Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Coleen Wait and today we have very
Speaker 1: special guests Laren Wong in the building, recording artists. Laren
Speaker 1: Wong is in the building promoting his fourth EP or
Speaker 1: long and fourth, Long and fourth, fourth and long, fourth
Speaker 1: and long. We gotta throw it back to fourth and long.
Speaker 1: We have to throw it back to the NFL, of course.
Speaker 1: So what are you gonna have me eating today?
Speaker 2: I'm going to have you eat the Laryn Wong Classic,
Speaker 2: the Laryn Wong Struggle.
Speaker 1: Special, the Struggle Special.
Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am, aka steaks.
Speaker 1: Steak and taters. That's what that is. You're gonna cut
Speaker 1: those things.
Speaker 2: Up, oh for sure. Steak and mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, okay? And then what are the ingredients for
Speaker 1: your dish?
Speaker 2: So here we have a cut of steak, baby spinach, butter, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme,
Speaker 2: olive oil.
Speaker 1: And then what is the heavy cream?
Speaker 2: Heavy? I'm sorry, heavy cream as well?
Speaker 1: And what's that for?
Speaker 2: Put the massed potatoes?
Speaker 1: You put heavy cream in there? Okay, we learn it,
Speaker 1: we learn it. He's a real cook, guys. He came
Speaker 1: also with his handy dandy device. What is that right here?
Speaker 2: Is a weight? I call it a meat pressure. But
Speaker 2: this makes sure you get an even sea or on
Speaker 2: your steak.
Speaker 1: Okay, now, do you eat your steaks medium rare? Or
Speaker 1: is it gonna be bloody on the inside?
Speaker 2: It depends how you like it? You got to mal
Speaker 2: you like it?
Speaker 1: How do you eat it?
Speaker 2: How do I eat it? It varies. But sometimes the blood.
Speaker 2: I know you're not supposed to be eating blood, but
Speaker 2: sometimes it makes it taste better. So medium, medium, well
Speaker 2: sometimes sometimes medium rare. Just depends on the cut.
Speaker 1: I was scared you're gonna say medium rare. You look
Speaker 1: like a medium rare. Okay, go ahead, get in the kitchen.
Speaker 2: Okay, get you. But in the kitchen, let's see. Let's
Speaker 2: see what we got here. So we got the pre
Speaker 2: boiled potatoes. Let me check on the consistency of them.
Speaker 2: Let's see this.
Speaker 1: Go for it like that. We already started to boil, guys.
Speaker 1: I know there's not a chance on earth that they already.
Speaker 2: It's okay, just watch this. It's another thing too, when
Speaker 2: you throw it in there like that. I didn't throw
Speaker 2: these potatoes in here.
Speaker 1: Like this, y'all, No I did.
Speaker 2: I feel, and I appreciate you for that, But it's
Speaker 2: a good teaching moment right here. When you throw it
Speaker 2: in like that, it's not going to cook that fast
Speaker 2: because there's not as much surface area for the heat
Speaker 2: to even you know what I mean? So boom.
Speaker 1: Well they actually didn't do so bad either. You may know,
Speaker 1: how do you know all this cooking stuff?
Speaker 2: Because every adult should know how to cook, period. Okay,
Speaker 2: come on now, that's.
Speaker 1: Like you don't see a lot of men knowing their
Speaker 1: way around the kitchen like this, No disrespect.
Speaker 2: That's like a dependency thing, you know, mm hmm. Don't
Speaker 2: you want to be able to sustain yourself? Yeah, so
Speaker 2: why wouldn't you know how to cook?
Speaker 1: So who taught you how to cook?
Speaker 2: My mom? But also just myself. I taught myself how
Speaker 2: to cook a lot of dishes. Okay, YouTube, that's what
Speaker 2: I'm saying. People be acting like you so hard you
Speaker 2: be looking it up on YouTube? Yeah, before like all
Speaker 2: these other options, I was on YouTube. I learned how
Speaker 2: to do everything on YouTube. Okay everything.
Speaker 1: Do you ever see a recipe on like Instagram where
Speaker 1: someone cooks it and then you go and you save
Speaker 1: it and you actually try to make.
Speaker 2: It absolutely TikTok. Yeah, like the foody TikTok foody Instagram
Speaker 2: has has definitely up my culinary career.
Speaker 1: Is that something you're really into though? Like, are you
Speaker 1: into like cooking and all that?
Speaker 2: For sure? Sure? Maybe not something I would do, like
Speaker 2: actually pursue it right now, but just I enjoy doing
Speaker 2: it at home, like trying new I like a challenge,
Speaker 2: a creative challenge, just like art. Cooking is art.
