From South Central LA to Chicano Shuffle: Ramon Ballesteros Odyssey

Ever wondered how the cultural blend of TV, music, and films across two languages shapes a person? This episode takes you on a fascinating journey with Ramon, a first-generation Mexican-American, whose childhood was marinated in a mix of English and Spanish entertainment, and how that blend has influenced his life and work. We're rolling back the years, dipping into the vibrant culture, music, and fashion of the '80s and '90s, with Ramon as our guide sharing his vivid tales of break dancing, the obsession with keeping white sneakers clean, and the excitement of unwrapping a new cassette tape - talk about a trip down memory lane!

We're traversing the rough and tumble streets of South Central Los Angeles, exploring Ramon's upbringing. His stories - from the local taco joint to returning to his hometown after 26 years – offer a poignant reflection of life in LA during the 90s. Against this backdrop, we discuss how music has been a powerful influencer in our lives, and believe us when we say, the untold story of how Ramon’s podcast, 'Chicano Shuffle', got its name is a treat you don't want to miss.

We're ending the episode on a high note, literally. We're talking about our all-time favorite movie soundtracks - from 'Ghost' to 'Pulp Fiction' to 'Queen of the Damned', with Ramon sharing how these melodies played a pivotal role in his transformation into adulthood. We also reflect on the sixth-anniversary event of the podcast and the parody song Ramon wrote. Finally, we touch upon embracing gratitude, making the most of life’s offerings, and the power of music in reviving memories and emotions. Get ready for a roller-coaster of nostalgia, laughter, and deep conversations that'll leave you longing for more.


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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome everyone to music junkies. A podcast about people sharing extraordinary stories about how music has impacted their lives. Welcome everyone to music junkies. I'm your host in that, smith. And what can I say about our guest today? His first generation Mexican, american or Chicano right Born and raised in LA, california. He loves talking, telling jokes, being funny, and he's super clever. He is a product of television movies, music, sitcoms, both in English and Spanish. He's part of a podcast called is it Chicano shuffle?

Speaker 2: 0:44

No, it's Chicano. Like like Chica Chicano.

Speaker 1: 0:49

Yeah or love it.

Speaker 2: 0:50

I know it's, it's. Yeah, it's. One of those were like. You know you phonetically, you want to say how it's written. Yeah, chica, like saying Chicago Chicano. No, it's actually Chicano. I like it Love it.

Speaker 1: 1:04

Please welcome Raymond to the show.

Speaker 2: 1:06

I'm welcome.

Speaker 1: 1:06

I'm so excited, right, obviously, I interviewed Santos, who's a good friend of yours, like I, actually wearing his shirt right now.

Speaker 2: 1:14

Yeah, I love it, our podcast yeah it's so, he's the one that suggested.

Speaker 2: 1:20

He reached out like hey, I just did this podcast music junkies. You know she's really cool and everything, so I guess at some point you asked them that give you if you knew anybody else who would be interested in it. We've had conversations. We, we both like the 80s a lot, but also the 90s. I mean we were, we have, you know, alternative. We have some of the goth dark wave since we were in the 90s. What is it? New wave, a lot of new wave in common. And we just so you tell me well, he said it to the podcast, that account, and we're like you know what one of my other partners at some of the podcast, fernando, he's not like hey, this is more of your alley, more like set it up and then one thing or another. I know that this is like back in February, march, may, maybe, may you send out the invite and look at it's October, mid October already. And here we are and I apologize for the delay that's all good.

Speaker 1: 2:22

Before we get started and running through your songs, what was your experience putting your playlist together for me today?

Speaker 2: 2:27

You know what, when you said me the, I think you said this is either the DM and I was looking at it and and you triggered something because you say, hey, choose the songs. And I'm married and I'm memory connected to it and it just it was funny because every time I'm with friends or family, especially with the podcast partners and Fernando, he's the one that I pick them up and drop them off. When we go record or we hang out mostly, and every time a song comes on, like all you know what the sun reminds me of, he's like oh my God, here we go again. You know like I'll do it.

Speaker 2: 2:59

I was like 18 and we're like running the streets listening to to we're listening to house techno, I started listening to punk and all of this, and back in the days we had a walkman, yeah. So you know, the beautiful thing about cassettes is that you could put, you could do your mixtape. That's where this comes from. You know your mixtape and then from there evolve to a mix CD. But before the CDs I had a mixtape, so I had all kinds of of jams on that and I will go, do you know, in the 90s?

Speaker 2: 3:34

I try to be a tiger, you know it's right on the walls and anything. So I would write in my sneak out in the night. You know, like my room had a back door so when I knew my parents were asleep I would sneak out with my backpack, with my spray cans and grab my bike and then go meet up my friend and we'll go writing 11, 12 o'clock at night in the streets and just tagging in and I had my music going and every time I did it somewhere there was a song on, and it just remember, reminds me of that so that's, that was one of them.

Speaker 2: 4:04

So whenever a song comes up, I'm like oh dude, you know this jam, you know it's mostly a color roll it's a lot of it's like a jam.

Speaker 2: 4:14

That's in Spanish all the whole, every one of this, with the whole, reminds me of that you know we go. So when you said that is just, I'm like, oh yeah, this is perfect for me because there's a lot of songs I mean I could have give you, said, I think you said a minimum of 10, I think, or yeah, I think something like that, if I remember correctly, and I'm like, dude, a minimum of 10, I mean, I for me it'll be a minimum of 30, I would say, but this would be a five hour podcast and I don't want to do that so I just started, I started really thinking and pondering about it like, okay, key songs, the key moments that just reminded me of you know, like very pivotal in my life, and this is where we're at.

Speaker 1: 4:59

Yeah, I love it. Well, let's get started on your first song. You ready, ready, all right? See if this works here play.

Speaker 2: 5:12

I know it's always a technical difficulties. Don't worry, it happens to everyone, even the best.

Speaker 1: 5:17

It's right to the best happens to the best of us to see.

Speaker 2: 5:21

Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1: 5:35

So jamming up this one, is it jam on it?

