Chuco Chuckle

Nate Valenzuela Part 2: Uniting People with Music and Memories

Arnie Wong Season 2 Episode 3

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0:00 | 33:50

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Nate Valenzuela's karaoke journey reveals the complexities of trust, ambition, and community in a competitive industry. From setbacks and betrayals to building supportive networks, his story is a compelling exploration of resilience and growth. 

• The origins of Nate's karaoke journey 
• The competitive atmosphere of karaoke wars 
• Navigating friendships in a business context 
• The importance of knowing your worth 
• Shared experiences and community support 
• Building a sustainable karaoke business 
• Experiences of betrayal and its impact 
• Future plans for the karaoke industry

Karaoke Wars and Pricing Strategies

Speaker 1

hey folks , it's arnie with chucco chuckle . Once again , thanks for joining us . All right well , part two of Nathan Valenzuela . Sorry , nate Valenzuela .

Speaker 2

It's okay , people don't even know my last name . So I mean we're already off to a good start .

Speaker 1

Nate V .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Nate , what's going on , bud ? How are you Good , good Second episode we're shooting it the same day , because we got this nice view going on . Yeah , momentum going , we got this nice view in the apartment . We're going to do the show downtown tonight at we're Shifty's , shifty's Bar . Yeah .

Speaker 2

Right next to Church Bar on Mills . We're headed there right after this episode , after recording .

Speaker 1

Yeah , we're going to be like on a guys . What's going on , oh man , so let me tell you . So the first time I met you was at Funkmire , and it was actually two years ago . I recorded Megan's episode here , right on the couch Right , and she was here and she says do you want to go do some karaoke ?

Speaker 2

And I'm like , I haven't done karaoke in years , probably decades , that's weird , some karaoke and I'm like I haven't done karaoke in years probably decades that's weird . Yeah , I , I didn't know that there was that drop off . Yeah , from when it aired to when you , when we recorded right versus when you recorded versus you guys came from that spot yeah we came from here .

Speaker 1

Yeah , came from here to go to go there and I said yeah , you know what ? What the heck ? I don't go to work till 12 30 let's get my workout tomorrow , yeah , and so it's harmless it's harmless I'll never , see that guy again , and so we recorded the uh two episodes , uh , that we did and , um , we went out there and I met you and you're like standing behind your computer and you're like wait , nice to meet you . And then I started singing and stuff and I was like this is fun .

Speaker 2

Right and that's where we met and I think it was like the second show .

Speaker 2

I was like , hey , man , I was like you know , you can come around , like you know . We kind of have like a little you know people that'll say , hey , don't sit by yourself , or yeah , yeah , yeah , you know what I mean like you don't have to , you know , come with somebody you know every time , like just show up , and we try . And I'll credit , you know , to the people that do show up and they try to let let everybody kind of fit in or feel that you're not by yourself , or exactly .

Speaker 1

I felt like the way immediately , yeah . So , yeah , I sat with deanna . I met her for the first time , yeah , and she's been on my show and I'm the last one on your show , sorry about that Well you're the busiest too , though yeah , I guess at night .

Speaker 2

That's the thing Our schedules will never , You're like well Nate . I know you're not a morning guy . And then I was off today and I was like thank you that you said that , Because some people are like , hey , you want to do the morning and I'm like no , you should know me , I'm not a morning guy .

Speaker 1

You're like learn me , yeah , but no , that's how it started . Now I know you had a story for us , so I'm just going to let you get right into it . This is how you got your start this is right .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I so when . So this is right , yeah , so okay , like we said , I'm just gonna sit back , and there was karaoke wars , you know when ?

Speaker 1

when I first started oh yeah , you said it was .

Speaker 2

It was very competitive , cutthroat you know , competitive , it'll always be competitive , right because but it was cutthroat , it was it was . You know there's just keyboard warriors . There's people that are like , and there still is , you know , that's never going to go away , and there are , there will always be , people that'll do it cheaper . Now it's , it's tough because you , you know people have to start off somewhere . You don't ever want somebody who has the you know like , the aspiration to do it but wants to charge what somebody's been doing it for 10 years . You know . Know what I mean . Yeah , so to find that balance it's really tough and plus , knowing your value , yeah and knowing what you're worth .

