Listen First

Touching base with you my amazing listeners about the past 2 years.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:33

What's going on, good vibes trash? Your boy Sticky Rick here on the Hot Box Podcast. Man, first and foremost, you know, I just wanna tell everybody who's supporting the show, who has supported the show, thank you. You know, thank you guys for sticking around and still being a part, you know, what I'm doing, you know. I haven't done a lot of podcasts since Josh passed away. And for those of you don't know, you know, Josh is my best friend. You know, even in death, he's still my best friend. You know, there's no was, you know, you know, you know I don't look at it that way. But getting back on track and everything, and uh, I just wanted to take a minute to uh you know talk to you guys about some things, you know, and what's been going on and what I've been up to, and just you know, what's been going on in my head, and you know, with the past couple years, you know, with my of course, with my well, just life, man, life on life's terms, you know. Some of you know, some of you don't know. Well, hold on first. Let me do this. Let's start off and do what we always do. Let me pack this joint here. This is a lemon cherry hybrid. It's really tasty. Smells really good too. Oh, by the way, we got Toker Barrel Bell Toker Barrel here with us. How you doing, Toker Bell? I'm doing good. But yeah, I guess we'll do a short origin story the best I can, right quick. You know, my little brother and I started this podcast back, I guess you could say we started the groundwork back in 2021 and got it kicked off in about 2022, especially after we went to our first hookah. You know, that was that's what really got me into it, you know, podcasting and everything. Speed it up, you know. We mainly just did our stuff like on uh Facebook Live and stuff like that. You know, we didn't really get into the audio platforms till uh a couple years later. But fast forward a couple years, April 28th, 2024, I quit smoking cigarettes, started vaping February of 2024, April 2028. I was vaping in between trying to help me quit smoking, developed popcorn lung, both of my lungs collapsed to cardiac arrest, you know. Fast forward uh four months, August, probably about August 3rd, my little brother passed away. And you know, I was staying with him, he was taking care of me while I was still rehabbing, and it was a brain bleed, and you know, that was that was really tough, you know. That made me question, you know, did I want to continue on with the podcast? And of course, once again, I went ahead and went to the Fall Hookaville because I needed it, and went by myself, had a great time, met some awesome people, met members of Land of Panda, and of course I got in touch with the band, asked them if they want to be interviewed on my podcast, and they were down for it. And I said, Well, you know what? How about I just send Acustakuka an invitation to be interviewed on my podcast? And yeah, man, sure enough, they answered back, and we got everything set up to promote the Thanksgiving special at the House of Blues. November, which Landapanda was going to be playing at. So I ended up interviewing, of course, Dave Katz, lead singer of Akusikuka, about a month before Thanksgiving to help promote the show. And the day of the show, I actually interviewed Landapanda, Chirp, and Austin, which at that time was a mare of Hookaville. But getting to interview the bands that played there at the House of Blues was, you know, pretty awesome. And I gotta say, you know, shout out to Landapanda for giving giving my podcast a shout out on the main stage there at the House of Blues, man. That was that was a fucking beautiful thing, and I I truly appreciate that, guys. So, you know, if you listen to this, you know, much love forever and ever, man. That's why I always rep you guys, and you know, always pass on your music to somebody who hasn't listened to you. So it was riding pretty high off of that, you know. Of course, you know, my brother's passing was still pretty hard. His birthday is December 31st. And yeah, of course, Christmas time was just a couple a few days prior. So first Christmas without him, and then you know, five days later, his birthday was it was it was tough. Of course, being wintertime, you know, you're just kind of freaking stuck indoors, and you know, you can't do nothing, but I had a lot of time to think about things and decided I was gonna go full board into this, you know, doing the podcast and keep it going. So I got plans in emotion, making connections and everything, setting up my festival schedule, and and that's what we did. And about two months before our festival season kicked off, my uh you know, my buddy Josh, you know, best friend, he you know, came on board with the podcast, you know, wanted to be a part of it more, do more, and he did. And I mean, the season started out great, you know. We did spring hookabill, token float, which was in July. We didn't have anything else. We were gonna go to Skankapalooza and then