#133 Brandon Burris - BranDaddy Rips
Brandon Burris - Entertainment industry production specialist, IATSE Local 33/ Local 80. Founder of BranDaddy Rips, trading card and sports enthusiast, traveler and South Bay native. Brandon’s career accolades include working on some of America’s largest television and awards shows ever to be produced, including award-winning television sets for MTV Movies Awards, Dancing with The Stars, The Voice, America’s Got Talent, Spike Scream Awards, MLB All-Stars, NBA All-Stars, and many more. Tune in as Brandon Burris joins Bobby Marshall in studio to discuss card trading, live entertainment, television production, the Grateful Dead, Madonna, sports, recreational drug use, Southern California, traveling, and much more. Please subscribe or like us on social media platforms for updates on shows, events, and episode drops.
Sponsor Links:
Mountain Side listeners receive 10% off all Jocko Fuel products! Use Code TMS10 to save.
Mountain Side listeners use Discount code TMS to receive 10% off ONNIT products!
Mountain Side listeners receive 10% off Origin & Jocko Fuel products! Use Code TMS10 to save.
---
Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Brandon Burris - BranDaddy Rips
Joining us is my very good friend Brandon Burris. I was able to catch him while he was coming through Colorado. We went down a long road in Brandon's career and me knowing him for many years. Brandon has worked on some of the largest television productions over the past few decades and has had an amazing, extensive career in the entertainment industry. He's also an avid sports card collector. Above all that, Brandon is truly a friend with no filter. This is why I love this guy. I always enjoy having my personal friends for an episode. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I do.
This is a long time coming. I don't think I've seen you in a couple of years.
We've faced some adversity together.
We built some big shows.
What have you been up to?
Relaxing, trying to take it slow, driving around the country, and enjoying time. I work in that industry we work in. You don't stop for many years. You look up and you're old and gray. It's time to move on. We did not do that so much. That's what I'm doing, but I'm going to go back to work.
That’s your doing. Life is not all about work. It's not all about money. I've figured that out. It's about doing what you want and taking the time. Who knows? You and I could be 6 feet underground any time. We have many mutual friends that have passed in the last couple of years.
You don't know what's going to happen next. I'm afraid of waiting for the next thing to happen and not doing something that I should have done. I'm probably going a little harder than I should because I'm not going to wait. I'm going to go get it. The hardest thing is trying not to go too hard.
For me, it's always a balancing act. I want to experience life and fun things still. As you get older and age, we've seen people like this, and this is not you or me specifically, but they're like, “I'm in bed by 8:30 every night. I got to watch America's Got Talent on tonight. Sorry, I can't go out to whatever. I only golf, but I don't drink anymore,” or whatever it is.
If there's a certain game on, I'm not leaving and I'm like, “The world is shut off,” because that's my way to get the fuck out of my work mode.
You're more of a guy who goes and experiences it like buying fucking seats on the glass for the Colorado Avalanche.
I got to hole up to do that. I got to hole up for a while, and when I'm done holding up, I go spring loose like a fucking jack in the box and I go crazy. I end up on the ice. That's not planned. That's ego and shit like that. When you start going and you start looking at shit, it's a better experience. Sports is one of those moments. They won it that year, so it was great. I was like, “Fuck it.” I bet money on them that year. I bet them on the future. I had money on them if they won it. I was like, “I fucking don't spend the money and they win the title.”
I was jealous because I didn't even think we connected on that trip. I saw an Instagram post and it was like you were on the ice and the glass going, and by the time I called, you were gone.
That was like a whirlwind. I was going to see some sixteen-year-old kid. I didn't know at the time he was sixteen years old, but I was going to buy a case of baseball cards for $22,000 from an eBay transaction. I turned to Instagram and made a deal with this person and made another deal with a guy in person, but I said, “Fuck it. I'm going to Alabama. I’m not going to do this shit.” This guy seemed to have a better vibe. This is Instagram. I'm an old man. I don't deal with fucking technology as well as I should.
I got to give you some pointers on that by the way.
I'm hunting, pecking, and stuff like that. I'm like, “If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right.” I'm going to come to Colorado and I saw the Avalanche playing the next day. I said, “If I leave right now, I can fucking get there and go to that game.” I had to get here. I had lunch and a spot. I used to see it. We haven't had a good spot.
You've lived here for a while.
Ten years, that's why it's hard. Memories are brushing back. I went by the hospital where my son was born. It's crazy little things like that.
That happens to me when I drive by the Torrance Hospital because I have two kids who were born there. I'm like, “Fuck,” then we drive by the old house in Redondo off of Catalina, the little apartment that we lived in. I think about all the walks that we've been on. It was all this crazy shit.
It's a life ago, but it's weird to get it thrown back in your face. I can remember driving around this place. It was easy getting around to get here. To drive around was easy. Google was not needed. She kept telling me, and I'm like, “I know where the fuck we're going. Follow the stars.”
It’s funny because my family is always saying, “You're not going to put it in your navigation.” I’m like, “No. I grew up here. See those mountains over there? That's West. If you know where the mountains are, that's home.”
I was explaining how it runs from Canada to Mexico basically. I didn't understand that when I was a kid when I moved here.
You were on your way to Alabama to meet this kid. I don't think I've heard this full story yet.
I ended up coming here. I was like, “I'm going to go watch the game,” and then I got real aggressive. After the game, I went to a noon baseball game in St. Louis. I was sitting behind the plate in St. Louis. They got a great deal when you get to these clubs. At the ball games, you get free food and drinks with your ticket. It's like highballs and whatever you want. I get there two hours before the game. That's my meal. It's my drink. You can stay two hours if you want. You get one of the best seats in the house.
Is that pretty much the standard across baseball stadiums across America?
Not like at certain spots like Dodger Stadium. There's no real club level that you see. The Rockies have one. I'm sure the Rockies have like, “I should go to more baseball games club.”
I love going to baseball games.
I looked at them all-inclusive ones that have prime rib like full-on, the best crafty that we get in a tour type of stuff. I'm like, “This is a nice meal.” He throws me a hot dog and a peanut on top of it. Those little kids had left a mound of trash. They can get every candy in the fucking world and five ice creams.
It's not just concession shit. It's proper food. It's all included.
It's crazy.
That's the way to fucking go because you're going to spend that money anyway at the concession stands.
You're doing it right. If you want to do it the way you want to do it. I'm going to spend $17 a beer. I'm going to have five. I'm already over my limit.
My son got super into the nuggets and I called you up. We wanted to go to a game. I was like, “How the fuck do I do this?” You're like, “There's this app and that.” We got some last-minute tickets and it was fucking epic. It was the night that LeBron dropped his dunk and all the badass-like Jordan memes came out and everything. My kid hates LeBron. Sorry.
We're from LA. It's all right. He's on our team.
My kid was born in LA, but I have bred that completely out of him.
I had Nugget season tickets. I trained myself to like, not hate them. I loved them. I paid money to their fucking franchise and stuff for a year or so. It was weird seeing them win.
It was strange for me to see them win because I remember a couple of times as a kid them going to the playoffs and I was excited.
You had to do with the Lakers with magic back then.
That was a different time. That was a different era of basketball. You feel like sports are getting pussified a little bit, like hockey, especially.
There are no real fights, but no protection of the guys anymore. There's no Marty McSorley protecting Wayne Gretzky.
Bob Probert and Scott Parker fucking savage.
