October 31, 2023 • 41 mins
Growing up in the punk rock scene in Philly, Wes Leberher knew he was going to be a rockstar one day. After developing severe tinnitus, he knew his dream of making music was gone so he shifted his focus and found a new passion in cooking.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Good Stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Jacob Shick and I'm joined by my co host
and wife, Ashley Shick.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a
gold Star granddaughter. We work together to serve military veterans,
first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental
and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. At
One Tribe Foundation, we.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Believe everyone has a story to tell, not only about
the peaks, but also the valleys they've been through to
get them to where they are today.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story,
to share with us the lessons they've learned that shaped
who they are and what they're doing to pay it
forward and give back.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Our mission with this show is to dig deep into
our guest's journey so that we can celebrate the hope
and inspiration their story has to offer.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
We're thrilled you're joining us again.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Welcome to the Good Stuff. Today, we're joined by celebrating
Chef Wes Leeberherd. Chef West has made his mark on
the culinary world in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Germany, and now
in Illinois. You may have seen him featured in diners,
drive ins, and dives for his infamous menu at Beer
Belly in LA's k Town. He's also made multiple appearances
(01:17):
on The Food Network, the Travel Channel, and ABC.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
But before Wes embraced his skills in the kitchen, he
grew up in the punk rock scene of Philly in
the early nineties. This took him down a wild road
which led him to being the lead singer in the
band Kill Verona. This punk rock life meant that the
volume was maxed out to the extreme, and at a
critical juncture in his career, West developed Tonightis.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
For anyone who doesn't know tonightas is an uncontrollable ringing
in their ears, and it's the gift that keeps on giving.
In a very negative light, there.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Is no cure.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
This condition pushed West to the edge literally and it
almost caused him to take his own life.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Today, Chef West is here to tell the story of
his rock and roll adventures and how Tonightis robbed him
of his dreams, drove him to the brink of suicide,
and then eventually led him to a life full of
great food, beautiful children, and his amazing wife.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Free This dude is awesome. We can't wait for you
to hear his story.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We are so excited to have Chef wes Leeberher with
us today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Chef, welcome to the good stuff. Thank you, it's good
to be here.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Tell us about growing up in your house in North Philly.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Oh man, My childhood was rough. You know. It's crazy
when you get older, you know, you look back and
there's you try to remember, like details. I always think
about with my kids. I'm like, are they going to
remember this? I try to give him experiences that they'll remember,
and most of the stuff I remember isn't good. So
my dad was a cop. He became a police officer
(02:54):
when I was one. I think the job made him
a little untrusting and angry. You know, he's going out,
he's dealing with the scum of the earth every day.
For the most part, him and my mom were getting along,
so there was a lot of violent yelling. I was
never abused, which is great, but the relationship between my
dad and my mom was pretty horrible. Then he cheated
(03:14):
on her and left. Even after he had left the house,
he lived probably like a mile not even a mile
from us, and didn't see him as much as I
should have. I think he made He was embarrassed by
his apartment that he first had. He lived above this
old grocery store, and like the stairs to his back
door had like holes in it. You had to like
make sure he didn't fall to the ground and die.
(03:35):
So I think he was a little embarrassed about that.
But yeah, it just got worse and worse when my
mom tried to kind of put up boundaries and tell
him he can't come in the house anymore, and it
just made him more mad and little more like angry.
And I saw a lot of stuff that I shouldn't
have seen as far as anger goes. And that translated
to me as a kid, seeing how my dad used
to you know, shake and he was a scary dude.
(03:57):
He's super tough. I love him, you know, get along
really well now, but he was a scary guy. And
it translated into me in my teenage years, like being
super angry and you know, wanting to fight the world.
And even into my twenties when I was playing music
and going to shows, I was getting in fights all
the time. And this is an angry.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Kid, man, No, that's what you'd seen growing up.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, it almost felt normal. Maybe it was part of
me was trying to feel that acceptance being tough. You know,
I was always never let anybody touch you. If they do,
you hit them harder, you know, that whole thing. So
you know, there was a lot of that. And it's
crazy when you get older and you go through all
these traumas and relationships and you have your own kids,
(04:44):
and then you look back and you're like, man, I
was just the whole time. I just wanted my dad
like acknowledge me. And we have a good relationship now.
You know. I don't talk about this a lot, but
you know, if I'm being honest, it's like I say
to my wife sometimes it's like I've never you know,
he's never looked me in the eyes and been like,
I'm so proud of you, man, I love you. Even
(05:05):
though I think he is. I know that he is.
He's just not that kind of guy. But it would
be really cool to hear him say it because I
say it to my kids all time. I always tell
them I'm proud of them and I love them, and God,
you're such a big part of my life. I think
now he feels it. But you know, there's a part
of me that's like I just want you to say
it in old bastards.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, I think it's that acknowledgment.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Man.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean I feel like all of us as adults,
we have that kid inside of us still, the innergladiator
is connected to all the above, and I think that's
what drives us through the good or the bad, or
to do good or to do bad, and we're looking
for outlets. I mean, that's one thing that you know,
I say to Ashevi all the time about the boys,
(05:50):
is like, look, they're never ever gonna wonder how much
we love them. At least we have that going for us.
Not that we're going to kill it on everything else
because we won't. We'll mess up our parents, but they'll
never question how much they're loved. And I think that's
pretty indicative too of you know, even though you were
in Philly and you know, we were down in the South,
(06:13):
like it was pretty kind of the mo just the
way it went like there, there wasn't a lot of
physical connection, there wasn't a lot of verbal affirmation. It
was just kind of like, hey, you're expected to just
toughen up, be better and be fine. Don't worry about
that thing, just move on.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, very generational I think I think our generation is
like the first one that's kind of like part of
both worlds where we're like we grew up with our
parents are like, don't what are you doing? Just be
just get out of here and do something, and we're like,
come back to the street.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Lights come on.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah, and now we're finally like, wait a minute, we
can tell our kids we love them. It's okay, doesn't
make us weak or anything. So there was a couple
of incidents when I was a kid because of you know,
what was going on at my house, that I was
doubled over in pain in my side. It happened twice.
My mom thought I had appendicitis, so they rushed me
to the hospital. Doctors are feeling my side and they're
(07:13):
basically like, oh, yeah, he's got a pendicitis. And I remember,
because I'll never eat apple cinnamon cheerios ever again ever
in my life. They were like, Okay, if he can
keep this down, he can go home. So I ate
the apple cinnamon cheerios and I threw up. So I
had to stay overnight in the hospital. You know, they
(07:33):
did some tests on me, blah blah blah, and then
they kind of determined that it was because of stress
and ulcers. That kind of figured out timing wise, Like
when some incidents happened in my house when I was
a kid, it was physically showing itself in me. I
didn't know. I didn't know it was even affecting me
that badly, but now I do. But I feel bad
(07:58):
for that kid now that I'm at peace with it.
I wish I wish somebody My mom was always there
for me. You know, she was a victim, and she
was always worried about what was happening with her, and
she was kind of consumed with that what he was
doing and what was happening to her. If I could
take a time machine to one place, it would be
to my house when I was a kid, just to
(08:18):
give myself a hug and be like, Yo, you got this, bro,
you're gonna be okay. That'd be pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
But now you're paying that forward and you're doing it
for your own kids.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, And you know what, I look at my kids
and I'm like, how, you know, I don't understand how
anyone could treat their kids poorly. It's crazy. It's crazy
how there's so much child abuse in the world, and
like human trafficking and all this crazy stuff. And it's
like I look at my kids and I'm like, man,
do are the greatest things ever? And I just want
(08:48):
to just squeeze them every two seconds and just you know,
I like think about them and cry and sometimes just
because I love them so much, and I just.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I relate. I mean, it's one of those things.
I'd still friends who are about to be parents for
the first time. I'm gonna be like, you think you
think you knew about true luck, Yeah, You're about to
have a completely different understanding.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, and then they start sassing you when they get older. Yeah,
then they get nothing better.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Yea.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, but it's okay, it's all right. I still love them.
I played sports every year. I ran track, I ran
played football. I was captaining a football team, also listened.
I was like a punk rock jock, which was weird
because I was going to shows on the weekend, taking
the subway to Philly, and then playing sports, which kept
(09:37):
me out of trouble. I didn't drink or do anything
in high school when a lot of my friends were
skateboarding doing drugs, so I was trying to stay away
from that. When I got out of high school. I
went to art school for a couple of years, and
because I love to paint, love to draw, but I
just it just made me hate art because it was
(09:57):
some guy saying this is the way you got to draw,
and I'm like, that's not the way I draw. I
don't want to draw like that. So I was like,
screw this, you know, and I dropped out for music.
