Speaker 1: Fall is here. The air's crisp, the coffee's pumpkined, and
you're ride well, it's still squeaking like a haunted house.
Time to drive into Fall. At Victor Chrysler Dodge Jeep
ram On Root ninety six in Victor, where they've got
deals hotter than your neighbor's bonfire. Right now, you can
lease a new twenty twenty five Jeep Compass Limited four
by four for just two sixty nine a month for
twenty four months. That's right. Get into something safe, stylish,
and way more reliable than your cousins. Trust me, it'll
make it car. Or maybe you're the adventurous type. How
about the twenty twenty five Jeep Wrangler four door sport
As four by four. Lease it for just three nineteen
a month for thirty six months. Perfect for leaf peeping,
apple picking or making an epic grocery store entrance. Need
something with muscle. Grab the twenty twenty five Ram fifteen
hundred big Horn Crew Cab four by four just two
to ninety nine a month for forty two months, because hauling,
towing and looking awesome are kind of what it does.
All leases come with first payment DMV taxes and fees
do itside twenty five hundred cash or trade and least
loyalty required miles vary, so you know, don't drive to
the like Alaska. So whether you're conquering trails jobs or
the school drop off lane, Victor Chrysler Dodgejeep Rams drive
into Fall Vent has your perfect ride. See them today
on Route ninety six and Victor Or hit them up
online at Victor cdjr dot com because this Fall, the
only thing you should be falling for is a brand
new ride when your old career gives you lemons throwing
some ice, mix in some vodka. Call it a podcast
from the Mac of All Trade Studio in Fairport and
driven by Victor Chrysler Dots geep Ram.
Speaker 2: It's Billified, the Bill Moran Podcast.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome. Thanks for getting your thank you for
telling a friend. And that's how we spread the word
about the pirate Ship.
Speaker 3: Today a little different.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this is gonna be kind of fun
because I get people who go, I love Mark.
Speaker 3: I'd like to know more about Mark.
Speaker 1: And since the Bills are playing and we're taping this
Monday morning, uh and they're playing at an earlier time
like seven o'clock. Oh they're on at seven. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're on. Yeah, I might go to BTV then,
So okay. BTV is a great place to go watch
the game man, because you got over fifty TVs. The
food is fantastic. Get those potato skins that are the
size of my head.
Speaker 2: Yes, everything's not loaded to the loaded tater skins. Every
made to order. Everything is made to order. So if
you ever go in there and you're not you know
what I mean. You have to wait like a little
bit and you have no patience, you're an asshole because
nothing's frozen there. Everything is made, Everything is mean to order.
Speaker 1: I just got a message. Uh think I got a
message the other day from somebody going, I want to
tell you about my bt B experience. The food was fantastic,
all this stuff, Like, I got this big long text
message and I don't know it did You can text
this show anytime at five, eight five two or six
eighty eight sixty six. So anyway, that was, Uh, that's great,
right that at seven o'clock. And I would suggest get
to be TV, but get there by like six or
six thirty, don't you think I think it might be
busy meal.
Speaker 2: We have a joke and we always had since bet
to Billies, Bills fans don't go out anymore and they're lame. Yeah,
I mean you go to floor, you go to Tampa.
We went to Tampa to Bills Bar, and you could
even move in the place.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's warm and it's you know, it's Tampa.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, I hear you though, but I
can't imagine, like, there's not a better place on a
Monday night. And it's tough on a Monday because you
got to get up to go to work on Tuesday. Uh,
some people have the day off off, so maybe that'll
increase a little bit. And the game being earlier, I
would suggest, I say, go go have a great time.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that is the best place to watch football.
Speaker 1: That.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's no better place. And it's not
actually saying that. I know, I know I'm biased.
Speaker 1: Well I would think that people go, oh, oh you're
buddy too. I've gone other places to watch games. Matt
makes the environment fun. They play the shout song, they
do these things. It's just a it's a fun environment.
It's a welcoming environment, and it's a ton of bills
and they got great.
Speaker 2: People that work there too. Yeah, you know, it's a
great staff.
Speaker 3: So let's get into Mark, who became Mark the Soldier.
Speaker 1: Grew up in Greece.
Speaker 2: I grew up in Greece my whole life, Yes, your
whole life, yep uh.
Speaker 3: And what was your connection to what were you doing?
Speaker 1: I knew you knew Doug right because you guys worked
with me and Doug I grew up together. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was on his bowling team when we were like
twelve thirteen, and I was a crappy buller and and
he made fun of me, so okay, I make fun
of him.
Speaker 1: So I kind of like, yeah, it's all work out,
so kind of balance the differancial life. And but then
eventually you end.
Speaker 2: Up at CMF accidentally, and I think you were there
when you started. I was there, right, We started at
the exact same time.
Speaker 1: Because I came in, I had sent I had gone
to Fisher. My dad would send me money to party.
Every two weeks I would check for fifty bucks. Woud
show up and.
Speaker 2: I had the bucks to party.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was nineteen ninety it was, and everything was
paid for by the way. I had all my meals
paid for. I had the full meal plan, so this
is just fun money. What I stupidly did was, as
my sister recently referred to this person as my trashy
girlfriend who was back home, I would blow like the
fifty dollars on a phone bill talking to her.
Speaker 2: All those phone bills. Yeah, see, the young people used
to have phones that used to be and you know,
used to come out of a wall.
Speaker 1: That's right. And so when I went back, I went
back and he said to me, you I'm not paying.
I'm not paying now. Now you got to get a job.
So I was like, do I wait tables? Because I
waited tables for the summer. But I had also spent
the previous year because I got a little bit of trouble.
So it was like a mutual agreed upon thing that
I would sit for one year. I was benched for
a year and I wasn't going to go to college.
That's when like the owner of the station came to
me that I worked at. Rob Dyson goes, come to
Maras and that's when my old man goes, Okay, here's
the deal. You can go to Marris, figure out how
to pay for it, get your own apartment, or you
can go live with my brother in Park City for
the summer. Come back and I'll pay for Fisher. That's
what he said to me. So I'm like, well, I'm
not dummy, and all right, there you go. I went
to Park City, had a great summer, but I worked
as a waiter. It was a terrible waiter, terrible, terrible
to think about all the people you've ever hired, I
was the fucking worst. Oh my god, I've had. I
couldn't uncork a bottle of wine the first time. I
remember this guy going as I couldn't either. I was trying,
try and trying, and he goes to me, is this
your first time? And I look at him dead seriously.
Speaker 2: I go, yeah, I've been funny. If you said no,
I was like, but I was twenty one.
Speaker 1: But I so anyway, figure all that stuff out, come
back here. And I had done overnights for a year,
so I didn't even know what kind of tape to
put together. So I had aliens landing and eating yellow
snow and me throwing up and calling payphones in the
middle of the night. And that's what I sent to
c HMF and Stan heard it and hired me, that's awesome.
And I got brought in on weekends and he said
to me, we do five hours of funny radio day.
Can you just do straight radio? Oh yeah, So I
did for a few minutes. And that first weekend it
was Tommy was the liners were Monday Morning tom and
I kept saying Mule because I didn't know it was Bleat.
No one told me Tommy, Tommy Muell will be joining
the Brother Wee's Morning circus. So I started the weekend
before it was October. Got it might have been almost
thirty five years in ninety three, right, yeah, in nineteen
ninety three.
Speaker 2: I started ninety four, So we started. Okay, So you
started in ninety ninety four.
Speaker 1: Well, I wasn't around a lot because I was going
to college during the week.
Speaker 2: I used to see you because I worked for you
in promotion.
Speaker 1: Well that's because I graduated in May of ninety four.
Speaker 2: Because I used to go and we's the studio and
stay on the couch.
