SPEAKER_03
0:04

Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. What a week last week, what a month. I I still don't have a voice really, as you can tell, so I'm gonna make this short, but we are here to recap all of the Brewer's magic with Bree, Mayor Tommy, and Carl Deffenbaugh. Before diving in, I want to thank all our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. We will kick it off with Annex Wealth Management. The end of the year is a great time to get your finances in order. Contact our good friends, the experts over at Annex Wealth Management. Annex know the difference. Nicolay Law, the Midwest law firm, injured. Get Nicola and Russ and the team will take great care of you. We actually got to see the guy yesterday. Always great seeing him. Nicola and Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company, which I may have had too much over the last month, but still highly recommend best brandy vodka and can cocktails in the game. Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company. All right, let's dive in with Bree, Mayor Tommy, and Carl Deffenbach. Welcome back to Milwaukee on Cut. We are coming off. Maybe the biggest bender in Wisconsin history. We had the uh the Brewers who played Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It was all once in a lifetime. That's what I kept getting told to go out. Once in a lifetime, then the Packers Thursday night, then the parade, then Halloween. So we are here to just recap an amazing week in Wisconsin history. And joining us, we got 13 time, recently four-time Emmy Award winner who called himself Washed Up. We don't agree with that, though. Formerly at Fox 6, Carl Deffenba, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_04
1:53

Currently just a stay-at-home dad who's very happy to be talking to adults again. So thank you for giving me the mic here today. That's all you came down here for.

SPEAKER_03
2:00

You just needed to talk to some adults. It's finally not Bluey, so thank you. And Bree, who didn't think she was coming on, and here she is, very excited to be on today.

SPEAKER_00
2:15

So excited.

SPEAKER_03
2:16

As always. Um Carl, what was your favorite moment from the from the week?

SPEAKER_04
2:22

Gosh, they're all blending together. I think all of Wisconsin needs a nap after that stretch. For me, it has to be the parade. Just seeing Milwaukee and the entire state kind of come alive like that. Apparently, 750,000 people packing into downtown, celebrating from the early morning hours until late at night. That was just so cool to see. And I covered the Bucks parade back in 2021. That felt like the biggest event that I had ever been around in the city of Milwaukee coming out of COVID, everything like that. And last Friday just took it to a whole nother level. It was insane.

SPEAKER_03
2:54

You looked it up. It said the Bucs had a 100,000 or a couple hundred thousand.

SPEAKER_04
2:59

I was shocked by that. I remember it being bigger than that, but I went back and the reporting at the time was about a hundred thousand people in downtown Milwaukee for the parade and for the rally that followed. This is more than seven times that. It's just crazy.

SPEAKER_01
3:14

It was unreal. There were so many people. I've I've been in Milwaukee for five years. I didn't even know that many people existed in the state. It felt like the entire state was there.

SPEAKER_04
3:24

It's more than the population of the city.

SPEAKER_01
3:28

It felt crazy. I was like, this is this is awesome. People, you see, I mean, you see all these pictures of people in like parking garages, like shoulder to shoulder, trying to get a view. I mean, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_00
3:39

I was surprised no one fell off of that parking garage too. I'm not gonna lie, I was like, pretty close to that edge.

SPEAKER_04
3:46

We were so we were downtown near the Wind Trust building where the Euchre mural is. So we were kind of in prime position with our family and some friends, but we were looking across the street at all those parking garages. Yeah, okay. People on the different levels looking over a fence is one thing. There were people on the top just sitting on the ledge. That was let's just say a little nerve-wracking considering how much beer was being consumed in the city on Friday as well.

SPEAKER_02
4:07

That's a great point.

SPEAKER_03
4:09

You had an easy time getting down here.

SPEAKER_00
4:10

Oh my gosh. I I don't know what was going through our heads too. So the day before, we were like, let's just meet at the office. Our office is in Walker's Point at 9 a.m. Get there an hour before the parade starts at 600.

SPEAKER_03
4:22

No traffic.

SPEAKER_00
4:24

I mean, fine parking around here. Totally fine. I I don't know what was going through our heads, but so I leave. So initially I said it would probably take like 28 minutes to get downtown. Kept creeping up. Five more minutes, ten more minutes, 20 more minutes. So it took probably to get from Tosa to off the interstate 40 minutes.

SPEAKER_04
4:46

You could have biked it that you probably.

SPEAKER_00
4:53

Like it was all the way down to Bayview of trying to find street parking, and even there, it was full.

SPEAKER_03
4:59

Crazy. Yeah. So then we parked in the back because Lindsay told people it was private parking and save a spot for her.

SPEAKER_00
5:06

Thank goodness. Other than I was at one point, I was like, I I might just head back. Like I'm not gonna find anything here. Um but luckily she did save a spot.

SPEAKER_03
5:16

It it comparing it to the Bucks, though, it is crazy because you look you look back and just looking at the ticket prices and things like that, the Bucks was so huge for the city and there were so many people, and it was crazy in the deer district. But the fact that standing room only $2,400 to get in the stadium for those games, it was six to eight hundred for a bucks game, which isn't maybe an apples to apples comparison, but three times and Ampham had two times the capacity as Pfizer. Like the fact that 40,000 people were willing to pay 2,500 to get in in a blue-collar small market like Milwaukee is insane.

SPEAKER_01
5:54

I mean, I saw you know, if you look at prices for like a Tampa Bay ticket, like it would actually cost most people less money to fly down to Tampa Bay and go to a game there to get a ticket. Like that's how prized these tickets were. I I also saw statistically was like the most expensive World Series ticket ever. Because I I think that's just how high of demand there was. Because I don't know, like the the the amount of times that they've been to a World Series, how many people in Wisconsin love the Brewers, and that's what it is. It's it's a it's a statewide love, you know? And so it's like it was the demand for it was crazy. And yeah, I think that again speaks to the parade. The amount of people there, it felt like the entire state was there, not just Milwaukee in a sense. So it was, I don't know, it was awesome.

SPEAKER_04
6:40

And maybe that's it. The Buck celebration was an amazing Milwaukee moment, and this was a Wisconsin moment for these generations of fans that have waited all this time. I just love all the stories about you know, parents who have waited their whole life for this, the kids getting to share it with them, the younger kids not even realizing how special this moment is, and kind of all those layers of fan devotion to this team over the decades finally paying off.

SPEAKER_03
7:04

Yeah. I sadly missed the parade, needed a break, came down with the chills.

SPEAKER_00
7:10

You would have hated it.

SPEAKER_04
7:12

I did walk into the offices today and Richie had like eight beverages laid out in front of him.

SPEAKER_03
7:16

Not alcoholic. I have not had a drink since Tuesday when Bree took me to camp bar when we thought they were gonna close out the sweep in game four. I had uh maybe too many drinks that night, was ready to celebrate, and then stayed sober. Was at the watch party for game five. But yeah, I think like a lot of you know, maybe 30 somethings in Milwaukee. I just I'm in a weird place where I still think I can drink and be fine, but that's not my reality anymore. And the amount of like not getting messed up, but the amount of five to eight drink days and nights that I've had over the last month, I think it just caught up to me. The fact that I needed a rest.

SPEAKER_04
7:55

We kicked off the week on a Monday too, didn't help. Because then everyone's working, right? And you're also doing these late nights Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

SPEAKER_03
8:02

The thing that killed me too is like we got we were very lucky we got tickets to game two on Saturday. And I wanted to be nice and fresh for game two, and then we were doing our parking lot content, you know, people are all excited, and you know, they want you to have a drink with them. So I had a few old fashions, a beer, and then we start doing the parking lot content, and I end up having a rip from some guy's fireball keg that was showering down. I had Puerto Rican moonshine. Oh my god, what? From a Milwaukee cop who's Puerto Rican, who was off duty, by the way. Good job. Amazing guy, and then an African margarita. Lex said it was like Epcot in the Ampham Park. And that that mixture just did not uh bode well the next day for me, shockingly, and then I had to get back on the on the train on Saturday to feel good again, had an amazing time at the game, and um, but yeah, I need a little break.

SPEAKER_04
9:00

What were the watch parties like? Because I was one of the many people that tried to get tickets and didn't, the site just crashed out over and over again. But you guys were there for it.

SPEAKER_00
9:08

Yeah, I was there Monday and then Wednesday. But I mean, it felt like you were at the game. It was the same atmosphere as a baseball game, but you were just watching it on the big screen.

SPEAKER_03
9:20

So people were standing up at the biggest. It was great.

SPEAKER_00
9:23

They were playing the walkout music, uh, cheerleaders were out. It was a good time.

SPEAKER_03
9:29

It was the exact same thing as a brewer game, but no one was on the field. That's kind of weird. Like literally no one.

SPEAKER_01
9:36

Yeah, yeah. Was that weird? Like you're like, you're not watching it there, but like at the same time. It's a giant screen. It's like watching a movie, I imagine, in some sense, but it's like you see this empty field kind of. It's like, was that weird?

SPEAKER_03
9:46

Never did I think we would pay hundreds of dollars to go watch something on a jumbotron, and it was worth every penny. Well, well, the uh the brewer's priced map 15. I know people made a good not pretty markup on them, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00
10:00

Well, Tuesday night, I would say that was probably the most expensive they were going for. Like the cheapest one to get in, like top side, was like 250 bucks for a ticket.

SPEAKER_04
10:10

For a $15 ticket to watch TV. Making money off of it.

SPEAKER_00
10:14

Sure. Yeah. That's I mean, I was like, But it was a great, it was a really good atmosphere. I was glad to be there for the winning game to uh just be with Milwaukee celebrating.

unknown
10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03
10:24

Very cool. Some other highlights from the parade. Um, let's let's give a shout out to Jake Bowers. His wife Lauren, who extremely nice, came on the show and did a fantastic job when the wives came on, uh, described it as better than any other day we've lived in our lives, which means it narrowly edged out um his wedding day and the birth of his two children. Might have been quoted the day.

SPEAKER_01
10:50

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03
10:51

I mean Or you're going with cells, hundred thousand beers.

SPEAKER_01
10:55

They're there, you know, it's it's whichever one you're feeling on any given day. But like, yeah, I'm at I mean, he was probably just feeling euphoria, you know, like just absolute euphoria, and just like and also if you're at the rally, you know, the sea of people there, like that's gotta get anyone amped. Like, you I mean, obviously they're playing in big stadiums and packets stadiums, but like everyone's it's a stage environment. Everyone's on stage, you're with all your teammates. That seeing that like view, you gotta be feeling like I gotta get these people like turned up. And like, it's like, this is the best day. Like, I mean, I it's gotta be, yeah, it's up.

SPEAKER_04
11:31

That one just cracked me up because you know, he went to NLCS MVP, becomes this national name because of this amazing comeback story, basically returning to baseball to get health insurance because he was having a second kid with Tian Lauren. And then he's like, you know what? Best day of my life.

SPEAKER_03
11:47

Oh, that's awesome. Tom, speaking, you were on stage.

SPEAKER_01
11:50

Yeah, yeah. So me and Frank, me and Big Frank, um, we got to perform for a little bit on one of the uh one of the stages at Summerfest, the Generac stage. Um, so that was awesome. We got to there and there were so many people just on in Summerfest grounds. Like I it felt like it was Summerfest. Like I was like, there's so many people here. And yeah, we got to dance around for a little bit, and that was awesome. The energy was great. Like it was I uh I uh sang Phonem's song for like a good 15 seconds. I just, you know, if if you want to get a crowd of people in Milwaukee to sing with you, you just gotta say, let's play some baseball and hit some home runs repeatedly, and it just it works the crowd great. So it was awesome. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it was awesome.

SPEAKER_03
12:33

Can you hit his note? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
12:35

Uh I it's that's hard. That's a unique, that's a unique talent. Some pipes. Let me see. Uh Milwaukee brothers. You know, it's like uh it's it's hard though. He's got a unique, a unique ability to to hit a different vocal register, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03
12:48

Were you with him? Was he there for that? He was on the bus. Oh no, he was on the bus.

SPEAKER_01
12:53

I was like, give him a ring too. I mean, like, yeah, this guy is contributed. Yeah, no, he was on the bus. He loved it. He was awesome. We saw him the day after. He was like, man, that was crazy. Like, I mean, like it was just awesome. Phonem's a great guy.

SPEAKER_04
13:05

I feel like if 1982 is remembered for Milwaukee throwing a parade for the team that lost the World Series, this year is going to be remembered for Milwaukee putting this crazy song on his number one anthem.

SPEAKER_01
13:16

Absolutely. I mean, it's funny too, like, because you know, the Brewers, it's the World Series, it was you know, I'm getting people from I'm from Ohio. Originally, people from Ohio are like, what is this song? We have friends across the nation are just like, what is this song? And they, I mean, it's just it was an awesome movement at the time. And it, you know, it hit at the right time, you know, the Brewers are doing well. Get past the Dodgers. So it's like, we're in the world. Like, oh, I mean, I'm seeing like, you know, six-year-old white guys coming up to Phonem, being like, love your music, you know, big fan. I'm like, this is amazing. Like, this is just awesome.

SPEAKER_00
13:52

Well, he was cranking out a bunch of songs. Yeah. So like Milwaukee County Zoo. He was doing like MSOE, Marquette, he was going to library.

SPEAKER_01
14:00

Well, and we've known Phonem for a couple years, like, you know, he he's like got range. Like, it's funny. He makes these like songs that are super simple and catchy and like funny, and he can do like a lot of different types of sounds, which people don't realize, which I think is a good thing because now people are kind of paying attention to his other music. But yeah, he kind of just had this genius idea. And I think the Milwaukee Zoo was probably the biggest one where he's like, I'm just gonna like make really weirdly catchy, like simple songs about things that are really relevant right now. And like the Milwaukee Zoo one took off, and then the Brewers one took off. He's got a Packers one that's going crazy right now, and it's just like, yeah, that's a great it was a great idea, and he's got the ability to do it.

SPEAKER_00
14:37

And it's been like I've heard the Packer line.

SPEAKER_01
14:40

It's uh the the catch line's like he's got an admiral's one too. He's got literally everything right now. He was just them out, and like and they're you know, they're clean, they're like people can sing them everywhere, you can play them at a parade, and people know it. It's like, yeah, the Packers one's good too. I feel like you know, if they do well, it might catch all the things.

SPEAKER_03
14:57

Yeah, I said it when Murph was on the show. I th I thought it was so annoying, and then I caught myself like singing it to myself in my car two days later, and I was like, that fucker got me. And I know a lot of people felt the same just looking at the comments. Same way.

SPEAKER_01
15:12

Like people would be like, what is that song? And then they'd say that to me, and then a week later they're like, Walking bird? It's like it's that's what it's just clever.

SPEAKER_04
15:20

Isn't it in the locker room too?

SPEAKER_01
15:22

Wasn't McGill part of the McGill Freeland? I mean, I saw like they were.

SPEAKER_03
15:27

There's that viral clip of Bauer's shirtless, probably before proclaiming it was the best day ever lived, of him like, yeah, finding it on his phone and playing it on the on the bus.

SPEAKER_01
15:37

Just awesome.

SPEAKER_03
15:38

Um what else do we got? Florida's natural lost a bet to Johnsonville and sent 20 pallets of orange juice to Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_04
15:46

Apparently, the trade-off was Johnsonville would send enough sausages for the entire population of Tampa if things had gone south in the brewers. So this is a win for us and for our vitamin C intake here in the city of Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_01
15:59

For sure. We need more orange juice up here. You know, about to brace the winter, you know. That's a great trade for us.

SPEAKER_00
16:04

Are they just handing out the orange juices? They are.

SPEAKER_03
16:06

They were handing it out at the parade. There was videos of.

SPEAKER_00
16:09

I was seeing people with orange juice. Partons of orange juice. I was wondering. I thought people were literally putting like vodka or like champagne in there and drinking it.

SPEAKER_04
16:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
16:18

That's what I thought. Uh, that makes total sense now.

SPEAKER_04
16:22

They're giving some to feeding America too, so there's a nice side to it. Yeah, but it's good.

SPEAKER_03
16:25

A lot of it was good too with some other ingredients, probably. Other than everyone mixing it with vodka and champagne at the parade, we're giving some back to the city of Milwaukee. That is good news. Um, yeah, let's Tarang and Murph hit up SNL for uh a quick appearance.

SPEAKER_01
16:44

Very quick cameo.

SPEAKER_04
16:45

I was expecting so much more. I'm just gonna be honest. People told me that they were gonna be on it. Thought maybe the cold opened, you know. Murphy, as you know, has some great lines. Like, that guy's got a dry sense of humor. And then it was overlapping.

SPEAKER_01
16:58

Yeah. I I'll say, like, I'll give them like imagine you know, you do like a parade and you're talking to Mike, a bunch of people. You can't say anything wrong. Like, people will love you. You go on SNL, it's probably a different stage. They're probably just like, okay, this is a new level here. They're like, yeah, keep it, yeah. Keep it, yeah. Stick to the script. It's like, oh man, but no, that it was so fast. It was such a quick little bit.

SPEAKER_00
17:20

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01
17:21

Yeah, I'm I'm not sure how much they slept. How much? I mean, maybe four hours on the road.

SPEAKER_03
17:24

Wait, wait, so that that would have been the day after the parade.

SPEAKER_00
17:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03
17:27

Oh, God, yeah. You you put anyone on SNL after going through that. Those guys aren't used to drinking in season that much either. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01
17:36

So many factors working against them there. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
17:39

Yelich, let's just say, had clearly already had some by the time you got to the rally.

SPEAKER_01
17:42

So by that point, you know, the next day. Yeah, that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_03
17:47

Maybe there was a reason that appearance was very brief. But nonetheless, very cool to see those guys on SNL. And then Yelich out, Raisin Canes, too.

SPEAKER_04
17:58

I just love the connection of fried chicken and championships here in the city of Milwaukee. This was the first thing I thought of. He did this appearance, signed some autographs, served some chicken to the fans. Clearly was shooting some stuff for raisin canes as well. But it goes back to Giannis, right? He was the guy that made his order. Or ordering a 50-piece.

SPEAKER_02
18:14

It's fantastic.

SPEAKER_03
18:15

Over at Chick-fil-A. I wonder if Chick-fil-A tried to get Yelich on that one. And then, I mean, the party continued for Bree, who went to a Jonas Brothers concert on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00
18:28

I did. It was the last minute. So I was I didn't have a ticket. Um, so on Sunday, I was just looking up. Pro tip, if you ever want to go to a concert and want to get a good seat, just buy a single ticket. Go by yourself, and you'll meet new friends and have an amazing time. And that's exactly what I did at the Jonas Brothers. And I got on the Jumbotron too. I had multiple people message me about it. But I was just reliving my childhood dreams.

SPEAKER_03
18:55

And you met a friend from Madison. That's what I mean. You make new friends too.

SPEAKER_00
19:00

Yeah, one of the girls uh she said she pounded four twisted tees before coming. Those are large. So she was having the time of her life there, too.

SPEAKER_04
19:09

What's your goal for a solo concert appearance? Like, are you getting turned up or are you just there to celebrate? Okay. Yeah. I guess coming up the week we all have to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00
19:17

Um so you just, yeah, kind of show up, um, chat, chat with people around you and start dancing.

SPEAKER_01
19:25

Yeah, I love it. It's it's music, you know, it's easy. People are like, they're just trying to see an artist. Like, I like going to movie solo, but like concerts are like you're just hanging out.

SPEAKER_00
19:33

Yeah, and the two, but like what type of concert are you going to? So usually like the people around you are gonna have same interests, like same vibes, too. So totally perfect way to make new friends.

SPEAKER_04
19:45

I've heard they're pretty awesome live. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
19:47

I I've seen the Jonas Brothers multiple times before. Uh still still a big crush. Yeah. Still definitely got the flutters. Do you have a favorite brother? Joe was my favorite. Yeah, I feel like Joe's pretty popular. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03
20:00

What do you like about Joe? This is good. This is like a therapy session right in front of us here.

SPEAKER_00
20:09

You have a lot of similarities.

SPEAKER_03
20:11

Really? Let's name that way. Musical talent, hair. Um, you know, whatever you're doing.

SPEAKER_00
20:16

You actually you do have the height over them. They are actually pretty short.

SPEAKER_03
20:20

Oh, the Jonas brothers are short kings? Yeah. Short kings.

SPEAKER_00
20:23

I think they're like five, eight, nine, five, eight.

SPEAKER_01
20:26

It's always surprising to me how famous people, how short famous people are. You know, it's like, man, even people come up to me and they're like, oh, you look taller. You're taller in person. I'm like, do you think I was short? But like, not that I'm famous, but like, you know, be real famous people are like you're like 5'11, aren't you? I'm just under six foot. I do. Dude, same.

SPEAKER_04
20:42

The doctors never gave me the extra like half inch of the.

SPEAKER_01
20:45

Like 5'11 in like three eighths or something like that.

SPEAKER_00
20:49

The hair adds an inch.

SPEAKER_01
20:50

Yeah, and if I wear like uh if I wear Air Force Ones, I look six foot. Solid. Just depends on the shoe wear.

SPEAKER_04
20:55

Random story back to the brewers. You know who's a massive human being on the opposite side of Short King. Trevor McGill was out with some friends at Carnivore on Friday. Conveniently a good reservation to have as it turned out to be parade day. McGill walks through sitting at his table behind us. He is large in every sense of the word. He's big, he is tall, he is broad, obviously a big personality. That was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02
21:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03
21:14

I didn't know he was 6'8 until you told me that was. Which makes him rapping at 720 that much better. That you gotta 6'8. He's gotta be what two 270? Roster says 250, but I'm guessing maybe we're we're nearly 280 after all the beers by the time he got to 720, and he's just being a complete buffoon rapping sexy red up there. Like, what a legend.

SPEAKER_01
21:37

Uh the goat.

unknown
21:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
21:39

The goat. I you know, when he was closing it out, too.

SPEAKER_03
21:41

Were you there, Tom?

SPEAKER_01
21:43

No, I was not there.

SPEAKER_03
21:44

I were any of you guys? No, I think the crew or no?

SPEAKER_01
21:47

I don't know. Actually, I'm not sure. Maybe uh maybe Mondo maybe.

SPEAKER_03
21:51

Erica Finky was there, wasn't she?

SPEAKER_00
21:53

I don't know if she made it.

SPEAKER_01
21:55

I wish I was that N20. Yeah, I wish I was there. I don't usually I usually don't go out. That much late because I'm uh I'm an early sleeper, but that would have been something I would have been ecstatic to see it to see live.

SPEAKER_04
22:06

It was also a hilarious mix of Brewers fans still riding high off an entire day of celebrating, and then people getting Halloween started in costumes as well, and this misundergoing Halloween costume.

SPEAKER_01
22:18

Oh yeah, that had to have been really fun.

SPEAKER_03
22:21

What a night over there. Um and any favorite memory from the week from everyone to close this thing out.

SPEAKER_01
22:28

I guess just the closeout game. I was at the Deer District, you know.

SPEAKER_03
22:34

Well, we didn't even talk about the Deer District. Can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_01
22:37

I went there multiple nights. Like obviously when they're playing in Tampa. And it was it was packed each time, even when the Bucs were playing, you're like, you wouldn't have you would you would have no idea that the Bucs were playing at the same time.

SPEAKER_03
22:48

Like I feel bad for the Bucs. They looked like they had 37 people in the States.

SPEAKER_01
22:53

And they got 30 balled by KD and the Rockets, so it was just like not a great night for them. But you would have no idea because there were so many people, it was packed. And you know, as we get closer and closer to, you know, like the last couple outs, you know, McGill's pitching, everyone's you you can't, you can barely even see the TVs because everyone's phones are out trying to capture the moment. And then you like, you know, you see Terrain make the throw, the last out, and it just was I got lightheaded at how much I was yelling and how it was just everyone's going crazy, and it was awesome. You're hugging people, you're high-fiving, you're just oh, it was the energy was electric, and it was just there were so many people, and yeah, it was what's the bathroom situation like? I was wondering because that's actually porta potties. I, for whatever reason, in that moment in my life didn't have to go, so I never figured out, but like I don't even know. Like, I don't think I saw many like Porta Johns or porta potties anywhere. So I was like, yeah, that's a great question, Brie. I don't know the logistics.

SPEAKER_03
23:48

Especially with all the drinking going on. I guess if you're younger, you can get away with it. Like, if I'm drinking, I have to go like every 30 minutes. Same terrible.

SPEAKER_01
23:56

I'm surprised I didn't like think about it. Yeah, no, I mean, the amount even like you couldn't you couldn't get down towards like the TV really, like at one point, because there's just so many people.

SPEAKER_04
24:05

Like it was just I was worried about that for the parade as well, honestly. We ended up, there were some porta potties set up near where we were. Yeah, but I ended up going into the federal building downtown because we had time to kill beforehand. My friends were like, Can you do that? I'm like, I I pay taxes, I think so. Maybe I should be able to. Went through security, had the entire bathroom to myself. It was lovely in there. There you go. That's it.

SPEAKER_00
24:28

The third ward beer garden porta potties were apparently like unusable because they were literally filled to the top. Gross. But people, I mean, it was just guys that were still late going at him, but meaning they've been used quite a bit.

SPEAKER_03
24:43

Yeah, and I knew I was aging pretty badly when I went to a packer game with Lex for the first time last year, who's like 20, 22, and you know, we're drinking like the same amount, and our piss ratio is probably like 10 to 1. 10 to 30 day.

SPEAKER_01
24:59

Like I gotta go back to the rest. He's like, again? You're like, yes, I do.

SPEAKER_03
25:02

Yeah, throughout the day. You care. Like the gas station stops on the way home. Like, yeah, it's it's it's it's it's rough, rough out here for me. Rough out here for me. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04
25:12

Do you have a memory break? Jonas brother. Multiple portabody steps during a Packers game. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03
25:21

Multiple being gone for me.

SPEAKER_00
25:23

I could probably hold it.

