E94 Marcus In The Morning pt 3 | Joe Wagner

The Bay Area radio voice you’ve heard for decades just joined us - for his first time as a podcast guest.
Marcus D opens up on staying relevant for 34 years, hitting #1, and why only our second-ever three-part episode felt worthy of making this one an event.

🎙️ Go With Your Palate: Marcus D | Radio Gold, Real Talk & a 3-Part Ride

This one’s special - only our second time ever doing a three-part episode - and we couldn’t have asked for a better guest to bring back this extended format than Marcus D of Marcus in the Morning on Star 101.3, whose show has climbed to #1 status and whose voice has been entertaining listeners for 34 years (including 25+ in the Bay Area).

In a fun twist, this was Marcus’ first time joining a podcast as the guest instead of the host, and he absolutely brings it. We dive into how he got into broadcasting as a teenager, how he’s stayed relevant across generations, and why authenticity still wins in any era of media. We also get into his food and wine side, his Chef’s Day Off world, and some behind-the-scenes gems from a guy who’s made everyday life entertaining for decades.

And because this is Go With Your Palate, we wander into the good stuff - relationships, keeping chivalry alive, what men can still learn from women (with some fresh younger-generation perspective from producer Taylor in Part 3), and yes… a little nod to the magic behind Second Date Update.

Part of what makes this mini-series extra fun is Taylor joining us in the final episode - her first time in Napa and a great voice on broadcasting, culture, and generational perspective.

There’s radio wisdom, Napa stories, plenty of laughs, and one of our warmest conversations yet.

🎙️ Marcus fans - drop your favorite on-air bit or Bay Area memory in the comments. We’d love to hear what’s made you tune in over the years.

Grab a glass and settle in - this one unfolds like a great trilogy. 🍷📻✨

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

All right, welcome back to another segment of Wet Your Palette. We uh have some very special guests today talking with Marcus from Marcus in the morning. Everything that he's uh been enjoying doing, a lot of random questions, random thoughts, but a lot of insights. And then we had his producer come on, Taylor. Welcome to the show. Thank you for uh giving us your insights as well and your history and how you're you're ascending to new realms and broadcasting. So cheers, dude. Any any highlights?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Uh my favorite was uh when everybody learned how to hook a story. When Chris hit me with uh hook me with a story and um I didn't see it coming.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Well, it it's all about the hook, like you said. So if you want to hear some good hooks, you gotta listen to go with your palate.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Well, thank you so much. I'm I'm truly encouraged by your guys' presence here.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Your storytelling just evolved during the podcast to just like just go for it, bro.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Well, we had so much fun. I think that's why this even ends up being like a three-part episode. So you're gonna have a lot of fun here. You gotta check it out, you gotta stay all the way to the end for Taylor's exclusive, the closer.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Taylor's man takes are also romantic. No, that was that was one of my favorites. So then your man takes. I think you had at least four, if not five, and I'm sure there's more. They should all be written down and publicized.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

All right, well, thank you both for being here. It was a pleasure. And now everybody go listen to Go With Your Palette. Yes, yes, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

One of the reasons I wanted to have you invite Taylor on was we were talking about how to reinvigorate her generation, Gen Z, to get more into like wine tasting.

How to reinvigorate Gen Z of age drinkers to wine tasting/culture...

SPEAKER_04 1:43

You know, I love wine. Wine is pretty much the only type of alcohol that I consume. I don't really like care for hard liquor or anything like that. Um, and my my family, they're huge wine heads. Like they are part of like all these different wine cup uh clubs and they go wine tasting anytime they leave the house. Like it's a huge deal. My generation, less and less people are drinking. So I was just kind of like throwing some ideas around with Marcus, just like what I think, like from my perspective, would help in that instance. It was just kind of open the door to like that conversation.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Give us your top like three.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Okay. Um, well, right now I would say like what's important to remember is like the way that media is consumed today. Like something that you guys were talking about earlier was the attention span is getting shorter and shorter, right? Um, and like one thing I was thinking about was when I was working in restaurants and uh I was a bartender for a while, we would do, we'd have wineries come in and you know, do tastings and we like, you know, go through the whole flavor palette and everything. Um, and like no offense, but it was like boring as fuck. Like I was just like, can we keep drinking like next wine, please? Um, and so what that had me thinking like, what is a better way that you know it can be introduced for people to understand? Or like even if it's not like you personally explaining it, maybe on the bottle itself, like talking about um, you know, me and producer Jose were kind of talking about earlier about um having like icons on there, you know. So if it's like a drier wine, like put like a desert or something, like having some signals so that I know what I'm getting. Um, kind of like cutting the chase, because not everybody wants to try wine. They're not gonna like want to invest in a bottle that they might not like. Um, but if you know some of the things that you're attracted to, then that will help guide in like what you gravitate towards. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 3:36