Speaker 1: And then I yes, and then I started hanging out
doing promotions after I graduated.
Speaker 2: College was a great time.
Speaker 1: By the way, that was a lot of fun. We
had a lot of.
Speaker 2: Fun edging them doing that today. Well, we did, and
when we were on promotions.
Speaker 1: No, right, I have no idea. I don't even remember. Right, Well,
I didn't get I didn't hang out with a lot
of them. And at the time I was living with
a woman and I was engaged, so I didn't go
partying like that.
Speaker 2: There's one of your three engagements, right Uh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't have three engagements,
but damn close. Yeah, might as well, might as well
call it that. But during that So, how does how
do you get from Greece Catholic school, working at Kidney
Shoes to being part of the brother Wee's morning circus?
Speaker 2: Well, how I got marked? The soldier?
Speaker 1: Name? Was? Is it? When Award Stern first came to town?
I was?
Speaker 2: I was always I never liked Stern. I never dn't
know who Stern really was.
Speaker 1: I know he was.
Speaker 2: I used to watch this TV show you know that
we used to be on us be on cable.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was like a w R.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And uh so I would go anywhere that
there was Howard Stern stuff going on, and I would
I would support Weeze and that includes so you would show.
Speaker 1: Up at radio. I was gonna say but what the
time was the nerve? Right?
Speaker 2: It was the nerve?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you would show up at their events.
Speaker 2: No, it was actually Rocket then it became the nerve.
Speaker 3: Okay, so right, right, so you would show up at
their events.
Speaker 2: Yeahs And Dino talks about Dino says that he made
Mark the Soldier. So he still says this very day,
I'm I'm the reason there's Marked the Soldier.
Speaker 1: Because he was uh, he he.
Speaker 2: Bored up, he board opped. Yeah, and he did all
the he did all the promotions.
Speaker 1: Okay, so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just so Charlie Fitzsimmons asked me if I
wanted to come and in, how did they find out
about you? I would go see Charlie A fat mos?
Speaker 1: Oh so you would go see Charlie if I was you,
I was a groupier. This is amazing. So you were
a groupie. You would go just on the on your own.
What made you want to go and fuck with an?
Speaker 2: I just I just I don't know, because I hated
Howard Stern so much.
Speaker 1: Did you see things that he was saying?
Speaker 2: I just didn't like what he said? You know, We's
is an institution in Rochester, sure and you was was Yeah,
exactly they were. And you bring all of a sudden,
you bring the big name in the town. Yeah, and
he destroys everybody.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: And I didn't want Wes to go down from Howards Stern.
I wanted him to stay and that was Those were
probably his best ratings were during Howards.
Speaker 1: So you just out of the this is just out
of you. There was none of your friends were part
of this.
Speaker 2: All my friends would go with me because I thought
it was funny, but they weren't part of it.
Speaker 1: No, this is me, This is completely you, your own idea. Yes,
and so you would go and what would happen at Like,
I'm curious what would happen?
Speaker 3: Because I have a story for you.
Speaker 2: Do you remember when they used to bring the second
rate people from Stern show in the town.
Speaker 1: No, I because I was so wrapped up in college
and planning a wedding and uh uh, I don't know,
trying to get my career going that I never I
just focused on that. I was sort of unaware that
like Jackie the joke man, Martinling came in or Stuttering
John or whatever.
Speaker 2: I got banned from from where they were because I went, well,
I went, I forgot where it was. Was it a
fast remember fanst Eddies?
Speaker 1: Yes, and Village Village Kate was in the back of
Village Gate.
Speaker 2: I think I went to I think it was Fast
Eddies and they had like it wasn't I can't remember
the name of their names, who they even were anymore?
And I went in with a wee shirt and I
was just being obnoxious and I was I was told
by one of the characters from the show to leave, okay, and.
Speaker 1: Then but these were the same people who would do
the same fucking thing exactly.
Speaker 2: I mean that that's not so ironic, is that?
Speaker 1: Like I got I got stories for you, like legit,
real stories that I don't think most people know, and
I want to I gotta get them in a in
a fashion that isn't coming out of my mouth because
it sounds like I'll tell you like everything is secondhand.
But go on regarding Stern, but go on, I'll tell
you a couple of stories.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean I was, I was there. I
was the Dan they used to call it danger boy
when you would have somebody that would go yes out
and do that. I remember I was in was twenty three,
twenty four maybe yeah, So yeah, I started working on
the showing, helping out.
Speaker 1: Now, so you go to fat Mos and you tell Charlie,
this is what I do.
Speaker 2: Charlie already did all know it.
Speaker 1: They all knew it now. They all knew that there
was somebody showing up at the stern stuff and saying
this stuff.
Speaker 2: Yes, because I guess management from Rocket thought it was
somebody that worked.
Speaker 1: There, somebody that worked for weeks for okay, and they
know I ended up you ended up working for a week,
but you weren't working for right. That That's really interesting
because surely would think that, right, exactly so, and those
guys would get so pissed off at things like that.
And because I remember I convinced the general manager when
I was marketing director to buy a bat light that
you could just beam the logo anywhere, right, So it
was like this spotlight and you were just beaming out
the side. So we had the mobile Homer Rock and Roll,
and they're having a CD release party right at the
bay where I don't even think.
Speaker 3: I think now there's apartments in Newport House.
Speaker 1: No newporthouse was on the other side, but this was
down at the right at the bottom on Empire.
Speaker 2: Oh, Okay, that's where Alvio's by, where Alvio's place, Yes.
Speaker 1: But this was further up and I and now I
think there's apartments there. I think they tore down whatever
was there, and they were having a CD release party.
And I was told by the boss, take the man,
go out there and beam the light on there. So
I do, and they all start coming out, like all
the management, come on, man, why are you doing this?
Why are you doing this to our stuff? This is
our thing? And so then it's me because then I go,
these are just people trying to fucking do their job.
I mean, why am I gonna fuck it? Yeah? So
I pack up and I'm leaving. And then Eric Anderson,
who who? Who?
Speaker 2: Actually is the reason He's the reason why I kept
this up because he was such a douchebag.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: There was nothing good about that fucking guy, right.
Speaker 3: I heard a lot of bad things.
Speaker 1: I didn't know him. He tried to hire me once
and I pissed him off, and he's screaming at me
on the phone. Your career is never going to be anything.
Speaker 2: He did the same thing to me, He tried to
he tried to hire me so he could fire me. Yeah,
magian getting that he should to hire me, and he's like,
would hire me and then he'd let me go, And no,
I couldn't go back to the other station.
Speaker 3: He was a weird guy.
Speaker 1: So he and he started driving at the mobile home, swerving.
As I'm driving this rickety machine and getting on I
think I wound up going off onto an off ramp.
Speaker 3: I didn't want to go on.
Speaker 1: I wanted to go five ninety south and I couldn't
do it, so I went up on four ninety headed
east and figured it out from there. But either way,
so you do all this stuff, you get under their skin.
You tell Charlie about it. Charlie says, to you come
in and interns.
Speaker 2: Come in more for us, work for us. He goes,
I gotta hire you. He goes like this, He goes,
you need somebody on the show like that, you know,
because there was no young people really and and I
was gonna be like the permanent intern.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, we're getting credit.
Speaker 2: No, I work for free. You can't do that for free,
for you get it.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I always go if you really want
to do something, sometimes.
Speaker 2: You gotta started. Yeah, you gotta start doing it for free.
So yeah, so I did it for free for about
two years.
Speaker 1: Two years.
Speaker 2: You would show up at those hours, yeah, but I
would work in promotions with with with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you got but not paid.
Speaker 1: No fucking Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, I get up in the morning. I was
delivering pizzas at night. So I was like, you know, okay.
