September 14, 2023 • 41 mins
Danae Hayes is one of the funniest people you will stumble upon on social media. She first build a following from viral prank calls and comedic personality skits, but Danae is entering a new chapter of her career. A chapter that consist of writing and record music alongside plans for a big comedy tour. We talk about her start, her new projects, and future goals as she navigates a career on social media and in music.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What kind of dogs you guys have?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
We have a sheep of doodle.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You have a sheep of doodle in.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This really sweet lady. She walks up and she goes.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Oh my god, what kind of dog is he? And
I was like, he's a sheep of doodle and she goes,
I had no idea you could breed sheeps and dogs,
And I went I said, m M.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Guys?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Chris Ruderger your host here on the six one five
House podcast. I am so pumped because this podcast interviews
rising artists and creators in the Nashville music scene. Today,
we have an awesome guest, a friend of mine who
I first saw online because she is genuinely one of
the funniest people I have ever stumbled an on social
media and then come to find out that she's a
(00:52):
comedian and actually working on some music herself. She's known
for a bunch of amazing prank calls and personality skits.
But I'm so excited to talk to her because she's
also putting out music now and potentially going on a
comedy tour. Please welcome in the hot seat to the
six from five Hourse podcast. The One and Only Miss
Denay Hayes.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Dam Chris want an intro?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Look at that. I rehearsed like ten times in the
mirror before you can go.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We'll put you in my back pocket and just carry
you around for self esteem.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
There you go, right. It only took me like ten
tries to get that good. But here we are. It's
awesome seeing you. The last time, we were kicking it
in La hanging out with Tim McGraw doing our thing.
What have you been up to this summer?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Been on the lake a lot? Yeah, I've been cruising
on a boat. Finally finally got my first boat, and
that's all I think about. Like we're going back. We
just got back yesterday and we're going back in three days.
And I'm just obsessed with it. Like I am a
lake lifer. You are you a lake life over beach life?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Oh hell yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Lah. Whenever I see people at the beach like, I
have absolutely no envy. It's the sand I just I
don't want Sandama bathing suit. Yeah, I don't want to
be in the salty water. Just give me a boat
on a lake.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Then you got to do like the shower thing where
you got to shake it all out on your feet
are like still dirty hours later?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yeah, I totally hear y. So you've been you've been
on the lake hanging out, and you've been working on
a little bit of music, which I can't wait to
talk about because I'm so excited that you have made
this just amazing, you know, career development from going from
you personality a comedian online and expanding into music. So
I can't waits talk about this, But I honestly want
(02:32):
to know firsthand, how did you get into social media
in the first place.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Oh my gosh, Well, I think, like a lot of creators,
it happened during the pandemic. But I've always I've always
loved making funny videos, Like even before social media was around.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
My dad bought my first cam quarter.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
When were that, yeah, where you slipped your hand through
and you're, you know, looking through the little.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
People but back with the dinosaurs.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Literally, But he bought me one of those when I
was like ten years old, and one of my favorite
things to do was make at home videos and I
would have to play all the characters because I didn't
have any friends that would want to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I think they honestly thought I was like super weird.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
So I was playing all these characters in these at
home videos, and then I had this editing software that
my dad had got me like a year later, and
I'd figured out how to do all that, and I
was playing one character that was talking to myself, that
was talking a third character, and then on the weekends,
I would burn it onto a DVD and then I
(03:32):
would make my parents watch it on like Saturday Nights
because I loved Saturday Night Live, so I was like
essentially creating my own Saturday Night Live. And then social
media came around and I was on Instagram, but I
never really showed my personality. I just used it to
kind of promote my business. And then the pandemic hit
and I did a prank phone call to a dairy queen.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Is that the first call?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, that was the first one. I pray phone called
a dairy queen and I asked him. She answered the
phone and she was like hello, and I was like, yes,
my my husband and I we're wanting to buy some
of that chocolate ice cream that that chocolate syrup y'all got.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And she's like, well, I don't think we sell that,
and I was like, well.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
I'm gonna come down there with a castrol dish and
y'all just empty it in that castrol dish, and I said,
I want my husband to throw that home and we're
gonna have a good night.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Well it went megaviral, Like I.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Think I woke up the next day and at that
point it already had like, I don't know, five million views,
and then the next day it was at ten, and
the next day it was like like at twenty twenty million.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Your phone must have just been NonStop celebrating stupid.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
And then the next day I was like, well shit,
I'm gonna I want a video and post another one.
So I prank phone called a taxidermist in Alabama and
I asked him if he would stuff my dog?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
My dog? You asked him if if he would stuff
he was stuff my dad. Do you know what I
have seen this Peo. I think that was the first
one that I stumbled upon, and I just remember the
brilliance of it was your voice and your character, but
also just the reaction of this guy so confused, You're
just waiting like I don't know what I would do
in that moment either.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, he was in it, like and a part
of me felt really bad because like it was the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
People were hurting for money. People you know, they were
out of a job.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
But at the same time, to my advantage, everybody was
at home watching tiktoks, so it was like this perfect
storm where everybody was at home watching. I happened to
post a prank phone call, which at the time I
had never seen a prank phone call on TikTok and
it was just the subject matter was too freaking funny.
The guy was like, yeah, bring him down here, and
I was like, well, he's in a date phrase. I
(05:48):
guess I just need to thowow him out and now
I'll bring him down there. And he was like, yeah,
you've done everything you can do, right, and.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
That was the best part so normal.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I was like, dude, this is way too normal for
this guy.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
So I end up post seeing his name and his
number in the comment section, and he messages me and
said that he's already made thousands of dollars of book
requests for taxidermy.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
And I was like, you know what, that makes it
feel good? I felt bag.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So I was prank, you know, pranking the guy, and
then it ended up making the guy some money.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
So you're like, hey man, sorry I prank to you,
and that whole video went viral, but also not sorry,
because I just gave you ten thousand dollars worth of
business eight.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So yeah, and the next day I think I woke
up with like two hundred and seventy five thousand followers,
and then it just kept climbing and kept climbing.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
And so do you when you how'd you get that
idea to prank call people? And first, like, was this
based off of were you doing this as a child
growing up? You were one of them? Right?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I was one of them prank on people. I was.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
My dad had there's this comedian from well he's not
a comedian, he was a radio show host from Oklahoma
and his name was roy D Mercer, and roy D
Mercer would video audio record prank phone calls and they
were hilarious. And my dad had every single cassette and
we would on the way to and from softball practice
(07:05):
that's all he would play and h just growing up,
I just like fell in love with that humor, that candid,
like completely off the cuff humor. And so as a kid,
I would do prank phone calls and I would do
it at like my parents' parties or my parents get togethers,
And it was always so fun as a kid to
see the adults laugh at me.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
It made me.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I was like, damn if I can make the adults laugh.
So it just like itched that that itch and uh.
And then when the pandemic hit, I hadn't made a
prank phone call. It seemed like in forever, and I
was like, well, shit, I want to do one and
just post it. And I did, And yeah, that's that's
kind of what I was known for at the beginning.
But I've gotten away from the prank phone calls. I mean,
I did one for Luke Bryan a while ago, but.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I saw that that was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
It was it was honestly, it was really it was
really funny. But now it's more sketch comedy, a lot
of characters involved, just because I think prank phone calling
it needs to come in waves, like you can't just
do it like every day.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
People get tired of it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Sure, So well, that's that's the thing that I was
particularly drawn to you on social media before we met
was I could see that you were prank phone calls
was a passion of Jersey was something that you were
able to lift your platform on. But I see you
as such a well rounded comedian. You have several different
voices and skit writing that you're doing, which I know
(08:27):
takes a lot of time and also creativity. So did
you grow up following certain comedians, like where did you
draw or do your inspiration from?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
I always joke I grew up in like the whitest
town possible, But all of my like comics, favorite comics
are all black. Like I love black humor, I love
black culture. I just am obsessed with black comics, like
Dave Chappelle, Kat Williams, I love Dave there, like Martin Lauren.
(09:00):
It's like I just Eddie Murphy, like some of the
funniest people want to psych some of the funniest people
I know, they're all black.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And it's just like, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
As a kid, I just gravitated, uh towards towards those
particular comedians, and I don't know that that those are
like those are like my top five I think. I
think Saturday Night Live was also a huge inspiration for
the Sketch comedy. Yeah, whereas the other comics I just mentioned,
(09:32):
they were a lot of stand up, but uh yes,
Saturday Night Live was a lot of the sketches where
I started to have character development and want.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
To like really craft some of these characters. And it
sounds weird.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
It sounds like I'm just looking at people and trying
to like crack the code to them. But I love
following people's mannerisms and the way that they sit, the
way that they talk, the way that they react to things,
and then I'm able to like craft a character out
of those quote unquote stereotypes.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Like I have a character.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Online she's an hoa president, and people from all over
the world gravitate to it like towards her because they
all know that person. And it's it's like mannerisms that
are derived from different people, not just necessarily one person.
