Reflecting on Creative Contributions and Cringe

Wei ho, Wei ho, our time in WeiHo . Our time in WeiHo. The Abbey Bad Music Worst place the worst of all the places that we went to you and that little hole in the wall place that you loved because there were dancers in there, but Appi was the worst . Bad music It's where you end up if you just need to end up somewhere. I think at the end of the night. If you want to go to a dance floor that's full of people not dancing, it's the best place to be. Yes Talking to barely twenty one year olds and their friends. That was you . I was talking to people I already knew. You're quite popular in Wiho. You know, I could have been the mayor at one point. Sweet baby Sweet baby. He's wonderful. Do you actually, do you know his name? No, I just know you don't even know it as a room. Sweet baby. Sweet baby . Bruce Daniels. Bruce Daniels. It's cool. It was good that you ran into them. Felt like it was a moment that needed to happen. We're just getting the night going . You know what's funny about that is I thought about hitting him up , but I didn't want to turn your first time in West Hollywood into my reunion with old friends . Which I know you wouldn't have minded. You would have you know , but the fact that I ran into him when we were just walking down the street, I felt like made it more special and it was kind of the best , you know , welcome to Wijho , Jeffrey then you just got free drinks for the rest of the night. Yeah, I couldn't complain. We didn't buy a single drink that night. No, no. I mean, I tipped just her Trader Joe's pre game. That's the snout, though. No, like, why don't you leave the hotel room is when it starts counting if you pay for drinks. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely the most fun I've had like San Francisco or San Diego. Like it's just a nice community of people. There's no drama. No the one was weird. Even the guys buying us drinks were not like creepy or anything like that Are you talking about it in Weho? You're talking about in San Francisco? No, we ho. Because I remember one creepy guy. Who? Well, I can't say 'cause then next time we go to Weiho, we're not gonna get free drinks . Right, right, right. I must have just been oblivious to it. I think it was too distracted by the thirty seconds of any song we might want to hear into a terrible remix of something. It was even music, it was just noise, like pots and pans. You really do have a beef with the fact that they don't play a full song. Yeah, I think it's I mean, I get it, but I feel like that used to be that they would play like verse chorus , maybe, you know, a little bit more, but now it really is just like enough for you to recognize what the song is. And as soon as you start getting into it, it's just a two minute instrumental break of really loud music. Yeah . And then you're waiting for what's the next song ? Yeah , that's exactly it. But it wasn't like that when I used to go out back in your day. I didn't want to say back in my day my day. I think it's just like people's attention spans And it wasn't so like remix heavy. Yeah. I want to dance to one good music and two music that I know and maybe a couple songs that I don't know that I'll end up connecting with and then they'll become nostalgic years down the road because of that time that I'm dancing right there in that club right then, right ? That's how we start building attachment to songs. Definitely. Revolver had like some songs of it. The Revolvers have been around for a long time. They were the only one and we were like the only ones dancing. I felt like we were being circled by people because no one else really was dancing. We were the assholes like they were clogged out the artery in and out of the b athroom . Someone has this small spot. We got free drinks, VIP. No, but I think it comes down to like people's attention spans and streaming age of music and then also social media, like I don't go on TikTok a lot. I can't spend much time on there. It just exhausting. But when you're on there, that TikTok viral moment makes a song popular and then you see it reflected in the club. This song's popular and we'll do a twenty second remix of this into some other song that was popular and then we'll give some people something they might want. Here's here's a little bit of a Brittany song, but we're going to heavily remix it so you don't actually know what to expect. And they give you something else . And it's , I don't know, I mean, I wasn't I'm not saying I was alive in a time period when they'd play a twelve minute Dona Summer interlude, but I wish I was . Like I could get down to something really fun and a lot I can take time with it. I feel like that's the enjoyable part. Let me ask you this, is it that you're not hearing the full song or is it that what you're hearing is not the song and that they're just all none of those clubs were playing actual songs. They were all remixed. It's a remix and I have songs every DJ did and everyone jumps and it's like they think that's what you gotta say, the best time I ever had going out . Here I am back in my day . Four th my cane. I want to hear about it. I want to hear about it. Was club eighties ? Wednesday