Speaker 2

So now you know , for example yes , smaller bars , do we give them a discount , Absolutely . Bigger bars , they're going to draw more people , charge a little bit more and then , knowing your , worth Because they're making more at the bar . Right , and then you know , knowing your worth . You know , some people have asked me why do you charge so much ? And I just , you know , I just flat out say , well , this is what I want to make to get out of bed .

Speaker 1

Wow , you know , and I told you about that , we didn't like I was in the cake business with my ex-wife .

Speaker 2

Right , right , add a zero to that . You know what I mean .

Speaker 1

No , we deliver free .

Speaker 2

No , no , I meant like out of town , yeah . Yeah , If you had to leave El Paso , you're like well , add a zero .

Speaker 1

I took one to Laredo $800 . You told me Delivery fee Riodoso $200 . Delivery fee . Delivery fee 8 or 12 hours .

Speaker 2

My butt would have been like Clinched the whole ride .

Speaker 1

Yeah , having a cake in the back . They would have been so nervous , yeah . So , yeah , so you know .

Speaker 2

I've had some . I've had some interesting conversations With people that I would consider Allies and colleagues and Okay , but in the beginning it wasn't like that . I mean , I had people like you know , people you thought you trusted Old timers . No , people I didn't know .

Speaker 1

Okay .

Speaker 2

People didn't know me , who had just maybe seen a picture of me on the internet . You know , on social media People that have heard of a name and they were just like running their mouth and I'm like I don't think you know how big of a guy I am Like I I don't think you know how big of a guy , I am , I'm not .

Speaker 1

How tall are you ? 62 . I thought you were taller . No , I'm wider . I'm not taller .

Speaker 2

No , no , you're a big dude , but you know what I mean . I've had old timers who would come in and be like you , better be licensed , and I'm like , or what ? And the karaoke task force is going to come knock on the door . The karaoke SWAT team . Well , there was a thing what ? There was a thing back in the day , and apparently there are licenses that bars have to pay for us to be able to operate under that umbrella .

Speaker 1

Okay .

Speaker 2

So there's a lot of stuff that is behind the scenes . So there's a lot of stuff that is behind the scenes , but there was , like some , I think , in the 90s , there was like a sting and they wouldn't find all these karaoke people that were operating Because , at the end of the day , you are playing music and the artist should be rewarded for it . All right , because it's licensed . You know what I mean . Like you sing Bobby Caldwell .

Speaker 1

Okay .

Speaker 2

That song . I paid a small fee . When I tell people a small fee $0.09 , $0.12 or whatever it is , but the version that we have is paid for .

Speaker 1

It's a great version .

Speaker 2

It's copywritten and stuff like that . Now , some people that use YouTube and they do it off YouTube . You're playing with a little bit of fire there , but I do it off youtube . You know that's , you're playing with a little bit of fire there , but I don't care . More power to you . So , yes , um , there was some karaoke wars and there's people that under undercut you and there's people that'll start off lower prices because they they need a platform to start off with . They can't just walk in and be like oh yeah , you know , like they're just trying to get their foot in the door .

Speaker 2

I think I'll be great one day , so I'm gonna charge you know 500 an hour . No so it's tough . It doesn't matter if it gets back to you like this person's , cheaper it through telephone . It's never gonna sound good you know letting you know how did they get it , how much were they charging ?

Speaker 1

and I'm like I was who get it . You know what I mean .

Speaker 2

Like all the time the same thing , yeah , you know like people come and sit my show and their other kjs and I'm like enjoy it and if you want it . By all means take it , give me a day off I'll find another one .

Speaker 2

And I said that you know , to a bar owner , um , and I've told you this , around november I was like man , when I first started , you know , seven , eight years ago , I would have been like , well , no , I'll do cheaper , I'll do it for free . I'll started , you know , seven , eight years ago . I would have been like , well , no , I'll do cheaper , I'll do it for free , I'll do it , you know . And I looked at the bar owner , who was a friend of mine . I said you know what ? I said , that's fine , I'll find another show . You know what I mean ? Like we can call it , let's call it the Takeaway . I was like , I will find another show . And here we are Tuesdays we're in another show .

Speaker 1

Closer to you , closer to me , thank God .

Speaker 2

And then we got another Tuesday , so that door closed and two opened .

Speaker 1

You're like Seinfeld , even Steven , yeah , I'm even .

