with them always. I mean when you think about the talent that's around us and that we get to play with and share the stage with, with no ego. Um, we played in Athens, Georgia, a lot over the years, a lot of ego there. A lot of bands who are like, we're here to make it. It's like Gainesville, we're here to play music and love. And that's what the town is. It's interesting how it's like a distillation process, also, because a lot of people leave. But I think the people that stay, like us and like you all, it's like you you retain part of that with you. And when people come, they're like, oh, this is a cool thing. I want to be part of this. So we grow our community from the people who join us, and we share that love and openness and acceptance that we experienced when we were younger. I remember in like the late aughts when Stacy was done with vet school, like, where are we gonna move? Like, we're done with this town, right? And we're like, no, like we're we're gonna stay here. Like this is where we belong. I don't know if you've ever traveled anywhere else in the state. Like, I just went to visit my parents in Hollywood. There's nobody between 18 and 35 in that town, not a single person. I don't know where they go.

Amanda 23:35

Well, we are not between 18 and 35 either. Like, yeah, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

But the point is that that age demographic injects life, culture, inspiration, and youth into a community. And that's why I think Gainesville is perpetually young, is because we always have that energy in our town.

Amanda 23:50

That's a really good point. It's been interesting to watch. So um, you know, Josh came from Miami, Miami in 2005. Yeah, and I moved here in '98 and thought I'd be here for a couple years, and you know, here we are. It's 2026, and we're still here. Josh says two older boys were born in Miami, but basically raised in Gainesville, and then our two younger ones were born here. And, you know, you sort of get that like, oh, ACR, and like people roll their eyes at being a Lashway County resident or whatever. But it's been really interesting to watch her daughter, who just finished her first year at UF. She just finished her freshman year and lived in the dorms with people from all over. And she has this appreciation for her hometown now, which is really cool to watch. Like she just says all the time, I'm so grateful that we live here because of the community and because of the opportunities. And so that's just it's been an interesting um byproduct of her living on campus and being around people who come from different places.

How Judicial Campaigns Work

SPEAKER_01 24:39

That's great. I mean, it's a good there's a lot of big fish in this town, I think. It's just, you know, it's a small pond, but I think we're all big fish. Like we all have such a good footprint and such an impact with each other. I think, and we respect that and love that. Nobody's jealous in this town, you know, nobody's driving cars that are too fancy in this town. Like it's just something about the modesty of it. I again, I think it's just a great dynamic that doesn't exist anywhere else.

Josh 25:08

Let's talk a little bit about running for judge. Now, I know next to nothing about what it takes to run for judge. I know that when I vote, you know, I don't know who to vote for for judge. Like, I don't really get the sense that judges campaign, but if they do, I was not aware of it. The first judge I'm aware of campaigning is you. And that's because of your grassroots approach to it. Educate me and educate us a little bit. So when we are, we look at the ballot and we see judge there. How are we even supposed to be able to determine who to vote for? And a lot of people just don't because of that.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

No, it's a good question. So for me, the reason my campaign is the way it is is because I ran our band the same way. Like you want people to know who you are, you want to play shows, you want to get cool shirts, you want to get a bunch of um dates on your calendar. You want to look like you are the band in town that's going really well. It's the same thing with any campaign. So that's why I think our campaign has been so uh successful. But the grassroots aspect of it, again, was kind of a shock to me to get all these students to join me. Um anytime you get your sample ballots, you just Google everybody. You know, you see what who where they work. Um, I've got a website, you know, my opponent's got a website. Look and see what we stand for. We can't say anything partisan or it's very strictly prohibited. Uh, we can't say anything political. Like I can't say, oh, this particular Supreme Court case I think is wrong for these reasons, or I like this particular policy. You can't say those things. So it's hard. You have to say, we're gonna follow the law, we're gonna be fair. Um, you know, but you have to kind of read between the lines and figure out what the person's personality is. You know, I think there are um a lot of things that tell you, will a person be fair or not? And so to be quite transparent, like just because I'm a defense attorney doesn't mean I would be easy, I don't think. You know, I I think that I've seen a lot over 21 years to know have a good BS detector. You know, I if somebody would be in front of me saying a certain story, I'd be like, come on. So I don't want people to think that, oh, he's just a defense attorney, he's gonna go one way. It's my goal is to be fair. Like, that's one of the things I said to the students when we first I first had a meeting with them all was I want to serve everyone. You know, I don't want one demographic of the town to be like, oh, that guy's always doing this. You know, I wanted to be fair, but I think fair means what's best for the community as long as it comports with the law. So that's kind of my philosophy on it. But it's so hard to tell you who we are and what we stand for because we're quite frankly not allowed to say certain things.