And then I just kind of like morphem into But
I think that that's what a lot of I don't
think that's special towards me. I think that's what a
(10:22):
lot of actors and actresses and comedians do.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, I was going to ask, when you're writing these
sketch comedies, are you drawing these characters from personal experiences
and interaction or are some of them fictional? I think I.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Think a little both. I would say eighty percent from
what I've seen in real life. I think it all
has to start with the truth and then from there
you can kind of like just completely just go off
the rails.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
But like the character that I think I'm most known for,
her name is Sharon jan and Sharon Jen is based
off of a relative of mine.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Can you do the Sharon gen voice for me?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:58):
So, sar, she's like, my god, I am so fucking
tired of having to always clean up after your fucking
shit terrence, Like, get in.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
There and clean your damn rhyme and while you're in there,
warsh your ass.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You know. So it's just fun.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You stemmed off of.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
This, uh, this relative that I have. But then also
you just kind of like pile shit on top of
her that.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You've picked up from other people.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
That's the art of embellishment, right, You can draw from
from personal life, and then of course I have fun
with it. Yeah, that's amazing. How many sketch when you're
writing sketch comedies because I've never done this before. What's
is the process like something that happens over many months
of you know, kind of like character development and like
sporadic thoughts, or are you like sitting down and saying, Hey,
(11:46):
it's a Monday afternoon, I'm gonna spend six hours and
write this segment.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I think for like TikTok videos, it's very spur of
the moment. For my comedy show, it's going to be
a lot of crafting, Like you just said, sitting down
and spending hours figuring out which story is going to
make most sense for the show. But a lot of
these characters are so sporadic. Sharon Jean was developed from
the first prank phone call that I made. I just
(12:12):
love that voice, and so I prank phone called the
person in that voice, and then from there by the
second prank phone call she had, she has a name.
Now she's sharing Gene and then from there you just
kind of figure out what she's going to talk, like,
who her husband's going to be, like, is she going
to be quick to be annoyed?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Is she going to be.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Super woke or is she going to be super conservative
or is she not going to give a fuck? You know,
and then other people, like other characters like they happen,
But then you just figure out the character in like
a second, you know, because it's just so stereotypical, right,
But when it comes to crafting the show, it's it's
less about I feel like, character development and more about
(12:52):
what fake situations where you're going to find these characters
in to make it the funniest, if that makes sense.
So it's more about crafting the scenario rather than the character,
because characters are already crafted.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, I was gonna say, you first create the character,
but then it's a matter of putting them in the
right scene and figuring out the storyline. And that's the
true The part that I love about it is it
is storytelling, and you know, even in a fictional or
comedic wests sense, but it's it's a different, different sort
of creativity than I don't know some of us, as
songwriters or artists are used to, which I love. I
(13:23):
had I had a question for you because I was
talking to some friends earlier this week and they're like, hey,
Dena Hayes, we've seen her, we know she's got a
ton of great voices. How many characters or personalities do
you think you have on lock?
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (13:36):
God?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I feel like I mean, right now, there's like four
big characters on that I constantly am rotating through. But
like the other day, and I haven't told you this,
but the other day I got to audition for Saturday
Night Live. It was really was you audition for Saturday.
It was a self tape. So it starts with a
self tape.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You have to.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
You know, it can't just go online and fill it out.
Otherwise I would have done that ten years ago. But
I signed with my agency and they got me a
self tape audition. So I self taped, and I noticed
that a lot of my characters were all Southern, and
I just really wanted to like diversify. So I was like, man,
I really need to find like a jawzy accent to
(14:18):
kind of like throw in that there you go, you know,
And so I, you know, I did like a jawsy accent.
Where she was visiting Nashville and she was so annoyed
because this girl comes up to one she was like,
are you from New York? And I was like, fuck you,
I'm from New Jersey. Where the fuck are you from?
So it's just like, I don't know. I can hear,
I can hear something online and then I can work
(14:40):
that that impression, and then once you kind of get
the impression with the voice down. Then you start to
have to figure out how do those people dress, how
do those people walk through life?
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I got to learn about their culture. That was really
good to find you. I'm not from New Jersey, from
the northeast Boston, but I have friends in New Jersey
to talk like that, and that was really good.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's funny because like New Jersey people say that it's
Staten Island. They're like, no, that's stat Nyland. Yeah so
but no, I I don't know. I'm sure I could
come up with some more, but right now, i'd say
like four big ones that are constantly rotaking through my
social media.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
That's amazing. And I've noticed over the past couple of
months you have you've taken this social platform that you
now have have generated. It's a really loyal, fun, loving,
great platform, and you've started to dabble a little bit
in the music scene. Of course, you had road Hard
come out, which when I first saw this song, I
(15:39):
remember I was I was doing one of those things
where I was sitting in like a somewhat important business,
you know, calling them on zoom or whatever, and I'm
like scrolling through TikTok, not really paying attention, and I
remember coming across this video and listening to you saying
the lyrics what the hell? And I was I was
dying of laughter, to the point where someone on the
(15:59):
zoom was like, are you are you there? Are you okay?
How did like, how did it start for you to
think about combining your comedic creativity and energy with music?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I think, God, I I honestly credit a lot of
it moving to Nashville, because if I was still living
out I'm from Birmingham, but I had moved here from Austin, Texas.
But I feel like if I was still living out
in Austin, Texas and I wasn't close proximity wise to music,
which Alstin I know is there's a lot of music there,
(16:31):
but it's not the same as Nashville. I think once
I moved here and I just started making friends with
people in the music industry, I just got this bug
of like, how can I find another avenue for comedy
to live? Because as a creative person, you know, it
is like you're always wanting to elevate, You're always wanting
to try something new.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
So I grew up listening to country music.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I love country music, and I just I was like, well,
I've never seen a day in my life, don't know
how to sing, never tried to sing, but I love
trying new things. And I was like, if I follow
my ass I can at least have the crutch of
it's comedy. I'm not trying to be Miranda Lambert. I'm
not trying to be the next you know, Ashley Cook.
(17:13):
I'm literally just trying to integrate music in comedy. And
it has been so much fun, Like oh my god.
Like the songwriting sessions. I could literally go to one
every single day, like just being around creative people and
(17:34):
coming in with an idea and thinking that the idea
is going to go this way, and then those two
other creatives in the room say, let's take it this way.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Complete one eighty amazing. That's the beauty of the process.
I imagine. It's so fun too, because there are a
lot of songwriters in Nashville that are writing five times
a week and writing somewhat serious or maybe like you know,
songs for commercial country, which is a different formula than
going in there and you come in and say, hey,
I have this idea. I want us to be sort
of free spirited and fun with this narrative, and I
(18:05):
bet it's a really enjoyable process.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
For them too, that's what they keep saying, and I mean,
I'm happy to provide that, but I just, oh my god.
I mean, like, dude, I have like got the bug,
like I am bit hard, Like we have a songwrite
tomorrow with Matt McKinney and Trey Lewis, and it's our
second write with them, and like I wish it was
like literally tonight, because.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I mean, I just it's so much fun.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Like when we wrote road Hard, it was a bunch
of women, which is hilarious. We wrote it with may Estis,
Marty Dodson, Alex Klein, myself, my.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Wife, Mandy Kai, and another artist, Harper Gray. We wrote
it with six or seven women.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
But we started the songwriting session and I said, I
really want to write a song about this old saying
my dad used to say about boats and cars, rode
hard and put up wet. And I was like, and
I want to write it about a woman, And they
were like, I don't think we should write it about
a woman. Let's write it with some innu windows where
it sounds like it's sexual, but it's really just talking
(19:10):
about a boat and that was my wife's idea to
do that. So, like she doesn't even songwrite, and I'm like,
she's she's got the bug now, like she's yeah, it's
just so fun. I feel like if you're creative, not
saying that we're professional songwriters by any means, but if
you're creative, like you can add value to a songwriter absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
How I'm curious as as somebody that has a jam
pack schedule now because you're writing songs, you're recording songs,
which we'll talk a little more about, and you're of
course still making your skits and your posts across social media,
like what's your typical day? Like you must not sleep much?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Oh man, it's it's definitely heated up.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Before all this, it was just wake up and have
a cup of coffee and think about what she wanted
to post on social media. Now it's writing a comedy
show because we're going to be touring next year for
a one woman comedy show.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So it's a lot of.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You know, picking out and cherry picking the perfect things
for that and having dedicated time to do that while
also thinking about how to continue to grow my social
media and give my loyal fans what they want and
then also think of song ideas. But yeah, my typical
day looks like, get up pretty early, go through my emails,
(20:23):
sit down for like two hours, and try to be
creative on either my comedy show or my social media.
Maybe go to a songwrite that day, and finish the
day with actually filming content for my socials because at
the end of the day, social media is what got
me to this point. So you know, I never want
to get to a place to where I just abandon it.
I always want to continue to grow. And it's also
(20:44):
a beautiful thing because it really inspires me in other ways.
