Chris: 0:00

What Ebbs. Um, yeah.

Rich: 0:03

20-year time out. It's been 20 plus years, dude. Chris Parks, what's going on?

Chris: 0:08

Not too much, man. I mean, well, everything at the same time.

Rich: 0:11

So thanks for coming out.

Chris: 0:13

Yep. Thanks for having me.

Rich: 0:14

How how weird is this?

Chris: 0:15

It's slightly weird, but um let's start it off like this. Uh the word weird actually is um it comes from Shakespeare. When he wrote in Macbeth, uh the three weird sisters, which was spelled W-Y-R-D. Uh, they were which is Sisters of the Fates. And um when we say, Oh, that's weird, um, don't think of it as like odd or out of place, but think of it as fated to be.

Rich: 0:42

So something I remember about you back in the day, I feel like you were always philosophical.

Chris: 0:47

Okay.

Rich: 0:48

So right there, okay. So you haven't changed much.

Chris: 0:50

No, not really. A lot of things about me do stay pretty rigid, fixed. Um, but I can bend when I have to.

Rich: 0:58

Sweet. So just to like get comfy here and just like settle back in. Um I kind of wrote like a dry like couple points that we could hit, but we don't have to hit them. Okay. Um, I was kind of wondering, like, what were your first thoughts when I reached out to do this?

Chris: 1:15

First, I was like, oh, you know, Rich just messaged me and I was like, that's kind of out of the blue, you know. Um when you mentioned it, I instantly was like, that sounds like a great idea, and I would love to be a part of it. Um I think it can take off, honestly.

Rich: 1:32

Sweet. What what is like something you remember about the last time we hung out?

Chris: 1:38

Specifically, just um being in that apartment, trying to give you guitar lessons, you coming over with your acoustic guitar. Um and I mean the specific thing that pops out is this weed. Like we were just getting together, blazing a little bit, um, and seeing if I could teach you a few things, you know, on the get fiddle.

Rich: 1:58

Kumbaya.

Chris: 1:59

Did it did we play that?

Rich: 2:01

So what I remember, like when I first realized that you were super rad, was I think an eighth-grade talent show.

Chris: 2:10

Yeah.

Rich: 2:11

You and a couple of the guys, uh everyone was doing kind of like quiet talents, and then you y'all came out bumping corn, I think, uh not got the life.

Chris: 2:23

It was blind.

Rich: 2:24

Blind, okay, because that has that opening guitar and bass.

Chris: 2:28

Right, right, that thick intro, and then all of a sudden, are you ready?

Rich: 2:31

Yeah, okay. So I was like, this is getting out of hand. Everyone is starting to act a little bit wild for Catholic School Eighth Grade Talent Show. Right. And I was looking around waiting for like teachers to shut it down, but they let it play through. Yeah. So that was like my first introduction to like, okay, I know who Chris Parks is now. I don't think anyone realizes how cool he is. But then after that day, I think everybody realized that that group was like a group to hang out with.

Chris: 3:02

Okay, okay. So um it's funny because I never thought of it outside of my perspective and what I experienced on stage that night. And um, I mean, that's it's pretty cool, like to you know, hear that third person. Um I remember like some of the teachers were like, oh my god, like Miss Small, for instance. Uh she was like, Oh, oh my god, that's Chris Parks. Like, like d nobody expected that out of me necessarily because um I was typically quiet at school, you know. I wasn't like a rowdy run bucks as you know, causing trouble or any of that, or you know, getting called to the office or whatever. And then, you know, we get up on stage and here I am, like mimicking Jonathan Davis. Uh like you said, a Catholic high school. And that probably did make some people feel a little uneasy.

Rich: 3:45

Well, I was the reverse of that. I was always in the office. I was allowed, I was a class clown, I was like all over the place with a friend group.

Chris: 3:53

Right. That's that's funny because like what I remember you of you was like, yeah. First popped in my head just now. Getting put in the locker.

Rich: 4:05

Who was I was small enough to do to fit into a locker room?

Chris: 4:09

I think I in fact w remember walking into the like the locker room and seeing you come out of one and being like, wait, what's going on?

Rich: 4:16

That was probably eighth grade, seventh, eighth grade. I didn't know.

Chris: 4:19

I want to say it was seventh grade because we were in that building. It was, you know, the smaller building because we had different lockers in high school.

Rich: 4:26

Yeah, because um Eddie Demarsky used to always like call me a shrimp and like you know, yeah, throw me around. So then I would always like make fun of him too. Like I would come into the classroom and my backpack with my pants sag in, I'd throw my back against the phone. Yeah, he probably was the one throwing me in the locker.

Chris: 4:48

It was either that or you just were just showing somebody you could fit, you know. I think like Lindsay Hull or somebody was in there. You know what it was like. I don't think I was gets going in. Right, no, you weren't. It wasn't like someone shoved you in there and got you in. You're just like, I think it was kind of like look what I can do. Um, but yeah, like I don't know, thanks for thinking I'm red. Thanks for having me. I'm definitely appreciative of this opportunity.

Rich: 5:11

And um don't think I'm rude that I look back at my notes. No, not at all. Right. I'm like winging it. But what do you remember about that time in your life?

Chris: 5:25

Uh high school specifically.

Rich: 5:26

Yeah, like when we started hanging out, we only hung out a couple times.

Chris: 5:29

Right, right, because like high school was definitely intimidating, and then like I'm gonna say that uh, you know, as somebody who's typically not intimidated much, um, you know, the most anxious I get in life is talking to a pretty chick or whatever, right? So high school and going to a brand new school or a Catholic private school at that. Um I remember being nervous and like thinking it was gonna be all kinds of like stuff I wasn't into or like filled with experiences that were just like lame or whatever, right? Um I remember the first day, it was like we gotta take religion. I was like, what is this?

Rich: 6:04

And like not you come from public school?

Chris: 6:06

I came actually like um I went to a it was out in Paxton. We uh technically we grew up in Paxton. My dad's mom had a house out there, and um K through six, or K through five rather, we went to school out there. Um then I went to the um Kate's Lane in Worcester when they built the uh the brand new school. My uh grandfather was an iron worker after he got out of the Marines and he helped build the school. Then after that, this is the funny part, I actually went to Holy Name uh based on obviously taking the test to get in, but the whole reason why I took that test was because my parents were like, We're only gonna take you to the wrestling event if you go take this test and get into private school. Yeah, exactly. At the time it was still. And actually the um their uh sorry, whatchamacallit, their uh competition, rather? It was WCW. It was a WCW pay-per-view at the um centrum. And uh so of course I go in, I take the test, I get into Holy Name, and boom, there it is. Um I specifically remember, you know, being not reckless or rowdy, but like, you know, typical kids, like you know, like you said, Jackass came out around that time, skateboarding was in, Tony Hawk, Fro Skater, um, Nintendo 64, Goldeneye, uh just chilling and vibing with my friends and really like, you know, go to school, uh, get the work done and just go have fun after that.

Rich: 7:35

As a musician, did you take lessons or were you self-taught?

Chris: 7:40

So um I started by taking lessons because it was brand new to me. It was like in 1998. Um I grew up on Coase Street in Worcester, and there was a music store at the end of the road, um, right next to where the old friendlies used to be. Um, so it was called Music Mall. Um, I met a guy named Wayne Powell there. He was my original instructor. I think I took years, um, maybe maybe two to three years of instruction from him. Um after that, I did have another instructor. Um, I don't remember that guy's name. There's a couple of them, I'd say up to four or five different guitar teachers for different styles andor different needs, really. And in between all those teachers, obviously there were some points where it was self-taught. Um, I would come home after school and put on, like, let's say, the new Static X album. I'd listen to it full all the way through, and then I'd pick up my guitar and I'd start by ear trying to figure out all the songs in the album. And I would do that with most of the music I was into. So I was able to ear train really well. Um and I remember Mr. Burke at Holy Name was very impressed with how I could do that. Um and it's funny because I didn't get into the music program until after football, so it must have been like after freshman year, maybe sophomore year. Um and so after all that, like since all the instructions been done, everything else has been self-taught, everything else has been like studied on my own. Um as far as like writing and doing you know projects or pieces of uh music, um, I kind of wing that. Like no one's ever said, hey, this is how you do this, you know, and I think that's part of the reason why music is so alluring because you can have that in it with the instruction and lessons, but then you can also go on your own and just create, you know, and um you there's no rules rather. I mean, there might be certain things as far as like tonality goes or like the key that something might have been composed in. Um but uh when I started out playing, none of that was a thing. Um the first instrument I ever played was a recorder in the fourth grade while we were at the school out in Paxton, and it was mandatory. Everybody had to learn how to read music, everybody had to learn how to play the recorder. I thought it was really cool. I was like, well, this is better than sitting here and you know learning science or social studies or whatever it was. Um so music music teacher was a wicked cool guy uh named Mr. Hebert, and there's a cool song that just pops in my head. It's uh Have You Seen the Ghost of John. I don't know if you remember hearing this. I don't remember that around Halloween time. Um he would bust out this like cool hanging skeleton, uh glow in the dark guy, and be like, This is John, and then it would be like, Have you seen the ghost of John? and whatever. Um so he made it fun, and after that, we all had to pick an instrument. They didn't allow guitar because no one in the school could play guitar and and teach, you'd have to have private lessons. And at that time, my parents didn't want to invest in that because what if you know I wasn't gonna keep after it. Um, so that's why I played the flute in fifth grade actually. And same deal as the recorder, slightly different movements, slightly different uh fingerings. Um, but immediately after leaving that school and going into public school out here or out in Worcester rather, um, I was like, I really want a guitar. And my first guitar, we drove out, I think, to Fitzburg, it was right around Christmas time, and my parents got me a squire strap pack, which is a starter pack for you know beginner players, not quite as expensive as offender, it's their sister company, or was I'm not even sure what's up with them these days, but yeah, you know, cheapo guitar, a little cheapo amp, and I stuck with that same guitar that was the one we played at the talent show. I want to say I did not get another guitar until I was 16. And then I got a seven string because corn. And then after that, I got another six string, which was like just cooler looking, whatever. Um after high school though, I traded those guitars and got a like a much more expensive and I wouldn't say uh what goes along with the expensive. Uh like it wasn't like this is is a beautiful instrument and don't break it. It was kind of like it's a yeah, I upgraded to a different model that was A, more comfortable, B sounded way better, and C something I stuck with for like 10 to 15 years. And if I buy another guitar today, it will be from that same company.

