October 11, 2024 • 31 mins
Aisea Taimani is a Fremont musician and the co-founder of the concert series: Live At The Asher .
You can find out more about Live At The Asher on their IG page.
You can find Aisea, samples of his music and his work as a creative director on his IG page.
You can hear music from the band Minor Islands on their Bandcamp page.
If you would like to contact The Fremont Podcast, please text us here.
Petrocelli Homes has been a key sponsor of The Fremont Podcast from the beginning. If you are looking for a realtor, get in touch with Petrocelli Homes on Niles Blvd in Fremont.
Ohlone College Flea Market happens every second Saturday at the lower parking lot at Ohlone College. You can find out more information about them not their webpage or on their Instagram.
Minutemen Press in Fremont is your community city go to for all your community print and design needs. What ever you want to print or customize, Minutemen Press is here for you. You can find them at 44141 Fremont Blvd, Fremont, CA 94538.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Coming to you straight from Fremont,
california.
This is the Fremont Podcast,dedicated to telling the stories
of the past and present of thepeople and places of the city of
Fremont, one conversation at atime.
Now, here's your host, ricky B.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm going to start recording now, just to.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Sounds good.
Check one two.
Testing one two.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
If I, you know, know when I'm adjusting anything,
don't change anything thatyou're doing.
You're good, bro, sweet, I sayyeah, it has been a year since I
first reached out to you tohave you on the podcast yeah and
, uh, we actually are close,we're neighbors, but basically
you live, uh, in the apartmentsclose to where I live and, uh, I
want, I'm so excited abouttalking about what you've done
(00:45):
there because, I mean, I got tovisit it.
I got to visit your live at theAsher for the first time this
last week.
It was phenomenal, that wasbeautiful.
But before we get into that, Iwant to just kind of hear a
little bit about your story.
Did you grow up here in Fremont?
Where are you from?
What brought you here?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, thank you.
First of all, thank you so muchfor having me.
I was just processing with mybuddy, sal, on the way here,
like just how we started thisconversation last year, so I'm
glad we finally made it happen.
I grew up here, brother.
Ultimately I was born on theother side of the bay, but
during the 80s, you know, therewas a lot of violence gang
(01:29):
violence that was happeningbetween, specifically, tongans
and Samoans and Tongans andMexicans, when blood and crips
were really prevalent.
And so, even though my dad andhis siblings all immigrated to
the country for higher educationand more opportunities, a lot
of my uncles were actuallygetting locked up.
(01:50):
It didn't matter if you were agood student or if you were not
the strongest student.
There's a quote like if youmess with one coconut, you know.
It didn't matter, you know whowas at fault.
Whenever there was a fight inhigh school, everyone would jump
(02:11):
in, typically how you would asa tribe.
So because of that, we saw alot of our peoples getting
incarcerated, and so my father'ssimple solution was to create a
little bit of separation.
My father's simple solution wasto create a little bit of
separation.
So, even though he was a pastorin San Carlos, um, and most of
our community was in Redwoodcity and in East Palo Alto, um,
(02:31):
he was like man if I can justgive us a little bit of
separation during the week, um,and allow my kids to be able to,
um, uh, go to school with withjust that pressure of needing to
like, be with the good, bad andugly.
During that specific time, hemoved us across the Dunbar
Bridge to Newark.
So in 89, I remember actuallythat was during the Giants and
(02:54):
the A's World Series.
That game was happening aswe're moving out.
So we moved over here.
You know, growing up in RiverCity it was super diverse.
There were, you know, latinos,there were Polynesians, black,
white, that was kind of thenormal.
And then when we moved overhere to Newark, we were the only
(03:16):
Tongan family, wow.
So I grew up right here inNewark.
Wow, newark and Fremont, wedidn't really know the
difference.
But ultimately, yeah, this waswhere my family grew up.
My mom and dad is still inNewark.
My brother, him and his.
He married his high schoolsweetheart and they're, you know
, living in Newark as well too.
He's a pastor in Newark and hiswife works for the city.
(03:39):
So this is, yeah, this is homefor us.
That's cool man.
So this is, yeah, this is homefor us.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That's cool man.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, I mean I moved around to LA, I moved to Bend
Oregon but about 10 years ago Imoved back to the Bay and this
is home.
You know, one of the thingsthat I have enjoyed about you
and both just things I'veresearched as well as just
seeing you live you're just anincredible musician.
You're just an incrediblemusician and you have a like, a
(04:12):
true vision for like creativemusic and I love so.
At least one band that I knowthat you're a part of is we are
Minor Islands, right.
Minor Islands yeah, or it's justcalled Minor Islands, yeah, so
tell me a little bit about thatand like what that means for you
.
Like, what is, what does itmean to have?
Uh, is that number one?
Tell me a little bit about yourmusic story that brought you to
where you are, and then tell mea little bit about minor
(04:33):
islands, what you have going onwith that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I appreciate that whenever someone asks me that
question, I can't um not mentionlike my father prayed for me
when I was in my mother's wombGod, would you provide a son
that could make his living offof music?
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I try not to take it too lightly, but I'm an answer
to my father's prayer and that'sthe beginning of my journey.
My father's a psalmist.
He's a well-knownsinger-songwriter in the kingdom
of Tonga.
I'll say he's a pioneer as welltoo.
Before my father, it was stillpretty taboo to have electric
(05:12):
instruments in any sacred spacein Tonga.
But in 83, he took his Americanband and performed for the king
and the king in a way, gavethumbs up for electric
instruments and the king in away, gave thumbs up for electric
instruments.
(05:33):
You know, that was really likeanything that wasn't vocal or
wasn't local was deemed worldlyor secular right.
So, first and foremost, I grewup in the church.
My dad has always been.
You know, music was neversomething reserved for the
experts.
It was a way that everyone sang.
There wasn't the good singers,bad singers.
Everybody sang, all the women.
It was understood that theysang alto, soprano, and then the
men sang tenor and bass.
(05:54):
So I just grew up just with.
This experience of singing ishow we connect with God and it's
how we connect with each other,and so that was my upbringing.
And you know, my dad exposed usto a lot of music growing up.
We were at church Wednesdays,fridays, saturdays, sunday
(06:16):
morning, Sunday night, and itwas just a whole lot of music, a
whole lot of singing.
So, first and foremost, Iattribute so much of my love for
music to my upbringing.