It's a sad scene. A guy named Domi on the Ice, but he's not. That would kill people. I was worried about him.
It's all sports. The NFL's going that route a little bit.
In baseball, you can't throw at anybody.
You're going to kill someone.
I don't even see as many confrontations as you used to in baseball like the fucking between the OMs and there are many, “You're going to get kicked out now.” There are too many ramifications. They put too many rules to everything. Everything has been overregulated in life. I'm tired of that shit. It pleases itself usually. Sports does. They should let it police itself.
They put too many rules in sports for everything. Everything's been overregulated, like everything in life.
They should totally let it police.
Maybe make a league like that.
That's why I'm such a UFC fan, honestly, because like that and then the bare-knuckle shit that's been coming out lately has been pretty intense. I enjoy watching that because there's no fucking and there's no hiding. They have implemented some rules on that to dumb it down even a little bit. Now you get the WWE buying it. Now it's all these callouts and it's a show now a little bit. That's my only complaint.
I had a buddy doing the bare-knuckle fights at 46 years old, Josh. I'm like, “What the hell are you doing?” He's like, “When I was a kid, that's what I did. Now I'm getting paid for it.” That's crazy.
Who is that?
Josh Dempsey.
Is he related to Jack Dempsey?
He's from the family lineage. He's a fighter. His last name was Gorman growing up, but it's on the other side of Dempsey.
That doesn't matter.
He was a state heavyweight wrestling champ of California back in the day. He was one of those little badass kids and was a fighter. I remember one time he was ranked higher than Tyson in the rankings and stuff. He used to be Lennox Lewis's sparring partner. He got fired because he knocked him out in the sparring.
Is he an LA kid?
He was an LA kid. He was from the losing area of Inglewood and then he came over to our area for high school.
Is he around your same age?
He was two years younger.
How old are you now?
Fifty-one.
You went to school with him and probably partied with him as a kid.
We didn't get along as kids because I dated his ex-girlfriend. He was his baby's mama, stuff like that. At that point in life, we didn't get along. It’s awkward. We always knew and acknowledged each other.
We did an episode with Grant Neal. One of the fighters that he emulates is Jack Dempsey. We went down a deep rabbit hole and pulled up some old footage. There were death threats against him. He had to go into hiding and fucking cool ass story. Somebody needs to make a movie about that if they haven't already.
That would be a great one, especially the bar in New York right there on Thursday.
Being from Denver, it's cool.
I didn't know that information.
I think he was born and raised here in Colorado. That's a fucking wild story. Going back to my kid, I've made him grow up hating the Raiders, that's for sure.
When my kid was born that week, his horoscope said that day, and the papers said, “Watch Monday Night Football.” He was born on a Monday. The horoscope said, “For someone born on this date.” That was that date. It said, “Watch Monday Night Football.” It was the Dolphins and Bills. It was Jim Kelly and Marino in the fucking hospital room. She's all dilated. I'm watching the goddamn game. It ends right when it ends.
The kid pops out ten minutes later. What officially happened was, since that week ended, guess who was playing next week on Monday Night Football? The Raiders and Broncos. I had tickets. I was like, “This is fate. I can't decide which team my son will like. I'm going to let the game decide it.” At that point, the Raiders had beaten the Broncos seven times in a row
You're living here at the time.
I have season tickets.
This is why I love you because your logic is nobody else's.
I showed up at the Broncos game. The first one I went to was Broncos Saints. I'm in my Raider gear. Some old lady gets up in my face in the fucking south stands and yells, “Fucking Raiders. Raiders suck.” She's basically spitting in my face. I said, “Fucking Broncos swallow bitch.” She fucking high-fived me. I said hi to her every game after that. Every game for a year, she would say, “Raiders suck. I go Bronco Swallow bitch.” We'd high five and we would go to our seats and shit like that. I was born in LA. I was a shit-talker. I like Denver, but I like to talk shit.
Eighty-five percent of my close friends your friends too are mutual friends.
Do you know how much shit I get from them? It's fucking unbelievable.
I give it right back.
You've had it pretty well in your lifetime. Bedo is a hopeless Raider fan and KP also, but Bedo is sad to watch him in misery watching the Raiders. I'm having so much fun because I became a bookie years ago. I said, “Fuck these teams. I'm more worried about my money than these fucking teams. I want to watch a good game and hopefully, it's on my side.” It freed me up to not fucking give a shit about fucking Joe or Billy Bob, fucking whoever, and shit like that. I just want to watch a good game.
I just want to watch a good game and hope it's on my side. It’s freed me up to not give a shit about whoever or things like that.
That's where I'm at now, especially last season. We haven't had it rough in a long time. I had a lot more hope for Russell Wilson, but fucking choked. It's back in line. Sean Payton better be.
That was a rough one, by the way. We'll let that year go.
Let's not even talk about it. Let's keep talking about the Raiders.
The Raiders were horrible. They fired their quarterback two weeks before the season ended. It made his wife cry like he says now and stuff like that. You're done. Good job, Bedo. That's what your team does. They make your wife cry. That's what happens when you pick the Raiders.
The banter is fun.
That's the best. If you don't take it too personal, you don't get too mad. I did when I was a kid because I was going out of Brooklyn guy. For some reason, I met a Brooklyn guy here in Denver, where I lived. He's about my dad's age, we would. I was an LA kid and he was the Brooklyn dad and we would go fucking at it and shit. It was awesome. He was a Brooklyn guy, but he was a total hippie fired by Boulder and stuff like that. It was totally like Guido, who was a hippie. It threw my radar straight off. I'm like, “How the fuck does this even work?”
There were quite a few of them in the time that you were living here. Joey Diaz used to live in Bowlero. Rogan would live there for a little while, probably around the same time you were. That's crazy.
It was a weird time out there. It was a magical area. I got here the first time as a sixteen-year-old and was like, “What the fuck?” I came back and I'm still here. Look at me.
The running-like local joke here is boulders 15 square miles surrounded by reality. It's like Austin.
I can see why. You get into that little enclave. It feels like I fit right back in.
It's an interesting town. That's for damn sure.
Do you feel like you're in a bong chamber there?
For sure. Tell me about the card trading man because my kids have gotten into this and you touched on it, but we didn't finish this story. You drove all the way to Alabama.
I was fucking wanted to take a gamble on something.
It was more of an investment.
It's more adrenaline junkie-like adrenaline sports lotto. I'm ripping a lottery ticket. I'm hoping to rip a scratcher type of thing. I'm trying to hope that I get a big scratcher because you could take that $22,000 and turn it into $2,000 real fucking quick, but that can go into $122,000 real quick. Who knows what's going to happen because you're watching the sports as I'm happening watching them? Things are happening out there. That's changing the value of the card by the minute.
I had a guy offer me $7,500 for a Trevor Lawrence rookie card. I was going to take the deal. I went on one one-day trip to Phoenix. Instead of coming home, I ended up driving for 26 days around the fucking country. My buddy died. He was calling me a bitch every time I wanted to turn around and go home. He's like, “I would fucking do the drive. I had to keep driving.”
I was like, “I'm going to keep driving.” By the time I got home, someone had sold that same card on an auction site I heard the other day. It went for $10,100 is what it initially sold for. I would've lost a good amount of money and it, but that's in a month. That card went from about $8,000 value to $10,000. The guy gets a DUI. He gets his knee blown out or gets stacked by fucking a guy or loses the Super Bowl.
