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14 Different Tangents with Nick Andry
110 Plays1 year ago
Our Funniest Episode Yet: An Airing of Grievances with Nick Andry @ta.ska.shi. We talk with the “weird, little kid” about almost everything: ska, stanning Gwen Stefani, cut off khakis, Chipper Jones, learning to tie a tie, Beach Punk, being named after a National Treasure, Tom Waits, and way more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Personalities
00:01:17
Speaker
Greetings and salutations. Welcome to Apocalypse Duds. I am your host, Connor Fowler. I'm the clown, IO. And I am Matt Smith, and I am the curmudgeon, because I fucking hate everybody.
00:01:32
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't, right? And so we're sort of trying, we're trying to respond to feedback. And I guess, show a little of our personality, which maybe doesn't come through in the interview, because at least we don't try to talk that much. Right, right. So here we are, an opportunity to talk a little bit. Yeah, we're, you know, like, we we have been working on this for the past year, come to a minute.
00:01:59
Speaker
Um, you know, Connor and I are always trying to get better and things that, uh, elevates the guests that we have on because they're, they're the fucking important one.
Human Aspect of the Podcast
00:02:10
Speaker
But, uh, yeah, Connor and I are also people and we want to show anyone that, that maybe thinks we're doing this via AI, that, uh, we are in fact human beings. All of the jokes that we say, sadly we wrote them all. Yeah.
00:02:30
Speaker
We aren't we don't have a writing staff. It's just us. All of the copy is us.
Reflecting on the Show's Growth
00:02:39
Speaker
And so I guess, well, the first thing we wanted to talk about was the show's birthday, the one year birthday of the show. I mean, since we published our second episode with with Peter, it's insane that we have
00:02:58
Speaker
continued to do this support with an increasing number of people. Right. It's fucking rad. Like we're Connor and I are literally just two fucking nerds that somehow different each other and realize we had a whole lot of shit in common and like
00:03:17
Speaker
thinking on a bunch of various things that are similar. And yeah, we're now one year in. And how many episodes at this point? 24, 25?
00:03:29
Speaker
26, 26. It's been a year. I can't even remember, but, uh, but yeah, it feels, it feels like my sober anniversary, you know, cause that's in the low digits as well. Uh, it's just like, uh, it's just as like a momentous thing. And, um, we really couldn't have done it without.
00:03:54
Speaker
I mean, obviously we couldn't have done it without people to listen to the show, but people have really supported us and people have really advised us and people have really helped us out with this and that, you know?
Personal Growth and Connections
00:04:05
Speaker
So we really appreciate it and we want to say thank you as many times as possible.
00:04:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. For everyone that has listened or recommended the show to someone that's subscribed, that's rated it on whatever platform you partake. Yeah, just genuinely like that. We don't know what the fuck we're doing. We're doing this because it's fun and because it's something that's like close to our heart. And so, you know, in 2023,
00:04:33
Speaker
You don't really know what growth looks like. You don't know what building is something. And yeah, we're very appreciative of all of the newfound and long-term friends and homies that we've developed over
Plans for the Second Year
00:04:49
Speaker
the past year.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, we've met. I mean, if nothing else, we've met a ton of awesome people. But insanely, by my metric, the show is a success. More than five people listen to the show. And so it is thereby a success, and even more than that. So it's really just amazing. And we are excited to start the second year in a much stronger position than we started the first.
00:05:18
Speaker
Among a very small number of people we have name recognition and that will enable us to get different guests for the show. Absolutely. So we have some stuff planned that I think will make everyone proud of us.
DIY Nature and Financial Support
00:05:39
Speaker
Yeah lots on the docket and on that note before we just kind of talk about whatever fucks on our mind. Devolve. Yeah before we devolve into our usual laboratory we
00:05:55
Speaker
have started opening the floodgate to donations, if you like what we're doing, if you want to support us in some way. This is totally DIY. We do it all ourselves. Connor fronts the bill a lot of times, and I probably still owe him money. But anyway, if you would like to...
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, this is a labor of love. Well, if you want to produce a high quality podcast, it's going to cost something. Right, right. We pay for a hosting site and a way to record. We've paid for a couple of different microphones. I think the new ones that we got a couple of weeks ago, thank you, Connor, are sounding much better.
00:06:40
Speaker
But if you would like to support us in any way, shape, or form, we don't care if you send a fucking dollar. Like if you get something out of what we're doing and you want to hear more of what we're planning to do, Connor's Venmo is... It's my name and you'll know it. It's Connor Dash Fowler. Yeah, and then his PayPal is ConnorFowler at gmail.com. It's also my name.
00:07:09
Speaker
Right. Don't, don't feel obligated, but Hey man, if you want us to, uh, you know, to be able to, to buy coffee or something like, or, or tea in Connor's case, not a coffee drinker, uh, we would, we would appreciate whatever, whatever you want to send.
Connor's Outfit Photo Challenges
00:07:24
Speaker
So with that, so now the groveling, yeah, salary portion is done. Uh, but Connor, what's going on today? So.
00:07:34
Speaker
one thing that i wanted to talk about today is my my fit pick process which was really more obnoxious than even usual which usually it is very obnoxious and other people are involved and there's a tripod involved all kinds of shit right and they still it's like they still are fine you know i mean they're not like they aren't masterpieces some people really
00:08:01
Speaker
Have great work like some people have great locations and are good photographers and like whatever and actually like I don't know seem to understand what they're doing. Whereas I mostly just do whatever is convenient But in any event, I've seen these lockers at my school since I've been there They are like yellow not like a bad yellow like a nice yellow
00:08:27
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a little more, uh, I don't know, I guess a little brighter than that. But in any event, I set up a chair. I, cause you don't want to ask somebody, will you take my picture, especially in an elementary school? It just is awkward. So there's the, there's the phone on the chair with the coffee mug propping it up and I'm standing.
00:08:53
Speaker
And you don't know how it's going to turn out because you're just pointing it at the thing and you run over there and stand over there for however many seconds. And then, right. So they all sucked, basically. And now I've done this two times, I think. No, no. Because then I asked the tall guy, and I asked this tall guy if he would take my picture, not thinking that he would hold it out, basically. So he's kind of looking down upon me.
00:09:22
Speaker
And I look like even more of an imp than usual. In any event, very obnoxious, not a successful day. So take that. There are ways that I think you can figure out how to do it.
Community Building with Outfit Photos
00:09:37
Speaker
I was a fan of the mirror photo for a very long time, which almost never looks good, but I digress. Yeah, the Fitbit conundrum continues. And in 2023, we still haven't figured this technology out.
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's really I don't know. I mean, I guess it's I guess it's a lot of stuff like you can only control the sun so much. I never thought that I would be really doing this as a practice, which is what it is. Like it is an obnoxious kind of meditative practice.
00:10:10
Speaker
Um, it's like a diary, you know, it's like, I have a diary of, I don't know. I think I have like 7,000 pictures in my fit pic folder. Yeah. Wow. That would overwhelm the fuck out of me. Well, it just, it just is so much, it just is so much time in my life.
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. But I mean, you know, this is this is what comes with having a gnarly camera in your pocket, literally all the time. Like, this is right. You know, I, I have been posting pictures on various clothing forums and getting roasted admittedly a lot because I just don't finish it.
00:11:05
Speaker
They ripped on you because they were like old.
00:11:09
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean style, style forum, but also super future like I guess it was probably like oh eight or nine when I like got my first, you know, my first smartphone, and I would
00:11:24
Speaker
I would go on break and every day I would go to coffee at Starbucks because it was the easiest and like I knew that I could go there and back in 10 minutes on foot and and enjoy a coffee but I would get you know I would ask a friend or or maybe use the timer I don't even remember at that point to like
00:11:44
Speaker
take a fifth photo and i remember distinctly someone being like no more starbucks and i'm like dude i'm just going to get fucking coffee like this is this is the place that i go because it's easy and i'm not i'm not supporting starbucks but like i'm not trying to promo them but i like fucking coffee
00:12:02
Speaker
So yeah, there's been, and I'm sure if there are any listeners that are old, super future, super denim people, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. But this is, yeah, this is the new world of message board type things that we go through because we're all idiots.
00:12:22
Speaker
Well it is I mean it is a community like Instagram, the discord, it's a community and they are linked as well. I was going to say this, I think discussion is an opportune time to launch something that we have been brainstorming.
00:12:37
Speaker
I guess I have been brainstorming for a while, which would be we haven't decided exactly what to call it first fit, first fit photo. I don't know. What we'd like to collect from our listeners is go through your pictures and find the very first fit pic that you can find. Or like if there's a picture of you at 13, whatever, wearing an outfit that you thought was especially cool and you got somebody to take a picture of it.
