#219 - Jamie Mardis - CEO of Koffee Kult and former roadie / live events business owner

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Hi there and thanks for joining
me today on Giza Gear Episode

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#219.
Today's podcast is brought to

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max@elationlighting.com and
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A special mention to Coffee Cult
is a partner to Gear Source in

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that they have created a special
geezers of gear coffee called

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Geezer's Blend and I'm sorry,
Geezer's Grind.

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Jeez, I can't even remember the
name of my own coffee.

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So it's called Geezer's Grind
and it's not only an excellent

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coffee, but Coffee Cult has been
providing all of the proceeds of

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those sales of Geezers grind
coffee to Robi backstage, which

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is a charity for our industry
that helps out people in need,

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fallen soldiers in our industry,
etcetera, and has been very

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critical in the lives of so many
people.

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So Robi Backstage is an
excellent charity.

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I suggest you support it in
other ways.

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But if all you do is buy this
coffee, you're helping because

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Coffee Cult is committing their
proceeds on the coffee to Roby

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Backstage for the benefit of our
industry.

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So today is a special day to
promote Coffee Cult because we

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do have the founder and CEO of
Coffee Cult, a long time friend

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of mine and also an industry
guy, Jamie Mardis, on the

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podcast today.
So let's go ahead and say hi to

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Jamie.
Well, hello Mr. Mardis, how are

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you today?
I'm fine, Marcel.

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Thanks.
How are you?

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I'm frigging.
Unbelievably awesome.

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I've had two cups of coffee cult
coffee and I'm zooming, zoom

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zoom.
I've run out of decaf, so now

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I'm on full high test geezers
grind now.

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So it's a beautiful blend of
dark roast.

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No, it's what's it called?
Roadie.

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Something.
Road dog.

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Road Dog Yeah it's Rd. dog and
medium mixed and God damn it's

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good.
But yeah I'm pretty zippy right

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now.
Two cups is boom.

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Is that your?
Is that your average near your

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normal in the morning?
Well, two cups.

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Or so I've gotten to now, where
because I've I've been paying a

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little bit of attention to this
ticker thing that apparently as

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you get older, becomes
problematic.

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And so I've tried to knock it
down to two cups of caffeinated

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coffee per day and then I'll do
one or two cups of of decaf.

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And your decaf actually is the
only decaf that I've ever tried

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that I actually like.
So And I'm not blowing smoke,

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believe it or not, I I would say
that even if you weren't on the

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podcast with me, your decaf is
is excellent and and drinkable,

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whereas most taste like decaf.
So.

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Yeah.
Thanks.

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A lot of times we'll put on the
cupping table here at the office

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and a lot of people can't tell
that it that it is a decaf.

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So yeah.
Yeah, I.

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And you know, once we get to the
coffee segment of this podcast,

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maybe you can tell me why that
is.

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Like, what makes your decaf
better than other decaf?

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Because for me, like, I won't
drink decaf normally.

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It just tastes like shit, you
know?

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I just don't like it.
And this one, like, it's funny

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because I have it in a Lovazo
decaf can or Lavazza Lavazza

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decaf can because I was using
this Lavazza and there was like

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1/4 of the can left forever
because I just hated it and my

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girlfriend was drinking it more
than I was.

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And so I'm using it in a Lavazza
can.

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And I could tell when I got down
to the bottom of the coffee

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called coffee and I was starting
to dig into the Lavazza because

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it was mixed in there and I was
like, jeez, this is shit, I

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don't like it.
So yeah, I can definitely tell

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the difference.
But but now I'm out.

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So today I had I had high test
coffee and that's good.

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Drink it all day, you'll then
you'll crash about 3:00.

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Yeah, yeah.
I don't know.

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Like, you know, to me, honestly,
coffee doesn't have an

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incredible impact on whether I'm
tired or awake or whatever.

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Like, I can drink coffee right
before I go to bed.

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I can have a double espresso and
go to bed and go straight to

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sleep.
Oh, wow.

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It's weird.
It's weird.

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Like when I go to Italy, I'll
have you know, I don't know, you

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and I went to Italy.
I remember one time and like

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I'll have 10 espressos in a day,
no problem and still sleep.

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They're everywhere.
You got those little machines

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you put your your quarters in
and that gives you the little

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cup and and.
It's actually pretty good.

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It's actually pretty good.
Yeah.

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You know, it was funny.
I remember when I got my first

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Nespresso machine and Fausto
from Komar visited and stayed at

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my house.
And I said when we got to the

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house I said you want an
espresso And he said no, Marcel

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And I said, Fausto, come on, do
you want it?

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And he goes, Marcel, I I don't
want to be offensive, but your

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coffee is shit.
And I said no, no, it's actually

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pretty good.
Try one.

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And he had one and he was blown
away.

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He was like, wow, this kind of
tastes like real coffee.

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This is pretty good.
And he's right, though.

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I mean, you know, like, I'm sure
you'll have an espresso after

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dinner sometimes or something.
And it's always so

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disappointing.
It's just like, it just tastes

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like shitty, strong coffee.
It doesn't even taste like

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espresso.
Like it's it's not creamy.

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Like, that's one of the things,
you know.

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Again, sorry to stay on coffee
here, but without being a sales

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pitch.
This is just true.

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Like, one of the things that
really my girlfriend and I

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instantly noticed when we
switched to Coffee Cult was it's

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creamy.
Like I use less cream and less

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sugar than I do with, you know,
the pods or whatever the Keurig

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coffee and stuff.
I use less cream and less sugar

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and like, it makes that frothy
thing at the top with it's got

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to do with my machine that I use
too.

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But it's just, I don't know,
it's a creamy coffee and it just

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has a whole different level of
flavor and and enjoyment to it.

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So yeah, unfortunately though,
you're forcing me to #1 spend 2

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grand for another one of these
amazing coffee machines in

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Canada, and secondly, to bring
like a suitcase full of coffee

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cult with me when I go up there.
Because you you don't ship to

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Canada.
Damn.

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You first.
There's some people that we

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could ship to Canada for that
through a ship to Canada is the

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taxes for some reason you
manufacture in in Canada, you

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can ship to the US with no
problem.

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But for us to ship to Canada,
there's extra duties and fees

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and we don't know what they are
until they go there.

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And then what happens is the
customer gets charged for them

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and then the customer yells and
it's we want to, we don't want a

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bad customer experience, so.
Yeah, I can totally understand

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that.
To ship there.

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But if you needed coffee in
Canada and you have my cell.

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Phone.
Isn't there like some sort of a

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Co roaster or something like
where you could send the raw

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beans to somebody in Canada and
it doesn't cost you all those

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duties and taxes and then they
just they handle fulfillment for

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you?
Kind of.

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So we were going to do Europe
right before COVID, and we just,

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COVID came.
So it just didn't happen.

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But if they roast it on our,
like our machine, yeah, our type

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of machine.
We could give them our roast

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profile and send our coffee to
them and they could do that,

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Yeah, but even every single
machine isn't the same as Well,

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yeah, it's supposed to transfer,
but it's not like a moving light

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where you can plug it in and
take one moving light and put it

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in for another moving.
Light.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just Exchange profiles or

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whatever.
Yeah, I get what you're saying.

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No, I mean, it's, I want to
learn more about it on this

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podcast, but I want to kind of
go back into the Wayback Machine

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a little bit.
And you know, when you and I

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met, you were you were a road
dog and you were in our

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industry, you were living in
California.

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I don't even honestly remember
how we met.

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Maybe you do, I don't know.
But.

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I very strictly remember how we
met.

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Well, I want to hear about that
cuz I forget.

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But you know, it ultimately led
to us working together for a

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number of years and had a great
old time.

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And then you went off and became
an entrepreneur and started some

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00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,920
really impressive businesses.
But how do we meet?

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00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:03,840
We met.
I was.

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00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,800
I worked for, I guess it was LSD
at the time, light and sound

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design.
And we were here with Shoniah

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00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:16,160
Twain for CBS Special in
Bayfront Park.

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And I remember that special with
Backstreet Boys, too.

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Yeah, Backstreet Boys.
So, and that's why I wanted to

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move to South Florida was we
were here for that for like 4

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weeks in February and the
weather was awesome and we're

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00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,000
going to Tobacco Rd. every night
drinking until like 6 in the

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morning.
Yeah, and you thought that was

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Florida, right?
Beautiful weather, beautiful

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women, tobacco, Rd.
All restaurants and bars are

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amazing.
Yeah, there's no crime.

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And high end had a out back.
You know back in the old days it

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was there was a lot of brand
loyalty like I was a high end

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guy for the most part like
studio color, cyber lights, that

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was my thing.
And then you had just started at

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at high end and John Wiseman
actually I think helped me or

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00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,640
referred me to that job and then
you were down here with him and

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00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:06,440
that's where we that's where we
met for the first.

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00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,760
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I remember I I brought my boat

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00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:14,680
over or I was gonna, maybe I
didn't bring it, but I I think I

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00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:16,680
was going to bring it.
And then I ended up not bringing

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00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:18,720
it or something because I was
going to dock it right there.

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And and I said, hey, John, let's
go do some scuba diving.

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And he goes, yeah, you know, I
would, but when I was doing

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drugs, I loaned out all of my
scuba gear to somebody and I

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00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:34,680
can't remember who.
So he's, he's lost his scuba

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00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:36,160
gear.
He could never find it again

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because he couldn't remember who
he loaned it to.

225
00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:42,840
He was high.
Yeah, but yeah, that was a cool

226
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:43,960
show.
I remember that show.

227
00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:48,120
I remember didn't Elton?
Elton John was there too,

228
00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,760
because I remember one of the
guys in Backstreet Boys got in

229
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,600
trouble because he was playing
on Elton's piano and it was

230
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,280
Elton's real piano that they fly
around for him.

231
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,880
And I think that was the same
gig, right?

232
00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,560
He might have been there, you
know, They kind of blur together

233
00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:06,360
after a while, but.
Yeah, yeah.

234
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,280
That some of them stick out, but
I was touring.

235
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:14,000
That's actually when I met
Shania and and couldn't believe

236
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,720
how tiny she was.
She was like 5 feet tall or

237
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,200
something.
I was like, whoa, you're Shania,

238
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,520
Dwayne.
Holy shite, she was.

239
00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,520
Yeah, that's my first experience
with Morpheus Lights too, back

240
00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,840
in the day.
Oh yeah.

241
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,120
I could have it.
I forgot you were on that gig.

242
00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,080
That's where we met.
That's true.

243
00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,880
And.
Then extra trailers of of lights

244
00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,760
to service the one trailer of
lights on the stage back in the

245
00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:39,360
day.
Yeah, what?

246
00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,840
I understand.
Well, that wasn't just Morpheus.

247
00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,600
I mean that was that was that
era, you know, the VL small

248
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,920
numbers were all pretty
unreliable.

249
00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:51,920
You know, you had all these
magical texts that had to follow

250
00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,960
them around.
Obviously the the icon from LSD

251
00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,320
wasn't always that reliable.
So that was all that early

252
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,520
stuff, you know, It was meant to
be handled by their own texts

253
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,320
and they could keep it working.
And it's kind of like a

254
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,840
Harley-Davidson, you know, fun
to ride, but you always had a

255
00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,960
tool bag in your back pocket.
Always.

256
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:13,640
Thank goodness.
That's how I had a job back

257
00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,040
then, so.
Yeah, fixing broken shit.

258
00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,600
Well, I mean, that's the thing.
Like, I talk to people about

259
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,000
that all the time now.
All of this imported lighting

260
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,600
and and wherever it's made, it
doesn't even matter whether it's

261
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,240
made in Italy or made in China
or made in wherever.

262
00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:33,680
It's all frigging good like and
and I talked to Tex and and

263
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,880
lighting guys all the time now
and girls and I just say do you

264
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,800
realize how lucky you are?
Like I mean you know I remember

265
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,040
when the the rig came down and
there was a long list of stuff

266
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,080
that needed to be ordered and
we'd get the parts order for the

267
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,880
next show the next day or
whatever and it just doesn't

268
00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,920
happen anymore.
Like a story I think I've told

269
00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:56,400
before.
I went to the Airton

270
00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:02,960
headquarters in in Paris and I
was talking to the engineer and

271
00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,480
and I was helping put together a
deal for a company that was

272
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,920
buying a bunch of their product.
And so I had to ask some good

273
00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,040
questions and stuff and I said,
so you know, if I'm buying a

274
00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,280
bunch of this stuff, what, what
backup parts do I need?

275
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,440
What's the spare parts package
that I need?

276
00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,640
And the engineer looks at me
like, and he's got the unit

277
00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:25,400
ripped apart.
I'm looking at the inside of it

278
00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,800
and it's just blowing me away.
Like it's really, really, really

279
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,920
impressive guts compared to what
we remember, right.

280
00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:37,200
And so he's looking at me funny
and he, he goes, what do you

281
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,000
mean?
And I said, well, like let's say

282
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,920
I'm on a an island somewhere and
I'm not going to have access to

283
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:47,440
any UPS or FedEx and I need
parts to keep these lights

284
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:48,360
working.
What do I need?

285
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,920
And he goes, I don't know, like
maybe you know one of these,

286
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,600
maybe one of these.
And I said, but what breaks?

287
00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,480
And he goes nothing.
It just doesn't break, you know?

288
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,720
It's pretty reliable and that's
really every light now, like

289
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:11,720
whether it's Acme or American DJ
or or Chauvet or or High End or

290
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,320
any of it, It's all really good
stuff now, so.

291
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:20,200
Yeah, it's amazing how much the
technology has changed and at

292
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,240
the back and when I was young
and when I was on the road it's

293
00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:30,160
it was amazing how where we
thought we're like very advanced

294
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,680
in technology then.
But 2025 years later, we look

295
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,800
back and we're like, man, that
was just the beginning.

296
00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,960
Yeah, yeah.
No, we were, I mean we were

297
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,720
like, you know, I'm a little
older than you.

298
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:46,440
So you know I remember the
earliest moving lights and you

299
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,120
know we were there at at sort of
the the beginning of the

300
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,240
industry and saw this stuff
advance all the way up.

301
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,000
And and you know, I worked for
Martin.

302
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,960
I I learned how to sell broken
silly lights, you know, and

303
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,720
knowing that they were going to
break, but everything broke.

304
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,640
So it was OK And then high end
kept getting better and better

305
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,560
and it didn't break as much as
our stuff.

306
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,640
And it was like, oh boy, we now
we're in trouble.

307
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,359
And so eventually Martin just
had to get a lot better at what

308
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:19,839
they were doing and at least be
on par with high end as far as

309
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:22,599
reliability was concerned.
But again, none of that stuff

310
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,839
compared to what we have today
and some of that is just down to

311
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:28,560
the LED light source, right?
Sure.

312
00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,080
A lot less heat.
Yeah.

313
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,640
This is a lot of problems.
Yeah.

314
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:35,680
Power supply.
Wow.

315
00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:37,880
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.

316
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,200
I mean, so obviously with heat
comes all kinds of hazards where

317
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,240
you're burning out motors and I
remember motors where the

318
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,680
lubricant was leaking out of
them and then they would seize

319
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,120
up and it was just because it
was so hot that it was causing

320
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:54,480
the motor to expand and then it
was leaking the lubricant out of

321
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:55,960
it.
And I'm like, what?

322
00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,920
Like why are we dealing with so
many weird problems, you know?

323
00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,000
But yeah, I mean that it's
incredible how far it's gone and

324
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,360
and it's not stopping like the
the advancements that these

325
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:13,440
companies are coming up with
just blow me away every time one

326
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,040
of these guys comes out with a
new light.

327
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,440
It's like, wow, like I it used
to be where it was just we've

328
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,520
got one more gobo than the other
guys or whatever, right?

329
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:22,360
Or we've.
Got.

330
00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:27,160
CM we've got CMY color mixing.
They don't, you know, Yeah, our

331
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:28,440
gobos turn.
Exactly.

332
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,600
Our gobos.
Our gobos not only turn, but

333
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,880
they're indexable, you know,
like now the things that they're

334
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,200
doing with this stuff is like
unreal, you know?

335
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,080
So yeah, it's it's all pretty
cool.

336
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,160
Do you remember our first trip
to Italy to Comar?

337
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,320
I remember being in like some
backroom with Bruno and this

338
00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,920
optic table, and he was like
this and this and this and this

339
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,480
is the first I've ever been
exposed to optics like that.

340
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,840
And that was what I think.
Really cool.

341
00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:00,600
That was, that was some of my
favorite moments.

342
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:06,440
Was just watching a mad
scientist with you know, just

343
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,600
this optics table and just
going, I know what I need.

344
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,480
I need a the PC lens and one of
these over here.

345
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,600
And he'd just throw all these
things together and he'd produce

346
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:23,760
this crazy bright beam on the
wall and you're like, whoa, But

347
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,720
in his head he's like, Oh my
God, this, this has got to be

348
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,120
25,000 lumens or whatever,
right?

349
00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:32,320
Like he's he's just thinking at
a different level than we are.

350
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,160
And but the weird thing with him
is he'd put together all of

351
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,960
these lenses and stuff.
Like we basically did this with

352
00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,640
the CF7 you and me, you know,
you me, fausto him.

353
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,560
We just kind of went but can't
we do this, can't we do this?

354
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,440
And next thing you know you had
the first light that had color

355
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,280
mixing and zoom and all of these
things and it was short lived

356
00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,080
from a standpoint of being you
know exclusive.

357
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,880
Like very soon after, there were
a lot of other things that were

358
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,480
as good or better than the CF 7,
but it was the first, you know,

359
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,600
that did what it did and had
what it had and.

