WEBVTT - Beastie Boys and Spike Jonze 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:14.720 Pushkin. It's been almost thirty five years since the Beastie 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.680 Boys released the all time classic Licensed to Ill, and 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:20.880 while some of the record's lyrics and antics sound is 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.960 dated as the Porky's Movies, the album is still exceptional 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.320 for Beastie Boys fans. Licensed to Ill is a glimpse 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:32.120 into the lives of mca ad Rock, Mike d and 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:36.120 their first djane producer, Rick Rubin. Their debut album as 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.000 a pastiche of inside jokes in musical inspiration pulled from 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.280 the classic rock and hip hop records they listened to 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:45.680 and Rick's college dorm room. Rick recently connected with Mike 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.519 d ad Rock and Spike Jones, who directed the New 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.680 Beasties documentary, with Spike playing moderator. They teleport back to 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.360 the early eighties and talk about their lives leading up 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.800 to the release of License to Ill. It's all here, 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.280 the inspiration him brass Monkey, Rick's infamous bubble Machine, and 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.319 why DJ Double R bailed on the Beastie's first big 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.479 break opening up from Madonna on her Like a Virgin 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:16.479 tour in nineteen eighty five. This is broken record liner 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:24.160 notes for the digital age. I'm justin Richmond, It's been 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.039 about twenty years since Rick and Adam Horvitz have talked, 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.160 and like most Zoom calls, their reunion gets off to 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:35.759 a glitchy start. Mike d kicks things off. Oh who's Adam? Hi, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:41.600 what's up, sir? Rick? You look different. It's good to 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:45.319 see you. You look the same. Yeah, No, that's a lot. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:50.080 That is an abomination. Mike, you look great. Don't start, Adam, 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.400 don't start. Don't start. Rick. First of all, very nice 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.200 to see. It's been a long long time. The last 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:00.840 time I can remember a speaking was at one of 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.680 the Tibetan freedom shows. You have a good memory. Then 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:05.600 I don't remember that, and that had to be. But 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.320 I mean, just time wise, putting a time stamp on 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.680 it that was at least twenty years ago. It's unbelievable. 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.679 It's surreal and it makes no sense. I mean, from 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.959 my perspective, it makes no sense. I'll say, I haven't. 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.640 I don't know why it worked out that we've not 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.240 hung out in that amount of time. I'm just I've 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:30.120 been so busy, you know. I can remember there was 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.840 a little window of time that we started spending a 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.680 little bit of time together in Los Angeles right when 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:38.959 you came to Los Angeles after I was already there, 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:43.840 and I can remember we had lunch at Hugos. God, damn, 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.480 I don't remember anything. Oh yeah, I'm back in the 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:52.240 Hugo's days. Michael, tryan to talk pasta ala mama, Yo, Michael, 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.240 tryan to talk right now. We hung out a handful 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.400 of times, and I remember seeing you and I think 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:04.040 something something happened that. I don't know what happened at 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:08.359 the party for the Blood Sugar Sex Magic album at 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.600 them it was that album, That's what happened. Oh my god, 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.600 I got daggers today coming with all cylinders. You guys, 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:20.120 we can see, we can see, we can see. Wow, 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:22.600 I'm in I'm in a mood today, dude. I think 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:25.560 Adam for your along with your daggers, I think you 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.320 need like you need a bank of sound effects, like 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:30.880 you know, doub siren. No, no, no, I'm just in 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:33.480 a mood. Let's get all the dagger out. Let's let's 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.320 do let's what's what's the show? Rick? What happens on 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.840 your show? What's what is it? I wouldn't call it 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:43.200 a show, It's a It's usually a conversation. And I 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.560 talked to different artists and they tell me stories about 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.760 what they do. It's not unlike what happens in a 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:55.560 recording session before the music gets made. That's typically what 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:57.880 it's like. Just kind of and and especially if it's 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.920 someone that I don't know learning who they are. Can 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.200 I start with a question, which I know is but 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.320 I'm just curious, so I want to ask it. Do 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.720 you find that you more often find out things that 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.200 you don't know about people that you do know when 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:16.880 they're doing your show, Or do you find stuff about 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.520 somebody you do know that's doing your show more in 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.280 an unexpected way than somebody who you don't know at 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.760 all who's doing your show where you have no background. 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.920 In both cases, I learned a tremendous amount about the 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.239 people I'm talking to. It's maybe more unusual with people 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.640 that I know, because I get to talk about things 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.200 that we don't normally talk about, Like I was thinking 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.920 about even from the time that we knew each other 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.080 back in the day, stuff we never talked about, Like 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.320 I wanted to ask you guys about high school, Like 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.039 I don't know what your experience at high school. I 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.680 was just curious, Like, Wow, I was around. It was 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.839 about the time you guys were just either just ending 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.440 high school or just recently ending high school, and like, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.640 what was that like? We talked about that. Well, it's 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.680 funny to think, actually, as you say that, because we 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:07.799 spent so much time in your dorm room, I've never 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.760 once pictured you in a class. I had no idea. 