00:13:05
Speaker
It doesn't necessarily have to be like, for what are you wearing today thread. But we think we would like to collect these and it would give us a good way to build to further sort of community. And I think that everyone would laugh at each other and
Musical Influences and Creation
00:13:24
Speaker
that would be nice. And that would be like a sort of saccharin internet activity.
00:13:30
Speaker
Yeah, so and Lord knows both of us have plenty of or various things, various points in our life that we can certainly contribute.
00:13:41
Speaker
Cause Matt's stunted for years, for years, for years. You wouldn't even know, you wouldn't even know who this person is. Yeah, yeah. I've become more of a smoothie as I've gotten older for sure. Yeah. Hell yeah. And so I don't know. I mean, I guess if people would, if people want to, they could send them to the apocalypse duds Instagram and we would figure out a way to post them. I don't know if we would post them in, I guess we would post them in stories.
00:14:09
Speaker
Yeah, well, like Connor said, we're still figuring out this whole marketing thing, but yeah, we would love to both see and contribute old bit photo cool shots of people wearing something rad to the online menswear discord. Connor, what have you been listening to this week?
00:14:36
Speaker
Oh, man. Well, I have been listening to the Young Thug album, Business is Business, Metro's version, which I would recommend over the original cut. Very good. Like Young Thug is a talented and
00:14:53
Speaker
immensely influential artist. And I don't know, it's just very sad that he is in prison. And so he released this while he is incarcerated. And I don't know, it's not like that's, that's like an uncommon thing in hip hop. But it's just like, God, this, this just is the way that it is, basically. But it's a beautiful album. Like, there's a lot of really good stuff on it. He
00:15:22
Speaker
The closer of the album is called Sake of My Kids, which has been around for I think like five years now, like as a Lucy. But to have it finally, like, I don't know, the official release is really like sad. It's extremely sad. It's like really haunting. I would highly recommend that song in particular.
00:15:47
Speaker
I mean, as someone that has, uh, basically stopped knowing anything new about rapper hip hop in the past 15 or so years, uh, maybe a little bit less than that, like the tracks that Connor has sent me, uh, are fucking phenomenal. And some of the samples and just some of the flow is, is very reminiscent of the shit that I, which is mostly old Atlanta.
00:16:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's 90s, like 30 south fucking shit, which 100% I support. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, that is very, the, I guess young thug like origin. So it's good. It's, I was happy that that came out because there has been a bit of a drought, I guess.
00:16:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't, you send me stuff all the time that I have no idea what most of these people are, I guess. But yeah, this was a nice like, I don't know, breeds for me when I put on the couple of things you said. Also anything Atlanta, about Atlanta, Atlanta is home. So, you know, obviously be out for that. Yeah, absolutely. What about you?
00:17:02
Speaker
Um, I have, well, actually, actually if you would, I would like for you to talk about the song you recorded.
00:17:11
Speaker
Uh, and then I think we should wrap it up, but I can write if you want. Um, I can, yeah, yeah. Uh, actually my, my best friend, Eleanor, uh, also was like, yo, I'm sure your listeners would be like, Hey, it's good to know that Matt is, is recording and writing and doing random shit with music at one time. Um,
00:17:35
Speaker
It's not random shit. It's like you have projects. You have like specific projects that you are dedicated to. And that is very important. Totally, totally. Yeah, it's honestly like probably the most fun that I have had and the happiest that I felt in at least a decade. Second to the show, second to the show, of course.
00:18:00
Speaker
Second to the show, of course. The show was also great, but it's a good creative outlet that I have not really pursued for a very long time, even though that was my life for 15 or 16 years. Yeah, because Matt was also a touring musician, another fun fact.
00:18:26
Speaker
Like, you know, touring, touring, like that wasn't how I made it. You were not in the fucking Rolling Stones, but you went on tour, you know what I mean? You know, I never made a fucking dime for many of it, which is fine, because it was my passion. You know, booking shows, going to shows, playing shows. I got to tour the, you know, the U.S. a couple of times with Foundation, my old band, before I quit, before they blew up.
00:18:55
Speaker
they were much better after I quit than when I was in the band. But you know, I got to see a good bit of the country and like it was, it was for, you know, I was in my early, early 20s. And like, this was just what we did. We got in the fucking van and drove 1000 miles to play a show in where
00:19:16
Speaker
but nothing when i was 18 i was excited that i could buy a carton of cigarettes that's what i did and i sat there and smoked the cigarettes so it's a special experience and it's also like it's also your initiative right
00:19:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, a lot of it was. And, you know, another another fun fact was I was straight edge from 15 to 20. And so this whole time, like when I was touring, like we were we were a straight edge hardcore band, both of the bands that I toured. But yeah, lately, like I've been
00:19:51
Speaker
I've been writing and playing shit that I don't really know how to describe in an easy way. A lot of hardcore influence, a lot of like noise, unsane helmets, you know, kind of like noise, rock, grunge, meldins kind of shit. Still, you know, still working on it, but I don't know. I got it in my head. It's like a very sad electric cowboy.
00:20:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I wanted to be loud and aggressive, but also emotive in a lot of ways. Yeah, it's like emo doom metal. Right, right. Yeah, maybe that's the description. I'm not sure. But yeah, I don't know. I am a student of music. Music is my first love. And it feels good to be creating things, whether or not it will ever go anywhere.
00:20:46
Speaker
I'm not doing this to try to make money. I would love to record something and maybe play a show here and there. But the past couple of days, I don't know why this happened, but it's been in my head for a while to learn this particular Tom Waits song, who Tom Waits is
00:21:04
Speaker
possibly my favorite person to ever exist like dude just seemed fucking gnarly in every possible way and he's just like a true fucking weirdo. So a couple of nights ago I set out learning Come On Up To The House and you know it's a pretty like pretty orchestrated track on Mule Variations the record that is on of his from 99 but it really like
00:21:32
Speaker
has played a big part of my life and like it's something that has come to give me comfort over the past year or two. And so I started like kind of trying to learn the basic chords that goes along with it and it culminated last night.
00:21:49
Speaker
in doing a just very stripped down guitar track, one guitar, a little bit of lead in this part of the song that has harmonica, which I do not play, as kind of a, you know, lead part. And then I did a vocal, which I don't, that might be the first, the first time I've ever tried to record vocals for anything. And I'm,
00:22:13
Speaker
i'm a singer in some ways but like i don't know it just it came out great and uh yeah for a first try you you could have done way way way shittier or you could have just not ever done it i mean i'm pretty fucking good for you and it sounds good it sounds good yeah it sounds really good it's like i don't know we should find a way to put it up
00:22:34
Speaker
It sounds as good as what recording from a bad $5 Amazon microphone into the garage band app on hand sound.
Introduction of Nick Andrey
00:22:46
Speaker
Right. But yeah, it's not something that had a lot of lead up to it. I just kind of like, I don't know, I was a little tipsy one night and I was like, I'm going to fucking learn this song. And it came out great and I'm pretty happy with it.
00:23:02
Speaker
I don't know, maybe one day, um, that, that will be something that, that come into fruition in a studio somewhere. That's not me recording in a camper, a terrible man. Yeah. Well, it's all about progress. But I guess we will sign off now and we hope you enjoy the next segment of the episode, which is an interview with Nick Andrey, the very talented Nick Andrey. So thank you.
00:23:32
Speaker
Beaming into the studio today, one quarter of Alfargo's marketplace, tradoutfitter, catdaddy, founder of Instagram's number one ska fan account, toskashi. There are some dots in there, which we can discuss at a later time. Californian, shirt and pants wearer, and very, very nice dude, Nick Andre. Nick, welcome to the show. Thank you for coming. Yeah, of course, of course. How's it going? How's it going? Yeah, dude. Doing well. Doing well.
00:23:58
Speaker
Yeah, we are thriving. We are really thriving today. This is start number two, I guess. It's start number one. We didn't have audio issues ever before. Right, right, right. This is a Soviet broadcast. Yes. The state does not acknowledge the first broadcast. Radio for a year, I'd say. Right, right, right.
Ska Music and Cultural Impact
00:24:24
Speaker
So to preface things, Nick,
00:24:28
Speaker
Connor and I had a discussion about the ska thing, but can you deny or confirm that that is what the ska means?
00:24:37
Speaker
Absolutely, it's what it means. Fuck yeah! Okay, all right, all right. I'm team Nick now. Yeah, Nick is team man on this thing. We had a discussion yesterday, and I was like, dude, like, Ska is amazing. I understand why people hate, like, third wave Ska. I don't know if it's amazing.
