Matt Connarton Unleashed: Gizzy Hendrix

0:00 Speaker 1: And Jenny and I are joined via phone by Grizzy Hendrix.

0:04 Speaker 2: Hello, Yo, Yo, what's the worry you are y'all doing?

0:08 Speaker 1: Hey? Good? Good good.

0:09 Speaker 2: Yeah.

0:09 Speaker 1: I'm sorry you couldn't be here with us live in studio, but it's good to talk to you via phone.

0:14 Speaker 2: Work.

0:14 Speaker 1: Are you in Boston right now?

0:17 Speaker 2: Yeah? I'm in Boston right now. Man. You have a whole show tonight the Lords. You and French part of Jim Jones's artist I went Brockton whoever was in Boston and she I'll pull ups and be a vibe.

0:27 Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent. Now, tell us about yourself because you obviously you know you're a musician, but you also do you host a radio show and podcast.

0:38 Speaker 2: Yeah, so basically my you know, for everybody, I don't know why you are in when you you know, you save a old g Hontow represent Talk of the Town. I am the CEO of Talk to Town six and seven podcasts. I used to do music, but I stopped doing music. I'm more so and you know, going showcases and you know, being the pop ups for local businesses, you know, and that's big, you know basically mean now theaically go showcases, let artists come on the stage, you know, you know, do what they do, showcase their craft, and you know that's fun doing it.

1:09 Speaker 1: Now, I'm curious what is it that caused you to make that switch, because, like you said, you used to do music, but now you're you're instead of creating your own music, you're more interested. It sounds like you're just more interested in helping other artists. Was there something specific that precipitated you kind of shifting your focus over to helping others?

1:32 Speaker 2: Yeah, I just felt like there was so many artists out here and not enough help. There was like there's a lot of artists out here, but there's not enough people that feut here, don't showcases for these artists to come out and perform and you know, do what they love to do. So I just felt like I wanted to make that switch. Instead of being the artist, I'll be the person that you know, provide the opportunity.

1:51 Speaker 1: Sure, sure, excellent. And how long has Talk of the Town existed? How long have you been doing that show?

1:57 Speaker 2: Three years? And now three years? We just celebrated three university with my god Charlie Clips, So it's been three years now.

2:06 Speaker 1: Congratulations. Yeah, and now where can people hear that.

2:12 Speaker 2: You could find us at on Instagram at talked to Town six one seven or on YouTube. We just dropped our new episode with Charlie Clips. I talked to Town six one seven on YouTube as well.

2:23 Speaker 1: Oh very cool. Yeah, Charlie Clips. His name came up on the show recently. I think it was when Jenny Who did we have on the show? Who was talking about Charlie Clips? You remember? No, was it? Oh? It might have been mister Goodbars because we're talking about battle Rop Oh that's who was Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, he was mentioning Charlie Clips. Yeah. So what do you do on Top of the Town? Is it an interview or do they perform or how does that work?

2:47 Speaker 2: So on the podcast we I basically interview everybody, interview artists, celebrity says and stylists. Whatever you do. Basically I done probably covered and interviewed. I also do like food review, restaurant reviews. I do a little you know, tricky trippy episodes. I then did a stream episode before, so you know, it's it's basically all content type thing, Like we just shot the Popya balloon, the fond Love episode, so that's dropping real soon. So it's basically like, you know, everything that you could think of, but mainly podcasting.

3:19 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's different channels, but mainly podcasting.

3:22 Speaker 1: Okay. And how often does it come out? Is it weekly or you've got a lot on it every week? Every week? Yeah, excellent, every week. Do you have a Is there a particular episode of the show that's really kind of blown up where you just got a lot of traffic? Have you had anything that went viral, any particular interviews that people don't seem really interested in.

3:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we had a few. We had the episode with uh Charlie quits will close. You have the episode with Bobby Schmurder. We had one episode, the Shoom episode that went viral. We were I am episode when it got Yeah, we have one episode when a guy came on in eight straight Glee marijuana like he just ate week like it was it was crazy.

4:03 Speaker 1: Oh my god.

4:04 Speaker 2: Yeah, it gets it gets crazy, like it gets real crazy. But my favorite episode, I tell everybody this had to be the part one with Missiana Bean from BT. She was the first one to show me nothing but the utmost love. She came on for part two and then he's just been walked in ever since. So that's probably my favorite episode.