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:14.479 I never even thought that you actually like attended class. Yeah, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:18.360 I didn't. I didn't attend many, right well and angels. Conversely, 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:20.599 when we were in your dorm room, Rick, it's because 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.520 we were not going to school, right, So it's like, yeah, 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.599 but that's a good point. We never ever talked about 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:32.159 we I never ever asked you about NYU ever. We 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.720 just for our perspective, we just thought, well, this is cool, 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.880 Like this guy lives in a dorm, he's going to college, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.640 and we're in high school. Yeah, so this like this 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:44.359 is cool. Like you were like we thought you were 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:46.520 going to be the cool like you turned you know, 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:49.640 you were like the cool exclightly older guy. And then 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.920 and then also mistakenly, I think we thought, wow, we're 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:55.560 going to be hanging out in this dorm, which just 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.359 means we're gonna beat like tons of girls and this 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.800 is gonna be great, and we never talked to anybody. 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:01.680 It was not but it was not like that. I 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:05.400 mean for you to Mike Adam, what was your what 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:10.040 was your school experience like on sixty third Street? Um? Well, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:11.800 I was. I went. I was supposed to go to 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.320 Brooklyn Tech because I wanted to go to Stuyvesant, but 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:16.760 I didn't get in, and so I went to Brooklyn Tech. 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.039 And that was just too weird. That's a whole other story, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.200 but tell it, tell that story. What was weird about it? No, Brooklyn, 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.400 Like I wanted to go to Stuyvesant because my best 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:29.240 friend Arthur went there, and and I didn't get in. 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:30.760 So I went to the other school you could go to. 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.000 It was a technical school in Brooklyn, and it was 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.200 massive and they had like metal detectors to get in 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.359 and it was this huge technical school, and I, like 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.040 I quickly realized after like the third day, like this 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.279 is not for me. I don't know what the it's fright. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.400 It was just so overwhelming. Looking back, I wish I 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.000 would have actually stayed and learned something technical actually could 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.360 have helped me. But um so I just stopped going 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:57.760 to school for a while, and then my dad got 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.440 me into the school McBurney that it was a private 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.360 school uptown, and I was there for a couple of 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.680 years and then I stopped going, probably right around the 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:09.840 time I met you. And not that the two things, 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.480 not that two things are related. I'm just saying, what 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.040 was the experience like of the school, Like what were 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.680 the kids like the experience going to school? Because I 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:20.840 was also I got into graffiti because we were into 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.720 graffiti and so like that was the fun part about 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:24.520 getting to school. It is just like being on the 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.440 train and watching this, you know, just seeing who was 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.560 on there and all that stuff in the school. The 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:34.680 first school was just overwhelming. It was I can't even describe. 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:36.840 It was just huge with thousands of kids. It was 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.240 just a massive school. And then McBurney was like a 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.440 preppy school. It was like a I don't know, I 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.040 just seemed felt really out of place there. I felt 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.480 kind of dirty, like my clothes are dirty. Well can 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.400 you tell tell us the story, Adam, Why you never 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:56.800 returned to McBurney. Oh? Yeah, So they had the school 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.200 play was going to be Oliver, and so I did. 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.920 They had auditions and I and I sang for the 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:08.239 audition consider yourself at home, And I'd never really sang 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.680 out loud before, and I was so bad that I 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:16.160 just left the school that never went back. Incredible, But 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:18.960 I will say I think you'd be a good artful 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:24.840 artful dodger, artful dodgery. Yeah, good even now then now 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.720 in between, I know, but it was singing. I can't sing, 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.440 as you know, I can't sing, but I can, but 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.240 it's just bad. Yeah, yeah, it's not. You're you know 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.600 you're not rapping fourte, I get it. Adam. Did you 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.920 get into graffiti before before hip hop music or were 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:47.000 they simultaneous later later hip hop later? No, rap music first? Definitely? 