EP 46 - The Western Guide

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Island Roots Auckland Ways. This one's for the Brown brothers and sisters who want to be one with themselves, their culture, their identity, their roots. This is Island Roots Auckland Ways. Hi.

Everyone, welcome back to Island Roots Auckland Ways.

Hey, hey, girl, I need to knows off Mike that I was going to sing, but now I've gotten all shy. But my favorite okay guest.

Today is the Western.

Guide Coach West, Big Shrimp Neighborhood, A man of many titles and names, but you all know him as the Western Guide. One of my favorite songs is ride Home, and I'm just thinking about how embarrassing it would be right now if I did actually try and sing the chorus. So that's so I don't think I will. You can go streaming on Spotify, though, and here's the chat. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Island Roots Book. We

Us in the studio.

Thank you for having me religion, you know, thank you to the hood.

That's assive.

I don't know much about Evandale, but I know the Errands from the only people I know from Evan.

There's honestly so many people from.

Sorry, can we just pivot to before we started recording. We were in a meeting of the studio and suddenly someone goes, oh, who's that cowboy?

And I was like, that's our cowboy. I mean to record on outdat.

I look up at the window and then i see Aaron cowboy hair on and I'm like, oh, ships about it every day?

No, it's so much. I mean, I was like, I'll just I was just nice and low key. I have normal hat. You know what we want to I'm going to show them.

Yes every episode, Aaron? We wait? Can I can I call you eron?

Like?

What's the.

Coach with? You have so many names?

Very what everyone? It's fine?

Are you sure?

Yeah?

Okay?

Maybe just actually coach, We'll go coach?

What started coach? Actually? What started coach?

I'll be honest. When we were doing morning Check, we just didn't want to call myself like my tour or like producer. What's a really interesting, you know.

Cool and coach.

Just came coach because I was coaching them through like radio, because obviously I'm the ya wow.

He is somebody, well coach.

Every episode we share what we love about home, So whether that's we currently live, where you were born, where you feel grounded, we ever feels like home, what is it and what do you love about it? We'll start off first. I think what I love about home this week is how many parks there are around me.

Oh right, yes, sorry, I thought you met car parks.

Oh, there's a shortage of car parks, which is why I have crashed my car many times. But recreational, yeah, I'm serable at driving. But actually, let's not shine. I mean that comedy set. Just yeah, I love how much greenery there is around my area. We've got a few parks and they all hold special memories, like the one closest to my house is like the local to all our family, so like whenever there was a Smith's Easter

I love that mine is a little bit trivial. I love celebrity Treasure Island favorite's I dream to go on CTI. And now that it's back, I'm sure by the time this episode comes out, it might have already finished already and we'll know who the winner is. But what are your recons of the season At the moment, I can't say it's too early.

Three people I hate.

Yeah, three people right now?

Very well.

Yeah, but it's also my mum's favorite TV show, So like, if I'm home on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night, it's just a nice chance for to like connect. So I love ct I. But more than that, I love hanging out with my mom. Yeah she's really lame, but I love my mom. I love living with her. So yeah, that's what I love about Home.

What about you, Coach Home Home is one of those ones, you know, this is kind of I've kind of been in time my whole life. I think this year, specifically, the journey of figuring out exactly where home is has been kind of a big question. I think, you know, because I'm Simon and of course some more is the motherland here obviously I'm what everyone is. But you know, back home we'd be. But I think when I think about Tomak, because that's you know, where I'm living at

Proving away from home. You recently went to l a coach with a group of pastiki creatives. Can you tell us what that experience was, Like, I mean, off, Mikey sbout what it might not be like, but like how enriching was that experience?

It was actually really good. And I remember when I was approached for it, I was just like on my balcony staring at the moon and I get a phone call from Xav and He's like, Hey, I really need to ever talk to you. So I'm thinking, oh shit, I must have done something because we had just finished a show on the VIN and I was like, oh, I must. You know, whenever you hear like hey we need to have a conversation, we have a chat, damn it.

