Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
[interviewer 1] Patrick Carney, take 1.
All right, first question.
So, how would you describe Gil Mantera's Party Dream?
Uh...
Every time I try to explain this band to somebody,
like, it's kind-- it's really hard.
They're, like, a comedy group that then started making
really weird synth-pop with songs
about, like, buffalo tears.
I-- I think they're the most famous rock band
you've never heard of.
They could do stuff that, if anyone else did it,
it would've fucking sucked.
But when they did it, it was awesome.
[Patrick] A few of their shows were some
of the funniest things I've ever seen happen in person.
It was all pretty genius.
Their show is basically illegal in-- in most states.
It was just a spectacle, you know?
Immediately you go home and, like, told all my friends,
like, "You guys gotta see this band, they're so weird".
It's the funniest shit that I had ever seen.
It would always end in a disaster.
Fake fighting that turned into real fighting.
Then they would-- you know, they would get into real fights
on stage and they would be naked
throwing beer at each other.
Fucking insane.
Who are you and what the fuck do you want from us?
[interviewer 1] Hey, I'm just a regular guy
and I'm looking for a good everyman's band
that's not weird.
Well, we are the everyman's band,
we're the people's band, you know--
We're the people's choice.
The Rock has the people's elbow and eyebrow
and stuff; we are the people's band.
[interviewer 1] Oh, wait, who are-- who are you,
and why should I care?
[static]
[eight-bit music playing]
[Richie] Good evening, we are Gil Mantera's
motherfucking Party Dream.
[audience cheering]
[Richie] You're probably gonna learn in, like,
a little bit that you should be clapping and hooting
and hollering a lot better than that bullshit.
-That was fuckin' weak. -[audience member] Yeah!
[Richie] Let me start this shit over.
Good evening, we are Gil Mantera's
motherfucking Party Dream!
[audience cheering loudly]
♪ This thing you take from me ♪
♪ A lifetime to understand ♪
♪ How real it feels ♪
♪ To go to hell without a plan ♪
♪ Into the wild side ♪
♪ That's got a hold on me ♪
♪ Almost the brainchild of my insanity ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
[distorted eight-bit singing] ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ Don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ Don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I just don't know ♪
♪ Don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I never know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ Now I know what it's like to beat it ♪
♪ Man, it's overrated, crazy overrated ♪
♪ See now I know ♪
♪ Oh, now I know ♪
♪ Now I know what it's like to beat it ♪
♪ Why's everybody talking [indistinct] ♪
♪ See now I know, oh, now I know ♪
[synth blaring]
[guitar solo playing]
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I just don't know ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I'm out ♪
-[song ends, audience cheering] -Peace.
Peace for the boys.
[static]
[vehicle whooshing]
[crow cawing]
[interviewer 1] All right, here we go,
Ultimate Donny house, scene 1, take 1.
Action.
[interviewer 2] All right, so, just to explain
the context of this, we are now, uh,
filming the documentary.
Uh, clearly, we have Donny in hand,
but we are still reaching out to Gil.
And, uh, at this point we are showing Donny the email
that we sent to Gil and then Gil's response,
but, uh, before you read that, just to be sure,
it has been four years since the last communication?
Or when's the last time you talked to-- to Gil?
I-- I guess it has been--
I-- I think if there is a stubborn streak-- streak,
he-- it would be more on him.
Like, he would-- he would have that more than me.
[interviewer 1] We're gonna cut there. We're blanking.
[interviewer 2] Okay. Hold on, I need to re-slate.
-[interviewer 1] Okay. -[Donny singing]
[interviewer 1] UD House, take 2.
[interviewer 2] We're set. You ready?
-Yeah. -For the record,
what is your real name?
Oh, um, I guess I have to tell you
the truth now, which sucks!
What's up, motherfuckin' Chicago!
I am the Ultimate, goddamn, motherfucking,
all that pussy shit, Donny!
♪ Designer of the soul ♪
♪ Complicating me ♪
♪ Never give in ♪
[indistinct lyrics]
♪ To always stick to my guns ♪
♪ No matter what the cost ♪
♪ My only fear is love lost ♪
♪ And I won't go ♪
♪ So, I see your hands ♪
♪ You're shouting in the night ♪
♪ Believing me, yeah ♪
♪
[music fades]
Um, Richard Bernacky, Jr.,
no middle name.
[interviewer 1] And where were you born?
[Richie] Youngstown, Ohio.
My dad worked at General Motors, uh, most of his life.
Huge influence on-- on this area, like,
big, big company here.
[interviewer 1] What were you like as a kid?
You know, were you the class clown,
were you more reserved, or...
Kinda dorky.
My hair was always stupid,
I never had good clothes, you know.
I felt kind of weird about myself for a while,
but then sometimes I was the class clown, like-- but rarely.
Richie is-- is-- is probably the kindest madman
you'll ever meet.
We had a pretty vicious social circle
in our, uh, hometown
and they'd always decide to sort of, uh,
excommunicate certain kids and I got picked
the eighth grade year, so I was suddenly just sitting
alone at lunch all the time,
you know, like, "What happened?"
Uh, and Richie somehow befriended me
'cause he was just, like, this good-hearted kid,
so I have ample respect for his kindness as a human being.
Like, I-- I don't think the guy has a mean bone in his body.
What you-- what you got on stage was what he wanted
to present and outside of the stage, he didn't have any--
he'd left it all there.
[Glen using Vocoder]
[Glen]
[audience laughing]
[Glen]
[audience laughing]
Early on, a big part of the show,
like, I used to berate him horribly.
[Glen speaking distortedly]
-[Glen using Vocoder] -And-- shut the fuck--
Man, I'm serious, this story hurts a lot and you know
the same story 'cause you're my fucking brother, dude.
You're younger, that's my brother.
Shut the fuck up for a minute.
Couple years later I think we were in Milwaukee
we were just, like, having a heart-to-heart about nothin'
and then he's just like, "Man, I kinda don't like it
when you do all that, you know,
it-- it actually hurts my feelings."
I'm like-- I was like-- I felt so bad, like, "Oh, shit."
But as far as, like, whatever else I said,
he was totally on board with me being a-- a complete maniac.
[Glen using Vocoder]
As far as Glen is concerned,
I always knew him younger to be very shy,
um, which he's not if you know him.
[synthesized singing]
[synthesized singing continues]
♪
[screaming]
[audience cheering]
I mean, even today, Glen still keeps to himself,
he likes to do his own thing.
They would not impress you as maniacs
if you knew them in per-- I mean, I-- I know them,
so I know that they're maniacs,
but if you would just meet them out,
I think people would be like, "These are the guys?"
Well, the relationship-- like, he's actually my step-brother.
We got together when I was, like...
I don't know, I was probably around eight years old
and he was one.