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:50.960 Oh okay, And do you remember what were the record 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:52.760 stories that you guys hung out in? Did you guys 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:54.440 hang on record stores? All? I knew you hung out 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.600 at rat Cage, But was that like the first record 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.719 store where you would like spend time, like the rat 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.400 Cage you were at, like that that was the first 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:06.200 record store where I, like, I felt comfortable talking to 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.080 the person behind the counter. I would go to Bleaker 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.120 Bob's all the time, like get like get off the 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:12.880 train coming home from school and I go to Bleaker 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:17.480 Bob's and I'd be terrified because Bob was always there. 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.960 He yell at you know, yell at you, yell at me, 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.680 and he had that huge Doberman pincher. She was scary 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:25.840 and yeah, and they were always mean to me. Do 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:28.240 you mean to everybody? You would always say random, weird 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.560 jewish stuff. To me. I was just like a little kid. 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.000 I just wanted to find out about what cool, what 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.600 was new, what was cool? And I didn't know and 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:38.520 they were so mean. But then then at school, I 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:40.920 do remember going to nine nine Records. Yeah, that was 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.000 where I hung out. I loved I loved ninety nine. 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:48.560 My memory of the of those days were that the 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.720 whole schedule of the day was based around going to 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.040 the club. Did you guys feel that way as well? 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.160 Or no? Oh? Yeah, like that was the that was 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:02.719 really the primary thing every day was what club was 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:04.640 going to be that night, if there was going to 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:06.440 be a band if not, what DJ's to go to 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:11.240 see and where to hang out. Well that's why the 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.320 Rackage record store was was great because it was the 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.400 first record store that kids hung out at for me, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.080 at least, you know what I mean. The other record 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.240 stores that I used to go to, you know, kids 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.640 wouldn't really hang out and Bleaker Bob's maybe, but that 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.800 I didn't like it there, and so Rackage was like 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.160 a meeting place, like a hangout place. And later your 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:35.240 dorm room was going moving the needle forward a little 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.720 like when we would hang out with you, when we 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.000 go to your dorm room. I remember like every day 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:40.719 like it was just kind of like go to your 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:42.800 dorm room and then figure out what we were doing 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.560 that night, and what we were doing that night always 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.440 revolved around what club we were going to. I remember 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.160 it always being around music. Even during the day. We 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:57.720 would make mixtapes and sometimes sit out on the front 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:00.440 the front of the dorm with boom Bach and listen 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.960 to music, and it seemed like that's all that it was. 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.520 That's all it was going on. All that seemed important 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.640 was music and what we were going to eat and 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.679 what we were going to listen to. And Mike was 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:19.880 clearly focused on hooking up. Literally, we know I was interested. 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:27.240 I wasn't very good in that arena, yeah, but yeah, 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:31.679 but I was interested. Where did the original Volkswagen emblem 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:36.040 come from? That was from my friend Laura Shilson it 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.079 was on her wall. So wait, wait, I don't understand. 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.880 But it wasn't on her wall on that chain, I 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.680 don't remember. I think she just had it on the wall. 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.079 She took it off a car, and for some reason 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:52.720 I had it and then put it on a string, 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:55.880 and then you took it. That's what I love about 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.160 being a teenager, how much stuff just sort of goes 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.160 from one kid to the next to the next. So 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.040 I just I remember. I feel like I feel like 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.800 you and Yell came over and it was like you 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:10.600 gave it to me in a glorious presentation. Yeah, I 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:15.040 like in my revisionist history. I feel like like some 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.160 like it's almost like I feel like I was knighted, 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.680 like you guys gave me bestowed. It was bestowed upon you. 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.000 It was bestowed upon me, and then I could become 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.160 Mike d I'm gonna dispute that, because think about it, 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:30.560 what have I ever given you? I feel like I remember. 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.600 I feel like I remember this happening though I feel 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:39.720 like I was there for that yes to bestowing. But 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:41.560 I do feel like and I don't know how it 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.160 ended up being on the chain. I don't because I 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.040 don't think it was on that chain somehow, like that 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.000 chain was like sitting around and I don't remember that exactly, 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:50.920 but I remember them. Once I started wearing that, it 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.680 was kind of like then it was like I felt 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:56.680 like everybody felt like, all right, I could I could 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.680 beat Mike Tea. Now that was your Superman came. Yes, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.720 it was wow, Rick, When you first met these guys, 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:05.960 what was like? What are can you think of a 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.520 time where there sometimes when you were like, oh, I 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.680 get them, I understand who they are, Like I understand 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:13.760 who Yoki is or who Adam is, or who Mike is, Like, 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.920 what was your sense of that? Well? I remember meeting 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:21.080 Adam first through Dave Skilkin, and I remember Dave Skilkin 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.360 was sort of the in my mind, the glue, Like 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:27.640 he was a kid who was just super friendly and outgoing, 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.600 which I don't think any of any of us were. 