The Dreamboats

You can feel it when a band isn’t just playing songs, they’re building a world. Johnny from The Dreamboats joins us to explain how a modern rock and roll revival band takes 1950s and 1960s oldies covers and turns them into a full-throttle live performance people cannot stop filming. We talk about the real difference between touring Canada versus the United States, from endless drives between small markets to packed schedules across dense regions, and what it means to uproot your life and land in the California desert near Palm Springs to chase bigger stages.

Johnny breaks down why the Dream Boats chose this sound in the first place, and it is more personal than “retro for retro’s sake.” Childhood movies, AM oldies radio, and a shared songbook led to a set that felt natural, then the band layered on choreography, comedy, and jaw-dropping stage moments. We get into why performance matters for ticket sales, how audiences remember feelings more than setlists, and how legendary rocker Ronnie Hawkins validated their approach as real entertainment, not background music.

Then we go behind the curtain on music business strategy: a lean team, no manager, the grind of visas and finances, and a surprisingly unrock-and-roll 43-page business plan. Johnny shares their social media marketing workflow, what they post daily, and where they still want to improve at converting a live crowd into long-term fans with better calls to action and tools like QR codes. If you care about live music, band branding, and how to grow an audience without losing the fun, hit play, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review.

Episode Links

• The Dreamboats: https://www.thedreamboatsband.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Introducing Johnny

Jay Franze 0:00

Welcome to the Friendshow. Your story news reviews. Now, here's your host, Jay Franzi and Tiffany Mason. And we are coming at you live. I am Jay Franzi, and uh with me tonight, the Molly to my mic, my beautiful co-host, Miss Tiffany Mason.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Good evening, Jay.

Jay Franze 0:43

If you are new to the show, this is your source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews. And if you would like to join in, comment, or fire off any questions, please head over to jafranzie.com. All right, my friend, tonight we have a very special guest with us. We have a member of a true rock revival hailing from the great state of California via Canada. We have Johnny from the Dream Boat. Johnny, my friend, thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

Jay Tiffany, thank you so much for having me on the show. It's it's an honor. You say that now.

SPEAKER_05 1:20

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:21

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_05 1:22

We'll see.

Jay Franze 1:22

We will see.

Touring Canada Versus United States

Jay Franze 1:24

Well, we've mentioned that you're in California and you are originally from Canada, but your your band, you guys play all over the place. Yes. So can you tell us what the difference is between playing in Canada versus the states?

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Oh, I mean, in case anyone out there hasn't heard, Canada is huge, and we don't have a lot of people. Well, relative to the size. So it's like I was told that California has a larger population than all of Canada. And uh don't fact check me on that, but it's huge, you know. So coming to the states, we're able to play in so many different markets in such a condensed area, as opposed to Canada, where it's like, you know, once you're past Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, it's like eight hours every day to the next market, and they're small towns. So it's just been really good for us to get in front of new audiences, and we're playing all oldies like American rock and roll. So it's just it works out so well. But there's a lot of opportunity moving to the states. It's it's pretty evident, I would say.

Jay Franze 2:30

Well, it's funny you you say the difference in population. There's a huge portion of Canada that you can't live in.

SPEAKER_04 2:37

That too, sure. I mean the sun doesn't even uh rise half the year, you know.

Jay Franze 2:43

So no, not a place that I would want to be. And then to go to California, what a difference.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

I know. I honestly, Jay Tiffany, I like I wake up every morning. I'm not even joking. I I open up my window here, and we live out in the desert, just outside of Palm Springs, California, out in the desert, and uh there's not a cloud in the sky. And I came from Toronto, Mississauga, Canada, is like we were shoveling snow, like most of the time, not most, but a large chunk of the year, cold, wearing hat toks, they're beanies, we call them tokes, you know, all that. And now I don't have to, it rains like 10 times a year out here. I am blessed. I don't take it for granted ever. And you know, another thing I noticed uh coming down here is that in Canada, most of the shows are indoors, and then when we came to California, it was like a lot of the things are outdoors, and uh, you just can't gamble like that in in Canada, it's it's tough. And if it does rain on your event out here, it's like a tragedy, you know, and it still goes on, but it's like it's a tragedy if it rains on your event. So I've been really liking that. It's it's just yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Do the other guys feel similar?

SPEAKER_04 3:52

Yes, yes. Um, well, there's there's four of us in the band, okay. There's actually, but we have a fifth member, he's our videographer, he does all the video, all the content stuff. So four of the five of us, we all live together in a house. So I'm in this band house right now in the desert, which isn't necessarily what I thought I'd be doing with my life at 39, you know, living with other guys, but it's all part of this grind that we're doing. We we moved down here, we're at a certain level in Canada, came down here, we're doubling down to really just take a few steps back to push the band forward. Yeah, so you know, we've all made sacrifices to be in the States, which is crazy to push like this band, which is essentially a retro rock and roll band. Like we're doing 50s and 60s covers, which for a lot of people seems weird. They're like, Oh, you're just a cover band, but I'm like, no, it's like it's special. We've been doing this for 15 years, and it's it's so much more than just playing the covers. Like, we we truly feel like we're keeping this music alive, like we are carrying the torch, and and not even just in the music, in terms of the show and and what we're doing at the show, like bringing back entertainment value in its most stripped down form to the show. So we just we believed in it. A lot of people in Canada, we have a lot of mentors, people in the industry that believe in it. So we're like, let's give this thing a shot, let's really come down here at this late stage of our careers. Well, late relatively, you know, we're in our mid to late 30s, and we're having a go at it, and just every day we dedicate to the band, and and here we are now. Here I am chatting with you guys, everyone's out and about

Why A 50s 60s Revival

SPEAKER_04 5:34

right now.

