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There are those in the spotlight, and then there is Everybody Else.
Hosted by Wes Luttrell (Indiana-based artist growth coach and label founder), Everybody Else is a podcast dedicated to the invisible people who make music happen. Featuring solo commentary and insightful interviews with record label execs, tour managers, music tech founders, producers, venue managers, and a slew of others, this show's mission is to pull back the curtain on the lives and ways of thinking of those who make up the modern music ecosystem. New episodes streaming every Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (00:00)
This is the Everybody Else Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:03)
Who are the invisible people of music today and what do they do to make music happen? Because behind every great artist, song, venue, festival and music service there's a tribe of people who will dedicate their lives to work that if done right will never appear to have happened. There are those in the spotlight and then there's everybody else.
Tell me about Space Monkey Records. What is Space Monkey Records? How would you describe it?
Speaker 2 (00:35)
I would describe Space Monkey Records as one of the coolest record stores. That's how I would describe it.
Speaker 3 (00:44)
And actually, if you look at the sign on our door, it says, aspired to be, not that we are, aspired to be the coolest record store on planet earth.
Speaker 1 (01:01)
I was thinking about, I saw that on the way in. I was thinking, if something happens and some future human finds this, they'll know what was here. These people were aspiring to be, they were on their journey. And here it is. But it's multifaceted. You guys have records. You have the media, but then you have all these other things. have, I'm looking at all this equipment. I know there's other buildings here, almost like a campus.
Speaker 2 (01:16)
Here we are.
If we technically talk about what is Space Monkey Records and what do we do, ⁓ you know, we have all music media and then we host live local bands once a month for free. ⁓
Speaker 1 (01:48)
Roadkill.
Speaker 2 (01:49)
Yeah, on the roadkill stage in our second store. In between both stores we have probably the largest selection of home audio components and turntables within hundreds and hundreds of miles. I don't know where else, you know, you would find a bigger selection. ⁓ We have a lot, we have lot going on everywhere from the ceiling all the way down to the floor.
Speaker 1 (02:16)
Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:17)
We really do and there are probably four facets to Space Monkey. We got the music media, we got the home stereo gear, we've got an art concept going on because there's a lot of various forms of art whether it's framed or just weird trippy stuff and then the last and perhaps
most important segment is fun. F-U-N because I believe that good music, good laughs, and good fun go hand in hand. And for those of you keeping score, that's three hands.
Speaker 1 (03:10)
So where does this ethos come from, Patrick? Where does that, because it is baked in. I mean, when you walk in the building, it radiates an energy about it. It's not just a store. It's a vibe here.
Speaker 3 (03:23)
One of the best,
really one of the best compliments that we can get goes way back. Jump in your way back machine to 50 years ago when Mr. Bob Foltz had a little store in downtown Evansville. I'm not talking about North Park. I'm talking about downtown Evansville that was called Foltz City Boutique. In the place
was just incredible. I was about 15 years old when I fell in there for the very first time. You step in these giant wooden doors that were all like hand carved. I mean it was like like the front door of a mansion is really what it was like and then you step in and the music hits you and there's like shag carpet on the wall and you smell the incense and there's
Record bins as far as the eye can see you look over to the left and there is these cute little teenage girls beating earrings and necklaces and now I want to remind you I was 15 and I had never never been in a store that spoke to me and my heathen friends and I was
absolutely blown away and when I talk about it to this very day the hair on my arm just stand up because it was just such an exhilarating experience.
Speaker 1 (05:07)
Who's Bob?
Speaker 3 (05:08)
Bob Foltz. ⁓ my goodness. Bob Foltz was an Evansville entrepreneur. I'm glad you mentioned Bob Foltz. Yeah, I that. we're going to have a Bob Foltz Remembrance Day coming up this fall. Bob Foltz was man responsible for not only Foltz City Boutique, but also Funky's
nightclub which was the largest nightclub in the state of indiana now i'm not talking about not war it largest nightclub in evansville i'm talking about in indiana that encompasses some pretty big cities so even though they had disco going on which may not be my number one choice but you know what
Speaker 1 (05:56)
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:06)
That's where the ladies were. And that's where I met my wife. ⁓ wow. Great. So Bob Foltz had like a double impact on my life. And a lot of the artifacts that you see here at Space Monkey are actually stained glass and wood carvings that I have bought up from the various
Speaker 1 (06:09)
And that's
Speaker 2 (06:09)
That's
where you
Speaker 3 (06:33)
Bob Foltz Enterprises, which also included Good Time Bobby's on the east side of Evansville. The guy was just a visionary.