Speaker 1: I one hundred percent agree. I absolutely love cooking, but
Speaker 1: I love watching other people come up with creative recipes
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. But I have a bad habit
Speaker 1: of cooking something really cool, plating it well, and then
Speaker 1: not taking a picture.
Speaker 2: Need that you don't got to take a picture of everything.
Speaker 1: I want to though I want to show people I
Speaker 1: can I can do it.
Speaker 2: You should only take a picture of it when you
Speaker 2: master it. I mean, I mean, if you want to
Speaker 2: feel good about me personally.
Speaker 1: Hey, every plate, it looks good.
Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, I believe you.
Speaker 1: I'm a plater, you know. I like the whole presentation.
Speaker 2: Right so right here we got this steak. Thank you
Speaker 2: for paring this. I remember I used to cook steaks
Speaker 2: all the time. And be like, damn, I can't never
Speaker 2: get it right. Why can't I get it right? The
Speaker 2: reason was it wasn't dry. Really, you got to pack
Speaker 2: the steak dry.
Speaker 1: That's how you get That's why you're so anal about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how you get the proper see like proper crust.
Speaker 2: That's how you get the proper seer in the crust
Speaker 2: on the steak.
Speaker 1: Laren, Just so you know, I've been with you for
Speaker 1: less than like thirty minutes. You have to be one
Speaker 1: of the most polite people I've ever met. Really, Yeah,
Speaker 1: does do other people say that to you?
Speaker 2: No? Okay, all right, all right, you're from New York though,
Speaker 2: so that's not really saying much.
Speaker 1: Okay, So you got to make it extremely dry? What greed?
Speaker 1: What are you doing next?
Speaker 2: So right here, I'm going to classic classic steak. That's
Speaker 2: how I prepared. You know, a lot of people got
Speaker 2: their ways. It's my way right here. So boom, patted
Speaker 2: it dry. I hit the steak with the salt, not
Speaker 2: too much there.
Speaker 1: Just make sure it's a healthy coating.
Speaker 2: A healthy coating. Mix it around a little bit, ingratiate
Speaker 2: the salt into the fibers of the muscle, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. Boom. Then I throw some pepper on there,
Speaker 2: and that's up. Yeah, I'll be busting. I'd be busting
Speaker 2: down a little bit.
Speaker 1: I always see people seasoning with your salt and pepper,
Speaker 1: and I'm always fascinated by it because I use so
Speaker 1: many seasonings.
Speaker 2: It's like, okay, you know what, I will compare that
Speaker 2: to what that's like somebody in music who isn't really
Speaker 2: confident in what they actually do, so they feel like
Speaker 2: they gotta put hella stacks and harmonies and just everything everywhere.
Speaker 2: It's like, not just let it be. If it's a
Speaker 2: good cut, let it just compliment it and it will
Speaker 2: shine on its own.
Speaker 1: We've had chefs on the show that say similar. They're like,
Speaker 1: just simple so you could taste the flavors of the meat,
Speaker 1: right for sure? And then why is time such an
Speaker 1: important ingredient in this?
Speaker 2: I use time. I typically don't use time, but you know,
Speaker 2: I'm on eating while broke, so specially cadence, So I
Speaker 2: gotta just garden it up a.
Speaker 1: Little bit, okay, And then are you going to do
Speaker 1: both sides?
Speaker 2: It's okay, So I do both sides. Put it on there,
Speaker 2: flip it, repeat the process. My layer is salt order operations.
Speaker 2: I go salt, pepper, and then anytime or rosemary that
Speaker 2: I might add.
Speaker 1: Now, do you have to make sure that the oil
Speaker 1: is hop before you place it?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: By the way, these are all genuine questions because I
Speaker 1: rarely ever, ever, ever, ever ever cook steak, never ever
Speaker 1: to learn today? Are you using?
Speaker 2: But I mean something I was gonna use better? Typically,
Speaker 2: I like using avocado oil.
Speaker 1: There's avocado oil right there.
Speaker 2: I know, but I'm gonna try it better. I'm gona
Speaker 2: try to better because I'm gonn want to baste it
Speaker 2: and all that.
Speaker 1: I love butter. I use butter and everything.
Speaker 2: But the reason why I like avocado oil is because
Speaker 2: it has a higher burning point. You could put a
Speaker 2: higher temperature on it and it's not gonna burn and
Speaker 2: get smoked.
Speaker 1: Oh really, Oh we need to do that because we
Speaker 1: have sprinklers.
Speaker 2: In the building exactly, So we're butter. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna just keep it at a low temperature. Okay,
Speaker 2: but actually you know it, I'm gonna just use the
Speaker 2: butter for the spinach. I'm gonna do that. Yeah, right here,
Speaker 2: let me test this see where we at.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's gonna be ready just based on
Speaker 1: everything you just did.