Started a band that was the thing. I finally realized,
you know, that's this is what I want to do.
When I was thirteen, one of my first punk rock shows,
I went to see this band called Bad Religion, very
(10:19):
legendary punk rock band from California, and there was a
band opening up for them that nobody had heard about
yet named green Day. Wow. Yeah, nineteen ninety three. It
was like the year before they broke and me and
my friend had snuck in glow sticks for some reason,
I have no idea why. My friend was like, hey,
let's bring these glow sticks to the show. We put
(10:39):
them in our.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
As a marine, I will say, because they're freaking amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Oh, it probably life saving for you. But yeah, we
snuck him in our shoes and Green Day was playing,
and I broke one open and I threw it on
stage and I hit Billy Joe the singer with the
glove stick, and he picked it up and he goes, oh, kryptonite.
I think I'll keep this, and like that show like
that happening, and then Bad Religion playing. I was like,
that's what I want to do. I want to be
(11:05):
a singer. I want to be in a punk rock band.
And that changed my life because started going to shows
every weekend, met all these kids who were, like you said,
from terrible backgrounds, even like Saw worse than mine. And
we became this big family and basically raised ourselves. And
once I graduated high school, we all moved in together.
(11:26):
We had four houses planted all over Philadelphia. Each house
had like six people in it. In our early twenties.
That was our big, huge family. So I was I
was a bike messenger in Philly while I was playing
my band and stuff. So then we started getting a
lot of shows and getting a lot of note already
on the East Coast and any of those early two
(11:48):
thousands emo type bands like Taking Back Sunday, We've played
with all of them. We know most of those guys,
you know. That was like our scene. We were there
in the beginning, and that was like I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
You know, what was it about music that really called you?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
I think, you know, it always took a lot for
me to get close to people, but when once you're
close to me, I'm like, you're like, dude, you're crazy.
But I don't let people in it right away. Most
people that meet me right away they're like, it's so quiet,
and I'm like, I'm really not quiet. I just don't
trust you yet, you know. So once I started playing
music and I got comfortable on stage and started writing
(12:29):
these songs, and it was the first time I ever
felt like myself, like that's the person who's on stage,
that's me, like totally out of my shell, comfortable. Like
we were known for just like going crazy. People always said,
if you like put our band on TV and turn
the volume down, you think we were like a metal
band because we were just like you know. So yeah,
(12:52):
that was like total freedom for me. And then once
I started writing songs, and then I'd see these younger
kids come to our shows and they're singing my lyrics
back to me, like wow, with like more like vigor
than I like I'm doing it with and I'm like,
it's the best feeling in the world. Your experience that
you wrote about is helping these kids that are just
(13:14):
like you. I've gotten emails from kids saying, like, your
lyrics saved my life. You know, I was going through
a hard time. Thank you for everything, And it's the
greatest feeling in the whole world.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Music is something you can truly connect to that can
really drive your emotions one way or another. It can
take you back to a moment, it can encourage you,
it can lift you up, it can bring you down,
it can meet you right where you are. Music is
such a powerful and emotional thing.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I just always likes to tell me that my playlists
it's like the most schizophrenic playlist on the planet because
I have everything that you could think of and it
just depends on my mood. Yeah, it completely depends on
my mood. But you know, music is you know, it
can be a safe place or it can be a
(14:06):
place that can feed the negative too, and everything in between.
And what's cool is regardless of this genre that somebody's into,
they can absolutely relate to what we're talking about. Oh yeah,
that's what's so cool about it. And the fact that
you got to do it, and you got to hear
these kids singing your lyrics back to you and sending
you emails. Did that spiritual stuff right there, That's something
(14:28):
that a very small percentage of the world ever gets
to experience.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Oh yeah, I mean I look back and it's what
I wanted to do for my life. It didn't work out.
Because of what happened to me and what I accomplished.
Not many people can say that they did. You know,
there's a lot of people that can get on stage
with a band and play some cover songs and stuff
like that, which is fine, But like, just to affect
(14:52):
one person in a positive way, for me, it's totally
worth it.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Absolutely if all the work we do and all the
grinding and all the travel and speaking and all of it,
if it makes one person decide, hey, you know what
this life is worth living, that it was all worth it.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
I totally agree.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
And so as Jake you know, alluded to, it doesn't
matter the genre. So I listened to old Country on vinyl,
so I know nothing about the Philly punk rock scene
in the nineties. Paint that picture because I really school us.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Stuff on that. It was such a cool, unique place
where you know, you have all these kids from different backgrounds.
You know, you got black kids, White kids, Mexican kids,
Asian kids, all becoming this big family around this music.
(15:46):
It was just a really good feeling. I mean. And
in Philadelphia and the late nineties early two thousands, there
was a lot of Nazis coming into from Atlantic City.
There was this gang called the acy Skins, so their
Nazis would come to the punk rock shows. You would
get in fights with them all the time. It's like
a big thing in the punk rock scene where it's
like you have these certain types of punk raft bands
(16:06):
that attract that kind of person like Nazis, and every
once in a while one of those bands will play
with another band that attracts people like me who are
like unified with everybody, and you know there's Nazis. We
could possibly go wrong. Yeah, So there were a lot
of There were a lot of fights, a lot of drama.
(16:27):
We started making these little they would call them cruise
some people would call them gangs, but it's not. It's
like a music crew, but in a sense it's similar
where it's like we had to like band together to
protect ourselves. There was fights all the time some of
my friends got you know, hurt really bad. The Nazi
used to threaten us on MySpace of all places. I'm like, well,
(16:49):
of course, of course a Nazi with threaten our lives
on my Space. It was just the corniest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
You got to love those keyboard Warriors exactly so tough,
you know.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
We started these little crews and that kind of put
us in a group together and kind of kept us safe.
Like if one of us got in trouble, there'd be
twenty thirty people there within seconds to help them. So
and for the most part, everybody was Most of the
kids were straight edged, didn't drink, do drugs or anything
(17:20):
like that. It was cool. It was like a big family.
Wasn't the smartest thing to fight all the time, but
most of the time you fight at shows. We know,
like the bouncers at all the shows in Philly were like,
are the guys that brought us up in the scene.
Even if we started the fight, they would kick the
other person out anyways, and we'd just be like, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yeah, I loved fighting. And the reason being the reason
I loved it was because it masked my emotional pain.
I would rather feel the physical pain and it got
to where I got addicted to it. The physical pain.
It drove me, and it was like the more I got,
the more I wanted it. I bet you you're kind
(18:03):
of similar in.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
That there's very few feelings in the world that are
better than knocking somebody out. Seriously, it's like it's brotherly
love right there there.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
It is.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, I mean, it's just it's a it's just a thing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
So life took a sudden shift for you when you
developed tonitis in your early twenties.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yep. My band was we always turned up to eleven.
We used to practice in this little tiny space and
you got amps, you got drums, I'm in there singing.
Definitely not the smartest thing in the world. And when
you're younger, you think you're indestructible and you think nothing
can happen to you. My friend of mine, who's a
(18:47):
bass player, guitar player, I remember his dad was in
one of our practices and he was like, you guys
wear you guys gotta wear your plugs, and I'm like, whatever,
wrap so what all go deaf? One day had no idea,
you know. It was younger and going to shows and
my ears would ring after a show and then they
would then it would stop, and I'm like, oh, that's
totally normal. And then one day after a show was
(19:11):
ringing again. And then the next day I'm like, wait
a minute, still there, and I like plug. I plugged
my fingers in my ears, and I'm like, oh shit,
it's still there. That's weird. Okay, that's kind of scary.
A couple of months later, one day just turned up
super loud, just completely. It was like and I'm like,
(19:33):
what the hell, Like, what's happening? And it didn't stop.
It didn't stop for I didn't sleep for a month,
and it was so stressful because of course I start
looking it up, like what is this? I had no
I had no clue I got. I was totally ignorant
and just I had no idea what it was called
(19:54):
tonight is tendus people say different. Started learning about it,
went to the doctor. The doctor was like, you know,
I hate to tell you this, so you gotta take
care of your ears. It's probably never gonna go away.
Sometimes it could get better. They were like, you got
a pretty severe case, and it's gotten worse over the years.
(20:16):
A lot of times people just have like one ear
or both, and it's one sound. I have like five
or six different sounds in my head at all times.