SPEAKER_03
25:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02
25:29

Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_03
25:32

Probably flew private in and out of Milwaukee. They did that too. Yeah. Oh man.

SPEAKER_00
25:36

Having a nice beer at Estherbrook Park, too. What a guy.

SPEAKER_03
25:40

I love that they do those dragons. I enjoy a beer. Like a nice beer at a beer garden. Boom. It's on the list.

SPEAKER_00
25:49

Man, I don't know. I have a lot of good memories from the week. Definitely, I mean, a core one will be going to the actual game on Saturday.

SPEAKER_02
25:56

For sure.

SPEAKER_00
25:57

I mean, just having the opportunity to do that was awesome. But also Wednesday night, just unbelievable. Like for them, just closing it out and being in the stadium at Ampham. Streamers coming down. People were crying. It was a good time. Energy was awesome.

SPEAKER_04
26:15

This team was just undeniable throughout the postseason, right? 11 and 2, a lot of the games they came back, but it just seemed like no matter what, they were gonna win. No one ever panicked. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
26:23

It always felt like, I mean, okay, people panicked, but it was also it was very like it. It's like, oh, it's early, we'll do it. And it just became a habit. It was like, yeah, you know, we'll start slow, but we'll finish strong, you know. And that it was, you know, for being, you know, maybe mentally or like you know, kind of like that underdog, you you know, compared to these bigger market teams, you're like, they felt unstoppable. Yeah, it felt like they just had a train pushing them, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03
26:48

It was just such a good vibe too. I then I forget who said it. It might have been Yelich where he said, like, we're like all literally best friends or something. I saw I saw some quote like that come out. And you can see it. Yeah just just watching. It seemed, and when Murph was in here, like there's no egos on the team, even with kind of Yellich as the superstar. I'm like, how rare is it to have a superstar vet getting paid that has no ego, basically. And just like in it for the good of the team. It's really rare.

SPEAKER_01
27:17

The chemistry felt awesome, you know. I mean, and you know, look at the Dodgers, you know, you feel like every every time someone comes with the bat, you're like, oh god. You know, this person could take, you know, they this person could you know go off at any given inning, you know, but like it doesn't feel like that that sense of camaraderie, that sense of community. Like the brewers kind of like embody that for Milwaukee in a sense, where it's like Milwaukee, obviously a big city, but it also feels like it's smaller, people know each other, you're you're you're you're familiar with these things. They're involved, they they went trick-or-treating in Tosa, right? It's like that you're not gonna get that many other places. That's that's what it felt like. It felt like we're all in it together, and they have that that sense of like camaraderie too, and that thing is just awesome.

SPEAKER_03
27:57

And we'll we'll see, we'll see what happens, but they're they're built for the future too. They got a lot of those guys kind of locked up for a while and good young prospects.

SPEAKER_04
28:06

More guys on the way, yeah. Yeah, yeah. The two memories for me one will have to be the parade and specifically the float of the players coming by. Garrett Mitchell, they all got out too, right? They weren't just chilling on top. They got out, they walked among the crowd, they let fans touch the trophy. Garrett Mitchell held a baby right in front of us. That was pretty cool. Wasn't my baby, unfortunately. Uh, so that just electric atmosphere, again, with all the people up in the parking garages, the entire city celebrating that team. That that'll stand out for me. And just a fun one since we haven't mentioned it. Stacy's mom at the rally from Daniel Vogelbach. No one had that on the bingo card. I'm still not sure why that happened, but it was such a random way to cap that entire celebration. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01
28:48

Yeah, he he was hammered too. He was hammered. Oh my god. That was funny. Oh man, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03
28:56

What what what an amazing rock.

SPEAKER_00
28:57

What was your favorite memory?

SPEAKER_03
29:00

Probably being at game two, being just actually being there. That was that was just crazy to see the energy of the World Series game of being being in the building, and they obviously won that one, and yeah, that was a fun night. And then just from a Milwaukee on Cut standpoint, uh I mean getting to have Murphon here going in was was amazing. He was so good, and just being able to put a bunch of those videos out, which was cool. And then just I love doing the in-the-field stuff with the fans. Um, even Puerto Rican moonshine, man. I mean, that was a good one.

SPEAKER_02
29:30

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03
29:32

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02
29:33

There's actually pretty good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03
29:36

I did not feel good the next day. But again, I don't know if that was the old fashions, the beer, the fireball. Don't blame the Puerto Rican moonsh. The African margarita, it could have, it could have been any of the above. Um, yeah, but even just yeah, going out in the parking lot and interacting with the fans, and the you know, the brewers invited us to you know a couple things which were cool to go to. Yeah, it was just very fun being being a part of and seeing everyone's reaction to that stuff. I I do want to find um Puerto Rican Moonshine's man's name just to give him a proper shout out because he he deserves one.

SPEAKER_00
30:10

He was also dressed up as um like a wrestler with a cape on. Oh okay. So he ducked out, too.

SPEAKER_01
30:18

Yeah, yeah. That's you know, it's funny. I didn't even know.

SPEAKER_03
30:20

His name's Joe. Joe. His name's Joe. Joe Jonas? Joe?

SPEAKER_01
30:26

Came in early? We actually confirmed he had a face. Maybe.

SPEAKER_03
30:33

His name's Joe. He does a fantastic job protecting the city and bringing the energy to Am Fam Field. Hell yeah. Shout out, Joe, and the 26 Milwaukee Brewers.

SPEAKER_00
30:46

Woo! Hotter Ryan.

SPEAKER_03
30:49

Hey everyone, thank you so much for tuning in to Milwaukee Uncut before signing off. Just want to thank our partners who make this possible Annex Wealth Management, Nicola, and Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company.

SPEAKER_02
0:00

Last year you get swept by the Dodgers.

SPEAKER_00
0:02

We had an emotional series against the Cubs. This year we had just this memory in our mind, like, hey, we're gonna believe and we're gonna do this. And sure enough, they did it.

SPEAKER_02
0:14

What is the best prank that you have played or seen in the Brewers Clubhouse?

SPEAKER_00
0:21

Oh god. Please just always understand the context. There's no ill intent. So we had this intern. His last name was Schart. Do you like the Brewer's hype song? I listen to him like you gotta be kidding me, right?

SPEAKER_02
0:37

How much pressure do you feel going into this week?

SPEAKER_00
0:41

It's not about me. I want it to happen for the people of Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_02
0:46

In this 2026 Brewer Squad.

SPEAKER_00
0:48

Yeah, the best is yet to come.

SPEAKER_02
0:50

Hey everyone, thank you for tuning into Milwaukee Uncut. We've got the manager of your World Series Brewers, Pat Murphy, on the show today, and it's a great one. He pulls back the curtain and gives you an inside look to the Brewers this season. And we look ahead to the World Series. He also answers some questions like the best prank he's been a part of in the Brewers Clubhouse, his favorite spots around Milwaukee. What he thinks of the viral Brewers hype song and what a World Series would mean to him in the city. Before diving in, I want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncle possible. We'll kick it off with Nikola, the Midwest Law from Injured. Get Nikola and Russ, and the team will take great care of you. They've got an office right here in the third ward and all across the Midwest. That is Nikola. Annex, know the difference. Three Sheeps brewing their chaos pattern IPA, my personal favorite, is on absolute fire right now. And whether you are relaxing with one watching the game or having about 10 in the MFM parking lot, like our good friend Nate Moody, three sheeps, the beer Wisconsin drinks. And last but not least, drink Wisconsinably beverage company best vodka brandy and canned cocktails in the game. Enjoyed a drink Wisconsin Blue Canned Old Fashion this past weekend. Available at bars and liquor stores across the state. And if you're at the games this weekend, available at the corner bar in Rightfield, the damn fame, they'll be serving up old fashions on Friday and Saturday. Go Brewers and let's dive in with Pat Murphy. We've got the man who has led Milwaukee to its first World Series in 44 years. The first brewer to win NL manager of the year he's done in the last two seasons. Um likely three, but we won't get too far ahead of ourselves. He brought the pocket pancake, mainstream, was the proud owner of a pet turtle for a bit earlier this year. Quick stint on that. Proud father of four.

unknown
3:12

Sure.

SPEAKER_02
3:12

And legendary coach at Notre Dame and ASU and once led the Netherlands national team to a historic win over Cuba in the 2000 Olympics. We'll talk rumors today. Interesting.

SPEAKER_00
3:27

If you're trying to establish I'm old, you you've done it.

SPEAKER_02
3:30

You got better hair than me. You're looking good. You're looking good. Congrats on the on the run that you guys are on. It's it's remarkable.

SPEAKER_00
3:38

Thank you, man. We got special dudes, man. They're special guys. And um I'm just really grateful that they come to play every day. And um yeah, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world.

SPEAKER_02
3:49

You've had a lot of good runs since you came to Milwaukee. Was there a um is there a specific moment that you can point to with this group where you're like, son something's different? This is the team that could break through and make it to the World Series.

SPEAKER_00
4:06

There's a couple different moments that that make sense, but um it seemed like whenever our backs were against the wall, and I think back we got swept in San Diego um uh three games and we were really banged up. Uh a lot of guys injured. Pratt was out, Tarang was out, um Bowers was out. Um, and then we went to LA right after the sweep and we had to face the Dodgers, and we won three out of four. And I just said to myself, God, this group might they they kind of in that good mode right now where, hey, let's just play ball one-on-one, me and you. And um, when that happened, that was one of the moments, you know, the the Lara walk-off with the comeback against the Cubs was a was kind of a telling moment that we've got something special. But there's been a lot of little moments, but I never felt ever that like, oh, this is the greatest team. We are the best team in baseball. I've always felt like uh, not sure about this group, but they're consistent. They just they do show up every game.

SPEAKER_02
5:12

Were there any main learning lessons from last year? Last year you get swept by the Dodgers. This year you you sweep the Dodgers. Were there any takeaways that you think benefited the squad this year?

SPEAKER_00
5:23

Yeah, I mean, people people talk like that. Like we had an emotional series against the Cubs. We win the division. We have the most wins in baseball last year. Um, we we win the division, then we got to play the Cubs who know us very well, and we have an emotional five-game series. We win the three here, they win the two down there, and it's really close. And then we got one day off, and we got to play the Dodgers. And the Dodgers were playing unbelievable. They were the at the time they were the best team ever assembled, and they were playing great, and their starting pitching was great. We lose the first game by a run, and if that doesn't happen, it might have been a different series. But they and then O'Tani has the game of his life, hitting three home runs and pitching six shutout, whatever, striking out ten. Like that doesn't happen normally. So it's not like we got swept like they crushed us. I mean, they played way better. We didn't put our best foot forward, but we faced a great team. And when you faced a hot team like that, sometimes there's nothing you can do. The playoffs can be a crapshoot. This year we followed up with the best record in baseball again, beat the Padres in a really tough series, but then we went into LA and said, we ain't gonna let that happen again. We're ready. And they that was a difference.

SPEAKER_02
6:42

I think I think Bowers was quoted saying when you lost to the Dodgers last year, they kind of acted like it was a it was a handshake line in spring training. And when you beat the Cubs, it was a big celebration. And from a fan standpoint, I mean it always feels good to good to beat Chicago. We were celebrating like we won the Super Bowl, even though there was a couple round rounds, rounds left to go. Was there some truth to truth to that?

SPEAKER_00
7:05

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think we we uh it was such an emotional series, and we wanted so badly to do well in the postseason. Um and and we're doing it with guys that that aren't haven't been to a lot of postseasons and haven't uh some of them hadn't played in Major League Baseball ever, you know. So it was their first go-round with playoff baseball. Um but this year we had just this memory in our mind like, hey, we're gonna believe and we're gonna do this. And sure enough, they did it.

SPEAKER_02
7:35

Speaking of uh one guy who's been to a number of postseasons, Christian Yelits, you named him first captain ever in in Brewer's history in late September. He's only, I believe, one of three active captains in the MLB right now. Why why make that decision at that point in time and well as well? And what was that conversation?

SPEAKER_00
7:55

I think Yeah, I mean, that was um something that's been on my mind for a while, but um you know, everyone knows him as our leader. He had been around the most. And then the unique thing is the way he leads would never draw attention to himself. And the way he, you know, um advises people, he doesn't force himself on anybody, he doesn't use power, you know, he's just well respected. And it's funny, a guy in the locker room that doesn't even he isn't part of the staff, the coaching staff, he isn't part of the uh he's part of the clubhouse staff, suggest it. So if I listen to all your interviews, I listen to the players respond, he is the leader. Did you ever think about naming him captain? And it just hit me in the right way. And I actually called the general manager and said, Hey Matt, this is an idea. What do you think? He said, I'll meet you on it. And then I call the owner. I said, Hey, you got any problem with this? He said, No, I think it's a great idea. And they asked me my reasons and all that kind of stuff. And again, it's like I thought it was a positive thing to officially name him. And I think he takes on responsibility very, very well. And he wears his performance. He he feels indebted to this community. He's not a r a guy getting paid a lot of money thinking, hey, I deserve this. He's a guy that's saying, I am thankful, I'm grateful, and he he cares about the brewer so much. When he doesn't perform the way he wants to, and baseball's a hard game to do it in, he takes it really serious. So um I called him in the next day and I say, Hey Christian, I gotta tell you something. Um this is what I want to do, but I want you, I want to know what you think about it. And he was he was choked up. I mean, it it was emotional. He said, This is the biggest honor I've ever had. And it to me, when I saw that response, I knew it was I knew it was right. And I said, Hey man, that means wearing that C on the jersey. He said, you know, it's a huge honor. Um he said, but I think we should ask Robin Yao being the the really the captain of the brewers from how many years? And I called Robin and Robin said, Absolutely, man, it's if you believe it's good for the club, it's uh I'm on board and it's just clicked.

SPEAKER_02
10:19

How rare is it to have a superstar vet like Yelich with as low of an ego as he has?

SPEAKER_00
10:28

I mean, I again uh I've been with Yeli now 11 years, uh 10 year, 10 seasons, maybe nine seasons. Been with Yeli nine seasons, and um yeah, even when he was the best player on the on the planet, he was still uh very, very humble, uh, the same person he's always been. And that make that mean that makes it fun, you know?

SPEAKER_02
10:49

There's uh there's a lot of really good storylines to this group, whether it whether it's Bowers kind of coming back, you know, almost breaking out at a young or at an older age, Yelich being captain. Is there a single storyline on this team that stands out to you, whether it's one that we are aware of or maybe one that the fans aren't really aware of?

SPEAKER_00
11:10

Well, the thing about the team that stands out, I think, the most is like we were never on a long winning streak, and we've never been on a long losing streak. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know, our longest losing streak is like four games or something like that.

SPEAKER_02
11:23

And uh your longest winning streak is right now, too. Six or so, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
11:28

So it's like the team has just stayed pretty steady all year. And um, they don't get down for very long. You know, they hold held uh hold themselves to high standards. It's really a unique group, man. We got some great we do have some great stories. If you know the story of William Cotreris, I mean our pit bull, it's um he's been on a roll. He's beautiful, man. He's beautiful. You gotta keep him in a cage, you let him out, you know. You might scratch or nip at a few children, and then you gotta deal with the damage and then put them back in the cage. But while he's out, he does a lot of good. He does a lot of good. And uh he's a unique because a lot of what Williams does, it's it's the part of baseball that can't be measured, except if you're in the game, you know it. And if you're against him, you know it. Um so he's a great story. Jack Jack. Jack Jack is just um for 22, you just never know it. You want to talk about a cool customer, um Bryce Tarang, what he's done, Mitchell being hurt for four years. Um for four seasons. He's been out most of those four seasons, and he's played more games this year than he played in all four of the seasons. And he's doing well.

SPEAKER_02
12:50

Like seeing him hit that homer in game four.

SPEAKER_00
12:53

Yeah, he's been good for us, man. He's had a good good postseason. Um yeah, it's been fun. It's been fun watching these guys, you know, come into their own, believe in themselves. You talked about Bowers, you know, to see these guys really believe, you know. I mean, like I'm you know, and to go against all the big boys. I mean, we went against you know, San Diego and LA and uh took them down. So that's kind of fun.

SPEAKER_02
13:17

Um you were around you for I believe eight years in this organization. What's what's one favorite you story?

SPEAKER_00
13:26

Oh, I got a lot of them, man, but um I got a lot of them. I mean, he's um he's the the thing about you, you know, instead of instead of one story, let me just describe every day with you, he'd come in the clubhouse, howdy boys, he'd come in there, and you just knew this is his home. You know, 90 years old, walking in that clubhouse, you'd think he was 50. Knew all every player, and if there was a new player, he'd be lying over to him. Hey, put her in the vice, son, you know, and he'd stick his hand out and shake his hand.

SPEAKER_01
14:03

I knew your dad when your dad played at so-and-so, and I knew your cousin, and you're like, holy sh.

SPEAKER_00
14:09

I mean, it was amazing the way this guy, I'm just related to people, and you could just tell he was in his element. He wasn't, there was no cameras or nothing. He just wanted to be there. And then I'd get the lucky uh uh opportunity to sit with him for like an hour every day. We'd do our radio show three or four minutes and we'd just sit there. And the media'd be the the the media uh our media guy would be knocking on my door saying, Hey, you guys done, you guys done, and we'd be like, ah, shut the door, you know. And he'd sit there and talk. And then he would we got to the point where he we'd get into everything, everything but baseball. You know what I mean? We'd we'd get into everything. And um, yeah, I feel blessed that I had that time with him and the guy's done so much, but he loves Milwaukee, he loves the brewers. You know what I mean? He had many opportunities to make his life elsewhere a lot more lucrative. And the give back that he gave, you know, to different organizations. And there I mean, the guy was incredible. And what he endured, like you think of the surgeries he's had, open heart surgery on two occasions, pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer, and I mean the guy diabetic. I mean, the guy did so much, you know. Yeah, and he was in pain at the end, and you knew it. Um but he didn't want anybody to know. You know, you'd never know it in that locker room. You'd never know. And then you know, I get the chance to sit with him and I could tell he was in pain, I could tell he was tired. But uh yeah. He was thoughtful, you know. He cared about other people and never thought of himself as better than any common man, you know what I mean? He just I really respected that, you know. Yeah, special, special dude, man.

SPEAKER_02
15:58

Mm-hmm. Um, you talk about him loving Milwaukee. You came here about 10 years ago. Were you excited to come to Milwaukee? And what were your first impressions of the city? And did did anything surprise you?

SPEAKER_00
16:10

Yeah, it's interesting. You know, I I uh have a little history, like a small amount of history with with Milwaukee. So in 87 or 88, um, my athletic director at Notre Dame told me, hey, John Counsel used to coach at Notre Dame. His son uh is gonna work out in Milwaukee County Stadium with Sal Bandeau Jr. Um why don't you take a you know uh why don't you go take a look at him? Uh they're gonna they're gonna um work out pregame of a major league game. And um, you know, he's a kid. I think he can eat in school, blah, blah, blah, blah. So sure. My athletic director tells me to do that. It's one of my first days on the job. I drive up whatever number of hours and see uh get to uh County Stadium and uh Sal Bando's the general manager at the time, and I get to sit with him and uh I mean, just an incredible man, you know. But for a 28-year-old college coach, I'm intimidated. I'm sitting with a Hall of Famer. I remember when he played third base for for for Oakland and sitting there, and now his son and another skinny little kid named Craig Council is gonna work out in the field. So sure enough, we have a little dinner or whatever, and um I watch these kids work out in the field and like yeah, you know, and uh I'd love to recruit these guys. So I meet I meet uh all the parents and talk to them like, yeah, I'll be in touch. And that's how we got Craig Counsel to come to Notre Dame. So I had this little that was my first time in Milwaukee. Fast forward probably 20 years, and I became friendly with a guy named Rick Majoris. So Majaris was a basketball coach. Yeah, it was at Marquette, Marquette, and him and I through through college sports, uh, there was a certain contact, a guy named McBride, who was his head football coach at Utah when he was coaching in Utah. His uh McBride's son worked at ASU, got us together about some job openings with with uh college basketball that Rick might be interested in, and we just hit it off. So then Rick, fast forward a couple months, he says, Hey, come to Milwaukee. There's a 1957, this must have been 07, there's a 50-year reunion of the of the 57 team, the Milwaukee Braves. Come to this thing, please. Well, Counts was playing for the, you know, fast forward, Counts comes to play for me at Notre Dame, and then, you know, he goes to the big leagues and now he's gonna play for the Brewers or whatever. And um Rick says, Come on, you can see Counts and go to this thing. You can meet Hank Aaron someday, maybe. And because Majaris loved Hank Aaron, sure enough, I I uh I come up for it. I was on the end of a trip and I happened to be in Chicago speaking at something. And uh I was the head coach at ASU at the time. And uh I come up here to Milwaukee, stay in some hotel downtown, I don't know which one, and meet Majoris, meet Counts and uh the manager of the Pirates at the time was Jim Tracy. We met after the game, sat outside the fister till like 4 30 in the morning and had the greatest time. You know what I mean? And I'm like, God, this is a great place. Weather was perfect, didn't know anything about it. And then you know, Counts gets the job with the brewers, he calls me up and says, Hey man, come and be my bench coach. So the rest is history.

SPEAKER_02
19:28

Just came full circle. And you still you have a very close relationship with them to the other day, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
19:34

I mean, we're like family.

SPEAKER_02
19:35

You guys talk a lot still.

SPEAKER_00
19:37

Uh, you know, it's fun. Yeah, you you can't there's not much to talk about. Um I mean, when Counts and I when he was going through his pro career and and even you know, uh when we worked together, I mean we were together, talked every day, you know, and then we'd have these long baseball conversations. I know his family, I'm very close to his family. And um yeah, but now since he he's there and and and and I have this same position here, yeah, it's just tougher to have uh conversations except about the family or things that are going on or joking with each other. I just text her, we texted each other the other day, um and we just laughing with each other, telling you know, telling each other funny things. But um yeah, we're we are we're like family.

SPEAKER_02
20:24

What is the best prank that you have played or seen in the Brewer's Clubhouse?

SPEAKER_00
20:30

Oh god. There's so many. Can you give us one? That's part of it's part of life. Uh so you please just always understand the context. There's no ill intent of the case. Of course not. Of course not. Oh, let's see which one I'll give you. So we had this intern. His last name was Schartz.

SPEAKER_02
20:56

Oh, that's rough for him.

SPEAKER_00
20:57

Yeah. Yeah. Last name was Schartz. And he was he was a great young man, still is, I'm sure. Um Schartz. Um let's just say he doesn't have a lot of baseball experience, but he was a he was an intern in the strength, strength and conditioning. And uh he wanted to impress everybody any way he could. So we're about to go on a road trip and he's gonna go. And I'm like, Scharty, um Miley's pitching tomorrow, and if he doesn't have that box of sliders, I think we left him in the bullpen. I'm not sure. You go out there and get them. He goes, Okay, okay. So he's sprinting to the to the to the bullpen to find the box of sliders. And um hamburger sliders or sliders like the breaking ball, the chair, fastball sliders is box of sliders, which I hope I don't have to play this on you too, but there is no such thing as a box of sliders. That's why you manipulate the baseball that way. So, anyways, he's like he comes running back. I can't find them. I said, Well, here's the thing. You first have to get the key to the batter's box. Once you get the key to the batter's box, that'll open that up, and then you can get the box of sliders or the box of curveballs. And Miley happened to be sitting there. He goes, Yeah, I'll take the curveballs too. But I need them for tomorrow. If I'm going to pitch tomorrow, I need them. I mean, you want Miley to pitch without a curveball? So sure as hell he uh he is frantic going all around. Can't find the key to the batter's box. Where is it? I think it's in the dugout somewhere on the top shelf. Just check up there if there's a key. And he's running. We're all getting ready to leave on the flight. And he's trying to get dressed. He's frantic. So then I tell him, look, if you text the general manager, David Stearns at the time, you text David Stearns and ask him where the key to the batter's box is so you can get the box of sliders. I said, and it's a good way of showing, identify who you are, tell him you're an intern and say, This is, you know, this is I'm I've been instructed to do this. So he goes and he does it. Stearns picks up on it, of course, and says, Here's the here's the owner's number. I think only the owner would be able to tell you where it is. And this kept going. He texts the owner, the owner, Mark, Mark's in on it, and he's like, ask him a few questions, thanks him for introducing himself, realizes what's going on, and he says, I really think in order to get him, you're gonna have to call a commissioner of baseball. He gives him the commissioner's name and email and all this general email. And um finally his boss, the Sharts guy's boss, um Jason Meredith, had to tell him, like, okay, bro, you've been punked. He was so embarrassed. I mean, but we've had a lot of good ones, man. We've we've it's it's a constant, it's it's nonstop. We had Sal where you know, Sal does crosswords every day. And I told Sal, like, hey man, you're wasting your time doing those crosswords every day. You should be working on graduate applications. You know, I said, You're not gonna be in the league very long, you're not very good. So he'd always shake his head, whatever. I said, go to some school up in he's from Boston, you know, go to some school up there, Brandeis University. I heard they got a business school. So I let it sit. Like a month and a half later, I get the dean of stud dean of the business school at Brandeis to write him a formal letter saying, We're really interested in you, we hear great things, and blah, blah, blah. There's a few little things in there. When is this? What's that? When is this? Right during the season. Yeah, a few years ago. Uh last year. Oh, now okay. And um, so he gets a letter in the mail. Now, fast forward, I had said this to him months ago. He gets a letter in the mail from Brandeis to his parents' house. And the parents read it to him like, hey, this is a great opportunity and all this kind of stuff. And he's like, This doesn't feel right. And he goes, I can't believe it. So he comes, he brings the letter, his parents sent it to him, he brings it, he slams it on my desk. He said, Is this you? I'm like, No. He goes, You're not gonna believe this. I did get a letter from Brandeis Business School saying they they think I'd be a good candidate. I'm like, so we do that kind of stuff. It becomes you're good.

