WEBVTT - Lyor Cohen 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:08.000 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Bob Left Sets podcast. My 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.280 guest this week is a man who needs no introduction, 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.479 so I won't give one. We'll get the history. Le 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:16.600 Or Cone, who's present gig after a long, illustrious career 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.520 in the music business, is the global head of music 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.880 for YouTube and Google. Le Or good to have you here. 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:25.919 Thank you, Bob. I'm happy to be here. Let's start 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.680 from the beginning. Now, you were born in New York, 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.840 and that's correct, but you lived in Israel, right my 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:35.760 first three years? Yes, okay, so you immediately moved to 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.120 Israel only to age three, and then you moved to 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.319 where I went, back to New York, back to York. 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:42.840 What'd your father do for a living, Well, my dad 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:47.839 is a was a child psychiatrist, child psychiatrist, and was 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:51.200 there music in the house, enormous amounts of music. So 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.960 from New York we moved to Los Feless on the 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:57.920 East Side. And what year you moved to Las felis 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:04.120 Las Feless and probably sixty six. And there's a lot 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.240 of music because my father was the first person that 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:11.600 connected the intercom system to his record player, and so 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:17.080 he loved Dixieland jazz and and chamber music. So throughout 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.319 the house all we heard was Dixie Land, jazz and 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.400 chamber music. Now, but the mid sixties the heyday of 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.520 music in Los Angeles. So were you an active record 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.760 buyer radio listener? Was a little kid then little kid? Okay, 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.480 so what do you remember? My brothers were My oldest 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:40.600 brother was. My parents were very active, um, social people 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.520 in uh. We attended all the love ins really, so 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:49.160 they were hipsters. Um, they weren't hipsters, they're more hippies. 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:53.680 My my father was instrumental with the classroom without walls, 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:58.440 the community center, school and Antioch and all of that stuff. 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:03.320 He's uh, you know. And my mother was a real 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:07.120 active woman too. So we were surrounded by a lot 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.600 of love and and we're politically active. We try to 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:15.200 elect McGovern and attended all the love ins really, So 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.640 what were those experiences like because you know a lot 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.840 of people that was before the internet. People would only 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.359 read about that they didn't actually have the experience. Well, 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.920 it was very young, but um, a lot of people 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:29.200 and I remember, I'm going some of the love ins 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:31.160 happened at Griffith Park. I don't know if you know 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.800 that I don't. Yeah, and uh, um it was just 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.920 it was an extension. I actually grew up in the 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.360 real hotel, California. My mother had what people would refer 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:51.239 to as a salon where we had poetry readings, art exhibitions, UM, 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:57.440 book fairs, uh anything, political rallies. The house was full 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.919 of people all the time, and we used to house 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.040 a lot of artists, find painters that stayed in our 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:10.560 home sometimes upwards of a decade. So did you like 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.240 that or not like that? I love that. It's the 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.280 only thing I knew. I loved um the interaction between 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.320 you know, all sorts of people. It was. It was 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:23.640 strange at times, but um, you know, that's what I knew. 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.400 So and then people always ask the children of psychiatrists, 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.560 it's that's also all you knew. Do you have any 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:34.560 feeling good, bad, insights not insights? Well, I think that 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.280 I was very lucky because, uh, there was a lot 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:42.160 of love in the house. My father was a very 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:48.520 high intellect. Um still alive. No, Unfortunately we didn't actually 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:53.040 um do sports together. So we're four boys, and where 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:57.200 are you in the hierarchy? I'm number two and our father, 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:03.320 um son's activity is more taking fits Is explained to 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.640 my audience case, they don't know what that's a sauna? 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.560 And um it was this in the Fairfax area. No, 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.360 this was at the Jewish Community Center and lost Felis, 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.560 and he would tell us stories Yiddish, mostly Yiddish stories. 