Rich: 12:16

Uh that kind of reminds me though, like, you know, Bon Ivor or Ivor. He he wrote a really good breakup album at a barn. He was he's a musician, but he was like going through some issues, and he went out to his family's barn and he didn't make music for like a month or something. Yeah, and then he ordered a see a Sears acoustic guitar from eBay for like 10 bucks. Okay. And he just started playing it with all of its like imperfections. Yeah, and then he made like one of the greatest breakup albums ever. He did like, I don't know, 12 tracks or something, and most of it is just on Pro Tools, yeah. Uh SMB SMB 7 or sure microphone. Yeah, and then that like cheap, tangy Sears guitar.

Chris: 12:55

It's funny. My dad had a like I want to say, Mike Carners actually had a guitar from Sears, and it had an amp built into it. And that was pretty cool. That was like the first thing he he was his first guitar. Side story, real quick. Um, I remember smashing that guitar, but I'm not sure. We were just like edgy kids being like, Yeah, we could smash this, and like, you know, Jimi Hendrix type shit. It didn't light anything on fire at that point, but guitar was still, you know, whatever.

Rich: 13:19

So did you when did you start making like beats in your own music? Did that just transition like right away? You got like a software?

Chris: 13:26

It kind of did. Um, not immediately. So as we go into holy name, I was already playing guitar, only for a limited time. Um, then I had met Mike and Eric, and I got Eric to get a bass, so he started getting into music. Well, Mike had already had that guitar and he was kind of taking lessons and stuff. Um, I had already I like I kind of started writing stuff, I would say between like fourth, fifth, sixth grade. I wasn't using uh an instrument, but I would write poetry, I would write you know ideas for songs, lyrics, stuff like that. Um so then once I want to say I was in eighth grade, we met some kids at Holy Name, uh Chris Burke and uh Anthony Bridgeford. And it's funny we met them because um at the time we were jugglos, you know, fans of Insane Clown Posse. Um so it actually was Chris Burke who sent me something and was like, hey, download this. And it was uh Fruito Loops 3.5 at the time. And he I was like, What is it? What do you do? He's like, I don't know, figure it out, learn it yourself. And I was just like, Oh shit, like I was kind of like, Well, what do I do? You know, and then after he said that, it just kind of triggered me, and I was like, sure, I try to navigate the program, do my thing, whatever. Um, the best part about this little phase was it was a pirated software, so I could not save anything, which forced me to open a project, start it to finish every time, no matter what. Whether it was a day, eight hours, or maybe a day and a half, whatever. My family would be pissed off of me because I'm in there making beats and the repetition, you know, the music's kind of loud.

Rich: 15:02

Um I would do the same thing. I would like bounce my stolen, pirated uh synths. Yeah, and sometimes it would bleep out after like 16 bars or something. Okay. So sometimes I would just cut that out and bounce it again, and then it wouldn't bleep out at that part. Yeah. So I'd splice those two together.

Chris: 15:18

See, that's cool. That's funny, you got like that end of the thing, right? Um, before getting into Fruit Loops, um, I don't know who put me onto it. Actually, yep, the kid I was referencing earlier who um is out, you know, working for Sony. Um, his father was a musician, and so followed in his footsteps. He was a guitar player. When I met him, we went to school together out in Paxton. So I was already going over their experience in certain types of things where either his dad had played out or he was jamming on a guitar or whatever. Um, so what was I gonna say? Damn it. Um, anyways.

Rich: 15:52

This peep this paper gets my stuff too, because I tried to throw it, throw the thing. I try to like, I was like, I want to follow it.

Chris: 15:59

Have a script or an itinerary. You can't do that.

Rich: 16:01

You just need to go off the coat because if you look down at the paper, you like track your thoughts sometimes.

Chris: 16:07

So it popped back in, and yes, I had experience with music, not making my own beats, but recording things um with him. So he had Acid Music Studio, which was a computer software back in like, you know, early or late 1990s. Techno. Um yeah, a lot of people used it for that. He was using it to like, I think, record guitar or something, and through him or one of his other friends, we'd all like mutually jammed or whatever, because there was other kids I jammed with back then, not just like our click and stuff, but like he had friends who were really good musicians, and we all started kind of getting together. And in fact, some of them played with me. Actually, they all played with me and the eight not eighth grade, but ninth grade talent show, uh, when we played Godsmack that time. And um, they weren't gonna let us play because they're like, Oh, these kids aren't from Holy Name. And I was like, But everybody else is doing this like cheer shit, and everyone's got all these people. It's like these are my band people. It's like so they ultimately let us, which was great, because like I thought that performance was better than Blind, but um Blind's got a special place in my heart, and you know the best part about that is uh I won a trip from WAF and uh went out, met Korn. I met Brian Head Welch when he returned to the band, uh Ray, the new drummer after David had left, and Jonathan Davis. And so everyone got to take pics with like Head, the drummer, but right before Jonathan Davis is coming into the room, they were like, Alright, guys, like put away your phones, no cameras, this, there's certain rules, whatever, right? Um, so I was like, oh man, kind of bummed about it. But um he came in, you know, maybe two, three, four people before me, you know. Um, it was kind of like, hey, how you doing? Uh sign a poster, you know, maybe give a hug, whatever. Right. So he gets to me, and I was like, first off, man, like sweetbeard, because he didn't have one before, right? And um, and I was like, I just want to tell you, you know, you're a super big influence of mine. And I told him a story about the eighth-grade talent show. And he laughed. As I mentioned, it was yeah, I said we performed blind at an eighth-grade talent show at a Catholic high school. He literally was laughing so hard, like, smiled big and was like, that is great. Like it, like, I didn't expect that reaction, honestly. But I I mean, I guess in hindsight, sure, because like Corn was one of those edgy bands where like the parents were like, Oh, you shouldn't be listening to this, or you know, they were pushing limits way back then. You know, I'm surprised, honestly, that yeah, we didn't get shut down doing blind. That we had to put up. Well, that's the thing. We had to, I I don't you know what? I'm not a hundred percent sure if we did for that. I was gonna say we had to like present the lyrics to make sure there were no like you know expletives or anything too like taboo for the Catholic high school. Um, so maybe that didn't happen for blind because that is definitely yeah, taboo. So that part's actually hilarious. So yeah, you're right. They probably didn't know.

Rich: 18:57

Don't you wish that you could have the knowledge that you have now back then?

Chris: 19:02

Like imagine before that performance?

Rich: 19:04

No, just when you're meeting corn. Like for me, I always picture myself like imagine if I had the over not maybe the words oversight to network the way I would do it now when I was younger. Oh my god, no.

Chris: 19:17

Right now you gave me the chills because, like, yeah, I would have been like, hey, message me like something, something. But this is back in 2013. Let's keep in touch. This was 12 years ago when I had met him.

Rich: 19:27

And I might have seen something in you, right? He could have linked you with other people. Right, exactly. Your music career could have like blasted off.

Chris: 19:34

I don't know.

Rich: 19:35

Do you have a music career now? Do you have projects or unfinished stuff?

