#225 - Jean Larivière

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Thanks for joining me for Geese
of Gear Episode #225.

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Today's podcast is brought to
you by Stratum Productions.

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Stratum is rooted in the Midwest
and committed to setting

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themselves apart.
They're not just in the audio

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visual industry to meet
expectations, they're here to

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exceed them.
As Stratum works toward becoming

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true partners in the AV world,
they bring expertise, creativity

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and a passion for turning
visions into reality.

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Also recently, Stratum announced
the launch of their new staging

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arm called Midwest Stage Pros
with mobile Staging to support

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their Midwest customer needs for
professional staging solutions

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indoors or out.
To learn more about Stratum

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Productions and what they offer,
please visit stratumpro.com.

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And of course, today's podcast
is also not really brought to

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you by, but brought to you in
cooperation with our friends at

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Coffee Cult who create the
amazing geezers of gear.

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Geezers grind, Coffee blend.
And so again, I talk about this

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all the time.
I drink it, I drink 3 cups a

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day.
I think my doctor would probably

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say I should have two.
It's an amazing, amazing blend

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of coffee.
It's really, really good.

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Honestly, we wouldn't have it
here and we wouldn't promote it

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if it wasn't great.
But so it starts with the

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foundation that it's really,
really good coffee.

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And then secondly, which is more
important, is that coffee cult

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give away all of the proceeds
from your purchases of geezers

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grind to Roby backstage, which
goes out to support people in

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need in our industry.
And so please, when you're

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buying your coffee, go to
coffeecult.com Coffee with AK

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Cult with ak.com.
Search for geezers, grind.

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And if you buy 2 bags, I believe
shipping is free anywhere in the

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United States.
And again, great coffee.

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Please support it,
man.

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I'm still bummed about that
previous episode #224 with Eric

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Wade.
We had such a great conversation

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and lost the first, I think,
half hour of it and I apologize

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for that.
It's technology that usually

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works.
Occasionally it doesn't.

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And when it doesn't, it's
really, really frustrating.

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So Eric and I both talked
yesterday after the podcast and

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we said let's do this again,
let's wind it back basically.

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So we are going to do another
podcast, but if you haven't

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listened to 2:24, we still got
about half of it recorded.

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I tried to cover some of the
stories of the half that was

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missing.
And you know, it's not the same.

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But sorry about that and I'll
try not to do the same thing

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today.
So I'm going to try and get the

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whole podcast today.
And so today's episode is

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another fun one.
Of course they're all fun.

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You know, I I love the people in
this industry.

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I love the people who join our
podcast.

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Many of them don't consider
themselves geezers.

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Lots of them are women.
Some of them are younger than

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Eric Loder's official Geezer
age, which is 50 and and so

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today's doesn't look like a
geezer, but he, I believe, ages

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into the Geezer Ville age.
And so today's guest is John

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Lariviere, and he's probably
gonna give me a bit of poking

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for the way that I pronounce his
name because I'm supposed to be

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French, but I don't talk like a
Frenchman.

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And so John is currently the
channel relationship manager for

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touring and broadcast at Chauvet
Professional.

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And fortunately, I got to see
him a couple of weeks ago when

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they opened their brand new
facility here in South Florida,

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right next door to Roby, which
is an interesting position and

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beautiful building, really,
really nice place.

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Jean was there, got to spend
some time with him, which was

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amazing.
It's always amazing.

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Super nice guy.
I've always been a big fan of

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Jean.
Prior to Chauvet, he he held a

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similar role.
I think it was designer

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relations or something,
adulation.

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And I met John when he was I
think, still in his relative

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early days at high end systems.
When I went to high end for a

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brief stint back in, I believe
it was 97 when I went to high

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end.
I think he had just been there

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maybe for a couple of years at
that point, and he was on their

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support team in the on the tech
side of the business, helping to

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make sure that stuff kept
working on shows and stuff.

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And I got to know him really,
really well at that time, and we

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stayed friends ever since then.
So I'm looking forward to

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talking to him today.
And here we go.

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Jean.
The man.

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Yes, the miss.
How are you?

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The rock star.
I'm all right.

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How are you?
I'm good.

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Happy Valentine's Day.
Yes, and to you as well.

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Hey man, last time I did and
last time.

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Happy Valentine's Day is kind of
strange.

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It's Yeah, it is.
It is strange.

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It's very woke.
Let's be woke.

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Let's be woke for just a yeah,
just for one day.

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Like both?
I love you, man.

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Just for one day.
Hey, last time I did a podcast,

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I was in College in 1979,
recorded on a reel to reel, you

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know, and then played back on a
college radio.

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Gosh, I wish I had those rings.
Well, that's not really a

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podcast.
Last time I did podcast.

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That's a radio show.
That's not a podcast.

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Well, it's kind of.
That's sort of the prequel to

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podcasting.
Like, who was the very first

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podcast ever?
I think.

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I think it was that guy.
What the Hell's his name?

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The man Show guy?
Yeah, the guy that was with

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Jimmy Fallon.
Or no, the other Jim.

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What's the other Jimmy?
I don't remember I had the

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space.
But they had that show called

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the Man Show, and then he quit
and went and started a podcast

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and everybody was like a pod.
What?

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And that was when it was just an
an iPod, right?

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There wasn't even an iPhone yet.
And you could download these

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shows into this iPod.
And he was the first guy I ever

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heard doing it.
And to be honest, Joe Rogan was

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not that far behind.
He was one of the one of the

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ones who came right after that.
So it worked out.

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I mean, none of those guys did
it for money.

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They just kind of did it cuz it
was, you know, a simple way to

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get your story out and to talk
and not have any of the

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governance of of radio.
Well.

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There's a podcast right now.
It's going blowing out of.

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I mean, it's everywhere now.
It's with Jason Bateman.

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Yeah.
Yeah, it's there's three guys.

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I don't remember the name of the
other two, but.

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You know, I think I've seen it.
Smartless.

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Yeah, I saw that.
I saw that.

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That's great.
Well, I saw one episode there.

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I think they had like a really
controversial episode or

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something.
And and I saw that one.

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Like, I'm honestly addicted to
podcasts.

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You know, I I do a four mile
walk every morning and I'm

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supposed to like in my head I
should be listening to really

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productive audiobooks, you know,
And I just keep sort of falling

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back into these podcasts.
And I listen to, I try to listen

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to somewhat educational,
sometimes political, sometimes

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news based podcasts.
I try not to go to any of the

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crazy right wing guys or
anything cuz that just makes me

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angry.
But you know, there's so many

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good ones right now, like
whether whether it's health or

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or Wellness or, you know, money
or investments or business.

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There's podcasts about
everything.

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I fly a lot, so I listen to a
lot of podcasts too.

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Yeah, you do it.
You do it when you're flying.

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Yeah, I do as well.
Yeah, I I do as well.

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You know, it's relaxing.
Yeah.

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Yeah.
I mean, and, you know, it's

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usually pretty light too.
So, like, they're not too

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intense.
They're not too structured, you

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know, it's just a couple of
goofballs like us just sitting,

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talking about nonsense.
And some people find that

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interesting.
So I think, you know, between

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your mom and my mom and a couple
of your family members and

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maybe, you know, your wife and
my girlfriend and you know,

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we'll have a few listeners.
We'll have some listeners.

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It's the Valentine's Day
special.

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There you go.
Yeah.

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So I want to get into a whole
bunch of stuff with you,

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including, you know, up to
modern day, your current role

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and some of the stuff you're
working on now.

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But I was realizing this morning
when I was thinking about doing

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this podcast, I was thinking
that I met you during high end

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when I went to high end for a
pretty brief stint.

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And you know, you were just one
of the guys that I got to meet

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there and got to know really
well.

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And that was in like 97 and I
think you had been there for two

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or three years at that point,
right?

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Right, I started there in 94. 94
And so before, before high end

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what?
How did you get into this

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industry?
Oh.

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Gosh, I've, I've, like I told
you earlier before the

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recording, I've been to every
single aspect of this industry,

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right?
So I started back in high

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school.
I volunteered for the lighting,

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you know, to be the lighting guy
at the auditorium.

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So.
Where was this?

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I was in the Montreal outside Of
Montreal, in the center as

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Blaineville, in that area.
It's about about half an hour

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outside Of Montreal.
OK.

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And I volunteer to, you know, to
be the lighting guy at the

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auditorium.
So I started to learn about

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Fresnels and whatnot and stuff
like that.

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And I was doing theater plays,
special event, and I was lucky

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enough to have bunch of friends
that are musicians.

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So we had bass players, guitar
players, you name it, drums

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sense, you know, the whole
thing.

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So once a month, I think it was
the first Thursday of the month.

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I don't remember.
I think it was during the lunch

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hour.
We'll charge $0.25.

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They'll come over.
The auditorium was packed and

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would just jam a jamming
session.

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It was great.
And I was doing the lighting,

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but back then we didn't have an,
I didn't have an FOH.

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So I was stage right working on
that Big Bertha, you remember

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that strand like light green
Bertha with the levers and

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stuff.
And I did.

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I couldn't see, I couldn't see
the show, so I turned.

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I was just, you know, seeing the
show sideways, so, you know,

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from from stage, right.
So anyway, it worked.

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And then from there, from there,
it got me to theater production

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in college as well.
I did theater production, then I

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was DJ ING in a club not far
from the college I like to DJ so

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we all everybody's.
I'm not gonna elaborate on my DJ

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career cuz everybody started as
a DJ apparently in this

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industry.
So DJ are a musician?

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Yeah, it's pretty common.
Pretty common.

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Right, exactly.
Exactly.

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So anyway, Fast forward.
My uncle is Danny.

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Richard.
I don't know if you know Danny

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Denny works for started.
My.

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He started.
He came early in the early days

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of Christie lights.
Yeah.

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He works for Huntley.
Yeah.

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So Denny for me had the chance
to have a an uncle that was 10

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years older than me.
OK.

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So when he was a teenager, you
know when he was 20, I was 10.

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Right.
So 2111 and so on.

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So, And he was obsessed about
lighting as well.

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And that's the reason why in
high school I wanted to

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volunteer to be, you know, a
lighting guy at the auditorium

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because he taught me a lot of
stuff he used to bring me to.

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Idea.
I didn't know that.

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I didn't know that you were
related to him.

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Yeah, a lot.
A lot of people don't know that

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because when I started in the
industry, I never used his name

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to be where I am right now.
And he was happy about that.

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Well, because I didn't want to
say, oh, you know, my uncle's

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Denny Richard.
Yeah, OK.

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Well, you know, I didn't want.
You want to hear a funny story?

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00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:58,680
So when I was a musician going
through school and then leaving

228
00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:03,920
school and being a musician, I
never There was always this

229
00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,920
producer named Bruce Fairbairn.
He produced Bon Jovi, Slippery

230
00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,600
When Wet and Aerosmith Pump and
some huge albums.

231
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,200
He's got a a bunch of good Elvis
and stuff and was always like,

232
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,640
you know, producer of the year
and all this stuff.

233
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:18,560
Just huge, huge guy.
He's dead now.

234
00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:23,120
But I never even gave it.
Two thoughts.

235
00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,440
Nothing.
And so, like after I was no

236
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:30,760
longer a professional musician
and I was earning a living

237
00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,400
somewhere else in the business,
I finally went, you know what, I

238
00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,080
wonder if I'm related to that
guy.

239
00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,880
And I asked my mom and she said,
Bruce, yeah, that's so And so's

240
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,000
son.
And I was like, get out of here.

241
00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,680
And so, you know, like one of
the top record producers in the

242
00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:51,360
world is my cousin and I had no
idea, no idea whatsoever, never

243
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:53,920
thought to check into it.
It's like the kicker for the

244
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,560
Houston Texans.
His name is Fairbairn.

245
00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,400
And people keep asking me, is he
a relative?

246
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,120
And I'm like, no, no.
But honestly, I have no idea

247
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,120
because it's not that common a
name, right?

248
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,560
Maybe he is.
I don't know.

249
00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,200
I have no idea.
It's like mine too.

250
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,600
La Riviera.
There's not a lot of them, and

251
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,000
there's one lighting designer in
the industry.

252
00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,520
He's called Alain Lariviere.
He lives in New York.

253
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:19,680
I tried to reach and I cannot
reach the guy.

254
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:21,400
That's wild.
He's not answering.

255
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,720
You know my mom's maiden name is
Lapierre.

256
00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:30,200
I don't know if I ever told you
that, but it's not that far off,

257
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,480
Lariviere.
Lariviere Lapierre Lapierre.

258
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,880
And there's there's a lot of
them, like if you go looking for

259
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,600
Lapierre, that's a pretty common
name in in Quebec.

260
00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,360
So anyways, sorry, back to your
story Sir.