go to the fall hookah bill, but it's it's kind of weird because Josh didn't pass away in August too, right around the same time my little brother did. And, you know, losing my little brother and my best friend a year apart, you know, to the month. You know, it I still went on and did, you know, the festivals. We didn't go to Skankapalooza because uh that happened the same week Josh passed. But I kept my other obligations with the other festivals that I had on the schedule, and closed out the year pretty good. Haven't really done much since then. You know, we've done some interviews, we've been at the Banworth Smoke Shop and everything, you know, but haven't really, you know, put out a lot on audio. You know, we've done a lot of live things, and and I just, you know, my audio listeners don't really, some of you don't have Facebook Facebook Live or uh on the podcast page or whatnot, but you know, this is you know one of the reasons why I'm explaining to you, you know, why my I've been away, my absence and everything. But I just thought it was poignant that everybody listened to this, you know, this podcast first. Because you know, wanted everybody to know what was going on. And for new listeners, for anybody who hasn't listened to the podcast before, welcome. How are you doing? I'm glad you're here. But you know, my little brother and I, we started out this, like I said, podcast just for fun, you know, and it just kind of grew from there, you know. People wanted us to get on Spotify and audio platforms and do other things, so that's what we that's what we did, you know. Granted, I did get a little bit over, you know, things did get a little bit over my head, you know, because you know, as you know, we got bigger and everything, and also going on the road, you know, it's one thing to have your equipment set up at home, but then to have uh, you know, take equipment on the road, set it up there, and you know, making sure you have a good recording pace space, you know, sometimes that didn't work out. So in our earlier podcast, you know, when uh the sound is, you know, just understand that, you know, just basically new at it, you know, but of course things are improving, you know, as they always do. But you know, I'm just glad to be black, be be black, be back. But I'm glad you guys are here. That's what I was trying to do when I was calling myself black. Hold on. That's tasty but you know, of course, uh had a lot of personal things going on. But uh a lot of ups, a lot of downs, past two years, a lot of things going on in my personal life, getting married, uh birth of our daughter, being Toker Bell, our little girl, Marley, she's so beautiful. But you know, of course, our first two years of marriage, you know, it's I mean, it's it's been rocky, but you know, marriage isn't easy, you know. Plus two, and I will say this even with my wife sitting here, you know, a lot of that is us getting to know each other. You know, take the time out to uh get to know people, you know. Well, you know, just get an understanding. I'll put it that way. You know, because of you can't be mad at somebody if you don't know them. Does that make sense?

unknown 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

When they do stuff, you know, as you know, and I've even caught myself doing that, you know, and I'm like, wait a minute. Maybe that's just something I don't know. I'm still, you know, and and granted, yeah, that's you know. But I don't know why people give up too easy on things, you know, and that's why I'm still do here doing this podcast also. I just it's just not something I'm gonna give up on, you know. And yeah, this podcast does have a little bit, you know, serious of a tone, you know, and forgive me for that, you know. Fixing uh make it light, a little bit more lighthearted here in a second. I'm just you know, but I miss my little brother and my best friend, guys. You know. And you know, you will understand this when I say this, you know. Everybody always says they have a friendly ear, you know, that you can talk to 'em and stuff, you know, but as you know, there's only those certain people that you really talk to. And you know, that was my little brother and my best friend, you know. And it's and I think that's one reason why I haven't been podcasting either, is because it's been tough not having them to talk to, you know, to kind of help me work out things. You know, I've always I've had to deal with a lot of shit internally lately. And, you know, I've had to just doing that, you know, and also fighting off the instinct to pick up the phone or send them a message, you know, because you know, they're not there no more. But my own boy Josh would want me to go on. My little brother definitely wants me to go on. You know, that's what we do. We keep on, keep on, keeping on. And before I recorded this, I've already recorded three interviews. One with uh rapper conclusion, Cassie, Cassie Reed, and the one and only Joe Exotic, the Tiger King. But yeah, and uh that one with Joe, it does get a little deep, you know, because when you