Dose of Delusion
Two professionals serving up witty banter, unfiltered opinions, and contagious laughter. Join us in Dose of Delusion as we dissect life's absurdities and navigate the world with humor and touch of delusion.
Dose of Delusion
#39: Is it gayla or is it gala? (with rising Tejano pop star, Eric Lee)
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Jay and AJ open the episode with chaotic banter and AJ’s recap of a fully booked San Antonio weekend of DJs, Sundown Social, and low-key crushing on DJ Surge. Jay then spirals into the saga of the “gayla” disaster: the tux shop was closed, he panic-shopped across Marshall’s, Target, Zara, and Macy’s, paid full price against his will, but still showed up serving Calvin Klein at a formal work gala… where he accidentally volunteered himself to host next year’s event in front of 1,300 people.
AJ runs off to a Blue Santa event, and Jay brings in special guest Eric Lee (@soyericlee), Tejano pop singer and part-time thirst trap. Eric talks about juggling his nail salon day job and pop star nights, growing up performing with his dad’s band, being told to “tone down” his mannerisms, and now finally performing as his full, gay self. He explains the heartbreak behind “Pacífico,” touches on Selena as a deep but overused inspiration, and talks about using his body and social media strategically to sell his music while balancing that with a long-term marriage.
They wrap with stanning Whitney from Dancing With the Stars, celebrating Eric’s first solo concert at Let’s Be Honest in San Antonio on December 14, and Eric ending on gratitude, ass slaps, and a whole lot of “I don’t take any of this for granted.”
Weekend Recap And DJ Shoutouts
SPEAKER_01Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to Dose of Delusion. It is me, your host, yours truly Jay. And I am sitting right across from the beautiful, the glamorous, the hat wearing, the flexing. Ooh, if y'all could see this, but y'all would not believe what I saw right before the flexing. It was absolutely ridiculous. It was nothing less than I would expect from AJ the Silver Fox himself. AJ, how are you? Tell us everything.
The Gala Outfit Meltdown
SPEAKER_02I'm doing well. I am coming off of a decent weekend. I what did I do? Work was a little crazy. Um, I had a few events that I had to go to. Obviously, um a friend of mine was still in town. We met up, I think, Friday, if I recall correctly, um, where um my friends Roger and Isaac had their first um their first Friday um Sundown Social event at River North Ice House. So that was really, really cool. The DJs were really fun and amazing. Um and then um Saturday was just like a huge Saturday. And then and then, you know, Sunday Fun Day was Sunday Fun Day, of course, with Sundown Social, um, where one of my favorite um um DJs, he's so cute. Don't tell him I said that. But he has like amazing cheekbones, and his name is DJ Serge. Um, so he is um he's a little cutie, he was doing some really good sounds. Um, so I really, really enjoyed it. Um oh Saturday, I'm getting a flashback. Saturday was um uh um um the We Are Wired group. They did this takeover um of uh you remember Tony's siesta, right? Yes. Okay, so they had a cute little like takeover where it was like um one, two, three, I think it was like four of the DJs um with the We Are Wired, uh We Are Wired collective. Um so they just like had this like and it was really cool vibes, just like chill. Um, I'm caught up with a few of them, um, set up um a couple of interviews coming up for me and my other podcasts, of course. Um, which uh yeah, it was it was just super, super fun. But what I really want to know about is how was your gala?
SPEAKER_01Oh my god. I was hoping you wouldn't ask so so soon. Um well, I mean, let's just get into it. I mean, we got a lot to cover today. We we do have our guests today, so let's just get into it. Yeah, and I have to go, but okay, okay, we'll we'll make a quick we'll make it quick. Okay. Of course, you're so popular. I know, thank you. I am a certifiable dumb bitch. Now the we we knew this already. All right, so we all know I I got fitted, got my got my outfits and whatnot. And then, but it was all during my moving, so I'm like, all right, well, I'll go pick them up later on. So I go that morning to get them, AJ. Well, mid-afternoon, I should say, and um the place is closed. I didn't pay attention to that, didn't even cross my mind. So here I am, it is one o'clock. Gala is at five, right? Excuse me, Gala was at six, but we need to leave here by five. I have nothing to wear. And I'm like, okay, so I'll recreate this monochromatic look. Okay, cool. So I which I'm not very good at. I have three boxes of clothes in front of me, one, two, three, four, five suitcases of clothes in front of me, a closet half hung up with the clothes, and I rotate four outfits. That's all I wear. So I don't do fashion, I don't do clothes, I buy fast fashion off Amazon in Shein and Fashionova. I wear it three or four times. I buy everything in every color and multiple sizes because I never know how it's gonna show up in a mail. And then I recreate what I see on mannequins and what I see on Instagram ads. Like, I don't do fashion. And honestly, it hasn't been a hasn't been a problem. It is what it is. But I'm running all over town now. I also, so I'm like, all right, cool. So luckily for me, where I live now, I do live pretty close to um a standard mall. I'm not a fan of malls, but at the end of the day, it is a standard mall. So first I'm like, let me be a little bit of a cheap ass. So I would take off to, you know, our favorite, my favorite. Um, I took off to Marshall's. Marshall's has nothing, nothing that I need. And I'm like, okay, they have no pants in my size, they don't have any vests, and I had because I I was wearing those pants. It was a shirt, it was a vest, it was a tie, it was the it was the uh the square, and it was all uh very similar shades of black, but all of a lot of it was different, um, different textures, right? For the monochromatic look. Like I had a velvet trim on the vest, and then the shirt was uh was like in bows, the tie was in bows is a different pattern, and it was one was like a dark, uh, one was black, a dark charcoal, light charcoal. Like that was a whole monochromatic look. That's what I was fitted for, anyways. So I'm running all over town, and nothing at the first store. I'm like, all right, cool. I text my friend that said, Hey, I'm taking off, I'm going to Nordstrom's. Go to Nordstrom's. Um, everything was priced normal. There were no holiday sales. I'm like, I can't shop here. So I take off across the street. I go into Zara. Zara has the vest that I need. So I'm like, okay, here's a vest. I'm gonna get this vest. And I'm like, but let me wait. Let me run to Target, see what Target has first. So I leave Zara, I run around the mall, I go through Macy's to cut to Target. While I'm in Macy's, I see like I happen to cut through all of their whatever that section is called, where it's nothing but their suits and ties and vests and all that stuff. And I'm like, okay, so Macy's definitely has what I need, but then again, it's Macy's, you know, let me finish my trek.
