#146 - Ben Hoffman: The Man Behind Wheeler Walker Jr.

thing is, um. I was we were talking about doing this, and I was like, it's always weird for me to do it with people I know, and now that I know you, um And I'll talk about that in a second because it's interesting to me, but it's just weird for me to come over to your place, sit down and talk as a as a character, as a character, because it's the first time. We didn't really know each other that well. Yeah, I mean the first one was

still I knew. I felt like I we'd met, and I was like, you know, you know, I know, it's like the fun for me is and I'm just I'm just not as I just at the beginning, it was just like, let's go full in. I'm just gonna do the character. And now that we're on the third record, which just came out, which by the way, is number one in the iTunes Country charts, to talk to you right now, so let's keep it up. Sorry, Dolly number two.

She'll take me down any second now, probably by the time I get out of here, but she might actually have you killed, not just take you down on the chart. Well, yeah she could. I mean if she you know what if for someone who could? Who could? Um? Who? I wouldn't mind to see if that's the last person I'm gonna see. I love it. Oh, I forgotten to cuss on this, right, but let's say this first thing. If I don't curse at all, but if if you don't like bad words, you may want to turn this one off.

Not that we're gonna go full blue, but part of Wheeler's characters, he's very blue. And that's all I enjoy Wheeler because he's so blue. So um, there will be curse words said. And if that's not your deal, we're not gonna say it for the sake of saying it. But I'm just getting everybody heads up because mostly people cards a little bit because there's no rules. Do you know. I wonder what the audience is like for for Bobby Cass the same pretty much the same as the radio. Yeah,

I mean, what do you uh? You're talking about like reach or no, no, no, no, I mean you can tell me the reach. I don't care. I'm just saying, like the type of audience members more like people's six pretty five female between the ages of twenty two and

forty eight. When I look at the data, I don't know my data, but I gotta believe it's way different, probably oppos I would think so two, which is why I think it's actually funny and cool that you're on this show and talking has been because I think people will be not only they'll see we learned most of them a go, well that's dumb, but because you're it's very dude centric. Yeah, and it's it's I mean, it's a part of me. It's something I enjoyed and I've

always loved music. I wanted to get into it, and it's kind of something I kind of you know, created and it felt like a good I was really I will say I was much angrier at the time when I first started doing it, but I've since again, like I said, sitting here is bend is not a big deal for me because I'm not as piste, piste off or angry to these older women. I'll use the word angry as I was when older, How old are you? You're like, you're exactly I should be there, like that

should be you know, that's who Sho should be. That's exactly. I'm forty three. I'm not a kid. I can grow a full beard. Look on. Um and yeah, I just it just it feels different to me now and I feel like, um, I don't really like hiding bend is not important to me? What was it? And before I get to that, here's the funny thing to me is that when Wheeler first existed, because I didn't know you until I knew of Wheeler, and I think you had

came out and you kept me online or something. I I came after you hard because my my thing was, Um, I'll tell a little people about my background. I'm from Kentucky. My mom is from nash I mean I literally passed the house from my mom grew up is right down I won't say the name of the street for the sick year crazy fans, but um, my mom grew up right down the street from here. I whentn't. I've been to your place before and I always enjoy stopping, you know,

driving by. They since put an extra story on it, but you know, my family is from here, so I I just had decided that I was going to I had a show on Comedy Central and I did a kind of a a a country music show on Comedy Central, and I did a sketch where I because I always loved playing music, I wanted to I wanted to do a song and I sang like a country or song that was really dirty, and he got a great reaction.

I'm like, I stoet a whole album with this, and I kind of I knew a lot of just from growing up here, I knew a lot of people and I a lot of people at that time were from my hometown, Kentucky were starting to get big, and they introduced me to Dave Cobb, the producer who did Stapleton and is Bell, Sturgel, lot, you know all the you know, he's got a hand of a closet full of Grammy's now, none of which are mine. But and we I talked. I sat down and talked to Dave and he was

really into I just want to go. I wanted to make because what had happened is I had taken a break from kind of what I guess you would call commercial country for so long, like I literally turned off the radio in I don't know what year exactly, but it feels like I turned off the radio when it was Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt and turned it back on it was Florida Georgian line I did. I honestly didn't know what was happening, because you would Los Angeles

and you weren't. I think it was that. I think, yeah, I think it was that. I think I had also maybe just kind of I've never really been a radio guy. I always you know, I'm an album collector. I love listening to what I want to listen to, and I just I never really was, you know, I never needed the radio to tell me what to listen to. I was always reading about it, Like I used to go to the University of Kentucky library and and borrow Rolling Stone magazines like like the old old ones on microfiche

and see like what they liked that week. Yeah, exactly have to put him in, I mean, which you don't need anymore because they have the Internet. But I would like, who's this guy lou read? I want to learn more about him? You just go buy the record. So I just never kept up with what was going on commercially. I was really blown away by the how pop it had become. And it's kind of and I thought that would be kind of a good and I'm not gonna lie.

I don't love that stuff and you know that, you know that, But I just thought it was kind of a good metaphor. It was like it was a good um and still is. It's a good um like a superhero movie. It's a good villain, you know, Like I'm real country. You guys are fake country on the real thing. And that's what where the whole fun of it came to me was. And I've read a million reviews how Wheeler is the real thing and these guys suck and I'm and I get a chuckle, you know, I'm like,

I'm made up, you know. So it's just, you know, just like I think what happened was I and I was honestly angry that, like how is this? Because like I had family members who are you know? And I would see back in when I would come to Nashville, which was pretty much every few weeks as a kid, and you know, you'd see you know, um, Crystal Gale walking down the street. It was just a small town with a few country stars around, and it felt like

really organic, real music. And it feels like and it felt like almost a Hollywood had taken over in my back of my mind. I think living out in l A, it's like I can always go back to country music and listen to country radio and just remind me of the good old days, and it just it just disappeared again. You know, no personal offense, but um, it's just kind of and you've had your issues with the two um but um. And as you as almost the face of

country radio at the time, I think I was. I singled you as an enemy, and then there was a few people who would, like, you know, I don't remember who it was, but a few different people were They're like, no, no, no, he's a this, he's um. I'm trying to think of the word they use. They always used the same. He likes he likes to um stir stir s up. Yeah, but he's like, no, no, Bobby, Bobby is a UM. You know, Bobby's the guy likes this, you know, start ship.