These guys are like Brock Purdy. He is one moment away from being a great guy, going to the Super Bowl, then all of a sudden, he's not even there. Brock Purdy is a good example. When he first died, I had two Brock Purdy cards sitting there. No one knows who Brock Purdy is. I had two cards sitting there. I was going to sell them. They're going for $12. I ended up like, “Fuck it. I go to Vegas because I wanted to see the fucking USC play.” I fucking ended up on the fucking USC sideline. After that, I'm like, “I’m going to go see the fucking 49ers.”
Brock Purdy was one moment away from being a great guy going to the Super Bowl, and then all of a sudden, he's not even there.
I went to Vegas, drove home, and bet on the soccer match in the fucking Vegas when I got there. I went to Vegas, bet some soccer and the World Cup for the US, and then I went and watched the USC game. I drove home to watch the soccer game, and then that night, I drove to Frisco. I ended up in Paso Robles and having a good meal. I ended up in a Christmas parade at the type of thing and chill. I'm like, “What the fuck did I walk into?”
I got too much to do. Don't talk to me not going with you.
That's what happened on those last trips. When I did this 26-day thing, I was out there. One of my buddies was like, “What the fuck is going on?” He flew into Kansas City. I changed my little itinerary. I went from Chicago down to St. Louis and then I met him in Kansas City. We went to a ballgame, then we drove to fucking Mount Rushmore, did the Badlands, and went to Deadwood. We reenacted Bill Little Hitchcock. We keep killing each other in Deadwood inch. I love you, Steve, but Steve got a little loose. Deadwood got the best of us. At that point, he wanted me to take him to the airport. We're going through Yellowstone. He's bouncing up the side of the window hammered.
It reminds me of some of our lunches at the backstage Redwood.
I still talk to Brie from those lingerie lunches.
Was that Texas Lucy's? Is that place open still?
It's open. I don't know if they have lingerie lunches. I haven't been there for lunch in 2010.
They need trading cards.
That's a good idea right there.
It's on you. It's wild. The card thing has been going well for you.
It goes both ways. You can have a big high.
You have an actual following now of people who follow and subscribe to you or whatever on some of these different platforms.
That's how it is. That's the new age. I open them. If someone wants to buy them, the best way to open them is publicly. If they see something they want, they're, “Who's got it?” They watch me open the pack up. They reach out or I go to these little trade nights with these kids. You got these little hustlers there, but then you got this kid with a dad. Those are the ones I try to find. When I was a kid, I was a nut job. I was stealing money from my parents. They're getting a divorce. I'm stealing money to get attention and buying baseball cards. My dad's like, “Fuck that.”
BranDaddy Rips: It’s the new age. The best way to open trading cards is to open them publicly, so if someone sees what they want and wants to buy them, they know who’s got it.
Your dad was a cop.
We buy them in bulk. He is like, “If you're going to spend that money, let's buy him at a deal.” He started buying me cards in bulk after that. He made me a bigger monster. I got a Mickey Mantle autograph card when I was a little eleven years old. It cost me $12. It is what I paid for it as a kid. I thought it was fake. It had been in my closet for years. I was like, “I'm going to send it into this authentication process and see if it's real.”
There's a whole grading system that goes behind this.
It's like fine art. That's got some imperfections. It's going to ding the price. That card I was telling you was $10,000. There's another company that has a different grading system that has 4-10s instead of 1-10s. One guy has that same card graded 4-10s. That card's valued at $90,000.
There's a whole grading system that goes behind trading cards. It's just like fine art. If it’s got some imperfections, it’s going to ding the price.
They're looking at it under a microscope and printing in perfection.
It is gnarly as stuff. Do you know who started this company?
Danny Reed. I love Danny. This guy's name was Drink Water. I said, “Go drink beer with drink water and smooth things over,” because Danny scared me from the authentication process in PSA. I'm sorry, PSA would do this to you, but Danny would sit there. Danny told me he had this 1969 Reggie Jackson, a nice valuable card in high condition. Danny is Danny.
Danny is probably doing this the night before.
Danny says the next thing he knows that card is folded in half. He doesn't know how he does it. It's not right. He pops into the thing and puts it to the next guy. I imagine that guy, if I got that card back and it came back gray because there was a crease in it or something like that, I would shit my pants.
How do you authenticate? If you have a card that's worth $10,000, what happens? There's got to be some counterfeiting shit that goes on. That's what they're supposed to check. That's what I thought. It's a weird and cheap grading service that doesn't pay you much and there are ones that pay a lot.
I tried to get Danny Reed, “Why don't you start grading these goddamn damn cards for me again?”
Is there some certification or some shit?
No, do you know who he worked with there? It's going to blow your mind. Christian Davis ‘dad's brother. His dad worked there too. They know Danny Reed. I'm like, “How the hell does this happen?” If I'm on Danny Reed, “I'll go to China. I'll buy one of these fucking machines and we'll do this.” I got all my other buddies out here that like, “We're very offended. I was going to go to China to buy a mold press for these cards.”
Is there a special sealant? I don't know shit about this, but my kids are getting into it now and partially because of you.
I'm sonically sealed. That way the card is encapsulated. The guy protects them, also. The label is what going to determine the credibility of the label on that card and stuff like that.
You want your trading cards to be sealed. That way, the card is encapsulated and protected. But what’s going to ultimately determine the value is the label. It’s the credibility of the label on that card.
There is so much that goes into it. I didn't realize. My kid got into it and I was like, “I'll go buy you some fucking football cards.” Was I in a fucking shock? I went to go to some of the prism cards and stuff that you guys were opening up. I was going to get him a little blaster box or something, $500 or $600. I was like, “What the fuck.” We've slowly been doing it and I've told them like, “You got to do this on your own money now. I don't care where you get the money.”
If they're more high dollar, high risk. If you hit something on those high-dollar cards in the community that there is, you're going to make some money. It's pretty ridiculous the things that come out that people want stuff. I like sports. I was a bookie. I said, “I'm going to stop betting on points. I'm going to start betting on players.” I have to worry about the rapist. I have to worry about the guy driving that's at Topgolf now having too many fucking drinks at 2:00 AM in Vegas and shit like that. Tease taking too much steroids that affect your whole market. You could lose your whole portfolio if you got to fucking a lot of money invested in a guy like tattoos and then the fucking steroid fucking scandal pops up.
You got to pick and choose.
I was hammered with a reader a year ago and I went heavy on a golf course. I was on a golf course. I was doing a beer and a shot and had a bong. I hit every hole. I had the reader puking on himself by whole fifteen. Not bad. He is coming back. I'm like, “Welcome back.” Every time I was on the course, I was buying Tiny carts on that. I was way overbidding. Now I look great because the guy's going off. He is very valuable. It's a high stock.
This is perfect for you because your sports knowledge background is fucking insane. Whenever I want to know something or need a fact, how to go to a game or whatever, I knew who my first is, “Phone a friend.”
I don't forget stupid shit. It's usually sports-related because it's numbers. It's easy for me to remember.
Why don't you have your own podcast about sports or some shit? I tried to do that with Kyle and those guys, but those guys know a little bit. I know fucking hardly anything other.
I got some buddies out there that are in the high end and are like coaches, and stuff like that have a lot of access to it. They were living their own lives to think about it. They're not like you. They are not resourceful enough. I work hard on vacation.
You're still such a big deal at your job.