But then, yeah, being born andraised in the Bay Area, I grew
up listening to Bob Marley, toPac.
I listened to a lot of gospelmusic, the Wyandons, shirley
Caesar, and at the same time,you know, I feel like the Bay
(06:41):
Area is such an eclectic fusionof genres.
It really just was anopportunity to kind of whatever
my friends were listening to waskind of what I learned to love.
It was no longer good or badmusic, it was always like, oh,
every genre is actually thesoundtrack of a friend of mine,
that's cool.
(07:02):
I started at a really young agelike rethinking how I think
about music in that way, or art,um, but ultimately, um, you
know, played uh, startedsongwriting uh in my teens, um,
and then I would say minorislands.
That concept, um, came from, um, from from from a mystic Thomas
Merton, that no one one is anisland, but a part of the whole.
(07:24):
That really spoke to me, Ithink.
You know, as I've been tryingto reclaim my culture, and the
things that I love most aboutbeing Tongan is one of the
things is this very, verynatural collectivism.
You know, to be Tongan is to betogether, and so that's
(07:44):
something.
Despite growing up in a veryindividualistic society, I saw
the way that my culture embodiedthat very, very naturally and
consistently in my upbringing.
So I was so fascinated withthat quote that I, we just you
know something about musicthat's growing up in church
that's very, very happy and hasmajor chords.
(08:05):
And then I think that I startedto ask you know, why aren't
there more songs?
Why don't we sing more songsabout when things don't work out
?
You know songs that have minorchords, so being able to weave
even just that word minor, notjust because Tonga consists of,
you know a bunch of minorislands.
Not just Tonga consists of abunch of minor islands.
Not just Tonga consists of theisland that I'm from consists of
(08:28):
three major islands, but whatreally makes Tonga is this
collection of minor islands.
I just thought that was sofascinating.
So that's really where the namecomes from.
But the band that you sawSaturday is a collective of
friends from differentcommunities, a lot of folks who
(08:51):
are connected to faithcommunities some not but really
started to be more intentionalabout creating more collectives
that are diverse not just inethnicity but also spiritually
as well too, Really seeing thevalue of folk who don't believe
exactly what I believe andreally seeing the benefit of
that and just deepening mycompassion for people who are
(09:13):
different.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
One of the things that I would say that's
beautiful, by the way One of thethings that I took away from my
experience of watching andlistening to you guys was just
the emphasis on our humanity.
You know, we find I think we asa culture and a society, we
find so many things to divideover, you know, whether it's
(09:37):
politics or religion, evenwhether it's race, you know
ethnicity, culture, whatever wejust find ways to, and I think
in some sense, there is anunderlying, maybe even a healthy
effort to take pride in youridentity in some ways, and even,
(10:00):
as you're talking about this,the Tongan identity that you
have, identity that you have,that matters a lot to you.
But I love the fact that youknow, even in that quote of the
mystic that you just quoted,that say that again for me.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Well, the quote is no man, but I've kind of just like
included everyone.
So no one is an island, but apart of the whole.
Right, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I love that.
I love that you've got theseindividual things, but they
don't matter if they're notgrouped in with everything.
So, instead of these thingsthat we use to separate us and
divide ourselves, you know,between each other, among each
(10:43):
other, instead of doing that,find a way to be able to help
bring beauty to the wholeelement.
And I just love how you openedup your concert I guess, gig,
whatever you want to call it.
You know how you opened it upand just said you know, let's
celebrate, you know, ourhumanity.
How you opened it up and justsaid let's celebrate our
(11:04):
humanity, discovering who we areand the things that really
bring us together and that weconnect over.
I love that and I think that,especially, I didn't know this
part of it until we just startedthis conversation.
But even coming from abackground of gangs, gang
violence, I mean, those are the.
(11:24):
That's the ultimate.
I don't want to say ultimate,but that is a very, very strong
expression of division betweenpeople and based on particular
characteristics.
Coming from that kind of abackground and to be able to in
some sense give your life, tocreate music, to create space
(11:45):
for people to come together, andno matter who you are, I think
it's just an amazing thing.
It's really beautiful, thankyou.
It's one of the things I wantedto do with the podcast as well.
Fremont is now diverse, unlikewhen you moved here.
Fremont is now diverse, unlikewhen you moved here.
Fremont is very diverse and wedo get comfortable with our
little sub communities, whichcan be very healthy as well, you
(12:08):
know, having close friends andpeople that you rely on, people
that you trust, and you can goto Um, but I think oftentimes
even out of fear or laziness orwhatever, we decide, you know,
not to um gather and not toreach out to people that you
know we might be unfamiliar with.
That's right.
And I think the podcast iswhere I'd like to have
conversations with people, tokind of like create the space to
(12:32):
have conversations that otherpeople might be afraid to have
with people they don't know ordon't trust.
You know that's right so.
I think that at the heart ofwhat you're doing is is very
much what you know I hope to dowith the podcast as well well.
I want to talk about your liveat the Asher.
This is the third year you'vebeen doing that is right, so
(12:54):
it's interesting.
The Asher I moved into my housedown the street from the Asher
before the Asher Apartmentsactually existed, and so I
remember it being an open fieldand nothing there, and then
seeing these big buildings go upand one by one, the lights
coming on in the windows andpeople moving in and all this
(13:14):
stuff.
And it wasn't actually evenuntil I went to your gig the
other night that I got to seewhat it looks like inside the
space, because I've alwayswalked around outside but not
inside.
But what you've done there overthe last three years to create
that environment of music andpeople coming together is just
(13:35):
phenomenal.
I think there's so many goodthings to say about it.
Bringing people together, likepeople are coming together in
some sense into that communitybecause they need a place to
live Not necessarily anythingthat specifically draws them
together and I think so manytimes in an environment like
(14:02):
that you can have people justkind of stay to themselves.
They live in their apartmentand they don't go anywhere, they
don't reach out, but whatyou've done is you've created a
space for so many, there were somany different people from
different backgrounds there onSaturday night and it just came
together and it was a beautifulspace.
I don't think that there's amore beautiful space in fremont
(14:25):
to be able to do something likethat, let alone probably within
25 miles of here, like I don'tknow of any other place where
you could have a rooftop concertaround a pool with, uh, taco
vendors, another, you know, abar, coffee.
All of that stuff was justphenomenal, and this is
something that you put togetherand you've been doing for three
(14:45):
years now.
That's just beautiful.
What, what?
