In The Passenger Seat with Alethea Crimmins
From the front seat of her car, Alethea has motivated millions—reaching hearts around the world and even catching the attention of icons like Rihanna, Kesha, Madonna, and Viola Davis. Now, she’s bringing that same energy, wisdom, and unshakable confidence to the podcast realm—inviting special guests to ride along and share their own journeys of resilience, purpose, and self-discovery.
No scripts, no filters—just raw, powerful conversations filled with gems, laughter, and the kind of motivation that makes you sit up a little straighter. You never know who will be in the passenger seat next, but one thing’s for sure: every ride is a step toward something greater.
So buckle up, tune in, and let’s take this journey together. 🎙️🚗✨
In The Passenger Seat with Alethea Crimmins
Funk Revolution: Hoss on Passion, Perseverance, and Creating Your Own Path
Musician and visionary Hoss joins us for an engaging conversation about Funktacy, his innovative fusion of a record label and magazine. Hyde's journey from DJing and playing instruments to founding Funktacy and Funky C Academy is fueled by his deep-rooted love for funk music and icons like James Brown. Despite the risks, Hyde's realistic yet daring approach to his music career showcases the power of perseverance and passion at any age.
We venture into the transformation from hobbyist to professional in the music industry, stressing the importance of self-education and understanding the business side of music. With a strong emphasis on the distinction between being an artist and running an entity, our dialogue covers the challenges of self-doubt and setbacks in a social media-driven world. Hyde sheds light on maintaining resilience and mental health while navigating public personas, highlighting the significance of self-belief and consistency.
Listeners will gain insight into Hyde's personal philosophies, where creating music for self-fulfillment trumps the need for external validation. From unexpected moments during live shows to sharing humorous quirks and unconventional habits, Hyde's story is a testament to finding joy and gratitude in the journey. Rounding out with career advice and exciting updates on collaborations with artists like Willie Mack and Redible, this episode is a vibrant call to embrace one's passions, strive for personal growth, and make meaningful connections across the globe.
Have a Good Day On Purpose...
YA' Welcome
Yeah, shine like glitter, let the light in your life get bigger and in the sky, high like a winner, big and bright like a diamond. I'm a shaker. Hey, hey, hey, you're welcome. Hey, hello, hello, hello. Everybody, what's good? And welcome to In the Passenger Seat with me Alethea Crimmins, your neighborhood hype girl. Y'all listen, the guests that I have in the passenger seat today. If you like music, like I like music, then you will appreciate this guest. Baby, I am a fan of mashups, I'm a fan of all things. Dj and this guy right here, this guy right here look, let me just stop talking about him and show you the clip honey, roll it, I'm a rock star, I'm a rock star, I'm a rock star. Listen, look, I was getting all hype baby. Let me introduce you to the man behind the music. Baby, let's get into it with Hyde. What's going on? What?
Speaker 2:up Listen. Thank you so much. That was like a sizzling introduction that really worked out.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that. Thank you, thank you for being here, of course, of course, we're going to get right into it. Can you just tell everybody a little bit about who you are and what you do?
Speaker 2:Perfect, yeah, of course. So my name is Haas. First and foremost, I'm a musician, music lover, just like yourself. I also run a record label called Funktacy, as well as a magazine under the same name, funktacy. So we are a very unique entity both a record label and a magazine under the same roof. As a matter of fact, we're launching Funky C Academy next week Sorry, next month, in late March. So we are a multifaceted entity and I have my hands involved with every aspect of music, from production, pre-production to post-production, working with artists, artist development and editorial. So yeah, it's a busy life, good life, but a happy life and editorial.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's a busy life, good life, but a happy life, man. So the first thing when I read about you was the name of your label fun to see, which I love. Where did that come from? Because I was like, oh, that is unique no for sure.
Speaker 2:so when I was looking for names, first thing, you know like all the domain names are taken, you got to come come up with something really whack, right. So I'm like I love funk music. I had a thing for you know James Brown and you know Ray Charles and all that blues legends and rock and funk legends. So I like the name funk and I'm like, ok, so this whole thing could just be a fantasy. I could never make it. So I mixed funk and fantasy together and we got funk to see.
