Sammy Hagar

Published Jun 3, 2021, 7:30 AM

On creating your own Tequila and singing alongside Van Halen.

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So someone sent me a text the other day and said, hey, baby, I can't wait to see you this weekend. And then I got the next text. It said this will hold you over and it was a gigantic penis ad dick text. So first of all, I didn't know what it was. I know that sounds crazy, but like, you're not expecting that on your phone to sort of like in the appealation like mountains. You're just like, oh wait a second, let me pull back. That's a penis on my phone, okay. And then they sent another thing like did you like that? Or I'm like, oh, this is like this is a modern crank call. So I then blocked the person, and then the person was calling me with the same phone number, so it was some sort of scam and I had to have my business manager call Horizon and just figure out what to do with that text. My point is, well, what is that doing? Okay? A stranger dick picks you, like, okay, now what will you marry me? Like, I just want to understand the long No pun intended the long game. I just don't understand the long game, Like what what now are we doing? Like I saw your penis, let's get married. I just don't understand. It's just is it harassing me? I just don't actually understand the logic, Like, what are we doing here? That's that's a real cock block. By the way, a cock block is a dick comes through on your text and you block. But I the guy blocked through, he must have a very big penis because he blocked through the cop block he got. We put that wall down. Have you ever gotten a dick pick? If you're walking through like Grands and you get air dropped pick. Wait, so she just said, if you're walking through Grand Central and you just like get dropped the dick pick, that means someone who's within reach, like on the subway, can air drop either penis. It's a dick drop. It's not like a mic drop. It's a dick drop with it's a cock drop. That's the way, just a cocktaught no the deal? Wow, Okay, Well, on that note, I'm not sure many other people would enjoy it preceding their show. I'm glad we didn't keep this rent for Hillary Clinton's show. I don't think that would have been appropes. Um. I think Sammy Hagar could handle it. My guest today is Sammy Hagar, the multi platinum red rocker and legendary frontman of hard rock favorite Van Halen. He is also a lifelong entrepreneur who turned his passions for music, booze, and the beach into an empire. He's amazing and he founded the Mexican resort the Cabbo Wobbo Cantina Dying to Go. It's home of the handmade Cabo Wobbo tequila that he oversaw from the very first spoonful, and since then he's created a liquor dynasty and expanded his restaurant chain with Cabbo Wobbo Cantinas in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe and a series of airport restaurants Sammy's Beach Bar and Grill. They raised money for local charities, and today we're going to talk about the importance of following your passion and creating your own market. This may be one of my favorite interviews ever. So you're in for a real treat Hi. Hi, how are you? I feel great? Do you feel good? Where are you well? I'm in Data Point in the Orange County. Oh nice? Is that your base? Yeah? Partly I'm a cabos in my base northern California is my old base and now I'm a southern California kind of guy. I move around. You only live in the warm weather by the beach. That would sound that's exactly right, gets under seventy. I'm out of here, got it. I'm like you like a goose, I just go south. Where are you at Connecticut? So near the water. But it's not just thinking about it. Hey, well listen, honored to be on your show. We're kind of in the same business. We kind of got lucky together. It didn't well, you did pave the way to be honest, and I mentioned you a lot, which is interesting and I can't wait to get into that because I do mention you and I like to sort of always give credit and just set records straight. So because I was definitely the first woman to really monetize in the liquor business and created the first ever low calorie ready to drink cocktail, and I was the first person to market directly to women besides wine, but in the liquor business. But when I first started, even as a chef, and I used to just hold wine at an event, publicist would say, oh, put your alcohol away. You can't take a picture with alcohol, and it felt like after what happened with me, people all kinds of celebrities started rushing in. And I always say, but before me was Sammy Hague. This is from my estimation. Sammy Hagar, Dan Ackeroid, Danny DeVito, dabbled in lemon Cello, Diddy, and then I came in. So it was a man's game. But even you were like at the forefront, was there anyone else doing liquor publicly? Also being in the rock and roll business, you know, alcohol and being a rock star. Publicists would be like, you know, don't show that you drink. I always say, when you work for me, all the people that worked for me, and not just in the tequila, but my band members and my crew, I always say, it's not only okay to drink on the job, when you work with me, it's mandatory exactly. So that way I didn't look like the only guy walking around the drink of my hands. I really don't drink that much. I know it seems crazy, but