Speaker 2: 5:39

Jam on it. So I was this is maybe 83, 84. I'm like 78 years old at the time and break dancing was was becoming big right and I and at the time I was in this and over here in LA if you're a Latino, mexican, american, chicano and everything most and during that time, east LA, boyle Heights, was the area that you know A lot of Latinos would come from. Wherever they were coming from, whether Mexico, majority were Mexican, you know families that were coming and then the children, first generation, like myself, were Mexican Americans, you know. So there was a lot of, there was a lot of kids at the time and those older ones and they started, you know playing that. You know break dancing started coming. Oh yeah, this is new to me because I grew up with Spanish music all the time. You know that I grew up listening, like I like I told you like my first language is Spanish.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:39

I, I. It was spoken in my house. We are news, tv, music family. Everything was Spanish. And it wasn't until I went into kindergarten that I had to learn English. And this is like what the hell? I didn't understand anybody. So growing up then, by by a 7 or 8, I was already out of this program. That put me on. The ESL program is called English. Esl stands for English is a second language.

Speaker 2: 7:07

Yeah and by 8 by 8, 8 years old, which was third grade. I was out of the program. I was fluent in both of the languages and some by this time I'm listening to other music that's not Spanish, and a friend I don't know where he got this little tape recorder, anything. So he got this cassette tape and he started playing it and when I heard this it just put my mind, you know, and it was a mixed tape, because I remember they had a jam on it by nucleus and they had this other song, white lines, by Mel Meli Mel. I think it is Mel Mel Meli Mel or Mel Mel.

Speaker 2: 7:45

Maybe I'm pronouncing wrong, but these songs are like, just blew my mind. I'm like what is this? You know, like I, I understand it but I don't. But I like the beat and I like how it makes me feel. And so here we go, get our cardboard boxes because you need a cardboard box break dance, you know. So here we try break dancing and everything, and you know, a kid or two ended up with a broken bone or broken finger. I'm surprised because we're trying to do these, this. What was the beat? Street came out and then electric Boogaloo, these, these break dancing movies, and you started seeing them and then you want to imitate that. So that's reminds me of that. You know, just like for the first time.

Speaker 2: 8:31

I'm like what is this? And so a friend ended up that that same friend ended up by dubbing them or we recording them. They sounded like crap, but you know what? It was my tape. You know it was my tape until my mom heard it. She's like the hell is, what is this? What is this guy talking about? All white lines in Spanish is linear, blank eyes, and she's like what does that mean? I don't know, it's just not knowing they. You know it's about cocaine and everything. And for you, I tried, but no, I didn't last long. It did not last long because you know you try to do the, the arms and they were. The only thing I could do was a worm and that's like laying down in your belly and then just doing this and that was it.

Speaker 1: 9:19

That's hard, though the word is hard.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Yeah, I mean, you're eight years old, you're pretty limber, you know now and now it looked like just one of those rocking chairs just going back and forth like a look like you know.

Speaker 1: 9:33

Yeah, I would hate to try to break down now. I would definitely like throwing a hip or like bus my son. Something like that would happen.

Speaker 2: 9:41

You know, something will get dislocated, that's for sure, that's right. But yeah, that was that was. That was it man that was in. So you know, when you gave me that task and I was thinking about I'm like you know what I think I got to add that song all at it. You know that one in white nights, they were both at the same, in the same tape, at the same time and it just blew my mind, you know. And then also jam on. It has these little creatures or little kids, I don't know they're supposed to be demons or aliens or what, but they have the little high pitch voice on it and they're like at some point in the song they come out and I'm like what is it? These are like little demons or devils or what. It just intrigued me.

Speaker 1: 10:29

Right next song yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:46

That's awesome, that song forever.

Speaker 2: 10:49

Yeah, so this is in the 80s, this is during the what did they call it?

Speaker 2: 10:56

The freestyle? This is a freestyle era. And in my neighbors, again back in Boyle Heights, so I lived in a property that there was a house in the front and then a duplex in the back, and it's all hills where we were at. So to the right of us where we lived, there was another. There was like four or five properties, four or five families living in different like. They had converted the first two top houses into the first house, into a duplex, and then the bottom. They made it. It was a weird setup but there was a family that just got there and they were all older kids and then there were kids my age and younger. So the older ones started going to high school and not going to lie to you, it seemed like every weekend they were throwing house parties and this is during the time of the pompadours and they had the stray cat look and it was the new wave era, you know.

Speaker 2: 11:53

But the Boyle Heights style was different from the rest. I would say, you know, you had like long overcoats, you know like trench coats, but they were made out of like I don't know, felt, not felt. It was. What is it? They were just fancy. They're garbage deans, everything you know.

Speaker 2: 12:15

So this part is what happened with parents. You know, because they were neighbors, we would go over there and start hanging out and everything. And there were older kids and when I'm talking older they were like high school kids, yeah, right. So there was an alley behind and I remember hanging out and they just didn't want us with a party, was that? Because everybody's dancing and we're messing things up and we're running around. So we're hanging out in the alley and there's a, I would say, 16, 17 year old. You know they're smoking and I remember seeing them. I'm like, oh my God, that looks so cool. You know, I've seen uncles and I've seen other relatives, but they don't make it look cool. Yeah, kids are making it look cool, right.

Speaker 2: 12:53

So I remember one of them doesn't even finish it, flicks it and throws it away and I'm like, let me go try this again. I'm like this is, this is what 80. I was like nine years old, yeah, I wasn't even 10 years. So I go over and I pick up the cigarette and I take a puff. Oh my God, I was dying. I felt like my throat was burning, my lungs were burning, I was coughing, crying, and it's just. I didn't know what the hell this was. And then my back of my mind I'm like how the hell can they be doing this? I mean, this is, this is terrible, this is burning you, you know. And but then there was something called the, the, the, the. Just to look at it, you know like the way to look at it yeah it looks cool.