When I'm creating content for social media, it's helping me
think of content for songwriting and my comedy show as well.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
That's great that you can tie your social following and
all those posts into what you're doing in the morning
with you know, matter tray and writing a song. Do
you how do you deal with you know? Social media
can be also a very hostile place. Now you know
that you're you're brilliant at what you do, but like anyone,
when you get you know, popular and a lot a
lot of people following you, there's a lot of hate
(21:16):
comments like how do you deal with the hate on
social media?
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Man?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
That's funny you asked me that about four weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
When stuff started to like when my song came out
and whatnot, there was so much amazing support. But when
things start to go viral or people like tons of
eyes get on it, it's just, like you said, some
more opportunity for mean things. And I went through like
a two week spiral where I just freaking hated social media.
(21:46):
So I was just like, it seemed like every other
comment was just critiquing either my music or my comedy,
or me being a woman in comedy or me being
a gay woman, you know, And it's just like it
gets overwhelming. But I think when that happens, I have
to like pull back and completely. I'm sure some people
(22:07):
are different, but I have to like completely take like
a couple of days away from it just to let
my brain like get back on the good things. I'll
read a book, like a self help book to like
buy some of my favorite authors like Tony Robbins, and
just get my brain going back towards good energy.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
So that and also, like it's cliches, it.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Sounds like having conversations with like a good friend, saying like, dude,
i'm heavy today, you know, and trying to work through
that with some good friends and just being honest. I
think too many times before I was not honest or authentic,
and I just try to power through, like the bad stuff.
But now like finding that one good friend of that
one or two good friends and being able to go
(22:45):
out for coffee and have a meaningful conversation about it.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I'm so happy you said that, because in Nashville, we're
surrounded by so many creative people that are trying to
do very similar things. We're all busting our ass on
social media, writing songs, posting it. It gets so overwhelming,
and sometimes like the luck of the draw just doesn't
go your way, or sometimes you have a moment and
then a bunch of people come in there like backlashing
(23:09):
at you and hating on you. And I think, like
anyone that wakes up every single day and says like,
oh yeah, I'm great, I'm fine in this kind of industry,
like that's a lot. That's just a lie, you know,
And I think it's important that we do have those
real conversations. I think, you know, finding finding you know,
sympathy with other other peers and friends that are in
the space is like there needs to be more of that.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
So totally it also builds stronger friendships too when you
talk about things that are actually more meaningful than just work,
you know.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
One hundred percent, does your you mentioned your wife she's
not a songwriter? Is she also a social media your
creator as well?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Or she is?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
What does she do?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Yeah, So she's a full time influencer, So she's she's
a lot of like lifestyle, so she's going to share
like her favorite things on social media. She's also just
like a really like uplifting person on social media. That's
kind of her brand is just to like provide like
a pocket of your day that's positive, you know. But
(24:13):
she works with a lot of brands that are revolved
around lifestyle, around fashion, around being a dog mom, you know,
a lot of home decor and stuff like that, and
so it's really cool. We get to work at home
together pretty much like all day long. As long as
I'm there working, she's there working, And like, I think
a lot of times we take that for granted because
(24:34):
there's so many couples, you know, that have to split
up at nine o'clock in the morning and go their
separate ways, but we get to enjoy a lot of
the things in life right beside each other.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
That's amazing. What kind of dogs do you guys have?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
We have a sheep of doodle.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You have a sheep of doodle.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
He's a sheep dog mixed with poodle.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Oh my god, how big is it? A sheep a doodle?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Well he's many, so he's like forty pounds. But we
were walking him the other day in this really sweet lady.
She walks up and she goes.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Oh my god, what kind of dog is see?
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And I was like, he's a sheep adoodle and she goes,
I had no idea you could breed sheeps and dogs,
And I went I said, mm hmm, it's crazy what
you can do. I was like, I can't even bust
her bubble. I'm not even going to tell her that
we did not freaking breed a sheep.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
With a dog. Some people like me and I were
so taken back. I think we walked just in complete
silence for like three blocks.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That's one of those moments where you just you're You're
just in complete shot. What did she just say? You
can't do anything? You just move on?
Speaker 2 (25:30):
I was ambor done.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Something was in her coffee. That's all I'm saying. Totally total,
that's amazing. Do you do you and your wife? How
do you guys balance your personal relationship With both of
you guys being so active on social media, are you
willing to share a lot of those intimate moments of
your relationship or are you kind of, you know, more
private about that.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
You know, it's funny you asked sex. We were just
having this conversation last night. Is as my career is growing,
we felt the urge to pull back from sharing every
little detail. Like when we were both just social media creators,
it was really fun to share, you know, just everything
(26:11):
our home projects, you know, redoing our bathroom or the
trips were going on. And now it's starting to feel
like we have nothing left for us. Like it really
does feel like we're in a space to where we
need to keep some of that for us, some of
that stuff just completely private and not have to share everything.
(26:35):
So I think having those conversations about boundaries, like how
are you feeling about it? How are you feeling about it,
and like being able to just have open conversation is
really how we work through it. But like another thing
is just always checking in with the other person before
I post a video if she's in it, before she
(26:55):
posts a video that I'm in, and just like, are
you cool with this? You know, because that's in the
same household. A lot of times she's in my videos
and I'm in hers. So just out of courtesy and
I respect, we're always like making sure that the content
we're creating is cool with the other one.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Absolutely. I think it's important that you find those boundaries
and you don't have to share everything about your life,
despite the fact that every Jenney Hayes fan might want
to know every minute of what's going on. But I
think that's very important. We're going to take a quick
break here and we'll be right back on the six
one five House podcast. What is up, guys. We're back
at the six one five House podcast. Chris here with Denay.
(27:30):
It's been so great chatting with you. We've talked a
little bit about her start, where you're heading with your
comedic skits and your music, which I am so excited
to hear. I think, are you working on an album?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah? Full album?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Dude, Like it's it's gonna be. It's gonna be a
I would say, at least at least twelve songs.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Yeah, that's amazing. How many songs have you recorded so far?
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Right now? I think we've written god, I think eleven maybe,
but I'd like to get to like the thirty mark
so I can really get in there narrowing. Yeah, just
like we went to the lake this weekend with eight
of our best friends, four guys, four girls, and they're
all married to each other. And I had the luxury
(28:14):
of driving the boys down to the lake, and my wife, Mandy,
she drove the girls. So I use that time like
to play some demos, and some of the songs are
actually written from a straight perspective and other songs are
written from a gay perspective because I want the album
to be universal. I don't want it to be like
some gay anthem where only gay people can like jam
(28:34):
out to it, like I want I want the song
to be able to like really resonate with a lot
of people.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
So we wrote this song and it is a straight
boys anthem if I've ever heard one. So I've played it.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
For him and I was like, man, I hope this
goes well because like I really love this song, like
please please pass the test?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And they were just like laughing their ass off the
whole time.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
So that's a good sign.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
That's a good sign. So it'd be as a keeper.
So it'd be nice to, you know, write more songs
and kind of play in for some of my friend
and see how they jive with them.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
That's great. What's the name of that song? Can I
reveal that?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (29:04):
That one is called All.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
It Takes, All It Takes. I love that. And you
have another's I don't know if I'm allowed to say this,
but you told me about another song yeah in La
called I think it's called Homo Depot.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Homo Depot.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Can you share a little bit of the backstory behind.
I don't want to give it away, but I just
think this is brilliant.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, so Homo Depot. We were a remodel in our
house and we were taking so many trips to and
from home Depot and Low's.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
And about the third time we walked in there, I
looked at my wife and I was like, damn, baby,
this is like the tender for lesbians.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
And she was like, you ain't lying.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I was like, if you were in the closet or
you were looking for a partner and you were a
gay woman, go to Low's or go to home Depot,
because chances are you gotta find one.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Right who needs a gay bar, Just go to home Depot.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Literally. So we actually wrote that song with Terry Clark,
which was really cool. She she came out.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Last year and so it was really cool to like
write with an absolute living legend.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
And yeah, like the song, I'm really excited about that one.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
It's got a really fun, upbeat feel to it.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
So, yeah, who are you using as a producer on
these records, Alex Klein, Alex Clin, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Shout out to you, Alex Klein.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
It's great. Well, I mean even of the stuff that
that's the song that's out and some of the stuff
that I've heard, like the production is so great, the
instrumentation is great. Your voice is great too, and it's
it's a perfect blend of like what you hear in
commercial country music with this brilliant and clever storytelling that
(30:40):
kind of keeps you like on the edge of your seats.
And so I'm so excited that you're doing this. And
you also mentioned that you're going on a comedy tour
next year. Is this are you intertwining like this music
on the tour. What's kind of the plan for this
this comedy tour.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Yeah, so this comedy tour is going to be a
one woman show. It's going to be me from the
beginning to the end, integrating a lot of characters that
have become beloved on my social media, telling stories and
really every single song that we have written so far
has a truth to the story. So there's something that
(31:14):
has happened in my life for us to write that song,
and in the show, it'll be me telling a story
and then going right into song to sing the story
or seeing the song that it was, you know, from
that story, right, So.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
That's going to be see. I don't know anyone else
doing something like that. I think it's very unique.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
I mean, you know it's it wasn't It was one
of those things where it wasn't like what is nobody
else doing? It was more of just like, this is
how my comedy resonates with me the most.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Because I'm not a stand up comic.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I always say I hate stand up comedy, like not
hate it to consume it, I hate doing it.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I've done stand ups one of the hardest things ever
yet percent.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
And the way that my humor is I have to
set it up with storytelling, with sketches.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
It's it's just more.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
It's hard to explain, but there's there's more involved with it.
