Jump Around. Crash Hard.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:12

Mindset survivors mindset. When you spot it, you got it. When I see somebody that I go, it's the same vibe. It's the same energy. I know like that's my dude. I was standing there, my man Noak Nolan. I got to give him a shout out. So

I love retired. You know him? Yeah. retired NYPD, now retired LAPD. And we met and I was like, I didn't know all that at first. I was like, wait, you're on the job? I was like, I'm thinking in my head like, okay, what am I what is he? We became fast friends and when he saw you, he lit up. He was like, yo, yo, we got to go say hello to dude. So, I was like, all right, I'll go. You know,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:55

and uh and we were at the gym before that with and off of course and uh eating tips at uh Dana's favorite spa.

Danny Boy O'Connor2:48

I came with four friends. He had me down for two because I was at the one in Dallas before. Made it happen. We were all in there. We had a great night. Good stuff. And you know what? I grew up in New York.

Danny Boy O'Connor2:57

But and it's funny watching your podcast, I thought, you know, there's always been this Cold War because you because of the Yankees and and the Red Sox, but I think if I was picking as a kid, I would have picked the Boston thing. And I don't want to sound like a sellout to like New York heads. I'm a Yankees to the core fan. But the Boston mindset and the way that you guys stick together in that way and it's a bunch of like hard body karate like white boys that are like you know don't take no [ __ ] off of nobody.

And that's the kind of kids I ran with. You know

Danny Boy O'Connor3:44

And that's what I love. Yeah. I see that. It's the same with the New York guys. Well, and again, I grew up in LA for the most part. I was born in New York, raised in LA, went back every summer till about 13. And, you know, we had a crew like that. But again, when I see it as an adult, like all of the heads that I like that are like, you know, the kind of dudes that have made it out

Despite all the odds and are thriving and doing the like the Lord's work, if you will, recovered. you know, solid dudes with the still they'll always have a little lararseny in their heart, but you know, who who doesn't, but choose the right thing even though it's in us to just be like, I'll cut that corner a little bit.

Danny Boy O'Connor4:36

You know what? Good on them. That's what that's what happens when you're authentic and you're as advertised. I don't know any of these guys. Again, I can go through your, you know, the list of just met Johnny Bark. We were in Tulsa cuz the Golden Globes are there. So, we were running around town. Solid dude. Same thing. I felt like, you know, I was like, "Dude, did we grow up together?" You know, even though

Danny Boy O'Connor5:15

I killed someone." Kids are like, "Of course." But to that being shooter, a bank robber. When even when they come to Tulsa, they're like, "What do your friends do?" And I'm like,

Danny Boy O'Connor5:31

I'd rather be with those people because they're authentic than the people who smile in your face and have a dagger waiting for you. So again, God bless all of those cats. And again, as I can already visualize it, somewhere we'll be at the next UFC, whether it's, you know, wherever we wherever somebody when Connor fights or somebody that we all love, we're all going to be in that section holding it down for Dana.

Danny Boy O'Connor5:56

Yeah. That's you know what people have been asking, hey, you know, ask Dana, ask Dana. I'm like, I am not. One, I'm not asking him. Two, I know it's not possible.

Danny Boy O'Connor6:02

I grew up in Hollywood and you you got to choose wisely.

Danny Boy O'Connor6:30

Bro, that is the secret to my success for S. E. Hinton

Is that and we will get into that. But again, very much a recluse. Likes her privacy. Doesn't like to be pushed out into the thing.

Danny Boy O'Connor6:41

And I grew up in Hollywood. I've learned my lessons when I was younger. I used to do that kind of stuff. We all did.

Well, let me show you how cool I am. Hey, you know, Snoop, give us tickets to, you know, like and you're like,

Danny Boy O'Connor7:00

Of course, you got to get burned a few times to learn.

Danny Boy O'Connor7:04

So, I was born in Brooklyn.

Danny Boy O'Connor7:05

Father went to prison when I was 2 months old. We moved in with my grandparents. My mother worked the nights at Chase Manhattan Bank. She remarried to another alcoholic addict. Moved to California at 6. my stepfather who the the man she married they had a kid together my sister he dies at 35 of cerosis which is crazy because yeah this time I got sober at 35 and I thought man when I was younger I seemed kind of young but at 35 I was like I felt like a pup so I grew up in that very much you know background to me

Which was normal% when we left my grandparents house and moved in the projects it was a Trumpowned project it was Fred Trump my grandfather used to do all kinds of projects with Fred so It was and it was the irony was that you know my mother grew up with Silver Spoons and then we ended up in the projects in Staten Island you know us and Puerto Ricans going we were just it was gnarly you know everybody

Danny Boy O'Connor7:57

Of [snorts] course yeah and that we so that's where my mother was from so we went back to Staten Island from Brooklyn

And then um you know keep in mind this is like 7273 74 everybody's coming home from Vietnam heroin is the biggest drug in the world the economy in New York was like

Collapsing in in real time. I mean, it wasn't safe to go into the My mother used to be like, "Do not at all cost go into the laundry rooms cuz people go in there and mug you for change."

My mother got mugged three different times for her purse. I remember coming back bloodied. And my mother used to always carry this knife, this 007 knife. It was like a common knife you could buy on the streets. It was like illegal, but it was like

Danny Boy O'Connor8:52

Same. Or that, you know, the Thanksgiving turkey still can fly

Because somebody's throwing at somebody. Ashtrays used to go chili bowls.

They used to fight like cats and dogs, you know, and it was violent place to grow up. And so, got to LA. My mother was uh very smart and uh computers was the thing. And if you wanted to be in that world, she followed my uncle to California to be in that. But I was a latchy kid. She sent me to private schools when she could to keep me, you know, occupied. I went to military school, went to a few private schools. Not diagnosed, but I'm guaranteeing I'm I'm a little bit dyslexic and definitely have like a learning disability as far as like I I can read and then not retain.

Danny Boy O'Connor9:31

You have to show me how to do something, not you know what I mean? So, thank goodness for uh YouTube videos, you know, cuz I'll buy something, I'll throw the manual out, how the [ __ ] does this work? And then I'll be like, you know, unboxing video. If you show me how to do it, I can do it. So, I'm a fast learner in that way. And it was culture shock, you know, and my mother would send me back every summer. So, thank goodness my stepsister, her family would take us every summer.

They lived in New Jersey. So, I would fly from LA to New Jersey. And then we would drive to Springfield, Missouri, where my aunt was from. They were from a farm. And the only way off the farm back then was to join the army. And that's how they met. So, it was wonderful. You know, I felt like I'd been on tour since um, you know, six or seven years old. They had a station wagon and it was quintessential. We would stay at Holiday Inns when they were doing a beautiful thing.

Danny Boy O'Connor10:17

Howard Johnson's Hojo's and then um,

They were in the coffee business. So they collected these antique coffee grinders. So that meant we went to every flea market. We went to every antique store. So it was a kid. We were collecting like all the Vietnam and World War II stuff. you could buy like carbine rifles that were like the pin taken out and fatigues and patches and comic books and baseball cards. So I still like credit that with giving me my like my wonder lust of like constantly liking to travel and meeting people and so that was great but it was culture shock moving to LA and I always was a different they say say quarter I was like quarter and they start laughing say water and you know we spoke different you know my mother's calling me for supper supper you know my p get her pocketbook and grab a couple bucks out of there like pocket

Danny Boy O'Connor11:03

Yeah everything was a different you know and you as you know Massachusetts guys it's it's even worse The brogue is like

Danny Boy O'Connor11:44

The original boys in the hood.

Danny Boy O'Connor11:47

Now listen, they used to call me Disco Dan and that wasn't uh, you know, something that you'd want to be called in the

Danny Boy O'Connor11:54

Yeah. Of Well, again, my mother took me to the theater to see that when it came out cuz that was her that's where she used to dance in that Brooklyn. And all the kids in the neighborhood, their mothers were like, "How dare she take them to a rated R movie? What's wrong with her?" Blah blah blah. you know. Anyway, so it was culture shock and we moved around in California a lot at first. We finally settled in the San Frernando Valley and then things kind of, you know, balanced out.

I will say my mother had a wonderful taste in music or still does. She I grew up on a Mottown, you know, hence the disco band Dan cuz there was some disco and Mottown and all that. But being in a suburban white neighborhood, speaking like I did, rocking ball cap since I'm a kid. I mean, that used to be a thing like you couldn't go in a restaurant without taking it off. Why are you wearing your baseball cap? I don't think I've ever seen you. And you just took the head off.

Danny Boy O'Connor12:38

We put our heads together, make asses of ourselves. Oh, you got a full

Danny Boy O'Connor12:44

I mean, I still got it. It's just on my back and my ass. No. Um,

Danny Boy O'Connor13:52

You know, at that point in life, you know, 10, 11, 12, we're all the same, right? You know, it's just a little Some people have a little bit more than the next, but it wasn't.

But, uh, I think by the time I The Outsiders came out, which was my favorite movie in ' 83,

Danny Boy O'Connor14:06

And I, uh, saw that movie, and, you know, my mother used to tell me war stories when she would have a little, you know, a couple too many or whatever. And she would tell me stories about my father, and sometimes they'd be really good stories, and sometimes they'd be like, "This is the reason why we were [ __ ] and this is the reason why you're going to be just like him." And but I used to always hear them as this heroic

Gangster, tough guy, golden gloves boxer, all of the things. And so, you know, it was kind of like the mantra, you're going to be just like him, dead or in prison by the time you're 21. And you hear that enough and you're like, all right, game on.

So, I was always by myself having to stick up for myself. Y

And you know, I was like, get tough or or you know, fold. Yeah.

And so, I was a scrawny, skinny little dude, but I could fight and I could dance. And if you can dance and you can move, you I I hit you with angles you don't even know, you know. And people, listen, I'm not trying to tell any war stories, but if you know me from back in, especially the high school days and that I'm known to have lumped somebody up you loved or lumped you up or, you know, because that's all I had. You know, when when all else fails, you know, you can get lumped up.

Danny Boy O'Connor15:31

It's always been my mindset since I can remember. And and you know, ironically, I was good at at it. And I found that I had that dog in me early on. And I would always go a little step further. Again, when I tell people now, I live in Oklahoma for the last 10 years

And I'll meet people and we'll talk and and they'll be like they think I'm speaking like we said like they like what?

Danny Boy O'Connor16:40

It's the same. And in sobriety, it's the same thing. When I sponsor people,

I do what my sponsor told me and I say, "Write a list of all the drugs."

Danny Boy O'Connor16:49

All of them. I say, "Yeah, all of them." All the alcohol. Oh, I drank alcohol. Name it. What do you mean name it? Did you drink Hennessy? Yes. and they give me this list. They don't know why. And I didn't know why when my sponsor had me do it. And it's not a common thing. It's just you do whatever was asked of you. But when my sponsor had me write it out and I, you know, I don't get into it. I wasn't I didn't do drugs until the like the 11th hour of my, you know, it wasn't known as as that.

I drank all the time since I'm a [ __ ] kid. But when I put that list down, he he looked at it goes pretty good. He goes,

"Who do you love the most in this world?" I said, "My grandmother, God rest her soul. She was my one."

Danny Boy O'Connor17:22

Would she think that this is a normal list? psycho. She'd be crying. She wouldn't even go, "Are you kidding me, honey? You did this. You did that. You did this. You smoked that. You ate that. Blah, blah, blah. You did."

She would be mortified.

Danny Boy O'Connor17:33

And I'm like, "Got it, get it." You know, like, "Say no more." And now, but to me, that was like, "We all did that, right?" And no, we didn't all do that.

Apparently, we did not all do that. So, but uh grew up in LA, San Frernando Valley. By the time I got to high school, I sprouted another foot. Basically hung out by the high school. Had no interest in going in. I would always be a good starter, get the, you know, new trapper keeper, all kinds of football pencils, you know, all the just all my my just my game was tight. Yeah. I'd go in for a week or two. I couldn't get anything. I was like, "All right, I'm out." Cuz I'd get frustrated because I didn't get the curriculum at all.

Danny Boy O'Connor18:10

No sports at all.

No sports. And with the exception of hockey, which I did play. My mother hated sports. So everything I loved besides music

Was like and sports was that. And if you don't have that support,

Oh yeah. Yeah. How are you playing sports? And I'll do even one better. I see now I was dating somebody who had kids in sports. It's a full-time job.

Danny Boy O'Connor18:29

Like little league when I was this is like a day a week, you know, in a practice. And play soccer. I play.

Danny Boy O'Connor18:49

It's a different It's a different animal, man. These kids are like for real for real with it. Especially we were watching kung fu on Sundays at the Sunday, you know, on the the third channel, whatever the fourth channel, whatever that would be the kung fu special on Sunday and then we go out in the park and try to beat everybody up or beat each other up. Same thing. If there was nobody else to beat up, we'd beat up each other. Why not? And so that was my thing.

Music.