SPEAKER_02I'm sorry, I love Macy's. No, no, no, no.
Formal Night Wins And Hosting Ambitions
SPEAKER_01No, no, no, no, no. I'm don't get me wrong, listener. Okay. I love Macy's too, but it's Macy's prices. All right, so I was like, it's Macy's, let me finish my trek to Target. So I go to Target. This is the smallest target known to mankind, so small that I circle the target like three times. And you know, in some bigger cities uh or more denser cities, the targets are multi-leveled instead of really big in one. You know what I'm talking about? What instead of one big uh one story, there are multiple stories. So I circled this target like three times, and I'm like, Oh, there's gotta be another story, but I can't find the stairs. So I fought, I stop an employee and I'm like, hey, where's the stairs to the other level? And he's like, it's only one level here, sir. And I said, Oh, so there's no men's section, and he goes, Yeah, it's right over there. And I looked, and the men's section was about as big as the American food section in a Japanese grocery store. It was like one end cap and like one rack. And I'm like, oh my god. So they have nothing. So then I go back, I'm like, all right, fine, at least I can get my vest and pants at at um Zara, Zara. So I go back through Macy's, I go from Target, out of the mall, in the mall, through Macy's, out of the other side of Macy's, through the parking lot, back into Zara, get the vest, wait in line forever to the dressing room, try them on, it doesn't fucking fit. And I'm just like, and I would love to say so I'm so muscular, but I'm just I'm just big. And so I'm like, all right, cool. So this is super frustrating. So I'm like, all right, well, let me go back to Macy's. So I go back to Macy's, end up paying full price for everything, right? Now the cool thing is I did end up leaving at the end of the night with you know like a lot of Calvin Klein and Michael Core clothing. Nothing that I wanted to double spend my money on again, since I have now an entire suit set waiting at a warehouse for me to go pick up during normal business hours.
SPEAKER_02But that was for rent, wasn't it? Weren't you renting it at all? Oh.
SPEAKER_01So I I bought everything that I needed. I get dressed. Uh Renee went with me. She looked beautiful. Um, and we went to the Gala. Gala. Gala Gala? Is it Gala or Gala? I don't know.
SPEAKER_02People tell you pronounce it different ways.
SPEAKER_01What is Gala, Gala? And it's not just gay people saying Gala. Like they say, yeah. They yeah, I heard her at the gala, the host of the MC was saying, you know, welcome to 389th Gala. And I was like, huh. Is it because I'm here? Anyways, so we uh we went to the gala. It was it was beautiful. Everyone is dressed to their nines. I mean, it's I don't often go to those uh formal events. I usually go to a lot of semi-formal or more like casual. So it was nice being at an event where everyone was wearing either a suit, a tux, you know, um, you know, girls in full gowns, hair up. It was it was beautiful. The the wine, the toast, the food, um, the I mean, it was it was it was a nice event. We were only there for a few hours, but I had a I had a really good time. Oh, oh, AJ. Did I tell you about hosting this event?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I did tell you.
SPEAKER_02Wait, no, you didn't say you were hosting it.
Blue Santa Plans And Guest Tease
Eric Lee Joins: Holidays And Family
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, I'm not. I didn't host this one. However, a few days before the event, because it's for my work, right? Right. So a few days before my event, one of the um coordinators comes through and she's asking for people and you know if they have a talent or a skill because they need to fill some like talent slots and entertainment slots. And she's like, Can you sing? And I'm like, No. She's like, Can you dance? And I said, No. She goes, Can you act? And I said, No. And I was like, You're making me feel really bad about myself. And then she was like, Well, what do you do? And I was like, Well, I'm really fucking successful, not bad for a guy with no talent, anyways. So, and I had made a joke, and I was like, Well, if you need someone to like, you know, live stream or podcast the gala, like I'm your guy, but other than that, I'm not doing anything else. And she's like, You should have hosted. We needed volunteers for host, but we already found some. And I was like, girl, sign me up for next year. So we talked about it. So I signed up to host a gala next year, and I'm super excited about it. Big event, no, 1300 people in the crowd, you know, gonna love it. AJ, I'm sitting at this year's event, and there's a girl out there, and she is hosting and she's doing a good job. And then towards the end of the event, this girl comes out and she was like, Everyone's always asking, How are you? Everyone's always asking me, how are you everywhere all at once doing everything at the same time? Well, I have a secret. We all have partners in crime. Well, I've had a partner since birth, and then out from the other side of the stage, her twin sister comes out. They had been swapping back and forth the whole time throughout the event, emceeing or hosting the event, and then they finished off the night by like saying the whole sentence and our phrase and our company motto by going word for word back and forth. And the crowd went crazy, and all I could think about was, how the fuck am I gonna top this next year?
SPEAKER_02You better not. You don't go, you don't show up, you don't do it. Just raise hang up the jersey, right? Right. Just no, give it up. That's wild.
SPEAKER_01Oh, so that was my chaotic Saturday. Um, it sounds like you had a lot more fun than I had.
SPEAKER_02I, you know, okay, and I was gonna ask you like, how long did it take you to run around from place to place? Like you barely started at like one, your event was in four hours, and then that whole fiasco circling the mall and Tarjay and Macy's and everywhere, like what how long until when did you finally get ready?
SPEAKER_01It took me about three hours of just shopping, and I'm I was literally only in a two-block radius, but running back and forth, back and forth. I think AJ, you had text me in the middle of that, and you're like, Oh, I can't wait. And I was like, it's a nightmare, and that's all.