I do enjoy a good cocktail, and in course, tequila and rum are my two favorite spirits, and I'm a fine wine guy. I love wine with dinner. I don't think I could have a good dinner without it. If somebody serves you a good you know, steak or a great piece of fish or something, you gotta I gotta have a glass of wine with this. I mean, yeah, part, it's part of the deal. Well, you know, thank you for paving decide with the ladies. Um, I actually should be mad at you because you took half my following not they drink your stuff instead of mine. I don't know it anymore. My and my beat is up. So I was thinking, I don't know how much you market to women specifically or you reach women specifically. So if you ever want to do something, I'm a free agent for the first time in a long time. Oh well, you might be talking to the right guy or I might be talking to the right lady, because uh, that would be awesome. I'm on this trip now where I want to team up with people because it's like, you know, in a rock band, when they discovered packages where you went out with two big bands and sometimes three big bands. All of a sudden you went from you know, seven eight thousand people to fifteen and twenty thousand people. And I think about that with my spirit brand. So now I've teamed up with Brick Springfield bought into my company. Oh, I know him. He's a big fan. I actually have upstairs in my house a pink guitar gave me for my birthday. I didn't know he was a fan of mine. I was a fan of his and then he yeah, crazy. He's my partner with the Rum and Guy Fierti is my partner with Santo, and it's so much easier and better have in a partner. But to have you as a partner, well, we might own the industry beyond. We might run everybody outside of business. We'll take over. We'll show them beyond beyond. Because it's great. Yeah, it would be amazing. I think we should do something. Would be very cool, because, to be honest, when I started, women were drinking tequila in college, but like, you know, crappy, cheap brown tequila. But when I started saying the skinny girl Margherita, it wasn't in bottles. I just said the recipe. I just said, you know, clear tequila, four lines and a tiny splash of orange liqueur. Because I learned not to say the brands, because I was built trying to build my own and that's when girls started drinking tequila, tequila and soda. So it is a great idea. Um, but you know I have she is better than one. And even having you on here, I was thinking, this is so cool. I put you on the list in the very beginning. The show is about game changers, mavericks, started from the bottom. Now we're here and you know, built a brand, courageous type people, and you're just such a legend. And I was so excited because you're just unique and you've done it your own authentic way, and that's what you know. It's the sircutest path, nontraditional business model. So I want to hear about that today. Well, Bethny, I think you probably did the same thing. I didn't know what I was doing, so it was kind of easy to do it my own way because I didn't have any rules. You know, I was uneducated completely in this world of branding or so forth. Uh. And a guy named SHEF Gordon you might know who. He is, a wonderful guy, real smart guy. He he said, well, why don't you just roll everything together. You live in Cobbo, you live on the beach, You've got a cobble wobble cantina. You're making tequila. Why don't you just take that on tour? And I said, instead of being a rock star, you know, take off the leather pants, you know, and go out there and your shorts and barefoot, you know, and just be yourself and just roll it all together. And that's really what made sense. And so that's the way I promoted it. I just went on tour, kept doing my thing, but I started wearing shorts and flip flops instead, you know. And back when I was a younger, uh more in shape to take my shirt off even act like I was really on the beach. And then I had waitresses on stage. I had a bar on stage. I built the cobble wobble. My stage looked like that. I had seventy people on stage being served drinks while I was performing to ten thousand people. So that to me was just so original. I mean, I thought, yeah, this is fun. I don't even have to get dressed up. I can walk out. I can get drunk during the show, you know, not that I want to be drunk, but I mean I could have drinks and I just say, let's relax, let's make a party. And uh, I think that was really unique and obvious, but only obvious now, like it's obvious afterwards. And I think sometimes I used to. I used to get a lot of flak from the critics. Would say, look at this guy, what the hell do you think he's in cabbo on the beach. I'd say, yeah, it's an untraditional rock concert. It was a party, but yeah, it didn't scare me. But it was actually more fun than in a real show. I mean, you know, then putting together act and go out and doing it. We just kind of rolled onto the stage, talk to the people behind me, waitress. I needed every fourth song, I need a drink, come out and I'll show people how to make a drink. I'd mix up a while. We read it right on stage at least three times a night. So, I mean, that was fun. That was fun. But I didn't know what I was doing, you know what I mean. I didn't realize I was really building a brand. No one told me that you're