Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Speaker 1: Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and
Speaker 1: TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to
Speaker 1: a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New
Speaker 1: Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez.
Speaker 1: I auditioned every rapper from biggiees Balls to Tupac, and
Speaker 1: I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help
Speaker 1: transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from
Speaker 1: Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The
Speaker 1: Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons, to name a few. I
Speaker 1: also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel
Speaker 1: I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director,
Speaker 1: I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an
Speaker 1: acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in
Speaker 1: that room. Now I know, I know actors want to
Speaker 1: get the job. I get that, But being remembered by
Speaker 1: a casting director that is powerful.
Speaker 2: And now it's time for meditation of the day.
Speaker 1: There is power in allowing yourself to be known and heard,
Speaker 1: in owning your unique story, and in using your authentic voice,
Speaker 1: Michelle Obama, Don't waste unnecessary time trying.
Speaker 3: To figure out if people like you, if they don't
Speaker 3: like you, if they're talking about you, what they're saying
Speaker 3: on the dms, and talk all of this stuff.
Speaker 2: It's such a waste of time, especially because you don't
Speaker 2: know these people. Why invest the energy on trying to
Speaker 2: please or negotiate or compromise with people.
Speaker 1: That have no influence in your life. And even if
Speaker 1: they do have an influence in your life, you have.
Speaker 2: The ability to choose.
Speaker 1: You can listen to the noise, listen to the distractions,
Speaker 1: be a part of the distractions in drama, or you
Speaker 1: can disconnect and stop wasting time. Because time is precious
Speaker 1: and time is something that you can never get back.
Speaker 2: Today, I will respect and enjoy my time.
Speaker 1: Before we get started, I like to remind everyone to
Speaker 1: go to Krackical Network to view seasons one and two
Speaker 1: of my show Inside the Black Box that I co
Speaker 1: host with the great Emmy Award winning Joe Morton. Look
Speaker 1: out for news on season three soon. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore.
Speaker 2: I am honored to have.
Speaker 1: Our guest here today, especially since we're celebrating and supporting
Speaker 1: June as Black Music Month.
Speaker 2: I want you guys.
Speaker 1: To put your hands together for Ralph roll who is
Speaker 1: a legendary, acclaimed drummer, and also he's an entrepreneur, which
Speaker 1: I'm excited to talk about his company. He is the
Speaker 1: founder of the Soul Snack Cookie Company.
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, mister Ralph.
Speaker 4: Rollo, thank you, dank you, Ralph, Hey Trace, how you doing.
Speaker 2: I'm excellent. How are you?
Speaker 4: I'm doing great. I'm in London right now on tour
Speaker 4: with nol Rogers, so we'll we're having fun. He's a
Speaker 4: great guy.
Speaker 1: I am so happy that I can share this story
Speaker 1: with you, which you probably don't remember, so I'm cool
Speaker 1: with that. But I landed in New York City in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three and there was a YEP August fifteenth,
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three, and my roommate was being managed by
Speaker 1: Russell Simmons. And when I got off the plane, we
Speaker 1: went to Green Street Studio run DMC was there, Curtis
Speaker 1: Blow Full Force and they're recording.
Speaker 2: That was my first experience getting off right that.
Speaker 1: Evening, I went with who later became my husband, Steve Salem.
Speaker 1: He was friends with Nile Rodgers and took me to
Speaker 1: a club in the seventies, which I want to say
Speaker 1: was like Sugar Bar, but I don't know if that
Speaker 1: were Sugar something. I don't know if it was there
Speaker 1: back then, but we were in the seventies. I remember that,
Speaker 1: and Nile Rogers I was I lost my mind, lost
Speaker 1: my mind. So I kind of met you indirectly, maybe
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty three because ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2: He's been playing since fourteen.
Speaker 4: Sixteen, and no I started. I started professionally when I
Speaker 4: was nineteen.
Speaker 2: But prior to that, you were playing.
Speaker 4: I've been playing since I was nine years old.
Speaker 2: Look at that and then a professional.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys heard professionally at eighteen.
Speaker 1: So I want to start off with your life, like where,
Speaker 1: what was your.
Speaker 2: Inspiration to be a drummer? How did that start?
Speaker 4: I started? I grew up in the Bronx and I
Speaker 4: grew up in bronxhiver houses, which is kind of iconic
Speaker 4: because the true backstory from hip hop is hip hop
Speaker 4: and it's promotion started in Bronx ripper. Although cool Herk
Speaker 4: does get the accolades for being the first person to
Speaker 4: actually do this art form. The real branding of hip
Speaker 4: hop started with Africa Bambata because he was a very young,
Speaker 4: just business minded guy at a very young age. So
Speaker 4: he was the one that was doing the flyers and
Speaker 4: the promotion and all those things that no one was
Speaker 4: ever doing. So he kind of put hip hop on
Speaker 4: the map in a way where cool Heurt was coming
Speaker 4: to him, hang out with him, to go to these shows. Wow,
Speaker 4: and that's that's that's the you know, that's.
Speaker 2: The the Bronx. The Fever right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Yeah, disco Fever was over on Jerome right off
Speaker 4: of Jerome Avenue when University Avenue. Yeah, the Bronx was
Speaker 4: kind of hot back in the seventies when it came
Speaker 4: to uh, when it came to music. But I started
Speaker 4: playing drums in my apartment because my brother, who's seven
Speaker 4: years older than me, he was the male role model.