4:24 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, And where do you do it? Where do you do? You have a do you record these in a podcast studio or are you out and about remotely or how does that work?

4:33 Speaker 2: So I have my business partner, Hugh shout out to my guy and anybody that needs a studio when y'all come to mask me. She's happening with Undeniable Sound. He literally does everything everything, okay, recording to you know, to editing, to videos to all of that. He actually shoot you shot all of my episodes for my podcast, so tapping with him Underniable Sound. He's in my bio's under every video in my YouTube. So Undeniable Sound, Undeniable SAMD.

5:00 Speaker 1: She's happ and that oh that's cool. Does he work with other podcasters as well?

5:07 Speaker 2: He can, but he mainly works with me because you know we that's my business partner. So yeah, and he's he's also an artist as well, So any like any showed that I have, y'all probably don't see him on to see him on.

5:18 Speaker 1: The flyers, so oh, very cool, very cool. And where are you from?

5:24 Speaker 2: I'm from Dorchester, Boston, mass Dorchester born and raised, grew up there.

5:27 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I was born in Boston. Yeah yeah, yeah, Jenny was born in Boston too.

5:32 Speaker 2: Yeah. Uh had a connection.

5:35 Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go. How is uh? How's the hip hop scene changed there over the years. I'm a little you know, I I I talked to a lot of hip hop artists from from up here, but not really too many from Boston. I don't know what, at least not lately, has the scene changed. Is it more competitive than it used to be?

5:55 Speaker 2: I wouldn't say more competitive. I always there's more on the map. He got more people that take in their craft series that's actually going and dropping, not even weekly like they'll drop every two days. Yeah, you feel what I'm saying. So it's just like I wouldn't say it's more competition. More wise, I would say there's more people showing that they're hungry and just showing that they basically got that talent in the city.

6:19 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I was curious because one of the things that we talked about a lot on this show, it's really a recurring subject, is how the Internet and how social media has changed everything and how it affects the music industry. And you know, hip hop artists tend to be very prolific. You know, there's a lot of you know, a lot of rhymes that the most hip hop artists that I meet, you know, they're constantly writing and they're always making new new tracks. So it's now you have a delivery system with social media where you can have an idea, record something that day and get it out immediately.

6:54 Speaker 1: So and and to kind of to be able to promote something, well, let me ask you this, so podcast like Talk of the Town, how did you what was your strategy in terms of promoting that. You're obviously successful with it. You've had some some pretty big guests, and you're getting a lot of traffic with it and podcasting, you know, there's a lot of competition. What's been your strategy to really put that out there and to have the success that you've had.

7:20 Speaker 2: Being outside, literally being outside of every event that you could think of, even if it's not my event. I make sure me and my brother who the outside. We have the cameras to do interviews or artists, but we just do random interviews just you know, just to catch some content. So, yeah, this is being outside showing support to others, you know, and hopefully getting the support back, you know, what I'm saying, because that's one thing I will say out here, there is a lack of support. But we're fixing that.

7:47 Speaker 2: We're getting we're getting better with that. So yeah, I was just saying being outside and just being being present.

7:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, you're out there putting the work in, that's for sure, and that's what it takes. Yeah, It's like, you know, in the music industry, a lot of people get into it, whether it's as an artist or you know, or or doing something else, and they and they think it's going to be easy, and they think if they put something out there that you know, people are just going to come to them, and it's really you know, you have to put the work in, you have to build, and that's exactly what you're doing. So I commend you.

8:19 Speaker 1: Has the has the podcast changed over the three years? Has it kind of evolved is it? Or or has it kind of stayed the same in terms of what the original concept was.

8:29 Speaker 2: Oh? No, it definitely evolved. My very first episode, My very first episode was with Trevor Holmes from out of Boston as well, so you know, it definitely evolved. Now you could tell the difference from there to now. You can see how like I wasn't as confident back then, you know what I'm saying, I didn't really know if I really want to do this, But now you can tell, like, this is what I want to do. So it definitely has evolved with me, evolved in my personality, evolved with the content and the way I create the content, you know, and my different ideas.

9:04 Speaker 2: So at first there was just gonna be a podcast strictly a podcast, but now I'm literally covering all types of content that will, you know, either make you laugh, you know, make you sit down and think, or whatever the case may be.

