WEBVTT - EYL #65 Bottle Service feat. Nick Storm 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.280 You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:09.520 How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy? Just use Indeed. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.680 Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:16.439 job sites. With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.000 the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.119 you can reach the people you want faster. According to 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.120 Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have forty 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:30.040 five percent more applications than non sponsored jobs. Don't wait 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.519 any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.200 and listeners of this show will get a seventy five 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:39.440 dollars sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:45.320 at indeed dot com slash pod Katz thirteen. Just go 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:50.160 to Indeed dot com slash pod katz thirteen right now 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.040 and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:57.400 on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:58.040 all you need. 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.120 All right, guys, welcome back, earn you a Lisha. We 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.600 got a very special episode today. Yeah, these are my 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:07.840 favorite episodes me. You know, me and Troy we grew 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.840 up on music before anything, so anytime we get to 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:14.200 hear backstories on music, entertainment and the whole industry, like 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.839 it's always special for us man. 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:18.880 To tell you. 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:21.400 He was just telling Chris got the shout out to Chris, 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.480 shout out to Kenny Burns, shout to all the guys 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.640 that that came on and was giving us hilarious stories 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:31.839 and all that, but also also informational absolutely education. Yeah sure, 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.480 so yes, I say that to say, we have none 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:40.080 other than the legendary Nick Stormy. Thank you, yeah, one force. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.839 And so if you don't know Nick, Nick is a 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.680 very interesting guy. He kind of the brain behind the 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:49.520 blow up of Sorak, is that safe to say? 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:50.520 Safe to say that? 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.120 Former national brand ambassador for Sarak. So he's a wizard 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.080 in the spirits industry and he got his start in 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.160 the music industry. So we on E Y L we 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:06.080 cover every aspect of business, and the spirits industry is 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:10.040 a billion dollars billion dollar industry and it's something that 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.080 we haven't coverage yet. And you have twenty years of 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:15.079 experience from working with him now, they from working with 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.600 rock from all over, so we thought she was the 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.600 perfect guest to bring on. So first and foremost, thank 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:21.480 you thank you for coming. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.240 No, no, thank you for having me. He's the first 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:24.040 guest who brought his. 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:29.200 Own one, you know, and had a long day, and. 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.720 I was like, you know what, I don't know if 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.680 I can drink on the thing. I know, drink Champs, 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.840 you can drink, but I had to bring my own wine. 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:41.200 Just you know, the smoothing the night. I mean, it's 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:42.440 fitish's the spirits industry. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.160 Yeah, my man Wall Street Trapper shot out to him. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:46.000 He was like, you know, the one thing I like 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.639 about your podcast is you got just the guests just 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.640 comings they are. There's no dress code, there's no rules. 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:53.880 Comings you off okay, because you know I had a 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.800 button down on the Yeah I did. And Jay was like, now, Nick, 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.960 go just I was like, shout out to Jeff Tweety 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:02.639 because he's gonna have some Sean John on on the 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:03.119 on the shot. 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:08.720 Okay, yeah my favor Yes, shot shout to my man 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:13.520 j crew Love. Yes, Lesure in his own right, thank 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:16.120 you for putting this together. We appreciate you. So all right, Nick, 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:17.799 So can we get your backstory? So you started in 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.959 the music industry. Yeah, right, and that's when people was 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:22.680 actually making real money in music, right. 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:25.480 Whoa like real money? This is CDs? Yeah, this was 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.639 CD time, you know, like I interned at Sony and 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.480 it was passing out CDs at night, like at all 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:35.200 clubs that was popping at that time, Like. 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.400 You name, it was so all right you started as 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:38.880 an intern. 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.160 As an intern at Sony, I think I got my 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:43.960 real I want to say this, I got my real 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.920 movement in the music business to learn the music business 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.119 more importantly with a gentleman by the name of Dave Hall. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.840 Because when Dave got me, he not only just had 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.520 me as like you know, like I was Dave's assistant, 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:02.400 but slash general man of his studio. And that was 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.320 that entitled a lot because Dave at the time, I mean, 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:07.680 mind you that day's discography was crazy. So you know 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.280 he did all of Mary like biggest first hits on 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.600 on her first one, right, So he did all of 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:17.200 those tracks and then he was like really his biggest 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:21.920 next movement was like from Brownstone, Mariah Carey, dream Lover, 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:30.000 did Fantasy Madonna, you know, Horace Brown intro Now I'm 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:33.720 Bringing you Back, Yes, you know, and you know, so 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.760 crazy Dave and Eddie f like even think of the 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:42.440 Living Color, like the song that yeah. Yeah, So Eddie 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.560 and them had the Intouchables and the Untouchables had the 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:47.760 producers that was under him, you know, because back then 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:49.440 my guys had like the you know, like you know 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:53.720 how bad Boy and so yeah, so Dave was a 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.160 part of the Intouchables with Eddie f and them. But 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:58.880 Dave really gave me like the full movement of like 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:04.280 knowing exactly studio time, knowing exactly on sampling, like that 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.040 was one of my jobs too. It was like when 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:07.920 he sampled the record, you had to get it and 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:09.840 then see what sample it was and then send it 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.400 off and see exactly how much it costs. That was 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.280 like a really big part of the business back then. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:16.320 That was like honestly, I used to think it was 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.320 a fun part of my job. So that was when 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:19.960 you were entering it. Yeah, no, no, that's when I 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:20.560 got a job. 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:23.000 I was like a job, go with your title. 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:24.120 I was. 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.920 Actually Dave had talked to me as general manager of DMH. 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.880 So DMH was like Dave Michael Hall, like that was 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.760 his whole production company, you know, and and that was 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.320 like a thing of that and it felt good because see, 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.680 David was for my vernon. I was because it was 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:42.040 like that whole now, So yeah, so it was like 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:43.920 it was a good time, not only a good time 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:45.400 with him, but just a good time of being in 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:46.360 the business at the time. 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.040 So all right, so the music business, you kind of 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.640 scaled that up right at that point in time. At 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:54.480 some point you was working with nas. 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.760 No, actually no, I was working I was working for 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.320 a lot of the records like. So then it was 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:03.839 that's how when I got into the business. I took 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.279 like some of my musical background, and I always wanted 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.120 to be a promoter because like even in college, I 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:11.599 was like doing promotions right right, I was like doing 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:15.240 my little like at Sneaky Pete's, right to doing little 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:19.120 parties up there. And then I took I took some 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:20.880 of that knowledge and I went to I met a 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.279 gentleman by the name of John Vasquez over at Justin's. 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.040 And John was the one who was like, Nick, you 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.400 know what, I got a Tuesday night open, how about 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:31.120 you put something together. I was like, bat, let's do 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.400 it like a little industry Tuesdays. So what I was 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.480 doing was taking the little snippets of the albums that 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.280 was coming out on Sony and Colombia. So I would 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.240 take those albums bring them to Justine like on Monday 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:47.760 and start promoting like your industry Tuesdays and be like yo, yeah, 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.080 sneak peaking of Lauren Hill's album Tuesday Night at Justin's 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.120 Like Lauryn Hill's gonna be there, No but the snippets, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:57.559 So I would I would do that. So any artists 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:05.040 on Columbia, So anything on Columbia, Fuji's Cypress Hill. I 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.400 mean the list goes on Riah, but the list goes 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.200 on any but anything out of not only Columbia. But 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.640 I was Sony as well. I was taking Epic was 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:14.680 big too, so I was taking anything from there as well. 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:16.520 So the promoter, so pretty much promoter. 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:17.400 I was a promoter. 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.200 So promoters always was curious about this. They get how 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:21.840 did they get paid? They get pieces of the bar. 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:26.640 Yeah yeah, Well see back then you had a scalable 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:30.680 rate of the bar, right like today, everybody's promoter today, 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.200 you know what I'm saying, Like Jesus, but but back 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:37.880 then it was like you could, you could, you could 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.000 just take. But back then the door was like a 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.440 big thing, right because that's when people had to pay 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.080 to get in the party. Right, those are the good days. 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:48.760 Let me just stop there. Okay, those were the good 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.160 old days, like pay for to get in the party, 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.640 go to the bar, buy a drink and dance your 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.200 ass off. Go back to the bar, get some water, 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:58.840 and go back on the Hans floor. 0:07:59.080 --> 0:07:59.960 Those are those days about. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.840 And come on, that was that? I mean, yeah, that 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.160 but that was vi P. That's when you when you 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.280 was VIP back then, you mean something oh god like that. 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:13.160 But beyond that velvet rope that was really really Now 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.280 anybody's in the velvet rope. My man Joe from the 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:19.600 block is on the velvet rope. But no, but but yeah, 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.800 so I think, but promoters get paid on bar sales. 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:24.920 So but back then when I was getting I mean, 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:26.960 how I was getting paid was just bringing a good 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:28.560 night to the venue. So they were just doing like 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.040 a flat ray like you do this, that's good that 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:32.960 this is what you're gonna get probably like make three 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.280 hundred four hundred bucks. I was good though, Like that 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:36.920 was like a good night for me. It was cool 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:38.679 and then and didn't really put the pressure on you 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.760 with you know, like bar guarantee, like everybody like a 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.240 bar guarantee, Like somebody give you a venue for a 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.839 bar guarantee of three thousand and four thousand dollars. You 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:48.439 better hope that you make that guarantee. 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:50.040 You that bar. 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.280 Guarantee is like, okay, I'm gonna give you I'm gonna 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.960 give you justice on a Monday night. Your bar guarantee 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.839 is four grand. That means my bar gotta make four grand. 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.520 Now you going there, and you better do your promotion. 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.520 Now your bar come up short at three grand, you 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.720 got cover. You better cover that thousand. Yeah, and now 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.959 you got to cover that thousand for that four even 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:10.839 to guarantee, are you just taking a percentage of it 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.440 or you getting the whole thing? The whole thing. Yeah. 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.439 So it's just like that's but even now we have 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.400 a scalable right now, so now people are doing like, 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.520 all right, let's just say your bar guarantee was three thousand, right, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.240 but now I'm gonna make the three thousand. But if 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.120 my ball makes four. So it's like if you if 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.040 your ball makes four thousand, you're supposed to get ten 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.280 percent your ball makes a See that's sometimes they do 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.000 this so they you can go between three thousand and five, 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.520 you're gonna get fifteen percent of the bar. You do 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:40.800 five to ten, you're gonna get twenty percent of the bar. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.079 That's why, like everybody, that's why, of course you push 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:44.719 ball service so much, because you want your ball to 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.120 really ring numbers as a promoter so that you can 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:48.719 get paid out a lot more at the end of 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:49.000 the night. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:50.760 So let me ask you this as far as if 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.079 you get ten thousand, Like once you reach that ten thousand, 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.319 do you get twenty percent of everything or just a 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:59.080 ten thousand twenty percent of five to ten? Like it's 0:09:59.320 --> 0:09:59.840 you said it's ten. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:06.040 Well, see most places, that's that's that's that's different place. Yeah, 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.080 it's different from everybody else, you know what I'm saying, 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:09.959 Like most places will do that off the ten or 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.319 most places will be doing off the twenty. So you know, 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:14.400 it depends on their account. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.360 Okay, okay, all right, So then it's from there, all right, 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:19.000 So you got it. And then you say you got 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:20.000 the Monday Night football. 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:24.280 I had Monday Night Football popping. I had Industry Tuesdays popping, 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:28.240 and and I just I just wanted to be with it. 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.400 Like that's when like New York was like New York, 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:32.760 and it was like it was like a really good 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.280 scene and you and then and you just really wanted 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:37.120 to be a promoter at that time because it just 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:38.880 I mean there was a lot of promoters at the time. 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.719 I mean I think the biggest promotion company at the 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:43.160 time that you wanted to be a part of, but 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.520 they already had their crew was Black Diamonds. That was 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.599 like Derrick Carley, like from aj Callaway, like all of 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:50.160 them they had is like this grew and then and 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.880 it was like like they did really good events, but 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:56.199 it was really for like us. It was like African American, 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:04.200 you know, with jobs like like you know what I'm saying, 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.040 Like I remember this place, Derek Wild laugh if you 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:10.400 ever hear this, because a place called all bet on Tuesday. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.680 All the women in there that were all women with jobs, 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.120 all guys. But you know it's funny. You couldn't even 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.959 come in there with sneakers. That's how crazy it was. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.240 Like you had to have your shoe game on the people. 