Madtown Bar Talk
Welcome to Madtown Bar Talk, the podcast showcasing how the heart of Madison, Wisconsin comes alive through the clinking of glasses and the lively chatter of its vibrant bar scene. Join your host, April Disch, as she sits down with the charismatic owners and hardworking staff of the city's most iconic bars.
Madtown Bar Talk
Matty Rangel: GOAT
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April sits down with Matty Rangel, bartender by trade actor by passion. In April's eyes Matty Rangel is the GOAT of bartending!
I'm your host, April Disch. Welcome to Mad Tum Bartalk, the podcast showcasing how the Heart of Madison, Wisconsin comes alive to the clinking of glasses and the lively chatter of its vibrant bartend. I got a PhD in bartending, don't hate on me. I'm here to serve drinks, give a great atmosphere, and allow people to have the best time imaginable with all walks of life. My very special guest today, Matt Wrangle. What's up? How's it going?
SPEAKER_02It's going, it's going. Thanks for having me, Madison here.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for coming today. I s I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So you are the true iconic bartender by trade and actor by passion. Um, I would consider you in my eyes the GOAT, greatest of all time in the bar industry.
SPEAKER_02I I I appreciate that, thank you. That's that that's a high honor. Yeah. Um yeah, I've I've been called uh uh uh uh the bartender's online emotional support bartender. So um I've I've I got I get quite a few people following me, um, and definitely appreciate the platform and the ability to uh to do this stuff.
SPEAKER_00And we kind of talked um before you coming here today. Um you saying that you came from Racine, Wisconsin. That's where your roots are.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep, about an hour forty-five away from Madison, uh east, right on the river, right on the river, right on the lake. Uh there's a river that runs straight through it, uh Root River. That's where it gets its um name. Root uh Racine means root, and uh I want to say Native American.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_02That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00Did you what um age did you start bartending at? Did you start in Racine?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I started in Racine. Uh it it was actually when I decided to go to school for um theater uh and acting. Uh I started bartending uh to supplement my income because uh college students um you know obviously need fast and quick money, and uh bartending in in the service industry is a really good way to do that. So I started bartending when I went to school at twenty-five. And I'm currently thirty-six, so this will be my eleventh year.
SPEAKER_00It it flies. I always in like a year would take forever, and like five years it's like a blink of an eye. Yeah, yeah. Um have you if you have you fully enjoyed like bartending and acting? I know you're you have passions for both. Um, but would it do you have one that you prefer over the other?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um when you have a dream since you you were seven years old, so now going on 30 years um that I've wanted to be an actor, I would say that probably takes the cake. Um I do love bartending. I don't think, you know, I mean, yeah, hopefully I get famous and rich and you know, uh don't have to bartend anymore, but I always say that even if I um you know have enough uh means to live comfortably, I'll probably still be in and around the industry in some capacity because I do I do love it, yeah. Yeah, whether that's maybe owning or working a Sunday afternoon shift once a month, you know, something like that. I I'm through and through. It's you know, bartending's not gonna get rid of me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I love hearing that. I definitely love hearing that. Um what what what is Matt's favorite drink to make when you bartend?
SPEAKER_02Uh the easiest one, probably a bushlight.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I like it. I'm not a cocktail guy, I'm a I'm a dive bar bartender, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's that's my roots as well. I've tried doing all the fancy schmancy, you know, mixed drinks and doing the mixology thing, but uh my uh heart and soul is in a in a dive bar. It's beer and shot, and I like having all the different walks of life of all different kinds of people.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. I'm gonna write that down. That's a really good quote. My heart and soul is in a dive bar. I like that. Put it on a t-shirt.
SPEAKER_00It's just like people always ask me, like, why pick a dive? And I'm like, well, that's just where I'm comfortable. My heart and soul is into it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um see that's how I get my ideas too. I got 86 pages of ideas just talking to industry people. Yeah. You know, that's that's that's how all my stuff I feel like a lot of my stuff is so relatable. It's because it's it happened or it came from, you know, a bartender or somebody who's been around in the industry for forever, bartender adjacent, I call them, you know.
