Transitioning From In-Person to Remote Music Camps

out in southern California. Well, well, thank you Carol and Jason. Um, glad to be on the air. And um, you know, it's funny. I just heard all the all the bad news about the stock market. So we're gonna we're gonna try to take the next hour or whatever we're gonna be on. We're gonna list everybody because we're doing great here in l A. We're finally see blue skies, um, and everything's heading to you guys, you know. But yeah that somehow the wind directions changed and I looked up

today it's finally got blued, you know. So um, you know, as in New York, or I gotta appreciate California, but I missed New York. Yeah. Absolute, you're a Fordham Ram I believe. So, yeah, you made your way at Major way out West. So camp it's online, talk to me about it. So it's online. So you know, for years, I've been doing these uh rock and Roll fantasy camps um where eighty people come together and they got an opportunity to spend four days with these amazing rock stars.

And every night we do a masterclass series. So you get to Yeah, I put you on the band where the touring rock star. Then you get to play with Joe Perry and Roger Dole Tree and you performing at a nightly at the Whiskey of Go Go or or bb Kings or you know, the any club. And that's really been our for you know what we've been doing. And then I just when I when we all went to uh covid Um, I was set to do a camp with the Scorpions in Vegas, and I was gonna

bring it to New York. I was doing a cheap trick Um camp in New York City where they were gonna um. Do you know plays the Stargeant Pepper album and everything stopped and I said to myself, this is crazy. What are we gonna do? And in June I came out and I've been looking just for for many years to look into how to get my business online, and um so I came up with the idea of doing

these master classes living to get to people. I went to the rock stars and I said, hey, how about doing these classes and you know, the rev share with you and let's let's see if we can get people to come on soon and give him an hour and let him ask questions. Well a little did I know that the hour would turn out to be two hours because everybody has nothing to do with it, you know,

nothing true. Alice Cooper says, yeah, you know what, let's go And I got nowhere to go and and everyone just kept doing more and more time and loving the adulations that they were getting from their fans that were based basically fans musicians, vocalists and everybody music dusists who would go to them and say, hey, you know, I remember I remember that, you know that that show that you did, and can tell me a little about how how it was, or I'm finding people bringing everyone's bringing

their guitars on because the rocker could turn to them and say, hey, play me that lick. Let me let me how you doing it. No, you're not doing right, let me show you how to do it. And every night you're getting different advice from these amazing rock stars. And I say amazing because every night they get off the you know, we did the We've been hosting them every night and a different rock star, and and every night I get off the you know and get off the zoom call and I say, wow, you know, I know,

the country's isn't bad, and COVID everything's going on. But these artists are just giving giving out so much information and they all have one underlining um one under lotty point. It's passion what got them to where they got to be, and they have the passion that's kept them. And every giving me one hope it's going to come back, and really giving inside information, well you know you say it

inside information. I'm just looking. You know, you have Chef Gordon coming on, you have Jason flam who's somebody who's been on our air, you know, and so it's with the musicians, but it's also people who understand the industry, and you're giving just kind of some snippets of advice, which is so cool. Just got about thirty seconds here and then we'll come back and talk some more. But it's really cool. Chef was amazing. He sold out three

classes right away, one through three. It was all people from the industry saying, Chef, I don't what do I do now? I'm a chef, you give me some advice. UM, you know, I'm I'm a crew member, I'm an agent. What is like? And they all walked away. And again he spent two hours with everyone. He don't get again now doing a case on branding. UM, so it's been it's been fun. You've worked with Roger Daltrey, uh Ringo store Star. I can't even say it's sorry. It's been

a long week. The Monkeys, I mean, Joe Wash, Peter Frampton, I mean, so many legends when it comes to rock and roll. UM, tell us a little bit about that. So I started the Castle, I'm a New Yorker, UM and uh started the Castile's booking comedians. UM, and then I just I moved into special sports. I had the opportunity to represent UM, Vince Ferragamo and then Phil Simms

and Luke Canello. Really was my first client. UM it was with the Yankees and UH, and then he introduced me to so many other athletes, and UM, I started doing sports. I got out of music, UM until one day I got a phone call UM in eighty three asking me if I was interested in representing the association, and I said, the association of what I really wasn't a fan of theirs and and they did the music cherished Wendy never my love and I was able to take the band on and really do a great job

for them. And then I picked up all these other bands, the Turtles and the Grassroots and UM. So I took the what I learned in the castles and I packaged them in the package called it to Happen Together to her. I did that for two years, where you've got only her hits, hits only from these bands. And then eight six UM I came up with the concept through the Monkeys, and unbeknownst to me, I was on the seventh floor

at seventy five Broadway. On the eighth ninth floor was his new fledging network called MTV, and they decided they're gonna air the Monkeys TV show twenty four hours. So when I was normally selling three thousand tickets to night for these um, you know, old these tours. Um, I go on Selle of the Monkeys and I sold twenty five thousand and it was incredible. It was just incredible. Um. Every no one knew these young girls would come home and the mothers of Jelza, where were you all? My mommy?