nights. I don't I forget it was Club eighties. It was the factory which was on Lapier in West Hollywood. And it was like the backside of that. And it was like it was a big factory build ing and it was half of it essentially . The smaller half of it, it's club eighties Wednesday night. And I went with my friend Charlene, who lived in my apartment building. She was trans . I didn't even know what trans was . Like I was nineteen, twenty, whatever. It was like the only night that you could be underage and you had to have a wristband if you could drink or you couldn't. We had so much fun . And it was eighties music , which, you know, we were talking like late nineties, early two thousands, so it was it didn't seem as far away as it does now. Like now you think of eighties music and you're like, eighties that was so long ago. At the time, it wasn't. Yeah, but it was the full . They would just play the song and they would like it was a DJ playing it. So like they would weave in and out. The mashup thing started happening where they would play , you know, the lyric and melody of one song and to the music of another. And that was my first time ever experiencing that. It was my first time ever being in a club and be like, I'm listening to like Bengals song with an arrhythmics instrumental. I don't know if everyone's always gonna long for something they haven't had . So obviously, I mean, I mean, I've had maybe that's why I'm longing for it, but it sounds like you and some stories you told me about other clubs with Bukaki or whatever his name was, you're from Makuotsi, Makuti . What are you really thinking about ? You know , it's always on the mind . You went to a club, you're telling me was Lady Gaga was performing before Yeah, it was at the factory. It was like club eighties on one side. It was the factory on the other side . Okay . But yeah, when Just Danced, I don't even know if she was like big on the radio yet, because she was just playing. It was like her club tour. Yeah. Yeah. They were ushering everybody over to the club they're trying to fill it. Nobody cares . Yeah. Now we don't want to listen to this person we've never heard before. You talk about what's new and what's trending and like that's what comes on the dance floor, that's what comes out there. Certain like artists that were really iconic. That's why you would have like a twelve minute Donna Summer. Like I feel love into MacArthur Park, right when she was up and come. I mean the back that there you have might have somebody that just is new and making some really freaking cool music . Yeah, but now what do we what do we have? It's like such forced fake in our discussions when we talk , what really gets your goat? And correct me if I'm wrong, I don't want to speak for you completely, but there's a lack of origin ality. I don't want Chau ge. I don't want Chapel Road. What is that? That's right in the middle of me. I don't want Chapel Road T. Large Chapel Road, go turn off your timer. Where was it? Where was Iking? T calrap about Chapel Roan . And I'm not going to start out a podcast just shading people because it's jumping on something that's trendy. We are musky trunks shade. I just shade away, childish. I mean, I've been saying from the start, like the shade or the music is childish. All of it, I mean, HOT TO GO, Turn around and touch your toes. I say I'll tell you what about this is bananas . B eight and although she's that I mean, you got to it's different and also who you're comparing. But is it different ? Is it different? BANA NAS, the shit is Manes, right? Then HOT T OGO Like it's basically like cheerleader. Yeah, but cheerleader music kind of vibe is it's different also like the sentiment behind the song. It's like a bad bitch song. You're not singing HOTOGO turn around and touch your toes. But that's a bad bit It's not what about that's a bad bit song. I don't know. Well , that's a virgin song. Pink Pony Club. Funny enough, didn't you tell me it was about the Abbey ? Yeah, that's what I heard. I don't know if that's I think but that's what people were talking about at least what I heard. I just I feel like it was about West Hollywood somewhere. It must be the Abbey. It was kind of a full moment like circle moment for you, right? Did you think of Chapel Roan when we were? I did. Talking to the call twenty years of the chapel or the whatever and abbey and on it. The abbey but then also said like do you I know I told you this but I'll tell you again I, was at the Abbey when it was just a coffee shop . When I was at the Abbey, when I was at the Abbey for the first time, I used to go there and write my journal . Okay , okay . When I moved to LA and I was sad and depressed and broke at eighteen , eighteen in L. A. But ter time to be there . It was an incredible time. I mean, you really were there at a pivotal point . Yeah. It was an incredible time. When did you get your first job in LA Probably when I was nineteen ? Yeah , which was for Tower Records. Okay . Tower Records on Sunset. Iconic and then Stonewall Coffee on Santa Monica Boulevard. Yeah , that was my first. Actually, that's not true. There was a next to the mother load . There was an adult bookstore, which is porn shop . And I worked