And I've tried the other way. And kudos to stand
up comics because you're right, truly the hardest piece.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Of art, in my opinion, out there.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
I mean, if you it's told me to stand on
stage and my task was, hey, you have five minutes,
just made me laugh, I would freeze. I mean I
would legitimately peep my hands. Some people are just have
that natural itch and inkling to be funny, right because
they're rolling off the crowd and the jokes and you know,
of course there's some some script stuff there, but it's
(32:39):
a very very beautiful form of art. But in this
sort of on this other side too, I feel like
your style it's still very strategic and very planned. I
mean you have to think about how you're intertwining these
songs with you know, talking about them on stage and
making sure the flow of the show goes well. I
mean it takes a lot of hours to plan this
as well, and I'm sure you're always reworking and revising
(33:01):
this show totally.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
I've been really blessed though my wife, even though she's
from California, she gets the Southern culture so well. She
lived down in Alabama with me and so she got
to see it firsthand where I grew up. And so
I've been really lucky that it's myself, my wife, and
an artist here and telling.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Her name's Harper Gray.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
She's also from Alabama, so she really gets the Southern culture.
We're writing this show together, and I know for a
fact I couldn't do it by myself. Like my delivery,
I know that my God blessed me with a good delivery,
But when it comes to setting it all up, like
that's not my forte as far as like making sure
I'm in this spot and then I have to give
(33:39):
myself enough time to get to this spot and get
backstage to change clothes for my new character.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
So I just like the delivery, I just want to
tell the jokes, and they're helping me fine tune it
and put it all together right.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I can't wait for this. This is gonna be a man.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
You'll have to be front row.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
I will if it's a n ashvill show them there well, hell,
if it's any show you know, you know, I'm willing
to make the trip on my again we get the
crew out there. You mentioned it a couple of times,
but you know you are you are gay and in
a creative industry. You know obviously you're from from the South,
and when you build a following sometimes it isn't always
the easiest thing to you know, either come out or
(34:16):
you know, express your political belief for whatever it might be,
because like you said, there's a lot of backlash. I mean,
how is that. How's the process been for you?
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Man?
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I uh, I couldn't have started this version of me.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
You know five years ago I got I had to
get to a good, healthy, healthy space because I've lost,
you know, the relationship with my mom because of being gay.
I haven't talked to her in almost well six almost
seven years.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
When you came out, you stopped talking to your mom.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Yeah. It was just one of those things where she
didn't accept me for being in a relationship with with Mandy, and.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I tried to tried to play both sides.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
I try to be a good partner to me and you,
but also like hide and keep that a secret so
that my mom, you know wouldn't be ashamed of me,
and eventually all that ends up doing has hurt me.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
My self worth was absolutely trash.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
So I'm trying to play Cape two different people that
mean a ton to me.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Sure, I mean you can't win that game, No you can't.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
So I set some healthy boundaries and unfortunately those boundaries
have yet to be met.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
But I have an amazing relationship with my father.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
My dad is like the greatest man on earth as
long as as far as I'm concerned. But no, five
years ago, I was not in a good mental space.
I was worried about what other people thought of me.
I had so much shame because of my sexuality, and
my sexuality was always the forefront of my brain. It
was the reason why I didn't have relationship with my mom.
It was the reason why x Y and Z and now.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
I just hope that.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
When people hang out with me, like they don't leave saying, man,
that gig girl is super super cool, you know, like
I want them to be like Dunay's super cool. I
never want my sexuality to be my identity. I never
wanted to be the first thing that you say about me.
I want you to befriend me and then you casually
find out I have a wife, and that doesn't you know,
(35:59):
that doesn't make a difference.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I think it's I think it is a part of
your identity. You just don't want it to be the
defining part or you know, to your point, today's super cool.
It's just a great comedian, right, That's all there needs
to be said, right, right, And as you get to
know or and let you know, sure, that's a part
of you, just like you know, you have other passions
and interest in all this other stuff.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
But to your point, I, you know, going into the
entertainment sector as a person, that's that's gay. I have
yet to like, no shit, I have yet to experience
any type of hate or prejudice in this town.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
It's been beautiful.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Now. Granted there could be conversations happening behind my back
that I'm not aware of, but to my face, anything
that I've wanted to accomplish, like I'm.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Getting ready to sign a record deal and.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Congratulations you amazing, thank you so Like like big things
that I've wanted for a long time, I have like
willed them to happen, and I have I have not
allowed my sexuality to dictate whether or not I can have,
you know, I just I don't use it as an excuse.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
I don't I never play the victim card. And again,
there could be conversations happening by my back in this
town that I'm unaware of, but it hasn't affected the
outcome yet, right, And I just want you know, the
younger people they're maybe watching this, maybe they're different, whether
it be their sexuality, or the type of family they
come from, or their family grew up really poor, whatever
(37:25):
it looks like. You know, whatever it is that you
want your path to, that could be a little longer
than others. It definitely could be harder. But at the
end of the day, I truly believe that every tool
that you need to succeed, God's already given it to you.
You just got to be able to put the bullshit
aside and go after the things that you want.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
And maybe that's maybe in simple minded, but it's worked
for me.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
I like that that's words out there. It's simple as
it wise, you know. I think to your point too,
I think Nashville shout out in Nashville, because I think
Nashville has come a very long way. I think we
as a society have come along the way. And you know,
I'm not one to always expressed political beliefs on podcasts
things like this, but I will say, for a long time,
(38:07):
I felt like there was not a lot of gay
people in country music. I still think in country music
it's you know, definitely underrepresentative. But lately, you know, there
have been some artists that have been vocal about, you know,
their sexuality. And I feel like, even just in Nashville,
when you're in the trenches of the writing community and
the courting community, like people really do uh, you know,
(38:28):
welcome and accept people. And to your point, yeah, I'm
sure there's conversations, but it's like I do, I do
really feel like there's a new you know, a new
level of acceptance and like to your.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Point, also, like if you're a good person, like people
want to be around good people, you know what I mean, Like,
be a good person, people want to be around you.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Sure, And if you know, in the case of you,
you're a creative, like you have some amazing talents for
the table, and like I want to write with you,
you know.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Let's get that on the books.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Let's get it on the books. To be good, I'll
uh you know, I would love to be a part
of this, this amazing comedy music album that you have
this tour. I'm so excited for you. Before we wrap up,
we do have to play one game. Our friends at
Area are one of the sponsors on this podcast, and
we do this little game. It's sixty seconds hot seat,
(39:16):
so we're gonna put sixty seconds on the clock. It
is rapid fire. Questions presented by Ariot. Are you ready
to go today?
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Let's get it done, man.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Here we go sixty seconds, three two, one, let's go.
One comedian that you could go on.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Tour with Kat Williams.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Kat Williams, what is your go to karaoke song? Delta Don,
Delta Don? I love that great choice. Are you a
cowboy hat or cowgirl hat? Or baseball cat?
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Baseball?
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Gotta be baseball, okay? Are you talker or texter talker?
Favorite fast food place McDonald's. That was so quick. Oh
my god, you're freaking me out.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
I love McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
What is a dream venue for you to play? The
Rym the Ryman Auditorium, There you go. And what's your
favorite liquor?
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Jack Daniels, I'm very simple, diet coke, Jack Daniels. Throw
a little cherry in there.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Call it a day.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
That is a woman who knows what she wants to
look at that one place that you have not been
to that you want to travel to, Australia. Australia. There
you go. And last question, how many days a week
would you say you were wearing cow girl boots versus sneakers?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Zero?
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Only sneakers. You got them nice kicks on I can
tell look at that. That was sixty seconds percent of
by area. I have to say you are very fast
with it. That was amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
I'm a girl that knows what she wants, y'all.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Incredible. What anything else that we missed today? Anything else
you want to tell the lovely people here on this podcast?
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Dude, I got to tell you something. What's that smoothest
butter man?
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Like you? Like?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Oh no, I'm serious? Like fast quick? You knew your
stuff like smooth as butter. That was awesome. It was
a very enjoyable podcast to be a part of you.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
I appreciate it well. I will say one of my
favorite things about doing this is because I have spent
a lot of time in the industry recording content online
or writing songs online. This is a chance for me
to get to know people a little bit better, get
to hear their story and these kind of conversations. I
don't think I have enough with people that I care
about in Nashville, and so it's really cool to bring
(41:14):
people like yourself on that I think are doing amazing things.
And well, of course I'm always following on Instagram or TikTok.
You know, getting to really talk and learn more about
you is really what makes it rewarding for me. So, guys,
Denay Hayes on the six one five hours podcast, y'all
check out her new music, check out her comedy tour
that is coming up, and make sure you are following
her on socials because she is a one of a kind.