SPEAKER_02Tell me everything, and then you never respond. I was like, Oh, maybe it is a nightmare. Don't bother me. It was terrible, AJ. That is wild. So I did um Google how to pronounce it. Oh, so it says gala, a festive event or type of apple, has several accepted pronunciations. Gala, like gala, gal uh, rhymes with pal uh, or sometimes gala, which regional variations common, especially in the US where gala is popular, while British English often leads towards the gala or even just gala, with all being correct ways to say the festive party word or name a sweet apple. Well, I was at the gala.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. I kind of like gala. I was gonna say a comment of one person that I feel would pronounce it as gala, but you already put me on blast by tagging her in our recent.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I sure fucking did. How dare you? I'm gonna tell you again. I listen, I love to tag the Salt Lake City people. I did it with quite a few already, so you should be prepared. If you ever mention them in any kind of way where I'm seen in the positive light and you're seen in the negative, I am throwing you under the bus immediately. Immediately.
SPEAKER_01Hey, you know what? For you, AJ, I'll take it. I'll throw myself under the bus. Oh, did I tell you? I see, I've done that before, actually. I went to a um, I think it was like Thanksgiving a couple of years ago with uh some friends of ours. I don't want to put their names out here, but uh one of my friends that he was introducing his partner to his family for the first time, and he was very, very, very nervous about it. And I was like, listen here, if things get crazy, I'll just ask everybody about politics. I'll say the most asinine comment and I'll make sure everybody hates me. That's way all the attention is on me, and then you, new boyfriend to the family, you're going to bash me and defend the family. Guess what? They're gonna love you. I will take it for the team, I will excuse myself, and then I will be at your house drinking, waiting for you to show up.
SPEAKER_02You know, I feel like you might do that too often to where you're just like destroying yourself at the end of the day, and you need to stop doing that.
Cooking, Mac And Cheese, And A New Show
SPEAKER_01I just I just like I love taking one for the team. For the team, for the team. Taking one for the team.
SPEAKER_02It's not getting any better, is it? Whoa. I oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01So what event are you what event are you going to?
SPEAKER_02So I have a little meetup. Um, it's actually the Blue Santa with um um one of the local neighborhood bars. Um Sparkies has their annual Blue Santa event where you go take a toy and you go and you mingle and drink, and um, so I think the mayor was there. Um, or should be, it depends on how long I am here um with this, which will be ending soon, so it's no biggie. But um, but yeah, like I was getting home from work and I was like, oh shit, that is tonight. Like, I don't know why my days were confused. It's Tuesday night, not Wednesday. So um I was like, damn, this trip is packed already. And I was like, oh shit, it's because of that event I'm supposed to be at right now. So um, so I will be going to that shortly. Um, tell tell me about real quick, what is um who's our our guests that we're we're bringing on and tell me what's going on with that.
SPEAKER_01No, I am super excited. Um, so we are bringing on Soy Eric Lee, or just Eric Lee, but his uh Instagram and TikTok handles are Soy Eric Lee. Um you know exactly who he is. I believe you are going to no, no, not I believe you are going to his show on Saturday, right? It's his first concert.
SPEAKER_02Okay, as long as it's not like running into any of my other events that I have, um, because I thought it said Sunday, and I was about to have to like like like retract my my my you know wherever. Um, but yeah, if it is Saturday, I'll make an appearance, of course. So yeah, I'll get all the details right now.
SPEAKER_01I only know this because of a social media post. Um, I know we were texting and talking over the last couple of days, just a little bit here and there. Uh, I have a feeling he's gonna have a lot to say, and I am super excited. I am here for it. He seems like a ball of joy, a sunshine. And so uh I just can't wait to get it.
SPEAKER_02I do watch, I do watch his like TikToks and his um Instagram. He's hilarious. He's really, really funny and his little like dances and with his tight wranglers, and he's so cute.
SPEAKER_01But I'm gonna ask him about that. I'm gonna ask him about his wranglers. I hope so.
SPEAKER_02Um but don't tell him I said anything, please.
SPEAKER_01Um just between us.
SPEAKER_02Just between us, just between us. Um, but yeah, well, well, good. Tell him I say hello. Tell him I do apologize for not being able to um um meet him officially over this, um, but that I will see him Saturday.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Okay, AJ. Well, tell us where they can find you before you take off for today.
From Salon Manager To Tejano Pop Star
SPEAKER_02Um, absolutely. So, everyone, please uh follow me on Instagram. I'm there uh uh and TikTok, AJ the Silverfox. And um you could also follow my other podcast. I'm friends with the DJ on Instagram, and um we are streaming both podcasts on um Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Okay, AJ, I will see you later. Bye-bye now. And for the listener, I no longer have AJ in front of me now, but instead I have a new guest with me today. Someone I am very, very excited to talk with, someone I have been following on social media for a while. I'm sure you have been too, and someone who has a lot of great things to tell us here in the very, very near future. Please join me in welcoming Eric Lee with us today. Eric, how are you? Tell us everything.
SPEAKER_00Hi, um, tell you everything. Everything is going great. I feel good. I'm excited to be here. Um, I'm glad that we got to do everything and we're already rolling and everything's good to go. I've done one of these before, and I literally had to leave the thing because it was like the way that we have it right now. But when they said for me to sign in, I'm signing in and I'm watching them and they're just like talking, and I'm like, hey guys, hey, I'm here and I'm I'm in. And it went on for like 15 minutes, and I literally just ended it, sent a text, and I said, I don't know what's going on, but like, so yeah, and then 45 minutes later, they're like, What happened? You never showed up to the I'm like, girl, I was there waiting. I saw y'all talking and drinking a beer. So it's good to it's good to have a professional setup and everybody's on time and ready to go.
SPEAKER_01No, no, I I I love that. Okay, wow, that is good. Well, please don't leave me today if something goes wrong.
SPEAKER_00I won't, I promise.
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness. Okay, Eric, no, I am super excited you're here with us today. So I have to admit that I did come across your, I believe it was TikTok um a couple of years ago, and I was following you. I believe actually, I think AJ, my co-host, will ask you to repost it on your videos. And then I was like, oh, who's this guy? And I followed you. And um, but that was on an old TikTok that got deleted. I didn't do anything crazy, but I just don't have access to it anymore.
SPEAKER_00So I got it. Okay, okay. Well, thank you for following. That's super fun. I mean, I know we follow each other now, but thank you for the follow back then. It's super nice of you.
SPEAKER_01No, of course, of course. Hey, Eric, let me tell you before we get anything seriously, um, what did you do for your holidays? What what what what for Thanksgiving? Did you go to town? Did you have family come in? What happened?