Speaker 1 (06:44)
That's crazy. Was the nightclub inside the Victory Theater?
Speaker 3 (06:49)
No,
the nightclub is gone now and it occupies a lot of the space that the riverboat and now the on-land casino owns. it was a huge nightclub. It was just incredible.
Speaker 1 (07:12)
So that sounds like the foundation of your connection with this store and this world. I'm curious, Meredith, where did your connection with music or this store, you've been around since the beginning, right? Yeah. But even before then, when did your connection with music and interest in music, how did you get into all this?
Speaker 2 (07:40)
get into music. Honestly before coming here I didn't know I didn't even know what a record was. I mean obviously I knew what was and what an cassette was and all that but I like I didn't know anything about you know any of this at all. I've always loved music it's got me through some of my darkest times you know and but
Speaker 1 (07:41)
just yeah how did this all begin for you
Speaker 2 (08:07)
I just kind of fell in here and that's a story of its own. ⁓
Speaker 3 (08:12)
Turns
out she's a quick study.
Speaker 1 (08:14)
I know I've seen you I've seen you browse bends or look up look up records on catalog and see if we have this in stock I feel like so how did you what how'd you get here?
Speaker 3 (08:26)
story.
Speaker 2 (08:28)
So,
⁓ I loved to work. ⁓ And that was always, you know, and then I stopped working and ⁓ I would stay at home, Mom, and I hated it. To be honest, I just did. So I got on Craigslist and I was looking at gigs and I don't even know what...
have no clue what it was even really for. mean, I know it was for the store, his ad, but I don't know what...
Speaker 1 (08:58)
Was it a classic Pat style that we see today? Did it look like?
Speaker 2 (09:05)
It was just an ad. don't know even what it said. I don't even know what the position was for. I no clue. I just know that I was like, this sounds cool, music, whatever. so I sent an email to him and he gave me a call and said I stood out from everybody else. And so I came in here to an empty store. He's dying to tell you that I was very brave.
to come into an empty store with no security cameras where I could have gotten murdered. ⁓ anyways, ⁓ I came here and the rest is history. We kind of just built it together.
Speaker 1 (09:48)
Yeah, it's wild. I saw an article in Evansville Living, I think, from 2019, and a young Meredith was doing something in the corner. don't know, it was a picture of you. I'm oh, it's Meredith. She's been around forever.
Speaker 2 (10:04)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, we've I've been here since it was empty and it's really cool I I just I love it and what's funny is if you ask AI who is Meredith Roush It tells you that I took a Craigslist ad and turned it into a thriving career Wow ⁓
Speaker 3 (10:05)
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:18)
Yeah.
That's a great answer. I wonder what it says inside. It's hilarious. So, Pat, you've been doing... You were a DJ before? What's your story?
Speaker 2 (10:31)
Sorry.
Speaker 3 (10:39)
I
I describe it like this. I guess, you know, if we're going to go back in time, I'm an entrepreneur and I've probably had, I don't know, a dozen different businesses over the years because my wife has a real job. Some worked out, some didn't, you know, some were sold off, some crashed and burned. It's, you know, a typical story of an entrepreneur.
But the problem is that I have the heart of a musician. The problem is I got no talent to go along with it. I got zero musical talent. So myself being a fairly creative lad, I figure out ways to be involved. And ⁓ that creative process started about
20 years ago and I thought, man, it would be really cool to be a private party DJ. So I had some friends that were kind of doing that and tagged along. I said, yeah, that's pretty cool. You're spinning the tunes and you're getting paid to watch the pretty girls dance. Yes, yes.