360
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,280
But I mean the the guy from this
crazy vision in this table that

361
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,080
he had a light came out a couple
of months later.

362
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,080
It was incredible.
And he used carbon fiber so that

363
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,760
he could do like rapid
prototyping basically, and

364
00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,560
didn't have to go out and do
the, you know, the the molds and

365
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,000
stuff.
So yeah, that was fun.

366
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,920
That was fun.
Now we just 3D print everything.

367
00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,440
Yeah, yeah.
It's all different now.

368
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,280
It's different today, for sure.
Is Fausto?

369
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:37,680
Is Fausto in charge of Komar
still?

370
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,080
No, no.
Fausto hasn't been at Komar for

371
00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,240
a number of years.
Fausto has a really cool

372
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:43,440
business.
You should reach out to him

373
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,360
sometime.
I had him on the podcast,

374
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:47,560
actually listen to his podcast.
It was pretty fun.

375
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:53,000
But yeah, he's got a business
where basically he's doing

376
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,080
engineering for all kinds of
different manufacturers, like

377
00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,520
dental companies, lighting
companies, architectural

378
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,400
lighting companies.
Like he just basically somebody

379
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,560
comes to him with an idea and
says we need something to do

380
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:13,440
this and he designs it and helps
getting it get it into

381
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,920
manufacturing wherever it's
being manufactured, and then

382
00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,320
moves on to the next project.
And he's doing really, really

383
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,200
well.
Also is good dude.

384
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,920
Yeah, he's smart, man.
He's so smart.

385
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:27,200
I saw him a couple of months
ago.

386
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:33,880
I had to go to Italy for for
some racing business and I had

387
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,760
dinner with Fausto one night and
spend a bunch of time with him.

388
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,160
It was great.
I love that guy.

389
00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,160
Oh cool.
He taught us both so much,

390
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:41,880
didn't he?
Yes.

391
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,520
Likewise, so many spare.
Parts, Jamie.

392
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:50,360
Exactly, exactly.
Was it you who was with me that

393
00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:55,480
time when after the original,
like, Komar Trackman thing all

394
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,880
merged under that Stanton Group
stuff with Gerard, which you and

395
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:03,560
I, I believe pretty much hated?
And Nick, like, we were all

396
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,120
going, why did we do this?
Like, what's going on here?

397
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,840
We had this beautiful little
company and now it's a mess.

398
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,200
But was it you and I who were
running through the warehouse

399
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,560
with flashlights, trying to find
parts to send to Steve Cohen on

400
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,520
one of his tours?
Because Stanton decided that the

401
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,600
warehouse should be closed at
whatever it was like 3 in the

402
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,120
afternoon or something.
And we're like, you know, these

403
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:28,760
guys that we're supporting
aren't even up by then.

404
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:33,080
Like, you know, we need to be
able to ship at 6:00 or 6:30,

405
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:37,120
run something to the airport.
And so we were literally running

406
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,200
through the airport or through
the warehouse with flashlights,

407
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,360
finding parts to send to these
guys so that they could have

408
00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,080
them the next morning and not
kill us.

409
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,080
Yeah, because Steve Cohen, when
he said it needs to be at my

410
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,480
hotel tomorrow morning, if it
wasn't there, he wasn't a happy

411
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:54,760
guy.
No.

412
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,440
And he was super nice.
So you you you wanted him get it

413
00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,680
there just.
To cut he was nice until he

414
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,880
wasn't I.
Had a bad experience with him,

415
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:04,240
He was always.
Yeah, well, 'cause I took the

416
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:06,960
brunt of it, 'cause, you know, I
didn't want it getting down to

417
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,320
poor little you, you know, I
didn't want you to cry to go

418
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,840
home in tears.
You know, I I just took the

419
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,040
brunt of it and got yelled at by
him and Michael Brokaw and

420
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,000
anybody else who felt like
yelling at me.

421
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,560
Sometimes it was Joel Young
would call and say, did Steve

422
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,560
call you?
And I'd be like, yeah, yeah, I

423
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,240
talked to Steve, OK, Cuz I want
this stuff tomorrow, you know,

424
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,160
get in line.
I guess he's Jolly Yellen at.

425
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,840
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's it's incredible the

426
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,320
stuff that I've had to do to
make a living in this industry.

427
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,240
But you know, on their defense,
there's big shows and big money

428
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:45,160
and there's a there has things
have to be.

429
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:46,920
A certain one.
Yeah.

430
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,920
Yeah, No.
And and I mean talk about

431
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,920
passionate individuals, those
guys, right.

432
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:56,880
So, no, I mean, we were proud
and excited to be on the shows

433
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:58,960
that we were on.
Like we were little old Trackman

434
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,440
working out of that upstairs
building, you know, you, me,

435
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:08,800
Cynthia, Nick, Adrian, yeah,
Adrian and Betsy, right.

436
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,600
Yeah.
I mean, we were small but

437
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:14,720
fierce.
And you know, we had, I remember

438
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,080
at one time we had like Madonna,
the Eagles.

439
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,720
I don't even remember we had
like four or five major shows

440
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,520
out all at the same time.
And I was just like.

441
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,040
You know, this is crazy.
Snails.

442
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,920
Eagles.
I remember being on Eagles and

443
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:31,440
Madonna.
We're in rehearsal at the same

444
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,160
time in Lai.
Was out there for that.

445
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,000
Yeah, I was, I think a month in
Los Angeles.

446
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,120
Yeah, after there from I wanted
to get out of here.

447
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:41,640
I was back there for like a
month.

448
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,880
Babysitting the CF Sevens, I
think because I know Cohen was a

449
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,800
big fan of CF12 hundreds.
He was one of the guys that made

450
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:54,800
that light famous.
But the CF 7 became so useful so

451
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,080
quickly.
Although, you know, the red

452
00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,000
flags kind of made its output
disappear.

453
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:05,040
But I think we fixed that.
Yeah, just just slide them in a

454
00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:06,080
little bit.
Yeah.

455
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,560
Well, I think what we did is we
changed the color red.

456
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,120
Like we we made them less red
basically.

457
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,520
But yeah, I mean it was a super
popular light.

458
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,560
It won loads of awards.
Remember we won some some LDI

459
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,160
awards and Plaza awards and all
kinds of stuff.

460
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,720
It was it was a fun period.
I still have, I think I still

461
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:28,720
have a Backstreet Boys CF7
jacket hanging up in my in my

462
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,160
closet.
Yeah, those raincoat things that

463
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,480
we had made.
I don't think it fits anymore,

464
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,600
but I have one, yeah.
I might have a larger size one

465
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:39,600
that I could send to you.
Or is it smaller that you need?

466
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,280
Must be smaller.
Yeah, no, no, no.

467
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,760
I think it's bigger.
But the I remember when we won

468
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,480
the award at LDI for the CF7 and
I was, I remember being drunk

469
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,760
and Bruno being there.
We got the award and then I

470
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,920
knocked the award off the
pedestal onto the floor in front

471
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,400
of Bruno.
Yeah, not good.

472
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,240
Not good.
No, that was that was a really

473
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,200
fun period of time.
I, I I miss.

474
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:04,840
I miss those guys.
I miss Bruno.

475
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,000
I miss that.
Just the camaraderie of being

476
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,640
sort of the little little engine
that could, you know, I mean

477
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,640
competing against some some
behemoth companies and just

478
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,120
doing a really great job.
So yeah, that was fun.

479
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:21,880
It was a fun period.
So after all of that, I think

480
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,240
right after that like you didn't
go to another moving light

481
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,360
company or anything, did you?
You went and started your own

482
00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:28,200
business, right?
I did track them.

483
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,800
I'd want to do web.
Well, I wanted to have a web

484
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:36,280
hosting company but I didn't
have the funds or the resources

485
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,880
or any of that, so.
So by the way, sorry to

486
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:44,440
interrupt, but I don't want it
to not be said that you were the

487
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:50,440
original web guy for Gearsource.
You you helped build or you

488
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,880
built basically the very first
original version of

489
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:59,240
gearsource.com, which at the
time was gear hyphen source.com.

490
00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,240
And I'll never forget it.
I mean, it was that shitty

491
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:07,280
software that you got from
England called Actinic and.

492
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,200
Isn't that what it was?
I don't even remember what it.

493
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:14,000
Was actinic and it was horrible,
but it worked.

494
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:19,240
I mean remember this was 2002,
There was no Shopify, there was

495
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,680
no nothing.
There was no like, software that

496
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,680
you could just go sign up for
cloud software and build an

497
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:30,160
e-commerce site or whatever.
So, you know, I remember like

498
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,160
you built it.
I think you finished it in like

499
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,480
maybe end of October, late
October.

500
00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:40,840
And and we got our first order.
I remember it was in December

501
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:44,520
and it was a Martin Wizard and
it was like, I don't know, 700

502
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,280
bucks or something.
I don't remember how much it

503
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,160
was, but I just remember the
order coming in and saying you

504
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,320
have an order on this actinic
software and I was like, called

505
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:54,800
you up and I'm like, Jimmy, what
do I do?

506
00:27:55,520 --> 00:28:00,320
What do I do with this software?
I don't know what to do and and

507
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,080
you know, you said I don't know
either, you know, like let's

508
00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,640
figure it out.
And so I figured out how to get

509
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,280
the order from there into
QuickBooks and to actually

510
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,840
satisfy the order.
It was, it was, it was crazy fun

511
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:14,640
times.
Again, it's, you know, those

512
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,400
early stages in businesses that
are so much fun.

513
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,280
Right.
Yeah, that was that was fun,

514
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,800
creating something new.
I mean, no one was really doing

515
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:23,960
that then.
No.

516
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,960
No.
And that's what I wanted to do

517
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,400
after I left the lighting world.
So yeah, worked out pretty good.

518
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,520
But I found myself back in the
lighting world somehow.

519
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,040
Yeah.
Know really anything.

520
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,840
That's how to start a web
hosting business or any of that.

521
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,640
So that's a lighting guy since I
was younger, so.

522
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,280
Yeah, I mean it lures you back.
It's it's part lifestyle, part

523
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,120
just what, you know, you know,
like you've got a comfort level

524
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:54,720
and confidence or whatever in in
that world, whereas you go into

525
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,920
this IT world and it's like
whoa, there's all these nerdy

526
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,360
people from different countries
and stuff.

527
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,800
Like, I don't know what I'm
doing as much as they do.

528
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:08,360
Maybe, I don't know, but.
With degrees, they have degrees

529
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,800
and college education and things
like that, so it's.

530
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,200
Freaking smart.
Yeah, I mean, you were smart

531
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:16,640
too.
Like you were the only guy I

532
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,800
knew who knew how to build a
website.

533
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:24,720
So boom, I went to you and I
think you charged me like $2000

534
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,120
or something.
It wasn't a very large sum of

535
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:31,560
money and and I remember we got
in a fight over something

536
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,480
because I I remember arguing
with your dad.

537
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:38,360
Your dad actually called me and
said, you know, you RA RA and I

538
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,760
got in trouble from your dad.
I think a lot of that was my

539
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,120
mistake because my dad found
that, actually found that

540
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:47,360
software and and then what
happened was I was at Disney and

541
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,760
then something happened and I
couldn't deal with it.

542
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,480
So then you called Akram the
software company, and then they

543
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,680
called my dad because my dad was
involved with it.

544
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,720
So.
Oh, you sold me a dodgy license

545
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,120
is what you did.
No, I didn't even tell you a

546
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:03,400
license.
We were using it.

547
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,680
We were.
Using it so.

548
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,200
Piracy.
Yeah, we were pirating.

549
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:11,560
Software.
Not really, no.

550
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,200
It was our license.
It was our license and we were

551
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:15,480
using it.
It was just that.

552
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,880
It wasn't a piracy thing, but.
It was.

553
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,040
They thought it.
Was well, it it was a well, we

554
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,000
didn't know you.
So they're like, well, who's

555
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,000
that guy?
And why is?

556
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,480
He So I see.
Saying.

557
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,160
We don't.
I just, I I don't know why I

558
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,960
remember, but I remember getting
yelled at by your dad and I was

559
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,000
like, what the heck is going on
here?

560
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,640
My dad doesn't know either, so
that's crazy.

561
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,600
Yeah, he.
Was pretty calm.

562
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,600
He was passionate.
Well, probably because they they

563
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,760
probably accused him of doing
something bad, you know, and and

564
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,000
he probably didn't like it very
much or whatever.

565
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,360
But anyways, what, what was
that, that first business that

566
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,800
you went back and started back
in the lighting business?

567
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,200
I went back to the cruise ships.
Well, I'm so at Trackman since

568
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,200
we're in South, we were in South
Florida and met people from the

569
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,800
cruise ships.
So I need to make some money.

570
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:09,360
Why my my web thing was was
going so I started working for

571
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:12,960
Lightspeed Pete who?
Who is it?

572
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:14,280
Pete.
Peter Moore.

573
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:16,840
Peter Moore, So.
Forgot all about that.

574
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,360
I forgot you worked with Peter.
Moore and then so I met some

575
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,840
other cruise ship people and I
was working for them on another

576
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,440
cruise line and they said if
somebody had a business in South

577
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,600
Florida that had that service
cruise ships, we would use them

578
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,320
all the time.
And they I was like OK well then

579
00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,960
I should go start so I can have
this person as a customer.

580
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,360
That company, that cruise line
never hired me ever.

581
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,880
But fortunately, Peter Moore
Peter the company Peter Moore

582
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,360
was contracting out hired me
which which was he was pissed

583
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,880
about I'm sure.
But it wasn't on purpose.

584
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,320
They.
But I needed to work.

585
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:56,320
So I was like OK I'll go work
for you guys.

586
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,800
Yeah.
And that turned craziness.

587
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,560
Yeah.
Traveling the world and I think

588
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:07,040
I have six sets of tools on six
sets of tools somewhere in the

589
00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,720
world that all in motion to go
to a cruise ship somewhere.

590
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,360
For a try not what was that
company called?

591
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,120
Sidram.
That was Sidram services.

592
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,440
Yeah.
And Sidram, of course, is your

593
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,040
last name backwards.
Last thing backwards, so a

594
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,680
Sitaram services and then that
was great for a while.

595
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:27,880
The cruise ship business was
really good.

596
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,000
They had a lot of high end and
Martin equipment which I knew

597
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,480
how to fix.
So I did a lot of repairs.

598
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:38,600
I tried, I trained, I did a
training for them on whole hog

599
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:41,520
on hog PC.
They had a lot in their lounges

600
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,840
at the time and then that was
great till my son was born and I

601
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,840
came home one day and my son was
like, who are you?

602
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,120
So I told my wife that I want to
stay home, so I started a

603
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,040
generator company.
I figured I could be everyone's

604
00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:58,400
friend.
The sound guys, the lighting

605
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,360
guys I didn't have to worry
about fighting with.

606
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,840
Everyone except Ron.
Everyone's friend except Ron.

607
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,120
Ron.
Friends with everyone but Ron.

608
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,280
Anyway, so I.
Remember getting that phone call

609
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,920
from Ron going, what the hell is
this guy doing?

610
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,920
You know, he's trying to take
all my customers and my staff

611
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,200
and what the hell is he doing?
And I remember calling you up

612
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:20,880
and saying, hey, you must be
doing something right.

613
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,840
Ron's pissed.
So, yeah, you you took a lot of

614
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,400
business quickly and I mean it
was, I don't think it was from

615
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,880
and hopefully Ron's listening to
this, but I don't think it was

616
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:39,360
from any deceptive practices or
or you know, UN unruly practices

617
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,080
or or you know unscrupulous
things that you were doing.

618
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:44,800
It was hustle.
It was sheer hustle.

619
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,720
You were just out working them.
It was hustle and plus I was a

620
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,320
technician.
You know, I was a road to, I was

621
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,680
a road guy.
So I understood what the shows

622
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,640
needed and I only did
entertainment power.

623
00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,400
And so I understood like I knew
what they needed for their

624
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,520
stages.
I knew what they expected.

625
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,200
I knew they expect someone
called like with Steve Cohen one

626
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,720
parts on his desk the next day.
That's how it is.

627
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:12,320
So background.
So I bonded with those customers

628
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,800
fairly easily because I knew
what was expected.

629
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,840
So that's how I gained, that's
how we gained, that's how we

630
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:23,920
gained a large customer base.
Quick, I had 44 generators.

631
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,480
Yeah.
No, you grew that business so

632
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,080
quickly and that again was
called Sidram Power, right,

633
00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:30,679
that.
Was Sidram power correct?

634
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,120
And what did you end up selling
that company or you just

635
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:37,760
divested or what?
How did that go away?

636
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,560
In that company, I still have a
warehouse of gear, actually.

637
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:43,400
Really.
Yeah, I still have.

638
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,320
Oh, I got tons of four hot cable
ramps.

639
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,800
Distro box, one of my butt
texted me yesterday about.

640
00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:53,679
I kind of I miss it if I sell
it.

641
00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:56,199
But I I talked to my wife the
other day about it and I was

642
00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:58,280
like, I think I'm going to want
to start doing that again.

643
00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,640
She's like, no, you don't.
Yeah, yeah.

644
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:02,840
She's like, I don't want doing
that.

645
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:05,960
It's it's just like, you know,
growing your hair back again.

646
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:09,240
You go, you go to your your
Barber or hair stylist or

647
00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:11,640
whatever and go, I think I want
to grow my hair long again.

648
00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:14,760
And they go, no, you don't.
You know, you have this

649
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,200
beautiful vision of the future
with flowing, beautiful locks of

650
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,920
hair like that.
It's just not.