I took care of his ass, like, you know,
I was pretty much his babysitter
and his-- his guardian, like, I-- I took care of him
all through him growing up.
So, we were super tight
and then we became great friends.
Like, me and Gil used to hang like the Dickens, man.
Discuss music, uh, you know, like, introduced
a lot of music I was listening to and then
sometimes he would bring some stuff even at a young age.
[interviewer 1] So, when is the first time
you pick up an instrument, is it the guitar?
When did you, like, get into music in that way?
Um, fifth grade, at school,
I-- I decided to play violin, so I did that for two years.
And that's, you know-- I guess that's where I learned
all about timing and everything.
I didn't start playing guitar until 20.
20 years old.
[interviewer 1] So, how many bands were you in
before Gil Mantera's Party Dream?
Uh, just two.
And, like, both did really, really well in Youngstown,
um, and then we did a little bit of traveling.
So, I definitely cut my chops in that way
as a front man, learning how to, like, do a lot of things,
be confident and project and all that.
[interviewer 1] So, then at what point along that journey
did you bring Glen into the fold
and decide you want to work with him in a musical way?
You know, was playing in bands with his friends
at the time, like, learning bass and, you know,
doing some bizarre, like, crazy metal songs and stuff.
And then our friend, James Gage,
we all, you know, got along and had this idea
that we were gonna do Party Talk.
[Richie, robotic voice] 100% Party Talker.
This is pre-show warm-up.
Actually we are loading and discussing.
Thank you.
[normal voice] This is Paul. He's another Party Talker.
This is Dakota from Columbus, Party Talker.
Show these fuckers again.
Before there was the Party Dream,
there was Party Talk.
Party Talk was me, James Gage,
who went by, uh, Tartron, and my brother.
[indistinct singing]
The thought was we're gonna be a band
for one night and one night only.
The-- the impetus of Party Talk, which, you know,
would evolve into Gil Mantera's Party Dream,
was to create something that was, by design, to be unliked.
[indistinct singing]
[audience cheering]
People went crazy for it.
It was the-- it was the weirdest-- one of the weirdest
nights of my life to see that, uh, reaction to something
that was put together specifically to suck.
If you've never been to Toronto, why you actin'
the fuck like you been to Toronto?
♪ I'm so proud of myself ♪
[crowd cheering]
[indistinct singing]
♪
Hello, bartender, I'll take another one!
Oh, thank you.
That was great, but I think I'm drunk!
[audience cheering]
There was one-- one show only.
Um, and that happened a week before I moved to California.
So, for me, it was just sort of like this
grand fuck-off show to dick off with my friends.
They took it to the next level,
but the seed was planted with that initial Party Talk show.
Christmas Eve 1999.
A friend of mine was in a punk band
and he had other bands coming in from out of town.
And it was the blizzard of '99 so everybody canceled.
He called me up and said, "Hey, can you do something?
Like, I don't even care what it is."
It just so happens that my brother was in
from, uh, Columbus.
And, um, I asked him and he's like, "Yeah, let's do this."
In four hours or less, put together the set,
put together our band.
So, when we got to the club that evening
I said, "Let's call it Gil Mantera's Party Dream,"
and that was it.
And it was never meant to go anywhere.
♪ What Gil Mantera is trying to tell you all ♪
♪ Is that he's really disappointed ♪
♪ That you didn't dance ♪
♪ He likes when the broads that dance ♪
♪ Go up and do their thing ♪
♪ 'Cause we got this thing, it's our own thing ♪
♪ And now you can help us ♪
♪ That's what Gil Mantera's trying to say ♪
♪ He is Gil Mantera ♪
♪ My name's Donny, girl ♪
We had a lot of fun.
We looked terrible, we sounded terrible.
I do think we-- At-- at that time, we had a feeling
that we had something and we definitely did not plan
on doing anything with that something.
Like, "Eh, I don't know, maybe we'll do this again."
And we did, shortly after.
Like, maybe a couple months later.
Oh, shit! A couple months later was our CD release party.
Uh, we decided to book a show as our CD release
and didn't have any songs.
And so, like-- And that was Best Friends.
We had to bust our asses.
Got the digital four-track
and just created some songs
and then we pressed them ourselves,
like, did all the art ourselves, like, great.
We're in Columbus.
We've gotta fuck shit up.
[rock music playing]
We're gonna fuck it up.
[Richie] We did want it to be listenable
and enjoyable on some level for sure.
And sometimes it was how to make the song as stupid
as possible, like, what doesn't make sense here?
And, like, let's go for that.
I mean, as a band, we didn't even make sense.
And I think as individuals we don't really make sense,
so, like, that was kind of, like, what we were pushing for.
Let's make some bizarre music and just have fun.
Bumble-Stiff!
[crowd cheering]
Piece of shit.
[crowd cheering]
[Richie] We had ten CDs pressed
and we sold 'em out, man, sold 'em out.
I think there were only 20 copies of Best Friends.
Period.
[Glen] The coat's for sale, let's bring the coat out, too.
-Seven bucks. -[Richie] It's six bucks.
-The coat's $6. -[woman] $6 for that?
Oh, you think that's-- that's not enough, huh?
-[woman] I don't know. -Sling some beer, get a coat.
[Richie] The wardrobe and props were always a big thing.
Um, the whole idea, like, in-- in my mind, I-- I just
did want-- I wanted to look horrible.
I wanted people to be disgusted by, like,
how terrible I looked, and that was pretty much it.
This is some of the early stuff.
This style, this beach cover-up crap.
Definitely wearing a lot of that.
That's a one-piece thing, it's not just a shirt.
Classic Gil style.
Big leather ass coat with fringe.
Oh, man, this stuff's disgusting.
[laughing]
Oh, here we go. I always liked kitties.
You know, kitties are always cute.
You'd feel good about yourself
when you wear something like this.
Very good about yourself.
I remember, this was part of
the whole Western Brotherhood tour
when we were doing dreamscape songs.
I matched that with some brown Han Solo leather stuff and wow.
Oh, very nice, this is, uh,
part of the Dreamsport touring stuff.
Very sporty and dreamy about those.
More, looks like, crushed velour or something' like that.
Nice suit.
Now this! Ooh, this is good stuff, too.
One piece.
It's almost like a little wrestling thing.
[laughs]
It's--
I can imagine myself coming out and trying to look cool
in something' like this, you know?
But I did! I did look cool.
♪
Started off stripping and we couldn't stop.
That's pretty much it, we can't get away from it.
We couldn't, like-- it's just in us,
we have to take our clothes off.
It has a lot to do with just exposing yourself.
There's a lot of raw shit that happened
with Party Dream, and that's part of it.
It's like, "Here I am."
And, you know, like, even then, you know,
most of the shows I'm probably about 15 pounds heavier.