SPEAKER_02
25:21

I'm guessing you're good at keeping the straight face, too. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. That's that's a prerequisite. Yeah. Um, we'll get into some more Milwaukee questions as well. Uh do you have any favorite restaurants or spots around the city? Where do you where do you enjoy going? I do. We can extend it if we need to go down near a scene, we could do that too. But um spots in the area.

SPEAKER_00
25:41

Well, I mean, uh I've been to two unbelievable dinners at a place called Dorsey. That's a good spot. Yeah. Um Brady Street. Yeah. But I'm not uh see, you gotta remember we play at night, usually, right? So I don't get to go out that very often here, you know. And uh there's a couple other little hole-in-the-wall spots that I've found that I really like, but um I know there's great restaurants here, and I any any good breakfast spots or whole hole-in-the-wall spots you want to give a shout out to? Yeah, I I'd say the Mad Rooster Cafe is a pretty darn good place for breakfast. Service was incredible. Um yeah, it was a good place.

SPEAKER_02
26:21

Um, other other than pancakes, do you have any favorite snack items? Are you are you a grazer like where if I get I get pissed if Bree Bit brings home a bag of chips because I just eat the whole thing if it's in front of me?

SPEAKER_00
26:34

Yeah, I do too. Yeah, that's pretty much me. I I like whatever's there I eat. Okay. And um, yeah. I have like this one bar I have every morning. It's called a perfect bar. Peanut butter perfect bar. You gotta keep them in the fridge. Some people don't like them, they think it's a little dry. I love them. I have one every single morning. It can't be healthy. If you like it that much, it can't be healthy.

SPEAKER_02
27:02

It's helped it's helped you get the team to the World Series. It's gotta be healthy. Let's just in that in that way. Let's call it healthy. Um do you like the Brewer's hype song?

unknown
27:14

You know.

SPEAKER_00
27:17

Yes, I like it. You do. I'm just gonna say I like it because I'm not gonna cause problems.

SPEAKER_02
27:23

I thought it was very annoying, and then and then a few days later I found myself like is almost singing it in my car, and it was like in my head, and then I was like, He got me.

SPEAKER_00
27:31

All right, so I don't follow the media, okay, so I have no idea what's being said or what's going on. So I didn't even know about it. And then somebody brought it to my attention and said, Hey, they you know, they got this song going, or whatever. I said, Hey, let me hear it. So somebody pulled it up on their phone, started listening. I'm like, You gotta be kidding me, right? Like, you know, they said that you know it's kind of this rap song, whatever. And I'm like, all right, let me hear it. Well, I'm expecting Biggie or Tupac or something, you know what I mean? And no offense, this guy seems great, but um well different than Biggie or Tupac. So I was like, oh, great, you know, but then I keep seeing how people are listening to it and talking about it, so I can see its value.

SPEAKER_02
28:16

You've one piece of advice to younger athletes. You got you got two kids that play baseball.

SPEAKER_00
28:23

Yeah. Yeah, I think you it depends how old, you know what I mean? You know, you can say, Oh, make sure you have fun and all that kind of stuff. I think you you let them know like if you're gonna if you love this, you're gonna have to deal with uncomfortable. It's okay to get uncomfortable. It's okay to fail. It's okay to miss a ball. It's okay, it's all about responding. You know, how quickly can you get punched in the face and bounce back? That's what it's about. If you really love this thing, you will love the failures, even though that's hard to stomach, it's uncomfortable, but then you start being way more comfortable with uncomfortable. And if you continue to do that, I think you can um you can start to really build a little edge in the game, a resiliency, it uh and understand that I create the attitude, I create the fun because of the way I approach it. I forgot the last pitch, I don't know what happened. I I'm worried about this pitch. And I think if you can get them understanding that, especially in our game, you know, that response as quickly as I can respond, the better, the better.

SPEAKER_02
29:30

And how what what would a World Series mean to to you personally and how much uh pressure do you feel going into this week?

SPEAKER_00
29:39

Yeah, you know, it's funny. So so first thing I do every single morning, first thing I do, my kids are with me, you know, and but the first thing I do is I go to my little desk out there and my little table in my house. The kids are still sleeping. I'm up way earlier than them. And um first thing I do is I open up my book and I have a thing called nine ball. I make my own little mantras, nine ball mantras, right? First thing it says on every list I make is it's not about me. So when I think of the World Series, I don't think of me. You know, I think of I'm just grateful to be part of it, but I think of the guys, you know what I mean? That's my responsibility. And so it becomes about them. So what would it mean to me? I'm already I'm already filled up, man. I don't need anything more. You know, if they if they take me, if it's my time's done, my time's done, uh, my my plate's full. It's not about achievement, it's not about that's just not what floats my boat. My floats my boat is impacting people and and and meeting people, you know, meeting people that are just like super special and and um, you know, I uh this life I live now, manager of the brewers, I get to go all these places and I see all these people I haven't seen since my childhood, or some other coaching job, or one of my former players, or you know, teammates or whatever, and it's like a living funeral, but it's beautiful. You know what I mean? I get to do that. Like how many people don't ever get to rekindle relationships or see people again? It happens every day in my life, and uh so I have nothing more uh meaning to me. I think I want it to happen and I wanted it to happen for the people of Milwaukee. You know, really, truly. I mean, you just see the passion, you see how much it means to them, you see their reaction. It wasn't like, yeah, we better win this year, we got this, and you know, we deserve this. It was just no, please, somehow, and what better way to do it than taking on the Dodgers, the greatest team ever assembled by far, and hit him right between the eyes with it and beat him with good old-fashioned uh Milwaukee Brewers baseball. Um, to me, that's what makes it special for our people of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. To me, that's that's the greatest achievement.

SPEAKER_02
32:01

Can can you touch on the fan base here and the uniqueness of it? I mean, just even looking at these ticket prices to get in almost signals like ticket prices? I think 2400 to get in the door right now. 2400? I think so. Last time I checked. Okay, excuse me, 2600 standing room only for game one. Which if you compare it, I think the bucks during their title run was 800 to get in, and the city went crazy, and Amphim has two and a half times the seats as Pfizer, which is wild though.

SPEAKER_00
32:37

The baseball community, and and you was a huge part of this, you know, like it connects with the past easily. You know, it's a game of history, you know, it's very, very historic game. This the way our game is, you know, monitored and kept and the statistics and the stuff that is, believe it or not, it's not as pertinent as you think, but people know this kind of stuff, you know? And there's there's uh you know, just a way of tracking it so much easier. And our sport is played throughout six months every single night. I I just think that uh you know the fan base just relates to that and the voices uh like Bob Euchre. And um, yeah, I think it it just means so much to those people. And when when they're in the stadium, we had 26, 27 sellouts this year. When they're in the stadium and it's rocking, it's like they're part of their community, they're proud of their community. They're not they're not mad at their team because they didn't win, they're not mad at their team or complain about their team because they didn't reach a certain pinnacle. They're just supportive. You know, they're the true support, they're true fans, you know, and I I think it's gonna remain that way regardless. You know, they they understand what goes on. I hope they understand how rare this is for a team with again, we got under a hundred million dollars on the field, and to to slay the dragons we've slayed, and and to to be a team that has achieved the last two years the best record in baseball. Like that's special. They're watching the special brand of winning baseball. Um four division titles in a row. It's never happened in the central. You know, you you think about those things and you're like, wow, I'm part of something really special. And the fan base is a big part of it because the guys just love playing in front of these fans. They just they love it.

SPEAKER_02
34:36

Speaking of final question, what what do you want people to remember in this city when they look back on this 2026 Brewer Squad and 10, 20 years down the road?

SPEAKER_00
34:47

Yeah, I think it marks, I think it represents. That's the biggest thing I think about is like it it's congruent. You know, it it represents what Milwaukee, what Wisconsin is as a community, as a state, it represents it well. You know what I mean? It's like straight up, no frills, here we are, take it or leave it, and there's something really, really special about us. And the stories that they can remember, the Churio walk-off. Um, if that picture isn't up in 10,000 households of Sal diving into the plate, Contreras on the ground, Yelich on the ground, who else was there? Tarang on the ground, signaling them down. If that picture isn't famous in Milwaukee, I'll I'll be shocked because it's one of the greatest moments in brewer history. It really is. And um, yeah, it wasn't the game that got us to the World Series, but it's the indication of how special 2026 is. And um yeah, the best is yet to come.

SPEAKER_02
35:56

Well, then thank you so much for coming down here and all you've done for the team and the community. It was great having you. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00
36:04

Good luck this week. Thank you, man. I really appreciate that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02
36:08

Thank you so much to Pat for coming on the show. Go Brewers, and before signing off, just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee on Cup possible. NX Wealth Management, Nicola, Three Sheeps, and Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company.

SPEAKER_00
0:00

Biggest hurdles that the business had to overcome. Big economic shocks that have happened, the great financial crisis. And they had just opened a store in Menominee Falls in 2006. And then two years later, real estate market collapsed and we're we're tied to the housing market. Amazon and the big boxes certainly have been relatively disruptive. I think they've changed consumer expectations. So it certainly challenged us to up our game and improve our business. A lot of our success has come from the very direct conversations you have to have when it's a family business and trying to separate the family portion from the business in some of those conversations. The first generation from the second generation, all five siblings were in the business. The three brothers went off and fought in Korea and all came back to join the business with the two sisters, and they worked together for, you know, close to 40 years.

SPEAKER_01
1:05

You're going to learn how Steinhoffels transformed from a single furniture store in Milwaukee to having locations across Wisconsin and Illinois and one in Indiana, as well as their 420,000 square foot warehouse in Waukeshaw. It's an amazing story. And joining me today, we've got fourth generation president of the company, Andrew Steinhoffel, who tells the story, also gives some great insights on what makes Steinhoffel successful, especially in this day and age of Amazon and big box retailers. It's a good one. Before diving in, I just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. If you're looking to get your finances together before the new year, which is a great time to do so, reach out to the experts, our good friends over at Annex Wealth Management. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything: retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. Annex know the difference. Nicola, the Midwest law firm, injured. Get Nikolain Russell, and the team will take great care of you. Great people over there at Nikola. They've got an office right here in the third ward and all across the Midwest. And last but not least, Drink Wisconsinably Beverage Company, best vodka brandy and canned cocktails in the game, available at bars and liquor stores across the state and at the DW pub, the Drink Wisconsinably Pub right across from the Pfizer. All right, let's dive in with Andrew Steinhoffel.

SPEAKER_00
2:41

In 1934, it started with my great-grandfather, who was actually uh grew up working in some furniture stores. As in the story goes that he was an elevator boy in a furniture store, talked his way onto the sales floor, became a furniture salesperson. And then he and an older gentleman by the name of Arthur Miller, both salespeople, went out to start their own uh furniture store, originally called Miller Steinofel Furniture.

SPEAKER_01
3:08

And you you grew up around the business quite a bit. What what were some of your earliest memories?

SPEAKER_00
3:13

Yeah, I remember our old uh warehouse in New Berlin where we used to hold these massive warehouse sales and we'd invite the public into the warehouse and they could uh purchase odds and ends, you know, in stock sofas, everything, everything had a go type mentality, and worked a couple of those big warehouse sales as a small kid. Uh I was uh a little bit more uh technologically inclined, so I was often the one hooking up printers, you know, under the desk, putting the computers together, things like that. Do you have any fond memories of those or what were your favorite things about doing that? I'd say the fondest memories honestly were the the people. Obviously, it's a family business. And so I remember my grandparents being active in the business, which was really fun. Um, I also remember uh one of our one of my favorite people and my brother's favorite people was Gretchen, who was the receptionist there and would always have to buzz us into the door. Uh, and she'd always have some candy for us as we walked in, and she was so kind to us as you know, little kids in the business. How many siblings do you have? I I have four brothers, but I'm the only one still in Wisconsin and working for the business.

SPEAKER_01
4:18

Are you the middle? Are you the oldest? Are you I'm second? I'm second in the line of five. Okay. What was it like? Were those guys working those sales too? Did you get did you guys fight it all over there? Were you jumping around on the furniture?

SPEAKER_00
4:29

Was it we've run around a furniture store or two, and especially uh when it was our Madison store in 94, 95 was being built. Uh, have a memory of just a giant concrete building. It was empty at the time, but they had put in the warehouse racking in the back. And so my older brother and I had the great idea of let's climb up the warehouse racking and run through the pellets uh down the down the stairwell. And we got yelled at pretty good for that.

SPEAKER_01
4:58

Started as a small store in the 30s. What was the growth trajectory like? Were there any any big moments of expansion, any failures that the company really had to make it through?

SPEAKER_00
5:09

Yeah, I I think it's a kind of a true American dream story where my great-grandfather started the business with his partner, Arthur Miller. They had one store. Uh Arthur Miller unfortunately passed away a few years after they had started the company, so he bought out his widow. Uh, and then the it was a single store operation for quite a while and it bounced around from different locations across Milwaukee. Eventually, the the second generation got involved in the business and they moved the one-store operation out to what was at the time an up-and-coming area at uh Capitol Court on 84th and Capital. And that was a big gamble at the time, I think, based on the the bank loan they had taken. They projected they had to do about a million dollars in sales just to be able to break even that first year. And it was a big move. And that was back in what year? 1959. So that's a that's a high volume of sales for a single store in the 50s. Right. Right. But they did it, and uh that store really did well for us for a long period of time. And then they they opened their first second store about 10 years after that, uh, in uh the south side of Milwaukee in Greenfield on 84th and Leighton. So that store was in that community for a long time, and we actually just uh moved that store into the 84 South uh development there with a brand new build ground up, which is just spectacular.

SPEAKER_01
6:35

And then what was the highest period of growth? Obviously, a single store was one for a while, and now there's 18.

SPEAKER_00
6:43

Yeah, the the second generation grew it to three stores, and then in the 80s, uh the 1980s, they started slowly transitioning out. There were some retirements in the family. Uh, they started bringing in the third generation. Uh my dad joined the business, and two of his cousins joined the business, Mark, Gary, and Ellen. And they were still a three-store operation with a distribution center in New Berlin. And the third generation really took it to kind of a next level over the next 20, 30 years. Uh, they had their first Madison store in in 95, uh, the Kenosha store opened in 98. And then I'd say the the next kind of really big leap happened when we opened up the Waukeshaw facility out on uh 94 and Highway F. With that was a a huge uh investment at the time to build out that facility, the distribution center, the store, uh, and that really set us up for growth into the future. What year was that? That opened in 2004, but it was it was being worked on starting in 2002. It was a 60-acre farm bought from the Graf family out there, and yeah, it it's uh a beautiful store. It's 160,000 square feet, but it's incredible to think that it's about 20 years old now, and we're talking about some updates to the store and some remodels that might need to happen. When did the first out-of-state store happen? The the first Illinois store opened in Vernon Hills, uh just north of Chicago, a northern suburb of Chicago in 2011.

SPEAKER_01
8:11

Any any biggest hurdles that the business had to overcome to get to where it's been today?

SPEAKER_00
8:17

I'd say in in recent history, it's been the big economic shocks that have happened. I remember I wasn't in the business, but I remember my dad and uh his partners and the family dealing with a great financial crisis. And they had just opened a store in Menominee Falls in 2006, and then two years later, um, you know, the real estate market collapsed and we're we're tied to the housing market. People often buy furniture when they they move or buy a new home. And business dropped all of a sudden 25 to 30 percent in one year. And so, you know, that that was a huge shock uh to the business, but they were able to survive it and grow actually, you know, eventually they were able to grow through that time period in 2009 and open up some mattress stores, and then in 2011 went into Illinois. Can you speak much on that?

SPEAKER_01
9:07

It's pretty rare that a company would a furniture company would grow during that period when the housing market has collapsed.

SPEAKER_00
9:13

Yeah, one of our core values or core principles as a company has been financial prudence. And we've always, as a small family-owned or privately held business, we've always thought that um, you know, it's it's best if we can control our own destiny and if we're not uh beholden to others, especially with a lot of debt. So during that time we had very little debt, and that's really what allowed us to um, you know, during that time that the family really streamlined the business and reduced expenses and was able to survive that period in a financially stable way and even remain somewhat profitable during those years. And then coming out of it, as we saw uh the housing market start to rebound slowly, they were able to reinvest back into the business, um, expand and expand with some stores.

SPEAKER_01
10:00

Um when you when you speak to that, have there been I'm sure there's a lot of opportunities on the table, a lot of areas that, hey, we could get into this, we could get into this, we could get into this. Are there any decisions that maybe maybe you've made or you've seen your family made that you're like, wow, I'm glad we've avoided that, or hey, maybe we should have been more aggressive here?

SPEAKER_00
10:23

That's a good question. I I think the one thing we've we've looked at a couple times in the company's history is expanding our product line. We're we're in furniture and mattresses, and that's kind of always stayed our core competency. We we feel it's pretty important to stay relatively focused. Uh, we've looked at appliances several times. Earlier, you mentioned the American TV uh going out of business, and we acquired a couple of their stores. At that time, we looked at the appliance business, and what we really walked away with was it's a very different business. And we we were not prepared to take that on. And I kind of think the families did an amazing job over the years, and that's why we've survived 92 years uh to really try to understand the business behind it, how um who the players are, how you would make money, things like that, where and we've stayed away from that specifically.

SPEAKER_01
11:21

And obviously you you have a a large variety of of products under the under furniture, but has it always been that way since the start and you've just stayed on that kind of furniture and mattresses line?

SPEAKER_00
11:33

For the most part, I you know, the family has gotten into things like uh carpeting and rugs. Uh they've been we've been in and out of different sectors, but we've always tried to, you know, we have a I think we have a culture of experimenting and testing, but keeping it a well-defined test. And and if it works, we can always do more, um, but not kind of overinvesting or getting over our skis on something. So, you know, carpeting we were in in the 80s and 90s and then got out of that business. Uh, and recently we've actually gotten back into the flooring business with a small test uh down in the Illinois market with a partner that's that's going pretty well.

SPEAKER_01
12:11

Um most family businesses collapse on the third generation, it is said. You're you're the fourth business seems to be doing well. What do you feel makes a makes a family business work over four generations? And where do you think a lot of them fall?

SPEAKER_00
12:30

I think our a lot of our success has come from the kind of very direct conversations you have to have when it's a family business and trying to separate the family portion from the business in some of those conversations. Um I I think where we've done well, it's it was not a given that people would come into the business. It was not an expectation. The expectation was actually the opposite uh for my brothers and I of you need to go get experience elsewhere, and then you need to be able to bring that experience back to the company to the benefit of the company. Uh and there is no expectation that you rejoin the company, and if it if you do, it's wonderful, and if you don't, that's great too. So you were allowed to work in the business growing up, but not right out of school. The expectation was uh after college, we would go get our own experience, our own job elsewhere in a field we were passionate in. And then if there was a uh a good time or or some sort of um again uh beneficial relationship that could happen, we could figure that out.

SPEAKER_01
13:37

Is that always been the case or was that new with your generation? And and what do you think the benefits of that were?

SPEAKER_00
13:42

I I know the second generation had that rule for the third generation of hey, go do go do your own thing. And if there's uh again, if it works out for the business and for the individual, that's that's wonderful. Um, the first generation from the second generation, all five siblings were in the business. There were three brothers and two sisters, all equal owners in the business. Um, the the three brothers went off and and fought in Korea and all came back to to join the business with the two sisters, and they worked together for you know all close to 40 years.

SPEAKER_01
14:13

So you had to, you couldn't work in the family business right out of college. What did you end up doing?

SPEAKER_00
14:18

Yeah, I actually went to school for business and computer science out in Boston, ended up working for some software companies out there for five or six years, had that IT and technology background, and um actually was getting married to my wife, uh, who's also from Wisconsin. And we had a party the night before our wedding. And my uncle Gary, uh, who was our former president, was there and gave us the hard pitch on coming back to Wisconsin, joining the family business. And wouldn't that be great? And I had to stop him and say, you know, Gary, it's we're I'm getting married tomorrow. Like one big life decision at a time. Um, you know, we'll we'll figure this out. But but it was about a year later we ended up moving back and joining the family business, and it was one of the best decisions.

SPEAKER_01
15:05

So uh Gary, your dad's brother comes cousin. Okay, your dad's cousin is at is this at the rehearsal dinner? Yes, basically. And instead of congratulating you on your wedding, he's just putting the hard hard sell on you. Hard sell.

SPEAKER_00
15:17

Move back to Wisconsin, join the family business, it'll be great. And it and it has been. That's right.

SPEAKER_01
15:27

It made moving back to Wisconsin a little easier that she was also we have you both have family here. Double sell her on that, and the pitch worked out. Um, with your IT background, did you did you see things Steinhoffels could be doing differently? And you were like, hey, I won't I want to come back. I they could use my help doing this and really think that you could add value to the business.

SPEAKER_00
15:49

Yeah, I I think uh a couple of things. One was e-commerce. We had a website, but it wasn't a real transactional e-commerce website, and thought that was an opportunity. Um then, you know, over time we've slowly upgraded our internal systems, our point of sale system to make it easier for our sales associates and stores to transact. Um, but you know, we were we were in a good spot before just kind of again helping us continue to push into the future.

SPEAKER_01
16:14

Um you mentioned having direct, candid conversations is very critical. Are are you good at that or is that difficult to do?

SPEAKER_00
16:22

You can always be better at it. Uh, but I I do think, especially when it comes to family, it's it's always um, you know, you always lead with kind of good intentions, and I I think that helps. And so uh yeah, we you know, we've had to have some very candid conversations. We've had those difficult time periods in our company's history, the the great financial crisis, COVID when we were shut down for three months. Um so yeah, we've we've had to go through some of those.

SPEAKER_01
16:48

What was what was COVID like?

SPEAKER_00
16:52

COVID was interesting. It was were you president at that point in time yet? Or were you I was vice president and took over as president shortly after about a year after that. Which COVID was still kind of going on at that point. Yeah, and it was really interesting during that time, you know, when we were closed, it was gonna be this, you know, not to rehash COVID, but it was gonna be this two-week period. Uh, and then it that turned into four weeks, and then each municipality and county and state had their own rules and regulations of you could open up, you you couldn't. And so it was just a really challenging time. We were trying to figure out how best to navigate that with our employees, how to continue to offer them health insurance during that time uh to give them some sort of stability, and then also how to make sure that we had a a functional business coming out of COVID, if and when we were allowed to reopen. Has that been the toughest stretch while you've you've been there? That was definitely the biggest challenge I've had to face, yes.

SPEAKER_01
17:55

Um I want you to speak to the culture. You got you guys are an eSOP as of somewhat recently, right? Can you touch on the decision to move to to an eSOP and how you maintain a strong culture at Steinhoffels?

SPEAKER_00
18:10

Yeah, we became an eSOP just over five years ago, uh in 20 early 2021. And you know, with the family, we were doing some succession planning, uh, had some challenges with the next generation not showing the same level of interest as the previous generations. We were also a much larger business. And one of the options we looked at was an eSop. And and as we learn more about what an ESOP is and how we think it can help uh protect and continue the family legacy, we became more interested in it. And then there's also this wonderful benefit for the employees that really you know can reward the employees in a substantial way for the value they bring to the business as well.

SPEAKER_01
18:54

Do you do you want to explain to people listening who don't know what an eSOP is and how how it works?

SPEAKER_00
19:00

Yeah, it's it's an employee stock ownership plan. And essentially the family sold the business into an employee stock ownership trust. There's a trustee that's responsible for um overseeing and providing governance for us. But we sold 100% of the company, and uh it is now 100% owned by our employees, and so it's a it's a retire of retirement plan. There's some nuance to it. Um, but the the big benefit for the employees is that as you stay, you accumulate shares, and then those vest over time, and that's uh tied to a share price and the value of the company. So as the value of the company continues to go up and you start to accumulate shares, you can have a really nice uh dollar figure in your retirement account. So it's a really great benefit for the employees.

SPEAKER_01
19:50

And then competing today, you've got, you know, obviously the rise of Amazon, people buying off there all the time, other big box retailers. How have you managed to grow and be successful in in this period? And how disruptive has Amazon been to the furniture business?

SPEAKER_00
20:06

Amazon and the big boxes certainly have been relatively disruptive. I think they've changed consumer expectations. I think consumers are expecting a you know more modern digital experience for sure. Also, they're expecting to be able to get things quicker and have more choices. Uh so it certainly challenged us to up our game and improve our business to at least match those consumer expectations, um, you know, with things like speed to market, um, delivery windows near term. So they while we might not be Amazon Prime and be at your house this afternoon, within a few days we can have uh the furniture in the home. And with, you know, I think we also continue to have a competitive advantage advantage over the online only guys when you look at the fact that our delivery teams are all employees. We own all the trucks. There are employees, there are people coming into your home to set up the furniture. Um, our our job is basically to curate the assortment to make sure that it matches the consumer preference and and then be able to deliver on some of those promises. So while it's certainly been disruptive, I think we we have enough of a differentiation that it's we've been somewhat uh protected from some of those.

SPEAKER_01
21:21

So when people make buying a new mattress, buying a table, buying a nice chair, couch, um those are higher dollar purchases for people. Are you more immune to Amazon because people want to actually physically go in the store and sit down on something before they're gonna sit down on it that thousands of times, probably?

SPEAKER_00
21:42

That's that's absolutely a factor, yes. Where if you're spending a few thousand dollars, you want to make sure you're getting the right mattress or you're getting the right sofa, to your point. Um, where we've seen maybe a little bit more uh competition from Amazon and others is at some of the lower price points where if you're buying a mattress. For uh your guest room. You you may not care or want to come in and test it out as much as you would uh for your your primary, you know, primary suite.

SPEAKER_01
22:10

Um can you speak to Stan Hoffel's charitable impact and why that's important?

SPEAKER_00
22:16

Yeah, we partner with uh uh several organizations within the community. Our big philanthropic partner is special spaces. They they do uh bedroom makeovers for children with cancer and other ailments. And uh we we've started that uh in Wisconsin and expanded it into Illinois now. And we we do things like the every time the Packers uh hit a field goal, we we donate a thousand dollars. Um so they're our large philanthropic partner, but we we certainly support a lot of our uh associate causes as well.