Speaker 1:I love it, I love it, I love it. Now, I love that you said because I'm big on like, like lifting people up and finding the positive in everything and you said that you, you thought that you could never make it.
Speaker 2:Well, look, why? No, you have to be realistic. So, the most, I think one thing that would avoid depression, one thing that would avoid, you know, feeling remorse or anything, is knowing that you're taking chances. And when you take chances, there's success and there's failure, right? So not knowing that I would never make it I mean, I didn't count on that either, but the fact that, look, I mean I left some room for failure. If you're only thinking positively all the time, life is not always happy-go-lucky. Life has its moments too. So you come out a winner when you learn to juggle the good and the bad, the success and the failure, the happy and the sad, and that's what makes you a winner.
Speaker 1:So what made you say? You know what? I'm gonna just go for it. I'm going to just do it Like I. I know that this might not work, but fuck it, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 2:I mean, uh, I think since I was 13 14, I wanted, I wanted to be in the music industry. It's just because I have so much love for music, you know, playing different instruments, working with, playing with different bands, be djing, and all that stuff. I didn't know what I want to do, okay, and I come from an immigrant family in Canada and I didn't have any guidance and I think one of the biggest things in order to succeed in entertainment and music industry is to have a mentor or to have a guide, and I lacked that. But I always knew what I wanted to do and the fact that I love doing so many things kind of delayed it. I'm a late bloomer when it comes to success and getting to the point that I want to get, but again, I was blessed and I had a chance to try a lot of things that a lot of people didn't get to try within the industry as well, as you know, stuff that I wanted to get my hands on.
Speaker 1:I love that and I love the fact that you were like that. You know, hey, hey, I started out late, but that didn't stop nothing. That did not stop anything is, yes, I started late, but look, but look at what I did like I'm still here. I still was successful. Regardless of how late you start in life, you can still make something out of yourself, and I think that that is wonderful.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Better late than never, right Hell yes, so when did you first discover that you had a passion for being a DJ? Like you could have done anything else, but what made you say I want to be a DJ, you know?
Speaker 2:I enjoy technology. So, growing up, you know, in the 90s, house music was taking over, hip hop was taking over. In both these genres they evolved around DJs, right, the parties, the scene and everything the culture. So for me, you know playing different instruments as well as dabbling with technology. You know, even today, if I had the choice, I would say I'll be a flamenco player by day and a DJ by night. So being a DJ was something that I grew up with, I grew into. I never grew out of it. It's still there, it's part of the mainstream culture, part of the mainstream music scene, and I'm still involved with it. So it's part of my career, it's part of who I am and it's just something that, like I said, naturally was in me and it grew in me and it's still there.
Speaker 1:So what is your like? Musical style, or like what, what genre? Because you've, you've dabbled with, like snoop dog and michael jackson, and like different styles of music. So what, what's, what's? What's your style?
Speaker 2:describe it my style like haas, is known as a house music producer, kind of classic house, more like. Kind of like you know old school vibe house, a 909 and the bass line and that piano riff, you know pre-chord progressions with piano. That is my style. But as a record label owner, as a record label ceo, I have my hands with creation of country music, rock music and hip-hop and pop music. So I would say I'm multi-diverse. I'm grateful for that. So for that I would call myself multi-genre as a person, but as a producer, more house music. As a songwriter, more house music. But then again, because of the label, I have my hands in pretty much every genre that I could get my hands on.
Speaker 1:I love house. I love how it makes you feel I love house Like I. I love how it makes you feel Like I love it. I'm like, yeah, it just it just make you want to just jump around and just have a good like you. You can't be sad listening to house music Like there is no, there is no possible way that you can feel bad about anything listening to house music. So I think that that is amazing. But you're also a drummer and you play several different instruments, because I saw you at a show and you're also a drummer, correct?
Speaker 2:I am. I would say I was Like I play guitars, I play percussion, I play drums, bass, multiple instruments. I stay away from brass and violin. I don't pick like difficult instruments. But, to be honest with you, nowadays, you know, I work mostly with a small keyboard and the computer. Because of production, unfortunately, that's what the world has come to keyboard and the computer. Because of production, unfortunately that's what the world has come to, and at the caliber of production output that you know, I'm working on releasing a lot of music. We're releasing at least one or two tracks every week under the funk busy label, so, and we're actually increasing that to a few tracks uh, by summer 2025 per week. So so for that, unfortunately, I don't touch a lot of instruments. You know, just like most other instruments, we're working out of the box, out of the computer. So less organic instruments, more virtual instruments, I would say.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I guess because I used to play like the clarinetinet in high school and college, so I wouldn't be able to get on a track with my clarinet. I'm sure you still got the mic.