I've been telling every city for the last
four and a half years, it's like, "Hey, man, I know
I got a little weight in my gut," and I always say,
"Hey, I'm gonna work out. Next time you see me
I'm gonna be slim and trim. I have been lying
for the last four and half years.
I get-- I get a little-- I-- I put on weight, like,
every goddamn day and, you know what I'm sayin',
I don't give a fuck anymore.
Yeah, I looked like shit
and it kind of just didn't matter.
And we were always just...
"Here we are."
[crowd cheering]
[interviewer 1] Okay, we're rolling.
[interviewer 2] As long as we got the guitar fuckin' rollin'.
-Yeah. -Let's play some shit.
I mean, whatever.
I don't play guitar very well,
but sure, I'll-- I'll play all day.
[interviewer 1] But I don't know if you're talking about
the instrumental, I don't know if you can even remember that.
Or whatever the hell you want, like, we don't care.
Um. Oh, man, the instrumental, now that I remember it,
was in drop D.
I really, like-- I really don't--
I don't play guitar. [laughs]
[interviewer 1] Fuckin' liar!
I-- I don't play guitar.
You know what I mean?
I can put my fingers on there and stuff
and hit the strings,
but I don't actually play guitar.
[interviewer 1] Even if you're just fucking around?
Is there anything you nor-- What do you normally play
when you pick up a guitar and you're-- you're warming up?
-I don't do that. -Okay.
Honestly, like, I-- I-- I've never really picked up
a guitar. I wish I would 'cause there are things--
Sometimes I'll pick it up. You know,
sometimes I'll just pick it up and just play, like,
some, like, pretty chords that are slightly dissonant,
you know, in-- in terms of just hearing things and writing.
But, um...
On the spot, you're probably not gonna get much out of me.
It's gonna sound like crap.
[interviewer 1] All right, well, we got what we got.
Awesome--
[audience laughing on tape]
[Richie]
[man]
[Richie]
[synth-rock music playing]
♪ I saw you walk away ♪
♪ My love is like a drama stage ♪
♪ My world, and all in where they want it ♪
♪ As long as I become your prayer ♪
♪ But I know I'll be all right ♪
♪ I know I'll be all right ♪
♪ The sky's so out of sight, hey, yeah ♪
♪ But I know I'll be all right ♪
♪ And I know I'll be all right ♪
♪ And I know I'll be okay ♪
♪ And everything I'm told ♪
♪ Everything sounds great ♪
♪ Let's take it down ♪
[guitar solo playing]
♪ I know I'll be all right ♪
♪ The sky's so out of sight, yeah, yeah ♪
♪ But I know I'll be all right ♪
[crowd cheering]
[engine rumbling]
[street din]
[birds chirping]
-[man 1] How you been, man? -[man 2] 'Sup, dude?
[Richie] I've been-- I've been all right.
-[man 2] Oh, thank you. -No, look into the camera
-and tell us how you feel. -I've been all right.
Ever since I got my fancy haircut,
things have really been looking up.
[man 1] Hey, what's the matter with you?
[man 2] When did you cut your hair?
'Bout two or three weeks ago.
[man 1] You're not as sexy as I once thought you were.
Eh. Right...
[man 2] Please.
Tell that-- tell that-- tell that one to the judge.
[man 2] Wanna go outside? Can we go outside with these?
-[man 3] Yeah. -[man 2] All right,
that's where I'll go.
I can tell you this, Gil Mantera's
was-- was in my heart early,
when they were just kinda figuring out
-what they were doing. -And pissing you off.
Then they were pissing me off and they were,
like, pouring cologne on their balls
and then I had to clean that shit up
for about two and a half weeks, and I mean--
But the impact that Gil Mantera's Party Dream
left on Youngstown was that old man ball smell.
[Richie] Old man ball.
[Joe] And that began
the, uh, popularity of-- of Gil Mantera's.
Love will trick you and love will bite you
in your motherfuckin' ass.
-[music starts playing] -Ah.
Are you happy? Don't laugh.
This one's called "Blats from the Pabst."
[robotic singing on Vocoder]
I think progressively every show that they did
there would be twice as many people, you know?
So, like, when I saw them there was, like,
15 people and the next one there's, like, 30.
Whenever they would go to a new venue
there'd be nobody there 'cause nobody'd ever heard of 'em.
The very next time they'd come to town
it'd be, like, a packed venue.
I don't know, we-- we kept getting
some interesting opportunities, you know,
like, we'd get some shows in Columbus, Ohio,
which ended up being a really good spot for us.
Yeah, it started getting wild in Columbus.
And, um, since my brother lived there,
when we were just doing, like, one-off shows in Columbus,
we were able to bring things to the table.
Um, like, we would bring a recliner,
a microwave, we brought it all, trampolines.
So, like, it was the stupidest stage setup ever.
I mean, we didn't know what we were doing yet.
We definitely--
There was an evolution for sure.
Like, our-- our characters.
[man] They would have this, like, brothers dynamic of that
they hated each other, which is I guess maybe ironic now.
Uh, but they would throw beers and pour beers
on each other's head.
[crowd laughing]
I remember, like, back in the day
there was a conscious effort to outdo ourselves each time.
Especially if we were playing the same spot.
Like, we gotta get crazier.
And that's probably why we started writing music
and getting actual music instead of just playing crap
and destroying our bodies.
'Cause we were- the only way we could
keep outdoing ourselves was to die.
And, uh, we were definitely not suicidal, as far as I know.
Like, I think that's why we were like,
"We should have some music."
You know, we're both, like, capable musicians
and, you know-- who like good music.
And then we just happened upon some,
like, songs that sounded pretty decent.
I think my brother just ex-- yeah, just,
kind of liked experimenting with, like, really old,
amazing electronic music, and getting inspired.
And then when we started getting a little bit of money,
he figured out what he wanted to get
to make the sounds he wanted.
He was doing it mostly with the stupid,
old Yamaha keyboard.
Eventually Glen got, like, an MPC drum machine
and so he would hammer out beats, and then eventually,
I think he bought a Vocoder
and-- and kind of, like, changed everything to that.
I don't know why he did it, but I love that he did it.
It-- it made the band in a lot of ways.
[Richie] He didn't have that Vocoder to begin with.
We didn't start with that.
He figured that's something he wanted
and as soon as he did I just remember being like, "Oh, yeah.
This-- this is the shit!"
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
[Vocoder singing] ♪ Fuck bullshit, this is real ♪
♪ That's the deal... ♪
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
[Richie] I think at some point it dawned on us
that we just need to do it all. Like, we-- we have to have
good music and we have to be our wild selves.
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
[Vocoder singing] ♪ Bullshit, this is real ♪
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
[indistinct Vocoder singing]
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
[indistinct Vocoder singing]
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
[indistinct Vocoder singing]
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
♪ Ain't nobody gonna tear us up ♪
♪ I give it up, girl ♪
-[crowd cheering] -Thank you, thank you.