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.960 Do you speak Yiddish? I don't you understand it? Not? 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:25.200 Not much, but it's very descriptive language, as you know. 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.520 So um that was that was our the extent of 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.520 the I don't know, we just um my father. My 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.279 father would constantly tell stories which actually had a lesson 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.520 or a moral. Was that the type of story your 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:42.240 fine would tell? No, No, imaginative stories, long and lustrative stories, 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:47.240 beautiful stories. He wasn't spending his days trying to educate us. 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:50.400 You know, we were living life, and I think living 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:54.159 life in a pretty awesome way. So you went to 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.479 one of these schools without walls yourself. No, I was 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:01.039 the black sheep of the family. I actually, um was 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:06.320 the first uh test case of riddling. Um My dad 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:08.640 signed me up for it, and that was a very 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.320 hyperactive kid. And all my brothers went there. But I 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.120 went to a more traditional school, thank god. And do 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.200 you still take riddle into this day. I don't When 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.000 did you stop taking the riddle in just before going 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.160 to college and you think it helped? You think it 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.599 was a big mistake. Oh no, I think definitely it helped. Okay, 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.600 So you went to traditional school and this was in 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:34.679 Las VELAs, correct, John Marshall High School. Okay, And when 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.640 did you music really drove the culture back then? But 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.760 when did you start a personal affinity with music? So 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.480 what what's interesting is that all my brothers were huge 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:49.640 record collectors and they had lots of posters on the wall. 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.599 I never collected a record, nor did I have a 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.800 poster on the wall. And but it was interesting because 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.920 they were all locked in their rooms with a very 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:04.800 particular style of music and they didn't cross pollinate. I 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.320 was the one who was in each one each of 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.040 my brother's rooms listening to all types of music, so 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.400 I was open for the experience. They were, you know, 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:19.200 always arguing which is the you know, best artist, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.200 And that was that just wasn't my thing. And what 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.080 did you like back then? Do you remember um? I 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:31.159 remember um being moved by the Delta Blues. My brother 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.680 had a big thing going on with the Delta Blues, Um, 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:39.200 Freddie King, I remember Janis chopping all all of that 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:43.800 um stuff. I had my first kiss with Carol King Tapestry. 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.960 I mean, I don't know. It was um, they're all 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:51.000 over the place, and so you go to high school 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:57.320 and you not what's your high school experience? Like? Um, 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.440 My high school experience was pretty good. It's you know, 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.800 Los Felis back then was a sleepy little village. It 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:10.400 was the pre strip malls. You know, those four parking 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.840 spots with the po box and the Chinese food which 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.440 were all over Los Angeles. You haven't been to Los Angeles, 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.640 don't know, but from one end of the spectrum, from 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.600 the Valley Hallway, Orange Country, endless strip malls. What what 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.400 a disaster of urban planning. But I fortunately grew up 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:30.320 in Los Felis prior to um strip malls. It was 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:36.240 a sleepy little village and you know, we lived basically 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:40.240 in Griffith Park and I don't know, it was wonderful. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.280 Um upbringing, door always open. Um. Were you in on 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.960 any athletic teams in high school? So? I was a 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.880 quarterback and I lost my elbow? Really yeah, how did 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.200 you lose your elbow? I went to throw a long 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:59.800 pass and I got caught and had several surgeries. And we, 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.840 of course, I said, lived in Griffith Park, and I 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.640 had a cast on, and I picked up a set 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.000 of three dollar clubs at a garage sale, and that 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:16.000 summer played golf one with one arm, and then became Roosevelt. Um, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.960 not Roosevelt, it was Coolidge. I don't know if you 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.960 remember Coolidge. It was considered the number one pitching put 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.760 in the country. Where was it? It was? You know, 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.440 a football field away from Roosevelt's. Roosevelt is a part 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.720 three across street from the Greek Theater on one end 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.520 of Griffith Park. I I ended up playing there, but 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:42.200 that summer I played exclusively Coolidge. And um, I became 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.160 a great golfer after that. How's your how's your elbow today? 