And I was like, um, huh, maybe I got him wrong. And then we met and we remember we came after me on Twitter and I was like, well, I've already been a fan of what the character supposedly stood for, and I knew it was a character too, So I enjoyed the hyperbole of Wheeler Walker, loved it. And you came after me, and I remember just going, O get this funny, And I think I replied back, like, you're right, yeah,

you're everything. You're things right about me, about me specifically. Yeah, but you'd also i'd heard that, um you uh, um, what do you? What do you? What do you know? Shouldn't you shut the door? People are like cooking downstairs. You gotta you know what's in the house. Well, this is how you know you want dancing with the Star. You got a team of people cooking you food. We have a Christmas party at my house tonight. Okay, so

like my whole show is coming over tonight. So the team of people actually a friend of mine who said I will come and cook the crystal. Well, I said, I've been there. I don't remember teams. There's no teams, just hanging out. Mike's the only team. So back back before the blender jumped into our conversation, uh, I remember just your messaging at me and making fun of me online like, well, I did that all the time, and I didn't. For the most I did it and I still do it. A lot of the people I have

no idea who they are. I just know they're you know, I have my people, that's you know. There's plenty of people I've made fun of online since met And then as someone go, you know, you should actually listen to him, you know, and it's like, you know what, it's not that bad, you know, but but but it's usually insult first and ask questions later, which is probably probably gets

me in trouble. Well, and you know, that's what you did to me, But again its with the character of it, and what's funny and hard for me because you're actually a really nice guy when you're not Wheeler like we learned been to me or there. The juxtaposition between you two is night and day because you're actually pretty soft spoken human. That's really funny. And Wheeler is this big, loud character and so's and used to come after me.

But I see you come after my friends too, and they don't know Ben, they only see Wheeler and I laugh and just see how they react because again, how someone reacts to a character, well, the best way for what it's worth about like a band who i've since I think I want to say I met him. I don't remember, but I went hard after Old Dominion and they just came back with a joke, making like a really funny joke. I never made fun of him since it's just like if you go along with it and

you just and I'll never touch Old Dominion again. It's just like you go out the DNA and I love those guys, but I just laugh. But they're but they're just they don't take it that well, and it just brings it's just fun. It's just fun to have that. And I'm not and not joking. My therapist thinks this whole thing. He's like, he thinks it's great for me. He's like, you've really improved. It's like, well, I'm getting um a um uh. Well, let me just give you

a quick example. I had a a sketch on the On the Bench show where I just scream at this group of football players and it was the end of a long day. We've been shooting all day and I was screaming and yelling like, oh we didn't get that to you know, we gotta redo it. The lightning was off and I lost my voice screaming so hard and um, and I've always been insomniac. And I told my therapist, you know, I didn't have to take amby and do anything. That night. I just fell asleep. He's like, well, you

got it all out. There's a lot of your system. I slept like a baby that night. I was like, well, actually I should just yell and screaming strangers every day, you know. And that's kind of what the character became, you know, um a little with more social media. Yeah, I was just it was just there's so much pent up and you see the soft nice guy, but inside it's just like it's raging. See I don't because you and I socially more than once, and it's a very

soft nice guy. But also I know creatives are nuts, and to be a creative, there's some nutty part of you that is just sitting in there waiting to jump out. Yeah, and that that that it's nice to have a release for that nutty part, you know. And I didn't know how badly I needed it. Um. But I also do love country music and I love playing. I've really enjoyed, you know, every you've enjoyed every second of it. Um, you do love country music, that's the truth, of course. Yeah.

I mean I grew up with it. I don't think you can. I don't think you can do what I'm doing. And I sincerely love the music and know it really well. The first song that you put on the Bench show was called Eating p and Kicking a Yeah, and that guy.

That one was so much fun because we brought in a group of um, you can still watch it online, and we brought in a group of Hollywood extras, mostly older folk who didn't there's just it was almost like a jackass type thing, and we shot their reactions just like you're you're just audience members at a country show,

you know. And they just sat there and we just we went and I sang that song straight, and I mean a couple of people left and without getting their check just they were just so upset, and I was just like, I'd like to do this every day, you know.

I want to talk about sleep Number for one second, so as you know, I do this show from my house and uh the studios upstairs, but downstairs, actually right below where I am now is my bedroom and I do have a sleep Number bed and right now the new Sleep Number three sixties smart bed It's all about quality sleep. My sleep number setting is thirty and it has been for a long time. And you know for me, if I sleep better, then I feel better. And if I feel better, then I work better. Did you just

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Sleeping while Less partner of the NFL. You'll only find a sleep Number one of the five hundred seventy five sleep number stores nationwide. Visit sleep number dot com slash bones to find the one nearest to you. Sleep number dot com slash bones to find the one nearest to you. All Right, so you want to praying Justin Bieber fans by by doing a Q and A with Justin Bieber except you just stole a picture off of Instagram. Yeah,

I told that. I told that story on Conan. I um um, I took a somebody ted a picture of a biber on on a plane and and I said, as this is as Ben And I said, um, hey, I'm sitting next to Biber and our planes stuck on the runway. And I'll ask him and he says, I'll do He collided any question because I was trying to promote the show. Go. He'll answer any question you guys want. He's really being really cool because we're gonna be here for like an hour. And I got fans from Bieber

fans from all over the world. They're like, you know, can we ask him when he's coming to Australia and we're right back. I just asked him. He said he hates Australians ever coming, and he's like any and some girls, some poor little girl. May I feel bad for these kids? Now? This girl goes, um, you know, can you ask me

if he likes girls with glasses? I mean like he says he just thinks that he thinks there they suck and you should get contacts, you know, and just like you know, just being rude and if they all believed it, I don't know why. I think it was maybe the early days a Twitter or something. And so that was been You did the Bench, which I thought the Ben show was so funny. I thought it was so funny.

It was it was only it was tough show to do. Um, and we I talked about it with the right around the time of Key and Peel were Um, it was a sketch show, which is a really hard thing to do nowadays with like and even Key and Peel had this issue, which is, why would I watch a show a sketch on TV. I'll just wait for my friends to text me the you know, the best sketches, and it's just hard to keep them involved. So um, it was always my goal to kind of have my own

sketch show. So I was happy that I had it, but yeah, I didn't really. What's ironic is that if I if I've gotten those numbers today, I'd be the biggest thing on television, which at the time it just didn't work well enough. So when when you decided to Wheeler Walker, and you had to fully commit to being Wheeler because do you have the beard all the time.