So more insinuation or just flat out cues visually or whatever else. Yeah, like I think more upfront because of that whole confusion of you know, 2,000 different bottles on the shelf or 5,000 on a wine list. Like you don't even want to open that thing sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

Yeah. And to your point, too, uh, which leads me kind of into my next thing is there are so many bottles, right? And one thing that I've heard, I was actually kind of asking around our office a little bit today, is like, you know, why do people buy wine? Like, what attracts you to wine? What makes you want to buy a bottle? And pretty much every single person said the label. They want a cute, fun, decorative label that they can like. Uh I know like within the younger generation, they like to like put their empty alcohol bottles up as like a trophy that they did it or drink it or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

They did it. I mean, we used to do that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

But that's a younger person thing, right? Like, you're not gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I believe they were called dead soldiers, gentlemen.

SPEAKER_04 4:36

Now, that's something that you do when you're in college. Like, most people don't do that as they get older. Um, so having a bottle where the label itself is like eye-catching, whether it's colors or it's patterns, or it's something that people want to grab off the shelf because it doesn't, perhaps. Right? But something like that, or even I was thinking like changing the color of the bottle. Like we usually see like the standard green or like a clear, like maybe making it like purple or like just something completely eye-catching and different. Um, I think that there's just been a lot of repetitiveness and which is great in in in the ways that it works. But I think if you're trying to cater to a younger generation, then coming with something that actually interests them. Cause like, you know, something that I had mentioned before was collecting, right? People don't really collect wine. Like I buy a bottle, I'm drinking it that night, you know.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:28

Um, and so for me, like I would want to collect bottles that look pretty, like up in my house. Like I actually do. I collect these uh wine bottles, they're in the shape of a cat and they're all different colors. Yeah. So I have all of those and they're up like in my house because I just think that they're so beautiful and they're really cute.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

Um, and I'm like such an aesthetic person, like I like, you know, colors and patterns and whatever. Um, so and I don't I don't try not to just think about me. I try to think about everybody, like what everyone wants. And I just genuinely feel like people are interested in stuff like that. Like, even my point with the laboo boos like what does a laboo boo do? Nothing, it doesn't do anything for anybody, but it looks cute and people like it. So I think just catering to that, which unfortunately like is very like I guess like superficial in a sense because it's the look, but I think that that kind of small change, like you don't have to do anything with the taste, the taste is fine, but the way that it's presented, I think could have a little bit of a tweak to it.

Changing the outdated wine traditions is hard (ex. leveling up wine events to festival vibes)

SPEAKER_02 6:21

And our industry is very hard to make changes that are like outside of tradition. Like we we have historically a very hard time with changing. I mean, going from cork to a screw cap, that was like that was like a 20-year adjustment. It's like my favorite thing. I love a screw top. I love them too. Like, I wish all of our wines are in screw screw screw caps, but just that period of time when we started doing it, people are like, oh, it used to be my favorite wine, now it's too cheap. And I'm like, just try it. This is a like personally a superior closure in all ways. Um, there's no risk of cork taint, better seal, all that stuff. Everything hits all the boxes. Yeah. But the traditional mindset is so entrenched, and and so you start thinking about like different color bottles, and like we're gonna be doing a actually a blue bottle. That kind of goes back to like the blue nun or whatever, right? But but um, but still kind of fun with like pink wax on it. And I've I've got my uh the kids working on it too, so kind of getting their input. Yeah, but they also want to go like totally non-traditional packaging. Like, well, now we gotta set up our line for something completely different if we want to do that, or do it small enough scale to do it by hand, but to trial it and see. And I I also think about interaction with wine and and kind of the stodgy old wine tasting event where you know you want to pay a hundred bucks for a ticket to go and you know, have the opportunity to taste 500 different wines and not really anything else. Um, and like turning that more into a festival, not Coachilla level, but like but if you were able to make it like you've got local bands, you've got local chefs, there everybody's doing like little bits and bites, and and then you've got a number of producers, maybe some uh some other vendors from spirits, and then some local artisan vendors that are selling, I don't know, like any wood wood items or like chopsticks or shit like that, that people can go and actually make it a a a day. Like, I would it would that be something that that would be of interest? Cabcella, if you will. Cabcella.