Chris: 19:39

Currently, I do not have a music career. I do work in the music industry. Um, I actually work downtown at the Palladium. Um gonna be going to see one of my favorite bands tomorrow night, actually. We came as Romans. They're the they're like a uh metal core band. They're from Detroit. Um I didn't get into them because of it, but I heard that they're uh like Christian based, I guess. Their first popular well, yeah, and they began back at like I don't know, oh five, like when we were getting out of high school, that's when they were like super young like us, and like I think we've got some years on them. But anyways, um one of my favorite bands, they're definitely um like a positive influence in my life. And a lot of the positive things I've done and or took part in were because of getting into them. And um so I still play guitar from time to time. In fact AJ, Mike and I had a reunion show two years ago. It was Halloween 2023 I want to say um we performed and we were like hey we haven't played together in like 13 years. Everybody that performed that night and was at the show were like you guys would never tell that you guys took any time off and I said wow that's pretty amazing because all three of us literally just walked into Mike's um recording studio or me and Mike first. We'd had one night where him and I kind of worked out what we remembered at the time which usually is my responsibility. All original all original so that's a different story. Yeah it was all original we hadn't played together in 13 years we had to like you know have me use my crazy memory and figure it all out because we only recorded five tracks for a demo um back in like oh nine or so we self-recorded it in my bedroom at my family's house where you know we grew up um my room was upstairs with a roof slanted so it was hot as hell when we were trying to record the vocals we got me Mike and AJ standing in the room and there's a bed and shelves and maybe less than this space of the table in front of us. We're standing in there sweating to death screaming you know because we were into the heavy metal um and we self-recorded and produced our demo. Mike might have some of that stuff still which is cool. I actually have a track on my telephone of some of it. Yeah I'd like to hear it after yeah he remastered that track and that's the one we got but um I had to figure out like I I want to say maybe we only did play five or six songs but when we were doing the live circuit playing the lucky dog Ralph's um hotel Vernon a lot we were playing in upwards of like 12, 15 sometimes like almost 20 songs and um there was a show actually where uh I want to say like first or second song in I blew my knee out on stage and um chose to keep doing the show. We were like yeah I literally sat down for the rest of the show because I did blow my knee out it was awful. It was painful um I at the time did weigh like you know like I was saying like 300 plus and I'm playing guitar and I go to lean and kind of like I don't know it was a guitar stance let's just say and as I leaned I'm actually um having not right now but at the time uh sciatica um there was all kinds of back pain going on health issues um but I I didn't think I was weak by any means however my strong leg as I go to lean I literally remember looking down and making the stance and having it go bam like popped right out and I went down and I literally kept playing while I was on the ground got through the song and I was like yo guys I just broke my fucking leg you know just because you know honestly you gotta make fun of yourself sometimes maybe that wasn't the best situation to do it in. But um yeah we've we finished out another like 12 tracks and did the whole show the whole night. I had to go get x-rays and everything else it hurt for a long time uh maybe a good month or two but uh since I pumped it back into place myself and I was already on payments for the other thing they were like no you're fine they're like if you were an athlete we would have done surgery they said I technically gave myself a chalk block like how in uh football they would do that and they were like just do lunges like you know 100 lunges or whatever and I was like this is kind of weird you know physical therapy this and that there was no bone chips so whatever it healed to this day it's probably not a hundred percent torn meniscus is what I'm guessing um probably would have been beneficial to get that surgery but it wasn't offered whatever um yeah music always goes on I'm never gonna like the unless there was a family emergency I wouldn't stop the show I'd do it until I died.

Rich: 24:18

All those kids you hung around with do you feel like you still hang around with them?

Chris: 24:22

Have some of them gone away like it feels like you still have a not core group of friends I do um definitely a lot of them have gone away but like let's just say how about you try to name like four or five kids that were in the group and I'll say yes or no I don't you don't remember names names and I don't think I have any friends from high school that I kept in contact with you know like a recluse recluse oh yeah and introvert that's alright alright um I am too kinda like I'm either on it's like I could go either way it's like either I'm on social or I'm withdrawn and recluse. I've spent a lot of my life doing both I'd say it's a good balance you got to find the balance. But yeah no I'm friends with Mike I'm friends with AJ we still talk they're my they're my like day one fucking they got me for life you know and like that's how I try to come into everybody's life like whether you're gonna stay in touch with me or not or whatever it fades away I'm still that dude I'm here for you I'm like you need help I got you like you know if I can help somebody and be there for somebody I am and I feel like that's what got me to this place where I'm at now people are willing to help me out if I'm struggling.

Rich: 25:34

That's how you got to the seat because I wanted some guitar lessons and just like some guidance on the instrument.

Chris: 25:41

Yeah I really wanted to learn you know what I mean and you were just like yeah come over we'll start jamming I'll give you some worksheets if you really dig you know guitar we can talk about doing some lessons you know it's cool that you referenced that because the first teacher uh Wayne Powell that I said was at that music store I did or modeled my approach um in the same way that he taught me and I remember specifically drawing out you know tabs and stuff for you and how something was going to be played the way that he did and I've had those for years by the way I'm like a collector I keep folders of that stuff. Okay I like I used to be there's so oh man I keep doing this and also I'm gonna say not to like make the video different but I feel like the audio whatever we're just we're yeah anyways.

Rich: 26:28

You dude you're good because it's capturing everything.

Chris: 26:32

I think so but I what I was worried about is my voice being stronger and yours not. No because ah yeah yeah this is a ghetto um see I didn't really shut up I should have like thought that mic I have a condenser mic at home and I was going to do Phantom Power through the H6. Okay. But that phantom power that condenser mic is going to pick up everything we got you could hear tapping you could yeah yeah tapping I absolutely know what you're saying because when we went to go record our stuff we could hear people down in the house where we're trying to record the vocals and I'm like damn everyone be quiet. I was like we're trying to get this demo done and all of a sudden you get like people fighting in the kitchen or like mom yelling or dad whatever. So that's funny because condenser mics are very powerful mics.

Rich: 27:11

And these are very expensive but great for broadcasting because it's not going to pick up anything except for what's right here.

Chris: 27:17

Right there's some there's a term for that too I don't know certain mics are designed that way cadroid microphone for instance I believe that is the term it's either that is what this is or that's what the standalone neighbors oh cool yeah what's up I thought they were like getting mad about no no no like yeah let me bring the guitar next time they got smoke machines in here that's cool it's crazy like I should you should have told me before we went on camera I was looking all hair go what are you doing?

Rich: 27:50

We're like only from here up oh good even better I wasn't doing nothing yeah look at it you can't be showing my burnt ass legs on camera whatever but um I I caught it in bed I'm gonna get up and go get that paper now and I'm gonna look at what you wrote but feel free to keep talking um was there something else like to get back to what we're saying like how do you feel then or oh the music like I started really making my own beats in around eighth grade so like 2000 what 2000 is or 2001 and 2002 well I've been thinking about this the whole time the boss when did this the boss yeah what is that the Monica like on the creativity side Richmarks's bot you're the boss?

Chris: 28:32

Yeah and that's it's a whole big joke that no one's even in on yet they just think I'm an arrogant egotistical asshole and I'm not but I didn't think that yeah I know you don't but people who don't know me and see me places or see what I do or whatever it is or just like I don't know it's actually part of a project I was trying to work on about 20 years ago now called We'd be famous. I remember seeing that so I did at one point logo in my head yo that was the one thing I did that's the only thing I did we have no episodes we have no official site we have no I had like webefamous.us I owned it for a little bit and um this was right before the bankruptcy all happened because uh I basically mismanaged a lot of funds after paying off all my credit cards everything else I was like let me start this you know entertainment company I got my business certificate everything else and like I was putting together little gigs doing entertainment stuff like you know around the city trying to kind of model like a certain you know independent business after what like big execs are doing you know for the music industry at the time um so which is popular now which like a lot of this was in 2015 yeah so I don't know exactly where the boss part came from or why I chose it then but I mean I can tell you why now because first of all I am the boss but that's only of myself my life my choices right we're all our own boss so that kind of ties into my like see more the philosophical shit all right let's keep it rolling right right so what I want for the world not necessarily just America but um I think this is the true dream is that we all should be paid a living wage to exist um and that just means take care of your house take care of yourself take care of your family make sure people have food you know the basics whatever basics should be provided we should all be able to be comfortable we should all be able to live beyond a struggle not to say that people won't struggle people won't have issues because we always will however I think that that's the base layer of everything. Then everybody could do like let's just say after COVID it kind of like set the model up I think people are entrepreneurs a lot more now you're seeing a lot of like you know self-owned businesses you're seeing a lot of people do stuff with what they're good at their talents so the reason why I'm the boss is because first yeah it's my company and what I want to do is to be able to go around the world whatever and hire anybody I want to just to do what they love to do. And that could be music or it could be whatever like um I wanted to create a sketch comedy variety show which is what would be called we'd be famous. And so what I was thinking in my mind this is like before the internet really took off I wanted to have like a hub of all the artists not just music artists but like all the artists people who create creators if you will all the creators would be connected to this hub and we would show them what we're good at or what our passion is and it's like almost like um MySpace meets Facebook meets um shopify. So like we'd all be able to shop ourselves to you know willing markets.

Rich: 31:39

Is this in a world though where we have all these basic necessities for us or is this no before that that's before that.

Chris: 31:46

Okay that way like you know we could get a piece of the pie without having to just get you for free.

Rich: 31:52

You know like I like that idea of like universal income.

Chris: 31:55

Yeah it's a socialist um view is what I was told and I was like first of all I don't do politics second of all I don't know what the fuck socialism is but now fast forward to where we are today you know obviously I do know um but I feel like the universal income is eventually gonna it's gonna come but it might not be the way that I envisioned it but um yeah so it's good for people like us who have hobbies right if you're someone who just goes to work and comes home and watches Netflix you're probably not gonna succeed in that type of you're not gonna have a purpose.

Rich: 32:24

But if you you know people who are creative have hobbies go out and do things rather than get doom scrolled on their phone.