Speaker 1: All right, say you go there, this is fucking wild.
Speaker 2: You don't know the story.
Speaker 1: No, no, I really don't, because don't forget like I
know that. People go, well, you came in like we
kind of came around the station at the same time.
But I was in a different world because I was
still in college finishing up and by the way, like
I had transferred to Fisher and then I had taken
a year off because I got in some really a
lot of trouble, but trouble. Nonetheless, I wouldn't be happy
if my kids did it, and uh will probably or
maybe uh they're just smart enough not to get caught.
Plus I got in trouble because I was always mooning
and they were very upset with that. Yeah, yeah, I
had there. I actually just came across a picture of
my ass in college, me disturbing Bill yeah, So I'm
curious because we were in like different I mean, our
paths would cross, but I wasn't hanging out like with
that crew, you know what I mean. I wasn't part
of Wheezy show, so I didn't see you a lot.
So no, I didn't know the story. I knew that
you were marked the soldier, a soldier for weez and
that was it. Other than that, I didn't really know.
And you were funny. And then you know, see I
didn't know I was funny. You told me.
Speaker 2: You told me one day, you go, you don't know
how fucking funny you were?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I didn't know that. Well, I think because
it's sort of it's the you know, naivete of of
you not knowing certain things, and you were so open
and willing to put it out there that it really
made it refreshing. Yeah yeah, So okay, so all that happens,
and then what happens with from the WII show? You
become a paid guy? Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2: Billy they hired they went to hire a producer and
they didn't promote Billy, and they brought Athena Manseikis.
Speaker 1: Then I remember that, and she.
Speaker 2: Weeze hated her. Well he didn't, he didn't, but you
know he hated No, he couldn't, he couldn't stand her.
Speaker 1: Well, he's the one who hired her, right, She came
out of recommendation from BJ Shacky.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, she didn't fit the show. She didn't
get the show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's hard to bring somebody out of town to go on,
someone who's never been associated with the show all to
come in, and she didn't get it. So she ended
up going down to p X y R. Billy got
promoted to producer. Only reason they hired me was so
I could give Billy a ride to work. I swear
to god, they didn't want to hire my ass.
Speaker 3: I didn't know this.
Speaker 1: Oh, this is fantastic.
Speaker 2: You know, he's one Billy's. It's still one of my
really good friends.
Speaker 1: This is fantastic.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they hired you.
Speaker 1: I couldn't go over twenty hours. Yeah, okay, wow, I
worked about fifty.
Speaker 2: I couldn't go over twenty.
Speaker 1: You know, it's so shitty because this is where I
get upset with radio as a business, because you have
people that are passionate and want to be part of it,
but there's no one there that's going to show you
how to do it. Yeah, you know what I mean,
like to produce a Weeze type show. I don't think
I could have been. I wound up producing Weeza's show
for a number of years in the early two thousands. Yeah,
but I had already done my own show. I had
done afternoons, I had done talk stuff, I had done
all that stuff. So you're coming in with and all
I would say is if I was in Weeza's chair,
what would I want? Right? And that's how I did it.
And I thought we had a similar way of looking
at things, not identical, but certainly similar. And so it
made it easier for me because everybody goes out that's
one foot out the door. When you go to Weiss,
show you one foot out the door to get fired.
Speaker 2: See I disagree with that. I was under the We's umbrella. Yes,
I mean there's Derek management on. You're in of me,
and he wouldn't let he he would let let it happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I was under that umbrella and until everything exploded
and they put me down to p X.
Speaker 1: Y Okay, what what when? What do you mean? When
everything exploded?
Speaker 2: The whole thing. Yeah, harassment, They laid off a bunch
of people. I made the cut because I was working
in promotions, okay, CMF and then I went over.
Speaker 1: To p X Y okay, so all right. And then yeah,
because I had I had.
Speaker 2: Worst job ever. I hated that fucking seation.
Speaker 1: But all this just out of being a huge supporter
and fan of the Wii show.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting because.
Speaker 2: I was not a trained radio guy. No, everything I learned.
Speaker 1: Well, I think that's the better thing, because what we
radio was like this polished thing, right, and yet I
have a certain voice and a certain thing, and and
we sort of went against that green and that's what
made him such a unique I hear. But what I
also think is that, and especially now you hear the
word tossed around a lot authenticity, and all authenticity is
are you comfortable truly being who you are? Like you
are who you are, and you bring that out, all
your quirks and everything. You were truly authentic, mark like
you were just you. You didn't try to pretend to
be somebody else. You weren't this Remember, like I've talked
about this, one of the things that attracted me to
the radio was I could be a cooler person behind
a mic where no one could see me than I
was in real life. And it took me years to
kind of get to the authenticity I needed to go
through all that shit, but I had, you know, I
always thought I always struggled with just the fact not
that I ever was, but that I was gay because
I had been molested and the things I did made
me in my head. So for me, hiding and being
somebody else was the great.
Speaker 2: It was the great escape.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but for you being part of I think that
that I mean, that authenticity, that whole thing, and I
always bring it up with like the you know, the
the one contest that you had when I will never
forget it. It was one of the funniest and it
was so funny because it was so real. It was
just a real moment. It was like that didn't have
to happen on the radio. That could have happened at
a keg party at a college, That could have happened
at a cocktail party at somebody's house, That could have
happened at a lunch Do you know what I'm saying.
That was the beauty of it to me, And I
think that that authenticity that you brought, that realness, that
that that you just were this guy and you loved
We'ze for whatever reason, you know, not knowing him, and
that was a fan.
Speaker 3: The The part that I just want to point out is,
you know, I.
Speaker 1: Know Howard has changed a lot, and I know that
I read things online like he's woke and whatever. A man. Yeah,
I could care less, But what I will say is
Howard built something and was super protective of it, right,
super protective, like he didn't want anybody in that bubble.
He knew what he had, and he knew that there
were other people out there that were doing it, and
he also probably was aware that there were other people
out there that may be able to do it better,
like be edgier because they were younger.
Speaker 2: He acted like he invented morning show radio. Yeah, he
kind of didn't, and he didn't know I was for Weez.
There was there was.
Speaker 3: Oh, there was Imus, and there were guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a guy, doctor John Partner on the
old UH ninety two five.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think it was MGQ maybe or I don't know
what it was. And he did a morning show and
that was a couple of years before Weez.
Speaker 1: So there was always right, that's true. So Howard did
kind of talk about he he sort of paved it.
Speaker 3: To be a little dirtier, a little edgier.
Speaker 1: A little more raw, right, right. He did a lot
of weird games like he and there were women farting
in microphones. You know, it was shit like you just
never heard on the radio because it was this sort
of polished thing. And here comes Howard. Not the biggest,
not the smoothest voice, not the you know some in
that sense of wheeze. But Howard to me, when I
look back now as I go, the Howard you're seeing
now is the Howard that always was. People thought he
was this rock and roll rebel guy. But to me,
he was a radio businessman. He was and he knew
the character he needed to play. I'm not saying it
wasn't somewhat authentic. I think it was a real. No,
he was a.
Speaker 2: Character because he was. He was a geek. You know
how he know why? How who? You know why? He
grew his hair out De Schneider from Twist's sister. He
based his his look on his hair on d Schneider.
They were buds and that's why he grew his hair
out like he did.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, look, the thing was and everybody does
this right, but I always think, like I think it
was taking pockets of his personality and accentuating that because
on the other side, he was a family man. He
had three daughters that he protected very much from the spotlight.