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.280 I thought we met you and I met because of 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.880 Nick Cooper. Could be wrong. I remember Nick Cooper, but 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.959 I didn't remember that's how we met. I do, Rick, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:43.720 remember I remember Nick Cooper telling us about you and 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.400 being like, yeah, there's this You got to meet him 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:49.880 because we'd put cooking us out when I really needed 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.080 a DJ. It's like, you gotta meet him. He's into 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.120 like the stuff that you guys are into, and he's 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.719 a d K and he's got all the equipment at 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.080 According to Nick, remember I asked her out. He's like, 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.520 he's got a bubble machine. That was his big line. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.400 That's true. I'll see that it's true. Rick is confirming 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:10.320 the bubble machine. Well, it's true that I had I 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.920 know I had access to a bubble machine access. Yes, 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:18.319 I never know. We were writing the book, you were like, Rick, 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:22.520 didn't no, I said the bubble machine, and You're like, 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.640 I don't think so. And then you called Rick and 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:26.400 Rick was like, yeah, I don't know about a bubble machine. 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.120 I was like, you both are crazy because there was 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.480 definitely a bubble There was a bubble machine. Why else 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:35.640 would you want to meet someone exactly, Oh, they have 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.600 a bubble machine. Okay, I'll go the funny. The funny 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.280 thing is is that the bubble machine was something that 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.440 just was at the dorm. It's like, uh, and when 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:46.200 I heard that there was a bubble machine there, it's like, 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:47.800 oh wow, we gotta have a party. We have a 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:51.680 bubble machine now. So let's have a party, and that 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:56.960 was where the Bubble Machine story began. Rick, I'm curious about, 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.880 like just what your relationship with with each of the 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.600 and was, like I can remember spending the most time 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.800 with Adam, and it seemed like our friendship had mostly 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:08.600 to do with music because that's what we just listened 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.600 to music all the time, as I recall, and DJing 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:15.640 in music, and then I think I met the other 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:20.720 guys through the story of Cookie Puss after Cookie Puss 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.920 was already out and then wanting a DJ, and then 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.240 I came to a couple of shows in DJ the 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:32.120 after the live set, as I recall, hard to remember 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:36.160 first impressions. I remember seeing Mike before I met Mike 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.200 at Nagrill one night, and I remember someone saying, oh, 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:42.440 that that's one of the guys in the Beastie Boys, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:46.440 and I remember thinking it was just like it was 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.440 just a weird I had a weird impression, not good 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.600 or bad, just like he's a kid, feels like maybe 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.280 my age, maybe a little younger, and he's in a band, 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.200 and I remember he was I think, I think you 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:04.360 may have been pretty inebriated that night, Mike, and I 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.640 just remember thinking, Wow, this guy seems like a little 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.880 like uh, seems like revd Up, you know, like revd Up, 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.080 like tough, tough guy, Mike. You mean like he's just 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:19.000 like bad boy. No, no, no, just like like enjoying himself. 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:23.080 Like he was hitting it hard. Yeah, he goes hard 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:24.920 in the paint. He went hard in the pain. He 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.160 was going hard in the paint and it was impressive. 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.600 Come on. I don't remember being inebriated that night, which 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:32.440 doesn't mean that I wasn't. But what I do. What 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:36.120 I do I do remember is two things. One is 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.560 that was a really really important night for like us, 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:41.920 for you, Rick is like a part of us, like 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:43.720 because that was like where we really saw like hip 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:45.520 hop came, like I talked about it in the book, 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.920 where hip hop came downtown and all of a sudden, 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.240 there's a treacherous three and then I think it was 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.400 like next week was Afriga Bembada and Chazy Jay if 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.160 it wasn't that night whatever, and it was like this, 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.320 it was the most anything. But so my thing in 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.880 terms of compensating, I think there's like, of course I 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.920 was completely It's funny because I look I think about 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:10.720 I think back on those NC Grill nights, and I think, wow, 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.639 I was like so intimidated. I was so scared to 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.000 be there, but I was loving every second of it. 