651
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,840
It's going to grow in Gray and
nasty and Nah, you don't want to

652
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:26,400
do that.
Well, I thought.

653
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,120
I also thought that I had this
great idea of going and doing a

654
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,520
gig with one of my buddies.
I still have a lot of friends in

655
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,600
the, yeah, in the Internet
business.

656
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:35,960
And I was like, I'll just see if
somebody, if I can go be a tech

657
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,080
for someone or move a light tech
or something, go hang some

658
00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:40,560
lights.
And then I started looking at

659
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,560
their Facebook pages and their
social media.

660
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:45,640
I was like, all these events
start after I'm in bed.

661
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:50,000
I don't think I'm.
That's so funny.

662
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,560
It's so true though, too.
You know, it's like I have to go

663
00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:56,880
to the the Panthers hockey game
tonight because my buddy Randy,

664
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,840
I don't know if you remember
Randy, but he's constantly

665
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,800
bugging me to go to the hockey
games and he's got season

666
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,120
tickets and he always gets these
extra tickets and he's like,

667
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:07,960
Marcel go, Marcel go.
And it used to be really fun

668
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,680
when I live 10 minutes away.
Now I live an hour away and I'm

669
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,320
like, oh God, the game doesn't
end till like 10:00.

670
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,600
And by the time I get home it's
like 1115 or something.

671
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,160
It's just not worth it, You
know?

672
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:23,240
It's right parking.
Parking used to be free of

673
00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:25,760
Panthers.
It's. 40 bucks now to park at a

674
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,720
game that you're paying all this
money for tickets for which I'm

675
00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:32,840
not paying for the tickets, but
40 bucks to park and it used to

676
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:33,800
be free.
You're right.

677
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,320
I hate that.
Did you ever go to a game with

678
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,880
me when I had the the the
parking underneath the building?

679
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,600
I did, yes.
Because that was whoop ass where

680
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,720
you just.
Pull up. 50 parking spots down

681
00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:47,680
there or something you pull
right under the building.

682
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:51,000
They check you for bombs and
stuff with their mirrors, and

683
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,200
you pull under the building,
straight to the elevators, up to

684
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:54,000
your seats.
Boom.

685
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,240
It's like being a rock star.
That was the good old days.

686
00:36:57,240 --> 00:36:59,720
She had good.
I had season tickets later on

687
00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:03,680
and yeah, a few years ago and
mine were on the glass, but

688
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,520
yours were up a little bit
higher above the glass line and

689
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:08,680
I think the I like those, those.
Are.

690
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:09,360
Yeah.
On the glass.

691
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:11,960
You can't really.
I mean, you can see the look on

692
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,280
their face as they're getting
punched right in front of you,

693
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,200
but you can't see the goal
that's scored on the other end

694
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,240
of the ice or whatever, right?
Correct.

695
00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:21,080
Right.
And we were on the we were on

696
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,080
the rough side or the bad box
side, the penalty side.

697
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,000
Yeah, it was sometimes it was
hard to see through the penalty

698
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:28,360
box.
Yeah, for sure.

699
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:29,480
Yeah.
Time.

700
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,160
I love hockey.
Yeah, yeah it's.

701
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:36,240
I mean I'm biased of course cuz
I'm Canadian, but I still think

702
00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:40,760
it's the best live sport, Most
sports, I prefer to watch on

703
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,320
television.
Hockey is not one of those.

704
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,520
No hockey.
I don't like hockey on TV.

705
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:48,640
I like it on TV, but I I love it
live.

706
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:50,520
It's it's an incredible live
sport.

707
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:54,720
So, so yeah, I I have to stay up
past my bedtime tonight and go

708
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:56,680
to a hockey game.
So I get what you're saying.

709
00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:03,280
I remember my ex-wife Barb, one
time she had a a show with it

710
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,360
was either Crystal Method or
Chemical Brothers and it was

711
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:10,000
during, you know, Music Week or
whatever it's called.

712
00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:14,440
And and she goes, do you want to
go see them?

713
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:16,680
And I go, yeah, that'd be fun.
I'll, I'll go see them.

714
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:19,680
You know, I probably know the
designer or whatever.

715
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,760
And I said, yeah, I'll go see
him with you.

716
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:26,480
And she goes, OK, they go on at,
I think it was like 1230 or one

717
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:30,080
or something.
And I'm like, hell, no, they go

718
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,320
on at 1:00 in the morning.
No, I'm not going to that.

719
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:35,680
Yeah, I.
Mean.

720
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,560
Yeah, that's how it was.
Yeah, yeah.

721
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,960
Do you?
Do you know Lawrence Upton?

722
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:42,960
Yeah, of course, yeah, I worked.
Him.

723
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,760
I worked for him.
Yeah, Crazy.

724
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:47,840
Dude.
Crazy dude, you're out there.

725
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:48,880
Find me.
Call me.

726
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,760
Your Lawrence is crazy.
I had a great with Lawrence.

727
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:54,560
I've got his number if you need
it.

728
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:56,280
Yeah, I would love to talk to
him well.

729
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,080
If it's still the same, I
haven't talked to him in a

730
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:01,720
couple of years, but if it's
still the same number, I've I've

731
00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:04,040
got it.
I don't remember if he ended up

732
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,560
coming on the podcast or not.
We were talking about him coming

733
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,160
on and then I don't remember if
he actually did or not.

734
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,240
I think he did.
I think I've got a podcast with

735
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,720
with Laz Upton.
The best tour I ever did was

736
00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:16,160
with Lawrence.
Really.

737
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:18,480
U.S. tour my life with the
thrill.

738
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:20,120
Kill Colt.
They were that.

739
00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:24,640
Just a small industrial golf
band and one bus and a trailer.

740
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,760
Those are those are the most
fun.

741
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:29,160
Tours.
Yeah, for sure.

742
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:31,360
Yeah.
He he's, he's a Wildman, I mean.

743
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,480
And and some of the things that,
like, you know, when we were

744
00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:37,440
talking about him coming on the
podcast, we'd go off into the

745
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:42,480
weeds on some really crazy
stories and it's like whoa, you

746
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,280
know, like he's he follows some
some wild stuff.

747
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:50,960
He's is it Laws, Who's a big,
big guy like World War Two.

748
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:52,160
Yes.
Buff.

749
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:54,320
Yeah, he's really, really into
that stuff.

750
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:58,560
He's English, so he's Yeah.
I always thought every person

751
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:02,040
from England was like, was lost
because, yeah, it's something

752
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:03,720
that he started telling me about
World War Two.

753
00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:07,440
Yeah.
Yeah, that's that's him.

754
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,560
Great.
I'm really into that stuff.

755
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:11,080
And he wanted to talk to me
about it.

756
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:13,640
And I don't have any knowledge.
You know, I I know like the two

757
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:16,320
or three movies I've seen or
whatever, but that's about it,

758
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:17,040
right?
I'm out.

759
00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:18,200
I'm done.
That's it.

760
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:20,400
That's all I know.
Super artistic.

761
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:22,960
Super creative, yeah.
Yeah, brilliant guy.

762
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,920
That tour was a low budget tour
and I think we had maybe six.

763
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:31,200
What were they?
Color studios.

764
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,760
And in order to get more out of
them, he put mirrors on the back

765
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,600
of the stages, but like
reflective, like and it just

766
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:39,240
filled the whole.
Stage.

767
00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:42,640
Like twice as many lights, Yeah.
It's just very smart guy.

768
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,640
Yeah, Well, and some of the
stuff he did with Crystal Method

769
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,120
was was fun as hell too.
Like, you know, I love some of

770
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:51,760
that stuff Like at the end of
the day, they're DJs, right?

771
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:56,560
And yes, I think he was one of
the early sort of EDM pioneers

772
00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:01,440
of, of lighting design, you
know, because the DJs didn't

773
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,040
really get a lot of lights back
then.

774
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:06,600
And and here's a guy touring as
LD for a DJ or whatever.

775
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:08,480
And it's like, whoa, that's
weird.

776
00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,120
We had data flash wall.
What?

777
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,480
I mean that that data flash wall
was like very cool.

778
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:17,760
Yeah.
Technology, Yeah.

779
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,280
I think like a stack of four LCD
controllers that were custom

780
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,680
programmed for him for that.
Yeah, that that was the Brad

781
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:25,960
Chiller thing too.
So.

782
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:27,960
Yeah, I know.
That was, that was really,

783
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,360
really cool.
High End did some cool stuff

784
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,400
like that, like that was, you
know, obviously Richard behind

785
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,080
most of that stuff because
Richard loved the music, loved

786
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:40,160
the people behind the music, and
that was his vibe, right?

787
00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:45,040
And I I think that's what went
missing sort of in the whole

788
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:49,640
High End thing was the less and
less Richard became involved,

789
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,120
the more corporate and boring it
became.

790
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:55,200
Right, it was awesome.
I remember my first trip to High

791
00:41:55,240 --> 00:42:00,440
End and I met Craig Burroughs
and his his wife at the Lid.

792
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,360
I think it was Liz at the time
and I met them and they we had

793
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,440
so much fun in Austin and the
factory was so cool.

794
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,400
I remember their Swag Room was
like the size of my entire

795
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:12,800
Coffee Colt.
Yeah, the Swag Room was fun they

796
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:14,360
had.
So much swag.

797
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:18,760
I've never seen so much swag
anywhere and that was that was

798
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,080
really cool.
They really put out and tried to

799
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,680
teach the technicians and the
LDS and the board and the

800
00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:29,480
programmers and stuff like that.
They were very good at getting

801
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:32,840
their brand across.
Yeah, yeah, No, They did an

802
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,120
amazing job.
High end, did an incredible job.

803
00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:39,960
They were as a smaller and more
eager competitor.

804
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:46,680
I always looked up to them huge.
And I remember when I went to

805
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,720
work for them, it was so weird
because I was the Hatfields

806
00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:53,120
joining the Mccoys.
And so when they brought me into

807
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,520
that swag room, take whatever
you want, I was like, I can't

808
00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:00,000
wear high end stuff, you know?
Like, it just didn't feel right,

809
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,680
you know?
It felt really weird, like

810
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,760
putting on high end stuff after,
you know, working so hard to to

811
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,120
try and beat them for 10 years
or whatever.

812
00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,480
But Teller to negotiate from
John Wiseman when he was there.

813
00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:15,480
Yeah, that's a good person to
learn to negotiate from.

814
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:16,520
He's one of the.
Best.

815
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:21,280
He's John Wiseman's pretty good.
So it was him.

816
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:22,680
And then I came out to work for
you.

817
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:24,280
So then I had to learn how to be
nice.

818
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:28,280
So I'm John used to know people.
He's cutting them off.

819
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,600
Like you're not getting any
lights unless you do as I say.

820
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:34,560
And then I come out to track
them and everybody's.

821
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:37,480
So totally.
It was a totally different vibe.

822
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:39,560
Yeah, we.
Well, because that's the

823
00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:42,760
position that we were always in.
You know, like starting with

824
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:46,440
Martin, you know, we had to kiss
a lot of ass to get things done.

825
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:48,640
We couldn't, we couldn't demand
anything.

826
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:52,880
You know, I mean it just it it
wasn't that that sort of a

827
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,560
situation.
We were in a distant number two

828
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:57,320
or three or four position.
We weren't.

829
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,760
We weren't, you know, the
leaders who could threaten

830
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:04,640
people and stuff.
I think I got on John fast once

831
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,680
when I was at Trackman about
something and he got mad about

832
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:09,680
it and I started laughing and
telling him he didn't like his

833
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:14,240
own medicine.
But but I learned a lot from

834
00:44:14,240 --> 00:44:17,480
John and I didn't work for them.
Their office was by my house, so

835
00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:19,520
I used to.
If I wasn't working or broke on

836
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:22,600
a gig, I would go over there and
program or.

837
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:24,680
Oh, the LA High End office, you
mean?

838
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:26,880
Yeah, office.
Yeah, open that office.

839
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:28,800
That was, where was that
Burbank?

840
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:31,760
Van Nuys.
Area Van Nuys, right?

841
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:34,880
Yeah, Yeah.
Is that where you grew up?

842
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:38,800
I lived in LA for a long time.
Yeah, for the most part.

843
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:40,640
I grew up in LA, Where.
Were you born?

844
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,880
Illinois, Peoria.
I'm on a Caterpillar tractor.

845
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:47,040
I didn't even know that.
Yeah.

846
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,920
What else is in Peoria?
Nothing.

847
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:53,040
I was thinking, no, I was
thinking the jail from Blues

848
00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:56,480
Brothers, but that's in Joliet.
Yeah, that's a little bit.

849
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,720
That's a little bit away from
there, but.

850
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:00,720
That's where World Music Theatre
is too.

851
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:03,440
Or whatever it's called today.
But the The Shed.

852
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:05,240
Is it?
Yeah.

853
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:08,200
In Juliet, yeah, yeah.
I went to a bunch of shows there

854
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,960
in like the early 90s.
It's fun, yeah.

855
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,600
And then, so that was good.
Then we left.

856
00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:21,920
I left and did generators and
power, and somehow I wound up in

857
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:23,720
coffee.
I did staging for a while.

858
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:28,640
So the casino, the Seminoles,
the local casino here we're

859
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,520
doing power for.
And my daughter was dancing at

860
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:34,920
the time, So I bought some
staging from her or for her and

861
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,120
they found out I had staging.
And they're like, we want to

862
00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:38,360
rent your stage.
I'm like, no I don't.

863
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:41,720
I don't want to do staging
because I went staging before

864
00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:42,640
and I didn't.
Care for it?

865
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:44,400
Yeah.
I think I got another call from

866
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:47,280
Ron right about then.
By the way, what is this guy

867
00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,080
doing?
He's just copying everything I

868
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:51,720
do.
And I said maybe he's just,

869
00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:54,720
yeah, maybe he's just doing
business, buddy.

870
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,040
That was it.
People asked me for stuff.

871
00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:58,880
I didn't.
I don't think he was in the

872
00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:03,640
staging business really then,
but a lot of people, yeah, you

873
00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:05,280
know, our business is really
competitive.

874
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:08,560
It's very, very competitive.
It is, yeah.

875
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:10,120
It's a very competitive
industry.

876
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:13,920
Everybody's friends until you're
bidding against each other and

877
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:16,360
then it's like, you know, lose
my number.

878
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,320
As long as you're helping them,
giving them something for free,

879
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:19,840
they're your.
Body.

880
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,320
Yeah.
So as I understand it, the the

881
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:28,440
the coffee story is basically
that it started as a hobby where

882
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:32,120
you just basically wanted better
coffee and you learned a little

883
00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:34,840
bit about it.
And I know how you operate like

884
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:38,600
you, you're a little bit like
me, but even worse, where you

885
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,040
don't do anything halfway.
Like if you decide you're going

886
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:44,520
to do something, you're like,
I'm going.

887
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:48,800
All the way in I was like, and I
bought station because I thought

888
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,480
I wasn't getting generator gigs.
So Cena wanted to rent stages

889
00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:55,760
and then I bought a mobile stage
because I didn't they I thought

890
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,040
I wasn't getting these jobs, but
kind of find out that wasn't the

891
00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:00,960
case.
The jobs weren't happening or

892
00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,800
whatever.
So I wound up in the staging

893
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,760
business and then since I was
doing so much, I needed better

894
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:09,520
coffee because coughing is not
sleeping.

895
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:12,960
Yeah, I know there was.
Yeah, all I did was work.

896
00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:16,440
So I started.
I bought a coffee roaster.

897
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,360
Like like everything that I do,
I was like, I have.

898
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:21,440
I didn't buy a small coffee
roaster.

899
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:26,240
I bought a 12K roaster.
So I had to roast the minimum I

900
00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:26,760
could.
Roasted.

901
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:31,440
That was 11 lbs.
But but hang on a SEC.

902
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:34,320
So were you like a big coffee
drinker?

903
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,880
Like you loved coffee and it was
just a passion and.

904
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:41,240
So you were reading?
Like coffee magazines and stuff

905
00:47:41,240 --> 00:47:43,880
about where the best beans come
from and all that kind of stuff.

906
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,640
Is that sort of part of it?
Well, when I when I was a kid in

907
00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:51,560
Los Angeles, my 1A guy that I
knew had a coffee shop called

908
00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:55,800
Cafe Cafe Mocha on Melrose,
which was down the street from

909
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:57,800
my house.
And he sold his half to his

910
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:00,760
partners because he was doing
some Internet thing.

911
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:02,120
And we were like, oh, you're not
cool.

912
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:05,400
You're not doing coffee anymore.
You're doing the Internet thing.

913
00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,840
And that that guy, that person,
actually, his name's Skype

914
00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:09,520
Dayton.
He was the founder of EarthLink.

915
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,800
So he actually took coffee shop
to go start EarthLink.

916
00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:14,480
And we were like.
Probably not a bad idea.

917
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,080
Yeah, I should have.
I should have gone with him.

918
00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:22,960
But so I've been to coffee for.
I liked coffee for a long, long,

919
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:25,800
long, long time.
So I just had the means in a

920
00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,120
warehouse and I was like, I need
better coffee.

921
00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,400
It sucks here.
And I had.

922
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:33,360
I bought a Jura at the time.
Do you have a Jira yet?

923
00:48:33,400 --> 00:48:39,280
Espresso machine.
No, the one I have is Delonghi.

924
00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:44,880
It's a Delonghi automatic thing
that does it, grinds the beans

925
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:46,800
and does all of the different
stuff.