Speaker 2: 13:37

Yeah, I'm like, yeah, maybe there is something to it. You just got to like everything you know and you don't like it. You got to keep doing it, right? So it wasn't until my late 20s, early 20s, one day I started picking up the cigarette again. But that song it reminds me of that because I remember that kind of music was playing and I don't know if it's that particular song, but that song already reminds me of the event in the alley, you know.

Speaker 1: 14:03

Let's say interesting. What was the 80s fashion. What do you wish? Came back now, wow.

Speaker 2: 14:15

Well, so do you remember the breakfast club? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:21

Judd Nelson is a Judd Nelson. Yeah, that look, that look was pretty, that's what was going around, only except with the, not the messy hair, because in those days it kept the hair clean and everything. But I remember that, wearing the, the, the, the scars and the, you know the fingerless gloves and the long trench coats and you know it's just how. That was a cool little style. I love that. And they did would have bandanas, you know, sometimes I would have them wrapped on their leg, legs, either knee or elbow or around their wrist. So that was a cool fashion for the guys. For the girls it was a whole Madonna look. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:58

You know that. What was it? The black lace?

Speaker 1: 15:03

Yeah, just like mesh or lace shirt.

Speaker 2: 15:05

Mesh, yeah, with the bright red lipstick and the like you know, the the most hair, yeah, the crunchy hair. I remember being crunchy yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:17

Yeah, we were just spray it and then just go like this, and then it's stand up and then you just kind of spread it and then you're like, okay, I'm done.

Speaker 2: 15:25

Yeah, definitely. What would you use for aquanet?

Speaker 1: 15:29

Yes, we did, and a big, huge pink ball like spray can I don't know how. Like I was not really a big crimper or as more of a waiver right, but like all the time the crimpers had a wave thing and a crimp thing and I always waved my hair in the morning. So I'd go like wet my hair first thing in the morning and like not even really blow dry it and I would burn the shit out of my hair every single morning. And I would do that every single morning with pink and blue eyeshadow, right, lots of blush, four slouch socks, you know, stir up pants and like old cotton T-shirts and then an old cotton sweater and I was ready to go.

Speaker 2: 16:11

Yeah, it was crazy. There was something about it. You know that I really enjoyed that in the 80s and that was like that, that new wave or I don't know what. Yeah, I think it was a new wave, look. But then, you know, at the same time in the 80s, there's there's right here, the cholas. The cholas are like the female gang bangers or the female, so they used to feather their hair. They used to have their hair and they would feather it. And I don't know if you know how that looks.

Speaker 2: 16:42

I don't know if you know of your audience, yeah, so they would feather it and it's just. And then the style that they had they were wearing their shirts called Charlie Browns, or their Penaltins, and then they were wearing their you know, their dickies, or at the time, was awesome. Well, yeah, it was dickies, because I don't think Ben Davis or Frisco Benz came out, yeah, but that was like in the 80s with their fans or their nikes, and they had the little witsy socks, the little ball in the back, you know. Yeah, I remember those, the little ankle socks.

Speaker 1: 17:12

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:13

I really enjoy that look too, you know, for the female.

Speaker 1: 17:16

He always had white sneakers right, high tops that you never got dirty right. You would freak out if they got dirty. They need to be, white all the time, or black or whatever color you chose, but they were clean. You have to keep them.

Speaker 2: 17:29

You had to keep them clean, immaculate. Yeah, at some point it was. Just I realized it was just too much work. And then Robert Smith made it okay to have dirty Reeboks or dirty white sneakers, the high tops or sloppy. He made it okay and I'm like, oh, all right, that'll work, that's all I needed.

Speaker 1: 17:51

This next song that I'm going to play. You're the first person and I literally have not heard this song, I don't know, for 10 years, and then, when I got your playlist, I have probably listened to this song like over 300 times. I love it, I love it. It is inevitable. I used to love Stacey Q. Two of Hearts. I used to be like one of my favorite songs and I watched the video the other day.

Speaker 1: 18:23

Oh my God was she ever so young in that video. I didn't realize how she like she looks like she was 15.

Speaker 2: 18:32

Yeah, and I don't know. I honestly I don't even know how old she was when she came out with this, but I do know that her and Cindy Loper were kind of like they were putting them to face off each other. Cindy Loper, stacey Q, cindy Loper, stacey Q. But that one I'm 10 years old and I think it's Christmas. I think it's Christmas and my parents gave me a tape recorder, a little tape recorder, a single cassette, and it had the radio but you could record music from it. And I'm like, oh my God. Finally, you know, I got my own radio and then with it came a cassette tape and they got me Stacey Q.

Speaker 1: 19:14

No way.

Speaker 2: 19:16

I'm like what the hell? I was wanting to rap? I was like, you know, rap, and it was rap or hip hop at the time, because it wasn't even rap, it was hip hop. So I was into hip hop. And then I'm like, what is this? So then I played it and I'm like, oh well, wow, this is pretty cool. And I remember that was my first cassette tape and I can still remember the smell of opening up the cassette tape, the cover that folded out. It had a scent, you know, it had a smell that I don't know if your audience remembers it or could even imagine it, but every time you open up a cassette tape or anything, that that's sense of it that came from the cover, because some of them were simple, but some of them they folded out in the lyrics and the story, and who wrote it? Who produced it? All these little things. And I remember that and I'm like what? This is awesome. You know, I'm like my parents are pretty professional.

Speaker 1: 20:16

I miss those days. I miss being able to unfold the album and like read everything and listen to the song and read the lyrics. I miss those days, yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:31

Yeah, it was beautiful. I mean, now you can just Google it.

Speaker 1: 20:36

And it's OK. It's a fun little bit.

Speaker 2: 20:38

Yeah, it's not like having it in your hand and you're listening to it and then reading it, and at the time you had good vision, so you don't need your glasses. You can read it pretty good.

Speaker 1: 20:49

What was it like growing up in LA, like as a teenager?