Speaker 2:I'm sure you still got the mic.
Speaker 1:So the one thing I love I love, love, love is mashups, and you are a big mashup person. What is your like creative process? But I've I've never understood how people can hear one song and say, hey, this will go good with this song. Like, I can mash this up Like. What is your creative process when? When doing mashups?
Speaker 2:When doing doing so. For example, I just released a track called way too cool, and the vocals on it was actually from the first hip-hop track that we released in 2010 under my label funk to see, and I just took bits and pieces of this and turn it into a disco house. So, uh, and the artist's name is Aristos. He's my right-hand man and brother. He's been running the label with me, but that's the first track that we wrote in 2010 over the phone. That was way before Zoom and Skype and everything.
Speaker 2:So we wrote this track over the phone. So, look, the creation I think most artists can relate to is seeing things with a different color, seeing things outside the box and perceiving things in different manners. So a melody that I hear and perceive. You could perceive it differently, right, so we could mix it and remix it and remake it differently. So I think that's the artistic intuition of every artist to see something differently and that's what contributes to them being a unique artist I love that.
Speaker 1:So when, when you do like go out and dj and you have like a crowd, how do you do you go out there with a set list or do you just feel the vibe and like I'm gonna just go go off of y'all vibe?
Speaker 2:so look, I mean, good djs are known for reading the crowd.
Speaker 2:That's the word right you read the crowd, it's psychology, it's dance floor psychology, it's something you develop over the time. You know, mixing is something that can be done, uh automatically on any uh cdj or uh record box or any other software that you use for DJing. So that's not a skill anymore. Skill is understanding the crowd. Skill is reading the crowd. Skill is knowing what song to drop, when right, and basically just feeling the vibe of the energy of the room. That's what makes a good DJ a good DJ.
Speaker 1:So what's the biggest challenge that you've faced being a DJ or just being in the music industry?
Speaker 2:Look, being in the music industry is. I think the challenge is enormous. Number one is not understanding the industry, not understanding how to monetize your music, how to make money. If you ask 99% of independent artists how do you make money, they point to Spotify. Spotify is not even 5% to 10% of your revenue that you get back from your music.
Speaker 2:You have to understand publishing. You have to understand registration. You have to understand the difference between a master and the publishing, understanding what are the rights and royalties of a writer, of a songwriter, a lyricist, a musician, a session musician, a producer, an engineer. You have to understand the and educate yourself. So the challenge for me was learning all of this, applying it not only to myself but to the other 70 artists that are under the umbrella of Funk DC Records, and make sure that everyone gets a piece of monetary funds back and a revenue back for their work so they can call it a career. All of the career. Until you're not generating income and making a living, I don't think it's a career. And the hardest part, the challenge, is to turn that hobby into a career, and in order to do that is you have to understand the industry.
Speaker 1:So was it easy for you to say, well, let me turn my, my hobby into? Because there's a lot of people that love that, have hobbies, but are scared to take that next step and say, let me turn my hobby into my career. But they're nervous because will I make money? Will I be good at it, Will it sell? So how did you overcome that and what would you tell people that would want to make their hobbies into a career?
Speaker 2:So, number one education, self-education. You know, you don't necessarily need to go to a university or an academy. Obviously it helps, and for me, I'm more self-educated rather than, you know, academically educated through an institution. But all the information is out there. Especially today, we have more information out there than ever at our disposal. So, self-educate yourself, have a plan, have a backup plan. And have a backup backup plan, because I mean I might make some people hopeless right now, but no, no, really, that's how you become an artist.