926
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:49,360
Yeah, the JIRA is the very
similar.

927
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:53,600
So I had, I had a JIRA and I was
drinking coffee out of a can

928
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:56,440
that was beans.
And I was like, oh, this is

929
00:48:56,440 --> 00:48:58,680
good.
But I wonder if I can find

930
00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:01,400
something better.
And that's how it started.

931
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:04,800
So I had a roast 11 lbs Of
coffee.

932
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:08,200
So all of my delivery trucks for
Sidram either staging our

933
00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:10,840
generators had coffee and I were
giving them out to our

934
00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:12,600
customers.
Oh, that's cool is how it

935
00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:14,240
started.
And that's cool.

936
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,600
Very organic, very organic way
to build a customer base.

937
00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:21,440
Yeah, just.
To start handing it out for

938
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:23,520
free.
And it was called Center Stage

939
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:26,640
Coffee because I was like, well,
I don't know what to call it,

940
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:28,240
this, whatever.
It's going to be Center Stage

941
00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:31,320
Coffee.
And so we were giving it out and

942
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:34,240
then people started asking for
it if it wasn't on the trucks.

943
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:37,480
They said, can we have coffee?
And we're like, well, we don't

944
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,120
have any, but I'll bring you
some next time, I promised.

945
00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:41,320
They're like, no, I'll buy it
from you.

946
00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:45,200
I want the coffee.
So that's how I wound up.

947
00:49:45,240 --> 00:49:49,120
We wound up selling coffee.
It was not for any other reason

948
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:52,720
that people wouldn't leave us
alone on how they wanted the

949
00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:55,560
coffee, which was cool because
we were making something that

950
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:57,600
was awesome.
So you just left your office,

951
00:49:57,600 --> 00:50:01,840
went into the warehouse, started
roasting coffee on your own and

952
00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:03,640
and probably bagging it on your
own.

953
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,640
Shipping it on your own, doing
everything on your own because

954
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,680
you couldn't afford an employee
to do it yet.

955
00:50:08,720 --> 00:50:10,760
Well, not out of the coffee
business anyways.

956
00:50:11,640 --> 00:50:14,400
No, we wasn't anywhere near
anything like that.

957
00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:15,960
It was.
I would roast it and put it in

958
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:19,160
the bag, and basically I'd go
roast what I wanted to drink

959
00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:21,800
myself.
So I would roast it and then

960
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,280
whatever extra would go in the
pile for for the other

961
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:26,600
customers.
Yeah.

962
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,600
So by the time you were actually
selling it and taking orders,

963
00:50:29,600 --> 00:50:31,360
was it still called Center Stage
Coffee?

964
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:36,920
So what my I started.
My mother convinced me that I

965
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:39,600
needed to sell coffee on Amazon.
And I was like, I don't want to

966
00:50:39,600 --> 00:50:41,800
sell coffee because I want to go
do stage and I want to go make

967
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:44,720
$100,000 on the weekend.
I don't want to go chase 2 to

968
00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:47,720
$3.00 for a bag of coffee.
And are you kidding me?

969
00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:51,840
And go work like three days a
week and go make a bunch of

970
00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:54,360
money?
Or I could go chase a couple of

971
00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:57,240
bucks for a coffee like, oh, you
have to do this.

972
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:03,440
So she bugged me so much that I
I was like, fine, whatever, I'll

973
00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:04,240
sell coffee.
She's so.

974
00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:08,360
Interested in you doing coffee?
She liked that I was doing

975
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:10,720
coffee and she sold things on
Amazon.

976
00:51:10,720 --> 00:51:16,520
So she she knew where the she
knew good items to sell on

977
00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:18,560
Amazon at the time.
Things have changed a lot

978
00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:25,840
obviously that was that was like
12 years ago so so she can but

979
00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:29,400
she just pressured me to into it
which you know OK that's good

980
00:51:29,400 --> 00:51:32,880
thank you mom.
But so I shipped some coffee to

981
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:36,840
Amazon and I was like I don't
want anything to spoil my center

982
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:39,520
stage coffee name because I got
a good thing going.

983
00:51:39,520 --> 00:51:41,880
So we're, let's call it
something else.

984
00:51:42,280 --> 00:51:46,000
And I'm like, well, when I give
the people this coffee, they

985
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:48,040
won't go away.
Like even if I want them to go

986
00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:49,320
away, they keep asking me for
it.

987
00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:53,400
So it's clearly our own cult.
So, so then I was like, oh,

988
00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:57,960
we'll call it coffee cult.
And then C, the CS were coffee

989
00:51:57,960 --> 00:52:01,880
coat with C domain was taken.
So I was like, oh, well, German,

990
00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:06,680
it's in K so we'll make a coffee
coat with KS and everyone's

991
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:09,800
going to be like, what is that?
So that's how I wound up being

992
00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:12,000
coffee coat with with KS.
That's awesome.

993
00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:14,320
Now we own the domain for both.
We own.

994
00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:16,360
The C Oh, do you really?
You own the C1 as well.

995
00:52:16,960 --> 00:52:18,520
Oh, that's cool.
Have you ever thought about

996
00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:20,000
changing it?
No.

997
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:24,640
To CS No.
No, because we it, it's it is,

998
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:28,720
it's an established brand, so.
Yeah, well, I mean, it's just

999
00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:32,080
every time I'm reading the promo
for Coffee Cult on on the

1000
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:36,120
podcast, I always say Coffee
called Coffee with AK, Cult with

1001
00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:39,160
AK, you know?
Yeah, but you can.

1002
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:41,440
Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't
find your website.

1003
00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:43,760
Yeah, they'll find it if you
look up Coffee Colt.

1004
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:46,400
Anyway, in any which way you
should find us.

1005
00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:48,520
What happened to the other
company?

1006
00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:51,280
They just went away finally.
See.

1007
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:54,760
So it was someone sitting on
their domain.

1008
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:57,440
It was like.
Sort of bastards.

1009
00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:02,320
Yeah, so whatever they tried to,
actually.

1010
00:53:02,400 --> 00:53:04,520
So the funny part is they tried
to sell it to me for like

1011
00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:09,960
$20,000.
Yeah, I was like fuck off.

1012
00:53:10,200 --> 00:53:15,600
So no, we're not doing that.
And then for a while somehow it

1013
00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:17,120
came out and bought it for 1000
bucks.

1014
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:23,160
Wow did I did I ever tell you
the the Gearsource domain story

1015
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:27,160
gearsource.com Cuz remember it
was gear hyphen source.com and

1016
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:33,520
it was Gearsource like if you
went on you know who what is it?

1017
00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:36,920
Who, who is or whatever like
that?

1018
00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:39,560
Who owns the domain?
If you went on that, it was

1019
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:42,240
owned by some Cisco reseller who
was defunct.

1020
00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:45,920
They were out of business and I
had reached out to the guy and

1021
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:48,240
never got a response back.
So I just said screw it, we'll

1022
00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:51,720
go with the hyphen.
Which knowing what I know now

1023
00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:55,400
was the craziest, dumbest,
stupidest idea ever.

1024
00:53:55,400 --> 00:53:57,920
Like putting A-IN a in a domain
name.

1025
00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:06,520
But so we were probably a year
in to Gearsource and I get a an

1026
00:54:06,520 --> 00:54:12,680
e-mail from a guy saying, hey,
I'm, I'm whatever, Bob and I own

1027
00:54:13,600 --> 00:54:15,680
this domain.
It's no longer a business

1028
00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:17,680
anymore.
Would you like to buy it from

1029
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:19,200
me?
And I go, well, you know, me

1030
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:21,760
being a sales guy, well, you
know, I don't know, like we've

1031
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:24,080
really got our customers used to
the hyphen now.

1032
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,120
So I don't think it really has
any value to me.

1033
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:29,960
And he goes, well, look, I only
want $10,000 for it.

1034
00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:32,440
And I go, yeah, that's just not
going to happen.

1035
00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:35,840
And he goes, how about 5?
And I said, look, you know, the

1036
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:38,400
domain is beautiful.
Obviously I'd like to own it.

1037
00:54:38,680 --> 00:54:41,280
But we're a startup company.
I don't have 5 grand to throw

1038
00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:43,240
around for a domain.
And my customers are already

1039
00:54:43,240 --> 00:54:45,400
used to the hyphen.
And he goes, well, let me think

1040
00:54:45,400 --> 00:54:47,560
about it.
So he sends me an e-mail a few

1041
00:54:47,560 --> 00:54:51,160
days later and he goes, do you
sell those smoke machine things?

1042
00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:53,840
And I said, yeah, we do.
And he said, how much are they?

1043
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:56,720
And I said, well, you know, a
good one's probably about 1000

1044
00:54:56,720 --> 00:54:59,720
bucks And he goes, will you
trade me for one of those?

1045
00:55:00,240 --> 00:55:02,920
And I said sure.
So I traded him like some Martin

1046
00:55:03,040 --> 00:55:06,240
smoke machine or something for I
think it was a gym machine

1047
00:55:06,240 --> 00:55:08,280
actually for the domain and I
got the domain, so.

1048
00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:12,920
It would probably cost me. 4 or
500 bucks or something I think

1049
00:55:12,920 --> 00:55:15,880
at the end of the day and I got
the domain and.

1050
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,400
He sold him fluid for the next
10 years.

1051
00:55:18,520 --> 00:55:21,240
No, actually, never heard from
him again, but whatever.

1052
00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:26,200
I have the domain and so, yeah,
LED source though, when I

1053
00:55:26,200 --> 00:55:29,280
started that, that was a similar
thing where they wanted like 20

1054
00:55:29,280 --> 00:55:31,920
grand for it or something and I
think I ended up paying three.

1055
00:55:33,320 --> 00:55:37,720
So yeah, I mean, those are crazy
businesses that make their money

1056
00:55:37,720 --> 00:55:40,360
off collecting domains, I guess.
I don't know, I own a bunch of

1057
00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:42,600
domains.
I I bought domains like real

1058
00:55:42,600 --> 00:55:44,160
estate.
In the early days, I'd probably

1059
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:47,840
have 200 domains or something,
and every once in a while I'll

1060
00:55:47,840 --> 00:55:50,200
get an e-mail or a call from
somebody saying, hey, I'd really

1061
00:55:50,200 --> 00:55:53,520
like that domain and I give them
a reasonable price for it, 1000

1062
00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:57,400
bucks or something.
And they usually go away, So

1063
00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:01,080
someday I'll have to start
letting them go. 1000 bucks for

1064
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:02,320
a domain?
Yeah, yeah.

1065
00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:06,800
So a lot of domains.
Yeah, back to the early days of

1066
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:11,880
coffee cult or or center stage.
So the first beans that you

1067
00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:14,760
bought, were you just buying
them locally from like some bean

1068
00:56:14,760 --> 00:56:17,680
wholesaler or how did how did
that happen?

1069
00:56:18,200 --> 00:56:20,440
I bought them for a bean
wholesaler, but they were not

1070
00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:22,400
local.
They were in Rhode Island, I

1071
00:56:22,400 --> 00:56:26,120
think something.
And so did you research or did

1072
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:27,720
you just buy whatever they told
you to buy?

1073
00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:31,360
So I did a little research.
They told me what was good.

1074
00:56:31,360 --> 00:56:34,320
I actually hired someone to
teach me how to roast coffee

1075
00:56:34,720 --> 00:56:38,640
originally, which was cool.
I learned from them.

1076
00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:41,000
And then I learned I wanted
better.

1077
00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:44,200
So then I started.
I spent a lot of time in Seattle

1078
00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:48,880
and Portland learning from some
roasters out there.

1079
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:52,280
That's sort of like the American
Mecca of coffee, right?

1080
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:54,760
That that Northwest area,
Portland and Seattle.

1081
00:56:55,440 --> 00:56:57,600
It used to be it's spread
through the US now.

1082
00:56:57,600 --> 00:57:02,320
But back then that was yeah, and
I learned to roast coffee on the

1083
00:57:02,320 --> 00:57:04,880
machine I bought.
There's nothing like we have

1084
00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:07,160
now.
It's we still have it.

1085
00:57:07,160 --> 00:57:10,800
I still have it.
But it was all manual, no

1086
00:57:10,800 --> 00:57:13,720
automation.
So you'd be back in coffee, and

1087
00:57:13,720 --> 00:57:15,760
if you forgot to do something on
the machine when it was

1088
00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:17,600
roasting, the coffee would
totally turn out wrong.

1089
00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:20,280
Oh wow.
That was a pretty cool

1090
00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:23,480
experience.
But I wanted better coffee and I

1091
00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:25,760
had you had to go out there.
You couldn't go to YouTube and

1092
00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:29,040
learn how to roast coffee.
Yeah, but now I think you can go

1093
00:57:29,040 --> 00:57:32,000
to YouTube and learn anything.
Pretty much, yeah.

1094
00:57:32,160 --> 00:57:33,200
Yeah.
No.

1095
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:36,320
And I've, I've always followed
you on social media and stuff.

1096
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:39,120
So I know that, you know, you've
made many, many trips to

1097
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:43,240
different regions of the world
and you've gone to farms and or

1098
00:57:43,240 --> 00:57:45,520
whatever they're called where
you is it called a farm where

1099
00:57:45,520 --> 00:57:48,320
they grow coffee.
Yeah, you've gone to all these

1100
00:57:48,320 --> 00:57:52,040
different farms and and so I
would guess now you're kind of

1101
00:57:52,040 --> 00:57:56,000
an expert in, in gene ology or
whatever it's called, right?

1102
00:57:56,520 --> 00:57:59,600
I would hope so.
I know I've learned a lot and I

1103
00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:02,320
know quite a bit.
There's people that are way more

1104
00:58:02,320 --> 00:58:05,840
than me.
I've learned about roots of

1105
00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:09,080
coffee plants, of what the roots
need to look like when you plant

1106
00:58:09,080 --> 00:58:11,040
them.
Like, man, I just wonder if the

1107
00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:13,880
coffee tastes good, but it gets
pretty.

1108
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:17,160
It gets it's crazy.
The they'll grow, they'll start

1109
00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:20,360
a seedling and then they'll take
it out of the dirt and they'll

1110
00:58:20,360 --> 00:58:23,160
inspect all the roots before
they planted in the fields to

1111
00:58:23,160 --> 00:58:27,520
make sure the roots are are are
large enough and sustainable.

1112
00:58:27,520 --> 00:58:29,520
Because they want to plant a
tree for 20 years, they don't

1113
00:58:29,520 --> 00:58:31,080
want to plant it for a couple of
years.

1114
00:58:32,160 --> 00:58:35,360
Pretty cool stuff.
And the altitude and the micro

1115
00:58:35,360 --> 00:58:38,520
climates of different regions.
For.

1116
00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:43,200
Coffees.
I I read about which one was it

1117
00:58:43,200 --> 00:58:45,320
that I read about Sumatra?
I think it was.

1118
00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:49,920
And 'cause I didn't know that
that was actually a place.

1119
00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:54,280
And so I went and read about why
the coffee there it where is

1120
00:58:54,280 --> 00:58:55,800
that?
That's in Jakarta or something,

1121
00:58:55,800 --> 00:58:57,080
isn't it?
Indonesia.

1122
00:58:57,360 --> 00:59:00,040
Indonesia, yeah.
Or near Jakarta in Indonesia.

1123
00:59:02,120 --> 00:59:08,280
And you know, just like why it's
good and and the just strange

1124
00:59:08,280 --> 00:59:12,360
mix of weather components that
make the coffee so good and you

1125
00:59:12,360 --> 00:59:14,800
know, it's it's pretty wild,
there's a lot to it.

1126
00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:19,120
Yeah, they have their own
processing that they do there as

1127
00:59:19,120 --> 00:59:20,800
well.
Nowhere else does as well, only

1128
00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:22,760
so it's just.
What's that mean?

1129
00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:26,920
It's it's how they take the pulp
off of the cherry, off of the

1130
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:31,720
the seed after it's after the
coffee's picked from the plant.

1131
00:59:32,160 --> 00:59:34,680
OK, they.
Have their own special so

1132
00:59:34,880 --> 00:59:36,760
coffee.
Coffee's picked from a plant and

1133
00:59:36,760 --> 00:59:38,200
then what?
What is it?

1134
00:59:38,200 --> 00:59:40,320
What's that look like?
It doesn't look like a bean,

1135
00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:41,120
right?
It looks.

1136
00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:43,520
Like a cherry looks like a
cherry looks like a fruit

1137
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:44,880
cherry.
You can eat them, just don't eat

1138
00:59:44,880 --> 00:59:47,840
the beans in the middle.
The bean, the seed is actually

1139
00:59:47,840 --> 00:59:50,600
the coffee part that we that we
use as coffee.

1140
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:54,080
Interesting.
But there's a whole cherry

1141
00:59:54,080 --> 00:59:58,520
outside layer and a pulp inside.
So is it actually called a

1142
00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:01,160
cherry, a a coffee cherry or
just a cherry?

1143
01:00:01,680 --> 01:00:05,120
Cherries, coffee, cherry, coffee
tree, coffee, cherry.

1144
01:00:05,120 --> 01:00:07,880
Interesting and does.
It taste like a cherry.

1145
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:12,240
There's sweet that well, the
better you know, the better the

1146
01:00:12,240 --> 01:00:13,960
coffee.
The sweeter the coffee, the

1147
01:00:13,960 --> 01:00:17,400
better, The The better it is,
the sweeter it will be.