He had very involved with his parents. He brought a
lot of that. He never talked about his daughters on
the air, but he talked about his wife. So there
were certain things he wouldn't talk about. And he was
more of a brilliant business guy. He went to bed
at eight o'clock every night to make sure he had
eight hours of sleep. So if you had dinners, I
remember an old boss, even when he wound up in
serious going down and being part of his show, and
he's like, hey, if you're gonna have dinner with Howard,
you gotta go to dinner.
Speaker 3: At like four thirty or five.
Speaker 1: I mean, but that was so he'd go in and
so he'd go in in prep because he had writers. Yeah,
oh he would show up at like five. But remember
Wes would.
Speaker 2: Show up ten minutes before the show. But that's but
that's what meet him the best.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's just two different styles, right, And look, Howard
was in the biggest radio market you could be in.
He wound up being indicated. I'm not taking anything away,
but he went after people. And here's what I will
tell you is when Opie and Anthony got fired in
Worcester outside of Boston, and they get hired by the
same company that fired them in New York City, they
wanted Their original deal was to be on what it
was called K Rock in New York, Howard in the
morning and them in the afternoon. And Howard went to
Melcarmezan and said, absolutely fucking no. So they own this
orient album oriented rock station. And I only knew it
because it was very similar to the station I worked at.
And all the guys that were running WPDH and Poughkeepsie
were like disciples of WNNW in New York, and like
they loved the guys that worked there. And there was
some guy who came in. It was the only time
I ever saw the sixty four pack Crayola Marlboroughs, Like
it was a two tier box of Marlboroughs. And this
guy would call himself the brick because he smoked bricks
of hash and he was trying to get back on
any w So he was putting a tape together and
he would come up on weekends. He was such a
fucking douche. And they wound up putting Opie and Anthony
on this album oriented rock station in the afternoon, and
they used to start playing music. And then I think
I thought for a while Opie was taking like batting
practice with a whiffle bat and the CDs and the
studio and smashing them and saying how this station sucks
and blah blah blah. But they were only there because
Howard wouldn't let him on ninety two on K Rock.
Speaker 3: Then they went to Howard had the Son of.
Speaker 1: A Beach show at the time on FX or Fox,
I think it was Fox. He was producing it, and
there was a press conference for it, and Opie and
Anthony show up, and somebody comes back to them and
it's being delayed and being delayed and being delayed. Nobody, everybody,
nobody knows why. And somebody comes back to them and goes,
you guys have to leave. How it's not going to
come out until you leave because he thinks you're going
to do what he would do, what press conferences with.
Speaker 2: His people, right, right?
Speaker 1: So he was super protective of that. And I think
there was a time when one of his daughters had
a medical issue, wound up in a hospital, and I
think it was some kind of drug related issue. And
at one of the cops calls into Opie and Anthony, Hey,
Howard just came in. He's crying blah blah blah because
they had police down there to sort of protect Howard
and this guy's calling any w and Mal pulled the
plug and they went to best of Oh yeah, yep.
So Howard was super protected. Like all the shit that
he did to everybody else, he would not He had
like an arm. He was insulated from all of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Because one time, and it's funny you say it.
One time, I think his name was Captain Jenks, Yes,
it was Season one, used to go bah blah blah blah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he used to call everywhere.
Speaker 2: He called One time and I star sixty sixty or
whatever it was, and it got his number.
Speaker 1: He did.
Speaker 2: We abused that guy for months. He'd start, well, you
can I'd call him. I'd get up at like three
in the morning and stuff, and I'd call him at
three in the morning. Our friend check at his number.
He'd call it all out franch heck following him so
and He's like, you were disturbing my mother. And I go,
I go, I go welcome, I go welcome to the
other side. Motherfucker. Yeah, I said, you're gonna go welcome.
That It sucks, doesn't it?
Speaker 1: It sucks.
Speaker 2: And he used to tell Howard that Dino said, Howard
knew those guys would go back and tell Howard there's
a there's a kid in Rochester.
Speaker 3: So you're okay, right, And he didn't try to hire you.
Speaker 2: Howard, I wouldn't have went.
Speaker 1: I remember seeing him at like a morning show boot
camp early on, not Howard, uh stuttering John showed up.
And then there was this guy in Chicago, man Cow,
and then got an argument. It was some stage with
like a w W E bullshit thing, But I am
basically what we did.
Speaker 2: In Rochester was we gave the Stern Show exactly what
they did to everybody else. And they didn't like the
way we played. We were playing the same way they were.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't I don't think the WII show was.
I think we've just ignored it.
Speaker 2: Well, he did, but they the more they tried, but
we when they were trying to go in and get
on and stuff like that. We were doing what they
were doing. We were getting their number and we were
calling in. We were con We's is showing yell and weize,
you know, we were con Howard's showing yell and weiz.
So we were doing and they were mad. They didn't
like the way we played because well.
Speaker 1: That wasn't sanctioned by Weeze though, No, that was us,
but the other ship was sanctioned by Stern, you know
what I'm saying. Like, and I'm sure they had meetings
and plans and all that. I'm I'm almost ponsive.
Speaker 2: So we basically we we as say we I the
you know, the producers and stuff like that. We we
did exactly what they did to other other markets into
Wee's and they didn't like that because we were the
only ones that did it. No one came at them
like like we did. We's ignored it, but we didn't.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: And so because I even remember and it was sort
of the playbook.
Speaker 1: And radio then how to attack people, because there was
I was doing the afternoons and e Man had two
guys that were like in San Francisco or something, and
they would voice track for here, so they would rip.
Speaker 3: On me and think they would just make fun of me.
Speaker 1: And then one time they called me and they called
on the handset and I said, I'm not talking unless
you call the on airline. Calling on airline that way
I can tape it because I know you're going to
edit to try to make me look bad. So they did.
I played backmine and it just never worked for them, right,
because they.
Speaker 3: Just it was just one of these things. And I
guess here's the thing.
Speaker 1: The way I look at it now, it's like it's
fun to sort of get under somebody's skin. It's a
little competitive, but at the end of the day, it's
just just everybody trying to just do a job, have
a little bit of fun, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I have no fucking energy today. I could give a ship.
Speaker 1: I really could, right, I mean, like, I have no
I have no beef with really anybody at all.
Speaker 2: I'm friends with half of the people that I used
to do up. I mean, Dino is one of my
one of my very very good friends, and I mean,
you know and I and he should hate me more
than anybody, but he's one of the people I still
keep in contact with the radio.
Speaker 1: You know, Yeah, that is interesting. Yeah. I wanted to
say this real quick because Matt has the new place,
the Slice and Stack and spencer Port. I want to
make sure which is a to go place.
Speaker 2: I want to make sure that I'm seeing the right
thing where he's located.
Speaker 1: Okay, Slice and Stacks, he's next to.
Speaker 2: Old I should have been seeing. I should have been
all prepared.
Speaker 1: For Slice and Stack spencer Port, New York. Uh, and
it's a it's a to go place. Your favorites. You
just you can order online. You just go to Slice
and Stack with an n in there dot com and uh,
what's cook And take a look at our menu And
the menu looks fantastic. You've got you know, appetizers, nachos, stuff,
case of das they do plates out there, wings, handhelds,
and it's all to go right, all the fantastic burgers
that you you know that you've come to know and love. Shit.
Speaker 2: I headed up here. It's right next to I don't
I believe it's connected. I haven't been there yet. To
a brewery in Spence Reports has been there for a
long time.
Speaker 1: And by the way, if you're looking for a job,
you can go right on the website Slice and stack.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you go there right now, the pip jobs. If
you need a job, go there right now. They'll they'll
put your right to my nice website.
Speaker 3: You did, and uh, I mean, look, if Matt's involved,
the food's gonna be great.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: He's where he's he's there himself and he's you know,
he's there, he's working the line.
Speaker 1: So uh, yes he is.