SPEAKER_00So for Thanksgiving, um, I have a very small, immediate family. It's just my mom, my dad, my sister, and me. Um, and both my sister and I have some have a partners, but my my husband went to Houston with his family, and uh we stayed here. My sister's vegan, so we had to make a a vegan meal for us, which was cool for her. But thank God my dad um got a Turkey for us. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01We know I used to have a I know I used to have a vegan friend. Well, well, I still have this friend. Actually, she's uh producing me behind the scenes. She's actually in my ear right now, and no one can see but no, she uh what do you call it? She went through a phase, I shouldn't say a phase, she went through a lifestyle for a while where she decided to be vegan. And uh no, we all supported it. Uh her her close friend supported it, and it was I'm not gonna say it was easy. I mean, I'll eat anything, right? But I got exposed to a lot of new foods while supporting her veganism for I don't know, the one or two years that she did it.
Industry Standards, Professionalism, And Boundaries
SPEAKER_00Oh wow, okay, so my sister has this thing where, okay, it's very okay, so she's not technically vegan because she'll eat chicken, but only chicken because that's all her stomach can allow her to eat, and a little bit of fish. She can't have any kind of dairy style product at all. But when I say she eats chicken, like just for Thanksgiving, did she eat a chicken? Other than that, she like can't have butter or milk or anything. Everything upsets her stomach. We didn't know that she's actually actually allergic to a lot of things, and we didn't know that that's why she was always having like issues when she was younger. Um, and she when she went to the doctor, because as Mexicans, we don't go to the doctor. You know what I mean? Like, we don't go to like peanut allergies, that's not a thing. Like to be lactose intolerant, like that's not real. So, like, we didn't take her, we didn't know, we just kind of always thought she was a drama queen. So she took herself to the doctor, and they're like, You're allergic too, and like list comes out. So she has a very interesting diet, so we um respected it for Thanksgiving. So I like, like you said, there are different ways to eat things that are vegan. Um, however, for me personally, when it comes to a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, I want the meats, the real stuff. You know what I mean? Like it was nice that we tried all of her stuff, but I was like, um, your next year you're making that for yourself to this side, and I'm gonna make everything else for everyone else.
SPEAKER_01You are braver than I but you know what I did see something. I saw something you make, and I want to give you props. Now, you may not know this about me, but I am uh professionally trained in culinary arts and went to school for everything. Um that's not what I do full-time by any means, but I saw you make a mac and cheese, uh-huh, and I was watching you with some pretty strong judgmental eyes, and I was impressed. So good job on that.
Owning Stage Identity And Movement
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. So it was a recipe that I found this girl that um I watched her on Master Chef for one of those, one of those cooking shows, and she's this itty bitty teeny little white girl, and she's so cute, and she um always cooks online, and I followed her, and it's like a mac and cheese recipe that everybody like kind of tries for the holidays. And I tried it and I was like, girl, if I was not gonna know it was this many steps, honey, this was crazy. I was like, I'm used to the craft from a box. Like, that's what we eat around here. And because I'll be honest, um, I don't know if it's just me and my family, but mac and cheese actually was not ever a thing in our like Thanksgiving or Christmas. We didn't do mac and cheese. I don't know why, if it's just us, um, but we didn't really have it. So then when I started seeing, uh obviously you started seeing more, I'm like, ma'am, I like mac and cheese, so I decided to give it a try. There are so many ingredients, so many steps. I need to try it one more time because it was good. Um, but I do feel like I didn't whisk certain areas enough. Like I didn't realize, like, you know, I had some little flower green granules in there, but oh, it's when the it all comes together at the end and it looks like it all can chew. It's all gonna chew.
SPEAKER_01I would I would have had it, but I was actually I was impressed because one, it's the holiday season. You made a mac and cheese from scratch, and then like two days later, I see you post about you're having a show coming up here pretty soon, right? Yeah, yeah. And I was like, does this guy stop doing anything? Okay, first of all, tell me about this show. What is happening? What is going on? What's going on in Eric's world?
SPEAKER_00So in Eric's world, well, everything's about Eric and Eric's vote. No, I'm just kidding. So Eric's world consists of like literally, so I run a salon, I manage a nail salon throughout my day. And at night, when I took when I put on my superhero cape, I'm a pop star, a town pop star. So I got asked, Christy, Christy Waters from Let's Be Honest, The Amazing Drag Queen, was like, hey, when is your Eric? When are you gonna do a full concert? Because I've been doing shows here and there. I'll do three or four songs. She's like, You need to have a concert. I'm like, Okay, well, do you have a place for me to have this concert at? Because uh, how am I supposed to just pop one up? She's like, Do you want to do one? And I was like, Are you serious? She's like, Yes, I want you to have your own concert. And I was like, like a full concert, like all my songs. She's like, Well, duh, I want you to sing every single song. So I was like, Let's do this. And then she said, Okay, we're doing it in three weeks.
SPEAKER_01I was like, Three weeks? Well, not for yeah, like she gave me how big is that cave that you're wearing?
SPEAKER_00Pretty big, girl. When I I say yes to everything because at the end of the day, you know, I dreamt about these things uh since I was a kid. So I'm never gonna say no to to something. I always try something once, and if it doesn't work out for me, like meaning, like, for instance, I've been asked to go to a show before and sing, show up at this time, show up at this time. When I sang, because I uh we're gonna go backtrack a little bit. When I sang with my dad's band, it was always you gotta be on time, you gotta be ready, you gotta do all these kinds of things. So that's how I've always mentally been. So whenever somebody asks me to do a show, like I always want to do a show, but I've showed up to some places and the sound's not ready, no one's ready, I I leave. If I'm waiting 45 minutes and you I don't even know what I'm supposed to do, like that's that's not fair to me. I got ready, showed up, you know what I mean? I got ready, I showed up on time. I've been waiting for 45 minutes. I always show up. Here's the thing I show up an hour before my whatever they tell me, I'm there an hour before for whatever reason. They need anything. That's just how my dad trained me to be. So if I show up an hour before, I'm waiting 45 minutes and we still don't know when I'm gonna get any kind of sound check. I'm going home. Then it's not that important to you. So this one, I was excited because Chrissy was like, I'm gonna take care of everything for you actually after today. I'm going straight over there to go do a sound check. So yeah, that's gonna be fun. I'm excited.