I was waiting on line for the monkeys. They're coming to town and the most so, what are you talking about? I want to go see the monkeys. They didn't know, they didn't know the twenty year old bands. So um, anyways, unbelievable. The first the first twenty roads were just little girls screaming, and then their mothers in the back roads screaming equally, screaming equally. Yeah. So then uh and then following the monkeys,

I decided to do UM. I saw the movie Dirty Dancing and I said wow, I started the cast Gilson, I said. I came up with a concept to make a live tour of the Dirty Dancers, and Eric Carman and Bill Medley and I put it together this package. We sold out eight nights at Radio City and I toured that all around the world. And my business model was many of the cor Corporate America would come to me and say, hey, we'd love to get some tickets

and let's get meat and greets. You know, we want to sponsor your your packages and your tours because they did very well, you know, using using my my concerts. So um, one day, the president PEPSI calls me up after Dirty Dancing and he says, I'd love to, um, you know, sponsor one of your tours. It's the twentye Anniversity of Pepsi generation. You have any ideas for us?

So I'm sitting at lunch and I ordered a die coke and so I came up with the concept of how about we do a Ringo in the all Star band. Let me go to Ringo star and I'll put together an all star band around them. So they love that. I went over to a Lynn an opportunity to meet ring Go and made on my pitch. He said to me, I was thinking the same thing, and and that was it. That was the star of the All Star band. And he's still doing it at the thirty one years after

seeing Yeah, it's unbelievable. And uh, I was working there for fifteen years and then I, you know, I you know, for for an artist tour every city, it's amazing, but for a father, um, to be on the road, it was just to retard. And yeah, so I uh had such an amazing experience on the Ringo tours. And especially if you go to YouTube one day, you'll you'll see

there the type of my name and Ringo. There's a funny bit there that Levin Helmut Joe Walsh played a joke on me that and they played a good goof. But I got the idea being on the road with all these amazing rockers, um, what about if I could give this to the fan. What about if I could let people have an opportunity to share? And that was the start of Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. So twenty five years I've been doing the camp um and it's been fun. It's been a little hobby and but I'm

meant to change your lives. You know, I was listening to you know what you were talking about beforehand with with you know, changing lives with the young people. Rock Camp has basically changed your lives of so many people, and on tom of it, change your lives with the rock stars. And I have the stock. I have this great documentary coming out in February, and you're gonna see how not only does it change the lives of these people go through the experience, because that's what it is,

it's a four day experience. Um, but it's also changed the lives of rock stars. So I gotta ask you but before we let you go, David, you know, one of the things that you know just in our research that came across about you is you actually don't lead mud and haven't and I think it sounds like for a while sort of a rock star lifestyle, like you have a very balanced life. How did you achieve that? How do you achieve that? Well, that's a great question

because every night on these master classes. The other night, see how he was brilliant, Alice Coop brilliant. That's not what they said. They said, Oh, you know, just because you're a rock star doesn't mean you have to stop doing your your your daily responsibility of being a father, of being a husband, of being in my case of the grandfather too. Um, you know you still have to take out the trash. You know, I always, I always people always ask me a joke, They said, why does

the rain go star? I have to go on tour and I'd always make a joke though, but it's your less that you know, when on the road, you're a beatle. When your home, your wife said, pick out the trash. So that's that's why people tour. And I think, I think every night I'm learning in these masterclasses that you have to have a balanced life. And you know, my dad was a survivor of autists and and I think they still than me. It's wonderful to be in show business,

but you still have to have a responsibility. So to wake up and have both is amazing, and um, I enjoy it. I enjoy that part of my life. So what So what's next? What's next for you? Just got about a minute left? Okay, Yeah, what's next? Well? And want you go to my website rock cats dot com and see these master classes. And I hope your husband comes and joins us, um because there'll be some great

blues arts coming on the movie. I think. I think what I'm excited about is this movie coming out in January, February and probably February, and basically to show people that you don't have to be scared too, because that's the biggest problem with our businesses. People are scared the jam with Jeff back, the Scared to Jam with def Leppard. You know that some people get scared, but the ones who go through that experience, they go they can do anything.

They can do anything in their lives and not just you know, be a musician, but they become better. Listen, David, I was singing on air before and it was terrible, but I have no fear, so I get what you're saying. Just go out there. I went for it. It It was it was ugly, but I did it. David, thank you so much because listen, good luck come back at another time because we would love to continue this conversation, and

good luck with everything. David fish Off, founder of Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp Man, I've been on the website, Um just so cool master classes and they started like fIF you back, so how cool to just like sit and play exactly, And I love I love what he said at the beginning about people like yeah, I'm good, No, we can keep going. Yeah I know, but don't you like we see you do because every everybody's like, I don't know, I'm around, Sure, ye call me whenever I'm

a little lonely. Can we just keep laying? Can you play that lick again,