It was like probably a month or two later, and
it was just I had been drinking to like try
to make myself go to sleep, a lot of crying
(20:37):
thinking about how I had started another band with some
of my best friends and we were actually making demos
because this an r REP from Interscope Records was interested
in us, and I'm like, oh, God, like I just
gotta like we gotta get signed or something. I don't know,
(20:58):
maybe this could go away. I didn't know. It's so
stressed out about it. And it got to the point
where I realized that no matter what I did, I
probably wouldn't be able to keep playing music. It was
all I dreamt about since I was thirteen years old. Sorry,
I got a lot a little emotional about it. No
(21:18):
being human. So yeah. So I was at a girl
I was dating's apartment. She lived in an apartment building Philly,
kind of like pretty high up, and I went on
a roof at night because we used to sit out
there and like hang out and talk and stuff. So
she was asleep. I went out there. I was just
(21:42):
hadn't slept in a while, crying my eyes out, and
just walked to the ledge and I was like, fuck it,
let's just gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
And hey, just sudden my own curiosity shift.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Were you sober at the time, Do you remember I
was probably hungover? No, or I don't think I was
like drunk drunk. I think i'd had a couple of beers,
because if I was really drunk, I probably just fell
off and I wouldn't be here talking to you. But
my son was my firstborn son. He was about I
think he was about two at the time, and I'm
(22:19):
sitting there crying. I'm thinking about him, Mike, you can't
do you can't do this to him. You can't do
this to him. But you know that I'm not sleeping
for three months really well at all. I'm like delirious,
just heartbroke a Yeah, it was driving me crazy, like
I felt insane. I felt it's like torture. It's basically
(22:42):
like someone like I was just about to say the
same thing. It sounds like a form of torture for sure. Yeah,
I have tonight is but not like you at all. Yeah.
I know a lot of military people get it.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, but I can't imagine. It's not constant for me,
Like it'll come and go the ring right, like, I'll
hear it for a minute. I'm like, oh, hey, tonight,
I just think you saying hi, and just wait for
it to subside, then it goes away. I cannot imagine, dude,
And you have five to six different sounds and tones constantly.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, I got real close. I got real close. And
then I was like, you can't do this to your son.
Can't do it to them. So I pulled myself together
over the next couple of months. You know, I'd always
been cooking. I was always pretty good at cooking in restaurants,
you know, reliable cook, blah blah blah. And I was like,
all right, I guess we're just gonna have to focus
on that and see where we can take it. I've
(23:35):
always been the kind of person that's I'm not satisfied
with just being a normal, average, everyday person. I can't
just go to work and be like, I got myself
a job, man, this is this is great. You know
what I mean, which is there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
No, no, no, I totally get what you're saying, dude, because
I talk to honests all the time, or I'll tell
them like, hey, listen, this is gonna be in your
face because that's just how I roll. I just I
spit truth and that's it. And I don't wake up
and go out of my way to be average, because
what's the point of getting out of.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Bed exactly exactly. It's like, I'll never be satisfied with
just having an everyday, nine to five job. I always
want to do something. I always wanted to do something
great and affect people and do good for the world
and my kids and all that stuff, especially coming from
a poor family and not really having much just being
(24:28):
able to just do something cool that people are like, hey, man,
like I appreciate what you do, and so I had
to do something. So I'm like, all right, I'll start
taking cooking seriously, and I started reading books and got
a job as a soous chef and practice and practice.
My head chef at the time was a huge coke head,
(24:50):
so he was always late for work, so I basically
had to do his work for him all the time.
So I started learning like really rapidly because because he
was late like every day, he eventually got f That's.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Like literal baptized by fire. Yeah, like literal yeah. So
I learned a lot. It went pretty quickly. I mean
from the time I started taking it seriously. Within two years,
I had gone to the owners of the restaurant I
worked at in Philly, Vintage. Their names are Jason and Delphine.
It's a couple now they have a whole fleet of
restaurants in Philly. They're the most amazing people in the
(25:23):
whole world. I owe them everything as far as my
cooking career goes. Because I went to them not knowing
what the hell I was doing. I was like, please,
let me be executive chef. I was like, I don't
do a good job, you guys can fire me. I'll
put my whole job on the line. So they said, sure, yeah,
give it a shot. You know, I did it. I
was pretty good at it. I would look back now,
(25:44):
I was like, you weren't that good that they still
gave me a shot.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
A couple of years later, got better, and then some
of my friends were like, yeah, we got an opportunity
in California for you to help us open something. And
another one of my buddies was get married. My friend Joel,
he's in good Charlotte. He's marrying Nicole Ritchie, and he
was like, hey, you want to do the menu for
my wedding. So I was kind of like, okay, Universe,
(26:10):
I'm listening to you. I got this opportunity. Things were
going so great in Philly, just a lot of like
relationship issues and just not good personal stuff. So I
was like, all right, I'll go out there and see
what I can do because I just didn't see my
steps in Philly getting bigger. What am I going to
(26:33):
do here? I always wanted to do something cool, and
I was like, I'll go to California try to make
something happen. Took a chance, packed up my car, went
out there. So my buddies want to dude. They were like, Yo,
we're going to open this business. Come on, you know.
I was like, I'm going to quit my job. So
(26:54):
guys got to pay me because, you know, they because
they needed me to do stuff for them.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I drove out to California from Philly to LA got there.
They were like, Oh, we're so glad you're here. We
can't pay you, but we're so glad you're here. I
was like, what, I got a couple of credit cards,
bought some stuff. We all found an apartment together in Hollywood.
We drew straws for bedrooms. I got to short straw,
(27:20):
so I was living in the living room basically in
this apartment in Hollywood. Awesome. Though it was on Hollywood Boulevard,
like like you could see the Hollywood sign. It was
like pretty crazy. It was like, wow, not the best
living conditions. I'm not making any money. I'm so poor.
We were living off seven to eleven pizza and ice
house beer. It's the most disgusting beer you could ever have,
(27:43):
but it was like there was like a deal. You
get two thirty two ounces for five bucks, and then
the two dollars for two pieces of pizza sice. But
we were building this breakfast of champions.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
We were building this business in Hollywood basically for the
ground up, Like we were renovating ourselves, making recipes, cooking
all night. And then I'm like, well, I gotta make money.
So there's this burger place in Hollywood that's literally open
until five am. So I go there, even though I've
already been an executive chef, I'm flipping burgers from eleven
(28:20):
PM to five am and then getting up at eight
am working on our new business. Through that business, the
guy who I started at the restaurant in La Beer Belly,
the one that got really popular. I met him through
that business. He was like our best customer, one of
our only customers, but he really liked it. So yeah.
(28:42):
He was like, I'm opening this bar in Koreatown in
the back of a parking lot, and I was like,
oh cool, I'll come check it out. I remember he
was showing me around and the kitchen was set up
so weird, and I remember thinking like, oh man, the
chef that works here is gonna hate this skitchen. And
then two months later I was like, I'm gonna come
(29:02):
work for you. I like your concept, so yeah, he's yeah.
He was like I want to do beer and I was.
He was like, I want you to do some La
inspired food. I was like, let's just do over the
top comfort food, super bad for you, because LA when
I got there twenty ten, it was super healthy. Everyone
went to Salid. I was like, let's just let's make
(29:25):
the greasiest, like just gut busting food. He was like,
all right, let's do it. And then you know, a
year later, we're taping diner drivings and dives and it's
just yeah. And once that aired, when they approached us,
they're like, oh, you got to give us twelve recipes
that you want to feature on the show. So I
give them twelve recipes. They picked three and then when
(29:48):
they say, oh, you guys made it on the show,
they go congratulations and You're like, oh cool, thanks. They
like you had no idea?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
What them? No?
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Like we when that show aired, there was a line
around the block. Like within six months, we had a
front patio built onto the restaurant, at back patio built
onto the restaurant, and then it became like an La staple,
like everyone has been there. It's not there anymore. But
(30:18):
I mean it was open for I think eight years
and it was just like it was crazy. Man, it
was a whirlwind. I started getting Food Network show offers
and like Traveled, we were on the Travel Channel and
it felt like every other week there was like a
TV crew in there. It was cool. It's crazy how
now you know? It's like working where I do now.