Danny Boy O'Connor19:15

No, just a fan. I think everybody I'm 57 so I think everybody in my age bracket at some point wanted to be a member of Kiss at least I did Ace Freely was my guy you know I want to be Ace originally I want to be Peter Chris so I had a cousin that played the drums my cousin had he was spoiled

In a good way [ __ ] had a pinball machine they turned the garage into his house into his I mean to his room so that they didn't get bothered he had his own in-n-out he had a pinball machine he had a drum set he had a rack mount stereo I think he could he could smoke in there nobody body would you know when and I was like he's the coolest. He gave my first pair of nunchucks. He gave my first knife you my first BB gun.

I had one of those German Luggers with the little and I used to and bro he was like I I idolized and think Kelly Leak from the Bad News Parish, you know, he was like the coolest bear. And then I'd go home to reality of like I don't like being here. My mother and my sister are against, you know, there was two those two against me. I was like from a different planet. I'm like who's who are these [ __ ] like we just didn't very similar background did not it was like barely palatable and every time there was a problem it was somehow because of me and I'm like I haven't moved that's the point whatever it was that's the reason at least that's how I felt

So I was definitely a lash key kid since I could remember I was out

You know we didn't do a lot of holidays and all that so while kids had to go I'll have to go to we I was in the riding my BMX around just waiting for the other kids just like me who had broken families to be like it it was just us and So, at 13, I see The Outsiders and I'm like, "Holy, this is like this is all I've ever wanted. It's like my story in a different era with different scenarios, but like a broken home."

Danny Boy O'Connor20:55

Us against the world. All I wanted to do is like you, me, being shooter, you know, Johnny, and we'll just It's us. Yeah.

And everybody else can screw, you know what I mean? And we we'll take on all comers. And so that was what kind of my mindset of like and again if you don't have sports and you don't have parental supervision and I'll even do you one better where there's no father in the home I [clears throat] this is statistics but I watch it all the time and they talk about the culture and this that and the third no father in the home chances go through the roof that you're going to go to jail not get a proper education come from a you know an emotional place you know what I mean instead of a logical place cuz men are very pragmatic and you logical and women are very emotional.

My mother was very much emotional and so I mimicked what I saw. Yeah. I could physically probably beat the beat them both up by the time I'm 10, but I would never.

So, I had to learn how to use this.

Danny Boy O'Connor21:51

To fight back.

My superpower is that it's also the worst thing ever because I've hurt more people than I love. They're like, "The things you said."

Danny Boy O'Connor21:59

And I'm like, "What?

I don't even remember what it was. I just don't take it to like whatever." You know, and it's a it's a a hindrance to me. no matter how much I know and work on it or just be conscientious of it, I'll say something like a sword. So again, it's helped me and it's hurt me, but I couldn't wait to get out of there.

You know, when I turned 16, my mother said, "Two more years." I said, "Two more." She said, "Two more years and I don't have to put up with this [ __ ] You'll be 18." I thought, "Motherfucker, what?" I was like, "What?

Okay, happy birthday." Yeah, cool. So, I made sure that I was out of there by 17 and a half.

Danny Boy O'Connor22:34

And where'd you go? I first took a job with a friend in Irvine, California. Lasted about five months. Felt like about five years. It was miserable and there was nothing to do. It was like a token job and he didn't have to show up. And so I bounced out of there and moved in with my cousin who was going through a breakup. The cousin I looked up to, he's very much like me where like he's a good dude, but if you're like, "Hey dude, check this out.

I got to I got a a hustle." Okay, come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. So unfortunately somebody at the time, let me be careful because I don't want to implicate anybody. Me and my cousin were good. But

Somebody introduced me to credit card reprogramming. Yep.

And what that looked like was I could

I would say I know you and you were a good kid and you had three credit cards cuz your mother set you up and you were 18. Blah blah. And I say, "Ken, I'm going to buy your cars for 500 bucks and you're going to call them in stolen." You're like, "No, the hell I ain't." I'm like, "Dude, once you call them in stolen, you're good. You're all right. [ __ ] it. 500 bucks."

So we would buy cards off of people.

Yeah. and we wanted multiples of the same name. Then I could go get an ID made. Girl would come to my house, pull down a little screen, like a projecting screen. I would sit there, take a photo, and a couple hours later, she would come back with the matching ID, and then those cards get reprogrammed. Yep.

Back then, I used to work at a record store. So, I had a way personally to call a number, which would have been the same for the record store. Yeah. And say $11.99 and I would they give me a code and I knew that the card wasn't reported stolen.

Or back then you go to gas stations. Yep.

Put it in and it works. It ain't stolen yet. But you never knew the the limits.

Danny Boy O'Connor24:07

And so I would go in and buy something and if they're like, "Sir, this is declined." Oh, no problem. Give them an Can I see your ID? No problem. And I'd go in. I had hair at the time. I tell you that to tell you I go in doing my best Eddie Haskell if you know running credit cards.

Oh, I'd go in with the polo sweater and hair part to the side and Yes, ma'am. No, man. And I was instead of most people who did that ended up getting popped cuz they were going for pull out stereos and Jordan sneakers and I was the complete opposite man. I was in like Bed Bath and Beyond getting like a thousand linen count, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Adrien Vidadini sheets and the down comforters and these new lamps that had just come out which were those uh the hallogen bulbs.

I mean my house looked like better homes than gardens man. It was great. And uh I would just start I would buy stuff and then you would tell me what you want and I go 50 cents on the dollar.

So you know it but it was unlimited. And at the time my cousin worked at a chain restaurant, a higherend one. I won't name it. Every time at the end of the night he could replenish my I had numbers.

Yeah. to boot like to so I would trade. So it was never ending. So I put a whole crew of people on. We were just just raking it in. So while I might have been cash poor.

Danny Boy O'Connor25:20

You'd look around and you're like holy. I mean my mother used to say you're going to be the best dressed p dude in prison cuz I mean the way at least you know right and Yeah. And I was stealing in high school crazy guest jackets and guest jeans and all the stuff I

Danny Boy O'Connor25:35

Well I can tell you why. Because if anybody listening if they know the San Frernando Valley, Taft High School was like that high school. It was a public school, but it's right at the bottom of Ventura Boulevard and anything south of the boulevard are all your famous people. Everybody when you make money in Hollywood, you'd leave and come to the valley, get a pool, get a yard. All of those kids were like your upwardly mobile kids who parents were on ski trips, leave them the house, the crazy think less than zero.

Yeah. Yeah. But I'm coming from the bottom of that, you know, and we're all like the poor kids and these kids are pulling in at 16 with like Jaguars and Convertible Rabbits Cabriolet with the Wolfberg edition and just all the things, you know, all the glasses, all the jackets. And I'm like,

Danny Boy O'Connor26:19

And finally, I was like, nah. So the mall, the mall was a big deal. Southern California mall culture was everything. And I live right by the Sherman Oaks Galleria. And the closest mall to me was the Dang

Danny Boy O'Connor26:31

Well, it's my favorite one of my favorite movies and so is Valley Girl. Shout out to Deborah Foreman and shout out to uh Mike Deone, my good friend uh uh Bob. No, I grew up that was our thing. But I would go in there, my original nickname was splits because I'd go in the store, grab a bunch of [ __ ] and split and people [clears throat] and I was like the Pied Piper of like I would go like, "Oh, brother, let me I'd just bless the kids cuz I was like, "Fuck it." You know how many I couldn't always get my size.

I just grab a bunch.

Yep. and then barter and give them out. And girls were always, "Can you get me the blue one with I'll be right back." And it was the era of mini trucks as well in California.

And you know, I knew a handful of kids who had them. And they were same thing. They were like, "All right." I'm like, "You wait outside.

I'm going in. I don't care. The buzzer goes off. It doesn't matter to me."

There was one dude that worked the mall at security and he was in a golf cart, bro. And I was like, "Dude, he'd get knocked out if you even

And so I would just come out just laughing my ass off. maybe three of us coming out and just stage diving into the back of the pickup truck. As soon as he heard boom, he would be

And we were gone. License plate covered. That's what we did. Yeah.

And then it kind of fizzled. I was in a gang. There's a lot of punk rock gangs at the time. So, I was doing that as well. Unfortunately, I caught a charge at 17 for attempted murder myself in a shooting. Ended up going to court. The good thing is that my mother had always

When she was telling me those war stories, she taught me a lot of like street science, if you know what I mean. She always, you know, growing up in Brooklyn and she was like, "You didn't see nothing. You didn't say nothing. The cops asked you this, blah, blah, blah." So, when we all got arrested, they pulled us out of our house. They raided, you know, hit my house at 6:00 in the morning, pulled me out. I thought it was only me. You know, it was a month after the shooting.

I get in there and then I'm like, "Holy smokes, there's my boy." I said, "What are you doing here?" He's like, "Yeah, what do you mean? What am I doing here?" Then then another There was four of us. Yeah.

Unfortunately,

Two people told

On themselves,

But they minimize their involvement and try to blame us. Yeah.

And we have nothing to say. So at 6 months into these guys on themselves, it's a get them out of there. And then the dudes that told end up going to prison. And unfortunately, one of them was like another one of my heroes who was still unfortunately since he's been incarcerated at that point, he's homeless and

Just it's like he got trapped in the system and just drugs and this and that. And the other guy who was on that case got out after two years and then murdered somebody. Stabbed him like 27 times and he's in prison for and he happened to be my sister's boyfriend which is also crazy. He's in prison. So again, when I used to tell those stories to girls in Oklahoma, they're like, "What?" Like I'm like, "That's not even the worst of it." That was when I was 17 cuz I'm watching kids at 17 now going same thing you are.

Like could I imagine? I don't have kids but if I did, believe me, bro, I'd wrap them in bubble wrap. You ain't going nowhere, son. It's

Danny Boy O'Connor29:17

Because I know what's out there. But these kids I I I will say this, you know, because of recovery. I speak a lot and because of the museum, I meet a lot of kids. Kids are different today. Good, bad, or indifferent. That's right.

They I know this because I have friends who own liquor stores. That thing is 40ome% down.

Co was great for them, but right now they're all selling or going, "Ah, we're going going to go belly up. These kids don't do what we did."

Danny Boy O'Connor29:58

Bro.

Danny Boy O'Connor30:27

But yeah, this drinking culture is going to go at the party. We buy the kegs and Yeah.

That culture is done. There's no nightclubs for kids. There's no parking lots to hang out, get smashed. Like all the stuff we did is hanging at the park. I'm saying, bro, it's it's not even a thing anymore. And I

Danny Boy O'Connor30:46

So after high school, which I I went to high school, meaning I hung out there.

Danny Boy O'Connor30:51

I had a girlfriend at the time and she was 2 years younger than me. I went to a few different schools and just would just So I dropped out by 9th grade, got pushed forward while everybody was going to college after that or figuring out what they were going to do for a living. I had nothing. I was selling drugs.

I was, you know, little but, you know, I was I was always up to the the street life was for me. Yeah,

I I I saw Scarface pretty soon after I seen The Outsiders and I thought it was a documentary. I thought, "Oh, that looks good. That's something I could probably do." And you know, I say that jokingly, but seriously, like I that was our thing. It was like we're going to hip-hop culture was kind of good for that because again

In that culture the two things you can't be is a snitch or a user. Yeah.

And I didn't use I drank, I fought, I sold.

Danny Boy O'Connor31:34

I was into hip-hop early because I was from New York. I [snorts] was like a jaded LA guy. I was like, I'm a New Yorker. Just like if you moved to wherever you were.

Oh, even my kids were you're always going to be a Boston guy.

Danny Boy O'Connor31:55

No way.

But for me too, I was like always always wearing a Yankees hat, always, you know, I was always different than my fellows, so they always knew. So when hip-hop came, I was like, "This is my calling." cuz I was so still in love with the what if I was still in New York. So I beat Street was my thing. I watched it on VHS and just I broke dance a little, graffitied a little, all the things, you know.

Um and and the dress was, you know, the the rocking the gear. Everybody's like, "You're from New York, right?" Yeah. Yeah.

Danny Boy O'Connor32:26

Of course. I heard you. Yeah, I know. I heard you talking to some another guy. Graffiti. Yeah. Eric Hayes is my boy. He's married to Rosie Perez.

I know. I know him well. Nice guy. Yeah. Yeah. In LA, you know, there was a handful of us and Everlast was one of them. You know, if you're a white boy and you're living in the valley,

The [snorts] three notable white boys that had made it was me, Everlast, and this kid named Brett Maer who was in Crazy Town. You might know him from that group, but he'd been producing in high school. He was producing for Bel Bib Dvau. So, when I said Epic, bring the instrumental.

Danny Boy O'Connor33:04

Because everybody loved that. So again, I was hanging out with a mixed crowd of we were white boys who dressed like cholos and talk like black

Danny Boy O'Connor33:18

Yeah. My first car is a 64 Impala. It was a 63 Impala. My first first car then I got a Jeep and then when I made a little money I bought a 64 Impala from my cousin.

Danny Boy O'Connor33:26

You could eat off of it. It was so clean. So, but we were dressing like all the kids that were going in and out of juvenile hall, which I was at the time. And all of those kids were

White boys who, like I said, it was like suicidal tendencies. That was a gang and a group.