Jay Franze 5:34

So you you said a couple things in there, so let's talk about it. I mean, even back in the 50s and 60s, the bands that played like you're playing now, they were playing cover tunes then, they weren't writing their material. Yeah, so it's not like this is a stretch. You're playing in pretty much an authentic version of what was happening back then. Yeah, I guess my question would be why? What made you guys want to do it in the first place?

SPEAKER_04 6:01

It's a genuine question. I mean, people are like usually the bands playing 50s and 60s music are in their 60s and 70s at this point. That is typically what's happening. But there's there's a weird little pocket in pop culture in the 90s where kids, kids like me back in the day when we were growing up, we were exposed to this whole cultural phenomenon of movies like Back to the Future, like La Bomba, like Great Balls of Fire. Yeah, that thing you do. Did you say Selena? Yeah, yeah, there was this era of that, and you know, like when I was growing up, the Beatles weren't that far off, they were like 20, 25 years away. So that wasn't like that long, you know what I mean? So I just growing up, like I loved those movies. That thing you do back to the future, I know word for word, and then aside from that, it was just like whenever my parents would be driving me around in the car, it was always the the oldies AM station. It was AM uh 1050, 1150 in Canada. Um, and that was it. So, but it was embarrassing, you know. I remember like before you can drive, like my parents would be in the car with them. We go pick up my friends, and then it's like we pull up to their house, they get in the car, and it's like we got oldies on, like Buddy Holly, and it's all like AM. And I'm trying there literally, my parents aren't looking. I'm like kind of angling, hitting the volume down. I'm like, oh my god. But then when I got older and I really started getting into music, I remember going Napster. Yeah, I like I downloaded Napster, and I remember like downloading some of these songs because I was like, Oh, what do I type in and starting to hear these songs not on the AM quality, but like in a well mp3 quality, but it was better. And I remember just being like, These songs are awesome, these songs are great. So when we got together with the band, we realized that a lot of the members of the band had a similar upbringing, and the only songs we all knew how to play. I remember our first jam session, it was like twist and show, Johnny be good, La Bamba, come on, let's go. Um, what else? Like it that that's what we did. So it came about very naturally. We didn't form this band because we're like, oh, we're gonna play 50s and 60s, and we're gonna get in front of the boomers and we're gonna make a ton of money. Like it wasn't that the initial concept. Let me let me ask you this. If I said the name Shanana, would that mean anything to you?

Jay Franze 8:33

To me, it would, because I'm old.

SPEAKER_04 8:36

Are you familiar with the group Shonana? Okay, I was obsessed with Shanana. They were in the movie Greece, another like favorite of mine growing up. And the thing with Shonana is that they played at Woodstock. I don't know if you're familiar, but Shanana played at Woodstock, and they were doing cover, like do-wop covers, 50s covers, and they would dress, they had the guys in the matching suits, everyone was kind of their own character, okay. And there's this clip of them at Woodstock, and they're doing at the hop, I think it is, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it cuts to the crowd, and all these hippies are just all like confused.

Jay Franze 9:08

What's going on?

SPEAKER_04 9:09

And then they start like then they start smiling after they're just kind of like like that. And we wanted to like create that and bring it to the younger crowd. So we started playing shows. We would book our band as a cover band on original bills in Toronto. So you'd have all these original bands, you know, punk and whatever, and then we'd come on with like these matching vests. And I would the way I would convince the promoter, I would say, think Sean on uh would stock. And some of them were like, What are you talking about? But some would be like, Gotcha, gotcha. So I don't even know where we were going with this. I'm going off right now, but it came about very naturally. We all love this music. For that reason, we you know, 15 years later, we're still doing. I had hair when we started. Um, for all the audio listeners, I have no hair, okay? But uh, to be fair, neither do I. Hey, well, stop what we're part of the community. Yes.

Building A High-Energy Stage Show

Jay Franze 10:03

Well, I think one of the things that we need to point out is that you mention you usually get 50, 60 year old people playing this style of music these days. That's typically the only people who play it anymore. But I don't think they would get the same energy that you guys provide. So I think you're not only playing the music and keeping the music alive, but you're keeping this energy going, which is what's going to keep the younger crowd interested in it.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