SPEAKER_00So I always like saying that I yeah, I've done, you know, I've been in the bar industry for twenty-three years. I know a lot, but I still am learning. Um because it's different. It it's n it's the same, but it's different consistently. So it's like I still am able to like learn from other people to make me grow as a bartender and a manager, and uh I think the the bar industry is definitely uh a fun space to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm I mean I've I've worked for bar owners that think they do know it all and then they're stagnant and then they get left behind. Um and I feel like you know, my philosophy always is, you know, if if you're the smartest person in the room, find a bigger fucking room because you know, it's i you stay stagnant if if you're the smartest person in the room, you know. Um you always gotta have that that next idea that's gonna, you know, kick start your next ten years, you know. If you're complacent, you're you're gonna die, you know.
SPEAKER_00That's where I think like I totally agree with you on that. A lot of bar owners think they know and they have no fucking clue. And I I appreciate bar owners who actually ask their employees like, hey, what do you guys think we need, or you know, what what are your your regulars wanting? I think that's awesome. Yeah. Um so as far as like a Wisconsin traditional old-fashioned, how do you make your old fashioned if you gotta make one?
SPEAKER_02Uh in Wisconsin, if they ask me for a Wisconsin old-fashioned, um, usually they drop the Wisconsin from it because we're in Wisconsin, so it's fine. Um you know, it does have a different name. It has Wisconsin in there. Uh it is um whatever spirit they want, so usually brandy, bourbon, or whiskey, uh, two ounces of that, uh, bitters, uh, if they want it sweet or sour. Um, if they want it sweet, the sugar cube. Uh if they want it sour, leave the sugar cube out. Uh a cherry that is radioactively red, uh, an orange, um, the whole the whole half moon of orange. Uh muddle those three things up if it's sugar, those three things up, and then uh you put it over ice, and if it's sweet, we top it with seven up. If it's sour, we top it with sour.
SPEAKER_00That's how I make it too.
SPEAKER_02I said bitters, right? Yeah. Sometimes I leave bitters out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Not on purpose. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then I'm like, this is a weird cut. Oh, yep, bitters. There it is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it depends on if it's, you know, 10 o'clock or midnight. Just it all depends. Yeah. I'll make it good though. Um, if you were unemployed tomorrow and you walked into a bar, how would you instantly know that that's the kind of bar you would want to work at? Like, how would how would you know? Like, if you were, you know, just like, I wanna work at a bar, but I don't know what kind of bar. How would you know when you walked into it?
SPEAKER_02Uh the darkness of it, uh, and the lived in-ness. Um, I try I'm trying to stay away from calling dive bars um dirty or gross because they're not. They're they're lived in. I say they're aged. Yeah, yeah. It's um that would probably be where I would know. Um, that's my kind of my kind of deal. Um, and then other than that, um I I love my dives, um, but then also I love my neighborhood bars. So if I walked into a bar and the six people sitting at the bar turned and looked at you when you walked in, and then they were like, okay, he's fine. And then they look back and they keep talking with the bartender. Yeah. Um, and it takes you a few minutes, and you know, the bartender's a little not slow with you, but you know, faster with other people at first, and then he's like, Oh, okay, this guy's in the industry, all right, he's cool. Um, you know, they kind of suss you out the first two or three drinks, yeah. And then they're like, All right, he's cool. That's another, you know, neighborhood type style bar that I would love to love to work at. And I do work at um both the neighborhood and a dive bar. Yeah. I work at a neighborhood bar, I work at a uh dive bar, and then I work at a I would call it a sports bar. Um it's very Wisconsin Badgers themed. Um, but it's it's kind of for the younger crowd too. I do my Saturday afternoons there, um, have the regulars more. Um the sports one is Pub on Wisconsin. Um, and that one's more of like, you know, it's got a really solid uh daytime crowd because it's in the middle of downtown. Um, but then then their nighttime crowd, they shift to like younger crowd DJs and just really loud music and throwing out as many shots and drinks as you possibly can, which is great. You know, it's that that that's bar, it's what you should do. Um, but they're definitely geared more towards the the younger crowd. So then I go over to my home bar, which now I work at, uh, is um uh old MKE pub. That's the neighborhood bar. Uh it used to be a house, um, and they turned it into into a bar, so it's quite literally in a neighborhood, which is awesome. And then uh another bar around the corner from Pub on Wisconsin I work at is the void, um, and that's your dive bar. It's it's an 80s, 90s dive bar, and there has there's stuff around still from the you know 70s, 80s, and 90s, um whether it was put there or it was left there. Yeah, it's it's it's there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's super cool. So with bartending, it it is for sure mentally straining. Um you know, my mood can be I always say when I walk in and clock in, I leave my bullshit at the door. And when I go to clock out, I leave the bullshit before I go home. Um because there are, you know, it is sometimes like a roller coaster for sure. It can be mentally like straining depending on the on the week. Um do you do you agree with that saying it can be pretty straining?