there for a day . And my job was to walk it was so small. My job was to walk around pret,end that I was shopping and make sure nobody stole stuff. Okay . It was the worst prevention. Last prevention. It was the worst experience ever . Because everyone thought I was cruising I'm not even kidding you. It was probably the size of this room. If not smaller. It was it was a hole in the wall. Yeah. What was your first job in music? I met someone who worked at Maverick Records while I was working at Tower Records and I got to talking to him and then he told me about an internship that they had in the radio promotions department. I remember feeling jittery because I was like, wow, my gosh, Maverick, no way. I moved here because I wanted to work for Madonna . Yeah. And I interviewed and I got the internship, and it was paid. I didn't work for free. I'm being associated to Madonna on some level . It's wild . Speaking of culturally impactful people . Yeah, that Chop Rowan thinks she's doing. People like that that are just a little moment on the internet and don't have any gratitude. Do you think she's a moment on the internet? Fuck, yeah. You don't think she'll ever have another there's going to be no longevity behind it. But I have remember the already club song that was kind of cute. I mean, her longevity is going to be the fact that she was really ungrateful for the career she has and to the fans that she has. And I'm not jumping on a trend. Like the Timothy Shalomay thing, which that also annoyed me, right? Don't say Shalomy . Two. I'm not don't say any of those, but I'm not even trying to jump on a trend about it. It's just something you see and it's like somebody like myself who's I will give you credit. You were not a Timothy Chalamay fan before the comments about ballet and opera. And I can I can say these things because I'm not somebody. I'm nobody. I'm working wave job. I'm not trying to prove anything. But you know what ? If I had the opportunity as a singer, as an actor, as a performer to be in a position that they have and have those opportunities that they have of course. I'm not gonna fuck it up. Like I'm gonna well, it's not even about fucking it up. Like I don't think you would fuck it up because you're not somebody who just fucks things up, but grateful . Gratitude It's a level of gratitude for having what you have. Yeah. And then respecting the people that came before you, paying homage to those artists and art forms that lifted you up and gave you this opportunity, whether that's ballet and the that has made TV and film or whether it's people like Madonna that have been trailblazers for women and sex and music interesting to me. I find that stuff very interesting. I do feel like we're living in a time that it's trial by social media, Timothy Chalamet . Okay , it's so easy to get canceled. If you went through all the video footage of shit that I've ever said . I don't I wouldn't even be able to leave my house. We forget sometimes that we're humans. Timothy Shalomay might have said something really stupid . But if I were smoking a joint with him, or if I were drinking a beer and he said that I would laugh that off and never pay attention. But the fact that he is famous and he has this pull and this influence over people it makes it really easy to go after him. Yeah . Instead of educating people , which I do think he got a little bit of an education at the Oscars when they did you end up seeing that? Of course I've seen clips how could you go? But I do feel like that was a learning moment for him. Yeah. I think it's just a time and place thing too. It's like if you're like you said, smoking a joint having a drink with your friends and you're talking and someone happens to record you, I wouldn't agree with that. Why do you care what they're saying? They're just they're just talking. But when you're like on a TV show or you're being interviewed before fair, then you're you are speaking to an audience you're making a point. So I think that's kind of where it's just like maybe you get so comfortable same with chapel around right now, right? Where it's like you get so comfortable being in the public eye, you take it for granted and you think that your word is so important such, a big you know there's this like level of ego. Yeah . See, my problem with Chaperone is not she's obviously got a huge ego. Huge. Yeah. You know, I don't think and I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that Madonna has probably got one of the biggest egos we've ever seen. I don't think you get to that kind of success without having an ego . But my problem with chaperone, is it Chapel or Chapel? My problem with her is that she's kind of an asshole . And I've seen her be an asshole to people multiple times. I've seen her bark at the press and that video that you showed me where she's at the Paris fashion something or other and she gets out of the car. Everyone else who got out of the car just walked in. No problem, but not her. She had to like film these people who obviously didn't really understand what she was saying that just wants an autograph who's repeating the same thing over and over and over and just staring at her. Like that's he probably sat at home and