261
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,200
All of my stories.
I mean after college, high

262
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,320
school and everything, DJ ING,
blah blah blah, I went to work

263
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:56,880
for Jacques Tongue.
Jacques was my first mentor and

264
00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,280
like I said, for those who don't
know me, I've been to every

265
00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,360
single aspect of the business.
Okay.

266
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:07,200
I've swept shops, I've made
cables and I was soldering.

267
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:11,400
So CapEx cables and fixed
dimmers, preparing kits,

268
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:13,840
unloading trucks, unloading
trucks.

269
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:19,600
I drove trucks OK, I was a stage
hand loading load out.

270
00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,280
I was a follow spot operator.
I ended up behind the console

271
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,840
for corporate events.
So I was the lighting director

272
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:32,120
for that and which took me to,
and that was the time when I was

273
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,560
with Jacques Tangey.
So Jacques taught me a lot of

274
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,160
stuff about life.
Maybe tell people.

275
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,280
Who tell people who Jacques is
because he's infamous, but maybe

276
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,440
not to people who weren't in
Northeast.

277
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,280
Area Well Jacques was the
founder of Yeah.

278
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,840
Jacques was the founder of ETI
Itlerage Tangey Incorporated.

279
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,360
Jacques was well known in Quebec
City, Montreal area.

280
00:15:55,480 --> 00:16:01,160
Jacques was very hard worker.
He always got bands around.

281
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,360
So he got tours, you know, he
had.

282
00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,120
Denis was working for, actually
for Jacques.

283
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:08,960
He worked for Jacques for a long
time.

284
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,800
Louis Racine worked for Jacques
for a long time.

285
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,120
JP Cotton, Yeah, we JP.
He always knew how to surround

286
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:20,320
himself with good people.
This is what smart people do,

287
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,840
you know.
So Jacques basically started the

288
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:29,160
company, sold the company to
Solitech.

289
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:31,920
Solitech never had lighting up
to that point.

290
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,840
When Target decided to sell his
company to Solitech.

291
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,000
I remember that because they
didn't want to have any

292
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,240
lighting.
They were a sound company.

293
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,320
Yep, and Solitech was back.
When it was Denny le Francois,

294
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:45,960
right?
Not.

295
00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,840
Not Denny solo tech.
Yeah.

296
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,160
And I remember Denny saying I
don't want lighting what's what

297
00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,200
do you want me to do with this?
OK And then then he they

298
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,960
purchased his lighting
everything his inventory.

299
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,720
So Jacques moved to Toronto and
open ETI Toronto instead and he

300
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,440
had a non compete with with
solitech in Montreal anything.

301
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,319
And then after that, you know,
the rest is just to read Denny,

302
00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,760
work with Jacques.
Louis Racine was there, and they

303
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,280
all moved up to a certain point.
They all moved to Christie

304
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,680
lights.
Yeah, You know, Canada is such

305
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,319
an interesting market.
And I don't know that people in

306
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:25,520
the United States know this, but
most Canadians know it.

307
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,480
Even Western Canadians don't
know it so much.

308
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,120
But Canada is a couple of
different markets.

309
00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:32,560
You've got Quebec and then
you've got the rest of Canada.

310
00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,760
And you know, I learned it
multiple times in my career.

311
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:42,480
I learned it again when I was in
the franchise business because

312
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:48,360
we sold our very first franchise
anywhere in Canada, in Montreal.

313
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,360
And you know, what I learned was
#1.

314
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,200
That was the dumbest thing you
could ever possibly do in a

315
00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,480
franchise company, because most
American franchise companies

316
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,920
don't even sell franchises in
Canada because it's all

317
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,160
different laws and it's very
complicated.

318
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,720
And then you've got new,
different laws entirely when you

319
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,280
get into Montreal.
And you know, The funny thing

320
00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,160
about Canadian companies, like
you have companies typically

321
00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:21,720
that are either in Quebec or
somewhere else, but not both.

322
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,160
You know, it's it's relatively
uncommon that companies serve

323
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:33,200
both, you know, French and and
and English Canada, you know,

324
00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:35,960
Right, Right.
And I'm sure you know all that

325
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,160
stuff you grew up.
In Solitec, Solitec was able to

326
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:43,760
do that, you know, which which
surprised me at the at the time.

327
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:46,840
But they got out of it now.
They got out of Quebec and they

328
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,560
went to Vancouver.
They went to Toronto, they went

329
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,840
to and then, then United States
and now the rest is history.

330
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:53,800
Of course, yeah.
Yeah.

331
00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,280
They're ginormous now.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah.

332
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:03,120
So that's interesting.
So then you're still in clubs

333
00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:05,880
and and Oh no, you you were
working with Jacques and then

334
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:07,040
where did you go from there?
What?

335
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:11,800
What did that lead into?
Czechoslovakia, really.

336
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,800
I lived in Czech Republic for
two years.

337
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,440
I lived in Prague.
Why?

338
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,240
Doing lighting, actually
refurbishing old theaters of new

339
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,520
lighting and stuff.
It was an experience from

340
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,160
Jacques, said.
Man, go, you need to go there.

341
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,080
You met a girl in Montreal.
I'm guessing she was from Czech

342
00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,920
Republic and she said I want you
to come back and meet my family.

343
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,600
No, actually no.
When I was DJ and there was a

344
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:36,920
club called Metropolis and one
of the owner was checked.

345
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:39,680
Oh.
Yeah, yeah.

346
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:44,040
And then he's.
And then Jacques had Metropolis

347
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,560
was one of their clients.
OK.

348
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,520
So Jacques said, I know Julius
there, you should talk to him

349
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,080
because he needs some people in
Czech Republic and you should

350
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,840
travel, you should get out of
here, go travel and this, this,

351
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,400
that's the thing.
That's why we do, we do this

352
00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,720
here is to travel, you know, we
get to travel.

353
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,800
We get to see cities, people,
you know.

354
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:05,440
That's wild.
I didn't even know that that's

355
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:07,440
that had to be quite an
experience.

356
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:08,840
So how old were you at that
point?

357
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:15,760
Gosh, that was 2829.
Oh, OK.

358
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,120
So you were an adult.
You weren't like 19 years old or

359
00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:19,360
something.
Oh no, no.

360
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,760
Yeah.
So what was that like?

361
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,760
I mean, going over there and,
you know, I've been, I've been

362
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,800
to Prague, I went to Prague with
with Michael Jackson for a few

363
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:33,600
days when he opened a world tour
there with Peter Morris.

364
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,600
And I don't think Eric Wade was
there.

365
00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,760
It was Arnold Sarami, and maybe
Eric was there, but I don't

366
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:42,920
think so.
But anyways, that's that's the

367
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,040
only time I've been to check.
I've never been to the Roby

368
00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,800
factory or anything, but how
was?

369
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:52,440
That well, it's the fun fact is
that Julius hired a couple of

370
00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:54,880
people from Montreal and he said
stand by, we have all your

371
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:56,600
tickets.
But there's a there's an

372
00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:01,080
election night tomorrow night.
If Havel gets elected, we get to

373
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,120
go.
If Havel doesn't get elected,

374
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,400
we're not going.
So we we we sat at a bar and

375
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:12,200
waiting for the election results
and he got elected and we got

376
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,840
all got drunk and stuff and
partying and on the plane on the

377
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,160
way there.
And even even people were

378
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:23,160
celebrating in Czech Republic
and we were flying Chesky

379
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,600
Airlines CSA from Montreal to
Prague.

380
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,720
There was a direct flight and
there was a big party on the

381
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:32,360
plane.
Even people that were not with

382
00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:36,960
us celebrating.
We arrived in Prague or smashed,

383
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:42,360
but so, so we started there.
So it opened up a lot of

384
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,560
opportunities for us to
refurbish all theaters and stuff

385
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,720
and now Julia said, hey, you
were DJ said yes.

386
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,040
He said do you mind opening a
big the biggest club in Prague,

387
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:58,840
You mind opening it for us?
No, I said yeah, I can open it.

388
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,960
I can work, you know, for a
couple of weeks, you know, open

389
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,680
the club and stuff.
So they came and interviewed me

390
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,960
on a radio, check on the Czech
radio.

391
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,840
I have an article, actually
somewhere in the Czech magazine.

392
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,800
I was right next to Paula Abdul.
You know me.

393
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:16,840
Yeah.
So anyway long.

394
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,040
Story check.
I didn't know that.

395
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:25,600
Yeah, I don't know if Paulo was
check, but I was in the

396
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,280
magazine.
I was next to Paulo Abdul for

397
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,720
the articles.
It was less weird, I get, yeah,

398
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,120
because Paula was very popular
back in the days.

399
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,080
Yeah, Did you Did you ever have
to learn the language over there

400
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,480
or anything?
Or you just got along speaking

401
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:40,520
English?
No problem.

402
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,000
We we had a translator.
OK.

403
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,360
And this is how I learned to
speak English, by the way.

404
00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,120
Really.
So at the time you only spoke

405
00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:50,600
French.
Yeah, a little bit of English.

406
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,520
I could understand English back
in the days I couldn't speak so.

407
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,160
You learned English in Czech
through a French to Czech

408
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:04,240
interpreter.
Through a French interpreter and

409
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,480
yeah, yeah, we had, we had
people at I was I was in charge

410
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:14,320
of a crew of people.
It's a great story behind that

411
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:17,440
by the way.
It's like Czech people.

412
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,920
You know I've all got elected.
So they were kind of got free

413
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:21,280
you know to do whatever you
wanted.

414
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,240
You know it was not you know it
was free time.

415
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,920
So there was, they're really
hard workers, those guys, OK,

416
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:31,360
they were super hard workers,
but after a week, I hired those

417
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:33,520
guys.
I'm like, man, there's missing

418
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,240
tools here.
There's stuff missing.

419
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,200
What's going on?
It's like, you know, we have to

420
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,440
go buy some more tools and
everything up to the day where

421
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,640
there was no tool, nothing.
There was nothing left.

422
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,480
I said, OK, wait a minute here.
So I I did a meeting on stage

423
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,080
and said, hey, if you guys want
to work, you need to bring back

424
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,920
what you stole, OK?
What was stolen?

425
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,840
You need, you know, you need to
bring it back.

426
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:57,960
I understand.
You know, we took it home.

427
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,400
But you can't work if no, no
tools, no work.

428
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,960
And they back up the truck with
refrigerators and speaker

429
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:10,120
cabinets and televisions.
Yeah, they came back the day

430
00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:13,200
after with stuff.
I'm like, you stole this.

431
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,560
Oh my God, you know, I was like,
oh, but they brought everything

432
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:17,960
back.
They brought everything back.

433
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,640
They say, OK, sorry about that.
I know.

434
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:27,920
So, yeah, so that the transition
was from Czech Republic to work

435
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,160
for high end systems by the way,
because we were using

436
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,440
intelibeams there.
So there's the solution.

437
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:39,120
Yeah, yeah, I used to call in
Austin for a service and stuff

438
00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:44,520
like that with the intelibeams
and they I I spoke, I spoke to

439
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,000
Richard Bellevue back then.
And Richard say if you're ever

440
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,480
in Austin, man, you need to
come, you know, you need to come

441
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,760
and meet me and you know the
people and stuff.

442
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:57,640
So it's weird because through I
met, I met a girl in Czech

443
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,040
Republic, which was my first
wife, lived in Houston and she

444
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,360
knew West Lane really well.
So West.

445
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,800
I asked Wes, I say, hey, can I
work for High End Systems?

446
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,840
I'd like to come there because,
you know, I did not reach

447
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,200
Richard and maybe Richard and
you know, didn't Remember Me and

448
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,080
stuff.
So Wes got me to work for High

449
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,880
End.
So I started at High End

450
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,160
building fixtures, building
Cyber Lights.

451
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,800
I was QC ING Cyber Lights and
then it was a project called

452
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,480
Studio Color.
And then I went on that side and

453
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,720
the rest is history and we, you
know, Studio Color from scratch

454
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,320
and yeah.
So that's around when I got

455
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,080
there.
I think was when Studio Color

456
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:42,120
was already pretty hot and and I
think you were like the main

457
00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,120
product manager or something for
Studio Color I think when I got

458
00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:46,800
there.
I was a product support

459
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:48,560
specialist, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

460
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:55,520
So you know, at high end like I
know and I, I keep bugging

461
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,440
Richard to come on and he keeps
promise promising me he's going

462
00:25:58,440 --> 00:25:59,760
to.
So sooner or later I'll get it

463
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,000
right out of his mouth.
But I always heard these stories

464
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,480
and it never happened while I
was there, 'cause I guess they

465
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:07,560
had maybe grown up past that or
something.

466
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,960
But I always heard these stories
that if there was like, you

467
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,560
know, certain types of problems,
or if there was the same problem

468
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,520
more than once or whatever,
Richard would shut down

469
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:21,000
production lines and wouldn't
reopen production until the

470
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,800
problem was solved.
Postpone the project.