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.200 It's a gimp elbow doesn't straighten out, and UM, I 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:53.080 don't know, probably helps my golf game, who knows. And 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:57.960 so after high school you go to directly to college. Um, 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.800 yes I did. And you went in Miami. Correct any 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:05.040 specific reason why he went to Miami? Well, I uh 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:12.120 was reacquainted with my biological father, who um insisted that 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:15.400 if he were to pay for my college education. I 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:19.040 had to go east of the Mississippi River. And it 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.920 was three weeks before UM school was going to start, 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.000 and he says, I'll get you into any college. At 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:30.199 the time, he was living in Nigeria in Africa, And 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.640 so I threw a dart and I hit Key West 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.679 and three weeks later I was at the University of Miami. 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.520 I was the only Southern California And it's like absurd 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:44.079 who from southern California would ever think about going to 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:48.200 the University of Miami. But man, did I pick the 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:52.200 right time. My timing is always really good. Bum That's 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.959 the thing, you know. I went during the cocaine cowboy 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.880 era UM when they did the thirty on thirty at 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:03.720 the U and we became national champions UM many years 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.600 in a row, and it was just an extraordinary time 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.320 to be in Miami. It was actually the only true 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.800 trauma I had was it was the first time that 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:18.040 I've ever bumped into a JAP And I remember, what 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.240 do you explain to the audience, what you mean a 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:24.280 JAP is a Jewish American prince or princess. And I 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.040 remember calling it's funny because how do you feel as 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.120 a Jew? And I'm a Jew. Two, you can use 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.440 the word jap. How about if a non Jew uses 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.199 the word term jab it doesn't matter, Okay, I think 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.679 it's very descriptive. So I remember talking to my mother 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:45.240 and I said, Um, there's these guys. They're a really 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:50.000 fancy cars. They listened to a lot of Saturday Night 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:55.760 Fever and they have uh star of David's on their chest. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:11:00.199 And it just I can't figure out what planet they 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:05.040 came from. And she couldn't help me either, because we 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:10.680 came from California. All our friends were basically hippie Jewish 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:16.040 families and so um, that was an interesting dynamic for 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:19.199 me to witness that at that stage of my life. 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.199 And and and and I don't know, it was well, 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:24.880 I know the similar experience. I grew up in the 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.040 suburbs fifty miles from New York City in Connecticut, and 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:32.000 I went to college where uh the people were prep 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.960 school and you had these very rich non Jews. It 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.520 was very I never ran into people like that before. 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:41.200 So being out irrelevant makes you more worldly. Yeah, well, 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:45.000 you know it was interesting what what I say it was? 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:50.000 You know, for me, it was a culture shock. Um, 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:55.640 But I actually became very very close friends with many 0:11:55.679 --> 0:12:00.920 of the Latin American Jewish um Um kids that sent 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.079 there from South America and Central America. And when pure 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.320 serendipity or there was an affinity or why there's a 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:12.760 there was a huge community. Um. Many of the Jewish 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:16.200 families from Central and South America sent their kids to 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:20.120 the University of Miami. So, you know, I went to 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.960 the hill Hel you know, I met other people. So 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:27.120 UM we became very close friends and you maintain those relationships. 