9:15 Speaker 1: So right, right, No, that's excellent. Is everything available online? Is the entire three years if people want to go back and kind of go through the archive, Is everything up and available?

9:26 Speaker 2: Yep, yep. You can go right on top of the Town six one seven on YouTube there on ig so it's my very first post and just scroll up. Excellent, you'll see the evolution.

9:35 Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent. And I think did we meet you through our friend Hope the rapper? Is that how we met you?

9:40 Speaker 2: Yes? No, yes, yes, that's my brother right there.

9:43 Speaker 1: Yeah.

9:44 Speaker 2: He has him performing August twenty third for my birthday bash with Charlie clips excellent case. He will be hitting the stage. He shall hope the rapper.

9:52 Speaker 1: Oh, very cool, very yeah, he's amazing. We love him. Has he been on I assume he's been on the podcast.

9:57 Speaker 2: Now he hasn't. He hasn't been an episode yet. Surprisingly, he's been on about about eighty of my showcases, but never on the podcast. That's kind of crazy. Oh no, we gotta make that happen.

10:07 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm surprised. Something to look forward.

10:10 Speaker 2: Yeah, we got to get you. We gotta get you up on the podcast too.

10:13 Speaker 1: Absolutely, we would love it. Definitely, count us in definitely. And what now, when you talk about showcases, for some of our listeners will know what you mean because we uh, we know that we have a lot of people in the music industry who listen to our show. But but for people who don't know what exactly is a showcase and how is that different from a regular show.

10:32 Speaker 2: So a showcase is basically you can get I like gathering artists, so I probably do about ten to fifteen artists on my lineups. We get everybody the opportunity or whatever the case may be, so you know, they let them come up whether they want to perform seven minutes. I do two different things to see the seven minutes or ten minutes, just to you know, they depending on the comfortability of whatever the case may be. And you know, they come up, they do, they do, they think. So if you're an artists out there, if you make music, you have you've never been on the stage, you never performed, but you've always been looking to get on the stage.

11:05 Speaker 2: You're always looking at perform. Let us know, we're actually about to start the tour. The day counted us out tour to start in September twenty seventh, out Row at Smokehouse. So make sure y'all tap in. You got a lot of opportunity for a lot of artists podcasts, you're trying to work. Let's work. Anybody's trying to work.

11:22 Speaker 1: Let's just work and the tour. How many dates are on the tour?

11:28 Speaker 2: I believe ten for the first way.

11:31 Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so we'll.

11:32 Speaker 2: Basically book We're booked from September up until this no November, late November, then we take it December. You know, we're going to start the second leg of the tour in late January.

11:45 Speaker 1: Oh outstanding, Yeah, very cool, very cool? Is that that must be challenging to manage, right a showcase where you've got where you've got that many artists on it. I mean, is it difficult to kind of keep everybody organized and make sure they get enough time and all that. Is that a challenge to pull that off?

12:02 Speaker 2: Definitely? Definitely, because people are showing up on black people turn people are showing up link it by we we some people only got the venue from eight to so like, so many time we'd be having a venue till like one o'clock and people like showing up at time. You got to scrunch up seven minutes to ten minutes you have you know what I'm saying that I host the show. So it was just like you gotta over the time. We get used to it, but when you know your first couple of times, you're gonna be like geeesh, yeah, come on time a little barely.

12:32 Speaker 1: No, I can I can relate to that because so I don't do it currently. But I used to promote a lot of shows and sometimes we would have you know, we would have full bands, but we would have five four or five bands in a night on a show and uh yeah, if somebody, if somebody was late or if somebody, you know, they got to the venue. You know what happened a lot with bands is you know, part of the band would be there on time, but not everybody could be there on time. Maybe somebody was getting out of work late or whatever.

12:59 Speaker 1: You know, which happens, and you just have to make the best of it. But it can be really stressful. So I can only imagine what it's like when you've got a showcase of that many different artists and trying to do you do you have like a list, like do you try to do? You try to map it out ahead of time Who's gonna go on when? Or does it kind of go by who shows up when? And then you just kind of slot them in in the moment.

13:24 Speaker 2: Neither Actually I go by off the vibe of the crowd.

13:27 Speaker 1: Oh okay.