Circle one, the family was a group and a gang. and and FF in my in the other side of the valley was a hardcore white boy gang who wore Dickies, white t-shirts, licked their hair back, flannels and we [clears throat] were those hard white boys that you would I had a thing called Mickey Mouse Club and everybody, you know, it's a funny name, but test it and you people people know like before they know Danny Boy from House of Pain, they know Danny Boy from Mickey Mouse Club, you know, and so it was like I was already known.

Love me or hate me, you knew me cuz we did a lot of

On that side of town. We

Danny Boy O'Connor34:18

It's a great question. Everlast had a record out with Ice-T, a solo record. So,

Danny Boy O'Connor34:25

He was rhying. So, we used to work together at a place called Pace Membership Warehouse, which was kind of like Costco. It was just they paid like $6 an hour, which was like we were both pushing carts. I think he got a job inside. I got a job in there.

Danny Boy O'Connor34:37

This is nice." Well, he told me he was rhyming and then I met him. We went to a graffiti yard. There was like, you know, it was like this was the kind of thing, man. You got to understand hip-hop at that point was kind of like like a secret society. I remember I said, "Yo, there's this yard, my boy's painting over there and he had his dad's truck and we went over there.

We jumped the wall and we looked at the murals. We were like, "Wow." And these kids from LA had came in. There's a crew called KSN and they were just destroying this yard. It's called the KSN yard. We were sitting, I was waiting for another friend to arrive, you know, and he goes, "Yo, I'm going to play you my demo." and he played me his song called Syndication.

And I remember thinking, man, ain't that something? You're going to lie right to my face and play me Eric B, you know, rock him because it was that good. And I was like, there's no way that this this is dude. I was like, yeah, cool. This is rad. I'm thinking he's got some demo from Rakim rhyming. And I'm not, you know, again, to purists out there, I'm not comparing Everlast to Rakim. You know, Rakim is at the tip of the spear, but he had a flow and a thing.

And I was just like everybody I know that could rhyme cuz a lot of us took you know we a lot of us tried to spit a little something something. He was like that level but you know it came and went and we did our thing and then I ran into him. He put his record out. Record didn't do that well. Uh not his fault. you know, again, he was at the mercy of Warner Brothers and then they give a little push and when it didn't,

Danny Boy O'Connor35:56

And then he kind of was, you know, sputtering out, you know, like we all were, you know, do something big and it doesn't work and now you're figuring it out. And I ran into him and I got his number again and I was just like bored one day. I called him

And I could hear his mother in the background. Get the [ __ ] out of my I'm like, oh [ __ ] you got a family like I got. And he was also from New York originally, so he, you know, he's a Long Island guy and I was like, [ __ ] great. This is just like I got it, you know. And he's like, "Yo, bro, I I got to go. My mother's throwing me out. I got to find a ride to Hollywood. I'm going to try to stay at Lethal's house." Because that was his DJ, the DJ from House of Pain and now Limp Bizkit.

And I said, "Well, listen, brother. If you want, I could ride you out there." I said, "You could come stay with me, my cousin. I got a room for you." The whole thing, whatever. He's like, "Okay, yeah. So, come can you come get me now?" I was like, "Yeah." So, at the time, I had a Jeep lifted up, moving system, cell phone in the Jeep. Like, I was moving the crowd. So we grabbed him, grabbed the stuff, took him out to Moorpark, California, which is like out by Simi Valley.

It's past Simi Valley. It's just a little, okay, what are we doing out here? I was like, this is our spot. But my cousin had this big condo and it was filled to the rim with this like stolen like credit card stuff. And he was like, damn. And I was like, bro, I got you. What size are you? He's like, your size. I was like, I'm bringing out, you know, we're trading. He's giving me clothes he wore in videos. I'm telling my cousin, yo, you need this jersey.

Is the devil's jersey to war. Oh, we were feing on his [ __ ] He was feing on ours.

And again, I worked at a record store for two and a half, three years. It was a product manager and we helped ourselves to a lot of product if you know what I mean. And when he got to my house, I had like a stack that high of of CDs and cassettes that ran the whole length of my room. Yeah.

And he was just like, "What the fuck?" And he was looking through them. And I'm like, you know, when I got here, I'll tell the audience, you know, I was like, I I brought a roller. You're like, you're real prepared. I'm like, I hate when there's lint. And I'm sure there's going to be lint somewhere now that I'm like whatever. But it's just one of those little pet peeve things. I'm I'm anal when it comes to I can see like a fellow anal lunatic like me like it's ruined.

Danny Boy O'Connor37:53

Exactly.

Danny Boy O'Connor39:05

And then I'd get it at the end of night. I'm like, wait, where's the where's the cover? Like, I don't know. So I hated that. So I bought the blank cassette cases. And if I didn't have a cover, I'd make a cover with the Xerox at the I had these little [ __ ] demos. They weren't even really demos. They were just like a two track recorder, four track recorder we had. And it said House of Pain. And he was like, "What's that?" I go, "Oh, that's on my little group there, you know." And he's like, "Really?

You have a group?" I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I go, he's like, "Oh, dude, that's a great name." And I was like, "Yeah." I go, I go, "We should make a group, you know." And he's like, "Yeah, yeah." And it was just, you know, beer talk. You know, we were getting a little drunk and hanging out. But I think for the first time, he was like,

"This dude is different."

Danny Boy O'Connor39:40

Eric was a bit of a loner. Everlast, him and this guy, Divine Styler, who was another Brooklyn rapper who came to work with the guy who was making ice tees records. They were both living behind the house in a shed that they called the hut. And it was like, you know, fantasy [ __ ] You know, you were back there with the god rhyming and doing your thing, but it wasn't sustainable. Then I was like, "Come hang with me." And he's like, "I don't got a way to get around." I'm like, "Here's a scooter.

You could have it." Really? What? It's yours. Here's some gear. Here's some credit cards. What you need? Like, I got you, bro. Cuz we were holding it down. And then, you know, I remember his birthday was soon after and we went and threw him a big birthday party with drinks and I still got photos from it. And I remember him saying, "Bro, you nobody's ever thrown me a birthday party like this before or anything like this." And that's I've always got down like that. If I find somebody that I like and I see the potential and the thing,

I'm going to go all out until you show me a reason not to go all out. So, it would be like if you came to Tulsa, I'll be like, "Yo, bro, I got you. I got restaurant reservations for three different tell me what you like. We got some I got you. I got a bag for you, parting gifts. I got it all." He saw that in me. And at the time, because I was a product manager, cuz I understood product and marketing and all that stuff at a time when nobody really did.

I was, you know, doing graphic arts and I was I understood like, you know, you guys had the cool

The visuals and that's all, you know, that so that's what I did. So I was like, look, you were the the best white MC on the [ __ ] planet. I know that.

Danny Boy O'Connor41:00

And but you're missing

The rest of it. And the rest of it was our gang, which was we were the time there was a kid Todd Bailey, Snoopy we called them. But Snoopy and him were hitting it off cuz they both smoke weed. I don't smoke weed back. I didn't do drugs. I just drank. But he felt like, okay, we had put him in our, you know, we surrounded him and we were like, this is our guy. We're going to champion this.

Danny Boy O'Connor41:22

After Beasties.

So, we're all Beasty fans. Me in particular, was like

Danny Boy O'Connor41:26

No, but they grew up in the punk rock era and again I was in a punk rock gang. Although it wasn't my like first love punk rock, but the scene was our scene.

I mean, we were hanging out with chicks that look like Susie and the Banshees and and and and then the cure. You know what I mean? Robert Smith like a [ __ ] steal

Until I don't. But you ask me what I asked for had for breakfast. Who knows?

Danny Boy O'Connor42:17

Bro. Razer Blades under the thing, you're good. So, you know, it was really excuse for me to just be like, "We're a group." I never thought much of it. Eric went off and made a couple demos. We were a band at one point. We had another band with us. It was Everlast and the House of Pain. We tried to get signed to this guy uh Riiffken at at Loud Record who signed Wuang or whatever. At first they were like, "Are you a band or are you rap?" Because you can't do both.

That's not a thing. You know, there might been a like rare examples, you know, of like people who got over on one thing. But we finally dropped the band. He went he did a few demos. He did it with QD3, Quincy Jones. They sounded a little bit R&B, a little bit, it was kind of just Eric's vision. And then Cypress Hill became a thing and that record came out and Everlast and DJ Muggs were both Rhyme Syndicate dudes because DJ Muggs the producer of Jump Around and our first record and Cypress Hill was in a group called 7 A3.

So they already had you know a friendship. Yeah.

And so Eric when he brought Cypress to my apartment and at this point I had moved to Hollywood had a nice apartment. It was the hangout.

He played the first Cypress thing and our heads were like

Insane, right? But that album took about a year for it to really catch on. like they put out a video. They were thinking of going back and doing all Spanish record because

They weren't getting any. And then Killer Man came out and changed [clears throat] everything. But in the interim of that,

DJ Muggs was looking to do something else and he was like, I want to do what you were talking about. So one day I got a call. I was just telling somebody about this cuz I had forgot about this because Eric would go his way and he'd come back around. He'd go and I I was like, are we still doing this? What's going on? And I'm already doing my own thing. We're all at the nightclubs together. But it was like I I I asked him like five different times.

We still a band, bro? cuz I you don't come around much or when you do you don't talk about it or no no we're good we're good well one day

I get a call out of the blue and he's like bro where are you I'm like I'm at my apartment he goes I need you to come right now can you come right now and I'm like where are we going and he's like meet me at this address and I went it wasn't that far from me in Hollywood and I went it was in the back of somebody's house they had a studio and he was like tell DJ Muggs about that Irish thing I go what he goes tell them about the Irish thing about you know that you've been telling me about cuz I'm like we're all Irish here why don't we do an Irish group.

House of Pain is the name. You love the name. And again, if Eric's listening, he I'm sure he has a whole different remembrance of it, but I remember specifically like we were loosely calling ourselves a band and there was no suction there. And then all of a sudden, he was like, "Dude, I need you.

Sell him on this concept." And I was like, "Yo, bro, we are like the answer to all that. We fight, we [ __ ] we drink, we [ __ ] we're badass Irish boys." And he was like, "I like that. I need that energy."

And all of a sudden, he went off. He did a demo. He did jump around, put your head out with be real. Yeah.

And uh come and get some of this. And then we had our demo and we started sending it out. And uh

We got an offer from Rough House, which is the people who signed DJ Muggs. Yeah.

And it was for less than what they got or saying what they got. But we were like, they underpaid for that. That that's a crime. We're not signing for that. So we said, screw. We got a $300,000 offer from a label called Charisma, which at the time had I'm too sexy for my hat, right? Said Fred. And we were like, "Hell no." Yeah. We were No, it was like those two bald dudes, whatever, right? Said Fred. Right. So, we were like, nah. And the money was great.

$300 300,000 when you're 20 years old in 901.

Yeah. In the 11th hour, Tommy Boy Records came to us and they were like, "We'll sign you for 100 grand." And I I'm assuming we probably would have done it for free because if you're a white group

Danny Boy O'Connor45:46

And either Def Jam or Tommy Boy comes calling. That's the credibility factor is through the roof cuz it's not like Charisma where they're just like this will be a pop thing. We'll turn it into this was Tommy Boy. So we were thrilled.

Credit to Monica Lynch because she saw it in there. She saw the logo, this Irish thing and then she saw the photo. She goes, "These guys could be my brothers." Cuz she's an Irish, you know, broad. was the president of the label but from Chicago like you know big family of Irish Catholics so she was like these guys what the so she played it and she was like oh my god jump around that's like and the rest is history we went on

Danny Boy O'Connor46:23

Jump oh yeah yeah he wrote so Eric wrote all of the things early on he sat me down he's like look there's this thing called publishing I don't know what it was and he's like I have to have I'm going to sign a deal and I have to have

80 something% of the record to sign the deal meaning you'll two songs. Yeah. To me, I was like, "This is like a cheat sheet." Like, "You're gonna write all the [ __ ] and then I'll just do a couple verses because that wasn't my strongest suit and especially how great he was and how everybody was starting to like just it just kept evolving." And he's like, "Yeah, but you'll do the logos and the merch and all the stuff that you do and you'll get 60% of that." And I'm like, "Deal, you know." And at the time, we signed our first album deal for 100 grand, but it cost us about 60some to do it.

By the time taxes, management, we were left with like I I think the first check I got was for like it was like 11 grand and I was still like cool. But I was, you know, already kind of doing my little thing on the streets anyway, but it was still 11 grand.

Our first merch deal was $250,000 and you didn't have to

Use it to make anything. It was the advance. Our second record deal was $250,000 and our second merch deal was 1.25. So I got frontloaded 800,000 the first check. And I remember them going, "Hold on a second." Like, "This ain't looking like why did we make that deal?" But I was like, "I made the band. I created the [ __ ] image. It's my

Danny Boy O'Connor47:45

I spent it

Danny Boy O'Connor47:46

Everything. Ferraris. I was

Danny Boy O'Connor47:55

You know, it's funny that you asked that. The soft answer is no. But one day I I used to at that time I I had become fast friends with Mickey Rourke and we were thicst thieves for like four years. Yeah. And I was

Danny Boy O'Connor48:08

Yeah. It was at the start of you wouldn't know it at the time and I [clears throat] didn't know it because again yes in my mind he was at his peak but looking back and knowing I know in ' 92 we was starting to movies were thinning out

Danny Boy O'Connor48:23

And I met him because he sent I got a call one day on my phone my manager's like Mickey Rourke just faxed you like he faxed me what what do you mean he faxed me why would he fax me who what they go in the office so we drove down there it was right down the street and it said to Danny boy, House of Pain, keep kicking ass. Love and respect, Mick. And I was like, "Oh shit." So, I told my friend, this dude who just got out the joint.