I've never known you without the beard. Yeah, No, I grew it up for I Like, when I meant to make the record, I was starting to grow I was like the first record, Yeah, while I was writing for James Gordon at the time. So I went, um, we had a chuiz a Thanksgiving break and I went back, I have Thanksgiving a national over years for my family is. So I was like, I told Dave Cobego, I got these and we'd record the whole record in four days

and I um, I put the um. We record the whole album that fast, just like I would take breaks from Thanksgiving and run over the record and then um I UM. During that time, I was like, I'm gonna grow out the beard just to like take pictures because I'd already been asked. You know what if it takes off enough to tour, I'm like, I'm never fucking touring. So that was the thing. You didn't want to tour, huh never. It was just a comedy music correct my well,

you know, my brother was in this band. Scissor Sisters were a huge band in the Europe especially. I mean he was he still selling out arenas sold I want to say he sold five or six million copies of his first record. At least it was huge, and I just saw it. I knew it moved for very similar in a lot of ways. And he just couldn't. He just didn't like life on the road. And I'm like, well,

and my I mean mid late late thirties. Then you know, I'm like, I don't want to leave a good paying off his job at cord that that's that's good money to go sitting. I knew. I never thought people would show up to gigs. I don't want to sit in a in a in a sprinter van outside of some tiny club. That's not what I want. I wanted it. Maybe at twenty one, I just didn't. It's not something I wanted. So and I finished the album. I think I took the album cover shaved, just like that's the

end that I know. And then of course they call so and so is gonna pay X amount to play Chicago. I'm like, but while you're on the way back, you can play this, this, this place. I was starting to get offers to give you offers and a route you other close by places. Yeah, I was starting to get

enough offers that made me think about it. And this is after the first record, this after the first Yeah, the first record debuted at number nine on the Billboard Country Charts, and that was called it was called redneck S Work, redneck Ship. And when they called to tell me that it was I didn't have a manager, I

didn't have anything. I had a I left Cops studio with them with a the album on a hard drive because I just made the ben choice head so I just paid him in cash for the album and I left with the album on a hard drive and I go, you know, it's a bummer that no one's going to hear it. Because we were both like, this, this is really actually a really interesting, great country record. It's too bad. It's just gonna be. It's gonna be something I play

for my friends when they come over. I was like, I was trying to And then I we sent around and I actually talked to a couple of a couple of the big labels, and I can tell that they were just they thought, you know, it would be it would end up being in the closet. So where So I talked to thirty Tigers, the local distributor does a lot of you know, big stuff, and like, we think it can sell, so let's put it out and see

what happens. And we did. I want to I don't know what, really, I don't know what made it take off like that. I think it was just something new in country and I think, yeah, well that was the thing too where I am like Dave Cobb would call me like, how do you know so and so go, I don't know, I don't know who you're talking about. He's like, because he just came to me at dinner. So he loves the record. And this is when the record wasn't out. I was getting calls emails from people

who've heard the record. I think it really was being handed around in Nashville, Ton, so I think a lot of kind of taste makers um And he was a really funny story which I can now tell is I was writing at Cordon and Dirk Spentley and Luke Bryan We're hosting. The was a c M, probably a c M, so they had to come in and do a bit on Cordon and they're like, Ben, you're a fucking redneck. Why don't you go deal with Luke and Dirk's and

help him with this song? Was like all right, and we started working on it was the the bit was and I'm not being they were good, it just wasn't that funny a bit. It was a bit about how like there's never been a country hit out of England, so they're gonna write an English country hit for James. And we started hanging out and like working on this sketch.

And then midway through I was like, oh, I know your agent Ja, and they're like and they both look at each other like you know j reps comedy writers, and I was like you, no, No, I do some country this My album has been out for a few weeks and I was like, no, I do some comedy.

I do some country music on the side. That's like a side thing like oh, what's your what's the what's the side thing on called It's Wheeler Walker Jr. I saw their eyes light up and everyone was like your wheeler Wheeler Walker Jr. And I I didn't know it had reached to that, you know, the guys at the top of the church. I had no idea. And then I got a text from Jay who was talking about like Luke and Dirks can't believe that they're working with you.

I'm like, We're who's who's telling people about this album we're to coming from. You know, I just had no idea, so I just kind of it just kind of word spreads to this day. I mean, that album we'll probably sell. I mean that's an independent album, just from word of mouth. Obviously, no radio playing, the videos, know nothing. It'll it'll it's getting near a couple of hundred thousand albums. That's how I heard about it was Eddie, my producer, comes in

and goes, do you know this Wheeler guy? That was like I didn't at the time, and I was like, I don't. He goes, listen to this song. That's something that beating off beat off. Yeah, probably better off beating off. That's what I was. And he played it and I was like, that's what And we had put out, um like a raging idiot's record at the same time. I remember going after that and they you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, because it was it was ahead of me on some

kind of all. I was looking at the charts a bunch, because when you're a comedy writer, you're just like half your job is looking at the Internet. The other I mean a lot of it. The internet looking is if you're comedian, you're looking at yourself you know, how's my stand up? Because I did never have never were done stand up to this day. It was never interested in it. And people, you know, everyone's googling themselves, others, tickets song, so I would just be on iTunes or you know,

googling Wheeler Walker Jr. Seeing what's going on. So I was just like checking it all. There was a story they did about both I remember now the Watchington posted a story about comedy country. Yeah, no, you know what this is? New York Times? Is that what it was? I remember that just like someone called me like like I said back to a publicist, like the New York Times wants to talk to you. I was like, what the hell heck is this about? And then we were in the same arm and then Edie goes, you hear

this beating off song? And I listened when we started sitting in the studio playing your music, and the problem was when you're in the studio, if that accidentally goes over the airwaves. I've already been fined a million dollars by the FCC. I'm really yeah. When when you get those and I have to feel like I've asked you this before, When you get those fines, who do you actually have to pay it? So I didn't have to pay it because my company said we'll take the hit

for you. I would have had to pay it if they would have wanted me to pay it. They can, they can force you to pay well, I mean I did it. So it was a whole thing too. But my company took took all of it, and I think in the end they split it up over a few years. But no, they came at me. Um, but it was it was so it was an accident. But I was already find a million bucks. And once that happened, I think there's only three of us have ever been find

that much, Stern being another one. He's been finding multiple times. Um, So I got fined and we were playing this in the studio and what did you get fined? Do you remember one of the ones you're gonna find for I gotta find one time for one million dollars? What was

that for? Playing? So here's the story is. I was on the air in Dallas, uh, doing my show from Dallas, and the World Series was happening, and in the DC market which my show is on, they cut in right at a home run and played the E A. S. Testing signal, so it's like three to pitch uh and then here down you didn't see the home run that

actually changed the game the course of the game. And so it was like a thirty second deal where I was just kind of re enacting huge life moments and I was like, Okay, here comes the head in the A S. Like you're having a baby, like big things in life. And instead of actually that moment happening, I puy the E. S tone um because it was a big part of the world series, actually one, the whole whole,

the whole thing. I think I know anything about it that the tone that we had taken from the Internet was the old presidential E A S tone somehow they put on the internet. And so when I played it, it triggered off E A S alerts in all these other cities like that, you know, the old world War of the world, so exactly what it was. And so it was like Atlanta shut down, Detroit shutdown, and not only that A T you were shut down the entire