I don't even work for that place anymore.
I know, but I mean, you're still a big deal in the industry. I'm not talking about who you work for. I'm talking about the industry. There's a difference. Once you get integrated into the industry, it doesn't matter who you work for. They take bids from companies based on who works for them. That determines if we want Brandon, we got to use this company type of thing.
I went the route like clients couldn't get me on a lot of jobs. I said, “Why don't I book myself instead of having them book me? That way I can choose what clients I go work with.” I got a lot of them and they are my friends now. I go to dead shows with clients. Bob takes me golfing because I was paying to go golfing with clients. I was taking clients out. His clients have to go golfing and they'd take me out and I take them out.
He's like, “You're taking my client out.” I'm well, “Yes. We're friends.” Once he found out, he's like, “I'm going to fucking take you both out because why should you be taking the client out?” I'm like, “It's free golf. Let's go.” It's cool because Bob is retired now and it's cool to see Bob. He has four jobs a year, the big jobs and stuff. I'll try to work those for Bob if possible. Other than that, they know my kid's there now. He's trying to make his own footprints. It's best for me to walk into the shadow. I got my get down.
I want to get into your career a little bit here in a minute, but going back to the card thing real quick. How do you sell these cards and to whom? Is there a website or something or do you have your own website?
I haven't done a website yet. I probably going to do a website. I use a little eBay. I have a show on the Whatnot app.
You've been going to some card shows.
I go to card shows here and there. We try to go to card shows. I got a lot of union guys. There's a painter and an electrician. There are a couple more lighting guys. There are about 4 or 5 of us and we all go to these shows together. They work at The Voice and have the 44 guys print up our signs and shit like that with all The Voice material. They're making card displays right now at The Voice for us out of its acrylic, out of fucking extra material. The prop department is making our cases for a Burbank card show coming up in Orange County. I like doing that because I'm hanging out with my buddies.
That’s what it's all about. That's why I like doing this podcast.
I'm selling cards to guys that got a kid maybe. If a kid asks me, “Eat shit. I don't give a fuck.” I'll take a little bit of a hit. I don't need to make as much of it. I don't need to make every little ounce of money off it.
You're getting some gratification. It's almost like gift-giving.
I've had this shit my whole life. I collected this shit as a kid and it had a lot of value when I was a kid and then it took a dump.
Do you still have that Mickey Mantle card?
I sold it to a guy to a guy that had an eleven-year-old son. It was weird. He said, “I hope to give it to him for the next 40 years.” It was weird because when I got his Venmo information, I tracked him down. I thought he might be working in our entertainment industry because it was called E-Ticket Industries. He was a video guy. Me and Natalie go hang out at this bar and this guy named Brian that I work with. Do you know Brian with Sweetwater?
Brian's a little rough around the edges a lot of times.
Comes to be that Brian is at a local bar right by my house and I'm going, “He looks familiar,” and it ends up being Brian. Brian has been my neighbor for about 30 or 40 years. He was real good friends with my sister growing up. All of a sudden, he likes me now. The world got smaller. Brian's got cards too. He has a shitload of cards also that are old.
I'm surprised how many people do.
It was weird.
What's funny is I have some old ones stashed away and they're more sentimental. Tom Jackson was a neighbor to my grandparents and stuff back in the day. He signed a card for me. I still have that.
That's why I kept them as a kid because they're more sentimental. I thought it was a fake, I thought it was fake. I sold it to the kid. You got a little remorse, but I didn't bother because I got to move on. I have an 8 by 11 autograph. I wasn't a dumb kid. I had him sign that one in front of me.
How'd you get him to sign?
Back in the day, you pay him $15 a little kid and you stand in line. The only way you got authenticated back then is your dad had to take a picture of you and getting it signed by him because they didn't think about it.
Did you have the photo and stuff?
No.
You can pin pressure on everything.
They'll know now if it's real or not. That's why I looked at my baseball card. It was by ballpoint. Who's got the balls to take a ball point pin on a one-off and over a 1960 Mickey Mantle? I go, “Why would you devalue the card? That's worth a lot of money on top of it.”
BranDaddy Rips: Card authenticators can tell signatures. They'll know if it's real or not.
They get forensic on that shit. They can test the age of the ink and fucking all kinds of shit. I took it to a show and some guy had a few autographs and he is all, “You can call your shot on that price.” When the guy asked me and he had his kid, I said, “$3,500.” He fucking damn bat an eye the next day. I knew the guy was handing me the card. It was a done deal.
Now I'm hanging out with Brian at the bar. I'm explaining the whole thing, how I sold to this guy. I showed him a picture of the kid and the dad because I took a picture. I said, “I got to have a picture.” He's, “We work with him on Dancing with the Stars.” He's a lighting guy. I see him in this industry still. That's quite awesome. I want to get that card back. I know exactly where to go. He called him up and said, “Guess who I'm here with at the bar. I'm at the bar with the guy you bought that card off of.” He's like, “That's the prize jewel of my collection.” It made me feel good on top of it even to have him have that story to call up.
Do you have a photo of that card posted on your Instagram or anything?
I'm sure. That would've been October 2022.
You're one of my favorite people. It's weird about this industry that we're in. For people that don't know, I come from a rock and roll touring background and staging industry. I've done a lot in action sports. Brandon's done a fucking lot too. We've both been on different sides and we've worked together a ton. That's what started our relationship many years ago. Some of the best times I've had working on some fucking massive shows were with you. We've done some big ass shit.
I'm still the specialist for Dancing with the Stars because of you. Those drawings that you made them do like in 3D because they had them overlaid. You know how they draw them over there and they overlaid everything. I will say to them to go back to these one fucking drawing.
It's a collective thing. That's not me. You were there with me. We had a ton of other guys. You got Freddy Munson.
That is a collection.
Thirty-three dudes are no fucking joke either.
You got to have the information. You laid the information out best to get them to do their job better than the rest. That's what helps. You had information at your fingertips.
You have to be organized in that industry. There's a misconception that everybody's backstage drinking and fucking partying and doing blow.
That's in the parking lot.
They can keep their shit together. Some of the most well-organized, most thought-out, best pre-planned you want to talk about somebody staying on point, 7, 8, 9 steps ahead. If you don't, you are done in that industry. You're good at that. You taught me some lessons on that like, “No, pack the shit this way.” I've always thought about that touring, but some of the jobs that you and I have done together have been 40 semi-load, 40 flatbed loads of steel crap of crap and bolts. We only brought 3,000 bolts.
Remember that orange bin?
I don't remember. I have short-term memory.
You filled up that Tim Fallon rigid bin of Bolts. They organized that whole bin.
I remember those steel drop boxes. That's fucking badass.
That was a rough one.
What year was that card?
1960, the ballpoint pen? Who fucking does that shit? If you go through some of the pictures, there are some kids in one of those other ones. Those are all the cards.
I'm glad you're doing this. One reason why I started podcasting is it's a passion for you, and I like seeing my best friends have some passion project, and I think this is super cool.
I had all those extra shit lying around.
I want to support you in whatever you're doing with passion projects. It's cool.
I had all this gear lying around from all the jobs we do. I'm like, “I'm going to use this. I'm going to make a little shop.” I got enough stuff lying around from a Rihanna Super Bowl from many ago. It had to be put to use at some point. That's squirrely right there.
What's up with the squirrel? Tell me the story behind that.