hear that and everything, hear that podcast, you know, we could hear in Joe's voice, you know, how sad he was and shit, you know, and it kind of made me think about my days when I was locked up and stuff, you know. And that's what I talked about, you know, for the latter half of the podcast after we got off the phone with Joe because we could only talk to him for 10 minutes. But but man, what a trip. Joe freaking exotic, man. And it was a cool man. I mean, I gotta say, that was a kick-ass experience, you know. You know, watching this dude's Netflix special and shit, and being able to chop it up with him, you know, him calling me from prison and shit. Yeah, man. Sorry about the pause. I'm just I don't know. I'll put it to you this way. I never make New Year's resolutions because I never set myself up that way. I always look back and I'm appreciative of the things that I've accomplished. Now I do have a mindset about what I want to do and what I want to accomplish and everything, you know, but I I never make those resolutions, you know, because you know, life on life's terms, you know. And I give thanks for the the ones that I do accomplish and everything. And it's it's it's kind of like, you know, this podcast this year, you know. I don't know what how do I put this. I'm just gonna be thankful for what for what happens this year, you know. And hopefully the bad that happens this year won't be as bad as the past, you know, was went on the past two years. But it's gonna be fun. You know, like I said, this this podcast is a little bit deeper and stuff, you know. I'm just being real. I I can you know I'm not as bugged as I usually am. Because I just really wanted to be real with you guys, you know. And let you know from my heart of hearts, I mean, I appreciate you guys still being here and listening, you know, listening to my show and everything, you know. I mean, I'm just an old country boy from Mississippi, you know. But we have more interviews coming up. We are gonna be at some festivals this year. We will be talking to the Tiger King Joe Exotic again, Joe Exotic again. I'm looking forward to that. We're talking to Burk and Nurse again. Of course, we talked to him at the Banworth Smoke Shop, and we were live on Facebook, but we did not get that down on audio, so we'll we will be talking with those guys again, and we are looking forward to that. But man, just any anything is a blessing, you know. I'm just glad to be here and glad to be still be doing this, you know. And I know there's gonna be blessings this year, you know, I know that I just hope I'm ready for the trials that come. Like I said, it's been tough. But I fucking love you guys, man. I do. You guys are the fucking shit. We're gonna be giving out some concert tickets, some festival tickets a whole bunch of other things too, you know. We got this, you know. Even if I row this boat alone, it's still gonna get rode. Road. Something moist. I'm just playing. But yeah, I'm gonna have my uh my other brother Randy on here and possibly may maybe even my old man. I don't know. See if uh we can uh get him skirt up to uh come on the show and chop it up with us. But we're gonna have we're gonna have a lot of phone interviews when we're talking to people, you know, from different places and everything, which is gonna be a little bit of a change from what we from what we have been doing. But you know, hey, that's fucking cool too, you know what I mean? But looking forward to it, looking forward to the opportunity of things, you know, and man, looking forward to getting out there and going camping, listening to live music. I can't wait. Wait to get out there and see you guys again. You know, talk with you guys, you know, see how you're doing and stuff. You know, it's been a it's been a long winter, you know, and get some hugs and shit, you know. But uh everybody stay positive. You know, um tough times don't last, you know, tough people do. That you know, bad shit don't happen forever. You know. And when it does, don't drag it on. Let it go. Shake it off. Shake, shake, shake, shake it off. I just can't believe I did a fucking Taylor Swift fucking God. Excuse me, everybody. I do have kids, what can I say? But we're gonna jump off here. But just wanted you guys to hear this first. You know, be the first podcast you listen to. Don't let it bore you to death. You know, I'm just being real and open and honest, you know. Love you guys, man. You know, I hope I hope you're well. I hope your people are well. You know, I hope your tables are full of food, surrounded by the people that you love with smiling faces, you know. Gotta have the smiling faces, you know. I hope your blunts and your bulls are packed. I hope you got a little money in your bank account and a little bit of money in your wallet, or your purse if you're one of the ladies, if you're, you know, you gotta have your little coin purse, got to have the little purse and everything. Purse, purse, purse. But uh I love you guys, man. But um, you know, as Mr. Rogers would say, you know, take care of yourselves and each other.