TV system. And so what happens when that thing goes off, It turns to like Channel five and it's like you're now on Channel five waiting for the whatever the either this is a test of the emergency broadcast system or

everyone series. I remember being on a lot of TV shows where there's certain things you can't you know, you can't have a like a like an ambiance alarm too loud that makes that people think there's actually an ambulance or anything in that kind of so, but we that tone hadn't been updated supposedly in a lot of these systems.

So what happens was they triggered because one triggers another, so they all go off and shut down multiple cities to shut down an entire television service accidentally, like there was nothing malicious. I didn't even know I did it. Well, if you knew, I mean, my guess is you probably got enough um publicity from it that it was probably not worth it. But you you know, I didn't really give I couldn't talk about it. It was so legal, you know, when you're in the middle of a court case.

Did did it make news? Though it made news that I was the traditional country radio community and country community and talent. My first three or four years was a nightmare because they hated me because I stood for not I didn't even stand for things that just was me, and so anytime I would get in trouble, they would just really hyper focus on it. Did you take it over for nobody? Now? What happened was Jerry House was on in Nashville, he retired, they put on another show.

The other show failed old move them off and they really weren't going to do a nationally. But Jerry House was the guy was on forever right, Yes, yeah, that's the guy who when I mentioned I was doing this show, my uncle was like, oh, is that the same station? You know? Is that Jerry Alice? I'm like, no, I'm not going to Jerry. Years before me, Jerry House was on. So but anyway, I got fine million bucks by the SEC because of what had happened with all those eyes

alerts which can't can't do that? Is that was that Mike? Did you grab that sound? Did not know? Let's play it now what happens? Okay, so yeah that happened. Um My point was we couldn't play with the studio because if it was to go over the air through a microphone that happened to be on that's another fine exactly. Yeah, I mean once you get the first one, I guess, but do everything about doing an edited record, so that

could happen or was that against what Wheeler stood from? No, it was against what he what he and I stood for, which is my thing was always like, you want to play my songs, go edit them yourselves, because I just don't want to. It's kind of like I said, it's kind of how I felt at the time. I think I just, um, I just had a show canceled. I was kind of I was a Kentucky boy. He wasn't happy about being in Los Angeles period, and also being unemployed, and you know it's like, let's just be rowdy and

and make everyone angry. You know, That's kind of how I felt. I really, I mean I really didn't care. Um, it's weird now doing Wheeler. That's why I made this the new records is he's married, as his son a kid, because I wanted to make a to see what a happy Wheeler would sound like. And he's still just as angry as he always was. But so it's what w W three Yeah, as in Weil Walking three, also World War three. Yeah, the name after after my son, Wheeler

Walker the third. But you know, like I I thought w W three would be a good title, just because first of all, what World War three could be happening as we as we speak right now, but also putting out my albums as always, he is always tough. You know. Any guilt for going after some of these people, they're

probably good people. Does Benfield guilt? Um? I'm trying to think who I have felt guilt for and if any of them come back and said please stop, like oh yeah, yeah, I've had some big the big artists you know, come reach out through management agents whatever, Can you leave me alone? And I'm like, no, Well, it's just I was just always were a very shy person, as you know, like I would go down you know, um, and it just felt it was really liberating to just tell people to

f off to their face. It's just really cool. And then I, um, I would probably feel, you know, I would get you know, so and so is you know, really really angry about what you said about I'm just like we'll tell them to like the character would get into Ben and I and I actually, you know, I would go to meetings in Hollywood and trying to you know,

work on TV shows. I literally have agents, managers, you know, throw a little wheeler into this meeting, you know, let him know, you know, because I would go in so timid before, and it's kind of help, you know, turn up to like I would literally heard the phrase you maybe do a half wheeler at this Netflix meeting and see what you can get out of it, because when I'm I'm just too. La is a tough place for like a shy, you know, timid, small town kid, you know.

So it's helped me in that respect too, I think. So with a new record, what's the you have a single? Yeah, it's not. It's just the order you know what's I sell. It's not singles. It's just the order of things, the songs that we decided about, the songs out But what's the song? If there if comedy radio, if if satellite, it was like, we gotta play a song. Well the

one people I think Outlaw Country has been playing. Um yeah, they've been play because that that album the first time especially was really good for Outlaw Outlaw Country station on Sirius. It was a song they loved, Um, they loved say some Titty Milk for Me, which is a song to my obviously wife and sons, Some Titty Milk for Me, which is actually I was talking to a buddy of mine, who, like I said, all this stuff comes from real stuff. He's like, have you ever tasted breast milk? And I'm

like I'm like, of course not. He's like, you know, oh, here we go. See sounds like country mansb lap two years never just like I love you, but I'm just when you go into a right, okay, And you wrote with some really great writers, yeah I do. I do most of the majority still on my own. The first album was eleven so right, so I didn't know what co writing was. You know, I've never been in a writer's room. Uh, certainly. I mean I was used to, you know, comedy writers rooms are eleven people. I didn't

even know they had co writers. I mean I knew Lennon McCartney and that kind of stuff. I didn't know that like especially countries, you know, co writes have like, um, you know, it's a big thing, and uh you know, you know in Nashville, I didn't know you were allowed to do that. So I just wear every so on with myself. That's what you had to do. By the second album is when I started getting calls some of the big writers, you know, like I want to write a song if you like, it can only make it better.

Why not try it? You know? Do you like that process of writing with songwriters? I do, but I also like doing it by my I mean I I've had some great experiences and I've had some you know, Um, I met a lot of cool people, you know, I think like a lot of them, guys won't put their names on the albums. And I'll tell you off the hear I just won't say it on the air, but there's a one song on my new album, one of

my favorite songs. One of the co writers is a guy, you know, a huge guy who you play all the time, and he just you know, and I don't want to get him in trouble, but you know, those guys call and now I get called, and I've gotten calls you know to like you know, for guys on their albums. You know, we want that Wheeler sound, you know, can

you come in and write with me? And that's that's the tough ones for me, which is like, you know, just like you know you just said, you know, you know grit, there's like I can I got good word to rhyme with that? You no, no, we can't use this, you know, you know this is for the radio, and I'm like, you know, so I gotta kind of hold myself back. And it's just I have respect for those guys who can sit in that room and be that kind of vulnerable and kind of real with other people.