SPEAKER_01
22:48

Hopefully you guys will have to donate more money this year. The kicker's looking better than last year so far. Much better. Smack. Yes. Um and what uh what comes next for Steinhoffels and what are some of your future focuses?

SPEAKER_00
23:02

We've expanded pretty aggressively over the last few years into the Chicago market. There were some uh competitors that were going out of business, which opened up some opportunities for us. And so for this year, uh we spent the last two years opening three new stores down there. So this year we're we're taking a breather and taking a little pause. Um but yeah, Chicago continues to be an opportunity for us. And I also think to your earlier point, we've got to continue to improve our business to make sure we're matching consumer expectations and reinvesting, especially in our digital experience.

SPEAKER_01
23:35

How do you evaluate whether or not you should buy a store that's not doing well? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_00
23:43

Uh usually we look at everything from the actual physical building, its its shape. We put together a budget around what we think it would take in terms of dollars and timeline to make it a Steinhoffels. We we have a pretty high bar when it comes to uh our visual representation in a store. And and then we also look at the demographics and the kind of surrounding areas, and does that match our current customer?

SPEAKER_01
24:09

So it's it's obviously the location needs to be good, but you can go visit a store, see if it's underperforming, visualizing. Hey, if this is a Steinhoffels and we do everything right, the volume would be much higher there, essentially. Exactly right. What would be the biggest misconception about running a furniture business?

SPEAKER_00
24:28

I think it's that people just expect that we uh lay on mattresses and sit on sofas all day. And you know, there's actually a lot of hard work that goes on in the background. While I my wife was making fun of me because I was actually laying on some new mattresses last week that were Yeah, I I'd do that whenever we're in the store.

SPEAKER_01
24:46

Those things are comfy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
24:47

But we were looking at a new new mattress line we might want to bring in. And um, yeah, but there's there's a lot going on. And I I think number two is that uh the size and scale of our operation, a lot of people don't know that we're outside of Milwaukee, that we're in Appleton, Green Bay, the Madison, uh, and Illinois. So it's it's a little bit bigger of an operation than people expect.

SPEAKER_01
25:08

What do you what do you think the most underrated piece of furniture is or something that should be in every house?

SPEAKER_00
25:15

I I think it's your pillow and your mattress. You you spend a third of your life on your mattress. People offer often um, like you were saying, come in and test out a mattress. Well, you really need to lay on that mattress for a period of time to make sure that your body can adjust to it. You lay on it for three minutes, it's not gonna be how it feels, you know, three hours into you sleeping. Uh and the other one is is pillows. Um, I joke that we have a a significant investment in pillows in our house right now. Um and that, you know, often people just use their old pillow when really you should be considering, and not to be a salesperson, but you should really be considering a the sleep system as a whole, your your pillow, your mattress, uh, because they all impact your sleep.

SPEAKER_01
25:59

That was good advice. Has anyone ever just fallen asleep in the store on some of those mattresses? The massage chair you have in there is very nice as well.

SPEAKER_00
26:08

Many times. Yeah, many times. And and we actually welcome that. We want people to be able to try out their mattress and make sure they feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_01
26:14

Has anyone had to wake someone up like it's what time do you guys close? Nine, nine ish? Eight o'clock. Eight o'clock. Have you had to wake people up at 7.59 before? That has happened before, yes.

SPEAKER_00
26:26

Did that happen to you?

SPEAKER_01
26:27

No, not no, not me. I mean, I've had other people or around me that very well could have at one point in time. But uh no, I've I've avoided that. Um, do you have any advice for couples who are going furniture shopping? Uh that's interesting. Um, my advice would be to have you seen have you seen any you know our arguments in the in the store? Do those happen?

SPEAKER_00
26:51

It's not uncommon, but but my advice would be to work with a professional, either one of our designers or one of our great salespeople, and they should be they're used to being able to help people navigate that uh with especially with the but they they are very knowledgeable and good at what they do and can also serve as a third-party mediator.

SPEAKER_01
27:11

Absolutely. Yeah, I'm sure you have a pretty good training program for for those people. For marital counseling. Yeah. That might that might help. Um, what are what are you most proud of when it comes to Steinhoffels?

SPEAKER_00
27:26

I I'm proud of our ESOP and the the growth we've been able to sustain over the last few years. I think it was um, you know, three stores and a distribution center in about an 18-month timeline really uh stressed our company a little bit and our our team was able to execute and we've you know we're a better company for it. So the last two to three years have been uh challenging and and we're now that we're taking a breather, it it feels a little bit easier. So um yeah, that that's what I'm most proud of. That's really good.

SPEAKER_01
27:57

Uh one more thing I I wanted to ask you. How do you uh how do you figure out when you're bringing in a new line? What is that process like? Because you have a lot of different ones.

SPEAKER_00
28:07

Um yeah, the the furniture industry as a whole, we joke that it it's kind of stuck in time. Uh four times a year our our merchandising teams still go to the furniture markets. Two times a year it's in North Carolina, and two times a year it's in Vegas. And and what they're there to do is to see our current vendors, see any new product introductions, and also see potential new lines or new vendors that we want to work with. Uh and so yeah, four times a year they're traveling to go find new product and see what the latest trends, colors, etc. are in the marketplace and make sure we stay up to date. Are there any local interesting vendors in in Wisconsin that you all work with or uh a big one that's a a great solid wood dining line is is Whitmer, um, Bedroom and Dining. And they do a great job, and they're a Wisconsin company, um, and and they make beautiful furniture.

SPEAKER_01
29:04

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to this episode with Andrew Steinhoffel and just want to thank our partners quick before signing off who make Milwaukee on Cup possible. Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company, Nikola, and Annex Wealth Management.

SPEAKER_04
0:00

I want to show you this video. I'm just sitting down on the the train at the Milwaukee County Zoo and I don't hear anything. And then I listen back to the video and I'm like, what is that?

SPEAKER_00
0:13

But they have the story of this haunted railroad track, and there's a paranormal dare involved in. So you're supposed to drive and park on the tracks, put your car in neutral, and it said that ghost children are supposed to push you to safety. But what his encounter was circular craft that he described as being brighter than chrome came down, out pops a latch, and an occupant steps out, and he's making what looks like pancakes. They're very thin. People have said these are pancakes from outer space.

SPEAKER_04
0:49

Hey guys, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. If you love Wisconsin lore, horror stories, haunted places, encrypted. We've got a great episode for you. We've got just the absolute expert in this department. Doesn't get any better. We've got Jeff Finnup of Badgerland Legends everywhere on social media. He does a great job on those platforms, posts, posts a lot of Wisconsin lore content. And he's he's also the author of a children's book, Wisconsin Legends for Kids. And we cover a lot of ground on this one, including the most haunted places around Milwaukee and Wisconsin, many of which you're more than welcome to check out this spooky season. And topics and stories, including the hodeg, Peppy, the Mississippi monster, the little people of Moskego, a potential alien encounter that happened in Eagle River. This is like a true story. I was not aware of this, also. St. Joan of our Chapel, right over on Marquette's campus, um, and a whole lot more. This episode is also co-hosted by Josh Aschenbacher, good friend who runs marketing over at Three Sheeps. And Three Sheeps did a whole Wisconsin cryptid series this year. There were four beers total, including the Gnomes of Fitfield, which is still coming out in November. So they've done three so far. Got that one coming out in November. IPAs, you gotta get your hands on them. And they're also running that series back next year. We love Three Sheeps, great people, and great beer up in Sheboygan. By the way, Taproom up there is a great place to check out this fall. And speaking of three sheeps, I do want to thank our other partners before diving into this one as well. Annex Wealth Management. The fall is a great time to get your life together, and that means looking at your finances. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything: retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. Annex know the difference. Next, we've got Nicolai Law, the Midwest Law firm. Injured, get Nicola and Russell, and the team will take great care of you, including, you know, if you get injured when the when the when the gnomes of Fifth Field are tossing rocks out of the woods at you or any legitimate injury, call our good friends over at Nicolai Law. And if you're looking for a nice canned old fashion this fall, I love a good drink. Wisconsinably beverage company, canned old fashioned, best vodka brandy and canned cocktails in the game, available at bars and liquor stores across the state, including in the corner bar in Wright Field, the damn fam perfect for hopefully a long Brewers playoff run. We were also at Sendex yesterday doing a shooting. They got they got drink Wisconsinable Beverage Company and Three Sheeps right over there. So make sure to check those out. And um, all right, let's dive in with our good friends Josh and Jeff.

SPEAKER_00
3:52

It started at a young age for me. My mom was really into this stuff growing up, and uh she kind of got hooked me hooked on it. She had a lot of stories of like angels and haunted houses where she grew up, and you know, I just kind of caught the bug at an early age. I was terrified of it at first. I never wanted to see a ghost. I didn't want to have any supernatural encounters, but it seemed to have grown on me over the years. And uh I've been doing the Badgerland Legends in an official capacity for uh going on seven years now, just trying to document all the spooky things of the Badger State, people, places, and things that make Wisconsin legendary.

SPEAKER_04
4:32

Very cool. Did your mom have any paranormal experiences?

SPEAKER_00
4:36

You know, she after her mom died, her mom died at a young age. I was probably a baby at the time, and she was cleaning some of her stuff out, and she felt a profound presence while in her house, and the smell of her perfume wafting over her. I think that was kind of a compelling story to tell me as a kid.

SPEAKER_04
4:59

And uh have have you had any? You don't or what's the most you know terrifying experience that that you've had? You do a lot of this stuff now. Probably like Willie Street on Halloween. But they shut that down, didn't they? Oh no, state that's state street, right? State street's no longer going on. I mean, that was that was a banger back in the day.

SPEAKER_00
5:19

Yes, it was wild. Um, but yeah, I get that that question all the time, and I wish I had a more profound story. So I would say that I'm still seeking out those experiences. I've had the opportunity to be in some of the most haunted places in the state. I visited across the country, uh, several haunted locations. You know, I'm looking for that one moment in the paranormal field they call the holy grail, like a full body apparition that's actually seeing the visage of like a full ghost or at least like torso up of an unidentifiable ghost. I haven't had that yet.

SPEAKER_01
5:58

So what place like gave you what what had the most like intense feeling? You know what I mean? Like what was your spookiest or scariest?

SPEAKER_00
6:06

The I would say there is a place in downtown Manitowak. It's called Dead by Dawn's. It is a scare BMB or uh Dead and Breakfast, and you can spend the night there. So the Dawn is the name of the lady that runs the place, and she was a formal former haunted attraction uh person. So she ran like haunted houses. So all of her the items that she had on display at these places are now inside of this building in downtown Manitowk. And I got to hook up with a paranormal uh investigative group and spend the evening and into the late night investigating that place, and that place is very, very active. And since we have our friend here from Sheboygan, the Sheboygan Asylum is also a very active place. And you you've been through that a number of times or before. Yeah, absolutely. I've I've gone on several tours and got to uh visit the property, uh, go with some more experienced people, and the really cool thing is the tour guides there, they have their own relationships with whatever resides there, whether it's a ghost entity, I'm not sure really sure where to put that, but it seems like when they go there, they get responses on their equipment, uh knocks on the wall, uh different lighting triggers lighting up when they ask questions. Uh very, very active place. So dead and breakfasts are a thing. It it is uh apparently in downtown Manitowak, it is.

SPEAKER_04
7:44

And people pay to stay overnight.

SPEAKER_00
7:46

People people spend the night there. They don't get paid to do it as a challenge or anything. You know, that would that would open up a new wrankle in a reality show. Maybe we can get Mr. Beast on the horn and we could get into that. But uh yeah, they have a suite in there with three different rooms that you can rent for the night. Um a friend of mine took one of the rooms. I actually slept out in the living room and just explored the place at night with the team, and it just very a lot of activity. No full body apparitions, a lot of um hits on the equipment, a lot of strange sounds, strange feelings in just kind of a strange place.

SPEAKER_04
8:27

Do you are there lights on or do you have like a headlight and what is what's the equipment setup when you're trying to find something?

SPEAKER_00
8:34

So you want to get your eyes to adjust to the surroundings, so you want to keep the lighting as low as possible. So if you have um like a tape recorder or some kind of EMF meter, that's gonna have a little bit of background light to it, so you can at least get where you are. But a lot of times people will do seances where they will just sit kind of vigil in the dark and wait for something to happen.

SPEAKER_04
8:58

Josh, have you had any paranormal experiences over there? Oh man.

SPEAKER_01
9:03

I don't I don't I can't think of anything.

SPEAKER_04
9:06

Nothing stands out. No. Okay, I wanna I wanna show you this video. Um, both you. So Bree and I were just peacefully recording uh a promo video for the Milwaukee County Zoo for their Cheers um Cheers Holiday Lights event, and I'm I'm uh on the train and then a weird sound comes up on on this thing. I'm curious if uh if you think it's it's something or or nothing. Do you think it you think it might be something, right? Or am I gonna look like a complete idiot? Okay.

SPEAKER_01
9:38

Wait, give us the background one more time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
9:40

Bree and I are just recording a pro Milwaukee Cup promo video for Cheers, which is like a adults' night at the zoo that got the holiday. Oh, Fisher's setup. Cool. Great, great event. We're gonna do it again this year. Yep. And I'm just sitting down on the train at the Milwaukee County Zoo, and I don't hear anything. And then I listen back to the video and I'm like, what the fuck was that? Let's hear it. You can uh I think the vol the volume should be up. You can just press press play.

SPEAKER_02
10:22

Or the train. Or you can ride the train with the beer.

SPEAKER_04
10:34

What what is that?

SPEAKER_00
10:37

You're laughing at me. I'm not sure what that is. It's probably the paranormal though.

SPEAKER_04
10:49

What is that noise? It was not me farting. Oh, I'd like to make that clear. See, I thought that you I thought you were pulling our leg, Jerry.

SPEAKER_01
10:57

Or your finger. I think that's a haunted elephant, right? Okay. The haunted elephant at the monkey zoo.

SPEAKER_04
11:10

Not like that. For me to squeeze into that type position, I'm a very stiff guy. Um do you think that was something or no?

SPEAKER_01
11:20

I think it's pretty wild to air your flatulences online. Is that bad? Paranormal activity.

SPEAKER_05
11:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_04
11:28

Um anyway, Josh. So that that was not a mind-blowing encounter to either of either of you two over there. Indetermined.

SPEAKER_01
11:40

Okay, I believe.

SPEAKER_04
11:41

I was I was looking for a little clarity on what happened there. Um, mystery is still out over at the zoo. Uh haunted bowels.

SPEAKER_01
11:48

In the haunted bowels of the zoo.

SPEAKER_04
11:50

Josh, before we uh get into some stories, how how did you come up with this whole cryptid series?

SPEAKER_01
11:55

Yeah, I mean, you know, at Three Cheeps, we just we love to celebrate our Wisconsinists, and so we're always looking for creative ways to do that. And you can only talk about, you know, cheese and sausage so much, and you know, all of our great sports teams. And so this is just another angle for us to kind of lean into our Wisconsinists. And Wisconsin is just full of awesome lore and stories. Uh, you know, I think the Northwoods of Wisconsin are just full of those, like, you know, those uh uh those oral stories that have lived on for you know forever. Um and so yeah, that's that's what this is all about. It's just a fun way for us to uh celebrate all the great stories in Wisconsin. And so we have a rich history of cryptids in Wisconsin. Gotta correct you, it's not cryptic, it's cryptids. They're called cryptids. Um uh and there's I mean, there's just so many. Um, and so that's what we're trying to do. So we had four this year. Obviously, the most well-known one is the hodeg of Rhinelander. That's when you see kind of all over Wisconsin, that's Wisconsin's claim to fame. Um, but we'll have three more next year. We're gonna do the hodeg again, but we'll have three more next year. And uh so yeah, it's just it's just been a fun kind of series to to work through.

SPEAKER_00
13:10

So you got jumped off with the hodeg. Yeah, and then he followed it up with the other big guy, Bigfoot. Yep. We rounded things off with the Beast of Ray Road, yep. And now you have the launching of the gnomes.

SPEAKER_01
13:22

The gnomes of Fife Field, yeah. So we wanted to do um, you know, the gnomes was kind of this light-hearted one, uh, very uh obscure, uh, but a fun one. So the gnomes are known for hiding in the woods and throwing stones at people if they get too close to kind of scare them away. Um, so that's a fun one. But yeah, obviously, you know, Bigfoot, uh, there's a ton of uh sightings of Bigfoot in Wisconsin, um, which has been fun. And then the Beast debray Road is is one that is uh really well known as actually was a Hollywood movie created about the Beast of Bray Road. And um I drove out there and and it's a very unassuming, just kind of country road. You wouldn't really think twice about it, but there is definitely like a feeling on that road. It was, I don't know, maybe I like psyched myself out, but like just driving on that like empty road, I don't know, and there's kind of this like creepy umbrella of trees that come over the top, and then you kind of turn this blind corner, and so I could totally see like how at night you kind of go around this corner and your headlights could catch something, you know, in the uh the tall grass there. So yeah, these have been fun for us.

SPEAKER_04
14:27

And in the last one, the gnomes, that beer comes out in November.

SPEAKER_01
14:30

Yeah, that's releasing in uh the first part of November, yep.

SPEAKER_04
14:33

Jeff, what do you want to dive into the gnomes over here?

SPEAKER_00
14:37

Have you ever heard about the gnomes in Fifield? Yeah, uh in the book, it was booked by Chad Lewis, Road Guide to Haunted Places in Wisconsin. Uh, he talks about the it's kind of a paranormal nexus because there is so many legends built up just about this place. It's called Holy Cross Road in Fifield, Wisconsin. Where is Fifield for those listening and myself? It's between Park Falls and Phillips and Price County. Is that way up there? So if you take if you go up to Rhinelander, visit the Hodag, instead of going right into Rhinelander on Highway A, you take a left and you head east towards Prentice, and then you go up north towards uh Park Falls, and it's between Park Falls and Phillips. And uh tiny little town, uh very unassuming, but they have the story of this haunted railroad track, and there's a paranormal dare involved, which I love that wrinkle. Whenever there's something that you can do to try to put yourself into the story, to interact, to try to to have uh an experience. So you're supposed to drive, go to Holy Crossroads, so it's kind of got a mystical name and park on the tracks, put your car in neutral, and it said that ghost children are supposed to push you to safety because when they were alive, they weren't so fortunate and they were killed on that track. Whether there's any validity to that story, I'm not sure, but it's built up enough legend around it. So that's a long way of saying that this is the place where the gnomes visit. There is a woods along that road, and it's said that if you get out of your car and you throw a rock into that woods, something will throw a rock back at you. Now I haven't done this there yet. I hope to soon. But uh, I would love to get uh a rock whipped out my head just for confirmation. But people say that the party responsible for that rock are the notes.

SPEAKER_04
16:45

Fascinating. So you go up there, you park your car on the railroad track, put it in neutral, hopefully get pushed to safety. Yes. And then go throw a rock in the woods to see what happens.

SPEAKER_00
16:58

Okay, we're in Northwoods of Wisconsin. A lot of people are bored. You know, you really can't tip a cow, uh, you know, much to Chris Farley's sugar and Tommy Boy. It's not not quite possible. But you can at least throw a rock at a gnome if you need something to do on a Friday night.

SPEAKER_04
17:15

You can. You can.

SPEAKER_01
17:16

Do you think that the gnomes are these like grumpy old men like we have depicted on our label? Uh you know, with big long white hair and big.

SPEAKER_00
17:23

I've heard they're your traditional uh gnome garb, as you would see in a garden. But I do like the artwork on the can. I think that that fits well.

SPEAKER_04
17:34

And um since you're releasing the hodeg again next year, and that's such a popular one. Do you want to touch on that? Yeah. The hodeg of Rylander. Which they got that was in Rhylander not too long ago. They got they got hodags all over the place. They got a big one in front of the Chamber of Commerce.

SPEAKER_00
17:50

Um there. Yes, the that's the big guy, and it's right there when you drive in. So the Rhinelander is known for the hodeg, and it comes from the lumbering days of Wisconsin, back when it was just a huge pine forest. And there was a guy by the name of Eugene Shepherd, he was a Chikol timber cruiser, and he would explore the Northwoods near Rhinelander looking for cuts of timber. He did a lot of the early maps and a lot of the surveys of the area. And then he would go to companies out east that were in native timber products, and then he would facilitate uh the transaction and take his cut of that. So he really fell in love with Rhinelander and he didn't want it to be just another soddist city where everything is just cut. He wanted to make it into a resort town. So he thought, what better way to get people there than to have its own monster? So it started as a lumberjack tale of this beast of the Northwoods that lumberjacks would encounter and people would go look for this thing. Well, Gene Shepherd, he decided to actually go out and hunt it. The first expedition, he actually killed one and burnt it to a crisp. But coincidentally enough, right before the inaugural Oneida County Fair in 1896, he captured one and he brought it to the fair and he put it in a darkened tent, and people came and they paid a dime to enter the tent to see this beast. Now, what the people encountered was a darkened tent with a thin tarp between it and a lot of growling and commotion. So people came out of that tent believing that there was a wild animal in there. So he kept the roost up for several years until he finally spilled it. You know, uh it wasn't really a hodag, but the hodag's still out there in the woods of Rhinelander, so come up to Rhinelander. The fishing's great, and if you you get squirrely, you can go look for a hodag.

SPEAKER_04
19:57

So I so I was curious, because yeah, he did actually bring some set up at a fair. Yes. But later at his house. No no one could see it? Was it some other kind of animal dressed up as a hodag or what from anything?

SPEAKER_00
20:12

From my interpretation, it was his kids on the other side. Um slapping at the tarp, making growling sounds, uh clanking around. And there's a modern interpretation of of the legend now. Uh my friend Carrie and Ben from uh Carrie from the Logging Museum, Ben from the Hodag store. Did you stop at the Hodag store while you're up there?

SPEAKER_04
20:34

I did not, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00
20:36

Yeah, next time through. But uh they have a new contraption where it is a a hodag in a crate and it makes all kinds of commotion. The kids absolutely love it. It lights up, it rumbles, smoke comes out, and he does a whole carnival barker act around it at the Hodeg Heritage Fest. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Josh, you were up there.

SPEAKER_01
21:00

Yeah, I I've experienced uh well, shout out to Ben. He uh I got to hang out with him for a couple hours and we were up there. Um, he actually put on a hoodeg costume and led me into the woods for a whole photo shoot. It was absolutely hilarious. That's great. I asked him to get into this like Burt Reynolds pose where he like laid down and like, you know. Um so that was great. Yeah, Ben is an awesome guy. But yeah, I saw the hot egg uh in the box, and it is just as frightening as uh as Jeff describes. It's pretty cool. And wall to wall, I mean hodeg, everything you can think of, wall to wall. Yes, in the shape of a hodeg or with a hodeg on it, or whatever. It was everything is pretty incredible, yeah. Great stop.

SPEAKER_04
21:39

Um, we're gonna get into some Milwaukee stuff, but Josh informed me about um Pepe. Pepe, yeah. The Lake Ma I'd never heard of the Mississippi monster. Yeah. So have you heard of this breeze?

SPEAKER_00
21:52

This is in your neck of the woods.

unknown
21:54

I think so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
21:55

So Lake Pepin is like a backwater of of um The Mid Mississippi River.

SPEAKER_04
22:01

By like Hudson, Wisconsin?

SPEAKER_00
22:03

Near there, yeah. I think it's just south. And sorry, my geography is not that great with a map. But it's along the river, along the border, because it borders both Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was actually where water skiing was invented. Uh just to put that in your hat. But there is uh supposedly this lake monster living in Lake Pepin, and they call him Pepe. And one of the the um boat operators there, like the river boat operators, um, actually sponsored a bounty that if you could uh provide proof of Pepi, you could win fifty thousand dollars. I believe that's got gone unclaimed.

SPEAKER_01
22:42

So it's still active though to this day. Yeah, I believe so.

SPEAKER_04
22:45

When did when did he bring that up?

SPEAKER_00
22:48

I think it was the mid-2000s. Okay. When when he officially launched that. Have there ever been any sightings or supposed sightings? I I believe there's sightings every year. Whether they're um credible, that's another story. Now there was a folklorist by the name of Charles E. Brown, and one of his quotes was a and this was the 1915, 1920s, he said, uh, a resort town without a lake monster is behind the times. And he kind of you know lifted the veil on the fact that a lot of people, just like Gene Shepherd in, you know, the 1890s with Rhinelander, a lot of people were attracting people to the area with this monster tourism, uh, you know, as we do today with uh with the beer kind of celebrate the folklore of the area. Nobody owns Bigfoot, nobody owns the hodag. But you know, if a product is fine as three sheeps wants to celebrate it on their cans, more the merrier. So Pepe's kind of like the the lachness monster of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Well, the funny thing is they're for just about every lake, including all of the lakes in Madison, they have their own resident, Lake Monster. Uh Winnie, Winnebago, Jenny, Lake Geneva. Creatively named. Very creative. Nessie for Loch Ness, Peppy for Peppin. What about the Man Bat of La Crosse? You must have checked out my Instagram.

SPEAKER_01
24:21

No, but that was crazy timing. I saw, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
24:25

That's funny because I just posted about that. You did today? No, uh earlier this week. Okay. Yep. So yeah, the man-bat of lacrosse. Um, a winged humanoid creature witnessed in, I think, 2006 by a couple native gentlemen, uh, just came upon their truck while driving down Briggs Road in Holman, Wisconsin, and had a freakish encounter with something they couldn't explain. The passenger in the truck, I believe that was a younger gentleman, um, he had a fit of nausea uh right after that. So they experienced something. And uh funny story is my sister lives in Holman now, and she had moved there in 2020 from from Phoenix, and you know, she just got settled in. I'm like, oh, have you heard about the Holman man bat on Briggs Road? She's like, I drive down Brick Road all the time. Don't joke about that. So um apparently it happened, it's out there, it's in the lore.