What gave you that idea?
What is it about?
Um, yeah, where did that startlike?
Why did?
Why did what was the at theorigin of of that idea?
That has come together yeah,thank you.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Um, you know, three years ago I married my best
friend, elmira, and I was livingin Menlo Park.
She was living in Campbell andwe wanted to move somewhere
closer to home, you know, nearthe neighborhood.
(15:20):
And then you know, instagram,every now and then, you know is
listening to your conversationsand you know, somehow the Asher
ad kept on popping up.
So I was like, babe, let's gocheck out this spot that looks
amazing on Instagram.
So we just came for a tour andthe first thing they did was
(15:42):
they brought us up to therooftop.
As soon as we saw the rooftop,immediately, um, I saw it.
Yeah, I saw it.
And, um, and I didn't just, youknow, it wasn't just like, oh,
this is a dream.
Um, it felt very, very like I S, I see this and I know how to
do this and I know who I'm goingto do this with.
(16:04):
We just got married a fewmonths before that, and I'll say
our wedding was a reallycreative project as well, too.
She's a full-time artist.
As a photographer, I'm afull-time artist and my work has
been simplified to authenticspirituality and creative
community.
(16:24):
So everything that I do is, ifit doesn't end up being that, it
usually gets taken off my plate.
So when I see beauty and I seea space like that, immediately I
try to really consider thisancient invitation to love God,
(16:44):
love my neighbor as myself.
That's cool and I was like Ithink we can literally do that
here.
And so post-pandemic, you know,or I would say still in the
middle of a pandemic, I noticedthat people were still pretty to
themselves, folks were not evensaying hello, just walking
right past each other, being onan elevator.
So you know, my first fewmonths here, I was just like wow
(17:07):
, for such an amazing andbeautiful space.
You know, it seems like we'restill incredibly isolated, not
just in space, but even like in,when we are sharing it in the
same space.
So you know, I'm not going tosit here and have this grandiose
like um.
It was an idea.
I, we, we, we were reallysurprised.
(17:28):
Once a week, every now and then, they would have food trucks
and we would get an email fromthe Asher saying, hey, here's a,
some food vouchers, dinner's,on us.
And that happened consistentlyenough to where I went to the
Asher and say, hey, youramenities are amazing, the
hospitality is awesome.
I noticed that you're providing,you know, food for residents.
But if you're looking to buildcommunity amongst the neighbors,
(17:50):
amongst residents, I might beable to help out.
So that's how that startedthree years ago and they gave me
a small budget.
It's like how much you need?
I'm like, well, I don't reallyknow, I've never done this
before here.
It's like how much you need.
They're like, well, I don'treally know, I've never done
this before here.
So it's kind of just been ajourney.
And after the second year theyreally wanted to invest.
They really saw what I wasdoing.
And that's how it started.
(18:10):
I mean, the first time we didit and there was no food, I hit
up my brother and I was like yogo to Costco, can you pick up
some drinks, pick up some pizzafrom over there.
So you know we have learned alot.
I mean this last one that wedid was I mean we've been able
to along the way but you know somuch more than just serving
(18:40):
residents and the neighborhood.
It's been a great place forartists, you know, on the come
up to be able to practice theircraft as well.
To songwriters who are sittingon songs that I'm like hey,
workshop your songs with some ofthese monsters of musicians, my
, my, my friends Marie and David, who's my MD and also vocal
(19:02):
director as well too they've gotsongs for days.
But the ability to exercisesome of our original material
with some of these musicians whoare like touring the world,
yeah, some.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
of the best musicians in the.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Bay.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Area Like and I'm not .
Speaker 3 (19:17):
I'm not exaggerating, yeah, that's been really
awesome and just being able toutilize, you know, the amenity
spaces for our rehearsals.
It's just been such a greatplace to bring creatives
together, friends who come fromall different walks of life you
know to practice somebody's song.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Something about that has been incredibly unifying and
really life-giving.
If you just ask a lot of themusicians, it's more than music.
There's a community that's beenforming at the Asher, and the
residence has given us anopportunity to be able to really
practice our ability to notjust perform but to connect and
engage.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Yeah, I love the fact that you platformed uh, other
people who are trying to, to, tomake a go at it like, um, I
mean, this could be anopportunity for you just to kind
of, like you know, get yourname out there.
But uh, I did not feel that atall.
I felt like you were the thingthat you were.
Number one, above, above all,was a fan for the people you
(20:17):
brought in there to show whothey are and what they have to
bring to the table, and I thinkit's just wonderful.
But even when you got up thereto do your part of the show the
Minor Islands again, it was justbringing people together and it
wasn't.
But I, I and I, I did not, Iwas not able to be in there when
(20:41):
you introduced the guy that wasdoing the tacos, but he came
out there and sang, uh, sang, asong that was super cool um
but again, just bringing himinto the place and letting him
sing and and people enjoyingthat together, I think it's just
, I think it's wonderful, youknow it's interesting.
Uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'mgonna go a little dark, little
negative for a moment, justbecause I think it's.
(21:02):
I Want to emphasize something,but I'm not gonna say who it was
.
But someone recently said thatthey hate the Asher apartments
and they, they were just like Ihate you know he's like, I hate
him and and I think the reason Idon't I didn't actually get
into that conversation, but Ithe reason he said that, I think
is because that space and we'veinterviewed the people who used
(21:25):
to own that ground used to bean apricot orchard and it used
to have produce and fields andit was a place where farms, they
made a living, it was, it was,it was what it used to be.
And there are, you know,there's a whole, you know whole
other generation of stories outthere for that space, and so
(21:47):
when you have something likethat that is so grounding,
something that is so human,that's replaced by a big cement
building and concrete and ironand even rooms that separate
people as opposed to bringingthings together, I mean we want
to.
You know, for again, the spiritof, uh, our podcast and so many
(22:10):
that I've heard, is that wewant to bring people together,
and it seems like a place likethe Asher is actually breaking
down and crushing what used tobe there, and I think that what
you're doing is, in some ways,bringing redemption to what has
happened there, and I think thatthat's really critical, because
(22:30):
we can do things that help putmoney in people's pockets to
help people get what they want,to be able to build big
buildings and house a ton ofpeople and pile them up and
stuff like that, but that's notbuilding community and that's
not.
That's not really doing what'sgoing to be best for our
community.
And I think what you're doing isyou're recognizing, in the
space that you live, you know, Iwant to bring this back
(22:53):
together.