I can do that. you know, I had a, as my side hustle, ⁓ I had a DJ, a mobile DJ company and on a really good night, you know, I may have four DJ gigs going because I had other DJs, you know, out there hustling. But the dirty little secret is that
in the mobile DJ business, there was a lot of hustle. So when you get to be an old guy, like I was approaching that threshold, I had been involved in LP sales for the best part of 20 years, because I don't know, it's just what I like. And so I was involved with the vendor mall sales and it was perfect because I could drop.
the LPs and the bins blow in, blow out. They had cashiers. I didn't have to worry about it. So about the time that my DJ stuff was like really starting to wear and tear, I know to look at me, you would think, guys got the physique of an athlete. 20 years later.
⁓ okay. That may be an exaggeration. Anyway, anyway. I said, man, I'm, not going to be able to do this, mobile DJ thing very, very much longer because it's, it's starting to catch up with me. And I thought, ⁓ well, you know, the very thing that I shied away from, which was having a brick and mortar or I would be a ball and chain to.
actually started started sounding pretty good, you know, cause, ⁓ you know, even though I was getting to retirement age, the problem is I'm just not very good at doing nothing. So, ⁓ well, how do you see a record store in your mind's eye and together with Meredith, you know, we kind of kind of figured it out, you know, and we'll put together.
a record store as I see it in my mind's eye with a youthful twist.
Speaker 1 (14:41)
beautiful it's beautiful take me back to when it first started when you guys first are in this empty building that Meredith walks into what yeah so treacherously on her own what where do you even begin I mean I guess you had some you had some crates maybe with with vinyls or something from the where do we even begin so there's a ton I mean well we can't see
Speaker 3 (14:51)
so treacherously.
Speaker 2 (15:07)
boxes and boxes of just so many records and you just start going through them and sorting them and then really
Speaker 3 (15:09)
Hardboard box.
Speaker 1 (15:11)
Yeah, now have these beautiful
Where'd those come from? Those came from the vendor mall excre-
Speaker 3 (15:27)
Me
and Meredith crafted these beautiful crates. know, when we're not working, we're back in the mill shop.
Speaker 1 (15:34)
lol
Speaker 2 (15:36)
So we sorted those out and then really we had the left side closed except for the counter and the right side was open and just two aisles were open plus we had a mountain in the middle of boxes.
Speaker 3 (15:55)
We opened it section by section. really did.
Speaker 2 (15:58)
Yeah.
Wow. And we just started it off like that.
Speaker 1 (16:02)
Wow, did people come in right away?
Speaker 2 (16:04)
Yeah, we opened the doors August 29th of 2019.
Speaker 3 (16:11)
That's correct. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:12)
Yeah.
And how did you guys get the word out there? Facebook. Because now you're really good at getting the word out about everything.
Speaker 3 (16:20)
Actually, we started the radio advertising before we even opened.
Speaker 1 (16:26)
Okay. And
you still do radio advertising?
Speaker 3 (16:29)
We have never let off that and one of my greatest compliments is I had a gentleman in just last week that was telling me, just moved into the area, I've spent a lifetime in radio and your ads immediately caught my ear.
And yeah, so I was bound and determined to be a music guy to come in and check out your place. And I said, yes, yes. Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (17:03)
I had, I had, do you remember Dave Kunkel? Uncle Dave from the Going Home Show? I had him on the podcast earlier in episode 10, I think. We were talking about this how, and I think you do this across all of your messaging or all of your content, but there's a personality. He said like when Dave was growing up, he's like, I will listen to these great DJs on the radio who had these personalities and these like things, these like shticks or these like.
sort of things that they would do and maybe that's what he hurt. Cause there's not a ton of that today. Like people, don't even think people are trained in that sort of.
Speaker 3 (17:41)
It's very
homogenized these days and boiled down. Sometimes we're, I don't want to say crass, but we're not always family friendly. mean, overall we try to be, but it's an adult environment.
Speaker 1 (18:04)
Yes, yeah, I actually really respect you guys for that for holding that stance ⁓ Absolutely absolutely wait It's funny because I was talking to somebody earlier about bands who once they reach success They will start like okay. We got to get our shit together and be a real band and That's when things will begin to decline because people are like we don't even know who the fuck right? We don't know these people are anymore. You know and so I think that
Speaker 3 (18:10)
Hey, you dude.
Speaker 1 (18:33)
I was thinking about that as it applies to this story, it's like you guys are yourselves through all of this journey that-
Speaker 3 (18:40)
and all, baby.