Speaker 4: I grew up in a single parent household, and he
Speaker 4: was the one that was always getting into something. My
Speaker 4: mother raised four kids by herself, and she always you know,
Speaker 4: if you're a parent, you know that there's a strategy
Speaker 4: every day that your kids don't even know that you're
Speaker 4: strategizing about. Yeah, So he was the one that she
Speaker 4: had to keep the closest eye on. So what she
Speaker 4: did was she allowed him to have a drum set
Speaker 4: in the room because she knew if the drones is playing,
Speaker 4: his behind was in the house. But the fact that
Speaker 4: I looked up to my brother so much and I
Speaker 4: did everything, I did everything my brother did. I mean,
Speaker 4: I tried to copy the way he used to walk,
Speaker 4: you know, when he when he was in the bathroom
Speaker 4: combing his head back. When I had hair, I would
Speaker 4: comb it the way he'd combed it, And you know,
Speaker 4: just tried to have my brother's swag. So playing drums
Speaker 4: because he played, I was like, I want to play drums.
Speaker 4: So he said, you can play, there's no problem, but
Speaker 4: don't switch the drums around because I'm left handed, and
Speaker 4: I would I would have had to change the drums
Speaker 4: completely to the opposite side. So I learned how the
Speaker 4: I played drums open handed, which I still played to
Speaker 4: this day.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So the drums were around for about a year
Speaker 4: or so, and then they disappeared out the house and
Speaker 4: I asked my mother what happened to the drums. She said,
Speaker 4: don't ask me, go go find your brother and asked him. Right.
Speaker 4: During that time, he started dating a young lady named
Speaker 4: Michelle who lived in the next building, and they were
Speaker 4: to get all the time. It was like all the time.
Speaker 4: So I went over to her house and I knocked
Speaker 4: on the door, and Michelle came to the door. How
Speaker 4: he came to the door and I said, hey, man,
Speaker 4: how you doing. He says, I'm doing okay. I said,
Speaker 4: what happened to the drums? He said, well, first of all,
Speaker 4: Mommy put me out. That's that's the first thing. And
Speaker 4: second of all, Michelle is pregnant, so I had to
Speaker 4: sell the drums. And you know, you're going to be
Speaker 4: an uncle, and you know, and we're gonna get get
Speaker 4: married and all of this stuff. And I just looked
Speaker 4: at him. I said, but where's the drums? That's all
Speaker 4: I cared about it. I care about all that, you know.
Speaker 4: The good story is that they've been together over sixty years.
Speaker 4: They have four kids and a bunch of grandkids.
Speaker 2: Yeahs a blessing.
Speaker 4: He left and moved to Virginia first, and he was
Speaker 4: an engineer and started his own company, did very well,
Speaker 4: retired and moved to Florida. We brought him a drum
Speaker 4: set for his fiftieth birthday, and he gave it away
Speaker 4: because he knew he could. He wasn't going to play,
Speaker 4: so he gave it to some young kid who could play.
Speaker 4: But that's how that's how it started for me. I
Speaker 4: started as just watching him and I just I just
Speaker 4: stuck with it. And it's been good. You know, it's
Speaker 4: just been a good run.
Speaker 1: You're a great storyteller, so visual, so visual. I saw
Speaker 1: your mother yelling at your brother, kicked him out.
Speaker 2: I thought it one time.
Speaker 4: One time she went to work and came home in
Speaker 4: the back of her you know, you never touched your
Speaker 4: mother's console stereo and you know it had the TV
Speaker 4: and the record player and the radio had stations from
Speaker 4: other countries. You know, it was the big one, okay.
Speaker 4: And he took the back off. He found some speakers
Speaker 4: outside and wide speakers from the living room all the
Speaker 4: way back to our bedroom. I'm surprised he was alive
Speaker 4: after that one. Yeah. But he was a tinker. He
Speaker 4: had always been a tinker, very smart a young man.
Speaker 4: He's one of the first black supervisors for DuPont's engineering department. Wow,
Speaker 4: he was a Brillian guy.
Speaker 2: You know, it's funny when you said that about your mom.
Speaker 1: My mother used to come in and blow us away
Speaker 1: because she was like, who moved the couch? Like little stuff?
Speaker 1: And we're like, what are you talking about? Who moved
Speaker 1: the couch? And then she would walk over and like
Speaker 1: push it back, like somebody really was crazy. Because I
Speaker 1: grew up with two brothers, I wanted to ask you
Speaker 1: because for me growing up, Prince, well, let me start
Speaker 1: with Parliament and Funk of Dellen. They were the most
Speaker 1: outrageous group. George Clinton, like that was outrageous and I
Speaker 1: was all for it growing up in San Francisco when
Speaker 1: Nile Rogers, Nile Rogers was like Prince to me, Like
Speaker 1: I had never seen heard of Nile Rogers. Ever, how
Speaker 1: did you meet him? How did you guys form? Because
Speaker 1: how long have.
Speaker 2: You been with him?
Speaker 1: Right now you say you're in London with him.
Speaker 4: I've been after Tony passed away. The drummer that came
Speaker 4: after was a gentleman named Omahaikim, very famous drummer. And
Speaker 4: then me, so I've been here now almost twenty years. Wow, yeah,
Speaker 4: almost almost twenty years. Yeah. Yeah, I actually left the
Speaker 4: Apollo to work with now because I knew that what
Speaker 4: he brought to music, sad to say, is an anomaly
Speaker 4: when it comes to black producers. Sad to say, because
Speaker 4: there aren't many. There aren't many groups like ours that
Speaker 4: are tory tour and has done the kind of things
Speaker 4: that now has done. He's you know, there's I know,
Speaker 4: amazing producers. I grew up with them, but there was
Speaker 4: only they only make enough slots for just a couple
Speaker 4: of people. And he got into that to that space
Speaker 4: and he killed it. I mean, he's in his seventies
Speaker 4: and he's worked with Beyonce and and he just works
Speaker 4: with everybody.
Speaker 2: Everybody. Yeah, like I was, I was going to say.
Speaker 1: He has to be close to the seventies, but that's
Speaker 1: it's amazing.
Speaker 2: Like I just finished working with Buster.