13:28 Speaker 2: You know some artists have you know, upbeat music, some artists have R and B music. You don't want to put on the artists or like drove music and then put on the artist that singing right after, you know what I mean. So it's like you just got to me personally, I just go with the vibe of the crowd. I go with the vibe of the art the vibe of the artists and who what type of music they make or whatever, because I know when it comes to my playlist, like when I'm like listening to music, if I'm listening to rap, I like slowly transition into R and B. Me if I'm listening to R and B, I'm slowly transitioned into rap.

13:58 Speaker 2: So that's how I try to keep it the lineups as well.

14:01 Speaker 1: Oh that makes sense, that's interesting. I like that approach. That's uh, that's that's really cool. Now at these showcases, have you seen are there specific artists who have participated in these showcases who've then you've seen go on to uh to be really successful either locally or regionally, or or any any success stories that we should know about.

14:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, honestly there is as every artist that I would say have been on my lineups, been on my lineups consistently, that you would say been on my lineups more than like Hope, he've been on my line up probably more than twenty times. I haven't been over I think almost three hundred showcases now, I'm not like to eighty seven, I believe, So it's just like over the over the three years, so he been on a lot of them. So I think any any person that I consistently put on my lineup I know for sure is gonna take off.

14:55 Speaker 2: And I know for sure they mean business and they actually mean what they that they you know, they work ethic, right, they work crafts, so they mean you know, some people't Smorrros don't understand that you got to put money behind you yourself. You feel what I'm saying to Mars don't understand so Tomorrows think that you just can get everything handed to them or whatever the case may be, just because they know they're nice. No, don't go like that. It's it's like it's like a once in the blue moon that goes like that.

15:18 Speaker 2: You feel what I'm saying, so right, That's basically why I'm at with many artist I put on my lineup persistently that shows me that they're here's about their work ethic and network in their craft. Then I know they're gonna make it.

15:29 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, oh excellent, excellent. All right, So tell us again, Well actually two things. Let me ask you this first, because I want to make sure our listeners know exactly where to find the podcast. And yeah, so just remind everybody is it is it. YouTube the best place to go for it.

15:47 Speaker 2: Yep, YouTube is the best place to go for the podcast. I want to see some funny reels, go to our I g both a talk at Talk of the Time sixty one seven.

15:55 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, cool? And uh tell us again about the show tonight because we're want to make sure for people who are listening live that they know about it.

16:04 Speaker 2: Yes, sir, so we got vampwife's own Jim Jones or own Boston's very own. Lord, you coming to Brockton for the Lords You and Friends Part two. We have a bunch of artists from all over coming in performing. Like we actually have one artse that flew in this morning, so it's gonna be crazy. Makes she y'all pull up. It's twenty at the door. Lord, You've never disappointed. She's been going crazy. We just got off to a word not too long ago. And she always shuts the stage down. She always brings the vibe, so he's not gonna want to miss it.

16:33 Speaker 2: Lord you Want Friends Part two at sound webs Doors Open.

16:36 Speaker 1: That nine pretty excellent. Hey, By the way, are there a lot of venues to do what you do? Are there a lot of hip hop venues available these days or that has that changed? I know a lot of places have kind of come and gone, But what's the current state of that.

16:52 Speaker 2: Nah, there is, there's a few, there's there's definitely a lot of venues that I'll let you come in and do what you gotta do. Good, good, But there's also a lot of venues that, you know, you just got to follow guidelines. Yeah, you know, mean so that should be perfectly fine with people that I just want to come in and you know, built the the establishment up and built the you know, the resume when it comes to the showcases. So definitely is a lot of venues and a lot of opportunities.

17:14 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good. That's good to hear. Very good. All right, Well listen, Grizzy Hendricks, thank you so much for joining us. I'm sorry we didn't get to talk in person, but I'm sure we'll be able to make that happen in the future. Good luck with the show tonight. I'm sure it's gonna go great and the tour and the showcases. Love what you're doing, and we will talk again soon, I'm sure.

17:36 Speaker 2: Definitely, definitely, y'all both are invited. August twenty third, I'm gonna send you guys taking some this yall pull up August third, my birthday past, which all eclips everybody that's listening to the Sure y'all pull up is going to be a the outside once again. Thank y'all again.

17:49 Speaker 1: All right, Grizzy Andrix, thank you so much. Man, take care, yes, sir, all right, Bye bye