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, absolutely. Um I I actually do a series uh every Monday called Mental Health Mondays. Um and it's that like um you know just that let it out type of thing. Um talk about, you know, because it's there's stuff where, you know, I've I've bartended for somebody who just lost their son and he he was alone, he came in and you know, just didn't want to be alone, you know, and then I had to grieve with a stranger uh about somebody I you know didn't even know for two hours. And at the end of those two hours, you know, he thanked me and tipped me and and paid his bill and left and I've never seen him again. And you know, after that shift, I just fucking I sat down and it was, you know, not like I lost somebody, but I felt the weight I felt the weight of of that for a couple hours. And if he would have gone to a different bar, I would have never felt that weight ever in my life, you know, like in a different way, maybe, and you know, some sort of circumstance, but it's if you leave that, if you keep that stuff inside and keep it building up inside of you, um, you know, stranger's grief, um, I call it, if you keep that stranger's grief uh inside of you, you know, you're gonna explode eventually. Um, so it's my mental health Mondays is a way of like, hey, let me vent out all this stuff. Let's collectively vent together and then um tell me that you're gonna be here next week. Um I think that accountability and having something too, and it's really silly and stupid, but it's it's worked with and for people is having an accountability of saying, telling somebody, you know, I'll be here next week, that's something that they can hang on to, and it's something that you know you feel responsible. Like you're like, no, I I told Sam I was gonna be here next week, I'm gonna be here next week. Um so it's kind of uh saying it out loud type of thing. Um that you know I I I hope helps helps people. Um it definitely helps me um go through, you know, and and really take take a mental check of you know where I am every single Monday um because this industry is is very taxing. Um, you know, it's everything's different and there's no comparables to any other jobs, but you know, there are people that deal with a lot of stuff, and you never really like if you've never been in the industry, you've never really um you you don't really think about like how much uh that person that's serving you is going through um in their own life or what they're dealing with with customers um in that mental struggle uh that you have on a day-in and day out basis. You know, you just think, oh man, they just open up beers and they you know get my food. It's much deeper than that.
SPEAKER_00Way, way deeper than that. Like I I definitely um tell you know friends and family stories. They ask, you know, just wanting to know, like, hey, how was your your week this week, bartending, and you know, I can relate to you with a lot of what you just said. Like, you know, they'll just look at me and they'll just be like, I I don't believe that. Like, that's crazy, or I'm really sorry that you, you know, had to like go through that, but like, you know, they could have picked a different bar to go to. And um I just yeah, I I want to serve drinks and make people feel happy and safe, and that they can do that in the environment that I'm in. And it's not like you know that it's coming, but you know, when they sit down, it's like, hey, what can I get ya? And they're there to have a conversation, and sometimes it's far deeper than what you expected.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I think that's really I that's super inspiring that you um decided to do the mental health mondays like just for community and like you know, being who you are, you know, it's it's like it's awesome to see people who have that platform, but they also definitely want to like help people. And I would say there are other people in this world that want to do that, but it's like it's I I wish there were more, you know. So I think it's really, really cool that you do that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. It's it's it's needed, it's it's absolutely needed in this industry. Um it's you know quite literally the easiest and hardest video I make every single week, you know. Um and you know, I I try to make it every week, you know. Life gets in life gets in the way sometimes. Um but you know, I just you literally started talking and I was like, is it two no it's Monday. It is Monday. I mean I didn't miss it, okay. You know, and even if I miss it, I'll I'll do mental health Mondays on Tuesdays sometimes, you know.