SPEAKER_04 8:14

I think for sure. Like, I think the people yearn for community these days. Like, I think there's such a we're so distance from each other with the era of social media and like every the internet, you know. So I think people do genuinely like want places that they can come together about their interests, which might be wine or art or any of those things that you mentioned. Um, and I think also too, the the feeling of like if you're not there, you're missing out. Like if you're not at this event and you're not drinking wine and you're having fun and getting to see all these really cool things, like who are you? Like, are you having FOMO?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

You know, like literally just describe bottle rock, by the way.

SPEAKER_04 8:53

It's like but it's like that. And I I think that those are a really great idea. Um, you know, for wine tasting, like something I was thinking about too is like making it like a game or like a contest, like having something implemented. Now, I don't know 100% what that would look like, but I think people like to feel like they're a part of something, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:12

You're doing bingo.

SPEAKER_04 9:14

This is true.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

I mean, that that is like no joke. That's something I've heard tasting rooms have done bingo and like charades, mystery night, painting, trivia, yeah. And making that more accessible, and that's becoming like like it's like I do that every Thursday, or what like you know, people are putting that as part of their schedule and they they love it. And I think to your point, it's because it creates community. Absolutely stays so long for.

SPEAKER_04 9:36

And people also really like the idea of having routine, they like knowing that okay, Wednesday nights, I'm busy, I have something to do somewhere to be where my presence matters, and I'm doing something I enjoy. You know, that's something that I hear uh from bingo. You know, we've been doing it for a little bit over like two months now, and we get the same faces and then new faces every week. And people just keep coming back because they genuinely love having that routine, getting to come and see people that they know they're like are gonna be there. We we do they have drinks there. You know, I have my espresso martini girls who always come in and they drink, you know, their body weight in espresso martini. So it's it's great, you know. I think moments like that are really important. And like, kind of like you said, like um just being a part of something, feeling community, it's really important these days, I feel. And wine, I think, is a great way to do that with other people. It's a great way to bring people together. You know, I bring my favorite wine, you bring yours, and we'll we'll taste and have a have a conversation about it.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Yeah, and then maybe get curious and even deeper into education. I mean, that's yeah, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

We're all curious by nature.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

I'm glad that you brought up the games because we actually have old school wine games that we used to play with actual bottles. There's we have a cork game. This sounds silly, but like if you grab that cork there and you'd basically we'd go around a table. So you'd have like everyone's at dinner, and you'd finish all these bottles of wine. So now there's a lot of these corks around, and you would kind of see where Joe is kind of doing it now. He was always bad at the game. Um, but you get 10 tries, and what you're trying to do is drop the cork and have it land straight up like that. Yeah, and so then you see how many you can get out of 10, and you kind of go around the table. There were simple things with if it was champagne or sparkling wine, you'd get that cage, and Joe has made all kinds of little furniture. People would make little things out like chairs. Oh, yeah. Like little chairs, and like see if people would do it. Now, this sounds like silly. I mean, we're like, we probably sound like you know, caveman, I would you know, but but these were like kind of like the things that we grew up with. Yeah. And like some of the best magic tricks I've ever seen was um, and you'll know this too. This was I gotta give credit to Steve Sherwin. He stuck a cork into the bottle. So the cork is in the bottle. He says cork's in the bottle. He's like, I bet you a hundred bucks I can get get that cork out of that bottle. And of course, I was just like, I don't know, I don't think you can. I I will bet you that. And it was a way to do it where you could fold a napkin. I've seen that. I've seen that. Yeah, okay. See how you're smiling, you have, right? And we're generation, I'm old, you know, you're young, but we're still like in that way, that game, right? Is bringing people together with wine and stuff like that. And it's cool because obviously you you fold the linen in a certain way and you can get the cork out.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