Speaker 2: Is it almost so? I could do that? Time? Put
Speaker 2: that right there? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So is olive oil have the same process over avocado.
Speaker 1: It's just avocado's better.
Speaker 2: Avocado specifically has a higher burning point. You see what
Speaker 2: I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I'm learning, chef, how do I You got it? Don't
Speaker 1: get ill turn red? You'll see it. We have a producer.
Speaker 1: She's gonna hate it every time. Every time someone does
Speaker 1: something remotely like this, I have to tell the story.
Speaker 1: But we asked if we had told her to be
Speaker 1: careful because the stove was hot, and I swear to god,
Speaker 1: she put her hand like directly on it.
Speaker 2: And we see how I just went. I love it.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't do that. She did it, she put it.
Speaker 2: I was like, that's why I signed. That's why I
Speaker 2: signed that waiver. Exactly got you.
Speaker 1: I'd be like, yo, guys, insurance, it's fake here, Okay, LARRYN.
Speaker 1: Wong was able to cook the entire meal for us.
Speaker 1: We did shoot it all. But now we're going to
Speaker 1: start the interview a little reverse backwards, so let's get
Speaker 1: into it. So go ahead, and play our beautiful meal.
Speaker 1: Do you want me to help do some of the plating?
Speaker 2: Sure be? Could you just put the potatoes on each plate?
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to do that. This is and these
Speaker 1: are from scratch mashed potatoes by the way, guys screach
Speaker 1: and I already sample them. They're really good. I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm on a date, like a real nice date,
Speaker 1: and then I think it's only because of the meal
Speaker 1: you cooked. Do you want more mashed potato?
Speaker 2: Yes? Please? Actually gotta say something for the team.
Speaker 1: No, we're not going to save any for you because
Speaker 1: they they only had your back and you know what
Speaker 1: was it?
Speaker 2: Crew?
Speaker 1: Crew? Stick together? Shout outs to your crew. Okay, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna do. Do you want me to play the spinach?
Speaker 2: Yes? Please?
Speaker 1: Do you mind if we use my fork?
Speaker 2: No? I don't care.
Speaker 1: I don't care.
Speaker 2: I am not of course or not.
Speaker 1: Okay, So take me back to what was going on
Speaker 1: during the steak and mashed potatoes and spinach era.
Speaker 2: That was the time in my life where I was
Speaker 2: just trying to get my money right, moving around La,
Speaker 2: trying to see where the studios are, trying to meet people,
Speaker 2: and I was very patriotic at the time, because e
Speaker 2: b T because eb T. Yeah, the government was giving
Speaker 2: me four hundred dollars every month for groceries.
Speaker 1: Okay, So growing up were you middle class? Poor?
Speaker 2: Rich?
Speaker 1: What was going on in your home life growing up?
Speaker 2: I was?
Speaker 1: I feel like that's enough cut steak.
Speaker 2: Okay, but I'm I'm not sure. Yeah, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 1: That's you're not worried about your crew. Right now, I'll
Speaker 1: take some.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll give you this to back end.
Speaker 1: It's done so well. Okay, my goodness, guys.
Speaker 2: That look like something.
Speaker 1: It looks so official. I hope this look at.
Speaker 2: This like a referee whistle.
Speaker 1: And you don't need a gravy, gravy or anything on this,
Speaker 1: use this knife. It's it looks tender, has the seer. Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go. Looks official. You're gonna you're gonna sit
Speaker 1: down with me. Let's try this. It's gonna be the
Speaker 1: best meal I've ever had on this show. I know it.
Speaker 3: Cheers t B E in the E T B or
Speaker 3: e B T e B e B T t b
Speaker 3: E the best ever.
Speaker 1: Going crazy, right, I'm gonna eat the whole thing, and
Speaker 1: I hope, please God, please please please protect my stomach.
Speaker 2: Be a right.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, the searing on this, it makes a
Speaker 1: big difference on it. Laren Wong, you can really cook.
Speaker 1: How do we not eat this whole thing?
Speaker 2: I'm about to do it? Then?
Speaker 1: All right, take me back. Do you want to break
Speaker 1: to eat?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: Take me back to your parents, your home life, growing
Speaker 1: up rich?
Speaker 2: For So I grew up, oh say, middle class, middle class.
Speaker 2: M My father was you do it for himself? My
Speaker 2: mother was an accountant at NASA and NASA.
Speaker 1: And what did your father do?
Speaker 2: My father worked in law enforcement?