SPEAKER_01So you you're quite the gay Hannah Montana, is what I'm hearing.
Writing In Spanish Through Story
SPEAKER_00Yeah, basically. Yes, because uh work in El Salon during the day, go out and I sing and come back home, and then it's like regular life at home. I still got dishes, I got laundry, and I like I do love to cook. I'm no culinary artist, but I do like to cook. I love salmon, chicken, mixing things together. I make like uh the other day I made like a galolip oil, but then I put noodle uh noodles in it, so I made it like a like a pho. So like I I love doing stuff like that. I like to do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I love well, I love that creativity. It obviously it pays off because you're an artist, an artiste, as some would say. So you have a creative mind, but uh let the people out there know, Christy Waters talking to you, that you must have that set ready to go or he's gonna walk away.
SPEAKER_00Um here's the thing. Here's the thing. One thing that made me really excited too is that I knew I wasn't gonna be let down. Because sometimes somebody will offer me and we can go do something, and I'm nervous because I don't know what their worth ethic is like. I don't know what you know what it's gonna be when I show up. Sometimes, now there are times where of course I know what's gonna happen. I've I've sang here before, whatever, but with Christy, I mean, I know that she has a high standard just for herself. And if she's offering something to me, I know she's going to give me all of herself as much as she can to make sure that I put on the best show that I can. And I'm I'm actually just very excited because I feel like it's gonna be the first time I feel like people will actually get to see my entire business card of me as a singer.
SPEAKER_01No, I love that. Well, well, let me ask you this since you know it is you as a singer. So I'm understanding now that this will not be your first time performing, or will this be your first solo concert?
Pacifico: Heartbreak And The Beer
SPEAKER_00This will be my first solo concert as Eric Lee. This is not my first time performing. I've been doing I've been in the industry going on nine years already. So, yeah. So when I started with my my dad's band, I mean, I've played to I played to like five people in the crowd, and I've played to like thousands of people in the crowd. So I've had that whole juxtaposition. But the thing is, doing that, like I they weren't there to just see me. It was my dad's band. My dad's band is very famous, they're huge, they're Grammy nominated, like it's a it's a whole thing, big boots to fill, if you will. But I was with them for a while, and the thing was if we can get into this for a small second, let's do it.
SPEAKER_01Please tell me everything.
SPEAKER_00Yes, okay. So, what was tough was okay. So, we're we're going, we're rewinding eight, nine years. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Let's bring it back. Let's bring it all the way back to the beginning.
SPEAKER_00When I started, my dad was very tough with me on don't move your hands like that, don't call people babe. Uh Eric, don't walk like that. You're moving your hips. It was I was when I was in the band, it was look as masculine as possible. Like, I am super in tune with myself, and I'm super confident that if I'm strutting, girl, I just have a big butt. I'm so sorry. I just like I'm just gonna walk. I walk to point A to point B. But in my dad's mind, it was like a protective mode of I don't want anybody to say anything to you. I don't want anybody to pick on you. This industry can be ruthless, especially being a gay tahano singer out and open. And it it wasn't also like to be completely honest, I think it was also just my dad projecting a lot too. I think he was having a hard time wrapping his whole mind around it. And things slowly started to kind of soften up when it but my dad has always been tough on me, and I respect it, and I I will never say that it's anything negative, but like he was strict on time. Like, for instance, there was a time when I was like five minutes late to get into the bus so we could leave out of town. And as I was pulling up, because I said I'm almost there, I'm almost there because I was running late from work because there was traffic. He's like, You should have planned better. We're leaving in the bus without you. We'll see you at the next gig.
Selena’s Real Influence And Craft
SPEAKER_01Wow. Okay, so it's giving Selena's Ilos Dinos here, but which we'll get into that minute enough, which I love Celina. But you know what? I'm actually glad you brought that up. But your father, you know, he said he was really trying to like control your mannerisms and whatnot. Oh yeah. So now that you are doing this show on your own and you have your own music, do you feel that when you perform or you write, that your sexuality is like a large part of your music, or does it just sneak in there on its own?
SPEAKER_00I think I think uh it sneaks in because here's the thing: because I was already brushed out to be as masculine as possible, my look for for the most part is very man. I'm very cowboy, straight up. I do have a lot of my hands are dainty. I can't help it. I move them hips, so it's a junk supposition of a tough-looking cowboy shaking his hands and doing a little this sometimes. It just, I don't do it on purpose, but my mannerisms are big. Um, I would say I'm flamboyant when I move. I'm very, I'm very um, I like to put precise movement throughout the whole thing. I give my all when I'm on stage. And that was one thing that was tough is when I was with the band, it was always pull it back, you're doing too much. And now I get to like just fully perform how I want to. What comes absolutely natural, which is that mixture of masculine and feminine, that I think is also cool because there are some men out there too who are gay or not gay that they'll see like, oh, like you don't have to always be 100% super feminine if that's not you, and you don't always have to be super, hey bro, what's up? Like, you can find the balance of both, and I kind of feel like I'm like that. So I I love that part that I get to be a hundred percent myself now.
SPEAKER_01Well, now that you can be 100% yourself, and and let me ask you this quick do you write your own music?
SPEAKER_00Oh, so yes and no, and I'll explain. Okay. What I do is because I don't speak Spanish fluently, I write out the story of what I want it to say. I know the Selena thing comes out every time I talk about this. Um I write the entire I'll write a two-page paper of a story. I'll write the story. I give it to my producer, and he will create the story with his words. So it's my I am writing the story, but he literally writes.
SPEAKER_01Okay, no, no, I love that. I love that. Well, now that I know that, let me ask you this question. Are there any songs out there on your own as Eric Lee that have maybe a full-on gay meaning that the people don't know about?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, in Coconut, when I say I keep it hard, but it's sweet inside.
SPEAKER_01Oh Milanta.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's that. Um uh there's a line where I say, like, let's go to Costa Rica and drop the money on the boys, like just being a little bit that was my a little bit promiscuous-y kind of song, if you will.