SPEAKER_00You still show up.
SPEAKER_02That's yeah. And I I I don't I I that's the one video too that it would be super easy to pre-record and do it on like a Saturday or something, and I just I never do. I'm like, I'm no, I want it to be I want to really reflect and talk in my video about, you know, and you know, see see if I'm having a good week or having a bad week, like what those seven days, what did they do to me, you know?
SPEAKER_00That's super cool that you do that. And that's you usually do that like on TikTok, on Instagram, like Yeah, on on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. So people just check in on the on Yeah, wherever, whatever, wherever they see it. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna have to definitely start following that more. I I think that's awesome. Um with bartending, I don't I don't wanna say that like w we are unsafe to be in a bar, but at times I've felt uh behind the bar unsafe. Um I've been able to gain control, you know, most times. Um but you know, sometimes I do need assistance from the police, ones in a blue moon, but very rarely. Um have you ever had an experience where you've felt unsafe behind the bar?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's there's there's been plenty of times. Um, and especially when you mix alcohol and ecos and things like that, sports, you know, stuff like that, you know, it can get, you know, a little bit dicey. Um there was a place that I worked at, it was uh it was a nightclub, and you know, sometimes we'd have two, three hundred people in there, and you know two hundred and ninety-eight people could be the nicest people in the world, but then you get those two guys or two people that are you know beefing and and you know, or you stepped on their shoe or something, and you know, you looked at somebody wrong, and and then there's a fight, and then you know it spirals out of control and you can't handle it. Um but for the most part, like you said, like you know, you gain control, you have to be the you know, the most sober and the most level-headed person inside of that bar at all times, um, and take control, even you know, I'm I'm small, I'm a small 5'8, you know, guy. Like I'm not really intimidating at all, but that's why we're best friends with uh the biggest, tallest, uh, muscliest guys around, because um that really helps when you're in a pinch. Um, and uh, you know, we we we use that to our advantage as well, you know.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, my door guy has saved my ass a few times.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I've I've had I've had plenty of regulars that I'm like, hey, can you just can you walk outside with me? Uh I'm gonna kick this guy up. And they well. And buddy Darius or Liberty, like they'll get up and they're like, Yep. And like the they don't even have to say nothing. They just stand behind me. I got this. You know, I need that little bit of backup. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I call those fr like true friends. Um I I have I like saying regulars as well, but I at the end of the day, my regulars are like my my family.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, absolutely. Uh dare I just showed Darius where my grill was at. So if if I'm working or something and he needs to use a grill, he can use my grill. So he's he's got my garage code. That's awesome. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I I I don't know, I've I've work a lot of hours, so I when I can see my family and and friends, I I definitely try and make time for that when I can. Do you find sometimes that it's it's hard to like do life and see your family and friends and do it all?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, definitely. And it's you know, um, I feel like they're getting better at it, but a lot of my family, um, they do stuff at the last minute. Like we we have schedules that are either a month in advance or at least a week in advance in the industry. And you know, five days before Easter, four days before Easter, my mom's like, Hey, your Aunt Debbie. Having uh Easter dinner at um at three o'clock and on Sunday, yeah. And I went, Well, cool. I picked up a shift, I'll be there at five, you know, and she was like, Well, I thought you were off, and I'm like, I was, but you guys didn't say anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Having Easter dinner at 3 p.m. Alright, I'll be there when I can, you know. Um, and my uh my cousin and uh his wife, um uh Tyler and Taylor, they uh they both came to the because of the bar was actually about five blocks away from my aunt's house that I was working at. Oh sweet. So they both came to the bar and they were like, well, we'll just wait for you and then drive drive you there. And I was like, all right, great. So we sat there and had uh a couple Easter beers and then showed up to to to dinner at the same time. So that's cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I even today we'll yeah. I just I I try try more when I can for sure. So I'm always a work in progress, I say. Um what would be um one of it when you when you've been behind the bar, what has been the best experience that you've had behind the bar?
