Taking a break before taking the stage of Lollapalooza in Chicago, John Gourley of Portugal. The Man sat down with Julia and Bru about their latest album and how he is battling his daughter's recent health struggles.
LISTEN NOW: Portugal. The Man at Lollapalooza 2023
June had been a pretty heavy month for the band as they released their latest album Chris Black Changed My Life, which John shares "a lot of emotion went into it" as this project was a tribute piece to Black who served as the groups "hype-man/MC." Gourley also launched the Frances Changed My Life campaign due to his daughter's health struggles.
"For the band, Chris Black Changed My Life is the way this person just really kind of came to us at a time we needed someone around... so he came in and he just like lightened everything for us. It changed the band," he said.
"For me personally, it's Frances changed my life. That's our daughter Frances, she was recently diagnosed. About two years ago she started having seizures and we took her in for genetic testing, she gets diagnosed with DHDDS, which is this neurodegenerative disease and it's extremely rare."
Trying to strategize how to tackle the situation, John and his wife thought they could afford the medical care for Frances but realized that they can't. "It was really eye opening look at the healthcare system," he admitted, but this is what inspired him to spearhead a GoFundMe "to help lower the cost for people in the future," he shared.
Choking up on his words, he explained that this whole process has been really "intense," especially since it was all going on during the creation of the album.
Working to protect his mental health, John shared that meditation as a group has helped him tremendously.
Watch and listen to the full interview with John Gourley of Portugal. The Man above with Julia and Bru.
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