Speaker 1: We were working on Naked Gun with Liam Nelson and Nilsen,
Speaker 1: and Liam said to me after we were working, he
Speaker 1: was like, you know, Chase, I'm seventy two. And I
Speaker 1: was like, I didn't know that. I also worked with
Speaker 1: Joe Morton on a show that Scruce and I work
Speaker 1: with Inside the Black Box, and Joe is in his seventies.
Speaker 1: So I'm saying that to say that, you know, I
Speaker 1: often talk to young people and say, you know, the
Speaker 1: beauty is in the aging process to me right now,
Speaker 1: and saying that you have had such a plethora of experiences,
Speaker 1: You've worked with the best in the industry. Y do
Speaker 1: you feel like at this point like because this is
Speaker 1: what I feel because I'm at a certain age.
Speaker 2: Howsoever, I still feel sixteen.
Speaker 1: I still feel like almost like inside the black box
Speaker 1: gave me this other chapter and I'm running with it
Speaker 1: because I'm looking at you and I am you know,
Speaker 1: as a casting director, we don't deal in age. We
Speaker 1: deal with rage. But your experience and your range are
Speaker 1: not in.
Speaker 2: Sync with each other. You look very like, really great.
Speaker 1: So how do you maintain stamina? How to maintain all
Speaker 1: of that?
Speaker 2: Because traveling is it's heckic.
Speaker 4: Well, the stamina is because it's a lot of good
Speaker 4: drugs in my neighborhood. And and I'm kidding. Truth, the
Speaker 4: truth of the matter is I grew up at a
Speaker 4: time where where I came out of the heroine age
Speaker 4: into the cocaine age. Me too, and I was smart
Speaker 4: enough two uh see what it had done to my community.
Speaker 4: And it was one of those note to sell things,
Speaker 4: don't to self, don't do that, don't don't go on
Speaker 4: that because the results are bad. So I stayed away. Honestly,
Speaker 4: I stayed away from it all. You know, you know
Speaker 4: a glass of wine, you know, bottle of beer, and
Speaker 4: that's it for me. The band here, you know, they
Speaker 4: called me the lightweight because if I have a glass
Speaker 4: of wine, I'm like all right time ago. Yeah, I
Speaker 4: just I just chose to stay away from it because
Speaker 4: I you know, I know and saw what it did to.
Speaker 4: You know, even before my brother became a dad, he
Speaker 4: was a mess. And I know that's why I didn't
Speaker 4: know it. Dan. I didn't find out until I was
Speaker 4: in my thirties that he was. Also he had his issues,
Speaker 4: so I had it around me all the time. You know,
Speaker 4: my father was all that, he was never he lived
Speaker 4: across town. You know, my brother had his issues, and
Speaker 4: I just said, I don't want to ever be that
Speaker 4: I'm a good father because of what my father Wasn't
Speaker 4: I told him. So I've learned to answer your question
Speaker 4: to take the positivity away from the negativity, and I
Speaker 4: teach it in my master classes to find the positive
Speaker 4: lesson in everything negative. And that's how you grow, that's
Speaker 4: how you that's how you gain experiences, not allowing whatever
Speaker 4: happened to you to compound into your mind that it
Speaker 4: becomes an exercise that that backs you into a corner.
Speaker 4: So so, and any of my achievements just came out
Speaker 4: of constantly wanting to push forward, getting past the PTSD
Speaker 4: of whatever happened to me, whatever I saw in my
Speaker 4: neighborhood and all of those things. Yeah, you know, and
Speaker 4: now I actively give it back as much as I
Speaker 4: possibly can. So that's just amazing.
Speaker 2: I love the fact that you teach a masterclass.
Speaker 1: And because that's, you know, my only experience being around
Speaker 1: a drummer kind of consistently. My cousin married Anita Baker,
Speaker 1: and so I would go whenever they came to New York.
Speaker 2: I was always at the shows.
Speaker 1: But always love live music, love drummers, you know, because.
Speaker 2: It's an art all, you know.
Speaker 1: I never in school, I was never I never took
Speaker 1: an elective for musical instruments because I didn't feel like.
Speaker 2: I really didn't feel like I could play the piano.
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like I could really grasp how to
Speaker 1: play an instrument.
Speaker 2: I gravitated more to acting, but drums like.
Speaker 4: Amazing, it's a great instrument. To play, and I find
Speaker 4: that drummers have this bond that is amazing. I don't
Speaker 4: know what it's about. I don't know it's because you know,
Speaker 4: it emulates the heartbeat. I don't know what it is,
Speaker 4: but drummers I am most of most of the people
Speaker 4: that I know in the entertainment well, the closest friends
Speaker 4: I have with drummers, and sometimes we're competitives, but all
Speaker 4: the times we're friends, you know, And that that's something
Speaker 4: that I really love. And you know, one of me
Speaker 4: is why I maintained being a musician is because I
Speaker 4: just loved the sensitivity and the communication that music does.
Speaker 4: And the reason why you're in the arts is for
Speaker 4: probably a lot of the same reasons. This other part
Speaker 4: of us that people that don't do it don't understand.
Speaker 4: It's like we're freaking x men and aliens. They don't
Speaker 4: they don't get the psyche and that the mentality that
Speaker 4: we have that this is this is a very sensuous
Speaker 4: part of our thinking. To do what we do, to
Speaker 4: lay a whole life in front of people to get
Speaker 4: their acceptance. It's some hardcore stuff if you think about it.
Speaker 4: From the answers to actors to musicians on down the
Speaker 4: line the arts. You know, we do it because it's
Speaker 4: our passion. But it's you know, on the day to
Speaker 4: day it's kind of crazy. You go to auditions, you
Speaker 4: don't get the audition, but you go back to the
Speaker 4: next audition and you yourself up and keep going. And
Speaker 4: if you think about it's kind of crazy. But no, yeah,
Speaker 4: but passion does that. And one of the things I
Speaker 4: do say in my masterclass is that passion has no
Speaker 4: expiration date, so you'll continue to do it until you
Speaker 4: can't do it anymore. And that's what we do.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, a forty something years, I'm still out here strong,
Speaker 4: you know. Ye with these young.