(41:37):
Appreciate thanks for hanging
What kind of dogs you guys have?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
We have a sheep of doodle.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You have a sheep of doodle in.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This really sweet lady. She walks up and she goes.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Oh my god, what kind of dog is he? And
I was like, he's a sheep of doodle and she goes,
I had no idea you could breed sheeps and dogs,
And I went I said, m M.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Guys?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Chris Ruderger your host here on the six one five
House podcast. I am so pumped because this podcast interviews
rising artists and creators in the Nashville music scene. Today,
we have an awesome guest, a friend of mine who
I first saw online because she is genuinely one of
the funniest people I have ever stumbled an on social
media and then come to find out that she's a
(00:52):
comedian and actually working on some music herself. She's known
for a bunch of amazing prank calls and personality skits.
But I'm so excited to talk to her because she's
also putting out music now and potentially going on a
comedy tour. Please welcome in the hot seat to the
six from five Hourse podcast. The One and Only Miss
Denay Hayes.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Dam Chris want an intro?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Look at that. I rehearsed like ten times in the
mirror before you can go.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We'll put you in my back pocket and just carry
you around for self esteem.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
There you go, right. It only took me like ten
tries to get that good. But here we are. It's
awesome seeing you. The last time, we were kicking it
in La hanging out with Tim McGraw doing our thing.
What have you been up to this summer?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Been on the lake a lot? Yeah, I've been cruising
on a boat. Finally finally got my first boat, and
that's all I think about. Like we're going back. We
just got back yesterday and we're going back in three days.
And I'm just obsessed with it. Like I am a
lake lifer. You are you a lake life over beach life?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Oh hell yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Lah. Whenever I see people at the beach like, I
have absolutely no envy. It's the sand I just I
don't want Sandama bathing suit. Yeah, I don't want to
be in the salty water. Just give me a boat
on a lake.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Then you got to do like the shower thing where
you got to shake it all out on your feet
are like still dirty hours later?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yeah, I totally hear y. So you've been you've been
on the lake hanging out, and you've been working on
a little bit of music, which I can't wait to
talk about because I'm so excited that you have made
this just amazing, you know, career development from going from
you personality a comedian online and expanding into music. So
I can't waits talk about this, But I honestly want
(02:32):
to know firsthand, how did you get into social media
in the first place.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Oh my gosh, Well, I think, like a lot of creators,
it happened during the pandemic. But I've always I've always
loved making funny videos, Like even before social media was around.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
My dad bought my first cam quarter.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
When were that, yeah, where you slipped your hand through
and you're, you know, looking through the little.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
People but back with the dinosaurs.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Literally, But he bought me one of those when I
was like ten years old, and one of my favorite
things to do was make at home videos and I
would have to play all the characters because I didn't
have any friends that would want to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I think they honestly thought I was like super weird.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
So I was playing all these characters in these at
home videos, and then I had this editing software that
my dad had got me like a year later, and
I'd figured out how to do all that, and I
was playing one character that was talking to myself, that
was talking a third character, and then on the weekends,
I would burn it onto a DVD and then I
(03:32):
would make my parents watch it on like Saturday Nights
because I loved Saturday Night Live, so I was like
essentially creating my own Saturday Night Live. And then social
media came around and I was on Instagram, but I
never really showed my personality. I just used it to
kind of promote my business. And then the pandemic hit
and I did a prank phone call to a dairy queen.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Is that the first call?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, that was the first one. I pray phone called
a dairy queen and I asked him. She answered the
phone and she was like hello, and I was like, yes,
my my husband and I we're wanting to buy some
of that chocolate ice cream that that chocolate syrup y'all got.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And she's like, well, I don't think we sell that,
and I was like, well.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
I'm gonna come down there with a castrol dish and
y'all just empty it in that castrol dish, and I said,
I want my husband to throw that home and we're
gonna have a good night.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Well it went megaviral, Like I.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Think I woke up the next day and at that
point it already had like, I don't know, five million views,
and then the next day it was at ten, and
the next day it was like like at twenty twenty million.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Your phone must have just been NonStop celebrating stupid.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
And then the next day I was like, well shit,
I'm gonna I want a video and post another one.
So I prank phone called a taxidermist in Alabama and
I asked him if he would stuff my dog?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
My dog? You asked him if if he would stuff
he was stuff my dad. Do you know what I
have seen this Peo. I think that was the first
one that I stumbled upon, and I just remember the
brilliance of it was your voice and your character, but
also just the reaction of this guy so confused, You're
just waiting like I don't know what I would do
in that moment either.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, he was in it, like and a part
of me felt really bad because like it was the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
People were hurting for money. People you know, they were
out of a job.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
But at the same time, to my advantage, everybody was
at home watching tiktoks, so it was like this perfect
storm where everybody was at home watching. I happened to
post a prank phone call, which at the time I
had never seen a prank phone call on TikTok and
it was just the subject matter was too freaking funny.
The guy was like, yeah, bring him down here, and
I was like, well, he's in a date phrase. I
(05:48):
guess I just need to thowow him out and now
I'll bring him down there. And he was like, yeah,
you've done everything you can do, right, and.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
That was the best part so normal.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I was like, dude, this is way too normal for
this guy.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
So I end up post seeing his name and his
number in the comment section, and he messages me and
said that he's already made thousands of dollars of book
requests for taxidermy.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
And I was like, you know what, that makes it
feel good? I felt bag.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So I was prank, you know, pranking the guy, and
then it ended up making the guy some money.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
So you're like, hey man, sorry I prank to you,
and that whole video went viral, but also not sorry,
because I just gave you ten thousand dollars worth of
business eight.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So yeah, and the next day I think I woke
up with like two hundred and seventy five thousand followers,
and then it just kept climbing and kept climbing.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
And so do you when you how'd you get that
idea to prank call people? And first, like, was this
based off of were you doing this as a child
growing up? You were one of them? Right?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I was one of them prank on people. I was.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
My dad had there's this comedian from well he's not
a comedian, he was a radio show host from Oklahoma
and his name was roy D Mercer, and roy D
Mercer would video audio record prank phone calls and they
were hilarious. And my dad had every single cassette and
we would on the way to and from softball practice
(07:05):
that's all he would play and h just growing up,
I just like fell in love with that humor, that candid,
like completely off the cuff humor. And so as a kid,
I would do prank phone calls and I would do
it at like my parents' parties or my parents get togethers,
And it was always so fun as a kid to
see the adults laugh at me.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
It made me.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I was like, damn if I can make the adults laugh.
So it just like itched that that itch and uh.
And then when the pandemic hit, I hadn't made a
prank phone call. It seemed like in forever, and I
was like, well, shit, I want to do one and
just post it. And I did, And yeah, that's that's
kind of what I was known for at the beginning.
But I've gotten away from the prank phone calls. I mean,
I did one for Luke Bryan a while ago, but.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I saw that that was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
It was it was honestly, it was really it was
really funny. But now it's more sketch comedy, a lot
of characters involved, just because I think prank phone calling
it needs to come in waves, like you can't just
do it like every day.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
People get tired of it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Sure, So well, that's that's the thing that I was
particularly drawn to you on social media before we met
was I could see that you were prank phone calls
was a passion of Jersey was something that you were
able to lift your platform on. But I see you
as such a well rounded comedian. You have several different
voices and skit writing that you're doing, which I know
(08:27):
takes a lot of time and also creativity. So did
you grow up following certain comedians, like where did you
draw or do your inspiration from?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
I always joke I grew up in like the whitest
town possible, But all of my like comics, favorite comics
are all black. Like I love black humor, I love
black culture. I just am obsessed with black comics, like
Dave Chappelle, Kat Williams, I love Dave there, like Martin Lauren.
(09:00):
It's like I just Eddie Murphy, like some of the
funniest people want to psych some of the funniest people
I know, they're all black.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And it's just like, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
As a kid, I just gravitated, uh towards towards those
particular comedians, and I don't know that that those are
like those are like my top five I think. I
think Saturday Night Live was also a huge inspiration for
the Sketch comedy. Yeah, whereas the other comics I just mentioned,
(09:32):
they were a lot of stand up, but uh yes,
Saturday Night Live was a lot of the sketches where
I started to have character development and want.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
To like really craft some of these characters. And it
sounds weird.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
It sounds like I'm just looking at people and trying
to like crack the code to them. But I love
following people's mannerisms and the way that they sit, the
way that they talk, the way that they react to things,
and then I'm able to like craft a character out
of those quote unquote stereotypes.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Like I have a character.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Online she's an hoa president, and people from all over
the world gravitate to it like towards her because they
all know that person. And it's it's like mannerisms that
are derived from different people, not just necessarily one person.
