Episode

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What's the book called, Michael? Born Frustrated. Born Frustrated. That is Michael Essington, a punk rock writer. And next to you, not terribly punk rock, but very talented in their own right. This is Ashley Burgess. Burgess. I didn't want to mispronounce that. Ashley, you founded the Luminosity Dance Troupe, did you not? That is correct. Dancer, choreographer, beautiful woman. I'm getting lost in her eyes. But I have to actually introduce your friend next to you, which is Dan Sliwa. Sliwa. Sliwa. Sliwa. Oh, shit. No one says it right. Dan Sliwa. Dan Sliwa. And you are not a dancer. Oh, come on. Sometimes. No. Okay. Ashley says no. You're not in the Luminosity Dance Troupe, but you do take pictures of these lovely ladies. He's part of our family. You're part of the Luminosity family. And you want to get that mic a little closer, Ashley. And also part of the family, but definitely a big part of the family. Part of the family that flies over the stage and does aerial tricks and all sorts of other stuff. We've got Hannah, and I don't want to mispronounce. Let's pronounce your last name. It's all good. Nobody pronounces it correctly. It's Grigorites. I'm sorry? Grigorites. Grigorites. Hannah Grigorites. It's like a fine stone. And just, Ashley, do you pick people for Luminosity based on really weird last names? You were about to say bad last names. No, really unusual last names. I don't appreciate that. Yes. That is a requirement for Luminosity. Right. Well, I apologize for not saying what you thought I was saying. Apparently, we've got psychics along with Dan. We've got some answers here. Before we get started, I want to mention our sponsors really quick. Doomy's Home Cooking. Love Doomy's Home Cooking. You ever been to Doomy's Home Cooking? I haven't, but I want to. Are you a vegan? No. Are you a vegetarian? No. Doesn't matter. I can be. You will be at this place because this is some of the best food around, whether you're vegan or not. Do I look like a vegan? Yeah. No, I don't. And I'm not. But they have pulled pork. They have shrimp scampi. They have fried chicken. They have chicken fried steak. They have bacon. They have bacon. They have bacon. They have bacon. They have bacon. They have bacon. They have a Big Mac that's on the secret menu. All vegan. You would never know it. They have a secret menu? They have a secret menu. That's fabulous. If you go to Doomy's Home Cooking on the corner of Fountain and Vine in Hollywood, I don't have the address here, but if you go to Dark Marshall, I'll be posting that on our Facebook page. And they have Sunday brunch this Sunday. It's right where the M Bar used to be on Fountain and Vine. If you go in there, Sunday brunch, $15, all you can eat, $4 mimosas. Oh, even better. Now I'm speaking for you. Let's go. I'm speaking Daniel's language. Very nice. Very nice. I was thinking you're going to get them when you get to the mimosas. Yeah. So I know. Yeah. So you might be there with all the luminosity dancers having brunch and sipping mimosas. It's good. And also, they're open until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. So after your dance shows, if you're still hungry, don't go to Denny's or any of that crap. Go to Doomy's Home Cooking. Also, Audible.com. If you go to DarkMarkShow.com, we've got two deals for you. Audible.com. And I looked up Michael Essington does not have any audio books on there. But they do have punk rock books. They do have Iggy Pop's biography. They have a Marky Ramone's biography is on there. They have two books by our friend who's been on the show, Brad Warner, the punk rock Buddhist monk. And they have all sorts of great books. If you want to see what the American Sniper or Fifty Shades of Grey thing is all about, get it free. You get a free book. Don't pay for it. It's free. Just go to DarkMarkShow.com. Click on the Audible button right next to my smiling face. You get a free book and a free 30-day trial to Audible.com. And if you want to get that trial, once you start. Search for the books. They have plays. They have comedy albums. They have hypnosis tapes. They have all sorts of stuff. You know, so definitely go to Audible.com. It's a free book. I don't know what I have to do to give you something free. But I got a free audio book for you. 30-day trial. Also, Stamps.com. Go to Stamps.com. We have a lot of deals for you. They have a couple of deals. I love sending gifts. I love sending packages. I hate going to the post office. We all do. Wouldn't it be nice to just take an envelope, slip it through the computer printer. You're done. You throw it in your mailbox. Yeah. Go to DarkMarkShow.com. Click on the Stamps button. Get the free trial. You get that. You also have $100 value with a digital scale, which has many uses for my audience. And also $40 of free postage and a free 30-day trial at Stamps.com. Go to DarkMarkShow.com. There's all sorts of stuff there. And you can subscribe to our iTunes page and our YouTube. I just put up a couple of YouTube posts this week. So we're here. We're going to start off to my left with Michael Essington because this is somebody. Hey, you. You were around. I shouldn't say it like this. But you were around in the golden age of L.A. punk. Yeah. The late 70s, early 80s. You were hanging out with the germs, with social distortion, with the. Not the germs. Not the germs. You didn't hang out with the germs. No, no. Darby died. I think I was like 14. I've seen them, but I never got to know them. Okay. So you didn't kill him. I didn't kill him. Okay. But I mean, you saw, you know, you saw all these bands come up. Bad religion. Black flag. Social distortion. All these. What was it like being in that time, in that place? It was. I don't know. It sounds real cliche to say it, but in some ways it was much more dangerous than I think it is now because you never know if the show was going to finish, if it was going to be rated. At that point in time, I think everybody belonged to some kind of little punk rock clique or gang. Right. There was the family. There were the lads. There was FFF. There was. There was a million things and you never knew how the show was going to end up. So you're telling me that a black flag show in 1981 is more dangerous than the Good Charlotte show now in 2015? No. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Okay. Okay. I was just curious. And I ask everybody here that's into punk rock. I'm going to ask Nicole, since you're such a big punk rock fan, what was the punk rock album that you first heard that was like, wow, I like this? Well, it's not really fair because what got me into punk was a gateway. It was, I was 13. Right. So he had a better. He had more options of good punk. So I started, I was 13 and I first heard The Offspring, which led to Sublime, which then led to Orange County. And then I just found it all from there. Okay. Well, that's, I mean, that's, please, that's not, that's not, that's not, that's, that's, there's nothing to be ashamed of there. And you, and Michael, what was the first punk album that you, that just, you know, cause I'm assuming you were listening to Led Zeppelin, classic rock. Sure. Sure. And what was the first punk album where you're like, wow, what is this? Well, you know, I, I always say to people when it comes to the guys. That grew up in those years, it was kind of like, uh, you went through, I don't know. It was kind of, uh, like she, she used the term gateway. A lot of us, I know like in junior high and stuff like that. A lot of us, we were into Kiss. And then after Kiss, you kind of got into Devo. And then from Devo, you listen to a little bit of Ramones. Then you got into Black Flag and it was kind of a progression. But, um, I remember the first black or the first punk album that I, I was ever shown my uncle. Uh, Richard White, he, he died about 10 years ago. He had an album. Um, it was a compilation called Tooth and Nail. Okay. And it was, I think the Skulls, Germs, and, um, it was a lot of the Hollywood bands. And it was the first thing I ever saw. But I think the first one that I bought on my own could have been the, uh, first Bad Religion seven inch EP. Okay. I think that might've been the one, the first that I bought with my own money. Okay. Okay. Okay. And by the way, Luminosity and Nicole, seven inch EP was a record that you had. It was a, it was a thing. It was seven inch. It was a round thing that you put on a turntable and you put this needle on it. What's a turntable? Turntable is, well, a turntable, yeah, is anyway. So. Yeah. When you, when you, I didn't, I didn't even think about it. It's natural for me, but the, the seven inch EP, it would look like a 45, but you'd play it at 33, you know, because so they could put more songs on it. Then it was cheaper to put out. That'd be how fast the record goes. No, but I, and I was going to say, I was reading, I was doing a lot of research mostly on Ashley and Hannah, but I was, and Nicole will tell you, I do a lot of research on my female guests, but. That explains the wet wipes. Very nice. Get out. Anyway. So Michael, we got our first masturbation show of the day. That's a. Oh. Yes. Now she has wet wipes. There's wet wipes on the, trust me. Ginger Lynn used to do a show here. Things got messy sometimes. But, uh, we, um, I read that Zane Gray, the Western author was your uncle. Yes. Yes. And you didn't know that till you were like 13. Like about that time. Yeah. Yeah. My, um, my mom was, uh, he was my mom's uncle. So he's something like my third or fourth great uncle or something like that. Yeah. Um, I was going to school one day and my mom had a book that he wrote about our grandmother who fought, um. She was part of the revolutionary war and it was a book called Betty Zane that he wrote about her and I had to take something to school. My mom pulled down a book and he had signed it and I didn't know who he was. I didn't, I never read, you know, I guess his big book was writers of the purple sage. I think that was the big one. I had no idea who he was or how I just took the book. Okay, great. And I went to school and the same grade was popular and say, what was it? The thirties and forties I'm guessing or fifties. Fifties. Fifties. Yeah. Yeah. It was a lot of, uh. And a little before my time, but there was a, it was a big Western thing. You know, it's angry, right? Oh, I wanted to go back and ask a different question. You want to finish the Zane Gray story though? Oh, Hey, I don't care. What's, what's your question Nicole, please. I wanted to know what it was about bad religion that appealed to you. Well, it was two things. My, my uncle, my uncle Richard that I, that I mentioned, he went to school with like half the guys and, um, in the Valley. He w he was, uh, he was no, he worked, he was a manager of a record or of a, of a movie theater, but he had a real big Mohawk and he would to avoid getting fired. That was your uncle. Yeah. My, my, my uncle would wear like a wig to work, to hide the Mohawk from getting fired. And it's like everybody like in the Valley knew him. Well, he went to high school with, uh, Jay Bentley, um, Jay's this kraut. And, uh, I think Greg Graffin. Cause he. Kind of bounced around a few high schools was Calabasas and El Camino and a few others. So a lot of times I would go to the movie theater and hang out with them the whole weekend and these guys would come through. And if anybody was into punk rock, they got in free. So I would end up like rapping with these guys and I was like 13 years old and they were already in high school. Right. But I think what I liked about the, the initial EP is, um, in contrast to like black flag, you know, uh, Greg Graffin was writing stuff on the first. EP about latch key kids. Uh, there was, uh, another song called drastic actions about kids growing up being abused and considering suicide. And I think, um, lyrically I could understand that I had friends that had passed away. I understand the whole latch key kid thing and where, you know, you had black flag screaming about six packs and a white minority and these things. I love black flag, but lyrically I couldn't really relate to you and to your friends. Right. I mean, Greg Graffin, I think he was like a year older than me. I think he was like around 15 going on 16 when the first EP came out. So it's like, I got it. And he's still doing it. He's still doing it. He's a professor in new at UCLA also, isn't he? I believe so. And, uh, so I no longer can relate, you know, his vocabulary is much better than mine now. Right. Well, but you're, but you're the published author, but right next to you is Ashley who, now what separates luminosity dance troupe for all the other dance troupes out there? Well, a lot of dance troupe have like, they have their set thing that they do. Like they either stick to rock and roll or they're more cabaret dancing. Right. We do a mix of all of that. We try to incorporate hip hop and cabaret and burlesque and we have an aerialist. Like, you know, we try to bring people with different backgrounds. That way we can mesh all of our styles together. Right. And, and, and in contrast to the punk rock latchkey