Speaker 1: Boys, Yeah, well they standing on your shoulders, so I
Speaker 1: know that they are very grateful and on into being
Speaker 1: your presence. I'm going to tell you my favorite part
Speaker 1: of any concert, and especially jazz, is when they do
Speaker 1: the drummers solo.
Speaker 2: That's my favorite part because just to watch and.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I've watched drummers and seen like four arms. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, my favorite part of the concert
Speaker 1: because that's when you can truly hear the isolation of
Speaker 1: just the drums and see work that you guys put
Speaker 1: in Man's.
Speaker 4: I got to get you out to his show.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Oh my god, I'm a fan.
Speaker 4: I gotta absolutely get you out to his show.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: And I wish I knew what that club was, Ralph,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna find out. Unfortunately, I'm still friends with Full Force,
Speaker 1: so I can ask them.
Speaker 4: Uh huh. Where was it located?
Speaker 1: It was like seventy second Street. And because like you know,
Speaker 1: I was fresh in New York, so I didn't know anything.
Speaker 1: I just knew it was the furthest that I've ever been.
Speaker 1: It wasn't Harlem, and maybe it was.
Speaker 2: Wasn't there a Birdland? Was Birdland?
Speaker 4: Well, okay, Sugar Bar is on seventy second Street when
Speaker 4: you walk in, Yeah, go to the left, there's a
Speaker 4: bar right there on the stages to the back. Yes,
Speaker 4: Sugar Bar has been around for about I would say
Speaker 4: about thirty years now. And then across a little further
Speaker 4: over there was a place called Chas and Wilson's.
Speaker 2: Oh I remember that, Yes.
Speaker 4: Yes, I remember that. It was one of those. And
Speaker 4: then then.
Speaker 2: It was very intimate the club that we went to.
Speaker 4: It might have it might have been Sugar Bar. Yeah,
Speaker 4: A lot of folks hang out over there.
Speaker 1: Oh my the last time I was there before it closed,
Speaker 1: Valerie and we used to have We used to call
Speaker 1: him Black Jesus and Valerie Simpson and her husband.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, his name just left me.
Speaker 4: Oh Nick Nick.
Speaker 1: We used to call him Black Jesus and Valerie and
Speaker 1: Nick were performing.
Speaker 2: That's the last time I went to the Sugar Bar.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I was in there band for a few years.
Speaker 4: And I got to tell you, Nick Asher is one
Speaker 4: of the nicest people be able one to meet.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, we loved him.
Speaker 1: How do you we when he he Oh my god,
Speaker 1: we were crazy over him there. You know, I'm seventies
Speaker 1: so Earth Wind and Fire Chic all that music, And
Speaker 1: this is the question I want to ask you before
Speaker 1: we transition in terms of music today. Yeah, how do
Speaker 1: you how do you feel about because I'm missing R
Speaker 1: and B. I'm missing words that tell stories or say something.
Speaker 1: Especially when I go to.
Speaker 2: Atlanta, I'm like, whoh, you got to use your words.
Speaker 1: You got to get at csarist you got to get
Speaker 1: some life experiences to use your words.
Speaker 2: How do you feel about the climate of music today?
Speaker 4: Well, I'm old a lot of a lot of the
Speaker 4: stuff that I hear. I can't it's nothing. I don't
Speaker 4: like it, I can't relate to it. Okay, So by
Speaker 4: judgment of it is music has its evolutions and it's
Speaker 4: evolved to this. But the question is always in my
Speaker 4: head is where where are the legends? Where where are
Speaker 4: the gladys Knights? Where are the Teddies? Where are the luthers?
Speaker 4: I'm not getting a lot of those because you know
Speaker 4: when we were coming up and that you know, this
Speaker 4: sounds like when you know when I was coming up.
Speaker 4: You know, when we were coming up, we were fortunate
Speaker 4: to have a smaller market that allowed major talent to
Speaker 4: come through. So we had legends and a lot of them.
Speaker 4: We don't have that many now because the market is
Speaker 4: so saturated and although modern day communications social media is
Speaker 4: so important, it's actually limited the market because so many
Speaker 4: people are out there, so for someone to come to
Speaker 4: the top, it's very difficult for that to happen. You know,
Speaker 4: the whole, the whole structure has changed to a place
Speaker 4: where you know, artists can make money on their own
Speaker 4: and you don't hear from them until later on, and
Speaker 4: then nine times out of ten they were flashing the pan.
Speaker 4: You got to really be something to come through now
Speaker 4: and they're not making songs like they used to. And
Speaker 4: these kids are just chasing the money. They're chasing trends
Speaker 4: and fads as opposed to what's in their heart. You know,
Speaker 4: every once in a while, somebody comes along that just
Speaker 4: explains how it's done. DiAngelo is a perfect example of that.
Speaker 4: D'Angelo came along and everybody was like, now that right there,
Speaker 4: that boy's dope. And so then the market shifted where
Speaker 4: you had India and you had music soul child and
Speaker 4: all of these folks came following him. Before that, Tony
Speaker 4: Tony Tony came and everybody was like, yo, they're doing
Speaker 4: real music. And but the crazy thing is based on
Speaker 4: what you're saying. These young kids can't tour like that.
Speaker 4: They can do their little time and then no one
Speaker 4: hears for them. Again, if Tony Tony Tony announced themorrow
Speaker 4: that they were going on tour, they could tour for
Speaker 4: the next two years, but that because they were doing music. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm with a fifty year old almost sixty year old group,
Speaker 4: but we just played in front of twenty five pupil
Speaker 4: the other day because of the music, the content. So
Speaker 4: I say again, I'm old. I don't get this stuff.