1148
01:00:17,480 --> 01:00:20,000
They all taste different.
There's different varieties of

1149
01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:22,480
coffee.
There's yellow, there's all,

1150
01:00:22,560 --> 01:00:26,080
there's all a bazillion.
So Geisha is like the original

1151
01:00:26,080 --> 01:00:29,400
coffee bean.
I just bought a geisha for a

1152
01:00:29,400 --> 01:00:30,960
crazy amount of money in
Columbia.

1153
01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:35,040
Yeah, I saw that on social on
coffee called site or something

1154
01:00:35,040 --> 01:00:35,520
like that.
There's.

1155
01:00:36,040 --> 01:00:38,560
Yellow babone.
And then there's there's all

1156
01:00:38,560 --> 01:00:40,920
kinds.
There's all varieties of coffee,

1157
01:00:41,360 --> 01:00:43,480
Yeah, which attribute to the
taste.

1158
01:00:43,920 --> 01:00:47,920
So what's What's your favorite?
Probably depends what day it is

1159
01:00:47,920 --> 01:00:48,880
right?
Yeah.

1160
01:00:48,920 --> 01:00:53,600
What, what time of the day it is
and what we're roasting and what

1161
01:00:53,600 --> 01:00:56,240
season it is.
So there's lots of coffees.

1162
01:00:56,440 --> 01:00:59,680
Yeah, well, I know you were
really hyped on this Jamaican

1163
01:00:59,680 --> 01:01:02,880
one and you sent me a bag of it
and I didn't like it.

1164
01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:05,080
Like it just had a funky flavor
to it.

1165
01:01:05,080 --> 01:01:09,440
That to me, I'm just so in love
with my regular daily cup of

1166
01:01:09,440 --> 01:01:12,400
coffee that I get right now.
Where where are my beans from

1167
01:01:12,680 --> 01:01:19,560
the the Road, Dog and medium?
Colombian, Colombian and guat.

1168
01:01:19,640 --> 01:01:22,440
Colombian and Guat in Brazil is
in that blend.

1169
01:01:22,880 --> 01:01:23,960
Really.
Huh.

1170
01:01:24,720 --> 01:01:26,800
Interesting.
When those are great coffees,

1171
01:01:26,800 --> 01:01:28,280
those are very, very good
coffees.

1172
01:01:28,280 --> 01:01:32,520
Blends are very good.
The single origins is where you

1173
01:01:32,520 --> 01:01:35,160
get to see a lot of different
things in coffee.

1174
01:01:35,560 --> 01:01:41,400
Yeah, so we look for acidity and
sweetness and complexity in in

1175
01:01:41,400 --> 01:01:43,920
coffee.
So that's not for everyone.

1176
01:01:44,240 --> 01:01:48,240
There's some people don't like a
fruity coffee, but yeah, that

1177
01:01:48,240 --> 01:01:49,920
fruity.
You don't necessarily want to

1178
01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:51,520
drink with milk.
Yeah.

1179
01:01:51,800 --> 01:01:53,160
So yeah.
Well, I'll tell you.

1180
01:01:53,200 --> 01:01:57,120
Like, you know, I had tried a
few of yours, Like I tried the

1181
01:01:57,120 --> 01:01:59,240
dark roast.
I think I tried the road dog.

1182
01:02:00,240 --> 01:02:03,000
I don't think I ever tried
medium by oh, I did try medium

1183
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:05,360
by itself.
And that's when I basically

1184
01:02:05,360 --> 01:02:09,160
started mixing half a bag of
medium with half a bag of Rd.

1185
01:02:09,160 --> 01:02:13,440
dog and going, OK, now we're on
to something because the road

1186
01:02:13,440 --> 01:02:17,760
dog, I didn't mind, I liked it.
But my girlfriend, it was just

1187
01:02:17,760 --> 01:02:19,800
too strong.
Like she was normally a pretty

1188
01:02:20,040 --> 01:02:24,640
like a blonde coffee drinker you
know, and well cuz she's British

1189
01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:27,400
and she drinks tea, she wasn't
even a coffee drinker before I

1190
01:02:27,400 --> 01:02:33,040
really convinced her to be one
and but when I did that mix it

1191
01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:35,480
was really good and and I
remember I think I was talking

1192
01:02:35,480 --> 01:02:37,880
to you on the phone or something
and I said hey I finally found

1193
01:02:37,880 --> 01:02:40,240
the perfect coffee.
I'm mixing your medium and your

1194
01:02:41,080 --> 01:02:44,160
and your Rd. dog and you said
well we could make a blend for

1195
01:02:44,160 --> 01:02:48,240
you and that's when we came up
with the whole geezers grind

1196
01:02:48,240 --> 01:02:51,600
thing and and started to do that
so.

1197
01:02:52,560 --> 01:02:54,960
If she likes, she'll like the
geisha.

1198
01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:57,400
The Geisha's more tea like.
Is it really?

1199
01:02:57,920 --> 01:03:00,400
Yeah, I'll send you some.
Yeah, I'll have to check that

1200
01:03:00,400 --> 01:03:02,440
out.
I gotta make another order

1201
01:03:02,440 --> 01:03:04,760
anyways cuz I gotta I gotta get
some decaf.

1202
01:03:06,120 --> 01:03:07,880
You know what?
Decaf, right?

1203
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:11,440
Tell me.
It's like a hooker that just

1204
01:03:11,440 --> 01:03:16,760
wants to cuddle.
That's good.

1205
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:20,040
That's really good.
People are like, Oh my God, I

1206
01:03:20,040 --> 01:03:21,200
can't believe that guy said
that.

1207
01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:23,760
I'm like, man, I used to see the
other stuff that comes out of my

1208
01:03:23,760 --> 01:03:26,360
mouth when I'm not a.
Yeah, well, I've known you.

1209
01:03:26,600 --> 01:03:32,440
I remember funny story, when we
worked together, this was sort

1210
01:03:32,440 --> 01:03:35,200
of pre social media and pre all
of that stuff.

1211
01:03:36,480 --> 01:03:39,080
This was what, like 2000 or
something?

1212
01:03:39,080 --> 01:03:41,720
1999 two thousand.
I don't know.

1213
01:03:42,200 --> 01:03:48,280
But but I remember you sent like
a a really nasty dirty some kind

1214
01:03:48,320 --> 01:03:52,680
of wicked porn thing or
something to to Adrian in the

1215
01:03:52,680 --> 01:03:57,360
office And it you accidentally
sent it to Adrian Gurman who at

1216
01:03:57,360 --> 01:04:03,720
the time worked for LDI or
lighting lighting and Sound

1217
01:04:03,720 --> 01:04:08,800
America or whatever it's called.
And and she sends me a message

1218
01:04:08,800 --> 01:04:11,680
going, this is Jamie who works
for you.

1219
01:04:11,760 --> 01:04:15,960
And I said, yeah, that's Jamie.
And she goes, I wonder if he

1220
01:04:15,960 --> 01:04:20,160
meant to send this to me.
And I'm like, Nope, I'm pretty

1221
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:21,880
sure he didn't.
Wrong.

1222
01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:23,560
Adrian.
Yeah, wrong Adrian.

1223
01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:26,080
For a little while.
Back then we were young and

1224
01:04:26,080 --> 01:04:30,160
wild, and I remember my our
first trip to Italy, I was to

1225
01:04:30,160 --> 01:04:33,920
Komar.
The staff was back in the day

1226
01:04:33,920 --> 01:04:37,160
and things have changed now.
But it was, you know, let's go

1227
01:04:37,160 --> 01:04:39,680
hang out at the let's go hang
out at the gentlemen's club.

1228
01:04:39,680 --> 01:04:41,760
So we went to Italy.
I was like, hey, who wants to go

1229
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:43,560
to the gentlemen's club?
And they all looked at me like,

1230
01:04:43,560 --> 01:04:45,640
why would we go there, the
brothels down the street?

1231
01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:47,200
I was like, oh, it's.
True.

1232
01:04:47,600 --> 01:04:48,400
Yeah, it's true.
It's true.

1233
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:51,280
It was wild back in those days.
It was really like the.

1234
01:04:52,120 --> 01:04:54,760
Did you you went over to the
Rimini show, right?

1235
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:57,840
At some point did you?
No, you never went to the Rimini

1236
01:04:57,840 --> 01:04:59,960
show.
Never went because there was a

1237
01:05:00,680 --> 01:05:04,360
there was a famous, it wasn't
even a gentlemen's club.

1238
01:05:04,360 --> 01:05:07,760
It was just some weird place
where you went and and these

1239
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:10,680
beautiful women from Eastern
Europe would sit next to you on

1240
01:05:10,680 --> 01:05:13,360
the couch and talk to you and
tell you how beautiful you are

1241
01:05:13,360 --> 01:05:15,120
and how amazing you are and
stuff.

1242
01:05:15,640 --> 01:05:19,240
And then if you were brave
enough, you wheeled them out of

1243
01:05:19,240 --> 01:05:22,240
there and took them back to your
hotel and you just paid whatever

1244
01:05:22,240 --> 01:05:28,000
the fee was to the to the club.
It was called Lady Godiva and

1245
01:05:29,160 --> 01:05:32,200
you know I never partook, but
I've, I've been there a bunch of

1246
01:05:32,200 --> 01:05:35,200
times.
But I I just, you know, wasn't

1247
01:05:35,200 --> 01:05:38,480
interested in the end, the end
game that they had going on

1248
01:05:38,480 --> 01:05:41,080
there.
But several people did, and I

1249
01:05:41,080 --> 01:05:44,440
won't mention any names, but one
guy in particular who who worked

1250
01:05:44,440 --> 01:05:49,720
for me at the time was talking
to this this girl and and he's

1251
01:05:49,720 --> 01:05:53,040
like she went to the bathroom or
something and he goes, Marcel,

1252
01:05:53,040 --> 01:05:55,080
she's like the most beautiful
girl ever.

1253
01:05:55,080 --> 01:05:57,760
I I've never seen an Italian
woman as beautiful as her.

1254
01:05:57,760 --> 01:05:59,760
And I go, cuz she's probably not
Italian.

1255
01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:02,240
And he goes, Oh no, no, no,
she's Italian.

1256
01:06:02,240 --> 01:06:04,360
Her name is like Victoria or
something.

1257
01:06:04,680 --> 01:06:07,800
And I go, no, you know what I
she might be telling you a fib.

1258
01:06:07,800 --> 01:06:09,440
And he goes, no, no, no, she's
Italian.

1259
01:06:09,440 --> 01:06:11,400
And she's the most beautiful
girl I've ever seen.

1260
01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:16,320
And so he leaves with her and he
goes, you know, I'm taking this

1261
01:06:16,320 --> 01:06:18,280
beautiful Italian girl back to
my hotel.

1262
01:06:18,280 --> 01:06:19,960
And I'm like, hey, good for you,
have fun.

1263
01:06:20,560 --> 01:06:24,280
And so I call the manager over
and I go, hey, that girl that

1264
01:06:24,280 --> 01:06:27,360
just left with my buddy.
And he goes, Victoria.

1265
01:06:27,600 --> 01:06:32,080
And I go, yeah, is she Italian?
And he goes, fuck, no, she's

1266
01:06:32,080 --> 01:06:37,320
from Uzbekistan.
I laughed my ass off.

1267
01:06:37,800 --> 01:06:40,560
I remember at breakfast in the
morning, I was like, hey, how

1268
01:06:40,560 --> 01:06:44,880
was that Uzbekistanian?
No, no, she's Italian.

1269
01:06:44,880 --> 01:06:48,080
And I'm like, no, buddy, no, she
ain't Italian.

1270
01:06:49,480 --> 01:06:53,240
Yeah, I've got stories.
Some of those you can't tell

1271
01:06:53,240 --> 01:06:55,240
though, or at least you can't
attach them to people.

1272
01:06:56,080 --> 01:06:58,880
Right now we had a good time
though, and that was, that was,

1273
01:07:00,720 --> 01:07:02,920
that was an amazing time.
It was fun.

1274
01:07:03,240 --> 01:07:04,560
It was fun.
So what?

1275
01:07:04,560 --> 01:07:07,560
What are some of the what are
some of the biggest things

1276
01:07:07,560 --> 01:07:11,480
you've learned being in the
coffee business, like challenges

1277
01:07:11,480 --> 01:07:16,760
or things that if you knew then
what you know now, you might

1278
01:07:16,760 --> 01:07:20,240
have gone a different direction
or you know, I bumps on the

1279
01:07:20,240 --> 01:07:22,680
head.
Yeah, I want to for anything

1280
01:07:23,000 --> 01:07:27,120
that the the one thing I like
about coffee, and although I

1281
01:07:27,120 --> 01:07:30,600
have to chase two or three
dollars for a bag of coffee to

1282
01:07:30,600 --> 01:07:33,760
for a profit and staging, I made
generators.

1283
01:07:33,800 --> 01:07:37,520
I made a lot of money, but if
one of my staff left a pen out

1284
01:07:37,520 --> 01:07:39,680
of a stage, it would fall down
and kill a bunch of people.

1285
01:07:39,680 --> 01:07:41,240
I don't have to worry about that
in coffee.

1286
01:07:41,480 --> 01:07:44,040
So that's what really like like.
About Well, unless you

1287
01:07:44,080 --> 01:07:49,160
accidentally, you know, put
poison into the into the bags or

1288
01:07:49,200 --> 01:07:52,040
something and you're killing all
your drinkers.

1289
01:07:52,600 --> 01:07:55,480
What and the other thing about
coffee that is really surprising

1290
01:07:55,480 --> 01:07:58,920
and entertainment is I have a
lot of well I have two robots

1291
01:07:58,960 --> 01:08:02,160
arms here that we use in
manufacturing and a lot of quite

1292
01:08:02,160 --> 01:08:05,400
a bit of automation since I come
from a automation back lighting

1293
01:08:05,400 --> 01:08:09,840
automation background.
And the technology in the

1294
01:08:09,840 --> 01:08:13,680
staging world is so much more
advanced than the rest of the

1295
01:08:13,680 --> 01:08:17,920
industrial world that when
you're in entertainment you

1296
01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:20,920
don't understand entertainment
is actually pushing the envelope

1297
01:08:20,920 --> 01:08:24,479
all the time on technology.
Our roasters have touch screen

1298
01:08:24,479 --> 01:08:28,680
panels on them.
They run to run our.

1299
01:08:28,680 --> 01:08:33,680
And it's they're little
computers, but they're just so

1300
01:08:34,319 --> 01:08:36,560
not responsive compared to a
lighting console.

1301
01:08:37,200 --> 01:08:39,000
Yeah, yeah.
When I'm like, it sucks.

1302
01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:40,760
When I was buying and they're
big bucks too.

1303
01:08:40,760 --> 01:08:43,240
So when I was buying, I was
pushing the buttons.

1304
01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:46,040
I was playing with it.
I was like, is this your

1305
01:08:46,040 --> 01:08:47,399
standard?
They're like, that's the new

1306
01:08:47,399 --> 01:08:49,160
latest and greatest panel that
you can get.

1307
01:08:49,160 --> 01:08:52,800
I'm like, no, it's not.
I'm like, I'm like, I can't a

1308
01:08:52,880 --> 01:08:54,439
lot.
I'll tell you what that's where

1309
01:08:54,439 --> 01:08:56,760
you connect with Fausto.
That's where you connect with

1310
01:08:56,760 --> 01:08:59,479
Fausto and and you go, hey
Fausto, can you make a better

1311
01:08:59,479 --> 01:09:03,080
panel and give it to him and and
he'll come back to you two

1312
01:09:03,080 --> 01:09:06,200
months later with, you know, a
complete design for a better

1313
01:09:06,200 --> 01:09:11,160
panel and the software and
everything all done and and then

1314
01:09:11,160 --> 01:09:15,479
you go out and sell the product,
you know as a as a side hustle.

1315
01:09:16,200 --> 01:09:20,200
But no, I agree with you.
Like when you take some of the

1316
01:09:20,200 --> 01:09:22,680
things that you've learned and
seen in our industry and you

1317
01:09:22,680 --> 01:09:26,720
take it back to a different
industry, it's like wow, you

1318
01:09:26,720 --> 01:09:30,000
know, like just technology at a
completely different level.

1319
01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:34,120
And also urgency and timing and
all kinds of other stuff that

1320
01:09:34,120 --> 01:09:38,279
other industries like the
urgency of the the entertainment

1321
01:09:38,279 --> 01:09:42,319
business compared to like when I
had LED source for example, and

1322
01:09:42,319 --> 01:09:45,399
our customers were you know,
architectural or commercial

1323
01:09:45,399 --> 01:09:49,479
lighting opportunities,
warehouses and buildings and

1324
01:09:49,479 --> 01:09:52,080
things like that.
There was no urgency like you

1325
01:09:52,080 --> 01:09:55,160
know, when can you get it done
March, OK, that's perfect.

1326
01:09:55,160 --> 01:09:57,320
Yeah, As long as we can get it
done by July, we're good.

1327
01:09:57,680 --> 01:10:00,400
You know, OK.
You know, that's easy.

1328
01:10:00,920 --> 01:10:03,120
Like I could take three
vacations between now and then

1329
01:10:03,120 --> 01:10:06,200
a.
Lot of those things, urgency

1330
01:10:07,360 --> 01:10:11,760
getting things right the first
time and the technology is

1331
01:10:11,760 --> 01:10:13,960
really from the entertainment
business.

1332
01:10:13,960 --> 01:10:15,800
Really helped me with coffee
cold.

1333
01:10:16,160 --> 01:10:18,560
Yeah, most companies don't have
that.

1334
01:10:18,560 --> 01:10:21,480
They're like, OK, we got an
order that's nice.