So I just want to say that I,you know, without you know,
trying to pat you on the backtoo much, and I, I want, I want
to say I think what you're doingthere is really counteracting
whatever it, whatever might beat the heart of, of, of, of, of
the problem that's created witha, with a space like that, and
(23:15):
so I think that's really great.
What do you hope to see comeout of this?
Like I mean, you've done thisfor three years now.
It seems it started off withyou know Costco pizzas and
drinks and you know the band.
Like I mean, as things go inthe future, what have you
(23:37):
dreamed of?
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, you know, right now it's a really crucial time
because, um, currently the asheris under new management and so,
um, I found out last tuesdaythat they actually wanted to
stop live at no way, yeah thatwas.
That was last Tuesday and so itwas on my birthday and then I
(24:01):
was actually with students fromLA.
I came back and had to getready for live at the Asher and
then I had to work and then mywife had surgery on Monday so I
wasn't able to talk tomanagement until a couple of
days ago and just really wantedto pull up open-handed Because
(24:22):
it's new management.
They haven't seen what we'vedone.
So I've got a little bit ofwork ahead of me to really be
able to collect the amazingphotography and even highlight
reels and film that we'vecreated over the last three
years to really be able topresent to the Asher this thing.
(24:43):
That's so much more than youknow resident, you know
retainment or whatever that wordis whatever the words?
yeah yeah, but it's it's.
It's the Asher creating a spacefor the whole community to come
together on this small littlerooftop.
I would challenge any you knowto find a more beautiful rooftop
(25:06):
in the Bay Area.
Every person that's ever comeup again just like I felt when I
first saw it was like man.
I had no idea that this isFremont.
So I think, on multiple levels,my hope is pretty simple.
I really do hope it's somethingthat we can continue to do and
do.
Well, I think the older I get,the smaller I want to go, rather
(25:29):
than trying to make this happen.
I mean, I've already beeninvited to help other properties
be able to curate these kind ofexperiences for residents and
I'm open to that.
But ultimately, I think my hopeis to really invest in Fremont.
I can't think of a morebeautiful place to be able to
(25:49):
bring people together.
Just something about likebringing people to your home,
not just at a venue.
So, for me, I would love theability to continue working with
the Asher and for that to be aspace where I can continue to
develop meaningful relationshipswith my neighbors.
(26:09):
I can continue to create spacefor creatives all over the Bay
Area to be able to practiceutilizing their voice.
I can continue to tell goodstories and continue to figure
out, um, yeah, creative ways tobring people together.
I think that's that's really myhope.
It's not to expand, or, youknow, like I, I I really do feel
(26:32):
like what we have going um isreally unique, Um, so I, yeah,
that's my hope is that I cancontinue to partner with the
Asher and if, for some reason,last Saturday was our last
concert or we're not able tocontinue moving forward, I just
want to be open, especiallysince we've got a lot of amazing
content because we filmed andwe recorded every concert, so
(26:57):
that's a part of my backgroundas well, too.
As a producer and a recordingengineer, I released a live
album a few years ago that gaveme all the tools I need to be
able to offer that up tomusicians as well, too.
So all the musicians part ofthe payoff is they leave with
professional photos, 4k video oftheir set and then, most
(27:21):
importantly, the stems, therecordings, professional
recordings of their set.
So the ability for them to beable to create content of a live
experience that they have atthe Asher has been, yeah,
something we're really excitedto be able to roll out.
That's cool this next fall.
So a lot of my focus will be onthat, but my hope is that we'll
(27:41):
continue to be a place inFremont that people look forward
to checking out.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
I think one of the things that I hear most from
people around both around thatpeople live in Fremont as well
as people live outside ofFremont is that Fremont has
nothing, there's nothing to do,there's no place to go.
But I can tell you that, youknow, if this continues, this is
a place to go.
This is something to payattention to and something to do
, because you know you'rebringing something very unique
(28:08):
and something that's needed.
Honestly, I think it goes aboveand beyond what you're going to
find in a lot of other places,and I love the fact that your
desire is to go smaller ratherthan big, because people just
they need that, they need tofeel not, I mean, I guess
there's a sense in transcendencethat transcend, you know, you
kind of feeling small, you know,does something for you too, but
there's something where youwant to feel a part of something
(28:29):
as well you know, so I thinkthat's cool.
What do you do?
What do you do when you're notdoing live at the asher?
I know you said you're amusician, you're a full-time
artist and stuff.
What kind of stuff are you umdoing and creating, uh, day in
and day out?
Speaker 3 (28:43):
I mean, I'm a pretty simple dude.
This is, this is my favoritething I love.
I love good food.
I love, I love.
I love hanging out, meeting,meeting new people, um, but yeah
, I mean my, my, my wife and I,you know, we love spending time
with people.
This morning I got to hang outwith an amazing friend who is a
(29:07):
phenomenal artist as well too.
So, yeah, I think you know thework I do.
It reminds me of the quote thatwhen you love what you do, you
never have a work day in yourlife.
You know.
So ultimately, yeah, I'm apeople person.
I'm a strong, strong extrovert,and so you know I really do
appreciate being able to spendquality time with my loved ones.
(29:31):
I'm an uncle and proud of it,so a lot of my time when I'm
free and able is checking out my, my nieces and nephews sporting
events.
Um, but other than that, yeah,I I really love because I'm with
people a lot.
Yeah, um, I really cherish justjust just quiet days, quiet
nights, uh, with my wife ellieat home, um, you know, watching,
(29:53):
watching the show.
So we're pretty simple in thatway that's cool.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
That's cool.
I love it, man well.
I appreciate you taking sometime to chat with me a bit.
I'm sorry it's taking so longfor us to get to this point, but
we're here now.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Thank you for the invite.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah, yeah and I you know, I hope that, whatever
happens, whether it's at theAsher, I do hope that what
you're doing at the Ashercontinues.
I think it's critical to ourcommunity.
You're doing at the ashercontinues, I think it's.
I think it's critical to ourcommunity, um, but I hope that,
whatever happens, wherever itgoes from there, that you just
continue to do what you're doing, because it's what you're doing
is what our community needs and, um, and I think we need to, I
(30:29):
think more people um need toneed to own that and uh, and to
embrace it.
So that's great thank you so Isay thank you so much for
joining me and look forward tosharing this with our city.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Yeah, thank you so much, Ricky.