You can, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

And so someone learns that, and then what do they do? They're like, dude, I can't wait to show this to my friends that don't know. Right. And then it kind of drink a bottle of wine to be able to do it, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Maybe there's new sophistication. I mean, maybe we can raise the level. Maybe there's some kind of elevation here. Because you just got my mind training I was like, maybe we can start kind of, I don't know, sticking a bingo to a wine bottle or yeah, like having it be an event, something cool.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

Like, you know, even if it's like a crossword puzzle on the back or just something people can do, and like the answers are like, you know, something to do with your winery. Like I think that those ideas are cool and they bring people together, even if it's just bringing someone closer to the wine bottle that you're selling them. You know, just having it be um something that they can remember for sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Yeah, but at the end of the day, it comes down down to your point of just the you know, wanting to be part of something, wanting to have their voice heard. And and I I, you know, was just thinking back again on on the radio side of things. Um, you have callers call in. Have I mean you guys probably have never experienced this. I've tried to call into radio stations before.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

Yeah.

Radio show callers: Joe here, long-time listener, first-time caller....

SPEAKER_02 13:17

And you get like nervous. Like, yeah, you know, really? Oh my god, yeah. I've done like done it multiple times. I've never made it on air.

SPEAKER_04 13:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

But I've like, you know, you get to like whatever the next level, somebody asks you some basic questions first, and you get to the next person, and they're like, Okay, we're gonna see if we can get you on this segment. And you're just like heart's pounding, like nobody even knows who I am.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Oh like why but my wife thinks I'm nuts because I will, as I shared, I will in the car call into sports talk sometimes. And I still, after over 30 years, get those jitters. You still get them. Okay, you get to the phone screener and he's like, What's your name? Mark Marcus? Yeah, where are you calling from? What do you want to talk about? I want to talk about the 49ers and how come they how they won't draft uh offensive lineman right? And can I tell okay? Can you hold? Yeah, and then I dude, you would think that I would be like, whatever, but I to this, it reminded me of being 15 and winning a Basket Robbins gift certificate. I mean, or a or a cassette or CD of my choice from the prize clause. Oh, that's awesome. You know, when I was a kid. Well, same feeling.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

I'm glad to hear it. So it's not just me. No, uh-uh. And and so do you feel that when when you're answering calls as as the producer, when you're hearing other people on the other, like if you're vetting people out?

SPEAKER_04 14:34

Sometimes. And so I'll try to like ask them like icebreaker questions to make them feel a little bit better, like you know, or try to get a little bit of a conversation going. So it's like they're getting used to the idea of talking over the phone like that. Um, but I feel like a lot of the times the most nervous are people are or when they're about to go in the trivia game and then probably lose. Like that's been happening a lot. Or like people on the other side, when the trivia game's over, they'll be like, I was so nervous. Oh my god, I forgot everything I ever knew. And I'm like, I'm so sorry. You did great though. Yeah, you know, I try to comfort them.

Karaoke Champs

SPEAKER_02 15:08

And and all they they just want their voice to be heard. They really do. Go off, queen. All right, so I also heard you guys have a karaoke night. Is that a is that a so is that Marcus a Marcus thing? We so we just love doing karaoke. We do, and so I so you got dragged into this too.

SPEAKER_04 15:31

I I've always loved doing karaoke of my own. And then when I found out that he loves it, it was like we just we felt each other.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

We don't do uh a sanctioned karaoke night yet, but on a Friday or a Saturday night, you will find me at Insert Name of Karaoke Bar here. I've done it in Concord, I've done it in Los Altos, I've done it in obviously at Cameron's Pub in Hapmoon Bay is at our company Christmas party. The company Christmas party we had karaoke. Um, you know, we're planning this this karaoke cruise, more details later. Um, I don't even call it karaoke, I call it band practice. Like I'm probably the one guy that takes it very seriously. I just love to sing.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Do you have like your top three go-tos or kind of like do you like to go when you perform?