SPEAKER_02Oh man.
SPEAKER_00Um And it can be anything.
SPEAKER_02I would say right now, um, you know, I don't want to get in too much detail, but uh one of my bar owners is is going through some health struggles. Um so the one thing that uh comes to mind right now is um on my birthday a couple years ago, uh we decided to uh to work together uh for the first time in forever. Uh and I think it was like a Friday night or something, and we made like a huge birthday thing. And uh I remember um at midnight her turning all the lights up and shutting the music off, and they all sang happy birthday to me. Um and there's a video of us hugging, and uh I'd say that's one of my favorite moments at at the moment, right now. That's super cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, me and Sam. That's awesome. It's uh it's nice to have those for sure. Because you'll you'll always remember 'em.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00What would be one of your not so good experiences behind the bar?
SPEAKER_02Um, probably self-inflicted. Uh I had I I used to open Sunday mornings, um, and I know for some people it's not too early, but uh 11 a.m. is early for me. And uh I partied all Saturday night, probably went to bed at six, seven in the morning, and uh opened that bar, and that was probably one of the wor one of the worst shifts I've ever had in my entire life. Um got off the shift at 3 p.m. Barely made it through it, and um and uh went back to bed and woke up around like midnight and finally hung over. Yeah. That was uh that was a terrible shift. Self-inflicted though, so that's my fault.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Those those yeah, those can be brutal. But I think we learn each time to just yeah, hopefully not do that to that extreme or that type of level. I always like to try to learn. Um what advice would you give someone who is wanting to be a bartender and wanting to get in the industry? Like what would what would like words of wisdom, I guess, that you would give someone?
SPEAKER_02Um I would say uh know if this industry is or isn't for you. Um it's there's there's a a certain type of thing you can't um you can't teach bartending. Uh I can teach you how to make the drinks. Um I can't teach you how to um control and regulate a crowd and keep them entertained while also um being not fast, but like having hustle. There's like a certain like having hustle and like your eyes on a swivel to where you can command an entire bar and have seven different conversations at once um and make it seem seamless and flawless. Um that's something that I I always look for in a new bartender. Um so just learning how to do that. Um there are some bartenders that just don't know and don't understand that. And um and they'll try and hang on as long as they can because it's good money, but you know, it's um at a certain point, you know, are you right for this industry um or not? Or even maybe that's a different paced bar for you, and you need to go to the small neighborhood bar and work an afternoon shift and just be chill, you know what I mean? It's you know, there are people that see that money on Friday and Saturday night, and then they're like, Well, I don't want the Sunday afternoon, and you're like, You can make a decent amount on a Sunday, you're more of a Sunday afternoon bartender, and people hang on to that. So my biggest advice is to um know where know where you fit in in this industry, and if it if you fit in in this industry, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I always tell people like anyone can walk through the door and want to be a bartender. It's how you show up, and yeah, like you have to figure out your your skin, what you're comfortable in. You know, the bar has the skeleton per se of like all bars are built up the same, right? But like you just have to figure out what bar you're comfortable being behind. I think it it speaks in volumes, you know, like some people are fully capable of being behind a bar, but like you said, can they do the slow shifts too, you know, and and still know that they can still make a good amount of money or you don't always necessarily get those those gravy sh those those Friday Saturday night shifts off the jump, you know. What um is Matt's future in in this year looking like? What what what's what's your what's your life you know looking like? What's your I guess goals and some things that you might want to do and um hopefully uh traveling.