Speaker 4: I don't. I don't. I don't know what it's about. Yeah,
Speaker 4: my daughter has come full circle. She's she's she's twenty one,
Speaker 4: and she would hear what I would play in her
Speaker 4: card and for a moment there in her you know,
Speaker 4: her teens. Why are you playing on that old people's stuff? Yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm like, you know. Then she came home from college
Speaker 4: her first year, and she's I listened in her room
Speaker 4: and she's playing Edna James. Yeah, and I'm sitting in
Speaker 4: the living room going, yep, I'm here at a jam.
Speaker 4: So I'm went in her room and I said, is
Speaker 4: that at a jim? She said, yeah, this music today
Speaker 4: is I don't. I don't understand that. And I'm like, oh, okay,
Speaker 4: so she's getting it, Yeah, get it. But to your point,
Speaker 4: I don't know about the music today. I don't really
Speaker 4: want to comment as that much to say I don't
Speaker 4: like it or do like it, but it's just what
Speaker 4: it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah it is, and I can't comment on it either.
Speaker 1: Just you know, thank god for YouTube. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: we have five minutes. Okay, I got to switch just hand,
Speaker 1: so you tell us how you transition.
Speaker 2: What how did the your company.
Speaker 1: Because we have some entrepreneurial skills here the soul Smack
Speaker 1: Cookie Company. How did that evolve?
Speaker 2: Where did that come?
Speaker 4: Okay, first shout out to Spruce Henry who hates my
Speaker 4: cookies because he doesn't like soft cookies, my cookies, all
Speaker 4: all this soft.
Speaker 2: Oh, I love soft cookies.
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. But I started.
Speaker 4: I started when I was living in the Bronx and
Speaker 4: Bronx over houses. I was a shy kid and I
Speaker 4: used to I was, like I said, I grew up
Speaker 4: in a household with all mostly women, and we used
Speaker 4: to go to my grandmother's house and she would bake.
Speaker 4: And my mother made it a point that everything the
Speaker 4: girls did, the boys did. So I knew how to sew,
Speaker 4: I knew how to bake, I knew how to cook,
Speaker 4: I knew all of that. So I just loved baking
Speaker 4: and being a nerdy kid. And I was kind of smart.
Speaker 4: In school. I gotten skipped and I got teased because
Speaker 4: I was smart, and my mother put me in a
Speaker 4: white shirt every day, which they used to snap on me.
Speaker 4: So I wanted to meet girls, but I didn't have
Speaker 4: swag like my friends. So I would bake cookies and
Speaker 4: give it to girls and it worked like it was.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Years later, after my mother passed away, my girlfriend moved
Speaker 4: in with me and for the holidays, just to announce
Speaker 4: that we're together, we decided to make the cookies and
Speaker 4: that turned into now people saying we want more. You
Speaker 4: should start a business. And I said, you know what,
Speaker 4: this is a good time to do this. I think
Speaker 4: I should do it. I called Melbourne, who has Melbourne's Restaurants.
Speaker 2: She was the restaurant.
Speaker 4: She's actually the niece of Sylvie. A lot of people
Speaker 4: on that from Silvio. Yeah. So she ran an open
Speaker 4: mic that I was playing and I called up and
Speaker 4: I said, no, I want to have this thing that
Speaker 4: I want to do. Said, okay, if I come by
Speaker 4: with the cookies. She said, yeah, come on by. Brought
Speaker 4: the cookies, brought samples. Didn't know what the hell I
Speaker 4: was doing. The way I put the bag together. I
Speaker 4: put cookies in the sandwich bag, a sandwich bag in
Speaker 4: the brown bag, taped the bag, school glued the label on.
Speaker 4: I was tacky, gave out samples. People loved it, loved
Speaker 4: the cookies. They bought them. I thought they brought them
Speaker 4: out of sympathy because the drummer was like, selling these
Speaker 4: the brown bags looked like you. But it just happened
Speaker 4: to be a guy from YSB magazine at the at
Speaker 4: the bottom, and Melbourne was telling him about the fact
Speaker 4: that I was a drum at the Apollo and she
Speaker 4: my girlfriend, also from public housing. She graduated from Juilliard.
Speaker 4: So he was like, wow, this is a great story.
Speaker 4: The article. He interviewed us. The article came out, and
Speaker 4: you know, long story shot through rest his history. We
Speaker 4: went from selling nothing to now fast forward, we're in
Speaker 4: Walmart and Kroger and the trip the journey. I mean,
Speaker 4: Spruce knows the whole story, but the trip in the
Speaker 4: journey is something that I'm teaching. I'm just giving away
Speaker 4: the information because I find that in our communities, will
Speaker 4: we become successful? And this is not everybody. So let
Speaker 4: me just say that it will become successful. And they
Speaker 4: go away and you don't really hear from them. I'm
Speaker 4: back in my neighborhood all the time. I work with
Speaker 4: a youth program and this thing called Manday Monday. I
Speaker 4: work with ex incoce rated individuals I hire from the community,
Speaker 4: and I'm a national brand, and I just think it's
Speaker 4: important to do so. The cookies. The cookies a good spruce.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they are spruce, and I have and I believe you.
Speaker 1: It's okay, Ralph. I got you, right, I did, and
Speaker 1: I rolled mine too, but Scrooce didn't see it. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you this, Ralph, because I got you.
Speaker 1: I would love to invite you back to the show
Speaker 1: and do a segment. I will talk to Spruce. Do
Speaker 1: you see me roll my eyes. I have to talk
Speaker 1: to Spruce and see if Spruce will led me. But
Speaker 1: I would love for you to do a segment on
Speaker 1: entrepreneurial tips, because this is.