471
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,000
Yeah, it happened about four or
five times with suited color.

472
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,080
Yeah, which is wild.
You know, you're selling as many

473
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:37,400
as you can build and you're that
stuck on quality and stuff that,

474
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,200
that you're willing to just stop
production lines and say we're

475
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,640
not shipping another light until
we figure out what's going on

476
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,240
here.
That's commitment.

477
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,080
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, no, I mean, you know, I

478
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,320
know you're probably still
pretty close with Richard and I

479
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,800
always was as well.
I, you know, I am a guy who

480
00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:03,720
really appreciates that kind of
leadership, like just really

481
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:07,280
intense leadership, really
passionate leadership, like

482
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,120
someone who breathes this,
whatever it is, he's doing his

483
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,000
business, his product, his
brand.

484
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:19,560
And to me, Richard exemplified
that, like he lived and breathed

485
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,480
that product.
Well, Richard was my second

486
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,360
mentor.
There was Jacques Tanguay that

487
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:26,480
taught me about lighting in
general.

488
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,440
And Richard taught me a lot
about manufacturing.

489
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,880
Yeah, you know, yeah, he says.
Yeah.

490
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,680
And he was obsessed with
quality.

491
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,360
So I I learned.
I learned at the right school.

492
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,680
Yeah he was obsessed with
quality and he was also obsessed

493
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,800
with with customers.
You know like especially

494
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,080
designers customer service talk
about listening to what the

495
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:49,240
designers wanted and and I mean
they strayed obviously when they

496
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:53,800
built products like the X spot
and stuff but but you know that

497
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,080
was just in a panic necessity.
Oh no.

498
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:58,920
You know Martin has the Mac
2000.

499
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,680
We need to come out with
something quick and obviously it

500
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:07,120
wasn't the perfect answer but
but sometimes you have to do

501
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:08,520
that.
You just have to respond to

502
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,040
something that's happening in
the market.

503
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,480
But yeah, you know I remember
when I first started with high

504
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,000
end.
It's funny, I, I had dinner with

505
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,400
Wiseman the other night and my
girlfriend and and Wiseman's

506
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,920
wife Tracy were there.
And we told him the story of

507
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,160
when him and I started at High
End the same day.

508
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,320
And it was a surprise.
And so we both kind of walked

509
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,080
into the building and everybody
like I remember Mokri looking at

510
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,760
me going like, what the fuck are
you doing here?

511
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,040
Like get out of this.
But you're a spy.

512
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,240
Get out of here, you know?
And people were just like, what

513
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,520
is going on here with these two
clowns?

514
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:48,040
And we were talking about that.
And I forget where I was going

515
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,200
with this story, but what were
we just talking about?

516
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,920
I completely lost my track.
That's age.

517
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:56,920
Me too.
Yeah, I lost track too.

518
00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,640
Yeah.
Anyways, yeah, it was a really

519
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:01,680
good story.
I promise, man, we'll laugh

520
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,720
later when I remember.
You got hired.

521
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:11,000
I remember sending an e-mail and
through Lowell and everything

522
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,120
and I don't know, something
happened and he called you and

523
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:15,880
he said, hey, come work with us
or something.

524
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:17,680
Something weird happened like
that.

525
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:19,880
I don't remember exactly the
story, but.

526
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,080
Yeah, yeah, no, it's a crazy
story.

527
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:26,640
I I I had this brand new Acura
NSX and it had a car phone in

528
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:28,960
it.
Remember, this is 1997.

529
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:33,000
And so it had the little phone
in the glove box thing in the

530
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,680
middle or the whatever that
thing is called console.

531
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:41,520
And so I I pick it up and it's
got like the LED readout, not an

532
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,280
LCD screen or anything, the
little lights, you know, And I

533
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,520
see this 512 number and I'm
like, what?

534
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,080
Who the Hell's calling me from
Austin?

535
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,920
And I answer and it's like, hey,
Marcel, this is Lowell Fowler,

536
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:54,000
you know?
How you doing, Marcel?

537
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,200
You know, we heard you left.
And literally, I had just walked

538
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,880
out the door of Martin after
faxing in my resignation to

539
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,680
Peter Johansson.
I just walked out the door, got

540
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,640
in my car.
I'm halfway home and I get this

541
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,760
call from Lowell.
You know, a couple people in my

542
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:14,040
office knew and Peter Johansson
knew because I sent him the fax

543
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,320
and presumably his secretary or
whoever answers the fax machine.

544
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:22,200
And that's all that knew.
And here's he him calling me

545
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,680
saying, I heard you left, you
know, we'd like to talk to you.

546
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,200
And I'm like, this is messed up,
man.

547
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,240
So that was weird.
But the story I was thinking of

548
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,800
was Richard invited us over to
his house for a little get

549
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:36,440
together.
And I was there, That thing.

550
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,880
So.
So he asked me what kind of car

551
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,080
I drove and I said, well, right
now it's an NSX, but you know, I

552
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,280
know you like Corvettes.
I've had a bunch of Corvettes

553
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,360
and he goes NSX.
That is, you know, you can't

554
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,680
drive that car.
I know he said Bob had one of

555
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,520
those and he almost died in it
because it was such a bad car

556
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,600
and stuff.
Well, Bob drove the tires till

557
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,720
they were completely bald and
almost went off the road, right?

558
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,840
But but he was just completely
ripping on me because I was

559
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:09,080
driving a non American car and
you know, how dare you

560
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,040
basically.
And I'm like, well I'm Canadian

561
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,160
first of all.
So, you know, I'm not that loyal

562
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,480
to American car manufacturers
yet, but I said here's the

563
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,040
thing, you want me to buy your
product, make the best product.

564
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,280
I don't care where it's made.
I don't care if it's made in

565
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,520
Canada or America or Norway or
wherever.

566
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,560
The hell, I couldn't care less.
I want the best product.

567
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,760
The Acura NSX is an excellent
product and I've had Corvettes,

568
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,920
they rattle.
They're they're, they've got

569
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,040
problems, they've got
shortcomings.

570
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:44,040
The NSX is a fantastic car and
man, he was so passionate and he

571
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,640
fought me to the freaking ground
and finally I just said OK, time

572
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,800
out, you know, let's just let's
be peaceful and and agree to

573
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,440
disagree on this one and we
moved on to a different topic.

574
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,720
But yeah, I I loved the passion
in that guy, though.

575
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,880
I I think like when Peter
Johansson left Martin, like when

576
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,880
Richard really wasn't a part of
high end for a long time.

577
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,800
You lose your mojo, you lose
your sort of heart and soul of

578
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,920
the brand and of the company
when those kinds of people step

579
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:14,520
away.
Right.

580
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,880
I don't like it, yeah.
No, no, not really.

581
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:24,360
So that got me to after high end
to be in the use equipment

582
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:25,200
business.
I was moving.

583
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,160
Use equipment like you did.
Remember it well, I remember it

584
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,800
well.
Yeah, yeah, no, you, you know, I

585
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,680
think everyone at some point in
their life says, you know, I

586
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,160
want to try doing business on my
own.

587
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,320
I want to, I want to be an
entrepreneur or whatever.

588
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,880
And there's obviously, you know,
something alluring to that and

589
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,840
it's kept me involved in it for
a long, long time.

590
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:52,680
But but it's most days suck.
Like I will tell you, as an

591
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:56,480
entrepreneur or as a business
owner, most days really suck and

592
00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:01,440
and it's almost like, you know,
golf or you know, maybe even

593
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,280
motor sports where you know days
are so hard and challenging and

594
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,840
then you hit a hole in one and
it's like you forget about all

595
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:10,680
of that stuff, right?
Right, right.

596
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:11,880
That's.
That's like being an

597
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,000
entrepreneur.
You know, you win occasionally.

598
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,920
Sometimes you win really big.
And that feeling and that just,

599
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,040
I don't know it, it it makes up
for all of those really, really

600
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,800
hard days somehow.
So I don't know, it's a bit of a

601
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,120
disease.
It's a second.

602
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:30,160
I had the fun part of the job.
I was traveling.

603
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,040
I was sourcing.
So travel you know a lot and.

604
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,960
Remember that.
And our main market was Asia so

605
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:41,600
they they all wanted Mac 2000s.
So I I got I rid France of their

606
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,240
Mac 2000.
I'm telling you, I sold punch of

607
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,680
them out of France.
And and plus the clients were

608
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:48,640
happy because we were moving the
fixtures.

609
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,280
Where where are you gonna move
this?

610
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,760
You know, because they were
worried we're moving volume,

611
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,720
right. 200 fixtures, 300
fixtures.

612
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,480
Because wait a minute.
Where are you gonna sell this?

613
00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:58,640
Oh, Asia.
Oh, OK, fine.

614
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,040
Perfect.
Yeah, it's perfect territory for

615
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:02,440
us.
We don't, we're not in Asia.

616
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:03,920
So yeah, you can sell.
Them.

617
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:06,720
Yeah, I I remember it so well
when you when you guys started

618
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,320
doing that and and you know it
was a very different business

619
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,400
model than mine.
But obviously we bumped into

620
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,719
each other quite often because
of the size of the deals that

621
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:18,920
you guys were working on.
And often times we knew the same

622
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,760
people, we were involved in the
same deals.

623
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:25,480
And so yeah, that was, that was
a lot of fun.

624
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,960
And you know, from a standpoint
of of doing the travel and

625
00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,440
stuff, like first of all you
were already a bit of a world

626
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,199
traveler having lived in in
Czech for a while and also with

627
00:34:35,199 --> 00:34:37,159
high end, I guess you probably
traveled a bunch.

628
00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,840
Naughty, Yeah.
I don't remember 26 countries.

629
00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:43,000
I think in 3-4 years, Yeah,
yeah.

630
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,679
Wow.
So somebody would buy a couple

631
00:34:45,679 --> 00:34:48,360
100 studio colors and you'd fly
over and make sure they were

632
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,520
working properly.
Oh yeah, Richard will send me

633
00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:52,880
there right away, right away.
Because you got to go there.

634
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,080
You got to go there and support
support and and teach them how

635
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,400
to and it was easy.
The fixture was easy, easy to

636
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,800
fix and easy fix like 4 screws.
You replace the modules, you put

637
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,080
the module back in, it's working
like a champ, and then you fix

638
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,880
the module later.
In some sense, Studio color was

639
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,320
probably the first step in that
direction for automated

640
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:17,040
lighting.
For modular automated lighting

641
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,480
like I mean cyber lights I guess
were modular.

642
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:23,920
Obviously Martin was copying and
making some of their fixtures

643
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,800
modular where you brought pulled
out sections of the light

644
00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:28,880
instead of.
But the problem with some of

645
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:30,800
that stuff is it failed all the
time, right?

646
00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,880
Whereas Studio Color was pretty
reliable and modular.

647
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:36,800
And no.
Fans remember, no fans in that

648
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,360
fixture.
Yeah, yeah.

649
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,560
And it worked like a it worked
like a sham.

650
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,600
But anyway, so yeah, so this is
the reason why I'm here now

651
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,520
because of my, my travel.
And I got to meet a lot of

652
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,200
lighting designers back in the
days.

653
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:52,600
You know Peter Morris and you
know Roy Bennett and all those

654
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,600
guys you know that I had
relationship with back in the

655
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,880
days that now I do have a
relationship with.

656
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,880
Yeah, well, and it's a good
relationship too, because as

657
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,600
much as you're there to fix a
problem and they might be mad at

658
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,080
you while there's a problem,
they love you when the problem

659
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,720
goes away.
And you know, you're the Fix It

660
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:11,640
guy and everyone loves the Fix
It guy, So it's a good position

661
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,360
to be in.
I have a great story about that

662
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,840
because I knew studio color like
the back of my hand, right.

663
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,480
We work night and day.
I mean it's wow, a lot of hours.

664
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:27,560
I I did one year.
I did 1100 overtime hours in one

665
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,720
uses.
I know it was weird.

666
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:33,680
That's a lot.
So somebody called.

667
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:35,720
I just happened to be in town.
I'm on my desk.

668
00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:38,640
The guy said, hey, I have a
problem with studio, with with

669
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:40,120
my fixture.
It's making noise.

670
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:41,760
I said well put the fixture on
the phone.

671
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,760
He goes, excuse me, I said put
the fixture on the phone.

672
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,480
He goes, well, I don't have it
next to me right now, but I can

673
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,400
call you back.
And so, well, call me back.

674
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:54,040
So he calls me back and he says,
I said, OK, so let me listen.

675
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:55,560
So you know, I listen to the
sound.

676
00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:56,480
That's OK.
It's this.

677
00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,760
I don't remember exactly what
the problem was, but I told me

678
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:00,960
it's this, this and this, you
guys.

679
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:05,080
OK, all right, all right, man.
Bye.

680
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,920
So 45 minutes later, I get a
phone call, the phone rings.