Speaker 2 (18:42)
Absolutely.
Absolutely ourselves. Yeah. And that could be a good thing or that could be a bad thing, but you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (18:52)
Well in
in that lane tell me who tell me about your customers tell me about Your regulars people dropping in tell me about like who comes to space monkey who?
Speaker 3 (19:03)
Coolest
group of people in the world.
Speaker 2 (19:05)
There is no demographic. There is no dem- I mean, literally, from children and to hundred year old people. mean, no joke.
Speaker 3 (19:17)
People on Walker's honest to God that happens.
Speaker 2 (19:23)
I mean, it's people that we have stools for children so they can look at the cassettes. There is no demographic. Our customers are great. Our regulars, fantastic.
Speaker 1 (19:29)
Yeah, climb up.
Speaker 3 (19:37)
In most businesses, you can draw a definite left and right of, ⁓ okay, the age of your typical customer starts at and ends at. That is just not the case here because it starts as soon as people are able to drive their young children to the music store and it ends with
the Walker thing and all points in between. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:11)
And why do you think, I mean why does this store and stores like it still exist in 2025 when all the music you ever want is available? But what is it about online? But what is it about coming here and picking something up? And there's still like a discovery thing here too, right? People will be like, oh, what's this?
This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Wally Opus. Wally Opus is a boutique label and artist management company based in Southern Indiana. As the founder, I started Wally Opus in April of 2020 to produce, package, and promote the artists that were really just the people that I was finding in my Southern Indiana area who were writing and performing their own music.
and just had no real way to get it out there or even to put it together in a way that was, you know, sounded like songs that they liked, like stuff that they were used to hearing, making records. Started here locally and then now we ride Shotgun as a partner alongside Nine Axe from this area here in the Midwest, this little nook of the Midwest, all the way over to New York, upstate and in the city, Brooklyn, Leo Love Child.
and then all the way out to LA. We got Catherine Lovett based in LA and also half of Spillway, half of the Monas Brothers are also there. What makes us different than other labels or artist management companies is the approach to personal relationships that we develop with the acts. It's funny, the label's been around for five years, but most of the acts have been with us for like a year to three years. And I'm noticing that it's in the three year that things, year three.
for lot of people that things start to get exciting and results really start to come, which is a testament to artist development and patience and trust. Something that existed early on in music, know, Bob Dylan's first record flopped, it worked out for him because people believed in him. The label gave him another go at it. So today we exist to support these artists and their adventures. Although a lot of them make their own music or, you know, come up with their own content and we work remotely, we are...
We are guides and we are supporters and we provide them with a network of great partners ⁓ who can help them build their careers. To learn more about our roster, visit Wallyopus.com and follow us on Instagram at Wallyopus. And now back to the show.
Speaker 2 (22:57)
Yeah, mean people come in here and what like ⁓ three weeks ago some guy from out of Texas, he was from Texas, ⁓ he stopped in and he's like I like psychedelic rock and this kind of rock and ⁓ I'm just looking for something different.
And so ⁓ I showed him Hickory Wind, which is actually, it was pressed here in Evansville and it's worth, you know, a decent amount of money. And he's like, I want it. And it's actually, I've listened to it. I'm not a fan. okay. ⁓ But it is a freaking-
Speaker 1 (23:38)
Hahaha
Speaker 2 (23:41)
Mean it was it was pressed on Garfield. It says it on the back and ⁓ It's it's like well over you know $15,000 Wow
Speaker 3 (23:49)
on
Speaker 2 (23:54)
Yeah, gigantic records. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:57)
gigantic records was a local record. mentioned it a minute ago.
Speaker 2 (23:59)
⁓
Speaker 3 (24:00)
I see what.