[O'Malley] Before we did Once Triangular,I was like,
"We need to capture the live element of the band
because we thought at that point they couldn't be recorded
because it was so, like-- the energy of the crowd and,
like, the-- the improv of the vocals
and just the performance in general were, like--
The only way that the band could be captured
was in a-- in a live element.
Like, all the-- the lyrics were improv, basically.
♪ Now? ♪
♪ Can we probe every lock in town? ♪
♪ Me and you together ♪
♪ We didn't ride around the corner ♪
♪ The bowling alley was the first fight ♪
♪ I had you down and you wanted up ♪
When he finally started writing real music,
he would write the music, present it to me,
and a lot of times, I would hear it for the first time
while we were performing it.
[synth blaring]
[Glen]
When we recorded Once Triangular,
he would do different verses.
We would do it, like,
15, 20 times and then I would go through
and pick the verses that I liked.
I think once we had that done, those became like the lyrics
of the song and he did the-- the vocals
in my sister's bedroom.
I remember, the way we had the microphones set up,
there was a-- a bookshelf and it had, like,
a little dra-- stuffed animal dragon and, like,
a bunch of just, like, weird girly things
and he'd be looking at that. He would pull lyrics
off of, like, the dragon that was on my sister's shelf.
And it was, like, so many elements of-- of that album,
I kept on thinking of, like, it was all inspired
by my, like, 14-year-old sister.
♪ I done rode a dragon before ♪
♪ I done rode a scorpion ♪
[indistinct lyrics]
[O'Malley] "Rock the Show" I-- I personally loved,
'cause that-- that was the first song that they played
that had, like, beats to it and it's like,
"Oh, wow, this is almost like a rap song or something."
There was like a da-- there was like the beginning of, like,
"Oh, you could actually dance to this,"
where you could see where it could be more
than just, like, a weird show that you watched,
you could actually, like, listen to that in your car.
[indistinct singing]
[indistinct Vocoder singing]
♪ Oh, oh ♪
[crowd cheering]
Holy shit! You have a Grand Buffet shirt on!
-Oh, yeah. -You gotta show--
We were just-- they were just, uh, filming Grand Buffet
the other day. They got a Grand Buffet.
[bar chatter]
Those guys-- I love Grand Buffet, but I'm not trading
my This Old House shirt for an extra large
or double XL Grand Buffet shirt that won't fit me
'cause I won't wear it.
It's not gonna happen.
Kiss my ass, Jarrod and Jackson!
Fuck y'all! That's what I'm sayin'!
I think Grand Buffet and Party Dream were,
in a lot of ways, brother bands.
I mean this-- there was two guys,
you know, it was electronic.
I don't consider either band, like, a comedic act.
I mean, I consider us, first and foremost,
bands that made music, that just were willing to do
a lot of different kind of shit on stage,
you know, as a means to entertain.
They would tend to do a little bit more blood and poop jokes.
Like, they would, like, dry fuck each other on stage
and they would, you know, put beer bottles up their assholes.
And if someone-- that's something that
if someone described it to me I'd be like,
"Fuck that, like, that's buffoonery, like that's--
fuck that," but when they did it, it was awesome.
The-- the cool shit that they did does get lost
in translation to a large extent.
It was a visceral type of performance.
A DVD or a YouTube clip of it is cool,
but it's not the same.
I feel like we probably played
somewhere between 100 and 200 shows
in the course of ten years.
♪ For once in your life, give us a break ♪
♪ Think about something, anything other than space ♪
♪ Stupid dinosaur ♪
♪ One, two, three, four, eight, nine, eight ♪
♪ This is the way we celebrate ♪
♪ No more monkeys jumpin' off the bed ♪
♪ I grab a piece of chicken, wrap it up, I said ♪
♪ No more monkeys jumpin' off the bed ♪
♪ No more monkeys jumpin' on my head ♪
♪ No more monkeys, no more monkeys ♪
♪ People, are you with me? ♪
[crowd cheering]
♪
[Jarrod] The other thing is, and th-- this doesn't get
talked about ever, you know, they had awesome songs.
Like, they wrote fuckin' awesome songs.
Even then, that early on, they were a force
in Youngstown. I mean, they had fans.
Not just, like, friends of friends, and, you know-
It wasn't like a local band thing.
It was, like, very early on them as a young band,
you know, them playing their hometown, it was kinda, like--
it was comparable to a national act
coming through and-- and playing,
which is a testament to-- you know, to the legitimacy
of-- of them as performers.
[bell tolling]
[electronic music playing]
♪ Wizards sometimes get blue ♪
♪ A lonely angel says I can too ♪
♪ And I got to spare my sanity ♪
♪ And save all your milk ♪
♪ And save all your cookies ♪
♪ Put 'em in a great big bucket ♪
♪ Until you offer anything now ♪
♪ And save all your milk ♪
♪ And save all your cookies ♪
♪ Put 'em in a great big bucket ♪
♪ Until you offer anything now ♪
♪
[interviewer 1] So, a girl meets you after a show,
are you still Ultimate Donny, or--
wh-- where-- where does that end?
It was, um-- I mean, it is kind of one and the same.
In my opinion, there is no substantial difference
between Richie on stage--
You shut up! I went to everywhere!
I went to the biggest pizza factory in the world!
You ever been there?
-- and Richie the other 23 hours of the day.
♪ They like to make you pay a couple of dollars ♪
♪ To eat their pizza but I swear it's worth it ♪
♪ It really is! ♪
[laughs]
I mean, to this day, I consider Richie
one of my best friends and, like,
simultaneously he is a tremendous piece of shit.
A lot of people go to Shaolin Temple
thinking that they gonna come out a princess.
It don't work that way, motherfuckers.
I'm the ex-Cadillac, fuck y'all.
He would be all over the place
and that was his essence.
That wasn't a fabrication
'cause we would go out to, like,
the Iron Skillet
or a Petro Gas, you know, truck stop after that
and he would keep drinking domestic beer
and just rattling off shit, and I would just kind of
shut my mouth and-- and just bask in it because,
like, when I was done performing,
it was kinda like, "Okay, you know,
I-- I had that catharsis, now I'm gonna chill."
With Richie it was just, like,
constant attention, must have attention all the time,
which is one of the lovable things about him.
♪ You can re-slate my asshole... ♪
[laughing]
[interviewer 1] The UD House, take 9, re-slate the asshole.
You gotta be serious.
You can sing anything with conviction.
You can ask me about that,
that is my technique, by the way.
It's say anything with conviction.
-[interviewer 1] Yeah. -You know how
everybody says that, you know,
the human brain is made of mustard and rice?
And then that's just fact.
You say it like that and you mean it and that's a fact,
and then you can go into a real cool story after that.
Dinosaurs had nuts.
Dinosaurs used to smear shit all over their girlfriends'
nuts at the same time.