Speaker 2: The deal I have. There is a young woman, Kenya,
Speaker 2: who was in my class. She created body butter.
Speaker 1: Doing so this is like good information because actors sense
Speaker 1: the strike, in my opinion, but prior to that too,
Speaker 1: you need something else. You need something else, and the strike,
Speaker 1: did you know, settle some things. But monetary wise, actors
Speaker 1: got to work. They really have to work. So I'm
Speaker 1: going to extend that invitation. I'm going to bring on
Speaker 1: else the laything, because Elsa is going to introduce you.
Speaker 1: We have two actors who have questions for you. But
Speaker 1: we're going to do it, Ralph, with or without Spruce's approval,
Speaker 1: because Spruce doesn't tell me what to do. You understand,
Speaker 1: I'm not afraid of him.
Speaker 4: I guess what. I ain't scared him either.
Speaker 2: Okay, good, good. The both of us together are straw.
Speaker 5: Else they stand up. That's what I got to say, BX,
Speaker 5: stand up. I'm from the South Box, What Street No.
Speaker 5: One fifty six and Jackson Saint Mary's see.
Speaker 4: That's what I'm talking about right that we here. I
Speaker 4: ain't even got to look at you right now, we're.
Speaker 5: Right here exactly. And I love your snow your soul
Speaker 5: snacks too.
Speaker 4: Thank you? Have you had them before I have?
Speaker 5: I have? Yeah, absolutely absolutely your numbers, Bruce.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So today we have two of our spirited actors on
Speaker 5: who are multi talented. We have Miss Nia Simone Smith.
Speaker 5: Welcome Nia, you can come on camera. And we have
Speaker 5: mister Sam Bryce. Welcome back. Sam can come on camera also.
Speaker 1: Both of them, Ralph, who I love my favorite people
Speaker 1: right here?
Speaker 4: How you guys doing.
Speaker 5: More multi hyphen it to you?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Hi, how are you wonderful? Wonderful? Thank you?
Speaker 5: So of course ladies first on this show. So miss
Speaker 5: Nia Simone Smith, you are a first with your question.
Speaker 7: My question is for actors, like like Tracy said, we
Speaker 7: do need to do something else because by acting it's
Speaker 7: not always fruitful. But I do musical theater and I
Speaker 7: was wondering if you had any tips on how to
Speaker 7: get into background singing.
Speaker 4: It's funny you say that because I just had a
Speaker 4: session done in New York while I was out here. Uh,
Speaker 4: for for background singers, I want to introduce introduce you
Speaker 4: to a gentleman named John James. John James is my
Speaker 4: partner in a in a project that we're working on.
Speaker 4: And Uh, it's it's the kind of thing that you
Speaker 4: have some advantages because of social media to get yourself
Speaker 4: out there. So it's good to post. I believe that
Speaker 4: it's it's who you know and where to be and
Speaker 4: how how to get there. One of the one of
Speaker 4: the people that I am crazy about, we actually were
Speaker 4: very very close, is Cindy Mizel. I don't know if
Speaker 4: you ever heard of her. Yeah, yeah, Cindy Mizel. If
Speaker 4: you look on the back of many, many, many, many records,
Speaker 4: you'll see Cindy Mizel's name. And I've watched her in
Speaker 4: the studio. She's a technician, also Lisa Fisher to wifer Age,
Speaker 4: Paul At McWilliams, dwell Took's, Uh, the list goes on
Speaker 4: and on, but I realized that they all have a
Speaker 4: certain style about when they're in the studio. It's it's
Speaker 4: obviously being on time, understanding the music, understanding different textures
Speaker 4: in your voice to be able to blend and work
Speaker 4: with with with others. I find that some singers that
Speaker 4: come out of certain genres can't work outside of those
Speaker 4: genres vocally, so it limits them because the producers have
Speaker 4: big ears and they can hear if you're if you
Speaker 4: can fit in there. So I would, I would honestly
Speaker 4: say to you is just keep doing your social media
Speaker 4: thing and right place, right time. This is the right
Speaker 4: place the right time. I'm going to introduce you to
Speaker 4: my partner, John James. He's also a chairperson over sag
Speaker 4: After so he has a lot of connections and and
Speaker 4: it could be good for you. I mean, once once
Speaker 4: I make the introduction, it's all on you. But that's
Speaker 4: the same thing that happened to me. Somebody made the
Speaker 4: introduction that they couldn't they couldn't hold my hands and
Speaker 4: play the drums. I had to do my thing once
Speaker 4: I got there, you know. So I will make that
Speaker 4: introduction for you as soon as today. Wow. And he
Speaker 4: will definitely tell you what to do because John works
Speaker 4: a lot. He used to. He used to be one
Speaker 4: of the singers with Toto. He did the rain Forest
Speaker 4: with Gig with the sting he did. He was the
Speaker 4: one who did. He sung the fourth of July. Uh,
Speaker 4: just just passed year. He did the solo or one
Speaker 4: of the songs. John's a bad Boy wo. So it's
Speaker 4: the connection part is going to happen. So it's up
Speaker 4: to you once that connection happens.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you too. Thank you, Nia. I
Speaker 1: want to thank you because Nia, you're going to get
Speaker 1: a chance to hear Nia. We have class and session
Speaker 1: after this, so you'll be able to hear as well.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Yes, thank you, You're welcome. And so next
Speaker 5: up we have mister Sam Brice with his question. What's
Speaker 5: your question?
Speaker 4: Sam? Excellent you, mister Roll, I'm fine, sir. Good. Now,
Speaker 4: this question actually might sound kind of random.
Speaker 8: I saw this article where you got a chance to
Speaker 8: go and play an abby role and how you were
Speaker 8: extremely excited because you knew that the Black Panthers soundtrack
Speaker 8: was done there and everything like that. So my question
Speaker 8: for you is, do you have, drum wise a favorite
Speaker 8: track from the Black Panthers soundtrack?