Speaker 2

Steven , so going back seven , eight years ago how did it start ? It started out of spite . Yes , I had a business partner if you can imagine karaoke . What business partner ? Yes , had a business partner . Um , we'll call him gavid , you know , like david , but with a g , okay , and um , let's just say that's his name . And . And then the other guy , he was my old roommate , we'll just call him Al Bundy , because he will not let it go , he still thinks hey , peg , I don't know what you're doing there Peg ?

Speaker 2

He still talks about karaoke like he invented it .

Speaker 1

I was the king Peg . You got to understand this , peg .

Speaker 2

I was the king Al Bundy always talks about Pokai football . Yeah , his glory days , all right . So those would be the two main characters . I'll be played by myself , but anyway , um , I dabbled in the bar industry when I left , like the theater business , and um , yeah , you know , gavi thought there was a , a vacancy , and he was like , hey , you know , let's do karaoke and'm like , but I don't like karaoke .

Speaker 1

And .

Speaker 2

I don't sing karaoke and I don't know anything about karaoke and my old roommate who had moved , al Bundy , he never showed me , you know what I mean , and I really didn't pay much attention to it .

Speaker 1

Now he moved , Al moved where .

Speaker 2

To Central Texas .

Speaker 1

Yeah , central Texas it now he moved . El moved where , um ? To uh , central texas .

Speaker 2

Yeah , just say that okay so then , um , yeah , you know , months had passed and it sounded like a good idea because , uh , gavid was like Because you're talking about extra money . We won't be physically doing it . We'll be like the overseers .

Speaker 1

Like managers , right Okay .

Speaker 2

You know like we're regional managers . You know , we just point and you guys go , no offense to any regional managers out there . No , you know what regional managers ?

Speaker 1

All offense to you guys that point and do all the points .

Speaker 2

Oh , no , right , right , you earned it , we get it . So it's , did they really did they , did they ? So ? Um , you know , he's kind of got a good , good point . I'm like all right , you know , let's get this going and um , we decide to rent , rent to buy I think was the was maybe the arrangement term okay , um , the equipment from my , from my old roommate , and the old karaoke you know , master out buddy master of debaters and so , when it came down to it , it wasn't a bad idea .

Speaker 2

And it's still not a bad idea , you know , because now we've we've turned to that , or where there's a dj , um , who has about 13 , 14 djs , you know , under him , and they all rock , they have great equipment , they all rule and stuff like that yeah so this idea wasn't far-fetched .

Speaker 2

So we got the equipment um kind of like I think we're paying like four or five hundred bucks a month , and then I went out and got the shows you were the marketer . Right because okay oh I , I might have to mention that you did all the forward that my business partner . He didn't live here . Oh , he was in sin city , he never oh , he's in vegas .

Speaker 1

He's in Vegas , we can mention it Okay .

Speaker 2

Yeah , vegas , new Mexico , how's that ? So he's not here , he's got no feet on the ground .

Learning the Ropes of Karaoke

Speaker 1

And , yeah , I'm doing all the lab work . I'm going to pass that on this episode , sir . Yeah , breathe , breathe .

Speaker 2

I'm not , ms El Paso , I won't be kind on the eyes . When you wake up , arnie , you'll be like , oh , I'm in hell . This is this is .

Speaker 1

It is this it .

Speaker 2

Oh , I already see a fire .

Speaker 1

That's my , that's my sense , that's fancy , yeah , sorry so , um , so , yeah .

Speaker 2

So then you know the the idea gets put into motion . But yes , I went to the storage , I took the inventory , I pulled everything out , I put everything in my garage and I went . And , like you said , I went to the legwork , I got a couple of bars , because he said , hey , I already have two employees . So I was like , cool , well , I didn't know that I inherited these employees .

Speaker 1

I didn't know that they had tried this out before and it didn't work . So you're thinking that you've got two employees and we're getting started here right .

Speaker 2

I'm being like hey , you know , he's on one end , he's like the hr guy , he conducted interviews and you know what I mean he's background ? Yeah , he did you know he did like a test study and you know crowd appreciation ? No they like crashed and burned as spirit airlines and they throw a sticker on there . And now they're like hey , we're a American West Breathe .

Speaker 2

And so I go , all right , and this is the story that you liked . So we start doing um a gig at one place and he's in Sin City and I'm taking the equipment out of my garage , I'm taking it there , I'm setting it up . She's doing the show this employee A is doing the show and you're not there no .

Speaker 1

OK , I don't think I'm there . You're letting them go .