SPEAKER_01I okay, okay, okay. We'll put a pen in that. We'll get back to that. Okay. I am okay. I'm really glad that you brought that up, Reese. You don't speak Spanish fluently because neither do I. Now, I am a half-breed myself. Thank God to my mama, I'm half Mexican, but she did me dirty. That girl did not teach me Spanish, which is so frustrating because she's fluent. You know, she's fresh off the boat, she's fluent, she didn't teach me. It is what it is. But do you know where I learned most of my Spanish from as a young child?
SPEAKER_00From where?
SPEAKER_01Selina. I knew you were gonna say that. It's like it's like, how did I not know I was gay when I was a young child? I know, right? And I was in fourth grade learning all her songs, lyric for lyric, all in Spanish, doing the translations with books, you know, English to Spanish, books. Uh-huh. Um, and that is where I learned a lot. So I say that, Eric, because your latest single, Pacifico, I was like, I gotta know what this song is. I love the way it sounds. I'm singing along to it, but I don't really know what it means. Yeah, I spent the last week or so going through and doing a translation word for word, so I can understand what it means. And boy, those lyrics.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, honey. They did men do men can do you dirty, honey. I know. And my favorite thing about it is I always say, like, look, don't do something stupid to me, because I probably will write a song about you.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so for the listener who doesn't know about Pacifico, can you tell us what the lyrics are?
Big Dreams: Tours, TV, And Film
SPEAKER_00So, yes, so Pacifico is talking about you're you're at a party, you're not wanting to really bring the vibe down, but you have no other way of like expressing, like you feel something inside, and like you know that you're sad because of you know, this relationship that is not no longer in your heart, it's no longer there. And while you're drinking, you just as you drink, you're remembering this, and everyone's telling you to like stop, stop crying about it, or stop uh thinking about it, and you're telling everybody, let me just drink my beer as I reminisce and enjoy being drunk because this is where I'm happy. I'm happy in this moment. That's basically what it is. That's the story of it.
SPEAKER_01I I I got that now, but I'm glad you share that because that was um that was absolutely gorgeous. Now let's talk about Selena again, real quick, so I could talk about Selena forever. How did she inspire you? I know she inspired all of us. How does she inspire you?
SPEAKER_00So I will go ahead and and I never actually talk about her as an inspiration, even though she is my biggest one. And I'm gonna break that here because I guess maybe it's just finally time. So, to be honest, all you ever hear in the Hano industry is Selena, this, Selena that, which it's not a bad thing. But whenever up-and-coming new artist wants to sound like her, look like her, you have, you know, people literally trying to look and wear her look still, which I get, but it just becomes exhausting to hear it. As a as a listener in The Hano music, when you hear that that's everybody, like we know that that is. So I kind of always been hush on it because then of course it's like, okay, if the gay guy's gonna say it's Selena, well duh. But let's talk about it. Her inspiration to me has been everything. I can I can put on the live concert and I know what she's saying in the middle of the songs. I can s talk, I could do the concert myself. Like when she's talking. I watched it so many times with my cousin. Like, I can't even count. When I tell you, we mimicked every move. I that's here's another crazy thing. That's kind of how I learned to sing because I would just mimic her. I would just try to like I've had no voice lessons ever in my life. My dad never really taught me how to sing either. I just like would sing secretly and I would play her and I would try to sound like whoever who I would try to sound like whoever I was listening to at the time. So one thing that I a little hidden talent is I can mimic a little bit. So, but it's because I've always practiced. So, I mean, I'm talking putting on concerts for my mom with the Selena like in the background, and I had a microphone and I put red nail polish on it so we could have the lipstick stain.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so for those of you who don't know, Selena has this iconic microphone. It's actually in her Selena Museum down in uh where is it at? In Corpus Christi. And they have the microphone on display there, and it has her dark red or almost maroonish lipstick stains on it from how she used to, excuse me.
SPEAKER_00It was called Chanel, and it was a Chanel lipstick, and the the name of the lipstick was brick.
Social Media Strategy And Relationship Balance
SPEAKER_01Chanel brick, I stand correct. Well, there's that color, and you can see it on the microphone. So for those of you knew for the uh for oh my god, what is it saying? If you know, you know, but if you don't now you do. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I it was ever it was, I mean, she she's just a lot. It was a it was a I didn't understand her death. Like I knew that she died, but it's crazy because like a lot of the reasons I think I also naturally what's the word related to her by having a dad who sang in a band who was tough on them no matter what. I mean, the yelling scene in the bus, the amount of times my dad acts like that. I mean, but it comes out of love, you know. It's not, I'm not saying anything negative, but like when I saw it and he's like screaming on the bus and everything, I'm like, girl, that's just a typical Saturday with my dad. Like I already like it's it, there's the the resembling of my family and and a little bit of theirs, because I don't want to say I'm anything like her in any kind of iconic way, but there's a resemblance in the family dynamic.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, I was getting that when you first started talking about it. I was like, wow, it's giving Dinos. Um but now we do know that, okay, no, she may not have been a direct inspiration to you, but Selena herself was obviously a big, big dreamer. She had these big beautiful dreams.
SPEAKER_00Well, no, she was a very direct inspiration. I just don't talk about it because in the Tahana world, it has just become so redundant to say that.
SPEAKER_01Okay, no, I understand that. I get that.
SPEAKER_00But here I'm expressing it now because, like, no, it was literally like she is exact everything that she dreamt of and how she thought, like, I'm I feel like the same thing. Like when her little sister in the movie is like, Selena, what are you doing up here? It's like, I'm dreaming. Like, girl, the daydreams in my in my room at night, just being on a stage, hoping to be the biggest star that I could be. Like, it's the resemblance is weird sometimes, so I also kind of like push it away. Cause I don't ever want people to think that I think I'm her.
SPEAKER_01Well, see, that's what I want to know. I want to know what are your dreams? I mean, I know you're you're becoming pretty successful right now, but what are your what are your big dreams? What are the something that you haven't told yourself yet or told anybody else yet that you want to go ahead and accomplish? What are you daydreaming about?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so the daydreams as of recent have been right now that the start of my first concert, we'll we'll say this again, December 14th, San Antonio, Texas. Let's be honest, gotta plug that in real quick. Um now that that's starting and I'm getting this for the first time, and I mean the first full concert of Eric Lee, right? I feel like the sky's the limit. I want to do a mini Texas tour, hit all the big cities, and then see if I can eventually, if this could be a big enough business card with my social media, showing other bands that maybe I can become an open. For another big band or artist in the Hunter world and kind of start there. That is gonna be like my starting point. But my ultimate big huge dream is I want to do music as much as possible, but I do want to do movies. I do want to be on a sitcom. I want to be someone's dad on a show, or I wanna be uh, I don't care what the character is, I will attack the character. I want to be anything and everything that's possible in the entertainment world.