Just seems weird to me. You know, the records out and there's nothing that's completely clean that you could play on that I could play no, And I thought about it, you know, um, not completely clean because a lot of a lot of songs have cursing in them or references. But you know, Wheelers over the pretty over the top. It's over the top end Like I also too, there's

I don't want. I didn't want to be on any like I don't like the things that I would get me for example, radio play and doing a radio to I have a lot of you know, I've made a lot of good friends in country music. I'll tell you that that's been the highlight for me. Um and spending a lot of time in Nashville, which is basically you know, home for me has been more of my favorite things. But the other like I don't want to go on

the late night shows. I actually, I mean, I've had after the second an album, I had two big talk shows, say give us a clean song, and when you come on our show, I'm just and then the part of me that's just like I won't listen to and it's that's part of actually who I am. I don't know where I get that. I think you have a little bit of that too, which is like, whatever you tell me to do, I'm not gonna you know, if that's not I'm supposed to do, I don't want to do

it exactly. It's like, oh, so a clean song will get me on you know, NBC at whatever time. I don't want it, even though deep inside I probably did, but it just my immediate reaction is I don't want that. So, you know, those opportunities are there, and I don't want to fly out to l A or to New York and do three minutes on a late night show. I also don't think it really helps. But I don't think now it helps near even as much as I did

three years ago. I don't think it helps it. I mean those those because again I've worked in late night and those those ratings we got, it's just you know, we're so so. I mean, I I mainly do you know, podcasts out my my, my press tours, going to l A for five of days and do a bunch of podcasts and those things. I mean, you know, the numbers on these big podcasts, those are you know, millions and

millions of people. I mean this one here does seven digits seven yeah, so and people underestimate how valuable a podcast is. Well that was a big thing too, because I knew Joe Rogan from going on his show. I knew him a little bit around town. I knew him from him from UM. I had gone on his show to promote the Ben Show, and then I was like, why don't I come in and promote my this record I put out? And then right before we went on, there was like, why don't you just do it as Wheeler?

Be more fun? And even though he knew Ben, and then I get like, mam went back up the charts and I still remember, um, somebody tell me that Margot Price had done SNL that week and I sold more records from Rogan, Like Joe Rogans literally has bigger numbers on his podcast. On his podcast, and I'm starting to night live like a big night of SNL is low numbers for Joe Rogan, which is crazy to think that you could. You know, the way people consume media is

just so much different. Again too, I don't know if my album will be in the running to be near the top of the charts this time, but the numbers, certainly slow weeks in country music, you could have a number one record with I don't know how many albums sold. Certainly ten to fifteen thousand wouldn't be crazy, no, And you know it's funny the slow week which is what where we targeted, and we had the number one comedy record and then we had the number four country record

with the record we just goofed off. We were not I shouldn't say g gooped doped. You know, it's not what these guys do like. Their life is making a record. Um, and so I'll let me do a lifefule. I'm talking about live flock for one second. The Better Business Bureau is urging us to watch out for scammers looking to steal holiday year. Top scams include things like bogus emails with links that are to look like websites, so you it's a site that you know, but they have one

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Go to life flock dot com or call one LifeLock, use the promo code bones for an additional fifteen percent off your first year promo code bones for an extra fifteen percent off and life flock dot com. Okay, so we have the third record out is what does weed a live past this? I gotta see I have some awesome talks now of a possible. Um, a couple of possible concert specials, but I'm not sure. I have mixed feelings on them. We'll see where that goes. But yeah,

I don't. I don't know because we'll talk about a second. I've got some other stuff, bruins, so we've got to see. Um, I don't think it's I just don't. I love playing music too much. I don't know how it can be there. And I also don't want to do a bend album, you know. So so what about your face? Do you shave it? Or do you have to leave the full beard forever? Is it part of no? I think I shave. I think I'm gonna shave now. I gotta we'll talk. You talk about LifeLock first, and then we can talk

about it. That was it, that's it, that's your that's your probo. Just saying the word LifeLock. That just did They did the whole commercial. You aren't even listening. Oh they did it often? Okay, yeah I missed it. But anyway, but we record the commercials before you walk in. I don't have to stop. I'll give him another plug. I'm just curious. What's life loss? So, for example, people have tried to open up bank accounts of my name or open up credit cards and so it monitors make sure

nobody's trying to steal your identity. Actually quite fantastic. I used it a long time before they I signed a partnership with them. Yeah, no, I'm I'll look into that. Yeah, I don't want people. I don't want people using my name too, because once it gets out there, people can try to jack all kinds of stuff, including your your name. Yeah, well yeah, I don't want that, um, especially now thanks to you, people are gonna know my real name. Um people.

And it was funny to be when people would not to completely change the stuff to here, but you would say something as we other people get pissed off and they'd be like, hey, listen, we know you're really been and it's like, of course it takes one google. That's what that's I would say, if everything that makes me angry about this whole thing, that's what makes me the most angries, Like, man, you tricked me, and that's what

which just had nothing to do. Like they would go, listen, you're just some dude from New York who's trying to trick us. It's like, no, I'm from you know, I grew up in Kentucky. My family's all from Nashville. I was like, I grew up with this music. I love this music, and trying to trick people was the was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn't want nothing to do with it. It's just I wanted to Honestly, I just wanted to make music and I wanted to

do it. I think the Ben Show was so because of the let me know if I'm going too off topic, but the Bench Show because of the lead reasons, had to be called the Ben Show with Ben Hoffman to separate, you know, like they do The Daily Show with John Stewart, We're not Trevor Noah, so they you know, the Daily Show name was I think taken, so they're like multiple take. Someone had copyrighted. So the Daily Show with John Stewart's not taken, so do that. So my show was the

Ben Show with Ben Hoffman. All the billboards, posters, everything was my face going on Kimmel, going on con and all that stuff. I just gotten really sick of of me and being banned. I was like, why don't just be someone else for a couple of years. See how it goes and like I said, it took off in a way I didn't expect. But um, that was kind of That was my reasoning for it. Had nothing to do with like, oh man, I'm gonna trick all these

country fans. I mean, it's still good. I mean people still when people are at the shows, they're not sitting down laughing, They're they're up there and they're you know, they're loving the music. So when people really believe Wheeler is real and they message, you're like, oh, like this is the real deal, like you are the real there and they really mean it sincerely. How do you feel

about that? Well? So, I mean, like, for example, while I was backstage, I was did I opened a tour for kid Rock and I was backstage and Guy Fieri wanted to make me real bad and I introduced myself as Bend. He's like, what the hell are you talking about? Don't I'm not really His real name is Guy Fiery, He's got he pronounced it Fieri or something like that.