Speaker 2: 20:57

Well, as a teenager in the 90s, it was scary, it was dangerous. That's when, oh, it's just, that's when the gang activities were really bad. There was drybys, there was, you know, you were getting robbed or beaten up because you were in the wrong side of the hood. And then they came and they asked you where you're from. And it wasn't the city. You know, like, oh, where you from. Like you could be like, oh, over here by, you know so and so street, no, no, when they asked you that is, what gang are you from? You know, and you had to, like, you know, right away, just look, not even staring at the edge, it's like I don't bang, I'm not from nowhere, you know, like. And then they'll like, try to. You know they would say punk you. They would try to punk you and, like you know, try to steal from you and everything. But it was dangerous, they would.

Speaker 2: 21:47

But there was still some fun to it. It was still. We could still ride our bikes in the street. It wasn't that much traffic, you know you could still. You know, play, you know what was it? Not with a ball bat, but we used to play tennis bat or tennis baseball in the street, and you know we would, you know, designate this as first base. Second, you know, and all this and it was still fun, but it was dangerous and at the end of the time we had, we learned how to like pretty much survive. You know, whenever you heard a car burn, rubber or peel out, you know, right away you were alert. When you saw a car in the night driving very slow with its lights off, you were cautious. You know, like looking around. But again, this is in the neighborhoods that I grew up in. Yeah, other people had different experiences, you know.

Speaker 1: 22:38

How did your parents, like um like, teach you to be aware of that? Like did they? Advise you on some things or like did you get in a?

Speaker 2: 22:50

conversation they would bring it up, but mainly you learned it from other friends or just you know, from hearing what happened to the neighbors or what happened to blocks over or whatever it was. I'm like, oh man, this is what happened. A car was creeping up and nobody knew the car, and the next, you know, they just started shooting and doing this and and so it was just street smarts. Most of it, yeah, a lot of it, was from street smarts, but again, you know, um, some of us survived it and you could say that maybe it didn't affect us, but it still does.

Speaker 2: 23:27

You know like. It still does. Like, if I go to a restaurant, I try not to give my back to a window.

Speaker 2: 23:33

You know because you know over here or I grew up, it was, um, south Central, because we moved from Boyle Heights in 87 to South Central Alley, you know. So we went from the bad to worse and, um, in the mid 90s there was a taco spot and it remember it was called RIGOS, like Rigoberto RIGOS tacos R-I-G-O-S, and there were some guys there were, I guess, gang members or I don't know what they were. They were eating there and I guess some the enemy saw them or whatever. They turned around and then they started shooting up the place and killed the people that had their back towards the window. So then you're, like you hear that story, like, yeah, never give your back to a window, because the ones that were watching were able to see it and they would duck down.

Speaker 2: 24:22

But so now when I go to a place, I take my family, I it's it's muscle memory. I don't even. I'm not even in that environment anymore, but I still I feel a little uneasy when I get my back to the window or the side to the window. But I like to choose the back away from a window or something or where I could see that the door, the entrance, is like whoever's coming in, especially because now, like you, have all these people that do these public shootings or mass shootings or whatever. So you always, I'm always alert and into that, just me, my friends, everybody we grew up around the same time. We have, you know, we have that little instinct, even though nothing's gonna happen and hopefully it doesn't. But we have that in that we learned from the street, not from our parents, but I think it was from other friends, other people, hearing the stories, how it happened, experience and giving their advice.

Speaker 1: 25:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I grew up in a pretty, really shady area and as soon as I, you know, turn 19, I, you know, I wanted to get the fuck out of there that was only I was like I'm moving, I gotta go as far away and I had not been back until last September like 26 years.

Speaker 1: 25:39

And I was like going back there and I brought my husband and I was like all of this emotion, like getting on the ferry going into Nanaima, I was just like having like it was just bad, like I was and my husband's like what's going on? I'm like this is a lot for me, like this is like am I gonna run into somebody? Like just like bad memories and all of this stuff. Like I didn't want any part of it, but it's crazy. I didn't even realize that I held all of that in because I was gone for so long and I thought all of that emotion was gone. But as soon as I stepped off, I was like holy cow, we got 24 hours here.

Speaker 1: 26:25

I do not want to spend very much time here I want to get to our next destination, like it was crazy, how, all that feeling and I know exactly how you feel like I was just like, and then you just, you know you constantly hear like you're saying lots of people got shot. You know we're. You know I constantly hear there's an overdose here and an overdose here and I'm like I'm so glad that I got the hell out of there. You know what I mean. Like I'm so glad and so many people didn't, and it's crazy, it's, it's so crazy.

Speaker 2: 26:59

It's creepy because I have friends, well, the, the kids that I grew up with, um, two of them and their adolescent years, um got into gangs and they didn't make it. You know others the others were either arrested or did time and then eventually some of them just moved that the hell out. Their parents just took them the hell out and they went to another state or or another part of LA. You know, they just went away from the environment and I just don't know how they're doing, because they, they're, they're all gone, you know so the friends that I had growing up.

Speaker 2: 27:41

I don't know what happened to them. You know, at some point we lost contact. You know you hit the, that teenage, uh, the, or were the adolescent or the teenager? You're too cool. Then you stop hanging out in the same crowds and you know they have this, and then you're like, oh, I'm not interested in that, I'm more over here, or you're not cool enough to be with them, you know so I'm like, ah, you know. So now, it's just, I'm one of the lucky ones, my sister and I are one of the lucky ones that we got out of there. Um, some of them, like I said, didn't make it, even family. I have a some family that got caught up in that life and it's just, it's, it's popular when you know you see your, your, your, your own goals and everything, and you don't even bring up your cousins because they're like I know they're not doing good yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 28:29

So yeah, so two of hearts was what's right all right.

Speaker 2: 28:37

Next song yeah, my darling, I'm chain melody an amazing song the righteous brothers yeah, all right it's 1991, ghost just came up, patrick Swayze, demi Moore, um, um, I'm 15 years old and um, we're visiting family and and another part of LA or California it's called Orange County and it's a little city called Santa Ana or Santana, and, um, we're friends visiting some friends and somehow we're watching a movie and then, uh, it was on tv and next thing, you know, they put the commercial for for ghost. You know now, in theaters, right, and I was 15 and it was like some 17, 18 years, 18 year olds there and they're all like bro, if you want to have a serious make out session, take a girl to that movie. And I'm like what? And I'm like, yeah, I'm like, ok, I'm like, but this point, I, I, I, I, I already knew what making out was and we used to call it scam.