SPEAKER_01
25:24

So that's like a modern encounter, which is pretty unique, right? Yeah. I mean, what so what do you how do you what do you attribute that to? What did those people see in 2006?

SPEAKER_00
25:32

I mean, you know, a lot of people in they happen along Lake Michigan as well. So from where we're sitting down through Chicago, along, and they call it the Lake Michigan Mothman, and that is seen along the shores of Lake Michigan. A lot of people attribute it to misidentification of large birds, you know, cranes, heron, heron. I don't know if you've run into a crane in the wild, but they are very large birds and they make a terrifying noise. And I think that could be responsible, but you know, I like to hold out hope that there's something a little beyond the strange.

SPEAKER_04
26:07

But like 2005, was that all over the news then I'm guessing?

SPEAKER_00
26:11

Yeah. I'd have to pull the actual uh I read about it in Linda Gottfried's book, Yeah, Wisconsin Monsters, but 2005, that's still pre-camera phones and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04
26:22

Um, but like today you would think if if people see something, they're just gonna go like this, unless it's just in a flash almost.

SPEAKER_00
26:29

Yeah, in a lot of these encounters, a lot of people are stupefied and they won't have their faculties together enough to pull out their camera phone and take it. And some that do, you know, it just ends up as a blurry picture.

SPEAKER_01
26:44

It does seem like every encounter ends with a a picture that looks like it was shot on, you know, a crummy camera. Even now.

SPEAKER_00
26:54

There's there's a great Mitch Head Headberg joke about the Bigfoot just being a blurry creature walking through the woods. Rip in peace. Mitch Hedberg.

SPEAKER_04
27:05

Um, and then I mean one one more encrypted for next year, Wendigo of the North Woods.

unknown
27:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
27:14

So Chad Lewis, the guy that did the Wisconsin Guide, uh Road Guide to Haunted Places, he and his uh writing partner, Kevin Lee Nelson, they really went deep into the legend of the Wendigo. And even after writing the book, they felt like they just didn't know enough. So it is, I believe, an Algonquin tale of a large flesh-eating monster that roams the north woods of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada as well. And it is a winter creature. And uh Chad has done several seminars or talks on this creature, you know, showing his book. And the native people they do not like hearing that word, especially in the winter months, because they believe that just invoking its name could bring it into their presence. And there have been recent sightings really um in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, even during the summer months, uh, a couple young men at a summer camp way up in the Northwoods. Um I I can't remember the exact location at the moment, but they had what they uh thought was the Wendigo. They had seen it and then they looked into what it might be, and then the Wendigo stuff popped up and kind of confirmed it. And and Chad for the book interviewed them and he he felt like they were very credible in their story. Chad Chad believes this is real. I don't know if Chad believes it's real, but he believes that these kids experienced something they couldn't the Wendows Wendigo is kind of having its moment, huh?

SPEAKER_01
28:54

In pop culture and stuff. You see, I feel like you see more and more Wendigo's and like video games.

SPEAKER_00
28:59

The Wendigo uh amateur hockey team. Yeah as well.

SPEAKER_01
29:02

True, yeah. Is it uh is it Eagle River? I can't remember, but I know you are you are correct, yeah.

SPEAKER_04
29:10

Josh, how did you come up with these cryptids? Which ones to make beers of?

SPEAKER_01
29:15

Oh man, I mean, we tried to do some that are obviously well known, um, some that were a little more light-hearted, like the gnomes, um or like Peppy, you know, a little more lighthearted. Um, but yeah, just I don't know, just the ones that that caught my eye, I think that had um good stories behind them. Um, you know, encounter stories that people, you know, seem to be pretty legit, you know. So that's kind of how we picked them.

SPEAKER_04
29:40

Is there anything you guys do with the flavor depending on the the story?

SPEAKER_01
29:44

Yeah, so I mean, I'm just a marketing guy, so I don't get you know, I don't get into the science of brewing too much. Shout out to Dr.

SPEAKER_04
29:50

Nate over there as a fantastic name.

SPEAKER_01
29:53

Obviously, our owner, our brewmaster, Grant Polly. Um, but yeah, I mean he he's excited, especially this year, about going anywhere, you know, he's gonna fly out to Washington to Yakima Valley and pick out hops specifically for these this next set of cryptid beers, and he wants to kind of match their personalities with the hops and you know, all that kind of stuff, and kind of build it to the character that is gonna be on the label. So, yeah, he's really excited about that.

SPEAKER_04
30:17

Jeff, um, what is your favorite Milwaukee area story? Hey everyone, hope you're enjoying this episode. Just a reminder that the fall is a fantastic place to enjoy the foliage and also get your life together, and that means looking at your finances. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. If you need help with your finances, reach out to our good friends over at Annex Wealth Management. Know the difference. That is annexwealth.com. annexwealth.com. All right, let's get back with Josh and Jeff.

SPEAKER_00
31:04

One of my favorites is one that you can experience on any given day in Milwaukee, and that is the St. Joan of Arc Chapel on Marquette's campus. I know Richie's a Marquette alum, so I will ask you have you visited the chapel?

SPEAKER_04
31:22

I have been in the chapel, yeah, right on campus there.

SPEAKER_00
31:25

Okay, and then have you touched the Joan of Arc's stone? I've not touched the stone. You need to you need to touch the stone. Okay. So just to back up, the St. Joan of Arc's Chapel is the oldest building in Wisconsin. It is an import from France, and from that name, um, we know that it is associated with St. St. Joan of Arc by legend. It said that she visited the chapel in the Rhone Valley and she prayed to the Mother Mary. And when she was done praying, she kissed the stone that she was kneeling on. So that chapel was disassembled. It was brought to New York by a railroad magnate's daughter. Upon her death, it was acquired by a philanthropist that thought a great place for it would be right there on the Marquette campus. So they reconstructed it there, and uh they brought in that altar stone and they put it in a wall niche. Now, the interesting thing about that stone is that if you lay your hands on the St. Joan of Arc stone, it is discernibly colder than the surrounding stonework. And I've done it. I don't know if it's just a trick of the imagination. There was a very nice docent showing it off, so I didn't want to like pull out like a thermometer and being like, is this thing really colder? I'm gonna debunk this right now. I didn't do that, but uh I definitely feel like it it felt colder. So I would say to anybody to uh visit the chapel just for the historical sake, uh beautiful old chapel, and then to experience that stuff.

SPEAKER_04
33:06

I've actually not been inside of it before. Okay. I was thinking of J Zoo, which is the very old church on Marquette's campus, but the chapel is yeah, it's tucked away behind the library and in that you know, nice, nice green area.

SPEAKER_00
33:17

Yeah, nice little quad area. Yeah. It's beautiful, and it's it's kind of unexpected because you're in downtown Milwaukee, you walk through a couple buildings, and then you're in this beautiful green area. This old French chapel is just sitting there in the courtyard. And you'll have to check the hours before you go to make sure that you know it's going to be open. But uh it's something that I would say any Milwaukee or somebody visiting Milwaukee should check out.

SPEAKER_01
33:44

Richie told me that he's afraid of chapels because the possibility of bursting in the flames when he steps in.

SPEAKER_04
33:51

I'm afraid of a lot of things that was not top of mind, but uh good good to know now.

SPEAKER_00
33:57

Going to your Catholic schools and um, you know, a Catholic college definitely can develop some phobias over the years, I can say from personal experience.

SPEAKER_04
34:06

Yeah. Yeah. Um what what about the little people of Muskego? That gets some buzz around this area.

SPEAKER_00
34:12

Yes, and that is probably one of my favorites, and that's just a step outside of Milwaukee. So that is in Muskego, a neighboring uh what what would you say? A sub a Milwaukee suburb, yeah. So right by New Berlin. You know, I think this one really cropped up in the 1980s, a place called Mystic Drive in Moskegos. So it already has kind of a spooky notion. It said that if you drive down to the end of Mystic Drive, you'll be greeted by a colony of little people. Now, the story behind the little people is they were retired circus folk. Some say that they were they were disgruntled workers in the circus and they killed the ringmaster. Um, and then they moved to Mosquego, moved in, and there was a farmer on the land. They killed and hung the farmer in the barn there. So there's a lot of spookiness there. Uh at one point there was stone huts there that may have contributed to legend. I think those um those were connected to some of the Finnish settlers that came to Milwaukee um in the mid-1800s. And I think that's kind of what explains them. And then some people say, well, there's uh waist-high stop signs, and uh the best one is there was an albino uh gentleman that guards the end of Mystic Drive to the place called Haunchyville. And that's the name of the colony of little people, Haunchyville. And that's what it's known for. You know, unfortunately, over the years, Mystic Drive has been populated by large estates, uh you know, multi-acre mansions down there. So a lot of the mystique has kind of worn off, but the folklore uh still rings through. And that would probably be a cool beer as well, Josh. What what time period did this take place allegedly? So people would legend trip there in like the eighties or nineties and head down there and search around for the haunches. The first time I heard about the legend was in a book called Weird Wisconsin, and that came out in the early 2000s, and that's when it kind of really came into prominence. I know somebody who grew up in uh Big Bend, and it was well known in high school as kind of uh a place to head on a Friday night for what they called a fright night, uh, where they could go check out something spooky and maybe get a little thrill. Um, and a co-host of mine on the Wisconsin Legends podcast, we did a full one-hour episode on it. Uh, he grew up in Big Bend and he went down to the end of Mystic Drive into Haunchyville, and he went with uh I think his buddy and two girls, and while he was walking down there, uh one of those big birds, not the Mothman, but a crane, uh spooked him and he ran back to the car. And he tells it on the podcast, it's a hilarious story.

SPEAKER_04
37:24

So did they think it was still inhabited by little people then?

SPEAKER_00
37:30

I I think by that time it was well known that the little people may have moved on. Okay. But there was a lot of people that said, yeah, it's it's an abandoned colony.

SPEAKER_04
37:40

So there were no no official sightings of them? No. Okay. Not to my knowledge. What about any um you said the the rave? The rave in Milwaukee. Yeah. It's very popular venue.

SPEAKER_00
37:56

Would people know Rave, they call it the Rave or Eagles Ballroom. It was originally an Eagles Club, it had bowling alley, boxing room, gym, the swimming pool down there, which I think you can still like go into almost not full of water, but it looks cool. A lot of the bands will that visit will do like a photo shoot in the pool, and they'll sign their names along the top of top of the wall. And it's just kind of a creepy uh vibe down there. They open it up for Halloween for ghost tours. Um, the sad reality is though, a 15-year-old boy did die in that pool, and they say that his ghost still haunts it. What year did that take place? Uh, I don't have the era at all. I think it was probably the 1940s, if I had to guess.

SPEAKER_03
38:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00
38:46

So the rave was around back then. It was yeah, it under it wasn't the rave, it was the Eagles Club. So it was a fraternal order of the Eagles who inhabited it. Interesting. And had all of the amenities as kind of a private club, and then eventually it was a music venue.

SPEAKER_01
39:08

You know what I want to hear more about? I want to hear more about the Pfister. Because I know that like sports teams, there are like people who professional athletes who will refuse to stay in that place because they've had encounters that they can't, you know.

SPEAKER_00
39:24

Now, Fister Hotel, that yeah, incredible place, beautiful old world design, Victorian era. It is gorgeous in there. 1893. Yeah, even if you don't stay there and you're in Milwaukee, just pop in and walk through the lobby. I last time I was in Milwaukee, I just popped in and just like roamed the floors until somebody asked me what I was doing.

SPEAKER_04
39:44

Yeah, and I mean Mason Street Grill's a good spot in there. You can take the elevator up all the way up to blue, maybe the best view in the city up there.

SPEAKER_00
39:51

Yeah, it's it's uh a gorgeous old hotel, but it is also in fine accommodations, and that's why it is the choice um housing for the visiting teams for both the Brewers and the Bucks, and a lot of famous uh MLB players in particular. Now, baseball players are probably your most superstitious of all athletes, maybe golfers there too, but very routine-oriented, very superstitious, very, very matter-of-fact. So the fact that they do it is is kind of um it's on par for for them. But um Bryce Harper famously uh stayed there and was spooked out enough that I believe he moved rooms. Mookie bets, he absolutely refuses to stay there and seeks other accommodations while in Milwaukee. Now, if I could ask one favor of Charles Pfister, the proprietor who said to haunt there, is if the Dodgers end up coming in the playoffs to Milwaukee, please, Mr. Pfister, why don't you give Joey Otani a hell of a night? Especially if you see it. We might need that. Because we will need that. We will need that. Let's ruin their sleep, I agree.

SPEAKER_04
41:11

Did they have any very weird encounters?

SPEAKER_00
41:14

So um Bryce Harper said that clothing and furniture was even moved around his room. And I believe when Carlos Gomez, former brewer, when he stayed there as uh a twin when he was with Minnesota before he came to Milwaukee, he also had an encounter there where um I believe stuff was moved in his room. Um a lot of times electronics glitch unexpectedly, um, footsteps in rooms, just uh lights flickering, all kinds of crazy paranormal phenomenon in the old fister.

SPEAKER_04
41:51

Yeah, it's funny. We had an episode with the brewer's wives a few weeks ago, and one of one of them refused to stay here one night before her husband got traded to the brewers when they were in town.

SPEAKER_00
42:01

Yeah. Yeah. And I wouldn't deter anybody from staying there because it's world-class accommodations, beautiful old hotel. And I guess for me, if I had a ghost encounter, it'd just be a bonus.

SPEAKER_04
42:12

You got anything on our neighbor Shakers down the street?

SPEAKER_00
42:15

Yeah, Shakers is an old cigar bar. Um it's I believe it was a barrel stave mill before it was um before prohibition um you know, barreling. And it was apparently owned by Al Capone and his brother. You know, it's unverifiable whenever a high-profile gangster owns something, it's not gonna be in his name, right? But that is at least the legend is that Capone was uh one of the owners of it. Uh apparently Jeffrey Dahmer stayed there, and then uh there is supposed to be a ghost of a little girl, and her name's Elizabeth that haunts the bathrooms there. So Brie, next time you're there, stay out of the ladies' room. They even named a martini after her, the little Elizabeth, the Elizabeth Raspberry Martini. Have people reported any any encounters with her, or it's just rumored. Knocking on the stalls while they're using them. Um some people report to actually have seen the little girl. Um, I guess take that for what it's worth. And, you know, speaking of a little girl, you know, knocking on the doors, uh seeing the little girl, but that's the main one. Apparently in the basement they have also had um activity with a malicious spirit. Somebody not so happy. Kind of activity with the malicious spirit. You know, a lot of times in paranormal, I can't speak to spit shakers, that would be being pushed, being scratched, uh, even hearing disembodied voices that um yell at you and uh Smoky apparitions actually coming with the cigar haze while people are smoking. Um wispy uh figures appearing within that smoke.

SPEAKER_04
44:10

And being in this world, do you have a lot of friends or people who have had these ghost encounters and have actually been pushed or shoved before?

SPEAKER_00
44:19

You know, I've had people that have been scratched for sure. Some people that, yeah, they say that like they were knocked off balance by something or they've had cold rushes of stuff coming through them, uh, people seeing full body apparitions. Uh yeah. So just kind of not like you're getting in a fist fight with something you can't see that doesn't really happen in real life. I don't think you're gonna get knocked out or go like 10 rounds with Tyson on with a ghost, but you know, you might have uh something push you, knock you off balance, or um a lot of people with um you know more vestibular things with something rushing through them and losing balance. Yeah. Yeah. Josh, you have any more you'd like to know about?

SPEAKER_01
45:02

I just I think that the knocking on the stalls is one of the more frightening things that you know an entity could do. Especially that just feels like it just feels like such a private moment and like you're still vulnerable. Like that always freaks me out. I mean, you that's like uh you know, that's like a cliche in horror movies, right?

SPEAKER_00
45:20

You're in the stall and then you see feet and stuff, and oh no, that's yeah, I I seek out this stuff, but the one place I don't want to encounter it, like, is in my bedroom.

SPEAKER_04
45:30

Yeah, it's like just because you could never sleep in there again, or no, it's just like that's kind of my sanctuary.

SPEAKER_00
45:36

It's where I would that's where I want to stay. I didn't want anybody up in my business while you know, trying to get disease. And uh the Maxwell Mansion, Lake Geneva. I stayed there with my wife. Um there is Is it is it a bed and breakfast, a dead and breakfast?

SPEAKER_04
45:53

What is the Maxwell Mansion?

SPEAKER_00
45:55

Maxwell Mansion is uh it was a private residence by a doctor in Maxwell, and since then it has been turned into more of a a bed and breakfast without the the breakfast. So just a uh a fancier hotel in downtown Lake Geneva, and then they have the stables in the back. Now the stables weren't part of the original structure, it used to be like a roadside motel, but they converted it and kind of um incorporated it into the main, and that's where we stayed in the the stables. And uh my wife, me and my wife were there, and the first night went to sleep. Um my wife woke up in the the middle of the night, she's laying on her side, and she felt a hand touch her back, and it was so distinct that she thought it was me. She turned you you were you were in bed with her, I'm guessing. Yeah, so she was facing, so she would have been facing left, I would have been facing right, yep, and then she rolls over to see like what's up, and turns around and I'm sound asleep facing the other direction. Nope. Yeah. Wow. But she's had more paranormal encounters than me, and she doesn't go looking for the stuff. So are you pissed off about that? A little jealous. You gotta be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
47:12

What else has happened to her?

SPEAKER_00
47:14

Is that the worked in she worked in a hospital? She's a she's a nurse practitioner, but she was also uh a a nurse for a while, and she it was a hospital in Madison, and she was walking through an abandoned part of uh an old pediatric unit, and she had felt something on her ankle, and when she got home, she had scratches on her ankle from something inside that hospital. Dude, no. And she was she was just scratches. This was on night on a night shift. She when we first met, she worked a lot of overnight. So she came home and said, You will not believe this. And in that same unit, uh there was a an out a door that went outside, and there was a bell from the outside to that door. So, like if somebody was making a delivery, they'd ring the bell. So several times uh that bell would ring, they would open the door immediately, and nobody would be there. Stop it. Really? Yeah. Hospitals are wild, man. You know, I think just uh the emotion coming through there, the amount of deaths, uh just a primer for spirit activity. Especially in a pediatrics area. She she was, yeah. She's she is now a nurse practitioner and pediatrics.

SPEAKER_01
48:41

The words night shift and abandoned should never be in the same sense. I don't want to go anywhere on the night shift, anything abandoned.

SPEAKER_00
48:47

And abandoned may have been a strong word. It was just like uh the decommissioned, they weren't using the space anymore for pediatrics, but yes, still pediatrics. So some people just die and their spirit hangs around. I would think that's the the most popular opinion is that yeah, they don't you know, either an impression of who they were in this life remains there, or possibly like a lost soul, which is incredibly sad when if you think of children. Other people think that uh maybe more malevolent entities like to be around death and dying. And I'm not sure what to make of that, but that's uh that is a theory.

SPEAKER_04
49:35

Any anywhere else in Milwaukee that is haunted?

SPEAKER_00
49:39

Grant Park. We talked about that as a great place to do a fall hike. Seven Bridges Trail. Seven Bridges Trail. Gorgeous. It's supposed to be haunted. So the um the entry bridge, have you ever heard the entry bridge?

SPEAKER_04
49:53

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've I've I've been over there several times.

SPEAKER_00
49:55

Enter this wild wood and view the haunts of nature, which I just love because it kind of evokes some emotion. But apparently, each one of the bridges has their own story of some kind of entity or encounter. Unfortunately, some people have taken their lives there and may haunt that woods. I've heard uh scream, people reporting screams from the beach, and they go there thinking that they're gonna find somebody in distress, and there's absolutely no one.

SPEAKER_01
50:27

But you were there.

SPEAKER_04
50:28

Did you encounter anything? I have not. I've been I've been there several times. Grant and I had a had a beer on the beach, which is more pleasant than hearing someone screaming and walking over there and not seeing anything. So um wait for the sun to set and then go. Yeah, no, I I have not I haven't been there like at night or anything. I've just been there during during the day. Yeah, we've we've been over there. It's it's a great spot. Nice little golf course by there too, and a nice beach as well.

SPEAKER_01
50:57

Yeah. So Jeff, you've never had like this you know, mountaintop experience. Yeah. Do you feel like how do you feel like you'd really react? Because it's like one thing to like abstractly, you know, be involved in this stuff and like be curious, but like when something like that were to if something like that were to actually happen, how do you prepare yourself for that?

SPEAKER_00
51:17

You know, I've had enough encounters with this stuff that I guess I would have more, I'm I'm guessing I would have kind of a more kind of wonder, like being like, oh my God, like encountering this, and kind of maybe like not quite in your body experience, be like, is am I experiencing what I'm experiencing? Because and I've had I've had you know several encounters with you know things I couldn't explain. Like the closest thing I've had to like an apparition is like I've saw like a glimmering haze of something, and this was also in an abandoned hospital. It was a hospital, and then it was also a nursing home after that. And that was preceded by a loud metallic bang. And that was uh I was with a group of people and I thought somebody was putting putting it on, and uh there was nothing around us that would make that noise, like a like loud hollow sheet metal, like somebody kicked like a like a ductwork. Do you get terrified during any of this stuff? Or are you pretty chill? I'm pretty chill. Um, you know, there are there are times that you do get the hackles up on your neck, um, you get an uneasy feeling. But you kind of like that. You definitely go in seeking that for sure. Because you you are trying to encounter whatever is there, or else you wouldn't do this. But yeah, there are times where it's you you get a little anxious and you get a little disturbed.

SPEAKER_04
52:57

Are there like any low-hanging fruit encounters around Wisconsin where you have a higher probability of having that experience, and then some that you're kind of like, oh, this probably isn't gonna happen at all, but like let's chase it because it would be something.

SPEAKER_00
53:14

The the Sheboygan Asylum would definitely be up there just because you know it's publicly accessible. A lot of this stuff is either you know close to the public, private residence, or maybe it's not um open at night, but you know, places that have a specific, you know, aim to experience that stuff. Old Baraboo Inn in Baraboo, obviously, also has a lot of uh legends about um that was another place that was purportedly owned or at least visited by El Capone. Um a lot of murder in Mayhem, uh a lot of just kind of unbridled crime has happened in that area, and you know, back when we were the wild, wild west out here.

SPEAKER_01
54:02

So that's just downtown Baraboo. Downtown Baraboo, yeah. There's some circus law around Baraboo, too, right? Only a couple bunches.

SPEAKER_04
54:08

Yeah, it's a cute little downtown.

SPEAKER_00
54:10

Yeah, they they've done a lot. Um, they've I believe the Wisconsin Historical Society bought the theater, the Al Wrinkling Theater. Um, there is a brewery that there now, they make their own beer. Um the uh interesting story there is when they were renovating the Al Wrangling mansion, which is now the brewery, um, they found uh a box hidden beneath the floorboards that had an old Bavarian beer recipe. So now that is one of their beers that is um that that they brew. I tried just randomly in this house. But it it was yeah, the wringlings and apparently somebody left uh their beer recipe there. That's cool. I'm not sure. I can't remember exactly who they attributed to that, but it was a family beer recipe for the ringlings. And uh have you been there? I have not. Okay, but I tried the beer, it was very the old world bavarian taste. Yeah, not not really my cup of tea for beer, but you know, to some people that might be kind of kind of a stale schlitzer papst tape flavor.

SPEAKER_04
55:16

Do you have like a favorite uh true story that happened in Wisconsin?

SPEAKER_00
55:22

So I don't know how true it is, but my favorite story from Wisconsin is 1961, Eagle River. Now you've been up to Eagle River, uh resort community, but if you get off the beaten path, off of the main lakes, it's very rural, it's very like cabinet, resorty. Um 1961, there was a guy, he was a plumber and a chicken farmer, and he lived out in the country. His name was Joe Simonton. Real person, real person, okay. Uh you can actually see videos of this gentleman talking about his encounter. But what his encounter was, is uh it's about midday on an April day, he's outside, and a circular craft that he described as being brighter than chrome came down and landed, but not quite, just hovered on his property. Out pops a latch or a hatch, and an occupant steps out, and he's holding a jug that looks like water. And uh he's kind of waving in at Joe. Joe walks over and thinks, okay, this guy wants some water. He's not really sure what to think about this at the moment. So he retrieves the jug, fills it up, returns it to the occupant. And while he is making this exchange, Joe Simonton being a plumber, he's a mechanical guy. He looks inside the craft and he sees another occupant at what looks like a flat top grill. And he's making what looks like pancakes. And he says something to the effect of what you make in there. So the other occupant takes these off of the griddle and hands them to Joe Simonton. And uh they look like almost like coasters, they're very thin, um, but almost pancake-like. And people have said these are pancakes from outer space, and that's Joe Simonton's experience. And he actually kept the cakes, he actually tried a bite out of one, and this was back in the 1960s. So there was a lot of kind of um homebrew uh uh UFO, there's a lot of UFO settings around the Cold War um UFO societies, and somebody retrieved one of those cakes, sent it off to be tested. It seemed to be just like a regular buckwheat pancake, but uh its origins are unknown. Uh as far as Joe Simon, if you watch the the newsreel clippings of Joe Siminton, it sounds like he is forthright. He's a very soft-spoken guy, very metered, very logical. And whatever he experienced that day, I believe he experienced it. I don't know what to make of it, but it's uh one of my favorite stories from Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_04
58:20

I'm an you know about this.

SPEAKER_01
58:22

I don't know, but I'm thinking that that's either a great beer name or a great band name, Pancakes from Outer Space.

SPEAKER_00
58:27

That's that that definitely has to make it into your cryptid.

SPEAKER_04
58:30

That's a good one. So I'm I'm envisioning like a flying saucer.

SPEAKER_00
58:34

That's how he described it, almost like yeah.

SPEAKER_04
58:36

He said Did he say how big the inhabitants were? Was it tiny? Was it?