building a brand, you know. You know what I mean. I wasn't thinking that way at all. I was just having a good time. How long ago was that? Well, when I first got thrown out of Van Halen, not for doing that I had less of a problem with anybody else in that. But no, um, unceremoniously thrown out of Van Heland. I started doing it that right then. I said, I'm never gonna play. I'm never gonna put on an outfit and go out on stage ever again. I'm never gonna go out and do the same show every night. And I'm not gonna play with anyone who sept friends. And you know, I was turned in that thing, and it kind of helped me do that. So that was did you feel like you were sort of put in a box and controlled by this whole vehicle versus driving yourself. Yeah, being at a rock star had rules. You know, you couldn't act like you were married. You know, you couldn't talk about your wife on stage. No, you had to talk about you know, as if you were this single guy. That was early days, but it's really true. I mean there was pressure from band members. Hey man, don't never see your marrying that kids? Man? Was it really what's wrong with that? You know? Um? And then also the dress up pretension of you know, you had to look like a rock star and you had to put on airs and take poses on stage. You didn't have to. But that's the way I learned. I learned from led Zeppelin and those bands that did that, and I still love those bands. But one day I just woke up and said, I'm gonna go out Like if I stood up, you'd see them in shorts, you'd see them barefoot. And I didn't put this outfit on for you. I just came in the way I am and uh, and it really made my job easier. It really took the job out, you know, like, can you imagine kiss I love those guys, but can you imagine walking into your dressing room, a normal guy, a grown up man, and walking in that dress room and looking at those outfits hanging on. I want to say, I gotta put that on, and I gotta put all that makeup, and I gotta go out there and do this show. That would be torture. That is torture, the acne alone of the torture. But the question is, I don't know that much about the music business, and I obviously know Van halen is, but I just know your name is Sammy Haygar, a rock star who has the Cobbo Wobbo brand. But I don't know if most people know you that same way, or if some people still typecast you as the guy that used to be in Van Halen, Like, what do most people say to you? What most people think that you are? What do they think your brand is versus what it really is? Well, I think now it's established. You know, I've done it. I've been what I am now since n So I think I've been doing this as long as I have been doing a rock star thing. And most of those people that were fans back in the eighties and the seventies and the nineties early nineties, they're like my age, so like they're going, no, we know he's cool now, you know, Like, I think it's been accepted who and what I am? And I put up on my Instagram and on my Facebook, and I put up old pictures at least once a week throws Back Friday, and I always get the greatest comments, Oh my god, I loved your hair long. Grow your hair back and going my hair won't grow back. This is it. This is what it is. It's like, you know it grows slow now, it's like you know, I'm an elder right. Well, it's funny because you always have to remember where you came from, which I know that you do, but so I was on a reality show, and you know, no matter what I do, I could literally build a rocket ship beyond the cover of forms magazine, turn a brand, make ten billion dollars, and I would still always be dragged into everything that has to do with the housewives. And it's sometimes it's irritating because you've done I've done so much and I want to like rinse myself. I want to take a bath, like rince myself of that because I've earned it and I've worked so hard. So you know, maybe another twenty years and it will rinse off. Well, you've done a pretty good job of rinsing it off, because you know, I'm not a big TV guy, but I know about your TV show, but I know much more about the whole movement you started with ladies and alcohol, spirits, beverage and the skinny girl thing. I mean, my wife went nuts when I was doing this, you know, she she got more excited to Rick Springfield. You know. The trouble with TV stars, I think I know a lot of movie stars. TV stars, they really do get pigeonholed. Whatever they are acting like, people think that's who they are, and they don't want to be disappointed, you know, to where rock stars. I think you can. Um, yeah, I don't know. A lot of people expect me to jump around and yell on scream on the beach. I guess, but I can't. I can't. I can't get out of it this mode going be in yourself, Anthony, I don't have to tell you to be in your know. It's it just saves so much stress in life. You know. It's like I go, you know, oh, if I had to get all made up and they do all this stuff and have my sure my hair looks good and put on a certain shirt, and have a script that I had to try to stick to, and I'm talking to you over here reading my notes. God, that'd be Workation. Liberation, which is a good name for a tequila brand o it is, He's another name of sound name. So this is obvious, I believe. But I don't know. But have you made an infinitely greater amount of money