Speaker 2 (24:03)
I think the label that gigantic records was the label and I want to say because one of the guys came in here He was a teacher at North High School ⁓ And I think it was from Ohio. Okay, I want to say but I don't know that I'm I'm not positive on that one, but but yeah Hickory wind was the band and then they turned into BF trike. So psychedelic approach
Speaker 3 (24:29)
We actually had done a couple videos with this gentleman, we were very early on in our video technology. I think he threw in the towel and said, you guys work it out and maybe if I'm still alive later, we can revisit it. ⁓
Speaker 1 (24:51)
So people come to you and you guys are you guys are also curators you guys are curating I mean someone's coming to you saying I like this and this and this Yeah, and you have to distill that into like well, what about this? Like that's not something that necessarily happens. I guess you could use chad gbt to do the same shit, but it's not the same It's like I'm standing in this door. I'm talking to real humans. They're giving me a human input
Speaker 3 (25:13)
We're talking grassroots, baby.
Speaker 1 (25:15)
grassroots.
I think
Speaker 2 (25:16)
I think that happens in most record stores, know, people are like, hey, like, what do you suggest? And, but that's what's great about it. You know, you get to discover new music instead of hopping on an app and it's like, ⁓ you might like this. ⁓
Speaker 3 (25:33)
And that's the great
part about Space Bunky Records is, yes, we're a traditional record store, but we're busting out with new media in all directions. know, cause we, you know, even though it may be a feeble attempt, we at least make a effort to entertain and to educate. yeah, we got that going for us.
Speaker 1 (26:03)
Yeah, yeah, and I'm well, I'm sure I mean, I'm sure people will stand in here for hours Just talking to you guys looking at stuff Reminiscing I'm sure people reminisce on like I knew this back in
Speaker 3 (26:15)
Sometimes most days, not all days, but most days we're open for five hours. And sometimes we've got people waiting for us to open and they will not leave until we close at five o'clock because yes, we got that many records.
Speaker 1 (26:37)
⁓ Absolutely. And there's not a whole lot of spots to hang out and talk to people about music. No. Right? Like this is where people can gather. It's like a space. it's really, it is.
Speaker 3 (26:51)
Ace, I like that word.
Speaker 1 (26:53)
I
know, was thinking,
Speaker 2 (26:54)
doesn't really like to like talk that much. He tries to stay like super super busy. I'm a multitasker and ⁓
Speaker 3 (27:06)
Yeah, we've had debates about that.
Speaker 2 (27:09)
I'm a multitasker.
So, I mean, I can work and I can talk at the same time. And so I feel like I've, you know, kept the ball rolling on the people thing because he doesn't always want to talk.
Speaker 3 (27:23)
Yeah. Yeah. You know, my gift, my gift is surrounding myself with people that know more than I do. ⁓
Speaker 1 (27:37)
That's a beautiful leadership quality right there.
Speaker 3 (27:41)
My gift is knowing my weakness.
Speaker 1 (27:43)
Yes, that's a good strength knowing your weakness. But what is why are you guys only open five hours?
Speaker 2 (27:50)
first open up we were open from nine to five and we realized what Pat?
Speaker 3 (27:59)
Well,
the people that buy music don't freaking get out until noon. You're a bunch of lazy people.
Speaker 1 (28:10)
That's a good point.
Speaker 2 (28:14)
Until like noon, yeah, there was no point being open but
Speaker 3 (28:19)
It worked out great because Meredith and I, years before, we had work to accomplish and we went about it in a very studious task and we did what it takes.
Speaker 1 (28:36)
Hmm.
So, so I'm curious about this. You guys have listening parties before, is it before albums drop?
Speaker 2 (28:43)
⁓ Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. It just depends on what the label ⁓ and, you know, what they decide.
Speaker 1 (28:51)
How does that, how do you get, I'm assuming not every record store has that access. How do you guys get, are you in touch with, is it distributors in touch? How does this come about?
Speaker 2 (29:05)
Through Record Store Day, kind of-ish, you kind of get connected to labels and such ⁓ and they send out, ⁓ Warner kind of sends out their own stuff. Record Store Day usually sends out the links and stuff to pull out. ⁓ How they do their selection process, I have no idea. ⁓
Speaker 1 (29:27)
But you guys applied
and then got accepted or something?
Speaker 3 (29:30)
And we waited a very long time. A very long time.
Speaker 2 (29:35)
We
waited a couple years for them to accept us, yeah But that was record store day for you know the record store events that are twice a year Not the listening parties, but yeah listening parties have started to roll in it's just yeah something that they send out and I I fill out next thing you know I'm getting an email but yeah, I
We're always busy, we're always listening parties and we're giving away something there or we're giving away tickets or we're, you know, we're doing something. Yes.