(30:40):
I run a hospital system. I got into that because
of COVID, and I make probably the best money I've
ever made in my life. Right, I have healthcare. I
can go to a doctor whenever I want. Not the
same notoriety at all, you know, I was. I did
just do a Food Network show, which is awesome, but
like around Illinois, nobody knows, like in the restaurant world,
(31:01):
no me, just the fuck I am. And there's something
to be said about.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Having your anonymity everybody.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Yeah, yeah, I do like it now because the world
is different now, especially after COVID, like and then the
more popular social media gets. I feel like people's attention
spans are like, even if you're well known, people won't
care about you tomorrow anyway. And then thinking back, it's
like I got all this notoriety in LA when beer
Belly was open, couldn't go the doctor because I didn't
(31:28):
have Hell's chairs. I was getting paid crap money. We
opened another Beer Belly and that's when I started making like,
okay money, but it was like fighting tooth and nail
for every penny because it's your restaurant. And then I
just ended up seeing this job for a company that
runs hospital food programs. Got the job and literally they
(31:50):
give you your account and they're like, okay, we're taking
over this whole hospital system. You're gonna be in this hospital,
but we're opening all these other ones, so we we
can't have all we can't really have anyone here with you.
And they're basically like, figure it out. I'm like, what
a chef that works in the hospital will tell you.
The amount of things that you order for a hospital is, Oh,
(32:14):
it's an astronomyst like fifty times more than a restaurant.
It's all these little things. And they were just like, yeah,
figure it out, guy, Okay, I figured it out because
that's what I'm just good at stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
I think about young kids when you ask them, what
do you want to be when you grow up? So
few were truly convicting. You know, I want to be
a professional football player, I want to be an astronaut,
or I want to be a veterinarian. You knew what
you wanted to do from a young age, and then
unfortunate circumstances happened to you with your tonightis and you
were able to shift your entire focus and go be
(32:50):
great at something else. I mean, the perseverance that took
and the level of accomplishment that you've had at that's
something else. When you look back on your story, do
you feel fulfilled?
Speaker 1 (33:04):
I did.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
It's funny that he said it, because I was talking
to my soux chef the other day. I've had, you know,
many shoot soox chefs in my career. I still talk
to all of them. They're they're like my little brothers,
you know, and a lot of them are their executive chefs. Now,
my soux chef that I have now came to me
and he said that someone said he was good at
his job, and he didn't want to agree with him
(33:25):
because he didn't want to be cocky. I said, it's
not about being caught. You could be humble but be
confident at the same time. And I started telling him
about my story a little bit. I'm like, I think
back at all the stuff I've been through and all
the hard work I put in, like working for five
dollars an hour, working for like peanuts, working ninety hours
(33:47):
a week in the hottest kitchen in the freaking world,
and I'm like, I deserve to be here. I deserve
to do this job, and I'm good at it, and
I know I'm good at it, and I value it.
I don't take it for granted, and I'm okay with
saying yes, like I'm good at my job and I
(34:07):
know I can get better also, So that's the part
where you know, I told him, like, you can still
say thank you. You know, I work really hard at
what I do and I deserve to be here, but
I'm also still trying to get better. So that's how
I think of it. I used to hate cooking so much.
It was like an annoyance. I just want to go
play a show. I got a ah. The first restaurant
(34:30):
I worked out was so busy, and I almost oh god,
it was I heard the ticket machine in my sleep,
and it just was such a nuisance to me, you know.
Once I was kind of forced into it. After my
tonight is there was this one pivotal moment where it
was the first time my chef was like, you're going
to do this dinner for this party. You make the menu,
(34:53):
you're gonna cook it, You're going to serve it to them.
I did it, and then I went out. They called
me out to the table and the whole table for me,
and I was like, yeah, this is kind of like
being a rock star. So that moment I realized, I
was like, you know, it's not that different. There's a
(35:13):
lot of chefs that are like very studious. You know,
they went to CIA and they're super smart and they
know every little detail about food, and that's cool. That's
just not me. I'm not that kind of chef. I
love to cook. I love to be creative. That's the
part that I love. I love the creativity and I
love the experience. I love like being able to put
(35:34):
something on a plate and someone eat it and be
like oh, man, like that reminds me of my childhood
and that's even better than what I had then, and
then being happy about it. So it's kind of a
performance in a way, and that's how I started to
think about being a chef.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
That's a beautiful way to think of it, though.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I'm just grateful that we've gotten this opportunity with you. Man.
You are in inspiration, bro, you really are. And it's
really rad that you're in the place that you're in
after everything that you've been through. You know, it's admirable. Bro.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Just thinking about that and thinking about the perseverance and
the tenacity to push through to get through you think
about that person that was standing on that roof that
night completely changed his mind and where you are today,
What would you say to someone who's battling Tonightas or
(36:31):
anything that might have taken away what they thought was
going to be their life's journey.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Early on, I used to go on dyke to Tonightas
message boards and stuff like that. But man, it's like
the most negative, depressing place ever. I mean a lot,
so many like horrible stories, people talking about how like
they got their nerves severed to get rid of this
stuff and like so they can't hear anymore or whatever,
(36:58):
and talking about the fear of like going deaf but
still hearing the ringing. Like of course, those are all
things in my head. And because there are times where
my ears shift in a way, like you know, maybe
like eight seven years ago, my ears started doing a
different thing. I started getting like a vibration in my
head too, and the it was like and it was
(37:19):
like another level. And I had a whole another like
two months of trying to cope with it and like depressed,
talking about doing shit to myself stuff like that, you know,
And then I would play you know, I play music
every couple of years, we'd have reunion shows, and then
like for two months after it, it'd be horrible so
I can't do it anymore. But it's tough.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Man.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
If there was someone dealing with it right in front
of me, I would just give him a hug and
just be like, it all depends on the kind of
person you are. I wouldn't wish this on someone who
isn't like mentally strong, because it will destroy them. You know,
I turned it into I would say, not a positive can.
(38:04):
I hear it all the time? You know, I hear
it right now. But if this didn't happen to me,
I wouldn't have met my wife. I wouldn't have my
two babies. There's so much good stuff that happened to me,
not because of it, but in spite of it. And
it sucks. It's horrible. When I tell people about it,
they're like, oh, Dune, that sucks. I'm like, whatever the reason.
(38:27):
I don't talk about it a lot when people ask
me about it, I don't complain about it. If I'm
having a bad day with it, I don't talk about
it because it just makes me hear it more. Yeah,
if you get lost in it and you have that
thought of oh shit, like it's never going to go away.
It's there when you wake up it's there when you
go to bed, just trying to like rattle you. I
(38:50):
just decided to turn it off. Like I still hear it,
of course, but I decided to not let it affect me.
Maybe one day it'll get so loud that I won't
be able to take it, but I'm gonna live every
day until that point the best I can. Obviously, I
take care of my ears a little better and I
(39:10):
always have ear plugs on me. And it can translate
to any other anything. I know what you went through.
Some people might be like, oh man, I'm so sorry
that happened, but you're like, it's made me who I am.
You know what I mean, And it's something people can't
see and they don't understand because you can't see it.
You know, it's not on me. It's maddening, and if
(39:32):
I let it drive me crazy, it would, But the
hell's the point? You know, might be living in a
simulation anyway, So yeah, yeah, I mean, it's.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
You're living proof bro that we have to be very
power stingy. We have to decide where it goes and
when too many things get it when they don't deserve it,
And that could go for something or someone or both,
you know, so keep freaking grinding, man, doing great shit.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Thank you trying.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, it's truly inspiring to hear your story and know
how you continue to persevere and you are a rock star.
You make people smile and you get them through one
of the most important parts of their stomach. So yeah, Wes,
thank you so much for being here with us on
the Good Stuff.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Thanks for having me. It was a great conversation. I
had a great time. And thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Hey, dude, you're worth it. Don't forget that. And thank
you for feeding souls, not only stomachs, but for feeding souls.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Hey, that's all I do, man, That's what I'm here for.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
I dig it. If you listen to this and you're
one of the people that suffer from tonight is just
know that we're sending you mad.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Love right now. You can't see.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
It like my physical wounds, but just know we respect
you and Chef what's up. There's hope. You got to
grind through it and it's not the end of the world.
You can overcome it. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
Thank you so much for listening to the Good Stuff.
If this episod so touched you today, please share it
and be part of making someone else's day better.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Put on your badass capes like Chef West and God
be great today, and remember you can't do epic stuff
without epic people. Thank you for listening to the good Stuff.