00:24:59
Speaker
Well, I mean, let's go back to like two to the Maytales and the like original Jamaican shit. And then we've got we got the English beat and the specials and the two tone stuff. And then there's there's like the boss tones, man. Like they're classic. I've seen real big. Sorry, I had to get that off myself.
00:25:20
Speaker
oh absolutely no yeah uh unfortunately i i like scott i do like scott i can't i fucking love scott dude i there there are every every single wave uh there are bands that i absolutely adore so anyone that rides them off can go fuck themselves
00:25:41
Speaker
This is a this is a apocalypse does exclusive Like that this is a true story my 20 I don't remember I
00:25:56
Speaker
One of my birthdays, maybe 22nd or 23rd birthday, was ska themed. And I had three costume changes throughout the night. First wave ska, second wave ska, third wave ska. Okay, all right. Everybody had to wear a name tag that incorporated ska in their name. So it would be like Skanner. Wow.
00:26:25
Speaker
so we can kind of end the show now I don't know how I never came up with that because I'm a notorious disliker of ska and so no ska person was ever like well there's only well there's only about 14 of us
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah, yeah Weirdly went to my high school a lot of them went to my high school in Edgewater, Maryland Which is a suburb of Annapolis, which is a very like white suburb It was very very popular
00:27:02
Speaker
Yeah, you got a couple in New Jersey, and I guess the rest of us were stuck in LA. Yeah, yeah. Southern California tends to be the place that is like a greenhouse for ska bands, even to this day, I feel. Burn it to the ground. Burn it to the ground. Anyone born south of Santa Barbara would take a bullet for Gwen Stefani.
00:27:30
Speaker
I mean, I can respect the queen. I can respect the queen, the president, the governor, the commander in chief, Gwen Stefani. She rules. Minister of information. Yes. I cannot. I can't. I will take that as as your word. So Gwen Stefani, if you ever want to come on the podcast and talk about like random shit with a couple of fucking honkies, let's do it.
00:28:00
Speaker
Gwen, I know you can hear me. Is she still with Gavin Rossdale? No, they got divorced. She's with Blake Shelton now. Oh, that's right. Oh, wait, what? And he always tells me about this. Ten years. Yeah, I knew this fact. We talked about very relevant.
00:28:23
Speaker
topics on the show like no doubt no doubt bush audio slave yo i unironically love audio slave i i can't deny that fact
00:28:40
Speaker
It's half of Soundgarden and half of Raging as the Machine. What can go wrong? I'm not saying it's 100% of either of those fans. I'm saying that 50 and 50, there's not any way that it's going to be worse than fucking Creed or Nickelback or Trapped. I'm saying it's annoying. You can't compare anything. You can't compare anything, Tamara.
00:29:09
Speaker
Well, we're going to talk about Belver Evolver. I mean, like, I feel like Belver Evolver got closer to their dream.
00:29:26
Speaker
Was their dream bad? Was their dream like being a new age guns and roses? So bad. Was their dream bad? I will fight anyone. I will die on this fucking hill. Audioslade was great. Or at least that first record was great.
00:29:44
Speaker
audio slave is good with coachees on it was what isn't that the lead single from that album is coachees uh no the lead school is like that was like a stone yeah like a stone was one and then they had sorry i gotta google this shit uh they had like a stone they had i am highway they had show me how to live coachees
00:30:10
Speaker
Yeah, that like... Fuck you guys, man. Of course. Yeah. But... I'm not a Ritrupa's Cornell fan, I'm sorry. I mean... He's fine. Of the grunge vocalist, he is not in the top three. I can't have this conversation right now.
00:30:27
Speaker
Quick shout out to Brad Wilk. Prophets of Red. Brad Wilk's fucking great. Connor and I are both unappreciated, underappreciated. I just remember that first video and I was like, this is some of the coolest shit that I've seen since the heyday of Grunge.
00:30:47
Speaker
And I was like, wow, like this is 2002 and these people are like setting shit on fire and performing at the top of a construction site.
Nick's Fashion Experiences
00:30:58
Speaker
Anyway, sorry. I took that into another direction. We did not even talk about that. Nick, so we like to start every episode with what we call the ensemble investigation. So what are you wearing today?
00:31:14
Speaker
uh head to toe toe to foot whatever oh my god i wore the worst outfit on there i wore two i wore two outfits you can also lie if you'd like to but we we like the truth uh i'd like to lie i'll tell the truth honestly uh
00:31:31
Speaker
I, my, my, my job, you know, I gotta wear, I gotta wear long pants. I gotta wear like a button up shirt and everything. I work in a, like a high end tailoring shop. Um, I guess, uh, my, well, my work outfit wasn't too bad. I was wearing like a nice, modrous.
00:31:46
Speaker
pop over like multi, multi paneled, a modrous kind of kind of a washed color top. I was wearing some nice olive trousers and like a nice cotton drill lightweight. And I was wearing some Belgian loafers on the bottom, some dark brown suede.
00:32:06
Speaker
and you think that's the you think that's a terrible outfit no no no the outfit I'm wearing I wore to work and back from work and I'm wearing right now which is the reason why I'm glad that the cameras are off I was scared frightened yeah
00:32:23
Speaker
I was like, oh man, everyone's gonna see my shame. I'm just gonna rip off the band-aid. I'm wearing like a size, like three sizes too big, like punk band, t-shirt from a local Brooklyn band called Balla Clava. Shout out Balla Clava. Total cease and desist special, like Scott Mickey Mouse on the front with a ski mask on.
00:32:51
Speaker
I'll send a photo. I'll send a photo. Yeah. You got to send me a link too. Absolutely. Yeah. Shout out Balla Clava. We're getting Brad Wilk on the show. We're getting, once we saw any on the show, we're getting Balla Clava on the show. That's not the most embarrassing part. The more embarrassing part is I'm wearing some like
00:33:16
Speaker
cut off khakis like cargo i've seen the cut off i've seen the cut off khaki and i like it i mean i think it's like it's a step in the wrong direction right but it's good these ones are not good uh these are like these are like some some hardcore like this is this is dad length like uh i was given these as a gift uh oh my cat just meowed at me see my even my cat is so disgusting
00:33:45
Speaker
Hi Dottie. Yeah, these are like some dad lengths. I don't post photos of these Yeah, these ones are these ones are making it to the Instagram Right But yeah, I mean I I also like I know we're gonna head ahead of ourselves, but looking pretty rough looking pretty Yeah, like it's fucking summer, dude
00:34:07
Speaker
like yeah you have a you have a job to get to where you have to look presentable if you wear a suit or a sorry a sport coat jacket tie trousers whatever the fuck get on whatever train car you have to get to and then get to work and you're a sweaty mess like probably not the best look true true no shame that's what i'm saying it's no shame like yo there's plenty of people
00:34:36
Speaker
Yeah. That's good for like walking your dog or hanging around in the house, whatever. Hanging out with the cats. Hanging out with the cats. One big part of my job is the customer is snappy.
00:35:04
Speaker
You have to you have to be not only up to like management standards, but you also have to be up to a higher standard, which is like the customers in the sense that the people that shop at our shop are like not afraid to talk to your face about your outfit. Like they will tear you apart to your face.
00:35:25
Speaker
Oh, totally. I only understand. Yeah. It's totally like grumpy old guys that are shopping there. Yeah. And so the first and only official complaint I've ever gotten at this job, it was like three or four weeks into my tenure. And I was wearing khakis, loafers, Oxford tucked in with two or three buttons unbuttoned. Right.
00:35:52
Speaker
you know just you know pretty standard pretty standard just like you know it's hot i got a couple of buttons undone uh apparently one of our customers pulled my manager aside and um just pointed at me and had a disgusted look on his face wow and he uh and he pointed and he pointed at me was like utter contempt just looked at my manager doesn't he know that the buttons on the shirt go to the top for a reason
00:36:20
Speaker
And that's like the worst I thought it was gonna be like Jesus that's fucking terrible Oh my god, what a thing to fucking say anything about in the first place
00:36:44
Speaker
You know what I mean? It's like still an insane thing to do and a huge overstep of personal boundaries. Looking at my shoe rack, I got this big like 12 tier shoe rack thing. They've got these leopard slippers from Saba. Get you know some go-to like cool like some shoes like kind of wacky.
00:37:04
Speaker
Um, I remember, uh, this, this guy, another, another crotchety kind of older fell off. Um, he looked at my slippers and he was like, he's like, God, you wear those outside and you wear those walking on the street. And I was like, yeah.