And I'm like, and he said to me, it's like telling me saying I ain't real, and I'm like, and it made me think, like what, well, sorry, Guy Fiery. But I'm like, but I'm thinking my head, like, what's the different mean? Does the songs change, the music change? You know? Another thing too is you know these country stars, half of them aren't using their real name. This outlawing like a cowboy head is not a practical thing to wear on it's on a stage. These out you know,

cowboy boots have no use while you're playing guitar. Like, it's all in that, it's all showbiz, it's all in act. So in that respect, I feel like I'm not really doing anything different. Certainly the content is different than what most people do, but it's something that makes me giggle or something that I get enjoyment from. But it has nothing to do with um, none of zero percent of what I was trying to do was like some kind

of jackass style prank or something. So that really and then like you said, we know your name is really really Ben Hoffman, I'm like, oh really, sure, Lot Holmes, you got Google. You know, it's like because Wikipedia doesn't even have a because I've tried a multiple time to change give Wheeler his own Wikipedia page and they refused to do it. Wikipedia pages, Ben Hoffman, So it's not that I mean nothing could be easier to do, so

talk about that Netflix that anyway. Yeah, so that's kind of why I think you were asking about what happened now, because I just I have a I gotta spend next year in Los Angeles. I sold an animated TV show which had been a passion of mine for a while, to um that I created about a high school basketball coach in Kentucky, and it's gonna I have to spend all of two thousand nineteen, it sounds like to me

doing that show. So, um, it's a great I'll tell you what, It's a great problem to have is to have to to have to take time off this to do it, to to run your own television show. It's it's gonna be a blast. And I mean, no one's gonna remember because I don't think because animation takes a long probably won't come out NTI that's my next year. So it's gonna be a break for me, you know. Um. So I'm looking at both both your books by well you have people still even you run and keep Wheeler

alive a little bit at least. So well, that's that's what I'm trying to figure out, is how much because I kind of liked the idea. I put out three albums pretty fast because I write pretty fast and do the records pretty fast. But I would like for people to forget not I mean, I feel like, I mean the old days, you know, Elbon would put out Elton John put on an album every year, and nowadays, like

YouTube spent six years between records. And my thing was, if I'm doing this, I'm going on record a year, record a year. And I did three records and three years, and it took everything I had to make these records. And I'm really proud of him, but it's just I think people need I think what he kind of represents for people, I think people just need to break from right now, is my personal opinion. Yeah, that's true too.

I can see now there's there's so much of that just aggression to where I can see what people will go it's adding to it. Yeah, I feel like I'm on the on the wrong side of it. There's certainly issues and I'm not an aggressive person, and there's there's an aggression to it that just kind of naturally comes out. But I don't make the albums in an aggressive way, you know, like um, like you were like you were

saying that one time before better Off beating off? That to me is just silly, silly, like why go out tonight, I'm not getting a girl anyway. Why not just stay home and beat off? Whereas people will other people see the songs like yeah, man, screw girls just beating off better Man, it's like it's like some kind of male empowerment song, which you know, but that happens with all comedy you do or any song anyway, you know, um,

you know, okay from a Skokie. You know, it's not that's he was not like you know, that was not literal, as he explained how to explain years later. But you don't complain about the time when you got to hit with it, you know, yeah, when it's paying the bills. Did you make money if you make money off Wheeler? Yeah, yeah, like enough to survive and like yeah, I mean I had.

I took a three year hiatus from Hollywood and been fine. Um, mainly because I would say the biggest reason is because I put out I have a distributor, but I put out my albums myself, and you know, I make all but a couple of bucks on every album sold, which now everyone's gonna think because I said I sold a few hundred thousand records and I have that much money. I don't have that much money. Still gotta pay for the records, as you know, going on tours, expand like

all this stuff. Yeah, I mean it's just like, yeah, you gotta pay them, ever pay them and apparently they gotta eat and hotel. It's just like it's just too much, you know. That's what I was psyched about the show. It's just like they're telling me, like, you know, my people are negotiating the deal. It's like, wait a second, so this is just my money, Like how do I pay the band? It's like there's no band, there's no

nothing anymore. It's like because usually I'll see a number in the band, the hotel, manager, agent, lawyer, everything, you know, it's like I don't even know what numbers me anymore. Just like take a tenth of it. You know. I did a whole podcast, only do a whole podcast once where I broke down how much money, Like if I'm paid a dollar, I think I make thirty eight cents. That sounds that actually sounds pretty good. Yeah, and um yeah, And that's mostly so when you see these these numbers

that are inflated, and I'll use a very inflated. I use a dollar because it's just simple to hear. But like Luke Bryan sixty five million dollars. Now listen, he's not going broke, but he's not really making six five million bucks, probably making not twenty Now listen, he's still got Luke Brian money. But you know all those numbers. It's like these guys, the Battery Boys or somebody who doesn't pay their taxes. Right. What happens is I talked about this on my show sometimes, So how do people

not pay their taxes? Well, when you get paid as like an independent contract goes to something else about the backstree boys, imagine that Luke Bryan money were talking about divided by five to well and even that, Like I have a job, and I've had jobs that have taken my taxes out, but now I have jobs that don't and not only have to pay the taxes myself, to

pay my manager, my agent. But what happens with some of these folks whenever they get in tax trouble is that you just get a paycheck and you have to figure it out like yourself, meaning who you pay taxes. That was my thing to I was like, I don't forge someone told me I need a business mansors like, I don't need a business manaors just pay the guys. So then they go, well, you know, when you play Indiana, you gotta pay the band and and pay Indiana tax And I'm like what I was like, I wouldn't even

know how to do that. That's where they get not that I'm not saying, you know, it's not a libel job, but it's just it's just like, of course that's you need a business, How would you ever know how to do that? You know, you're just gonna get, you know, So the amount of work it takes, I mean it takes. I mean that that would happen to me all the time with my writing checks. I'm just like, oh awesome.