Big fuckin' deal, you deal with this shit.
You move on, you come to terms, man.
With your own fucking self.
If this ain't you, then don't be it.
If you're gonna lick a broad's asshole, do it right.
The first time I actually saw them,
it-- it wasn't 'til about 2004.
I mean, I think I ba-- basically peed my pants
at their show.
The Black Keys are from Akron
and we were hitting pretty hard in Akron,
and Patrick just approached us one day about,
like, putting out a record.
I asked three-- three bands
if they wanted to make a record.
One was the Party Dream, one was this band from Florida
that had a pitbull for a lead singer.
Oh, the third-- the third record,
I was trying to get David Cross to do a, uh-- a 7-inch.
[Richie] And he really liked the music,
but he-- he thought it deserved better production.
And so, like, he talked to us about it
and we're like, "Sure, let's do this."
[Patrick] But, yeah, the Party Dream went
and made a record that I eventually put out,
I think, in late 2005.
[Richie] It was-- it was rough, like,
we were in the studio and we had stuff
that we didn't even write, you know, like,
we had made up a lot of stuff,
so it was a lot of pressure.
Like, we were in New York City.
You know, Gil had his shit together really well.
Yeah, like, he had his carefully crafted songs.
I mean, he usually had the tracks ready to go.
Like, he-- he figured that out way in advance.
Like, overall, I just think
he's an extremely talented son of a bitch, you know,
and, um...
he brought the hard work
and I brought the "here I am."
You know, like, I had to figure out what I was
going to do in the studio.
Like, I didn't have parts,
mostly because I'm kind of lazy with things like that.
Like, if I have to think about something too much,
it-- it cripples me.
I'm more of a-- I respond to being pressured
and whether it's on myself,
if I have two minutes to do something
that should take two years,
I can probably get it done if it really has to get done.
Like, "Buffalo Tears,"
the chorus was written in the studio,
like, I'm hearing it along, Shane's just playing it,
got it in the system, I'm hearing it, like,
I'm just-- I'm hearing it-- we're just, like,
drinking, having fun, I'm like--
♪ I only want just-- ♪
Like, that whole chorus happened there.
The entire-- Actually, that entire song,
the lyrics happened in the studio,
or I'm on the mic, it's one take on the mic.
And that's what you hear.
Which is absolutely stupid.
Absolutely ridiculous.
You get an opportunity to record
in a nice studio,
you know, Times Square, um, it's absolutely--
and then, like, you blow it.
But we didn't blow it somehow.
I don't recommend that for any band in the studio
when you're paying for it, ever.
That's terrible. Be prepared.
Blood Songs,you know, Patrick Carney put us out
on Audio Eagle, and it's a crazy album.
It's produced well, um,
and-- and people took to it, like, they love that one.
On Blood Songs you hear it very well.
You here, like, this bizarre, like,
soulful idiot singing over top
some of this electronic music.
And I think it really worked.
And it was-- I've never heard anything like it.
I'm almost positive
that they made their money back on us.
You know, I think, you know, I lost, like,
$15,000 putting their record out.
[interviewer] When was it when you could be, like,
"All right, I don't need to work anymore,
I'm just in a band?"
Pretty sure that was the beginning of 2006.
I think we quit. He just, uh-- Gil just finished college.
And, um, yeah, we're like, "Let's do it."
We were making decent money for a band out of Youngstown.
You know, like, our tours are good.
The only thing that bugged me, um,
when we first started touring,
I had a very young daughter,
and, like, that used to kill me.
That was the only thing.
Like, other than that, I would just, like-- I would go.
Their shows were genuinely
some of the best shows of any artist
I ever worked with.
I'd-- I'd really get excited.
I think, as an agent
a lot of times to really sell a band, like,
you know, venues are most interested in whether
the artists are selling tickets.
You can see that their ticket sales
started to spread, especially in the Midwest.
They were really selling a lot of tickets
by the time I started working with them.
And that started to spread to the coasts.
[dreamy synth music]
-Miami. -Miami.
-Here we are. -How you doing?
Thanks for having us. First time, guys, bye.
[interviewer] To Miami.
To Miami.
[speaking Spanish]
[interviewer] Let's talk about something, man.
How did you, uh, how'd you come up that name, Mr. Ultimate Don?
It's just-- it's just who I am.
[interviewer] I was asking Mr. Donny
how he got his name.
-Ultimate Don. -[interviewer] Mr. Gil Mantera.
-How did you get your name? -That's just my name.
That's what it's all about.
The answer is in the question.
[interviewer] Yeah, it's true.
[Glen] It's a fact.
Check. Check. Check. One.
♪ Ballerina, the way you turn me on ♪
♪ Something inside tells me something's wrong ♪
♪ Let me be the one to hold you tonight ♪
♪ Remove you from the shadows out into the light ♪
♪ Pretty lady, the way you turn me out ♪
♪ The way you move, makes me need you now ♪
♪ Let me be the one to hold you tonight ♪
♪ I am the man in white ♪
♪ Ballerina, the way you turn me on ♪
♪ Something inside tells me something's wrong ♪
♪ Let me be the one to hold you tonight ♪
♪ Remove you from the shadows out into the light ♪
♪ Pretty lady, the way you turn me out ♪
♪ The way you move makes me need you now ♪
♪ Let me be the one to holds you tonight ♪
♪ I am the man in white ♪
♪
[Andrew] Seeing that sort of devout sort of, um,
cult following that's going to go see them
every single time, um,
that are gonna come back for future tours,
knowing that they're touring on different albums,
that is icing on the cake
for the venues, for the promoters,
and they started to sell out rooms in, uh, New York.
First time I played in the Knitting Factory
when it was still in Manhattan,
there were, like, five different spots you could play.
And we played the very bottom.
But then it wasn't too much longer after that
we headlined The Main Room in Knitting Factory.
And it, like, sold out, line out the door.
And like, we got to hear the guy say,
"All right, nobody else can come in.
It's sold out."
And we were just out in the--
out in the foyer or whatever,
and just drinking beer and having fun.
We're like-- we looked at each other just like,
"Holy shit.
We're just two idiots from Youngstown.
And we just-- we're selling out a big city club.
It's nuts."
I remember six years ago
when they said, "Oh, yeah.
Gil Mantera's Party Dream.
You guys are from Youngstown.
What the fuck you gonna do?
You can't play New York City.
You can't play New York City." Well, you know what?
We said, "Fuck you." We ate a lot of hot dogs.
We talked to girls. We talked to robots.
We talked to-- to science fiction novelists.
And I guess everything is working out.
-You know what I mean? -[audience cheering]
Yeah.
♪
[upbeat synth-rock music]
♪ I only want justice ♪
♪ I only want equality ♪
♪ Can you dig that? ♪
♪ Come dance with me ♪
♪ I only want justice ♪
♪ I only want equality ♪
♪ Can you dig that? ♪
♪ Come dance with me ♪
[interviewer] In March of 2006, you guys
got voted Best Live Band
at South by Southwest, by The Village Voice.