Speaker 2: But it is connected to the to the Dowds, Max
Dowd's parents, it's I believe it's connected to it their
brewery that they bought. And we've known them for a while.
I don't know if you know who maxed out is.
His parents are wonderful. They're great people. So that was
kind of a good, a good marriage having those two
places next to each other, because you know that they
don't serve food there, so the food comes right from
slicense back.
Speaker 1: Okay, so the food. That's fantastic, right, What a great
way to do it it is you can take it
out and just go sit over there and have a
brew and have the delicious food from Matt's slight slices
stick nice. Matt's just busting his ass. I love it.
Speaker 2: I'm impressed he's skinning tool over the ship. No, but
he would be bored if he did anything else though,
you know what I mean. Sure, and if he was
doing what I was doing, he'd he'd be bored.
Speaker 1: I can't not fixture that at all.
Speaker 2: I can't fixture that slapping kids around.
Speaker 1: Oh that's funny. So talk to me about, like on
a on a more personal level with things. When I
knew you you, I hope I can say this and not.
But you were engaged, right, she was a teacher. Yes,
I think we made fun of you about the size
of the ring. I think Tommy said. Tommy said, like
it looked like he took something out of his eye
and put it. I bought it. I think about it
a Walmart.
Speaker 2: I thinks, Okay, but you were young, and you know, yeah,
you know all that money I need to come in,
all that money I made the radio stay.
Speaker 1: You were working for fucking free. I don't understand that.
Speaker 2: Like, and now, when I got paid, it was still
I couldn't go over twenty hours.
Speaker 1: And yet you stayed because of the love of it.
That that that's It's like I always hated it because
I felt like radio took advantage of people like that.
I guess any business maybe maybe would at the time.
There are laws now that kind of prevent that sort
of thing from happening, because people did stry. But at
the same time, that was the part that I hated.
And there was no training. It was like either you
got it or you didn't. Right right, you got it
or you didn't. And that was the thing I management changed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Kevin mcgratt took over.
Speaker 1: Who I owe him.
Speaker 2: I owe him tons of gratitude. He's one of my
favorite people. You know, I've been taught to him in years,
but you know, he's still He decided when he took over,
he got rich. He decided to put his own people in,
younger people, yeah, and stuff like that. He you know,
to start, he you know, he had me, actually, he
had me doing a bunch, He had me doing a
bunch of stuff. I started producing best show all that,
and he's the reason why I actually got paid forty
hours forty hours a week.
Speaker 1: So he had a lot to do with that.
Speaker 2: And then I went into sales for him and I
sold which I sold good because I knew the state.
I didn't have to learn the product.
Speaker 1: You do it inside. You knew the product, so it
was easy to sell. Tell me about like the personal life,
how how is all this because now you're working for
free and you're doing all this stuff. What does that?
How does that play out for you? Like in your
personal life, you're you're almost like your social life becomes
the radio. It was my social life.
Speaker 2: I mean what twenty something year old didn't want to
do that for six years, all the concerts I went to,
all the people I've met, stuff like that. Yeah, I mean,
and it was the nineties, one of the best decades ever.
People disagree, but that was a great decade.
Speaker 1: Yes, it was. Tell me about like, because I know
that there's uh, you have dealt with mental health things.
So when when did all that come about? Was it
around that time?
Speaker 2: It's always been there, It's always always been there. Had
it's had to be I mean all of a sudden,
it just didn't pop up one day. I think it
was always there. Yeah, So when I, uh, when it
was caught was after my my sleeve surgery, my weight
loss surgery. My that's when I went. I went totally manic.
I lost one hundred pounds in like two months, which
is which is not a healthy thing.
Speaker 1: So what so what are you diagnosed with? I am
bipolar one or two? I believe one one? Yeah, yeah,
because bipolar one is you have to have at least
one manic episode in your lifetime, but it's got to
last at least a week a week duration and it's
usually like you know, irritable mood. That kind of thing
I was.
Speaker 2: I was mine was happiness and increased energy, drinking recreased
because all of a sudden, I have all this weight
off me and I had all this energy you know,
and you know and I would and.
Speaker 3: I did you have like risky behavior?
Speaker 2: You should have seen my car. My car had every
dent and excite, smash into things all the time.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't, no, but it is, it is what it is,
you know what I mean? Yeah? Because two bipolar two
is more of a depressed mood most of the day. Uh,
it lasts to lasted two weeks, but like it's the
I mean there's been there was depression too. I mean,
so you get this diagnosis, did you see an improvement
in your life? On what happens when you get it?
Let's start there the medicine. Yeah, I mean what would
they who diagnoses you do, you know.
Speaker 2: I think my physician, my my physician did Okay, a
local doctor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, usually it's okay, and they send you to somebody.
I had to go to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had to go to uh.
Speaker 1: I went.
Speaker 2: I had the father son and the Holy Ghost. It
was my doctor. It was it was the shrink, and
it was the counselor. You never saw the shrink. He
was the one that gave me the met right, Yeah.
Counselor was the one that.
Speaker 3: The counselors is the one that will work with you
and talk to you.
Speaker 1: Did you do therapy?
Speaker 2: Yeah, not really, I mean a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I didn't believe in any of that shit at the time, right,
So I went to the counselor and he pretty much
guided me on. And I was working at a time
Warner at the time, okay, and that was that was
just too much of a job for me, I think,
being in the condition I was in. No, you worked
in the master control room. I mean I was there
for twenty four hours when nine to eleven happened. That'll
fuck anybody's mind up, you know.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, she was there for twenty nine to eleven happens.
You're at at the time. It's the time working.
Speaker 2: It was our it was our news at the time,
or y and in and what it was. Yeah, we
stayed there a long time. We didn't go home. We
stayed there a long time because we were our news.
Went would be on tape from midnight to six a m.
We stayed on live for the whole time. Really yeah, wow, Yeah,
that's a lot. And I made bad decisions and stuff
like that. When you make bad decisions and it's like.
Speaker 1: You give me, give me a bad decision that you made.
I certainly made. I mean, look, you're talking to somebody, Jesus,
don't make a bad decision. God.
Speaker 2: I was so much drama. I started so much shit
with people. I was just not a very I was
not a very good person.
Speaker 1: I wasn't.
Speaker 2: I was just like I had been everybody's business. And
you know, I put people up against each other and stuff,
you like, I did. Yeah something I hate now something
I have no power of No.
Speaker 1: I agree. Yeah, but you always like soap operas and things.
It's almost like you brought that to your life sort of. Yeah,
I did.
Speaker 2: And you know, I mean, I guess, you know, I
don't know. I just when I was a time where
I just don't think I was a very good person.
Speaker 1: That was time warning, yeah, yeah, and then, uh, how's
the meds worked for you?
Speaker 2: They didn't really start working probably until I left Time.
I couldn't wait to leave Time Warner and I wouldn't
leave because I knew eventually they were going to lay
us off. And then, you know, and it took. It
took like I was there eighteen years.
Speaker 3: Eighteen years.
Speaker 2: I was there eighteen years. I didn't know you were yeah,
two thousand. Yeah. I got hired in ninety nine, okay,
and it was my first time making actually real MONEYEP.
So I went from the radio where I mean not
hardly any money to this place where I was making
where I was actually making money.
Speaker 1: I can't see, like I go, there's a little bit
of nuttiness in you and the fact that you would
stay when there was no money. And that's a hard
thing because it's a it's a pleasure and pain type thing. Right.
I was under the wism bro.
Speaker 2: I would have never gotten that job if I was
just some you know, if I was just some Joe
off the street. I was hired because I was part
of Weezy's show. I worked over at CBS Radio for
six years. Right, so that's why, that's why they hired me.