I found him on a gig. He's not squirrely. After that, I kept him in the car so I could take pictures of him at all the gigs. Even though I had a buddy, he was into Game of Thrones. I bought these cheap ass boxes then I ended up hitting this card. I got people offering me $5,000 for that card.
I get the adrenaline behind it because even with my kid, I watch how excited he gets and then I get excited and then we watch you and I'm excited for what you guys are ripping. You can't stop watching.
You know when you're not. That's a horrible feeling because you're hoping to hit. When you're getting towards the end, you know it isn’t going to happen.
It’s a really horrible feeling when you're hoping to hit, but then you're getting towards the end and you know it’s not going to happen.
It's gambling.
When you're getting to the end, you still got that hope. Even when you got one card left, it's not a good card because the way they run the cards in order, you still hope. That little candle goes away. That's how I live my life. I'm going to fuck it. I'm going to be a glass half full, even if it's fucking empty.
Living in the moment because you can't live in the past and the future either. If you're willing to pay the price of your actions, go for it. If you're not hurting anybody, but yourself, go for it. Why not? It's your life. That's my philosophy. That's why we get along and have for a long. Diving into that, the reason why I love doing these recordings and I asked you to do this with me, is I truly enjoy sitting down across from my buddies like this because I learned so much more about them.
I know little tidbits, but normally when we're having a drink or we're in a bar, there is some sporting event going on. We're on a job site. Some of the best conversations I've had with you are on a road trip, like in a car or something, when we're going out to Pebble Beach, or doing the badass trip. You took me there for the first time.
That 17-mile drive was magical.
I don't even remember the gig that we were doing.
NASA Breakthrough Awards. People that are the smartest in the world. Figuring out all these solutions to worldly issues.
The red carpet was off private jets and shit.
They did that show because they had that private landing right there at the NASA airstrip so they could fly the Mark Zuckerberg.
It was the guy from Google, Sergey.
They could all fly in and out or back to Saudi Arabia right after their flight and shit like that after the show.
They're doing the next one.
They did an LA version, but they're going back t to NASA. The problem was Google bought that building. Remember that hangar that we used to work in?
Yes.
Google bought that. They're renovating it. Now, you can't be there.
That was a fun gig. It's funny to me, like some of the big stars and some of the major events that we've been involved with. You look at the people that are building the show and making it fucking work are good people. They're blue-collar.
It's a trip. We had Father's Day. I had my dad, my mom, and my uncle. It was like a small little family. They're going like, “How the hell did you get into this? How did you even do this?”
It's a hard one to explain.
I always say, “I smoke weed.” That's what happened. I was sitting at home and someone came over to buy some weed. They saw I had a minivan and the next thing they asked me to be a runner. The next thing I knew, I was backstage for Pearl Jam later on that day. Next thing I'm talking to Mike McCready. I don't even know who the fuck Mike McCready is. I'm talking to him. He was like, “Ask me these questions.” I don't know who the fuck he is. I'm going to have a great time backstage, all this badass. It gets into you and shit like that.
Let's go down that road a little bit and then we'll talk about some of the shit that you and I have done together. At one point, you were Madonna's personal driver.
I wasn't her personal driver. What happened was I drove her a few times. I worked for a company. It's come full circle because the union is on strike in LA for the writer strike.
Does that include the local 33 guys?
Everyone because they don't want you crossing the lines on these jobs. They're at these studios that you might be working on. I did a job. We had to get there early. That way, you didn't have to deal with the picketers and the trucks won't deliver after 9:00 AM. You got to respect that. That's a union thing.
Is that part of SAG?
It’s SAG. They're all tied in. They're trying to get you not to work and stuff like that. That's why I took disability and I went on this 26-day vacation, “I'm out of here.” This is a therapy for me. I called it gas therapy.
I appreciate you making the pit stop because I know this is super rad. You're a bucket list for me to have on.
It's one of those things, if you go somewhere, you usually have to make the time. If you don't make the time, then what's the point? People are like, “You only did something for so long. You only get so long in life.” If you don't get that little moment on top of it, then you're fucked. I always put in a lot of bucket miles in the seat to go do one moment. I'll spend shit a load of moments to go do one. It's worth it for me because, in those other moments, I'm having a great time doing my thing. I'm not in a bad spot in my mind. My mind's a good spot.
It's the little shit that you and I appreciate going to pour Samuel Adams on Samuel Adams’ grave or something like that.
You got to do the local stuff.
You got to experience life.
You got to figure out what you like. If you're a weirdo, embrace it. Go for it. It's a big deal. You only know what you like. You could say it to other people and hope they like it too, then you might have that common thing.
It's okay to be an individual. I have this discussion.
Don't try to be like everybody. You might be, but just be who you are.
Do what the fuck you want.
I'm still having a hard time doing that.
Anybody is. It's a world that we're living in. You have a mortgage, a car payment, kids, and a cell phone to pay for.
I got cards to buy. I got a business. That was the best thing. I was addicted to buying these goddamn damn cards. I had to break my habits. I had to get on the road and get away from it.
It's an addiction.
It's like gambling. I'm better at buying than selling. When I sell, it's like, “I'll sell.”
I'm addicted to these moments.
You should have some addiction to it. There's got to be an adrenaline rush if you do it like, Jerry Garcia, “Is it going to be fun?” You should do something fun. If that's what you think is fun, then you should do it.
You should do something that's fun. If you think something’s fun, go do it.
I'm not even into that music genre at all. I'm much more of a metalhead.
I didn't like it as a kid. I went to dead shows in five states before I went into a show. That's not a normal deadhead thing because I was one of those kids who was there for the drugs and making money. I was making money. I would take all the kids. We were doing pretty good in the South Bay Area. I would take one of their allowances. I'd take a, “Give me your money and tell me what you want.” I'd have a grocery list of drugs and all of our parents' money. I can be the one to go get the grocery list. If I needed $100, I got $120. I got twenty free hats of that shit. All my drugs were worked into the deal. I could like, “I'm on a fucking free roll. I was not broke,” but I wanted to have fun. I didn't think the concert was fun. I think $35 for a concert ticket was fun. I thought $35 for the weed was not.
It's not, because you're worried about the money.
What I did was buy a ticket. I bought a counterfeit ticket. I ruined my high.
Some of the best times I've had have been in parking lots. I mean tour buses, that's where they park.
I was high that time at that one show I tried to get in. I thought I was Jesus Christ. I tried to walk across the American River because I thought I could go across the water. She convinced me. I was fucking good enough to do it. I tried it. It didn't work out. It was way better off going to those showers and chill. I got more action there.
This is why I love you. There's no filter. We totally skipped over. We went down the deep gravel and Jesus over here. Going back to Madonna, tell me about that.
This is around the Guy Ritchie area. This is when the forum is switching over to the union strike. We were the hack #PirateCrew that comes in mercenaries that come in after 33 got kicked out of the forum. They bring you in in the middle of the night. We wear all black. Madonna was in there. Madonna was doing six weeks of rehearsal for the Killers for a Grammy rehearsal. She was doing a six-week rehearsal for her tour. They needed someone clean-cut to come in. Who's your most clean-cut? I was hired to drive her Pilates instructor. They flew in this guy from England, James De Silva. He is a great guy.
You were assigned to him?