SPEAKER_00
58:41

I'm glad you asked that because he said that they were they were small men with a swarthy complexion. What is swarthy would be like a dark, he he called he referred to them as Italian-looking men. So like uh Mediterranean-looking guys, but they were they were smaller than him. If you look up Joe Simonton, he's kind of like a big burly dude that you'd see like up north Wisconsin, right? Uh real round face, he was probably mid-50s at the time, balding, heavier set guy. And these guys were a lot smaller. They were wearing jumpsuits and hats, and he he referred to them as Italian looking.

SPEAKER_01
59:23

That's pretty bold of him to walk up to these. I mean, that's that takes curves.

SPEAKER_00
59:27

The guy waved the waved the jug, and you know, it's just a Midwest courtesy. You know, would Midwest night somebody needs something, you're gonna get it for them, right? They didn't look like aliens. They didn't look like little green. And this was before the time of like the little green men trope.

SPEAKER_04
59:44

Are you thinking they were like if he's a big guy, are you thinking they were like five, five, five, or are they like two feet tall? Do you think that's a few more?

SPEAKER_00
59:51

I would say closer to because he didn't say like they looked otherworldly, he just said they were small, yeah Italian-looking guys. So I I would think probably like you know, like low fives.

SPEAKER_04
1:00:02

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00
1:00:04

And you know, I think if he experienced something, it may have been like some kind of government test craft, and these guys needed the water for something, but you know, they've since then we haven't released any craft that looks like that.

unknown
1:00:19

That we know of.

SPEAKER_00
1:00:21

Well, I mean, to the public, right? So that's probably my favorite story of this nature from Wisconsin. You get you got anything else you want to tell us before we let you go here? No, I think we covered a lot of ground. Um I would say to anybody who's interested in this stuff, Milwaukee has three ghost walks uh done by American Ghost Walks. Uh let's see, they got Third Ward, Brady Street, and City Hall or the shadows of City Hall. Uh hop on one of those, see what you have to learn. We got the Milwaukee Paracon coming up, I believe that's October 18th. That's at Kachansky's this year. So a new venue, smaller, more intimate venue. Kachansky's in Stallus, I think. I think so, yeah.

SPEAKER_04
1:01:08

I think that's wrapped by the dog shelter.

SPEAKER_00
1:01:10

Um volunteer over there anyway. My are you gonna be there? I'll be there speaking.

SPEAKER_05
1:01:14

Nice.

SPEAKER_00
1:01:15

Not sure what I'm gonna talk about, but it's it's on the agenda. Yeah, it's always always a great event. It's free to the public. So come out, you know, if you're interested in this stuff. Lots of people to talk to about this, a lot of literature, a lot of local lore that you can learn.

SPEAKER_04
1:01:29

What are what are you uh what are you chasing this fall?

SPEAKER_00
1:01:32

Or are you going anywhere? Not specifically. I just wrapped up my uh ghost paddles and my ghost pontoon and you know, just kind of gonna hit a couple. Um, there is a another event in Green Bay called Potography. I know you like the the dogs, um, that goes to uh one of the local shelters there, all the proceeds. So I'll I'll be donating my time as far as um giving a presentation and you know talking about um spooky stuff. So it's a paranormal conference slash benefit. Very photographs, yeah.

SPEAKER_04
1:02:08

Cool. Josh, when when does the gnomes of Fiftfield drop?

SPEAKER_01
1:02:13

That one is releasing uh in November. So that'll be the fourth, the fourth beer completing the set for those who have been collecting them. We'll be releasing in November, and then we'll have four more uh next year. So that's a nice label.

SPEAKER_04
1:02:28

You guys won all IPAs this year, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01
1:02:30

Yeah, I mean these these 16 ounces are usually our like our foray into um you know kind of like that premium IPA yeah um kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00
1:02:40

It's uh can you give us a teaser on the on maybe maybe a reveal or a teaser for the next cryptid in the season?

SPEAKER_01
1:02:49

Well we did them all already, actually. So next year we're doing the Wendigo of the Northigo, okay. Uh Peppy and Lake Monster. Okay. And um Running the Back Code Dag. Yep, running back code egg, and then the man bad of the cross.

SPEAKER_00
1:03:01

Oh, you are doing the man bad.

SPEAKER_01
1:03:02

Yep. Awesome. Yep, yep. So that's uh leak, we're leaking that now. Because of the first people in here. All right.

SPEAKER_04
1:03:10

That was a fun one. Hope to have you back sometime. Alright everyone, thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of Milwaukee Uncut before signing off to someone thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. Three sheeps, the beer Wisconsin drinks, drink Wisconsin with the beverage company in ex wealth management in Nicolella.

SPEAKER_01
0:00

Our first stop was Culver's. Unfortunately it was a Friday night so it was busy so I had to wait for an hour. And then we went to the high school football game.

SPEAKER_04
0:06

Clean bathrooms.

SPEAKER_01
0:07

The bathrooms are immaculate. That was nice. Normally you go into like a gas station bathroom and you just kind of like brace yourself.

SPEAKER_04
0:13

The food isn't that great.

SPEAKER_01
0:16

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_00
0:17

Uh oh. You're gonna anger people.

SPEAKER_04
0:19

Bumpy roads.

SPEAKER_00
0:21

Are they bumpy outside of Milwaukee or just in Milwaukee?

SPEAKER_01
0:24

I think it was kind of all over the show a little bit.

SPEAKER_04
0:26

Just through the wo Wisconsin state.

SPEAKER_01
0:28

But Milwaukee's probably worse. And I kind of have to be like, oh, coming up.

SPEAKER_00
0:32

It went through your mind in the Wisconsin Delps.

SPEAKER_04
0:36

We were kind of like, what is this place?

SPEAKER_01
0:38

Kind of like half town, half amusement park, half fair ground. Like every every store looked like it was, I think there was a store that just did like cheese croquet.

SPEAKER_00
0:50

Hey guys, welcome back to Milwaukee on Cut. Um, so Bree and I decided to make the very wise decision to go up to Minneapolis for the Vikings Packers game a couple weeks ago, which um, you know, it was a it was a disaster. Not only did the Packers lose, but we went up there to get content, and then um, you know, we go into the stadium, which by the way, very nice stadium. Need to give it to the Vikings. Doesn't have the tailgate atmosphere Lambeau does, but night, nice stadium. So we uh, you know, we get it get in and uh sit down, and then Cody, our editor, texts us about midway through the second quarter, and we, you know, we want to get those clips out as quick as possible while the motions are high during the game and uh informed us that the mics were not working well on about 60 to 70 percent of what we got. Um, so not only did that happen, then then we all know what happened in the game. I don't need to rehash any of that. Big win against the Jets last week, and hopefully we take care of business against the Falcons. But something good did happen. We we got to meet uh two Packer fans from New Zealand that were in town, Katie and Grayson, and then we found out they were coming to Milwaukee a couple days later, the Tuesday after the game. So we met up with them, took them around a little bit, and then had them on the podcast to talk all about their experience. They went to Green Bay before Minneapolis, then went to Milwaukee. They were in New York before that. They're kind of going all around, all around the country for seven weeks. So they were great to hang out with. Got to have them in here. It's a fun episode, and it was awesome. Spending time with those two. And before diving in, I just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. We'll kick it off with Annex Wealth Management. The fall is a great time to get your life together, and that means taking a hard look at your finances too and finishing the year strong. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around the Milwaukee area that helps you with everything from retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. That is Annex Know the Difference, AnnexWealth.com. Next, we got Nikolay Law, the Midwest Law firm injured. Get Nikolay and Russell and the team will take great care of you, including, including, but not limited to if you get injured on any of the quote bumpy roads that we have around Milwaukee and Wisconsin. That was that was a quote from uh from Katie on this episode. They're not used to to bumpy roads in New Zealand, apparently. If you end up in an accident, give Nicolay a call. And I mean, if you're looking for a nice canned old fashioned this fall, great time of year for an old-fashioned or 10, like our friend Nate Moody, drink Wisconsin Obliv Beverage Company, best vodka, brandy, and canned cocktails in the game, available at bars and liquor stores across the state. And in the corner bar and right field over at Ampham, perfect for hopefully a deep brewers playoff run that is Drink Wisconsinably Beverage Company. All right, let's dive in with our New Zealand friends, Grayson and Katie.

SPEAKER_04
3:58

Kyoda from New Zealand.

SPEAKER_00
4:01

Randomly ran into you guys. I think I I think I approached you on the street in Minneapolis. Um we don't need to rehash what happened that afternoon, but it was an honor meeting you two. You you were here. Um you've you've been in in the States for a little while. You were in Green Bay, Minneapolis, now now Milwaukee for over 24 hours. And um, yeah, I we've never had I I have personally never met anyone from New Zealand, and I don't know if we ever had any foreigners on the show. Um who have just been passing through town? Oh no, yeah, I don't think so. So well uh welcome. Yeah, I mean, first time for everything. Thank you. It's been fun. It's nice seeing you guys this morning popping by, and um yeah. We were just at Sobelman's in Great Lakes Distillery.

SPEAKER_01
4:52

Yep. It was a guy it was a great little experience. Uh thanks for taking us along.

SPEAKER_00
4:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
4:57

I had my first Bloody Mary.

SPEAKER_00
4:59

What'd you what'd you think? Had you heard of Bloody Marys before coming over here?

SPEAKER_04
5:03

I I'd heard of them, but I've never had one. And I liked it.

SPEAKER_00
5:08

Did you think there would be a cheeseburger coming out of it?

SPEAKER_04
5:10

I didn't expect that.

SPEAKER_00
5:13

You didn't like it as much.

SPEAKER_01
5:15

No, I mean, I used to work in a bar and I've made them before and I've tried them. Uh to be fair, this one was a little bit nicer than this. I I don't really like it, but the kind of display of all the food sitting on top was pretty good, but not for me.

SPEAKER_00
5:28

We didn't get the one with the entire chicken in it. We just got the one with the cheeseburger, some celery, some shrimp, sausage, cheese. Yeah, it was like a whole meal over there at Silverman. So that was uh I think that was the lowest end one you could get to, or maybe one one above from there. Um how's the states been so far?

SPEAKER_01
5:49

Yeah, no, it's been good. It's been good. Um obviously our first couple days were in New York and that was chaotic. And then obviously we've traveled up to we traveled up to obviously Wisconsin. And uh we originally planned to go to a game at Lambo, but then the schedule came out, and then we had to kind of shift our plans, and that's when we met you guys in Minnesota.

SPEAKER_04
6:11

Um we stopped in Green Bay. We did stop in Green Bay, and we did the Lambeau Stadium tour.

SPEAKER_01
6:17

That's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
6:18

What was it like seeing a Lambeau? Okay, and um Grayson, you're you're a big Packer fan. Yes, very big. Yeah, and that's that's why you guys came to Wisconsin in the first place?

SPEAKER_01
6:29

Pretty much, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
6:30

Why are you a Packer fan?

SPEAKER_01
6:32

Uh I started watching football with my friends probably 10 or so years ago, and it was during the Rodgers era. Um, Aaron Jones is playing, and I just love the team, and I kind of stuck with it. So um you also don't have any outside influence when you're in New Zealand because we don't have football there at all. So you kind of just gravitate towards the team and you stick with it.

SPEAKER_00
6:53

How do you even find it or watch the games there? Um you said 17 hours ahead of the game.

SPEAKER_01
7:00

Yeah, yeah. So originally you couldn't really you'd have to like find a legal stream and watch it or something like that. Um, but now Disney Plus has everything available for like ESPN. So we can just kind of watch Red Zone. But it is awkward because it is during work hours. So I kind of just hope I'm in the office and I pull it up on my second screen.

SPEAKER_00
7:18

But I'll on Monday morning.

SPEAKER_01
7:20

On a Monday morning, yeah. Uh sometimes if we have to wake up, I wake up at like five o'clock um before my normal wake-up time, and I'll just start watching the games in bed while Caitlin's asleep.

SPEAKER_00
7:30

Yeah, and you and your friends is is your you have a podcast. Is it specifically about football, or do you guys just talk about that?

SPEAKER_01
7:37

Uh it's specifically about football, yeah. The tackle American football. Tackle for loss podcast, yeah. Um we talk about American football, and that's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_00
7:45

And for those listening, we're coming off our week one loss against against the Vikings in in your your your mates. Do you call them mates or friends or what do you want to do?

SPEAKER_05
7:54

Yeah, mates, friends, yeah.

SPEAKER_04
7:55

Bros. Burros.

SPEAKER_00
7:57

Oh, so you use you use some American term terms over there. Okay, great. Um, they rated the Packers second to last in the NFC. They did, yeah. Uh without my influence, I don't really have it. We should phone, we should see if we can get one of them on the line to explain them. That'd be funny. We should see if we can do that to have them explain themselves. Um yeah, um, so Green Bay, did you fly into Chicago and then drive up?

SPEAKER_01
8:20

Yeah, just rented a car, drove, drove up. Um, and I'll uh we drove up in the afternoon, and I kind of had a plan for a month because it was on a Friday night. Uh our first stop was Culver's after we got to ABB, so we dropped our bags off, went to Culver's. Unfortunately, it was a Friday night, so it was busy, so we had to wait for an hour. Um that's wild.

SPEAKER_00
8:40

I've never waited for more than like 30 minutes, but it was right it was right by a high school football game.

SPEAKER_01
8:45

Yeah, and then we went to the high school football game, uh Notre Dame Academy, and uh they absolutely smoked the other team 52 no. So tell the people about your first culverse experience.

SPEAKER_04
8:58

Well had you heard of had you had you guys had you guys heard of culvers before you came here? No.

SPEAKER_01
9:03

I had. Okay. I kind of she had New York all planned out, and then this portion of the trip was kind of me. She had the city of New York, and you had culvers in Notre Dame football. That's high school football. That's right, yeah. I had the big job.

SPEAKER_04
9:18

Yeah, well, I love the custard at Culver's. That was really good.

SPEAKER_00
9:24

What kind did you get?

SPEAKER_04
9:26

Just the vanilla. Vanilla, was it called concrete?

SPEAKER_01
9:30

Vanilla concrete, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
9:31

The concrete mixer. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
9:34

Cookie dough and caramel.

SPEAKER_01
9:35

Yeah, salted caramel.

SPEAKER_00
9:36

Oh, you didn't you didn't just get vanilla then? No. So you had a how had you heard of Culver's? Just on social media? Yeah, social media. Because you get you saw some of our clips on there, right? Yes, I did, yeah. The just the Packer ones, probably circulating.

SPEAKER_01
9:51

Well, no, I saw some of your other things uh pop pop up every now and again when I was obviously looking up for stuff to do when it was my portion of the plan trip.

SPEAKER_05
9:58

So nice.

SPEAKER_00
10:00

Now you're here. Yeah, yeah, now I'm here. Crazy. Um I got the concrete mixer. You you got a butterburger.

SPEAKER_01
10:08

Yeah, it was great. It's kind of similar at home to like a Wendy's, but like ten times better.

SPEAKER_00
10:15

You're comparing Culver's to Wendy's.

SPEAKER_01
10:17

Yeah, I said it was ten times better.

SPEAKER_00
10:19

Okay, okay. Okay, what would you prefer, Culver's or Solomon's?

SPEAKER_01
10:24

Oh no, Soberwoman's is good. I like Soberman's.

SPEAKER_00
10:28

You'd go Sobleman's or something.

SPEAKER_01
10:29

Yeah, I think the atmosphere was great. Okay.

SPEAKER_04
10:32

Because they had sport playing.

SPEAKER_01
10:33

Well, they'd have sport playing. But I think the conversation was they had the brewers game on it since the conversation was great. We didn't have any conversation at Culver's. We had to wait around for an hour. So we didn't really have the basic experience.

SPEAKER_00
10:43

Yeah, I mean, Soberman's had great service. They brought out a drink with a a meal placed into the drink and another burger. And yeah, good service down there in the valley. Um, so you do that. Any other highlights from Green Bear? Do you guys just go to Minnesota the next day?

SPEAKER_01
11:00

I think that's pretty much it. Yeah, we went to the high school game. Which was great. Uh, we don't really have high school football over there or the same atmosphere for any high school sports, so um that was good to experience. So I was very hyped for that. Uh, and then the next day, yeah, we just drove to Minnesota.

SPEAKER_00
11:18

What was that drive like? That's like a four or five hour drive. Four and a half, four and a half, right across rural Wisconsin. Yeah. Was it weird seeing all the farms and stuff where you kind of do you see a little bit of that in New Zealand?

SPEAKER_04
11:31

Uh cornfield after cornfield.

SPEAKER_00
11:34

And then Red Barns. You see some animals too?

SPEAKER_04
11:38

Some horses and cows.

SPEAKER_01
11:39

Some dead raccoons.

SPEAKER_00
11:41

Saw a dead raccoon.

SPEAKER_01
11:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
11:43

You didn't run over a raccoon.

SPEAKER_01
11:45

No, no, that was good. It was dead before we got there. Um, and then yeah, I think that's when we also made our first stop at a quick trip.

unknown
11:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_01
11:53

Which was an experience.

SPEAKER_04
11:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_00
11:55

Caitlin, what did you think of Quirk Trip?

SPEAKER_04
11:56

We like Quick Trip. We like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
12:01

What'd you like about it? Did it was it mind-blowing or was it like, oh, this is just a nice place.

SPEAKER_01
12:06

What was kind of like a gas station in New Zealand or a petrol station, as we call it. Uh you just kind of go in, you pay for your gas, you maybe grab a snack and then you leave. Um, you don't really have a whole assortment of food on display. Um, and then you don't have a whole like coffee bar at the back and um clean bathrooms. The bathrooms are immaculate. That was nice. Yeah, shout out to Quick Trip. The bathrooms are amazing. Why? Normally you go into like a gas station bathroom and you just kind of like brace yourself. But no, that was nice.

SPEAKER_00
12:41

So the the pet the petrol station bathrooms are probably similar to most American BP bathrooms or other gas stations. Yeah, we have BP. You go you go in, you you you kind of lock it and just hope you can get out.

SPEAKER_01
12:55

Yeah, then find some uh hand sanitizer afterwards.

SPEAKER_00
12:58

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Did you get any food from Quick Trip or just admire the the selection?

SPEAKER_04
13:04

The food isn't that great.

SPEAKER_00
13:07

Uh-oh. Uh-oh. You're gonna anger people. Hopefully you'll be allowed back in the state, Caitlin. What what did you try and you did not like at Quick Trip?

SPEAKER_04
13:16

A crispy chicken burger. I think it was uh maybe a day old. Maybe that's why. Uh Quick Trip.

SPEAKER_01
13:25

Uh yeah, that was the first time. Uh, and then the second time we just had like a breakfast croissant.

SPEAKER_00
13:32

Is that a little better?

SPEAKER_01
13:32

That was hex better.

SPEAKER_04
13:33

Okay, so Quick Trip redeemed itself.

SPEAKER_00
13:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
13:37

So yeah, we carried on along the bumpy roads.

SPEAKER_00
13:42

Are they bumpy outside of Milwaukee or just in Milwaukee?

SPEAKER_01
13:46

I think it was kind of all over the show a little bit.

SPEAKER_04
13:48

Just through the Wisconsin state.

SPEAKER_01
13:50

But Milwaukee's probably worse.

SPEAKER_00
13:53

Did you run into any any they're called potholes.

SPEAKER_01
13:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
13:57

Where there's a hole in the road, hence a pothole.

SPEAKER_01
14:00

We call them potholes too.

SPEAKER_00
14:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
14:02

Yep. Uh there's there's a couple of those here and there. Uh and then Caitlin, when we're driving kind of along the road, sometimes she's on her phone while I'm driving. And I kind of have to be like, pothole coming up, just to warn her that she doesn't just get a fright when we just hit the hit the pothole in the road. Yeah, but when it's large enough.

SPEAKER_00
14:21

Oh man, you run into some big ones in rural Wisconsin. Yeah, a couple of them.

SPEAKER_04
14:26

And not when there's cars driving way faster than we are.

SPEAKER_00
14:30

Oh yeah, you made a comment about the speed limit when we were talking here.

SPEAKER_01
14:34

Yeah. Yeah. So like back home, the speed limit's kind of the speed limit. Yeah. Like by definition of the word speed limit. Whereas here we notice that if you're going the speed limit, you look a little bit like a dick because everyone kind of just goes speeding past you.

SPEAKER_00
14:50

Yeah, we got ten ten over is the speed limit. We know that now. Yeah. Alright, you're learning. Probably just don't do that. If you get pulled over back home, you just get a a ticket and keep going.

SPEAKER_01
15:01

Pretty much. Yeah. Well, you either get a warning depending on how fast you're going, or you do get a ticket.

SPEAKER_00
15:06

No, okay, so it's nothing too bad. No, nothing too bad. What'd you think of Minneapolis?

SPEAKER_03
15:12

We liked it. We liked the city.

SPEAKER_01
15:14

It was nice.

SPEAKER_03
15:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
15:15

Yeah. Were you all just there two nights?

SPEAKER_01
15:19

Uh yeah, it was two nights.

SPEAKER_00
15:21

Um was Saturday and Sunday, probably.

SPEAKER_01
15:24

Yeah. Yeah. And then yeah, after the game, we kind of had like half a day.

SPEAKER_04
15:29

Yeah. We went to the Mall of America.

SPEAKER_00
15:31

Oh, what'd you think? A Mall of America.

SPEAKER_04
15:34

There's a theme park inside.

SPEAKER_00
15:36

We did go on the American American American. Yeah, there is a theme park inside. We grew up an hour away from there.

SPEAKER_01
15:42

Uh we did go on a couple of theme park rides, which were kind of the mall? Yeah, we're a bit more extreme than we first anticipated, but um uh it was good. It was a good experience. The mall does seem like a little bit run down. Was anyone there or was it just uh not as not as busy as you'd expect it for the size of it, I think.

SPEAKER_00
16:03

Okay. Yeah. Any other highlights from Minneapolis?

SPEAKER_01
16:08

Uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_00
16:13

What do you think of the game? Have you been to many major sporting events before?

SPEAKER_01
16:18

Just at home. Um yeah, nothing to the scale of like an NFL kind of production, I guess as they call it. Um that was insane.

SPEAKER_00
16:30

Um that stadium's massive. Yeah, like you watched. Those are those are you hadn't been there before, had you, Brie? Yeah, those are first time there. I think that was my first time ever going. It was my first time ever going to a Packer away game, too. Um the fans were really nice. At least they were to me.

SPEAKER_04
16:50

I was a little bit worried about helping. I was like, how are the Vikings fans gonna be?

SPEAKER_00
16:57

Because the Vikings fans I know around Milwaukee, like Shane Krangle, who wears Vikings overalls and paints his face, is so fucking annoying when the Vikings are doing well. At least he wasn't. I thought I thought a lot of Vikings fans would be like that. And um at least before the game, Bree and I had to leave at halftime because we had technical difficulties on the production we were doing. So um we didn't have a very good performance there, similar to the to the Packers in that sense, but we got to miss the meltdown. But so I can only speak to the the pre-game experience in the first half, but like yeah, I mean, people yelled skull at us and stuff, but in in a in a in a friendly jabbing way. And every everyone was nice. We talked to at the bars. I mean, ever mostly everyone talked to us, or they were polite. Yeah, I remember the first place we went, I think it was the crooked tap. Um, that was a good good brewery that we stopped at. Yeah, some guy like bumped me while ordering a beer and apologized, and he was a Vikings fan. I was like, they got some Midwest nice. Yeah, yeah. You're in Minneapolis. So um Minnesota nice. Yeah, shout out to the Vikings fans. I did not I did not expect that at all based on the Vikings fans I know in Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_04
18:08

So and we we joined a really nice tailgate. Yeah, most of them were Vikings fans, and yeah, they were all really nice towards us as well.

SPEAKER_01
18:20

Yeah, because we weren't too sure we wanted to tailgate, we weren't too sure where to go the day before. So Caitlin actually just posted in this Facebook group, um, the Die Hard Packers fan group or whatever. And we got so many responses, and yeah, we had I think Jill read read Jill reached out to us and said come along. So after running into you guys at at one of the uh one of the bars, we ended up going there, and yeah, we did our first shot ski.

SPEAKER_04
18:48

Um it was a pickle shot.

SPEAKER_01
18:50

The pickle and vodka shot shot ski, and that was fucking Minnesota.

SPEAKER_00
18:54

At least at least at least give the New Zealanders something nice to drink.

SPEAKER_01
18:58

Yeah, it wasn't great. Like I don't I don't dislike pickles, but I did for about a day or so after that.

SPEAKER_00
19:03

We'll give you a better shot ski at Lambeau when you come when you come back. Yeah, that'd be nice. We can do that. Probably can't get too much worse than the uh the pickle vodka shot in Minneapolis. Um but yeah, that was uh that was a cool experience going there for the first time. And uh yeah, I I think Lambo, I'm looking forward to you seeing Lambeau at some point because it's such a special place, it's like in the middle of a neighborhood which is completely foreign. Like the thing about US Bank is um really nice stadium, but it's in the middle of downtown. And there it surprised me that there was only one bar. Yeah, what seemed like around the entire stadium because that place must just print money on game days, and you'd think it would get other traffic, you know, on the off days. Um you'd think there'd be more bars around, and then they had that concert going on, which was cool, but that um shuts down when the game starts. So uh yeah, even like the Pfizer, if you go to a Bucks game, kind of very close to where you guys are staying, like yeah, you can literally walk to like 30, 40 bars within a few blocks of there where you know I was kind of surprised it wasn't like that in Minneapolis. Um but then you came back, you've spent the last 24 hours in in Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_04
20:18

Well, yeah. Where have you gone? We hit the road and came through the bumpy road and came through.

SPEAKER_01
20:23

We go we hit the bumpy road and we stopped in the Wisconsin Dells on the way to Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_00
20:27

Oh geez.

SPEAKER_01
20:28

Uh tell me about it.

