WEBVTT - John Boyle 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:09.079 Welcome to the inaugural Bob Left Sets podcast. Used to 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.160 podcast about ten years ago with Rhino, I was ahead 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:13.920 of the curve. We'll find out if I'm behind the 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.479 curve now. I'm now working with tune In. I'm in 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.800 the tune In office and studio in Santa Monica, and 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.440 I felt for the initial podcast would be best if 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.960 someone interviews me so you can learn a lot about me. 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.280 So I have my old friend who's the chief growth 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:34.400 officer of Insomniac, John Boyle. John, Hi, Bob, thank you 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.960 so much for having me. Yes, so we've done this before. 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.559 We've done it to E d M Biz. We did 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.840 it on the Summit series Ship. But going back, okay, 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.000 you went to u c l A. Was your first 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.560 gig doing snow Core and those other concert promotions. None 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.479 of the first gig was booking shows at u c 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:53.360 l A. And then I was in a band. You 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:57.440 were in a band. I didn't know that. Um it 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:59.920 was Leonard Skettern meets Guns and Roses. No wonder you 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.160 love those? Of course I do. And what did you do? 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.080 You were the singer, know I was the drummer. You 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:09.000 were the drummer, really and as the manager. Okay, although 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.319 they always say the drummer is the business guy, so 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:13.920 it makes sense yourself. So we did. We did quite 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.400 well actually, and and then during college I started booking. 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.080 We did quite well. How far did you get? Well? 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:21.800 I mean we like tore it up and down. We 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.200 toward the west, we toward the Western US and colleges. 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.280 We were a college party band, really, so what was 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.080 a gig worth? Um? Not? It was worth a really 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.880 good time on some parties. And that's kind of what 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.560 it was about. I mean, what was it a grand fifte? No? No, 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.640 we were getting up to like five grand shows. Okay, 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.240 that's pretty good in case this uh business thing doesn't 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.080 work out. Okay, so you did that and then you 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:47.840 did shows it U c l A yeah, no, no. 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:50.880 And then then that led to uh, ESPN launched the 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:54.200 X Games and I got to book that initially, and 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.000 then there was the US Open, a surfing, and then 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.120 there was just all these lifestyle events. I as you know, 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.880 I'm from Lake Tahoe. Um, I grew up on skis. 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.200 I was a competitive ski racer, as you know. We'll 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:10.679 talk about this, I'm sure, and uh, and I fell 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.480 into the surf skate snow scene at U c l A. 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:16.320 I didn't really know. I grew up in Tahoe. I 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.640 really didn't know what anything was anything as a blue 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:21.280 collar kid. And then um, and then all of a sudden, 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:24.320 the surf skate snow thing blows up. I find myself 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:29.080 working with offspring and this is what this is like? 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:34.760 Um and uh and uh and yes nine two and 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.520 then and then Kevin Lyman, you know, shortly thereafter launches 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.639 the Warp Tour and so how were you involved with 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:44.160 the Warp Tour? Well, well, as I was doing my shows, UM, 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.760 I needed a real producer to produce them because I 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.399 was just a kid, and Kevin came in and produced them. Um. 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.800 And then when Kevin started the Warp Tour, he invited 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.480 me to be his sponsorship and marketing guy, which I did. 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.520 Simultaneous to that, I got a phone call from Irving 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.720 as Often and Steve Backer a Giant Record saying whatever 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.320 it is you do, can you do for us? And 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.440 you can do your side hustle, you do your other 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:11.760 hustle on the side, um, which was at the time 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.560 Warp Tour. And then and then um and then I 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.919 moved from Giant Records to Virgin Records and launched Snow Corps. 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.200 And then it's kind of been a you know, okay, 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.280 but then you then you turned into a manager and 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.560 you managed Exhibit. Yes I did. I managed Exhibit. I 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.160 managed Alien amp Farm, I managed quite a few rock bands. 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:35.240 I spent a couple of years of sanctuary. I was 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.240 there law before it was what you were at, the 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.240 same guys running it, but you're doing that, and then 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.440 it all came to a stop and you went for 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:47.960 an m b A. It did everything kind of slowed down. Um. 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:53.040 I was immune to the napster um wall that everybody 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.800 hit UM until a couple of years later. And then yeah, 0:03:57.840 --> 0:03:59.480 and then I stopped and I went back and got 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.840 a a dual MBA from Colombia and the Hospital of 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.680 Business at Berkeley. Um. Okay. So when you got that NBA, 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:09.360 did you think you were going to come back to 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:13.440 the music business. I kind of thought I wouldn't come 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.440 back to the music business. But as um al Pacino 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:20.240 or Marco Corleone says in The Godfather three, the more 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.479 you try to get out, they pull you right back in. 