SPEAKER_01Wow. You want to be nice sort of crossover artist? Uh okay Yes, I want to do it.
SPEAKER_00I want to do it all. They ever like I want to become such a big enough star that I eventually get asked to be on Dancing with the Stars.
SPEAKER_01Whoa, we're gonna get to that in a minute, but we're gonna Okay, all right. No, I want to talk about your social media real quick because you said you know. Let's talk about it. Use your social media, which uh has how I first found you. And let's just say you're very good at knowing what your assets are. And yes. And it is what works, works. It has it has garnered the attention of a lot of people out there. Many people who are, like you said, do you want to be somebody's dad? I'm sure people, many men would love to call you daddy. Um, would love to have you on there. Um, how did you get into that? What why did you say you said you know what works, but like what did you when did you first realize, like, hey, you know, I'm becoming a bit of a thirst trap icon, at least local to this area. What happened there?
Handling Haters With Class
Dancing With The Stars And Pop Culture
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, I was trying so hard not to be that because I I think you should try a little harder. Well, well, well, in the beginning, in the beginning, I was trying really hard not to be that because to be completely honest, I didn't want um, there was a little bit of a okay, well, let's just get into it. There was a pullback from my husband where sometimes he would feel uncomfortable because he's like that you're really exposing yourself. And it to viewers and me, because he's also not on TikTok, he's he doesn't really do all that stuff, so he doesn't realize that it's just a video that people see and we move on. Like it's it's really just it's fun, it's entertaining. And in the beginning, it was a little tougher, I don't like that, or like I don't like shirtless videos. And I was like, girl, you gotta give me something to work with. I gotta sell. Hello. Like, we gotta get, you know, we gotta work on things. And it took a while, and then finally, when I was like, look, babe, this is what we're doing, this is what I'm doing. People find me attractive, the butt sells, the chest sells, the arm sells. And how do you want me to sell my music if I can't promote it in a way that's gonna grab people's attention? You either jump on this train with me or I'm leaving it. You're leaving, you're you're staying back because I'm not doing all this. I worked too hard to get somewhere for anybody to stop me. And we came to a mutual agreement, which is what one thing that's wonderful about our relationship is we're able to talk about these things and we can be very blunt. And sometimes when I would tell my friends, like, you know, oh, Steve didn't like the fact that I did this or did that, they're like, oh, whatever. That's how he feels. He has every right to feel that way. That's not wrong. Um, but being with somebody who's trying to achieve something, we had to have those conversations of like, sometimes I'm gonna be entertaining and I'm gonna slap my ass. Sometimes we're gonna be entertaining and I'm gonna have my shirt where you can see my chest hair. Like, that's what's gonna get me more views. And to be completely honest, we have to be calculated. I mean, we have to understand, like, at the end of the day, it's not just my music, I'm the product. So I have to sell myself. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01No, I I love it. And like I said, I watched that. I'm like, okay, well, he clearly knows what he's doing. He is at least master the artist social media. Uh, you have your nice short video clips that get our attention, and like you said, we just move on from them, but they're plentiful, they come regularly. You really must like in fact, in fact, I mean, you other people out there who are trying to do what you do, they should take a note from you.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thank you. I appreciate that so much. I really do, because it it was a journey to get here. Um, to be completely honest, when you're I've been with with my husband for fifth 14 years.
SPEAKER_01Oh my. Congratulations.
SPEAKER_00We've been together. Thank you. We've been together for a long time. It has been a journey to be able to get there because we have two people's emotions involved. Does that make sense? And I have to respect it, I have a relationship that means a lot to me, and I have to respect his feelings at well as well. It's already all about me. I can't just make it all about me too in my relationship. So it was a journey to get here. We've gotten here, we have a mutual understanding, and I said, and here's the thing I told him, I was like, look, at the end of the day, I make those videos. People may think my ass looks good, they may like my body, this, that, or the other, but I'm laying down with you. I ain't going nowhere. So we're good. And then ever since then, everything's been good.
SPEAKER_01You know what? That that's that's amazing. Now, obviously, you getting you're getting a lot of positive attention. But you know what I do love, Eric? I love the way you handle that negative comment, your haters out there, the way you kind of put them on blast without exactly embarrassing them directly, but enough to say, like, hey, why?
SPEAKER_00Enough to say something. It's it so that was one thing I was trying to calculate because one thing that I feel that even if you look at my videos, I don't think I'm a judgmental or mean person. And I feel like people don't see that. You're not gonna be able to do that. Whether they see it, whether they see a thirst trap or whether they see me talk, I'm always in a good mood because I really am. I'm in a good mood, I'm having a good time. A lot of times I'm showing off my outfits, and my thing is why are you in my comments being negative? I'm not negative in anyone's comments. Like, I don't believe in that either positivity or keep it scrolling, right? So, what I did was like one day somebody said something, and I clicked on their picture and I said, You are not about to tell me about what I look like. So I post the video and it's like, everybody, give it up for her. She wants attention, give her the attention. Because I'm not saying, and I here's the thing now, one rude thing was said to her. Well, from me.
SPEAKER_01Well, I know that's why I was like, this guy knows tact. And I I was obsessed with it. I'm like, this is really brilliant, and I've seen some other people do it, not as well as you, where you highlight who they are. Hey, you you you you want to be seen, you're gonna be seen.
SPEAKER_00You're gonna be seen.
SPEAKER_01And you just you know, let the let the internet do its thing from there. I love that. Hey, earlier, a second Eric, you mentioned you want to be on Dancing with the Stars. Isn't that everyone's goal?
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, I know, right?
SPEAKER_01Did you watch this current season?