Speaker 2:You have to think of yourself. If you want to make a career out of this, you should not think of yourself as an artist, you should think of yourself as an entity, okay. So the way you succeed is you put your emotions aside, okay, okay, and that's something that I tell every member, every staff member, every intern, everybody that joins funk to see the day. You join funk to see you're not going to think like an individual, you're going to think like an entity. As an entity, you need to meet certain deadlines, you need to have milestones, okay. So, for example, one problem I see with a lot of youth and artists today is they don't have consistency with their output. Okay, you need to release at least one song every four to six weeks. If we go back 20 years ago, every major band, every major artist was releasing an album a year which had 10 to 12 songs. Right, that's about a song per month.
Speaker 2:So, number one you want to have a career. You got to have consistency. Number two you've got to think like a brand, like a company. So don't think, hey, I'm not going to do any claps. No, do claps, do feature on someone else track, get your name out there, make network with other individuals, artists and brands. So don't be emotional. Don't say, hey, I don't like country, I'm not going to listen to country. Maybe use a country sample in your song, you know. So that's, I think, having a plan, a backup plan, as well as self-educating yourself, as well as putting emotions aside and having discipline and output. I think that is 80% of the way I love it Making a career.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't know how to put their emotions on the back burner, especially in this day and age. Everything hurts everybody's feelings Like, if you don't listen to my song, my feelings are hurt. If you don't want to work with me, my feelings are hurt. Sometimes we have to put our emotions back here so that we can get it done and know that sometimes people are going to hurt our feelings, things are going to hurt our feelings, but we can't let that stop us from pushing forward and knowing that we can do it, regardless of whether or not we're hurt. We can do hard things, so we have to just keep on going. So I love that you said that we have to put our emotions back here, because that's how we're going to get ahead absolutely.
Speaker 1:And I always say look, if you don't believe in you, nobody else will believe that part, that part, because I can't expect you to want to back me if I'm doubting myself. And it shows like self-doubt shows and people are like, well, you don't even you, you don't even look like you. You want to be here, so why? Why? Why would I back you? So you, you have to believe that you can do it in order for other people to believe that you can do it. Like I've seen people get on stages and they may have had like 50, 60 people, but they put on the best show of their life because they believe that, look, this may not be the biggest crowd, but I have to perform like it is, because one day it will be.
Speaker 2:For sure. Another thing that I like to just point out which is like the elephant in the room and for me is being in the forefront of the industry that I see that it's not spoken of much is look, there's a lot of depression going around, especially with folks involved in the entertainment industry. Look, with the whole social media and everyone, everything like that. Every day is an artist, every day is a influencer. You have to wake up, be a sunshine, you know, and show your face. No matter what you got on your face, you got to show it. Smile, yes, and it's perfect. You gotta wear your bling and your expensive jeans, and sometimes you can't afford it. So, look, it takes a lot of toll.
Speaker 2:But one thing is I think a lot of people hide it. I think they should seek help. They should talk to people. There's a community out there for folks that need help or they just need to vent out. Sometimes just venting out will avoid that road to depression, and it's something that I think professionals in the industry need to kind of come together and talk more about this. Okay, so there's a lot of talking about. Positivity is how to avoid negativity, right? So if we could kind of help heal individuals not to get on the path of negativity and self-destruction. I think we'll spread the message of positivity and good vibes and everyone will have a happier world.
Speaker 1:How do you avoid all the negativity that comes your way and how do you stay positive in this industry, knowing that it can take such a severe toll on you?
Speaker 2:so first thing for me, look, uh, I think I was born a happy-go-lucky person. I don't complain much. But that is, look, I've set it as a rule, as obedience kind of terms and conditions for myself. That, look, I've put myself here. I have a purpose in life and my purpose in life is to make music, not necessarily good music, just music for my soul and other souls around me, and that is my purpose in life. I think once you find your purpose in life, then you won't complain.
Speaker 2:Another thing is, look, I don't take things for granted. I know I'm in a blessed country. I'm in Canada, I'm in Montreal, beautiful country, north America. You know I don't have to look for my morning breakfast or my dinner. Food is there. So I'm happy. And I think, especially in certain countries like G7 countries and, you know, advanced countries, you can be whatever you want to be at any age. So sometimes life, you know, depending on location or geographical territories that you're in, puts barriers in your way. But and that's you know, hopefully we can solve that in the in the near future. But as a person, for me I know I'm in a good place, I know I'm happy, I have a purpose and that's what gets me going.