1335
01:10:21,480 --> 01:10:24,640
We'll get it out and we're like,
as fast as we can get that order

1336
01:10:24,640 --> 01:10:28,720
out, it's it's going to go out.
And the type I remember I went

1337
01:10:28,720 --> 01:10:33,760
to go, I wound up robot arms.
They're they're on our YouTube

1338
01:10:33,760 --> 01:10:36,600
channel.
But I wound up the robot arm.

1339
01:10:36,600 --> 01:10:40,120
I was looking for a nitrogen
generator and I went to a trade

1340
01:10:40,120 --> 01:10:41,800
show and they had all these
robot arms over.

1341
01:10:41,800 --> 01:10:43,160
And I was like, what are these
things?

1342
01:10:43,480 --> 01:10:45,080
They're super cool and I need
one.

1343
01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:47,600
And I went home and I did all
the online training for the

1344
01:10:47,600 --> 01:10:50,960
class and the next day I went in
and I said, can I, can I play

1345
01:10:50,960 --> 01:10:52,200
with that?
They're like, yeah, sure.

1346
01:10:52,200 --> 01:10:53,520
I went and I had.
I was.

1347
01:10:54,040 --> 01:10:55,320
I programmed and had it running
around.

1348
01:10:55,320 --> 01:10:57,280
They're like, how did you know?
How did you learn that?

1349
01:10:57,320 --> 01:11:00,560
I said I did it a lot.
I looked at it last night.

1350
01:11:01,400 --> 01:11:03,000
That's hilarious.
Super complicated.

1351
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:05,080
I'm like, no dude.
This is like LCD controller

1352
01:11:05,080 --> 01:11:08,240
style from.
Yeah, yeah, This is 1980s.

1353
01:11:08,880 --> 01:11:12,560
Yeah, so bringing over that
technology really helped with

1354
01:11:12,560 --> 01:11:16,000
coffee and coffee business is
really cool too.

1355
01:11:16,480 --> 01:11:19,080
It's it's a lot different
entertainment, entertainment you

1356
01:11:19,080 --> 01:11:22,840
take, you take 5 staging owners,
10 staging owners and you put

1357
01:11:22,840 --> 01:11:26,480
them in a room to drink beer
together and one walks out

1358
01:11:26,480 --> 01:11:29,320
because he killed the rest of
them and then coffee.

1359
01:11:29,560 --> 01:11:32,880
You put five people in a room to
drink beer together and they

1360
01:11:32,880 --> 01:11:35,040
recruit five other people to
come and.

1361
01:11:35,320 --> 01:11:36,680
Drink.
That's awesome.

1362
01:11:37,600 --> 01:11:38,880
Yeah.
It's a totally different

1363
01:11:38,880 --> 01:11:40,920
industry until you get to a
certain level.

1364
01:11:40,920 --> 01:11:43,320
Then when you get start getting
a little bit bigger, it gets a

1365
01:11:43,320 --> 01:11:44,800
little bit more competitive,
but.

1366
01:11:45,400 --> 01:11:49,320
Is there ever a like an internal
fight or debate or discussion on

1367
01:11:49,320 --> 01:11:54,240
the retail versus the the like
the retail store?

1368
01:11:54,960 --> 01:11:57,320
Because I know you have a coffee
shop which is pictured in the

1369
01:11:57,320 --> 01:11:59,880
background here on the on the
podcast.

1370
01:12:00,280 --> 01:12:04,320
But like is that something
you're looking to expand and is

1371
01:12:04,320 --> 01:12:07,680
there discussions of expanding
that versus discussions of

1372
01:12:07,680 --> 01:12:10,920
shutting it down and just being
a brand and shipping out to your

1373
01:12:10,920 --> 01:12:18,480
customers?
So my son is and he'll graduate

1374
01:12:18,920 --> 01:12:22,680
his undergrad this year and he
does his master's next year and

1375
01:12:22,680 --> 01:12:26,800
then he will get to decide what
direction he'd like to go.

1376
01:12:26,800 --> 01:12:28,320
I already know what direction
he's going to go.

1377
01:12:28,320 --> 01:12:29,840
He I'm just going to let him
decide it.

1378
01:12:31,400 --> 01:12:37,200
But I have we it's I think he's
going to probably head up more

1379
01:12:37,200 --> 01:12:43,040
of a retail division possibly
and then also run the, the

1380
01:12:43,160 --> 01:12:47,240
wholesale, the branding as well.
But yeah, you might see that

1381
01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:49,080
from us in the in the near
future.

1382
01:12:49,240 --> 01:12:51,400
I know quite a bit about
franchising.

1383
01:12:51,400 --> 01:12:54,320
If you ever want to have a
conversation just about growing

1384
01:12:54,320 --> 01:12:57,000
the business via franchise, I
can save you a whole bunch of

1385
01:12:57,000 --> 01:13:00,240
money just by giving you a lot
of stuff for free that

1386
01:13:00,240 --> 01:13:02,400
somebody's going to charge you a
couple hundred, a couple

1387
01:13:02,400 --> 01:13:07,600
$100,000 for as a consultant.
There's there's good and bad in

1388
01:13:07,600 --> 01:13:11,640
franchising, you know, and
there's good and bad in doing it

1389
01:13:11,640 --> 01:13:13,600
yourself and having company
owned stores.

1390
01:13:14,040 --> 01:13:17,640
And so if you're gonna expand,
there's sort of kind of two

1391
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:21,160
paths that are entirely
different but similar and both

1392
01:13:21,160 --> 01:13:25,240
have benefits and both have some
shitty stuff.

1393
01:13:25,240 --> 01:13:29,440
I think based on who Coffee Cult
is and what you do, franchising

1394
01:13:29,440 --> 01:13:30,840
might actually be a good option
for you.

1395
01:13:31,680 --> 01:13:37,680
Yeah, we'll look coming up, cuz
I want ready to retire and smoke

1396
01:13:37,680 --> 01:13:40,720
cigars and drive my tractor.
Well, that sounds fun.

1397
01:13:41,080 --> 01:13:43,120
That's what old people do, is
they buy tractors.

1398
01:13:43,120 --> 01:13:47,800
I have a a very good friend in
racing who's who's in England

1399
01:13:48,280 --> 01:13:52,720
and he buys all these old John
Deere tractors and then resells

1400
01:13:52,720 --> 01:13:54,120
them every once in a while and
stuff.

1401
01:13:54,120 --> 01:13:56,440
And he's just got this big farm
full of tractors.

1402
01:13:57,600 --> 01:14:00,680
Yeah, that's it.
So farming is my new thing

1403
01:14:00,680 --> 01:14:02,920
lately.
So I got corn and potatoes and

1404
01:14:02,920 --> 01:14:07,960
blueberries.
Where and Bees and Hour North of

1405
01:14:07,960 --> 01:14:11,280
Tampa in Florida.
So is that where you live now or

1406
01:14:11,760 --> 01:14:14,640
is that just where the farm is?
No, I'm out in Davie.

1407
01:14:14,880 --> 01:14:16,760
I'm out by the Camels in Davie.
Yeah.

1408
01:14:16,760 --> 01:14:18,200
Oh.
OK, camels.

1409
01:14:18,800 --> 01:14:21,800
Yeah, we have camels.
I see them when I drive to work

1410
01:14:21,920 --> 01:14:22,760
in the mornings.
Oh.

1411
01:14:23,280 --> 01:14:26,200
That's wild.
Camels, of all things.

1412
01:14:26,360 --> 01:14:28,920
Yes, that's crazy.
When and they take them out on

1413
01:14:28,920 --> 01:14:31,520
the weekends so the kids can
come and feed them and donate.

1414
01:14:32,120 --> 01:14:33,920
To their.
Their nonprofit and stuff.

1415
01:14:33,920 --> 01:14:36,640
So do you know if I tell someone
I live by the camels, they'll be

1416
01:14:36,640 --> 01:14:40,120
like, OK, I know where that is.
That's I it's funny cuz I know

1417
01:14:40,120 --> 01:14:42,160
somebody up here in Wellington
who has camels.

1418
01:14:42,920 --> 01:14:46,160
Oh yeah.
Yeah, so you know, weird, but I

1419
01:14:46,160 --> 01:14:48,400
mean, in Wellington it's fairly
normal cuz there's a lot of

1420
01:14:48,400 --> 01:14:51,840
farms up here, you know, for
polo and and all of these

1421
01:14:51,840 --> 01:14:54,280
different horse sports that
happen in Wellington.

1422
01:14:54,280 --> 01:14:59,600
But I remember you were like a
big Hollywood guy, Hollywood, FL

1423
01:14:59,600 --> 01:15:03,560
guy, and getting involved in
local politics and all kinds of

1424
01:15:03,560 --> 01:15:05,360
stuff.
I guess you've gotten over that

1425
01:15:05,520 --> 01:15:08,280
illness.
Trying to I still, man, my phone

1426
01:15:08,280 --> 01:15:10,320
still rings.
I just tried to stay out of it.

1427
01:15:10,320 --> 01:15:13,800
But there's a lot of good,
there's a lot of good things

1428
01:15:13,800 --> 01:15:15,680
about Hollywood, FL.
We have a lot of construction

1429
01:15:15,680 --> 01:15:17,880
going on.
Yeah, Down here now, behind

1430
01:15:17,880 --> 01:15:20,160
coffee, cold.
They're building 350 units.

1431
01:15:21,040 --> 01:15:25,320
Wow, apartments and they're
building 750 I think 2 blocks

1432
01:15:25,320 --> 01:15:28,160
away, then across the street I
think we're getting 1200 units.

1433
01:15:28,680 --> 01:15:32,560
So the property values are doing
quite quite well.

1434
01:15:32,720 --> 01:15:35,560
So does Coffee Cult do pretty
well as a as a standalone

1435
01:15:35,560 --> 01:15:37,120
business?
The retail store.

1436
01:15:37,520 --> 01:15:40,200
The the coffee shop.
It does, OK.

1437
01:15:40,560 --> 01:15:42,160
Yeah.
I don't know if it would be open

1438
01:15:42,160 --> 01:15:44,480
without the rest of our
business, but I think that maybe

1439
01:15:44,480 --> 01:15:47,520
we do have a different business
mod do it a little differently

1440
01:15:47,520 --> 01:15:51,440
if we if we were doing that.
So we bought this build.

1441
01:15:52,600 --> 01:15:57,120
Yeah.
So this building we bought like

1442
01:15:57,520 --> 01:16:00,200
7 years ago, something like
that, because it was the one I

1443
01:16:00,200 --> 01:16:01,800
could find to buy.
Yeah.

1444
01:16:02,520 --> 01:16:04,680
Was big enough.
They had because we need natural

1445
01:16:04,680 --> 01:16:09,640
gas as a as a roaster.
Yeah, I needed, I needed to buy

1446
01:16:09,640 --> 01:16:11,680
a building that had a gas line
to it.

1447
01:16:11,680 --> 01:16:14,080
So so is the back.
Of House of that building, is

1448
01:16:14,080 --> 01:16:16,800
that where all your roasting and
packaging and everything is done

1449
01:16:16,800 --> 01:16:19,080
And then the front is a coffee
shop, that's correct.

1450
01:16:19,800 --> 01:16:22,560
And so do you have like a glass
wall or anything where people

1451
01:16:22,560 --> 01:16:25,240
can see the roasting being done?
Like can you?

1452
01:16:25,360 --> 01:16:28,680
See through windows, glass door.
Originally when we built it we

1453
01:16:28,680 --> 01:16:31,480
were gonna have a huge glass
wall, but then the roasters

1454
01:16:31,480 --> 01:16:34,360
didn't fit right and it just it
just didn't lay out correctly.

1455
01:16:34,360 --> 01:16:36,320
So it took glass door.
But.

1456
01:16:36,520 --> 01:16:39,080
Yeah.
And in Canada where I have my

1457
01:16:39,080 --> 01:16:41,760
house, in the little town where
I have my house, there's a a

1458
01:16:41,760 --> 01:16:46,760
Brewer called Grizzly Paw and
they built this big beautiful

1459
01:16:46,760 --> 01:16:50,880
building for their their new
brewery and they wrapped a

1460
01:16:50,880 --> 01:16:54,440
restaurant around the top floor
of it where you can see down to

1461
01:16:54,440 --> 01:16:58,280
all of the the whatever the
things are called where you make

1462
01:16:58,280 --> 01:17:03,560
beer in them and and you can do
tours of the of the brewery as

1463
01:17:03,560 --> 01:17:05,320
well.
They take people on tours five

1464
01:17:05,320 --> 01:17:08,840
or six times a day.
And so it's pretty cool.

1465
01:17:08,840 --> 01:17:11,600
I would think that you could
probably run classes through

1466
01:17:11,600 --> 01:17:13,720
there and all kinds of other
things too.

1467
01:17:14,440 --> 01:17:16,360
We do once in a while.
We had a tour yesterday.

1468
01:17:16,840 --> 01:17:19,880
That's cool.
And then we do, we do like a

1469
01:17:19,880 --> 01:17:23,640
cupping tasting experience.
I'll kind of try to model it off

1470
01:17:23,720 --> 01:17:27,600
of like the Bourbon Trail.
Yeah, the just worries in

1471
01:17:27,600 --> 01:17:28,920
Kentucky.
Yeah.

1472
01:17:29,600 --> 01:17:30,840
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah.

1473
01:17:30,840 --> 01:17:34,320
I think I told you I came back
from I went to New York on

1474
01:17:34,320 --> 01:17:36,960
business and and the guy that I
was visiting there took me to

1475
01:17:36,960 --> 01:17:39,880
this Starbucks and I forget what
it was called, but it's some

1476
01:17:39,880 --> 01:17:43,800
special Starbucks in New York.
It was a yeah.

1477
01:17:44,800 --> 01:17:51,160
Yeah, and they had this, this
iced coffee drink that was like

1478
01:17:51,160 --> 01:17:53,800
a bourbon barrel something or
other.

1479
01:17:54,000 --> 01:17:57,760
It was like 20 bucks or
something for a little thing of

1480
01:17:57,760 --> 01:18:01,400
coffee.
And I mean, it was one of the

1481
01:18:01,400 --> 01:18:03,480
most amazing things I've ever
tasted.

1482
01:18:03,480 --> 01:18:07,560
I I was blown away.
I I did not expect to even like

1483
01:18:07,560 --> 01:18:08,920
it.
I thought I was going to hate it

1484
01:18:08,920 --> 01:18:11,280
because alcohol and coffee to
me.

1485
01:18:11,280 --> 01:18:14,640
Like, I've never really been
into espresso, martinis or any

1486
01:18:14,640 --> 01:18:17,600
of that kind of stuff.
I like coffee.

1487
01:18:17,600 --> 01:18:20,200
I don't even like iced coffee.
I like coffee.

1488
01:18:20,200 --> 01:18:23,080
Coffee right?
I don't like flavored coffee.

1489
01:18:23,520 --> 01:18:27,200
I just like coffee and but this
was amazing.

1490
01:18:27,320 --> 01:18:29,600
Really nice stuff.
That's excellent.

1491
01:18:29,600 --> 01:18:33,200
Yeah, the Starbucks reserves are
Starbucks answered as small

1492
01:18:33,200 --> 01:18:35,440
coffee companies like us.
Yeah.

1493
01:18:35,920 --> 01:18:38,640
Live in 5000 Square Foot
buildings and they've opened

1494
01:18:38,640 --> 01:18:41,920
100,000 square Foot building to
show how they're a small artisan

1495
01:18:41,920 --> 01:18:45,720
rooster that.
Building blew me away.

1496
01:18:45,840 --> 01:18:48,000
I mean, I was.
I walked in and just went, Have

1497
01:18:48,000 --> 01:18:50,400
you seen the one in in.
I don't know what part of

1498
01:18:50,400 --> 01:18:54,120
Manhattan it's in, but I just
went.

1499
01:18:55,080 --> 01:18:57,920
I'm just ching.
Ching in my head is starting to

1500
01:18:57,920 --> 01:19:01,720
do the business and go, how the
hell can this place make money?

1501
01:19:01,880 --> 01:19:06,480
I mean, this is so expensive.
This is such an expensive piece

1502
01:19:06,480 --> 01:19:09,640
of real estate and there had to
be 50 people working in there.

1503
01:19:10,040 --> 01:19:12,240
You.
Know it was just crazy artwork.

1504
01:19:12,840 --> 01:19:15,320
The the the wood underneath the
bar.

1505
01:19:15,320 --> 01:19:17,120
I don't know if you noticed all
hand carved.

1506
01:19:17,520 --> 01:19:20,400
I mean oh wow, crazy money.
I can't.

1507
01:19:20,400 --> 01:19:22,920
Imagine The thing is, the guy
who took us there was telling us

1508
01:19:22,920 --> 01:19:24,760
the whole story.
Like he probably told us the

1509
01:19:24,760 --> 01:19:28,320
wood under the bar is hand
carved and but you know that's

1510
01:19:28,320 --> 01:19:31,760
the thing that a place when you
go that crazy and weird on an

1511
01:19:31,760 --> 01:19:35,880
idea that gets your customers
telling your story for you, Now

1512
01:19:35,880 --> 01:19:37,680
you know you've really done
something right.

1513
01:19:37,720 --> 01:19:41,000
You know, especially with such a
watered down brand like like

1514
01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:43,920
Starbucks, you know, I I think
that's an interesting move on

1515
01:19:43,920 --> 01:19:45,720
their part.
I can't imagine it's profitable,

1516
01:19:45,720 --> 01:19:50,440
but well, although a little cup
of coffee for 20 something

1517
01:19:50,440 --> 01:19:53,360
dollars or whatever it was has
to be profitable so.