I would have never gotten that job other than that
I was a job at time owner. Oh, you wouldn't
have No, I was not qualified for that job at all.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 2: That was you had to have a degree to have
that job. Where did you graduate from the Institute.
Speaker 1: Of Wis the Institute of Wise, School of Hard Knocks? Okay, well, so.
Speaker 2: I went and did a job which was which was
way way way above above what you know, where I
should have been.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So and during that time you become friends with
some of the reporters, right, yeah, some Yeah, a lot
of some drama there.
Speaker 2: Well that drama last that drama last Delaware, the Bathtub Billies.
Speaker 3: So what makes you leave time Warner?
Speaker 2: I get it, I get it, we get the Spectrum
comes in and they get rid of our our department,
and I'm like, and I like, fucking finally I get
three So Mary, eighteen years, I get three weeks pay
for every year.
Speaker 1: You get three weeks paid for every year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so eighteen times whatever eighteen times three is?
Speaker 1: I can't yeah right now? So I mean you're you've
got twenty four. You got sixty four weeks?
Speaker 3: Yes, is that right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, fifty four weeks, fifty four weeks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, eighteen yeah, yeah, So are you checking it?
Speaker 1: Well, it's eight yeah, it's just eighteen times three. Right,
I'm pretty I'll check it right now because that fifty
four weeks, so fifty four weeks, which is roughly, well,
it's like a year and a half, yeah, a little
over year, not a year and a half, but about
thirteen and a half months.
Speaker 2: So I leave and this is and this is in May,
I think it was, and all of a sudden, summer
starting and I will I got one hundred thousand my
four oh one K.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm not going to work in the summer.
Speaker 2: Didn't work. The summer, I traveled. I went to Nashville
first time.
Speaker 1: This is when I'm at.
Speaker 2: Matt went, I went to we All. We went to Cantcon.
It was my first time getting a passport and going
out of the country that wasn't Canada. So we went there,
and then I we went to can Coon. I flew
from from cant Coon to home and got on a
plane and went to Nashville.
Speaker 1: And then.
Speaker 2: I had applications out everywhere, And you know, I was interviewing,
like you know, ten eight stuff like that, and I
didn't want to go. I hated that fucking job. I
hate everything about it.
Speaker 1: I hated it.
Speaker 3: So then that to billy thing comes up for it.
Speaker 2: So that comes up for me, It comes up an opportunity.
Speaker 1: So let me just pause here for just a moment.
You seem to have a personality that you don't really care.
You're just gonna do whatever it feels right to you. Right,
but a little manic Oh sure, that was a total Manning.
That was a total Manning deision. So all this stuff
at the time, are you on? Man?
Speaker 2: I'm medicated, but I don't think it was. I was medicated, right, Okay.
I think it took a blonde time to be medicated, right, Okay.
Speaker 1: So you're still having do you think you had bipolar episodes?
Because we hear the term bipolar and it's thrown out
there a lot, and I don't think people really know
what it is. When someone's truly bipolar, it's it's a
it's a rough thing for them. And there could be
manic states that go on like you have. You know,
it's grandiosity some people and it's not always negative, and
sometimes it's a happy person. But you know, and they're
buying you things, and they're everywhere, and and you know, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I went from I'm out of a bad situation,
a time warner, Yeah, going where I can own a
bar that I that I went to my whole life. Yeah,
so I'm like, yeah, So I was gonna be a
sound partner. I was gonna go work at Channel ten,
and I didn't and I decided not to, so I
ended up so I became an employee. I was a
silent partner, but I worked there so I couldn't bartend,
I couldn't cook.
Speaker 1: I was useless.
Speaker 2: So Matt used to put me on the floor. Matt
will tell you this day. I was awesome working the floor,
talking to people.
Speaker 1: I went by.
Speaker 2: I bar attended on one Friday with Connie.
Speaker 1: But you didn't try to learn, Like nobody's good at
anything the first time they do it, you know what
I'm saying, Like it takes. I always say reps are
the greatest thing in life. It's all it is is,
Life is just reps. The better you get think about it.
The first time he drove, were you great at it?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: No, but now it's reps, right, you understand it. You
know how things are. You can start to see things
happening ahead of you. You're like, oh, I know what
that is. That guy is going to cause an accident,
or I need to slow down or you know what
I mean. You just it's reps like doing this right,
it's reps talking and getting the rhythm down and how
to talk to people. So but you had no desire
to go back or were they just like fuck this man.
Speaker 2: This guy's pretty much was fucked that. A lot of
them work the flood and work the Florida and worked
with the customers. I was really good with the customers. Yeah,
you know, all of a sudden, someone would would be
all pissed off. They'd come and get me, and I
would take you know, I go over there and smooth
and normally I could smooth it out. You know, a
couple of times you can't, but but normally I could.
So Matt like that that he didn't have to worry
about the place, you know, when when he wasn't around,
he knew that it was going to be taking care of,
you know, with you know, customer relation, which that was
what I was good at. That's what I've been always
good at. So I decided to get I decided to buy.
I said to leave, buy out in January twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: So they buy you out of b TV, right, you
get all your that's a billy. That's a billy. Excuse me,
you get all your money back? Yeah, a lot of
it was some of it. It's going to be some
of it. Yeah, I mean, i'd be you. I mean,
I don't know works.
Speaker 2: Yeah it was, Yeah it was.
Speaker 1: But you know, I don't think it was a bad deal.
You're still friends with these No.
Speaker 2: I mean it was a great No, there was no
bad deal. And people try to say and it never was,
and I never once have ever said that. You never
heard of fucking three years there. That was a great time.
It's like being in was like being at CMF again,
if you were. And I used to love because I
used to take care of the of the of the
media sales. I would fuck with salespeople like because they
didn't know. Sometimes they you know, they didn't know I
knew more than them. The only time they gave us
some the schedule, I go take the schedule back and
and and and tell so and so to fucking fix
it the right way or we're not paying Wow. I
used to do that all the time. Okay, So Matt
like that because you know I I understood the inside
of that.
Speaker 1: So so that worked.
Speaker 3: But what during that time though, you're do you think
that you're.
Speaker 1: I don't. I guess bipolar mania or whatever is affecting
things for you. Are you doing I mean, because we
well you've you've and we won't go into this, but
you've opened up about things on the podcast in the
past that would be more of an edgier, riskier behavior
that's kind of out there, and I don't know if
that's something that.
Speaker 2: Well, when you lose two young people two weeks from
each other, yeah, it pretty.
Speaker 1: Much fucks you up no matter what you does. Yeah,
and so what was that that was.
Speaker 2: Blair passed away, which was January to Matt's wife, my
nephew passed away, and then ten days later Blair.
Speaker 1: Passed away, right, So and then I thought there was
another one or two people in your life.
Speaker 2: That my mom died on October of the same year. Yeah,
this is twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: Well, who was the country singer?
Speaker 2: Oh, she just she passed away. A couple of years ago. Yeah,
but I mean, stay, it didn't affect me. Okay, all right,
you know, but but that's a lot. Did you ever
go seek help for that? No? I drank a lot.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's yeah. The self medication.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I drank a lot. Yeah, and I got through that.
We got that year in twenty nineteen is a blur?
Speaker 1: What happens when these things happened to.
Speaker 2: You?
Speaker 1: Is there a whole fuck it? I'm gonna die anyway,
so why not just have a shit ton of fun.
I don't know, Well, I don't know if it was that.
Speaker 2: It was just I didn't know how to handle losing
my nephew who I was close to, and then losing
you know, I only knew Blair for two or three years,
but she was one of the most important people in
my life.
Speaker 1: But someone who came in and was almost a daily party.