Yeah, totally. I mean, the thing is for anyone listening out there who hasn't seen our band, it's we're doing the 50s, 60s covers, but there's a lot of dance moves, there's a lot of moment, and not like you know, they're there from joking dance moves that have just become nuts, but there's a lot of movement. There's, you know, guys are jumping off the kick drum, and people are doing the splits, and our singers doing a handstand, the duck walk. I'm looking at the video. We do this thing called the crab walk. It's it's fun. We all sing, we all play our instruments and sing. You know what I mean? And that came about very naturally because we're playing these songs. And the thing is, these songs are pretty like simple. Like they're simple, they're catchy. So it's like, you know, cut to like five years in. It's like these songs are on autopilot for us. And we were just getting bored. And we're just like, you know, we started goofing around. We're all good buddies. So someone would start doing a little two-step, and the other guy would join, and then we're like, huh. And then people liked it. And then what we noticed as we would start doubling down on these moves, and they would get crazier and crazier. And what we noticed is that people started whipping out their phones and filming us, and then they would start tagging us online, and then people are like, Who's this band? And then, you know, and now, cut to now, like our Instagram channels, like we're sharing all these wacky moments. Sometimes they're bloopers. We play so much, there's just an endless stream of things that goes on at a dreamboat show, and we get so many views, and then people find out they come to the shows and we do more, and it gets crazy. But these moves and this extra layer isn't something new. Maybe we're putting steroids into it, but it's not something new. It's like people used to entertain back in the day, and there is an artist, a legendary rockability artist who was huge in Canada, a man by the name of Ronnie Hawkins. I don't expect anyone to know that name, but he was well, in the States because he brought rock and roll to Canada, but he was from Arkansas. He was responsible for forming the band, the band. You know, they did The Wait and uh the night they drove old Dixie down. He formed that band. They were called the Hawks, and he moved to Canada. The Hawks ended up leaving Ronnie Hawkins, and yeah, there we go. Ronnie Hawkins. He was in uh the last waltz, the Scorsese, you know, the band's last performance, the last waltz. So he was one of the people they brought up. So Ronnie Hawkins was a big supporter of ours. He came from that era of the 50s. He had a venue in Arkansas. He knew Buddy Holly. He would tell us stories of how he knew Johnny Cash back when he was a car salesman, told us stories I probably can't even repeat here. Um, you can. Well, yeah, the thing is, once Ronnie started uh warming up to us, it's like he went when we first met him, it was very G-rated stories, then PG, then like R-rated stories, you know, rock and roll stories. But he knew everyone, you know, John Lennon stayed at his house for a month in Mississauga, Canada. So he has the accolades and he saw us perform for the first time at a private event. They had invited him out, they said Ronnie Hawkins is coming. We're like, Yeah, sure. Okay, you know, he's got the member of the Order of Canada, it's like the highest honor. He's a big deal, he's a big deal. And he came and we're like, oh, Danny Hawkins is here. And um, so we said hi, or like, hey, and he's like, Hey, boys, he's got this like Arkansas accent. He's like, Boys, uh, looking forward to the show. I'm like, okay, guys, pressure's on. What was that like? Yeah, I mean, the thing is, when you're prepared, when we've been playing so much as we did, all we were doing was just what we knew best. We weren't nervous, we're like, Ronnie's here, let's do our thing. And and Ronnie stayed for the whole show. And his wife told us later, she said, Ronnie never stays for beds. He leaves like the first couple songs, and he stayed right to the end. And then his and then after we were talking to him, and he said, Boys, I haven't seen a band like you. I mean, he said, he said, I haven't seen a band like you since the Beatles. I'm I'm not I'm not saying that in any way, but that was legitimately what he said. He's like, You boys are tight, you got it, like all together, and you're you're doing it right. You got the suits. And I remember he was telling us about, you know, when he was playing with Levon Helm of the band, like they were good buddies and the Hawks, and he was telling us how they used to keep their suits clean and they use Scotch Guard and stuff. It was cool. Long-winded way of me saying that Ronnie Hawkins, an original rock and roller, he gave us the nod. He told us what we're doing is right. He said, It's it's a show, you're in entertainment, it's not about like shoegazing and looking at your instrument. He's like, and that's what you guys have figured out is that you're playing these songs, but you're also making them entertaining, they're visual, you know, these are meant to be enjoyed, these were dance songs, these were love songs. It's like you're supposed to like give people more. And I think with a lot of artists out there, that that's missing. What do you guys think about performance? How important do you feel performances to artists? Or maybe you don't, like, and that's valid too. I'm I'm genuinely curious.

Jay Franze 15:28

I prefer a performance for sure. I mean, it also depends on what I'm going to see. Sure. But I do prefer having a performance. I like a show. I like more than just musicians who stand on stage and play. Now I can appreciate the musicians who have that kind of talent that can like um Vinskill, one of the best guitar players in the world, he just stands there and plays guitar or the band The Cars from Boston. Yeah. They just, I mean, literally stand in one spot. It's the most boring show ever. But then there's other bands who might not be technically as talented, but they put on an amazing show. And I would rather go see that show. You know, that to me is more important. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah. I would say I live my life by people may not remember what you said or what you did, but they'll remember the way that you made them feel. So you guys are connecting in that respect. And then I think you guys are going one step further and doing yourselves a huge favor by doing these kind of crazy or unexpected moves, you know, that people are like, Oh, that was so cool. And then they're tagging you on social media. You know, you're getting a different angle where they're just compelled that they just want to share it with everybody else because they thought it was so cool. That's pretty amazing. And kudos to you guys for doing something a little bit outside of the box. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_04 16:48

Well, I appreciate that, by the way. Thank you. And uh yeah, it's so true. It's just like, you know, bringing the show aspect. It's like you could have a band that's great, and then a band that's maybe not as talented, but it's like they're bringing the show. It's it's so true. Like live music, you know what I think I'm going on a slight tangent here, but I have a lot of opinions about the music business. You know, a lot of people are saying, oh, it's hard to sell tickets, it's hard to, you know, get butts in the seats. But I argue that you're not bringing enough of an entertainment value to a show. Like when you have a show that is undeniable, where, like you said, people are talking, they're raving, they're saying certain things. It's very hard to do that with just the music alone. If it's just the music, it better be really good music. You know what I mean? The reality is a lot of people aren't on that level. But, you know, by having an entertaining show, taking people on a journey, that's the things that people remember exactly, Tiffany. And uh I'm all about that. I think the music business is better than ever. You can get people in. I just think a lot of people are doing the bare minimum these days. They're competing with so many bands, they're doing the bare minimum, just playing their songs. But it's like you gotta add more ingredients to the mix, you know. But I digress and you're gonna rant

Growing From Bars To Big Crowds

SPEAKER_04 18:05

over.