learned how to say this to speak to her because English isn't his first thing. Everything about it was just yeah, unf itort wasun ate for her but she was a mean between a diva that has worked their ass off. Maria carries a diva. Madonna and like you said, Madonna is a diva in that way but she's done so much to prove herself when we talk about fake icons. Yeah. And what I mean by fake icons, I mean like just self proclaimed gay icons. I come into the scene. I'm taking everything drag queens. I'm taking from Madonna, I'm taking from whoever it was that came before I mean, Nina Hagen, I'm taking from you be honest to anyone, any of these people were come on now, right? And they're taking stuff, whether they're TikTok moment, a trend, but they're taking these aspects of people that came before them and the internet's like gag, diva, work. It's a whole other conversation, by the way, about the fact that gay culture and like gay slang that started from ballroom culture, right, is becoming like the mainstream now.'s That that''ss fine, whatever. It good. Is that not a good thing? No, it is a good thing. It is a good thing. I'm not saying it's a good thing as long as it's acknowledged where it came from because so often at the times we with culture , I think, especially as not to bring race into it, but as white men, I think it's like we take culture from different places and not understand where it came from. Yeah, where it comes from Black trans women in the ballroom scene. People do not know that. Of course. It's on like, I see like on commercials on television. Watching truth or error back in the day, I didn't understand it. Yeah. But we give that energy of a diva or an icon to these people that are they really like are they really that? Or is it what I'm talking to you about where it's like a fast food media moment? Whether it's, I mean, I talk about TV and film or I feel like that's fast food media, but I also feel like it's fast food media on TikTok with music and the streaming age, or it's just so easily consumed and we give it this label of iconic or just grander than it really is . And when we talk about like, you know, like a song like that , say it's Chapel Rowan, say it's Sabrina Carpenter, say it's Benson Boone. No shade to them at all. No, I love Sabrina . No, no, I like her. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying like a song like that comes out, put is into a mov ie with Timmy Timothy Chalamet. I don't know if that's actually happening, but these big songs that already exist and these big people that are already put into movies that exist , all fast food, right? Like where are songs that are unknown and actors that are unknown playing in the world today to make a movie, a movie that's so good that it gets lifted up by the score, by the music, by the actors, and that creates a really famous actor. That creates a really famous singer. What's happening on Broadway do? Stars on Broadway rather than singers and performers because how many incredibly talented he did rivalry ? I know, I know. This might prove your point. I didn't particularly care for it. I liked it more as I watched it . But after the first few episodes, I was like, I don't think I can keep watching this, but I did , I did. I was kind of forced to, but I watched it. And by the end of it, I understood the whole like various it's an arc. You have to watch the whole thing. But had you ever heard of either one of those actors as the leads? No. Okay. That's a good, that's a good point. That show , right came out of nowhere. Yeah, as a gay show led by two actors at nobody had ever heard of. Yeah . Yeah, that's a good point. And look at what a success it was. Yeah . I can talk as much shit as I want, but it is putting yourself out there. And so I may talk shit about chapoelon R. I may talk shit about Timothy. At the end of the day, it is that it's something to recognize because people put themselves out there. That's a good thing . But it doesn't happen my chance. No, it doesn't like they do work for it. Like Chevalon works for you have to work for it. For many you get an opportunity and you take that opportunity and and you run with it. Yeah . And I just wish more people would get a chance would get that chance offered to them. I mean, of course, I'd love that chance, but speaking of just people in general, when I watch movies nowadays like it's so much CGI, so many big Hollywood actors , so many horrible scripts . And I am guilty of like loving practical effects over special effects. I love handmade human art. I love a hand painted set. I love just beauty writing. I do. I really do. I think it's important. I think it's a lost art Yeah, yeah, I get that. Laughing at me, but I'm not laughing at you. I just every time you say that, I think of Jurassic Park. And I think of the new Jurassic Jurassic Quirles, I'm like, they're so good to special effects. And then because we watch them a lot in my house. And then we go back to the first Jurassic Park and I think, oh how did I ever think that was so incredible? It was like watching under the Tuscan sun. Yeah. I watched that. I'm like that is the cheesiest movie. Oh, it's so good. Have you watched it recently? Yeah, like two years