on your liquor then on your music? Absolutely, especially an amount of time. You know, I started making tequila, I guess in five, somewhere around there, I started making tequila really really Kabba Wabble came out, and within nine years I sold it for a crazy amount of money, you know, life changing money. I never made much of money in rock and roll. You know, I've been playing rock rolls in seventy two, but I didn't make any money to about seventy nine. I was starving. So I don't know, let's put it like this. If you win in this business, I don't have to tell you it's really lucrative and it's fun. You know. The thing I like most about my brand. Everyone says, you know, oh, you can just go put your name on something. You know, you're Sammy Hagar And I said, yeah, but man, going down to Jalisco and going down to Wahaka and finding the mescal that I wanted to use to mix with the blend with my tequila which was which as Santo now the new one, that was so exciting. I mean, you're eating the food, you're hanging out with the guys, you're drinking your samp, You're you're feeling it, and and that's so much more fun I think then than just if you're just gonna slap your name on something, you can just do it with milk, you know, or whatever. You know, you don't have to drink it. That's a sick, amazing, cool trip. But that town is a amazing and like the Cowboy Boots stores and the authenticity and yeah, I mean, it's got your soul in it. It's it's part of who you are. But I think the idea for people that I mean, I always bring up, well, I bring up sometimes George Foreman because he was really one of the first people to have like a product that exceeded, you know, far exceeded his original career and he was in legend, but then he had that George Foreman grill and that was I remember everyone was thinking, what the hell, that's crazy. You have to sort of explore and go where the fish are and just take the road and go with the passion because you never know where it's gonna lead you, you know. And that seems like what you just did, you were being honest, authentic, and I think that people listening. You have to split the difference between doing things that are secure and you have to take care of your family and you may have a four one K, etcetera. But you've gotta kind of take some chances if you really want to, you know, hit the ball out of the park. Yeah, if you're doing something you really love to do and really enjoyed your passion. You know, uh, just like most athletes. I mean, you know they're not getting these world champion athletes. You know, they're not just getting lucky. So I'm gonna make a bunch of money to go do that. No, they're truly athletes that love play baseball and love to play football growing up their whole life. And the passion I think is the key. Think quality. I mean, I think you look like quality, passion, originality, and follow through. I mean, you gotta go to work. I mean, it ain't work if you love what you're doing. So it's a much easier work. But it's not just gonna happen by luck. It's gonna toss it around. No, you gotta put your heart, soul, and mind into it. And yeah, so it's execution, execution. Everybody has an idea. Yeah, execution and authenticity. So were other people in the music industry? Did you feel that they were jealous because you're just this rock and roll guy and no one knows if you're smart, you're an idiot, You're you're just partying, And then all of a sudden, your real brain that you turn a brand. Were other people trying to copy you and just like, you know, why does he have that I'm more successful than him. That kind of thing. Oh yeah, you know that exists in every walk of life. But honestly, I think the thing that saved me from not having having friends supporting me because because I built the Cobbo Wobble first. So I had this place, and I told everybody you go to Cobbo. You go there once, should be there twice, you know, and that's all there is to it. It was when it was dirt roads and it was so romantic and so cool. So I turned people on to come down there. And when they got there, I said come on. And I had a place for him to eat, drink, feel safe. I you know, had the infrastructure. So everybody started saying, oh man, yeah, I go to Cobbo Sammy and take care of you. And I'd get these phone calls from all these people. I mean, you name it. Every I don't think there's a rock star from the eighties or the nineties hasn't played and been to the Cobbo Bobble many times. I mean all of it. You can just start naming them, you know, right down to the you know bonno and you too would come down and hang out at the Cobbo wabble all the time. So they all liked me because I told him, you know, come down, we'll take care of And my manager would say, hey, where are you staying. We'll make sure we'll get your right back, you know, you know, don't walk home, We'll get your you know, a security guy to walk with you. You know. So they looked to me like a cool guy from that. But I bet you finally just came out with the tequila and exploded like it, did you know, they would have been all that jealous. Oh man, you but from the ground up, really he foundation, I sold the liquor portion of my brand. So I owned the Skinny Girl brand in the Skinny Girl brand except for the liquor category. And I had it back and and oh