681
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:14,520
I said hello, this is John.
He goes, FEU man, Fui said.

682
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:15,760
What?
What did I do?

683
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,560
He goes, you fixed the problem.
Listened over the phone,

684
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,880
listened to the noise the
fixture was making.

685
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:23,080
You knew exactly what the
problem.

686
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:23,520
Was.
I see.

687
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,400
Yeah.
You know what I mean?

688
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,480
You spend that much time with
that fixture and you've seen

689
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,800
most of them being born, you
know, on the factory floor and.

690
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:33,720
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
From scratch, yeah.

691
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:36,680
You know, one of the things that
was so interesting about the

692
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:40,040
early high end days and I
remember getting there and

693
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,360
seeing this and going how does
this work was that they had all

694
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,760
those little buildings and you
know you'd have to get parts

695
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,520
from over here, bring them to
assembly line over here, bring

696
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,600
something else from over there,
bring the finished product down

697
00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,400
there, then take it over there
to ship it.

698
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:57,520
You know, I mean it was just
like constantly moving between

699
00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:58,840
all of these different
buildings.

700
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:04,520
And it was, it was a funny
business park too, because Dell

701
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,240
Computers was expanding so
quickly at the time too.

702
00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:09,960
So every time one of those
little buildings was available,

703
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,600
High End and Dell were fighting
over it because they were both

704
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,760
trying to grow at the same time.
And obviously Dell would win

705
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:18,920
most of those arguments.
But yeah, it was neat.

706
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:23,160
I mean, high end, I was so
weirdly excited when I started

707
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,960
there because, you know, yes,
they were the competitor.

708
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,920
Yes, it felt like I was walking
into you know, the the bad guys

709
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:36,160
clubhouse or whatever.
But like I had such a an

710
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:41,280
appreciation and A and a real
respect for what High End had

711
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,440
done.
Like they were not a formidable

712
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:47,200
competitor but a company that,
you know, in my career I could

713
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:50,120
never get past because I had,
you know, garbage compared to

714
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:52,280
what they had.
Like I didn't have, I didn't

715
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,560
have near the product that they
had to sell.

716
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,720
So I had to be really, really
nice and really humble at the

717
00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:02,960
time and and kiss a lot of ass
to make people buy robo scans

718
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,040
instead of cyber lights.
It wasn't easy.

719
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:09,480
Yeah, yeah.
So that's that's that's

720
00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,240
basically where you know what it
got.

721
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,680
You know it got me to after the
used equipment business.

722
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:15,760
It got me to.
I'm here at Show Bay now.

723
00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,560
Yeah yeah.
No you your your journey

724
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:22,400
basically took you through
elation for a while and and

725
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:26,400
COVID I know upset that
situation and that was sad

726
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:28,800
because I know they obviously
didn't want to lose you.

727
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:31,240
I don't think you necessarily
wanted to be lost.

728
00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:34,960
But you know Chauvet being as
well funded as they were, they

729
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,160
were grabbing people, which was
a brilliant move by the way.

730
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,200
Grabbing people during COVID,
knowing that they didn't really

731
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:44,240
have work for you at that time.
Like you couldn't travel, you

732
00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:48,320
couldn't really sell much.
But it was a good move because

733
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,480
coming out of COVID everybody
was going to be gone.

734
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:52,560
Everybody was going to be
positioned somewhere else.

735
00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:54,880
So they got a they got a real
winner out of that deal.

736
00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:04,120
But yeah, so, so Chauvet, you
know, again, lots and lots of of

737
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:07,680
interesting stories there for me
because I'm a South Florida guy

738
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,320
and I was talking to Albert
about this at your opening.

739
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:14,600
I saw you at your your big grand
opening for your New South

740
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:18,320
Florida facility a couple weeks
ago, and I was talking with

741
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,680
Albert Chauvet about it.
By the way, everyone calls it

742
00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:23,960
Chauvet except Albert, who calls
it Chauvet.

743
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:26,160
Really.
I don't know.

744
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:30,440
It's it's Chauvet but.
It's the only name I've ever

745
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,280
known, but I was listening
during his speech that he made.

746
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:36,040
He called it Chauvet.
Really.

747
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,520
The whole time I think I might
have even recorded his speech.

748
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,240
I'll send it to you.
But he called it Chauvet and I

749
00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:46,520
was like, that's bizarre.
He he pronounces it Chauvet,

750
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,880
It's his name.
But I I was talking to him about

751
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:55,280
this when I first started with
Trackman, like this is in 1990

752
00:40:55,280 --> 00:41:00,240
or something, 91.
And one of my one of the

753
00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:03,920
accounts on the list that I had
to communicate with was Chauvet.

754
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:09,040
And at the time I think it was
called Chauvet and Sons DJ

755
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:12,280
equipment or something, right.
And it was one of those little,

756
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,720
you know the little roll up door
like garage, not garage, but the

757
00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:20,120
little tiny warehouse things
where it's just one Bay and just

758
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,800
tiny tiny like maybe 600 square
feet or 500 square feet or

759
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:25,920
something.
He had one of those buildings

760
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:30,440
that that had the roll up door
and then a few shelves and we

761
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,200
sold him fog fluid.
He was importing at the time

762
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:42,040
these really, really bad smoke
machines and rope light and and

763
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:45,320
he was selling just tons of this
rope light and stuff to like

764
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:48,520
Sean Farrell at Farrell Lane and
to some of these DJ companies

765
00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,160
out there.
And you know, he was doing OK,

766
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:55,360
but he was tiny and I used to
deliver fog fluid to him every,

767
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:57,800
I don't know, every couple of
weeks or something it'd be like

768
00:41:57,800 --> 00:41:59,960
8 or 10 boxes of fog fluid over
to him.

769
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:04,840
And you know to see what that
company has has grown into today

770
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:06,760
is is just unreal.
It's massive.

771
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,800
It's a it's a great company,
man.

772
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:11,760
This is the the group at
Chauvet.

773
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:16,240
This is a group of
indefatigable, passionate,

774
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:21,080
focused people, and it starts at
the top.

775
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:23,640
And Albert's a genius, he's a
businessman.

776
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:26,600
He lets you work your magic up
to a certain point because

777
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:28,960
there's a great synergy, but
there's a plan of action.

778
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:34,720
Yeah, there's a focus and we
have the fixtures.

779
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:39,040
We're very competitive and it's
adopted by more and more

780
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:43,720
lighting designers.
So yeah, it's a great company.

781
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,760
Yeah.
And again, there's only two

782
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:50,160
companies that I'm aware of who
have sort of made, well, three.

783
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:54,560
I mean, the original Martin was
a DJ lighting company and Mokri

784
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:58,080
made sure to remind us of that
every time we went up against

785
00:42:58,080 --> 00:42:59,640
him.
And aren't they some club

786
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:02,040
lighting disco company or
something?

787
00:43:02,720 --> 00:43:07,480
And Martin made it out of that
whole obviously American DJ

788
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:11,200
slash Elation made it out and
are a very professional company

789
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,440
as well.
And Chauvet, you guys were all

790
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:16,160
sort of these import DJ
companies.

791
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,000
And then all of a sudden, and
I'll tell you where I noticed

792
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:24,080
the transition going to LDI and
seeing the Martin and high end

793
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,960
booths and and Klaypaki booths
getting smaller and Chauvet and

794
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:31,320
Elation getting much larger.
So they went from being the

795
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:34,600
little booth out in the back
corner to being the big booth up

796
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:36,600
front.
And Martin was now the little

797
00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:39,280
booth in the back corner.
And I was like, whoa,

798
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:42,680
something's happening here.
Roby started like that too, you

799
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:45,560
know.
Roby started as a as a OEM

800
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:47,800
manufacturer.
Yeah, absolutely.

801
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:51,280
Yeah, I remember having that
conversation with with Joseph

802
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,520
Joseph Valchar at at Roby at the
Rimini show in Italy.

803
00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:56,760
Were you ever at the Rimini
show?

804
00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:57,960
Did.
You ever?

805
00:43:58,400 --> 00:43:59,360
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.

806
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,960
I got stories about.
I got stories about that.

807
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,720
But we're not going to talk.
No, you don't want to talk

808
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:05,800
about.
It Boy, oh boy.

809
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,440
No, Yeah, it's, you know, it's
by the beach, right?

810
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:10,640
the Rose and Crown.
What was it called that pub?

811
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:12,960
The Rose and.
Crown or crown and anchors, Rose

812
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:13,680
and Crown No.
I.

813
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:15,800
Think Crown and.
What one of them?

814
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:17,160
Yeah.
Yeah, Yeah.

815
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:21,160
No, that place was great with
the with the wild looking

816
00:44:21,160 --> 00:44:25,040
trannies in there, like the, you
know, one of the most beautiful

817
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:29,520
Italian women I ever met in my
life was a man, right?

818
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:33,400
And it was in that bar and I I
just happened to be with a bunch

819
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,400
of industry guys who are
laughing their asses off at me,

820
00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:37,720
'cause I didn't know the
difference.

821
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:39,280
And.
Remedy.

822
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:43,200
Remedy was in March, right?
So this is where and every

823
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,360
single manufacturer were running
their prototypes.

824
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:47,480
That was the start of the cycle
of trade.

825
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:48,840
Shows, right?
Yes.

826
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:51,400
Yeah.
And you could smell, burn

827
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:57,040
plastics and electronics blow up
cards that's everywhere in the

828
00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:00,160
in that trade show space, you
know, because we're.

829
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,120
Closed until like 9:00 AM
because they were working on

830
00:45:03,120 --> 00:45:05,360
lights and rebuilding them and
stuff overnight.

831
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:07,280
They were all prototypes, you
know.

832
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,960
If you wanted to see what the
future looks like in in the

833
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:11,920
lighting industry, go to go to
Remedy.

834
00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:15,280
Yeah, Speaking of which, were
you with high end when they had

835
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:19,760
that cyber light problem, the
the cyber light launch year at

836
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,880
LDI when there was a bit of a
bit of a smoker?

837
00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:27,880
No, I wasn't there.
Yeah, that was problematic.

838
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,960
No.
You know, again, back to

839
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,040
Chauvet.
So, you know, to me, like over

840
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:36,880
the past probably 10 or so
years, it's been so impressive

841
00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:43,640
to see the companies who like
right now, every light is

842
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:47,880
amazing, You know, whether it's
Chauvet or Ariton or Clay Paki

843
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:51,800
or Martin or whoever, they're
all really, really good.

844
00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:58,360
And back when you and I started
and more so me, it wasn't like

845
00:45:58,360 --> 00:45:59,960
that.
Like, these lights were

846
00:45:59,960 --> 00:46:04,040
sometimes quite shitty, not very
reliable, you know?

847
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:06,840
You were constantly opening them
and fixing them and changing

848
00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:10,880
things and whatever these new
lights are just built so well.

849
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:15,480
They're so good.
Yeah, that's there's a lighting

850
00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:19,280
designer was talking to me.
I went to the Sphere show a

851
00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:22,280
couple of weeks ago and.
The you two thing.

852
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:27,680
Yeah, and afterwards we went to
a pub for drinks and food and he

853
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:31,400
was telling me he said a lights,
a lights, a light at the end of

854
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:34,400
the day, right.
It's very comparable everywhere.

855
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,120
At the end of the day, it's
about pricing and relationship.

856
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:39,520
Yep.
That's that's all it is.

857
00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:42,120
Yeah.
That's not not false, you know

858
00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:46,360
it it really does come down to
to what's your deal and and who

859
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:48,720
are you buying from who, who are
you calling when you got a

860
00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:51,560
problem, you know and do you
trust that person.

861
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:55,480
I guess now it's it's it's a
good point and not only are all

862
00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:59,720
lights good, but everyone
basically has the full line.

863
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:03,600
You know everyone's got the
wash, the spot, the profile, the

864
00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:06,320
this, the that all of the
different line.

865
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,320
And so you know you just
basically choose the people who

866
00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:14,120
you want to do business with and
at the end of the day that's

867
00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:16,360
what's important.
That's why every company now has

868
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:19,240
a genre, you know, and maybe not
as good as genre, but every

869
00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:23,560
company has to have someone in
that role of designer relations

870
00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:29,040
and and you know, someone who
can massage those those

871
00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:31,840
relationships and manage the
network, you know?

872
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:33,880
Oh, yeah.
We got to constantly stay, stay

873
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:38,440
in contact, you know, with with
old friends and new friends too,

874
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:41,640
you know, because we're trying
to appeal to young designers as

875
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:44,040
well, and all all manufacturers
for that matter.

876
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,440
Everybody's trying to appeal to
young designers now.

877
00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:49,840
They're the future, right.
So it's yeah, it's interesting.

878
00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:53,400
It's a it's a fun job I have
because it's a relationship job.

879
00:47:53,880 --> 00:47:56,480
Yeah, it's a it's an ambassador
job.