ago, maybe it was the last time I've seen it. No . I think it's important to have balance. There's balance in everything we do. There's going to be movies with big stars but I think that what you're saying is there 's not balance. It's not important. Yes, we need it. It's important. There was one horror movie I watched not too long ago and even horror. It's like it was called Moon Garden . Moon Garden. It was beautiful. It was just so it was like stop motion and it was like some beautiful handmade sets really beautiful . Even another one was Emma Stone. Was it Poor Thang? That movie that came out? I don't know . I watched parts I think that was one. That was also awesome. Like just handmade sets, this beautiful filming noir style and camera work. So there are little pieces that come out and they're popular. Like that did well. I just don't want it to die off. I think that a movie like Titanic random thing, right out of nowhere, a movie like Tit anic, where you have a song that became famous from a movie. As long as we're not gonna talk a shit about Titanic, I must have shit about Titanic. I didn't know where it was. No, it was a good thing. I'm saying Oh, it's one of the best movies of the world. How can I watch that videoed about Celine Dion talking about how she didn't necessarily want to do that song. She was given this song. They didn't want to take a chance on that song . But how it became such an impactful moment. She was like, I'm not recording this song, but guess what you just did? It wasn't a test. That's a problem when you have a voice like Celine Deon, you don't just don't sing a demo because your demo will become , 'cause you're that good. Celine , I love you. Absolutely. It's beautiful. It's beautiful and it's real. It's not taking a TikTok song and putting it in some fucking movie now just to just to throw it in there. No, of course , but listen, hear me out. I think we as creative people have a responsibility to change that We live in a world today that everything is run by corporations. Like the small guy, the guys on the bottom, like us, no pun intended . If we write it, if we sing it, if we create it , even if it's not great, if it's authentic and it's real. And it's genuine. And it's you're an incredible singer . You have a beautiful voice, you have a great ear , but not everybody's like that. I'm not like that. But it's not always about that, right? It's always I mean, have you heard Madonna sing lev? It's not always about having great voice. You're gonna look back ten years from now and wish you would have really seized your moment when it's in front of you. So seize your moment . Yeah . It's something I need to hear now more than ever. It's an important thing. The world and the way the world is right now , you can only take everything something day by day and it's like making that the best you can for yourself. Whatever that is , I think it's important . And I appreciate that. I think maybe before we end, maybe one thing I'll ask is do you look back like on some of your contributions in music ? Compared do you compare those to things now? Stuff that you've done in music. Do I contributions whether it's music you've made or people you've worked with , you know, whoever it may be. And we don't have to talk about now. We could , you know, we could save this next episode. Next , yeah. Why what's the question though? Do I reflect on some of those musical contributions from maybe Katie Perry, for example, or something like that. And you think about that and the difference between that kind of creative scene then what is now , especially for a young gay kid like myself when I was growing up with something like Katie Perry, right? I don't know if I reflect on it all that much to be honest with you. I think that if I do reflect on it, it's probably because of my daughter who loves Katy ? But I don't know if I've if I'm ever one to really reflect back on my successes . I'm more one to reflect back on my misses and you know what I mean? And kind of reminisce about or am reminded of the cringe moments that I've lived in my life, which that's a really great topic for another episode. Has that ever happened to you when you're just doing something about your day and then all of a sudden you're like ugh and you just want to like hit you melt into the smallest corner in the room because of some that has nothing to do with what you're doing. You just remember that cringe moment . That's more of my personality type. Yeah. I don't know what it says about me, but I'm sure maybe y'all are thinking, that says what I says about you, so I think everyone relates to that. Yeah. It's easier to think about the do they bad than it is to think about the good . We all get stuck in our heads. All right. Well in, closing, do you want to tell me about one of your cringiest moments that you remember? No , no, I don't. Put it out. I don't. You have to tune in next time to hear my cringe moment. There's plenty that's for sure. I don't know if I could pick one on the sp ot , but I have some doozies . Most involving marijuana. Oh, really? Probably . Those are my finest moments. Of course . It is time to go. Thank you for watching Musky Trunks. Let's end it with a fist bump