Speaker 2

I really wasn't sure on what .

Speaker 1

I was . So they picked up the equipment and then they took it to the store . No , I would . Okay , you said it .

Speaker 2

Yeah , we never really gave them the equipment . I think that kind of kept our control and our management part of it Okay . So we would do the setup and we would do the teardown , and by we I mean me , me myself and I . You know , we , I mean me , me myself , and yeah , you know . So then , um we , so that was kind of . You know . The issue one is I was doing all the , all the work , but fine , you know , let's just say and this guy's not even in town .

Speaker 2

I'm just getting in my head he tells the story like but I'm the brains and I'm the okay , you know , whatever you tell your story , we'll have you on the show .

Speaker 1

There's his truth your truth .

Speaker 2

And then there's the truth and you know , and even I'll be like , yeah , okay , you know what , I still did the brute work . But then the bar calls me that I got the gig at , and they're like , hey , nate , um the girl the girl that you sent us . We fired her a year ago and I was like , what do you what you know , because we all know what fired means , but you have to pretend , what do ?

Speaker 1

you mean by fired her ?

Speaker 2

uh , yeah she tried elaborate please . She tried doing karaoke a year ago and she sucked and we , you know , we fired her and I was like oh , you know what ? Yeah , let me look at her , let me talk to my HR and , yes , and I tell her and I'm just like hey , like hey , you forgot to mention that a year ago you worked there and they fired you . And she was like yeah , go ahead yeah breathe or anything .

Speaker 2

she was like uh , y'all gotta listen to missile pass up Passover episode . Oh my God , there's a little Easter egg there .

Speaker 1

At eight minutes and 29 minutes into the show 29 seconds .

Speaker 2

sorry , Arnie passed out .

Speaker 1

Oh my gosh .

Speaker 2

Well , like I said , we're going to put the chuckle .

Speaker 1

Okay , so this is the chuckle .

Speaker 2

So yeah , you know she had , I guess , tried it out there and it didn't work , and they fired her .

Speaker 1

Did you fail to mention ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , and she was just like I mean I remember she was looking at me as confused as I was looking at her and I was like , okay , what's happening here ?

Speaker 1

So she's saying to you I'm just as surprised as you are .

Speaker 2

She's like you know , a lot can happen in a year and I was like yeah , but no . So the bar was just like you know what Native you know , if you don't have anybody else , we're probably going to . You know , look somewhere else . And I said well , hold on .

Speaker 1

You know what kind of Because you're not going to let that go . You know , me as far as my , you know I'm , that's your character , my character .

Speaker 2

I'm not , you know , anybody else would probably , or not anybody else . I don't want to speak for anybody else , but you know , like it's , you make a decision . So I said , you know what , give me a little bit of time and , um , you know , they're like without we're getting you so um I did I hired an engineer because you sold yourself yeah yeah , but I told them , you know well , I don't do karaoke .

Speaker 2

You guys know I don't even sing karaoke , much less . You know , like get behind there and like do , do , do , do . And I say once again , you know it's not that hard , you know , down the road a monkey will be able to do it .

Speaker 1

Um , so um and you're just because good technology right starting off .

Speaker 2

You know our brand . I really wanted it . I really wanted this because you know , I want you to put your name behind something . You want it to succeed . And my first bump in the road I was gonna be like okay , you know thanks , thanks for the opportunity . You know we'll just go suck somewhere else , yeah , so um , we uh go try somewhere . She hasn't been fired , yeah I'm like , could you give me a list of places you've been fired at ? Sorry , I didn't ask that in the beginning that would be , yeah , the disclaimer you know , everyone raise their hand if you've already been fired from this bar .

Speaker 2

So , um , you know , I hired an engineer , sound engineer and the guy was like , um , I charge 100 bucks an hour and I was like like , okay , I was like he's like what , what do you need to know ? And I was like , okay , imagine you're going to teach me how to drive and I don't even know where the seatbelts are . And he was like , oh no . Oh no , he's like that's going to be like seven , eight hours and I's like , okay , you know , like good luck .

Speaker 1

Crash course . Yeah , here we go .