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:27.880 People forget about the like I remember that era where 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.760 you had to actually dress up hard bottoms and all that. 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.679 I had to have a college shirt. It was like 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.480 button down and some shoes and then if you didn't 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.400 have a shoe, like I remember one time he said 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.040 if you didn't have a shoe. You had to have 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:43.880 a sneaker. You know those sneakers like they almost look 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:46.040 like the shoot, like a Bally's something like that. You 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.559 were good with that, like the right on the prod yes. 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.079 Favor all right. So so so you became a big 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.240 name in the city from promoting parties. 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:04.280 Small name, but small name, but making big relationships. Yeah, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.480 relationships was very a bit a bigger key. 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.080 So what's the next thing. Because you're a renaissance man, 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.400 you do a lot of different things. So you you 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:12.520 build a name for yourself in a party, then do 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.040 you go to the spirits industry after that or this? 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:19.480 Yeah? Well right then and there I met a me 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:23.040 and a partner of mine Ebone Brown. She was actually 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:26.520 a partner of mine that he was doing some summer 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:31.120 parties together and one of the she ended up meeting 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.199 a guy that wanted to meet me, and I ended 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.600 up meeting both of them, two gentlemen by the name 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.560 of Raphael and Solomon. And I met them at her 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.560 at a coffee shop on forty ninth Street and ninth Avenue. 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:45.959 And I didn't even know what the meeting was about. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.920 She was just like Nick, meet these two gentlemen. I 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.440 think they want to sponsor our next party, but they 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:55.360 have this liquor brand. I was like, okay, cool, this 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.199 is me. This is the mean, this is this is 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:58.199 the pulp fiction me. 0:12:59.480 --> 0:12:59.920 This is the mean. 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.600 When you have like the good brother which was Solomon 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.600 and the bad brother Raphael, and he was talking about 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:08.839 what they had and this that, and they had a 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.599 briefcase on the table. So every time he would say, so, 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.800 do you think you can get this product to puff Daddy? 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:21.600 And I'll be like, well, I promoted at his restaurant, 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.920 so maybe. So the brother will be like, oh, yeah, 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:25.440 so we want to show you, and as soon as 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:28.079 he lifts up the briefcase, his brother will slam it 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:28.560 down boom. 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:30.199 Not yet. 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.439 Do you think you can get this product into the 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:39.400 hands of the African Americans consumers? Yeah? I think I can. 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:41.839 You want to open up that suitcase and let me see. No, 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.880 not yet. And it was like a really funny meaning, 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.400 but it was like, okay, let me step back. So 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.439 I got the product in my hand and I didn't 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.079 know anything about liquor. I knew how to drink it, 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.839 but that was it. But then he took it and 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.480 then the funny story is, uh, I got a call 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:03.720 that week from a friend that was doing a party 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.120 at a mansion and he asked me, He said, Nick, 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.199 do you have any you know, anybody I can get 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.079 some liquor from. And I was like, you know what, 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.800 I got six cases that I could actually give you. 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.520 It's a good story. And he gave me the six cases, 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.520 and I brought it up to Bedford, New York and 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:27.760 was a mansion party and had everybody there from music 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:33.600 execs on down to the whole industry, from fashion, sports, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.640 a lot of I would say, stylists. It just was 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.040 everybody that you can imagine. And I brought it down there. 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:44.880 We were having a good time, and I remember the 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:48.080 creative the catering lady came to me within inside the party, 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.080 mid into the party and said that I'm a need 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:56.120 more product of that blue stuff that you had. I 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:57.920 was like, what is it? I mean you couldn't have 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.440 because wait a minute, I gave you six cases, six 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.240 in the case six times? How many how many in 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:08.040 the case six cases? It's six in the case, six cases. 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:10.720 That's thirty six. No way in the world that someone 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.560 went through half that product already and the party is 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:15.800 just like two hours in. So she's like, no, you 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:17.960 need to come with me. So I came to her 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:20.120 and it was like a beautiful deck but over deck, 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.520 overlooking the deck was the pool and like the area, 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.600 and there was two bars set up. And as I 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.000 looked over, you know, and she was trying to show 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.680 me what the bar was doing, I noticed that everybody 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:36.200 in their clear cup. Everything was blue. But I'm not 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.800 talking but I'm talking about like this everybody. I'm not everybody. 