The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Schick, Jacob Schick,
Leah Pictures and q Code Media. Hosted by Ashley Shick
(41:25):
and Jacob Shick, Produced by Nick Cassolini and Ryan Countzouse
post production supervisor Will Tindi. Music editing by Will heywood Smith,
edited by Mike Robinson,
Welcome to the Good Stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Jacob Shick and I'm joined by my co host
and wife, Ashley Shick.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a
gold Star granddaughter. We work together to serve military veterans,
first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental
and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. At
One Tribe Foundation, we.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Believe everyone has a story to tell, not only about
the peaks, but also the valleys they've been through to
get them to where they are today.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story,
to share with us the lessons they've learned that shaped
who they are and what they're doing to pay it
forward and give back.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Our mission with this show is to dig deep into
our guest's journey so that we can celebrate the hope
and inspiration their story has to offer.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
We're thrilled you're joining us again.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Welcome to the Good Stuff. Today, we're joined by celebrating
Chef Wes Leeberherd. Chef West has made his mark on
the culinary world in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Germany, and now
in Illinois. You may have seen him featured in diners,
drive ins, and dives for his infamous menu at Beer
Belly in LA's k Town. He's also made multiple appearances
(01:17):
on The Food Network, the Travel Channel, and ABC.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
But before Wes embraced his skills in the kitchen, he
grew up in the punk rock scene of Philly in
the early nineties. This took him down a wild road
which led him to being the lead singer in the
band Kill Verona. This punk rock life meant that the
volume was maxed out to the extreme, and at a
critical juncture in his career, West developed Tonightis.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
For anyone who doesn't know tonightas is an uncontrollable ringing
in their ears, and it's the gift that keeps on giving.
In a very negative light, there.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Is no cure.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
This condition pushed West to the edge literally and it
almost caused him to take his own life.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Today, Chef West is here to tell the story of
his rock and roll adventures and how Tonightis robbed him
of his dreams, drove him to the brink of suicide,
and then eventually led him to a life full of
great food, beautiful children, and his amazing wife.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Free This dude is awesome. We can't wait for you
to hear his story.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We are so excited to have Chef wes Leeberher with
us today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Chef, welcome to the good stuff. Thank you, it's good
to be here.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Tell us about growing up in your house in North Philly.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Oh man, My childhood was rough. You know. It's crazy
when you get older, you know, you look back and
there's you try to remember, like details. I always think
about with my kids. I'm like, are they going to
remember this? I try to give him experiences that they'll remember,
and most of the stuff I remember isn't good. So
my dad was a cop. He became a police officer
(02:54):
when I was one. I think the job made him
a little untrusting and angry. You know, he's going out,
he's dealing with the scum of the earth every day.
For the most part, him and my mom were getting along,
so there was a lot of violent yelling. I was
never abused, which is great, but the relationship between my
dad and my mom was pretty horrible. Then he cheated
(03:14):
on her and left. Even after he had left the house,
he lived probably like a mile not even a mile
from us, and didn't see him as much as I
should have. I think he made He was embarrassed by
his apartment that he first had. He lived above this
old grocery store, and like the stairs to his back
door had like holes in it. You had to like
make sure he didn't fall to the ground and die.
(03:35):
So I think he was a little embarrassed about that.
But yeah, it just got worse and worse when my
mom tried to kind of put up boundaries and tell
him he can't come in the house anymore, and it
just made him more mad and little more like angry.
And I saw a lot of stuff that I shouldn't
have seen as far as anger goes. And that translated
to me as a kid, seeing how my dad used
to you know, shake and he was a scary dude.
(03:57):
He's super tough. I love him, you know, get along
really well now, but he was a scary guy. And
it translated into me in my teenage years, like being
super angry and you know, wanting to fight the world.
And even into my twenties when I was playing music
and going to shows, I was getting in fights all
the time. And this is an angry.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Kid, man, No, that's what you'd seen growing up.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, it almost felt normal. Maybe it was part of
me was trying to feel that acceptance being tough. You know,
I was always never let anybody touch you. If they do,
you hit them harder, you know, that whole thing. So
you know, there was a lot of that. And it's
crazy when you get older and you go through all
these traumas and relationships and you have your own kids,
(04:44):
and then you look back and you're like, man, I
was just the whole time. I just wanted my dad
like acknowledge me. And we have a good relationship now.
You know. I don't talk about this a lot, but
you know, if I'm being honest, it's like I say
to my wife sometimes it's like I've never you know,
he's never looked me in the eyes and been like,
I'm so proud of you, man, I love you. Even
(05:05):
though I think he is. I know that he is.
He's just not that kind of guy. But it would
be really cool to hear him say it because I
say it to my kids all time. I always tell
them I'm proud of them and I love them, and God,
you're such a big part of my life. I think
now he feels it. But you know, there's a part
of me that's like I just want you to say
it in old bastards.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, I think it's that acknowledgment.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Man.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean I feel like all of us as adults,
we have that kid inside of us still, the innergladiator
is connected to all the above, and I think that's
what drives us through the good or the bad, or
to do good or to do bad, and we're looking
for outlets. I mean, that's one thing that you know,
I say to Ashevi all the time about the boys,
(05:50):
is like, look, they're never ever gonna wonder how much
we love them. At least we have that going for us.
Not that we're going to kill it on everything else
because we won't. We'll mess up our parents, but they'll
never question how much they're loved. And I think that's
pretty indicative too of you know, even though you were
in Philly and you know, we were down in the South,
(06:13):
like it was pretty kind of the mo just the
way it went like there, there wasn't a lot of
physical connection, there wasn't a lot of verbal affirmation. It
was just kind of like, hey, you're expected to just
toughen up, be better and be fine. Don't worry about
that thing, just move on.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, very generational I think I think our generation is
like the first one that's kind of like part of
both worlds where we're like we grew up with our
parents are like, don't what are you doing? Just be
just get out of here and do something, and we're like,
come back to the street.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Lights come on.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah, and now we're finally like, wait a minute, we
can tell our kids we love them. It's okay, doesn't
make us weak or anything. So there was a couple
of incidents when I was a kid because of you know,
what was going on at my house, that I was
doubled over in pain in my side. It happened twice.
My mom thought I had appendicitis, so they rushed me
to the hospital. Doctors are feeling my side and they're
(07:13):
basically like, oh, yeah, he's got a pendicitis. And I remember,
because I'll never eat apple cinnamon cheerios ever again ever
in my life. They were like, Okay, if he can
keep this down, he can go home. So I ate
the apple cinnamon cheerios and I threw up. So I
had to stay overnight in the hospital. You know, they
(07:33):
did some tests on me, blah blah blah, and then
they kind of determined that it was because of stress
and ulcers. That kind of figured out timing wise, Like
when some incidents happened in my house when I was
a kid, it was physically showing itself in me. I
didn't know. I didn't know it was even affecting me
that badly, but now I do. But I feel bad
(07:58):
for that kid now that I'm at peace with it.
I wish I wish somebody My mom was always there
for me. You know, she was a victim, and she
was always worried about what was happening with her, and
she was kind of consumed with that what he was
doing and what was happening to her. If I could
take a time machine to one place, it would be
to my house when I was a kid, just to
(08:18):
give myself a hug and be like, Yo, you got this, bro,
you're gonna be okay. That'd be pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
But now you're paying that forward and you're doing it
for your own kids.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, And you know what, I look at my kids
and I'm like, how, you know, I don't understand how
anyone could treat their kids poorly. It's crazy. It's crazy
how there's so much child abuse in the world, and
like human trafficking and all this crazy stuff. And it's
like I look at my kids and I'm like, man,
do are the greatest things ever? And I just want
(08:48):
to just squeeze them every two seconds and just you know,
I like think about them and cry and sometimes just
because I love them so much, and I just.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I relate. I mean, it's one of those things.
I'd still friends who are about to be parents for
the first time. I'm gonna be like, you think you
think you knew about true luck, Yeah, You're about to
have a completely different understanding.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, and then they start sassing you when they get older. Yeah,
then they get nothing better.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Yea.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, but it's okay, it's all right. I still love them.
I played sports every year. I ran track, I ran
played football. I was captaining a football team, also listened.
I was like a punk rock jock, which was weird
because I was going to shows on the weekend, taking
the subway to Philly, and then playing sports, which kept
(09:37):
me out of trouble. I didn't drink or do anything
in high school when a lot of my friends were
skateboarding doing drugs, so I was trying to stay away
from that. When I got out of high school. I
went to art school for a couple of years, and
because I love to paint, love to draw, but I
just it just made me hate art because it was
(09:57):
some guy saying this is the way you got to draw,
and I'm like, that's not the way I draw. I
don't want to draw like that. So I was like,
screw this, you know, and I dropped out for music.