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.760 Not really no odd okay, but just going back to 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.680 the agree you're comfortable talking about. You said your biological father. Sure, 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.839 can you explain what was going on there? So my 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:44.959 parents UM divorced when I was an infant. UM. My 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:51.280 parents met liberating Israel, and my father was one of 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:55.760 the commanders of the Battle of Haral, which is the 0:12:55.880 --> 0:13:00.240 hills leading up to Jerusalem. My mother comes from a 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.320 very very famous family. My great grandfather is one of 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:10.439 the signers, one of the pioneer families. Um was the 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:16.000 founder of Bank Mizrachi. He was Rabbi Cook's assistant. Uh. 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:21.800 He went to he was invited before immigrating to Palestine. 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:28.880 Um to the Basil conference with Hertzel. Um he witnessed 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:33.920 Hertzel and invited him to his factory in Poland. He 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:39.520 Um Hertzel came to the factory, gave an incredible speech, 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:44.000 and the very next day my um great great grandfather 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:48.800 sold the business and moved from a home that had 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:53.960 fifty five bedrooms to barracks style living in Jerusalem. Where 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:59.000 was Where was the home with fifty bedrooms in Poland? 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.680 And was the epicenter of the Golden era of Jewish 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:08.560 life which was in Poland. Um in the fifteen hundreds, 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:15.679 the Um Polish king decided that he was going to 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:20.600 create a society that was free of religious persecution and 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:25.480 everybody was able to practice. That's why UM Poland was 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:30.080 such an epicenter for Jewish culture. And Um, you know 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.760 that last couple hundred years. And what year did your 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:39.720 grandfather then moved to Jerusalem around nineteen fourteen fifteen, very 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:41.760 early on? Okay, And you were telling the story of 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:48.160 your biological thoughts. So my biological father, UM was didn't 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:52.040 come from such an incredible family, very nice family, but 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:57.080 UM not distinguished like UM my mother's family. And she 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.440 didn't want him to be in the UM have a 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.640 career in the army. So she encouraged him to get 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.720 out of the pressure cooker and go and study engineering 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:13.840 in New York City. And they had a very difficult 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:20.880 life together. He really wanted to continue his career in 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:25.880 the military. He was a security guard, a janitor, all 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:29.600 while going to school. A lot of pressure in the 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:35.360 house and he was very physical and um my mother 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.960 just couldn't take it anymore. So I decided to get 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.800 a divorce and that's how it happened. I didn't see 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:47.320 him for many many years. He became a uh AN 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:56.000 engineer and then a specialist in building huge infrastructure, primarily 0:15:56.040 --> 0:16:00.720 in third world countries, and went on to have this big, 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.920 very big career. And though of the four kids in 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:07.560 the family, he's the father of how many, um my 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:11.200 eldest and myself. And did he get married again and 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:15.080 have children again? He did? And so you have step brothers, sisters. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.440 I considered them all brothers and sisters. I don't like 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.880 that step thing. And you have regular contact with them, yes, 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:26.480 And so he ultimately had his second family where um 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.400 they started in Nigeria, then went to Switzerland. Um and 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:35.320 then to Israel. Okay, so he was financially successful and 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.160 your ultimate feeling about him, you tell the story of 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.480 him paying for college. You did you have how much 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.840 contact with you and you feel good about No? No, no, 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:47.720 very little contact. Um and a very rough guy. And 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:54.360 he always dangled money. Um the rabbi they countant the home. 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.400 He had all sorts of rules of how you were 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:01.320 able to inherit his money. And I didn't play by 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.920 any of the rules. And I was the one only 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.720 one cut out of the will. Really did you know 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:08.320 in advance of his death that you were cut out 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:10.520 of the will? I didn't know in advance, but I 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.840 had no interest in it either. It would it would. 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:18.399 It was better for um my brother and sister, my 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:24.120 two brothers and sister then and I was fine with that. Okay. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.720 So you go to the University of Miami. You involved 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.840 in music at all there? Yeah? I was the director, 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:35.120 the student organizer of of concerts. So okay, you say 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.439 you listen to music in your brother's rooms. What motivated 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.520 you to do that? And you know I'm active, and 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.439 you know I don't actually know the story, sorry, and 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:49.480 so who do you remember some of the acts you brought. Yeah, 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:53.480 I brought Loggins and Messina and I'm drawing a blank. 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.480 But I had a pretty good run there. Now, University 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:58.760 of Miami, even to this day is has a very 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.080 famous music school. Were you involved with that at all? 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.359 Not at all? Okay, So then you graduate from University 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:08.639 of Miami. I do after after the traditional four years, 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:13.800 and then what was the next step, I believe it 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:16.879 or not. The next step was I thought that I 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.760 could be a shrimp farmer in Ecuador. And what did 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.159 you know, somebody was a shrimp farmer in Ecuador. So 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:27.080 my roommate was the grandson of the president of Equador. 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.680 He didn't speak a lick of English. And I remember 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:36.560 one year is English started improving, he told me about 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.720 his uncle that loved shrimps, and he dug a ditch 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.040 in his backyard and and made some very good shrimps. 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.119 And another time he came back, he said that little 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:50.679 ditch in the backyard is a couple of miles wide. 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.520 And that was the beginning of the shrimp farming industry. 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.119 And I thought, because the University of Miami had a 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.320 big marine biology, you know center, so I thought that 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:06.399 I could actually do business in Ecuador and you know, 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.520 be on the front end of that. But that didn't 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.000 work out very well. Did you actually go to Ecuador 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.880 and try I did? How long did that last? Um? 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:19.359 That last about nine months? And it didn't work out because, uh, 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.040 just political situations. It got funky down there. Okay, So 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:26.240 you leave Equador and then you go where I go 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:30.320 to Los Angeles, back to my parents home, and my 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:34.440 mother helped organize me to work for the National Bank 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:39.440 of Israel in Beverly Hills and uh that's called bank Leumi. 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:43.159 And what did you do for Bankleyumi? I was a 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:51.639 financial analyst. I basically counted uh, Persian money because the 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:56.639 shaw had just fallen and they were racing to Beverly Hills. 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:00.560 So the job sucked. I didn't have a window and 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:04.040 there was no finance being done. It was just a 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.440 horrible job for me. And you did that for how long? 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.760 I did that for six months? And you're living in 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:12.080 your parents house. I know, I had my own crib 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:17.000 in Beechwood or somewhere, and that's that's a canyon up 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.119 by Griffith Park. So okay, so you're frustrated with that, 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.679 what's your next move? Well, my friends were throwing lots 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:27.520 of parties, and this was the beginning of there's some 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:33.120 very famous clubs, power Tools and Radio Radio actually being 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:38.320 the first one. And they were throwing parties and they 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.560 were trying to encourage me to come in and work 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:46.080 with them. They were having so much fun um, and 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.800 I just felt like I shouldn't bounce around. My mother 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.240 got me this job. I was just going to focus, 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:55.760 and but I was miserable and that ran its course. 0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:58.960 I just couldn't do it anymore. So I said I 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:02.400 joined them, but I to think of some other spend, 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:06.960 some something that I could do to add value. I 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:09.800 just didn't want to ride along them. So and this 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:13.159 was a full time business for them. I wouldn't say 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.360 it's a full time business. It wasn't for it. They 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:20.560 did parties sporadically um, but they were making a lot 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:25.200 of money at the time. And I remember that I 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:28.480 was driving by the Stardust Ballroom and I pulled over, 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:32.879 where's the Stardust Ballroom. It's an iconic place. It's not 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.360 there any longer, but it was on Sunset and Western. 