00:37:19
Speaker
And he said, well, son, back in my day, we would have thrown rocks at you for one like that. Like, I was like, what the fuck are you doing? Just the sheer audacity. Yeah. The ca-cassidy. The ca-cassidy. The fucking ca-cassidy.
00:37:40
Speaker
ridiculous yeah not uh always gotta make sure the fits on point always gotta make sure the fits on right right because some fucking rich white fuck that doesn't know how clothes should fit is gonna criticize you and then yeah the thing is sometimes though they're they're out dressing oh totally
00:38:01
Speaker
We got dandies that come in there. We got the real sprezzy looks. Yeah, yeah. You end up needing all kinds, and the non-assholes make it so much more
Adapting to East Coast Life
00:38:11
Speaker
worth it. Oh, 100%. There's this guy, Bob, who's a regular. Bob is 100% colorblind. OK. Sick. He has no idea. He has no clue. He has no clue. He'll take a look at a coat or a shirt or something.
00:38:30
Speaker
And he'll play you say, what color is this? What color is this? It'll be like, is this blue and orange? And it'll be like, Bob, that's red and green. And he'll just go, oh, all right. Well, I'll take it anyways. But my favorite
00:38:46
Speaker
outfit that Bob wore, this was last summer, Bob was wearing a seersucker sport coat, seersucker shirt, seersucker tie, seersucker vest, seersucker pants, that were all different wits and colors. Oh, no. No, no, it was like it was it was it was amazing. Like, yeah, I mean, Alan Blusser would back that 100%.
00:39:11
Speaker
a one one thousand percent one thousand percent like it's like a fun shirt to the maximum one yeah one thousand percent he's just he like he's next level okay all right shout out bob dude that was like shadow bob tell bob that he should come on the apocalypse studs podcast because we want to talk to this you know he's the regular i'll talk to bob totally down totally up bob he can spin he can spin
00:39:40
Speaker
Uh, Nick, uh, where are you from and where do you live now? If we didn't have all the stuff. Oh, it's all good. Uh, I'm from, uh, Redondo beach, California. Um, it's like, uh, not like a small town, but it's like a, it's basically like a suburb of Los Angeles and the South Bay. Um, okay.
00:40:00
Speaker
kind of close to Lawndale, Gardena, Torrance, Shadow, Shadow South Bay, all, all, everybody was, what's up guys? I've been to Andor, played a show in Torrance, so, I, I know the South Bay. I said I've been to Or, Andor, played a show in Torrance, so. Really? Yeah, yeah, I think, I can't remember. I was born in Torrance.
00:40:24
Speaker
Very long ago, but Southside or South Bay LA like special place special place special place So special that I had to escape to Brooklyn, New York where I'm living right now And I and I'm very happy and I will not be going back Well, we're happy to have you on the better coast
00:40:45
Speaker
Yes, yes. East Coast is the best coast. Quickly, what neighborhood in Brooklyn have you been? Currently Williamsburg. I'm a bougie. I'm a bougie boy. Nice. All right. Not mad about it. I hit it.
00:40:59
Speaker
I hit a big on the COVID deal, so I've been here for three years, and then before this I was in Bushwick, just before COVID. Yeah, I bet that was a time. It was something, but stuck here through it, said, fuck it, not going back. I found my place, I'm staying in it.
00:41:21
Speaker
Yeah. That definitely seems to suit you. A thousand percent. Yeah. Sitting and driving cars for four hours a day. Not my scene. Not my scene. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't. So I guess we can start at the beginning, or at least as you remember, what is the first memory of clothing that you have?
00:41:44
Speaker
This is a tough one. This is a tough one. It doesn't have to be precise. I mean, if there's something like that stands out.
00:41:51
Speaker
There's like, there's two or three, there's two or three that come to mind. The earliest one I can think of is pretty nonspecific. I used to just go with my grandmother to Goodwill every time my grandma visited me as a kid, which was like once a week or something like that, we'd always go to Goodwill and look through all the racks and everything and you know, pick a couple shirts out, stuff like that. Yeah, that's really like,
00:42:22
Speaker
That's like toddler level memories. Smells and sounds and stuff like that, not really like anything specific. Other than that, a more specific one, when I was a kid, I remember I went to a wedding for the first time with my dad.
00:42:43
Speaker
And he taught me how to tie a tie. I think it was it was either a full Windsor or half Windsor. But I remember having to he was like, I'm going to make sure you know how to tie a tie forever. It's like riding a bike. You'll never forget. My dad doesn't.
00:43:01
Speaker
And yeah, I remember for like 40 minutes as like an eight or nine year old, I had to like sit in front of a mirror, maybe even like an hour and just tie, untie, retie, just knot and like get it perfect every time for the lights.
00:43:16
Speaker
Long long long long long ass time and maybe I know maybe that's why I was anti Suits and ties for the majority of my childhood up until adulthood Yeah, that's probably the earliest memory I have the other one this was this was this was when I was a teenager my mom brought me to a
00:43:39
Speaker
Uh, like a, like a strip mall kind of, um, with a bunch of clothing stores and gave me like a hundred bucks and was like, all right, you ever want to get laid? You're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna pick out some new clothes. And I was like, Oh, what's wrong with what I'm wearing now? That kind of like look down, I'm wearing like a camo gap hoodie with some like plaid cargo shorts. You're right. And yeah.
00:44:07
Speaker
that's probably yeah those are probably the core three like young early memories of like clothing flash fashion related stuff I can think of the thrift store is big oh yeah so Cal Goodwill hit different it's like a fucking warehouse
00:44:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's like very bad, at least in Baltimore, like they're shut for the most part, they're closed. But I think that on the West Coast there is like, I don't know, it's like the land of plenty.
00:44:41
Speaker
It's crazy over there, you know? It's like there's so many, like, drift, like, secondhand shops and what. You know, they've got a ton of stuff, if you know what to look for. Especially even still in LA, I feel like. You know, the getting's still good. I think it's just there's so many fucking people there. Yeah. And there's so much space and they're so huge. Yeah, I don't know. You can still find some good stuff over there, you know? At least it was like the last time I was
00:45:10
Speaker
Probably three or four years ago by this point, you know Yeah, and I'm sure that not a huge amount has changed, but I know you I know what you mean Yeah, it's crazy. Every everybody's in the vintage name like awesome But uh, you know, it's it can get hard to find those like little gems, you know Hey, I say fucking you know, every everybody should be uh, everybody should be getting those gems, you know, totally well
NASCAR and Sports Nostalgia
00:45:36
Speaker
a populist uh vintage gems approach i'm a man of the people yeah that's what i'm saying everyone should get a fucking 1992 Dale Earnhardt long sleeve or whatever whatever kind of shit people are looking for damn you're you know what i have i literally have a Dale Earnhardt like hand stitched denim shirt that i found in some trash heap sitting
00:46:07
Speaker
raise hail praise dale motherfuckers raise hail praise dale absolutely exactly exactly you fucking get it hell yeah i got i got the jeff gordon racing jacket too dude yeah yeah well in my household jeff gordon was a uh an arch nemesis i will say public enemy number one i remember public enemy number one democrat
00:46:30
Speaker
yeah well not even just that just like old head nascar fucks we're like was he a democrat was he a democrat i think i left right mate they mostly turn left right
00:46:44
Speaker
I mean, there's like, Nassar is the fucking biggest shit in the country, professional sports wise. Like, that is not a disputed fact. Is that true? Is that true? Yeah, it probably I'm I'm I don't have sources. They they it has been. Oh, my God.
00:47:06
Speaker
Oh, Jesus. To my knowledge, which maybe I'm not accurate in 2023, but it has been the largest and fastest growing professional sport in the country for like, whoa, fastest growing and largest are different. Well, both.
00:47:25
Speaker
Like it's, it's one of those things like maybe I'm misremembering. I don't know. Like I said, I don't have sources, but I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be surprised. No, not at all. Not at all. Uh, not my thing. Lewis Black talks about like going, uh, to, or filming a special in Atlanta. And he was like, everyone was going to the race because that they wanted to watch cars do what they're supposed to do, which is drive rather than sit in traffic.
00:47:54
Speaker
So that's my view on NASCAR. There's some crazy NASCAR jackets out there, though. Dude. Oh, dude, yeah. It's football. It's NFL. OK, so NFL is the most popular. 112 million TV viewers. Do you guys think football gear is cooler to rock or NASCAR gear is cooler to rock?