wow, okay, that well, you know that that's not that's nobody else can you know, But this is amazing for people to listen to because you you probably didn't even realize like that, that's never happened before. When they when you sell Gray Goose for two billion dollars, someone can't go make Gray Goose dresses or lip glass or T shirts like. But you're saying that if I want to do a Cobbo Wobbo sweatpants line, you can do it. You own that name. I don't own it, but they will license it back to me for any other products, including Cantina's a hotel. If I want to open up the Cobble Wobble resort and casino, all I have to do is get their permission, and they've given it to me for anything I wanted to do, merchandise and everything. The group of bought it for me. They're wonderful people. They came to Cobbo and the owner Luca and and the attorneys and the CEO of Campari. They're sitting with me at the Cabba Wobble Cantina wh I'm getting ready to go on. We're drinking tequila and I'm saying, I love this. You guys are gonna buy this. And said no, no no, no, we don't. We don't want this. We don't, we don't party like that. We just want your tequila. And I said, okay. So we carved it out and it was it wasn't even like any argument. It was like, no, no, you're fine. We like, this is good promotion for us. Yeah, it is. That's what I was arguing with them. They wanted my whole brand. I said, why you are in the liquor business. You're a public company that's in the liquor, But why would you want all that's ever been done? You can't do that, So I'm doing it, so I don't wisn't a fact. I just own the brand besides out right, besides the liquor category. So it's a little different, but still the same functionality. I guess you drove a harder bargain than I did. I guess I could have said I have to own it, but I don't want to blow my deal. Yeah, but I have said to them what I'm gonna do is gonna make that more successful. So the question is, do you own any of the liquor portion of Cobble Bobble? And you just sold it out right, and that was it. I sold and I kept because I wanted to. And you have to settle back in a certain amount of years. So I waited and I got tired because I wanted to get back in the in the booze business. So I made Rum and Champion's Beach for our Room in the meantime, which is my little family brand. You know, I don't have a big sales scheme. It's just really for my fans and for me, it's boutique. It's really cool and it's not for sale, you know. But cobble wobble. I was saying, maybe I'll keep and they're gonna spread it worldwide and my will be worth more than my eighty A set. But then I got please tell me, I said, I'm doing this for money, get out of here. So I sold it back to them. They wanted it back to the public company, so I sold it all. Yeah, well, did you go from not broke? And I know you were broke as a kid, but did you go from basically not really having a lot of money to having a lot of money? And that like that pendulum swing meaning because for me, doing the Skinny Girl deal was certainly not just about the money. But you want to know, I owned it myself. I owned myself with a partner, but it wasn't a licensing deal when I started it, So I was nervous people are gonna start swallowing me, people are gonna start cheating cheater brands or copying me or I'll get sued for something and I would have gotten swallowed. So you kind of sometimes have to make those decisions in the beginning to just say, let me get the first piece on the board. I'm just starting, and I need the pile and also the street cred. So did you have that feeling too, like pigs get fatten, hobbs get slartered. You don't want to go in and be greedy, and you need knew you needed to make a move and take the initial pile. Is that how you felt and the street credit? Yeah, you know. For me, I had plenty of money. I've been a rock star for so long. So when they first offered me what my brand was worth, this is on something else that you've got to think of. I never knew anything about Goodwill and all that, about what I was worth, you know, Sammy Hagard, the name value. I didn't think of myself. And I'm a singer. I'm a guitar player, I write songs, you know, I go do this, so the whole brand, good Will and all that. So they offered me ten times earnings, you know, and it was a huge number. But then I thought, well, I had a partner and I thought, I'm gonna give him that money. I'm gonna pay taxes, I'm gonna and then you know what am I gonna do? Stick in the bank. You know, I mean, I don't need anything. I already got anything. I said, you know, guys, it's really not life changing. And that was the same day I was talking about when I sitting around the table with the owner, Luca and the boys and and I said, it's just not life changing. I'm okay, and I love this brand. And they said what would be life changing? I said, well, like a hundred million, and they looked at each other and said okay. And that's when I fell over. That's when I fell over, laughing, rolling around the floor. I couldn't control myself, almost wet myself all that stuff, and I really did. I I got a great sense of humor. I couldn't believe it. That's when I realized I wished that was eleven years ago too. I think I saw two thousand seven or eight seven or eight that's when it started. It took about a year, but yeah, but