Speaker 2

You know , take a lot of notes , but you know what ? Shout out to Bunny , if he's still out there doing it . He really cut me a deal . He didn't charge me much , he gave me a lot of knowledge , he went way past three hours and he really , really I think he probably stayed there , you know , all night . He gave me extra things that I needed and he was always on call . Wow yeah . And so I started doing this show and that was it , and I might have done like . My cousin had a bar and I think you know shout out to Joseph he had a bar and he was starting off and I did it for free , but it was like a trial and error . He wasn't really advertising me because I wasn't named and .

Speaker 2

I wasn't really that good . So I think it was like a dead night and I would just go out there and kind of tinker around .

Speaker 1

Well , I'm just starting this thing , yeah .

Speaker 2

Like , tinker around and get to know where you're at and where you're supposed to be . You know and get to know and where you're at where you're supposed to be . So then other bars that I do know and I do have friends are like hey , we hear you're you're doing karaoke at this place and you know .

Speaker 2

You told us you weren't doing karaoke and I'm like well , I'm not you know , but I'm trying to get familiar with it . And this is what happened . And this person had already previously worked there , so kind of puts in a spot , and I still felt down the road that I was going to replace myself . Because you just never think you're going to do this full time . So they're like well , you know , we also don't like her .

Speaker 2

You know what I mean . Like she's very , you know . And the thing is , my HR department , he would hire singers thinking that they were great , going to be great hosts , and I'm like you know , budweiser's not hiring the best drunk at the bar thinking they're going to be great delivery people . You know like . Well , you know , the guy could chug a beer really good , you know so that's our marketing director .

Speaker 2

I'm like no , you know what I mean , just because they sing great didn't mean they could host great or have that connection . And that was the issue is , he was hiring people that had the best voice . And I'm like , no , you gotta hire people that just look , they know they can be a people person yeah , they're running a business .

Speaker 1

Gotta be people you . Gotta be a people person you gotta manage .

Speaker 2

It has nothing to do with the fact that you can carry a tune . I still feel that if you can sing .

Speaker 1

I could do both if you can sing and you're not a people person need not apply .

Speaker 2

So that's kind of where it took off for me . I didn't want the business to fail , I didn't see myself doing it long term , and now my partner . I didn't want the business to fail . I didn't see myself doing it long term .

Speaker 1

And now my partner out in Sin .

Speaker 2

City was like well , we got to give these people shows and I'm like well , the feedback is they suck and so I'm keeping it afloat and this is just I'm buying his time and he's like well I think you're in cahoots , oh wow , with these bar managers and owners , and you want , without even knowing , and you want it all to yourself and I'm like what all ?

Speaker 2

what to myself ? I'm splitting the check with you either way , I'm splitting the check with you . And after we pay our little , you know , rental buy-to-own speakers from Al Bundy . That's right , peg .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

So then one day , November , he just shows up to my show .

Speaker 1

And he's just like , it's like a month into the yeah , I'd say about two , two months , two three three months somewhere in there um , he shows up , he shows up unannounced .

Speaker 2

You know fresh off , fresh off of his , you know sin city , and I'm in the middle of the show and I'm like hey , partner , surprise . And he's like I need to talk to you outside and I'm like okay you know I'm kind of another show he ? Well , you know you need to do whatever you need to do and we need to talk outside .

Speaker 1

Play a video .

Speaker 2

So you know I get a little temperamental sometimes and he's not the biggest guy , but I go out there and I enlighten him .

Speaker 1

Well , I mean , come on , it's two guys going at it .

Speaker 2

And enlighten him . Well , I mean , come on , it's two guys going at it . Yeah , well , you're giving him a lot of credit , we won't go there . It's a different episode . So he pulls out a piece of paper and , yeah , he cut a check for my old roommate and who told me he would never you know , I would never get you know side swindled or he'd never do anything by my back . And you know , he'd been a friend of mine since , like middle school , and I moved him to Central Texas , you know , and did everything I could to help him get over his you know little heartbreak . And , yeah , he was like I'm now the sole owner of of 15 minutes of shame , or whatever it was called back then . Yeah and um , he was like so I'm the , I want all the equipment and so when you're done with the show , you know , deliver it to this place and this , this and this , and I'm gonna

Navigating Friendship and Karaoke Business

Speaker 2

distribute . What were you feeling at that point ? I was was .

Speaker 1

Betrayed , of course .

Speaker 2

You know so much went through my head . I had two friends that I knew I was going to lose and that's really tough .

Speaker 1

You know what I mean , Because I take a lot Because you thought you trusted them . It's a lot .