Speaker 2: 29:57

You know, we used to scam. You know, like the, the sort of scam, and there's no illicit activities, it was just kissing. But I had just already gotten into that and there was a, there was a girlfriend. Well, yeah, and we, we liked each other, we flirted a lot and everything, and so somehow I had had some money. And when they told me that, I convinced her and I'm like all right, I want to go see Ghost. All right, let's go. We go. And sure enough, true to their word, it's a, it's a beautiful movie and it's just, at some point I had to watch it again years later. I'm like, oh, I don't remember that. Like, when did that?

Speaker 1: 30:40

happen, it's not far.

Speaker 2: 30:42

I think I'll session, you know. So then later on I ended up getting the cassette tape and we're hanging out and let's just say that cassette tape helped me, help me, welcome me to manhood.

Speaker 1: 30:57

That is awesome.

Speaker 2: 30:58

The righteous brothers helped me get there, you know, and the ghost did too. So that's what's, one of those movies where, like oh my God, you know, now that I think about it, I'm like 15. Like, oh my God, I was just a freaking kid, not knowing, not having any idea, but yeah, it was, it was my, my trial by fire, I would say, you know you're getting out of the way session right.

Speaker 2: 31:21

Yeah, you know. So then after that it was just like, oh my God, this song is amazing. You know, because I connected to that. You know it's just it's, it's. I don't know, I don't know what it was about the movie. At the time there was just a romantic movie. You know it's sad, but then at the end, you know, they get to say goodbye and she sees them move on. Spoiler alert. You know listeners haven't seen it.

Speaker 1: 31:48

So I know you love to watch movies. What is your favorite soundtrack from a movie?

Speaker 2: 31:56

Hmm, oh my God, and see, you're getting me again because hackers is one of them. Pulp Fiction, yeah, pulp Fiction, Res of what the Logs.

Speaker 1: 32:09

You know it's so good at picking his music Like oh yeah. That you have heard right.

Speaker 2: 32:16

And then you fall in love with yeah, oh, the other one, queen of the Dam.

Speaker 1: 32:21

Oh yeah, that's great too.

Speaker 2: 32:22

That one was produced by Jonathan Davis from Korn. And if you listen to the Queen of the Dam soundtrack, it's like, oh my God, I get chills. You know I get chills. It's just like, wow, this is perfect. And the thing is that you hear it and I'm like, oh, that's corn. But I'm like, no, wait a minute, that's not. That's Wayne Static from Static X. Oh, that's Chester Bennington from Lincoln Park. Oh, wait a minute, you know. So you're like going back and forth and it's just like, but that's another soundtrack. That has just blew my mind. And then what's? There's? So many there's, but definitely the Tarantino films, Reservoir Dogs for fiction, even the Reservoir Dogs, yeah for sure, yeah, reservoir Dogs.

Speaker 2: 33:12

And I think, what was once upon a time in Hollywood. I think that's great soundtrack too. And then he did a death proof. Death proof, yes, I love that.

Speaker 1: 33:25

I haven't seen that movie in so long yeah.

Speaker 2: 33:28

It's so good.

Speaker 1: 33:30

What about, like top all time, five movies that you've probably watched a hundred times?

Speaker 2: 33:37

Amelie is one of them. I love love. I'm not gonna lie, I love love and Amelie is one of those where it's just so. It's a beautiful movie, Pull fiction. I used to know every line to it. The other one that hackers again, it's just one that I have to watch A Big Trouble Little China. Yeah, there's what was the other one.

Speaker 1: 34:05

Oh.

Speaker 2: 34:06

The Last Dragon, it's another 80s flake Kung Fu Karate. Yeah, bruce Lee Roy. Oh no, it's not that one, it's not the. It's an 80s movie. It's almost like a black. It's a New York city and it's a black cast and it's a. What is it Bruce? What is it called? What's his name? Oh, I forgot the character's name, but it's his name. You know, he's just out of tune. He's very disciplined in the arts of martial arts and everything that he stands off as the auto and the household and the community and everything.

Speaker 2: 34:47

His social skills suck, but it's, yeah, I think, one of our princes. Who was it? Iman? No, not Iman. Oh my God, why am I praying for it? It's a good movie. It's from 84 or 86 when that movie came out. But yeah, it's called the Last Dragon. It's not a, not the. It's not. It's not a Bruce Lee one, it's just Gordon Berry produced this. It says Gordon Berry's the Last Dragon. That's kind of a good soundtrack too.

Speaker 2: 35:19

I mean, that's not a soundtrack, but You're top five, yeah, I mean there's and there's just been falling right now, but I used to have, like I couldn't do, top five. I had to have my top 20, you know I couldn't. It's just there's so many good movies I grew up with and sometimes I watch them and I'm like, oh, these don't hold out. This is like too cringy. Or like, oh my God, I had a company rolls all into this and it's like, oh you know, but yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1: 35:50

That's awesome. All right next song what is happening here? Play I'm a good boy. Not that one. Some of these are don't want to play for some reason. There'll be lots of editing on this episode One second, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 36:25

There you go.

Speaker 1: 36:27

What happened? Sorry, that's crazy. No, it's all right.

Speaker 2: 36:33

I don't know what happened to my mouth. It's not working. Oh well, I think that's what just didn't. Oh, so this is. This is Bahaz. This is Bella LaCosie's dad High school.

Speaker 2: 36:57

I'm in high school this time. I'm straight edge, I'm not doing anything. I'm not into tagging, I'm not trying to be, you know, fit into the crowd or anything, not just my own person. Right and lo and behold, there's my first goth connection. There was a goth girl in one of my classes and I'm all like I don't know what it was, but it's just my.