I say, I can't believe you were that early too. But but that moment where I, as a human being, I realized I was this poor kid, uneducated. I mean poor, I'm talking damn near homeless. We slept in cars mini camp during the summer. You know, you read my book. I mean, it's I'm not I'm not crying the blues. I'm happy it's gonna be. But it dawned on me who I was and what I just I heard out of somebody's mouth and I couldn't believe it. I mean, I'm I was pinching myself. I was shocked. I would laugh in the middle of the night. I'd be in the middle of that. My wife would say, oh my god, I know what you're laughing about. I'd start cracking up laughing. I'd said, this is unbelievable. That's life changing. It made me very happy, secure. I never had to worry again. But you know, it's I'm over now. It's all good. But that thing, did you did you feel that? I mean, yeah, yeah, But Sammy, you were in the beginning. Yeah, I guess I was too. We were in the beginning with the first that year we could they couldn't keep up at the demand because we put no money up. My partner put up five hundred thousands. The entire length of the brand eighteen months from idea to sale, and we would have done five hundred thousand cases, but we couldn't. We had no supply, So we did three hundred sixty cases and the number was huge, But the number would be way bigger now, as you know, your number would be crazy because the multiples are insane now. But I wasn't like you. I didn't have money, I didn't have a plane. I had been broke not long before, so I had to get on the goddamn board and be like, this is crazy town. Yeah. I was freaking out. It wasn't saying are you still on the board? Yeah, I've doubled down. I went back into the casino. I doubled down. I split my aces. I chose to double down and build the rest of the brand. But that takes money and guts, and you know, man and woman power, and you and I are definitely the only two people that I know that's sold that long ago. This started a trend in the world of celebrities wanting to build brands. So I want to talk about your philanthropy because it's very important to you and you give back in many different ways, which is also like a business By the way, donating money is like running a business. Oh it's harder to give money away than it is to make it. To give it away honestly and know that your money is doing the right thing. I've got a real simple philosophy. I love that think local, you know, stay in your community. Start with your community. If you've got five dollars to give away, go down and give it to the local food bank, you know, or go down to the you know, somebody in the street and hand it to him. You know. I don't believe in the once again, the big corporate charity firms. I mean, I don't mean don't support them. I don't give my money there because it goes in a giant bank account sits somewhere. I like direct, direct, direct. So when I go on tour every city I've ever played for the last twelve years, I donate a check to the food bank. They come down, they watch the show. I give them four or five seats, whatever they need for the people that run it. I give them a check, and you feel so good. And on days off, I go down and give them the check at the food bank and help hand out food. And when you see that, and when you see families coming in that aren't homeless, and that aren't you know, have you know, horrible life that that that are getting food bank money, I mean coming down getting food and you say, well, why are you here? Guys. I'm a gardener, my wife's a housekeeper, and we have four kids. And once in a while the truck needs tires, or I need a new lawnmowre, or I have to pay the thing. And this helps us make ends meet by getting you know, once or twice a month will come down to the food bank and get food. And I thought, how wonderful is that. You know, it's crazy what you're saying, because I have an initiative called Be Strong, and we've distributed a hundred million dollars within three years. One percent goes to the initiative. And it's the same thing. There's no rubber chicken dinner, there's no nonsense. It's the money to the people. And to your point, it's like a business. You have to be transparent with people. People want to know exactly where this dollar is going. Is it to be bottle water. It's great to do philanthropy like business, where it's total transparency and direct. So we have that also in common, which is fascinating to me. Well, well, what sign are you? Let's get this out of the way. I'm an old hippie. What sign are you, my dear on a scorpio, where are you? I was married to a scorpio over twenty eight years and now I'm married to a Capricorn my second marriage. But we've we've been married for twenty six years, I think. But anyway, I got a double scorpio. I'm more of a score. I'm a libre, but I have a double scop Wow. Yeah, I'm kind of a scorpio minded for and you know, it makes you just kind of a little serious and deeper about stuff like philanthropy and about a relationship and things like that. I love scorpios, but you know, you don't want to cross this scorpio. You don't want to be on the on the on the stinging end of a scorpiold the play. There are some loyal people, so yeah, we can work together. I just want to make sure about that before we get signed this contract. Were about