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:39.880 It was one of the most important venues in Los Angeles. 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:43.280 It's actually where the beginning of the punk scene started. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:50.760 So what happened was the owners were umbought its sight 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:56.359 unseen from Korea. They're very, um fabulously wealthy, and they're 0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:00.399 trying to leave and they got sold the bill of goods. 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:05.520 You know, Hollywood Um nightclub on Sunset Boulevard. It was 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:08.639 a seed is the wrong side of the freeway. It 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:11.960 wasn't the wrong side of the freeway. So I said 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.320 to them, Hey, maybe I could you know, paint and 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.600 and and put some shows in here. And they said 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:23.360 there they would be thrilled. And so that's how we started. 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:26.399 And so the value you added to your friends was 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.520 finding the venue the venue. But I also thought about 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:37.000 because Bobby, I'm I'm basically a very curious person. So 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:41.800 there was these posters all over Los Angeles, very big, 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:45.920 big posters, and it was there were colorful and bright 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:50.560 and Uncle Jam's Army. Have you ever heard of it? No? 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.560 I didn't move to l A, you know, until after this. Okay, 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:58.880 So Uncle Jam's Army was had poster boards all over 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.120 the place, but I didn't know what it was at 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:03.919 Sports Arena and they gave me the time, So I 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.119 ended up going there and lo and behold. It was, 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:12.440 you know, at the Civic Center, jam packed um full 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:17.880 of kids from South central l a um listening to breakbeats. 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.280 There weren't even rappers at the time, and it was 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:26.840 exciting for me. And then I kept coming back to 0:23:26.920 --> 0:23:31.520 the parties, and then they started importing um rappers from 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:37.000 New York um that had singles. But because it was 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:41.040 a you know, city facility at eleven o'clock, they had 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:44.320 to shut their party down and my party didn't get 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:47.960 started till midnight. So I said, maybe I could hire 0:23:48.040 --> 0:23:51.080 some of the talent that they had to play a 0:23:51.119 --> 0:23:55.560 second gig in Hollywood, And that's how I started doing 0:23:55.600 --> 0:24:00.359 my thing. So what years this this was too So 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:03.040 how often would you have a gig at the ballroom? Um? 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:06.600 There was There was a period of time I had 0:24:06.800 --> 0:24:12.919 a regular weekend party Friday and Saturday in a little 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:16.560 small part of the ballroom. And then every once in 0:24:16.600 --> 0:24:21.840 a while I'd imagine a show, and you know, so 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:26.880 much bigger ones like concerts, not part I had parties 0:24:26.880 --> 0:24:29.199 and concerts, and so the concerts who were what was 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:31.840 some of the talent for the concerts. So the one 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:36.639 that that really changed my life was actually the first 0:24:36.680 --> 0:24:43.000 one and it was Social Distortion Circle, Jerks, fear fishbone Red, 0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:47.040 Hot Chili Peppers and run DMC's quite a bill. Yeah, 0:24:47.160 --> 0:24:52.000 well they're all unsigned. Um I borrowed like seven dollars 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:55.200 from my mom. I made thirty six g s that night. 0:24:56.400 --> 0:25:01.719 How was the capacity? Um? Capacity was like, you know, 0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:05.760 it's been a long time, some thinking, three thousand people 0:25:07.119 --> 0:25:10.040 and it was really super cool bomb it was something 0:25:10.880 --> 0:25:16.680 just uh, I still haven't come down from that moment. So, okay, 0:25:16.680 --> 0:25:19.399 you make thirty six g's in retrospect, did you know 0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:23.119 what you're doing? Or you were just lucky? Just lucky 0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:26.080 because I put on the second show with Houdini. I 0:25:26.080 --> 0:25:29.720 don't know if you know. And um, I lost all 0:25:29.760 --> 0:25:33.000 that money and then some and I had already started 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:36.399 spending that money. So I was really not in a 0:25:36.440 --> 0:25:39.639 good shape. And you were still at Bank Loomi or 0:25:39.680 --> 0:25:41.680 you're done. No, I was done. And you still have 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:45.040 these partners. Your friends are just yourself. I know they're 0:25:45.080 --> 0:25:49.679 they're my partner. Okay, so how about security and all 0:25:49.720 --> 0:25:52.159 those other issues. I didn't know anything about any of 0:25:52.200 --> 0:25:54.919 that stuff. And did you have any bad experiences? And 0:25:55.040 --> 0:25:58.960 no bad experience, only love Okay, so you made the 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:03.800 only bad experience. This was the fear that still drives 0:26:03.840 --> 0:26:07.360 me today when I sat outside the venue thinking that 0:26:08.080 --> 0:26:10.000 there was going to be a walk up like there 0:26:10.119 --> 0:26:12.000 was at the run dy m C show that never 0:26:12.040 --> 0:26:16.520 showed up. And it's a pain that's below the heart 0:26:16.640 --> 0:26:20.040 and above the stomach. And I still can feel like 0:26:20.200 --> 0:26:25.159 right the second I could feel that pain, and um, 0:26:25.240 --> 0:26:27.639 you know, I've been running away from that pain ever since. 0:26:28.440 --> 0:26:32.000 And at this late date, why did the Houdini show 0:26:32.040 --> 0:26:39.120