kid, you were a cheerleader, weren't you? Yeah, I was a cheerleader back then. See, see the punk rock latchkey kid is sitting there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's sitting next to the cheerleader here on the dark march show. But they still got streak, right? You guys, as I mentioned before, you've performed for multiple, I have really cool friends and really cool bands and these girls are up there on the rock stages. Yeah. No, no, no, no. Those are my favorite shows to do are the live rock band shows where they hire us to choreograph to their original music. That's amazing. Like to have the opportunity, they're really great bands that aren't that well known and they should be. Right. And to be able to be on that stage while they are gaining new fans that have never seen them before. Right. And to watch them grow and then also get credit ourselves for being there and like, who are these girls? And then we also get. Well, how does that contrast to the rap videos you've, you've danced in? I've only done a Busta Rhymes video. I know Hannah's done. You did a Busta Rhymes video? How old, how long ago was that? I think it was about two years ago. Oh, I was going to say, what? Yeah. He's still doing videos? Well, he does a lot of guest starring. So he. I haven't heard of Busta Rhymes since he did that Halloween movie. What's, what is going on with Busta Rhymes? Yeah. Is it for like someone's cousin's nephew? He, yeah, he like joins in with the newcomers. Maybe we could get Busta Rhymes for the one, two year anniversary. Maybe you should. Or someone's cousin's nephew. I'm going to see what I can do. But, but, but you, but you start out what you were, you were, you taught hip hop dance. Yeah, I did. I taught for about seven years back in my hometown. What's your hometown? Yucca Valley, California, Josh Tree area. Oh, okay. I didn't, yeah, I didn't get that far into the research, but so, so you. So I was going to say, well, okay, that makes sense because I was going to say, but did you teach hip hop dancing here in LA? I did when I first moved here. I joined a company called Young Champions. So they basically have like a very small hip hop competition for younger kids. And it's for kids who can't really afford to take the more expensive classes. It's only like $5 a class. So that was a lot of fun. Rounding them up. I should take those classes. You should. But yeah, I mean, do you ever have like little homeboys and homegirls? Like. You're going to teach me. How do you do that? Hip hop dance, Yucca Valley, California woman. So much attitude towards me. Yeah. Really? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. How do you deal with that? Oh, I just showed them my moves and then they shut up. Oh, okay. It's all after school special. She goes in there and she. Right, right. You don't know how to shake that booty. Yes, I do. Respect. Yes. That's great. Yeah. It's like your life's like bringing on like, like, like, like for real. Yeah. For real. And, and you, and you just had auditions for this. Do you keep. You keep bringing dancers to Luminosity. Yeah. But you've been in Luminosity how long? For a little while. I think since June. Okay. So when did you form Luminosity? It's been a little over two years. I formed with one of my best friends and we started with just a group of our friends. We didn't know that one girl was just living over in Glendale that we grew up with. Right. And when we found that out, we're like, Hey, you want to join? And then I grabbed another girl who danced in a different dance company with me. So it started with four of us and we've expanded since then. Okay. Okay. Rounded up Dan. Right. Right. He's great. Yeah. Did you audition him and really put him through the paces? We put them all through the ringer. No, actually I was like scared of her the first time I met her. Like I thought she hated me. Right. She's like a really stern. Well, she's just so likable so far on the show. I can't imagine why. It's just a show, but yeah. Yeah. I'm just kidding, Dan. But Dan, you, you, you, you, I've seen some of your photographs of these ladies. Okay. Like he says, he does a lot of research. I poured over for hours and you definitely are a good photographer. What else do you do for luminosity? Just mainly photography and drinking with them. Right. And your, your last name is Sliwa. Are you related in any way to the guardian angel Sliwa guy? No. You're the second person that mentioned that today and I have no clue what that means. There's a guy in New York. He, he formed the guardian angels. You ever see the guardian angels? They're ridiculous. They're a bunch of guys like. Red berets. They wear like red berets and t-shirts that say guardian angels. They've patrolled goth clubs. They're trying to intimidate goth people and not starting fights. It started in New York as people patrolling the subways, like vigilante citizens. And now it's just out of control when they were going to the goth clubs trying to stop people from crying. But. What? It's a long story. Go see my act one of these days. And by the way, I'll be at the Comedy Palace in San Diego on Wednesday night, 730 show. But Hannah. Uh huh. You, now, now how long have you been dancing? Oh man. Were you a cheerleader? Forever. Ah. I'm like a reject cheerleader. I was on it for one year. And I was like, nevermind guys. I'm out. I'm over it. JB? Junior Washington? Yep. Okay. So, and when did you, when did you start dancing? You just always been dancing. Yeah. I've always been dancing. I guess I started being a little more serious about it in high school and then going into college when I made the decision to kind of like pursue it as a career. So. So, uh, so do they have dancing as a major in college? Yes. They do. They do. Really? I did get a major in dance emphasis in ballet. Oh, you're a ballet dancer. Yeah. You have a whole college dedicated. To dance. Yes. You need to watch more dance movies. No, I understand. Yeah. But when did you start doing, uh, aerial, uh, daring do and stuff like that? I started doing that actually in college. There's this really awesome, crazy little tiny Panamanian lady teaching aerial dance at the college I went to. Oh, I thought, I thought you meant the crazy Panamanian lady outside the studio selling crack. No, she's like my role model, this lady. And she, she, uh, taught me how to do aerial dance. And then I just, I just continued. I'm doing it. So. I mean, I, it's the thing I, cause I see those, I, I, I'm trying to think if I've seen you do it, you look somewhat familiar. I may have. I mean, I don't know. I'm trying to think as well. I've seen it at clubs. Yeah. Supper club has it. Right. There's a lot of clubs that do it. And a lot of, I mean, not a lot. I mean, it's, but that's a lot of trial and error. I mean, how do you, I mean, you fell, I'm sure a few times. Uh, actually that's funny. People always ask that. I'm like, yes, my arm's broken right now. No. Uh, I used to. I assume you mastered it at some point. Yeah. I guess, uh, the first year that I was learning it, we use mats underneath, but I guess at a certain point you just get very comfortable with yourself in the air and you just know like what not to do. So I haven't fallen in like the past four years. Fingers crossed. Knock on wood. All right. No, but I thought like the mats. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. I'm trying to think. Cause I always see it without the net and without the mat. I assume that people just start like that and, uh, break their neck and, and, and just all sorts of crazy stuff happens. No. But they actually have safety. So hopefully not. But safety precautions. So you used a nylon or you, I mean. Silks. Yeah. Silks. Yeah. And, uh, it's just amazing that it can hold up. I mean, you're very, you're, I mean, both of you are very toned and lithe, but, uh. She does more than just silks. Yeah. I also do, uh, trapeze and Lyra, the big circle thing. Oh, wow. Yeah. I love that. That's, uh, I get it. I may have to check out some more YouTube clips, but, uh, that's crazy. And that, I mean, how long does it take to master something like that? Uh, I think it really depends on your dedication. And how much you really enjoy it. I really enjoy it. I think it's fun. So. So what routine did you do when you auditioned for Luminosity? Uh, for Luminosity, uh, we did like a, some choreography. Like she taught us choreography, but then I, I guess they just also, you put down your special skills on your resume and that's one of them. So they're like, wow, that's cool. I mean, how much, how much. It was like you're in. I mean, no offense, but how much is, how much of a bitch is she when people are auditioning? Is she really a taskmaster? What? She's smiling. So I know she's a little bit of a bitch. No. Ashley. No. Is she a jazz or a chorus line where she's really like, bend your toes and screaming at people? Nah. I mean, any dance audition is going to be like super intense because you have like maybe 20 minutes to figure out which of the like 50 girls you want. So it's intense. But I mean. Well, that sounds like, that's like, it sounds like a Saturday night in my house, but. Of course. I mean, I assume it's. Right. Right. But no, but seriously. No, I mean. But no, no. Ashley's the best. That's why I'm still working with her. You better say that. Oh no. But I mean, as it's winding down. You're like, oh, and then you're like, I do aerial too. And like, is what else? That's always my little, I slip that in there. I'm like, wait, wait, don't cut. What else do you do? Is it called grinding? Oh yeah. You do grind. You do grind. Metal grinding. Oh yes. We've had that in the studio. I also do fire stuff as well. Oh, I wish you would have told me. We've done all that stuff in the studio. Oh really? Next time. Next time. You guys have a permit for that? Next time. No, but next time. Next time you're in here, we'll have to, we'll have to do that. Yeah, for sure. I might get Michael away from the phone for a second. Well, Bad Religions, where it started, is your first EP you bought. What, as punk transitioned, which obviously by the time I came around, it's stuff that was offshoots that got more and more into pop punk eventually. How did you follow it? What were pop bands that perhaps the more younger generations can relate to? What are punk bands, I meant to say, sorry, that you liked as time went on? Because he was just about to say Spice Girls, but. Oh yeah, that was, that was the band. You mean like the. New Crop, who do I like? Well, because every, here's the thing, punk, rock, all of it, it's an endangered species that we've been preserving. And punk is an ultimate survivor. There's still plenty out punk. Yeah. So what did you like as it transitioned over the decades? You know, honestly, it probably took me about 20 years to actually get into the New Crop. I mean, when I would listen to the stuff, I'd kind of go back to the older stuff. You know, albums like the Sounds of Laughter album, Dance With Me. The T.S.O.L. album. I will listen to Rancid now. I still kind of go back to the old Clash stuff. I love the Clash. Yeah, you know, I picked up the Spunk album, the Sex Pistols. It was kind of like all the stuff that they never really officially put out. Kind of safer that way. I mean, there's not a lot of, I mean, I know there's a lot of bands out there doing it. But you're saying that, I mean. And I don't mean to interrupt, but. Actually, I do. It's your show, man. It's my show. But what you're saying is when you hear like, you know, and this is even now it's 20 years ago. But A Green Day and Offspring and Rancid. You're like, it's good, but somebody did it better. Or somebody did the same thing 10 years ago. Because you were right there at the beginning. Yeah, you know, I think one of the first, the first Rancid album I got was Out Come the Wolves. And I listened to it. A friend of mine said, you're going to love it. It's just like the old stuff. Yeah. I remember listening to it and saying, you know, it reminds me a lot of The Clash. You know, a lot of the little ska influences and little reggae riffs. Yes, it's a time bomb. Back, oh, back, back, back, back. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, yeah. And it's just kind of like, not to put any of these bands down, but it's like, I've heard this. I heard it, you know, 20 odd years ago. Right. So it just seems kind of a waste of time. I mean. So now you're seeing copies of Rancid that are sort of copies of Clash. Oh, yeah. I mean. When the grunge thing hit in the 90s, I mean, what did you think of that when they threw the metal in with the punk and they were calling Nirvana punk? Oh, yeah. I love Nirvana. You like that stuff? Okay. Yeah, yeah. It seemed more of an honest tribute. You seem to like the more darker edge than the poppy stuff anyway. And Rancid was definitely more on the, I like the upbeat punk. And you like the sort of deeper angsty punk. But here's what happened. And you were in punk bands yourself. You were a punk singer. I tried. Cold War. Yeah, yeah. I sucked. But okay. You were in a band called Cold War. Yeah. And I read one of your columns where you said, now