Yeah that you guys are going to l a.

I know.

We were actually doing quite a bit of work. So we're really fortunate to my bro Xavier for setting that up. You know, we're with quite a lot of people. You know, we had Lena, we had Van Skis, we had Frank. You know, we had took a whole different variety of things, and I think it was just cool to showcase Alter all over there.

You know.

It was an interesting thing we did where we were like trying to figure out a song to sing. Yeah, and we're like, oh, should sing a Mouldi song because you know we're from all But then the conversation was like what there is no one and here's actually molded. We all actually sund more on tongue in you know, different like, but that's that's where we're from. Yeah, you know, so I think it's fine that we can represent as well as well as you know, being somemon tongue and stuff.

Yeah. How was it to be inside the Water Music Group building because that's just wow?

Yeah wow. They didn't actually hit me till I was like walking through. You can probably see a lot of executives walking around. Yeah, this is real. Actually we got to sing there as well, know, so the opportunity honestly, again, it was it was really cool to be there and share the stage and share the space of you know, other creators, you know, especially Brianna and this is our home crew with what their messages and then also us just being there was amazing.

Did you have in and Out in LA?

You're my honest opinion, in and Out.

Please, because yeah, the double double and animal style.

Yeah, everyone might be canceled for this and the dogs.

To be honest, I heard this because one of my best feriends is Americans, but she lives here, she studies here. She's saying, like, in and Out is a lot like what we have here already, because everything else. The reason it's so like revolutionary to Americans is because these like real food, Like it's like real food, you know, whereas the other takeaways it's not real food. Yeah, so like for us, it's probably just like substandard, I guess.

So I don't care. I don't want to say dog shick because that's dog my first three bides. I was like that, like, you didn't get the sauce. So I got the sauce, and I was like, Okay, the sauce makes it bitter, but I wouldn't like run out of my way to eat and then out every day. It's really good though, So I don't know that'story about the place. I don't want to, you know, hating them too much.

Because Americans don't like that.

What else did you eat over there? Raising canes is at a.

Thing we didn't get to try. I really wanted to, but no one wanted to go. So we had Chick fil A obviously. Yeah, chake check probably one of my favorites.

I've had lots of good things about Shakeshack.

But I think the number one thing I ate in l A was the Mexican tackles streets and you have to get to like a street windor so we were just like it was like warm up. There was just like a couple of trucks outside. So we're just like pulled up and like, yeah, we'll just get a couple of these and that was great change my life. Almost cried because they give they give me mixed coach as well. It's like a different formula.

Yeah, it's in a glass and everything.

Yeah.

They were getting really frustrated because I wasn't speaking like Spanish because.

They thought, look Spanish, get.

It, you're over there. Terrible. They were just speaking to me, the ladies.

I'm so sorry.

I am someone.

I'm so sorry. It was I should learn some more Spanish.

Just for that, I feel that that Xavier didn't see us as well. We are also creative. We can sing, we can dance. Like so, coach, you've been making seeker music for a while, But what prompted this pivot to country.

Music because is a big ever kind of R and B empty.

Yeah, the pivotic country was a mixture of a lot of things, heartbreak being one of them, and alcohol problem being another one. Damn No, I think country for me, I've I've listened to country for a long time, not like hard out like I am now, but you know, we we kind of just it's been in our lives for a long time. And I think recently I because I've been writing for my it's really important, Like even

So yeah, when I think of my favorite country music, it's all storytelling. Like I think of songs like Goodbye Earl by the Chicks or like the Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia by like Reaba. They tell like this whole story, and you almost you have to listen to the whole thing to catch all of it because there's like plot twists and like all of this kind

So cool, this is what I need from you?

And what was the support like to your switch to country.

At the moment, I've been really lucky that everyone's really supportive. There's me in like two or three comments like you're not about that life, and I'll be honest, I'm not, like even like, I don't really go out on my way to call myself a cowboy, because that's a title that belongs to cowboys, right, Like, I think the title that I use is just I'm a country music singer because I make country music at the moment, and I

I feel like you kind of soft launched the country career with that viral video a little more humble than that. Did you always like that? Was that the plan, like that, I'm going to make this, hopefully people take notice of it and then start to go into country.