Started a band that was the thing. I finally realized,
you know, that's this is what I want to do.
When I was thirteen, one of my first punk rock shows,
I went to see this band called Bad Religion, very
(10:19):
legendary punk rock band from California, and there was a
band opening up for them that nobody had heard about
yet named green Day. Wow. Yeah, nineteen ninety three. It
was like the year before they broke and me and
my friend had snuck in glow sticks for some reason,
I have no idea why. My friend was like, hey,
let's bring these glow sticks to the show. We put
(10:39):
them in our.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
As a marine, I will say, because they're freaking amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Oh, it probably life saving for you. But yeah, we
snuck him in our shoes and Green Day was playing,
and I broke one open and I threw it on
stage and I hit Billy Joe the singer with the
glove stick, and he picked it up and he goes, oh, kryptonite.
I think I'll keep this, and like that show like
that happening, and then Bad Religion playing. I was like,
that's what I want to do. I want to be
(11:05):
a singer. I want to be in a punk rock band.
And that changed my life because started going to shows
every weekend, met all these kids who were, like you said,
from terrible backgrounds, even like Saw worse than mine. And
we became this big family and basically raised ourselves. And
once I graduated high school, we all moved in together.
(11:26):
We had four houses planted all over Philadelphia. Each house
had like six people in it. In our early twenties.
That was our big, huge family. So I was I
was a bike messenger in Philly while I was playing
my band and stuff. So then we started getting a
lot of shows and getting a lot of note already
on the East Coast and any of those early two
(11:48):
thousands emo type bands like Taking Back Sunday, We've played
with all of them. We know most of those guys,
you know. That was like our scene. We were there
in the beginning, and that was like I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
You know, what was it about music that really called you?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
I think, you know, it always took a lot for
me to get close to people, but when once you're
close to me, I'm like, you're like, dude, you're crazy.
But I don't let people in it right away. Most
people that meet me right away they're like, it's so quiet,
and I'm like, I'm really not quiet. I just don't
trust you yet, you know. So once I started playing
music and I got comfortable on stage and started writing
(12:29):
these songs, and it was the first time I ever
felt like myself, like that's the person who's on stage,
that's me, like totally out of my shell, comfortable. Like
we were known for just like going crazy. People always said,
if you like put our band on TV and turn
the volume down, you think we were like a metal
band because we were just like you know. So yeah,
(12:52):
that was like total freedom for me. And then once
I started writing songs, and then I'd see these younger
kids come to our shows and they're singing my lyrics
back to me, like wow, with like more like vigor
than I like I'm doing it with and I'm like,
it's the best feeling in the world. Your experience that
you wrote about is helping these kids that are just
(13:14):
like you. I've gotten emails from kids saying, like, your
lyrics saved my life. You know, I was going through
a hard time. Thank you for everything, And it's the
greatest feeling in the whole world.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Music is something you can truly connect to that can
really drive your emotions one way or another. It can
take you back to a moment, it can encourage you,
it can lift you up, it can bring you down,
it can meet you right where you are. Music is
such a powerful and emotional thing.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I just always likes to tell me that my playlists
it's like the most schizophrenic playlist on the planet because
I have everything that you could think of and it
just depends on my mood. Yeah, it completely depends on
my mood. But you know, music is you know, it
can be a safe place or it can be a
(14:06):
place that can feed the negative too, and everything in between.
And what's cool is regardless of this genre that somebody's into,
they can absolutely relate to what we're talking about. Oh yeah,
that's what's so cool about it. And the fact that
you got to do it, and you got to hear
these kids singing your lyrics back to you and sending
you emails. Did that spiritual stuff right there, That's something
(14:28):
that a very small percentage of the world ever gets
to experience.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Oh yeah, I mean I look back and it's what
I wanted to do for my life. It didn't work out.
Because of what happened to me and what I accomplished.
Not many people can say that they did. You know,
there's a lot of people that can get on stage
with a band and play some cover songs and stuff
like that, which is fine, But like, just to affect
(14:52):
one person in a positive way, for me, it's totally
worth it.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Absolutely if all the work we do and all the
grinding and all the travel and speaking and all of it,
if it makes one person decide, hey, you know what
this life is worth living, that it was all worth it.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
I totally agree.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
And so as Jake you know, alluded to, it doesn't
matter the genre. So I listened to old Country on vinyl,
so I know nothing about the Philly punk rock scene
in the nineties. Paint that picture because I really school us.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Stuff on that. It was such a cool, unique place
where you know, you have all these kids from different backgrounds.
You know, you got black kids, White kids, Mexican kids,
Asian kids, all becoming this big family around this music.
(15:46):
It was just a really good feeling. I mean. And
in Philadelphia and the late nineties early two thousands, there
was a lot of Nazis coming into from Atlantic City.
There was this gang called the acy Skins, so their
Nazis would come to the punk rock shows. You would
get in fights with them all the time. It's like
a big thing in the punk rock scene where it's
like you have these certain types of punk raft bands
(16:06):
that attract that kind of person like Nazis, and every
once in a while one of those bands will play
with another band that attracts people like me who are
like unified with everybody, and you know there's Nazis. We
could possibly go wrong. Yeah, So there were a lot
of There were a lot of fights, a lot of drama.
(16:27):
We started making these little they would call them cruise
some people would call them gangs, but it's not. It's
like a music crew, but in a sense it's similar
where it's like we had to like band together to
protect ourselves. There was fights all the time some of
my friends got you know, hurt really bad. The Nazi
used to threaten us on MySpace of all places. I'm like, well,
(16:49):
of course, of course a Nazi with threaten our lives
on my Space. It was just the corniest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
You got to love those keyboard Warriors exactly so tough,
you know.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
We started these little crews and that kind of put
us in a group together and kind of kept us safe.
Like if one of us got in trouble, there'd be
twenty thirty people there within seconds to help them. So
and for the most part, everybody was Most of the
kids were straight edged, didn't drink, do drugs or anything
(17:20):
like that. It was cool. It was like a big family.
Wasn't the smartest thing to fight all the time, but
most of the time you fight at shows. We know,
like the bouncers at all the shows in Philly were like,
are the guys that brought us up in the scene.
Even if we started the fight, they would kick the
other person out anyways, and we'd just be like, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yeah, I loved fighting. And the reason being the reason
I loved it was because it masked my emotional pain.
I would rather feel the physical pain and it got
to where I got addicted to it. The physical pain.
It drove me, and it was like the more I got,
the more I wanted it. I bet you you're kind
(18:03):
of similar in.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
That there's very few feelings in the world that are
better than knocking somebody out. Seriously, it's like it's brotherly
love right there there.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
It is.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, I mean, it's just it's a it's just a thing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
So life took a sudden shift for you when you
developed tonitis in your early twenties.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yep. My band was we always turned up to eleven.
We used to practice in this little tiny space and
you got amps, you got drums, I'm in there singing.
Definitely not the smartest thing in the world. And when
you're younger, you think you're indestructible and you think nothing
can happen to you. My friend of mine, who's a
(18:47):
bass player, guitar player, I remember his dad was in
one of our practices and he was like, you guys
wear you guys gotta wear your plugs, and I'm like, whatever,
wrap so what all go deaf? One day had no idea,
you know. It was younger and going to shows and
my ears would ring after a show and then they
would then it would stop, and I'm like, oh, that's
totally normal. And then one day after a show was
(19:11):
ringing again. And then the next day I'm like, wait
a minute, still there, and I like plug. I plugged
my fingers in my ears, and I'm like, oh shit,
it's still there. That's weird. Okay, that's kind of scary.
A couple of months later, one day just turned up
super loud, just completely. It was like and I'm like,
(19:33):
what the hell, Like, what's happening? And it didn't stop.
It didn't stop for I didn't sleep for a month,
and it was so stressful because of course I start
looking it up, like what is this? I had no
I had no clue I got. I was totally ignorant
and just I had no idea what it was called
(19:54):
tonight is tendus people say different. Started learning about it,
went to the doctor. The doctor was like, you know,
I hate to tell you this, so you gotta take
care of your ears. It's probably never gonna go away.
Sometimes it could get better. They were like, you got
a pretty severe case, and it's gotten worse over the years.
(20:16):
A lot of times people just have like one ear
or both, and it's one sound. I have like five
or six different sounds in my head at all times.