Speaker 1:I love that and I love that you said and I needed people to listen and understand that. What I heard you say is that I make music. It may not be good music to you, but I make music for me and for my soul and what I think is good to me. It may not be good to you, but I make music for me. And if people would just know and understand that you do not do things for other people, you do it for yourself, and everybody is not going to think that it's good, but if you think it is, if it feeds your soul, if it makes you happy, that is all that matters, that is all that matters Absolutely, and if you're not happy, you cannot project happiness onto others.
Speaker 1:That part I love it and I love that you said that you find things to be grateful for, that you find things to be grateful for, like you find things to be happy about, because the world may be crumbling down but I have food on my table. Like I woke up this morning, I have clothes on my back, because everybody else might not have done that, but I did For sure.
Speaker 1:So, sometimes, if we just stop and just look at the things that we do have around us instead of focusing on the negativity, then we'd be happier people.
Speaker 2:I think 50 Cent said it best. I'm not quoting him word by word, but he said a father with six kids in Mexico. You know he doesn't have time to be depressed.
Speaker 1:Because listen, but. But. But it's true, like some, sometimes it's like oh, I don't, I don't have time to to be depressed because I have. I have too much going on in my life to focus on what I don't have going on in my life.
Speaker 2:Like I have too much. We all have a purpose in life. That's something that we do to a conclusion, whether it's just be a good mother, good sister, simple as that, or a good friend, that's a purpose in life. And if you manage to find that purpose in life without getting too philosophical, and you make peace with yourself, the world is a beautiful place.
Speaker 1:I love it, love it, I love it, I love it. So, outside of dj, what are you most passionate about?
Speaker 2:uh, honestly, my whole life pretty much been dedicated to music. Other than that, you know, I love the basics of life traveling, good food and all that stuff. Dining, whining, all that stuff is good, but really for me it's just been music and writing and the magazine. I'm just so over my head involved in this world that I don't have time for much else. And I don't think about retirement, I don't think about failure, it's just we're at a place right now. It's about just keeping that assembly line rolling and having output and we're making a name for ourselves. You know, we're one of the biggest independent record labels in North America because we're multi-genre and we go from country all the way to house music. So, honestly, I'm blessed, I'm happy, no complaints, everything's good, dandy as it can be and I'm content with life.
Speaker 1:I love the way that you think, like, I love the way that you think, and I wish that more people would think like you Like, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it, thank you.
Speaker 1:So we're going to get into the fun questions, all right, so just hold on till you see.
Speaker 2:It's going to get bumpy, huh.
Speaker 1:So, as an artist and you go out and do like shows, tell us what is your most embarrassing moment doing a show.
Speaker 2:Most embarrassing moment. So, look, I do select shows now. Most embarrassing moments, honestly, it's just, most of the embarrassing moments are because of other people that drank a little too much, you know, and I got too many stories to share for that. You know from the years that I was playing at different clubs and things like that. But honestly, I don't look at it any of an embarrassing, it's just in the moments, right, and it's just lives in. That moment, stays in that moment and life goes on. But uh, one funny story I had I was a front of the house engineer for this huge, huge middle eastern artist and we did a show in sweden last year and somehow his uh mic pack was falling off his pants and I had to go on stage really squeezing into his pants. It was just like a whole mess. So, yeah, but uh, for DJ life it's a lot of drunken stories and things like that. But concerts there's like malfunctions, they can turn into a disaster, you know. So that's that's, uh, where I leave it.
Speaker 1:Geez, what is your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2:My guilty pleasure.
Speaker 1:Eating too much bread. Yeah, that's my guilty pleasure.
Speaker 2:Bread is so addictive, it's so addictive, oh my goodness, I love bread, all sorts of bread, you know.
Speaker 1:But oh gosh, your weirdest habit, my weirdest habit.
Speaker 2:Your weirdest habit, my weirdest habit, weirdest habit. I have a habit of like, when I leave the room or enter the room, bang on something you know just like announce I'm coming in or just going out, so that's one of my weirdest habits. I guess that just comes from playing too many instruments. So I have a habit of like, you know whistling and just making sound. So making sound is my bad habit.