So I think the first country cover I did was like two thousand and nineteen. Oh was me and Bonti. Facile was just like we try to make it sound R and B. It was really great. I loved it. So I just had this thing of like, I'll just cover country songs just here and there. So I had a song called running Back, produced by Astro who want a PMA by the way, So we had a song coming out and I hadn't been on social media for a while because I was just being a dad for ages.

I didn't realize they came out at the same time.

So I dropped Humble on Instagram on like Wednesday, and they running backdropped on Friday, and no one remembers run Back, but also like running Back, but.

I didn't know that it came out at that time. It was like a retrospective.

It was just like it was so hidden, and I felt bad for Esher the time because I was like, we were working on this and then Humble came out. I was like yeah, and I didn't even try very hard with that, so to be honest, I remember.

I just threw it on TikTok and I was like, this is.

The q accent, I'll be honest. Other than the q accent, it didn't sound very nice, you know, so I had to put the twang on it.

Yeah, that's hard. Well have you gotten used to it as a well as a professional actor.

By the way, it is actually hard because we we have a like really distinctive accent and all so when you're trying to musket in the song as I have to go back and re record like certain words and vowel sounds. So but I think the longer you do or the better you get at it, for sure.

Can we talk about acting? So, Inky Pinky Punky was just massive, huge, like I can't even talk to like how many kids were talking about it, Like out on the streets, I'd walk past groups, They're all watching it. And we had JP and Nucky in the studio and man, that blew up. So how did you get involved with that project? Did you envisage going into acting like that?

Yeah, I've been acting for a while. Actually, I think I was an actor before a musician.

Okay, so that came first.

Yeah.

Also shadowt White.

Sunday, I was.

So many times ago it's not fair, but no, it was. It was really cool Inky specifically, I think Nucky approached me or someone from the fresh team. They approached me because I was doing heaps of dumb stuff on TikTok, being like the red flag trend. You know, we're being a little a problematic, and then hey, look we have this character that we think could do. You think you

Honest, like yeah, well you never do really, and then it's out there, it's getting perceived, and then it just clocks like a million views.

Now I'm just that person, like because when I meet people, they're just like Demetrius.

The person sitting in front of us looks very very different Demetrious.

Yeah, but they still see it, and so they kind of like, I think, especially like the three four months after it was released, Yeah, they just thought I was that dude.

Was that kind of overwhelming because Demetrius is not super nice, He's like.

A walking Yeah. I had to do a bit of method acting for the ice to wake up the morning and like look and like, yeah, you're.

That guy, bro, and he's still like that, so you had to be.

We had a running joke on set that I wasn't acting. So they're like, it's great because I don't do a lot of retakes, so I would like do a think yeah, cool finish, And I was like, was that all right? They're like, yeah, so that's how you know.

You must have been drawing that from somewhere. But I'm very grateful for.

Inky, you know, and I know that story is very like important for a lot of people out there. So I was just glad to be a part of that. And yeah, it's kind of what I'm really well known for, to be honest.

Yeah, people must be surprised to go into your Instagram and they're like, oh, Frank, he's a country singer.

You take what you get.

So when you introduce yourself, do you say you're a musician first, because you're also like a radio host and an actor and then also a dad, Like what is the thing that you used to be? Like I'm the Western guide, I'm I.

Just say hi, Yeah, I'm like high, how's it going? I don't think, I think, because I do so many different things, it's kind of hard to just be like, I'm only a country singer a musician, so I don't really really say.

I love that, but not like putting yourself in a box that's really important.

Yeah, I think I've always believed in that, and I think that's why the genres whiches have been kind of so, you know, because I've always told myself that I don't want to be defined to a genre a little bit like how Chris Brown does whatever genre he wants and everyone. But yeah, I think it's cool for us to just try different things. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then up to you. If you like it, then no worries.