I was assigned to him. They give me a nice car and say, “You got to go take care of this guy for a week.” I'm like, “Let's go pick him up.” My job was basically, I go down to Sunset Marquis and pick him up at the hotel. He had a friend with him. He's an Indian guy. He has got that proper English accent, but I don't know if it's gay or proper.
I know exactly what you are talking about.
I'm trying to put something on it without putting something on it.
You don't have to on this show either.
I'm working for Madonna. I don’t give a shit. I'm like, “It's no big deal.” We go to Madonna's house and basically, go through the gates and drop him off. You could stay in a certain part of the grounds, but you can't go in. What's the point? He would be like, “Why don't you go find a place and get her a pint?” I'd be like, “James, it's 9:30 in the morning.” He's like, “Is it not close? Is there, not a place to get a pint to be around here at 9:30 in the morning?”
In England, you can.
That's no problem. I'm fucking making sure you're cool with it. I went to Barney's Beanery right there in West Hollywood. I'd go take her there and we'd get a little hammered. I had GPS on this car. I'd be driving around Beverly Hills doing sightseeing, showing this lady everything. By the time I picked him up, I was a little loopy.
Who was the lady that you're picking up?
I forgot her name. She was an actress. It was her friend. He was staying with her.
It was not like his girlfriend or whatever.
I'm going like, “This is Sunset. We are at Sunset Boulevard Mall. This is where the hookers are. The next street is Santa Monica Mall. This is where your gay hookers are.” He is like, “You're real open-minded.” I’m like, “If you're not open-minded in Los Angeles, you're a bitter person.”
If you're not open-minded in Los Angeles, you’re kind of a bitter person.
It's coming at you from every different angle.
I grew up in Santa Monica. I've had gay guys hitting on me my whole life. It's been no problem. I used to send guys to the dolphin bar.
The road guys that would come through got to be prepping a tour because they'd always be like, “Where's a good local spot to go around here?” The Dolphin.
That was the spot back in the day.
“I'll meet you under the stairs at 4:30. Happy hour.”
We'd play and then all of a sudden, Madonna's crazy. Madonna loves this guy, James. Now she wants to hire him from fucking Gwyneth and Chris Martin. She's giving the guy's mom $250,000 for her fucking foundation type of shit. He's offering him more money in a year to do stuff. She's coming at him hard.
As the driver, you're spending car time. It's like podcast time. You're getting all the dirt.
We'd work her out, and then we'd go to Malibu. We'd go to Sting's house and he'd work out Sting and his wife Trudie. I'd be having to drive her around Malibu and get her a little bit loopier drunk there then, then drive back through Sunset Hill. He'd work out Guy Ritchie. We'd drive around some more and then we'd have to go back to where the all the band was and stuff like that. He'd have to push and pull on them, and then he'd have to go home.
She was my drinking buddy for the week, then after that, Madonna hired this guy for the rest of the time. Now I got put into a six-week gig with this guy. Now I'm this guy's little bitch. Me and him were good friends because every time I go to lunch, I'm meeting with him. We're hanging out. He's starting a Pilates studio, and he's like, “Won't you be my?” I was almost going to fucking be a Pilates guy. I was going to be the fucking James De Silva Pilates disciple. I got sidetracked on that one. Friends and Family Night comes up with all those shows.
It is some of the funniest nights I've ever had.
I had my son there, my daughter, my dad, my mom, and my sister. Probably like eight more people. They had Britney Spears and Randy Jackson.
Let's dive into that for a minute because that's one of the cool perks that we get to experience is normal, everyday fucking people is you start working for some of these bands or something, and at the very beginning of their tour or kick off the tour, it's not open to the public, they'll rent out like the forum or an iconic place. They'll do a friends and family show. Let’s say it's Van Halen for example.
Everybody from the industry that you could imagine. You're talking about when Eddie Van Halen was playing guitar, any guitarist, Zakk Wylde, Kirk Hammett, the list goes on and on of caliber guitar players, and they all go to the forum. There's no crowd or punters. It's the who's who of Hollywood or whatever. There's no red carpet. It's like a secret society. You walk in the vending fully open. It's some of the best times that I've had in moments where the band performs its best.
There’s a real bunch of people. They've been playing for each other for weeks. That's how it's been. They're letting the baby be seen.
The Van Halen, friends and family, I forget what year it was, but I'm sitting in front of the house and Kirk Hammett was out there from Metallica. He keeps staring at me. I'm like, “What the fuck? Did I fuck this guy's wife without knowing or something?” I don't know. He's just staring at me. I'm like, “What's going on?” Finally, he comes over to me and is like, “I know you from somewhere.” I was like, “No, you don't.” He's like, “No, I know you.” I was like, “Trust me. You don't know me. If I knew you, I would know.” He's like, “You look familiar.”
I've gotten this my whole life, touring around the world. People swear that they know me or run into me. It's a weird phenomenon that I have. I don't know if I got a bunch of brothers out there or something. Who knows? Dad was a little loose. He was in a biker gang. You have experiences like that, or you end up drinking at a bar all night with Leonardo DiCaprio or whatever happens, which is high. These moments legitimately happen.
These people are real people. They're in those moments themselves. They want to get loose too.
Celebrities are real people, too. They're in those moments themselves, and they want to get loose, too.
We're at framing one million friends but we wanted to catch people up.
That's how I got, “I should drive,” because Madonna at the time had her daughter. She had her little boy Rocco. Her normal driver was named Hugo, we got along well. He'd talk to Madonna about me. He'd say, “This driver is cool. This guy I hang out with, he takes me around and shows this chick around here.” By saying some shit to her in passing, she mentioned, “How about James's driver?”
They needed to find a driver because the normal driver was going to drive the kids and Guy Ritchie to the first night of friends and family. They needed someone to drive her to friends and family at first and stuff like that. They asked me, “Do you want to fucking drive for him?” That's what they call him. The pay raise is pretty significant. I was like, “I'll take that fucking gig.”
“Do I get in a nicer car? Can I drive the Bentley?”
That’s the only time I've gotten a manicure in my life. I went down to my hand.
Did they make you go get one?
No. I was afraid to have my fingers up on that driving wheel. She's gnarly.
She's cool. She's a professional at the same time. Tell me some stories.
The first time I picked her up, I got to pick her assistant up, not her, at her house. I got to go pick up the Mercedes-Maybach. The space shuttle Mercedes is a badass car. That in itself was like sitting in a pilot seat. There are many instruments in that thing. I'm like, “What the fuck did I get into here?” I'll get the story on that shit. It comes into play later because of the way it happened. We pick her up at the Kabbalah Centre. She's probably on the same kick. She was doing the whole Kabbalah thing.
When I was on tour with her, we had Kabbalahs taped to the bottom of the lifts.
I had to go pick up the Kabbalah water. I didn't know. I was the guy. It was gnarly how my buddy Steve had a mohawk and we'd be driving through Richard Stevens' then picket line with a mohawk and Kabbalah dude in the back fucking all one mushrooms. I’m like, “Get the fuck out of the way.” At first, with the picket line, I’m trying to block it, then they're like, “Fuck this.”
He is like, “I got the fucking priest in here, get the fuck out of the way.” This guy's Steve. You know the form club where they all have their catering. I got to give Steve a shout-out of this one. He went into that place, the best thing I've ever seen Marshall on that Madonna tour. He does the fucking full-on “Everybody.” Everyone's eating catering at lunch. It's busy. The whole fucking tour's there, ”Can I get your attention, please?” They all get quiet. Look at him, “If anyone here needs any drugs, you fucking come to me. Go back to eating now.” It was the best thing I had ever seen. He made a buttload of money.