He was a bo, he was X-con biker guy. And he was like, "Yo, I I went over there once or twice to Outlaw Boxing Gym." So, uh, you know, I could bring you over there. I was like, "Yeah, yeah, bring me over. I want to meet him."

Get there, you know, a week later, I meet Freddie Roach. Freddy was just there living at the gym, working for Mickey. I don't think Mickey was paying

Danny Boy O'Connor49:04

Right. But, I mean, at the time, it wasn't a good look. Mickey brought him out to [snorts] work on his thing and he was kind of just stuck there and Mickey, you know, but that day I meet Mickey. I walk in the door, there's a Hell's Angel sticker, the SS Bolts. I was like, "Oh shit." Like,

You know, these are the kind of dudes I know from out on the streets. Anyway, and I'm just saying it was just like that outlaw stuff. It didn't it didn't have the same like carnitations at the time. It was just like these hard white boy dudes, right? Go in the gym, meet him. He goes, "Let's spar." I'm like, "Okay." You know? So, suit up. I'm in there. Boom. Boom. He's He's a good boxer.

Danny Boy O'Connor49:39

Yeah, he he he could fight. And for anybody says, you know, the otherwise, he could fight.

Danny Boy O'Connor49:48

Right? And I was nice with my hands, but not in that way. In other words, like I'm swinging for the fences and trying not to he's technique and he he lumped me up a little bit. Not

Danny Boy O'Connor49:59

You learn quickly, but it's a different game than a street fight. Yeah, there's levels to it. I'm, you know, I'm 20 years old and I'm like, you know, scrawny little dude and he's in the gym every day.

Danny Boy O'Connor50:14

But again, I know I held my own. He had respect, but I just realized like, man, I'm usually able to just put it on somebody quick and knock them out. And I'm like, these gloves are heavy and I'm not.

Danny Boy O'Connor50:23

5 11. Yeah. But I mean, he's like fit. He's always been excellent shape, man. And that's all he did was work out 3, four hours a day.

We were fast friends. A week later, he comes back, he's got blonde hair like me. I had like Billy Idol hair at the time. A week later, he's got blonde hair. And we were all laughing. And we just had a lot of commonalities, man. I loved everything about I didn't grow up a Mickey Rourke fan. The first time I heard about Mickey Rourke, my girlfriend at the time, I had this like eight-year girlfriend back in the day, that girl I told you at the high school.

So everybody, you couldn't say Danny without saying Megan back then. We were like, and she was like n and a half weeks. So I'm like,

Danny Boy O'Connor50:59

[ __ ] this Mickey Rourke guy. like I was so insecure. I was like, "Fuck anybody that you think is like cute, you know?" So, I didn't grow up caring about him like that, you know? I was like not even interested. After I met him, I went home and watched Harley-Davidson and the Marble Man. And that's not the greatest movie, but aesthetically, that bike, his look, I'm like, "This guy's badass."

Danny Boy O'Connor51:47

It's a blessing and a curse

Danny Boy O'Connor52:03

I know all those things." And it becomes problematic when you start to project it to other people. And it becomes pass or fail. If I'm dating someone, I'm like, "Are you [ __ ] kidding me right now?"

Danny Boy O'Connor52:16

I might as well be like a [ __ ] you know, your gay stylist friend." Even though they're like, "Okay, dude, calm down. We're just going to [ __ ] the supermarket." I'm like, "No, no, no, no. Put the go put the [ __ ] loafers on and put that, you know, change the

Danny Boy O'Connor52:34

Oh, yeah. It's a deal breaker.

Danny Boy O'Connor52:54

Uh, the demo started to circulate. People started hearing it and I noticed I was the kind of kid in high school, love me or hate me, you knew who I was. But there were a lot of people, including my ex-girlfriend, whose family didn't like me,

Whose friends didn't like me. Cuz I was that guy who was like, "Don't bring him to my [ __ ] party. He's going to bring his friends. They're going to beat up all our friends.

Danny Boy O'Connor53:16

He's [clears throat] different." They were just like, you know,

Valley girls and we were like rough and they were like and then all of a sudden those people were like glazing. They're like, "Oh my god, you're going to be famous. This thing is so and it is like a Twilight Zone thing."

Danny Boy O'Connor53:37

It was just like an anointment from like you fell out of the heavens.

Danny Boy O'Connor53:42

Because I started having panic attacks at that point. Yeah. Because dude, if you're told your whole life you're going to be dead or in prison just like your father and you accept that fact.

Danny Boy O'Connor53:51

And again, everything was showing me that. Yeah. You know, my first case, my mother pressed charges on me. The second case was for attempted murder. Yeah.

Danny Boy O'Connor54:02

Seconds and inches from them finding the gun, finding the weapon, finding I was always out in the streets and I was always getting hands putting my hands on somebody or banging somebody out for something. And back then there wasn't cameras on every corner and there wasn't you know if you couldn't you know

And then all of a sudden for people to be like oh my god and you just you you know it's not authentic you know that there's just this whole sea change and they're like oh but you're also like yeah yeah stop it some more like I could use some of this you know you can it starts to fill that empty

Danny Boy O'Connor54:32

That god-shaped hole. So I was like yeah I could use this and you know always with one eye going you're fake as [ __ ] but I ain't going to say no. You know what I mean? So you had that and then I started to lean into that and I started to believe all of that stuff and I started to think you know my mistake and and you asked and this all goes back to didn't you have somebody

And the answer is no but mid like the height of that and buying all the big cars and dressing and all the you know chrome march is a big thing now. Chrome was a thing in early 90s in locally in Hollywood and it was still just as expensive then. And I had, you know, was draped and doing the thing.

And one day I get a call and [clears throat] and Mickey goes, "Hey man, uh, Joe Isgro wants to talk to you." I go, "Okay." And I knew who that was. Do you know who that is?

Danny Boy O'Connor55:16

Joe Isgro is a made man. He's the one who put the poli into the music.

Danny Boy O'Connor55:21

Joe Isgro.

Danny Boy O'Connor55:26

And he he put the poliola. He kept the Pink Floyd off the wall record off for a year but because they didn't pay

Danny Boy O'Connor55:34

It still works that way. It just works different but he's the whole world.

He used to he used to be partners with Jeppi Franco the hair cutter and Jeppe and Mickey were like that. So we hung out in Beverly Hills. Once I met Mickey I was in Beverly Hills hanging out cuz that was the stomping grounds right on Canon. And I don't know if he took a liking to me or saw something in me but he wanted to sit down and have dinner with me. And I get to the dinner and I'm, you know, I bring Mickey with me.

I'm like, this is like a made man. You know, I don't, you know, but I'm in there leathered up and spiked hair and jewels and all that and, you know, we have a dinner and I'm thinking, what is this all about? And then he says to me, he says, you know, you need to reel it in a little bit. He goes, you know, they love you now, but they're not going to love you if you don't have another hit. And I see you out there, you know, showing a lot of ass and, you know, flagrant with the thing.

And he goes, just remember, man, they don't love you and if you can if you can't repeat that thing. And I thought to myself, man, that means a lot to me. And then my inner voice was like, "Who the [ __ ] does he think he's talking to?" Not at in a physical like like, you know, much respect, but the ego is like, "But he just doesn't know how hip, slick, and sick I am, bro." Like those odds, I've beat those odds cuz my mother said I'd be in prison or just like my father.

Danny Boy O'Connor56:42

Same. Yeah. Oh, you know,

Danny Boy O'Connor56:46

Yeah. I think that you Everlast had the same thing. I think you know and he had a great relationship with his mother but I remember his mother's car from syndicate days said rap mom

When I called he was getting thrown out cuz there was no you know it's cool when you're it's not cool when you're you know not doing it. So yeah it changes everybody bro it's just a weird thing it's just a celebrity and money and

And it brings out you know they say money changes people it brings out what's already in there you know and again for me [clears throat] I needed to and I was stupid enough to think it would never end. Yeah.

I think I thought once I got here, I'm uncomfortable here. I'm just going to stay here. You guys don't mind. You know what I mean? Just keep sending that mailbox money and I'll just keep acting a fool. And I remember where I was the day that jump around stopped working. There was some a new song that just knocked the bottom out of it. And it was

California. The whole dance floor get up and everybody's like, "Oh." And it was about Pac and and Dre and Snoop and Jump Round would be like, "Oh, that's last year's thing." And it's like I remember viscerally how that felt to just go it's over, isn't it? Like that's like and now how do you come back from hitting a grand slam, the first single out?

Danny Boy O'Connor57:55

First video, first single, all the things.

Danny Boy O'Connor58:15

No, we all knew it happened so fast that we it would be like pointing out like, "Dude, the sky is blue." Like everywhere we went, we would go and they'd see us in there, they would put it on the whole floor would just go everybody would get up, get on the thing, the whole thing would bounce. It was surreal. And I started getting panic attacks cuz I'm like, "This is like a Twilight Zone episode." There's an there's an episode and I won't unpack the whole thing, but I remember this one like of all the ones I remember.

There was a guy and he dies and then he wakes up and he's in a white suit and he's with another dude with the white suit and he's like, "Come on, let's go play pool." And he plays and he's winning everybody and the girls are coming up to him and he goes, "Duck, what's he doesn't know what this guy's deal is and he's like, you know, I keep winning." He goes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And everything's just clicking for this guy. Yeah.

And finally, he thinks it's his guardian angel. He's like, "I I like that you're looking out for me and that all of this, but I'd like to lose once in a while. You know, it doesn't feel good just always winning." He goes, "You know, it's just funny. I didn't think heaven was going to be like that." And the old man goes, "What makes you think this is heaven?"

Danny Boy O'Connor59:14

You went to hell, this guy." And it's like, and I felt like, "Oh my god, did I go to hell? Is this like burg? What? What is this?" And I was just like, "This is too good to be true." Everywhere I go, people are like, "Dude,

You know, and it's like beers are on us. What about the girls?

Crowd opens, the girls are Yeah. I mean, it's like it was like fishing in [ __ ] a barrel with stick of dynamite. like how how could you lose?

Oh my god. You're living especially and in Hollywood in the '90s. Come on, bro. Yeah, it was it was ridiculous. Again, I thought it would never end. And that was the mistake I made. So, I didn't you know, people were like, "How did you blow millions of dollars?" I'm like, "I didn't blow it. I didn't lose it. I spent it." You know, I thought, "Yeah, I thought it was never going to end." Everlast had been through that before with his first thing. So, he started to see the writing on the wall.

We put out a second record. Did okay. I think it sold a million records, but it didn't sell 2 million. And it wasn't big hit. and they he refused to give them the anthem that they wanted. And for perspective, you know, Naughty by Nature got big because of OP. And then then they followed up with Hey Ho. Pretty simple song. Not really much to that. Way beneath like, you know, Tre's

Danny Boy O'Connor1:00:22

Yeah.

But it's one of their It's probably bigger than OP. Yeah. And he they gave Tommy Boy what they wanted. They put us at a round table with William Morris, our man, you know, the company that was, you know, doing all the shows,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:00:33

The label, and our management, and they're like, "We don't hear an anthem. We need an anthem." And he was like, "I ain't selling out. I ain't doing." I was thinking, "Oh, well, I guess we're just going to keep it 100, you know, and we kept it 100." But the fan base, you know, a lot of them were college kids that just wanted to party and hear the the hit.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:00:48

musical." You know what the my favorite of them all when we used to play like the Palladium or play the Roxy in New York because you you know you'd be on stage and you'd look over I'd see like you know um John John Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah, you know those a lot of the models that were popping at the time and other groups.

That's how we met like Biohazard and Onyx and all your contemporaries would come to see you do your thing. And here we are and again we went out our first tour with the Beasty Boys and that lasted six shows. We mashed out their manager bro. They were putting us on mad early before as the gates were opening trying to force our show cuz John Brown was magnetic and he was stealing the thing and then L7 came on after us which is a girl punk group but

You know if you go you'll get a mosh pit but kids and then the beasties were on their whole check your head thing where they had keyboard money who designed the record label record cover you got to wake up a little earlier that you can't say another slick to a can of oil

Danny Boy O'Connor1:01:53

Oh he did everything. He did ll Cool Jays. He did be listen Hayes is the number one as far as logos go in hip-hop. There's there's nothing there's no better. Yeah. No, graffiti for sure. But he did all the logos that I love. Him and Say, which is Se was also down with the Beasty Boys.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:02:11

No, it's fine. We got kicked off the Beasties cuz we were too beasty for the Beasty Boys because we grew up on the [ __ ] that they sold us, which was like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:02:19

Yeah. And they weren't down with that anymore. They were like Namaste and they were into the Dollaly Lama and we were like, "Fuck that, dude." And I I got to Texas.