I love the bottom of the video, it's so good, as I do love all the videos you made with Tara Patch. What's it like to work with the creative team like that because it feels like they really get you truly. Yeah.

Yeah, I think first and foremost, I got to thank my brother Samson Rambo. That's where the connection came from. So me and Samson were like, we're broader, so we were like, hey, let's do this idea. I went to him, I was like, I really want you to direct this music video, which is save Her Mine, and so he's like, cool, leave with me. I'll get a team together. And so him and Teresa Tereslowe also she she produced seving My

Stalk together someone.

Thank you so it's cool, and I honestly want to work with them, Like for every music video realistically, you've got to, you know, try different people and stuff. So I probably won't do that because I just keep approaching it and watch more work. But yeah, no, I love the title Patch and I feel like if you haven't worked with them, or if you haven't been in the space, just go there. It's great.

You know, the space is amazing. Hey, it is so cool.

Yeah, it's so cool. I see it pretty much every day because I go to the gym upstairs.

I had there my model, So you were a tiny part of that. Because you're I'm so sorry.

I'm like the little ship of the title Patch. Here he is blood love my total Patch family. Shout out to the muff Little sisters.

Yeah, incredible people.

Yeah.

I feel like also, your name always pops up from people's like thank yous on like Instagram questions. I'll just be scrolling and my friend friends will be like, thank you so much at the Western guy for helping me with us. Do you like, do you actively like I can help you with that? Or do people approach you for that kind of thing?

Oh? I think it's just whoever's around sometimes people ask me for help, and if I can help, I will. If I can't, I'll maybe point them in the right direction. I do sometimes say yes and then forget, and then people are like, hey, you're supposed to help me all this. I'm so sorry, man, I was asleep terrible replying to people too, But yeah, no, I don't.

I thank god that he came here.

So it was an email, yeah.

Because I was like, oh, I'd better like say something really like proper, because I don't want to be like, oh sorry, I'm actually like flat out right now. So I was trying to think of either the real casual approach all the real like that was very I was on a conversation with my manager, so for context, we was listening. I was asked to come on earlier on in the year, and so I was speaking to my manager at that time. I think we're getting ready to

I've never such a.

Like of like you were about to say.

Some as well. I like wrote out like a drifts into my manager and she was like, let me write it for this cool and so I sent that out and I saw as I was flying, I was like, damn, I should have taken it stuck right now, thank you for inviting.

I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful that you took the We get before we get into our rapid fire. We want to know what's next for Coach West.

Honestly, usually I have an answer for this when I want to have this question, but I think lately it's kind of been I don't know. That's a.

That's a.

It's kind of a great area right now. There's a lot of things I've said I want to do, but now I'm like, do I want to do that? You know, I've been saying I was going to do a EP this year, and the more I write, the more I'm like, actually, I should probably like wait off because I kind of want to put a little bit more if a little bit more time, you know.

So do you see yourself creating like a body of work, like a debut album or something. Liking the little single?

So sure, I think obviously like the industry will tell you like don't do an album or EP until again, like you need it, Like when people we need more, we need more. But I think when you're in a space and you're writing, like right now, I'm in country, so I'm trying to like write out finding that my writing is changing as I'm like making more music. So like something I wrote a couple of months ago to me now so like, ah, it's a bit old too.

Such a wonderful answer.

We don't chase. We attract very absolutely very so if you're there.

The email. All right, let's move on to our rapid fire came now, Coach. This one's called wist is Best. So we are die hard.

Die hards outside west Side novices, don't know anything.

Literally don't know anything about were stalking like another world.

From west Side on. We were in Newland. That was terrifying. No shady west Side. That was just not a good night.

But that's like that's a thing though, because growing up, whenever I'd go south, I feel like it's a whole different thing.

And you know the suburb names, but you don't know how they connects, Like really, what is it like? Disc know, like when you're like disorientated.