the deal, I agree. I mean it's so funny because people say, oh, we we were living like a rock star. I'm like, you're like a rock star. People say, so, what does being a rock star mean to you? What is your definition of a rock star? Well, a real rock star in the middle of it, you have to be extremely self centered, egotistic, and have talent and drive. Otherwise that business will cheer you up and spit you out, and you know it's it's honestly, it's a cruel business because all your peers, hey, maybe trying to like to like it, but if you're you know, bigger than them, or you can get a big break or number one record. Oh just like you said, oh man, why is he got a number one record? I can seem better to him, or you know, oh I hate that band, and then they see it and say, hey, Sanny. You know so it can be a pretty phony world. But being an X rock star to where you know, you're still okay because I'm still in the business, but I don't really play that role and I'm not interested in anymore real fame or fortune. It's not my thing. I love the art of singing and playing, and I love contact with people. I love to get on stage. That makes me happy when I do a good show. Oh my god, you know, so today a rock star, Yeah, to me is really now it's about um, preserving your heyday, giving your fans something to live for. You know, I've written a lot of songs, uplifting dreams and songs like that about you know, about how to stay positive and so I I want to continue to keep bringing that positive message to my fans. But other than that, being a rock star just it's it was so much fun. And the eight is being able to have anything and everything, anything whenever you want to, being rich and famous and driving ferraris, and being young and healthy and handsome and girls screaming for you. Uh. I don't care what anyone says. That was awesome, that's amazing anything I wouldn't. That's awesome because you were able to be in the moment and enjoy it. Probably some people get stressed out temperament I have. We have a lot in common. Who's your target audience? Now? For your products? Who are you speaking to? And what exactly is your brand? Well? My brands are fun brands. Their party brands, Santo Tequila and Sammy's Beach Bar round. Both of them are really about enjoying friends. Uh, not special occasions, but enjoying your life. You know what I mean, they're kind of a lifestyle brand, and uh you live a certain way, you drink a certain way, you eat a certain way, and you're just that's the way it is. So my brands are an extension of my lifestyle. But my audience, I think is the same kind of thing. I think there are people that, um, you know, first of all happen in the tequila business. That's that's everybody, because it's honest. You know, beverages planet and the best beverage is on the planet. I mean, it's the most fun to drink. You know, any way you want to drink tequila is a blast. I think. Uh so that's you know, that's my audience tequila drinkers. Because I want to make the best tequila in the world. I want mine to stand up next to anybody said, oh yeah, I try my blanco against that blanco. Try my and yeah hoo against that, and you know I don't have an Yeho yet, but try our representato. We haven't made it in Yehoe yet because it's still being made. All these people that come out with all these excuse like with an extra and Yale forty eight months in the barrel, they come out the same time they bring out their blancos. The man, you guys sat around for five years waiting for your tequila to come out. No, that somebody did that for you. So we have our tequila are blancos and reperissado barrels and it just came out. And a psatto is are the barrels are used for. And yehoe which won't come out to October when it's been eleven twelve much. That's authentic too, beyond authentic. Oh yeah, but my my audience, it's funny. I've I said when I left band Helen, we were the biggest fan of the world. I'll you know, anybody wants to argue that, fine, all right. We had five number one album sold forty eight million records with me after the other guy. When I left that band, I said, I don't care if I ever gained another fan. I want to keep the fans that I got that loved me, and I want to stop trying to be famous, you know what I mean. So my audience is really just people that appreciate the lifestyle, that have been there from the beginning and that are happy with what I do for them. I give them booze to drink I give them nightclubs and bart whatnot night clubs, and give them Cantina's cobble Wabbles to go at Sandy's Beach Bar and girls if you eat my Sandy's Beach baring girls in the airports in Hawaiian, Cleveland and Las Vegas. I give all that money away to the community, every bit of it, every bit off, not penny goes in my pockets right and Hagar Family Foundation, and I support that community. So that's all I really care about. You know, you can make plenty of money with three or four million followers. It's funny that you brought up THEO and the authenticity with tequila. For example, because I am having been in the liquor business, I would get sent a bunch of stuff just from being the company, and I would then do blind taste tests with people in my house with like the most expensive fancy tequila in my house, like it could have been who whatever, the expensive one, it could