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:44.320 I'm trying about male, female, Latino, white, black unit like 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.120 everybody and just enjoying it and having a good time. 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:48.600 And I remember walking up to one of the guys 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:50.280 and I said to him, I said what you drinking 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:52.320 and he was like I don't know, man, but this this, 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.160 this is good. I think it's like some alis a 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.320 And I was like, oh okay. But then I went 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.920 around and asked girls. Everybody was like yo, listen, yo, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.840 this is fire. So I was like, oh okay. So 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:07.280 I went to the car and never said nothing in 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.360 that car. I remember calling around Phael and I was say, hey, 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.080 I need to see you monday. So yeah, ever I 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:14.920 feel was like back. So I met him on Monday. 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.760 I told him that I'm in. I said, I'm gonna 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.120 give this to go and and and let's go and 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:22.480 and and and I don't want to stop with this. 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.760 And he said, listen, I just sold my condo. I'm 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.040 living with my parents. Now I took the money. I'm 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.240 gonna put it into this brand and and then we're 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:34.840 gonna write, don't I don't have money to pay you 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:42.000 very key, but if you believe in it, that there'll 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.480 be money to come. And I said, all right, well, 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.840 I'm gonna need a couple of dollars just to move around. 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.040 He said, no, I got that, but I know you 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:51.920 don't have money for a salary. But you know what 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.880 I'm in. So I took we took on the brand 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.760 and it was called Hypnotic. It's very right. So it's 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.600 called Hypnoteak. So for the first three months, I sat 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.080 in the car and drove with him around the city 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:12.119 for three months with hypnoteak. For three months, guys, and 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:15.000 went around for every club, every bar, every restaurant, you 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:22.679 name it. And we sold nothing. Ninety days ninety days 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:27.000 of nothing, and I mean we couldn't sell anything. And 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:32.320 one night we were about the FDR drive because he 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:33.800 was getting ready to go back home to the Queen's 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.680 and I had a paper with me and I was 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.880 writing down. You know, he was listening to Gypsy Kings 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.760 and the music was melolic. He's he's feeling himself. He's like, man, 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:47.600 I don't know if I could do this anymore like 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.240 and he's, you know, he's like feeling down and depressed 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.800 because you know, he's we've been rocking and rolling and 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.320 we just don't know what's going on. And he said, uh, 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.200 I was writing down something. I said, you know, is 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.560 it possible if we could just change the H to 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:03.879 the Maybe we could put an I in front of 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.560 the P, or maybe we could put a Y, and 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:08.760 maybe we could change the que to a K. Maybe 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:13.920 like try like a hypnotic. He was like, no, he can't. 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:20.160 But he paused. He said, you wait a minute. Barrows 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.280 is called sparrows, but he ain't spelt like, wait a minute. 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.640 You know what liquor store you got tomorrow? I said, 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:28.480 I got a store in Harlem, And he said, you 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.520 know what, try it. I don't just try it, just 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.560 just see what happens. So the next day I go 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.480 up to a store in Harlem and uh. Guy comes 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.680 in and had to model with me and a minute 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:43.920 the girl said, excuse me, would you like to try 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.920 some hypnotic? And the guy turned around and said, oh, 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.600 I'll try something. He tried it, He's like this is cool. 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:54.359 I came to buy something else. She was like, oh, 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.680 no problem. Next guy came in, young black guy. She 0:18:57.840 --> 0:18:59.600 was like, would you like to try some hypnotic? He 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:04.480 was like gnadic? Oh man, what's that like? Alise? She 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:05.639 was like, oh no, it's different. 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:05.879 You know. 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.600 It's made with fine grapes. It's Kangniac with a little 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:09.160 touch of vodka. 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:09.359 You know. 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:11.560 She did a little spiro. She gave it to him. 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:13.920 He was like, Yo, this is this is good. 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:15.360 How do you like the name? 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:20.160 And I looked at him and like the name? Yeah. 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:24.680 So I walked back called Raphael. I said, Raphael, the 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:29.399 brand's called Hypnotic period and he was like, Yo, how 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:31.520 many boles you saw? I said, man, I just sold one, 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:35.800 but yo, I'm gonna rock with this. So yeah, so 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.560 we rocked and we changed your name and we went 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:43.040 with Hypnotic. And that's not the good part yet, guys, 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.920