Speaker 4: You know what, It's the thing that stuck about my
Speaker 4: My wife got sick of me doing the chant. It
Speaker 4: wasn't even part of the soundtrack. It was the chant
Speaker 4: when they when they came from out the mountains. That
Speaker 4: chance just stuck with me. I was like, I love that.
Speaker 4: I was everybody I was doing that. Did you be quiet?
Speaker 4: The soundtrack? Let me tell you, the soundtrack overall for
Speaker 4: Black Panther is is so amazing, uh. To to listen
Speaker 4: to the orchestrations and how it fit with the actual
Speaker 4: movie is actually, you know amazing the connection for us
Speaker 4: as a as a as a people. There's so many other,
Speaker 4: you know, underlying messages in that in that movie that
Speaker 4: that I hope people paid attention to. But the soundtrack overall,
Speaker 4: I got to tell you. So, when I went to
Speaker 4: Abbey Road for the for the first time, I knew
Speaker 4: that I was walking in some doors that were iconic.
Speaker 4: It was the same way I felt when I walked
Speaker 4: in the Apollo stage door for the first time. It's
Speaker 4: it's emotional for me too, because I'm a fan. I
Speaker 4: don't care how many years I've been doing this. I
Speaker 4: am a fan. I met I met Bernard Party, the
Speaker 4: famous drummer, Bernard Purty, Pretty Purty. He's the drum on
Speaker 4: rock Steady for Rita Franklin. He's done stuff with Steely Dan.
Speaker 4: I met the man. I hugged him and I cried
Speaker 4: like a baby. I'm still a fan. I'm now, believe
Speaker 4: it or not, that relationship has now started. I'm producing
Speaker 4: the documentary for him. So it's it's so when I
Speaker 4: hear things like that soundtrack, when I walk into the
Speaker 4: doors like Abbey Road, when I go backstage at the Apollo,
Speaker 4: you know, it's it's one of those things that I
Speaker 4: feel like when I go through the door, there are
Speaker 4: so many people with me, and it's never alone to me.
Speaker 4: It's never I did this. I'm like, I'm I'm this
Speaker 4: is the work of a lot, lot of people, you know.
Speaker 4: So that's when you saw the exuberance when I walked
Speaker 4: in the abbey Road. That's what that was about. I've
Speaker 4: been fortunate enough now. I worked on the soundtrack to Rocketman.
Speaker 4: In there, I worked on the soundtrack to Cats. I
Speaker 4: did a session with du A Leper in the abbey Road.
Speaker 4: So again, I'm carrying the Bronx with me, I'm carrying
Speaker 4: New York with me. I'm carrying my people when I
Speaker 4: no matter what I do, because I try to tell
Speaker 4: these young folks when you're out here doing whatever. My
Speaker 4: mother used to tell me this, my grandmother, so I
Speaker 4: never forgot it. You're not just there yourself. You're not
Speaker 4: accepting awards yourself, you're not taking gigs, and it's just you.
Speaker 4: There's a whole lot of Sammy Davis juniors back there
Speaker 4: that went through stuff to get you to where you go.
Speaker 4: So to answer your question, I can't give you a
Speaker 4: specific song, but I could tell you what I've when
Speaker 4: I when you saw my face going in the abbey Road,
Speaker 4: I'm like, dude, we're here, we here. Yeah, we know
Speaker 4: I'm not here. We are here, We are here.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And that's that's just how I always feel.
Speaker 8: Yeah, And like, sorry to interject, but something that you
Speaker 8: said earlier, when you said, like drummers just kind of
Speaker 8: like gravitate towards each other, and that's really how it is.
Speaker 4: Because I'm a drummer too, so nice.
Speaker 8: You know, I was thinking about Black Panther and all
Speaker 8: of that, and I'm like, for me, the Jabbari chant,
Speaker 8: I completely understand where you're coming from and kill monger
Speaker 8: versus the childt that whole drum ah.
Speaker 4: Yes, that's my stuff right there. So I dude, I
Speaker 4: can watch Black Panther like I never saw it, you know. Again,
Speaker 4: So here's what I did. I am probably one of
Speaker 4: the only people and I'm not bragging, but this is true.
Speaker 4: I've seen Black Panther on six continents. I saw it
Speaker 4: in Australia, North America, South America, Africa, I saw it
Speaker 4: in legos uh and in Japan. I went and sold
Speaker 4: in Japan an Asia. So I just I just wanted
Speaker 4: to be that guy. So I'm like, yo, I saw
Speaker 4: a black path like all over the world.
Speaker 1: Son, Yea, yeah, yeah you could stand in that son.
Speaker 1: Thank you for asking that, Sam, I have. I wanted
Speaker 1: to squeeze so much into the session with Ralph, but
Speaker 1: with or without Spruce's permission, we're going to do this, Elsa.
Speaker 2: Thank you for bringing everybody on.
Speaker 5: Absolutely you are welcome.
Speaker 1: Okay, So Ralph, well we're going to do besides talk
Speaker 1: about Spruce behind his back.
Speaker 2: We are going to come.
Speaker 1: Back with class in session and you are going else
Speaker 1: is going to introduce we have a lovely surprise for you.
Speaker 2: So everybody sit back please, Ralph Role is not going anywhere.
Speaker 1: When we come back on the Spirited Active Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Tracy Moore, We're going to go into classroom session.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Spirited Actor Podcast.
Speaker 2: And we are so blessed and honored to still.
Speaker 1: Have Ralph Roll with us. And Ralph is hilarious. Thank
Speaker 1: you for being here. Ralph so much fun and he's
Speaker 1: coming back. You guys, Elsa, we have a surprise to you, Ralph,
Speaker 1: and we also have a surprise first first two he
Speaker 1: can okay, all right.