Chris: 32:32

Is this now saying that there's two types of people in the world the doers and the ones that don't do anything? But here's the thing even doing anything doing let me even the ones that aren't doing anything are literally doing something. And that's why I say it's like fake people are real too you know I like that as a t-shirt. Right oh I've every single thing that it comes out of my mouth that sounds like catchy or something I'm like we need a bumper sticker we need a t-shirt so now you're on the same wave like easy at the time when I was busting out the weeb famous stuff on the OG shit I was winging it I had coffee I busted the stick around the coffee I was like it's we be famous coffee. I was thinking monetize everything every single thing we can and now it's getting to a point where this is actually happening. But it's happening not on one single location. You know it's happening kind of um I would say globally but global small business right right all these things are on the rise it's all in the up and up um which makes me actually even more motivated now to like start to actually do this stuff because I had or have a lot of stuff written I have like thousands of videos of content but this is all kind of like along the way what has happened which brings us to like this podcast and I can tell you I have records of certain stuff like you know what I was up to or what I what I was working on or you know what project was you know taking uh precedence in my life um and then it all came to a stop.

Rich: 34:06

Let me ask you this would you have done things differently from you know 25 years ago where hanging out if if you could go back in time would you do things differently or would you stay on the same path?

Chris: 34:17

Stay on the same path. I don't care about doing anything differently because the way it happens this is all organic. Whether we choose to like admit that or not you know our choices um especially if they're impulsive like this is reality. Reality TV is what I believe got me to go on this path. Because fuck reality TV it's not even real it's scripted as bullshit. I wanted to be out there you know how we have all these influencers now and like YouTubers and this and that I was the guy in the streets being like hi this is me and I'm recording live from we'd be famous headquarters which is literally any fucking where I am Tom Green. Right. Remember the Trent Park show when they wrote that on the wall in the uh gymnasium because we uh we're doing spirit night yes and I was like why the fuck is anyone even talking about me but it was probably because of the talent show you know full circle show imagine like YouTube didn't come out till what 20 uh oh eight or something or even then like before when we were graduating right around that maybe ish so maybe that's what I always envision imagine you went Trent Park show right when some on my space right right and that's like that's funny you say that because like imagine if I did the variety show and this and that that's like Chappelle show right there then before Chappelle show it's like we can still take a model and go after it we can still do this stuff. What I'm always worried about is somebody having the same exact idea and then it comes out this happens frequently by the way I'll say something and then it literally here's a perfect example. I have an audio recording called Jesus the video game three of my friends or no sorry I'm one of my you would come up with that that's brilliant it's fucking hilarious. I think I should play it but I don't think it's even on the phone I have it on a computer. Long story short we're all smoking weed just chilling I'm playing kino at the store just vibing with my friends doing our thing right and we literally me just starts taking off and be like introducing Jesus the video game right and I'm thinking it's a life RPG you can do whatever you want with saying funny shit. It's like the one my other friend starts going off saying other stuff you know the you know something about like Moses or like you know the uh Ten Commandments you know whatever there's they're hitting uh talking points about the Christianity as I'm still out living and I'm still going through it right and then when it starts getting ridiculous because the third kid is just you know different and he opened he was just like the burning bush or something he was like be like Snape talk to snakes and like just silly shit right so I'm just making it up as I go we're all laughing it's a great little audio we'll probably share it at some point um and then another friend of mine who like we this is weird because we're all connected because we're all smoking weed at the time which is even better because we'd be famous so maybe that means all of us can be famous. Anyhow talked to him maybe even showed him that recording with someone make that game he literally contacted me and said they have a game where you can be Jesus and I was like are you fucking kidding me and like maybe it's not what we were saying or like not exactly but imagine let's say like it's like Skyrim but Jesus and it was I'd say some dumb shit like the 12 apostles or like we just I don't know it was actually fucking great. So um I'm just picturk doing right right and then it's like very self park vibes in it because I was like introducing something else after it I was like something about Jesus Land part four it started getting really really shot off you know I'll just check in time to see if we could if we still got camera okay okay footage oh we're cruising dude we got an hour of uh of uh perfect so anyways yeah anyways I say that shit about Jesus the video game joking around not even saying it should happen boom he's like it already happened and I was like that wasn't let down mad or anything because this is the way the world works but something as obscure as that can happen that means anyone's ideas like we're all connected to the collective consciousness okay we don't draw necessary um we draw from source the creation we're all creationists I like that that's flattery like using inspiration from one someone else is a flat is flattery yeah because they say imitation is the best form of flattery that's what I'm right right and like I would always tell people like we're gonna do this this and this but we're gonna do it our way because if you deliver it differently in such a way that's what makes people eat it up that's what makes people like want to get in on that action because A, it's new B, it's fucking exciting, C, it could be just something interesting. I don't know why do people like what they like? You know is it because of who we are or what we were brought up around or a mix of both. It's nature, nurture etc.

Rich: 39:00

That makes me think like I because we're 80s and 90s kids that's our that's the way we think.

Chris: 39:05

Okay.

Rich: 39:06

I don't know does Gen Z is it Gen Z right now we'd have to interview those kids. Do they see a filter and want to use that filter or do they see that and go that's copycatting let's do our own way of filter you know interesting that's interesting because here I am being like you know an 80s kid and being like I don't use any of that like technology fuck society's whatever they're up to I'm not up to it.

Chris: 39:28

I'd be like nope I don't care what's you know I know what a filter is obviously but I've never been like let me change my filter beyond like the first day of Instagram which I barely even use anymore. Like I don't usually even go on Facebook often it seems like poser ish. Like I used to be a Facebook every day posting my fucking thoughts people like it's not a journal I'm like but it is my journal an external hard drive this is an extension of who the fuck I am I made a post way back being like yo if you don't like my shit and like what I say then don't fucking pay attention to it and that's the thing about we be famous. Want to start it with The disclaimer because we're aiming to offend every fucking person that exists. Maybe, maybe not, because if we offend everybody, no one's gonna buy it. But this is the joke. I want to be like, this is the disclaimer, you don't have to watch it. You know, you can turn away now. The choice is yours, it's about to start. You know, if you really ain't ready for this shit, please don't even talk about it. Or you know what I'm saying? Because cancel culture, everything. But I wanted to cut to a fucking group of like 20 little kids being like, ba, you know, put that in there, and then people are like, wait a minute, like, what the fuck was that? And it's like, should should we even watch this?

Rich: 40:31

You know, though, I don't think we'd be famous would be that offensive because it's philosophical creative ideas ago, it's comedy, it's it's a mix of everything.

Chris: 40:42

It's I mean, should I tell you like an idea? I don't know. Like, did you see any of my BuzzB random videos?

Rich: 40:48

I remember seeing something, but what I want to add is okay, so you had this vision, it's great stuff, but what's the future? You're only 40, like me.

Chris: 41:00

Right, I'm gonna be 40. You can um I feel like whip stuff up now is the time because, like, alright, um check it. I've been homeless, yeah, since April, whatever, and I feel like getting proverbial, like pushed out of the nest, this has set me on the path to live my life and do the things that I want to do. Because I gave up a lot of my personal freedom in my life to serve my family. Family has kept me here in the city. Um, I took care of my sister's kids for five years on my own with my grandmother's help because, well, you know, she helped with the monetary funds and everything. But I did all the action. I made sure the kids got to where they needed to go, doctor's appointments, you know, um took care of their health, helped them get healthy, you know, taught them plenty of things, homeschooling and all the uh shit happened because of COVID, boom, then I was not ready to be a teacher. And here I was, like, you know, back in the we be famous, like kind of like takeoff heyday, which got fizzled out. I was like, yo, I'm gonna be that guy who's like part of the role model for all these kids, and then it's like boom, I'm right offset and I'm doing fucking dumb shit, like smoking cigarettes. And that's funny because it actually came to fruition, you know.

Rich: 42:09

Um like you're saying you were uncle dad?

Chris: 42:13

The dunkle. Duncle, daddy, uncle, daddy, uncle, yeah, like that. The dunkle. So they'd be like, no, you're the dunkel. And then I came up with this one where I was like, I'm a daddy, uncle, mommy guy. So at the end of the day, please don't tell me I was anything other than a dumb uncle. Daddy, uncle, mommy guy, dumb uncle.

Rich: 42:31

Do you are you still?

Chris: 42:32

And I'm not just a dumb uncle, by the way.

Rich: 42:34

Do you still have a nice relationship with the?

Chris: 42:36

Yeah, my niece is my niece actually uh reached out to me, gave me a call the other day, and I like that was the first time she ever on her own, outside of us living together with grandma or needing something, you know, uncle, this is happening, or give me a call. That was the first time she ever reached out to me just to say, hey, how's it going? And that made me feel really good. You know, um, I definitely made an everlasting uh imprint and impact on their lives, and you know, um it's all about love, man.

Rich: 43:02

Kids think about it later in life too. They might appreciate it at the moment.

Chris: 43:07

Right, you know, and like I'll be brutally honest, I kind of was forced into it. I didn't have a choice. You know, we don't need to talk about that or whatever, but you know, basically, kids get dropped off at the house, and next thing you know, I am the daddy uncle mommy guy. Grandma did a great job helping those. She liked she meant well, but she was so old school, she'd be like, you know, saying stuff that didn't make sense, or like trying to get the kids to like, you know. She was OCD, she loves her house super pristine, clean. And once those two kids started living there, oh man, it wasn't the way grandma come like this. She didn't like noise, you know. She was, you know, 78, 79. God rest grandma's soul. She passed away this year. Um, it's all good, man. This is life. We all pass. Somebody on the way here, um, this not to flip it or whatever, but uh, I made a comment. Um, I said, people essentially the people who cheer for like another person's death. Um, I was like, you're like, I didn't say these words, I didn't say like you're an effing hypocrite, but I did say like you're no better than that person you're cheering dead because you're lowering your vibration to that level to cheer for somebody who just fucking lost their life. And like I'm not trying to be edgy and be like, you know, stand up for shitty people, you know. Um and then I after making this post, I saw that Hulkogan died, and I was like, whoa, what? And somebody commented on my thing, being like, you know, don't pretend uh somebody's not a shitty person, or like those things just don't go away. And I was like, well, that's not my point, because my point was essentially, you know, yeah, the shitty person is a shitty person. I'm not gonna like stand up and be like, no, the wrong things that person did is okay. Um somebody commented though and said, you know, I hope he rots. He was a racist piece of trash. And I didn't comment this yet, but I wanted to literally comment, we all rot. Because ain't that the truth?