Yo, no. Way worse than that, dude. No, no offense. Love you. But no, we were like we were we were like the sex pistols like but on our worst. Like I said, I was buying AK-47s cuz they were legal in Texas to do, you know, and my Knuckles was like, "Don't say that on the thing. That's a straw purchase. You're going to" and I'm like, "Dude, it's long time ago. You're not supposed to, you know, but I'm waving it out the tour bus. The Beasty Boys are going, "What?" Yeah,

We're arguing with them with their management.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:02:56

Cuz they were fans. I They had it. So, when they came to LA, they did Paul's Boutique and then Mike D opened up extra large, the store, and I had a weedware hat that I had put weed leaf on the hat. I didn't even smoke weed, but I saw an opportunity. That's what I do. I see a tipping point. It was becoming

And this is before I even met Cypress, so I knew that the weed was becoming an acceptable thing. Prior to that, it was like a stoner fringe thing from the rock era. That's right.

But then hip-hop started to be like blunts and beer and I was like, "Oh, I'm going to do a weedleaf hat cuz I'm a graphic designer and I make some." So we made hats. I sold $170,000 with the hats before even House of Pain was released back in those times.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:03:31

Well, and I brought him into extra large and Mike D loved him. Our first interview was a local magazine called Herb Magazine and they asked us about being white and how what we thought about white hip hop. And I said, "The only real white group to me is the Beasty Boys." cuz at the time third base was the other notable and I wasn't a fan. I'm a fan, you know, I'm friends now and we're all cool like that. But I was such a Beasty fan and when they came out they dissed the Beasties because they were called Russell's Revenge cuz when the Beasties left Def Jam he was like I'll just get some more white boys and put them together as a group cuz they weren't even a group at first.

They forced them to be together and then they said go get go attack those dudes. So I was like whoa whoa whoa you can't do that. Like I was I was too much of a beasty head to ever. But much respect for third base and and Pete had and and search and

All of that. But at the time I was like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:04:26

Yeah. We played that around the clock.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:04:44

Just incredible. Changed the world. No, that that record changed the world. And for me, it showed me that it was a possibility cuz prior to that, you had to be like just rhyming like, you know, straight up like just, you know, that's right. White boys doing different classical singers.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:05:02

They weren't c They weren't classically rapping either.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:05:11

There's nothing at that point I didn't love about the Beasty Boys to go sell them weed wear hats at his store.

So Mike D saw that and cut that out and he had it over his desk at at Gson Studios and somebody told me I work at the studios. He's got your quote cuz you know they were in a tipping point too where they're like this was so big then we came out with Paul's Boutique and it it was a dud. I liked it. Yeah,

It's now considered the best hip-hop record of all time creatively. It's like at the gold standard of like or whatever.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:05:40

Right? But they were also they were going to hang it up at a certain point. You know, I've read some of the books where they're like, "Hey, dude, this was start they were starting to go.

Is this still for us?"

Danny Boy O'Connor1:05:49

And then check your head. Reintroduce them Cypress. I brought Cypress to Adrock's house and played it to him and I said, "Dude,

Before you listen, this guy has the nasal thing like you do. The only thing it reminds me and I think I remember him thinking like, "Oh, Jesus, this kid's going to play me a thing that I don't, you know, cuz it's like it's like a running thing in hip-hop like, "Oh, let me listen to my demo, listen to my friend's tape,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:06:11

And I put it on and I remember him going

I was like, "I told you, right?" Right. He's like, "Oh." And next thing they were like thick as thieves. So they invited us on the tour. We were too much for them. It all came to a head in LA when they put tried to put us on before the gates were open. My mother was stuck outside, my sister, my brother. And so I end up getting in a fist fight in the back of the stage with the security. My mother's jumping in my brother.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:06:36

Yeah. So our manager told us to just stay on the bus and let them, you know, they can't find you. And then finally they figured out we were on the bus. So their stage manager came up in the bus and the second he did that I think he just kicked him in the chest and kicked him off the bus and he's like, "I quit if they don't go." So they didn't tell us. So, we did the next show in in San Jose, but I could tell it was like cold as ice.

They weren't like And then we drove all the way to Canada. Must have took like 20 hours and we're coming up. We get to the hotel. We get out. I'm like, "Finally."

And I remember like it's yesterday. I get on this escalator and it's a massive escalator. It looks like something out of a movie. And I'm coming up this thing and just knackered from being on the bus that long. And I see MCA coming down and he looks like he saw a ghost. He goes, "What are you guys doing here?" And we're like, "Huh?" And we passed and he goes he looked back. He goes, "Call your manager."

Danny Boy O'Connor1:07:26

By the time I got to the top, they go, "Danny, come back down. Come back down." They go, "We've been kicked off this tour." I'm like, "What?" And I just saw it all crashing down. I'm like, "We're over. It's done."

Danny Boy O'Connor1:07:39

That was the first tour. We just got kicked off the the the greatest opportunity ever. Ironically, we followed it up a month or two later with the Soul Assassin store. Us, Cypress Hill, and Funk Dubious. We sold out every event. But in that moment, I'm thinking it was too good to be true. I knew it wasn't going to happen. I knew this was a, you know, I knew it was going to get snatched right from under us. The rug was going to get pulled. And

Danny Boy O'Connor1:08:04

All of it, bro.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:08:05

Yes, of course.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:08:07

You know what? Maintenance is cheaper than repair. That's what I learned in in sobriety. And I didn't think anything about maintenance. I had a Ferrari. I had a couple low riders. I had a couple Harleys. I had a what else did I have? A 55 Ford F100 pickup truck. I had a 52 Buick Roadmaster cop car lowered and I had all the toys, bro. I had all the clothes, all the jewelry, all of the the big house, the big all of it. So, and I didn't think that I just thought once you got it, you're good.

No, no, you're not.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:08:51

Bro, I used to play at my buddies, the guy who runs my museum has a place called the Shrine and it's a little spot, maybe 200 people. And

Danny Boy O'Connor1:09:31

Years after. No, I know. I saw it happen myself. I remember I remember him from back in the day at a certain point in the 2000s. It was like [clears throat] making a name and then it just fizzled and then all a sudden he just reinvents and comes out and again going in a different way. Yeah. In a different way. So coming out of House of Pain 96 we break up Everlast quits. I'm like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:09:52

He just saw the writing on the wall. Third album came out. It was like Everlast and Friends he put two other dudes that guy Divine Styler and another dude Cogno Dyer in the group. He kind of forced that on us and then we were like that's not House of Pain. And the fans are like that ain't House of Pain. I think he was trying to go that route anyway. And Tommy Boy was like, "Nah, you still lose an album. So if you want to force them on that, that's fine." Again, it's my

Assuming what happened. They were great guys. I love them, admire them, you know, they're most talented people in the world. They just weren't House of Pain. Yeah.

So we were pulling away at that time. A little bit before that, I I was in also an Outlaw Bike Club. And so that was like I was leaning this way. I had all these dudes at the It was like It was two dueling banjos, bro. Like I was sticking to the

Danny Boy O'Connor1:10:39

No, I heard the thing. You didn't know what that was.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:10:45

Yeah. Well, in LA it's we you know we have all of that.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:10:48

Yeah. So um

Danny Boy O'Connor1:10:51

I hung out a lot prior to joining this club which was the Vos. It's a Mexican biking.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:10:58

It's green. I'm green with Mexican Irish. We drink, we fight.

Early on, because of Mickey and that scene I was hanging around with, they were the Hell's Angels were always Chuck Zto was always in Beverly Hills. I know Chuck.

Of course, everybody knows Chuck. How do you not know Chuck? Right. And when I met Chuck, Chuck told me, he goes, "I met him on the on the 40 Deuce when he was with Stallone filming uh Commando." Yeah.

I met him through a guy whose dad is another like New York notable connected dude. Yeah.

He said, "I'm going to hook." I said, "I want to meet a Hell's Angel." He's like, "Yeah, I'm going to hook you up." So, through a friend Caves, another famous graffiti artist, good friends of the band or whatever, has a group called Lords of Brooklyn. And still, he's you know, he's in all the shows that you all the names you named, you know, they're all going to Paris right now for the Beyond the Streets.

They know they're in

Danny Boy O'Connor1:12:08

I know them all. Again, I know them all. And again, all of that. That's Roger [clears throat] Gasman who did a magazine called Why You Were Sleeping back in the day. So he's been doing this behind the scenes for like 30 years now. So all of those dudes we all know on a firstname basis and grew up with all that, you know, both coasts. When Eric Hayes moved to LA, that's when we were both Mopar guys. He smoked my truck one time.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:12:31

Yeah, of course. Who don't?

Danny Boy O'Connor1:13:29

Well, I got a funny one. One one time I was over at his studio and I at the time I was smoking cigarettes, you know, and I went back outside of his studio and I I I'm by the dumpster and I look in I see a a canvas of his. I'm like, "Oh, [clears throat] hell no." Dumpster dive. I grab it. I see it. It's like a million different tags on the back. All the styles of haze and then it looks like he was trying to do a flag

Danny Boy O'Connor1:13:52

And it's ripped. Well, this was different. Like it was like the first prototype of it and he came out and he goes, "No, no, no, no, bro." And he can get squirly if he wants to be. So he was like, "No, no, no, no, no, bro." And he tried to grab it. I go, "No, no, no, no. [ __ ] that." I'm like, "Yo, bro."

And he was like, he knew I was going to fight him on it, you know, not physically. It's my boy. But he was like, "You're going to be a dick about it, aren't you?" And I'm like, "Nah, I want this. good. And I love it. I call it my trash can haze. But I I I look at it, it's almost more precious than the perfect thing because it was a prototype of something, but I always wanted to frame it backwards where all the tags are and then put a mirror behind it so that you could see the thing.

So, it's still in my collection and something I won't let go of for just because again there's that backstory to it. But all of that to say, I was in an outlaw motorcycle club. That's when I started doing drugs. Not because of the thing, the drugs. Methamphetamines was where I arrived at. Really?

Danny Boy O'Connor1:14:57

Yeah, it was great.

It was that good. It was that addictive though, right? Once you listen, the first time I remember I don't remember the first time I ever drank, but I remember the first time it worked.

Yeah. And it changed everything. For the first time in my life, the voices stop telling me I'm a piece of [ __ ] I'm not good enough. I'm not cool enough. I don't wearing the right clothes. And everything just goes, "You're good.

This is good. Go dance with her. Who cares if she says no?" You like, "Who cares if she doesn't like cuz I'd be in the club dancing like with the homeboys on the side, but not out with the girls or talk to somebody or definitely fight, you know, I'm like, you know, and I was like, I remember that that night very well. That's what narcotics did to me. Made me feel

To myself, I don't ever want to not feel like this again. I was 16, 15. Yeah.

And I didn't go to school, like I said, and my mother didn't care what I did as long as I didn't wake her up coming back in at night. So, I just leave my window open and sneak back in it and the dogs would bark. She knew I was home, but she it didn't really bother her. Every time we were out, we drank. It wasn't like So, and in LA, the club was open from Tuesday till so the Monday night was the only off night and that's when we're in the park or in the parking lot or there's always a bunch of us.

Yeah, we'll find the we'll seek our So, we were gang banging and drinking and clubbing. That's all we did in my youth.

It was my superpower, drinking. And I'm like, I'm Irish. It's the perfect, you know, this is my birthright.

But eventually, you know, it's just it wasn't doing the trick. And as the band was falling apart and I realized I was way over my skis, I had like

My house payment had I was on adjustable, you know, I didn't know any of this. and the arm went through the roof and it went from like

$2,900 a month to like 6,300. It was like something crazy.

Um, you know, [clears throat] pool, gar, you know, lawn d car payment, like all of these things,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:16:43

Right? But now I'm doing that times five on everything I'm doing. You know, I'm financing these, I bought these, I spent all the cash on that, and I'm overpaying, by the way, cuz I'm like, don't you know who I am? Yeah.

Like I I don't have a a negotiating bone in my I have a hard time selling dollar bills for 50 cents if you know what I mean. I'm the kind of dude who's like [ __ ] it.

Keep the change, bro. Cuz it's just like that, you know? It's like we didn't grow up with nothing so we're like don't worry about it. I'll show you. You know, and it's like it is what it is, right? But all of that to say, I realized, oh my god, this sucks. And Everlast caught a gun charge. He caught a few of them. He went through the the the airport and had one in his bag and they finally and then they he got a few of them.

He kept getting caught in possession of a firearm. So they finally had a court case. Took him about 8 months to get through the court case and then they put him on house arrest and they counted some of that time as thing. So we had an ankle monitor and he was home. So we didn't tour all that time at the third album, the second album, too. So we lost a lot

And we didn't there was So I was just burning through it going, "Okay, hopefully this will then we did something at the Viper Room and it was just a little like record release party and one of these dudes, the Vago dudes, I don't know what he was thinking. He took his [ __ ] drink and he threw it on stage and hit Eric and he thought somehow I don't know what he thought. He probably I was thinking like really [ __ ] I don't even remember which dude it was.