SPEAKER_02Um my my body is at rest when my uh when my body's in the air. Um I love flying. I love going to different cities. Really? Um yeah, it's um I love it's really relaxing, yeah. I I I love going to a different city and doing the same thing that I would be doing in my hometown. Having good conversation and good drinks with good people. Um, and I like to find places in other cities to do that, and it it refuels my my passion and my um it it reaffirms what we're doing, you know. We're we're we're doing the same thing in in in different cities and different countries around the world. Um, and that's what makes my content so relatable, is that you know we're we're doing all of that. Um so I love going to reaffirm my passion uh for that. Um the big goal for me this next year um hopefully is to buy a house. Um I would love to save up for that and um uh uh get a house for myself. Um I would rather pay the bank than my landlord, is awesome. Um he's a great guy, but I would rather pay the bank than him. Um but uh other than that, uh I got my passport last year and I did not use it. Uh it finally took me 35 years to get a passport. I finally got it and I didn't use it. So my goal this year, actually last night I was looking at uh flights um and stays to Europe. Um because I just I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna get out of the country for for for a second, you know.
SPEAKER_00Experience it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's awesome.
SPEAKER_02The furthest away I've ever gotten to. I've I've been technically out of the continental United States. I went to Puerto Rico. Um that was amazing and really fun, but still technically the United States. Yeah. Um, but uh it just re reaffirmed my my passion for for travel. And um, you know, I wanna, even if it's Canada or Mexico or something, I've I've been I've been to San Diego, so I've been very close to out of the country, but I haven't gotten there yet.
SPEAKER_00I love I've been to Canada, loved it. When fishing with my dad for a week, it was a blast. But yeah, I I try and go somewhere once a year for sure. That's always on my my to-do list. But yeah, I want to go somewhere tropical. I don't know. I've always wanted to go to like Hawaii and you know Puerto Rico is super cool, Jamaica.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I've I was thinking about doing a cruise, one of those Caribbean cruises. Um just hit a couple little islands, that'd be really fun. But um, yeah, my sister lived in Hawaii for a while, and I never pulled the trigger on going and to visit her, and uh I regret it. Um I want to go to Hawaii for sure. Um But yeah, it's um traveling's in my nature. Um couple weeks ago I went to Fenway for eight hours, um, went to Boston for eight hours, flew there and flew back, and uh on May 6th I will be going to St. Louis doing the same thing.
SPEAKER_01How cool is that?
SPEAKER_02Uh going to a uh Brewer's Cards game uh at Newbush Stadium. Yeah, just flying there. I get there around 11 30, 11 45, and then uh the game's at 12 15, and then I fly back at 9 p.m. Nice. Um yeah, it's just it's that's cool.
SPEAKER_00You found like a comfortable, relaxing thing that you enjoy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Right. And it's yeah, you you you gotta do it the right, and like that's the thing is this this industry provides me the ability and how I've set it up um with you know my work schedule, and then the the bar owners um you know know me and know that my passion is is travel and also um acting and social media, so they know that you know I'm not I'm I don't want to be a bartender forever. Um so if it works out for both sides, both parties, um I can I can say, hey, two months from now I'm gonna be gone for four days, and they're like, All right, we'll see you when you get back, we'll cover your shift, you know. Super cool.
SPEAKER_00So that you've built that relationship.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it um it's it it's definitely a um unique relationship. Um and you know, sometimes there are impasses and things like that, but um, you know, you deal with them and and it's you know if if if a shift has to get taken away or whatnot, you know, you deal with that and figure it out. Um, because my passion, um I love bartending, but that's not my passion, you know. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00You hope to maybe like be in a movie or like do theater.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um I feel like I'm kind of theatered out. I did that for the first 30 years of my life. Um, but uh I do love it. I I love the passion. Um I love uh you know getting to sit there for a few weeks and dig into a script and uh do that. Um, you know, if I mean if if the right bro came calling, sure. Um I would love to do that. Um, but yeah, um television, uh, I mean, we're so close to Chicago where I'm at. Um I had you know, I have an agent in Chicago, um, you know, commercials, TV, film, things like that. Hopefully that's on the horizon. That's at least the goal. Um, and uh I graduated a month before the pandemic hit um with a degree in theater, um, so I just kept bartending. And um then I turned that into a year after that. I started doing content about bartending.
SPEAKER_00How come you wanted to start doing content? Like where like who were you following? Or where did you decide to start wanting to make content? God bless you.