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:25.040 And I got pulled right back in by another Italian 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:30.159 named Pasquale Rotella. Right, so you helped pasqual with his 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.760 deal with Live Nation. I was. I was very fortunate 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.880 to help Pascal off this deal. Okay, So without making 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.200 this whole podcast about you, that this is about you, 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.480 I don't know what we're talking about. What is the 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:46.120 status of the electronic music world today? Well, I think 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:51.640 the status UM is for Insomniac is incredibly healthy. UM. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.120 You know, I think their saturation in the festival business 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.560 at large in North America and in Europe. UM. But 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:03.240 the Juggernauts thrive and survive, right, UM, Why don't you 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.400 just for our audience in case they're not including, just 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:10.400 say what Insomniac does. UM. Insomniac runs the largest dance 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.800 music festivals in the world around the world, and they 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:18.160 are UM well Electric Daisy Carnival E d C in Vegas, 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.880 the flagship version in Vegas does forty thousand people a day. 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.840 It's the largest single weekend festival and certainly in North America, 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.680 maybe the world, I'm not quite sure. UM. And we've 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:34.600 we've launched it UM in Brazil, Mexico, India, the UK, Japan. 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:40.480 There's a big another Asian announcement coming. UM it's you know, 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.240 it's it's been, it's it's been incredible being a part 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.760 of this and so and I'm a rock guy. You 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:47.440 know that. I know that. I know that. But we 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:49.640 all you know our hip to what's coming down the pike, 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.919 did you? Um? Although Pasqual I ran it him the 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:54.640 other day and he told me you're getting into hip 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.560 hop too. Now yeah, no, no, so Insomniac is getting 0:05:57.560 --> 0:05:59.760 into hip hop. I mean, look, Pasqual is a genius. 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:03.359 He's an absolute genius. He's a visionary. He is the 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:05.880 number one, like he's the authority and dance music on 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.400 the entire planet. And when he pulled me back in 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.159 so to speak, five and a half years ago, I 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.160 really didn't know what I was in for. Um and 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:19.200 I couldn't be more grateful. Now you give good answers, um. 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.120 But you know, if you Pasqual has been in the 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.480 business since like the early nineties for people, don't you 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.039 know it's like the ten thousand hours thing, Wide Awake, 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:31.800 since that's the company logo, Wide Awake since ninety three, right, 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:33.560 And it's funny you sit with all those guys, you 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:35.280 have stories, but you know, when it was the rave 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:39.279 culture et cetera. But obviously there's been a peak, let's 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.920 call it five four or five years ago, we still 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.279 have that same peak. No, I I don't. I don't 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:46.960 think there was a peak. I think there was a 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.720 plateau about two years ago. UM. And so where I 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.960 really think the opportunity is now as in Asia. UM. 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.240 I've been spending a lot of my time in Asia, 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:00.600 South America, a lot of opportunity. But you got political instability, 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.599 you've got currency challenges, you've got all it's still third world. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:10.080 That's why you need an NBA or ASIA. UM. Asia 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.120 is where, by the way, we can talk about this, 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:17.840 like the music business across the board. Asia's the opportunity. Okay, 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.080 but can we stop talking about me and talking about 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.800 just a couple more questions. What is driving attendees at 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:28.160 this point to electronic music festivals. Well, I think it's 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:32.920 I don't think. I know it's it's the element of community, um. 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.520 And it's also the element of being accepted. Um. You know, 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.720 other music festivals, UM, you kind of have to fit 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.600 into a certain you know, just a certain style or 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.760 certain niche right at at at dance music festivals and 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:52.480 insomniac festivals in particular, you can be you and you 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.360 are accepted and welcomed and that's it's it's it's really 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:57.920 a beautiful thing. I mean like I feel like i've 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.000 I've been a part of making the world a better 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:01.960 place for the last few years. And that's the hard 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.200 thing to say, coming from dance music with all the 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.400 negative press that it gets, but it's true. You let 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:10.640 me ask you, what was your experience when you came 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:12.800 to E d C. Well, they have to go back. 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.120 I went to Hard Halloween the first time. Eric Kurtz, 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:19.200 wh's a guy with Bill Silva now part of the 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.320 Live Nation Empire. He says, you have to come, you 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.280 have to come, And it was USC where the now 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:27.720 there's a big dorm, but there was a big open 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.600 space and the funniest thing was running Two people said, 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:32.959 we were at the football game at USC. You're not 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.320 gonna believe what's going on and go. I was there, Okay. 