It wasn't like one of our guys. It was just a vago but he wasn't in our chapter.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:18:01

I just think he was drunk and just threw a [ __ ] drink in a small club and we watched him do it and come right hit Rick right in the [ __ ] face and he was like [ __ ] this [ __ ] So I get I would have been hot too. Eric was hot at you because you were in that

Cuz we were already completely different directions and he was like, "I'm done."

And I'm like, "Fuck it. Good." You know, I'm not going to be like, "Pound sand. Cool." I got a call from the manager. He's like, "Oh, well, he's done, but we have a few obligations. Do we want you to I'm like, I'm keeping OB. We're done. We're done." Like, you know, so we were done. And then I spiraled out and more reality kicked in. you know, I was I lost the house, lost the car, lost the things, and ended up like, you know, holding a hostage, you know, aka the new girl and staying with her.

And meth was the only thing that was like, you know,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:18:48

I first started dabbling as the end was near with ecstasy cuz I never I wasn't a drug guy. High school, I did coke once or twice, but it wasn't I was I despised drug people and I didn't hang out with them neither.

That's interesting that you tried coke once or twice and was like, nah, not for me. It didn't hit, you know, I was too much of a like, you know, it's like blowing a balloon up and letting it go. I didn't know where I was going to, you know, it was just

Danny Boy O'Connor1:19:12

So, I I liked it, but it was a I was like, I can't control this in the same way.

So, I started with ecstasy, liked it, but you can't do it habitually. You can't do that every day. And I wanted to. So, then coke came in the picture and I liked it. But again, I could break down and cry and be like or say inappropriate stuff, call you at 4 in the morning.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:19:42

Bro. I used to have a guy that pull up right in front of my house and park his car and pull his bike out and ride the whole hill. And I'm like you [ __ ] because he's living the good life. Yeah, of course.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:20:04

So, I was in Malibu and I remember the girl's name. I won't say it. And I did ecstasy and it didn't kick in. Ecstasy was like weird because you know, you don't know where what you're getting. It's like pill presses and

And I got it and something was going on, but it was a [clears throat] bad something going on. I felt like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:20:23

And I kept pacing this party and this girl finally goes, "What's going on with you?" And I'm like, "You don't have any like" She's like, "No." I said, "You have any coke?" And she's like, "No." She's like, "Come in the bathroom." I was like, "Okay." And I went in. She I was like, "She does have coke." So she put a little uh key in the thing. And I was like, "No, no, no, no." She's like, "This ain't coke." I'm like, "Whoa."

So what is this? She goes, "It's math." I go, [snorts]

You know, I was like, "How dare you?" You know, it's like beneath me. It's like [ __ ] roadie coke. You know, that's what Willie Nosen used to call it, you know? I was like, but I was desperate. So I was like,

And it burned, dude. Back in the days it was different. It was like it burned like you snorted Drano cuz there was Drano in it.

And I was like what the [ __ ] was that? And she was like just relax and then like within seconds I was like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:21:10

Because Coke is like if you look at the graph it's like and then you come crashing hard

Crash. Meth is like this arc, this rocket that goes up and it just stays up at altitude and just very little turbulence and just and all of a sudden my like I can paint, I can draw, I can write, I can [ __ ] I can clean, I can

Danny Boy O'Connor1:21:31

You ain't definitely not. Listen, I didn't have that problem. I've heard [clears throat] people have. But meth No, it it enhances all the things. And just like alcohol, it was fun, then it was fun with problems, then it was just problems. But when it first hit, I was like, that's the exact way I felt that day I had that screwdriver in that first good where I could dance and talk to girls and I go, I've been waiting for this my whole life and this is the answer.

This is going to make up for lost time

Because I'm literally spiraling out. I'm losing my home. It's on the market. It's not selling. I have to sell it for this otherwise I'm going to, you know, eat the thing. the cars are like, you know, disappearing because they're getting impounded or I'm selling them off at pennies on the dollar just to cover my bills. Um, I had a case at that point, too, which I got a I got another uh armed robbery case for a fight that I got in in a house and there was a gun involved and Beverly Hills PD was like, "Oh, we love this.

This is going to be a notable case, you know, and uh $75,000 for the attorney." And I beat the case, but by the sheer, you know, it's a whole other long story. But regardless, anything that could go wrong at that time was going wrong.

And uh the only thing I could hold on to was like this is the only thing that's going to get me through all this pain and all this disappointment and all this shame. It's just it's embarrassing. And then Everlast goes on and makes a beautiful record and all of a sudden I hear what it's like on the radio and uh it's I'm like it's genius. It's great.

Yeah. You know, as much as I didn't like him as a person because we had grown apart and I didn't feel like he was there for me. Yeah. And when I needed him because I had been there from him when he was, you know,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:23:07

I was also like, I'm still going to be a fan and I'm still going to appreciate it. And Lethal joined Limp Bizkit. They opened for us in Florida at some place and they were like, please join the group. And he produced the first record and joined the group and then they came out nothing and then they did that cover song and did Faith with George Michael and it blew them up. And so my two bandmates are just like just living high in the hog. And I'm just sitting in there and like not liking being in the motorcycle club anymore.

It's too many rules, too many stipulations. I don't feel like I the love is there anymore. It's getting really dangerous also cuz we're doing, you know, I was doing things that could have ended me up for, you know, in prison for a long time. I'm absolutely glad I left when I did. I was in there for a couple years. And when I left, maybe eight months later, the ATF wiped that whole chapter out. One of our good friends, the guy who was took me to the gym for Mickey's at the time the guy got out.

He's disappeared since then. So, either he was I don't know. It's not good. It's not good. He just He didn't go to prison, but he disappeared.

Where's Rodney? Exactly. Something. Yeah. Something or he's living in protection program. I don't know. Where's Rodney? It was like seconds and inches between sheer disaster. And then I was just I didn't know a way out. I didn't know, you know, I went to rehab. It was just a stop gap to get people off my back. I wasn't I couldn't imagine my life without drinking.

And as soon as I had a drink, I needed to do the drugs cuz you don't you can't separate the two anymore.

You know, I went to rehab. I stayed white knuckle sober for a little bit. But in like the year 2000 after about four years on drugs and just just out of options, I ran into a friend Tommy Galinus was my first sponsor and he said, "Man, you know, come to a meeting with me. I think you can, you know, that there's something here for you and you need it." and I went and uh I don't remember what they said that day, but I remember hearing a lot of laughter and it had been a long time since I'd heard a group of people laughing and having a good time.

In recovery, you know, we're not supposed to.

But in in recovery, people are very much like, "Welcome, welcome, are you [clears throat] new?" And they're very the only organization in the world that like, you know, you join a bike club and you're new, you're at the bottom of the totem pole and they're going to let you know it. You join a gang and they're going to beat you up to get in it and then they're going to you're going to do all the lacky stuff until you but this is the only hierarchy where you're the newcomer and they're like welcome have a seat.

Would you like coffee? What's your name? How are you? What

Danny Boy O'Connor1:25:28

In order to keep it, you have to give it away.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:25:40

No. So I went to that first meeting [clears throat]

And for the first time I was like man and I had been in meetings before. My stepfather went before he died of cerosis. I I was no stranger to in our house chips and big books and it was just like something that didn't work. He just did it to get the cord off your back or the your girl off your back. Somebody, right? Something felt different that day. And then the next day he paged me, you know, and he was like, "Bro, uh, I can't go today.

I got my son needed me for something." I'm like, "Well, then I'm not going, you know, I'm a 6'6 alpha male, you know." And I'm like, "Stranger danger. I'm not going to meeting without you, bro." And he's like, "Dude, just go."

And I watched the clock tick down. The place wasn't far. It was Radford Hall. It's a notable place in the in the in the San Frernando Valley. [snorts] It's real strong sobriety around the world. This is known. And I was like, if I don't go today, I'll never go again. It's like going to the gym. You know, you go for a month and you're like, I'll take it out. you stop going, you know, at least I do. So, I was like, for the first time in my life, I'm going to fight from something that I don't think it's going to work.

I don't know how this is. And I went and I brought my backpack, which I always do. And I sat at the last seat at the end and I put my backpack there cuz, you know, when nobody's sitting next to me, I don't want to catch any more alcoholism than I already have or nowhere. And people were like, "Welcome. So good to see you again." And I was like, "This feels good." Yeah. And then I started doing one day at a time. I started showing up.

Got my 30-day chip. Get there, the chip lady doesn't show up. I'm like, you [ __ ] are you crew? Because when you're 30 days, you want I wanted a tangible

Thing to show the people 30. Yo, and didn't happen. And at the break, this was an hour and a half meeting, which is rare. You don't see these anymore. There was a break. A girl came up to me and I forget her name. She looked just like Drew Barrymore in her prime. And she was like, "Hey, I saw that you didn't get your chip, but congratulations on your 30-day. I want to give you my 30-day chip." And I was like I just in that moment I go God knew exactly what I needed and the coolest girl the little Drewberry Moish you know for it was like here's here's my

Danny Boy O'Connor1:27:37

I was like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:27:39

Yeah. This is what I needed. So I just did one thing and my sponsor said I want you to do a step a month which was a fast track for me. I was like I got to read the there's a book ready for me. I saw steps. I saw traditions. I'm like that must be advanced a I just want the I want the coffee and the company you know but I started doing the steps and at at at at 3 months they said hey we want you to take the treasury commitment.

I said what's that? They said well no you just pass the basket and you know we put money if you if you and you count it when you once it's done and then you write how much and put in the envelope and then stick it in the slot.

And I thought to myself I'm not a thief

By nature. You know, I've stolen, of course, but I'm not like a known,

But I'm like, you're trusting the new tweaker with the cash. What kind of place is this? But it it gave me some like I felt like they see something in me that they trust me.

I didn't trust myself at the time. And I was like, thank you. Yes, of course. And I was like, you know, a little shy and you know, I'm famous on one thing. You know, people still know me from the thing, but I'm not in an intimate level to sharing and getting up and talking in front of a small crowd about real things. No, no, no, no. I can't do that cuz that's Danny O' Conor, right? That's not my alter ego, Danny Boy

Danny Boy O'Connor1:28:50

But I started to do the thing and at 6 months they said, you know, we'd like you to lead the meeting and share. And I was like, I mean, literally it was like trying to baptize a cat. I'm like thinking very excused. No, no, no, no, no, no. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're going to do it. And I dreaded it until the second that I went up there. And then I just said, God, say whatever you need me to say right now just to keep it real and keep it authentic.

And I don't remember what I said, but when I was done, they all clapped like they always do. And then after the meeting, they lined up and said, "Man, thank you. I needed that tonight. Thank you. Story really touched me." And story. I was like, "What?" Like, "Oh." And then I started getting the hang of it. And in a year, I started [snorts] I got a solo record deal. I made a group called the ex supermodels and got a good little, you know, advance and a publishing deal.

And at at two years, the label folded that I was on and and and I was like, "Well, that ain't kind of cool." It was like a two and a half years we made the record all year. Spent through all the money that they gave me. Records kind of like sitting in limbo. I'm like what's happening? You know, didn't the record doesn't come out that, you know, I'm in a bad relationship that I came in with, which was dysfunctional, codependent.

And I started to think, you know, I started to get alcoholism. Yeah.

You know, I had alcoholism and now I'm starting to think it wasn't that bad. You know, I'm Irish. So, at about three years and change, I had a little over three years. I was miserable because I wasn't doing the work anymore. I wasn't being of service. I had the commitments weren't for me. If you wanted me to sponsor you, I'm like, "Oh, brother, I'm so busy." I go, I was a great referral system. You know, Ken will do it for you. You know, Bobby will do it for you.

Michael, but I wasn't doing it. You know, cuz, bro, I got too much going on right now. And that is exactly how you walk your way right out of a beautiful program. And so, at three years and a little bit of change, I thought I could drink again. So, I called my sponsor, which was my original agreement. And he says, "You're ever going to drink again? Just give me a shot." And I called him and said, "Hey, bro." And he goes, "Let me guess." And I go, "What?" He goes, "You're going to drink." I said, "Yeah, how'd you know?" And he goes, "I see the writing on the wall.

I've been watching you walk your way backwards out of this thing." He goes, I said, "Okay, well, uh, I'm waiting for him to go, dude, you chill. No, I'm going to come." He's like, "Let me know how that works out. The book says if you don't think you're an alcoholic, try it." So, I did.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:30:56

I did. And I went and I had I swore I'd have just one, see how it felt. I had three and it wasn't a big deal but I was like woke up the next morning I didn't feel like I had ruined anything. I was like that wasn't that bad. By noon I was at the thing big old 40 ounce paper bag. Third day another 40 ounce by like 11:00 right on the corner liquor store

And that third day I drank that bottle and I went something inside me was just [ __ ] destroyed and I started crying. I was in the fetal position and the reason why was cuz I go dude I wasn't after the drink. I fooled myself because I can't now separate that from the mental obsession of I needed to get the drugs again.

And that third day I called her the dealer.

She hadn't heard from me in three and a half years. She goes, "Danny?" I go, "Yeah." She goes, "What's up?" I go, "You have that?" She goes, "What?" I go, "You have that?" She goes, "Yeah, that Yeah. Yeah. Who's it for?" I go, "It's for a friend." She goes, "I'll be right over." And we were right back. Like it never They say you pick up right where you left off and then some. And that was my story. I got right back into it. And first I was like, "Oh, this is cool.