Josh 27:38

It's easier for me because I know you, right? And so I know what kind of person you are. And so I guess the only way to do it right is to grassroot it and meet as many people as possible, or at least we're talking off-air about local politics, you have an advantage because more likely than not, you have one or two degrees of separation between you and and whatever candidate that you may be trying to find out about. In a sense, local politics is a lot easier than national politics or state politics for that reason.

Door Knocking And A Moving Story

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Right. And so this is what I'm saying is my biggest strategy right now is early voting starts August 7th. I'm going to call you, and I'm gonna call every other person in my phone, and I'm gonna say, go tell your friends, people who don't know me, but your vouch is gonna mean that they will trust to go vote. And the other way, beyond my own connections, I was telling you before we started recording, I was knocking on doors this morning. It's Thursday. You know, I had to resign from my job, so I'm in full campaign mode every day. Every day I'm trying to figure out what I can do today to win. And so I'm knocking on doors. I meet somebody, I had a conversation with them. When I left, that person posted on Reddit. Hey, does anybody know this guy? What about what should I know about him? People comment. So far, I again I'm not scouring the comments, but what I've seen have been positive comments, people saying, I know him, he's a good guy. So now this person that I met this morning is reinforced that okay, this is a good guy, I will vote for him. As a result, another friend of a friend of a friend saw it, remembered my name, contacted me today, wants to host an event for me. And so it builds, it builds. You you have to meet people, you have to gain their trust. Uh, and I think the way you gain their trust in a community like this is you you show up regularly, show that you care, show that you're invested. You know, it's not just for me, it's like I want I want to stay involved in any way I can. Um, but I don't want to win and then disappear. I want to prove that this is uh an investment in the community, not just a selfish uh quest.

Josh 29:36

Any particular knocking on the door situation or um encounter that you had that you will take with you?

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah. So oh my God, this is so incredible. This morning I'm knocking on doors, and you go up to a door, and it's my brother said it best, it's like getting in a cold pool. The first couple houses, you're just like shattering teeth, you're like, you're shaking. It's it's it's a lot to go up to strangers' doors. Uh by knock on this guy's door, he's one of the last ones in the morning. And I'm like, I'm Eric Atria. I'm running for a Latro County judge. I'd love to tell you about myself, but I see the sign on your front door that says Woodwind Instrument Repair, so-and-so and sons, Woodwind Instrument Repair. I'd like to ask you more about that, quite frankly. And he goes, Well, let me tell you. He told me this incredible story. Um, he lost his wife when his son was six. He his son and he got through with music. And his son became a top-notch clarinetist, I believe is what he said. And his son's 14 now. And in order to bond with his son and keep him busy, keep him, you know, not getting in trouble, they started this business. And he's like, Come in and let me show you the workshop. And so I'm in there, there's all these clarinets and oboes and bassoons and all these parts. And I was just like, I wanted to just cry. Uh and I didn't have I couldn't say anything about myself. Like, I don't this isn't this is no longer about me. Again, it's bigger than me. Yeah. I wanted to hear this guy's story, I wanted him to share it. And you know, I just shook his hand and said thanks, and I left. To me, that's like I would have never met that guy if I didn't go knock on doors this morning. And like our daughter's teacher, she does all sorts of wood, winds, and brass. I got his card to give to her in case any of her people need to get their things fixed. So making a connection there. Yeah. And for me, that was like, I don't, I don't even care if there was any other results this morning. Like, I met that guy and heard that incredible story and back to that kind of point of like, what are you doing with this life to make it count?

Josh 31:32

Yeah. So to me, that that blew me away. Also, you're a woodworker too. So you must have been just really jazzed, not just the music stuff, but the workshop and all that cool stuff as well.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Yeah, I love anybody's work. That's why I don't want to get in trouble peeking in anybody's garages, but a well-organized garage to me is a thing of beauty.

Amanda 31:48

Do not look in the Wilson screen. I won't, I promise you. No, you will no longer be friends with Josh.

Listener Questions And Quick Hits

Josh 31:54

Okay, so I did solicit some questions for you, but since our audience is international, I got questions from Dan from Slough. Slough is just outside of London. It's where the original office was filmed. Oh, okay. Slough. Okay. So so these are, and you could choose to answer some of these or none of these. Actually, this is from Dan and his brother Gavin. So I'm just gonna ask the questions and then you answer or don't answer any of them. Gavin asks, where is his funding coming from? If he could judge anything, what would he judge? And then who is the best celebrity judge?