880
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,320
You know, I act like as an
ambassador when I travel and

881
00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:01,600
stuff and you know, representing
Chauvet and.

882
00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:04,720
Yeah, and which?
Is a lot a lot of dinners.

883
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,400
A lot of dinners, a lot of
conversations, a lot of dinners,

884
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:10,280
a lot of activities and stuff
like.

885
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:13,120
That it's good you don't drink
anymore because it's so easy to

886
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:16,640
become an alcoholic when you're
traveling for business like that

887
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:18,440
and taking people out to dinner
every night.

888
00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:21,680
Unbelievable, yeah.
Yeah, it's too easy to fall into

889
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,000
that lifestyle.
You know where it's like, OK,

890
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,160
I'll just have two drinks
tonight and next thing you know

891
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:28,520
it's five and.
Too much of a good thing, man.

892
00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:36,640
100 percent, 100% I get it.
So your your role today, I

893
00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:39,960
explained I think in the intro
that that you know really again

894
00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:43,400
it's down to designer relations
and being an ambassador for the

895
00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:45,840
brand and stuff like that.
So it's it's global.

896
00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:50,840
It is global for now, yeah,
because I have so many

897
00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:55,040
relationships, you know, a lot
of relationships in Europe, in

898
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:59,880
the UK as well, yeah, in the
Middle East and stuff.

899
00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:03,120
So I travel a lot.
I keep, I keep traveling, yeah.

900
00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:05,760
Yeah.
What what percentage of the time

901
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:08,720
are you travelling now?
80%.

902
00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:10,680
Really.
Yeah.

903
00:49:11,240 --> 00:49:13,680
And you're somehow maintaining
your home life.

904
00:49:14,360 --> 00:49:16,840
Yeah, their home life is fine.
The kids are grown, you know?

905
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:19,880
Yeah, it's just we're we're
we're OK with that.

906
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:23,640
It's no problem.
That's cool, because that that

907
00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:26,920
always takes a special, special
partner.

908
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:31,280
You know what I mean?
To To accept that you know the.

909
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:33,160
Fact.
And I love my. 80% of the time.

910
00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:35,280
Yeah, and she knows and Lindy
knows.

911
00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:37,320
I love my job.
So I travel.

912
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:39,320
I don't mind traveling.
I don't mind doing anything.

913
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:41,840
And I book my own hotels and my
flights and everything.

914
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:43,800
And yeah, and.
And and it's fun.

915
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,560
It's fun traveling because it's
a fun group of people.

916
00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:49,400
This industry is great.
It's absolutely great.

917
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:52,160
Good people out there.
Unbelievable.

918
00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:53,880
Yeah, I know.
It's not like you're going to

919
00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:57,040
visit hardware stores and take
out your notepad and take orders

920
00:49:57,040 --> 00:49:59,280
or whatever.
No, it's it's all about

921
00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:03,280
relationships and just enjoying
those situations and stuff.

922
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:04,600
You're right.
I mean at the end of the day

923
00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:06,160
that's the foundation of all of
it.

924
00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,560
The, the travel part though like
in for me I think it's harder

925
00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:14,080
now because I don't travel as
much and so I don't have all of

926
00:50:14,080 --> 00:50:17,640
the good loyalty stuff that I
used to have with the airlines.

927
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:20,200
And so upgrades don't come as
often.

928
00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:23,880
And and you know when you're
sometimes when you work for

929
00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:26,480
larger companies, they have
deals where like you know,

930
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:29,440
anytime you go over a certain
number of hours, you fly in

931
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:32,840
business.
I've had those deals in the past

932
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:35,160
and I've paid for it myself
through my own company.

933
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:38,480
But you know, it's one of those
expenses that now like business

934
00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:40,880
class tickets are 8 to $10,000
now.

935
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,520
It's crazy, you know, it's just
crazy.

936
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,440
So you know, it's hard to
justify when you're going over

937
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:50,240
for a meeting or a couple days
or something to spend 10 grand

938
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:54,280
on a business class ticket.
So I find myself flying coach

939
00:50:54,280 --> 00:50:58,920
more often than I than I really
like, and fortunately I've only

940
00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:00,480
had to do it a couple times for
Europe.

941
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:03,960
But yeah.
But we have, I gather points,

942
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:08,080
you know, during during the
year, my travel year, I gather I

943
00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:10,600
gather points.
So I'm able to upgrade when I

944
00:51:10,600 --> 00:51:12,720
can.
You know when I can upgrade?

945
00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:16,240
I do it most of the time I try
to upgrade on the way to Europe.

946
00:51:16,560 --> 00:51:18,240
Yeah.
So I can sleep.

947
00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:20,800
And the way back, it's like it's
like a long day.

948
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:23,560
So if you're in coach, it's OK,
you know, close your eyes,

949
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:26,240
listen to podcasts and stuff,
and then.

950
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:31,000
Yeah, I'm the same way.
I I can't sleep decently sitting

951
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:35,440
up in a seat, I have to lay down
and so going to Europe I have to

952
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:40,280
have, I have to have a a flat,
lay, flat bed thing and then

953
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:43,440
coming back, if I can get
premium economy, at least I'm

954
00:51:43,440 --> 00:51:46,240
OK.
And so I've done a few of these

955
00:51:46,240 --> 00:51:49,640
dodgy airlines, you know where
where they have cheap business

956
00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:56,400
class and the most recent one
that I did was Miami to Gatwick

957
00:51:56,880 --> 00:52:00,400
and it was an airline called
Norse and I do not recommend

958
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:04,640
ever trying it on the plane.
It's amazing.

959
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:08,400
It really is amazing.
The check in process is very

960
00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:11,600
similar to what I would expect
Spirit to be like.

961
00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:17,400
It's just it's disgusting and
and God forbid they lose your

962
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:20,880
luggage, which they did with me.
Forget about getting a hold of

963
00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:22,960
anybody.
I mean, you know, like I had to

964
00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:25,320
go buy all new clothes.
I haven't been reimbursed a

965
00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:28,080
nickel.
And then they got me my bag.

966
00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:30,640
I was there for a week.
They got me my bag on the last

967
00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:34,720
day I was there and so I was
grateful to get my bag back.

968
00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:36,800
I get to the airport to check
in.

969
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:41,160
I had already prepaid for my bag
to go on the plane because it

970
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:48,600
was a big bag and it was now
like 1 1/2 kilos overweight.

971
00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:52,280
And so they charged me like 30
lbs or something for the

972
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:55,960
overweight because I had to buy
new clothes to replace the ones

973
00:52:55,960 --> 00:52:58,400
that they lost.
I mean that's the only reason it

974
00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:00,240
was overweight.
So I tried to have that

975
00:53:00,240 --> 00:53:03,520
conversation with them nicely.
And this lady comes up and goes,

976
00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:06,400
Sir, if you don't shut up right
now, you're not getting on that

977
00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:09,160
plane.
That's exactly like EasyJet in

978
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:11,360
Europe.
EasyJet don't fly EasyJet.

979
00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:14,400
This is a message.
Yeah, no, I know.

980
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:18,000
When you try and save a buck,
it's again, it's like spirit

981
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:20,760
here in this country.
I I assume I've never flown

982
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:23,120
spirit, but for a different
reason.

983
00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:25,680
Like I used to live in a place
called Pembroke Pines in South

984
00:53:25,680 --> 00:53:30,240
Florida here, and one day I
think it was a Saturday or

985
00:53:30,240 --> 00:53:31,560
something.
I don't even remember what day

986
00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:35,160
it was, but I remember these
smoke plumes in the sky and we

987
00:53:35,160 --> 00:53:37,160
got in the car and drove over
because it was right by our

988
00:53:37,160 --> 00:53:41,680
house and in the Everglades a
plane had gone down and it was

989
00:53:42,720 --> 00:53:47,000
it was value value jet which it
was packed flame spirit.

990
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:50,440
Yeah, the batteries because of
those.

991
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:52,280
Batteries, aerosol cans or
something.

992
00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:55,320
I don't remember what it was,
but it was something that caused

993
00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:58,840
it to to blow up.
But yeah, so you know, just

994
00:53:59,040 --> 00:54:02,880
seeing that plane down there on
fire and the big smoke plumes

995
00:54:02,880 --> 00:54:04,880
and stuff.
And so a good friend of mine at

996
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:09,680
the time was a was a airplane
mechanic for United and he said

997
00:54:09,680 --> 00:54:13,280
Marcel never fly those super
discounted airlines and I said

998
00:54:13,280 --> 00:54:16,120
why and he said the biggest cost
cutting they do is on

999
00:54:16,120 --> 00:54:19,040
maintenance and I'm like.
I believe that.

1000
00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:21,080
Yikes.
I believe that I've been with

1001
00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:25,400
United for gosh, 25 years.
Yeah, and I'm sticking with them

1002
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,160
all the time.
I just, I just not so long ago I

1003
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:33,880
crossed 1,000,000 miles and I'm
sitting on the plane and the the

1004
00:54:33,880 --> 00:54:37,480
pilot comes to me because he
says oh Oh no, pilot's coming

1005
00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:40,360
towards me and he goes
congratulations, you have

1006
00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:42,680
1,000,000 miles, you're a
million mileer now like Oh my

1007
00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:45,320
gosh.
Yeah, you know what I have?

1008
00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:48,400
I have two million on American
and a million on Delta and

1009
00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:50,000
neither one means anything
anymore.

1010
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:53,480
Like try to get upgraded.
It doesn't, you know, unless

1011
00:54:53,480 --> 00:54:57,880
you're in their super premium,
you know, like I stayed with

1012
00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:03,240
United, I stayed in Platinum,
whatever it's called.

1013
00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:05,320
I forget what their thing is
called, but I was always

1014
00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:10,880
Platinum and this year I let it
go like I just quit trying

1015
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:14,000
because even on Platinum I
wasn't getting upgraded anymore.

1016
00:55:14,680 --> 00:55:19,280
Unless you're unless you're
whatever it's called 1X or

1017
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:22,760
whatever it is. 1K. 1K, yeah,
one.

1018
00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:26,400
K, I'm 1K with United and here
in Austin, because there's so

1019
00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:29,360
many people traveling and it's
not a hub city, every time they

1020
00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:33,720
say now we're going to board the
premium 1K, we're like 2025 One

1021
00:55:33,720 --> 00:55:35,440
K, so it's hard to get an
upgrade.

1022
00:55:35,880 --> 00:55:39,040
From Boston to anywhere.
Well, just since COVID.

1023
00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:42,240
Like, The thing is, before
COVID, I got upgraded on every

1024
00:55:42,240 --> 00:55:45,640
single United flight I was ever
on without even asking for it,

1025
00:55:45,640 --> 00:55:47,000
right?
I just automatically got

1026
00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:48,880
upgraded all the domestic
flights too.

1027
00:55:49,320 --> 00:55:53,240
And since COVID, I think I've
like really early.

1028
00:55:53,240 --> 00:55:55,760
Right after COVID I was getting
upgraded still, but as soon as

1029
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:58,840
flights got full, that was it.
I I haven't had an upgrade in

1030
00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:00,160
ages.
Nothing.

1031
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:02,120
So I just.
Gave up.

1032
00:56:02,120 --> 00:56:04,240
So I'm back down to like silver
or something now.

1033
00:56:04,240 --> 00:56:06,680
Medallion silver, which means
I'll never get anywhere.

1034
00:56:07,360 --> 00:56:09,000
You're good, you're good.
Don't worry about it.

1035
00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:11,400
Yeah, I don't care.
It doesn't work.

1036
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:13,800
I'm going to LA next week and
I'm flying on JetBlue.

1037
00:56:13,960 --> 00:56:17,400
So you know, if that's the only,
the only direct flight out of

1038
00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:21,680
Fort Lauderdale.
So do you.

1039
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:24,320
Most of your stuff is on the
designer side, right?

1040
00:56:24,320 --> 00:56:26,960
Not on the supply side.
Like, do you deal with rental

1041
00:56:26,960 --> 00:56:30,200
companies too at all?
I do.

1042
00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:33,200
It depends where and what and
but I deal.

1043
00:56:33,200 --> 00:56:36,680
Yeah, I try to deal with them as
much as I can with their

1044
00:56:36,680 --> 00:56:40,000
designers as well.
I'm not gonna reveal my secret

1045
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:42,640
sauce here, but yes, I.
Do no, but I mean you're not

1046
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:45,000
responsible for like a sales
quota or anything like.

1047
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:46,840
Where or no, no rental comp
numbers.

1048
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:49,000
Have to buy product from you or
something.

1049
00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:52,440
I don't have a price sheet.
I don't know how much it costs.

1050
00:56:52,600 --> 00:56:54,560
I have no idea of price.
That's awesome.

1051
00:56:54,640 --> 00:56:56,440
Yeah, that's awesome.
But.