Speaker 2: 37:24

My eyes just widened up, my heart started floatering. I'm all like, oh my God, she's beautiful. Everybody called her a vampire, everybody called her a freak, but for me she was just gorgeous, you know like, and her dark hair, her pale skin, her, her, like you know dark makeup and and just her clothing and everything. And somehow we had three classes together. So I kind of like we not weasel my way in, but I worked my way close to sit next to her before, you know, the assigned seat was permanent. So finally, and and somehow I started talking to her, asking her about, you know just, you know what are you listening to? She's like okay, and one of the first ones that you know. One of the first songs that she she let me listen to was her walkman was on was Baha's Beowel of Ghost is Dead, and it just blew my mind. I mean, maybe because I was attracted to her but, it just blew my mind.

Speaker 2: 38:22

I'm all like, what is this Again? What is this sound? And I'm listening to the nice they are hearing the guys' voice, which is Peter Murphy, start hearing his voice and I'm like, oh my God, what is this? She's like you, like him. I'm like, yeah, I don't know why, it's strange, but fine. And then I started talking to her and then, you know, started. The more I talked to her, the more I knew what she was into. She introduced me to Anne Rice. She introduced me to like all these noir films. You know like, what was it? Oh, what's the Nosphoratu? You know, I'm like, oh, what is this?

Speaker 2: 39:03

And then, even where I kind of had to draw the line is when she, like one day came in with the Satanic Bible. I'm like, okay, that's little. You know. That's when I found out who Anton Leve was. I'm like, what is this guy? Oh, he's a dark pope, or the black pope. I'm like, what you know, like?

Speaker 2: 39:22

And then she was all into this and I'm like, yeah, I can't. You know, I grew up Catholic, I can't do this. We became friends and you know, and nothing ever happened from there. But it's just, she was my introduction to God and it wasn't even dark wave at the time. But then from there, you know, you start listening to vajras and it directs you to. I already knew who the cure was, but I didn't know that there were very, they had been accepted or they were part of the God community. But then that's when I found Joy Division. I'm like whoa, you know, like what is this guy's voice, you know. And then you know I started finding other bands. You know, you start hearing it kind of it's like a rabbit hole from there. And then I you know what was. Oh, I'm trying to remember. I don't know why I'm. I see the leaves, I just can't remember.

Speaker 1: 40:21

I know, in the same way I start finding other bands other bands and I'm like, what is this?

Speaker 2: 40:27

And this is already in the 90s I'm talking about maybe the 90, 92, 93, and I'm like, and I'm just hearing about this, and these bands are from the 80s and I'm just hearing about this. You know, I'm like what? And it's just, and I'm very grateful to her. Because of her I started finding more music and I started, like you know, over here in LA there's a Melrose, you know it's it's pretty trendy, but at the time it was all about, you know, if you wanted to get, you know, metal shirts, band shirts, you know want to get those, you know leather outfits or Doc Martens or your Hardy boots or anything like that.

Speaker 2: 41:11

That's where you went and you know she's used to tell me where she would go and she invited me once and I just I couldn't get a ride and I couldn't meet her. But I'm not like, oh, and I'm. I sometimes regret it because I'm like that might have been my way in, you know, maybe, but I think she might have changed me. And next thing, you know, I'm, like, you know, 14 years old, wearing makeup and men's scar.

Speaker 1: 41:34

Reading a Bible.

Speaker 2: 41:36

You know, I know I read in the Sontanic Bible and my mom would have definitely been heartbroken. You know that that whole makeup, it didn't happen to like my 30s. But that's another story.

Speaker 1: 41:47

Tell me a little bit about your podcast. How long has it been going for? What do you guys talk about, like? How did it get started? Looks like you're frozen. Oh, bradley, you're going to be doing lots of editing on this.

Speaker 2: 42:25

Oh sorry, I don't know what is happening.

Speaker 1: 42:27

The Wi-Fi just keeps knocking out here, so sorry, tell me a little bit about your podcast when it started.

Speaker 2: 42:37

Yeah. So eventually I reached out to my friend sister and she communicate, he calls me and then I'm like, hey, we set up a date and the other guys we meet up at my house or drinking or laughing and telling jokes and everything. And he comes up with the ideas like dude, this should be a podcast. I had no idea what it was and this is 2017. I heard about it, but I didn't know what it was. I'm like I'm a couple of drinks and you're like, fuck, yeah, let's do this. I am fucking down. My other friend, Fernando, is like I've been saying this all. And then the other guy that was there is like oh down. So within a month we had it up and running.

Speaker 2: 43:18

And yeah we had it up and running, we had the gear, we had the name. We had the name was the hardest one, you know, because we wanted to stand out but we wanted to be like you know, nothing too difficult but something clever. And Chicano shuffle came from a little the two step dance, you know, like you could go anywhere and we call it the Chicano shuffle. That was between us, you know, like you could be at any party that can be playing it. You just do the two step and you're in. You know, you just may have to do a little bit more with the hips or the elbows and the arms, but this is the same two steps, you know. So that's how Chicano shuffle came about and we just wanted to be funny and at some point is just, it was difficult because we couldn't find our niche and we're trying to and then eventually it just it happened again at me.

Speaker 2: 44:05

Progressively it started happening and we just talk nonsense, like a lot of stories that I'm telling you are part of that. What we talk about, like growing up in the 90s, how we talk about how a lot at the beginning, like this new generation, are too soft. They have no idea what we went through. You know we were kicked out of the house and we couldn't be. We couldn't come back into the street lights come on. You know you were thirsty and drink out of the water hose. You know, you, you, you fell off a tree. You better climb up again and learn how to take that fall.

Speaker 2: 44:37

So a lot of the things we got scrapes and burns and and cuts and and bruises, and you know I'm surprised none of us got main or anything. But we were crazy. We would build our own tool, like I remember, like we talked about it, like whenever people throw away an old TV set or an old console or anything, we would go tear it apart, take all the electronics out of it. And you know it started as props for our g I jose. You know like, oh, this is a little nuclear said or this is, you know a factory.