Jay Franze 18:05

Let's take this approach here while we're talking about your performance. You said in Canada you would drive hours from one village to another to perform. So you're you're traveling to these small communities to perform, and now you're playing in front of thousands of people. So what changed? How did how did that change come about for you guys to go from small venues to large venues?

SPEAKER_04 18:29

Honestly, the show, the show has improved. The show has improved, but what it's been is always getting people to take a chance on us. That's what literally changed, you know, because anytime we would get in front of a crowd, whether it was a lot of people, or in those days in Canada, we played to maybe three or four hundred people. And some shows it'd be to, you know, maybe 20 people really depends. That's not it took years. Okay, so I'm talking at our peak in Canada before moving to the States. Uh, yeah, that's not a small crowd, but you know, realistically, maybe on average 200 people. But anyone who saw us, they would always want to book us again. And they would say, You should be playing here, you should be playing here. And we're like, we just we play so much, I don't have the the time. So it morphed into us really being like, okay, we got to find someone who believes in us, a champion for the band who's gonna really help at least get us an opportunity to be in front of the right eyes.

Jay Franze 19:23

Well, let's talk about that for a second because uh let's do it. I don't want to pass by it. What kind of team do you guys have? Is it a small one-person operation or is it larger than that?

SPEAKER_04 19:34

It's it's relatively small, you know, for the stage we're at. We are constantly growing it, but our team consists of you know, the four band members, we have our videographer, we have an admin person who helps with all the back end stuff, a lot of emails. Well, we handle a lot of that too, but she's taking care of a lot of that, and we have a booking. Heidi would be our PR person. Our PR person. Yeah, so she's PR. So I guess we got four people on the team right now, but you know, we're we're so involved as a band, we don't have a manager, so we're doing a lot of that. Like I'm handling a lot, I'm kind of the quote unquote CEO, as we say, because it's just like, you know, something's gotta just it's gotta be the last line of defense for everything.

Jay Franze 20:13

And you have to earn your keep.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

I'm the I'm the drummer, you know. I've naturally just started handling a lot of this stuff, the business, the money, the finances, the visas, just everything.

Jay Franze 20:23

You know, I handle it and uh, but that's an extreme amount of things to worry about.

SPEAKER_04 20:29

Oh, I don't even get me started. Cross-border accounting is an absolute nightmare. If I had any more hair, it'd be gone. I'm gonna lose my lose my eyebrows soon.

Jay Franze 20:38

Dude, there's nothing worse than that. Nothing at all.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

I never really thought of that, but you're right. Like it's a nightmare. Different countries, different states, different yeah, languages, different contexts. Yeah, what a nightmare.

SPEAKER_04 20:53

I'm learning. I'm learning though. I'm learning. Maybe one day I'll be able to pass this on to another, another band, crazy enough to embark on this journey.

Jay Franze 21:03

That's a good point, too. Not the accounting piece. Trust me, not the accounting piece.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

Accounting was my first degree.

Jay Franze 21:10

It is it is not a fun subject.

SPEAKER_04 21:12

But I have respect for accountants, let me put it that way.

Jay Franze 21:16

However, you just mentioned you could pass the band down. That is actually

Can A Band Outlive Members

Jay Franze 21:20

something you could do.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Did you hear didn't you hear about this from anyone? Because you are we're on the same wavelength right now.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Tell us, Johnny. You're hearing it here first, crew members.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

Okay, first of all, I just want to say I have like I have the band, but I've started this other channel on Instagram that is all about music business and talking about a lot of this topics. That's why I get nuts on this. That's really grown to a lot of followers. So you're touching on a lot of topics. You're taught, yeah. If you type in Johnny Fiacone 2C's one end, that's my other channel on Instagram. And we get into topics like this. I feel like bands are the one of the only few businesses because they are business. Few businesses in the world where once the members are dead, it kind of dies. And I remember one of my bandmate and I we got invited to perform with the children's band The Wiggles in Toronto. Okay. Anthony Wiggle, the lead, the original guy. He's a fan of our band. He invited us up to do a song. And he's like, All right, guys, you want to just stay for the whole show? So I played drums on the whole show. I don't know any Wiggle songs. But what I saw the Wiggles doing, I got exposed to how they're now creating the next generation. And it's like, it's only Anthony's the original, and he's got his daughter in there, he's got John, he's got like all these next level, and the band continues, and people know different eras of the band. And I'm like, I totally want that with the band, with the Dream Bolts. I see us bringing on younger people as we get older, and we're we're saluting them and giving them the torch. And like the Dream Bolts is keeping this music alive. Like we are the keepers of this, you know. I agree 100%. So I talk a lot about music business and uh and all that. Yeah, it just the videos really connect with people, and all I'm doing is sharing all the back end stuff that I do with the dream boats that we collectively do, you know, and people seem to really resonate with it. So music business, it's it's all about that. You know, we're very intentional with the dream boats, what we're doing, where we want to go. We want to be the top retro band like in the world. We want people to think of 50s and 60s music, like, oh, like the dream boats, you know, and but that comes with just proving yourself and like actually delivering a great show, which we pride ourselves on and we're constantly learning, but it's a lot of fun.