1518
01:19:54,000 --> 01:19:56,800
When you have the volume that
they have there, it was it was

1519
01:19:56,960 --> 01:19:58,400
slammed I'm sure when you were
there.

1520
01:19:59,040 --> 01:20:01,280
It actually wasn't like that's
the thing.

1521
01:20:01,280 --> 01:20:04,120
We walked straight up to the
little fancy bar thing and

1522
01:20:04,120 --> 01:20:07,280
ordered three of these these
expensive coffee drinks.

1523
01:20:08,200 --> 01:20:11,160
It wasn't that busy at all.
Normally the reserve.

1524
01:20:11,160 --> 01:20:12,800
Right away.
Yeah.

1525
01:20:12,800 --> 01:20:13,840
Yeah.
No.

1526
01:20:13,840 --> 01:20:17,640
It was a cool experience, though
I I was fairly blown away by it.

1527
01:20:17,640 --> 01:20:19,880
I think I sent you a picture.
I text you a picture of the

1528
01:20:19,880 --> 01:20:22,240
drink that I was having in the
little card that said what it

1529
01:20:22,240 --> 01:20:23,120
was.
And you were like, yeah,

1530
01:20:23,120 --> 01:20:25,280
whatever.
Yeah, that's cool.

1531
01:20:25,920 --> 01:20:27,800
You know, a lot of people and
people tell me all the time

1532
01:20:27,800 --> 01:20:29,160
they're like, oh, you must hate
Starbucks.

1533
01:20:29,160 --> 01:20:32,120
I'm like, no, I love Starbucks.
Like you love Starbucks.

1534
01:20:32,120 --> 01:20:34,880
Yeah, they taught people to
drink, you know, $8. $7.00

1535
01:20:34,880 --> 01:20:37,600
coffee Exactly, You're right.
Like without Starbucks.

1536
01:20:37,640 --> 01:20:40,560
People would expect.
Without Starbucks, people would

1537
01:20:40,560 --> 01:20:43,960
expect 50 Cent cups of coffee.
You know, like you get in a

1538
01:20:43,960 --> 01:20:46,840
diner or whatever.
They changed that.

1539
01:20:47,560 --> 01:20:49,720
It's expensive to produce
quality coffee though.

1540
01:20:50,920 --> 01:20:55,280
Just the shipping, just at the
farms, the having the right

1541
01:20:55,280 --> 01:20:59,120
trees.
There's a lot to coffee, which

1542
01:20:59,120 --> 01:21:03,040
is why when you brought up the
decaf, how our decaf tastes

1543
01:21:03,040 --> 01:21:05,920
different than other decafs.
It's the IT really has to do

1544
01:21:05,920 --> 01:21:10,320
with the quality of the coffee.
A lot of decafs, a lot of people

1545
01:21:10,320 --> 01:21:13,480
are just calling the decaf
company, buying coffee and

1546
01:21:13,480 --> 01:21:16,080
taking whatever they have.
But we actually select our

1547
01:21:16,080 --> 01:21:18,880
coffee before it's
decaffeinated, and then we have

1548
01:21:18,880 --> 01:21:22,000
it decaffeinated for us.
And then it comes to us and we

1549
01:21:22,000 --> 01:21:23,680
only what?
Do they do to decaffeinate

1550
01:21:23,680 --> 01:21:25,280
coffee?
What's the process?

1551
01:21:25,840 --> 01:21:30,240
So there's two main processes in
the world.

1552
01:21:30,360 --> 01:21:33,920
There's and there's probably A5
plants total in the world that

1553
01:21:33,920 --> 01:21:36,520
do decaf coffee.
Like really do the.

1554
01:21:36,560 --> 01:21:38,120
I'm sure there I'm sure there's
others.

1555
01:21:38,120 --> 01:21:41,200
But for the in the main market
there's two different ways.

1556
01:21:41,200 --> 01:21:45,120
There's adding chemicals to it
and pressurizing the coffee.

1557
01:21:45,320 --> 01:21:48,880
What they actually put water and
pressure and chemicals with

1558
01:21:48,880 --> 01:21:55,520
pressure to separate the coffee
from from the from the the

1559
01:21:55,720 --> 01:21:58,520
caffeine from the coffee.
And actually that caffeine goes

1560
01:21:58,520 --> 01:22:03,400
to like that caffeine goes to
Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

1561
01:22:03,400 --> 01:22:07,240
So it's used for other purposes.
Oh, so you keep the caffeine and

1562
01:22:07,280 --> 01:22:09,240
it it gets sold again or
whatever?

1563
01:22:09,240 --> 01:22:12,680
Oh, that's interesting.
And then they and then the other

1564
01:22:12,680 --> 01:22:16,120
ways water process same way as
they basically they're removing

1565
01:22:16,320 --> 01:22:20,200
everything out of the coffee
bean and then they're do some

1566
01:22:20,200 --> 01:22:23,920
chemical process with it that
removes the caffeine and then

1567
01:22:23,920 --> 01:22:26,520
they reinject everything back
into the coffee bean.

1568
01:22:27,200 --> 01:22:30,400
So you either with chemicals or
with water and we use the water

1569
01:22:30,400 --> 01:22:34,160
process, so it means.
Yours is damn good.

1570
01:22:34,160 --> 01:22:38,720
Did did you guys have to test
like 20 different beans or

1571
01:22:38,720 --> 01:22:40,920
whatever to come up with the one
that you loved or did?

1572
01:22:41,880 --> 01:22:46,400
You just get lucky.
I want to say we got lucky.

1573
01:22:46,400 --> 01:22:49,800
I would say that from experience
of knowing what we like and the

1574
01:22:49,800 --> 01:22:54,080
processes and the supply chain
is how, how it came about.

1575
01:22:54,080 --> 01:22:57,040
There's probably a cost too.
Like, you know, like if you want

1576
01:22:57,040 --> 01:23:01,960
a shitty bean, a shitty decaf,
it's it's going to cost X.

1577
01:23:02,360 --> 01:23:04,120
And if you want a really good
one, it's why.

1578
01:23:04,120 --> 01:23:07,160
And most companies choose the
shitty 1, correct.

1579
01:23:07,400 --> 01:23:11,200
I think most companies really
negate the the decaf coffee

1580
01:23:11,200 --> 01:23:13,160
drinker.
As you know, you're not a real

1581
01:23:13,160 --> 01:23:15,880
coffee drinker, you asshole.
You know I'm going to give you

1582
01:23:15,880 --> 01:23:16,960
garbage.
Here you go.

1583
01:23:17,480 --> 01:23:21,280
But it just it has a line to a
place to make money, and there's

1584
01:23:21,480 --> 01:23:24,320
decaf and there it is.
Yeah, yeah, but I wouldn't drink

1585
01:23:24,320 --> 01:23:25,760
it if I didn't like it, you
know?

1586
01:23:25,760 --> 01:23:30,320
And I didn't like I bought 4
cans of this Lovazo or whatever

1587
01:23:30,680 --> 01:23:35,200
and and I think I still have
three of them you know and and

1588
01:23:35,360 --> 01:23:38,760
finally got through one but
because it was kind of blended

1589
01:23:38,760 --> 01:23:42,640
by the end it was blended with
the with the coffee cult stuff

1590
01:23:42,640 --> 01:23:45,480
so yeah.
That's on par with their regular

1591
01:23:45,480 --> 01:23:48,320
coffee as well.
So there's different, there's

1592
01:23:48,320 --> 01:23:52,680
different qualities of coffee.
Yeah, some sell coffee for $40

1593
01:23:52,840 --> 01:23:55,160
or 10, you know, $20 a pound,
basically.

1594
01:23:55,400 --> 01:24:00,120
Some people sell coffee for, you
know, 9 bucks for 2 lbs of

1595
01:24:00,120 --> 01:24:02,280
coffee.
Yeah, yes, you're getting a good

1596
01:24:02,280 --> 01:24:05,840
deal at 2 lbs of coffee, but
it's not the best, it's.

1597
01:24:05,840 --> 01:24:06,800
Not the same.
Yeah.

1598
01:24:06,960 --> 01:24:07,840
Yeah.
I'm.

1599
01:24:07,920 --> 01:24:11,120
I'm perfectly happy paying
whatever your prices are and I

1600
01:24:11,120 --> 01:24:14,280
think the prices are fair and
and it's very, very good coffee

1601
01:24:14,280 --> 01:24:17,960
and I dig it, I dig it, dig it,
dig it.

1602
01:24:18,560 --> 01:24:21,800
Yeah.
When by the way, you know, I say

1603
01:24:21,800 --> 01:24:24,680
it all the time on the podcast,
but we appreciate very much what

1604
01:24:24,680 --> 01:24:27,920
you did with the with the
Geezer's grind thing through

1605
01:24:27,920 --> 01:24:31,600
Robbie Backstage.
I know we don't bring you a ton

1606
01:24:31,600 --> 01:24:34,680
of customers through our
audience, but we do bring you

1607
01:24:34,680 --> 01:24:38,320
some.
And the people who who buy the

1608
01:24:38,320 --> 01:24:41,400
coffee keep drinking it, not
because of the charity, but

1609
01:24:41,400 --> 01:24:43,520
because of the quality of the
coffee, which is good.

1610
01:24:43,520 --> 01:24:44,920
And that's why I drink it, by
the way.

1611
01:24:44,920 --> 01:24:48,640
I'd love to say I drink it
because I'm feeding a charity.

1612
01:24:48,640 --> 01:24:50,080
It's got nothing to do with
that.

1613
01:24:50,080 --> 01:24:53,040
It's it's honestly because I
love the coffee.

1614
01:24:53,400 --> 01:24:57,800
So.
And it's I'm happy to do that.

1615
01:24:57,800 --> 01:25:01,800
We also have a road dog blend as
well that's kind of like what

1616
01:25:01,800 --> 01:25:03,960
like when I came up with that I
was like this is what I needed

1617
01:25:03,960 --> 01:25:06,680
when I got up rolled off the
tour back in the day.

1618
01:25:06,680 --> 01:25:09,720
So yeah, that's what that.
Yeah.

1619
01:25:10,400 --> 01:25:11,920
Making coffee?
Great.

1620
01:25:11,960 --> 01:25:13,720
I miss the entertainment
business a little bit.

1621
01:25:13,800 --> 01:25:17,120
Not too much, but a little bit.
Well, anytime you want, I'll

1622
01:25:17,120 --> 01:25:19,720
just give you a phone number and
you can just jump on with some

1623
01:25:19,720 --> 01:25:23,120
of our customers and stuff.
We'll make you an honorary, you

1624
01:25:23,120 --> 01:25:25,520
know, business development
person or something, and then

1625
01:25:25,520 --> 01:25:27,440
you won't miss the business for
much longer.

1626
01:25:27,440 --> 01:25:29,080
Again.
You'll be like, to hell with

1627
01:25:29,080 --> 01:25:31,160
that.
Man, these people are nasty.

1628
01:25:31,680 --> 01:25:33,440
What?
What's like the hotline right

1629
01:25:33,440 --> 01:25:35,200
now?
I mean but when I?

1630
01:25:36,400 --> 01:25:40,200
You know, there's It's weird.
It's really weird right now

1631
01:25:40,200 --> 01:25:44,480
because it used to be where
Martin had this high end had

1632
01:25:44,480 --> 01:25:47,240
this, Verilite had this.
They were all very different.

1633
01:25:47,400 --> 01:25:49,880
If you wanted this, you got this
one, if you wanted this, you got

1634
01:25:49,880 --> 01:25:52,400
this one.
Now they basically all have

1635
01:25:52,400 --> 01:25:55,440
these homogenized product lines
where everybody's got a beam,

1636
01:25:55,440 --> 01:25:57,720
everybody's got to wash,
everybody's got a spot,

1637
01:25:57,920 --> 01:25:59,800
everybody's got a framing
profile.

1638
01:26:00,120 --> 01:26:03,440
Like they all have all the same
stuff.

1639
01:26:04,000 --> 01:26:09,320
And so it comes down to sort of
different levels of quality and

1640
01:26:09,320 --> 01:26:11,920
you kind of have tiers of
quality.

1641
01:26:12,320 --> 01:26:16,800
And so you know it's really like
I love Airton not just because

1642
01:26:16,800 --> 01:26:20,880
they sponsor my son, but because
I think it's an amazing story

1643
01:26:20,880 --> 01:26:24,360
and an amazing product line.
They're sort of like top tier

1644
01:26:24,360 --> 01:26:26,920
when it comes to all of the
quality stuff, but they're also

1645
01:26:26,920 --> 01:26:30,920
priced up there, right.
Vera Light has some really nice

1646
01:26:30,920 --> 01:26:37,000
products now and they're they're
made in China by by Acme and

1647
01:26:37,000 --> 01:26:39,520
Acme has some really great
products under their own

1648
01:26:39,520 --> 01:26:43,680
branding now.
Chauvet is really good.

1649
01:26:43,680 --> 01:26:47,840
Elation is excellent.
Martin has a couple of really

1650
01:26:47,840 --> 01:26:49,640
amazing lights.
Martin just came out with a

1651
01:26:49,640 --> 01:26:54,040
little tiny LED wash light
called a Mac One which weighs

1652
01:26:54,040 --> 01:26:58,960
like under 10 lbs and is I think
it's like 15,000 lumens or

1653
01:26:58,960 --> 01:27:03,680
something and it's under 10 lbs
full RGB whatever color mixing

1654
01:27:03,680 --> 01:27:08,280
and really, really nice.
And they they it came out with

1655
01:27:08,280 --> 01:27:11,680
this little 4 ball of four bar
thing that you can either put

1656
01:27:11,680 --> 01:27:14,240
four of them that you pull them
right out of the case four of

1657
01:27:14,240 --> 01:27:17,240
them on this bar and you can
either hang that bar or you can

1658
01:27:17,240 --> 01:27:19,200
wall mount the bar.
You can do all kinds of

1659
01:27:19,200 --> 01:27:22,400
different things with it.
Yeah.

1660
01:27:22,400 --> 01:27:26,080
So I mean it's like all of the
companies are good.

1661
01:27:26,080 --> 01:27:28,960
Pick one and you can build a
company around it very easily

1662
01:27:28,960 --> 01:27:31,960
without missing anything.
Like you might have a designer

1663
01:27:31,960 --> 01:27:34,800
someday that comes to you and
goes well, it's got to be the

1664
01:27:34,800 --> 01:27:40,040
ABC light or else you know.
And chances are, most designs

1665
01:27:40,040 --> 01:27:44,320
now allow alternates because
they're all good.

1666
01:27:46,080 --> 01:27:50,080
Not like the old days, Not like
the old days.

1667
01:27:50,080 --> 01:27:54,000
You got a pile of cyber lights,
you got a pile of Sharpies, you

1668
01:27:54,680 --> 01:27:58,640
got studio colors and that was
the spec.

1669
01:27:58,640 --> 01:28:01,040
And if you wanted a tour, you
were buying those lights.

1670
01:28:01,240 --> 01:28:03,920
I mean you still go through a
little bit of that like right

1671
01:28:03,920 --> 01:28:07,240
now this this Mac one thing from
Martin, it's going to ship

1672
01:28:07,240 --> 01:28:09,720
bazillions of them.
It's going to be the Sharpie of

1673
01:28:09,720 --> 01:28:14,320
of 2024.
I think it's cheap like it's I

1674
01:28:14,320 --> 01:28:19,200
think it's like 2 grand retail,
something like that And so it's

1675
01:28:19,200 --> 01:28:21,200
really cheap.
You can buy a hundred of them

1676
01:28:21,200 --> 01:28:24,520
and and do anything with it.
Like you couldn't do a stadium

1677
01:28:24,520 --> 01:28:29,680
or anything, but you know any
club gig any any theater, small

1678
01:28:29,680 --> 01:28:35,600
venue kind of thing, certainly
for industrials, for for

1679
01:28:35,600 --> 01:28:39,240
corporate shows and and
convention booths and stuff,

1680
01:28:39,440 --> 01:28:42,840
amazing light.
So that thing I think is going

1681
01:28:42,840 --> 01:28:49,240
to probably be the the breakout
success of 2024, but then LDI

1682
01:28:49,240 --> 01:28:52,320
will come around again or Plaza
later in the year and you'll

1683
01:28:52,320 --> 01:28:54,200
have another two or three hot
lights.

1684
01:28:54,200 --> 01:28:59,360
You know, as far as control,
it's still MA Roby just bought

1685
01:28:59,360 --> 01:29:01,840
Ava lights, which is kind of
interesting.

1686
01:29:02,320 --> 01:29:08,200
And AVO has this thing called
the D9 which is trying to bump

1687
01:29:08,200 --> 01:29:13,680
off the MA three and not really
successfully yet.

1688
01:29:13,680 --> 01:29:16,400
Like everybody says, yeah, it's
a cool console, but then, you

1689
01:29:16,400 --> 01:29:22,320
know they sell 1000 MA threes to
every 10 Ava lights consoles or

1690
01:29:22,320 --> 01:29:25,760
whatever, right?
So, but I think with Robi owning

1691
01:29:25,760 --> 01:29:28,880
them, they now have bigger
budgets, bigger manufacturing,

1692
01:29:29,240 --> 01:29:32,200
lower costs, etcetera.
So I think they're going to

1693
01:29:32,200 --> 01:29:36,640
become powerful.
Elation has a line of control

1694
01:29:36,640 --> 01:29:40,280
called Obsidian, which is tucked
in underneath all of that.