You know I'm seeing these big numbers. First of all, California taxes take out a third already, and then ten percent manager ten percent while you're alreadyking. Mean, I've never gotten more than half of paycheck in my life. Um, because it's it's been creative. You've done creating. Yeah, well, I mean when I was a farmhand, I got the whole check to myself. But but that six bucks an

hour didn't really mean anything. But um, as I've been an adult and done creative stuff, they always mean they'll get you with you know, I guess what they're paying you per week on this TV show to right, like, oh no way, and they forget to tell you the part word and I forget to subtract you know, two thirds of it. How funny's Norm McDonald because you wrote for Norm McDonald, Um, I think he's the To me, he's the funniest person I've ever met and the funniest

guy I've ever written for. And also to this day, the like the most and I think all comedians feel this, but the most anyone who's written form certainly is the most joy I get writing a joke that he says most A lot of shows all right for people. Um, and I still do write, like I wrote on the wrote on the Who's the Last Know? Bruce Willis roast

was just recently I'm like, I can't do it. I'm in Nashville and they're just like, we'll just do it from so I wrote that was where life just gets a little too heckty and I can't do it all. You know, people don't know between tours or on a day off Wheelers, right, and you know for to me more on the Bruce Willis Rose. But but um, going back to Norm. But he's he's just kind of he's

the like the ultimate comedians comedian. Everyone wants Norm's approval everyone, you know, there was so much competitiveness on that show. Everyone wanted you all, everyone wanted Norm to read their joke, you know, and a lot of times the monologue. You know, you think about it if there's sometimes there's only ten or fifteen jokes a long monologue, you know, so that's you know, the percentages of how many, Like getting two jokes in a week is a huge accomplishment, that's huge. Um,

but you're sitting around. He's also the smartest guy I ever met too. Did you want you watch the Netflix Netflix show? That was great? I don't. I don't know if it's coming back. I haven't talked to him a little while, but I'm a huge Norm fan. Yeah. Well he I mean he is everything you want. I mean, that's what I that's what I love. My favorite performers for framers, famous like entertainers is you meet them, that's

the guy. I mean, like you meet Norm, he's funnier that he's just just you're the guy off the screen comes out and you're just hanging out with him. Um, maybe a bad segue, but the same thing guy Fieri. I'm talking to him. He grabs the food with his fingers like eats it like street like he like he's not doing a character. That's the guy Fiery. You know. I like those genuine guys the most, which is the opposite of what I do. So it's kind of weird. But have you met because I know you're on the

wrap up show on Stern? Have you met Stern? I've not met Stern. No, Um, I met everyone kind of around him. But he's another one, you know on my top people i'd love to meet. I'm a massive Stern fan. I just wouldn't be able to do what I do without him doing what he did and does. Yeah, I think that's the part of you. I didn't know was that I now understand you know what you love about

sterning it. At the time, I was just like, you know, I think radio DJs have a bad rap something for good reasons, just like it just thought of it was was like, you know, yeah, exactly. Yeah, and anyone who just kind of messes with the system at all, and you know, I'm into you know, like those billboards you did that that was wild ago four years ago. Yeah, I put

out billboards. If you're not knowing that, I bought billboards secretly, didn't tell anyone, didn't e tell my company, and they said go away, Bobby Bones, And it was the whole thing. I hit it until I wrote my book. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't know. That's what I mean, Like, that's the kind of stuff I like, you know, actually was gonna buy. We're in talks to buy a billboard across from the c M as you know on Bridgestone for my new record.

And I hired all these people to figure out how you know, those like things you squint at and then you see an immage. I was a squint one where it would be an ad for my album. Then you squint it would be like fatlex, you know, like there'll be a giant penis across the street bridge bridge stone that no one would be able to see until they squinted. And then when they found out what I wanted was the c m AS footage to be a bunch of construction guys taking the the billboard down, but we couldn't

get a guy to do it right. Yeah. I don't know there's a huge market for squinny billboard. But but my thing was I wanted to be up for a while and then I would spread the news and everyone in nashvillood knows, like look at that billboard and then squint there it is, you know. But it couldn't get right. Ah, So you did, Norm, you did. Uh. I was gonna ask about Stern. You haven't. You haven't met Stern, but you did the wrap up show. I'm a big fan. Um,

you did the roast. The roast are interesting to me. We've talked about this and socially you and I were when you write the roast for some of those people, like you were just write a bunch of jokes and you just put them in like a binder. Yeah, we just used right. It's like, I mean I remember writing, um, the Roseanne roast and Um, I would spend I spent a little time with her, super nice woman. UM couldn't have been nicer. Um, and you just right, it is real.

I mean I will say that, I mean I remember, I'll just tell some of us about this the other day, which is we did. We shot that one in the Hollywood Palladium, and I was in the back of the room watching rehearsal. And it is real. Whereas Roseanne can't hear the other jokes, performers can't hear their jokes, so they clear out the room to make sure Roseanne's not there. And I was in the back of the room during rehearsals.

I think Schumer was on stage rehearsing, and I look in the back and I see a cell phone in the air, and I go back and I see and I had met Roseanne's husband through the process of thuring the roast, and he was holding up his cell phone. She was at in the hotel listening to the roast and I had to kick the guy tell the EP and of them kicked out. Um, but yeah, it is. It is real. And it's also I call it the most cowardly job in Hollywood. So all you're doing is

saying the meanest things you can say about somebody. Then hear you say it, you know, So you're writing the meanest things and giving it to someone else's day. I mean it's funny too, how fast those people become bit because I remember having the conversation with Roseanne, like and she wouldn't say these jokes about Amy Schumer. She's like, what am I gonna do making fun of this no name comedian. She's like, everyone's'm gonna just look like a

bad person making fun of this. We know this woman's not gonna become famous, so why would I make fun of It's like, I go, I think, you know, I think she's she's doing pretty well right now. She's gonna be fine, She's getting good money for the roast. Just go for it, you know. And I remember them becoming friendly after that. But it's just a weird the ones

I tend to like. I don't I love those old like Dan Martin roast, like I liked the rose An one because the Roseanne one was more than any of them that I've worked on, was the most her actual friends and Tom, even Tom Arnold came out. I don't know if you saw it, but um it felt like a bunch of friends rasing her, whereas a lot of nowadays are just whatever celebrity will show up, you know, like your buddy Nikkilazer wasn't was on the Bruce Willis Frost.