have been Cossage, your Goings or Patrol or whatever, and I would then mix it all up and do taste tests. Just This was always with the Blanco. And I did this once at a restaurant with like eight vodkas just took SIPs of each different ones. Because we're so often influenced by the label and the marketing, and it's like lip glass or anything else. It's not necessarily about the taste. So one time, if you were a tequila drinker, or a vodka drinker or a champagne drinker, you should do a taste test because you'll find it often something that's it's expensive tastes better to you than the marketed. Amazing thing. It's just a great thing to do because the bottle that everyone liked was probably like and everybody likes it better than the bottle it was fifty dollars because it's marketing. And it's funny because you go to restaurants and it used to be that everybody only ordered Absolute vodka. Then it was Gray Goose, then it was Velvedere, then it was Kettle One, that it was Tito's. Like it's like in but I don't think it really has to do necessarily with the taste. It's marketing, right, Yeah it is, And I know that's a big deal and a big part of it. And I always like my packaging to look good, but you know, I always want authenticity in the packaging. You know, like there's a lot of people coming out now with tequila's that looked like they're California brand, like perfume bottles. Yeah, I mean it's like, come on now, man, tequila is a rustic thing. Man, it's an earthy yeah, and I like a good earthy h look, bottle are are just simple and clean. But yeah, I'm a wine guy, and so I really found out a blind tastings. I got my ass handed to me in some blind tastings before to where when you sit there and you'll have a California, you have a Roan, you know, one from Argentina. You know these red wines and you're sitting there without any labels, and you smell it. When you think you're an expert to go is that like, is that a sura? You know what? They know? That's a Peenot noir and you're going, oh, ship, you know what, It's like embarrassing because you know, blind tastings are mandatory if you want to get your ship together and figure out what you really like, absolutely exactly, and for cost effective reasons too. You might be just liking the thing because it seems cool, but I think, um, saki has so many iterations, and it's just not as something to drink, right, But no one thinks of it to drink other than as a Japanese restaurant. I have sake in my house. Why can't we drink sake? So I think somebody should market it to the American population as a everyday normal drink that we drink like wine or vaka ar tequila. I love that idea, and I like the moonshi and thing too. But if you want to get into something cool and different, maybe we'll do something. Because I don't like to jump onto what everybody's doing. I always like to do something a little different. So I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. You're too late if it's already been doing. You know. Saki is one of my favorite beverages when you get those really good sakis, because it goes down so easy. I love good saki, and so many people my friends come to me, you want to make saki, some of my foodie friends. I go to my guys and they say there's just no market for it. All the big you know guys that that could help them say we've tried, we tried. Remember market that's what everybody told me. For locality, Margharita, I sold to the head of a CARDI I would agree with that. I said, there's a funk you, brandy, because there's no such things. Shut up, go just do your spokesperson deals. No one's doing, skinny girl, Margharita, it's a there's no such thing. You're gonna get your grass handed to you. It's a man's game. And I was like, what do you mean, Yeah, so you never know. You never know everybody at home, you never know. Don't assume anyone's smarter than you. Um, Sammy, this was such a pleasure. I was so excited, and you definitely delivered above and beyond my excitement. And I thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me my pleasure. That was a delight. I was just so excited. And you wouldn't think, but Sammy Hagar a legend and myself together just you wouldn't think that we have so much in common. I mean, I have so much in common with so many of these guests. I don't know if that's by design or coincidence, but I mean it says that you may have things in common with people that you would never expect to have things in common with, so he was a pleasure. I think we actually might work together, which is funny because he just seemed like he'd be a great, great partner. But he just had an authenticity and he speaks to living your life authentically, working hard, having passion, making decisions, but doing it your own way. So that was wonderful. Re maybe my favorite. That was wonderful. Just Be is hosted an executive produced by me, Bethany Frankel. Just Be as a production of be Real Productions and I Heart Radio. Our managing producer is Fiona Smith and our producer is Stephanie Stender. Our EP is Morgan Levoy. To catch more moments from the show, follow us on Instagram at just Be with Bethany

Just B with Bethenny Frankel

If you can’t handle the truth you can’t handle this podcast. Just B with Bethenny Frankel is the bes 
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