SPEAKER_01 32:28

Um, so people in the community have donated money. Um, some friends have given the Mac, some friends have given$5. Quite frankly, I've self-funded a lot. I didn't want to look like I was being bought off by anybody. And this is something I planned. So um I self-funded a lot. You know, my grandpa left me a small sum of money when he passed. I never touched it. I'd put it in an investment account. That's what I'm dipping into. Um, this is my quest. If you want to support me, that's fantastic, but I don't want to put this on anybody else, nor do I want it to look like anybody else is buying me. Um so that's where the funding is coming from because we're and we're doing quite well. What would I like to judge? You know what I like judging is I like judging these uh undergrad mock trial tournaments. Oh, interesting. Those are fun because they're very good. And I don't know how they know so much about the law without having gone to law school yet. So I really enjoy judging those, especially when the teams are really good. Um, I also love it when uh one of them is not, I don't want to say really bad, but like so far off the mark that at the end I just have to be because I'm always kind and polite. I'm just like, why did you say that? What what who taught you that you should say that? Um, so I do like doing that. Gosh, best celebrity judge. Um, I can't, I don't know how to answer that.

Josh 33:39

That's fine. And then his brother Dan asks, Have you ever met Judge Judy? Would you get offended when people say only God can judge me? How often do you think about sharks? Roughly how many times per week?

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Valid questions. As a Florida native sharks, um, not as much as I should, because we are landlocked here. Um have I ever met Judge Judy? America's much bigger than you think. Uh and what was the other one? The other one I had a good answer for. Uh only God can judge me. Here's my question to that. Yes. Both teams pray to God before the Super Bowl.

Amanda 34:08

Well, there you go. Um I don't have anything to say. That's just Dan. I don't have any. I have to pour more wine because I can't look at that.

Josh 34:16

Amanda has left the interview table. Um, okay.

Where To Follow And Get Involved

SPEAKER_01 34:21

How can people get to know more about you? So atriafuralatua.com. The real way to find more about us is follow us on Instagram or Facebook. Uh, those we we have weekly posts going up on those. I make these little videos. Um, some of them are are informative, some of them are just color. Like, again, you can't go out there and say, this is what I stand for. You can't do that stuff. Uh, I actually made a post earlier this year. One lady commented, she's like, massive failure, didn't state any issues relevant to today's world, didn't make it clear where you stand on this and that. So my very next video was like, here's why I can't do that. Here are the rules. Like, I'm sorry I can't say those things.

Amanda 34:59

Um, but did then she say, Oh, I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

No, I blocked her.

unknown 35:03

Okay.

Gainesville Food And Music Rulings

Josh 35:05

You're fixing to be a judge, so we do want to give you opportunities to do some rulings here. First of all, best burger in Gainesville. Go.

SPEAKER_01 35:13

Okay, my children uh are particular to relish. Um, they love relish. So I'm gonna I'm gonna vote go with my children there. Okay. I'm not saying it's the best burger in Gainesville, but my kids love it. We eat there regularly.

Josh 35:25

Oh, very good. Um, my favorite burgers uh in Gainesville are Dick Mondell's for a Smash Burger. For a regular burger, Lucy's.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Okay. Lucy's by far. I'll tell you, it's not Gainesville, but the best patty meal I ever had was at uh Tasty's, I think it's called Tasty's in Fernadina Beach.

Amanda 35:43

But okay, but if you're not a burger guy, like what would be your like best lunch spot?

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Uh Farrenbacher's.

Amanda 35:49

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

I would go with Fairinbachers.

Amanda 35:50

Their curry chicken salad is like my favorite thing.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Yeah. Veggie platter, add curry, chicken salad, add salami all day long.

Amanda 35:56

I've not done the ad salami, but yeah, I had their curry chicken salad yesterday.

Josh 36:00

Okay, next question. Um, best hangout place in Gainesville. The bull. Uh the bull downtown. I was just there last night.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Yeah.

Josh 36:08

I mean, the bull is the clubhouse. Best band out of Gainesville.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

Ooh, okay. I don't know if you remember a band called The Most. No. They were around in the mid-2000s. I loved The Most. Let's see. There's some other honorable mentions. Emoja Orchestra was an incredible band. What they did by themselves was mind-blowing. And then I think that you cannot ignore the top three, in my opinion, songwriters, performers, singers, all around, just good human beings. Um, Devin Stewart, who's no longer here, uh, not no longer with us, but no longer here. No longer in this state. Ricky Kendall and Michael Clater, I think are if you they are Gainesville music to me. Ricky Kendall does a theme song to our podcast, by the way. I was wondering if there was a theme song like keeping it in the family. Or I don't what's the name of your podcast again?

Josh 36:58

Like Ricky, I'm sorry, but I think I think we just replaced you.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Super familiar.