Speaker 1: In law enforcement. Okay, I wrapped the po pose, but
Speaker 1: you know I had to go there. Okay, So you
Speaker 1: started doing musical interestments at a young age. Where did
Speaker 1: that come from?
Speaker 2: So? My grandpa was a jazz musician and he gave
Speaker 2: the music bug to my dad as well. My father
Speaker 2: was a producer DJ. Never got a chance to spend
Speaker 2: too much time with the instruments, but they gave it
Speaker 2: to me. And that's where the music comes from.
Speaker 1: Wow. And then how many instruments did you end up
Speaker 1: picking up before you were graduated high school?
Speaker 2: For high school, I pick up the guitar, piano, bass, guitar,
Speaker 2: electric guitar acoustic like computer software production, and you.
Speaker 1: All started doing that in school while you were at
Speaker 1: home with your parents while you were young.
Speaker 2: Yes, so from like sixth grade to high school is
Speaker 2: when I learned how to do all of it.
Speaker 1: And then while you were doing all of that, where
Speaker 1: does football creep in?
Speaker 2: It was there the whole time? Yeah. I started playing
Speaker 2: football when I was eight in the second grade, and yeah,
Speaker 2: never it was kind.
Speaker 1: Of just now was it a love for it or
Speaker 1: was it like you were just god gifted in football too?
Speaker 2: No, early on, I was forced to play football. Why
Speaker 2: you say four, I was forced. I didn't want to
Speaker 2: do it and forced my dad. My dad forced me
Speaker 2: to play football, and I'm glad he did because there
Speaker 2: are certain qualities that football kind of drills into you,
Speaker 2: like what like overcoming adversity, like especially for me. When
Speaker 2: I started playing football, I was a big kid, so
Speaker 2: it goes by weight limits. So I was playing with kids,
Speaker 2: I'm eight years old playing with kids that are like
Speaker 2: eleven and twelve.
Speaker 1: So was that because you were bigger?
Speaker 2: Because I was bigger. So I'm just the youngest one,
Speaker 2: but I'm just as big as them. So like my mind,
Speaker 2: just my body development and everything wasn't even there. So
Speaker 2: football teachers you to stick with it and overcome challenges
Speaker 2: even though it might be hard. Just understand the just process.
Speaker 2: It taught me like.
Speaker 1: Process, okay, and discipline.
Speaker 2: And discipline, commitment, team working within the team, leadership, all
Speaker 2: the intangibles.
Speaker 1: So then you were about to graduate high school, and
Speaker 1: where do you start to I guess envision you going
Speaker 1: into the NFL. How does that whole play come about?
Speaker 2: The NFL wasn't even initially my goal. My goal in
Speaker 2: high school was to go to college. Okay, yeah, I
Speaker 2: wasn't even thinking that far.
Speaker 1: Honestly, Where did you go to college?
Speaker 2: Northwestern in Chicago?
Speaker 1: And then what did you major?
Speaker 2: In? Communication studies?
Speaker 1: Okay? So you're doing communication studies and you're playing football? Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: So then what happens from there?
Speaker 2: So then I'm playing, I get to Chicago sign up
Speaker 2: for I wanted to do pre med actually, but it
Speaker 2: was class was hard hard. I ain't gonna lie hard
Speaker 2: like that organic they make you do a prerequisite for
Speaker 2: pre med is like organic chemistry. I don't know if
Speaker 2: it's because I have a good foundation in high school chemistry,
Speaker 2: but that wasn't it. That was so I said, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna do communications because eventually one day I could become
Speaker 2: a master of the art of communication, you.
Speaker 1: Know, and of the art of communication. Really you thought.
Speaker 2: About that, you know what that is, right, master art
Speaker 2: of communication. I'm mac that's a that's a cent went
Speaker 2: over her over my head. Not supposed to get it.
Speaker 2: We're not supposed to get it. It's okay, But yeah,
Speaker 2: I was just communications, being able to transfer ideas and everything.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I thought. You meant. The joke obviously
Speaker 1: went over my head. Okay, So you're going to school,
Speaker 1: you're doing that, and then where does the NFL opportunity
Speaker 1: come along?
Speaker 2: It comes along. I start thinking NFL, probably towards like
Speaker 2: my second year there, third year, just because every year
Speaker 2: we have guys trying their hand at the NFL, like
Speaker 2: the seniors of every year. So I just seen it,
Speaker 2: obviously desired it. It's a lot of money. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it came into the picture towards the end of my
Speaker 2: time there. So I'm in my fifth year there. I
Speaker 2: spent five years in college, I spent four years undergrad
Speaker 2: and then the last year I did a master's in
Speaker 2: communication in the school calm as well. But right after
Speaker 2: that is when I started. Towards the end of that
Speaker 2: is when I started getting calls from my agent saying
Speaker 2: other teams are calling them looking for me and just
Speaker 2: meet a phil fulfill a role. So yeah, that's when
Speaker 2: I Right after I graduated from there, I flew to
Speaker 2: Seattle and started playing football in the league.