1052
00:56:56,440 --> 00:56:58,240
It's like a sales gig without a
quota.

1053
00:56:58,920 --> 00:57:00,320
Yeah.
But there's more and more

1054
00:57:00,320 --> 00:57:02,480
designers that are asking for
price.

1055
00:57:02,680 --> 00:57:05,520
I'm surprised on that.
I was very surprised.

1056
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:06,080
Yeah, it is.
So.

1057
00:57:06,080 --> 00:57:07,520
So what's the, what's the price
on this?

1058
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:09,560
I said, why do you care?
Why is it?

1059
00:57:09,560 --> 00:57:14,200
Because I'm trying to do my, my
plot here and I just want to

1060
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:16,200
know, you know, basically, you
know, what's the street?

1061
00:57:16,320 --> 00:57:19,160
Yeah, So I have to call Deanna
and stuff.

1062
00:57:19,440 --> 00:57:22,200
Another trend that I'm sure
you're you're pretty familiar

1063
00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:25,800
with is that a lot more
designers are buying product for

1064
00:57:25,800 --> 00:57:30,480
long run tours or long run shows
or whatever, especially

1065
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:33,160
consoles, but certainly lights
as well.

1066
00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:36,080
And and you know, one of them I
spoke with yesterday on on

1067
00:57:36,280 --> 00:57:39,880
Recording a podcast was Eric
Wade owns a lot of lighting

1068
00:57:39,880 --> 00:57:41,600
product now.
Eric's a great guy.

1069
00:57:42,040 --> 00:57:45,600
By the way, you must have told
him that right before he got on

1070
00:57:45,600 --> 00:57:48,200
the podcast with me because I
asked him a question at the end

1071
00:57:48,200 --> 00:57:51,200
of the podcast yesterday.
I said what are your favorite

1072
00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:54,080
products?
And I think the very first one

1073
00:57:54,080 --> 00:57:57,920
he answered was, I can't
remember what it's called, but

1074
00:57:57,920 --> 00:58:02,120
it's the Chauvet version of the
clay Paki wave, which he said is

1075
00:58:02,120 --> 00:58:05,400
like the wave on steroids.
The pixel curve 12.

1076
00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:07,240
Pixel curve.
Yeah, pixel curve.

1077
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:09,080
Yeah, he he loves.
It.

1078
00:58:09,520 --> 00:58:12,520
Yeah, he loved it.
So I guess he's using a bunch of

1079
00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:14,880
them on something.
Janet Jackson or something.

1080
00:58:16,040 --> 00:58:17,760
He.
Was we have them out on tour a

1081
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:20,680
lot everywhere now.
So it's cool, it's good.

1082
00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:23,480
Yeah, product development did a
great job.

1083
00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:26,480
We have a great, like I said, we
have a great team product

1084
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:30,640
development from product
development to you know, sales

1085
00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:33,560
department marketing and
everything, which is it's a well

1086
00:58:33,560 --> 00:58:36,160
oiled machine I like.
It, yeah.

1087
00:58:36,480 --> 00:58:39,400
No, I mean and it's big, you
know show has gotten very, very

1088
00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:43,600
big like I think more so than
most manufacturers.

1089
00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:47,320
Albert early on realized the
need for capital.

1090
00:58:47,400 --> 00:58:49,960
You know if you want to keep
continue growing in an industry

1091
00:58:49,960 --> 00:58:52,920
like this where the artists are
getting bigger and bigger and

1092
00:58:52,920 --> 00:58:55,680
the packages are getting bigger
and the needs and demands are

1093
00:58:55,680 --> 00:58:58,400
getting bigger, you're going to
need to be well capitalized.

1094
00:58:58,400 --> 00:59:02,600
And and he probably did that
before anyone that I know of.

1095
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:08,320
So that's a really good thing.
What like other than having 100

1096
00:59:08,320 --> 00:59:11,160
competitors these days in the
automated lighting world, which

1097
00:59:11,160 --> 00:59:14,320
does make it tougher because you
know again back in the day as

1098
00:59:14,360 --> 00:59:18,960
old people say, you know it was
Martin, high end Vera Light,

1099
00:59:19,680 --> 00:59:22,480
Claypakke and Comar weren't
really a thing at that point.

1100
00:59:22,480 --> 00:59:29,240
It was very few companies and
now you know there are at least

1101
00:59:29,240 --> 00:59:33,120
what, 10 really good lighting
manufacturers.

1102
00:59:33,520 --> 00:59:34,640
Yeah.
Yeah.

1103
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:38,240
So other than the fact that
you've got loads of competitors,

1104
00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:43,320
what are some of the challenges
in in the touring lighting

1105
00:59:43,720 --> 00:59:48,560
industry today?
Well, you.

1106
00:59:48,640 --> 00:59:51,840
You, I don't know.
It's it's there's a lot of

1107
00:59:51,840 --> 00:59:55,640
challenges but when one of them
is availability of product,

1108
00:59:55,640 --> 00:59:58,360
right.
So it's always when we release a

1109
00:59:58,360 --> 01:00:03,000
product let's say at LDI.
So LDI is kind of late because

1110
01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:06,360
the tours are are starting, you
know the designer is starting to

1111
01:00:06,360 --> 01:00:08,920
design their tours for the year
after and everything and then

1112
01:00:09,440 --> 01:00:12,360
they come to me and said when is
this available, Gosh, I don't

1113
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:14,400
know when.
So we don't know, right.

1114
01:00:14,760 --> 01:00:17,400
Sometimes it's in March,
sometimes it's April, May, June.

1115
01:00:17,600 --> 01:00:20,360
It depends.
So it's it's hard because

1116
01:00:20,360 --> 01:00:23,120
designers are usually after the
new stuff, you know, the newer

1117
01:00:23,120 --> 01:00:26,280
stuff, what's new here, What can
I use, what can I do, you know.

1118
01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:31,720
So that's one of the challenges
to to get it out on time and.

1119
01:00:31,960 --> 01:00:35,320
You you pretty much have to have
product out in January to hit

1120
01:00:35,320 --> 01:00:38,000
the spring touring.
But that's hard.

1121
01:00:38,200 --> 01:00:40,600
That's hard because of Chinese
New Year and stuff like that.

1122
01:00:40,640 --> 01:00:44,760
So it's it's, it's.
Super hard to do that and but

1123
01:00:44,760 --> 01:00:49,040
yeah, it's it's it's timing
that's that's the challenge.

1124
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:51,880
Yeah, no, that's that's a big
one.

1125
01:00:52,120 --> 01:00:56,120
What about even just like this?
I, you know, I know this is

1126
01:00:56,120 --> 01:00:59,760
gonna sound stupid but the size
of the packages now, like the

1127
01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:03,400
fact that when when when we were
at high end or Martin or

1128
01:01:03,400 --> 01:01:06,480
whatever, you know, a big
package was 100 moving lights,

1129
01:01:06,480 --> 01:01:09,720
like I'm selling you 100 cyber
lights to put on this show that

1130
01:01:09,720 --> 01:01:12,360
was a big package.
Now you're getting shows with

1131
01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:15,920
six and seven and 800 fixtures,
right?

1132
01:01:16,120 --> 01:01:17,520
Right.
Quite easily.

1133
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:24,280
And so again, from a capital and
resource need standpoint, a

1134
01:01:24,280 --> 01:01:29,480
stock need which also falls in
line with resources, that's

1135
01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:31,680
gotta be challenging, I would
guess, but it's sort of the same

1136
01:01:31,680 --> 01:01:33,800
answer, right.
Stock, right.

1137
01:01:33,880 --> 01:01:35,000
Yeah.
Yeah.

1138
01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:37,400
Stock, yeah.
Absolutely.

1139
01:01:37,560 --> 01:01:41,840
Well, and you know, when you're
building overseas, it's, it's

1140
01:01:41,840 --> 01:01:44,640
much harder because you can't
just ramp up the production

1141
01:01:44,640 --> 01:01:47,760
lines and say, let's build twice
as many for the next 4 weeks or

1142
01:01:47,760 --> 01:01:49,320
whatever.
It's not quite that easy.

1143
01:01:49,600 --> 01:01:51,840
So I get that one.
Yeah, that's tough.

1144
01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:55,320
Yeah.
So what's what do you think is

1145
01:01:55,320 --> 01:02:01,320
different in the industry today
than when you were at high end

1146
01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:05,120
like other than what we just
talked about like the size of

1147
01:02:05,120 --> 01:02:07,720
the shows is obviously a big
difference.

1148
01:02:07,720 --> 01:02:12,000
You know again we went from 100
light, 100 moving light and

1149
01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:16,960
maybe 2 or 300 park hands was a
big show to now several 100 or

1150
01:02:16,960 --> 01:02:20,640
1000 moving lights plus LED
screens plus plus, plus plus.

1151
01:02:22,320 --> 01:02:25,400
So what are some of the some of
the nuances, some of the

1152
01:02:25,400 --> 01:02:27,840
differences today in the
industry?

1153
01:02:28,440 --> 01:02:30,760
I think.
I think one of them is

1154
01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:35,080
faithfulness.
Being faithful to 1 product, it

1155
01:02:35,080 --> 01:02:38,760
doesn't exist anymore.
Back in the high end days we had

1156
01:02:38,920 --> 01:02:41,840
dealers, high end dealers, you
couldn't sell margin in the high

1157
01:02:41,840 --> 01:02:44,200
end and playback.
No, it was, even though you were

1158
01:02:44,200 --> 01:02:46,440
impenetrable.
Exactly.

1159
01:02:46,440 --> 01:02:51,120
So there was a lot of faithful,
you know, everybody had their

1160
01:02:51,120 --> 01:02:54,320
own group of people brand.
Loyalty, yeah.

1161
01:02:54,320 --> 01:02:56,120
Exactly.
Now it's all over the place.

1162
01:02:56,400 --> 01:02:58,520
Yeah.
So that's that's a good point.

1163
01:02:58,920 --> 01:03:01,720
That's a good point.
So now does price become much

1164
01:03:01,720 --> 01:03:03,800
more important than it maybe
used to be?

1165
01:03:03,800 --> 01:03:07,680
Because now like to try and
break into that situation you

1166
01:03:07,680 --> 01:03:11,440
might need to be more price
competitive or whatever.

1167
01:03:12,080 --> 01:03:15,520
Absolutely, yeah.
Price and availability, if it's

1168
01:03:15,520 --> 01:03:19,360
a very different fixture than
others, yeah, you might have,

1169
01:03:19,480 --> 01:03:21,440
you might.
The price is probably not an

1170
01:03:21,440 --> 01:03:23,440
object, but it's very rare.
Yeah.

1171
01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:26,960
Most of the time it's the price,
price, price, the price point

1172
01:03:26,960 --> 01:03:29,000
because every like you said,
everything.

1173
01:03:29,560 --> 01:03:33,520
They're so lights are reliable
now, so you know.

1174
01:03:33,960 --> 01:03:36,280
Yeah, it's.
It's they're they're built

1175
01:03:36,280 --> 01:03:38,840
solid, you know, quality,
everything.

1176
01:03:38,840 --> 01:03:40,480
So yeah.
Well, that was the other thing I

1177
01:03:40,480 --> 01:03:44,040
was going to say again is, is
that the gear is all so good.

1178
01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:46,960
And you know, again it doesn't
matter what name is on it.

1179
01:03:46,960 --> 01:03:50,360
And I'll tell you when I really,
really discovered that is I I

1180
01:03:50,360 --> 01:03:55,280
was in France and I decided to
go to the Ayrton factory and you

1181
01:03:55,280 --> 01:03:58,600
know, they were a big sponsor of
Jeremy and and my son.

1182
01:03:59,080 --> 01:04:04,000
And so I went to their factory
to check out their lights and I

1183
01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:07,160
asked they put me with one of
the engineers to show me

1184
01:04:07,160 --> 01:04:08,960
through.
And I don't remember which

1185
01:04:08,960 --> 01:04:10,640
fixture it was.
It was one of their newer

1186
01:04:10,640 --> 01:04:14,520
fixtures.
And so he opened it up and first

1187
01:04:14,520 --> 01:04:17,280
of all, I was just blown away by
what they look like on the

1188
01:04:17,280 --> 01:04:19,840
inside now.
Like I hadn't probably seen the

1189
01:04:19,840 --> 01:04:23,200
inside of a moving light since.
Maybe a maybe a Viper or

1190
01:04:23,200 --> 01:04:26,600
something, but maybe even
further back than that, it's

1191
01:04:26,600 --> 01:04:28,920
what.
It's pretty cramped in now.

1192
01:04:29,200 --> 01:04:31,480
It's like.
There is so much shit in there

1193
01:04:31,480 --> 01:04:34,000
now.
There's no space for a dime in

1194
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:37,200
between the stuff.
But it's all so neat, like the

1195
01:04:37,200 --> 01:04:39,560
wiring and everything is so
beautiful.