This guy is a fucking psycho and next thing you know, they're hitting him up in the alley.
This is how he's driving. He is driving the Kabbalah guy. We're at the Kabbalah Centre. I got 30 paparazzi lying in the car. Madonna is a little weird. You're not allowed to have the air conditioning on. They don't allow air conditioning. Windows got to be rolled up. It's a black-on-black car in summer in LA. It was off Robertson. It was right off West Hollywood. I asked her driver, “What's the secret?” He's like, “She doesn't like to stop and she doesn't like to go slow.” I'm like, “What the fuck are you telling me?” I got to go from West Hollywood to the forum. The next thing you know, I'm going down Robertson right off the bat.
Luckily you're an LA kid and know the area.
I had her GPS. Thank God I had her fucking spacecraft fucking vehicle because right when I stopped, I fucking went left. I'm going down an alley fucking doing this shit. I find myself in Venice over there in the back spot by Jefferson. She says to me, “This car does 0 to 60 and 3.2. Why don't you fucking try it?” I'm like, “Holy shit.” I punched it. I'm like up flying.
Do you think that they would hire a fucking NASCAR driver or ex-NASCAR driver?
It's still gnarly because if you go like three seconds at the same speed, it goes like an automatic cruise control type of shit. That's how this fucking car is up. It's one of those gnarly things.
This was in the ‘90s.
It was ‘06. Now I'm driving now go to the form and drop this bitch off through Inglewood at some point going through neighborhoods in Inglewood to get Madonna to the forum. That's the first night. They're like, “You're driving her and Guy home tonight.” It's Guy Oseary. She's got a manager named Guy Oseary. Instead of Guy Ritchie. Guy Ritchie and her husband, Guy. After the show, it's her, me and Guy. We're in a forum. I'm in the forum driving out. I'm coming out with a police escort big ass ramp. They take you up that ramp and they get you out and they take you to the 405. Once they get you to the 405, they don't even get on the 405. You're on.
Is it state troopers or something?
It was Inglewood PD because they couldn't go onto the freeway. They get you on the freeway, and right when I get on the freeway, and I remember it's Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine music on, she and him are starting to have a conversation about the show. She's like, “How'd you like the show?” He's like, “It was great.” She's like, “What'd you think of this one part?” He's like, “I didn't see it.” She got all quiet. He's like, “Darling, are you mad? How would you like it if I fucking walked out halfway through one of your fucking movies?” I looked in the mirror.
I'm going through like a thing with a girlfriend. I've had things with a wife. I've been there. I look him dead in the eye in the mirror. I'm going like, “Holy shit, bro. I’ve been there.” Now they're starting to get into it. She's like, “Who are you with? What are you fucking doing? Who are you talking to?” It was one of those. I was like, “He's in trouble now.”
I know you. You're probably up there laughing.
She's like, “Can you turn this fucking shit down?” I look at the space shuttle fucking thing and I hit a button. It stops for a second, then all of a sudden, it's even louder and shit. I'm like, “God.” I hit the whole console power. I shut down the whole system. I have no navigation at all now. I couldn't figure out the radio. Now I'm in the middle of their fight. It's all quiet and awkward. I’m like, “I got to get there.”
She goes off on him fucking, basically saying all this shit about like, “I'm going to see the show many times. If we're still fucking together.” That was the only night when I got out. My car's at their house. I got to go pull into their garage, get out, get them their key, do whatever, and stuff like that. That was the only night she did the European double fucking kiss like, “I could fuck this motherfucker if you don't get your shit straight. You better get your shit straight not be looking at other young tail at my fucking show.”
We have some mutual friends that have run off with some people before.
I'm not going to jop any names.
He owes me to be on that tour. Do you know why? It’s because that was when Britney Spears sobered. Do you know how he met Chippy?
No, I've seen you guys almost fist-bump a couple of times. Shout out to Chippy and Jeff Hoss.
Do you know that bathroom over there by Babo and Nick? Back in the day, I was on probation. My dad is the cop that you mentioned would take me to the Compton Courthouse and I'd have my fake dick on and my dad would drive me to the Compton Courthouse. I'm a grown-ass man. I'm an old man. I go to this Compton Courthouse and I take my fucking piss test with my fake dick on and then my dad would drive me to work. My dad sometimes would drive me and less to work. How bad is that? How fucking great is that? I would go into the bathroom, I'd take my fake dick off and I'd put it in my backpack and I go to work.
I see Chippy there. West’s, my buddy, hadn't met him yet. I'm walking into the bathroom. I go, “What's up?” He's like, “You're best with a buddy.” We start talking. About five seconds into that conversation, I'm like, “He better be able to handle my sense of humor.” I unzipped my pants and I pulled my fake dick out. The first time talking to me ten seconds in, I started fucking flicking my dick up in the middle of the conversation. He starts looking up. He goes, “I know your West’s is buddy, but I'm not like that.” A week later, he said, “Can I borrow that? I need to go on tour and I got a piss clean.” I said, “These are not things that you borrowed. This is now yours. It is passed on to you because I do not wear that after you do.” That's how I met Chippy though. That's how he got to Britney.
We have many crazy mutual friends. That's why I got to get the show-ready thing back on the stories that we can tell. This is one little story. This isn't even talking about what you and I have done together.
If he would even like to spin it off into any of the Freddy's or Richard's or even of those guys. Imagine Richard.
Richard is crazy. How about Uncle Frank?
Uncle Frank is in Indiana. I almost saw him.
There are guys across the country that I know, like Fukie, up in San Francisco.
Did I tell you about Fukie when I was up there last time I had a dead show?
No.
The last time I was at a dead show-up in Frisco, it was New Year's. 2019 going into ‘20.
Did they play Shortline?
They usually play Shortline for days. That's supposed to look like the steely from above, but that is where they usually play. Sometimes they'll play Chase. They played Chases other times because it was Frisco.
Is Chase the new arena?
The Warriors.
I don't picture the dead indoors because I grew up going to Red Rocks.
They're cool indoors. It's a different animal. It's cool because it's not like half the show light. I go to the festival season. I don't deal with as much arenas, but I like arenas too. I like the forum. The forum is fucking a nice place.
Especially now that they've revived it.
It's a sound place. It's great for that sound.
That's what I love about Red Rocks.
Me and Ally go up to Frisco. We parked in the parking lot by the Wharfs, right by the show. Fukie does the fireworks. I reach out to him, “Happy New Year.” He's like, “Happy New Year to you too. I'm setting up on these barges to shoot them off.” Me and her are sitting in the car smoking. He tells me where he is at. I'm reading the pier and I see the hanger that he's at. I was talking on the phone with him. He walked out of the hangar and we started talking to each other when we were still on the phone and fucking to each other. He was right there.
One of the best people I know up there. Hells Angel of many years now. Not what you would expect. He is the only Japanese dude in the Hells Angels at all. Good fucking people in the industry. Some of the shit that you and I have worked on has been no small walk. When my daughter was born, my firstborn, I was on a show with you, and it was the Spike Scream Awards.
I'll never forget this shit. I wish they would bring that shit back. From a metal guy's perspective, that show was insane. We would build a Greek theatre. We built a whole structure that wrapped the entire Greek theater and the Spike Scream Awards were like they were horror movies. I'm not even into horror movies, but there were all the metal bands. The pyrotechnics were there.