Speaker 1: Okay, and then how long were you there?
Speaker 2: I was in Seattle a couple of months. I was
Speaker 2: in Seattle a couple of months. I played a couple
Speaker 2: couple of games there. Then after that I went to
Speaker 2: New York. I lived in East Rutherford shout out East Rutherford.
Speaker 2: My girlfriend at the time went to Columbia Med School.
Speaker 2: So it's right across the GW Bridge. So I was
Speaker 2: in like Washington Heights like every day. So that was
Speaker 2: a good time. Got cut from New.
Speaker 1: York And what was that roller coaster ride?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Can you tell me the highs and then the lows?
Speaker 2: For sure? The highs are what you could expect being
Speaker 2: an NFL player. I'm young, I'm attractive, I got money
Speaker 2: in my pocket like girls, girls, status like all that.
Speaker 2: So it's what you could expect from that.
Speaker 1: You know, did you get a lot of instant gratification
Speaker 1: during that year.
Speaker 2: For sure. It's a mix. Though, it's a mix because
Speaker 2: you're only there because you've put in a long time
Speaker 2: working on what you do or getting good or building
Speaker 2: your body up or whatever, you know, So it's like
Speaker 2: a mix. It's a mix. It's an interplay between like
Speaker 2: the long term and the short term.
Speaker 1: What was the downside?
Speaker 2: Downside of what football? Football? Oh man, it's a lot
Speaker 2: of It's a brutal game, you know. I feel like
Speaker 2: it's normalized football. We see, you know, family football day, Like, well,
Speaker 2: if you were to see what's actually going on in
Speaker 2: the trenches and like in the game, it's so vicious.
Speaker 2: People are really trying to hurt you and take your
Speaker 2: head off, and it's like, actually, the I like hurt.
Speaker 2: Like I've seen I'm too as I'm in the world
Speaker 2: now and I'm talking to people and talking about like
Speaker 2: injuries and surgeries I'm too familiar with, like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: she just got her labor and replaced whatever. Like I've
Speaker 2: seen a lot of Yeah, I've had I've had hip surgery.
Speaker 1: Really, who is a dangerous game? It is so you
Speaker 1: you're riding this roller coaster. But while you're riding it.
Speaker 1: Music is still prevalent. Yes, okay, so now you leave
Speaker 1: the league now carrying me through this area and this
Speaker 1: is where steak and mashed potatoes kind of start to
Speaker 1: come in, right, yes, okay, take me through that transition.
Speaker 2: Okay. So after I stopped playing, I was a kind
Speaker 2: of decision by me. I could have kept training and
Speaker 2: waited for a call, possibly got called. I just decided
Speaker 2: I didn't want to live my life like that anymore. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, bouncing Like you said, it's like an emotional
Speaker 2: roller coaster bouncer from team to team, thinking like making
Speaker 2: a home here, making friends, being lit as a whatever
Speaker 2: player you are, and then you get cut and then
Speaker 2: have to if you don't have a team immediately already
Speaker 2: somewhere to go, you back home, working out at twenty
Speaker 2: for our fitness, just waiting for your agent to call
Speaker 2: you like, oh the Chargers.
Speaker 1: That's got to be hell, it's.
Speaker 2: Crazy, it's crazy, but shut up. But I know a
Speaker 2: lot of people who have done that. So the commitment
Speaker 2: and dedication is something like I respect for sure.
Speaker 1: So you're waiting and while you're well, I guess in
Speaker 1: the waiting, you decide, Hey, I'm not doing this anymore.
Speaker 2: I'm right that I mm hmm.
Speaker 1: That food is good.
Speaker 2: It was after Canada, I'm like, I got cut from
Speaker 2: camp from Canadian football. No disrespect to Canadian football, but
Speaker 2: I'm like, maybe this ain't maybe this ain't really my
Speaker 2: my my path.
Speaker 1: So when you come to that epiphany, what's your next play?
Speaker 1: No pun intended, but all.
Speaker 2: To find out how to get this scheddar coming in immediately.
Speaker 1: Because at this point your money's run now, or.
Speaker 2: We can say that.
Speaker 1: Okay, So so you leave Canada, you go where I
Speaker 1: go back home to the Bay Area. Okay, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2: And luckily for me, my aunt has a she's doing
Speaker 2: well for her stuff, but she has an import export business.
Speaker 2: She brings in a bunch of food and beauty products.