1196
01:04:39,560 --> 01:04:42,120
Everything.
And you know, because of the LED

1197
01:04:42,560 --> 01:04:45,720
lamp source, there's not as much
heat.

1198
01:04:45,720 --> 01:04:48,680
So they can pack stuff in much
closer, much tighter together,

1199
01:04:48,680 --> 01:04:52,480
more stuff.
And but I was just blown away by

1200
01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:53,880
what it looked like on the
inside.

1201
01:04:53,880 --> 01:04:58,000
And then so I was I was saying
to him, So what breaks?

1202
01:04:58,160 --> 01:05:00,200
I said to the engineer and he's
a French guy, right?

1203
01:05:00,560 --> 01:05:03,280
I said what breaks?
And he goes, what do you mean?

1204
01:05:03,920 --> 01:05:07,320
And I said what breaks?
And he goes nothing.

1205
01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:09,400
And I said no.
But something breaks.

1206
01:05:09,400 --> 01:05:14,040
So let's say for example I've
got I, I, I live on an island

1207
01:05:14,320 --> 01:05:17,800
and I've got a generator and I
want 8 lights for my parties on

1208
01:05:17,800 --> 01:05:20,400
the island and I'm going to have
them there for years.

1209
01:05:20,640 --> 01:05:22,680
What spare parts do I want to
bring with me?

1210
01:05:23,640 --> 01:05:26,800
And he goes, I mean, he really
had to think about it.

1211
01:05:26,800 --> 01:05:32,720
Maybe, you know, maybe a power
supply, maybe like, I mean, he

1212
01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:35,560
couldn't come up with a list of
parts that I would need on on a

1213
01:05:35,560 --> 01:05:37,360
deserted island somewhere,
right?

1214
01:05:37,360 --> 01:05:40,680
So that was impressive to me and
I feel like he was being

1215
01:05:40,680 --> 01:05:42,120
sincere.
You.

1216
01:05:42,120 --> 01:05:47,000
Know and the LED engine on most
lights are very stable, you

1217
01:05:47,000 --> 01:05:51,360
know, Yeah, I was surprised.
I mean, I'm not surprised, but I

1218
01:05:51,360 --> 01:05:54,440
was worried about that when we
released first release, you

1219
01:05:54,440 --> 01:05:57,680
know, back, you know, six years
ago, seven years ago, the first

1220
01:05:57,680 --> 01:06:01,080
LED engine and lights and stuff
was like how, how, how is it

1221
01:06:01,080 --> 01:06:03,480
going to last?
Yeah, it's lasting.

1222
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:04,800
It's good.
It's reliable.

1223
01:06:05,160 --> 01:06:07,920
Well, that's, you know, I think
I had that argument with Craig

1224
01:06:07,920 --> 01:06:11,360
Burrows or maybe it was Peter
Moore or somebody at Roby when

1225
01:06:11,360 --> 01:06:13,440
they came out with that light
engine thing.

1226
01:06:13,440 --> 01:06:15,160
That was a replaceable light
engine.

1227
01:06:15,440 --> 01:06:17,800
I said what for?
And they said, what do you mean?

1228
01:06:17,800 --> 01:06:20,280
This is amazing.
You can replace the LED light

1229
01:06:20,280 --> 01:06:22,800
engine.
And I said, have you ever had

1230
01:06:22,800 --> 01:06:25,760
one fail?
You know, like I don't know of

1231
01:06:25,760 --> 01:06:27,800
very many.
Usually it's a power supply.

1232
01:06:27,800 --> 01:06:31,040
If something fails, it's not
the, it's not the actual LED

1233
01:06:31,040 --> 01:06:33,240
chips.
They don't fail, they fade, but

1234
01:06:33,240 --> 01:06:37,080
they don't fail.
And and he said, yeah, but they

1235
01:06:37,080 --> 01:06:38,840
can be replaced.
And I said, well, what's the

1236
01:06:38,880 --> 01:06:41,360
life expectancy?
Everyone's saying, you know,

1237
01:06:41,360 --> 01:06:45,720
7-8, ten years or whatever.
Nobody owns their lights that

1238
01:06:45,720 --> 01:06:49,120
long, you know, So kick the
problem down the road.

1239
01:06:49,600 --> 01:06:52,400
You can replace LED engines and.
Make a fixture.

1240
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:55,120
I know.
So yeah, that was the other

1241
01:06:55,120 --> 01:06:57,760
argument is, you know, you can
replace them anyway.

1242
01:06:57,840 --> 01:07:00,200
Yeah, OK.
So it's not like a plug and play

1243
01:07:00,200 --> 01:07:01,880
replacement.
There might be a few screws

1244
01:07:01,880 --> 01:07:04,960
involved or something.
But you know, again, I thought

1245
01:07:04,960 --> 01:07:08,800
that was incredible innovation
and I was looking for the reason

1246
01:07:08,800 --> 01:07:14,680
that that is cool.
One of the reasons was they they

1247
01:07:14,680 --> 01:07:18,720
were saying that a designer or
or a lighting company might have

1248
01:07:18,720 --> 01:07:23,120
different engines for different
shows or something, perhaps a

1249
01:07:23,120 --> 01:07:26,400
different color temperature
perhaps just so you can monitor

1250
01:07:26,400 --> 01:07:29,600
hours or or save hours or
whatever.

1251
01:07:29,600 --> 01:07:31,960
I don't know, but I mean the
light engines, probably half the

1252
01:07:31,960 --> 01:07:36,080
cost of the fixture, so it
doesn't really make a lot of

1253
01:07:36,080 --> 01:07:40,240
sense in my opinion for for the
most part, I don't know.

1254
01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:43,320
Again, it's cool.
You know, it's probably

1255
01:07:43,320 --> 01:07:46,920
something that's gonna we're
gonna evolve into at some point

1256
01:07:46,920 --> 01:07:48,960
where they're all super easily
replaceable.

1257
01:07:48,960 --> 01:07:51,760
But one thing I forgot to
mention, when you were talking

1258
01:07:51,760 --> 01:07:56,760
about the SLS thing, where you
started your business after high

1259
01:07:56,760 --> 01:08:01,080
end was, as I recall, you guys
were one of the very first

1260
01:08:01,080 --> 01:08:04,280
people who brought in waterproof
lights.

1261
01:08:04,280 --> 01:08:06,040
IP rated lights.
Yes.

1262
01:08:07,280 --> 01:08:07,880
Yes.
Yeah, it.

1263
01:08:08,040 --> 01:08:10,440
Was called the Aqua Beam.
Yeah.

1264
01:08:10,440 --> 01:08:13,680
I mean, I don't think a lot of
people know that, but I remember

1265
01:08:13,680 --> 01:08:15,920
that you guys were one of the
very first.

1266
01:08:16,080 --> 01:08:19,880
I mean, I think SGM was the
first with that one spot

1267
01:08:19,880 --> 01:08:21,720
fixture.
You guys had the first wash or

1268
01:08:21,720 --> 01:08:26,560
whatever, a beam.
But yeah, so yeah, that was

1269
01:08:26,560 --> 01:08:27,880
cool.
That was really cool.

1270
01:08:27,880 --> 01:08:30,960
Did you just see a need in the
market or an opportunity or

1271
01:08:30,960 --> 01:08:33,680
whatever?
Yeah, we saw a need in IP65

1272
01:08:33,680 --> 01:08:36,479
beams.
It was well that one was not

1273
01:08:36,479 --> 01:08:42,200
IP65, it was an IP 55 at first
we went, we went to Light Sky to

1274
01:08:42,200 --> 01:08:45,840
manufacture there and and in
China which we did a couple of

1275
01:08:45,840 --> 01:08:48,920
trips there and and you know
showing them and say OK this is

1276
01:08:48,920 --> 01:08:51,040
how we want it.
This is how we, you know we want

1277
01:08:51,040 --> 01:08:53,800
to do that.
And they said well we can't do

1278
01:08:53,800 --> 01:08:55,920
IP65 right now but we can do IP
55.

1279
01:08:55,920 --> 01:08:58,960
I said well it's if it's good
enough, it's good enough and it

1280
01:08:58,960 --> 01:09:00,960
has just happened to rain
outside and it had a bunch of

1281
01:09:00,960 --> 01:09:03,399
fixture outside.
So we took a video in the rain

1282
01:09:03,399 --> 01:09:06,040
of all those.
It was great actually.

1283
01:09:06,200 --> 01:09:08,560
It was good.
That video went viral online.

1284
01:09:08,560 --> 01:09:10,000
I remember that.
Oh really?

1285
01:09:10,080 --> 01:09:12,720
And yeah, yeah, and this, this
stood up, so.

1286
01:09:13,160 --> 01:09:14,520
Yeah, yeah, well, you know, it's
funny.

1287
01:09:14,520 --> 01:09:19,479
What what is the the Mac Aura
IPX or whatever It's called

1288
01:09:19,479 --> 01:09:22,520
IPXIPXIP.
What?

1289
01:09:22,520 --> 01:09:28,240
What is that one?
It's IP 54 or 40. 6666.

1290
01:09:28,240 --> 01:09:31,359
No, no, it's much lower.
It's lower, I don't.

1291
01:09:31,359 --> 01:09:32,520
Know.
Yeah, because I remember when it

1292
01:09:32,520 --> 01:09:35,160
came out, it's like IP 40
something or whatever.

1293
01:09:35,680 --> 01:09:40,520
And they said it's IP rated, but
it's not IP65.

1294
01:09:40,880 --> 01:09:43,960
But they have fixtures mounted
on top of their building in

1295
01:09:43,960 --> 01:09:47,760
Denmark with cameras on them and
they've been running ever since

1296
01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:50,640
they released the product.
And that's snow and rain and all

1297
01:09:50,640 --> 01:09:53,279
kinds of stuff.
And supposedly they've never,

1298
01:09:53,399 --> 01:09:55,560
you know, repaired them or
replaced them or anything.

1299
01:09:57,000 --> 01:10:00,640
So you know, yeah, if you're
just wanna do an install and set

1300
01:10:00,640 --> 01:10:02,280
it and forget it, leave the
lights there.

1301
01:10:02,280 --> 01:10:06,880
Obviously it has to be 656667.
Oh, those, Yeah.

1302
01:10:06,880 --> 01:10:09,920
But those, those movers are not
recommended for permanent

1303
01:10:09,920 --> 01:10:11,680
installs.
It's never, it's never

1304
01:10:11,680 --> 01:10:14,400
recommended for that.
Manufacturers are not going that

1305
01:10:14,400 --> 01:10:15,760
route.
They don't say, Oh yeah, you can

1306
01:10:15,760 --> 01:10:17,480
do a permanent install.
It's not recommended.

1307
01:10:17,880 --> 01:10:21,520
Yeah, you can do it.
And it's you know they they're

1308
01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:23,560
so far it's been great.
You know.

1309
01:10:23,560 --> 01:10:26,440
Yeah, there's no no failures, so
to speak.

1310
01:10:26,680 --> 01:10:29,720
But it's not recommended.
Yeah, yeah, I get it.

1311
01:10:30,040 --> 01:10:32,000
I get it.
Cool.

1312
01:10:32,280 --> 01:10:35,520
Well, we, I feel like we've
missed 52,000 things that we

1313
01:10:35,520 --> 01:10:37,440
should talk about hockey.
You know?

1314
01:10:37,440 --> 01:10:40,120
I know we before we started
recording, we were talking about

1315
01:10:40,120 --> 01:10:44,640
the Stanley Cup and and how
shocking it is that this this

1316
01:10:44,640 --> 01:10:49,480
viral, you know, young girls cup
apparently or maybe all people

1317
01:10:49,480 --> 01:10:50,240
cup.
I don't know.

1318
01:10:50,280 --> 01:10:52,360
I don't know any men who have
them, but maybe they do.

1319
01:10:54,040 --> 01:10:57,560
But it's like the most viral
retail product right now, and

1320
01:10:57,560 --> 01:11:00,840
it's called the Stanley Cup.
And you said that the NHL sued

1321
01:11:00,840 --> 01:11:04,640
him.
Yeah, it's they have they added

1322
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:06,280
an S now it's called Stanley
Cups.

1323
01:11:07,920 --> 01:11:09,320
So it's not.
It's not Stanley Cup.

1324
01:11:09,760 --> 01:11:14,680
So I've been in an IP battle for
my life and what I would say is

1325
01:11:14,680 --> 01:11:18,160
they must have the same lawyers
as Google has because if they

1326
01:11:18,160 --> 01:11:21,480
got away with that, just
changing it to an S because

1327
01:11:21,480 --> 01:11:25,360
Google stole my trademark and
and got away with it.