What do you remember about that experience in particular?
[Richie] It was exciting,
you know, you heard about South by Southwest.
You know, in the music biz, musical thing.
We went there and we murdered it.
Murdered it pretty hard.
I do remember it-- we read that, it was like, you know,
like, thousands of bands play that and we played
South by Southwest three times.
Like, always had good shows.
♪ I only want justice ♪
♪ I only want equality ♪
♪ Can you dig that? ♪
♪ Come dance with me ♪
♪ I only want justice ♪
♪ I only want equality ♪
♪ Can you dig that? ♪
♪ So, who cares ♪
♪ If anybody else ♪
♪ Has anything else worth living for? ♪
♪ So, I'd rather fight than die ♪
♪ Or maybe fight plus die a couple times ♪
♪ Before I give up what I've been leaving now ♪
♪ Is anyone truly happy? ♪
♪
[crowd applause]
Um, they did Warped Tour
in I want to say summer of 2008.
Um, the Warped Tour people were--
were fan-- were fans of Party Dream
and they were really proactive
in trying to book the band
on the tour.
And I think they wanted to sort of add some spice
to the aesthetic of Warp Tour, because a lot of their fans
kind of come from the same world.
♪ They say it takes a man a lifetime to understand ♪
♪ How it really feels to go through hell without a plan ♪
♪ Is it the wild side that's got a hold on me ♪
♪ Or just the brain child of my insanity, yeah ♪
[Richie] I can talk for, like, an hour
about Warped Tour itself.
It was-- it was so many things.
It was so bizarre, it was so wild.
It sucked a lot. And it was--
There are so many great things that happened.
[Andrew] At first, it was really difficult for them
to kind of wrap their heads around it and sort of--
And we were very close to canceling the tour.
[Richie] We did meet a lot of people
and met a lot of fans.
Um, more so, I guess the-- the bands that played there,
you know, when they found out about us, it was just like,
"Whoa, these guys are insane."
You know, even Katy Perry came up and said,
"Like, ah, that was-- that was cool," you know?
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I never know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I don't know why ♪
♪ I don't know why I love you ♪
♪ I'm out ♪
We had so many instances where it's going to happen,
like, "Oh shit, we've got this person
behind us, backing us.
This is going to happen, this is going to happen."
And every time it just-- it fell through.
[interviewer]
Well, at the time there was a lot of shit
going down with that.
They, uh-- I don't know.
Dude's dog was all fucked up on coke and steroids and shit.
Just, like, I saw that and we basically freaked
and said, "We don't want any part of this."
[interviewer]
I don't know.
They didn't want us.
Oh, God.
We didn't like the business aspect at all.
I mean, like-- I didn't-- I was more the business man,
and I don't like that.
My brother definitely, like,
should never have any part of that.
Doing all the business stuff, too,
and trying to make all these connections,
it's kind of like-- that drains you so much
that you don't have enough time or energy.
Like, you have the time, but the energy
to actually put it into creating your stuff,
it's just-- it's dwindled.
I don't know. I stopped caring, you know, a little bit.
About creating anything.
'Cause I wasn't creating anything.
I was letting my brother do everything.
He did a lot of the work.
And then at some point, he was doing so much of the work
that he got very, uh--
He wanted everything his way.
[Richie speaking indistinctly]
[Richie] Almost ruined our show in our last half.
[Richie] Do we have any kind of schedule for Sunday?
My brother and I have some kind of vibes
that we had some bad Chipotle.
[crowd cheers]
It might affect the performance.
[upbeat synth-pop music]
♪ There was a girl that I once knew ♪
♪ With hair of blonde and eyes of blue ♪
♪ I feel a love that's waiting for me ♪
♪ I own a place with her inside ♪
♪ I can't deny even if I tried ♪
♪ Although sometimes I feel so lonely ♪
♪ Just hear me on the beat alone ♪
♪ With someone you're always thinking of ♪
♪ Just hear me on the beat alone ♪
♪ With someone you're always dreaming of ♪
[Tony] I think they were really just kind of sick of, like,
being like, "Nobody takes us seriously.
Like, nobody thinks what we're doing is slick.
Or if anything, they just think we're a couple goofballs,"
but obviously that's not the case.
Like, there were a lot of people that thought
more of them, but in general,
like, they weren't receiving, I think,
the kind of support they wanted to.
So, I think that adding drums
was a way for them to legitimatize,
uh, you know, that-- their-- their music in a way
that like made it-- made them feel
a little better about what they're doing.
[Don] Gil was the-- the catalyst behind getting Tony.
He asked him and he did it.
So, that was all Gil's idea,
getting live drums, and I loved it,
I loved having Tony playing drums.
♪ I meet the drummer, I heard he's from Pittsburgh ♪
♪ I heard he's in a band, Zombie ♪
♪ So, fuck you, Tony, fuck you ♪
Because of this asshole behind the drums,
I didn't get a drummer pussy on this five-week tour.
You fucking freak.
I don't wanna talk about you anymore
because you're stealing--
you're stealing precious limelight from me.
You stupid-ass ho.
But we still love Tony.
We still do love Tony.
First three shows he did with Tony were huge.
Sold out, and he's like, "Oh, yeah, cool."
My first show with them was a sold-out show
at the Knitting Factory in New York,
and it was-- it was crazy.
Their people were, like, losing their minds
and then, like, knew all the words to the songs.
And-- and it was sold out
and there was champagne in the room
and there were, like, girls everywhere.
I was like, "What the--" It was the first time
I had ever thought playing in a band, like,
"Oh, okay. Maybe--
maybe this is going to bump up, like, another--"
There's all these levels you tour on,
and it just felt like maybe they can bump up.
The best show you'll ever see in your life, right here.
Gil Mantera.
Number one Goddammed college tour on the planet.
♪ Don't think, don't breathe ♪
♪ Don't move, don't step out of line ♪
♪ You live in us ♪
♪ We need this not to die ♪
♪ And when the sun sets, still we'll have all day ♪
♪ And light the fire to burn it all away ♪
♪
♪ Leave it all behind ♪
♪ And we'll be in love tonight ♪
♪ When you leave it all behind ♪
♪ You don't have to say goodbye ♪
♪ Don't say goodbye, say goodbye ♪
♪ Say goodbye ♪
♪ Don't say goodbye, say goodbye ♪
♪ Say goodbye ♪
[crowd applause]
I do have a feeling we thought we were
going to take over the world at that point.
That's-- that's probably were our expectations.
And those expectations were not met.
[interviewer] Okay, so there was a four-year gap
between the Blood Songs album and the Dreamscapealbum.
Why did it take so long to get Dreamscapeout?