It was like probably a month or two later, and
it was just I had been drinking to like try
to make myself go to sleep, a lot of crying
(20:37):
thinking about how I had started another band with some
of my best friends and we were actually making demos
because this an r REP from Interscope Records was interested
in us, and I'm like, oh, God, like I just
gotta like we gotta get signed or something. I don't know,
(20:58):
maybe this could go away. I didn't know. It's so
stressed out about it. And it got to the point
where I realized that no matter what I did, I
probably wouldn't be able to keep playing music. It was
all I dreamt about since I was thirteen years old. Sorry,
I got a lot a little emotional about it. No
(21:18):
being human. So yeah. So I was at a girl
I was dating's apartment. She lived in an apartment building Philly,
kind of like pretty high up, and I went on
a roof at night because we used to sit out
there and like hang out and talk and stuff. So
she was asleep. I went out there. I was just
(21:42):
hadn't slept in a while, crying my eyes out, and
just walked to the ledge and I was like, fuck it,
let's just gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
And hey, just sudden my own curiosity shift.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Were you sober at the time, Do you remember I
was probably hungover? No, or I don't think I was
like drunk drunk. I think i'd had a couple of beers,
because if I was really drunk, I probably just fell
off and I wouldn't be here talking to you. But
my son was my firstborn son. He was about I
think he was about two at the time, and I'm
(22:19):
sitting there crying. I'm thinking about him, Mike, you can't
do you can't do this to him. You can't do
this to him. But you know that I'm not sleeping
for three months really well at all. I'm like delirious,
just heartbroke a Yeah, it was driving me crazy, like
I felt insane. I felt it's like torture. It's basically
(22:42):
like someone like I was just about to say the
same thing. It sounds like a form of torture for sure. Yeah,
I have tonight is but not like you at all. Yeah.
I know a lot of military people get it.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, but I can't imagine. It's not constant for me,
Like it'll come and go the ring right, like, I'll
hear it for a minute. I'm like, oh, hey, tonight,
I just think you saying hi, and just wait for
it to subside, then it goes away. I cannot imagine, dude,
And you have five to six different sounds and tones constantly.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, I got real close. I got real close. And
then I was like, you can't do this to your son.
Can't do it to them. So I pulled myself together
over the next couple of months. You know, I'd always
been cooking. I was always pretty good at cooking in restaurants,
you know, reliable cook, blah blah blah. And I was like,
all right, I guess we're just gonna have to focus
on that and see where we can take it. I've
(23:35):
always been the kind of person that's I'm not satisfied
with just being a normal, average, everyday person. I can't
just go to work and be like, I got myself
a job, man, this is this is great. You know
what I mean, which is there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
No, no, no, I totally get what you're saying, dude, because
I talk to honests all the time, or I'll tell
them like, hey, listen, this is gonna be in your
face because that's just how I roll. I just I
spit truth and that's it. And I don't wake up
and go out of my way to be average, because
what's the point of getting out of.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Bed exactly exactly. It's like, I'll never be satisfied with
just having an everyday, nine to five job. I always
want to do something. I always wanted to do something
great and affect people and do good for the world
and my kids and all that stuff, especially coming from
a poor family and not really having much just being
(24:28):
able to just do something cool that people are like, hey, man,
like I appreciate what you do, and so I had
to do something. So I'm like, all right, I'll start
taking cooking seriously, and I started reading books and got
a job as a soous chef and practice and practice.
My head chef at the time was a huge coke head,
(24:50):
so he was always late for work, so I basically
had to do his work for him all the time.
So I started learning like really rapidly because because he
was late like every day, he eventually got f That's.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Like literal baptized by fire. Yeah, like literal yeah. So
I learned a lot. It went pretty quickly. I mean
from the time I started taking it seriously. Within two years,
I had gone to the owners of the restaurant I
worked at in Philly, Vintage. Their names are Jason and Delphine.
It's a couple now they have a whole fleet of
restaurants in Philly. They're the most amazing people in the
(25:23):
whole world. I owe them everything as far as my
cooking career goes. Because I went to them not knowing
what the hell I was doing. I was like, please,
let me be executive chef. I was like, I don't
do a good job, you guys can fire me. I'll
put my whole job on the line. So they said, sure, yeah,
give it a shot. You know, I did it. I
was pretty good at it. I would look back now,
(25:44):
I was like, you weren't that good that they still
gave me a shot.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
A couple of years later, got better, and then some
of my friends were like, yeah, we got an opportunity
in California for you to help us open something. And
another one of my buddies was get married. My friend Joel,
he's in good Charlotte. He's marrying Nicole Ritchie, and he
was like, hey, you want to do the menu for
my wedding. So I was kind of like, okay, Universe,
(26:10):
I'm listening to you. I got this opportunity. Things were
going so great in Philly, just a lot of like
relationship issues and just not good personal stuff. So I
was like, all right, I'll go out there and see
what I can do because I just didn't see my
steps in Philly getting bigger. What am I going to
(26:33):
do here? I always wanted to do something cool, and
I was like, I'll go to California try to make
something happen. Took a chance, packed up my car, went
out there. So my buddies want to dude. They were like, Yo,
we're going to open this business. Come on, you know.
I was like, I'm going to quit my job. So
(26:54):
guys got to pay me because, you know, they because
they needed me to do stuff for them.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I drove out to California from Philly to LA got there.
They were like, Oh, we're so glad you're here. We
can't pay you, but we're so glad you're here. I
was like, what, I got a couple of credit cards,
bought some stuff. We all found an apartment together in Hollywood.
We drew straws for bedrooms. I got to short straw,
(27:20):
so I was living in the living room basically in
this apartment in Hollywood. Awesome. Though it was on Hollywood Boulevard,
like like you could see the Hollywood sign. It was
like pretty crazy. It was like, wow, not the best
living conditions. I'm not making any money. I'm so poor.
We were living off seven to eleven pizza and ice
house beer. It's the most disgusting beer you could ever have,
(27:43):
but it was like there was like a deal. You
get two thirty two ounces for five bucks, and then
the two dollars for two pieces of pizza sice. But
we were building this breakfast of champions.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
We were building this business in Hollywood basically for the
ground up, Like we were renovating ourselves, making recipes, cooking
all night. And then I'm like, well, I gotta make money.
So there's this burger place in Hollywood that's literally open
until five am. So I go there, even though I've
already been an executive chef, I'm flipping burgers from eleven
(28:20):
PM to five am and then getting up at eight
am working on our new business. Through that business, the
guy who I started at the restaurant in La Beer Belly,
the one that got really popular. I met him through
that business. He was like our best customer, one of
our only customers, but he really liked it. So yeah.
(28:42):
He was like, I'm opening this bar in Koreatown in
the back of a parking lot, and I was like,
oh cool, I'll come check it out. I remember he
was showing me around and the kitchen was set up
so weird, and I remember thinking like, oh man, the
chef that works here is gonna hate this skitchen. And
then two months later I was like, I'm gonna come
(29:02):
work for you. I like your concept, so yeah, he's yeah.
He was like I want to do beer and I was.
He was like, I want you to do some La
inspired food. I was like, let's just do over the
top comfort food, super bad for you, because LA when
I got there twenty ten, it was super healthy. Everyone
went to Salid. I was like, let's just let's make
(29:25):
the greasiest, like just gut busting food. He was like,
all right, let's do it. And then you know, a
year later, we're taping diner drivings and dives and it's
just yeah. And once that aired, when they approached us,
they're like, oh, you got to give us twelve recipes
that you want to feature on the show. So I
give them twelve recipes. They picked three and then when
(29:48):
they say, oh, you guys made it on the show,
they go congratulations and You're like, oh cool, thanks. They
like you had no idea?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
What them? No?
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Like we when that show aired, there was a line
around the block. Like within six months, we had a
front patio built onto the restaurant, at back patio built
onto the restaurant, and then it became like an La staple,
like everyone has been there. It's not there anymore. But
(30:18):
I mean it was open for I think eight years
and it was just like it was crazy. Man, it
was a whirlwind. I started getting Food Network show offers
and like Traveled, we were on the Travel Channel and
it felt like every other week there was like a
TV crew in there. It was cool. It's crazy how
now you know? It's like working where I do now.