1695
01:29:40,280 --> 01:29:43,520
They actually bought case.
They bought the old Martin case

1696
01:29:43,520 --> 01:29:49,960
console stuff and and so that
became the foundation of the

1697
01:29:49,960 --> 01:29:53,760
Obsidian control line and really
nice stuff.

1698
01:29:53,760 --> 01:29:56,880
You know, it doesn't currently
go up to like the MA three or

1699
01:29:56,880 --> 01:30:01,120
the the biggest consoles.
It's sort of like that that Hog

1700
01:30:01,120 --> 01:30:07,120
2 range of stuff and then Camsys
is the other one that that does

1701
01:30:07,120 --> 01:30:09,000
really well.
They're now owned by Chauvet.

1702
01:30:10,880 --> 01:30:15,960
So yeah, I mean it it's it's the
same but different.

1703
01:30:15,960 --> 01:30:21,680
You know, Claypaki's still
strong but not like they were

1704
01:30:21,680 --> 01:30:23,720
like they they don't have a
Sharpie right now.

1705
01:30:23,720 --> 01:30:27,400
They've got these laser
fixtures.

1706
01:30:27,400 --> 01:30:28,960
I don't know if you've seen any
of that stuff.

1707
01:30:28,960 --> 01:30:38,560
The the Stelos, which is spelled
XI, think it's XTYLOS, which is

1708
01:30:38,560 --> 01:30:41,720
a moving light fixture but with
a laser lamp source in it.

1709
01:30:43,720 --> 01:30:48,320
So you get like these like 7 or
8° beams that go for a mile,

1710
01:30:48,320 --> 01:30:52,360
that are just sharp and bright
and beautiful color and stuff,

1711
01:30:52,360 --> 01:30:55,120
really, really nice.
And then they've got a new one

1712
01:30:55,120 --> 01:30:58,400
called Skylos, which is the same
thing but even brighter.

1713
01:30:58,400 --> 01:31:02,000
And it's meant to do skybeam
kind of stuff or big stadium

1714
01:31:02,000 --> 01:31:06,160
shows or whatever.
But other than that, they have

1715
01:31:06,160 --> 01:31:08,960
everything that everybody else
does, a framing fixture, a beam

1716
01:31:08,960 --> 01:31:12,160
fixture, whatever.
And usually they'll have like a

1717
01:31:12,160 --> 01:31:14,600
framing, a beam and a wash and a
spot.

1718
01:31:15,120 --> 01:31:18,840
Most companies will have this at
the sort of low level, which is

1719
01:31:18,840 --> 01:31:24,240
like an LED, like a 300 Watt LED
and then they'll have a midrange

1720
01:31:24,240 --> 01:31:26,800
that's maybe a 500 or 600 Watt
LED.

1721
01:31:27,280 --> 01:31:30,160
And then they'll have a really
high output range for stadium

1722
01:31:30,160 --> 01:31:32,320
shows and stuff that's like 1000
Watt LED.

1723
01:31:32,960 --> 01:31:36,960
And all the companies have that,
you know.

1724
01:31:37,240 --> 01:31:39,840
And now all the companies will
have an LED strobe.

1725
01:31:41,360 --> 01:31:43,520
All the companies will have an
LED bar.

1726
01:31:43,600 --> 01:31:50,560
You know that that does tilt.
But no pan it it's it's wacky.

1727
01:31:50,800 --> 01:31:52,800
It's a wacky business.
And they're all successful.

1728
01:31:52,920 --> 01:31:55,120
They're all kicking ass right
now, selling as much shit as

1729
01:31:55,120 --> 01:31:59,480
they can.
Is there a SO could you find?

1730
01:31:59,480 --> 01:32:03,120
Do you know?
I would love to have to hang on

1731
01:32:03,120 --> 01:32:05,840
my wall at my office, the Status
Queue console.

1732
01:32:07,120 --> 01:32:10,920
I'm sure I could find one.
Maybe somebody listening to this

1733
01:32:10,920 --> 01:32:13,680
might have one that they want to
get rid of, but I would.

1734
01:32:13,680 --> 01:32:16,480
Guess Mokri?
'S Mokri's probably got one

1735
01:32:16,480 --> 01:32:22,760
kicking around somewhere.
Maybe Bruce Jordal, but I could

1736
01:32:22,760 --> 01:32:24,600
certainly find you one.
I'll make a little note here and

1737
01:32:24,600 --> 01:32:27,040
I'll find you one.
Yeah, it just says a piece of

1738
01:32:27,040 --> 01:32:29,200
art.
That and a working.

1739
01:32:29,360 --> 01:32:31,520
Well, maybe a working.
Are there any more working whole

1740
01:32:31,520 --> 01:32:34,080
hog twos?
Are they all?

1741
01:32:34,320 --> 01:32:36,360
No, they're around.
Are they work?

1742
01:32:36,360 --> 01:32:38,080
Yeah.
Yeah, you can get a working hog

1743
01:32:38,080 --> 01:32:40,200
too.
Did someone start manufacturing

1744
01:32:40,200 --> 01:32:45,080
the boards for him again?
Well, Mokri was getting them

1745
01:32:45,080 --> 01:32:50,280
from somewhere, boards and
screens, but I I don't know

1746
01:32:50,280 --> 01:32:53,000
where that's at right now.
But I see, I see hog twos for

1747
01:32:53,000 --> 01:32:56,200
sale quite often.
Couple grand kind of thing, MA

1748
01:32:56,200 --> 01:33:01,000
ones you can get for like 12-15
hundred bucks, you know, which

1749
01:33:01,000 --> 01:33:03,320
is crazy because they were 50
grand or whatever.

1750
01:33:03,840 --> 01:33:05,520
Right.
Technology.

1751
01:33:06,080 --> 01:33:08,360
Yeah, yeah.
No, I mean, you can get that

1752
01:33:08,360 --> 01:33:11,280
stuff for sure.
Cool, I think.

1753
01:33:11,440 --> 01:33:13,320
Cool.
Art for the office?

1754
01:33:13,480 --> 01:33:15,840
Yeah, that'd be really cool.
People would walk in and go,

1755
01:33:15,840 --> 01:33:19,360
What the hell is that?
Exactly, the status queue taught

1756
01:33:19,360 --> 01:33:21,840
me how to save my files, control
save.

1757
01:33:22,240 --> 01:33:24,440
Yeah, status queue was such a
didn't.

1758
01:33:26,200 --> 01:33:29,400
I like that console.
I ran that well.

1759
01:33:29,400 --> 01:33:33,680
I learned that well.
I learned the LCD controller and

1760
01:33:33,680 --> 01:33:37,000
then the status queue and then
the HOG 2.

1761
01:33:37,360 --> 01:33:39,440
Well, I think the worst thing
that happened to the status

1762
01:33:39,440 --> 01:33:43,120
queue was the Hog 2, because if
the Hog two didn't come out,

1763
01:33:43,560 --> 01:33:48,320
maybe status queue might have
had more of a run, but it just

1764
01:33:48,320 --> 01:33:51,800
got crushed, you know, it was
just like forget it, you.

1765
01:33:51,800 --> 01:33:54,000
Know it was so big.
It was.

1766
01:33:54,000 --> 01:33:55,520
Well, it wasn't even that.
It just was.

1767
01:33:55,920 --> 01:33:59,000
It was sort of nonsensical.
The whole operating system was a

1768
01:33:59,000 --> 01:34:04,440
little goofy and it it just it
wasn't, yeah, I don't know, it

1769
01:34:04,480 --> 01:34:06,720
wasn't a Hog 2.
No, definitely not.

1770
01:34:06,720 --> 01:34:08,760
The Hog Two Definitely kill was
dead.

1771
01:34:09,080 --> 01:34:10,320
Yeah.
Sure.

1772
01:34:11,080 --> 01:34:14,640
Well, Jamie, I I appreciate you
taking the time.

1773
01:34:14,640 --> 01:34:17,040
I know you said you have a
meeting at 11 or something, so

1774
01:34:17,040 --> 01:34:18,320
we're going to have to get off
of this.

1775
01:34:18,320 --> 01:34:20,520
But I appreciate you taking the
time.

1776
01:34:20,520 --> 01:34:23,520
I I love your coffee.
I love your career.

1777
01:34:23,520 --> 01:34:27,320
I think you've always been a a
really smart entrepreneurial

1778
01:34:27,320 --> 01:34:30,400
thinker by the way.
Another Side Story is you're the

1779
01:34:30,400 --> 01:34:33,160
one who and and shame on you for
doing this.

1780
01:34:33,160 --> 01:34:35,960
You're the one who got my son
into racing because your son was

1781
01:34:35,960 --> 01:34:37,920
actually in racing before mine
was.

1782
01:34:38,320 --> 01:34:41,080
And my son saw your son and
talked to him and he said oh,

1783
01:34:41,080 --> 01:34:44,800
it's amazing, go karts are
amazing And so Jeremy had to try

1784
01:34:44,840 --> 01:34:47,720
it, tried it.
We've been doing it for 13 years

1785
01:34:47,720 --> 01:34:53,440
since then.
It's the reason I'm poor and and

1786
01:34:53,600 --> 01:34:55,480
yeah, so thank you for that.
Appreciate that.

1787
01:34:55,480 --> 01:34:58,560
You're welcome.
I sold my Kart quickly after

1788
01:34:58,560 --> 01:35:00,800
that.
I was like, Oh no, but a lot of

1789
01:35:00,840 --> 01:35:04,240
people don't know who your son
Jeremy competes against.

1790
01:35:04,240 --> 01:35:07,920
Some really, really well
financed teams, like the Yeah.

1791
01:35:09,040 --> 01:35:12,800
Yeah, no, it's it's crazy.
I mean some of the kids we we

1792
01:35:12,800 --> 01:35:16,520
grew up racing with are are half
of them are in IndyCar now and

1793
01:35:16,520 --> 01:35:20,720
and still very well funded.
You know one of them, one of

1794
01:35:20,720 --> 01:35:24,320
them went through Formula One
and yeah I mean it's it's it's

1795
01:35:24,320 --> 01:35:26,200
crazy the amount of money that
gets thrown around.

1796
01:35:26,200 --> 01:35:31,040
Like I remember you might even
know Kyle Kirkwood from back in

1797
01:35:31,040 --> 01:35:32,600
the days when you guys were
karting.

1798
01:35:32,600 --> 01:35:38,720
He was karting at at Palm Beach
and he's he's like 22 or 23 now

1799
01:35:38,720 --> 01:35:43,480
probably but but I remember like
probably the third or fourth

1800
01:35:43,480 --> 01:35:47,200
time we were at Palm Beach, I
met Kyle's dad and we met Kyle.

1801
01:35:47,600 --> 01:35:50,600
And you know Kyle at the time
was probably 10 or 11.

1802
01:35:50,600 --> 01:35:56,040
Jeremy was was 7 and so Kyle
kind of took Jeremy under his

1803
01:35:56,040 --> 01:35:58,880
wing and taught him some stuff
and showed him the lines a

1804
01:35:58,880 --> 01:36:01,320
little better and helped him out
a bit.

1805
01:36:01,680 --> 01:36:06,080
And I was sitting on the on the
picnic table behind the fence

1806
01:36:06,080 --> 01:36:09,360
there talking to his dad.
And I remember his dad, I I

1807
01:36:09,360 --> 01:36:11,320
asked him, so what's this really
cost?

1808
01:36:11,320 --> 01:36:14,480
Like if we really, if we want to
go beyond practice and get into

1809
01:36:14,480 --> 01:36:17,280
some racing, what's it cost?
And he said, well, that's a good

1810
01:36:17,280 --> 01:36:19,240
question.
He said, you know it can cost a

1811
01:36:19,240 --> 01:36:22,240
lot of different prices
depending who you are, he said.

1812
01:36:22,240 --> 01:36:27,640
We're on the low end of the of
the spend and we're we're

1813
01:36:27,640 --> 01:36:30,280
scheduled to spend about 60
grand this year and I almost

1814
01:36:30,280 --> 01:36:34,240
fell off the picnic table right
at that point I was like 60

1815
01:36:34,240 --> 01:36:36,240
grand.
What?

1816
01:36:36,840 --> 01:36:40,640
You know, because Ronnie, who
ran the cart shop there, told

1817
01:36:40,640 --> 01:36:43,360
me, oh, yeah, you'll only need
to buy a set of tires every

1818
01:36:43,360 --> 01:36:46,400
month or so.
And you know, the car will last

1819
01:36:46,400 --> 01:36:48,320
you a couple of years.
No problem.

1820
01:36:48,320 --> 01:36:50,800
And I'm thinking, wow, this
isn't a very expensive sport at

1821
01:36:50,800 --> 01:36:53,800
all, you know, now this guy's
telling me 60 grand.

1822
01:36:54,240 --> 01:36:57,040
And then when you get into it,
you start to realize 60 grand

1823
01:36:57,040 --> 01:37:01,080
doesn't go very far, you know,
especially if you're doing big

1824
01:37:01,080 --> 01:37:05,360
national, big national series
and stuff, you know, it's crazy,

1825
01:37:05,440 --> 01:37:06,320
crazy sport.
Yeah.

1826
01:37:06,960 --> 01:37:07,840
That's good.
That's.

1827
01:37:08,000 --> 01:37:09,720
I'm glad Jeremy's still racing.
That's awesome.

1828
01:37:09,720 --> 01:37:14,120
Yeah, he is.
You know, it's so ingrained in

1829
01:37:14,120 --> 01:37:16,480
him.
It's his passion and I can't get

1830
01:37:16,480 --> 01:37:19,000
him away from it.
Like I wish he liked soccer or

1831
01:37:19,240 --> 01:37:21,840
basketball or football or
something, you know, where it's

1832
01:37:22,120 --> 01:37:24,960
a pair of shoes and a ball and
you know, here I'll buy you 10

1833
01:37:24,960 --> 01:37:26,040
pairs of shoes.
How's that?

1834
01:37:27,000 --> 01:37:30,240
But he's he's doing it more on
his own now like where he's

1835
01:37:30,240 --> 01:37:35,480
negotiating the deals and he's,
you know, I'm, I mean in open

1836
01:37:35,480 --> 01:37:41,000
wheel a career is is, you know,
a very hard thing to come by

1837
01:37:41,000 --> 01:37:42,760
unless you have a billionaire
father.

1838
01:37:43,280 --> 01:37:48,640
And so unfortunately, you know,
he's looking at other things.

1839
01:37:48,640 --> 01:37:51,760
He's looking at GT cars and all
kinds of other stuff.

1840
01:37:51,760 --> 01:37:55,480
But he's also doing some
coaching and you know some real

1841
01:37:55,480 --> 01:37:59,280
job kind of stuff as well
because you got to, you got to

1842
01:37:59,280 --> 01:38:00,520
survive too.
You got to live.

1843
01:38:01,200 --> 01:38:03,240
Is he in Wellington now?
Is he local or?

1844
01:38:03,280 --> 01:38:04,520
Yeah, he's he's local.
Yeah.

1845
01:38:04,560 --> 01:38:10,920
He he got back from England 6-8
weeks ago I guess and and he'll

1846
01:38:10,920 --> 01:38:14,320
probably, we're not sure yet
what he's going to do this year.

1847
01:38:14,560 --> 01:38:16,440
He's working on it.
Yeah.

1848
01:38:16,720 --> 01:38:18,640
Cool.
So anyways thanks a bunch for

1849
01:38:18,640 --> 01:38:21,200
doing this thanks for what
you're doing for for the

1850
01:38:21,200 --> 01:38:24,800
industry with coffee cult.
Anybody who's listening order

1851
01:38:24,800 --> 01:38:28,160
this coffee they always offer
discounts and all kinds of

1852
01:38:28,160 --> 01:38:29,640
stuff.
You got to get 2 bags to get the

1853
01:38:29,640 --> 01:38:34,520
shipping free and try it.
I mean you'll you'll love it.

1854
01:38:34,520 --> 01:38:35,800
I love it.
It's amazing.

1855
01:38:36,480 --> 01:38:39,000
Most of the people I know
through our podcast who have

1856
01:38:39,000 --> 01:38:43,080
gotten into it continue to rebuy
it just like I do you know it's

1857
01:38:43,080 --> 01:38:46,400
become part of their lives.
So including Eric Loder from

1858
01:38:46,400 --> 01:38:49,920
Elation who sent me a picture
the other day of him re upping

1859
01:38:49,920 --> 01:38:52,560
the coffee supply for the office
and.

1860
01:38:52,840 --> 01:38:55,480
He said.
I knew Eric when I was like 17.

1861
01:38:55,960 --> 01:38:56,440
Did he really?
I knew.

1862
01:38:56,920 --> 01:38:58,720
I know Eric.
He was an American DJ at the

1863
01:38:58,720 --> 01:39:00,640
time.
Or was he already at Trackman?

1864
01:39:00,640 --> 01:39:02,560
He was a no.
He was an American DJ.

1865
01:39:03,640 --> 01:39:06,480
Yeah, he's a good dude.
One of my one of my favorite

1866
01:39:06,480 --> 01:39:08,560
people.
So yeah, really was.

1867
01:39:08,560 --> 01:39:11,200
He was a good guy.
Always very good to me, so.

1868
01:39:11,200 --> 01:39:13,080
Thank you, Eric.
Yeah, cool.

1869
01:39:13,720 --> 01:39:14,440
Hi, Jamie.
All right.

1870
01:39:14,800 --> 01:39:16,680
We'll see you later, yeah?
Cheers.