SPEAKER_00Or the I mean the reason why I came back is because I watched Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. So uh Whitney was actually the reason why it came back. Obviously, it was cool to see. Yeah, Whitney was the reason why I came back. Uh Tapanga was cool to see. Um, Steve Irwin's son, Jeff Irwin? No, what's his name?
SPEAKER_01Robert.
December 14 Concert Details
SPEAKER_00There you go, Robert. Sorry. Robert was on there. Um, and I was like, oh, that this is cool. And the whole cast, because like I said, I only went for for Whitney. When I saw the whole entire cast, I was like, oh, this is gonna be fun. And then I was really sad when um what's her name for Fifth Harmony? Lauren. When Lauren left, I was like, oh, that sucks. Why are you laughing?
SPEAKER_01Okay, for those of you who watched it, or okay, for those of you who didn't watch it, Lauren Howdy, she she was on there. I I think she was doing pretty good for them. Actually, she was doing really good.
SPEAKER_00They told her that there was the like one of the best dances of the night, and they can see her going all the way through only to get eliminated that night in front of Fifth Harmony.
SPEAKER_01In front of Fifth Harmony to her own son, to her own son. They were so messy, girl. No, no, no, but but what I thought was even funny was at the end, right after she finishes dancing, and then they um she gets voted off, and then they're like, How are you feeling right now? And she's just like pissed.
SPEAKER_00Pissed. Which correct. I would be too if I got comments like that, and I kind of feel like, oh, it's definitely not my night to leave, and then you get eliminated, I would feel a little bit like okay, this seems rigged now.
SPEAKER_01No, I feel I I get it. I feel like the show was a little odd, you know. I feel like there are certain dancers on there who may have had a big, big heart and passion for what they're doing, but their dance moves didn't really quite reflect that, and they made it way further than they should have.
SPEAKER_03Say his name.
SPEAKER_01Wow, wow, my god. I would say if I could remember it.
SPEAKER_00I don't know either. That's why I felt that too about him. I was like, he's so sweet. I love him. I'm sure he's having a good time doing a little one-two to the left and a little one-two to the right. But some people were getting eliminated that were actually dancing.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so what do you think of Whitney Levitt's final dance? I know she was on Mormon Wives as well, correct?
SPEAKER_00Oh, you mean the one that they filmed with the spitting of the water?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00I can't even talk about it.
SPEAKER_01It was it was it was iconic.
SPEAKER_00It was yes, it was a piece of art, and but people were judging it and saying, like, um they wouldn't have been able to pull this off with it, like, yes, they wouldn't have. That's the thing. They used what they had to their advantage. They had multiple takes, multiple outfits, they had lighting, they had so many things that they were able to do that this was not a dancing with the stars dance. This was a separate piece of art that they were able to create. And boy, did they they ate that up.
SPEAKER_01Well, what do you think about this? Obviously, that was so iconic and so fantastic that I believe Napa heard correctly that she got cast in a Broadway show.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, she's gonna be Roxanne Hart on uh Chicago.
SPEAKER_01Roxy Hart in Shabhi Chicago.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that's crazy, right?
SPEAKER_01We have to go.
SPEAKER_00We have to go. There's no option.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we we have to we have to book a ticket, we have to go, and you have to be a guest host again. While we I think it starts in February. We're gonna look, so we're gonna circle back and we're gonna have a circle back. I'm down so we can go. Okay, hey, before we before we wrap this up, I really, really want to get into your show. December 14th. Right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, San Antonio, Texas. At Let's Be Honest, yes.
Gratitude, Plugs, And Sign-Off
SPEAKER_01Hosted by the one and only Christy Waters. Christy Waters. We love her, we adore her. I miss her so much. Um, how many songs are you performing?
SPEAKER_0011.
SPEAKER_01Eleven songs?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a whole concert, baby.
SPEAKER_01Oof. Is there gonna be an opener, a closer? Do you know?
SPEAKER_00So Christy's actually gonna open for me and um Kylie, I believe. Let me make sure I say her name right. Hold on, because I don't want to mispronounce her name. Um, Kylie, not Kylie Sonique Love. That's from Drag Race. Um Kylie Gorgeous Deluxe. Kylie Gorgeous Deluxe. Her and and and Christy are gonna open up for me. She asked me if I wanted to uh have a singer open up for me. And I'm not here to take like all the like take away from an any other singer. I'm not trying to make it all about me. I mean, it is my concert, but I thought it would be cooler to have the best of both worlds because I already do feel it's I'm still a little bit nervous. I'm doing the first ever Tahano Club concert at a gay bar. Like that's in it, that's a lot. And I feel like if you already have me, and if you don't already know a lot of my songs, but you're going to support to have two people singing that you don't really know, I feel could have a little bit of a it may not be exactly that, but if you have two amazing performers that hype up the crowd and I go on there and just shake my ass the way that I meant to shake my ass, I think it would actually crescendo perfectly. So we went ahead and have them. They're gonna open for me, and I'm gonna do my first set into my um my ballad of Pacific. There, then what I'm gonna do is a quick change and then finish it off.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god, I am so excited. I am terribly bummed I'm not gonna be there. All right, so listener out there, please go and support Eric December 14th at Let's Be Honest, opened up by Christy Waters and gorgeous deluxe. We are super excited. AJ the Silver Fox, my beautiful, lovely partner in crime on this podcast, will be there. He will be supporting you. I will see lots of pictures and videos. Eric, do you have anything else for us before we leave?
SPEAKER_00Uh I would like to say thank you. Thank both of you all for having me. Any kind of opportunity like this, I don't ever take for granted. I don't care, you know, how big I go. I remember days when I wish that anybody would even want me on their podcast. I remember days that uh I wish that I could ever have my concert. So all these things I don't take lightly. It means so much to me. And I just want to say thank you so much. It really means a lot.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's beautiful. Eric, where can they find you?
SPEAKER_00They can find me um on the corner of just kidding. Um on Instagram and um uh TikTok. It's at Soy Eric Lee, S O Y E E R I C L E E. And um, yeah, you can find me there. And pretty much I'm smacking my ass anytime I can. So come by and see me.
SPEAKER_01We love to see a listener. You can find me at BJ All Day. Please follow the podcast at Dosa Delusion. And also don't forget to follow my beautiful co-host, AJ the Silverfox. Listeners, we will see you guys later. Take care, but bye now.