there's another band called Cold War. And you're like, wait, there's no Cold War anymore. Yeah. I don't. I mean, a lot of that stuff. I mean, it's great to kind of to nod towards the old stuff. But if it doesn't, it's like trying to put, you know, like in the 80s, every other flyer, something, something about Reagan or, you know, a little pot shot at the guy. And it would be kind of like a new band doing that. And by the way, Reagan was the president. He was the president in the 80s. Just like, oh, go ahead. Thank you. Yeah. Ronald Reagan. Yeah. Well, that was when I was in high school. Obviously, everybody hated Bush. So it always transcends and it changes into something else. But it has definitely, I think we're just, we have less to rebel against. So it changed the tone of it. That's why I think, you know, I had mentioned to you earlier when we were talking, the core audience now for punk rock, if you go to L.A. clubs, like if you go to see the addicts or the misfits, it's the core audience. The audience is like 21 to 26 year old. It's like a Hispanic audience. And that's, that's the generation. That's, that's the core. Well, that's for sure. We had Richie Ramone on a few weeks ago and that's what he said. He said that South America, the Latin kids are really picking up the punk. Well, it makes sense. I mean, in Mexico with all the cartels and the politics and the kids here with the immigration issues, they're the ones that need something to rebel against. Right. Right. Or, you know, white. Kids nowadays. What are you mad about? You know, it's, there's not a whole hell of a lot anymore. Like the Reagan era, you know, trying to make a, you know, three bucks was impossible. I mean, I remember when I was 16 or 17 taking a job at McDonald's. I think it was like, hey, we used to do it. We used to work. I did it too. No, but that's what I was going to get to because you were a punk singer and you actually, if you, if you read some of your columns and some of your books, a lot of funny, little dalliances into possibly trying out for a metal band at one point. Oh yeah. Getting into hip hop a little bit. But you had, you had, you had rockstar dreams. Sure. And then you had, you got married. You had a couple of kids. Yeah. You became a graphic designer. Yeah. And then in 2007, is it? You started writing the column for. For a strange reaction. Yeah. And speaking of strange reaction, what was the reaction from your wife and kids when you're like, oh, I'm going to start writing punk? For punk columns again? My son, my son is 10. He's going to be 11. I really don't think he cares too much about what music I'm into. You know, every once in a while, like he's met a lot of these guys, like Eric Leach from Symbol Six has come by. You know, if, if nothing else, if my son hears a song on the radio, he'll ask me, can you call Symbol Six and ask him to cover this? Right. You know, he goes, I think this will help their career. That's hilarious. My daughter surprised. Amazingly, she's just, she's in the army. She just shipped out to Oklahoma two weeks ago. She has come to some shows with me. She's seen Symbol Six, the Mau Mau's, the Briggs. She's gone to a lot of these. So the lead singer of Cold War, his daughter is now in the military. Yeah. The punk guy who used to rant against war and Reagan and all that has a daughter that's in the military. Yeah. Yeah. How did that work out? Oh, that was a hard one. That was a hard one. Yeah. I mean. Well, what did your wife think when you were like, I'm going to start hanging out and doing some punk columns? Um, she, uh, she didn't mind much. I mean, she doesn't care for the music. I mean, she knows who everybody is. Um, you know, she's met some of the guys and, you know, she's formed her opinions of people like Henry Rollins and whatnot. Right. But, uh, you know, at first it was just, I think it was some, like the whole thing started, um, in. By the way, what's her opinion on Henry Rollins? Oh, she thinks he's, you know, kind of, uh, kind of arrogant. You don't say. Go ahead. Keep going. A little bit. A little bit. Right. No, in, uh, in 2005, uh, my dad passed away. Uh, no one knew what happened. You know, he was going to work one day, his car disappeared. Nobody could find him for a few days. Really? And, um, finally we found him. He was kind of off this cliff in a ravine. And, um, uh, it was one of those things that. We, we were back and forth with the police trying to find out what happened. Nobody seemed to know. And they just didn't like questions asked about it. Period. It was very strange thing. And I kind of went into this weird, um, I wouldn't say a middle-aged crisis, but when he passed, it was, I, uh, kind of went back and started missing everything that, that I was into as a kid. Mm-hmm. So I kind of repurchased my old comic collection, my punk rock. I was into punk rock records and fan scenes. And, um. That's something that this audience can relate to a lot. It seems to, you did it and everybody in their twenties and thirties did. And that's why every movie is a comic book movie now. So. Well, in 2007, in general, we just had a lot of things. I mean, that was when the economy was crashing and we had the writer's strike. There's a lot of stuff to rebel against in 2007. So it was probably a good time to do it. So, so then you started, you started writing. Yeah. Um, this guy, uh, Scott Hankins, he, uh, he lives in Boston. He, he owns Strange Reaction. And. And he had a writer and I think the kid got hurt in some car wreck. So he said he needed a new writer and we were talking back and forth. And I said, honestly, I don't know anything new. So I said, I could do reviews for you, but they're going to be vintage. And I really don't know how well I can write. He goes, give it a shot. So all of my reviews to begin with were more like, I know where I was when I bought it. You know, what store, who was with me. And it kind of went that way in the beginning. Right. And it was sort of, I think. Oh, and it was all kind of revolved around, you know, my dad passing because I, I almost felt like I needed to hold on to all these memories. Right. And write everything down, buy all the records, listen to them again. And. Sure. That's kind of what happened. And I think in some ways, you know, with my wife anyway, it was just like, let them go through it. Right. And see what happens. Right. And, and, and lo and behold, two books and the third on the way. Yeah. Yeah. I had too much to say. You discovered your inner punk. Yeah. And, uh, Ashley, let me, uh, let me ask. I want to ask you because, uh, I