Uh, we were probably were just busy touring,
you know, understanding what that was all about.
We-- we definitely wanted--
I think ultimately we wanted to do an album a year,
you know, like, brand new album each year.
I mean, obviously it didn't happen.
-Did it really take that long? -[interviewer] Yeah.
I think Dreamscape, you know-- I mean,
it was more of a contrived thing. And that was Glen.
That was his vision.
And as-- it wasn't mine.
Prior to me joining the band,
Glen wrote the music and Richie was like the lyricist.
But then, by the time Dreamscape came,
Glen was, like, writing lyrics and music.
Any time I tried to add something, like,
"Oh, that sounds too American Idol."
Like, jeez.
You know, like, any time I'm trying to do something
that's just-- that's just me.
The music, while becoming more involved, wasn't fun.
Like, there was an element of fun that wasn't there.
If I were to put myself now back in that situation,
I would have taken more control and said,
"You're out of your fucking mind."
Like, what got us to this point is this dichotomy.
You know, like, no one has an album that sounds like this.
I mean, I really like what he's done.
Like, the music's great, I love the way the music sounds.
If we could produce that one well,
and I could redo the vocals,
I wouldn't make it dry.
I would make it me, rather than, like,
Glen's version of what it should be.
You know, if we had somebody in our corner
that was just like,
"I know what this other album's about,"
and I-- I have an idea of what people really liked,
we could have kind of, like, interjected that
and we would have had somebody saying,
"Put out some fucking videos."
Because we're just, like, "Uh, videos, who cares?"
♪
♪ Leaving all my love for you tonight ♪
♪ The feeling inside is out of sight ♪
♪ I'll tell you what I want, if that's all right ♪
♪ That's all right ♪
We always felt we had so many opportunities
and we felt we were so close to the next tier.
And because it was a business and because we weren't--
we still had financial stresses at home--
we weren't making that much money--
that definitely put a strain on the personal relationship.
Glen started to really kind of, like, brood and, like,
Richie and I would spend a lot of time, like,
maybe trying to, like, keep things, like, good, you know?
And there were a lot of, like, arguments
that would happen over, like, really little things.
We had some times where it's just like,
we're embarrassing the shit outta ourselves
in front of promoters at the end of the night,
just, like, screaming about absolutely nothing,
you know, at each other.
Stupid. Wow.
A lot of the things that happened between them
were just caused by the-- all the things
that happen when you're on the road.
You know, the things that you don't like about yourself
the most usually end up showing--
you know, rearing their ugly heads.
[Richie] There were some really, really bad times.
And just really ugly times.
There were times when he was saying,
"I just don't know if I can do this anymore."
Forgot about those.
I mean, I wasn't really admitting it to myself
because that was my career and my identity
and something I loved to do.
So, I definitely wasn't letting the signs
affect my rational judgment about it.
Shit happens.
Just-- things fall a part
and you don't know how that-- how it happens.
But it just does.
[man] Holy fudge.
Ah, thanks.
Thanks for coming.
-What's been happening? -[Richie] I'll tell him.
Good to see you again. Howdy.
Good to see you, man.
Oh, shit. It's going wild tonight, man.
Oh, my.
[interviewer] If there is one thing you could go back
and change at any point along the way
of the band, what-- what would you go back and change?
I wish I'd just managed my time
and actually worked on-- on songs
and worked on playing and-- and all that.
I mean, this is now, I know all this shit now,
you know, like, know what we could have done.
I could've contributed in different ways,
even if it was just on a-- like a business--
business level and getting other people interested.
[interviewer] Forget the music, forget the live shows.
Do you miss just the brotherly sense of being around Glen?
Yeah, yeah.
But it seems like those days were so far ago.
And then the last couple years of the band,
there wasn't-- that wasn't going on.
So, it's kind of hard to remember.
Like, wow, we used to just like,
kick it pretty hard.
We were just super tight.
So, yeah, it'd be great to just like,
take it back to those days and have fun.
[interviewer] So, are you surprised at all
when you hear the fact that they haven't spoken--
really spoken to each other in about four or five years
-at this point? -Uh, no.
They really haven't spoken in four years?
Um, not entirely.
Not at all. Not at all.
I don't understand
why they haven't talked, actually.
They're stubborn motherfuckers.
Glenn is-- is definitely consistent.
Whether it-- it's with the band
or not talking with fucking brother for six years.
[laughing]
One phone call from Richie could have ended
this whole fucking thing, too.
They-- they've both been, uh, party to it, for sure.
Party-- Party. Dream.
Oh, my God, guys.
[interviewer] As we said in the first email
is, uh-- we sent to Gil a little while back
and we weren't sure if we were ever going to hear from him.
And we did. Uh, and here's the response.
Yeah, I know I told you guys
not to, like, get your hopes up,
but, like, you know?
[interviewer] We got a response pretty quickly.
You never know.
I'm gonna...
read this right now.
I'm definitely a little nervous about it, but here it goes.
"I'm flattered you guys are going to put your time,
energy and resource in doing a documentary
on my brother and I.
Thank you for all the nice things you've said
and good intentions.
Unfortunately, I'm not interested in being involved.
Ultimately, I'm more vested in the present than the past.
It was fun until it wasn't, and that's why I left it.
Anyway, thanks for getting in touch.
It does mean a lot that people care.
Take care, Glen."
Yeah, I-- I guess that's what I would expect.
Uh, yeah.
That's what I would--
That's what I would guess.
Like, it-- it was, like, a nice email,
but I-- I definitely thought he probably
wouldn't want to be involved.
[interviewer] Was there, like, a last final day
where this is the last time I talked to him or--
No, I didn't know he was going to California at all.
I didn't find out until he was actually there,
'cause, uh, I hit up my friend Lord Grunge
and said, "Hey.
I don't have anything to do this weekend, I'm free.
I'd love to come kick it with you and my brother."
And he's just like, "Yeah.
He-- he left for LA, like, a month ago."
I'm like, "Oh."
Like, I didn't know that was happening.
There was, like, no definite end.
It just kind-- I think a tour ended
and that was just kind of it.
I was going to say, man,
a lot of shit just blew up at the same time.
Like, that was my career, so when it ended--
and it ended abruptly, and I didn't have a warning.
It wasn't like, "Hey man, you've got, like, three--
three months, six months to figure out a new career."
No, it just ended, like, "Hey, it's done."
And then, I have a little girl, I got a house.
You know, I don't really feel like losing a house
and doing all that shit.
And then on top of that, I lost my identity.
That was, like, a huge part.
Like, I was Ultimate Donny.
Like, that's what-- Ultimate fucking Donny.
And then all of a sudden, I'm not Ultimate Donny anymore.
I'm just a fucking loser just doing loser shit.
And there you have it.
It's been way more difficult for Richie
to not have the Party Dream be an active thing in his life
than it has for Glen.