Speaker 2: Right, a daily Yeah, you know, we were you know,
we were inseparable, us three. So it was like, I mean,
all of a sudden, it was gone, you know what
I mean, it was it was every It was totally
it was a totally weird thing to see two young
people passed away ten days away from each other. I mean,
Blair was at Greg's. We had a Greg's memorial. I
bet to Billy's and Blair Blair was there with you know,
with me, of course, and she said, this is how
she wanted to do it. Wait, yeah, I know that's well.
Speaker 3: I mean you just would never think, you just never think.
Speaker 1: You just would never think how hard is that? It's
still how hard is it? You're like your best buddy.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, that was the That was the worst part.
You know, that was the worst part seeing Heaven't you know,
they just got married, so it was like.
Speaker 1: That was tough.
Speaker 2: That's a tough thing. And I you know, I think
that's why I wanted to get out, get out of there.
Speaker 1: So it's not they've used the term sometimes it's we
over use it maybe a little bit, I don't know.
But that's pretty traumatic, dude, right, that's pretty traumatic. So
you think that's part of the reason you wanted to leave,
is like, yeah, that was me. That was the main reason.
Speaker 2: And then I honestly thought Matt was going to to
but he he built himself back up and he stayed
and he pulled it out, you know what I mean,
he did he he you know, people talked to me
when he said he was going to leave. People rallied
around him this day, his you know, his employees front
and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: So it's what he knows maybe best, and he loves.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's passion for him, and.
Speaker 1: He built be a reminder every day.
Speaker 2: And that place was a shithole when he him and
Mark took it over and they built it into what
it was. So he wasn't ready to give it up.
But then twenty twenty hit. So I'm ready to go
to Nashville.
Speaker 1: Yes, I still have. I actually saw ship down. I
have hang on a second, because this to me was
another like you could call it almost a manic episode,
could you not? Didn't you get in a fight with
somebody and then drive all night? Yes? Okay, I forget
that was that was before before batsabillies. I was still
a time warner.
Speaker 3: Okay, but that that's a little whacked.
Speaker 1: Am I wrong?
Speaker 2: No? I got I got in the car, and I'm
not in people getting mad when I say this, but
I'm truthful how it worked. I got a three pack
of cords, a light, and I drew to Nashville. I
didn't know where I was gonna go. You were all
night long, all night long, just just drove. That's a manic,
that's oh absolutely.
Speaker 1: Oh I was man during that time. Yeah, and went there.
Nobody sent the cops looking for you. No, I told
my mom I was going.
Speaker 3: You told your mom you were going to Nashville.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I packed.
Speaker 3: I You didn't know where you were staying. You didn't
know it.
Speaker 1: I know where I was staying. Okay.
Speaker 2: I had a friend out there, she lived, she was
from here, and I worked with her.
Speaker 1: How many hours? Twelve?
Speaker 2: Yeah, twelve, thirteen straight through. Yeah, stopped a couple of
times to take you know, take pa. I was hung
over in Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Town.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, not tired.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: I got there and I went to her house and
it was this thing called the CMA Infest, last day
of it. And I went to the stadium and that's
where I saw Brad Paisley Keith Urban Air Church. So
I went there, and the minute I got there, there
was something cool going on. Sure, the minute I went
on Broadway, fucking most amazing thing I've ever seen in
my life. This is back when it was Broadway. Now
it's just a tour. Now it's just yeah corporate. So
I decided that I was gonna move there. I had
a place to live. I sent all my stuff out
there in the storage and I was getting ready to go.
I was gonna leave April first. COVID had there no jobs.
Nashville got hit hard. They they got hit hard with
they had a terrorist attack, remember that when the when
the car blew up, and so they were going through
a lot of things and there was nothing there. So
I stayed here, stayed here, stayed here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3: I never my mother Okay, she guilted you?
Speaker 1: Oh fuck?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Oh yeah.
Speaker 3: What was her reasoning?
Speaker 1: Because I took care of her, okay, and she needed you. Yeah,
it's your mom and.
Speaker 2: It's my mom. But she told me if I came back,
she promised she'd let me go back.
Speaker 1: That didn't work out, Okay, But then you send your
stuff to when was this the time you sent stuff
down like you after I after I.
Speaker 2: Sold my share of bet to Billies. Okay, I sent
all my stuff down into a storage unit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, again, with no place to no plan.
Speaker 2: I knew where I was. Yeah, I did have a plan.
I knew where I was living. I knew the jobs
out there were is easy to get a job, So
what was the reason for not going COVID.
Speaker 1: Oh, COVID. Okay, And did you ever get your stuff
back for storage?
Speaker 2: It's still there. You better start watching storage. What's what's
the difference if I if I bring it here and
putting storage or if it's there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I get it. But but you're not still
paying on it. Yeah, I still pay for it, you do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I can bring it back here and
put it in the storage, but I'm not going to
use any of the stuff, so just keep it there.
I went and visited my stuff the three you know,
I went back three four different times, and I'd go
to the storage and see if there's anything I wanted.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and and that sort of brings us up
to the present day with stuff.
Speaker 2: Well, then I started working in a liquor store.
Speaker 1: Yes, right.
Speaker 2: My buddy owned the liquor store. He owned the Red
Front which was which was a legendary diner and the
Rochester Staple down in the Clinton Avenue area. And then
I started working the liquor store for him. And I'd
work and I liked it. You know, it was different.
There was always action.
Speaker 1: All the time.
Speaker 2: And then I was wrong. No, then I started I
was in the morning, I'd work. My brother was working
at UH had a job I don't want to say
where it was he was doing. You know, he had
a job which is associated with my job now. And
I started working there in the morning and I'd go
work at UH. It's a liquor store. Well, after I
got robbed, I went full time. And that's what takes
me to where I'm at now.
Speaker 1: Right, But what and and.
Speaker 3: Seems to be a much better space for.
Speaker 2: You, well know, Marianne in my life and encourage me
to do this was huge, right, you know, I don't
know if I've ever would have done it, but it's
the greatest thing I've done. And I think that I
you know, I think that my I think my calling
was being a teacher, and I didn't realize that. Sure,
I wanted to be in radio so bad. Yeah, who
doesn't want to be in a local radio in Rochester
where you grew up?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, yeah, I might. I didn't grow up here,
but yeah, I know, I know what you mean. I mean,
I was on a radio station in my hometown. Right,
It's kind of cool.
Speaker 2: And it was like I'm on the number one radio
steacher with the number one Morning show.
Speaker 1: So now like just out of curiosity because you've been
open about it. You know, you get diagnosed with the bipolar,
you you do do the sleeve, you lose a lot
of weight, You're you've been kind of around. You made
this for freak decision to just drive down to that,
you know, Nashville. I mean, when you think about it,
the balls it took to just go confront people who
you didn't even know about the stern stuff. To me,
that is a little nutty, you know what I mean. So,
how has it been living with that? Can you tell
when you're having I.
Speaker 2: Haven't had it since since since my last year a
bett abilities.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but when you when you were there, did you
could you recognize like, oh, I'm in a manic state
or no.
Speaker 2: Well, one time my insurance overlapped and I didn't have
meds and so what happened.
Speaker 1: It's like.
Speaker 2: It's like if you if I stopped taking my meds,
It's like it looks like you're an addict. That's how
you feel, you know, you know what I mean. And
it's like when I went to Unity, they thought I
was coming down from something. They didn't believe at first.
Speaker 1: It was mad.
Speaker 2: It was my meds, so they had to look at
They call my doctor and he said, yeah, it is insurance.
Speaker 1: You went cold turkey off this stuff, which couldn't be
very hard with withdrawal.
Speaker 2: Not too long though, because they ended up fixed and
ended up giving giving me pills to last till my
insurance went back, went back to where to where it was.