Speaker 2: She's a bunch of stuff from Asia and she wholesales
Speaker 2: them to a lot of your seafood cities, just Asian
Speaker 2: markets throughout America.
Speaker 1: So you start working for her. What are your parents
Speaker 1: saying during this whole all these transitions.
Speaker 2: They just always believed in me.
Speaker 1: They just did they welcome you back with open arms
Speaker 1: or were their restrictions open arms?
Speaker 2: Yeah? My parents, me and my parents have never were always.
Speaker 1: Really good and they're still married.
Speaker 2: No, oh okay, yeah, my parents split when I was
Speaker 2: a kid. But the relationship, even their relationship is like, dang,
Speaker 2: it's kind of cool. Like if I were to God forbid,
Speaker 2: I ever, I don't want to be divorced, but I
Speaker 2: would like to carry it like how they do.
Speaker 1: Are they like good friends divorced or they like just
Speaker 1: never talk bad about each other?
Speaker 2: Divorce this cordial? I don't know. Yeah, I can't speak
Speaker 2: to how much they communicate, but just every time I
Speaker 2: see them interact, it's like I've just seen some other Yeah,
Speaker 2: I've seen some other other.
Speaker 1: So I've heard horror stories from people or like trauma
Speaker 1: stories from shop where you're like, you know.
Speaker 2: But it's a lot of growth because I remember when
Speaker 2: they were like thirty thirty early thirties, that's around the
Speaker 2: time they split, and yeah, they were tripping. It was many,
Speaker 2: It was many. How I was I could I don't know.
Speaker 2: It was a baby, not a two. I was walking
Speaker 2: around but not I don't can't.
Speaker 1: You were like probably around five is tighter, yeah, type,
Speaker 1: but you remember like there was there was a.
Speaker 2: Bunch of clothes everywhere, and yeah, I remember I remember,
Speaker 2: I remember, I remember.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, so you come back home, you start
Speaker 1: working for your auntie and are you and then that's
Speaker 1: when your next place starts to transition to crypto.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So the whole time, even in the NFL, I'm
Speaker 2: just researching crypto, just understanding the four year market cycle,
Speaker 2: and we invested at the bottom. I have a group
Speaker 2: of buddies from college. I talked to these guys every
Speaker 2: other day, but we just got together and put our resort,
Speaker 2: put our minds to it, and just figure out how
Speaker 2: we're going to make some money off this this crypto.
Speaker 2: Because I've seen other people do it that were in
Speaker 2: very close proximity do it, so no reason we couldn't.
Speaker 2: So when the time opportunity present itself at the bottom
Speaker 2: of the market, took a leap of faith. Put whatever
Speaker 2: a little money we had while I was working at
Speaker 2: the warehouse, put whatever little money I had in there.
Speaker 2: And yeah, and.
Speaker 1: Then that's when you finance your move to transfer to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. Yes, okay, okay, Now you go to Los
Speaker 1: Angeles with the intent.
Speaker 2: Of making a career out of this music, making great music, yeah,
Speaker 2: or making great music. I feel like I was already
Speaker 2: doing that. I just wanted to make it a living off.
Speaker 1: Of it, like get a return on it for sure. Okay,
Speaker 1: So how are you? How are you doing so far?
Speaker 1: Really good with what getting a return on your music?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Absolutely, I'm getting a return. It's not even and
Speaker 2: what I'm realizing is the return the biggest returns don't
Speaker 2: even be financial with this. Yeah, So it's just learning
Speaker 2: more about what even there is to offer. Has brought
Speaker 2: a lot of good things into my life have nothing
Speaker 2: to do with money.
Speaker 1: I like that, is it therapeutic? And the fact that
Speaker 1: you get to do what you love every day? Is
Speaker 1: that some of the things?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, but it's just people people like very thankful
Speaker 2: for the people that I've met through music and how
Speaker 2: music has strengthened the bonds with those people. Yeah, just
Speaker 2: come and come and come and love for music gave
Speaker 2: me a lot, and it's we've got money off it too,
Speaker 2: sure Okay?
Speaker 1: Okay? And then can you talk about Fourth and Long?
Speaker 2: Sure?
Speaker 1: Tell me about the project.
Speaker 2: Fourth and Long is my latest EP. I tottled it
Speaker 2: Fourth and Long because I made it at a point
Speaker 2: in my life. Where are you familiar with football?
Speaker 1: A little bit?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: So I got a lot of the positions.
Speaker 2: Got you do you know any type of like first down, Yeah,
Speaker 2: first and ten and not that much. Okay, so the
Speaker 2: last so fourth, fourth down, fourth and long. That means
Speaker 2: you have a long way to go on your last
Speaker 2: opportunity to convert before you transfer the ball. That's a
Speaker 2: that's like the most critical situation in football, the most
Speaker 2: back against the wall position. So I made this project
Speaker 2: at a time where that's how I viewed my life
Speaker 2: and my career. So I just started fourth and long.