Characters Suits And Band Lineup

Jay Franze 23:43

Well, we we talk about going ahead and passing the band down, and that can happen with very few bands, but it can happen. I mean, I always reference the band Kiss because they put on makeup and they could just put makeup on the next person and the next person, the next person, and that music can live on forever. But there are other bands who do it not intentionally, but they end up doing it like the band Foreigner, who doesn't have an original member in the band any longer, but they're still out performing under the name Foreigner.

SPEAKER_04 24:14

Yeah, a lot of bands like that. I remember we opened the Dream Boats open for Fog Hat. It was just the original drummer. I know the guess who for many years it was just the drummer. Now Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings finally got the name back. They just played in Toronto. My parents went two days ago. So there's a lot of that going on. I just I always wonder, I'm like, is there a way for a band to pull that off? I mean, you said foreigner. It's like, do people mind that it's not original people?

Jay Franze 24:41

Well, most people don't know. Your average listener doesn't know.

SPEAKER_04 24:45

They don't even know. Yeah. There's that, and then I even wonder if it's like the original members could give people the blessing. Could you know, because you could have someone who played with the original lineup, and it's like, why can't Foreigner like live on for another like whenever? They're the official holders of the foreigner songbook, yeah, the catalog. Exactly.

Jay Franze 25:05

But they essentially become a tribute band at that point.

SPEAKER_04 25:09

The official tribute band, right? Yeah, the official tribute band.

Jay Franze 25:12

Which there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, yeah, keep keep it living on it. If the if there's a demand for the catalog, then absolutely it's a business like any other. Keep it going. But I do think bands like Kiss, that's no one will know who's under the makeup anyway, is a good one to go on. But yours is very similar, not because there's makeup and you're hidden behind something, but because you guys are essentially playing characters, you're in suits, and you could essentially put somebody else in that suit doing the same thing.

SPEAKER_04 25:46

Yeah, we could get a bald cap on another drummer and we'd be good to go. Just slap another, slap another bald cap on there. No, but I it it it's funny you say that though, too, about us being characters, because it's like for people listening, like the show isn't a show like Jersey Boys, it's not like scripted or anything. It's like, you know, we're telling maybe the same jokes and stuff because we have our show and we know it works and we're doing the best stuff. But it's like essentially we all are ourselves. It's just like once again, it's fuel injected, it's like steroid versions of ourselves. It's like I'm the quirky, like I crack jokes, and then it's like I just do that on stage to like the next degree. And then, you know, Justin, our bass player, he's kind of the the bad boy, and he'll he'll kind of bark at the crowd and be like, I need everyone get up right now, like stop me. You know what I mean? So we just amplify what we are, and I think whoever next generation of members might be, God willing, they'll just take on their own. That's what I would like, anyways. That's what I would like to do.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Can you introduce all the members of the band?

SPEAKER_04 26:47

Yeah, so we got myself. I'll just start because I'm Johnny, I'm Johnny G Wiz, I'm the drummer and I sing. Then we have the frontman, Sir Richie Hummins. Well, I call him Sir Richie Hummins. We formed the band together. We're the original members. Then we have Justin, Justin Zoltek, he's on bass. We're all hometown guys, Mississauga, Canada. Came from the same music scene. And then in California, we have Andy Zappa, Andy Alvarez on lead guitar. He's from East Los Angeles. If that means anything to you, you know what I'm talking about. And then we can get into that later. And then in Canada, because Andy can't currently come to Canada, we have Adam Brick, who's also hometown guy, Mississauga. So he does our Canada shows. Is it the ankle bracelet? Is it the he doesn't have an ankle bracelet? Cross-border stuff is a little tricky right now. We're working on it, but Andy, Andy's been great. He's the American in the band, and uh he's brought a flavor. Like he comes from that East LA, Chicano, like Latino rock and rolled world where everyone is into low riders and oldies and slow jams, and he's 10 years younger, he's 27 or 28, I think.

Jay Franze 28:01

And see, you're already passing it down.

SPEAKER_04 28:05

Yeah, exactly. And he grew up with this music too. He came in and he's like, Yeah, of course I know that song, of course I know where it's angel. I know of course definitely La Bamba, Richie Balance, definitely, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

So can you tell us a little bit about um have you guys had like dance instructors come in? I know that you said that everything has kind of organically evolved, fine, but then at some point are you like, you guys, we gotta get a choreographer in here to kind of clean this up a little bit, or was it just like you're watching a few tube videos and you figure it out?