Speaker 1: And so, did you ever have an episode in your
life where you went, let's say, like you have a
manic episode. Right, everything's euphoric, you're high on the hog,
you're buying ship, you're living life, you're running off to Nashville,
you're doing whatever you want, and then you come down
and you go, oh, what the fuck did that happen?
I don't know.
Speaker 2: I guess I don't know. I guess I've always lived
at I've always done whatever I wanted to do. I
never had any responsibility for anybody, the wife's or my mother,
so anything I did was just an experience. I don't regret.
I don't regrite anything I've done.
Speaker 1: Well, you shouldn't. I mean I always think like you
never get it wrong, you just never get it done,
and it's you're here to learn something. I don't know
what it is.
Speaker 2: And I think that's why I'm good at the job
I'm at now is because of all learning experience and
all the stuff I've done.
Speaker 1: You don't know a lot. Can you empathize more with
a kid when you see things like you know, I
always hate when I hear kids slap with certain labels
of diagnoses, because that shit could change. You know, you're growing,
your body shifting and changing, and not everything is You're not.
You know a lot of times it's the diagnoses is
sort of a guess, right, more or less more of us?
And so you go, all right, well, if this is working.
I'm not saying that you couldn't try to help somebody
and give them methods and things that would help. But
does it make you more empathetic?
Speaker 2: Makes you it makes you understand it better, and it
makes you know the person better because you have been
You've been in a situation like that before yourself.
Speaker 1: How would people treat you when you were I don't
you know. I guess that was the power of yer.
Speaker 2: So everybody liked hanging out with you and stuff like that.
And now when I did the bar, you know, of
course everybody loved me because you know, it was at
the bar. Everybody wants to come and everybody's your friend.
Speaker 1: Then and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I got to fight. I mean the
worst part was was my mother died. I lived in
the house until they sold it, and they sold it
very quickly so i'd know where to live. Yeah, and
this is in two thousand and nineteen, so I live,
I live. I stayed at bat the Abilities at the
Outphants a couple of days. Yeah, and then what and
then I couldn't go live with the brothers. No, I
was fighting with all of them. And why my mother
played us up all against each other? Okay, I thought
there was I battled with my older brother of something
that's was never there. Yeah, and we figured that out
once my mom died. We all get along great now.
Speaker 1: But do you think part of that too would be
sort of your thing? Is like everything it hurts more,
everything's bigger than it really is.
Speaker 2: I went and I went and lived with a friend
of mine. Her and her husband took me in for
three months until I got where I'm at now. Fantastic, right,
And that's where you grew home. That's where it all started,
where I got shipped together. Yeah, that's what that's how
it all was.
Speaker 1: Well, was it the click? Then? I think it was
that all of a sudden, I didn't have my mother
to rely on me and stuff. The protector's gone, right.
Speaker 2: That's gone. I have to do things my own way,
you know, at age, you know, forty something I had.
I had to be an adult and take care of myself.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, different, different. I think this has been
a fascinating conversation, I really do. I hope that everybody
has enjoyed it as much as I did. It was
a fast hour. We talked for over an hour. Over
an hour we did. Yeah, and I think that that
it was great and I appreciate you coming in.
Speaker 2: And it's funny because I have a resume. My resume,
people think it's fake. What do you mean if you
ever see my resume. Everything we've talked about is not.
You know, everywhere I worked is on my resume. I
worked Upontilo since nineteen eighty seven. I went in the radio,
I was there. I went to Time Warner for eighteen years.
I owned you know, I owned at the Billies. I
worked at a liquor store.
Speaker 1: You know, I do what I do now.
Speaker 2: And it's like, you know, and everybody looks at it.
And someone told me, they go, you couldn't have done
all this, and I go, I go. Everything on it
is the truth. That's what I've done. I created myself
three or four different times. I recreate, recreate myself, and
this right now is the best version.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I feel great. I stay, I don't I don't
go out, and I hardly drink anymore. I stay out
of people's business. Even at the job I'm at now.
I have friends there, but I'm not trying to be
mister oh. You know, I want to you know, I
want everybody to like me. I don't give a ship anymore.
Speaker 1: So you know, I do what I do.
Speaker 2: I go do my job, I do it well. So
this is the best, you know, This is where I
want to you know, I want to be. I don't
ever see it slipping. I think I think that. You know,
after a while, you have to After a while, you
have to find where you're at.
Speaker 1: And I did. I found it.
Speaker 2: It took me a long time, but I found where
I should be and it's working. I mean, there's nothing better.
Speaker 1: Than any you've had, really people around you. I have,
I really have, Like Matt's a really solid guy. Man
is very man's very very solid people into life.
Speaker 2: That's a very dedicated person. And a lot of people
from from Matt's you know, Matt's friends and stuff like that,
you know, are still my friends. You know my friends
still Yeah, And I got my brothers and I get
along great with my brothers and stuff like that. And
it's like she's the She's the one. I give her
ninety percent credit for what this is, you know what
I mean?
Speaker 3: And I mean she well, you're the one doing it.
Speaker 1: Well, that's what she always says. And she's right, but
you got to realize that I understand that, But you
did it. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Do you remember when I first started this job and
I wanted to quit, yes, because and she wouldn't let
me quit. And now where I now, these are people
that I that respect me. Now I didn't, you know
what I mean, I had earned that, and I'm not
used to earning it. I used to already.
Speaker 1: I'm used to people already like, oh he's cool. I
like him. I earned it.
Speaker 2: People didn't give a ship that was Marcus Soldier. You
didn't give a ship I owned that to billies. You know,
it's a great thing right. Yeah, it was weird because
that becomes your identity, that's who you are. And you
think that if I lose that, I lose me and
that's not the case. No, it actually made me better
if it that's the past. Yeah, I mean I'm proud
of everything I've done. Yeah, I got to be I
got to be this character on this great show. It's legendary,
and I got to own a bar that a legendary
bar that was the first bar that the Sports Barn Rochester.
Speaker 1: I think it's fantastic. Congratulations on all of it because
it's it's been great. I have loved this conversation. I
really it's been fantastic. I gotta piss ba all right,
I'm just kidding. No, I gotta go triggering all this
coffee and stuff like that. I forgot we were even
on the mic. Well yeah, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a great conversation. That's that's what I love.
Speaker 1: These are some of my favorites. When we could do
one on one for for the Soldier who I'm Bill Moran.
We'll see you tomorrow. I'm turning a.
Speaker 2: TV letter to you.
Speaker 1: A statement.
Speaker 2: See they were looking borrow a candle with Tennessee.
Speaker 1: Hello, my friends, Let's be honest, twenty twenty five has
been a lot between the news, the group chats, the
price of coffee. I mean, most of us are running
on caffeine and chaos. That's why it's time to hit
pause and align your energy. My friend, an absolute powerhouse
of peace healer, Shila Tillick is here to help you
shake off the stress, balance your vibes, and unlock your
highest potential. I'm talking real healing here, not light a
candle and hope for the best energy. Shila works on
a cellular level, releasing those old energetic imprints stored deep
in your DNA, you know the ones that up every
time your in law's visit and listen. With the new
year right around the corner, this is the perfect gift.
Help someone deal with the issues and their tissues and
start twenty twenty six on the right foot. Plus, you
can meet Sheila in person at the Let's Rock Market Sunday,
October twenty sixth at Eagle Vale from ten to four pm.
Swing by, say hi, and maybe let her tune up
your energy while you're at it. So go to Sheila
Tillic dot com. Check out our holiday specials. See all
the offers and get ready to glow from the inside
out because, let's face it, peace looks good on you.
Sheila Tillic helping you heal, one good vibe at a time.