I'll just if it goes Spanish on me, I'll just go back to AA," you know, and within 30 days I was like distraught, beaten down. I went back to the meetings. Couldn't hear it anymore. I'd show up late. I'd leave early. The magic was gone.

I just couldn't. And I was like, "Okay, I'll go back again sometime." And for three and a half years was a downward spiral. teeth falling out of my mouth moving out of my box in a warehouse in Hollywood with all my stuff in a box in the end. Car got impounded. I parked it in a place at Sunset Plaza and that big sign says, "If you're not shopping here and you leave your car, we will tell you." And I looked at and I said, "Yeah, we're good."

Danny Boy O'Connor1:32:38

Came back. He's like, "Dude, you're the guy with the Plymouth." He took the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. They're like, [snorts] "I love your car. I I didn't want to do it to you. I saw you leave. I'm in the security booth." I'm like, "This guy's not going to do it, is he? He's going to do it. I waited an hour. You didn't come. We towed it. So here, dude, it's at this lot. And then I was like, "Okay, I'm going to go get it with no money." And I then I thought, "Oh, no, I'm not." And I was like, "There's a big old bag of stuff under the seat." I'm like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no." Cuz I would have caught a case if they pounded it and searched the car.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:33:08

And we're like, "Dude, what?" So there's there's about ounces of stuff in there. And I was like, "Well, I'm not going to that's a hot one. I'm not uh" So I kept trying to figure out a way and there was just no way. So they auctioned it off and it was so all my stuff I was just down to what was in a box. Like I said, teeth are falling, front teeth fell out. I was just doing so much math, bro. And I finally got desperate and one dude called me out of the blue.

He the dude I don't even really, you know, think much of. And he was like, "Hey man, you deserve to have a good day to do it." He used to text me that he used to fancy himself a rapper and one he thought I could help him somehow. And I'm like, "Bro, it's over. I can't help you."

And he reached out and it just was like a godsh shot. And he's like, "Hey, I'm in Hollywood if you want to go get a meeting." And I was I had went back and forth and just was I gave up on it. I was like, I'm never going to get this again. I'm going to die on my knees. I wasn't even worried about dying. I was worried about living on my knees for the next 50 years. That was even. But I was just like I was homicidal and suicidal in the same thing.

And I didn't know something had to give.

And I went to that meeting that day and something was different. I don't know why that one was different. And I said to God, I said, "God, I don't want my old life back." That was the secret I was keeping. I didn't even know it to myself. When I first got sober, I was like, "Oh, I'm doing it for the right reasons." No, I wasn't. And I was doing it for the pride and the prestige and the property to come back

And once I did my little penance, you know, if I be a good little boy, you'll restore all of that. The band will come back. We'll be House of Pain again. I'll buy a new house. I'll I'll show these people who, you know, and that wasn't the deal. And I got a solo deal and I got a close to half a million dollars in a publishing deal and blew through all of that in in less than a year. So God was like, "Cool. How's that working out for you?" All of that to say, this time I was like, I just want a shot at a new life.

I don't want anything back. And April 15th, I celebrated 21 years of sobriety. And I've been through businesses, successful, failed, lawsuits, been arrested in sobriety. I posted, I think, like 15 and change sobriety. I'm like 15th St. Patty's Day. We just played Boston House of Pain reunion thing. I said, "Still ain't drinking and still ain't been in handcuffs, you know, since then." Sure as [ __ ] We go to New York and we get into an altercation. Me and the dudes I'm with. I'm with actually cops.

One's on the job lieutenant, one's retired, and another dude, some dude starts some [ __ ] in the street, hits our car with his hand, and gives us the big, you know. So, we all bite, we take the bite, you hook, when it turns out to be, he throws his punch and jets. It becomes a case. It's actually still going on, which is crazy. Try to civily get us. He tried to get us as a human rights [clears throat] violation. And this kid's a psychopath. And it's literally about a decade later.

I mean, yeah. and we're still dealing with this guy.

All of that to say, it's been the best life I've ever known. I take it as serious as I take anything. It comes before everything else.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:35:46

And I didn't know what I was going to do for the rest of my life, though. So, I'm watching. So, Everlast is a real musician

To the core. It's all he ever wanted to do. He's great at it. Lethal, our DJ, is also a producer. It's all he ever wanted to do. His father was a famous musician in Russia and well known in the Russian community and in the guitar community. Russian soul Greca. I was like a you know a graphic/marketing slash like you just you can't just pull these dudes from the ether every time you have an idea to do. So I didn't know what I was going to do.

There's no 401k even when there is a band. There's no healthcare. There's no So I'm like what do I do? So around 10 years of sobriety I started to get a little you know my I was bored with sobriety. I was like, you know, I wasn't going to drink, but I was just like, and my buddy said, you know, you're not you're not being a service anymore and you should do some stuff. So, he signed me up for this prison thing. And I was like, he's like, you have to pass a thing.

They'll look at your record and they'll approve you and then you'll come in prisons with us. And I thought, okay, yeah. Cuz I knew there's no way once they look at my record, they're like, you're not letting this guy in. So, I was like, it was like a, you know, it was like a fool's errand. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I want to be of service. Okay. Yeah. Put me on the prison thing. Well, a week later, he sees me. He's like, dude. I'm like, "No way." He's like, "Yeah, dude.

Here you're from the from the sheriff. You're approved." I'm like,

So I start going to prisons. I start going to LA County, you know, where I was

When I was doing time and that I'm in there, man. And you know that they always say, you know, when the meeting's over, whether it was good or bad, I get to go home. These guys don't. And you have to sign a thing like if they they take you as hostage or she jumps off, you know, you worked at a Yeah. Yeah. like you're once you're in they're like we're not going to we're not going to negotiate for you out if they kill you or they hold you hostage we're not

And I'm like I'm good but there was some hectic stuff in there where dudes are like I'm like come on now I'm looking at my thing and we even went to the women's prison which was out in like

Danny Boy O'Connor1:37:39

It smelled worse

Danny Boy O'Connor1:37:42

You know what the thing it [clears throat] broke my heart but it also put like the reality of like how fortunate I was cuz we'd have to fight traffic it almost take you two hours to get there could have walked there in 20 minutes.

The LA traffic is just horrible. We'd get there, I'm already frazzled. I'm already a little bit salty. I'm like, "Fuck, the place smells like spoiled milk."

And I remember this girl came to me and just, you know, prisoner. And she was just like, "What's the weather outside today?" I was like, "Huh?" She goes, "Is it raining or is it sunny?" I said, "No, no, it's sunny." She goes, "We can't see from our from our from our dorm." Like, wherever they were, there were no windows. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm like, "You don't even get to know what the weather is." And I'm like with no judgment of like why you were in there, whatever.

I'm just thinking like I'm having a moan cuz I got to fight traffic, dude. What?

So I got [snorts] like right size with that.

I still was like I was going to meetings.

I was seeing dudes come in, you know, they're sharing, you know, 6 months ago I was blowing hobos and smoking meth and now I'm [ __ ] the vice president of of pictures at at Paramount. And I I started to get like, you know, feeling sorry for myself, you know, like the poor me and you know, poor me, poor me, pour me another drink. And that's what happens. And I was like, "Dude, I've been here 10 years. I'm doing my thing. I'm doing everything right." I'm like, "God, what what what do you want me to do?"

Cuz we were doing the La Coka Nostra with Pop and then with Fizzle.

And I'm like, "This is not for me anymore. I'm just not like I've grown. My mindset is different." You know, we still do it and it's still a thing, but it's not like it wasn't my my purpose.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:39:09

And I'm like, I don't I'm not qualified to do anything. I have no education. I'm not book smart. If it has a battery or plugs in, it's smarter than me. I'm like, I don't know how to use a cash register. If you put me at Starbucks, I'm like, you got mocha crap. I'd be go [ __ ] out of here. Black coffee, everybody. Like, I'm not good at that. [snorts]

So, I'm like, I'm doomed. Like, there's no But on the first tour, we went with La Coka Nostra. We end up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We had a three-day layover. I had never been to Tulsa in my life before. And on day two, I was just walking around the city and the sunset was beautiful. And I heard the train in the distance. The freight train goes through every half an hour. And I go, "Why is this place so familiar?" And I go, "Motherfucker, The Outsiders." It just, it was like the epiphany.

I was like, "Holy [ __ ] this is where they filmed The Outsiders." And I went and I asked our driver, "Dude, is this where they filmed it?" We were. And he was like, "Yes, sir." I said, "Can you take me to locations?" He drive-in still here. I said, "Okay, cool. Let me get my laptop." I went online. This is 2009. There was very little information at all.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:40:09

We found the drive-in from the movie and I found the park from the movie. And by finding the park, I found The Outsiders House. And if you don't know what I'm talking about at home, The Outsiders is a book by S. E. Hinton, female author. She wrote this book at 15 and a half. She failed English that year and got a D+ in creative writing. It was published in 1967. It's never been out of print in over 50 years. The librarians and English teachers choice of of required reading.

It's required reading not only in the US, but globally now. It's been translated in over 33 languages that I know of. It might be growing. I think that's 10 years ago when I looked into that. Since then, I found the house. Thought it'd be a great museum. Took 5 years to ponder what I was pondering. Kept going back and forth. Started doing all of this like uh urban exploring, you know, going to famous movie locations and doing before and after photos on the internet. Became my hobby.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:41:02

Yeah. And and everybody goes, "How did you get in this hobby?" And I was like,

"The Outsider House. We ran into it on tour and it was my favorite movie." And so every year I'd go back just to see it, you know, and then every year I would notice that the Habitat for Humanities was coming through that neighborhood, tearing out all these old derelict homes. And at year five, I realized if somebody doesn't do something, they're a block away. Year six, I'm coming back and it's going to be an empty lot with like, you know, Habitat homes.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:41:28

No. No. It was just

Danny Boy O'Connor1:41:31

Yeah. When I first got there in 2009, it was for sale for 42 grand. And I was like, dude, what the like how is that possible? Like not only is it still on Earth,

Like you got to understand that movie meant everything to me at 13.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:41:44

It was like money. And then it was on cable for the next 5 years. Every time you'd come home late at night, it'd be The Outsiders. Like, yeah, I loved this movie. And I'd always get into it.

And so when I found it, I was I couldn't believe the Drive-In was there, the Circle Cinema from the movie is there, the parks there, the house. It's like this little area, this side of Tulsa was like the the land that time forgot. It just looked just like it did. So I was interested at 42 grand but I was like dude like I don't know anybody here. I think that somebody else should do this. This would be a great idea. But for the next five years it started a a hobby which was that uh urban exploring that I do this Delta Bravo thing.

And we started that time at NCO. We were posting all these things and all these people who were like-minded were like dude I love what you're doing. I want to do it with you. So we just started this little crew and we would go out looking for historical movie true crime album covers. We'd take a before and after. We would mash it and put it on the internet and we started getting courted from everybody in Hollywood from Mark Burnett from Shark Tank and Survivor wanted to do a TV show to all of the we had this whole litany of people were begging us to do it.

In the end we didn't find we found we got an offer but it was like they wanted to own the brand and I was like I already you know I know better can't give you the brand dude because at the time we were selling I was selling a lot of t-shirts online and

Danny Boy O'Connor1:42:58

Delta Bravo urban exploration team it's still going strong people all over the world still doing it. I just when I moved to Tulsa, there's not much like Hollywood were rich with all of those things. You know, usual urban exploring for people who don't know, it's it really started when like people started going to Detroit to all the old auto places or or Canada had a lot of little like breweries or Milwaukee all the old industrial era stuff. It's not a thing anymore. So, people used to sneak in, they were boarded up in bad sides of town and explore these places and take pictures of all the old signs and all that.

Well, in Hollywood or in LA, we don't have anything that's like that. It's the land's worth too much, but there are movie and true crime and Manson caves and all that. So, I started to do that and that's how I met NCO. And then when I met him, I was like, "Oh, you're a cop." He's like, "Yeah, LAP, what what are you doing with me?" And me and him were just like, you know, freaking frack. We were just like, it was great. And we just started doing this thing.

And it was infectious. Everybody fell in love with it and wanted to turn into a TV show. It just

It didn't happen. Yeah. Yeah. And it didn't happen for a good reason because at 5 years of of it not happening and going, "What the I started to look at that house like, dude, somebody better do something about that house or it's going to get torn down." And then that voice inside said, "Why don't you do something, tough guy?" You know, I'm not. So, we we found the owner. She was absentee on it. The land the the tenants hadn't paid rent in 8 months. It was it was literally falling in on itself.

And I said, "Listen, you know, I had my buddy call you with me." He's like, "Could you call her on the two-way?" Cuz he's like, "This guy makes more money than I did." You know, he makes more on accident than me and you make on purpose. Just trust me on this one. When he's [clears throat] like, "Dude, what do you got me doing, bro? You got me calling out a $42,000 house. Is that Is that possible? Is a house on earth for 40?" I was like, "Just do it."