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:39.720 So it was a separate culture and it was fascinating 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:41.720 going to E d C. I was just talking about 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.840 it last night. The single thing that made the biggest 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:49.000 impression was the helicopter ride there. I know, I knew 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.360 we were gonna get to the helicopter is for those 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.440 who don't know, you know, because it's electronic music festival. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.040 You go, they got the pulsing lights and everything at 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.880 the helicopter station. Then they weigh you, which is not 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:04.040 encourage you. And it's an inherently frightening experience because not 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.560 the company we used, but the other company that flies 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:08.720 out of Vegas are the ones who crashed at the 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:13.160 Grand Canyon. So they walked the you know, helicopter to 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.319 the takeoffs face and they go and on the way there, 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.319 you were talking over the headphones and it was totally calm. 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.040 When I left at like four thirty in the morning, 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.120 I was with the guy from Live Nation Mexico and 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.480 a guy from Brazil, and you're with the George from 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:33.280 Ossessa in Mexico and Fernando from from Brazil. First of all, 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:35.360 in Brazil, he was talking about how many bodyguards he 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.679 had and height. They passed out because it was so 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:40.240 you know, early in the morning and late at night, 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:42.280 depending on how you want to see it. They passed 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:44.079 out within like fifteen minutes. It was just me and 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:48.280 the pilot and what happened was nothing happens fast in 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.599 the music business, or does it happen fast and for 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.600 or thirty in the morning. So I'm bs and with 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.320 a pilot while we're waiting to get who's gonna go 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:57.079 on the ride with us? And he says he was 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:01.120 in the military. I'm feeling incredibly calm. The guy flew 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.080 helicopters in the military. What could be better? But we 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.760 talked long enough. He didn't fly helicopters in the military. 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:09.880 Wasn't until he got out. He only been flying for 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:13.720 two years. What I know about helicopters is if the 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.080 rotator stops going, if the rotor stuff going, it just plunges. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.480 People tell me otherwise, whatever, So if there's a funk up, 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.840 you die, whereas with a plane there's a good fighting chance. 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:26.240 So inherently there's some anxiety. Well, and I mean Bill 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:30.600 Graham died exactly, and the uh Stevie Ray Vaughan died, 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.880 and the CIA um the CIA exact died. I forget 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.559 his name, but right, there's so many people, you know, 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.160 the helicopter accidents. But going to the e d C itself, 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.360 one thing they do not gonna you know, stroke you 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:45.840 on insomniac. Once you get in, you don't have to 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.920 pay anything else. Every other festival is nickel and dime 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.200 me you. And then they had a spot where you 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.600 could get your phones charged. And it's almost like that 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.839 old song too many Fish in the seat, Short ones, 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:00.319 tall ones, big ones, small ones. All kinds of people 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:02.720 were out and it was accepted and there was a 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:06.480 lot of money spent that was unnecessary. What I mean 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.520 by that. There were timed explosions at certain hours and 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:12.800 fireworks and it made you feel like you were at 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.440 something special. Of course, it's it's like, you know, the 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:20.840 funny thing is, we live in a society where everything 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.839 gets pressed. So theoretically, if you want to Google, you 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.880 can find out about anything. But because there's so much information, 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.439 their secret worlds, and when you're at when you're out 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.600 in the desert at this racetrack outside of Vegas, you 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.520 really feel like everybody should come once just to see 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:39.240 what the funk is going on here, because they really 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.599 don't have any idea, and especially that all Coachella Lollapalooza, 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.240 they always cover them. Although The New York Times didn't 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.280 send somebody to coach Hell at this point because they 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.400 felt they weren't last year, they felt they weren't breaking 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.800 any new ground musically, So there's a there's not as 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.240 much news about these things. They used to with their experiences, 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.160 and the millennials are about experiences. You have to go 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.080 just see what's going on. Well, no, and uh, thank 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:05.760 you for coming. When you did come, it was I mean, 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.959 like a d C is the biggest production on the planet. 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.200 You saw it firsthand. There is, I've seen them all. 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.319 There is no bigger production. And by the way, I 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:18.840 see the cost structure that goes behind it, like it's 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.120 the biggest production on the planet. Well, the funny thing is, 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:22.720 you know you're at the race track and you see 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.680 that many trailers. You know, you know it's a really 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.640 big operation. Not to mention the fact I've been to 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.840 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but I've never been to like a 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.800 NASCAR track. Whenever you see the banks and it was 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.439 there who talking we were hanging I was talking to 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.719 afro Jack because everybody's hanging out is an interesting situation, right, 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.120 everybody's there. No bit to your point, it's a two 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.160 mile track, right, So the NASCAR tracks run between one 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.160 and two miles. It's a two mile track. I mean 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.640 it's a huge footprint. Um and you know what, it's 0:12:53.679 --> 0:13:00.920 really a beautiful show. Hey, it's left stets. I thank 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.599 you for your time. Thanks for listening to my inaugural podcast. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.840 Remember to subscribe on tune in, iTunes or wherever you 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:13.200 get your podcasts. Okay, but now it's time to switch gears, 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:17.640 as promise. Thank god, let's stop talking about me. That's 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:20.800 time for you to quiz me. All right. You know, 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:22.679 I'm just gonna get a little crazy. The key is 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.080 not to leave anything in the green room, so we 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.760 do no preparation. I don't know what it sounds like. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:29.600 I'm doing a TV show now. I don't know I'm 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.520 gonna be hit with, but go for it. So let's 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.800 be clear. I begged Bob. So. Bob and I first 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:42.240 met in n at the what was then known as 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.559 the Aspen Artist Development con Correct it's now known as 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:50.400 Aspen Live, and Bob writes about this every single fucking year. 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:52.800 It's a big part of your life, right, you know, 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.160 so much of my social life is based on that, 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.760 you know people. For those who don't know, you can 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.960 google it Aspen Live. It's the antithesis of usual music festival. 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.360 There's no bands and it is an Aspen and to 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.080 go skiing. And some people think it's a circle jerk, 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.240 but the converse happens. Because there's no bands. You go skiing, 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.920 you really get to know people. That's how I know John. 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.440 And the key point we were in the Buffalo Club 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.240 and he asked for John is like the Tumbler and 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.200 the cat Skills and he's asking for predictions. I don't 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.480 even know what that means, but whatever, he's the guy 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:25.600 who makes every who makes everything happen. I mean the 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:30.440 straw that stirs the drink. That's that's something. In addition, 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.960 that's what Reggie Jackson said when he was at the Yankees. 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.400 But I don't want to mix the metaphors here. At 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.960 the Cats Skills and most of those hotels are closed, 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.880 they had a guy who ran around called the Tumbler, 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:46.240 who always made activities spontaneously. So you set up an 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.480 asked for predictions, and you had given me ship before that, 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.600 and I said, and I said, within twelve minutes Geffen Record, 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:56.560 twelve minutes, twelve months Geffen Records would close, which it did. 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.480 But that was one thing. But that's how we met well. 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.400 And I didn't know you at the time, and and um, 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:05.960 I look at I look at Bob as like my 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.280 older brother from another mother. He's not enough to be 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:13.080 my dad. Um, he would be my older brother. And 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:16.480 I don't have an older brothers or any brothers at all. 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.840 Um um and uh and And we were both part 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:23.560 of that first Aspen conference, right, very involved, absolutely right. 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.760 And I think I hosted, I was the MC of 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:30.000 the dinner or something. And and I think I called you, 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:32.800 and I've I've admitted to this. Um. I think I 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.040 called you the annoying bald guy. It was that or worse. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.280 It was definitely a put out. I've blocked it from 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.200 my memory, but I remember the insult. So I apologize 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.360 to you for probably the hundredth time here. Well, you know, 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:47.880 I've had a lot of psychotherapy at this point. You know, 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.800 people think that I'm a guy who's very honest, and 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.000 when you were in the music business, you are very honest. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.920 You're in the music business long enough, you know there's 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.520 the surface and the layer beneath the surface, and people 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.280 think if you're intense on the surface, you ust to 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.640 be a real motherfucker underneath. But I am who I am, 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.920 So therefore people may be thrown off guarded first, but 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.240 then they realized, you know, there's no artifice underneath it. 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:17.960 So ultimately you know this is me. Yeah, and you know, um, 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.280 I think so. So Bob and I have have um 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.840 we've we've done some interviews together a couple of times, 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.320 a few different things. And what I usually tell everybody 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.840 out of the gate is this guy has one badass 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:33.520 motherfucking skier, like he fucking rips. And by the way, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:34.920 this is coming from a guy who grew up in 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.400 Tahoe and was the Junior olympiad. So Bob is a 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:43.520 really um not that you I did win all the 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.880 ski races in the first few years, but you are 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.800 really really good. And I think that was something that 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.600 brought us together. Absolutely our roots in the mountains. Our 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.480 roots are in the mountains. So all right, so let's 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.400 let's talk about you. Connecticut, right right. I grew up 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:02.000 a Connecticut in the suburbs Afield, Connecticut. That's fifty miles 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.760 