And then I just kind of like morphem into But
I think that that's what a lot of I don't
think that's special towards me. I think that's what a
(10:22):
lot of actors and actresses and comedians do.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, I was going to ask, when you're writing these
sketch comedies, are you drawing these characters from personal experiences
and interaction or are some of them fictional? I think I.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Think a little both. I would say eighty percent from
what I've seen in real life. I think it all
has to start with the truth and then from there
you can kind of like just completely just go off
the rails.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
But like the character that I think I'm most known for,
her name is Sharon jan and Sharon Jen is based
off of a relative of mine.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Can you do the Sharon gen voice for me?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:58):
So, sar, she's like, my god, I am so fucking
tired of having to always clean up after your fucking
shit terrence, Like, get in.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
There and clean your damn rhyme and while you're in there,
warsh your ass.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You know. So it's just fun.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You stemmed off of.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
This, uh, this relative that I have. But then also
you just kind of like pile shit on top of
her that.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You've picked up from other people.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
That's the art of embellishment, right, You can draw from
from personal life, and then of course I have fun
with it. Yeah, that's amazing. How many sketch when you're
writing sketch comedies because I've never done this before. What's
is the process like something that happens over many months
of you know, kind of like character development and like
sporadic thoughts, or are you like sitting down and saying, Hey,
(11:46):
it's a Monday afternoon, I'm gonna spend six hours and
write this segment.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I think for like TikTok videos, it's very spur of
the moment. For my comedy show, it's going to be
a lot of crafting, Like you just said, sitting down
and spending hours figuring out which story is going to
make most sense for the show. But a lot of
these characters are so sporadic. Sharon Jean was developed from
the first prank phone call that I made. I just
(12:12):
love that voice, and so I prank phone called the
person in that voice, and then from there by the
second prank phone call she had, she has a name.
Now she's sharing Gene and then from there you just
kind of figure out what she's going to talk, like,
who her husband's going to be, like, is she going
to be quick to be annoyed?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Is she going to be.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Super woke or is she going to be super conservative
or is she not going to give a fuck? You know,
and then other people, like other characters like they happen,
But then you just figure out the character in like
a second, you know, because it's just so stereotypical, right,
But when it comes to crafting the show, it's it's
less about I feel like, character development and more about
(12:52):
what fake situations where you're going to find these characters
in to make it the funniest, if that makes sense.
So it's more about crafting the scenario rather than the character,
because characters are already crafted.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, I was gonna say, you first create the character,
but then it's a matter of putting them in the
right scene and figuring out the storyline. And that's the
true The part that I love about it is it
is storytelling, and you know, even in a fictional or
comedic wests sense, but it's it's a different, different sort
of creativity than I don't know some of us, as
songwriters or artists are used to, which I love. I
(13:23):
had I had a question for you because I was
talking to some friends earlier this week and they're like, hey,
Dena Hayes, we've seen her, we know she's got a
ton of great voices. How many characters or personalities do
you think you have on lock?
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (13:36):
God?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I feel like I mean, right now, there's like four
big characters on that I constantly am rotating through. But
like the other day, and I haven't told you this,
but the other day I got to audition for Saturday
Night Live. It was really was you audition for Saturday.
It was a self tape. So it starts with a
self tape.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You have to.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
You know, it can't just go online and fill it out.
Otherwise I would have done that ten years ago. But
I signed with my agency and they got me a
self tape audition. So I self taped, and I noticed
that a lot of my characters were all Southern, and
I just really wanted to like diversify. So I was like, man,
I really need to find like a jawzy accent to
(14:18):
kind of like throw in that there you go, you know,
And so I, you know, I did like a jawsy accent.
Where she was visiting Nashville and she was so annoyed
because this girl comes up to one she was like,
are you from New York? And I was like, fuck you,
I'm from New Jersey. Where the fuck are you from?
So it's just like, I don't know. I can hear,
I can hear something online and then I can work
(14:40):
that that impression, and then once you kind of get
the impression with the voice down. Then you start to
have to figure out how do those people dress, how
do those people walk through life?
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I got to learn about their culture. That was really
good to find you. I'm not from New Jersey, from
the northeast Boston, but I have friends in New Jersey
to talk like that, and that was really good.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's funny because like New Jersey people say that it's
Staten Island. They're like, no, that's stat Nyland. Yeah so
but no, I I don't know. I'm sure I could
come up with some more, but right now, i'd say
like four big ones that are constantly rotaking through my
social media.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
That's amazing. And I've noticed over the past couple of
months you have you've taken this social platform that you
now have have generated. It's a really loyal, fun, loving,
great platform, and you've started to dabble a little bit
in the music scene. Of course, you had road Hard
come out, which when I first saw this song, I
(15:39):
remember I was I was doing one of those things
where I was sitting in like a somewhat important business,
you know, calling them on zoom or whatever, and I'm
like scrolling through TikTok, not really paying attention, and I
remember coming across this video and listening to you saying
the lyrics what the hell? And I was I was
dying of laughter, to the point where someone on the
(15:59):
zoom was like, are you are you there? Are you okay?
How did like, how did it start for you to
think about combining your comedic creativity and energy with music?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I think, God, I I honestly credit a lot of
it moving to Nashville, because if I was still living
out I'm from Birmingham, but I had moved here from Austin, Texas.
But I feel like if I was still living out
in Austin, Texas and I wasn't close proximity wise to music,
which Alstin I know is there's a lot of music there,
(16:31):
but it's not the same as Nashville. I think once
I moved here and I just started making friends with
people in the music industry, I just got this bug
of like, how can I find another avenue for comedy
to live? Because as a creative person, you know, it
is like you're always wanting to elevate, You're always wanting
to try something new.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
So I grew up listening to country music.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I love country music, and I just I was like, well,
I've never seen a day in my life, don't know
how to sing, never tried to sing, but I love
trying new things. And I was like, if I follow
my ass I can at least have the crutch of
it's comedy. I'm not trying to be Miranda Lambert. I'm
not trying to be the next you know, Ashley Cook.
(17:13):
I'm literally just trying to integrate music in comedy. And
it has been so much fun, Like oh my god.
Like the songwriting sessions. I could literally go to one
every single day, like just being around creative people and
(17:34):
coming in with an idea and thinking that the idea
is going to go this way, and then those two
other creatives in the room say, let's take it this way.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Complete one eighty amazing. That's the beauty of the process.
I imagine. It's so fun too, because there are a
lot of songwriters in Nashville that are writing five times
a week and writing somewhat serious or maybe like you know,
songs for commercial country, which is a different formula than
going in there and you come in and say, hey,
I have this idea. I want us to be sort
of free spirited and fun with this narrative, and I
(18:05):
bet it's a really enjoyable process.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
For them too, that's what they keep saying, and I mean,
I'm happy to provide that, but I just, oh my god.
I mean, like, dude, I have like got the bug,
like I am bit hard, Like we have a songwrite
tomorrow with Matt McKinney and Trey Lewis, and it's our
second write with them, and like I wish it was
like literally tonight, because.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I mean, I just it's so much fun.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Like when we wrote road Hard, it was a bunch
of women, which is hilarious. We wrote it with may Estis,
Marty Dodson, Alex Klein, myself, my.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Wife, Mandy Kai, and another artist, Harper Gray. We wrote
it with six or seven women.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
But we started the songwriting session and I said, I
really want to write a song about this old saying
my dad used to say about boats and cars, rode
hard and put up wet. And I was like, and
I want to write it about a woman, And they
were like, I don't think we should write it about
a woman. Let's write it with some innu windows where
it sounds like it's sexual, but it's really just talking
(19:10):
about a boat and that was my wife's idea to
do that. So, like she doesn't even songwrite, and I'm like,
she's she's got the bug now, like she's yeah, it's
just so fun. I feel like if you're creative, not
saying that we're professional songwriters by any means, but if
you're creative, like you can add value to a songwriter absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
How I'm curious as as somebody that has a jam
pack schedule now because you're writing songs, you're recording songs,
which we'll talk a little more about, and you're of
course still making your skits and your posts across social media,
like what's your typical day? Like you must not sleep much?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Oh man, it's it's definitely heated up.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Before all this, it was just wake up and have
a cup of coffee and think about what she wanted
to post on social media. Now it's writing a comedy
show because we're going to be touring next year for
a one woman comedy show.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So it's a lot of.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You know, picking out and cherry picking the perfect things
for that and having dedicated time to do that while
also thinking about how to continue to grow my social
media and give my loyal fans what they want and
then also think of song ideas. But yeah, my typical
day looks like, get up pretty early, go through my emails,
(20:23):
sit down for like two hours, and try to be
creative on either my comedy show or my social media.
Maybe go to a songwrite that day, and finish the
day with actually filming content for my socials because at
the end of the day, social media is what got
me to this point. So you know, I never want
to get to a place to where I just abandon it.
I always want to continue to grow. And it's also
(20:44):
a beautiful thing because it really inspires me in other ways.
When I'm creating content for social media, it's helping me
think of content for songwriting and my comedy show as well.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
That's great that you can tie your social following and
all those posts into what you're doing in the morning
with you know, matter tray and writing a song. Do
you how do you deal with you know? Social media
can be also a very hostile place. Now you know
that you're you're brilliant at what you do, but like anyone,
when you get you know, popular and a lot a
lot of people following you, there's a lot of hate
(21:16):
comments like how do you deal with the hate on
social media?