Thanks for having me and yeah,awesome, appreciate you yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
This episode was hosted and produced by Ricky B.
I'm Gary Williams, Andrew Kvetis the editor.
Scheduling and pre-interviewsby Sarah S.
Be sure to subscribe whereverit is that you listen so you
don't miss an episode.
You can find everything we make, the podcast and all of our
social media links atthefremontpodcastcom.
(31:12):
Join us next week on the FremMedia Podcast.
Coming to you straight from Fremont,
california.
This is the Fremont Podcast,dedicated to telling the stories
of the past and present of thepeople and places of the city of
Fremont, one conversation at atime.
Now, here's your host, ricky B.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm going to start recording now, just to.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Sounds good.
Check one two.
Testing one two.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
If I, you know, know when I'm adjusting anything,
don't change anything thatyou're doing.
You're good, bro, sweet, I sayyeah, it has been a year since I
first reached out to you tohave you on the podcast yeah and
, uh, we actually are close,we're neighbors, but basically
you live, uh, in the apartmentsclose to where I live and, uh, I
want, I'm so excited abouttalking about what you've done
(00:45):
there because, I mean, I got tovisit it.
I got to visit your live at theAsher for the first time this
last week.
It was phenomenal, that wasbeautiful.
But before we get into that, Iwant to just kind of hear a
little bit about your story.
Did you grow up here in Fremont?
Where are you from?
What brought you here?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, thank you.
First of all, thank you so muchfor having me.
I was just processing with mybuddy, sal, on the way here,
like just how we started thisconversation last year, so I'm
glad we finally made it happen.
I grew up here, brother.
Ultimately I was born on theother side of the bay, but
during the 80s, you know, therewas a lot of violence gang
(01:29):
violence that was happeningbetween, specifically, tongans
and Samoans and Tongans andMexicans, when blood and crips
were really prevalent.
And so, even though my dad andhis siblings all immigrated to
the country for higher educationand more opportunities, a lot
of my uncles were actuallygetting locked up.
(01:50):
It didn't matter if you were agood student or if you were not
the strongest student.
There's a quote like if youmess with one coconut, you know.
It didn't matter, you know whowas at fault.
Whenever there was a fight inhigh school, everyone would jump
(02:11):
in, typically how you would asa tribe.
So because of that, we saw alot of our peoples getting
incarcerated, and so my father'ssimple solution was to create a
little bit of separation.
My father's simple solution wasto create a little bit of
separation.
So, even though he was a pastorin San Carlos, um, and most of
our community was in Redwoodcity and in East Palo Alto, um,
(02:31):
he was like man if I can justgive us a little bit of
separation during the week, um,and allow my kids to be able to,
um, uh, go to school with withjust that pressure of needing to
like, be with the good, bad andugly.
During that specific time, hemoved us across the Dunbar
Bridge to Newark.
So in 89, I remember actuallythat was during the Giants and
(02:54):
the A's World Series.
That game was happening aswe're moving out.
So we moved over here.
You know, growing up in RiverCity it was super diverse.
There were, you know, latinos,there were Polynesians, black,
white, that was kind of thenormal.
And then when we moved overhere to Newark, we were the only
(03:16):
Tongan family, wow.
So I grew up right here inNewark.
Wow, newark and Fremont, wedidn't really know the
difference.
But ultimately, yeah, this waswhere my family grew up.
My mom and dad is still inNewark.
My brother, him and his.
He married his high schoolsweetheart and they're, you know
, living in Newark as well too.
He's a pastor in Newark and hiswife works for the city.
(03:39):
So this is, yeah, this is homefor us.
That's cool man.
So this is, yeah, this is homefor us.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That's cool man.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, I mean I moved around to LA, I moved to Bend
Oregon but about 10 years ago Imoved back to the Bay and this
is home.
You know, one of the thingsthat I have enjoyed about you
and both just things I'veresearched as well as just
seeing you live you're just anincredible musician.
You're just an incrediblemusician and you have a like, a
(04:12):
true vision for like creativemusic and I love so.
At least one band that I knowthat you're a part of is we are
Minor Islands, right.
Minor Islands yeah, or it's justcalled Minor Islands, yeah, so
tell me a little bit about thatand like what that means for you
.
Like, what is, what does itmean to have?
Uh, is that number one?
Tell me a little bit about yourmusic story that brought you to
where you are, and then tell mea little bit about minor
(04:33):
islands, what you have going onwith that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I appreciate that whenever someone asks me that
question, I can't um not mentionlike my father prayed for me
when I was in my mother's wombGod, would you provide a son
that could make his living offof music?
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I try not to take it too lightly, but I'm an answer
to my father's prayer and that'sthe beginning of my journey.
My father's a psalmist.
He's a well-knownsinger-songwriter in the kingdom
of Tonga.
I'll say he's a pioneer as welltoo.
Before my father, it was stillpretty taboo to have electric
(05:12):
instruments in any sacred spacein Tonga.
But in 83, he took his Americanband and performed for the king
and the king in a way, gavethumbs up for electric
instruments and the king in away, gave thumbs up for electric
instruments.
(05:33):
You know, that was really likeanything that wasn't vocal or
wasn't local was deemed worldlyor secular right.
So, first and foremost, I grewup in the church.
My dad has always been.
You know, music was neversomething reserved for the
experts.
It was a way that everyone sang.
There wasn't the good singers,bad singers.
Everybody sang, all the women.
It was understood that theysang alto, soprano, and then the
men sang tenor and bass.
(05:54):
So I just grew up just with.
This experience of singing ishow we connect with God and it's
how we connect with each other,and so that was my upbringing.
And you know, my dad exposed usto a lot of music growing up.
We were at church Wednesdays,fridays, saturdays, sunday
(06:16):
morning, Sunday night, and itwas just a whole lot of music, a
whole lot of singing.
So, first and foremost, Iattribute so much of my love for
music to my upbringing.
But then, yeah, being born andraised in the Bay Area, I grew
up listening to Bob Marley, toPac.
I listened to a lot of gospelmusic, the Wyandons, shirley
Caesar, and at the same time,you know, I feel like the Bay
(06:41):
Area is such an eclectic fusionof genres.
It really just was anopportunity to kind of whatever
my friends were listening to waskind of what I learned to love.
It was no longer good or badmusic, it was always like, oh,
every genre is actually thesoundtrack of a friend of mine,
that's cool.