just, it's just going by so fast. Uh, so you have an aerialist. What other dancers do you have in Luminosity? I mean, what is your, first of all, what is your specialty? My specialty? Yes. Um, I like to be in charge of the group. I bet you do. Um, I do most of the choreography and, um, I try to make sure that we have enough dancers on the troupe to where, um, at any given time, if we have a go-go gig one night and the same night, we have a band that needs us to choreograph for their show. I have enough girls to do that. Send two girls here for that go-go gig and then all that. Okay. So I'm just a coordinator, I guess. Right. That's my talent. No, but you're dancing. Well, you almost gave me the jazz hand, but, but what is it? Team captain. Yes. But I mean, it was dancing wise. Uh, just, uh, it's a, is it, uh, I mean, what, what, what are you, what, what do you do best? Um, I consider my style mix between like jazz, funk and hip hop. Okay. Um, I tend to add a lot of sex appeal into my dance routines. Hannah will tell you. Yeah. Um, specialty. That's it. You don't have to tell me. I can see it right now. And by the way, all your dancers have, have just, I don't know if it's the, if it's you doing the eye makeup or what, but they all have entrancing eyes. Yeah. Is that another requirement? Is that the twinkly eyes? Crazy last name. Is that Daniel Daniels? Like Daniel Daniels? I was going to say, you know. Do you do the makeup Daniel? Yeah. Oh, good. All right. Well, no, no wonder you're here. So anyway. But, uh, but, uh, so, uh, and, um, there's a, you have a big tour coming up from what I understand. Yeah. Um, we did a tour recently. We went to the Midwest. So we're in like Oklahoma. Now, how does Oklahoma react to the luminosity dance troupe? They were definitely not our favorite crowd. Oh man. Cause I've done, I've done comedy in Oklahoma. I've done comedy in Texas. I've done comedy. How was Oklahoma for you? Yeah. Uh, probably about the same as it was for you. It's here. It's here. And there's some crowds. It's very hit and miss. When it hits, great. Yes. When it misses, it's like, oh, okay. We had two shows there. The first one was our first show of the whole entire tour. And we didn't really know what to expect going into this tour. It's our first time touring with our tour manager and, you know, we're getting the hang of things. So, uh, they, they were just not very friendly. How many yeehaws did you get during the show? Not too many. I wish there were more. Yeah. So Hannah, you, you, you sound like you're chomping a bit to tell a story from Oklahoma. What happened? Oh, come on. Go ahead. Go ahead. Tell the story. Oh my God. What happened? What happened the first night, Hannah? I was in the dressing room, like getting changed. And all of a sudden I just hear someone be like, they threw a chair. What? Was this the Blues Brothers? What is going on? It was like a, not a small chair, not like a big chair. A very heavy chair. Were you guys late or they just like thrown chairs? No, I mean, they just got rowdy. Yeah. It was just funny. They were very rowdy. Cause they're all like shocked and the rest of the audience is like, keep going. Keep going. Was it like a country bar where they had like a mechanical? Positive chair. It's like, yeah. We're not really sure. I'm so confused. We're not sure what that was about. He didn't explain himself. He didn't apologize. He ended up leaving. It was in the moment. He broke a speaker that was on the stage. He had to pay $700 for it. Oh my goodness. Nice. So, and then somebody with Oklahoma, that's like six months salary. But now, was there a mechanical bowl in this bar? I mean, what kind of bar were you playing? No. It was like a sectioned off bar where they had an area with like pool tables and an actual bar. And then they had like their. It was like a club area. Like a big dance floor and all that. Like a stage and stuff. Right. So when you were dancing and just like, and it's weird because I do comedy and the thing that's, obviously, but the thing that's great about comedy is you know when it's working and when it's not. Right. They're laughing or they're not. Someone's throwing a chair at you, it's a bad sign. Or maybe not in Oklahoma. Right. I've never had, nobody threw a chair at me in Oklahoma. Yes, this is awesome. I had some hanglers, but no violence. But as a dancer, I'm curious. And both of you, I want to hear your. Those perspectives. How do you know when it's going well and how do you know when it's not? I mean, you just get the vibe of the room. Like you can tell if people are feeling the performance. They're like, they get excited. They'll maybe like catcall or whatever it is. But you know, they're paying attention. But when they're being total male assholes and like, yeah, baby, wow. When they're into it. That's when it's good. And what do you just feel like? You can usually tell right away. Like right when the music starts and they see the dancers come out. Right. You can already get a feel from it. Right. You can do it. Yeah. Okay. And is there a crowd where you don't feel it and you turn it around? Yeah, of course. Okay. Because I'm just curious about this because I, you know, I hang out with a lot of musicians and it's weird. So I, you know, as I said, what I do, I get the media feedback. You're a writer. You write it out. You're solitary. And you don't know until somebody reads it. And that's months later, whether it's any good or not. Really? Yeah. And you guys, you know, you're dancing. You obviously know what you're doing. You're still alive. So you were, so it was all Oklahoma or was it other states? Where else did we go? Kansas. Oh, Kansas. Kansas was fun. What was our favorite spot again? The doghouse. Oh, yeah. We were fun at this place called the doghouse. And they loved it. That sounds like they would love you. How does your tour manager talk you into playing the doghouse? I don't know how he talked us into the tour in general, but he got us on board. Yeah. Are you going to be touring the Midwest this time? Are you going to stay on the coast? No. We're starting in Oregon. Okay. Our first show is, I think it's called Tillamook, Oregon. And we're starting there and working our way through. We're going to be in Montana. Have you been to Oregon before? Oh, watch out for Montana. Steve, this is my first time traveling ever. Oregon's beautiful. You were really born in Montana? I'm actually Hannah Montana in real life. I remember when I'm traveling, I was, it was all I saw was this big splotch of blood on the road. I didn't know if it was like an elk or