Speaker 2

It's a lot . You know I have great memories . You know , even if you have friends , that you don anymore and you know you've cut off , the memories are still there . I got some . Yeah , you know the good overlooks the bad sometimes and the bad overlooks good sometimes . But I knew the end result is I was going to lose two friends that was the hardest .

Speaker 1

That's heartbreaking yeah , um because they're hard to come by .

Speaker 2

Yeah , they , I mean they really are and um , so that I knew and then you know . So there's sadness , there's anger , there's disappointment . Disappointment Went into this conversation . When did you guys go behind my back ?

Speaker 1

God , how did you handle that ? It's great .

Speaker 2

Well , I grabbed him by the shirt and I threw him up against the car . But I won't get into that . But he , you know , he gave me like this ultimatum .

Speaker 2

He said I'm now the sole owner You're going to this , you can do that , you can do this , you can do that . And if you choose to stick around , I'm going to distribute the shows evenly . And I looked at him . I said you know what ? I'm going to put all this equipment on the curb at the end of the show and you can come get it . And if you want it , it's yours . He's like well , you have to . I can end your show right now if I wanted to , and I was like no , you can't you know I can't you call , call a cop .

Speaker 2

Cop's going to be like take it to court . You know like I'm smarter than that . But I was like no , I'm going to put up the curb and you come get it . And I did . At the end of the show I just put up the curb and I was like I'm going to run you out of town . That's , I did it out of spite . I'm going to start another name , start another brand , going to buy my own , covid . I had to buy my own equipment and stuff like that . And I started and from there I was like I'm out . I mean , I think people kind of knew that I was out and I was very fortunate . That that's when things kind of turned .

Speaker 2

We started to help each other out the karaoke music back then . Then they were selling it . I remember they were selling it for like a thousand dollars , you know , to copy a hard drive , um . And that was then um . I know I have some friends that were renting out you know the equipment , but again , I'm not docking them . You know what I mean . If that's what's precious to them and they invested so much money , they just couldn't give it up for free . And I see that I didn't want that .

Speaker 1

As a matter of fact , you should go on Instagram live right now , as a matter of fact , I know , go ahead , no , no no Are you sure I'm positive Because we're about to do your show downtown . Yeah , we'll do another one .

Speaker 2

I'll be honest with you . There's a girl tonight which you'll see . Her name is Maxine . She does karaoke .

Speaker 1

Can't remember she's going to your show tonight .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I stayed up the past two nights downloading her hard drive for free .

Speaker 1

Wow , that's help .

Speaker 2

Three terabytes worth of music and videos , 36 hours of download . And I told her I'll do it for free and I was like I just need you to buy the hard drive .

Speaker 1

But um , and I'm giving it to her tonight and I don't even want to ask how much that would be so , uh , you don't have anything , yeah yeah , so I did it .

Speaker 2

I did it for free . It said you just have to buy the hard drive . Make sure it's a 3 to 4 terabyte 4 terabyte . Yeah , and I did it to hold it all and I did it and because I know you know our new , one day I'm gonna need a favor from her , that's good and I did it for a couple of people .

Speaker 2

I don't know won't be saying it , but I've done it for free . So now we have our music floating out there . That's collective , you know , and I gave it to them for free . But I can tell you this I've had my , my hard drive crash and those people have shown up like that and it brought me a laptop brought me a hard drive like here you go .

Speaker 1

Now you got some good people . I've had some people that are like Nate you know , like .

Speaker 2

I've got music . Even people that I didn't lend , you know , hard drive to , they've lent me speakers , mics , tvs , monitors , lights . You know , I've asked people like hey can I do your show ?

Speaker 1

You even hooked me up with a guy who's going to sell me a mixer . Yeah , Gil . For my podcast .

Speaker 2

Gil , great guy . Um , shout out to gil . I've asked people to do their shows , which is brave , which I look back and I was like I never should have done that . But I had a friend who was having a birthday or graduation , I can't remember I didn't have a show that day or near it , I didn't have like a sunday show or friday show , and he wanted his celebration on saturday and he's like man , I really wish you could host it and I tried , I failed and I just told the guy who had the show .

Speaker 2

I said , hey , can I do that show like , do you mind ? And he was like , yeah , I'll take saturday off . You know what I mean , wasn't ? Like that in the beginning no , um , wow , you couldn't turn the whole .

Speaker 1

Thing around .