Speaker 5: Elsa, Yeah, thank you Tracy. So today's class in session
Speaker 5: is a special one for mister Ralph Roll. We have
Speaker 5: miss Nia Simone smith Beck. Welcome Nia, hi, and Nia
Speaker 5: is going to display one of her other talents today.
Speaker 5: She's going to sing a special song for mister Rolle okay,
Speaker 5: and you can just give her any feedback you have
Speaker 5: when you're when she's done, okay, uh Nia, you can
Speaker 5: take it away when you're ready.
Speaker 4: Great.
Speaker 7: So today I'll be saying hound dog from the Duke
Speaker 7: musical Smokey Joe's Cafe.
Speaker 2: You ain't nothing but a half dog. Counsoothing out my door.
Speaker 6: You ain't nothing but a dog.
Speaker 2: Consume there my door.
Speaker 1: You can't wear your tail, but I ain't going to
Speaker 1: future no more.
Speaker 6: You told me you were high class and I can
Speaker 6: see that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you told me you a hoss and I can
Speaker 5: see you that.
Speaker 2: You daddy do that's you.
Speaker 6: No real care. You make me feel so yeah, make
Speaker 6: me wake and moll.
Speaker 4: Make me feel so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, make me wake. And you ain't.
Speaker 6: Looking for woman, not my talent.
Speaker 4: Well, I can tell you this. I can tell you
Speaker 4: this from from what I'm hearing. Yeah, you have you
Speaker 4: have a really you have good tone, very very soulful voice,
Speaker 4: very so thank you. I wish I could have heard
Speaker 4: more because you do have a really really great sound.
Speaker 6: And thank you.
Speaker 4: You belt, you're you're you're belter. Yeah, I know the
Speaker 4: I know they didn't acquired. It was going, no, you're
Speaker 4: gonna come up front girl. You're coming up front girl,
Speaker 4: because you want you right in the front.
Speaker 7: It's so funny because I have to be an alto
Speaker 7: in the choir.
Speaker 6: Sometimes it's just too much.
Speaker 2: It's too much, too much.
Speaker 1: I love it, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, that was classic session. Okay,
Speaker 1: and now I want you guys to put your hands
Speaker 1: together for mister Ralph Roll. Ralph Legendary acclaimed you guys,
Speaker 1: We honored, and I'm so glad that we have you
Speaker 1: on the show for June Black History, Black Music History months.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, just your spirit, your kindness, your generosity
Speaker 1: and sharing not just your knowledge but also giving back.
Speaker 1: And I love when they say, you know, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: teach you how to fish, and I feel like that's
Speaker 1: what you've been doing, teaching us all how to fish,
Speaker 1: and continue to do that so that we can continue
Speaker 1: to build and grow and teach generations to come. So
Speaker 1: thank you so much, Ralph for being here. You are phenomenal.
Speaker 1: And now it's time for Kudo's Corner. Kudos Corner is
Speaker 1: where we celebrate actors and we support them and we
Speaker 1: introduce them to you. This week's Kudo's Corner puts the
Speaker 1: spotlight on spirited actor Leticia Harris. Letitia makes great use
Speaker 1: of her creative talents. She has been featured in the
Speaker 1: crime re enactment shows Thou Shalt Not and bride Killer
Speaker 1: films include The Oracle and Sinners Wanted, as well as
Speaker 1: voiceover work for both government industrials and children's books. At
Speaker 1: the Lover of Theater, Letitia thurs as VP of the
Speaker 1: Drama Ministry Department for the nationally known First Baptist Church
Speaker 1: of Glen Darden in Maryland.
Speaker 2: There she has performed.
Speaker 1: In, directed, and stage managed their renowned plays and musicals.
Speaker 1: As a stand up comedian, Letitia has performed at FBCG
Speaker 1: as well as DC Improvs and bus Boys and Poets.
Speaker 1: Kudos to Letitia Harrison and now it's time to give love.
Speaker 1: We have to start saying no to other people's needs
Speaker 1: and start saying yes to our own.
Speaker 2: For example, as a casting director.
Speaker 1: And when I used to cast live auditions, my assistant
Speaker 1: and I would sometimes forget to eat because we were
Speaker 1: so engaged in the auditions, bringing the actors, being on time,
Speaker 1: all of these things. Well, after a couple of days,
Speaker 1: that's not good for your body, and it throws you
Speaker 1: off because then when you leave, you know you want
Speaker 1: to you know, gorge on fast food or whatever that's
Speaker 1: not helping yourself.
Speaker 2: It's okay to lend.
Speaker 1: A hand and to share with other people, but make
Speaker 1: sure before you lend a hand to someone else, extend
Speaker 1: it to yourself first. Make sure you're feeling good, make
Speaker 1: sure you have great thoughts circulating in your mind. Make
Speaker 1: sure physically you feel good and you're putting foods and
Speaker 1: liquids in your body that are going to strengthen you
Speaker 1: and help build your stamina. You have to take care
Speaker 1: of yourself first in order to reach out and take
Speaker 1: care of other people.
Speaker 4: Hi.
Speaker 1: Everyone, The Spirited Actor Podcast with Tracy Moore now has
Speaker 1: a YouTube channel. You'll get to see exclusive video footage
Speaker 1: from our podcast taping, as well as your favorite segments
Speaker 1: from the show. Make sure to like our videos, subscribe
Speaker 1: to our channel, and share with all your friends. Don't
Speaker 1: forget to also follow us on Instagram, at the Spirited
Speaker 1: Actor and at both Tracy Moore and at the Spirited
Speaker 1: Actor Podcast with Tracy Moore on Facebook and X. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us on The Spirited Actor Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Tracy Moore. I look forward to our next Spirited podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you,