(30:40):
I run a hospital system. I got into that because
of COVID, and I make probably the best money I've
ever made in my life. Right, I have healthcare. I
can go to a doctor whenever I want. Not the
same notoriety at all, you know, I was. I did
just do a Food Network show, which is awesome, but
like around Illinois, nobody knows, like in the restaurant world,
(31:01):
no me, just the fuck I am. And there's something
to be said about.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Having your anonymity everybody.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Yeah, yeah, I do like it now because the world
is different now, especially after COVID, like and then the
more popular social media gets. I feel like people's attention
spans are like, even if you're well known, people won't
care about you tomorrow anyway. And then thinking back, it's
like I got all this notoriety in LA when beer
Belly was open, couldn't go the doctor because I didn't
(31:28):
have Hell's chairs. I was getting paid crap money. We
opened another Beer Belly and that's when I started making like,
okay money, but it was like fighting tooth and nail
for every penny because it's your restaurant. And then I
just ended up seeing this job for a company that
runs hospital food programs. Got the job and literally they
(31:50):
give you your account and they're like, okay, we're taking
over this whole hospital system. You're gonna be in this hospital,
but we're opening all these other ones, so we we
can't have all we can't really have anyone here with you.
And they're basically like, figure it out. I'm like, what
a chef that works in the hospital will tell you.
The amount of things that you order for a hospital is, Oh,
(32:14):
it's an astronomyst like fifty times more than a restaurant.
It's all these little things. And they were just like, yeah,
figure it out, guy, Okay, I figured it out because
that's what I'm just good at stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
I think about young kids when you ask them, what
do you want to be when you grow up? So
few were truly convicting. You know, I want to be
a professional football player, I want to be an astronaut,
or I want to be a veterinarian. You knew what
you wanted to do from a young age, and then
unfortunate circumstances happened to you with your tonightis and you
were able to shift your entire focus and go be
(32:50):
great at something else. I mean, the perseverance that took
and the level of accomplishment that you've had at that's
something else. When you look back on your story, do
you feel fulfilled?
Speaker 1 (33:04):
I did.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
It's funny that he said it, because I was talking
to my soux chef the other day. I've had, you know,
many shoot soox chefs in my career. I still talk
to all of them. They're they're like my little brothers,
you know, and a lot of them are their executive chefs. Now,
my soux chef that I have now came to me
and he said that someone said he was good at
his job, and he didn't want to agree with him
(33:25):
because he didn't want to be cocky. I said, it's
not about being caught. You could be humble but be
confident at the same time. And I started telling him
about my story a little bit. I'm like, I think
back at all the stuff I've been through and all
the hard work I put in, like working for five
dollars an hour, working for like peanuts, working ninety hours
(33:47):
a week in the hottest kitchen in the freaking world,
and I'm like, I deserve to be here. I deserve
to do this job, and I'm good at it, and
I know I'm good at it, and I value it.
I don't take it for granted, and I'm okay with
saying yes, like I'm good at my job and I
(34:07):
know I can get better also, So that's the part
where you know, I told him, like, you can still
say thank you. You know, I work really hard at
what I do and I deserve to be here, but
I'm also still trying to get better. So that's how
I think of it. I used to hate cooking so much.
It was like an annoyance. I just want to go
play a show. I got a ah. The first restaurant
(34:30):
I worked out was so busy, and I almost oh god,
it was I heard the ticket machine in my sleep,
and it just was such a nuisance to me, you know.
Once I was kind of forced into it. After my
tonight is there was this one pivotal moment where it
was the first time my chef was like, you're going
to do this dinner for this party. You make the menu,
(34:53):
you're gonna cook it, You're going to serve it to them.
I did it, and then I went out. They called
me out to the table and the whole table for me,
and I was like, yeah, this is kind of like
being a rock star. So that moment I realized, I
was like, you know, it's not that different. There's a
(35:13):
lot of chefs that are like very studious. You know,
they went to CIA and they're super smart and they
know every little detail about food, and that's cool. That's
just not me. I'm not that kind of chef. I
love to cook. I love to be creative. That's the
part that I love. I love the creativity and I
love the experience. I love like being able to put
(35:34):
something on a plate and someone eat it and be
like oh, man, like that reminds me of my childhood
and that's even better than what I had then, and
then being happy about it. So it's kind of a
performance in a way, and that's how I started to
think about being a chef.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
That's a beautiful way to think of it, though.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I'm just grateful that we've gotten this opportunity with you. Man.
You are in inspiration, bro, you really are. And it's
really rad that you're in the place that you're in
after everything that you've been through. You know, it's admirable. Bro.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Just thinking about that and thinking about the perseverance and
the tenacity to push through to get through you think
about that person that was standing on that roof that
night completely changed his mind and where you are today,
What would you say to someone who's battling Tonightas or
(36:31):
anything that might have taken away what they thought was
going to be their life's journey.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Early on, I used to go on dyke to Tonightas
message boards and stuff like that. But man, it's like
the most negative, depressing place ever. I mean a lot,
so many like horrible stories, people talking about how like
they got their nerves severed to get rid of this
stuff and like so they can't hear anymore or whatever,
(36:58):
and talking about the fear of like going deaf but
still hearing the ringing. Like of course, those are all
things in my head. And because there are times where
my ears shift in a way, like you know, maybe
like eight seven years ago, my ears started doing a
different thing. I started getting like a vibration in my
head too, and the it was like and it was
(37:19):
like another level. And I had a whole another like
two months of trying to cope with it and like depressed,
talking about doing shit to myself stuff like that, you know,
And then I would play you know, I play music
every couple of years, we'd have reunion shows, and then
like for two months after it, it'd be horrible so
I can't do it anymore. But it's tough.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Man.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
If there was someone dealing with it right in front
of me, I would just give him a hug and
just be like, it all depends on the kind of
person you are. I wouldn't wish this on someone who
isn't like mentally strong, because it will destroy them. You know,
I turned it into I would say, not a positive can.
(38:04):
I hear it all the time? You know, I hear
it right now. But if this didn't happen to me,
I wouldn't have met my wife. I wouldn't have my
two babies. There's so much good stuff that happened to me,
not because of it, but in spite of it. And
it sucks. It's horrible. When I tell people about it,
they're like, oh, Dune, that sucks. I'm like, whatever the reason.
(38:27):
I don't talk about it a lot when people ask
me about it, I don't complain about it. If I'm
having a bad day with it, I don't talk about
it because it just makes me hear it more. Yeah,
if you get lost in it and you have that
thought of oh shit, like it's never going to go away.
It's there when you wake up it's there when you
go to bed, just trying to like rattle you. I
(38:50):
just decided to turn it off. Like I still hear it,
of course, but I decided to not let it affect me.
Maybe one day it'll get so loud that I won't
be able to take it, but I'm gonna live every
day until that point the best I can. Obviously, I
take care of my ears a little better and I
(39:10):
always have ear plugs on me. And it can translate
to any other anything. I know what you went through.
Some people might be like, oh man, I'm so sorry
that happened, but you're like, it's made me who I am.
You know what I mean, And it's something people can't
see and they don't understand because you can't see it.
You know, it's not on me. It's maddening, and if
(39:32):
I let it drive me crazy, it would, But the
hell's the point? You know, might be living in a
simulation anyway, So yeah, yeah, I mean, it's.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
You're living proof bro that we have to be very
power stingy. We have to decide where it goes and
when too many things get it when they don't deserve it,
And that could go for something or someone or both,
you know, so keep freaking grinding, man, doing great shit.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Thank you trying.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, it's truly inspiring to hear your story and know
how you continue to persevere and you are a rock star.
You make people smile and you get them through one
of the most important parts of their stomach. So yeah, Wes,
thank you so much for being here with us on
the Good Stuff.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Thanks for having me. It was a great conversation. I
had a great time. And thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Hey, dude, you're worth it. Don't forget that. And thank
you for feeding souls, not only stomachs, but for feeding souls.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Hey, that's all I do, man, That's what I'm here for.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
I dig it. If you listen to this and you're
one of the people that suffer from tonight is just
know that we're sending you mad.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Love right now. You can't see.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
It like my physical wounds, but just know we respect
you and Chef what's up. There's hope. You got to
grind through it and it's not the end of the world.
You can overcome it. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
Thank you so much for listening to the Good Stuff.
If this episod so touched you today, please share it
and be part of making someone else's day better.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Put on your badass capes like Chef West and God
be great today, and remember you can't do epic stuff
without epic people. Thank you for listening to the good Stuff.
The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Schick, Jacob Schick,
Leah Pictures and q Code Media. Hosted by Ashley Shick
(41:25):
and Jacob Shick, Produced by Nick Cassolini and Ryan Countzouse
post production supervisor Will Tindi. Music editing by Will heywood Smith,
edited by Mike Robinson,
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