Speaker 3 (30:08)
They play
the waiting game, you know, they'll wait a year and then they wait two years and then they wait three years. Well, these guys haven't gone away yet.
Speaker 1 (30:20)
They're still here, growing. We'll give them a chance. ⁓ I've always wondered how, because I see you guys sometimes have, I guess it's associated with Record Store Day, but you'll have things that are exclusive or early, and I think to myself, that's unique, I would think.
Speaker 2 (30:40)
It's not I mean it's sometimes you know when I get the graphics It'll be like less than a thousand stores or right you know I mean there's not that many record store day stores in the United States in general so They are exclusive and yeah, I mean the Jonas Brothers Party. We were the only one in the state
Speaker 3 (31:04)
Man, they almost broke our freaking foundation. mean, they were packed in here. We got a pretty good sized space and they almost broke our foundation.
Speaker 1 (31:14)
That's amazing. And it's funny, it's kind of, you know, I'm just thinking out loud, but it makes me think about how, I was just talking to somebody about how a great local restaurant, the people are, the personality speaks through the restaurant, the people are there, they do things differently, they're not just a restaurant, right? You're not just a record store, you guys are personalities, you guys, and it's just like the life force of the business. It's not just the business. is. I don't think that exists everywhere, that's not a thing.
Speaker 3 (31:39)
is.
So we got that going for-
Speaker 1 (31:44)
Yes,
yeah, that was more, that wasn't a question I guess, that was more of just an observation. That was more of just me saying like...
Speaker 3 (31:48)
you
Speaker 2 (31:51)
I know I go to record stores when I go out of town and Some record stores do not have any personality at all
Speaker 3 (32:00)
Well they don't, it is incredible. mean everybody that works here, that is what we do. When we're on the road, we're going to other record stores and we're not above stealing a really good idea from another establishment. Yeah, none of us are. the thing that kills us all is when we walk into some place that like just blows you off and they don't care.
Whether you walk in the door or not, well...
Speaker 1 (32:35)
Yeah, that's I mean that's true. It's I mean I think that Yeah, that's exactly what makes you guys who you are. That's what makes you guys different. What where do you get? Where do you get where do you get your? So people bring you stuff and you you buy from them like people you'll you'll you'll buy records But what do you like you guys I mean if I'm not mistaken like you guys your stock is grown to like
over 250,000. ⁓
Speaker 3 (33:04)
That would be low.
Speaker 1 (33:06)
What how much like record like let's just say vinyl CDs cassettes
Speaker 3 (33:11)
I don't know, 600,000. Probably more than that. mean, we acquire our stock from a variety of Every day, I would say that it would be normal to get one or two, as many as six or eight individual people that are out to sell music media.
Speaker 1 (33:14)
Hold. ⁓
Speaker 2 (33:14)
Or more.
Speaker 3 (33:41)
or home stereo gear. It is not all a fit. So some we've got to turn away. But more often than not, if it is a fit for us, we strike a deal right then and there. And we'll just scoop it up. But in addition to that, of course, we have our new vendors that, whether it's new music media or new
Speaker 2 (33:44)
memorabilia.
Speaker 3 (34:10)
⁓ home stereo gear those are regular sources wholesale sources
Speaker 1 (34:18)
Yeah, that's how you guys keep track of all this you have a big database
Speaker 3 (34:23)
That's
her! That's her!
Speaker 2 (34:24)
I price and ⁓ now we have a system a barcoding system so
Speaker 1 (34:32)
Yes,
if somebody brings you something and you look through it, are you...
Speaker 2 (34:35)
I
don't put in this system immediately as it as I put as I price it Sorry
Speaker 1 (34:41)
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:45)
Ha
Speaker 1 (34:46)
But you, I mean to even know, like so to buy something and once you guys buy it, you're judging it for, like I've seen you guys, you did a video on The Beatles record that had the, shit, I forget what it's called, but it had the- The Butcher album. The Butcher album, yes. You guys did a whole thing of the state of the, isn't that what it's called, the state? Yeah. Like the, and I had never known about that. And that's the part of education that you guys do, but even knowing that stuff,
Did you already know that? Or you had to go like learn that? Okay.