Josh 37:06

That's very close to what he does. But how could you not say Morning Bell? Because it's my own band. Yes. Well, I would say that that's up there too. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. Morning Bell, phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

Thank you.

Josh 37:16

Um, all right, Eric, anything that I didn't ask you that you're like, damn it, I wish that Josh would have asked me that.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

I think I talked a lot. I think that's what I do sometimes. I hope that I didn't talk too much.

Books And Libby Recommendation

Josh 37:25

Oh, wait. I just um I just got a question here, a text question that I'm gonna ask you from Jacob Larson. Jacob is the owner of the bull. Um, he says, In what ways has performing in a band helped you prepare for practicing law?

SPEAKER_01 37:40

It's the same thing. Okay, anytime I have law students or undergrad students, the first thing I ask them if they want to be trial lawyers is do you play music or perform in any way? Um, you have to know how to be on stage. Uh being a trial lawyer is the same thing as being a performer. Um, you have to read the audience, you have to know how to move, you know, have to have to make the the high notes, the low notes, the loud parts, the quiet parts. And it's it's so comparatively parallel that I think the more I did it also, the more it made sense that it was one and the same. All right, thank you very much. Thank you. It was a pleasure.

Josh 38:22

Well, folks, I hope you found that as interesting as I did. Thank you, Eric, so much for sitting with us for coming out to the house and sitting with us, or the the uh luxurious Wilson Studios, I should say.

Amanda 38:33

The dining room table.

Josh 38:35

That's right. Um, yeah, good guy. Check out a little bit more about Eric if you would like. And his website again is atria4alatua.com.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

No one likes to be told what to do.

Josh 38:49

Now is the time in the program where we tell you what to do. Amanda, what should we do?

Amanda 38:54

So you recommended a book recently that neighbor Kate listened to and really liked. So, what was that strong female character?

Josh 39:01

The book was called Strong Female Character by uh British comedian um Vern Brady, and it chronicles her her life as a person who was late diagnosed autism.

Amanda 39:12

Isn't she Irish?

Josh 39:14

No, she's she's actually Scottish.

Amanda 39:16

She's Scottish. Okay, sorry. I was I was gonna get you on calling her British, but okay. All right, so yeah, I'm gonna make a I am actually making a British recommendation. There is a British author that I like, her name is Beth O'Leary, and she wrote a book called Wouldn't it be Beth O'Leary? Yeah, well I don't know. She wrote a book called The Flat Share, which got turned into a movie, I think, or on maybe it was a series, I don't know, on Netflix. Cute British rom-com, great audiobook listens. And I just listened to the most recent one. I think I was up at four o'clock this morning finishing it because it was really good. And it's called The Name Game, and it does deal with so trigger warning, it does deal with addiction issues and alcoholism and also um family um what's that called?

Josh 40:03

Domestic abuse, no family trauma, abandonment. Okay.

Amanda 40:08

Uh that's that's there's lots of family things. But anyway, it's um and the narrators are great. The audiobook is great. So if you're looking for a little bit deep, but mostly just a fun ride, check out The Name Game by Beth O'Leary. And you can get that on Libby. That's my second recommendation. If you are not using Libby and you're still buying audiobooks, stop it. Stop it right now. Download Libby. If you don't have a public library card, go get it. Put in your library card number, and then you can get up to 20 audiobooks at a time for nothing. And then you can also put on hold things that you need. So go check out Libby.

Josh 40:49

I need a tractor. Can I put that on hold?

Amanda 40:52

Yeah. You can put on layaway at Sears in 1987.

Josh 41:08

Well, all right, Amanda. That's all there is. There is no more. What did you think of all that?

Amanda 41:14

I mean, the interview with Eric was great. I never know what John is talking about. And did you just go Scooby-Doo for a half a second?

Thanks And Closing

Josh 41:21

I don't know what's going on. We would like to thank the following people just for being awesome. First of all, thank you for uh Eric again for coming and chatting with us. Had a great time, learned a lot. Also, thank you to Justin, Matt, Antonio, Josh Scar, Daniel J. Buckets, Chicken Tom, R.I.P. Monique from Germany, Leo, Joey, Joey, Ryan Baker, Refined Gay Jeff, Kate and Tony, Mark and Rachel, and Dan and Gavin. Thank you all. Thank you. Also, Ricky Kendall for our theme song. And AJCW, who wrote and recorded the song that you are listening to right now.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

I know him.

Josh 42:02

Yeah, he's our son, Andrew, and we love him. All right, folks. Um, until next week, I hope you enjoyed what you listened to, and I hope to see you again.

Amanda 42:11

Go be kind. Bye. Bye.