Speaker 2: 45:13

And eventually we we started like I don't know how we learned this, but we turned a little mortar into a tattoo machine and we just you know it's just a mortar, a guitar string, the hollowed, the hollowed of a pen, like you know how the big pens, yeah, take off the you know. So we would hollow it out, and then an eraser and a battery, and we had an ink and we had ourselves a tattoo machine. I don't know where we go where or what, because we didn't have Google. And then we built a little gold card out of a shopping cart. We bought somebody's dad's tools and we cut it down and then we wrapped it in wire because we couldn't weld at the time, right, and I think eventually the dad ended up just spot welding it for us because we were in crap all the time, you know, and it's just, we were, we were creative, we were engineers.

Speaker 2: 46:08

Yeah no, at a young age. And so we talk about that. We talk about music, movies, growing up, stories of their family, the times we got in trouble, our first kiss, our first love, it just. And a lot of it is in Spanish. You know, it's because we're chickenals, we, we, we grew up with both languages. You know, in the school and outside of the home it was English, at home was all Spanish.

Speaker 2: 46:38

And then whenever you ran into another person that had the similar setup as you, then you would do Spanish, english, spanish, and that's what we do. It's just a podcast of we talk about the house, which is nonsense. We just talk nonsense all the time and eventually our listeners gravitate to that and they like that because a lot of them say, hey, it's like I'm back with my cousins, are back with my friends and you know the stuff that you guys say the shit and like oh my God it's fucking funny in this and we didn't think it was going to last as long.

Speaker 2: 47:11

We just we just celebrated our six year. Wow, it's in September, we just celebrated six year, but we had our anniversary event on October 7. So we just had a small gathering. We sold some tickets. It was about good 70 people there. That's awesome and, yeah, you know, did our show and do our little. We do. I write parody songs. I take a song and I write a parody. I changed the lyrics on it and it started off with with tacos and beer and then somehow it's just like I got, I got bored with that and I'm like, okay, now this tell a different story. You know, and eventually I always include or beer, yeah, but it's just the other guy, we the musician and the group. He had some sample song, so whatever. And I looked into it and I wrote a song with that beat and it's called my girlfriend is darks. You know me, notice is darks and I did it in Spanish. You know it's just it's. I didn't know. The listeners love the. You know they're like when we were at the event like yeah, I see that one.

Speaker 2: 48:22

And let me tell you I see nothing. I sing terrible, but I sing loud, you know. But and it's fun, I like it, I you know it's one of those. When you grow up I wanted to be a fighter pilot because of iron eagle.

Speaker 2: 48:37

Yeah, I wanted to be a musician because of, you know, like during our Vanna and pro jam, and then I wanted to be an actor because I grew up with TV. And then I wanted to be, you know, a radio host. You know, because there was a radio station out here called Kevin and being on K rock and you know, and they were fun. I wanted to be that. I wanted to be a DJ, I wanted to be all these things because I love music, you know. I wanted to be a foley because I wanted to do the sound effects in the backgrounds of movies, you know. So there's all kinds of things, but podcast somehow has let me do be a, be a radio announcer, be a foley, be a writer yeah.

Speaker 2: 49:18

Sometimes, kind of, you know, improvised, you know, and and that's what podcasts is done for us for me at least you know, and it's kind of. It's kind of helped me realize all these little childhood dreams, or you know, just the dreams growing up within all in one. Who knew?

Speaker 1: 49:37

That's crazy.

Speaker 2: 49:38

That's awesome, though. I love that.

Speaker 1: 49:41

I love that story. We're on your last song. It's so crazy. Now goes by so quickly and I'm just going to pick it because this is one of my favorite songs and this is kind of how I grew up too. So, all right, I was on the street and my six ball talking to free, blocking the job, went to the park to get knuckleheads out there, go shoot, all right. I love easy love, love yeah.

Speaker 2: 50:13

This was, um, I think this is 94. 94. No, I was at a high school, 9596. So I had a. I had a friend that I met in church, confirmation, and then we started. We were, then we were part of a youth group, but his family had a shop, a car shop, around the corner from my parents house where I grew up in. And when you know, at some point when I would get out of school, college, I would go home and then I'll be like have dinner or whatever. I'm like, all right, I'll see you guys later. And then we went over with cell. So I was, my friend will hang out there and sell, had his cousin Sammy who came from Mexico working there. So after his dad will leave and everything will, will come up with plans and like, all right, we're going to go play pool, we're going to go this place, we're going to go here, we'll go cruising. And you know, we're all 1819.

Speaker 2: 51:13

So Halloween, during October, there's a theme park over here called knots, very far, and every October they have this holy bed called not scary form, so they do these crazy mazes and everything. So when they were like, well, let's go to this, go hang out and go pick up on chicks. Fuck it, let's do it, you guys go with, you guys go, all right. So you get dressed up and everything. And he had a 89, 89 or 90 Nissan Maxima. It was a square one. He had these little low rider rims on it.

Speaker 2: 51:47

And it was beautiful so we go to Anaheim, where it's next to it's not one apart, sorry, it's like maybe three miles or two miles away from Disneyland. So we go out there and he's sure enough, you know we're in the wrong neighborhood, it's. We don't know the people there. And right away we're like hey, what's up girl? Hey, you want to. Hey, you like techno, you want to party, let's go out here and everything. And then eventually we got lucky and we pick up some girls and we're like, let's go hang out. We wanted us to go to a park. So we go to the park, we're making out or doing our thing, and they took us to a place where I guess their ex-boyfriends would hang out. So they roll up and we're right there and they're like, hey, what the fuck are you doing? They're like, oh, it's time for us to go. And then they start arguing. I'm like, okay, it's time for us to go. This is between y'all, we're out of here, and so this is starting to come at us, and then they start chasing us.