SPEAKER_02Um so it's funny, so so I um I'll just give you the whole the whole spiel here. So I was uh 25 and I you know I was working at warehouses and and factories and things like that, and I was like, this isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life, I want to be an actor, and let me go back to school. So I went back to to school um to get a degree in theater, and a couple weeks into me uh pursuing that degree, uh, I got a job uh bartending. Well, technically bar backing for a couple weeks, and then I became a bartender. Uh I got a job, it was my first technically industry job, at least bar industry job. And I started bartending and um bartended my way all throughout um getting this degree and uh graduated and a month after I graduated the pandemic hit and the world shut down for a while. And so I just slowly after the world was opening up, slowly started bartending again and was like, well, let's figure out like the world has to adjust and heal and figure their shit out um before I can start acting again. So I kept bartending, and uh a year into um the pandemic, uh I think it was like March 2021, um, I had never really like I'd been online, um, but I never like made videos or anything like that. And uh I thought TikTok was a kid's app for dancing and lip syncing, you know. And I was like, I don't I don't be on that stupid stuff. So um I didn't I didn't, you know, doom scroll on on that on uh on TikTok and uh Facebook didn't have reels or anything at the time, so I was just scrolling my timeline on Facebook, you know, that was about it. And um I was sitting there um like we do after uh after hours um after barring at uh one of my favorite uh bars with uh my two buddies um Cadillac and uh Dan and they uh they're predominantly in most of my videos. Well not most of, but if somebody's in my video, it's those two guys. Okay. Um Cadillac has the glasses and long hair, and uh Dan has the really long beard. Okay, yeah. Um But Dan uh has a passion for film. Uh he loves he loves all things film, and uh Josh is one of the funniest guys I've ever met in my entire life. Um he went to Second City in Chicago for a while. Um he does stand-up, he's an amazing musician, um, just a jack of all trades. Um, but he loves bartending and he's uh through and through bartender. Uh so all three of us kind of had some sort of inkling of um the acting film-ish industry. And we were sitting there uh about five, six in the morning uh after barring, and I'm talking about like, you know, like I went I went to school to get this degree, I got this degree, and then the fucking world shut down, and now I can't I can't do it. I'm stuck bartending again. And uh uh my buddy Cadillac was like, No, you're not, just do it yourself. He was like, You you know, you've seen the it's always sunny in Philadelphia guys, they couldn't get work, and so they found it themselves, and now they're on year fucking 18 or something like that. And I was like, Okay, maybe I will. Okay, um, let me download TikTok. So I downloaded TikTok because I had no idea how to edit videos or anything, and I had heard that it's easy to make videos and post them on TikTok. So I was like, let me download TikTok and see how hard it is to make a video, and uh I just get into it and just try it. Yeah, I um I made a test video. It's me running my my hand through my hair uh to a song, and I posted that video and was like, oh, it is kind of easy to edit. Um went to bed the next day, woke up, um, text both of them, and I said I got an idea for this video. And Dan was like, I'm opening the bar right now, it's slow, let's do it.
SPEAKER_01Hell yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I went down there. It took us five minutes to shoot it. Uh it was Dan uh uh grabbing the bar dice um and just slamming them down on the table at various points saying dice. I you know, I go out of the I walk out of the bathroom, he slams them down dice, he opens up the beer cooler, pulls the dice out of it, slams it down, says dice. He walks out of the closet, slams them down, says dice, and that was it.
SPEAKER_00And um And you came up with that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh we edited it and filmed it in five minutes and posted it and it went viral. That's crazy. And uh been doing videos ever since. Yeah, so um it long story short, it was a it was a um it was a way to get my creative outlet um to find my creative outlet again um with you know what I what I'm passionate about. And um bartending was the niche that I found because it was what I was doing. And um, you know, it's a lot that all came together.
SPEAKER_00And it came together though. Yeah. I think that's super, super cool to hear, and I think it's super super inspiring. Um, like I was telling you before that, you know, I I started following you on Instagram and TikTok, and that's how I started watching your stuff. Thought you were hilarious, thought you're doing great stuff, and that's why I started making TikToks was because of you. And I told you I was like, had it not been for me watching you do your stuff, I would have never done it. So I want to thank you for you know making that footprint uh for bartenders that are just people who want to, you know, do something like that. I think super inspiring.