Speaker 3 (35:18)
We knew it. No. Yeah
part of part of our gig
Speaker 2 (35:22)
Yeah, I mean that's one of the things especially the butcher album because it's popular. Yeah
Speaker 3 (35:28)
It's
a big thing.
Speaker 1 (35:29)
So
that's the thing, yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:31)
Yeah, everybody, because the yesterday and today, even the ones that are just, you know, the reissues with the cover that everyone sees, it still looks like a paced over. And so, I mean, there was...
just somebody in here saying, I was going through and I thought that, you know, I thought that's how it was for the Butcher album. So I thought, you know, I've really found something out of my parents and it, and it wasn't, that's just how they're made. And I mean, there's so much that you have to look for. There's so many small things. It's so complex. really is.
Speaker 1 (36:09)
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:09)
And what really blows us away is it's very seldom that a day or two goes by that people do not come in here and say, hey man, we were watching your videos and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, we have put out hundreds, hundreds of videos over the course of the last six years and there's a lot of them.
Yeah, the very fact that it's catching on in a little bitty, teeny, tiny ⁓ Evansville metro kind of way is really, really cool.
Speaker 1 (36:56)
It is, is. mean, your guys' content has a... Your media has a... A tangible aspect... As soon as I see it, I know whose it is. Like I know... It's from the font... It's just from the whole thing. It's like, that's them. That's Space Monkey. That's the crew over there. ⁓ Pat, I'm curious. You guys did a video recently of Bull Island. You put up the...
Speaker 3 (37:10)
That one annoying voice.
Speaker 1 (37:26)
⁓ his- the little museum piece of Bull Island, but can you- can you get- can you drop a quick history lesson on Bull Island?
Speaker 3 (37:33)
I am so glad that you mentioned that, you know, because I am ashamed, ashamed to say that I wasn't there, but I recognize the historical significance of that event. I mean, we are talking about something that happened just outside of Evansville that was nothing short of a s-
I mean, we had between 250 and 300,000 people that showed up at Bull Island. And even though it was by map significance in Illinois, it's still on the Indiana side of the river. And we have a magnificent, magnificent display of Bull Island.
which started off to be the Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival. It is just such a rich heritage. You know, everybody makes a big deal about who didn't show up there, which was Jefferson Airplane and Fleetwood Mac and a few others. But there's this long list of people that you know that were there. my God.
You need to come into Space Bunky Records and just check out our display because it is ⁓ as close as this guy will ever get to history. And I wasn't even there!
Speaker 1 (39:20)
⁓ Who did play? Who was like two or three?
Speaker 3 (39:23)
Let's
see, Fog Hat, the Eagles, let's know, wow, that, is the really, really hysterical part of this, this whole tribute is we had a Bull Island day and you know, we probably had 16 people that were actually there. And I made a point, Hey, tell me,
Speaker 1 (39:26)
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:28)
Cheese and Chong.
Speaker 3 (39:53)
who you saw the musical acts that really knocked it out of the park. Who do you remember making an impression on you? And each and every one of them says, I don't know, man. I know that there's a band up there playing.
Speaker 1 (40:12)
That's I far off from my festival experiences
Speaker 3 (40:17)
So 16 of these folks, I'm guessing maybe four of them said, I do remember cheating Chog flying in in the middle of the night. And it was just so cool because, mean, and again, this is coming from a guy that wasn't actually there and wasn't actually participating in the thing that was going on in 1972.
And that is, well, just being a party member of the crowd of 250,000. I like to think, and maybe I'm wrong, but I like to think that I would remember a particular group that said, yeah, I remember the Eagles. You know, we're all pretty high, but.
Speaker 1 (41:04)
Who's that?
Speaker 3 (41:13)
It was way cool because it was their early stuff. Chee Jin Jong is who they remember.
Speaker 1 (41:21)
That's hilarious. ⁓ I'm curious as record store people, I know I was reading about record store history, just some browsing through the internet, about the 70s and 80s being claimed as like the golden era of vinyl because of blockbuster hits like Rumors, Thriller. Is this accurate in your experience, Pat?