Rich: 45:03

Did Ozzy's passing have any type of emotion?

Chris: 45:07

The reason why I posted what I posted was actually because I saw a mutual friend of mine say, like, you know, what the fuck's up with this Aussie shit? You gonna care about him now? Like, fuck you, he was just this and this and this. In fact, no, this is this is the one part where I'm gonna pull the phone up because this was happening right before I got here. And I was like, why would he post this? You know, and it kind of made me think think about something, right? Um which is funny. Uh, because he posted it to be edgy. He didn't post it because it was his opinion, it is not how he feels about it, right? Um and it that's what inspired me to make my post. And then I started having some other ideas. Which, oh hold on, screenshots are not the camera. But um essentially, yeah, Ozzy was like I saw Ozzy plenty of times, I saw Black Sabbath several times, and as like legends, uh you know, in the music industry, in the business, you know, as idols, not idols, because I don't have idols, I guess. I would say as um, you know, influencers, people you look up to, you know, maybe m role models, sure, but idols. This is the funny part. He literally said, I'll be the one to say it. Who gives a fuck Ozzie died? So seriously, you're all now concerned? You can all suck shit, I'm glad he's dead. And he hashtag finally. And I was reading it and I was like, what the fuck's wrong with him? And I posted it under it, I was like, um what? Because I didn't, you know, it was surprising me that I was like, oh wow, he feels that way. Right?

Rich: 46:30

Ozzy's probably okay with him passing. He lived his life the way he wanted to.

Chris: 46:34

He absolutely is, but I just thought this was fucking hilarious because he legitimately uh made a comment to reply to where I said, um what? And I just want to get what he also said. Here we go. He was like, Yes, I literally posted this just to piss people off. And goes on to say, I'm sorry I'm a punk. I grew up listening to Black Sabbath. I had a friend suggest that I de-friend him because of this post lol, and I did. So, you know, that part was great because like I was like, Yeah, that's why I love you, bro. You know, trying to get under people's skin. You want to get a rise up to you. Here's the problem, you gotta know your audience because when I was doing like the We'd Be Famous stuff, like if I'm acting all crazy in public doing certain things to like record and this and that, who's to say that anyone else knows that's what you're doing? You know, all of a sudden you got somebody thinking you're having a mental health issue, or like, you know, you're yeah, in public, and then next thing you know, you're getting hemmed up for all just for like trying to create something, never mind being like possibly a disturbance or you know, taken as a threat or anything like that.

Rich: 47:36

Chris Park's marketing tip of the day, know your audience.

Chris: 47:39

Right. I was told that actually in a hospital where I should have known my audience, and um I am no longer allowed at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Rich: 47:48

That's probably for the best.

Chris: 47:50

Yeah, it had nothing to do with gambling, nothing to do with cards, bugging out at Foxwoods. Something like that. I essentially wanted a vacation. The boss wanted a vacation, and yes, I was officially the boss at this time, and I was like, yeah, alright, let's go. I got free rooms because Foxwoods was cool, they took care of me. And I was able to be like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all free. And I was just driving, going back to the city, doing my own thing, having different friends come out, doing this, you know, party one night, drink one night, whatever. You know, I got such rooms, you know. I didn't even do them until the last night, and that leads into this little story. I was trying to help a hippie chick, hula hooper girl. And uh, well, let's just say it didn't end well.

Rich: 48:33

Help her with what?

Chris: 48:35

Well, she needed a place to stay, so I was like, yeah, I was like, I still got the hotel, and then like her and I went down, like we were there like several times throughout the week. But it ended up that the last night she had like draw some acid and I didn't know about it, and then I gave her rooms because she wanted them, whatever. You know, I'm not try contributing to somebody's delinquency, but anyways, it uh it turned out like some wild shit. I don't know if I should even say this on podcast or not.

Rich: 48:59

But she didn't handle it well.

Chris: 49:02

No, what the I think I didn't handle it well because at this time I'm on like day three of a bender. She starts being like loud, obnoxious in the morning, or like I said something and it kind of tweaked her out because we were both starting to like go come up on the hallucinogenics, right?

Rich: 49:16

Don't know, but never done them continue, anyways.

Chris: 49:19

Yeah, sure, it's in me. Like I took I ate some shrooms, sure. And like I hadn't done them in a long ass time, and I'd already got them for like you know, friends or from a friend, and like some people like, yeah, they were good, whatever. So I took them. This all starts happening. I start being weirdo, have like lights on the wall, my you know, my guitars chilling, whatever. And um, somewhere along the line, like I was like, I'm a goat. Like saying, like, you know, like a billy goat though, because like I had a huge beard at the time, and uh she started kind of just tweaking, and then she starts being loud, so then as she's like being loud, I'm like, why don't I be loud? It's like 6 a.m. She's like, whatever. I don't know what she said, but I'm like, Mommy, mommy! Just started screaming, just whatever, you know. So, next thing you know, the neighbors are involved, which are across the hall, and she's like trying to bang at the door, and I was like, just get out of here if you're gonna freak out, right? And uh she's like, I need my inhaler. At this point, I didn't know she even fucking had an inhaler, I had no idea where it could be. The guy is in the hallway with her, be like, she needs her inhaler. I was like, I don't give a fuck, I don't know what the fuck y'all are doing. So, anyways, I go to the hotel fucking thing, which is by what I mean by this, is uh the telephone in the room. I call down there and I'm like, hey, can we have somebody come check on her? I like just want to make sure she's okay. You know, I'm doing my part as like the concerned friend who's like, all right, this girl's tweaking, I don't know what's gonna happen, I don't know these people. But all of a sudden, it maybe five minutes go by, not even, and we start hearing boom, boom, boom, boom, or I start hearing boom boom boom, will, boom, will, open up, we just want to talk to you. And I'm like starting to actually trip at this point, and I'm like standing in the room and I just keep hearing the banging, and they're saying, Will, and I'm so confused because I'm like, Who the fuck is Will? I don't know. Anyways, I look up the people and they were like three or four security, you know, whatever, and I'm like, fuck. And they're like, we just want to talk to you, and I'm like, oh my god, it's starting to trip balls at this point. And um, I literally was like, I don't want to talk, I'm not gonna talk. I was like, I'm scared. They were like, no, I was like, I'm not-6 a.m. Yep, 6 a.m. And uh, I was like, I'm only gonna talk if you get my I was like, you need to get my mom. And like, so they keep banging, and at that point, like I was like, do I answer the door? Do I do this? And like I literally uh diarrhea myself because I had Mexican the night before, was drinking alcohol, and ate those mushrooms, and I was being type 2 diabetic. That's probably a really bad combination. So I had a lot of high triggers, probably. I literally shit everywhere because I was not sure if I should go take this shit and ignore them or like answer the door. So at this point, I'm ass naked, and I'm like, whatever, this happened. And uh I went up to the people, they blocked it. I was like, oh fuck. At that point, went to the next room, locked that shit up. I'm in the bedroom. I was definitely saying some crazy shit, probably shouldn't have been saying, definitely made them come after me. Alright. I'm literally stepping into the bathroom, again, naked. I believe I had an orange plastic cap gun in my hand. And um, whatever I was saying was what I was saying. Yeah, right. Oh no, I'm probably not. Anyways, that's what I should have been using that for. But I said something I probably shouldn't have said, and next thing you know, and like, and I'm talking this, it was four feet from the fucking bathroom is the door that's locked. I literally go to like slide the bathroom door shut, I'm about to lock it, and it's ripped the fuck out. I was literally ripped out so motherfucking fast. Guys roughing me up, cuffs me like instantly, and I'm like, oh fuck, what the fuck? I'm like, why are you being so rough? And like, let me just say they probably had you know perfect reason to be so rough. Um, he's holding me and he's got me like on the bed. Keep in mind now I'm poop covered and naked, and I'm being like, what you know, why so you don't really know what you're doing. No, I do fully. At this point, I'm literally like, I know I'm not tripping balls yet. I'm like, I'm gonna fuck with these guys because what else should I do? I wasn't just gonna, you know, I surrender, I'm fine. Nope. At this point, he's holding me. Lieutenant's in the doorway, he's doing like a crab stance, and he goes, Looks at me, sizes me up, and he's like, Shh, he's on something. And I was like, uh, here we go. So at that point, I literally was like being ridiculous. There's a woman outside fucking crying like a stewardess, not a stewardess, but like um, whatever uh hotel, whatever they are, non-security, somebody who worked for the hotel. Yeah, maybe. She was out in the hallway crying, and I was like, You ever seen some shit like this before? I was like, Y'all put a fucking dollar on the ground right now and I'll cut this shit out. I will stop. Well, obviously that didn't work. And um, I said something about needing like an extraordinary amount of money. The cop guy was all like, Well, what do you need that money for? And I was like, a really good lawyer. So at that point, I'm like tired as fuck. I've been up for days, and like I said, I drank the shrooms, whatever. Um alcohol. Yeah, so at that point, I was like, I in my mind, I'm like, I'm so fucking tired, I can't keep up with this. I can't keep doing, you know, putting on the show for the guys, whatever. I literally like, I'm OD'ing, and I was just like, mmm, fucking killed over, passed out. Next thing you know, I'm like, they hit me with fucking adrenaline, and I'm just like, yo, I don't know. This is exactly what happened from that moment on. I remember breathing like that and being like, what the fuck? And then instantly passing out again because they were trying to pick me up and put me on the stretcher, they dropped me. Now I'm motionless on the floor and I wake up. I don't know how long it's been. I can't move at all. And I'm seeing flashes, they're talking, I can't understand what they're saying, and no fucking lie, bro. I was not tripping balls. The hotel fucking alarm clock goes off, and the sun is playing. Guess what it was?