Speaker 2: It's very fitting.
Speaker 1: That's perfect fitting. Yeah. Wow, How does the Danny Lay
Speaker 1: Tour come about?
Speaker 2: The Danny Lay Tour came about through my friend Chelsea
Speaker 2: Chelsea Blath at the time, she was working at Death
Speaker 2: Jam and her and my management at the time had
Speaker 2: a relationship before. She's from the Bay Area too. She
Speaker 2: put that out there to the area. But then you
Speaker 2: needed an opener relationships. We were just happening to be
Speaker 2: top of mind. We qualified or just had the we
Speaker 2: were able to even go on tour. So yeah, even
Speaker 2: we went on fifteen cities. Woeah, fifteen cities. But that
Speaker 2: was when to do crypto too. That was the crypto
Speaker 2: they just said, you guys could come with us, but
Speaker 2: you guys gonna have to figure out everything else, like flights,
Speaker 2: where you guys going to stay, everything, So shout out them.
Speaker 1: You got another question, So is there still a passion
Speaker 1: in you for crypto? You seem like a good business
Speaker 1: mind when it.
Speaker 2: Comes to that, sure, but that's my issue. Like that
Speaker 2: was the first investment I had made. I had invested
Speaker 2: in crypto before stocks or anything. So now my goal
Speaker 2: with investing and stuff like that is to just be diversified.
Speaker 2: I was putting all my eggs in one basket and
Speaker 2: just happened to a hit, got lucky. But if it didn't, is.
Speaker 1: It really lucky though, because you were studying it for
Speaker 1: quite some time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of lucky.
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, it's.
Speaker 2: Kind of lucky.
Speaker 1: What are some of the business business lessons you've learned
Speaker 1: in being in the music business compared to the football business.
Speaker 2: It's cliche, but you need it's really a team. It's
Speaker 2: really a team. It's a business. You can't forget the
Speaker 2: second part of it, music business. So you look around
Speaker 2: and people like, how do I start in the music business.
Speaker 2: It's like, what does every other business do? They have
Speaker 2: a team of you know, they delegate responsibilities, clearly defined roles,
Speaker 2: stuff like that. They have a create ethos, mission statement
Speaker 2: like treat like a real business.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So that's what I've learned so far.
Speaker 1: Has there been any painful lessons in the journey so far?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Can you share some with me?
Speaker 2: One of the most painful lessons from doing music, here's
Speaker 2: a painful lesson. It was painful, but I don't even
Speaker 2: look at its painful anymore. But at the time, it
Speaker 2: was painful. When I give this situation. Look, it was
Speaker 2: one time. I ain't gonna say no names, but I
Speaker 2: had a show back in the Bay. This is when
Speaker 2: I'm just back in the Bay, trying to do like
Speaker 2: shows and play in public stuff like that. So I
Speaker 2: get booked in Oakland. Me and my homie had been rehearsing.
Speaker 2: He was playing the bass, I was playing the guitar.
Speaker 2: I was gonna sing all week. The day of the show.
Speaker 1: Comes, Oh my god, I'm scared.
Speaker 2: Though. The day of the show comes, we just hell
Speaker 2: the people there, so I'm ready to go on. I
Speaker 2: get my feet on, like it's like twenty minutes fifteen
Speaker 2: minutes before the set, I'm like where's Bread, Where's Bro?
Speaker 2: Where's Bro? Like I finally see him. He looked like
Speaker 2: he's seen a ghost.
Speaker 1: What do you mean?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: He got like yeah, what do you call it? Stage
Speaker 1: fright or something?
Speaker 2: He looked like he's seen a ghost? Is I was like,
Speaker 2: what would you look like when you've seen a ghost?
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying, stage fright.
Speaker 2: Something about the situation made him look like that. I
Speaker 2: don't know. Yeah, So that was kind of that was
Speaker 2: that was a painful realization, like, dang, everybody not cut
Speaker 2: cut like that? Everybody not really cut like that?
Speaker 1: How did you guys make it through that show?
Speaker 2: I did it?
Speaker 1: You really did it by yourself like that?
Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm like, you ain't say yeah yeah, one monkey,
Speaker 2: don't one monkey, Yeah they don't, don't don't stop the show?
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, I like that. I like that you powered
Speaker 1: through it. You didn't beg or pleading nothing.
Speaker 2: Damn ridiculed him like forever. You know what I mean,
Speaker 2: We're gonna do with you later, bro, I'm gonna just
Speaker 2: walk this show real quick.