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.240 I was. There was no like club night. Maybe that 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:23.239 was more influential or exciting to me, but but I 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.680 was compensating from being intimidated. Probably but like because I 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.600 was with like my group of like friends, I was 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.560 probably acting like, oh yeah, I got this, but I 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.440 definitely didn't have it at all. We'll be right back 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.439 with the Beastie Boys and Spike Jones. After a quick break, 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:48.000 we're back with more from the Beasties and Spike Jones. Rick, Well, 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.199 what did you know about about the Beastie Boys at 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.280 that point or what did you what was your impression 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.240 to him? Had you ever heard of him? I don't 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.280 think I knew anything. I think the first thing that 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.840 I heard of the Beastie Boys was Cookie Posts, which 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.000 I loved, and Imber. I was in San Francisco and 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:09.000 I heard it at a she was a writer and A. Yeah. 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.480 I think it might have been in Powers and I 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.119 think I was stay staying at her like lofty place, 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.000 and I think I heard it there. I don't know 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:19.399 if she played it, or if I heard it on 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.439 the radio in San Francisco when I was there, but 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:24.600 I remember the connection of being at her house and 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.359 hearing it, and I thought, wow, that's really cool because 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.760 I was really really into hip hop at the time 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:38.200 and felt like it was the first punk rock expansion 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.840 towards hip hop. That's what it felt like. It was 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:42.520 as much a punk I would say it was as 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:44.639 much a punk rock record as it was anything else. 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.399 Compared to hip hop records, it was punk rock, but 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.480 compared to other punk rock records, it was more hip hop. 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.240 And I remember thinking, wow, it's really cool and it 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.520 and it had a and I remember laughing at it 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.399 and laughing at it with it, you know, like laughing 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.240 with it, thinking this is really funny, it's really good. 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.520 And I remember I remember I remember Yauk and his 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.879 motorcycle jacket and his long raincoat, and at one point 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:14.520 I felt like him and Nick Cooper kind of had 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:21.320 a similar raincoat vibe, you know, that raincoat vibe. Yeah. 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.600 I don't remember how I met Nick Cooper, but I 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.119 remember that to me, it felt like an anomaly. But 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:31.399 in both cases, the raincoat vibe was not something you 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:36.560 saw kids in New York wearing like it was it 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:43.320 was a fashion statement to wear long, somewhat dressy raincoat. Yeah. Yeah, 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.720 the raincoat vibe played played strong. When I first met 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:50.560 Yak at this Bad Rains show at Botany Talkhouse and 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:53.600 he was the only other kid my agea was there. 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:56.199 I was like, Wow, this is the kids wearing like 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.760 a trench coat and his combat boots and his like 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:03.520 hair spike up, like this kid's really cool. Yuck. Actually 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.240 kept that raincoat thing for that trench coat for a 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:10.480 long time. Yeah, that trench coat vibe work. Yeah, I 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.960 was gonna say. Also, remember Yeuk's obsession with the Bad Brains, 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:18.200 like it felt like nothing else in the world existed 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.399 other than the Bad Brains and kept that going for 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:27.720 a long time too. Yeah. And I remember as a 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:31.399 as a music fan seeing that sort of obsessive dedication 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.359 and just thinking, wow, he's really again going hard, like 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.920 he's going hard for this thing that he loves. Did 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:39.679 you do you feel like you got the answers that 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:44.359 you wanted? Yeah? Well, actually yeah, I'm always curious what 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.240 I mean, when you're like eighteen, it's kind of hard, Like, 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:52.359 how would you describe somebody you meet is kind of 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:54.840 hard because it's more about like what common interests, like 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:58.080 being having the same music interests. But did you have 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.520 a sense during like just not knowing these guys then 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:08.600 how you would describe each of them. I never really 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:12.080 thought about it. I did feel likely felt that I 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:16.680 felt like the place that I grew up in and 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:19.560 the people I was around and where I grew up 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:24.520 had a big impact on what I what I saw, 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:27.320 what I knew, and I felt like their life experience 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.639 was very different than mine, and it was just interesting. 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:35.359 And in some ways, um, I thought it was a 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:37.240 good thing, and in some ways I thought it was 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:40.440 a bad thing from from my perspective. Yea, And what way? 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:42.400 What way was it good? What way was it bad? 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:44.960 You're talking about like a long n link kid versus 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:47.480 a city kid kind of right, Yeah, I would say 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:52.639 like they had better access than I had, because this 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:55.680 is pre internet, Like now, everyone could find out anything 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:58.360 they want about anything. Where I was, it was hard 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:01.280 to find out anything about anything. I'd spend a lot 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:04.560 of time in the library doing research, and even that 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:08.639 research wasn't sort of cultural of the moment research. It 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:11.080