Speaker 2

So I you know , I don't want to take credit for that .

Speaker 1

I'm not saying , but I do want like this .

Speaker 2

You know the circle that we have um there's , you know we , we start off rough and now , like these people , I can show up . No tension . I can ask , can ask them for something . No tension . You know trust and you know these are like the Catfish and the Jess and Daniel , and you know Pepe and Sean and Megan's and Maxine's , and you know Terry and you know .

Speaker 1

Gabe's .

Speaker 2

Yeah , Like these people , there's a lot of them and I'm sure I've left like a bunch out you're gonna mondo yeah um , they're the ones that have really helped me out . But we can go back and someone probably listen to this and laugh and be like , yeah , you know , I really didn't like nate in the beginning you know what I mean , or or you know , but um because they might think you're rough around the edges , but you're still yeah .

Speaker 1

Yeah , You're just a real person and I'll take that stamp .

Speaker 2

Okay , but you know , but I won't lie about it , I won't be two-faced , you know , I won't spread rumors or talk behind your back . You know , in exchange I'll say it's your face . But yeah , that's the dirt , that's the little taste of the karaoke war that I think , like any brand .

Speaker 1

Dude , that took the whole episode , but I'm cool about that .

Speaker 2

I think any brand that you start off I was going to say People might look at you when you're like , oh , you're doing a podcast , Arnie .

Speaker 1

I could do a podcast , yeah , and people think I'm making millions on this thing .

Speaker 2

Oh my gosh . It's weird and you're like no People email .

Speaker 1

hey , there's star Chuko Chukl . They see me on the street . Dude , sometimes I'll take a Lyft downtown , right , of course I take a Lyft and I'll take it .

Speaker 2

And my Lyft driver would be like you mean your driver from the Chuko Chukl show doesn't shuttle you around .

Speaker 1

No , exactly , I don't have a driver , so I take a Lyft downtown will say hey , aren't you the guy from true cold chuckle ? Yeah , so they recognize me , nice , and they're like dude , I got a celebrity .

Speaker 2

dude , I I'm not banking any money on this yet and people think I'm making millions yeah , I mean it's , and you're not even year one . You know what I mean ? I'm one like you're like , you're like in the , you're like I'm learning how to walk .

Speaker 2

Yeah , exactly , I mean my this is my first season , I mean dude and you're I mean you're going to be in the red probably the first two years , three years investing buying new stuff . Yeah , and trying to make it better , but I'm having fun . Yeah , and that's the way it was . Karaoke . I mean , just like I'm barely going to do my first contest and we're going to give away $1,000 . Oh , I'm down . We're going to thousand bucks .

Speaker 1

Oh I'm down we're gonna wait , we're gonna go a thousand bucks .

Speaker 2

You know um where's it gonna stay tuned , oh you're having an ask that I can say . I can say it's gonna be a gringo theory . Okay , the dates will come as followed but it's gonna be a thousand dollars .

Speaker 1

I don't know nick's gonna win with his frank sinatra oh , he can't , he can't come oh he , yeah , you gotta attend .

Speaker 2

We don't know if we're gonna do six weeks , seven weeks , but you have to be there every Monday , kind of like a check in right . And Nick , I know you're out there , he can only do every other Monday , so it disqualifies yeah , okay thousand dollars . You know gotta follow the rules gotta follow the rules .

Speaker 1

Well , dude , we're out of time again .

Speaker 2

We're out of time . We got to get to the show .

Speaker 1

I know that , but thanks for joining us on .

Speaker 2

Chuckle , chuckle again . Appreciate you having me .

Speaker 1

No , but dude of course , nate Of course .

Speaker 2

We'll do another one , people .

Speaker 1

You know Arnie's going to fit them , but we're going to do it we'll have a little circle , alright , a little kumoya .

Speaker 2

Ok , start playing quarters , and then we'll show . Well cheers , buddy . Thank you for having me much success thank you , sir , to you as well .

Speaker 1

Of course , I know it's a re-coming , you already have it , but thanks for joining me on Chuko Chuckle Tonight , and that's with Nate Valenzuela . I want to thank you . If you want to subscribe , you can go and do that on Apple Podcasts , and if you want to , you can send me a text through Apple Podcasts . It comes to me as fan mail . I read each and every one of them . But thanks for joining again and take care y'all . God bless , take care , bye-bye , thank you .