(07:02):
I started at a really young agelike rethinking how I think
about music in that way, or art,um, but ultimately, um, you
know, played uh, startedsongwriting uh in my teens, um,
and then I would say minorislands.
That concept, um, came from, um, from from from a mystic Thomas
Merton, that no one one is anisland, but a part of the whole.
(07:24):
That really spoke to me, Ithink.
You know, as I've been tryingto reclaim my culture, and the
things that I love most aboutbeing Tongan is one of the
things is this very, verynatural collectivism.
You know, to be Tongan is to betogether, and so that's
(07:44):
something.
Despite growing up in a veryindividualistic society, I saw
the way that my culture embodiedthat very, very naturally and
consistently in my upbringing.
So I was so fascinated withthat quote that I, we just you
know something about musicthat's growing up in church
that's very, very happy and hasmajor chords.
(08:05):
And then I think that I startedto ask you know, why aren't
there more songs?
Why don't we sing more songsabout when things don't work out
?
You know songs that have minorchords, so being able to weave
even just that word minor, notjust because Tonga consists of,
you know a bunch of minorislands.
Not just Tonga consists of abunch of minor islands.
Not just Tonga consists of theisland that I'm from consists of
(08:28):
three major islands, but whatreally makes Tonga is this
collection of minor islands.
I just thought that was sofascinating.
So that's really where the namecomes from.
But the band that you sawSaturday is a collective of
friends from differentcommunities, a lot of folks who
(08:51):
are connected to faithcommunities some not but really
started to be more intentionalabout creating more collectives
that are diverse not just inethnicity but also spiritually
as well too, Really seeing thevalue of folk who don't believe
exactly what I believe andreally seeing the benefit of
that and just deepening mycompassion for people who are
(09:13):
different.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
One of the things that I would say that's
beautiful, by the way One of thethings that I took away from my
experience of watching andlistening to you guys was just
the emphasis on our humanity.
You know, we find I think we asa culture and a society, we
find so many things to divideover, you know, whether it's
(09:37):
politics or religion, evenwhether it's race, you know
ethnicity, culture, whatever wejust find ways to, and I think
in some sense, there is anunderlying, maybe even a healthy
effort to take pride in youridentity in some ways, and even,
(10:00):
as you're talking about this,the Tongan identity that you
have, identity that you have,that matters a lot to you.
But I love the fact that youknow, even in that quote of the
mystic that you just quoted,that say that again for me.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Well, the quote is no man, but I've kind of just like
included everyone.
So no one is an island, but apart of the whole.
Right, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I love that.
I love that you've got theseindividual things, but they
don't matter if they're notgrouped in with everything.
So, instead of these thingsthat we use to separate us and
divide ourselves, you know,between each other, among each
(10:43):
other, instead of doing that,find a way to be able to help
bring beauty to the wholeelement.
And I just love how you openedup your concert I guess, gig,
whatever you want to call it.
You know how you opened it upand just said you know, let's
celebrate, you know, ourhumanity.
How you opened it up and justsaid let's celebrate our
(11:04):
humanity, discovering who we areand the things that really
bring us together and that weconnect over.
I love that and I think that,especially, I didn't know this
part of it until we just startedthis conversation.
But even coming from abackground of gangs, gang
violence, I mean, those are the.
(11:24):
That's the ultimate.
I don't want to say ultimate,but that is a very, very strong
expression of division betweenpeople and based on particular
characteristics.
Coming from that kind of abackground and to be able to in
some sense give your life, tocreate music, to create space
(11:45):
for people to come together, andno matter who you are, I think
it's just an amazing thing.
It's really beautiful, thankyou.
It's one of the things I wantedto do with the podcast as well.
Fremont is now diverse, unlikewhen you moved here.
Fremont is now diverse, unlikewhen you moved here.
Fremont is very diverse and wedo get comfortable with our
little sub communities, whichcan be very healthy as well, you
(12:08):
know, having close friends andpeople that you rely on, people
that you trust, and you can goto Um, but I think oftentimes
even out of fear or laziness orwhatever, we decide, you know,
not to um gather and not toreach out to people that you
know we might be unfamiliar with.
That's right.
And I think the podcast iswhere I'd like to have
conversations with people, tokind of like create the space to
(12:32):
have conversations that otherpeople might be afraid to have
with people they don't know ordon't trust.
You know that's right so.
I think that at the heart ofwhat you're doing is is very
much what you know I hope to dowith the podcast as well well.
I want to talk about your liveat the Asher.
This is the third year you'vebeen doing that is right, so
(12:54):
it's interesting.
The Asher I moved into my housedown the street from the Asher
before the Asher Apartmentsactually existed, and so I
remember it being an open fieldand nothing there, and then
seeing these big buildings go upand one by one, the lights
coming on in the windows andpeople moving in and all this
(13:14):
stuff.
And it wasn't actually evenuntil I went to your gig the
other night that I got to seewhat it looks like inside the
space, because I've alwayswalked around outside but not
inside.
But what you've done there overthe last three years to create
that environment of music andpeople coming together is just
(13:35):
phenomenal.
I think there's so many goodthings to say about it.
Bringing people together, likepeople are coming together in
some sense into that communitybecause they need a place to
live Not necessarily anythingthat specifically draws them
together and I think so manytimes in an environment like
(14:02):
that you can have people justkind of stay to themselves.
They live in their apartmentand they don't go anywhere, they
don't reach out, but whatyou've done is you've created a
space for so many, there were somany different people from
different backgrounds there onSaturday night and it just came
together and it was a beautifulspace.
I don't think that there's amore beautiful space in fremont
(14:25):
to be able to do something likethat, let alone probably within
25 miles of here, like I don'tknow of any other place where
you could have a rooftop concertaround a pool with, uh, taco
vendors, another, you know, abar, coffee.
All of that stuff was justphenomenal, and this is
something that you put togetherand you've been doing for three
(14:45):
years now.
That's just beautiful.
What, what?
What gave you that idea?
What is it about?
Um, yeah, where did that startlike?
Why did?
Why did what was the at theorigin of of that idea?
That has come together yeah,thank you.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Um, you know, three years ago I married my best
friend, elmira, and I was livingin Menlo Park.
She was living in Campbell andwe wanted to move somewhere
closer to home, you know, nearthe neighborhood.
(15:20):
And then you know, instagram,every now and then, you know is
listening to your conversationsand you know, somehow the Asher
ad kept on popping up.