SPEAKER_00
20:31

What went through your mind in the Wisconsin Dells?

SPEAKER_04
20:34

We were kind of like, what is this place?

SPEAKER_01
20:37

Yeah, because we just wanted a place to stop over on the way through, and Caitlin found a boat tour, but then we started driving into town, and it was kind of like half town, half amusement park, half like fair ground. Like every every store looked like there was I think there was a store that just did like cheese croquet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
21:00

Do they give you an actual cheese ball? And then you get to play croquet.

SPEAKER_01
21:04

I've never heard of cheese croquet. I can't say I have either until that point. You you you read it correctly? I I I read it a couple times just to be sure, yeah. Um but we uh then we just did the the boat tour with the rest of the old folks.

SPEAKER_00
21:19

That was the Dells boat tour.

SPEAKER_01
21:20

It was lovely, it was really nice. We went through uh the Upper Dells Tour and we went to the Witches Gulch, did the walkthrough there and to the Stand Rock. And Stand Rock, uh and I was just photographer for most of the time.

SPEAKER_04
21:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
21:37

Oh, Witches Gulch is really pretty, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01
21:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
21:40

Yeah, I've never been there.

SPEAKER_01
21:41

It's kind of a weird, surreal place to kind of walk through, and it just doesn't seem like it should be there, but it is next to all the amusement parks and Noah's Ark and And yeah, the water parks and everything else, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03
21:54

Because he said that it's the water park capital of the world.

SPEAKER_00
22:00

Yeah, I believe so. I think Noah's Ark was the largest water park at one at one point. Yeah, there's a lot of them there. Got the Kalahari Mount Mount Olympus, right? Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf Lodge.

SPEAKER_01
22:15

Yeah. Can't say we're in the mood to do any water parks.

SPEAKER_00
22:18

Got all sorts of them. Have you been to you guys haven't been to a supper club here, have you? No. Probably not. Okay. We'll have to do that when you get back.

SPEAKER_03
22:27

Supper club.

SPEAKER_00
22:28

How'd you describe a supper club? Usually you kind of step back in time almost. Almost kind of like you're if it's a good one. You'll feel like you're in the 60s or 70s. Get nice old fashioned. We just had one of those over at Great Lakes, so at least you got one of those. Usually a fish fry. Yep. Some steaks. You usually see taxidermy on the wall. Like, you know, just deer heads on the wall staring at you. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good time. Oh shit, we forgot to get pull tabs, Bri. There's put there's pull tabs at those places as well. Um yeah, those are good spots. How's Milwaukee been?

SPEAKER_01
23:09

Milwaukee's been great. Yeah. Kind of uh it would have been good to see a brewer's game. Uh, but just the timing obviously was off.

SPEAKER_00
23:18

Yeah, I can't believe you guys came. No, the Packers were away and the brewers were away.

SPEAKER_01
23:22

What are the what are the chances? I think it was just poor time, poor planning on my part. I'll I'll take responsibility for that one. But um, yeah, that would have been the one thing extra I would have liked have liked to see. Um, but we did uh the lakefront brewery today. Got some uh fish curds, uh some cheese curds and some beer. Uh what else did we do? We saw the market.

SPEAKER_04
23:43

Yeah, walked along the road front.

SPEAKER_00
23:44

Well the public the public market.

SPEAKER_01
23:46

Yeah, went and had a look at that. Uh and then yeah, walked along the roadfront. It was lovely.

SPEAKER_00
23:53

What did you think of the lakefront curds?

SPEAKER_04
23:56

I really like them.

SPEAKER_01
23:57

Yeah, they're the best ones we've had.

SPEAKER_04
23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
23:58

Yeah. By far. But did you get them from Culver's? Yeah, we did. Okay.

SPEAKER_04
24:04

The Lakefront ones top the MS.

SPEAKER_00
24:05

You probably didn't have to wait an hour. No, it was back there. It was about instant. It was about a minute and a half. Yeah. Good service over at over at Lakefront. Um, yeah. Any and at public market, you go anywhere in there and just walk around. Just had a walk around. Yeah. And then did you walk around the third ward area?

SPEAKER_01
24:23

Uh unfortunately not.

SPEAKER_00
24:27

Came over here, went to Soberman's, went to Great Lakes. Or you went you went to the lake.

SPEAKER_01
24:32

Yeah, well, yeah, we stopped off at the lake before coming here.

SPEAKER_05
24:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
24:36

Uh I think we just pulled up by the uh the art museum and just kind of had a had a brief walk along the waterfront. It was nice. It's kind of weird seeing a lake and then not being able to see the other side. Just seeing the horizon, that's about it.

SPEAKER_00
24:48

It's like an ocean, right?

SPEAKER_01
24:49

Kind of, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
24:51

How would you compare the uh Milwaukee Art Museum to the Sydney Opera House?

SPEAKER_04
24:56

You haven't seen the Opera House.

SPEAKER_00
24:58

I haven't actually seen the Opera House then. Have you seen the Opera House yet?

SPEAKER_04
25:01

Oh yeah. Uh I would go to Sydney to see yeah, the Opera House. If you want to go to Australia, go to Sydney.

SPEAKER_00
25:10

Quick Trip makes bad chicken sandwiches, and you take the Opera House over the art museum. And there's bumpy roads.

SPEAKER_01
25:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
25:20

I love the honesty. Yeah. I love the cheese curds, though. She doesn't like the cheese curds, though. Yeah. And you'll be hitting Mars Cheese Castle on the way tomorrow. Yeah. Um, do we want to try and get one of your guys on the line who just trashed the Packers? I can try.

SPEAKER_01
25:35

Yeah. Yeah. There's no he answers. You hello, boss man. How's it going? I'm good. Uh you're currently on a podcast show. What's his name? Oh, awesome. Sweet. Sweet. What's his name? His name's Cree. Crete? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
25:56

Crete, welcome to Milwaukee Uncut. Oh, Milwaukee, I hate that player. I heard you hate the I heard you gave the Packers a rough ranking this week.

SPEAKER_02
26:09

Yeah, look, I mean, when you have the loss that they had, it's hard to put them much higher than where we put them.

SPEAKER_00
26:15

It was the first game of the year. You put them second to last in the NFC.

SPEAKER_02
26:21

Yeah, I yeah, I did. I just did the perfectly hype that you guys are walking upon.

SPEAKER_04
26:30

How come you didn't have Grace and say?

SPEAKER_01
26:35

Might have why didn't you have any uh you didn't contact me for any input?

unknown
26:41

No, no, you're busy, man.

SPEAKER_02
26:42

I don't want to disrupt you. You're having a lovely time over there. I just I thought I'd better let you get on with it and you know we make the hard decisions over here.

SPEAKER_00
26:49

Is he going to Vegas? Yeah, he is going to be. Are you excited to come to America?

SPEAKER_02
26:56

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I can't wait. I'm I'm absolutely stoked for it. It's gonna be a great time.

SPEAKER_00
27:00

W what are you most looking forward to?

SPEAKER_02
27:04

Um most looking for football. I mean, we're going to bingo the Miami play, um going to Universal Studios. Um, just having a good time. I'm excited for the whole thing, really. There's not one thing that I'm kind of I'm looking forward to most. It's just gonna be a great time no matter what.

SPEAKER_00
27:24

What's your favorite NFL team?

SPEAKER_02
27:28

My team? I'm a I'm a Seahawks man.

SPEAKER_00
27:30

Oh gross. Why? Yeah, why you know you know Russell Wilson went to went to University of Wisconsin. You're a Russell Wilson guy?

unknown
27:40

He did too.

SPEAKER_02
27:41

Yeah, I was a big I'm a big Russell Wilson guy. Yeah, what he did for the team. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00
27:47

Okay, we'll we'll give you that. Yeah, you guys beat us in some NFC championship games.

SPEAKER_02
27:55

Absolutely. Uh yeah, never forget that one.

SPEAKER_00
27:58

Brian Bostick, I think, fumbled the onside kick.

unknown
28:04

It's funny if you still remember that.

SPEAKER_00
28:06

Oh, I I can't get it out of my memory, and whether how long ago did that happen? A long time ago. Green, unfortunately, I can't talk much shit to you after what the Packers did against the Bears last year and in week one in that year Seahawks fan. This this call's not going too good for me.

unknown
28:22

Yeah, you chose the wrong guy.

SPEAKER_00
28:24

That's true. We chose the wrong guy. Well, you uh yeah, you you have a what time is it down there or over there?

SPEAKER_05
28:34

Uh it's one 1 p.m.

SPEAKER_00
28:35

just about I'm sorry. 1 p.m. All right. Well, you you have a wonderful rest of the day.

unknown
28:40

Well, awesome. I appreciate you. I appreciate that call. Uh uh, thanks for the time, fellas.

SPEAKER_03
28:45

Shout out Tackle for Loss.

SPEAKER_00
28:46

Yeah, thanks, thanks to Tackle for Loss, boys.

unknown
28:48

Yeah, shout out Tackle for Loss. All right, we'll see you later.

SPEAKER_00
28:51

Thanks, Gray. Is that the name of your show? Yeah. What is it? Tackle for Loss. Tackle for Loss.

SPEAKER_01
28:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
28:58

Love it. If you want to get some American football analysis from a New Zealand perspective, yeah.

SPEAKER_01
29:05

Uh yeah, we give some football analysis. Our our to be honest, it's a bit some unhinged thoughts and then some random betting tips. That's that's what we kind of do.

SPEAKER_00
29:15

What would you say your guys' favorite place or moment of the trip has been so far each year?

SPEAKER_04
29:21

Uh mine would be in New York. Um, at Top of the Rock. We went out for sunset, and that was pretty nice.

SPEAKER_01
29:30

Top of the Rock.

SPEAKER_04
29:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
29:32

What is that? The Top of the Rockefeller Center. Oh, yes. Very cool.

SPEAKER_04
29:37

Beautiful views over the city.

SPEAKER_01
29:39

Uh, mine would be doing the stadium tour at Lambeau and then doing the walk out through the home team tunnel. That was that well, that that got the heart feeling things. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
29:51

It was cool. Was your heart feeling things during the Lambeau tour?

SPEAKER_04
29:55

Just because I think Paul Grayson, I was emotional for him.

SPEAKER_00
30:00

All right.

SPEAKER_01
30:00

Well, it was uh anything else you guys want to say? No, I've I've enjoyed being here running into you guys, obviously. It's been a great time. Thanks for showing us.

SPEAKER_00
30:09

Yeah, it was so good meeting you all and showing you around a little bit this evening and bumping into you in Minneapolis. And uh, yeah, we wish you the best on your adventure to uh Disney World, Hot Springs, Arkansas, Vegas, Nashville, Chicago, and Vegas. Yeah. These guys are here for seven weeks living.

SPEAKER_04
30:30

Yeah, and we look forward to seeing you in New Zealand, hopefully.

SPEAKER_00
30:34

Yeah, we would love to come someday. Yeah. We would love to. Well, you might see Gary and Sue Barnett there. When are they going? Next next October. Next October, I think. All right. Well, thank you, guys. All right, thank you. Hey everyone, thank you so much for tuning in to Milwaukee Uncut. Just want to give our partners a shout out before signing off Annex Wealth Management, Nicola, and Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company.

SPEAKER_05
0:00

So he shows up the email and he's like, guys, we just got invited for Battle of the Bands and like I think we could win this.

SPEAKER_01
0:06

The atmosphere was amazing. So many people showed up for it. It's a very special place to be being there with all the other bands and getting to connect with, you know, everyone who had qualified for the finals and then getting to hear them all perform was really, really cool.

SPEAKER_04
0:21

That is like I know that's a huge goal and a very lofty goal, but also gives us a lot of stuff to aim for and let's align like those actions to that goal.

SPEAKER_05
0:29

To know that you were able to create something that connected with someone and made them hopefully feel less alone. Like I don't think it's about changing the world, I think it's about changing someone's world.

SPEAKER_02
0:40

Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. We've got a cool episode today with it with a young band that is on the rise. Secret menu. They recently won Three Sheeps, Les Paul Three Sheeps, Battle of the Bands, which drew contestants from all across the state. They want a trip out to LA to record at Les Paul Studio, and they've been going viral on social media lately. So it was really good to have them in here. And our friend Josh Oschenbach, who runs marketing at Three Sheeps and spearheaded the Battle of the Bands, co-hosted this one with me. It was great having him in as well. We got to learn about the group, talk about what it's like being a band working hard, trying to make it while balancing their normal day jobs, their growth trajectory, most memorable fan interactions, ultimate goals, and we got their favorite venues to play across the state of Wisconsin and some of their favorite up-and-coming artists in the area as well. Before diving in, I want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. We'll kick it off with Annex Wealth Management. The fall is a great time to get your life together, and that entails looking at your finances. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything from retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. Annex, know the difference. Next, we've got Nicolay Law, the Midwest Law Firm. Injured. Get Nicolay and Russell and the team will take great care of you. Also, I personally want to thank Russell. We just posted a uh how your wife greets you when you get home from golf video on social media where I gave him a call. Um, not sure I liked his verdict, but the main message at the end was if if you're actually injured and want to go after an insurance company, not your spouse, give Nicola a call. So any legitimate injuries, call Nicolay and make sure to check that video out. And if you're looking for a nice canned old fashioned this fall, drink Wisconsin Ablee Beverage Company, Best Vodka, brandy and canned cocktails in the game. Available at bars and liquor stores across the state and in the corner bar in right field over at Ampham. Perfect for hopefully a nice long Brewers playoff run coming up. And last but not least, big shout out to our friends at Three Sheeps, including our co-host on this episode. Fall is a great time to have a beer or two or ten, like our friend Nate Moody. Three Sheeps, the beer Wisconsin drinks, great people and beer over there. All right, let's dive in with Secret Menu, the band. Here, who took the title for Three Sheeps Battle of the Bands? They won three grand in cash and a recording session at the Les Paul Studios, all the way out in LA. You guys went very viral on social media this week. Couple million views on a couple different reels, I believe. We got 1.6 on one of them. If you add them up a couple of things, we'll give it to you. They're just blowing up. We got them before they've really blown up on the on the show today. You got a show coming up at the beloved cactus club October 5th.

SPEAKER_04
3:58

Yeah, yeah. We're opening up for uh pertinence. Um he's on tour, so that's gonna be really exciting.

SPEAKER_02
4:03

Nice. Yeah, very cool. Um names we got we got Josh Raphael goes by Raf. Yes, correct. Andrew, who is the lead guitar vocals right there. Got Matt, keys guitar vocals, and Evan, right across from me in the shorts over there, and then who plays drums in the ratings, who who also plays drums and does vocals. Looks like all you guys do vocals. Um vocals. I got to see you in in Milwaukee, those amazing performance. A lot of talent at that show. And speaking of co-hosting the episode, we got Josh Ashenbach from Three Sheeps, head of marketing over there, who really spearheaded Battle of the Bands. Um just just an all-time performance MCing in best I have seen.

SPEAKER_06
4:55

Um we we should get into that. Yes, I've been thinking about it.

SPEAKER_02
4:58

Yeah, so I, you know, Josh was like, hey, do you want to throw some Milwaukee on cut gear? And we we were there, so I was all about it. And um I went up on stage and I I saw him take a swig of a flask while walking up the stairs, and then I just I just knew I just knew it was game on. I think you made an announcement, and it was either you flung a hat or a t-shirt to the man in row five who was giving who was giving you zero respect. I think he was on his phone or something. Josh just pegged him.

SPEAKER_06
5:26

Were you guys out there when we were on stage or were you still in the green room?

SPEAKER_04
5:30

Uh I I was on on stage when you were throwing, but I missed you.

SPEAKER_02
5:36

Like was rudely on his phone during the t-shirt.

SPEAKER_06
5:39

I just got on the stage and like my I my mind went blank. Like I had like all that like adrenaline and like excitement of how well it's been going, and I just got up there and I just my brain shut up.

SPEAKER_02
5:48

Out of the crowd, could you remember if it was a t-shirt or a hat united?

SPEAKER_06
5:50

So it was actually two different there were two different situations that objects because the first one was a hat and I flung it blindly and it nailed this guy right in the face. And then later when we were throwing out t-shirts, you know, I was getting bored of just throwing them, you know, normally, so I like whipped one behind my back and it hit the first girl in the very first row, just like nailing her. And then I felt so bad that I gently threw another t-shirt to her.

SPEAKER_02
6:17

And then I remember to cap it off. You threw it through the box. Yeah, they were asking more. I didn't have any more.

SPEAKER_06
6:24

They were asking next time you give the crowd thing.

SPEAKER_02
6:27

No, I was I was just very impressed with your MC performance overall. It was iconic. Um, but anyway, can you all tell us about how the band came together? How long have you guys been going at it for?

SPEAKER_05
6:38

Raph, you want to take that one since you kind of uh assembled the events, yeah. So assembled the events.

SPEAKER_04
6:44

Assembled the events, nice, I like it. So yeah, we we came together late 2022, and we basically put out our first song in 2023. Um that was 18. And so how we all came together was was you know, just a series of random events as it goes. Um, I met Matt first. We were um we went to college together and we met, we were in a performance group called Wisconsin Singers. He was in the band, and I was um a singer, and so we kind of connected there, didn't make music together initially for a while, and then Matt was like, I got this program called Ableton, you know, maybe we can make some music. And so we we kind of started making music together, and then fast forward many years, uh, I met Evan. Um he was in your drumming in a cover band, yeah. And I came to this gig and I knew that you kind of had a studio, you know, you was doing some work, and I was like, let's let's work together, let's see what's happening. And I'm always interested in learning from from people, and Evan knew a lot about the mixing world, so that was really cool. And then fast forward a little bit longer, you know, I'm living in Madison and I'm at an open mic, and Andrew and I crossed paths, and I mean he was absolutely shredding and and singing on the guitar, and we kind of hit it off. And uh I somehow convinced him to join uh this musical project that at the time was called Raffin Company, but then later we all made something together, and that was the the Bourne of Secret Menu.

SPEAKER_02
8:08

Very cool. And how's the evolution been the last last few years?

SPEAKER_01
8:15

I think it's uh yeah, for me, I feel like it's just been a whirlwind. It seems crazy that it's been even that long up to this point. Uh we've just been you know putting as much time into it as we possibly can. We're meeting twice a week, basically a second job for all of us. And uh I think the I don't know, for me personally, like the experience we experiences we've been able to have through the last uh like f almost four years have been pretty incredible. You know, starting our our first shows where we're playing all this brand new music that we've been working on for months and nobody's heard to now where we get to perform and people are singing the words back to us is just an insane experience. So it's it's been a blast, but I think we've just been, you know, just trying to make you know make music and and have fun together, and it's just gotten us kind of to this point and to a spot where we got to be in a battle of advance, so it's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_02
9:15

Yeah, and speaking of Josh, do you want to uh tell people a little bit about that? How many first year you kind of guys launched this out of nowhere? Yeah. A lot of people from Wisconsin submitted entries and yeah.

SPEAKER_06
9:27

Yeah, so I mean we have this great uh beer brand called Wisconsinitis, and it's kind of a stupid name that just means you know, we believe that like Wisconsin has this ability to like get under your skin. It's almost like this disease, this like Wisconsin loving disease that we all have. And so part of that beer brand story is like we just want to highlight um you know different things around Wisconsin that are awesome, and you know, uh certain people or certain you know events like like legends, you know, like Les Paul is just a legend, so why wouldn't we want him, you know, representative um on our beer can? And so Yeah, so we reached out literally. I just like blind called, like cold called the Les Paul Foundation. I was like, hey, you have no idea who I am, but like we want to put Les Paul on our beer can. Um and they were like super into it, and they actually said that they heard of three sheeps, even though they're located in in New York because of their Wisconsin roots, you know, they still have representatives here in Wisconsin, and so they knew who three sheeps, you know, they knew who we were, and they thought it was a great idea. And so kind of fast forward, how do you put that in how how do you, you know, give that life so it's not just like a name or a a logo on a can. How do you give that life? Is we thought, well, you know, let's have a battle of bands. Like what better way to honor Les Paul than to actually make music and you know do something new? And so that's how the Battle of Bands came to life. We just wanted to put it into practice, put you know, Les Paul's legacy into practice by you know giving uh these bands a platform.

SPEAKER_02
10:57

And you had different different sites around the state. You all were at Vivarium in Milwaukee. Do you do you remember uh seeing these guys entry for the first time? And did you have any any initial thoughts?

SPEAKER_06
11:07

Yeah, I mean we had we had over 60, I think it was like 65 bands who entered, and we only had you know 18 spots between the three locations, so Madison, Appleton, and Milwaukee. Um and so we got all these entries, and we had you know we had different teams that were kind of working with each venue to pick, you know, the ones that were gonna be at that venue at that battle. Um and secret menu was at the top of my list and at the top of many people's lists, and so that's obviously why uh why they were there.

SPEAKER_02
11:35

How how confident were you all getting selected and then and then going into the actual show?

SPEAKER_05
11:42

I mean, I remember when you brought us because he runs the email account. So he shows up the email and he's like, guys, we just got invited for battle the band, and like I think we could win this. And we talked about it, and you know, um I think we're pretty these group of guys are pretty good at like uh locking in when we really need to lock in. And of course nothing's set in stone, but you know, I think we came through, we did we did our practicing, we did our vocal warmups, annoyed my neighbors. And uh it felt it felt good, man. It just felt like I don't know, every s as Matt said, every step of the way, we're constantly surprising ourselves, um and it just felt right.

SPEAKER_06
12:22

My first experience with you guys actually was in your submission, you um sent the link to your the the video that you guys did on the frozen lake or frozen. What was yeah, can you talk about that? I mean that I was like when I saw that, I was like, okay, this is an awesome video. It sounds great. Like this is a complete package. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
12:40

I mean that that was so that's our Irish Goodbyes music video we shot on Frozen Lake Minona. That was, I don't know, two years ago now.

SPEAKER_05
12:48

No, dude, more more seniors, remember? This is year four. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04
12:51

Yeah, so it was, I mean, the whole shoot was an insane experience. We got really lucky because it had been frigid cold and it was like a warm day. We went out, we lugged all the gear out on the lake. I mean, it was it took not only us but also some of our friends to help us out, and it was just such a really unique experience. We had to like buy um ice spikes to like make sure we weren't falling over.

SPEAKER_01
13:16

So I mean, yeah, we were we were doing scouting for it, you know, looking at the ice fishing holes, how much how how thick is the ice? Everyone was pretty worried about that, I remember. And then quickly as we got there, we were like, we are gonna be falling everywhere unless we're we are bolted into the ground. It was like 45 degrees that day. Yeah, it got super low. It came in clutch, it was still freezing after a couple of hours of being out there. It's so cold. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06
13:41

All right, so I've always wanted to ask this for bands who do music videos. What is that experience like where you're playing your electric instruments with no amps and just like shouting into the void for the music video? So uncomfortable. Have you seen that like trend on social media where people like what it would actually sound like? Like, I want to hear that. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00
14:00

It's so funny how many people don't understand that though, either. Like, we we get comments all the time from like friends and family that's like, how did you how did you get out there and like and how many times did it take you to play it? Or what and it's like, no, no, no, you don't understand. It's just we're just pretending for lack of a better word. I mean, we're still playing what we're playing, but it's still like that's not what you're hearing, you know. So the drums are probably echoing off of everything.

SPEAKER_01
14:24

In that shoot in particular, so all the guitars and our vocals, you can just sort of hear us like coldly singing and playing. And at that time, since then, we've gotten a lot smarter about it. But at that time, it was just the full drum sound echoing across the lake, and we actually had somebody uh bike over on a fat tire bike from the other end of Lake Monona coming over because he was like, I just wanted to see what was going on. I heard some music, but you could literally hear the snare like all the way down the lake because nothing was stopping it.

SPEAKER_04
14:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
14:54

This was before we had the silent heads and silent symbols for video shoots. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
14:59

Yeah, we we just did a video on uh the Milwaukee River uh and now it's much better. We have much quieter, much quieter drum heads and uh makes it a little easier to get in the world.

SPEAKER_04
15:12

It would make the the sound you it would make the sound you would hear though, like without very funny. It's just tapping and and us kind of thinking and half singing, half making sure that you know we're giving a good performance. So that's quite funny.

SPEAKER_05
15:25

I can't get the the sound out of my head when we shot Snow in Heaven. Yeah. And I just like I don't know why, but just the craziest sound escaped my mouth. And you just hear think, think, think, think, think, think, and then I like scream, and then like the song ends, you know. And like that's what the that's what the actual camera hears, you know.

SPEAKER_06
15:42

Yeah, yeah. Oh man, you should release those videos.

SPEAKER_01
15:45

Uh we might absolutely got some archived footage we can properly open the phone. Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_02
15:54

Yeah, stay hot on Instagram. You gotta yeah, put a reel out of that. That that could be a good idea. I like that idea. Um going going back to Battle of the Bands, after just being at the Vivarium show, there was a lot of talent. There was a lot of good bands. Did you guys after the performances? I'm guessing you saw or listened to the other ones, did you did you think you were going to win? And I mean, Josh made people sweat a little bit up there. You had a nice dramatic announcement. What was were you guys nervous? How are you? How were you feeling?

SPEAKER_04
16:21

Uh I mean, I was I was nervous. I feel like we were all nervous. I think I was when we were talking, I feel like we we make music because we love to make music, and it's so rarely like a competition in the direct sense. And so when I mean everyone was amazing from from all the performances, the genres, the the vibe, you know. So I mean, were we did we think we were gonna win? I I know I don't want to say like we never know, you know. It's it's it's up to the judges and the and the fans, and the best thing that we can do is present our music the best we can, hope you connect with it and just just love the experience. And that's what we did.

SPEAKER_05
16:56

Actually, I have a funny story for you.