SPEAKER_04 28:35

Okay, well, fun fact is that our singer, Richie, Richie Hummins, is uh he used to break dance back in the day in high school. It wasn't in an official capacity, but it would be like in the hallways. He was breakdancing, he's the kind of guy who's really good at like anything. He's very athletic. So, you know, he does the handstand in our show, he's holding that thing, and he's always been a really good dancer, like naturally because of breakdancing. So he will orchestrate a lot of the moves, you know what I mean, that require actual dancing. The rest is just synchronized, like insanity. But so, you know, but recently we started working with a stage coach, a guy by the name of Mika Barnes, who was a singer in a group called the Nylons in the 1980s. And we brought him down to California and he worked with us on our new show that we're going to be introducing in the next year. So we brought him down and he really like microscoped what we're doing, what's working. He got us telling stories to each other and be like, that's a good story. You should be telling that to the crowd. So that's how now we're we create these shows. It's just it's very raw and natural and real, and we kind of cherry pick the things that would connect with people. We just let me put it this way: we want every moment of the show to be something. We don't ever want there to be a lull. Like our generation, everyone has short attention spans, okay? And you complain all you want, but it's just that's the way it is, and people need to be stimulated at all times so that they don't start yawning on you.

Self-Taught Musicians And Craft

SPEAKER_02 30:15

Can you tell me about your guys' musical background um when you guys formed the band? Were you already playing guitar? Is it acquired skills? How do you keep up on those skills?

SPEAKER_04 30:26

For the most part, we're all pretty much self-taught. Like I never took a drum lesson. I mean, you could argue. I can tell. I can tell. Um, and our singer, our singer Richie was actually a drummer when I met him, and so he plays rhythm guitar. I know Justin, our bass guitar player, is actually a lead guitar player. He was a front man of a band in our hometown. So he I know he he took like lessons here and there, but it's like a lot of us, we have really good ears and we're very self-taught. So we didn't go to any like prestigious schools or anything. I don't really know how I'm reading how to read notes or anything, but it's like neither did the bands in the 50s and 60s. It's like the Beatles were just it was ear, it was feel, it was gut, it was um, it was just a lot of practice and a lot of getting in front of people. They say that one show is the equivalent of 10 rehearsals, and I truly believe that. It's like when when you play as much as we've been playing to big crowds, it's just like you get accustomed to it, and um but there's always room for improvement.

Jay Franze 31:29

Let me tell you, I can read music, but I would much rather be able to play by ear.

SPEAKER_04 31:34

Okay. Uh Jay, what what do you play?

Jay Franze 31:38

I started with keyboards and piano. Um, that's what I took through college, and I play bass guitar. Nice. None of which do I do well. So I mean my my brain knows what to do. My fingers just don't want to cooperate. I guess that's what my wife says. Again, you guys need a little like sound effects of sing or the kind of we've got those kind of sound effects, but the only ones we typically use are the Tiffany.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

You're fired.

Jay Franze 32:08

Those are the ones we use.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

That's great. And Tiffany, are you musical? Do you um forgive me if I don't? Are you musical as well?

SPEAKER_02 32:16

Oh, I sure wish I was. I have a keyboard in my bedroom that I tell myself I'm always gonna teach myself. No. I got you. We own a guitar. No. I got you. No.

Jay Franze 32:27

She can sing.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

I love music.

unknown 32:29

No.

SPEAKER_04 32:30

Nice. That's great. Hey, that's cool. That's I feel like playing music. You know what it is? It's like uh it's like getting into magic or something. It's like when you're in music, you're doing it for a living. It's it's tough. It's something you grew up loving. Like I would go to bed, I just listen to the Beatles, like staring at the ceiling like for hours before bed. And it's like now that it's my life, it's your relationship with music becomes a little different. It's like I'm I don't even listen to as much music anymore. Like I do, I know, but it's it's you know, and I I hope I reconnect with it. It's different purposes, and you see, you see behind the curtain, you even go to a concert, and it's like a bit of the mystique is gone, and not in a bad way, but it's like you're there being like, Oh, that guy's like helping out. I wonder how much they're paying that road. You know what I mean? Oh, he switched the strings. That it's like you're seeing it in such a These are all the thoughts I have when I'm at a show.

Jay Franze 33:21

My wife hates me. She's like, stop pointing it out, stop pointing it

Business Plan Social Media Marketing

Jay Franze 33:26

out. All right, well, let's let's continue down that path because I'm interested in your your business model and the way you guys do things, and sure. Even picking songs is part of a the business plan. You know, you're picking the right songs for the for the show and you're putting this show together. So we talked about your team being a fairly small size. I know there's a lot of grassroots, but what are we doing to to market the the band?

SPEAKER_04 33:53

We're handling the marketing. Aside from we got Heidi, she's doing the PR, so a lot of the outreach for the upcoming shows. We did a TV interview in Denver a couple days ago for our show there later that night. So we have that kind of that's her realm. But in terms of like across Heidi. Heidi came, we were actively looking for a PR person. We were at an event for an industry event in Palm Springs at the casino. We met another publicist. We said, Do you want to work with us? She said, I can't, I don't do that, but I know I know the person.

Jay Franze 34:25

So she's from California then.

SPEAKER_04 34:27

Heidi is based in uh like New York, New Jersey. She's in your time. Or no, maybe not your time.

Jay Franze 34:36

Eastern time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:36

EST. Yeah, ours. Yeah, EST.

Jay Franze 34:39

So um she's from the States nonetheless, not from not somebody you knew from back in Canada.