Rich: 54:51

War pigs.

Chris: 54:53

That would have been awesome, but it was stairway to heaven. And like I'm laying on the floor and I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. In my head, I'm thinking of it.

Rich: 55:00

Wait, none of that happened?

Chris: 55:01

No, no, no, no. This all happened.

Rich: 55:02

Oh, okay.

Chris: 55:03

I'm still laying on the floor hearing hearing the stairway to heaven, and I'm like, I mean, I don't know why I can't move. It was probably whatever they. Yes, whatever they hit me with made me fucking sedated. They were probably worried that I was gonna go do wild shit. So, I mean, yeah, why wouldn't you if you got a person hallucinating and like being weird and like, you know, making people.

Rich: 55:21

So you were hallucinating or you weren't?

Chris: 55:23

Here's the best part. They cuffed me behind my back this entire time. They eventually are picking me up off the ground and get me onto the stretcher. They put me with my hands behind my back. And at the time they put me there, I remember being lifted off the ground and my eyes are closed. And I was like, yo, this is like being at Six Flags on a roller coaster. I don't want to be on, but I just gotta go for that ride. So they put me on the stretcher, they get me out, they go into the hallway, I'm into the elevator. We got a girl now, doing sternum ropes. Thinking I was OD'ing. Like, no, I don't fuck with that shit. I was you know, I was just fucking with them, and I shouldn't have said that. So she's stirring them up, stirring them rubs, and I'm like, what are you doing? And then she says something in the elevator, was like, Your girlfriend said this, and I was like, I don't have a girlfriend. They're like, Yep, he's cooked. But the fucked up shit is like, no, she wasn't my girlfriend. I didn't, I didn't have a girlfriend. So I fall asleep, they get me to the medical institution, hospital, wherever they took me, slamming me off shit, because they were mad at me for what I did. Whatever. They get me into a room, and I am now handcuffed. Um, probably behind my back still, but there's a bar on the wall. I'm looking at the bar, and this is when I started to see his trails and like actually be tripping like that. And I was like, oh, in my mind, I'm like, no, man, then why right now? It's what this is happening now. The guy's in the fucking corner in the doorway, and he's like, No, if we're gonna handcuff you, you're not gonna run, right? And I was just literally like, no, like, what the fuck am I gonna try to run to? First of all, like you guys are in the room, I can't get out anywhere else, so like why would I do that? I'm already here. So they uncuffed me. Dude, my hands, bro, were fucking seriously. They were the bigger, like, this is no. Let's just say it wouldn't happen. I'm putting that back there because I now realize that that was dangerous. So, anyways, we'll watch that movie later. But the end of this movie is cool because they uncuffed me, then two ladies have to wash me. Um, turns out I was wrapped up in the hotel fucking blanket, and also this blanket that the girl had brought, it was a ho it was like a sheet from childhood. I think it was the fucking Ninja Turtles bed set that we used to have when we were kids. You know, shout out to Ninja Turtles, that's even funnier. Um, but it was wrapped up in what I was wrapped up in, my you know, my poop-covered cocoon, whatever it was. And um, they had to wash me, and I'm I was like, yeah, this shit's following me. It's like that was a bad trip. Like the girl's fucking security blankets with me at the hospital. I was like, this is nuts. So they washed me, and I just rested the whole day. I had a guy ask me questions, that you know, and I'm like, oh yeah. I was like, this girl got me drink last night, and I was trying to help her out, and well, we all know the rest of that. Um, so uh I literally from memory called my sister's house at the time. I think I was actually living there. Um, so of course I knew the house number. Uh funny part was my mom was up visiting the kids and my sister, and I was like, Let me talk to her. And it was like, You gotta come get me. She was like, What the fuck did you do? And I was like, you know, I'll tell you when I get here. She comes, she picks me up. Um, they were like, we think that he might have a mood disorder. And then the woman, the doctor, was like, you need to be careful of like how you act around other people. And I was like, Well, why the fuck is that any of their business and like how I act and what I'm doing? But now, fast forward to now, like we can totally understand why that's a thing, and mental health becoming such a prominent issue in society. Um, you can't just act fucking out of control, crazy, and have people be fine with it.

Rich: 58:50

Unless you're famous.

Chris: 58:54

Maybe. Maybe right, right. Or if you have money, which are kind of the same thing. Okay. No, but my joke was always, um, yeah. We're all famous, we just don't know it yet.

Rich: 59:04

So were you acting more outrageous because of the persona you were yes, trying to achieve.

Chris: 59:11

So that was going into it, but I mean I also was on a bender, you know, and like, but I purposely did the things I did and said what I said to get reactions out of people, you know, or to like just make it interesting. Funniest fucking part, no, most unfortunate part. I had a tripod in the corner the entire time and I should have recorded all of it. I didn't. So when my mom picks me up and we get me out of the psych unit, by the way, 12 hours. No one can beat that record.

Rich: 59:38

In and out.

Chris: 59:39

Yeah. I was like in the too smart for them. I got there in the morning and I was out at night. My mom, she gave me her woman's jacket. I wore a pair of blue scrubs they gave me, drove me back to Foxwoods. I got all my shit. Turns out they stole a lot of my shit or whatever. You know, shit happened. You know, and that's not even like legal or illegal. Like I'm talking like a sweet ass hat they stole, they stole my mother's jacket. Jacket. Like they were fucking obviously pissed at me. You know, I get a thing in the mail saying, if you step foot on Foxwood's grounds, it'll be considered trespassing and you will be arrested immediately. And so I have not been back there since. Um, don't test it because they will arrest you. You need a written letter from security to actually uh allow you back on the property. Because if you don't have it, you're done. So they charge me with nothing, apparently, because I got a thing in the mail saying, We'll contact you about this. And I was paranoid I missed a court date in Connecticut. So I called them like months later, and they're like, Hold on, put me on hold. And I'm sitting there at my grandmother's house in the basement on the phone, being like, Oh fuck, I don't know what's gonna happen, you know. And then they come back and they're like, they decided not to pursue the charges. And I was like, Oh wow, that's great. Still haven't gotten back, still haven't gotten permission to go back. But while my aunt was dying of cancer, I actually reached out to them and was like, She wants to go play bingo and she wants me to go with the her, which they denied, because they're fucking assholes, apparently. They even wrote me back being like, Dear Mr. Parker, after careful consideration, we can not, you know, accommodate your request. And I was like, first of all, who the fuck's Mr. Parker? And does that mean I can go? Haven't tested that yet either. So, you know, long story short, yeah, banned from Foxwoods. Um, it happens. Sometimes you do some shit and you're not allowed back.

Rich: 1:01:20

Um, I want to say this without being rude.

Chris: 1:01:25

No, go ahead. Please.

Rich: 1:01:26

Will there be another episode in the future like this? Or are was that like a one and done, and you're like, okay, I got it out of my system?

Chris: 1:01:34

Honestly, like there's nothing has ever come in close to comparison to that event. No matter where I was or how aft up, drunk, whatever, what upsetting, nothing else in my life has come close to that. Will there be another one? I would say no, but you know, I'm old enough to know better, but young enough to do it again. Which is a funny thing I like to say. Um, but um, yeah, right. Um I feel like we're gonna actually go to Mohegan. You could be part of this, and we're gonna reenact all that. We're doing it on the other property, though, so they can't say shit. But we're gonna pretend they have their fucking security. We're gonna we're gonna actually do it almost exactly what happened, but I want to add some shit in there to you know make it wicked funny and stupid, whatever. That's the idea of Weby Famous.

Rich: 1:02:24

When my old roommate turned 33, he wanted to have a Jesus on the cross themed birthday party. What the fuck?

Chris: 1:02:30

Because Jesus was 33, but yo.

Rich: 1:02:33

We're like, um Did you do it for him? We're like, dude, I don't know if we want to do that. I mean, he was just kidding.

Chris: 1:02:39

No, alright. Well, that's the thing. You can't tell when somebody's kidding because here's another thing I'd like to say.

Rich: 1:02:43

I'm either painted these two paintings, so that maybe you could get some insight into who he is.

Chris: 1:02:49

Yeah. I'm either seriously joking or I'm jokingly serious. And it's up to you to figure out which.