'Cause Glen just kind of will do his own thing and--
and is fine with that.
Richie, on the other hand, is like-- that was--
that was-- that was his thing.
Um, yeah. I know he--
he'd probably love nothing more than to, like,
be able to get out on stage and do that again.
[interviewer] Is there anything that can ever
replace that feeling of being Ultimate Donny?
No, I mean, I'm sure there are things
that are slightly better, maybe.
But that-- that was a very,
very particular thing.
And I don't think there's anything that could
replace that one, exactly.
[traffic din]
[drums playing]
[gentle, dreamy music]
[audience applause]
I joined Sam Goodwill 'cause Sam,
he needed someone to play guitar.
He had two months to get somebody
to know all the songs before he did a tour
'cause his guitarist broke his hand.
Something like that. So, I'm like, "All right."
So, at that point, yeah, I focused on that.
Just got it back.
I don't know how long it takes to shake that,
like, identity crisis thing.
It didn't take long 'cause that wasn't the main thing.
The main thing is just, like, I need to provide for myself
and-- and my daughter, you know, so...
If anything, I got over it quickly.
It's like, "Oh, whatever. I'm old now.
I'm no longer Ultimate Donny."
Like, I was like, "Who gives a shit? Fuck it.
Just let me make a-- enough money to survive and I'm fine."
He's got, like, raw talent.
Like, really-- He can pick out any note to sing.
Like, he rewrote a lot of the harmonies that--
we were-- were on the record that we were playing live.
And I wish I could re-record the record, you know.
Because, uh, it's just, a lot of the stuff
that he's brought to the table is, uh-- is a lot--
In my-- in my opinion, like, it's a lot better
than what we actually recorded.
♪ Never underestimate the power of a broken heart ♪
[interviewer]
Yeah.
♪
[indistinct chatter]
Oh, we're going to make the popsicles.
-We're making popsicles. -[Richie] Good idea.
[Aspasia] We couldn't find where the sticks were.
[Richie] Here's the good juice.
The good juice? Juice.
[Richie] Oh, here we go.
Oh, there's the magic sticks.
-[Richie] The magic sticks. -Do you love it?
I love it.
-Sticks. Sticks. -[Richie] Okay.
[Aspasia] I don't know anything about this.
I should have told you earlier.
[interviewer] You really dropped the ball, Richie.
[Aspasia] You have to put it in-- back in the freezer.
[Ritchie] Right. There you go.
[interviewer] All right, No pressure.
[arrow thuds]
-[Richie] Nice. -[man] Nice.
-[interviewer] On the money. -[girl] How cool was that?
[interviewer] What's going on here?
This seems like domestic bliss
with the kitty and the-- and the lady.
-Oh, yeah. -[interviewer] And the tattoos?
-[Richie] Hell, yeah. -Yeah, did--
So, did you guys, uh, have an announcement
you'd like to repeat that you maybe told us yesterday
-that we didn't get on film? -[chuckling]
Oh, this wasn't on film.
What's the-- what's the--
[interviewer] What's the big news?
We decided that we're going get married.
[interviewer] What?
We decided that we're-- we're going to get married.
-Is that true? -Yes. Yes, it's true.
All right. Congratulations.
Yeah. So, no one really-- No one knows this.
Yeah. No one knows this.
[interviewer] When-- When do you tell everybody?
Over the holidays.
[interviewer] Including--
[interviewer 2] Is there somebody you might
-want to tell? -[man] Make a phone call to?
Uh...
Uh-oh.
-What? -[laughing]
-[interviewer] And say it. -That's a wrap.
[interviewer] All right, so it's been about three years
since we were last here and you got married--
Mm-Hmm. -in the interim.
-That's true. -[interviewer] You have started
a brewery called Penguin City.
Let me tell you a little bit
about Penguin City Brewing Company.
One night, my wife, Aspasia and I,
we were just talking about this city,
this area doesn't have a beer
that we can identify with.
Thought it'd just be a really good idea.
Came up with the name Penguin City.
And from there, we thought
that name was too good to waste.
I know that he cannot work
a 9:00 to 5:00 job--
-It's hard. -and be happy.
-Oh, that's true. -Not after Gil Mantera.
He needed to do something different.
-[Richie] Beer. -[Aspasia] Big.
Something where he could have this outlet
to have those little bits
of him and, you know, Gil Mantera.
And I just feel like this kind of fit that.
There's Ultimate Donny that still is there.
I-- I would always say and always felt
that there wasn't-- it-- it wasn't a different person.
Like, Ultimate Donny isn't a completely made up character.
It's really just an extension of my-- my goofiness.
[interviewer] I remember one time I asked you a question,
I said, "Can ever-- anything ever compare
to being Ultimate Donny?"
And you said, "No, not in that way."
Like, in that specific way.
-[Richie] It doesn't. -[interviewer] But, like, so
what does it feel like to make that that journey?
[Richie] I guess the journey now, uh, being a regular
person, meeting Aspasia, um, spending lots of time,
marrying her, that definitely helped a lot.
Giant turning point right there.
I was able to get a little more grounded.
Also, I met up with my brother Glen,
also known as Gil Mantera, in Florida,
where our parents live.
And, uh, after hanging out with him,
uh, meeting his wife,
just being able to talk about all kinds of stuff,
the band, like what kind of wild ride that was,
it was apparent to even Aspasia that, like,
I let go of all kinds of, uh--
I don't know, anything that I was hanging on to
that was negative, I just let it go.
I was just kind of happier right after that.
Got a little emotional, but, like, nothing bad.
It was all--
It was a lot of, like, reminiscing.
Just discussing, like, how insane our lives were
as the band, I mean, it was just-- it was ridiculous.
It's something that most people don't experience.
And we did.
You know, when I think about the band and I see some footage
on YouTube or-- or wherever,
I still see it and think
there's never been and probably never will be
a band like Gil Mantera's Party Dream.
If we're going to have some kind of reunion show,
it's going to be just balls out insane,
exactly the way we want to do it.
You know, not because of money or anything like that.
It's just for the experience.
The band was a wild,
wild ride, unlike anything else.
So, I'm-- I'm still proud of, uh...
being part of something extremely special.
"Emotion Road" by Gil Mantera's Party Dream]
♪ For once in your life ♪
♪ Give us a break, think about something ♪
♪ Anything other than space, dope and dinosaurs ♪
♪ One, two, three, four, eight, nine, eight ♪
♪ This is the way we celebrate ♪
♪ No more monkeys jumping off the bed ♪
♪ Grab a piece of chicken, wrap it up, I said ♪
♪ No more monkeys jumping off the bed ♪
♪ No more monkeys jumping on my head ♪
♪ No more monkeys, no more moneys ♪
People, are you with me?
[laughing]
♪ We all got to do what we gots to do ♪
[audience cheering]