SPEAKER_04 34:44

No, no, she's a new new member who we've started working with recently, and she's been great. And in terms of marketing, though, it's like I came up with a whole the the thing is is that this this is gonna sound the most unrock and roll thing ever. Do I have it? I have it right here, okay? This I came up with a business plan, okay. This is the most un, it's all dusty, as you can tell. Um, but this is uh this is a 40, what is it, 43-page business plan. That was the back cover, but it's just it's all here. And it, you know, we sat down, we're like, guys, are we doing this? We move down here, are we doing this? And then in doing that, it's like we set the goals and then we work backwards and we're like, how do we do it? So, yes, in there there's a there's a marketing plan on how we're doing it, and a big component of that is social media. The reality is, is like social media is your opportunity to get in front of people all over the world and targeting people, like people who actually like what you're doing. You're trying to get right to the source. So we do that. We post nearly every day. You know, we found what's been working. We have a whole system with our videographer. He's literally at our shows filming on his phone and his camera. And at the end of the show, he dumps it to a hard drive, hands it to me, and I'm at night, I sift through it, I'm like, okay, what's good, what's good. I bank it, I put it all in a spreadsheet. So, like the last two shows, we got maybe 17 pieces of content. And then it's just like next day, I'm like, I look at it, I come up with a title, and I'm just like, boom, do it, do it. And then I'm learning what's working, what's resonating. And then we get a lot of people finding out about us, they come to the shows. It's like social media is the the way, in my opinion.

Converting Crowds Into True Fans

Jay Franze 36:29

Let's ride that for a second because you're you're playing these shows thousands of people at this point. So you're playing in front of thousands of people on a regular basis, and it's different crowds because you're going to different areas, you're going to different states, you're going to different countries. So, how are you monopolizing that crowd? Does social media ever get mentioned from the stage?

SPEAKER_04 36:49

It does, but Jay, I I don't want to lie to you. We're not doing a good enough job of capturing the audience. That is that is currently a weak point in our chink in our armor, if you will, uh, right now. Like, the reality is, and I've literally been chatting with our videographer on this, is that we want, you know, having a QR code of people like being able to scan it right after the show, before the show, really doing the call to action. Because from the stage, we're like, hey, if you like this, you want to know where we're coming back at us on Facebook, Instagram. We do that whole little spiel, which kind of takes people out of the era for like 30 seconds. But the reality is we should we should be doing a better job of that.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

Quick time warp.

SPEAKER_04 37:28

Yeah.

Jay Franze 37:29

I mean, it's I see the I mean, we can even see it here on your website that there's screens behind you. There's no reason why a QR code couldn't go up on a screen behind you.

SPEAKER_04 37:39

Exactly, exactly. So it's just a matter of dialing that in, having the whole system of driving people to where we want to take them, you know, so that they're just part of the dreamboat's world, so that when we do come back to Sacramento, it's like those people know about it and come and see us. We bring trains there. We played the state fair there in Sacramento, and everyone was like, How was it? And I was like, not good because it wasn't good. We drove like eight hours, eight minutes.

Jay Franze 38:12

I'm not knocking it.com.

SPEAKER_04 38:15

Yeah. They were, but they were, you know, they were trying on a new stage, and we were around the corner near some bathroom, and it was just like near the port-a potties, it was great. Yeah, it was kind of like that. It's kind of like that.

Jay Franze 38:30

All right. So, are you doing any sort of meet and greet at these shows?

SPEAKER_04 38:34

After every show, we come out. We don't even have merch all the time because there's legalities with that. I I'm not at liberty to talk about on the record. But no, I'm joking. But you know, even if we don't have merch for sale, we always come out there. We tell people from the mic we need 10 minutes to go burn our suits because our suits get drenched. They're actually not good. And then we go out there and we spend like a good half hour with kissing hands, shaking babies, taking taking pictures. No, sorry. Kissing hands, shaking. No, no, no, shaking hands, kissing babies. I think you guys really are shaking babies now. Something like that.

Jay Franze 39:12

Don't shake the babies.

SPEAKER_04 39:13

Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

Um, talk about legal and ankle bracelets. Yeah.

Jay Franze 39:18

When you go out there to meet up with the audience, are you still in character? What are you wearing at that point?

SPEAKER_04 39:24

I mean, like I said, our character is us. Right. So, really, we'll go out there though in our varsity jackets. We got Drew Boat's varsity jacket. It says Johnny on it, Richie, Justin.

Jay Franze 39:34

I mean, you say that you're not your characters, but there is still an element of a character because you're not walking down the street wearing your varsity jacket.

SPEAKER_04 39:43

Sure. Yeah, but we are legitimately characters.

Jay Franze 39:48

Which is awesome. I mean, as is everyone.

SPEAKER_04 39:51

Everyone in the United States is a character. That's what I've realized.

Jay Franze 39:53

In Canada, everyone's just Yeah, they're just people.

SPEAKER_04 39:56

And then everyone here is this is me.

Jay Franze 39:58

Well, I just when you go out to meet the audience and you're standing at a merch booth, say, I wouldn't want to take them out of the experience. So having the varsity jacket keeps them within that experience, and it gives you the opportunity for that one-on-one conversation, and you can connect and you can build that social media following and so on. So I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Yeah, I think I'd be personally super disappointed if you came out in like, you know, a Metallica shirt. I'd be like, no, but the guy that was on the stage. No. Yeah. No, like, yeah. I think you're right, Jay, that it ruins that experience if they were to come out in just regular street clothes.