00:48:19
Speaker
It's stolen valor for me. I don't wear sports shit. Not even Raven stuff? No dude, I don't associate with sports at all. You're not rocking the Raylouz. And it's like, I am happy if the Ravens are winning, but if they are losing, I don't lose sleepover. Or scream about it, as some people do. Not available, honestly.
00:48:43
Speaker
You are a sports person, right? I'm a huge sports guy. Yeah, which I think you are you have this is one of the reasons that I wanted to have you on the show is because you have you contain multitudes. I contain multitudes. Yeah. Right. I mean, I wouldn't have expected in a million fucking years that you would be a sports fan. I'm a fucking hockey baseball fucking fanatic. Well, and Matt loves baseball, too. But I don't but never says it.
00:49:13
Speaker
I did at one point. I don't have the time or the headspace to give up on sports. But I also enjoy watching sports. When I was a kid, I could tell you a million things about various stats and whatever of various sports. Today, I enjoy them from a third party perspective.
00:49:41
Speaker
I will wrap that land right no matter what. I was going to say, were you obsessed with chipper jones?
00:49:47
Speaker
Um, no. So, Chipper was kind of after my time, actually. Like, Steve Avery, Greg Maddox, Tom Glaffan, like, Fred McGriff, uh, Otis Nixon, one of the best artists. Shadow Prime Duck, Shadow Prime Duck. Yeah, just like, like, I grew up in the 90s, mostly. So, like, you know, the, the, when the, when the Braves were, quote unquote, America's team, and they were winning everything, uh, up until they choked in the World Series, like, that was my peak.
00:50:17
Speaker
They won in 95 though. They didn't win in 95, yeah. But yeah, like that was kind of my era, but I keep up with it tangentially. I don't devote a lot of time to any sport. Did you go crazy when they won a couple years ago?
00:50:34
Speaker
Uh, I didn't go crazy. Um, but many fireworks for shot in the city. And like, I was stoked because that was also the same year that, uh, UGA, uh, won the national championship. You know, like there's, I sell sportswear because it, it's reminiscent of like my youth. So I, uh, I appreciate when like shit like that pops off, but yeah.
00:51:02
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't break braves beat the living shit out of my daughter's on the way to that fucking championship. Yeah, they really did. They really did. But I mean, all things have probably been better overall, for their, you know, their existence than the Braves have. So I mean, Atlanta sports in general, all right, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna cut too deep. I'm not gonna
00:51:24
Speaker
It's fun. It's fun. We're a very devoted, very small fan base that loses any interest whatsoever when the teams suck and the teams often suck.
00:51:36
Speaker
Rest in peace, Thrashers. Rest in peace, Atlanta Thrashers. I will say, the Thrashers. Gone but not forgotten. They were so fun. And I talk to other people about this often, but I think that a hockey team could be supported now because of just where we are as a society. And the MLS team, MIT United,
00:52:04
Speaker
They have set records for attendance and shit. And I'm like, a hockey team could come here now and be like, yo, this is this is fucking awesome. And there's enough like transplants that love hockey to support them. They were not there at that point when the Thrashers were. Yeah, it's a shame, you know. I mean, Ilya Kovalchuk and all those guys were there, too. Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:28
Speaker
work out that you shipped them off to the fucking Winnipeg, eh? Yeah, Winnipeg. And I mean, before that, we had like in the 80s, we had the Calgary Flames, or sorry, the Atlanta Flames, just ridged the Calgary. And it's like, ew, we've tried this twice and it hasn't worked sadly. But I don't know. I don't know.
00:52:47
Speaker
Anyway, this conversation has taken a thousand different fucking directions, which we're not seeing, but I'm done with it.
Nick's Punk Roots and Transition
00:52:55
Speaker
You can get back to it. We can get back to it. So, Nick, I think we need a little bit of background because you mentioned a pretty obscure punk band that T-shirt they were wearing.
00:53:08
Speaker
So, number one, how did you get into obscure punk bands? And number two, how did someone from the South Bay of LA find themselves in New York in general?
00:53:27
Speaker
Honestly, you know, so the place where I'm from, Redondo Hermosa, is known as kind of like the birthplace of garage, punk, slash, like beach punk, so like Black Flag, Descendants, Pennywise.
00:53:43
Speaker
circle jerks all the like kind of og like garage like pretty pretty hardcore um probably a couple couple years before you know like minor thread and you know if you got the all those guys uh were um you know playing uh yeah they all started uh south bay and my mom kind of uh hung out with them hung around them she's staying out with like henry ralins a lot
00:54:06
Speaker
Dude, that's fucking sick! Yeah. I mean, my mom's pretty cool. She's got her on the show. Honestly, she'd love it. Dude, please, please. Way cooler than I am. Way cooler than I am. We're getting guest after guest. Yeah, let's get her on with this. Let me have her talk about the late 70s and early 80s South Basin. Well, totally. I know I've gone on about 14 different tangents, but
00:54:34
Speaker
My mom so my name Nicholas It lacks an age much like movie star Nicholas Cage Okay, I'm actually I'm actually named after Nicholas Cage. She went on a date with the late a Kind of like moon necklace cage. Yeah
00:54:53
Speaker
wow you sound a little bit like nicholas cage now that i think of it that's pretty fucked up to say honestly oh no what a charming man what a charming man my god there's people to be compared to my namesake my legacy the thing is i thought it was a joke until i was like 20 and 22 and then
00:55:20
Speaker
I think I made a comment about it, and my sister goes, you know what's real? I was like, what? She goes, you know what's real? You know, it's not a joke. I was like, what? And yeah, my mom told the story. They met at a club, and they went out for dinner and stuff, and went on a date. She was like, he was the coolest guy. She went, he was the coolest guy I ever went on a date with. He was so smart, like funny, like so artsy. And like, god, he was an artsy.
00:55:51
Speaker
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Sorry, I gotta stop you. Artsy for Nicolas Cage? You know what the thing is, though? Is I never got it, and then he... Because he famous... He doesn't do interviews. Right. He famously, like, just doesn't do interviews. We gotta get him on the show. You gotta get him on. He did a couple interviews a couple years ago. No, not even a couple years ago. Like, last year or a year before to promote that...
00:56:19
Speaker
unbearable weight of massive talents or whatever like the one where he went on kind of like a mini media tour and like I watch some of the interviews I was like okay all right I'll believe you from secondhand knowledge yeah because I'm like because I'm like I'm like how the fuck can you think that like Nicolas Cage is artsy and then like you watch this interview and they're like they're like what do you like
00:56:43
Speaker
like you're no just kind of like a crazy wacky guy like nick cage like you know they're like trying to keep it light they're like you're a wacky guy what makes you so wacky like why do you act so wacky in roles like oh it's because you're like a funny guy and you know like oh uh and nicolas cage is like uh it's actually because i uh you know i watch a lot of german expressionistic uh silent movies from the
00:57:10
Speaker
He's like, what the fuck? He's like, yeah, like, you ever seen like the cabinet of Dr. like, Caligari, like German expressionist movie from 1922?
00:57:21
Speaker
okay all right and wow and it's like and it's like no yeah that movie was in the one film class i ever took so i had no exactly what he's talking about yeah he's like he like he's like yeah like if you watch it you get it like like it's like damn
00:57:40
Speaker
Wow. I got it. I believe that though, right? I mean, he hasn't always been like a parody. No. I mean, he's film royalty. He's the Coppola, you know, director of apocalypse now and like the godfather, like it's his nephew. So it's totally like, yeah, I guess, you know, it makes sense. It's like so fucking crazy.
00:58:03
Speaker
And that's what my mom said. I was like, why didn't you go on a second date if you thought he was so cool? And she just looked at me and goes, he was fucking crazy. I knew I wouldn't be able to take it. I was like, oh. I was like that. I was like that. But anyways, oh my god. Sorry. That was like a four or five minute tangent. That was four or five minute tangent. We are here for it. But please, please.
00:58:31
Speaker
You know, I'll try and speed things along. I'll try and keep my words to myself. Yeah, you know, from the birthplace of punk rock, or garage punk, I should say. My apologies, my apologies. Minneapolis, sorry. Don't mean to disrespect Iggy. Sorry.
00:58:50
Speaker
Yeah, I think there's still kind of that scene still alive, maybe not thriving, but definitely alive in the South Bay. At least it was when I was growing up and, you know, I was kind of like a weird little kid or whatever, you know. Yeah. So I think I just kind of fell into that crowd to find a place with other like weird little kids and yeah, kind of spot on from there. OK.
00:59:19
Speaker
All right. Being a little, being a little punkster. I had the whole mohawk and leather jacket, you know, the boots and like everything. Yeah. Do you have, do you have images of that? I have a couple. I think I've seen, I think I've seen some actually. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'll, I'll send a couple over. I mean, I wish I had more. That's really like my number, like 24 regret in life is not having more images of me when I was like a hardcore, like crusty. Oh, fuck it.