Speaker 3 (41:49)
Well, would say thriller may be a little yet to come, but absolutely. for one, thank God that I was born in the dawn of classic rock because that's where all the real action and all of the, let's see, how would you say?
all of the
root enthusiasm and root I'm at a loss but I was born in the world of
Speaker 1 (42:28)
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (42:33)
sweet spa of music. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (42:35)
She's
Speaker 1 (42:35)
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:36)
heard me say it a thousand times.
Speaker 1 (42:39)
I invest you.
Speaker 3 (42:42)
Thank you, Meredith.
Speaker 2 (42:44)
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (42:44)
Yeah, I mean, but you're right those some of those records sound better than records being made in the last 20 years some of the the way that they were Pushing their equipment. They're innovating in the studio I'm about the Eagles for example Some of those records still sound so good There was there was a period and I'm gonna digress for just two seconds But there's a period of the 90s where some country music that I listen to sometimes I'm like this stuff still sounds really good. It doesn't have the
like big reverbs or anything of yesteryear country. It's like late 90s but.
Speaker 3 (43:20)
And you mentioned the Eagles and they would be the perfect spotlight on that very issue because they started out, my friend is a country band, but they evolved into some kick ass rock and roll.
Speaker 1 (43:38)
Yes, yes absolutely. So, so ⁓ if you guys could paint a picture of what Space Monkey, where Space Monkey's headed, what is, what is, is there a, is there a plan for the future? You guys weren't on any big thing big that you would be willing to share about or what's the future of Space Monkey look like? What do you guys want to do?
Speaker 3 (43:59)
That's a pretty heavy question. You know, I don't know where the future of Space Monkey is headed, but I can tell you if we closed up shop tomorrow, I would be a happy guy because we have had six years, count them, six years of incredible...
incredible surprises. When Meredith first signed on here six years ago, I told her that you can expect a couple different things. We are going to have an incredible volume of music media that we will offer to the public. We are going to have an incredible volume of home stereo gear that we will offer to the public.
And lastly, we don't know what's coming because it will be such a surprise to us. And it really has been. It has been such, such a surprise at every turn. But, you know, I guess it's the magic combination of music and...
Let's see, what is the New World term for old?
Speaker 1 (45:29)
Like a nostalgia and this stuff
Speaker 3 (45:32)
nostalgia
we man we're just we just luckily ended up in the in the sweet spot of we're old and new yeah intersected and thank God that social media has found us because you know I put a fair amount
of money on the table and I didn't know whether it would work or not. really didn't. And, ⁓ Judith and I ended up being kindred souls in this mission and the public has embraced us. All of our foolishness, all of our bullshit that we put out there on a every other day basis. Thank you!
Speaker 1 (46:23)
haha
Speaker 3 (46:29)
Thank you, America.
Speaker 1 (46:31)
I felt like I was listening to an acceptance speech. That was great. That was great. That was great.
Speaker 2 (46:37)
No, what I hope to see is ⁓ for that East Side location that we had spoke of once upon a time.
Speaker 1 (46:47)
Yeah, interesting. Pat, when you walk in, when you walk into this empty store in the morning, you're opening up doors, you're coming in, do you sense that you are, do you sense that same sort of feeling that you used to get when you walked into Foles, was it Foles City Boutique? Do you feel like you come full circle to some extent?
Speaker 3 (47:14)
That is a very high bar, but yes, yes, I do. And that is fostered along by people through the door that, and we hear it time and time again, oldsters, not younger people, but oldsters that walk in and say, my God, I feel like I'm in Fault City, BT.
And that is like the greatest compliment that I can get. It really is.
Speaker 1 (47:58)
Hey, thank you for listening to the show this week. Visit everybody else podcast.com to learn more about this show, including a list of past guests and previous episodes. You can find me on Instagram at West Luttrell, where I post my own work, including activities related to this show. And you can also find the show on Instagram at everybody else podcast. The show is self-produced and hosted by me, West Luttrell with artwork by Ethan Douglas and music by Jim Neuer.
grateful that you spent a little time this week listening to our podcast and learning more about the invisible people out dedicating their lives to making music happen. We'll be back again soon.
Everybody else is a production of the Midwest Music Corp.