1328
01:11:25,360 --> 01:11:28,880
And you know, even in the final
judgement says, yeah, we

1329
01:11:28,880 --> 01:11:31,640
acknowledge that they stole your
trademark and that they do have

1330
01:11:31,640 --> 01:11:34,640
damages and blah blah blah, but
we're not giving you any money.

1331
01:11:35,240 --> 01:11:38,640
There's also a product, if I'm
not mistaken, there's a product,

1332
01:11:38,720 --> 01:11:41,240
there's a Stanley product.
They do tools, they make tools

1333
01:11:41,240 --> 01:11:42,640
and stuff, right?
Yeah, Yeah.

1334
01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:44,880
So I don't.
I don't get the fact that they

1335
01:11:44,880 --> 01:11:46,440
would go with Stanley to start
with.

1336
01:11:46,640 --> 01:11:50,200
No, because brand names.
It's like you can have Chevy's

1337
01:11:50,200 --> 01:11:53,280
restaurant in in Texas there or
whatever isn't.

1338
01:11:53,280 --> 01:11:56,040
Don't you have a Chevy's I?
Don't know.

1339
01:11:56,520 --> 01:11:59,280
Somebody, there's a Chevy's
Restaurant somewhere, but you

1340
01:11:59,280 --> 01:12:01,680
can have Chevy's restaurant and
Chevy the car.

1341
01:12:01,840 --> 01:12:08,240
You can have, you know, a Mars
bar and Mars, something else,

1342
01:12:08,520 --> 01:12:12,600
like, as long as they're not in
the same category.

1343
01:12:12,960 --> 01:12:15,320
Yeah, if they're in the same.
If they're in the same, it's

1344
01:12:15,320 --> 01:12:17,520
called a class.
If they're in the same class,

1345
01:12:18,000 --> 01:12:24,360
then you know the the Patent
Office will not issue you a

1346
01:12:24,360 --> 01:12:26,720
trademark for something in the
same class.

1347
01:12:26,720 --> 01:12:30,000
But if it's a totally like if
it's Stanley, you know, over

1348
01:12:30,000 --> 01:12:33,280
here and Stanley way over here.
But Stanley Cup, that's just an

1349
01:12:33,280 --> 01:12:36,520
identical rip off of the name of
the like.

1350
01:12:36,600 --> 01:12:39,040
I mean, I'm going to put out a
Super Bowl and I'm going to go

1351
01:12:39,040 --> 01:12:40,880
viral with it.
It's just going to be a bowl.

1352
01:12:40,880 --> 01:12:43,880
That's freaking super, you know,
actually the name.

1353
01:12:43,880 --> 01:12:48,040
Super Bowl came from a Super
Bowl.

1354
01:12:48,960 --> 01:12:51,960
The the kids were playing with a
Super Bowl and they were

1355
01:12:51,960 --> 01:12:54,480
meeting.
Yeah, they were meeting in the.

1356
01:12:55,640 --> 01:12:57,680
I don't remember the name of
those guys that were meeting

1357
01:12:57,680 --> 01:12:59,960
together to to put the Super
Bowl together.

1358
01:12:59,960 --> 01:13:01,920
But he said what?
What are we going to call this?

1359
01:13:02,720 --> 01:13:05,480
And one guy turned around and
saw his daughter playing with

1360
01:13:05,480 --> 01:13:09,440
the Super Bowl and he said, hey,
how about the Super Bowl really.

1361
01:13:09,440 --> 01:13:12,920
And they said it was Super Bowl
and then he came up to be the

1362
01:13:12,920 --> 01:13:14,400
Super Bowl.
Yeah.

1363
01:13:14,880 --> 01:13:16,840
Do you know this to be true?
Yeah.

1364
01:13:16,840 --> 01:13:17,760
Here's true.
It's true.

1365
01:13:18,080 --> 01:13:19,520
True story.
True story.

1366
01:13:19,520 --> 01:13:21,120
Wow.
We're gonna have to Google that

1367
01:13:21,120 --> 01:13:23,000
one.
That sounds pretty fishy to me.

1368
01:13:24,280 --> 01:13:27,080
That's hilarious.
But The thing is it it could

1369
01:13:27,080 --> 01:13:30,400
very well be true because in the
early days of the Super Bowl, it

1370
01:13:30,400 --> 01:13:33,800
wasn't called the Super Bowl.
It was called like the the

1371
01:13:34,040 --> 01:13:37,440
Something Championship.
I can't remember either, but it

1372
01:13:37,440 --> 01:13:41,760
wasn't called Super Bowl, and it
wasn't until a little bit later

1373
01:13:41,760 --> 01:13:43,080
that they called it the Super
Bowl.

1374
01:13:43,080 --> 01:13:45,560
So, yeah, who knows?
Maybe that's true.

1375
01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:51,680
You know those super balls.
Funny story, cuz I was I was in

1376
01:13:51,680 --> 01:13:55,480
like a toy store or like a
department store or something

1377
01:13:55,480 --> 01:14:00,320
with my family when I was a kid
and there was like a not a

1378
01:14:00,320 --> 01:14:02,080
racquetball, but a squash ball.
I think.

1379
01:14:02,080 --> 01:14:05,000
No, it was a racquetball.
And remember racquetballs, you

1380
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:07,240
could throw them really hard and
they barely bounced.

1381
01:14:07,240 --> 01:14:10,400
And so I it was either that or
it was like some kind of a

1382
01:14:10,400 --> 01:14:12,440
sports ball or something.
But it didn't bounce.

1383
01:14:12,640 --> 01:14:14,680
So I was throwing it as hard as
I could at the floor and my

1384
01:14:14,680 --> 01:14:17,480
sister goes try this one.
So I go to throw it as hard as I

1385
01:14:17,480 --> 01:14:19,560
can at the floor and it's one of
those super balls.

1386
01:14:19,800 --> 01:14:22,720
And it came up and hit me right
in the face and I had like a fat

1387
01:14:22,720 --> 01:14:24,760
lip and I was all beat up from
it.

1388
01:14:24,760 --> 01:14:27,480
And I hated my sister cuz of
that.

1389
01:14:28,400 --> 01:14:31,280
Yeah, that was a what could
possibly go wrong ball playing

1390
01:14:31,280 --> 01:14:33,360
with.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1391
01:14:33,400 --> 01:14:35,240
Thanks a lot.
Yeah.

1392
01:14:35,240 --> 01:14:37,320
All right, John.
Well, where are you going next?

1393
01:14:37,320 --> 01:14:40,680
Where are you off to in life?
Where are you traveling next?

1394
01:14:41,000 --> 01:14:42,840
Oh, you can't tell me.
It's a top secret.

1395
01:14:43,080 --> 01:14:47,240
Did you go to ISE?
No, Not this year, no.

1396
01:14:47,240 --> 01:14:48,720
I haven't been.
I'm dying to go.

1397
01:14:48,720 --> 01:14:49,800
Everyone says.
How amazing.

1398
01:14:49,800 --> 01:14:50,720
It is.
It's growing.

1399
01:14:50,760 --> 01:14:52,480
It's growing.
It's getting there.

1400
01:14:52,760 --> 01:14:53,280
Yeah.
Yeah.

1401
01:14:53,280 --> 01:14:56,120
I think it's going to replace
Prolite.

1402
01:14:56,120 --> 01:15:00,640
I think Prolite's gonna become
like the Plaza local show.

1403
01:15:00,880 --> 01:15:03,840
Yeah, in the UK.
Interesting, cuz that used to be

1404
01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:05,800
huge.
They're like, gosh.

1405
01:15:06,240 --> 01:15:08,440
Yeah, yeah.
Well, especially because of

1406
01:15:08,440 --> 01:15:11,560
music, Mesa and stuff.
So yeah, lots and lots and lots

1407
01:15:11,560 --> 01:15:13,680
of but.
Such a pain in the ass because

1408
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:15,920
of music Mesa because it's such
a big show.

1409
01:15:15,920 --> 01:15:17,960
It was just a pain in the ass
going there, you know?

1410
01:15:17,960 --> 01:15:21,160
Hard to get hotels, hard to get
around cuz it's such a huge

1411
01:15:21,160 --> 01:15:23,840
facility.
Yeah, hotels are cheap now.

1412
01:15:24,040 --> 01:15:27,080
They're much cheaper than it
was, believe me, because there's

1413
01:15:27,080 --> 01:15:29,120
nothing.
I mean Pro Light and Sound

1414
01:15:29,120 --> 01:15:30,680
Music.
Mesa is not even there anymore,

1415
01:15:30,680 --> 01:15:31,800
so.
Oh, it's not.

1416
01:15:31,800 --> 01:15:34,720
I didn't know that.
No, no, there's no sound there

1417
01:15:34,800 --> 01:15:36,640
either.
This year it's just Pro Light,

1418
01:15:37,560 --> 01:15:39,400
no sound.
When did they split from Music

1419
01:15:39,400 --> 01:15:42,240
Mesa?
Since COVID.

1420
01:15:43,040 --> 01:15:46,040
Really.
So is that show just gone or?

1421
01:15:46,840 --> 01:15:49,560
I believe so.
Wow.

1422
01:15:49,880 --> 01:15:52,400
You have to.
The music show was was much

1423
01:15:52,400 --> 01:15:56,280
bigger than than Pro Lite.
Yes, yes, TJS and stuff and

1424
01:15:56,280 --> 01:15:58,520
music mess, yeah.
That's incredible.

1425
01:15:58,520 --> 01:16:00,640
I didn't know that.
They pulled out, yeah, they

1426
01:16:00,640 --> 01:16:02,320
pulled out.
So it's gonna be difficult for

1427
01:16:02,320 --> 01:16:05,680
them, I think.
Yeah, yeah, I I wouldn't rush to

1428
01:16:05,680 --> 01:16:09,560
Frankfurt to go to that show
without having that massive

1429
01:16:09,560 --> 01:16:11,800
audience there.
Yeah, I'm going this year

1430
01:16:11,800 --> 01:16:16,640
because I have appointments and
I have to go see some designers,

1431
01:16:16,640 --> 01:16:19,440
but I don't know next year.
I don't know if I'm going to go.

1432
01:16:19,440 --> 01:16:21,120
I'm going to go to ISC for sure
next year.

1433
01:16:21,120 --> 01:16:22,920
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to try and
get to ISC.

1434
01:16:23,080 --> 01:16:26,240
So is it in Barcelona for good
now or is it moving back?

1435
01:16:26,520 --> 01:16:30,240
Oh, OK, No, it's Barcelona, so
it's it's a great venue.

1436
01:16:30,240 --> 01:16:32,840
I saw it right after COVID when
they started.

1437
01:16:32,840 --> 01:16:39,000
Again, the venue's great.
And if you go, if you don't eat

1438
01:16:39,000 --> 01:16:42,080
at restaurants around the venue
and around town where all the

1439
01:16:42,080 --> 01:16:44,720
tourists are, if you go where
their locals are, it's much

1440
01:16:44,720 --> 01:16:47,280
cheaper.
Good food, Yeah.

1441
01:16:47,280 --> 01:16:48,640
Everything cool there.
I love.

1442
01:16:48,640 --> 01:16:49,200
It yeah.
I think.

1443
01:16:49,240 --> 01:16:52,160
I think I'm going to try and go
next year because everyone keeps

1444
01:16:52,160 --> 01:16:56,200
talking about it and I I hate
that I don't go, but I'll try

1445
01:16:56,200 --> 01:16:58,200
next year.
Cool.

1446
01:16:58,200 --> 01:17:00,680
Well, thank you so much, buddy.
I appreciate you finally doing

1447
01:17:00,680 --> 01:17:01,840
this.
I know we've been talking about

1448
01:17:01,840 --> 01:17:05,640
it for a while and and you've
been shy.

1449
01:17:05,640 --> 01:17:08,440
You've been playing hard to get.
But now that it's Valentine's, I

1450
01:17:08,440 --> 01:17:12,040
got you.
I'm a shy guy, so yeah.

1451
01:17:12,200 --> 01:17:13,160
You know.
Yeah, I've.

1452
01:17:13,160 --> 01:17:15,640
Always known you as a shy guy.
You don't like to talk or

1453
01:17:15,640 --> 01:17:17,800
nothing?
This went well.

1454
01:17:18,360 --> 01:17:21,240
Yeah, no, it's all good.
Yeah.

1455
01:17:21,240 --> 01:17:22,200
Yeah.
All right, my friend.

1456
01:17:22,200 --> 01:17:25,240
Well, I hope to see you soon at
a hockey game somewhere.

1457
01:17:26,040 --> 01:17:29,000
Thank you again for having me.
And then, yes, let's go watch a

1458
01:17:29,000 --> 01:17:30,920
hockey game.
For sure.

1459
01:17:31,080 --> 01:17:32,320
All right, buddy.
See ya.

1460
01:17:32,560 --> 01:17:33,400
Ciao.
Yep.

1461
01:17:47,960 --> 01:17:48,160
Yeah.