SPEAKER_04 40:37

Sure. And uh another thing that I really like about coming out is that like people will tell us stories from back in the day. A lot of people will come up to us and be like, you know, I saw the Beatles at like here, or I saw them here, Candlestick Park, or like these legendary places. I remember once back in Canada, we were playing a show above a hockey arena. This was in this is like we were four years into the band at this point, above a hockey arena for some fundraiser. And this guy comes up to us every now and then, someone with a British accent will come up to us and be like, Hey, you boys look great. And we're like, Okay, I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting for the story. And then in in this case, this guy actually went to he went to grammar school with Paul McCartney. And he showed us the Beatles. Yeah, he he showed us a picture, and he's like, That's me in Liverpool, and that's that's McCartney. And then he was saying, you know, we went to a party together and by the way.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

I know, I was gonna say you're a bigness.

SPEAKER_04 41:32

I'm the biggest Beatles fan. I'm like fanatic. We played in Liverpool. I don't know if I told you that. We played at the Cavern Club where the Beatles performed nearly 300 shows. We played on the iconic front stage. What did that feel like?

SPEAKER_05 41:46

Dream come true.

SPEAKER_04 41:48

Dream come true. We were on top of the world. We literally, yeah, it we were on top of the world. We played Friday night at the backstage, so that's the newer stage, but everyone still played there. McCartney's play there, everyone's played there. That was on Friday night, packed, because that place is always packed. Then the next day, they slaughter us in at noon on the iconic stage, and we were like, noon, like who we're playing to no one, but whatever. We're playing, make sure someone's filming it. So we played there and we come in and the place is jammed. And we're like, oh God, like we got to get in the zone. So we got a couple pints of beer. Like, let's let's go.

SPEAKER_02 42:25

And you know, I feel like there has been this weird wave going on lately where a lot of like obviously I'm a woman chiming in on the women's Facebook pages, and a lot of the women are saying, like, can we just have like a four o'clock in the afternoon concert? Like, we all want to go to bed by nine o'clock. Can we please just have a four o'clock concert?

SPEAKER_05 42:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:46

So people in Liverpool, they wanted the noon concert.

Jay Franze 42:50

Instead of just a woman, you're old, Tiffany.

SPEAKER_04 42:54

But also, it is it is the cavern.

Jay Franze 42:57

Welcome to the team, Tiffany.

SPEAKER_04 42:59

I I got you. We we do a lot of shows. Some of these places will hire us for two shows in a day. We played in West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center, and it's the nursing home, right? Yeah, something like that. And we played there, and we played two shows. We did a matinee and an evening show on a weekday, and both shows were jam-packed. I couldn't believe it.

Mentors Sponsors And Gratitude

Jay Franze 43:24

All right. Well, I would love to continue down the path of business, but we are reaching the top of the hour, and we'd like to give you an opportunity to recognize somebody who may work behind the scenes or somebody who may support you along the way here. So is there anybody that you would like to recognize?

SPEAKER_04 43:40

Where do I begin? Just one person.

Jay Franze 43:43

We'll give you one and a half.

SPEAKER_04 43:46

I'm gonna give two people, one from the business side, one from the music side. All right, fair. Music side, I would like to give a shout out to our good friend Canadian teen heartthrob from the 1960s and now radio DJ on AM 1050 or AM 740, I'm sorry, in Toronto. Robbie Lane. Robbie Lane has played, he's performed until now, he's in his late 70s. He had his own television show in Canada where he performed with his band. It was called It's Happening or Go Go. He had a few different ones. He's just an absolute inspiration, and he was the reason he allowed our band to open for his band, Robbie Lane and the Disciples at the Living Arts Center in Mississauga, our hometown. We opened and we got a lot of people coming out. That was our first theater show. I remember right before the show, he's like, You guys should have been headlining this. And we're like, he's he's a class act. I meet up with him every time I'm in Toronto, and he gives me just great lessons on music. I I we love Robbie. He's a mentor and such a good friend of ours. So I have to give a big shout out to Robbie for helping us see the next level. And then from the business side, I have to give a big shout-out to our friend Mike Heatherman. The reason we are in California is because of Mike Heatherman. He saw us play in a bar in Port Credit, a little area of Mississauga, Canada. We're playing a pub. And he told us, he said, I'm gonna get you guys down to California to play a Modernism Week in Palm Springs. We had never played outside of the like in the States ever. And we're just like, sure, buddy, how many people have said that? And he was like, No. He called me up. He said, How much is it gonna cost? My company sponsors the festival. And I threw out a big number and he just he snap called me. He was like, make it happen. And I was like, Oh, damn, I should have asked for more. But because of that, by him saying yes, it forced us to incorporate the band, it forced us to get like the bank account, it forced us to figure out how to operate the visas. And then we got to California, we knocked it out of the park. It was a red carpet opening party, and from there we just kept getting work, kept getting work. He kept telling us, guys, what are you doing in Canada? Get down here, get down here, get down here. Finally, it sunk in. So Mike Heatherman and Kathy, his wife, Mike and Kathy, huge shout out. Forever grateful for both those people. That's awesome.

Jay Franze 46:05

I don't think a lot of people realize that bands become corporations, like legitimately become corporations.

SPEAKER_04 46:12

You have to for tax purposes, especially.

Jay Franze 46:16

Right.