00:59:49
Speaker
Yeah, because I was like a pretty hardcore like total shit show, you know God, I just I wish I had more pictures, but I but I don't but you know just picture me with like a mohawk and unfazed It's not too far off from today
01:00:06
Speaker
It sticks with you. It sticks with you. I used soap consistently now. It's big. I wasn't into that part, really, but the hair and the clothes, yeah, for sure. So how did you end up in Manhattan working with old dudes that like to criticize you for unbuttoning three buttons on your shirt?
01:00:33
Speaker
Honestly, I kind of worked from, how do I put this? I kind of like worked my way from the top down and then have been moving back up. That doesn't make any sense. I was, okay. There's kind of like two prongs to this. I became more interested in clothing and fashion, maybe 2011, 2012. Kind of like mid late teens.
01:01:01
Speaker
You know, just, I don't know, I think in general, I think I might have watched like, maybe it was closer to like, 20th or something like that, but, you know, I did the classic, like, watch Fight Club, or like something, or watch like a certain movie, and be like, oh man, like, wearing a leather jacket would be sick, you know, kind of fell into it that way, you know, plus the whole, like, punk thing, like, oh, you know, it was a pretty natural progression.
01:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, I've been active for a long time, like online. I've always had it in fashion, but I guess I didn't fully commit. I actually worked kind of like an auto shop me out of high school. I was a mechanic and I got my certification and was like, fuck, this is terrible. And so I went for that and I started working in the film industry, which is horrible and combo.
01:01:52
Speaker
The combo of being a burnout punk rock guy, plus being in the film industry working 18 hour days, plus I also was a supervisor at Hot Topic at the same time. Hell yeah. That's a show in and of itself.
01:02:12
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, I could talk all day about hot topics and I won't uh, but Yeah, you know, it was just like it just it just wore on me You know the the the as you as you get older as like, you know a guy like in a scene, you know people people kind of start getting more hardcore and into some stuff that you know, you don't necessarily want to
01:02:36
Speaker
stay around, you know, it's kind of like, all right, well, I'm a adult now, there's like real adult consequences to things.
Nick's Career in Vintage Fashion
01:02:43
Speaker
And, you know, it kind of smacks you, smacks you in the face like a brick. And yeah, I think I just got burnt out and I saw people around me like, you know, you know, which I know this is kind of heavy and sorry, but you know, people going to jail or
01:03:00
Speaker
you know, getting hooked on drugs, stuff like that. And I was like, I need to make a fresh start and make a change. New York's my favorite city on planet Earth. And I mean that like truthfully. I've always seen myself moving here. Yeah. So about four years ago, I said, fucking moved here. Fuck yeah. Whatever. Yeah. And now you're living the dream. And now I'm living the dream. Yeah. I was like, all right. I was like, all right. I'll, you know, work in like film while I'm here and then like,
01:03:30
Speaker
You know, I'll figure out like if I want to stick to that or do something. And then COVID happened. Like six months after I moved here. So yeah, that gave me a lot of opportunity to reflect on stuff I'm really actually passionate about and stuff that I can actually like do shit in. And yeah, I said,
01:03:52
Speaker
you know uh movies they're too toxic so i'm gonna move to a stable insane industry i'm gonna i'm gonna pursue fashion right yeah yeah uh which is which is maybe uh from my experience like less insane but also it just always leads to like weird shit oh yeah yeah yeah you never know what's gonna happen
01:04:18
Speaker
You never know. I think fortunately we're in the people listening to this as well. I think we're all in a space that's very positive, encouraging, very engaging. I think vintage, not even just classic men's wear, but I just think the vintage scene is very positive, very helpful.
01:04:42
Speaker
You know, it's not the like capital, like, you know, quote, unquote, like capital F, like fashion. Right. Right. Like, yeah, you know, it's like. In my experience, it's it's its own beats. Yeah, it's a subculture like what a lot of us came out of. Totally. Yeah. And everyone said everyone lift each other up. And yeah, it's it's pretty cool. And yeah.
01:05:05
Speaker
I love 99.9% of people that I've come across, which is not something I could say for anything else I've ever done before. And yeah, I think there's lots of cool people doing this. And it's just fucking awesome to be here. Yeah. Totally. Totally.
01:05:21
Speaker
We wanted to talk about one of your passions, right? We wanted to talk about Alfargos Marketplace. What is that one? How did it get the name, which I've been meaning to ask for a while, and I guess how are you involved? Yeah. Shout out, Alfargos.
01:05:42
Speaker
Yeah, um, I got, where do I even start? I was, I say was because rest in peace MFA, uh, with the Reddit, uh, you know, stuff going on, you know, uh, shout out them for continuing, uh, totally, totally. I'm also like, I didn't know that about him MFA, but I'm really excited to hear that.
01:06:07
Speaker
Yeah, no, yeah, they're still, you know, find the, find the good fight in any way they can protesting, you know, all this Reddit, you know, stuff that's going on. Uh, you know, it's, it's a bummer that, you know, that space is kind of like off ball for the time being, but, you know, it's, it's for a good cause. Yeah. Yeah. I met, um,
01:06:29
Speaker
I've met a couple of buddies on there. My first buddy, shout out Derek. He was a guy, he's in Canada now. I say was, he's not. But he was a guy who was
01:06:45
Speaker
I'm not sure how much personal info I'm allowed to give so I'm just going to say he was a student in New York that was also an active poster on MFA and he had been going to school here before I moved to the city and he was involved in kind of like the class that we're seeing before I got here.
01:07:04
Speaker
we ended up picking up, um, like the December of 2020, something like that. And he really introduced me to pretty much everybody in the, like, Alfargo scene. You know, I owe pretty much everything to Derek. Shadow Derek over... Yeah. So, like, big homies, like, big drops, like... Yeah, he, you know, he'd bring me around to events, and he'd bring me around to meet people, stuff like that.
01:07:33
Speaker
me, too. I guess the head honcho of Alfonso, Stephon Carson, who is a very close friend of mine, one of my best friends now. But yeah, Derek introduced us. We hit it off super well. He had this market thing that sounded pretty cool.
01:07:55
Speaker
I went one time, you know, and I was like, damn, this is pretty sick. I sold, you know, I asked if I could sell stuff, and I had such a cool, like, great experience that I basically, like, you know, I'm a pretty outgoing guy. You know, I'm pretty, like, unafraid to, you know, I don't have a sense of shame. I'm pretty good about being like, oh, well, I'll just fuck it. I'll just like that. So, yeah, like, we'd known each other maybe for like a month, two months, just a month.
01:08:24
Speaker
I was like, Hey, how do I like just get in on this? Like, how do I, how do I like work in this? How do I like, you know, help you like, see this? How do I help you achieve your goals and stuff like that? How do I, you know, basically, like,
01:08:39
Speaker
What do I got to do to join in? And my heart was fucking pumping out of my chest. He kind of looks at me, and there's a beat of something. I was like, oh my god. I'm fucking going to say. And he's like, yeah, man, sure. He's like, yeah, whatever. Yeah, so that's it. It's a pretty anti-climatic story. But yeah, basically, I was like, hey, this is pretty cool.
01:09:00
Speaker
can i like jump in and he was like yeah sure and yeah that was uh that was that um last january february something like that we've been yeah me him alliance and then later on um everybody zane came on shout out zane shout out elise um yeah and he's been doing it ever since fuck yeah
01:09:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's almost like you found the same like energy and vibe of being from like your background and finding energy and vibes from people. Totally, yeah. It's a really cool like super diverse crowd and you know it's like everyone's got great energy, you know, everyone's like
01:09:44
Speaker
You know, we're classic menswear guys. Everyone's a weird little nerd. Like, you know... Totally! Totally, man! Yeah, we vibe. We vibe, like, super well. Yeah. And we're all outgoing, and, you know...
01:09:56
Speaker
kind of crazy. And, you know, we like wearing cool shit. We like cool shit, stuff like that. So, yeah, it was pretty, pretty natural kind of kind of fit, you know, totally, totally. Yeah, we talk a lot on the show about, you know, how various subcultures and like nerds and and dorks just door now.
Diversity in Menswear Community
01:10:21
Speaker
Fuck a dork. Nerds are.