from New York City. Why that's important is that's New 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:08.960 York media, New York Radio, New York television. At the time, 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.760 it was rare for someone to commute to New York 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:16.080 from Fairfield. But now it's more common, but my mother 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.720 was a real cultural vulture. We were constantly going in 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.919 to see plays, musicals. We would go with school. But 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.240 staying with what I said earlier, we had the three 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:28.920 networks plus three independent stations. The only place that had 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:33.119 more independent television stations West Los Angeles with four, and 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:37.560 of course we had multiple A M radio stations, certainly 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.000 seventy seven. We had Cousin Brucy, who's now on the 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.879 satellite again. I was a big Cousin Brucy fan. And 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.000 we had Scott Muni number one in the nation, the 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:51.840 Scott Munich Show, who flipped over to FM Okay and 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:57.280 FM Underground radio started in San Francisco in nineteen sixty seven, 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.280 one could say nineteen sixty six with Tom Donahue, and 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.800 started in New York in nineteen seventy seven WO R 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:09.120 F M, and it had all at Scott Muny who 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.919 eventually went to w n e W. But I was there, 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.920 being in the New York radio market, we could get 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.199 all those stations, so I heard all those records. So 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.520 what was the what was the moment? What was the 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.520 moment you knew that music was your calling or did 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.200 you not know because you went and got a you 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.200 you went, you're an attorney. Many people don't know that 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:36.160 I am an attorney. But we're getting ahead of the story. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:41.200 You know, generations are changing and people are rewriting history. Okay, 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:45.159 people say that, oh, the Beatles filled a vacuum after 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.000 JFK got shot like everybody else my age. I certainly 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.399 remember where I was when JFK got shot. I was 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.800 at the bowling Alley. Okay, we were watching it on TV. 0:18:55.520 --> 0:19:01.960 But the Beatles were just a revolution in sound. It was. 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:04.760 They didn't start to play the record so right after 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.639 Christmas because radio stations locked their playlists over Christmas. It 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:13.760 was within twenty four hours. Okay, everybody started to grow 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.000 the here immediately, everybody got a guitar at that time. 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:19.920 Before that was folk music. We haven't had hooting any 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.320 shows on television. And I had learned to play a 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.560 nylon string guitar, but it wasn't until after the Beatles 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.640 that I got an electric guitar. It was you never 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:32.879 talked about this, Well, here we have it, and I 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.000 was a shifty guitar player. Let me be very clear. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.720 I mean it's funny because you listen to the radio 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:39.440 and they play some of these records. Some of these 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.320 songs are incredibly easy to play, like Gloria It's three uh. 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:48.080 Van Morrison's song made uh popular in America. My Shadows 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:54.159 of the Night um and uh um. Dirty Water that 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.720 was another easy one. But I had my friend Mark 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.840 and my Mark. My friend Mark, remember he traded his 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.040 I got an e S three thirty five and we're 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:04.520 playing in his bedroom one day and he said, well, 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:08.200 let's change keys, and that's when I knew I was done. 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.680 I was also embarrassed. I was with a guy who 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:13.280 still plays in bands, and they were gonna get gigs, 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:16.199 and I felt like I was not good enough. But 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:18.600 I subsequently got a very I worked for a summer 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.440 and I bought an expensive acoustic guitar, which my mother 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.439 put in the crawl space and has some mold on 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.680 it now Gibbs I still have it. They say they'd 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:31.000 fix it at Gibbs Back whatever the gifts, you know, 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.560 they said they would fix it. And it was really good, 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:35.640 and I played a little bit first year of college, 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.960 but college was so disorienting. After living in the suburbs, 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.439 I went to college in Vermont. I did not play 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:45.400 after that university, No, I went to Middlebury College, which 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:50.280 is a half hour from so going to college. Um, 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.560 I I could have gone to Middlebury Columbia. I didn't 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:58.080 go to Columbia primarily because a guy had been on 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:00.879 a summer program with wanted to rule with me, and 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:02.560 I didn't want to ruin with them, and I know 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:04.320 I would get out of it. So if I go 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.080 to Middlebury, I don't have to worry about it. The 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:11.040 middle Berries were really the skiing kicked in right. No, no, um, 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:12.840 if you want to talk skiing for a minute, I 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:14.640 grew up, as I said, connected when you still used 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.800 to snow in Connecticut. And my friend Bobby Hickey used 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:22.040 to ski and he let me try his skis, and 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:24.880 I convinced myself convinced my parents to buy me skis. 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:27.920 It was the skis bindings and polls for ten dollars. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:30.760 And we used to ski in Bobby Hicky's backyard with 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:34.800