I guarantee you that was not like Bruce Willis was not like, you know, nothing against Nikki, but I don't think he was like you gotta get my old pal Nikki on the show. Is just like she's a funny comedian, can good at telling jokes, and you know they have so it's usually it's just usually just a bunch of you know, ringers, bunch of stand ups making fun of a random celebrity, which I don't like, but if it's their friends and stuff means a little. And I still

were in my favorite story I nowhere. I just remember calling up. These are a cool part. So I remember calling up. I was going to write something for Carrie Fisher and she was never quite with it. If you don't remember, she was always her issues in a bit

of a drug problem, to put it modelly. And I called her up talking to her about, you know, getting some background so I could write her to help write her roast and and at the and she kept said a few times she's like, I know, I know Roseanne rom somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it. What is it? And she kept asking me, I know, I know, I've met her, I know I've done something with her. Then I have the phone. I am d beat her. She wrote two episodes of Roseanne. Yeah, and

then I'm uh uh. Then I remember sometimes you have to write jokes in the hall. I remember I had write write a joke for not Seth Rogan, whose other Seth? Who has that robot chicken? Seth Green? Yeah, I had to write a joke for him at the last second. And no, it's a joke for Carrie Fisher that wrote like we needed. She doesn't have a joke about Seth Green, and it works just because she's out of it. I go, she goes, I am The joke I gave her was you know, I didn't know this. I learned two things

talking to Seth Green. Apparently he's a big Star Wars fan and also apparently I was in the film and then in a film called Star Wars. So it's just I like the fun, the pressure of just having to come up with something. Really, I'm not saying that's a brilliant joke, but just in the per second that I took to write it, it was pretty good. Um. But yeah, I always love you know. Just there's a lot of similarities I think between comedy and joke writing and and songwriting.

There's a lot, you know, I mean, what's the I mean there's exceptions, there's stairway and all that. There's long but the most part is like you gotta say everything you need just saying what three minutes three and a half sometimes, and I mean joke it's it's fun to figure out, you know. Then there's a rhythm to a joke too. It's like you've got one line, you know, and you gotta say something. I mean, even sitcoms are they're not with commercials and stuff. Um Actually, with my

brother I scored a sitcom. Um, as my music career took on, I scored a sitcom and out on CBS last year called the Great Indoors was Joel mckel sitcom And this guy knew my music. It's like, why don't you do them? I kind of goes CBS to give me all least writers. But you know, I can't have you writing, but you can do the music for it if you want. I'm like, I can't, really, I'll bet

I can't. On my own. I couldn't do it. So my brothers producer, I have him do it with me, and um, we sent them the theme song like we need it really sure the sname theme song for the show was we sent them a ten second theme song as like a sample what they like, and they actually loved the ten seconds we sent They go there are The only note is we need to seconds take it off. They needed the theme song because you and I remember

probably you know cheers the song. But nowadays with commercials and all that stuff, they gotta get chopped the whole show down. So it's like it was an eight second theme song. That right the record out w W three Wheeler Walker your most wheel Walker is my father's name. I'm Weither Walker Jr. Bad And then weel a Walker. The third is now is he gonna have a music career? Are you gonna hire a kid? Have you thought about that yet? Well, there is a kid in my video.

I don't want to do music, to do vulgar music? Well, i'm um, I don't think. I didn't want to take it that far. I got a lot of I went real hard after you want to put a penis on a billboard? But I went real but yeah, I went real hard after Yodel Kid and got a lot of blowback on that, And then I offered yodel Kid bucket load of money to do as for my new record, and they said no, because you know that's not the direction is career is going. Even though he's playing like fraternity,

but it's getting really weird. I think the whole yottle kid thing, Um, he's not gonna be a Yoto kid anymore. Just eventually a yodel man. Yodel Man's gonna be is that's gonna be where they's gonna get interested. It's gonna be. Yeah, that's gonna be. Well, that's gonna be. Um, Danny Bonnet Duci territory. I think I saw you recently. Um, you and Cam Brown? Where are You're You're going to came Brown a little bit. Yeah, that's another one where like we went after each other little bit. Then I ran

into him. It's something We started talking and he was a nice kid, and I just we just talked. I was like, you know, I'm not gonna lie and say I listen to his music or no could even name you a song, but like the conversation was cordial. On Twitter. It's just like actually I've talked to him before. It's like I know, I'm like there's a nice guy. I got nothing against the dude, and I think it anchors people to know that I that, you know, I don't hate some of these people. I don't know why, but

they want to know. That's what I was saying about the The aggression of it is starting to bout. They they want me to hate these people. That that bad, and it's really it's it's bugging. It's bugging me and I just want to make great songs and make great music and give people a few laughs. And you know, a Wheeler holiday album next year, Well that I would say nothing. I've gotten more requests for is than a

Wheeler Christmas album. But there's another touchy stuff. I mean, do I want to have the biggest selling dirty Christmas album of all time? If that's even possibility to even want that, I don't know. I got thinking about it. There's only so many nasty things you could say about Christmas. That being said, I could, I'd be fine without ever hearing um where am I got run over by reindeer? Over in my life again? So there's gonna better songs

than that. The money that song is made though, And that's what also upsets me too, is I mean, I go back and forth. I'm like, man, how much money would have made if it has been record selling days? But then I go, well, I would I wouldn't have had wouldn't be able to see here, do podcasts, advertise, YouTube and streaming all this stuff to what I do wouldn't be possible back then. So this will be up that we're doing this on December three. It will be

up tonight. So I'm gonna rattle off a few dates to go see Wheeler December six, Cannery Ballroom in Nashville, December seven, Joe's Sports Bar in Chicago, and December eight the Rave two in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And uh, listen, I hope your record sells wonderfully to those who want to buy. At least people can check it out. I just got a number. I'm not going to read it, but I got someone sent me a number of what it's sold in the first two days on my text. Shall i'll

tell you off the year. It's a hundred fifty million what I expect. Yeah, so we're gonna we'll probably do a billion sales the first week. And if if you're making all but two dollars, yeah, so yeah, I'll probably make That's what I'm saying. It's hard to lift because I'm only going to make a hunter million. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. You'll be all right, all right, Ben, Good to see Bud YouTube Man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate Wheelow Walker Jr. Or Ben Hoffman spend time

with them? Both both interesting characters. Which one? Which one you like better? I mean, I appreciate Wheeler as much as you can appreciate, but I like I like people to like me and not appreciate me. I love the comedy of Wheeler and what it represents two people because I just enjoy comedy. But I'd rather hang out with Ben. Yeah, I think I'm with you on that. Yeah, all right. There is six I think to sleep number on Life Flock check down, Wheeler Walker Jr. And w W three.

We'll see you next time. By m HM