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Man?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
That's funny you asked me that about four weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
When stuff started to like when my song came out
and whatnot, there was so much amazing support. But when
things start to go viral or people like tons of
eyes get on it, it's just, like you said, some
more opportunity for mean things. And I went through like
a two week spiral where I just freaking hated social media.
(21:46):
So I was just like, it seemed like every other
comment was just critiquing either my music or my comedy,
or me being a woman in comedy or me being
a gay woman, you know, And it's just like it
gets overwhelming. But I think when that happens, I have
to like pull back and completely. I'm sure some people
(22:07):
are different, but I have to like completely take like
a couple of days away from it just to let
my brain like get back on the good things. I'll
read a book, like a self help book to like
buy some of my favorite authors like Tony Robbins, and
just get my brain going back towards good energy.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
So that and also, like it's cliches, it.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Sounds like having conversations with like a good friend, saying like, dude,
i'm heavy today, you know, and trying to work through
that with some good friends and just being honest. I
think too many times before I was not honest or authentic,
and I just try to power through, like the bad stuff.
But now like finding that one good friend of that
one or two good friends and being able to go
(22:45):
out for coffee and have a meaningful conversation about it.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I'm so happy you said that, because in Nashville, we're
surrounded by so many creative people that are trying to
do very similar things. We're all busting our ass on
social media, writing songs, posting it. It gets so overwhelming,
and sometimes like the luck of the draw just doesn't
go your way, or sometimes you have a moment and
then a bunch of people come in there like backlashing
(23:09):
at you and hating on you. And I think, like
anyone that wakes up every single day and says like,
oh yeah, I'm great, I'm fine in this kind of industry,
like that's a lot. That's just a lie, you know,
And I think it's important that we do have those
real conversations. I think, you know, finding finding you know,
sympathy with other other peers and friends that are in
the space is like there needs to be more of that.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
So totally it also builds stronger friendships too when you
talk about things that are actually more meaningful than just work,
you know.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
One hundred percent, does your you mentioned your wife she's
not a songwriter? Is she also a social media your
creator as well?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Or she is?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
What does she do?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Yeah, So she's a full time influencer, So she's she's
a lot of like lifestyle, so she's going to share
like her favorite things on social media. She's also just
like a really like uplifting person on social media. That's
kind of her brand is just to like provide like
a pocket of your day that's positive, you know. But
(24:13):
she works with a lot of brands that are revolved
around lifestyle, around fashion, around being a dog mom, you know,
a lot of home decor and stuff like that, and
so it's really cool. We get to work at home
together pretty much like all day long. As long as
I'm there working, she's there working, And like, I think
a lot of times we take that for granted because
(24:34):
there's so many couples, you know, that have to split
up at nine o'clock in the morning and go their
separate ways, but we get to enjoy a lot of
the things in life right beside each other.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
That's amazing. What kind of dogs do you guys have?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
We have a sheep of doodle.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You have a sheep of doodle.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
He's a sheep dog mixed with poodle.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Oh my god, how big is it? A sheep a doodle?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Well he's many, so he's like forty pounds. But we
were walking him the other day in this really sweet lady.
She walks up and she goes.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Oh my god, what kind of dog is see?
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And I was like, he's a sheep adoodle and she goes,
I had no idea you could breed sheeps and dogs,
And I went I said, mm hmm, it's crazy what
you can do. I was like, I can't even bust
her bubble. I'm not even going to tell her that
we did not freaking breed a sheep.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
With a dog. Some people like me and I were
so taken back. I think we walked just in complete
silence for like three blocks.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That's one of those moments where you just you're You're
just in complete shot. What did she just say? You
can't do anything? You just move on?
Speaker 2 (25:30):
I was ambor done.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Something was in her coffee. That's all I'm saying. Totally total,
that's amazing. Do you do you and your wife? How
do you guys balance your personal relationship With both of
you guys being so active on social media, are you
willing to share a lot of those intimate moments of
your relationship or are you kind of, you know, more
private about that.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
You know, it's funny you asked sex. We were just
having this conversation last night. Is as my career is growing,
we felt the urge to pull back from sharing every
little detail. Like when we were both just social media creators,
it was really fun to share, you know, just everything
(26:11):
our home projects, you know, redoing our bathroom or the
trips were going on. And now it's starting to feel
like we have nothing left for us. Like it really
does feel like we're in a space to where we
need to keep some of that for us, some of
that stuff just completely private and not have to share everything.
(26:35):
So I think having those conversations about boundaries, like how
are you feeling about it? How are you feeling about it,
and like being able to just have open conversation is
really how we work through it. But like another thing
is just always checking in with the other person before
I post a video if she's in it, before she
(26:55):
posts a video that I'm in, and just like, are
you cool with this? You know, because that's in the
same household. A lot of times she's in my videos
and I'm in hers. So just out of courtesy and
I respect, we're always like making sure that the content
we're creating is cool with the other one.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Absolutely. I think it's important that you find those boundaries
and you don't have to share everything about your life,
despite the fact that every Jenney Hayes fan might want
to know every minute of what's going on. But I
think that's very important. We're going to take a quick
break here and we'll be right back on the six
one five House podcast. What is up, guys. We're back
at the six one five House podcast. Chris here with Denay.
(27:30):
It's been so great chatting with you. We've talked a
little bit about her start, where you're heading with your
comedic skits and your music, which I am so excited
to hear. I think, are you working on an album?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah? Full album?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Dude, Like it's it's gonna be. It's gonna be a
I would say, at least at least twelve songs.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Yeah, that's amazing. How many songs have you recorded so far?
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Right now? I think we've written god, I think eleven maybe,
but I'd like to get to like the thirty mark
so I can really get in there narrowing. Yeah, just
like we went to the lake this weekend with eight
of our best friends, four guys, four girls, and they're
all married to each other. And I had the luxury
(28:14):
of driving the boys down to the lake, and my wife, Mandy,
she drove the girls. So I use that time like
to play some demos, and some of the songs are
actually written from a straight perspective and other songs are
written from a gay perspective because I want the album
to be universal. I don't want it to be like
some gay anthem where only gay people can like jam
(28:34):
out to it, like I want I want the song
to be able to like really resonate with a lot
of people.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
So we wrote this song and it is a straight
boys anthem if I've ever heard one. So I've played it.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
For him and I was like, man, I hope this
goes well because like I really love this song, like
please please pass the test?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And they were just like laughing their ass off the
whole time.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
So that's a good sign.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
That's a good sign. So it'd be as a keeper.
So it'd be nice to, you know, write more songs
and kind of play in for some of my friend
and see how they jive with them.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
That's great. What's the name of that song? Can I
reveal that?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (29:04):
That one is called All.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
It Takes, All It Takes. I love that. And you
have another's I don't know if I'm allowed to say this,
but you told me about another song yeah in La
called I think it's called Homo Depot.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Homo Depot.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Can you share a little bit of the backstory behind.
I don't want to give it away, but I just
think this is brilliant.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, so Homo Depot. We were a remodel in our
house and we were taking so many trips to and
from home Depot and Low's.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
And about the third time we walked in there, I
looked at my wife and I was like, damn, baby,
this is like the tender for lesbians.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
And she was like, you ain't lying.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I was like, if you were in the closet or
you were looking for a partner and you were a
gay woman, go to Low's or go to home Depot,
because chances are you gotta find one.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Right who needs a gay bar, Just go to home Depot.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Literally. So we actually wrote that song with Terry Clark,
which was really cool. She she came out.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Last year and so it was really cool to like
write with an absolute living legend.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
And yeah, like the song, I'm really excited about that one.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
It's got a really fun, upbeat feel to it.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
So, yeah, who are you using as a producer on
these records, Alex Klein, Alex Clin, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Shout out to you, Alex Klein.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
It's great. Well, I mean even of the stuff that
that's the song that's out and some of the stuff
that I've heard, like the production is so great, the
instrumentation is great. Your voice is great too, and it's
it's a perfect blend of like what you hear in
commercial country music with this brilliant and clever storytelling that
(30:40):
kind of keeps you like on the edge of your seats.
And so I'm so excited that you're doing this. And
you also mentioned that you're going on a comedy tour
next year. Is this are you intertwining like this music
on the tour. What's kind of the plan for this
this comedy tour.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Yeah, so this comedy tour is going to be a
one woman show. It's going to be me from the
beginning to the end, integrating a lot of characters that
have become beloved on my social media, telling stories and
really every single song that we have written so far
has a truth to the story. So there's something that
(31:14):
has happened in my life for us to write that song,
and in the show, it'll be me telling a story
and then going right into song to sing the story
or seeing the song that it was, you know, from
that story, right, So.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
That's going to be see. I don't know anyone else
doing something like that. I think it's very unique.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
I mean, you know it's it wasn't It was one
of those things where it wasn't like what is nobody
else doing? It was more of just like, this is
how my comedy resonates with me the most.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Because I'm not a stand up comic.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I always say I hate stand up comedy, like not
hate it to consume it, I hate doing it.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I've done stand ups one of the hardest things ever
yet percent.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
And the way that my humor is I have to
set it up with storytelling, with sketches.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
It's it's just more.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
It's hard to explain, but there's there's more involved with it.