Speaker 1: How was it?
Speaker 2: It was dope? I got footage too.
Speaker 1: Do you think that that ended up playing a pivotal
Speaker 1: role in where you're at today. Obviously passed the.
Speaker 2: Pain part absolutely, just because they let me know that, Like,
Speaker 2: I can't. Really, it's really all on you. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 2: you can. It's being selective of who you put your
Speaker 2: trust in. Yeah.
Speaker 1: What are some of the collapse that you would like
Speaker 1: to do in the future.
Speaker 2: There's so many. There's so many. Off the top of
Speaker 2: my head because I was thinking about it. I would
Speaker 2: love to collab with Isaiah Falls. I've been listening to
Speaker 2: him a lot lately. I would love to collab with Kaylanie.
Speaker 1: Oh, I love I've known her since she was fifteen.
Speaker 2: I love Kaitlyn k Lennie taught me how to surf
Speaker 2: what Calenie taught me how to surf?
Speaker 1: Okay, but she's from the Bay, that's right, Okay.
Speaker 2: Who else? Leon Thomas, I'm gonna work with Beyonce, Yeah, Beyonce, Kendrick. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we could talk. We can talk about it. Let me thinking,
Speaker 2: matter of fact, Summer Walker. I want to work with
Speaker 2: some Walker really.
Speaker 1: Okay, So what are some of the milestones that you
Speaker 1: want to do within the next I guess the next
Speaker 1: couple of years.
Speaker 2: I want to hit every festival. I want to hit
Speaker 2: every festival. I want to just really build out this
Speaker 2: community that we have growing right now to a point
Speaker 2: where it's it's self sustaining. It's fully flush the world
Speaker 2: out ecosystem, all the parts and the pieces and the
Speaker 2: people that play into that. So that's that's where I
Speaker 2: see it, because I feel like that's going to be
Speaker 2: the vehicle to take us wherever you want to go.
Speaker 1: How do you deal with the social media pressures?
Speaker 2: What's the pressure?
Speaker 1: So like in the industry now, in all media in forms,
Speaker 1: it seems like everyone has to everyone's constantly asking what
Speaker 1: are the numbers? What are the numbers? What are the numbers?
Speaker 1: What are the numbers? Do you not feel that pressure?
Speaker 2: I just like making music.
Speaker 1: Honestly, you haven't heard any of that. I don't really
Speaker 1: I mean, or you just don't care.
Speaker 2: You look at it, you look at it. But I
Speaker 2: let my team worry about that stuff. I just try
Speaker 2: and give them the most dope shit possible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you mainly play on the creative side unless
Speaker 1: on the business side. Does that mean? Is that what
Speaker 1: it means?
Speaker 2: I mean kind of kind of you could say that.
Speaker 2: It's just I just know you got to delegate to elevate.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna steal that from you. I'm stealing that's a fact.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you gotta look, I'm gonna let everybody be be
Speaker 2: I'm gonna put everybody in the best positions to win.
Speaker 1: So okay, okay, well, I think that's about it. On
Speaker 1: my side, I am dying to eat this meal. Are
Speaker 1: you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Why do you
Speaker 1: think not? It's absolutely desten you're talking. Yeah, but you
Speaker 1: know what, I think I think it's worth being sick.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna be taking your publicists later talking about
Speaker 1: I should have never did it.
Speaker 2: I think you'd be right. I think it's just because
Speaker 2: you just because I think that was cooked the right way.
Speaker 1: No, you know what, though, I'm very thankful for this
Speaker 1: meal on your time, and I love how you're eating it.
Speaker 1: You're like a true man right here. You're like, forget
Speaker 1: the cameras. Oh, thank you guys for tuning in. But
Speaker 1: where can they keep up with? Well, Laryn Wong is
Speaker 1: gonna have to finish his mouthful of food before he
Speaker 1: can tell us how we could keep up with everything.
Speaker 2: Laryn Wong's good, All right, y'all, Big Laren if y'all
Speaker 2: want to follow up with me, y'all can catch me
Speaker 2: everywhere your favorite dsp Apple Music, Spotify, social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, SoundCloud, YouTube,
Speaker 2: same handle Laryn Wong l A r r E n
Speaker 2: w o ng say one time, LARRYN. Wong l A
Speaker 2: r r E n.
Speaker 1: W Ong and check out fourth and long.
Speaker 2: Fourth and long out. Now four's up? Come on fours
Speaker 2: fours up, fourth and long. Okay, I'm forty four years old.
Speaker 1: He's not forty four. Definitely not forty four. You can
Speaker 1: google that anyways. Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3: Peace out
Speaker 1: For more eating while Broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect,
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