Yeah, there I say it, There I say it. But growing up, you know this is not just me by the way, this is what was put on to me as a kid. We will talk that west Siders are better than south Siders. You know, up until I was about maybe thirteen, I was like, hold on, what the same?

Yeah, we are quite.

Growing up, we like how much?

So yeah, this gave us called wiss Best. So we want you to tell us the best places out for these three things. First things. First food we should we go to for food out with.

That's a hard one. There's so many places. Again, it comes down to like it depends, like what do you feel like you have a lot of new feudoints have opened up recently out you know, it's like, what's.

The best place out west for views?

Oh damn, just drive around anybody who's like born and raised in himself if you know where to is. There's a little look out there where they usually lock the gates after you can see the sky tower and.

Can't okay, it's.

Not someone taking no no, no no, someone's taking me to mission by no, no no, just for a walk.

And I felt and seeing some things.

That no, no, no no.

I want to put it to do with Bubba. It was the first time I met her. She was a little bit scary back then, you know, from celebrity, so she was kind of in her like real rebellious stage. And we're hanging out, we're trying to do a podcast together. Yeah, and she's like, I'm just get for a drive and drove me out to pok and were sitting at the car and this car comes up like on the road in the and I like locked the door straight away

This episode is going to cancel you. Yes, I was.

I was young.

Out there. It was funny, but I always remember that reason. I was like, damn it, Bubble. She'll probably tell that really shame me for it.

But Buba's another person that we tried so hard to get.

Yeah, we just doesn't. She just doesn't reply tonything. She's terrible reply to my messages.

Lastly, beast place out for fun, Like where's a nice recreational place like pools or somewhere to play sports.

I don't know. I think people might say West Wave, you know, but West Wave pools, But I think I think it's important to just say Past Park. Everybody knows Past Park, you know. It's it's kind of ey, that's kind of our big park that we have, like touch the random people just jump up on the field and play touch together and then comps used to be there as well. The football fans. They have their like soccer fields there. So I think past Park is like the

Because I hang up is that and Henderson?

I think that's that's one of the only like main bars that's been around for ages.

I don't know, it's really wholesome fun.

What's sort of funny?

No no, I didn't actually know what type of fun bear because he did the game that's your fun, and I was like, fun.

Fun, what's like to play around?

That's that's very like vague playing around.

It's also very vague. Isn't groove by out west or.

There's like Mount Eden cross the road from Eaton Park? Sorry the groove.

It's just because it's on the western line. I can't drive.

I can't drive, so use both can't It's just like a non driving show.

I have no license, no drive.

I was driving on no license for three years.

No no, no, no, like I got any car and like it's not good, like a phobia. It's like a phobia a little bit.

Yeah, no, no, no, I'm really interested.

So I went to school in Central but live and brought up out South, so always public transport and then I only drove a car for the first time maybe like a month ago. They go over ten k's. I think the max I went was thirteen k What was teifying? Yes, it was terrifying, Like some people are like that.

I want to be supportive, but it's okay.

You don't have It's okay because people always meet me, they're like, wow, you you're you have a master's but you can't drive. And I'm like, Rick, what would they say? Because like very very intelligent, but the one thing that you can't do is drive a car.

That's really in the school though, like you don't need to drive in today's world, like we have Uber and stuff.

Like that, but it's so expensive.

Just try like real small.

That's a really good idea.

Ride a bike, okay, two wheels to three wheels?

What's the three wheel a trike?

I think it trikes like five wheels or something.

I'm sorry, no, I think that does three wheels, like you have two training wheels at the bit.

Yeah. Look, but I really hope you get over that much fun. It helps, like with like when you're just down sometimes late night truly yeah, and then you just speed. I mean okay, I think there's two words belong together. It'll be good.

Okay, make it, thank you take it. This is my new content now that the podcast is even. Then drive do you want to be the first? And we have to use your car as well? If you're the gift, it's also your.

Car the first and last of course.

Wait, how did you learn how to drive? Did someone teach you?