So I was like, babe, let's gocheck out this spot that looks
amazing on Instagram.
So we just came for a tour andthe first thing they did was
(15:42):
they brought us up to therooftop.
As soon as we saw the rooftop,immediately, um, I saw it.
Yeah, I saw it.
And, um, and I didn't just, youknow, it wasn't just like, oh,
this is a dream.
Um, it felt very, very like I S, I see this and I know how to
do this and I know who I'm goingto do this with.
(16:04):
We just got married a fewmonths before that, and I'll say
our wedding was a reallycreative project as well, too.
She's a full-time artist.
As a photographer, I'm afull-time artist and my work has
been simplified to authenticspirituality and creative
community.
(16:24):
So everything that I do is, ifit doesn't end up being that, it
usually gets taken off my plate.
So when I see beauty and I seea space like that, immediately I
try to really consider thisancient invitation to love God,
(16:44):
love my neighbor as myself.
That's cool and I was like Ithink we can literally do that
here.
And so post-pandemic, you know,or I would say still in the
middle of a pandemic, I noticedthat people were still pretty to
themselves, folks were not evensaying hello, just walking
right past each other, being onan elevator.
So you know, my first fewmonths here, I was just like wow
(17:07):
, for such an amazing andbeautiful space.
You know, it seems like we'restill incredibly isolated, not
just in space, but even like in,when we are sharing it in the
same space.
So you know, I'm not going tosit here and have this grandiose
like um.
It was an idea.
I, we, we, we were reallysurprised.
(17:28):
Once a week, every now and then, they would have food trucks
and we would get an email fromthe Asher saying, hey, here's a,
some food vouchers, dinner's,on us.
And that happened consistentlyenough to where I went to the
Asher and say, hey, youramenities are amazing, the
hospitality is awesome.
I noticed that you're providing,you know, food for residents.
But if you're looking to buildcommunity amongst the neighbors,
(17:50):
amongst residents, I might beable to help out.
So that's how that startedthree years ago and they gave me
a small budget.
It's like how much you need?
I'm like, well, I don't reallyknow, I've never done this
before here.
It's like how much you need.
They're like, well, I don'treally know, I've never done
this before here.
So it's kind of just been ajourney.
And after the second year theyreally wanted to invest.
They really saw what I wasdoing.
And that's how it started.
(18:10):
I mean, the first time we didit and there was no food, I hit
up my brother and I was like yogo to Costco, can you pick up
some drinks, pick up some pizzafrom over there.
So you know we have learned alot.
I mean this last one that wedid was I mean we've been able
to along the way but you know somuch more than just serving
(18:40):
residents and the neighborhood.
It's been a great place forartists, you know, on the come
up to be able to practice theircraft as well.
To songwriters who are sittingon songs that I'm like hey,
workshop your songs with some ofthese monsters of musicians, my
, my, my friends Marie and David, who's my MD and also vocal
(19:02):
director as well too they've gotsongs for days.
But the ability to exercisesome of our original material
with some of these musicians whoare like touring the world,
yeah, some.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
of the best musicians in the.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Bay.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Area Like and I'm not .
Speaker 3 (19:17):
I'm not exaggerating, yeah, that's been really
awesome and just being able toutilize, you know, the amenity
spaces for our rehearsals.
It's just been such a greatplace to bring creatives
together, friends who come fromall different walks of life you
know to practice somebody's song.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Something about that has been incredibly unifying and
really life-giving.
If you just ask a lot of themusicians, it's more than music.
There's a community that's beenforming at the Asher, and the
residence has given us anopportunity to be able to really
practice our ability to notjust perform but to connect and
engage.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Yeah, I love the fact that you platformed uh, other
people who are trying to, to, tomake a go at it like, um, I
mean, this could be anopportunity for you just to kind
of, like you know, get yourname out there.
But uh, I did not feel that atall.
I felt like you were the thingthat you were.
Number one, above, above all,was a fan for the people you
(20:17):
brought in there to show whothey are and what they have to
bring to the table, and I thinkit's just wonderful.
But even when you got up thereto do your part of the show the
Minor Islands again, it was justbringing people together and it
wasn't.
But I, I and I, I did not, Iwas not able to be in there when
(20:41):
you introduced the guy that wasdoing the tacos, but he came
out there and sang, uh, sang, asong that was super cool um
but again, just bringing himinto the place and letting him
sing and and people enjoyingthat together, I think it's just
, I think it's wonderful, youknow it's interesting.
Uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'mgonna go a little dark, little
negative for a moment, justbecause I think it's.
(21:02):
I Want to emphasize something,but I'm not gonna say who it was
.
But someone recently said thatthey hate the Asher apartments
and they, they were just like Ihate you know he's like, I hate
him and and I think the reason Idon't I didn't actually get
into that conversation, but Ithe reason he said that, I think
is because that space and we'veinterviewed the people who used
(21:25):
to own that ground used to bean apricot orchard and it used
to have produce and fields andit was a place where farms, they
made a living, it was, it was,it was what it used to be.
And there are, you know,there's a whole, you know whole
other generation of stories outthere for that space, and so
(21:47):
when you have something likethat that is so grounding,
something that is so human,that's replaced by a big cement
building and concrete and ironand even rooms that separate
people as opposed to bringingthings together, I mean we want
to.
You know, for again, the spiritof, uh, our podcast and so many
(22:10):
that I've heard, is that wewant to bring people together,
and it seems like a place likethe Asher is actually breaking
down and crushing what used tobe there, and I think that what
you're doing is, in some ways,bringing redemption to what has
happened there, and I think thatthat's really critical, because
(22:30):
we can do things that help putmoney in people's pockets to
help people get what they want,to be able to build big
buildings and house a ton ofpeople and pile them up and
stuff like that, but that's notbuilding community and that's
not.
That's not really doing what'sgoing to be best for our
community.
And I think what you're doing isyou're recognizing, in the
space that you live, you know, Iwant to bring this back
(22:53):
together.
So I just want to say that I,you know, without you know,
trying to pat you on the backtoo much, and I, I want, I want
to say I think what you're doingthere is really counteracting
whatever it, whatever might beat the heart of, of, of, of, of
the problem that's created witha, with a space like that, and
(23:15):
so I think that's really great.
What do you hope to see comeout of this?
Like I mean, you've done thisfor three years now.