You and I watched a girl in rehearsals and this is burned in my fucking memory forever. She was a paid actress who got set on fire, like a burn the witch at the stake. Her safe word was, “She had to be calm.” She would play the part of screaming and yelling. I've seen some fucked up shit in the industry. I've seen some crazy spinal tap props, and even on that show, they had the whole Back to Future thing where they projected the car flying in and then flames behind the tires. Did Michael J. Fox get out of it?
I think he did.
I missed the show because my son was being born.
I got the call and I was like, “Sorry. This is on you.” It was after dinner. Luckily I was pretty tuned up.
Bobby was in the show's head. I'm in the parking lot or somewhere else, “Where are you?” “I'm fucking bed on the radio.” I was on with Joe Stein on that one.
This is one of my favorite stories of all time.
They'd call him up all the time and be like, “I'm fucking doing blow.” Joe was great.
We did shit like that, then some of the other stuff that we did, we did like million-dollar job, me, you and Jake. I need to catch up with Jake.
Jake is right in the shop. He runs the shop with Michelle. Jake's a good kid. He's got a boy.
There are many people I need to catch up with.
Do you remember Crybaby from Nashville?
That might be after my time.
What were you doing on the Nashville job? What were you doing out there? What the fuck was that? Was it at that ACCM?
It was the Country Music Awards. It didn't last very long.
It was Bobby and Hans. That's who he worked for.
There was a bunch of the local guys.
The guy they had from Nashville was on it, but he passed. He was one of those local legends.
There are many people.
That's all you remember.
You'd have to show me a picture. I'm fucking horrible with names.
I worked with him a lot after that, but that was the first one. Rosell was a turntable guy on that one and shit.
I don't even remember. All I remember is you were there and I don't remember much of that one. I remember you finding me and I was like, “Don't look at me.”
You and all the Santa Clauses. It was hilarious.
I turned into Johnny. I went in down a fucking Nashville deep dark hole there. Like literally I went out for the afternoon to have a drink, relax and listen to some music on Broadway, and not even a country music fan. I had to use some jujitsu there. Next thing you know I'm at Hank Senior's bar because I was like, “Why not?” I found out from some bartenders and ended up at Tootsie’s.
Tootsie's is like a staple. There's much history in that back alley. I'm in the back alley, I think that very day smoking a joint and Miranda Lambert pulls up in the alley because she's got an apartment that's directly across from it. I'm standing there smoking a joint and she comes up to me and she's like, “That smells good.” I don't even know what I was doing. I was on cloud nine. I don't even know where I got weed. You know me, I don't smoke weed. That's not my thing. Alcohol is my thing.
I ended up chopping it up with her. I knew exactly who she was because I'd done gigs for her before. I didn't bring any of that up. I was a normal schmo, then I fucking walked away from her talking to me very rudely. I remember that because I was like, “I cannot be in a conversation with this because this is going to go bad.” The best thing in my mind, the most logical thing to do is to walk away without saying anything. I walked right into Tootsie's. You stumbled across me somehow. I was totally on a solo mission.
I found you at that point.
I woke up in a destroyed hotel. I was blackout drunk. I remember the band playing and me falling on my back.
You didn't fall. You were dancing with a whole bunch of them.
A whole bunch of what?
I can show you the picture. It was like Santa Claus that night.
It was during Christmas.
It was Thanksgiving-ish. I don't drink. Bobby got a little top-heavy and a big bear. Bobby took them all down. Bobby took them all down.
I had to leave. Did you take me to my hotel room?
No, because you smacked some guy. You hit some guy.
I do jujitsu on a guy. I was still good at that point.
At that point, you had to someone who had to get out of there. You had to get out of there.
That's enough of these stories. Let's go ahead and wrap this shit up. This has been awesome. I always love having you. Real quick before we jump off, how do people follow you?
It's @BranDaddyRips on Instagram. I went to these shows and these young kids were calling me the Granddad Card. I was bearded out. I was all bearded out and these little kids would come after the old man collection. I was trying to be the deadhead old man that these little kids would come to search out to give them their cash. That's how I went off the Brandaddy. That's weird making other guys call you daddy. I do a show once a week.
I was trying to be the deadhead old man that little kids would come search out to give them their cash. That's how I went off the BranDaddy stuff like that.
Is that a card-specific app?
It's anything related. Natalie does crafts. I probably showed her something. She didn't need to know about that because of 32auctions. You're getting stuff in 32auctions.
Is there a ton of card dealers on there? You do some of your live streams.
I'm gnarly. I'll go out there and I do auctions for $1. I say, “You decide. Whoever the lies, it lies.” That's got to be fun to watch. It’s fun. You're hoping people will pay more. I’d want to get a deal like that. Why the fuck do I not want to be that guy? That's what that whole thing's about.
That's like raffles. I've given away a couple of knives and stuff through this thing, like handmade knives.
My dad was a cop. I got all these like cop cards as a kid. The cops would hand out cards.
Do they still do that, like a playing card of themselves or something?
No, off the dodger. Back in the day, it would promote a kid to go up to a cop and talk to them, saying, “Do you got any cards?” That way, you'd have to start a conversation.
Did it have an LA badge on it or was it an actual card?
It's a card, but it had the LAPD badge on it with all the Dodgers stats. They really weren't cards. They're almost like better printing. I had a whole bunch of those. I'll give those away in my giveaways and guys will go like, “I remember those from 30 years ago.”
I'm sure they're collector items.
It's nostalgia.
That means more to me than a lot of shit.
Now, it's antique. It's 40 years old now. I kept that shit for 40 years. I'm still stuck in 1983 time.
It's cool picking up stuff that's old.
The pandemic made me reach the point that I've had shit buried in the closet, basement, or garage.
Is that where you came up with the Mickey Mantle?
I had him as a kid. I had him lying around. I always had him set aside. During the pandemic, the first thing I did was I got a 40-yard dumpster during that fucking pandemic and I cleaned it out because I live in the house I was raised.
It's a badass house.
I was getting rid of the past. A lot of the past was fucking I was hoarding shit or they were hoarding shit. I was like, “I got to move on from some of that shit,” but then you find some of the fucking pasts that you want to reconnect with and shit like that. The values went through the roof. I was like, “I'm sitting on some money now as compared to not sitting on Jack's shit.” I don't even go to work. I can go do my cards, but that's a lot of work.
A lot of us are hoarding stuff, and we want to get rid of some of it. But then we find some of the past with which we want to reconnect, and we realize the values have gone through the roof.
Work is fun.
Work is more fun than doing the cards.
You're hanging out with friends. That's what we did. I've it's cliché to say like, “I never work a day in your life if you do what you love,” but it's about the people you're surrounded by. Did I like working for Madonna? No. Did I like working for any of the pop stars? No. Did I like the people I worked with? I fucking jump off a cliff for them. Thank you. Go follow @BranDaddyRips. It's fun to watch you rip cards. How often do you do it when you're not?
I try to do it every week.
You should do something on the road.
Chris Beard is like my little partner in crime. He likes to do it too. Chris is addicted. He's a Raider fan. He's got nothing but disappointment in his life.
Chris, I love you, but I still hate the Raiders. Brandon, thank you. I love you. It was awesome seeing you. We got to do this again.
This was fun.
Thanks, everybody, for reading.
Important Links
Grant Neal – Past Episode