what had dragged itself off the road, but that was my experience with Montana. It was Hannah's hair. Hannah's hair. Hannah's hair. Yeah. Sorry about that. No, but you were really born in Missoula or just a regular Montana? Bozeman. Bozeman, Montana. All right. So how did you get to LA from Montana? How did you get there? I danced. I mean, you walked, you danced all the way from Bozeman, Montana to here. There you go. Jazz hands the whole way. Okay. Good, good, good, good. You, you, you put some, put some nylon in your own. So it'd be great to be, it'll be a total homecoming for you. Yeah. I'm excited. I'm excited to go back. Yeah. Because I've done shows in Montana, in Montana and Oklahoma. So did you have a ranch? Yeah. It's all ranches in Montana. I'm from Colorado by the way. Oh, my parents live in Colorado. That's awesome. Yeah. My parents were going to school in Bozeman, Montana. So that's why I was born there. Okay. Exciting. And you started dancing in Montana? Yeah, probably, you know, like right out of the womb, just jazz hands my way out. So you were born in Montana, but you did, you moved. Yeah. Okay. I moved to St. Louis as well. Yeah. St. Louis, Washington, DC. So you guys toured St. Louis? That seems like a good dancing town. They say St. Louis and Washington, DC. Yeah. That's awesome. So that, so you got, you had your, your a little bit of hip hop dancing at those two places I guess. Yeah. Actually, St. Louis was great. I got to open up for Nelly. So. You opened up for Nelly? Really? Yeah. St. Louis is definitely a dancing town. Wait, wait. So, so just dancing or did you sing or did you? No, it was dancing and then he's got his recording studio there. So we would like practice there. And then he's also got like an institute that he's opened up there. So it's kind of like Nelly city. The Nelly Institute? Yeah. I think it actually is called that. That's another guy. I didn't know what Nelly was doing these days. Yeah. He's got an institute. It teaches like DJing and like dancing and all kinds of stuff. So. Oh wow. Yeah. That's weird. So people go to a Nelly show and this white red head from Montana is dancing. And I'm like, hello. Hello. You ready? Welcome to hip hop. I'm trying to remember what Nelly's big song was, but it was like, you're ready for Nelly, but first. Hot in here. That was it. Hot in here. Oh, jazz hands. How are you? Yeah. Did you do aerial when you went? I do hip hop. Did you do aerial when you, when you opened for Nelly? No, no, no. It was hip hop. Okay. So you did a hip hop, throw a song on and, and how'd that go over? Good. Okay. Yeah. And was that, was that a predominantly black crowd or white crowd or? It was mixed. It was like a, I forget. I think it was like a spring break type show. So there's a lot of college kids. Oh, okay. Yeah. So yeah. So went well. Right. So that's mixed. By the time the movie Space Jam came around, hip hop was pretty much everybody. I got it. I understand. I'm familiar with Eminem and all that. What's the weirdest gig that you ever played Ashley? The weirdest gig? Um. We've done, uh. Go ahead. Okay. There's a story. I want to hear this. Come on. I'm like, oh dear. When you start giggling, I want to hear this. Come on. Um, it was actually, for me, it was the second time that we hit Oklahoma. Um, it's better than the chair story. I feel like the crowd was just so crazy. They were like on the stage with us while we were dancing. We were like, you need like get in your seats. Like what, why are you up here with me? And they were like, like trying to shake her hand in the middle of the performance. They just looked like so confused. Just kind of wandering around. I've never seen a show before. What is this? They didn't know what a dance trip was? They just saw you were dancing? I guess not. I don't. Well, I mean, we had a host like explaining what was going on, but they were, they wanted to be so involved that they were like on the stage. Like, hey, I'm James. What's up? That's not, that's not the, that's not the only person that's rushed to stage. I'm sure. Right. Oh. Or maybe that was the only time. I mean, it's happened in the past, but it was just very aggressive. It was like a collective. It was like church group. Revival style. It's not like just one drunk guy. And the other thing I want to ask you, and like you say, it goes by really quick. Now when guys, when you guys are out just clubbing and guys ask you to dance, how embarrassing is that when you go out and you really show them up for the dance floor? Oh, it's great for us. Well, here's the thing. I don't like when they're, they try to like freak dance with you. I'm like, that's the only move. I'm like, give me my space. I got to show you my moves. I'm like, you said you wanted to dance. I thought you meant dance battle. Yeah. Right. You mean battle. Right. When a guy asks you to dance, do you battle him? Yes. Yeah. Whether they know what's coming or not. That's right. And you guys won all the time, I'm sure. Yeah. We break out in our choreography actually. Except with Dan. I actually caught her off guard once while dancing. I did like a little pop and she just backed off. She just backed off. No, you did. In with the Dan. I think that was a dream that Dan had. A signature Dan. Yes. I think Dan and I had similar dreams this week. Michael, now you've got this new book that's coming out. It's called, once again- Born Frustrated. Born Frustrated. Yeah. It's a new book. It's called, once again- Born Frustrated. Born Frustrated. Yeah. It's a new book. Born Frustrated. Born Frustrated. Born Frustrated. Yeah. And what is this book about? It's kind of like the third in the set. The first two are basically autobiographies, more or less like stories of people around me and things that I've gone through. And this one's going to kind of wrap it up. And then from here on out, I'll probably just do fiction. Okay. And you have some ideas as far as fiction you want to write? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can't tell you yet. I'll give it away. Will it be music related? No. Okay. Oh. Can you give us a genre? History. Yeah. Horrors? I like, the idea now is kind of to go with almost like a pulp fiction kind of a thing. Okay. I like that. A crime noir thing. Okay. I was going to say Fifty Shades of Essington, but I don't think that's- No, I've only got about five shades. Five shades. Yeah. So is this going to wrap, is this going to, because- Yeah. Yeah. I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest I'll be honest Wow. You DIY, you did it. And once again, what did your wife think when you're like, I'm going to spend my own money and take my own time and get these books out? Well, I kind of lucked out. Originally, when I was sending out proposals for Last One to Die, the first book, I sent a package to like almost every book company I could think of, you know, hit Random House, Ferrell House, you know, no matter how big or small the publishers were. And I got a lot of letters back just going, oh, hey, you know, nobody's really selling books. We're not making money. Everything's going ebook. And so I found a publisher called Create Space, which basically handles self-publishing. And after I sent my stuff to them, they were bought by Amazon. So I really lucked out because I had my stuff with them. They put it out. And within like a week, week and a half, it was Tower Records. Tower Records started selling it. Barnes & Noble, Amazon, like everybody picked it up. And it sold surprisingly well, considering that I didn't have an editor or anything. Well, well enough that you were able to quit your day job? No. Okay. Actually, I was... What a nice little supplement to the income. Yeah. The place I was working at, I was kind of like, during slow periods, I was writing the book and putting it together. Right. I got paid to do it. It's just... There you go. I understand. Somebody else's money. I understand. Well, what is the time go? So when is that going to be out? The new... Is this going to wrap it up where you are now, a husband, a father? Yeah. It's going to kind of continue those kind of stories. I mean, there might be one or two throwback stories because every once in a while, I'll write something and I'll remember like something with my dad or my family that I haven't touched on. Right. Yeah. So more or less. This is going to... The triumphant ending where you're on the Dark Mark show with Luminosity Dance Troupe and Nicole Sex and Dark Mark telling your story. Yeah. Yeah. But I think the bottom line is you were born frustrated. Life is frustrating as it is for everybody, but you're content now. I am. I'm doing well. You're doing well. And so... And the thing that brings us all together, except for Dan, I don't really know you, but you have a passion for what you do and so do these girls. So... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I can get to know Luminosity. I think Dan has a passion. I see. He likes taking those pictures. I bet she does. I like looking at those pictures. But Ashley, if people want to get a hold of you or book Luminosity, or check out the tour. I want to be a tour star. I'll be a tour star. I'll be a tour star. I'll be a tour star. I'll be a tour star. I'll be a tour star. I'll be a tour star. We're on Facebook. We're on Twitter. We're on Instagram. Right. And when does the tour start in Oklahoma? Wednesday. In Oregon. We leave Wednesday. Our first show is Thursday. Make sure you stop by Voodoo Donuts. Oh, my gosh. I heard about that. But remember, there will be a giant line. Yes, the bacon donuts. That's fine. I'm willing to wait. And are you going to hit any L.A. shows or any L.A. shows? Yeah. We are preparing our murder mystery show called Deadlock. Oh, really? Yeah. This is the stuff I want to hear about. Now we have two minutes. We have a murder mystery dance show. Yeah. So look for that in either May or June. We'll be holding that as well. That sounds fabulous. Wow. So there's a whole plot to the dancing. Yes. Right. Every time. I'm so excited. I don't want to say it, but I have a theory who the murderer is. Just looking at you two, I have a feeling. I think Dan's the victim. Dan, how do people get a hold of you? Actually, you are a very good photographer. I'm sorry I wouldn't talk that much to you. Oh, thank you. No. I'm just like- But that masturbation crack at the beginning, I can't fucking take it. So how do people get a hold of you? You are a very good photographer. How do people get a hold of you? Just Instagram, Daniel J. Slua Photography. Right. Facebook, same thing. You can look at all my current stuff, except I don't post boudoir, my alternative fetish photography. Oh, you do alternative fetish photography. You have to check it out, though. It's amazing. It's pretty cool. So you do that? He would love to check it out. Well, I actually- Unless it's boudoir. He would love to book you and your models. To quickly go over it, I ended up, I wanted to do some research for something I'm writing, so I hooked up with a friend's cousin who he gets paid thousands by businessmen to put on these really abstract fetish shoots. Right. So the first shoot, I was in West Hollywood, and I get in there, and it's two girls in hot pink lingerie sharing a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles, and then halfway through the shoot, we switch to Fruity Pebbles. Right. Oh, I want to. Because you can't have just Cocoa Pebbles. Yeah. You have the variety. Definitely a variety. Well, by the way, Dan, you have a collar. There's a collar on the line. You have to do a real quick collar. Hello, caller. Okay. Caller. This is Dark Mark. You're on the Dark Mark show. What's going on? This is Lucas. That's my son. My son is- That's your son? Yeah, that's my son. Hi, Lucas. Hi, Lucas. Oh, wait. I thought it was for Dan. Michael. This is for Michael Lessington. And this is your son, Lucas. Hi, Lucas. Hi. Hi. What are you doing? Lucas, speak up. Yeah. Dad, I'm seeing what you're doing right now. And can you hear me? Wait, can you hear me, by the way? Yeah. I can hear you, Lucas. You got to do it fast. This is the cutest thing ever on the Dark Mark show. Come on, Lucas. Okay, Dad. I am. Okay, so here's what I needed to say. I am watching right now. Yes. And I'm proud of you. Aw. Thank you. Aw. Aw. Aw. Aw. Thank you. I love you, boy. I think you're doing great, by the way. Thank you. We all do, Lucas. You can call my dad. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you for calling, Lucas. Bye, Lucas. Bye. Can the lady say goodbye to Lucas? Bye, Lucas. Bye, Lucas. Bye, Lucas. Bye. And Hannah, how do people get a hold of you if they need to get a hold of you? You can get my information, I think, off of LuminosityDanceTroop.com, as well as I'm on Facebook, Instagram, Hannah Grigoretz. You all are great. I would love to have you all back. I appreciate everybody being on the show, even Dan. I want to talk more about that murder mystery thing. We should have them on the show. When you're back in L.A., when you're doing the murder mystery thing, we want you guys to come back. Everybody, have a wonderfully creepy week. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.