Speaker 2: 52:46

The reason why this song is very every time I hear it reminds me of that, because Sammy, which is my friend's cousin, he didn't know any English, none at all. But whenever we would always put the song in cruising and at the beginning it's like hey, yo easy, you know. Remember that shit we used to play way back then when we said won't go work. That was the beginning intro. And so every time he's he always said hey, yo easy, that's all he knew and we wouldn't have about it. But he always wanted to hear that song because he liked it. So we start taking off as it turns on the car and they start chasing us Somehow. That song it was on the CD yeah, he had CD player at the time.

Speaker 2: 53:29

That song comes on and I remember we're getting chased, they're chasing us and we're going and the song is playing in the background. I'm like, oh bad, you know they're coming. Oh like they're fast, dude fucking your curse to snow. He's like it's the wheels. It's the wheels, they're really small wheels. I'm doing 80. I'm like, oh my God, we're running and they're in, you know.

Speaker 2: 53:47

And that song is playing in the background and I'm like, you know, like fuck it. And we thought we were going to get hurt. We really thought we were going to get hurt. But eventually at some point we got lucky that they stopped chasing us. I guess we went to a neighborhood they weren't going to go through and they left us alone.

Speaker 2: 54:04

But that song, you know, I hear that song and I'm like, oh my God, I survived so many, I should not be alive, I should not be alive, and I'm telling you. It's just so many things and I know that. You know I said you a lot, of, a lot of songs, but there's one right there that I talk about a train chase, that I'm listening to a song and I'm trying to beat the train and I crossed the tracks Nearly missing a hit again, dumb and stupid, young, you know this song with the, you know easy, or boys in the hood, we're gonna get ourselves killed because you know we're in the wrong neighborhood, picking up on other girls, another guys, girls which you know naive, you know naive, it's just.

Speaker 1: 54:49

You're young and having fun right in the world. I know I like I Look at the kids now I feel sorry for them. They don't get to experience all this crazy stuff. Like their stories are like oh yeah, I was online and we play video games and we like shot some dudes. And you're like, yeah, that's awesome. Like you get out of the house in that month. Or you guys like I'm some, I'd like 900 friends, they're all online and you're just like you know, experience like Actual events right, get out of the house.

Speaker 1: 55:25

Your parents, our parents, would say, like get the hell out of here, go. You know, you have phones. We just like walk the same street. We always met up with each other. Didn't matter if we didn't, we were hanging downtown on the stairs. They'd eventually show up. We go, do our thing. It's like we all ID SPN or something, I don't really know, but like that's how it felt. And now it's like Nobody can leave their home and everybody's got to be on their phone and there's no connection anymore.

Speaker 2: 55:53

I See that, even that, you know, even, um, you know, go to a restaurant or whatever and while people are waiting for their food or anything, they're on the phone and there's no conversation, there's no interaction, and everybody's on their phone and, like I look around, I'm like I make it a habit to To not Look at my phone while I'm talking to people or having dinner or breakfast or lunch or whatever it is, unless it's, you know, you have to scan the QR code to look at the menu. That's the only time, yeah, but for the most part, for the most part, I really don't. Even now I'm talking to you and my phone's going off but I'm not looking at it. You know I'm not gonna. You know it's just I Don't. I have it because I need it and it's very convenient. I mean, I can pay my bills from it. I could look up, you know anything that any addresses or I could look up any times, any facts and this, and that you know social media.

Speaker 1: 56:57

Really no.

Speaker 2: 57:00

And sometimes and it happens, you know, when you were sending us messages, I would see them, I would read them. I'm like, oh, get back to this and it's like that. Skips my mind and again it's just like I'm sure they're gonna have their memories. They're not gonna be like ours and we say ours are good, but maybe there's To them when they're in our age. They're gonna my, oh, my god. It was so funny. You know you had like 10,000 followers.

Speaker 2: 57:31

Oh, that's amazing, oh, that's amazing. Well, like only 10,000, like I got like five billion. You know like, oh my god, you know used to play. You know, multiplayer games are like multiplayer. Like what was that? Oh, we had a remote remote. When there is maybe a chip implanted or VR, and you're like, or you have an avatar that does all your, you're fighting for you.

Speaker 1: 57:55

You're sleeping in there and the avatar is working.

Speaker 2: 57:59

I love it.

Speaker 1: 58:00

Thank you so much for joining me today on music junkies, but before I let you go, I would love for you to leave me some words of wisdom. Oh, man.

Speaker 2: 58:11

Well, a Safety tip don't smoke in bed. Yeah, especially definitely. People have water beds.

Speaker 1: 58:23

Now Get another one from the smoking bed and shed a water bed. That's all I remember, oh my god, where's the wisdom?

Speaker 2: 58:32

just enjoy your, enjoy your, your, your life, the people around you, what you have. Don't Wish or envy anybody or the things that you don't have. Be grateful for what you do have. You have friends, you have your house, and let's just say, if your house is joining, that you have people around you that love you and that Want the best for you. If, um, if you don't have friends or anything, you're like, oh, I don't have friend, like there's always somebody that you will be there, will miss you, or that does miss you when you're not around.

Speaker 2: 59:05

I've noticed that you know that maybe the person at the coffee shop knows your order, maybe you know you hang out at a park and you know the moms or or people see you and like, oh, there, there's that person again, you know. Just Enjoy every moment that you have. Don't. Don't waste it on wishing on the things that you don't. You know and it's. Just make the best of it. The world is full of negativity as it is, all these conflicts, all these fights, all these fears and everything. Just make the best, enjoy it, what you have and who you have it with.

Speaker 1: 59:37

Yeah, words, travel, travel, that's right. Go expand your mind.

Speaker 2: 59:44

Yes, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 1: 59:46

I'm music junkies like follow, subscribe, all those things that you guys already know what to do. I will leave all his social so you can go listen to his podcast. You can stalk him. Maybe he'll give me your address, who knows, but we'll find out from there. That chance.

Speaker 2: 1:00:02

Thank you and it thank you as really fun and it was nice meeting you. And again, thank you music junkies, listeners, for giving this guy a chance and hopefully you you know I might have woken up some songs in you and you might get both to give them a try. They're all old, but you know, there's the classics.

Speaker 1: 1:00:19

They are classics.