01:10:24
Speaker
uh but you know we talk a lot how like exactly exactly like i've i have i will attest that i have sent connor in my very stoned late night state at some point the difference between a nerd and a dork
01:10:43
Speaker
If we can find this screenshot, I will post it. There's varying levels of these things, and nerd is superior. Because we're all fucking nerds. We love something that no one gives a single iota of a fuck about. You're your Levi's nerd. Yeah, exactly. Want me to date your jeans?
01:11:11
Speaker
Right, right. I mean, I, as someone that sells vintage, I talk about the shit incessantly. And like, I always say that half of my head is full of shit that no one gives a fuck about. But yeah, this is the connection. It's eight tenths for me. It's eight tenths. But anyway. Okay, all right. Eight tenths. Eight tenths.
01:11:30
Speaker
There seems to be some sort of connection between clothing nerd and subculture of various things. A lot of times it's punk or skateboarding or whatever. Why is that a thing? What are your thoughts on that? Because it seems like you also are part of this pipeline.
01:11:52
Speaker
I don't know, and that's something I've been considering for a long time, you know? I mean, like, Matt, it sounds like you're a former, like, punk, punk, like, rocker, and I know Connor is another scenester, and yeah, I mean, you know, you got guys like Tony Sylvester, you know, the punk to, punk to hashtag menswear guy is real.
01:12:20
Speaker
It seems like you're totally on this show. Yeah, this is like I am. I feel so validated right now because you literally said what I think all the time and have thought for like a decade now. Yeah.
01:12:35
Speaker
100%. And, you know, I think me and Connor talked about this when Connor was in New York. We're at JG Mellon with with Mr. Shane. Yeah. What's up, Shane? Remember the old version of the Alfargos name, which I'll get to.
01:12:56
Speaker
you take your bearing it here it's the saving the best for last saving the best for last it's a long story it's an elaborate story it's a complicated story it's an exciting story um well yeah i'm building it up it's the grand finale it's a grand finale
01:13:13
Speaker
uh... before there's no more uh... but anyways i i don't i don't know what that it's it's true that it really is a subculture thing it's such a melting pot you know i mean at least from alfargo's standpoint you know we get lawyers we get i'd see you guys with uh... now magic the gathering people uh... you know like people from people from all walks of life people from all walks of
01:13:54
Speaker
But so why conform with
01:13:59
Speaker
clothing that's the i feel like that is so in a way is anti-punk um but it's sort of not right because everyone in the punk scene adheres to this bizarre code of dressing that is like unspoken yeah so anyway sorry i just i think it's very odd
01:14:18
Speaker
I mean, at least for me, as coming from being like a mohawk leather jacketed, Doc Barton booted it, black skinny jeans, you know, wearer, I just, for me, it was like the clothes are cheap, because I get stuff out of goodwill and stuff. And it was just a way to like kind of blend in and look
01:14:42
Speaker
respectable and hey maybe that has another aspect to it of like blending in like I know there's definitely a lot of people that you know kind of feel like they need to blend into American cultural norms or like you know like come across in a certain way because they feel like they don't maybe adhere to those norms like naturally or like generally
01:15:11
Speaker
yeah like um for me i i mean just to give my own personal example like i was just tired of getting followed by police and security guards when i like in a store yeah yeah well you can do you can do a lot more if you're wearing a tie uh you know it's like you sort of is this so we're trying to avoid a
Personal Style as Protest and Change
01:15:42
Speaker
you're now my favorite person we've ever interviewed for that alone what is it cut that cut that no comment yeah you don't have to come in all right now of that name drop thank you thank you
01:16:03
Speaker
That's a deep cut. We're going to war with the whole menswear industry, so fuck it. I don't give a shit. No. No, that's a... But I gotta say, all cops are bastards. And yeah, if you're wearing a tie, they follow you a lot less.
01:16:22
Speaker
yeah it's kind of it's crazy even just being here i guess you know in l.a you're not taking public transport you're not walking on street you're not necessarily interacting person to person um like you like so it's a lot less pronounced you know the like behavior differences total total but like yeah being here it was like i used to get like like like someone threw poop at me
01:16:55
Speaker
I'd wear battle jacket number three. I've got three battle jackets. I'd wear battle jacket number three out and like
01:17:02
Speaker
It's like a, it's like a vest. Like it's got the classic, like, you know, um, mechanic, uh, name tag that says like content on it. It's got like, you know, a big ass, like Tom Waits button on there. Jeff. Tom Wade show Jeff Rosenstock. Listen to bone machine at work today. Scared. Shadow bone getting reissued on vinyl after like 30 years. Easily my favorite Tom Waits. Swordfish trombones.
01:17:35
Speaker
We're gonna have to have you Back on the show to talk about all these little tangents that we have gone on in the past hour 1,000% 1,000% get me on here weekly monthly yearly Daily I'll do it, you know, all right sick sick. I don't know but orphans also pretty good anyways, um, I
01:17:56
Speaker
franks wild years anyways anyways meal meal we didn't even say meal variation uh that that ties into something that uh something that also is going to be in this episode so if you if you make it this far and want a spoiler there's your spoiler uh-oh get buying the meal anyways anyways anyway
01:18:26
Speaker
I think the way people treat you when you have a fucking mohawk versus if you have a fucking crew cut man right oh
01:18:39
Speaker
it's night and day yeah it's night and day and like i just used to like i used to have like chainsaws on shit for whatever reason because i thought grindcore is funny you know uh and i had really long hair i just was like no one wanted to talk to me so you gotta be wearing a tie
01:19:01
Speaker
yeah that's like yeah that's totally how it was and uh yeah it's like a it's like a suit of armor um i guess yeah once again to get into kind of like heavy territory during like the black lives
01:19:15
Speaker
matter protests i was like super deep front lines in the cut and stuff like that uh because i don't have a sense of self-preservation um yeah yeah i got like beaten by police on two separate occasions and i think holy fuck that was the and sorry i know this is like coming out of nowhere but yeah no no it's great it was just like that was
01:19:41
Speaker
That was the end of me dressing like a punk rocker. I know this was kind of out of context and we could have used that a little better.
01:19:48
Speaker
Fuck it. I don't give a shit. Yeah, that's how that's that's that's finally that's like the final straw that got me into full classic men's wear like I gotta make a change was just like I don't know I I yeah, I was like the shitty little punk kid and I saw how things were presented as like it's all these shitty little punk kids like burning buildings down and like shit and
01:20:15
Speaker
And I read a lot of Dr. Kang interviews and quotes and stuff like that from around the March on Washington. And something that stood out to me was they placed an emphasis on dressing up. So if you see photos of the March on Washington and stuff like that, it's all people wearing suits, ties, Sunday best type stuff.
01:20:40
Speaker
And I guess nowadays it kind of gets thought of like, Oh, that was the era. Everyone just wore suits ties daily. And like, it's like, no, like that was an intentional choice. So, you know, it's not, uh, you know,
01:20:53
Speaker
Fucking I don't know My punk name was brick It's not brick the like punk shithead getting like his face caved in by a fucking like boot It's like, you know, like like Jim from church
01:21:10
Speaker
yeah no it's real it's very real it's about the status quo totally yeah which is i mean i feel like is my angle on it as well it's like i just want to look kind of like a weird freak but uh wearing tweed
01:21:30
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And I have to for the kids for the kids. So you like dress for this five and six year olds. Yeah, like that's totally, that's totally something that I got into the, you know, it's a big reason why it's just like, I felt like if you want people to listen to you, if you want to get something done, you know, if you want to like, make your voice heard and like, you know, enact some like,
01:21:59
Speaker
Change it's you're not gonna do that, you know smoking a crack pipe on fucking which is very much like the road that I was going down and You know, it's not something out of the realm of my own experiences Just trying to try to keep it as general as possible Not getting specific there, but uh, you know, right It's it's like, you know, that's that's not the podium you want to stand on, you know is
01:22:26
Speaker
you don't you don't want to be the guy wearing the fucking crazy like the end is near like sandwich board and you know you don't want to be the guy in the watch man yeah uh rorschach or whatever you know it's you want to you want to be the guy who's you know delivering speeches and like what's his name from twisted sister i mean he put on a suit and tie to testify before congress
01:22:51
Speaker
uh anti-censorship laws um oh my god i i'm sorry i can't remember his name decent decider decider yeah like look at you know frank frank zappa was the same way oh welcome board's own frank zappa
01:23:09
Speaker
I would be remiss if I didn't say it fucks the designer because of his like drag tweet a Month or so ago like you made your career in drag like go fuck yourself
01:23:24
Speaker
if you think this is a problem. I didn't know that. I know, I know. I would be, yeah, I would just feel terrible if I didn't mention that. Not to put a damper on things, but agreed, agreed. Dee, I really respected you up until this thing. Yeah.