Speaker 1:So you just have to have to like announce that you you have arrived.
Speaker 2:I guess my baddest habit if I could reverse psychology that I would say I don't enjoy silence, you know.
Speaker 1:Really, you know what, now that I think about it, like I'm, I'm the type of person that I cannot sleep in a silent room. Really, like I cannot, like I have to have some type of noise or I will not be able to sleep.
Speaker 1:Like, if it's Like one of those ocean noises, or Like I have to have a like fan on or some type of sound, because if not, it just creeps me out. And so I'm just like look, looking around, like why is why is it so quiet in here? Like I, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't well, you know what we?
Speaker 2:We all have different good and bad habits. So it's all good. As long as you don't harm anyone, we're good.
Speaker 1:If you can give advice to aspiring DJs or anybody in music that wants to pursue this career, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:Look, I'll give you the typical advice that anybody else would, and then I'll go a little bit beyond that. So just master your art. Master your art, believe in yourself, keep your sanity in check, okay, have consistency, have a plan Like I said, even a backup plan and make sure that every day you're devoted to what you want to do and at one point, even if you realize you got to back out, back out, you know, do not let it affect your health, because there's a couple problems with this industry. Not only it takes a toll mentally, not only it takes a toll physically, it takes a toll financially as well. So do not destroy your life or, you know, those around you. If you cannot pull through at one point, you have to pull the plug. If you can, and that's okay, at least you tried.
Speaker 1:I like that you. You said, hey, you know if you did the best that you can possibly do. You said, hey, you know if you did the best that you can possibly do. If you know that you did your best, it's okay to say you know what I tried and it wasn't for me, but at least when I die I would have no regrets because I did what I wanted to do. It may not have worked out, but at least I can say I did it. At least I can say I tried, and I love the way that you think. So what do you have coming up in the future that we should know about?
Speaker 2:So this year is actually a busy year for myself and the label, so I got a lot of tracks coming out. I'm doing a track called dance with an artist. His name is uh, the legendary willie mack out of atlanta. So we got this really gospel house track coming out. I'm working with a jamaican artist in um. She's in amsterdam but she's from Jamaica, her name is Redible. We've been working on some tracks, so that track is coming out in two months. We're also working on a couple tracks with Classy Project.
Speaker 2:So I work with a lot of people on various projects and it's a busy year. I think it's going to be great. I'm looking forward to the summer, some events and a lot of hype. And we got a fantastic team. So our team is global. They go anywhere, from Dubai all the way to California and Australia. So we have over 30 members at our company and it's honestly this is our biggest year. This is something that I've been looking forward to and I say that generally from the bottom of my heart, just not for financial gains, but just for achievements that I've been basically planting the seed and nourishing that for the past 15 years. So this is the biggest year. I'm really happy and I look forward to helping other youngsters and enthusiasts out there to basically carry on the torch after us.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. And, before we let you go, thank you so much for being in the passenger seat with me For anybody that needs to know more about you or where to find you. Can you tell us where to find all things?
Speaker 2:so my website is hoss music. Hoss musiccom simple and easy, and everything funk to see is f-u-n-k-t-a-s-ycom. Funk to seecom, our record label, our magazine, our shop, our academy. Everything's right on one website or you have access to it from one website and we're out there on instagram funk to see official on all other platforms just funk to see so you can find us. We're everywhere. Uh, and beyond that, alethea, I want to say thank you, you're genuine, you're awesome, love you for what you're doing, keep doing it, and I really enjoy genuine people, people like that, expressing something, not faking it, just from the bottom of the heart. You know it's a shitty world out there and it's good to have good people to share the love, share the vibe, share the knowledge and, uh, basically make a make a decent world. Not a great world, we can't, but a decent world. Not a great world, we can't but a decent world.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much and for all of you out there, thank you for watching in the passenger seat with me. Alethea and I need you to go out there and be the best that you can be. It does not matter how old you are, look. Matter how old you are. Look. Start now. Start today, because you never know where that is going to take you and know that it's okay if you mess up. Just pick yourself up and do it again, all right. So as y'all continue to go out there and be great in their face, be great in your own, keep being fabulous like I know you can be and, as always, y'all have a good day on purpose. You're welcome. Thank you, you're welcome.