Rich: 1:02:58

I know you, so I have a feeling about your personality from you can't hide who you are in high school. Like, no, even if you want to be the coolest kid in school and you're not, people will know, you know.

Chris: 1:03:13

So, like, okay.

Rich: 1:03:14

That's why I love this concept because I feel like I want to see if people have changed or if they're the same. Because I think I'm the same.

Chris: 1:03:22

I think I'm the same too. Like, some things may have changed when we first began. You know, I said some things are rigid about me, you know, fixed. That's also goes along with astrology. I'm a Scorpio. Scorpios are known to be very um rigid and very like me, scornful, sure, but very like they're not gonna budge on what they believe in. And for my whole life, like that's kind of 99% true. However, if new knowledge is presented to me and something, you know, makes sense to change, obviously I'm gonna make the right choice. But not every time. Sometimes people are stubborn, sometimes people don't want to change, sometimes people are afraid of change. But change is the only thing that is constant and forever.

Rich: 1:04:04

And change so I think you have to accept failure too, because if you can accept failure, you can move forward past it and you can succeed.

Chris: 1:04:13

Yeah, absolutely. But every failure that is out there like is possibly the next step to a great success. And the moral of the story here is um you just you fail. All right, here's the quote.

Rich: 1:04:27

Failing's fun. Don't be depressed if you fail.

Chris: 1:04:29

Well, you only become a failure when you stop trying, or like you you only become a failure when you um acknowledge yourself as one, I guess.

Rich: 1:04:38

Um flip it too. The second you put something out in the word world, you succeeded. I think uh Rick Rubin says something like that. Okay. So it doesn't even need to be your best work, it's just putting it up there is a success.

Chris: 1:04:51

Yeah, because you did it, you made it, but who cares if you make money off it or not? That's something whole so so like yeah, the most beautiful thing in life is really the gift of life and the fact that we are allowed to create and shape and mold our reality in any way we so choose. Never mind what we do for fun or what we do because we like it, or it's our hobby, or our work. Um just the fact that we could do it all is literally the best part. I mean, it could be the worst part too, but that all depends on the choices you make and who the fuck's there to see it.

Rich: 1:05:25

Did you d those notes suck? No, no, no, no, no, no.

Chris: 1:05:28

We didn't even need them.

Rich: 1:05:30

That's why they suck. Because I thought I could use them.

Chris: 1:05:33

We used them, but we didn't need to reference it. See, guys, dude, we talked about almost every talking point on here.

Rich: 1:05:40

Um this is the part of the podcast where the roofies I put in your water start to work, and we could cause another episode like you were describing.

Chris: 1:05:48

Did you get that girl's number? Is she coming too?

Rich: 1:05:50

She's behind the TV.

Chris: 1:05:51

That was um my first Mrs. Bossy. Actually, I've never been married, but it was a cool joke, and I was like, whatever, we're rolling together. I had my fucking ex-girlfriend be like, yo, she's like druggie ho of the nature.

Rich: 1:06:02

Druggy ho the nature. Like she was like, I can't believe you're hanging with her. You're like, I respect that. You said that.

Chris: 1:06:07

No, I did, but you know, it's a sad story. Like, it was that was like, you know, the Romeo and Julia fucking, I don't know, man.

Rich: 1:06:13

That's why you're talking about Macbeth when we walked in here.

Chris: 1:06:16

The sisters of the fates. It's because shit's weird, guys. And weird is good. Weird means it was fated to be, which is what we just did. This must have been fated to be. You know, we made the choices to come here make it work right now. But the fact is it all happened right now, and we literally showed up to do a certain thing. Uh, we accomplished it. Um, it was successful. Yo, look.

Rich: 1:06:40

It's sticking up.

Chris: 1:06:41

I do that shit with money all the time. I'll flip money on a fucking counter for the guy to pay and we'll just stand up and I'm like, how the fuck does that happen?

Rich: 1:06:47

Anyways, that's an interesting that see, that could be your daily video.

Chris: 1:06:52

Like I'm gonna go buy sign, and you just try to do it and see if I get it. That's like a boss thing, right? Yeah. I actually was in the store today looking, and here's the best part. I don't even know really, truly, why. I think the reason, all right. I'm the boss because I'm the creator, the inventor, um, the writer for We'd Be Famous. That's why I was like, I'm the boss because obviously someone's gonna be in charge and make sure everyone else is doing shit. Um, 20 years ago I had folders for each friend. I was like, here, J Bird, AJ, Mike, Dave. I had written parts for them. I had different things, different ideas of what we were gonna do, and like we just never did it. You remember Road Rules and um what was the other show on uh NTV? Real World? Real World, Real World, yeah. So so until it got stupid. We're gonna take, let's say, hypothetically, even me, the boss, I need to make an audition video to be on We Be Famous. So we're like spoofing ourselves, we're spoofing all kinds of shit.

Rich: 1:07:44

Can I film that video?

Chris: 1:07:45

Yeah, like honestly, I want everyone like it could be from home or it could be whatever, but like you remember that show. So we I essentially, yeah, like we need auditions. Here's another thing I thought of. I want to go to a rave and have a very large cardboard cutout TV and just basically post up and start like doing interviews, kind of similar, maybe to something like this, but not necessarily because they're strangers, complete strangers, you know, and it'd be like this is part of the footage we're getting. We gotta go to certain places, and whatever. You know, you remember the sticker? That's badass, though, bro.

Rich: 1:08:18

You should go to like the supermarket, right?

Chris: 1:08:21

Just the TV. Oh, no, no, no, no. We should put that outside. Well, see, we're not gonna get the crowd. This is the Tom Green Trent Parks fucking shit that would happen. If you set up a big TV like that outside a grocery store, you'd have the most awkward shit. But honestly, that might be the best, you know? Um, we'll get kicked out of there and we'll probably get a trespassing by the end of the day.

Rich: 1:08:41

But what what do you think on a scale from one to ten? How like ten being I'm gonna absolutely do this, and one being like I'm never gonna do this, like moving forward, are you gonna pursue doing like more boss content or we be famous? What was it?

Chris: 1:09:01

Yeah, be famous or BuzzBe Random?

Rich: 1:09:03

Buzzby Random.

Chris: 1:09:04

Buzzby Random is the guy that needs to talk when I'm about to say some shit that I probably shouldn't say. Because, you know, who's gonna judge a little pipe cleaner B? Everyone's gonna judge bearded white guy. Like, everybody, even the bearded white guys. Like, that ain't racist, we're just you know, dumb.

Rich: 1:09:20

Or like phil philosophical type things are just like.

Chris: 1:09:25

I don't truly believe like skin color denotes anything, but the fact is racism is alive and like still exists today, and like that sucks. That's just the same thing as all the other shit in the world that sucks, you know.

Rich: 1:09:35

Like because you want like uh uh equally you like you said, you're not polic political but socialism. You kind of want like a lot of people.

Chris: 1:09:43

I want everybody to be equal. That's literally it. Like the thing is like like yeah, like we all have this opportunity, you know, at least in America, you know, capitalist uh society, where we can go out and work for whatever we want. It all depends on what you want to put in, is what you're gonna get out of it. And ironically, if you take the science, uh the formula for work is you know, whatever it is. It's work, you know, work equals uh, you know, what is it, like intensity over time, you know, something like that. Are you familiar? You remember when we were in school learning that? Kind of. Alright, cool. At least you know what I'm trying to say. Because sometimes I don't fucking even know. Yeah. But it has been pretty fucking rad so far. Am I supposed to be asking you questions, or is this?

Rich: 1:10:26

I was gonna end with that. I said on the way here, you were probably thinking, like, were you thinking of to ask me anything? No, I think. Were you like this dude is fucking weird? Uh he's probably changed or he hasn't changed at all. I could tell just by the way he he reached out to me.

Chris: 1:10:41

I didn't think anything remotely close. In fact, on the way here, I was doing that Facebook thing, which made me think of something to talk about or whatever, which we didn't even necessarily talk about. I did mention it, but I was like, huh, that's something. You know, it's like I didn't worry about it. We had our chat before, you know, the Uber whatever it was, Uber Lyft, whoever it was, came and picked me up, and it was like, okay, I got a vibe. I already had the vibe before we fucking even talked, and like I knew like you had that, and like I was like, I don't need to make one then, because um, improv, man, like the best stuff is usually improved, and like that's in music, maybe not life. Sometimes in life, I want to say I live my life like it's an art form, because typically and genuinely that's how I put myself out there. You know, sometimes you have to be well reserved and observant, other times feel free, spread your wings, fly, man. Like, we're here to enjoy this, we're not here to suffer. But the ironic part is we are here to suffer. And I remember being in religion class, and they're like, the the passion of Christ, Miss Olson to quote, said, is the suffering. And we all everybody shares in that suffering. Because to live is to suffer. We can't just be perfect and harmonious and nothing's ever wrong, then there would be like no anything. Nothing would exist. It could just be nothing. Because we wouldn't know either side. You know, it's almost like, you know, let's say yin-yin-yang, you know, there's light and there's dark. But then in the dark there's that little seed of light, and in the light there's that little seat of dark. And you can bring that back everywhere. That's just how the world works. Like, I'm not gonna go like wildly religious or anything. But energy, yeah, it all goes back to energy. Um, positive and negative.

Rich: 1:12:32

And I mean, sure we got neutral too, but I mean, can you think of anyone from your past that you would like to do this with?