It seems it started off withyou know Costco pizzas and
drinks and you know the band.
Like I mean, as things go inthe future, what have you
(23:37):
dreamed of?
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, you know, right now it's a really crucial time
because, um, currently the asheris under new management and so,
um, I found out last tuesdaythat they actually wanted to
stop live at no way, yeah thatwas.
That was last Tuesday and so itwas on my birthday and then I
(24:01):
was actually with students fromLA.
I came back and had to getready for live at the Asher and
then I had to work and then mywife had surgery on Monday so I
wasn't able to talk tomanagement until a couple of
days ago and just really wantedto pull up open-handed Because
(24:22):
it's new management.
They haven't seen what we'vedone.
So I've got a little bit ofwork ahead of me to really be
able to collect the amazingphotography and even highlight
reels and film that we'vecreated over the last three
years to really be able topresent to the Asher this thing.
(24:43):
That's so much more than youknow resident, you know
retainment or whatever that wordis whatever the words?
yeah yeah, but it's it's.
It's the Asher creating a spacefor the whole community to come
together on this small littlerooftop.
I would challenge any you knowto find a more beautiful rooftop
(25:06):
in the Bay Area.
Every person that's ever comeup again just like I felt when I
first saw it was like man.
I had no idea that this isFremont.
So I think, on multiple levels,my hope is pretty simple.
I really do hope it's somethingthat we can continue to do and
do.
Well, I think the older I get,the smaller I want to go, rather
(25:29):
than trying to make this happen.
I mean, I've already beeninvited to help other properties
be able to curate these kind ofexperiences for residents and
I'm open to that.
But ultimately, I think my hopeis to really invest in Fremont.
I can't think of a morebeautiful place to be able to
(25:49):
bring people together.
Just something about likebringing people to your home,
not just at a venue.
So, for me, I would love theability to continue working with
the Asher and for that to be aspace where I can continue to
develop meaningful relationshipswith my neighbors.
(26:09):
I can continue to create spacefor creatives all over the Bay
Area to be able to practiceutilizing their voice.
I can continue to tell goodstories and continue to figure
out, um, yeah, creative ways tobring people together.
I think that's that's really myhope.
It's not to expand, or, youknow, like I, I I really do feel
(26:32):
like what we have going um isreally unique, Um, so I, yeah,
that's my hope is that I cancontinue to partner with the
Asher and if, for some reason,last Saturday was our last
concert or we're not able tocontinue moving forward, I just
want to be open, especiallysince we've got a lot of amazing
content because we filmed andwe recorded every concert, so
(26:57):
that's a part of my backgroundas well, too.
As a producer and a recordingengineer, I released a live
album a few years ago that gaveme all the tools I need to be
able to offer that up tomusicians as well, too.
So all the musicians part ofthe payoff is they leave with
professional photos, 4k video oftheir set and then, most
(27:21):
importantly, the stems, therecordings, professional
recordings of their set.
So the ability for them to beable to create content of a live
experience that they have atthe Asher has been, yeah,
something we're really excitedto be able to roll out.
That's cool this next fall.
So a lot of my focus will be onthat, but my hope is that we'll
(27:41):
continue to be a place inFremont that people look forward
to checking out.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
I think one of the things that I hear most from
people around both around thatpeople live in Fremont as well
as people live outside ofFremont is that Fremont has
nothing, there's nothing to do,there's no place to go.
But I can tell you that, youknow, if this continues, this is
a place to go.
This is something to payattention to and something to do
, because you know you'rebringing something very unique
(28:08):
and something that's needed.
Honestly, I think it goes aboveand beyond what you're going to
find in a lot of other places,and I love the fact that your
desire is to go smaller ratherthan big, because people just
they need that, they need tofeel not, I mean, I guess
there's a sense in transcendencethat transcend, you know, you
kind of feeling small, you know,does something for you too, but
there's something where youwant to feel a part of something
(28:29):
as well you know, so I thinkthat's cool.
What do you do?
What do you do when you're notdoing live at the asher?
I know you said you're amusician, you're a full-time
artist and stuff.
What kind of stuff are you umdoing and creating, uh, day in
and day out?
Speaker 3 (28:43):
I mean, I'm a pretty simple dude.
This is, this is my favoritething I love.
I love good food.
I love, I love.
I love hanging out, meeting,meeting new people, um, but yeah
, I mean my, my, my wife and I,you know, we love spending time
with people.
This morning I got to hang outwith an amazing friend who is a
(29:07):
phenomenal artist as well too.
So, yeah, I think you know thework I do.
It reminds me of the quote thatwhen you love what you do, you
never have a work day in yourlife.
You know.
So ultimately, yeah, I'm apeople person.
I'm a strong, strong extrovert,and so you know I really do
appreciate being able to spendquality time with my loved ones.
(29:31):
I'm an uncle and proud of it,so a lot of my time when I'm
free and able is checking out my, my nieces and nephews sporting
events.
Um, but other than that, yeah,I I really love because I'm with
people a lot.
Yeah, um, I really cherish justjust just quiet days, quiet
nights, uh, with my wife ellieat home, um, you know, watching,
(29:53):
watching the show.
So we're pretty simple in thatway that's cool.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
That's cool.
I love it, man well.
I appreciate you taking sometime to chat with me a bit.
I'm sorry it's taking so longfor us to get to this point, but
we're here now.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Thank you for the invite.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah, yeah and I you know, I hope that, whatever
happens, whether it's at theAsher, I do hope that what
you're doing at the Ashercontinues.
I think it's critical to ourcommunity.
You're doing at the ashercontinues, I think it's.
I think it's critical to ourcommunity, um, but I hope that,
whatever happens, wherever itgoes from there, that you just
continue to do what you're doing, because it's what you're doing
is what our community needs and, um, and I think we need to, I
(30:29):
think more people um need toneed to own that and uh, and to
embrace it.
So that's great thank you so Isay thank you so much for
joining me and look forward tosharing this with our city.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Yeah, thank you so much, Ricky.
Thanks for having me and yeah,awesome, appreciate you yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
This episode was hosted and produced by Ricky B.
I'm Gary Williams, Andrew Kvetis the editor.
Scheduling and pre-interviewsby Sarah S.
Be sure to subscribe whereverit is that you listen so you
don't miss an episode.
You can find everything we make, the podcast and all of our
social media links atthefremontpodcastcom.
(31:12):
Join us next week on the FremMedia Podcast.
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