01:23:41
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. Like, if you look respectable, quote unquote, you you were taken more seriously than if you're just an everyday person. And that that doesn't just apply to like, kids with mohawks that have like radical views about shit. That applies to like, literally everyone, like
01:24:02
Speaker
redneck folks that are wearing a pair of Liberty overalls and a white t-shirt. They're not going to get talked to the same way that someone in a student's eye is. Yeah, totally. It's a big thing. It's sad that we even have to think about that stuff and participate in that stuff. Totally.
01:24:23
Speaker
it's you know you can't really opt out without you know not fucking yourself but you know without there being consequences to it you know what i mean which yeah well it's it's the thing like the fucking consequences
01:24:38
Speaker
Yep, you know like people talk about like I'm I'm apolitical or I'm non political and it's like motherfucker your life is political There's I mean, there's no degree to be yeah Yeah, if you've got the luxury and like the money and then like good on you, but I also don't take your opinion seriously
01:24:58
Speaker
yeah absolutely i mean it's like when people have to fight every day for the chance to just be themselves it's like you don't feel you know you're pretty fortunate if you don't have to fucking do that yep 100 whatever anyways uh never mind i'm not gonna get i'm not gonna get i'm not gonna get i'm not gonna get into it
01:25:17
Speaker
that that's going to be our our nick part two where we just talk about these random vengeance and then we just talk about the most political shit on the planet you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna get some liquor in me and then you'll let me go off let's fucking do it oh man hey i'll be here for part two but um part three part four like sure yeah whatever but um yeah yeah
Nick's Unique Fashion Interests
01:25:43
Speaker
I really don't know where the fuck that came from, but, uh, yep, get it. Now I wear ties. So our, uh, our friend, uh, Laura at Reaper Sower, um, who has been on the show and I believe is a colleague of yours. Um, she gave us a little bit of insight on her.
01:26:11
Speaker
asked her what she would ask. Connor asked Laura what they would ask you if they were interviewing you. And so this is the question. And this is the first gotcha question in one year of doing this dumb fuck podcast. And I hope you're right. Now, now. So, Nick, if you could have any piece
01:26:37
Speaker
of cat-related clothing on the planet of Earth. What would it be? What's your cat grail clothing piece? My cat grail? Cat grail. Jesus Christ. My cat grail. Oh, I have like... That's better than I thought. That looks like ready. You're ready with it. He was not provided with this question. I thought this was the t-shirt.
01:27:04
Speaker
this was our bonus round question that like i said is the only gacha question we've ever asked the gacha question oh man you know what i'll go for a real basic one and i'll go for one that's the most niche no one's gonna care no one's gonna no one's gonna like it but you know what it's the truth so i'm gonna fucking tell it
01:27:26
Speaker
let's do it the the the first one which is which is the basic the the the basic uh bastard um and i'm ashamed and i'm ashamed for liking it and i'm ashamed for wanting it but the fucking hat is going to be the capital trucker hat the denim dudes have you guys seen it the denim dudes love cats capital trucker hat and frog skin camera
01:27:53
Speaker
Okay, all right. I'm with you. As a cat person, I'm with you. It's like a $200 baseball. Yeah, I'm not with you on that. Not with you on that.
01:28:06
Speaker
But that's why it's a grill. That's why it's not something I own. Exactly. If someone would love to give it to me. Blue and green, if you're listening. Out in Philly, who is that? Totem? Is Totem out in Philly? Totem, if you're listening, hook me up.
01:28:23
Speaker
please please blue-green totem if you are fans of this show hook dick up with this hook me up with the denim dudes love cats baseball yeah it's just like you know I'll be real I'll be so real right now I you know I'm a collector
01:28:45
Speaker
Obviously. You know, your first video episode should be me doing a closet tour because the amount of shit I have is ridiculous. And Laura told me that you asked them how many t-shirts they own, and I think they said that there's one person in the world who has enough. And it's an embarrassing number. But I got some ball caps too.
01:29:28
Speaker
I still need totem to come through I still need to or blue and green
01:29:32
Speaker
Let's make this happen. Let's make it happen. Self edge. You know what? You're cool. Help me out. Man of habit? You stock capital. If you carry this, I've known you for years, and you're listening, let's give the suit a hat. Let's give the suit a hat. Help me out. Help me out. 200 million dollars. Help me out.
01:29:54
Speaker
help me out uh so dumb nice solid solid fun the the other the other the other cat really and this one is so specialized not blue and green can't help me manhanna can't help me chcm can't help me no one can help me you know like apocalypse does maybe you can help me uh and then you know my second grail
01:30:19
Speaker
This is a niche one. This guy on MFA, Esoterrorism, used to post with this cat denim jacket with cat eyes painted on the front and a cat painting on the back. And he told me one day that if I sent him his address, then he'd mail me the jacket. And then he never fucking did. So what the fuck?
01:30:47
Speaker
Uh, send me the fucking shit. We're calling you out. Yeah. We're calling you out. Come on, bro. Just hold through your, hold through your end of the deal. No big deal. Hold on. These kids today have no integrity. These kids. These kids. These kids. These kids.
Closing Remarks and Gratitude
01:31:09
Speaker
Well, Nick, dude, it's been a, it's been a pleasure having you on the show.
01:31:15
Speaker
we will definitely have you back on to just maybe maybe me you and Connor just ran about dumb shit and that'll be that'll be an apocalypse does have said um absolutely uh i i'm sorry to interject but would you like to hear the background of alfago's for the grand finale i promise i'll be quick let's do it sure let's do it all right it's a it's a little it's a little elaborate but i can boil it down so
01:31:45
Speaker
uh... it's the funds that that's it uh... that's a good story and uh... and alfargo uh... we respect you alfargo kartan what's up shout out to you you got a great time
01:32:16
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, well, thank you. Yeah. Thank you again. It really has been a pleasure. Yeah. This has been fun and shit. And we always give our guests a chance to shout out whatever they want to. So how about it, Nick? Uh huh. Uh, shout out, El Fargo's marketplace. Uh,
01:32:46
Speaker
Thanks. Nice. Nice. For everything. Shout out to Staphon. Shadow a lot. Shout out to Zane. You guys are the best. Shout out to all the people that said I wouldn't amount to anything. You guys are great. Thank you. I'm thriving. I think about you almost every day. And I laugh at you.
01:33:13
Speaker
shout out the los angeles lakers shout out the los angeles dodgers uh shout out pittsburgh penguins pittsburgh sealers pittsburgh wait what pittsburgh really oh dear god part two yeah we can't get into this i wish we could we're saving it for part two yeah i gotta yeah yeah fuck the ravens
01:33:42
Speaker
fuck the raven fuck the cat I won't even say I won't even say anything braves you're cool the same city they're gonna change the name but I still stand the brain you're an asshole chipper but Greg Maddox your cool Dodgers legend Greg Maddox
01:34:03
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, true. True. I to interject something right at the end, Connor and I had this discussion yesterday. The the Braves need to change their fucking like.
01:34:19
Speaker
indigenous name and iconography to the fucking hammers. Hammering Hank Aaron, it's a really easy switch. We don't need the tomahawk chock anymore. It doesn't even need to be a chop, just make it hammering. What do you think? Yeah, yeah, just make it fucking hammering. Change the goddamn tomahawk. The Atlanta hammers also kind of rhymes. Sorry, I can't go on a tangent right now. The Atlanta hammers.
01:34:48
Speaker
Atlanta Hammers, dude. Atlanta fucking Hammers. Shout out, shout out Lil Five Point. Shout out fucking. Shout out, shout out fucking. Shout out fucking Ray Lewis shooting that guy in Buckhead. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. This is all going to be part of episode part two with Nick. Anyway. Anyway. More or less. All this. All this and much, much more.
01:35:17
Speaker
um or left no no definitely more uh anyway everyone that has made it this far in this funniest conversation we've probably fucking ever had uh thank you for listening please rate subscribe uh go follow nick uh we will donate to the patreon donate to the venmo donate to the fucking paypal yeah don't donate to anything and anything
01:35:48
Speaker
donate to the fucking fidelity. Uh, fucking whatever. I don't know. None of us are getting rich off doing this dumb shit. Um, anyway, I'm Matt Smith at Rebels Rogues. And I'm Connor Fowler at Connor Fowler. Uh, Nick Andre at Topkashi.
01:36:12
Speaker
Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi
01:36:41
Speaker
Send me, send me hate mail, see what fucking happens. Yes. Yes. This is, this is one for the fucking ages. So, uh, yeah, thank y'all for making it through and we will see you soon. See you soon.