Hell?

Yeah? Almost crashed. It was my dad's work car. He thought it would be funny. Were new Lin by the way, new We're in the car park where Burger King. It's the old cinemas, which so I get in the car and when I driving and it's like yeah, now put your foot down, and I just froze and my foot was like on the floor and went straight for liss and to like jump over like albow and the star because I just froze. And then you had to like put his hand on the brake.

Damn.

And this was the door for like Lismos and no way one of the barrier things.

And I was like a raid Lismo.

My dad said so many lovely words that day and I didn't want to drive.

I didn't realize when you go to break you don't just put your foot down at once, like like it.

You have to like.

To keep your foot on the.

You don't just pretty square on the.

Driver.

I like that you can get that rich Oregon.

Just learn how to drive a big car. I learned how to drive in a van because after that smoker, I learned how to drive driving anything, and then you start when you drive smaller cars, it's a lot easier.

I feel like, being country, you should be able to drive a manual? Can you drive a menu?

Did you do your research on this? Because I always get asked this question. Wait, reason I can't drive a manual?

And that's totally fine because I can't drive period.

I remember I told them I went down and saw this farm and Raglan and he's like, can you drive manual? And I was like, and he's like, what the fuck? You can't be country? You're not drive? Yeah, someone wants to teach me, please, because I want to race and I love out my Need for Speed dreams.

I love Need for Speed. By the way, it was, it was such a time. I love that game. What was your favorite Need for Speed?

Underground, underground to yeah, underground to the white Mercedes with the blue neons, blow the car a little bit, had some side skirts and you have you have to have the Japanese like riding on the side.

Yeah, I don't get the reference. I'm so sorry, guys. What is need for speed?

It's a two game.

But I was playing like head on.

The World Tour, so you're like, let's pay Brackett stolen.

Buzz.

The first time I played, I was.

Like, this is so played the head on tenor game. Or I was playing sing styles and I would always get a million in the climb.

So where is the you know, the fruits of your labor christ witting.

And sitting in a memory card. No, but you know she faked her country accents like the first five years of her career. So the twang, it's okay that it doesn't come naturally.

You have to work for it.

You have to work for it.

Yep.

And now she's a billionaire. So that'll be you one day, even though your circumstances are very, very very different. I think that will be.

Yeah. I'm a white girl yea with my guitar.

Blonde hair. Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, investment bankers.

This is a little bit creepy, Loder. Those Hollywood tours that we did, they were like taking us to celebrities housing. This is a news house. These poor people like live their lives and this is real creepy.

I am a Yeah. I went to Melvin for a concert this year and everything it was good, it was incredible.

And saying that is Island roots Auckland Ways with the Western Guy. Thank you so much for coming on.

No, thank you for having me here, and thank you for the platform, thank you for your time.

You know where? Can we follow you on social media?

Okay, please only follow me on social media and that follow me around the mall because that's really creepy and it happens a lot.

I those Westfield Monico or the.

Westfields, the Western Guide. I love city, it's home.

We're getting wait wait wait, wait, hold on wait question. Where does the name of the Western Guy come from? Just from growing up out.

West Yeah, it kind of started like that. Yeah, before Western Guid, I was my artist name was fifth three. Yeah, it sounds really crazy. I went to enter fifth free Rockstar and my I G but it didn't save so it cut off halfway. So I just I just rolled it that for ages and then I remember puttying nextor came out and I go, what a dick, why would you Why would you call it such an elaborate name. I'm going to do that. What's what am I? I

And that's Island Roots Auckland Waves for yet another week. You can follow us on the socials and Island Roots Aukland ways And you know what, I just realized you.

I think we kind of it was implied though. It's at the Western.

Guide, at the Western Guide on Instagram the things.

So go look him up, listen to his music, and listen to our podcast Big Shrimp his.

Name, Damn city Side, Bobby boy Man, get out of here with all your nicknames. Thank you Coach for coming on yes, and.

Thank you guys for listening.

Chat later by