Chris: 1:12:39

Yeah, that kid I was gonna say, um, my best friend before moving on to Holy Name. Uh his name's Nikolai Baxter.

Rich: 1:12:47

Shout out.

Chris: 1:12:48

Shout out to Nikolai Baxter, you know. And uh he was one of my closest friends growing up out in Paxton and going to that school. And we did, you know, keep in touch for quite some time. In fact, when we recorded our original demo, he I'd be asking him for advice on you know how to set up mics or like how do we do this, you know, what kind of EQ and and different type of uh you know techniques can I use to let's say record drums. Like he's always been an influence for me. Like I looked up to him because he could play guitar like pretty fucking rad when we were like 10, 11. You know, he's sitting there, he busts out like Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz, and it sounded just like it though. And I was like, Man, that's cool. And like I modeled my playing style after him doing that because anything I play, I make sure it sounds like the recording. If it's a cover, I'm not gonna half-ass it and let it sound like a lot of guitar players will be like, I can play this. They'll play it, and you'll be like, that was it, but it didn't quite you know, sound like it or like vibe like it. When I pick it up, if you want to hear Metallica, I'm fucking making it sound like Metallica. You know, that just to say that.

Rich: 1:13:52

Do you know what this kid's up to?

Chris: 1:13:55

Um, I know that he actually won some Grammys uh producing music for some movies. I know he was out there in Igloo Studios. I went out to I actually when I won that trip for uh you know corn and all that, like I visited him when I was out there. Um it was cool, you know, because like at that point he hadn't won the Grammys. He was working in Igloo Studios. Uh fast forward like up to now, like he last I knew he was working at Sony Studios. And it sucks because when I was out there at a different time after that, he was like, Do you want to come to Sony Studios? I told him no, I had other shit going on, you know, whatever. But um, as far as I know, like he's happy, healthy, successful, and working in an industry that we both wanted to get into. Uh we both actually had uh applied to Berkeley and got in. We took the tour to Berkeley uh together, and I couldn't go because it was just so damn expensive. But he went, he you know, he got through it all, and like that's where he is today. So it's actually like the most fucking close to me uh success story that um I could tell, you know, outside of when I referenced, you know, earlier. But that they that wasn't close. This is like this was a childhood close friend come over to my house with playing 964, drinking, you know, Pepsi, eating popcorn, you know, meeting my other friends. And um, yeah, man, like I think that'd be cool actually to like I'd have to ask him all these things, right?

Rich: 1:15:17

That's why I wanted to start the show. Yeah, a couple kids I went to one grade one through six with, and I used to take the public bus with them. Okay, and I can't find them on social media anywhere. So that's how I started thinking about this. I was like, how do I find this person?

Chris: 1:15:31

Somebody from my past that I have no fucking connection to. I think that shit a lot. And I think that shit about a lot of people because like there's misconnections. Remember when they had that online? Like you put a fucking thing up and someone responds?

Rich: 1:15:42

Oh yeah, on uh Craigslist. Yeah.

Chris: 1:15:45

That was a thing, still is a thing. It's fucking weird, but you're gonna get scammed trying to get a fucking property or rent somewhere. So be careful on the internet, guys. In fact, be careful everywhere.

Rich: 1:15:53

Yeah, because I gotta know what this kid is up to because he was a wild kid. Like he took the nun's headrest off and like threw it down the stairs. He definitely was like, Did my camera's go? Yeah, yeah, he knows them. I I asked him about it too, and he said he doesn't know what's going on. Damn. But you know, like kid who probably struggled with ADHD, right, right. Was like wild.

Chris: 1:16:14

But there's so many of us that like are underdiagnosed or like don't even realize it, you know? Like to me, like I'm not the asshole who's like, this is just who I am, you deal with it. No, like I know why I do what I do, and I I understand why sometimes I'll be fixed on something. You know, obsessive compulsive disorder is real, so is ADHD, so is depression, bipolar, all this shit's real. Like I said, fake people are real too.

Rich: 1:16:36

So and uh my whole I think hobbies can break us out of most of those things.

Chris: 1:16:41

That's why I started writing because I was depressed and I wanted to express myself. So at least if the paper would listen, my heart my heart would feel better.

Rich: 1:16:50

Life is like you said, struggle, it's pain, it's not easy, and and it that's what you do your whole life. Nothing's gonna come easy in life, it's always a struggle.

Chris: 1:17:00

Let me actually if you don't mind, we could probably end with this. I'll share a piece with you. Um I wrote this, I don't know exactly how long ago, but we're getting uh Yeah.

Rich: 1:17:12

Alright, I'm gonna vibe into it.

Chris: 1:17:16

It's definitely like a heavy piece of poetry. And um it goes along with kind of what we were just saying. Like, you know, life is always gonna be struggle. There's always gonna be some sort of you know adversity and challenge we have to overcome, right? Um I just need to take your time, get it on. Did I do you um yeah, I it's my phone screen's broken, so it might make it hard for me to read. Let me just change this a little bit. See what I'm saying? I gotta get a new phone.

Rich: 1:17:41

Same thing on my I my 2018 MacBook Pro.

Chris: 1:17:44

Yeah.

Rich: 1:17:45

You've got like three-fourths of it is dead pixels, and that's so I do all my work on the right side.

Chris: 1:17:50

Alright, so before I start. Paraphrase. No, no, no. This this is actual like I won't be able to paraphrase that. It's not like that, it's an actual poem.

Rich: 1:17:57

Um you're gonna read it for us?

Chris: 1:17:59

I will. But I had a guy randomly today be like, I know that frog, and I was like, the fuck are you talking about? Because it's insane clown posse. No, it's a broken pixels on my friggin' phone, and like the guy literally says, like, this shape, he was like, I've seen that frog before. And I was like, what are you talking about? I was playing Kino at the store or whatever, right? And another guy, like, he said that to me, and I'm like, I'm trying to see it. I don't know.

Rich: 1:18:22

It looks like the insane clown posse thing. Or it kind of does too. Yeah, or it looks like um somebody said it looked like a stripper or something.

Chris: 1:18:30

Oh I think to me, it looks like people there, or maybe the Grim Reaper holding some chick. It's weird. Whatever you see is what you see, but just because you see something doesn't mean somebody else sees it the same.

Rich: 1:18:39

So like I see a bear getting shot. See his head right there.

Chris: 1:18:43

Oh, dude, it's gone now. Oh no, it's there. I see Heisenberg from Breaking Bad? Yes. Do you see the nose and the glasses right dead center right below the blue streak right there? Jeez. You see it? That's wild. Do you see it? Well, uh not from this angle because but if you sit here at my angle, I'll see if you see it. But you know what? It looks like my carnories too with glasses on. Like dead center. You see the nose at least? Okay, okay. Anyhow, like we could get into that shit forever. But let me um I wrote this September 30th, or it's the last time I actually um edited it. September 30th. You're gonna read it right now? Yes. Watch this. Yes.

Rich: 1:19:18

We gotta do this.

Chris: 1:19:19

Okay, what do we gotta do? Oh shit. Lights out. It's pretty cool. Um, okay, so this piece, uh, it comes from minimum uh of 2019. And it's called Timelines in Lifetimes. One more good cough because my balls need to get off. That's a joke, I don't even care. Sell a bit for the hell of it for life. If we had it, oh shit. What was that?

Rich: 1:19:51

Sorry, wait, right there.

Chris: 1:19:52

What the fuck? Yo! No, I'm cutting you off right if you're about to do that. That's so fucking funny. Yo. What do we got? What is it?

Rich: 1:20:05

Fake six.

Chris: 1:20:06

Yo, that's meh funny. I wanted to smoke something. Let's do the shit. Yeah, it doesn't think like, yeah.

Rich: 1:20:11

Alright, read it now. This is what I'm gonna do to quit, by the way. I'm gonna use it. Yeah, yo.

Chris: 1:20:15

Yo, it's an oral fixation. Anyhow, we got bands about the jam, so let's get it out. Timelines and lifetimes. If we had it all figured out, there would be no more doubt. There would be no need to scream of the things that we fight about. There would be no more hunger, there would be no more anger, there would only be love and we would make it our anchor. We would find our reflection in our own resurrection. We would change our direction through mistakes with correction. We would give up discretion to blindly seek out perfection, because only the heart knows what is true through affection. There would be a belief that there would be a relief, that a planet of beasts could work towards a world peace. There would be no more sorrow, we would live for tomorrow, we would acknowledge the time or our days as the time being borrowed. I can't read the screen, so you're fucking it up. It would have sounded so good if I didn't do it like that. Anyhow, we would let go of pain, we would never complain. We would take all of the shame and lay it down in a grave. But since nothing is certain, when we call the curtain, could we say that we lived with a passion and purpose? Were we tired and shirtless, worked weak and felt worthless? Did we live deeply or did we just scratch the surface? Did we march in their circus? Did we beg to be perfect? Did we win the race or did we just run the circuit? Did we let time desert us or waste thoughts on what hurt us? Or could we just say that it was simply all worth it?

Rich: 1:21:48

This podcast was worth it. Absolutely, man. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thanks for watching. Thanks for coming, man.

Chris: 1:21:56

It definitely was chill vibe. Like it's cool just even like having this going on. Yeah, right. Like, and I didn't even smoke mine. Guess what? Stomp it out. Quit.

Rich: 1:22:06

Sick.