SPEAKER_02I appreciate that. And I, you know, I I feel like I'm not, you know, the first person to ever do this. I didn't, you know, I didn't invent it, but um, I I feel like I have at least a a toehold in in in this um bartender content creation industry, and um, you know, it's very uh inspiring and it just makes you know I've been doing this for over six years now, and it just it makes all those six thousand videos worth it. Um that you know it's it's it's hitting the right people and it's and it's um you know it's it's creating um you know a sort of um you've opened it.
SPEAKER_00Right? Like that's how I feel. Like you've made a pathway. You started like the yellow brick road in a sense, I think, in my eyes. So does that make me Dorothy or Munchkin? How about the like the Tin Man? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He's kind of mean and wicked though. I see. I don't know. The lion? Okay, sure.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that guy sucks too, I think. They're all kind of terrible except Dorothy, I think. But she also kills somebody. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00It's a flip of a quarter, right? But no, I wanna I wanted to thank you, and I will forever keep thanking you for what you've done. Um, it's very cool just getting to know you in the short period of time that I've gotten to meet and meet you. Um you're very down to earth, you're very chill. Um but you're also like just like easygoing to just you're open to wanting to do new things or try new things, and you know, giving me an opportunity to sit down with you, I think, is freaking awesome.
SPEAKER_02So um, I'm just I'm I'm just a normal regular Guy. I'm just I'm your regular bartender. You know, like there's a lot of people that, you know, obviously, if I'm in a new city, you know, kind of I could either see them staring through my soul because they know who I am, or they they they come up to me and I'm just like, you know, come on. And like, you know, they talked, they talked to me for a minute, and they're just like, you're just a normal guy. And I'm like, yeah. Everybody's a normal guy. Like the not normal people are like, yeah, just the assholes. Like, you know, why would I want to be an asshole? Um, you know, it's just I'm just a regular, everyday, normal, you know, normal kind of guy. And it's um it's refreshing now. Yeah. I I I I do my best to try and, you know, put that persona out there because that's you know, that's just what I want. I'd I try to be as nice as I possibly can to everybody because you know, um I um I feel like that's the right thing to do, you know. Um and it's um, you know, it's it's just how I was how I was I was, you know, raised and and taught to just, you know, try and be nice, you know. It's and also try new things, you know. Uh and I love um I love talking, I love, you know, podcasts and things like that. I I could never do this, the type of stuff that you guys do with editing and that all that's that's just you know, there's so many people there's so many people that are like, you need to do a you need to be you need to do a podcast. And I'm like, I could be on one every week, sure. But like I could never do the legwork of a podcast. Yeah. I bet you could the it's that's just a different type of work that uh that I uh have no clue how to how to do and how to start and in in, you know, there's so much going on in my life, it's just like that's why I love doing other people's podcasts, is because I'm like, alright, you know, same thing. I don't want kids, they're a lot of work, but I'm a great uncle.
SPEAKER_00That's good though, you know that, right? So I think that's super, super cool that you you just know that of yourself. So um so I usually say like an inspiring quote at the end of my podcast, but I I kind of just thought this morning of something that a very wise woman in my life once said who is now past, who is my grammar brunette. Um she always said um either people are a lesson, a lesson or a blessing in your life. And sometimes you're lucky if you get both of those things from different people in your life. Um, so I kinda just reflected on that this morning and looked at our interview today, and I was like, boy, like this is a lesson and a blessing for me. And so I wanted to share that with you that you are a huge lesson and a blessing for me, and I wanted to just thank you for being you and hopefully we can do this again. Yeah, awesome, thanks, Matt. Thanks. I'd like to give a special thanks to Chloe Louise Webster for music, social media, and everything she does. Charlie Monroe Kane, amazing human being. Thank you for helping me get this podcast up and going again. And to my amazing, amazing supportive family. As always, be safe. Tip your bartender and server.