So, he says, "Ma'am, I know that it's not for sale. It's not on the market, but we were interested into hearing if you're ever wanting to sell it. I think your tenants are pretty much destroying it and we'd love to know if you keep our number and whatever." So, he left a message and he goes, "She I calling him. What happened?" I left the message. Leave me alone. And then an hour later, he goes, "Bro, you bought it." I go, "What?" He goes, "You wanted the house, right?" I go, "Yeah." He goes, "I called her back.

She said, "Yes, I'm thinking of selling, but I won't take a penny less than 20 grand." He goes, "I won't give you a penny more than 15, ma'am. With all due respect, it's a [ __ ] tear down." She says, "Give me 30 days cuz they haven't paid rent in 8 months and I need to collect mine

And then at 30 days I will sell it to you." And I was like, "What?"

So, I was just my mind was blown. Total fear.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:45:24

But not only that, I had $28,000 to my name. And I know it cuz I was literally running out of, you know, there's no more bridges. There's no more tours. Everlast, we had a little argument. They released like a anniversary record. He gets all the royalties there. Now we had a sunset deal. So after the group breaks up after 5 years, everything reverted back to him. I signed it cuz I don't, you know, 5 years is like a a lifetime when you're 20.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:45:47

So the label calls me or somebody calls me and like we need artwork. I'm like, what's the budget? They're like, no budget. And so I call Eric. I'm like, "Dude, I'm not." He's like, "I don't care what you do, but I'm just telling you, bro, and I don't want you to get excited cuz we're not doing another I'm not touring with this anymore. I'm over the hustle of period. It's just a tribute thing." I was like, "Okay, but I'm not working for free. Thank you very much.

[ __ ] you, Click." And so that was that. So I knew that there was no that kind of work left. So at 28 grand, I was like, "What am I doing?" So I just spent 15 of the 28 that I had. And then I got there and I told them, "Look, you guys got to pound sand. You're eight months behind on rent." They're like, "We have nowhere to go." Blah blah blah. So I was like, "All right, I'll buy you a truck. Okay, then we need first class last." Then they're like, "We need cable and this." I'm like, "Dude, finally." I was like, "Sell that 80in TV with the bevel in the PlayStation." They was living in squalor with a massive TV.

I was like, "You guys are [ __ ] nuts."

But we finally got them out 4,800 bucks. Now I'm $20,000 in Got 8 grand. I live in Beverly Hills, an apartment. It's 25,500 bucks a month and car payment and you know, all the things. So, I'm like, I got 90 days left and then I'm going to be back in that warehouse with my [ __ ] in a box. And um but I put one foot in front of the other and I asked for help. And it's hard for a 6'6 alpha male in my mind to be like, "Uh, please guys, I need help." But I just said, "I'm crazy enough." And I bought this house.

I think it should be a museum.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:47:04

I don't know what I'm doing here, but I need your help. And that community and that town, they rallied around me, bro. It became like the sensation. the mayor came out, the city council, the news was coming like I you would have thought like I was like the lottery winner won a pick and I had been you know whatever house of pain was which was a phenomenal like in an era where you just did weren't everybody was famous for 15 minutes it was still like dude it was like hard to get that I had all that so when this came it was tenfold you believe me when I tell you but I was ready for it this time and I said this is not about me

This is about celebrating S. E. Hinton's legacy about celebrating the outsiders and being a custodian to this legacy. Yes, I used to rap and yes, it's interesting that this guy came from Beverly Hills to Tulsa,

But I didn't make it personal about me. It wasn't about I'm cool and I was so visionary that I bought this house and I had this plan and it wouldn't have been a great story if I would have come with a bag of cash and threw my money around and made it. But what I did was humble myself

And say, "Guys, I need help." And once a week, I would hit some kind of stumbling block and I say, "Listen, I don't know what's going on. My chimney's leaking. and they're telling me it needs to be flashed and dude would come over and say, "I'll fix that." I'm like, "What's it going to cost?" Cuz he goes, "I got you. I love what you're doing. Thank you for what you're doing for Tulsa." And I was like, "Thank me for what I'm like, what are you guys doing for me?" Is what the magic here is.

So, it became this just reciprocal the way you would expect when you were a kid. When I was a kid in New York, I remember my grandfather being, "Hold on." We pull over. I go, "What happened?" He goes, "Get out." We pushed this guy's car. He ran out of gas. Remember the gas crunch of the 70s, right? Anybody would do that. You'd pull over, get out, and five dudes would be helping you and it would be fun, but you're like, you do that any in New York, LA now.

They're get the [ __ ] get out of my jerk off. Yeah. Yeah. Or the worst, it's like every like you beeping. How dare you get in an accident or run out of gas in front of you when I got places to be. It just changed community and Tulsa rallied around this house and turned it into

Tulsa is like you would imagine it was growing up where you're my grandmother used to say, "Go next door and get a thing of butter." I'm out of butter. She'd go, "Come back. She needs sugar. All right, go bring her some sugar. And we It was like that. You knew your neighbors. You were looking out for each other. Tulsa is very much that. It's a very It's got a big feel to it, but it's very small town in the sense that like everybody knows everybody and everybody's like rooting for you.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:49:26

Well, they love the museum. They love S. E. Hinton. And she's very much a recluse. Now, we talked earlier about the experience I had with House of Pain and how it was like it was everything that I was told I wasn't going to be that happened. And I was like, it's freaking me out. I started having panic attacks. I literally thought like I'd be in cabs and go like my my mind was just like

Like super panic attacks like and I thought to myself, you know, Susie the author is a recluse she doesn't like. And I think put yourself in her shoes, bro. Ever since she's been like 16 years old, everywhere she goes, people are like, you've changed my life. This book has changed my life. And she told me, Danny, I didn't want to change anybody's life. That's got to be a bad episode of Twilight Zone where she just wants to have her. She just wanted to write a story and do her thing and everywhere she goes.

It's not like, "Hey, I love your work. Thanks for what you do." It's just like they're pouring their heart and soul out to her. That's a heavy weight to do. Especially when you're not like, "Okay, you get it for a couple years and you're like, okay, that was heavy, but it was cool. It happened." This has been non-stop since she's 16. She's 75, 76.

She does.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:50:31

Yeah.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:50:37

And yeah,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:50:40

Chilling. She loves the kid. She loves the museum. It solved a problem that I didn't know it was solving. I wanted to do it cuz I love the movie. I read the book years later when it was being required. I wasn't doing anything that was required, especially from school. I now understand why people love it better than the movie. The movie will always be my first

Danny Boy O'Connor1:50:58

Thing. But the book is, if you like the movie, you're gonna love the book.

Me and Susie, we hit it off the moment we met. Other than when I first sat down, she says, "What are you drinking?" The first time I met her, I go, "I'm sober." And I could see the disappointment cuz I used to be like that. I'm like, "You don't drink? What's wrong with you? You're weird." You know? She was like, "Oh." I was like, "No, I just have a water. I'm

Danny Boy O'Connor1:51:20

Sure. Yeah. But she lives below her means, man. She's very humble. She's very like she's just likes, you know, her

Chilling and doing her thing. Yeah. She's been wonderful to me.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:51:30

Um and we talked earlier about not leveraging friendships, not asking Dana for tickets every time. Not

With her. I think a lot of people have tried to take advantage in that way. And even if it's just like, can you speak to the kids? And then when they get there, they throw her to the wolves, which are the kids, and they're like freaking out. The parents are like, I don't care as long as I get our book signed in a selfie. And she couldn't. You know how people get, bro.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:51:53

People get crazy. They don't care,

Danny Boy O'Connor1:51:56

It t it takes like suburban pe housewives into monsters.

I used to see them on when I'd be in New York at Canal Street when they'd be fighting for fake Louis Vuitton. Wait, we get back to Duth. They're going to see us, Becky. We're going to be It's like it does something to people when they want something and you have it, they're going to smash and grab cuz they're like, I'm never going to get this opportunity again. I don't care if it steps on everybody's toes.

Does she I'm getting it.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:52:23

She does. Sure. But

She gets asked at Nauseium from schools around the world, can you zoom us? Can you show up at our school? She's like, I can't do it with that. We just did over 5,000 kids last semester alone. They come from five different states and we do virtual tours that you can go through the whole house. It's open. So, it's something that I didn't even think about when I made that museum. I was like, we're going to do this for Dallas Winston. You know what I to look at his leather jacket and look at these switchblades and you know like for the movie fans I was thinking like middle-aged men like me and you to go like hey we were gracious too one day you know

And really it's it's a family museum I mean it's like people come through and it's a cathartic like they're oh my god my they cry they laugh they freak out they're like they can't believe that like it looks just like it did in the movie I mean when I you know when you say detail

I knew I don't care like I care what my peers think but kids, they won't they won't bite their tongue. They'll be like, "The [ __ ] is that?" You know, this ain't it. You know, like this thing, it's it's it you'll be like, "This is

Danny Boy O'Connor1:53:28

We're open three days a week. So, we're only Yeah. It's the Outsiders House Museum. We're open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during school cuz I we have a nonprofit that we I allocate Monday through Thursday strictly for the schools. Okay.

So, that they can come that it's always open to them. And then on the weekends, we're open to the public. And we do 100 250 people a day in a state that only has 4 million and in a town that only has 400,000. They say a million proper in Tulsa, but it's like they're counting all of the other suburbs as Tulsa. That's not Tulsa.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:53:59

I live at the top of the Mayo Hotel or most historic [clears throat] hotel and apartment that sweet overlooks the whole Arkansas River and all the refineries and anytime, brother.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:54:16

And that's not their first time and like you know Bean Shooter had been many times Slain my boy we like Slain does like five movies there already we have a friend that's doing movies and Slane started doing movies with them and then he started putting me in the movies with them and it's like this guy John Schwab incredible writer director

Danny Boy O'Connor1:54:32

It's funny you say that but not I I've acted in these things but I have no I'm not an actor I can just be an Easter egg but I have when when this is a I'm going to show you something. It's a you know, I will serve no wine before it's time, but I will show you what I'm working on and I'm working on something and you'll like it. But all of that to say, man, God had a plan for me. All I had to do was have the fortitude of staying the course, which was stay sober, be of service to the best you can, and just stay out of trouble, bro.

And eventually my pony came in, you know, my I had a, you know, and it was it was a lot, it took a lot longer than I thought it was because, like I said, I watch a lot of people come in and get success right out the gate. I'm like thinking, you know, I'm the first guy to be clear. Even my enemies, I'm like, we all want to get the thing. So I'm But there's a fine line. We like, okay, everybody but me, like really, dude?

Like, so everybody everybody's getting their beak wet, but I'm not not Danny. Like I was I started to think like that they had been like we already passed over that he's not in

Danny Boy O'Connor1:55:35

And it was the right and you know what the truth is the opportunity has been like 10fold because again it's not successful because I did it. It's successful because the town supported it the author supported it. It was something way bigger than me that I just said as a fan I can't imagine this place getting torn down and I have a crazy idea. I don't have the resources. I don't know how to do any home anything. I got a PhD on how to do them now.

I will never do another one again because like and I do collect for a bigger museum with all of her work but contract that out. But for this I could give a a course at Harvard on how to save these houses. But you really have to be passionate because all the money in the world. Correct. But if it was just money to get the job done, I watched a lot of museums still struggling to get it off the ground. It's not a money thing as much as it is a passion thing and a belief thing.

And I knew that her books, this movie meant something to our generation and every generation that comes after it. The book in the movie meant new fans. And now it's a musical. It won four Tony's. It was nominated for 12. It won best new musical. It's touring the nation as a musical. And it's in Europe as well or in London now touring. There's a lot going on. Some of it I can't announce, but the universe of The Outsiders and S. E. Hinton's work is only getting bigger and bigger as we go.

And I'd like to think we're just a small part of that. Maybe the impetus in a time where it was kind of languishing in just like you know [clears throat] never neverland and then we blew a little breath into it and then it caught on fire and boom and now we got this and people come from all over the world to see it. I love Tulsa. I love that Tulsa has been so gracious to me and I think it's gracious to everybody that comes there. The secret about Tulsa is the people.

But we have so much since I've been there. I came in 2009 for the first time as a touring musician. I moved there in 2016. I've been there close to 10 years, right around 10 years. It's grown exponentially in all the best possible ways. We have the Dodgers minor league baseball team. We have a hockey team. We have an indoor football team. We have a half a billion dollar park and it's only phase one.

We should be uh Route 66 running through it. We have the longest ridable Route 66. Leon Russell, the famous singer, songwriter, musician. His church has been restored, which was a studio. $15 million in this incredible event. We have so much to the drive-in still alive and kicking. They're going to show on the 28th. I got to go cut the ribbon and for the hundred years and we're showing the outsiders the theater that she wrote about and that was in the outsiders. The circle cinemas are celebrating 100 years.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:58:06

You know what? I I like the fact that I can advocate for it, but they don't have to look at my record to go like I got too many uh No, you know, I wouldn't take the job if they had it. It's politics is is show business for ugly people. Absolutely.

Danny Boy O'Connor1:58:37

Come to Tulsa. We'll pick it up. We'll do part two. We can do it in the living room of the Outsiders House. We can do the Ride Out podcast part two. The Tulsa edition.