And I've tried the other way. And kudos to stand
up comics because you're right, truly the hardest piece.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Of art, in my opinion, out there.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
I mean, if you it's told me to stand on
stage and my task was, hey, you have five minutes,
just made me laugh, I would freeze. I mean I
would legitimately peep my hands. Some people are just have
that natural itch and inkling to be funny, right because
they're rolling off the crowd and the jokes and you know,
of course there's some some script stuff there, but it's
(32:39):
a very very beautiful form of art. But in this
sort of on this other side too, I feel like
your style it's still very strategic and very planned. I
mean you have to think about how you're intertwining these
songs with you know, talking about them on stage and
making sure the flow of the show goes well. I
mean it takes a lot of hours to plan this
as well, and I'm sure you're always reworking and revising
(33:01):
this show totally.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
I've been really blessed though my wife, even though she's
from California, she gets the Southern culture so well. She
lived down in Alabama with me and so she got
to see it firsthand where I grew up. And so
I've been really lucky that it's myself, my wife, and
an artist here and telling.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Her name's Harper Gray.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
She's also from Alabama, so she really gets the Southern culture.
We're writing this show together, and I know for a
fact I couldn't do it by myself. Like my delivery,
I know that my God blessed me with a good delivery,
But when it comes to setting it all up, like
that's not my forte as far as like making sure
I'm in this spot and then I have to give
(33:39):
myself enough time to get to this spot and get
backstage to change clothes for my new character.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
So I just like the delivery, I just want to
tell the jokes, and they're helping me fine tune it
and put it all together right.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I can't wait for this. This is gonna be a man.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
You'll have to be front row.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
I will if it's a n ashvill show them there well, hell,
if it's any show you know, you know, I'm willing
to make the trip on my again we get the
crew out there. You mentioned it a couple of times,
but you know you are you are gay and in
a creative industry. You know obviously you're from from the South,
and when you build a following sometimes it isn't always
the easiest thing to you know, either come out or
(34:16):
you know, express your political belief for whatever it might be,
because like you said, there's a lot of backlash. I mean,
how is that. How's the process been for you?
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Man?
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I uh, I couldn't have started this version of me.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
You know five years ago I got I had to
get to a good, healthy, healthy space because I've lost,
you know, the relationship with my mom because of being gay.
I haven't talked to her in almost well six almost
seven years.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
When you came out, you stopped talking to your mom.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Yeah. It was just one of those things where she
didn't accept me for being in a relationship with with Mandy, and.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I tried to tried to play both sides.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
I try to be a good partner to me and you,
but also like hide and keep that a secret so
that my mom, you know wouldn't be ashamed of me,
and eventually all that ends up doing has hurt me.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
My self worth was absolutely trash.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
So I'm trying to play Cape two different people that
mean a ton to me.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Sure, I mean you can't win that game, No you can't.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
So I set some healthy boundaries and unfortunately those boundaries
have yet to be met.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
But I have an amazing relationship with my father.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
My dad is like the greatest man on earth as
long as as far as I'm concerned. But no, five
years ago, I was not in a good mental space.
I was worried about what other people thought of me.
I had so much shame because of my sexuality, and
my sexuality was always the forefront of my brain. It
was the reason why I didn't have relationship with my mom.
It was the reason why x Y and Z and now.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
I just hope that.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
When people hang out with me, like they don't leave saying, man,
that gig girl is super super cool, you know, like
I want them to be like Dunay's super cool. I
never want my sexuality to be my identity. I never
wanted to be the first thing that you say about me.
I want you to befriend me and then you casually
find out I have a wife, and that doesn't you know,
(35:59):
that doesn't make a difference.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I think it's I think it is a part of
your identity. You just don't want it to be the
defining part or you know, to your point, today's super cool.
It's just a great comedian, right, That's all there needs
to be said, right, right, And as you get to
know or and let you know, sure, that's a part
of you, just like you know, you have other passions
and interest in all this other stuff.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
But to your point, I, you know, going into the
entertainment sector as a person, that's that's gay. I have
yet to like, no shit, I have yet to experience
any type of hate or prejudice in this town.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
It's been beautiful.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Now. Granted there could be conversations happening behind my back
that I'm not aware of, but to my face, anything
that I've wanted to accomplish, like I'm.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Getting ready to sign a record deal and.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Congratulations you amazing, thank you so Like like big things
that I've wanted for a long time, I have like
willed them to happen, and I have I have not
allowed my sexuality to dictate whether or not I can have,
you know, I just I don't use it as an excuse.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
I don't I never play the victim card. And again,
there could be conversations happening by my back in this
town that I'm unaware of, but it hasn't affected the
outcome yet, right, And I just want you know, the
younger people they're maybe watching this, maybe they're different, whether
it be their sexuality, or the type of family they
come from, or their family grew up really poor, whatever
(37:25):
it looks like. You know, whatever it is that you
want your path to, that could be a little longer
than others. It definitely could be harder. But at the
end of the day, I truly believe that every tool
that you need to succeed, God's already given it to you.
You just got to be able to put the bullshit
aside and go after the things that you want.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
And maybe that's maybe in simple minded, but it's worked
for me.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
I like that that's words out there. It's simple as
it wise, you know. I think to your point too,
I think Nashville shout out in Nashville, because I think
Nashville has come a very long way. I think we
as a society have come along the way. And you know,
I'm not one to always expressed political beliefs on podcasts
things like this, but I will say, for a long time,
(38:07):
I felt like there was not a lot of gay
people in country music. I still think in country music
it's you know, definitely underrepresentative. But lately, you know, there
have been some artists that have been vocal about, you know,
their sexuality. And I feel like, even just in Nashville,
when you're in the trenches of the writing community and
the courting community, like people really do uh, you know,
(38:28):
welcome and accept people. And to your point, yeah, I'm
sure there's conversations, but it's like I do, I do
really feel like there's a new you know, a new
level of acceptance and like to your.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Point, also, like if you're a good person, like people
want to be around good people, you know what I mean, Like,
be a good person, people want to be around you.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Sure, And if you know, in the case of you,
you're a creative, like you have some amazing talents for
the table, and like I want to write with you,
you know.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Let's get that on the books.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Let's get it on the books. To be good, I'll
uh you know, I would love to be a part
of this, this amazing comedy music album that you have
this tour. I'm so excited for you. Before we wrap up,
we do have to play one game. Our friends at
Area are one of the sponsors on this podcast, and
we do this little game. It's sixty seconds hot seat,
(39:16):
so we're gonna put sixty seconds on the clock. It
is rapid fire. Questions presented by Ariot. Are you ready
to go today?
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Let's get it done, man.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Here we go sixty seconds, three two, one, let's go.
One comedian that you could go on.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Tour with Kat Williams.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Kat Williams, what is your go to karaoke song? Delta Don,
Delta Don? I love that great choice. Are you a
cowboy hat or cowgirl hat? Or baseball cat?
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Baseball?
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Gotta be baseball, okay? Are you talker or texter talker?
Favorite fast food place McDonald's. That was so quick. Oh
my god, you're freaking me out.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
I love McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
What is a dream venue for you to play? The
Rym the Ryman Auditorium, There you go. And what's your
favorite liquor?
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Jack Daniels, I'm very simple, diet coke, Jack Daniels. Throw
a little cherry in there.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Call it a day.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
That is a woman who knows what she wants to
look at that one place that you have not been
to that you want to travel to, Australia. Australia. There
you go. And last question, how many days a week
would you say you were wearing cow girl boots versus sneakers?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Zero?
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Only sneakers. You got them nice kicks on I can
tell look at that. That was sixty seconds percent of
by area. I have to say you are very fast
with it. That was amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
I'm a girl that knows what she wants, y'all.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Incredible. What anything else that we missed today? Anything else
you want to tell the lovely people here on this podcast?
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Dude, I got to tell you something. What's that smoothest
butter man?
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Like you? Like?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Oh no, I'm serious? Like fast quick? You knew your
stuff like smooth as butter. That was awesome. It was
a very enjoyable podcast to be a part of you.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
I appreciate it well. I will say one of my
favorite things about doing this is because I have spent
a lot of time in the industry recording content online
or writing songs online. This is a chance for me
to get to know people a little bit better, get
to hear their story and these kind of conversations. I
don't think I have enough with people that I care
about in Nashville, and so it's really cool to bring
(41:14):
people like yourself on that I think are doing amazing things.
And well, of course I'm always following on Instagram or TikTok.
You know, getting to really talk and learn more about
you is really what makes it rewarding for me. So, guys,
Denay Hayes on the six one five hours podcast, y'all
check out her new music, check out her comedy tour
that is coming up, and make sure you are following
her on socials because she is a one of a kind.
(41:37):
Appreciate thanks for hanging
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