SPEAKER_04
16:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_05
16:58

It got ruined for me. What did the the winner? Really? I went up to this one guy at the end. I was like, hey, you know, I don't drink before shows, so I was like, hey man, can I get a beer? And he's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he goes to the back and he gets one. He's like, by the way, I saw the judges scorecards and you are at the top. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_01
17:17

Well, and then Andrew decided to come walk. Andrew walked over to me and he goes, We won. And I thought he was like, I thought this was like some positive affirmation. Like, we got this man. So I he he straight he straight told me that. But I was I was I I thought he was just saying that, so I I had no idea he had actually had it spoiled.

SPEAKER_02
17:36

It's this guy who leaked it.

SPEAKER_01
17:37

I didn't know that. Oh, so you guys are I was I was still fully surprised that you can't really can't like completely trust that judgment either.

SPEAKER_05
17:47

But until that moment, I was like, I dude, I was so freaking nervous, man. Like you said you blacked out on stage and we were performing. I remember just like coming to, and I was like, oh my god, I'm like in the middle of playing this song right now. I forgot I gotta take a breath soon, you know. But then when he told me that, it just kind of like snapped me back in reality. It was it was funny, man.

SPEAKER_02
18:06

Have you guys done a battle before or many of them, or was that a first for you all? I mean, I did one in high school. This is one high school. Yeah, it's a first room. First one with like something on the meaningful on the line. Yeah. Yeah. And then how how is the show in in Sheboygan?

SPEAKER_04
18:22

I mean, it was so sick.

SPEAKER_02
18:24

That was my first that's a cool venue. Yeah. Not to shamelessly plug, but if people haven't been up to the Three Sheeps Brewery, it's it's an hour away from here and it's it's worth the drive.

SPEAKER_01
18:33

Yeah, the the atmosphere was amazing. So many people showed up for it, which was just a blast. There were people, you know, we were there early on in the day and just got to hang out with Josh and and um as we were setting up is like Yeah, just a very special place to be, and I think the environment, you know, even though it was a competition, like being there with all the other bands and getting to connect with, you know, everyone who had qualified for the finals and then getting to hear them all perform was really, really cool. It was a super fun night.

SPEAKER_06
19:05

It was cool for us too, because I mean we've never done anything like this, we've never seen our tap room look like that. Um, you know, so that was super fun to just we took so much seating out and just made standing room and then it got filled, and like people were just so into it. It was so fun for us. That was that was a cool moment. Oh, yeah, dude. That was yeah, that was the culmination. I think first thing I said when I saw you guys pull up, I was like, dude, tonight is like the culmination of a lot of work for all of us. It was we just got to like sit back and enjoy it, you know what I mean? It just it was awesome.

SPEAKER_02
19:33

You guys should have seen the event. They they put a full amateur wrestling setup in the middle right there.

SPEAKER_06
19:39

Yeah, that was that's awesome. Coming back again in 2026. Wow. Heard of your best.

SPEAKER_02
19:45

That was that was insanity. Handful. Yeah, whole rest. Wasn't bad either. Yeah, that's coming up in October. So plenty of opportunities to get up to Sheefs. Great, great, great venue up there. Um, what would you say the biggest misconception people have of like either your band or bands in general that are kind of at this point and climbing and trying to make it?

SPEAKER_05
20:11

That's a good question.

SPEAKER_01
20:15

Should we all answer or like one? Yeah, I well, I can I can go. I would say I think there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that is not really related to writing or playing or practicing music that that we're doing.

SPEAKER_00
20:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01
20:34

Yeah, we have band practice, but that's not necessarily the right name for it.

SPEAKER_00
20:38

We barely play our instruments. It's like the ratio of playing to doing other things is is astounding, I think, if you were to So what are the other things?

SPEAKER_04
20:47

See the numbers. I mean, we talk about social media posting, we talk about upcoming shows and like when can we fit in, you know, the rehearsal and also what does our set list look like, music video shoots, making sure that we're coordinating with like a videographer or photographer if we want them here. Um also just like general band vision for like making sure that we have a plan kind of going into not only the next week or month, but maybe a couple months out, because you want to have you know a good release plan um so you can properly promote and get your music out there. So I mean I'm missing a ton of things. I know I am. I mean, editing the videos is is so much time and work, mixing masters, mixing mastery.

SPEAKER_05
21:29

Even just finding the right textbook to go over the video, like finding the right moment, extracting that from sifting through hours upon hours of live footage and then finding some text to put over it. I mean, it takes way longer than you think.

SPEAKER_04
21:42

Booking shows, coordinating with venues, coordinating with bands.

SPEAKER_06
21:46

Oh, yeah. So you guys kind of all have your own roles, you know. It's like one person like do this, one person does that. Like yeah, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_05
21:53

I do the social media, Raph does the booking, Matt does kind of like a lot of things merch, graphic design, um, long. Form videos, anything you see on YouTube, that's Matt editing that. And Evan has done some editing as well. And then Evan does all of our production like on stage and then off the stage. So all of the songs you hear on Spotify were mixed, mastered, produced by Evan. Super, super talented.

SPEAKER_06
22:15

Which is like super unique for a band to do their own recording and like editing and mastering it. Not as much nowadays.

SPEAKER_00
22:20

No, not as much, yeah. I mean, if if there's any member of a band, uh like smaller bands like us, like that knows how to do it, a lot of people are opting to do it themselves.

SPEAKER_06
22:30

And um maybe what's unique is that you do it so well. I mean it sounds so professional.

SPEAKER_01
22:36

Yeah, Evan's too humble, but yeah, we're we're incredibly lucky to have both Evan's skills and the like amazing space that he's built that we get to practice and record in as well.

SPEAKER_00
22:46

Yeah, thanks. Yeah, a lot of bands do it themselves um and and succeed and and it saves a lot of money, a lot of time. It's I mean, I've had bands come to my studio and pay me for studio time, pay me for mixing, or some combination of the two, and and um and even at my level it's still it's still hundreds, if not in the thousands of dollars, depending on how much time you spend. So it's like you know, that's where that's where bands I think find roadblocks, but now that those roadblocks aren't as prominent because there's so many ways you can record at home and so many great videos out there and how to learn how to do it yourself, and and I mean that's really where I started too. Like I just got obsessed with it and spent god knows how many hours on YouTube and then even more hours just trying it and doing it and sucking and trying again and taking the mix to the car, and I've literally turned around on my way home to go back to the studio to fix stuff in the in the early days because I would just be obsessed with it, just like still isn't right, I gotta go back and fix this thing, you know. It's just like it becomes it becomes an obsession for sure. But um yeah, bands bands can do it themselves for sure.

SPEAKER_06
23:57

So what's it like to balance like a normal work life with all of this?

SPEAKER_05
24:04

I mean, I was just talking about this the other day with a friend. Like I wake up at uh seven my ship starts, and I'm just working, working, working, working, working. Sometimes I go to the studio and then I get home at eleven and that's it. So it's um it's definitely a lot of work, but it doesn't really feel like it when you're doing something that is I mean the heck, even making the videos is just super inspiring to see like those numbers climb and you feel like you're moving towards something. Um but it is a lot of work, it's a lot of tinkering, as Evan said, and playing my instrument, as I said earlier, doing vocal exercises, guitar exercises, all the things that aren't super glamorous is you know, being on stage and winning a nice check in a trip to LA, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02
24:47

No, it's like three minutes out of the hundreds of hours that was three minutes, and then like you gotta perform in those three minutes too.

SPEAKER_04
24:55

Oh yeah. There's a balance, and there's also uh I would say I've been feeling this recently, just like a duality with like we'll play an amazing show and it'll feel really good, and like the weekend will be, you know, we'll be riding this high, and then I'll kind of have to like snap back and be more in like my work mode with like doing it. That's more the Josh type mode, you know? Yeah, exactly. Duality of man, Raf versus man.

SPEAKER_06
25:20

And so it like so you're right, Raf is when you're on stage, but Josh is when you're at your job.

SPEAKER_04
25:25

Um yeah, I guess in some capacity, I'll be right back. In the insider info here. Okay, I'm largely the same person. But I don't know. Um it's very interesting. I think it's something we we all experience differently, even as all of our roles are different, um, and what is asked of those roles um in our job, but it is certainly something that up to this point we've been able to manage, and as we continue to grow, we'll have to have conversations about how to continue that.

SPEAKER_06
25:56

So speaking of that duality, it this just made me chuckle. So you guys had won, you know, won the the battle of the bands, you had this big great moment, had this check, you got to celebrate your fans, all these pictures and stuff. And then what did you guys do after all that? What did you do? What did you have to go back and do? You had to go back and pack up all your stuff. It was just like to me, it was just so funny. It's like these guys are like working their butts off. Like they have a room full of people who are screaming their names and like you know, celebrating with them, and then they have to like still have to go and pack up all their stuff and put it away by themselves. Like, you guys need some roadies now, yeah. Right. That's just how that's just life for you know an up-and-coming band.

SPEAKER_01
26:37

It's like everyone else goes out to get a drink at the bar, and we're like, ah, well, we're gonna be packing up here until 1 a.m. probably.

SPEAKER_04
26:45

Like you come into the bars like we have literally an hour of packing up here to do. Oh, maybe.

SPEAKER_02
26:51

Um, you you said you you don't drink while you're on stage or before. What's the what's the pre-show routine? Are any are any of you guys uh drinking or doing anything before? Is it all just interesting out there soberly? Hey everyone, it's your host, Richie Burke, and I just wanted to to remind you that fall, good time. Good time to get your life together and great time to look at your finances. And if you're doing so and you need some help, talk to the experts at Annex. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything from retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. That is our good friends over at Annex Wealth Management. Know the difference. Just head to annexwealth.com. That is annexwealth.com. And all right, let's get back to the episode with Secret Menu, the band.

SPEAKER_01
27:52

I think there's a limit on the drinks generally. Yeah, that would probably be good. You don't want to go overboard. Yeah, it can be dangerous when you get an open tab at a venue. You gotta especially if you're going on later.

SPEAKER_02
28:03

But uh yeah, yeah, I went back. I went back there. I mean, some people were drinking beers, some people were not. I was I was just curious if you guys yeah.

SPEAKER_05
28:10

You know what's funny, as our music got more and more complex, I found it increasingly more difficult to actually perform like two or three beers deep. Like I wanna know, man. I gotta be locked in for that one. Totally.

SPEAKER_04
28:23

I'd say, yeah, I mean, pre-show rituals uh largely are like making sure that we do a vocal warm-up. We always do that like 10-15 minutes duration, usually 30 to 45 minutes before we're playing. I'm definitely drinking a lot of water to dehydrated. Um, if I do have a drink, it's like probably only one and it's like on stage. But typically, like if I'm drinking beer when we're playing, like I'm burping, and so I'm trying not to be burping when we're singing.

SPEAKER_05
28:48

Dude, if you ever see us making a face like it's because I'm like holding back on that. So we gotta sing through it sometimes.

SPEAKER_04
28:54

Largely just water for me. Um, I mean, I feel like Evan's running around doing 80 things like he's got like, you know, Evan's in the audio world too, so he's making sure that, you know, we're we're sound checked, we sound good, and if we have lights, the lighting is set up, all that stuff is is dialed.

SPEAKER_00
29:10

Yeah, it's it's probably more energy drinks than beer for me, you know. I feel like it is with drummers.

SPEAKER_06
29:15

They're the ones who have a pile of monster behind them.

SPEAKER_02
29:17

Yeah, that's my bad habit. You're probably doing it at like 7, 8, 9 p.m. too. No, like 11 in 2000. 11 p.m.

SPEAKER_00
29:26

You're going open at the end of band just, yeah. Yeah, the 9 p.m. booster is what uh it's been dubbed, I think. But it's not it's not as bad as we portray it online, I swear, guys. Like, I don't I'm not like three monsters. Damn. Look into the camera and ask Monster Lynn the sponsor. For real. Celsius, yeah, yeah, Celsius has been one. Hit him up.

SPEAKER_02
29:50

Uh C4 hasn't got any REM sleep in a decade.

SPEAKER_00
29:55

It's tough out here in this industry though, for real, because you know, like last night I was at the Sylvie until midnight. Yeah. And the night before, I actually all four days this week so far have been twelve to fifteen hour days for me at at the venues. So that's I mean, we we show up at nine o'clock and or so, and we don't leave until midnight at least. And that's how that's how it is, you know, in in the industry working. But um yeah, I don't know, pre-show ritual. I gotta eat something. You gotta eat something. I learned that if I don't eat something, I I almost throw up. That was I opened for Bear Tooth a couple years ago in 2020 in my last band, and I I learned then that I did not eat enough. So the the coupling of not eating enough and then the nerves for playing on such a large. No, no, I didn't. I held it, I held it in, but man, I wanted to. That would be pretty hardcore though. Yeah. That that would be. Yeah. I've seen it. I've seen a drummer throw up on stage and keep going. You kind of have to almost. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02
30:56

Yeah, you gotta play through the pin. Um anyway, what it what is you all's craziest or funniest or most memorable fan interaction or interaction at a show.

SPEAKER_01
31:09

Oh man.

SPEAKER_02
31:10

Any anything pop come to mind?

SPEAKER_05
31:12

The first thing that came to mind, this wasn't at a show, but I thought this was super funny. This was like a couple months into us starting, right? So we have zero following, and we get these like series of Facebook VMs. And it's like, is this the empanada guy? The empanada guy guy. Oh yeah, like I'm gonna sell my truck to come to one of your shows. Not a bunch of girls, it is the empanada guy. It was like all these pictures of him, like I mean, like tons and tons of empanadas.

SPEAKER_01
31:43

And then like fresh babes, like, hey, this is what I got. It's what this is what you could be getting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05
31:49

Never came to a show. You know, it was like literally pages and pages and pages of DM, and then that was it.

SPEAKER_04
31:55

He just kind of went ghost after that. Never another time. I think we should hit him up. Empanadas.

SPEAKER_06
32:00

Empanada guys are out there. Come on, reach out to us again.

SPEAKER_04
32:04

Or scroll all the way back and do like. I think it's tricky too, is like the the the notification that you have a message on Facebook if you because you have like multiple, you have your personal and you have like the band page, it kind of gets weird sometimes. And so I always responded to him, and I we have like a conversation, but he was very passionate about empanadas. It was multiple like you know, DMs about it. And we were, I mean, I would have tried some of it.

SPEAKER_02
32:27

It was a few years ago. I would say for probably not a sophisticated AI bot at that point.

SPEAKER_04
32:36

Where does he live? I have no idea.

SPEAKER_05
32:38

No, I thought it was something. Can we get him to LA?

SPEAKER_00
32:42

Can we get him to LA? Empanada merch. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we need him to come to the session, I think, with Empanada.

SPEAKER_01
32:50

We need an empanada shape sticker. Could have been a crazy collab on the secret menu with empanada guy.

SPEAKER_06
32:56

We love food trucks at three sheep, so empanada guy reach out. There we go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02
33:01

Um one question. You you guys were obviously in Madison, you've you've been all over the state. What are what are each of your favorite music venues either to play or watch a show in Wisconsin? Would love your answer on this too, Josh.

unknown
33:16

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01
33:19

I think if we're talking about venues, honestly, Cactus Club is is top tier for me. Why is that? The you know, it's not a it's not a giant place, but every show we've ever done there, you know, even like not depending on how many people there, just feels so energetic and the you know, the room's kind of tight and everyone's kind of squished in. Um they just yeah, it's it's a really just a good vibe in there. And the green room is like this old 70s apartment. I think it's an Airbnb that you can that you can rent out if you're a band coming through.

SPEAKER_02
33:59

So is it above? It's above, yeah.

SPEAKER_01
34:03

They've got an organ sort of like jamming out before the show. It's it's fun.

SPEAKER_05
34:09

Yeah, I second that. I like active.

SPEAKER_04
34:12

I mean, I was gonna say cactus club too, but I I'm gonna give a I want to give another venue like a shout-out too, as well. I mean, personally, this I had a ton of fun at Three Sheeps, like that's not just because you're here, I would have said that outside of this. Like, just like it so much of what I enjoy when we play shows is is like the vibe uh and the people who were there, and like that's what made the the battle of bands so exciting. It was just people were there and they wanted to hear music, and that and that you could feel it in the room, you could feel the energy there, and so like that makes a space great in addition to like the things that are also required, like a good sound system and making sure that the room can, you know, give people a proper listening experience. Um it's also just like a really good atmosphere.

SPEAKER_00
34:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
35:00

I mean, I have you been at tons of venues, so is there some that stick out to you?

SPEAKER_00
35:05

Uh I mean, yeah, I could definitely give some shout-outs. Um our first show we played like legit uh secret menu is the Rigby. Oh I would say where's the rigby? In Madison. Okay. Yeah. Um it's it's yeah, right right near the Capitol. But it it's I I wouldn't love to like from first glance, I wouldn't love to play there or or you know, have a show or see a show there. But it's I think it's an energy thing. From the energy perspective, like that's a good vibe.

SPEAKER_05
35:38

And we got in trouble, do you remember?

SPEAKER_00
35:40

Because the first show we had, yeah, we we oversold the room, and and the floor was literally they had to t come up and tell us to make sure people wouldn't jump, we wouldn't have people like jump up and down because the floor like bowed up and down. And uh we had like some light stands with some light fixtures on them, and you could see the lights moving side to side uh during some of it. Yeah, it was it was a little scary. But that was a good vibe.

SPEAKER_04
36:05

Yeah, and it was very interesting because the owner was pissed, but the booking um you know, the person who books a show uh was so like chill.

SPEAKER_02
36:13

So like the booking person was probably happy you filled the room. The owner was probably scared shitless that you were sure. The owner makes a lot of sense, yeah, doesn't want to deal with that.

SPEAKER_00
36:25

Some more would be like X-ray arcade. Yeah. Um I've I've mixed a bunch of shows there. I got some good friends in some metal bands and hardcore bands, and that that room is always a good vibe. Uh what else? I mean, I I gotta shout out the rave. I mean, I'd uh uh hopefully someday we'll be there as well. But um yeah, that that place is is a little polarizing, I think, because you know people have mixed experiences at every venue, but it is something special going to see a band in the ballroom. I just worked this b uh uh show for this band called Turnstyle, if anybody out there knows Turnstyle, and um it was their first show of the tour. I was there for all the rehearsal days as a tech helping the tour out, and they they put on a absolutely sick show. And when you when you do it right in that room and you get a good engineer, that's the toughest part too. Those rooms aren't easy to mix, and the ballroom has like a seven second reverb time naturally. So this is him getting into that technical side. We're getting deep. Yeah, you're well, hey, you're asking me the question. So that but that room's magic too. If if you get the right engineer and the right band and the right experience, and um, yeah, good room, Sylvie. We played what Miramar? Miramar in Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_04
37:42

We played the Majestic, the High Noon, the Cooperage. Um Cooperidge is a good spot. I was gonna say I really enjoyed that show. We played like a cr a Christmas time show there. It was um we played with Alley Eyes and the Keystones. No, it wasn't Motherwind. And Motherwind, I think it was four band.

SPEAKER_05
37:59

No, Alley's was there.

SPEAKER_04
38:00

Uh yeah, yeah, they were there. Oh yeah, they were there. Uh it was it was it was a good spot. Motherwind, Alley Eyes, um The Keystones. And uh it was uh I really like that that that venue as well.

SPEAKER_02
38:14

Josh, what would you add?

SPEAKER_06
38:16

Alright, so this is a deep cut, but if you uh ever find yourself in Sheboygan, the Wild Center is such it's a gorgeous, you know, old uh theater that has been you know renovated and it's actually expanding. Um just such a hidden hidden gem on A Street in Sheboygan. Uh they bring in all kinds of, you know, uh, you know, I'd say semi-big name acts, but such a cool location to go see a show or you know see uh some sort of performance or musical or whatever it is. Super cool place.

SPEAKER_02
38:45

Nice. Nice. I was I was gonna give a shout out to the rip too. I think um maybe my favorite concert there was Snoop Dogg in 2008. I remember bringing a uh water bottle of vodka to the Marquette dorm, pouring some in some lemonade, walking over there very early, and we ended up in the front row. Let's go. Came out in like a handkerchief material pimp suit with like Snoop Dogg and diamonds across the mic, and uh him and the dog pound just just tore that show up.

SPEAKER_03
39:14

So Richie, could you still put off a move like that? Bringing a bringing a bottom of the show.

SPEAKER_02
39:20

I try I try not to do that. I've thought I've thought about doing that at the Pfizer because the cocktails are like $24. But I've restrained myself. I don't want to be the guy to get caught doing that, so I haven't done that in the world.

SPEAKER_03
39:34

They do, they do. Some was Wisconsinitis Tall Boys.

SPEAKER_02
39:38

14. It might actually be 16, but that's 14 you can spend for my uh I always make sure to grab one or two of those over there. I'm curious to hear your guys' take on this too. Any um, other than yourselves, any other artists to watch in in the Milwaukee or Wisconsin area?

SPEAKER_06
40:00

Can I answer while you guys are thinking? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02
40:02

We just saw a lot of them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06
40:04

Well, yeah, one of the bands that completely blew me away at the Milwaukee show was Hot Mess. Those guys are new, they know they're relatively new, they're up and coming. Shout out to the ball. Oh man, they were so good.

SPEAKER_00
40:17

I talked to the singer after the show and I told him he reminded me of um uh beauty school dropouts, and he's like, that's one of my biggest inspirations right now. I was like, I see it, I see it.

SPEAKER_06
40:28

Yeah, they just came out with a couple new singles too, which are awesome. So I think those guys are gonna be a big name in Wisconsin before we know it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
40:36

Yeah. Um hardcore scene again, maybe, but Still Stair. Still Stairs coming back with their with their sequel to uh their their album they put out recently. So All Heart is the first one, and No Breaks is the second one. No breaks is coming out, so shout out Marcus. Still Stair is pretty sick. I like working with those guys.

SPEAKER_01
40:54

You got yeah, I'll I'll give a couple shout-outs. One one Milwaukee and one uh a little bit further, but Moon Glow. Um, I don't know if you guys have have heard of them, but we've played a couple shows with them, and I really, really enjoy listening to their music and also just their energy uh live is is amazing. And then also this is a Chicagoland uh band, but Natarosynth, who we played with a couple times. Uh they're I would say like you know, they clearly are super passionate about like really working on their craft and and making amazing music and amazing live music. Um super nice guys, also really nice guys, and uh yeah, really enjoy them too.

SPEAKER_04
41:40

Um I'd say uh I gotta go with Alley Eyes for me. Like I have a long time friend of AJ, and just like I always enjoyed just their kind of sound and what they've got going on. Um we've played some shows with them and I just enjoy chatting with them. Um I would say like for me, completely dark horse of the whole competition. I was completely blown away by Axe and the Hatchman. Is that correct? It was the last band on the first night. The Taxman? The taxman. I said meant taxman. The full band name was It's just the Taxman. Oh, it's the Taxman.

SPEAKER_05
42:15

You're thinking of Axe and the Hatchetman, okay. You're confusing the two. I just said the Taxman.

SPEAKER_04
42:19

I was completely blown away by their sound, how good they were, and like I would I need to go to C show. I went up to them was like, we need to play a bill together. Okay.

SPEAKER_02
42:28

So were they the kids in college or younger? Am I thinking someone else?

SPEAKER_06
42:34

I think they maybe seemed a little younger than you guys, but I think they're from. They've actually played at three sheets before, so that would be fun to get you guys together. Yeah, together.

SPEAKER_05
42:43

That was gonna be my answer too. Like listening to them, they reminded me a lot of um There's this guy still woozy. He was in this band prior to that called And It's Escaping Me, Feed Me Jack. And it's like very much like you know, clean guitars, really good melodies, you know, some time changes, stuff that like we kind of do as well. So I I thoroughly enjoyed them. That was the answer to that.

SPEAKER_06
43:03

Yeah, they always had this like like throwback like Beatles type sounds.

SPEAKER_04
43:06

Yeah, the songwriting was really cool. Yeah, yeah, the hollow body bass, and it just kind of gave that vibe. It's like so sick.

SPEAKER_02
43:13

Um, do you do you guys have any ultimate goal or dream as as a band? Go ahead, Raf.

SPEAKER_04
43:19

I mean I always well, okay, it's a tagline, but I I felt like when we created Secret Menu, we were always extremely direct and passionate about like where we're going, you know, because I think as a musician, there are many different paths you can take. And I said, I want us to sell out Madison Square Garden. That is like I know it's a huge goal and a very lofty goal, but it also gives us a lot of stuff to aim for and let's align like those actions to that goal. So we've always been moving with that sort of intention, and hopefully one day all things will it'll it'll make sense and it'll happen.

SPEAKER_02
43:54

Love it. Josh, you got anything else for these guys?

SPEAKER_06
43:56

Here's a question, kind of similar. If if Secret Menu were to cease to exist tomorrow, like what would be the lasting impression that you would hope people would remember about you guys, your music, but also just like your impact on the Wisconsin music scene.

SPEAKER_05
44:11

I think it's about community like honestly, we've been approached by a couple people who have been like, I just did it. I know what your song is about, but that resonates with me. And that like as a musician, that is the biggest compliment you could ever get. To know that you were able to create something that connected with someone and made them hopefully feel less alone. Like, I don't think it's about changing the world, I think it's about changing someone's world. And if we can do that as a mu as musicians, like that's all that's all I want to do.

SPEAKER_06
44:43

Dang, that was deep. That's that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_02
44:46

Yeah, where hey, where where where can people find you guys?

SPEAKER_04
44:49

Okay, so yeah, I mean you can find us basically everywhere at Secret Menu the Band. Um, and our website is always up to date with all of our upcoming shows, uh, which is just www.secretmenuband.com. Uh and yeah, we just on all socials.

SPEAKER_01
45:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_02
45:04

Very cool. Well, uh, congrats on all your success so far. We look forward to following you, and it was great meeting you all today. Thanks. Thank you for having us. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut. Thank you to Josh from Three Sheeps for co hosting this one with me and to Secret Menu for coming on before signing off. Just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. Annex Wealth Management, Nicola, Drink Wisconsin Abel Beverage Company, and Three Sheeps.