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Literally during the company Christmas party, people were sending my wife videos of me performing, and she's like, oh yeah, that's his go-to. Oh yeah, that's his go-to, oh yeah, that's his go-to.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Sit down like a boss.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

I was in a karaoke room in Millbrae.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Right after we had a boys' night dinner, we did uh we did Korean barbecue. Uh-huh. And then right down the road on El Camino in uh we have each other three oh and when push comes to show. I'm gonna send the Fully on Battalion to remind you of my shit.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Uh so we're so Hamilton. That's that's a lot of fun. I do I love karaoke too. Yeah, we've done it. Gotta come on the cruise.

SPEAKER_04 16:55

It's a good time.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

I I think once uh once that comes up, I might I might show up there. I do or if you ever find yourself in Hapmo Bay on a weekend, we're just going. All right. We're just going. Yeah. My go-to is uh hit me, baby, one more time. Great song. You do Britney Spears. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:08

Great song.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

I turn it into kind of like gutter rock and throw some F-bombs in there. Nice. Yeah. A little more like if uh, you know, it was Metallica mixed in with Britney. Well, I mean it's Brittany, you gotta be a little unhinged, right? Carry my knives around.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

God, that poor lady. Oh the only time I've seen him twerk. Yeah. Yeah, maybe that's one more time.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

There's a ton settling. Can we pull that up with AI, please? Can we just make that happen? No, we actually have video of it.

Before Marcus in the Morning was rocking the Bay (origin story)

SPEAKER_02 17:38

It's not twerking if your clothes are on, okay? That's great. That's great. Let's see. Uh, well, you know, we we didn't get into one thing. That was your origin story. Yeah. We got to hear how you guys met and and um yeah, uh listen.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Um, so I from the time I was in the third grade have wanted to be a radio disc jockey. Um, I would What set it off? Just listening to, you know, uh back in the day, I would listen to K-Don down in Salinas, or when I came up to the bay, I would listen to K-101, which is now the station that I'm on. Um, and being in the third grade and like just hearing the DJ talk over, you know, the intro to uh Billy Jean, right? I remember that like when my dad got accepted to Stanford um and we moved to Palo Alto, and I pulled my radio out, and the first station that I got was 1013, the station I now work on. And it was K101 back then, and it was a DJ very famous by the name of Rick Shaw. I turned the radio on and I managed to record him going, uh 315 with Billy Jean, know what I mean, Jelly Bean, Michael Jackson on K101. And he hit it right when Michael started, and I just thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. And and and then I remember uh going to school, and one of my friend's dads worked at 107, which was KSOL. Um uh Sly from Sly and the Family Stone actually was famously a DJ there, it's very like soul classic. Well, uh, there was a field trip to the radio station and uh they showed us, you know, they showed us the um the the offices and here's the lunchroom and whatever, whatever. And then we got to the studio, and it was like the door was just beads. And it was like uh I looked in the window and it was all dark and kind of disco-y, and all these little lights and the soundboard and everything, and I was just like, Oh my god. And then the tallest, coolest looking dude I'd ever seen walked out. And and I was like, Wow, he said, hello everyone, come on in. And I walked into that studio and heard the music playing. I felt the vibes and I saw the sounds and the lights, and I said, This, this is what I want to do. And um, after that it became like high school, where I would just start saying, Well, you know, you you go to prom, you go pick the girl up, you gotta meet with her dad for a bit, and he wants to know what you're gonna do with your life. Right after the what are your intentions with my daughter? becomes what are you gonna do with your life? And I would always say, I want to be a disc jockey. I want to be a disc jockey. And then I told my high school guidance counselor, and he said, You don't want to do that. It's too competitive, the pay is terrible. Listen, if you're good working in the middle of the night, then fine, go for it. But otherwise, I would say get into a different vocation. And then my history teacher said, Marcus, as long as they have cars, there will be radios. I say you go for it. Nice. And then I was working in the mall, and turns out the guy that I was working for um had been in radio in Visalia, working in the middle of the night for five bucks an hour, and uh he was working at the local uh baseball team where the PA announcer was the assistant program director of the local Oldie station, and they needed somebody to work 1.30 to 5.30 in the morning. And he said, I don't want to do it, but I have a buddy who wants to get into radio. And so I literally walked in, they showed me how to run the board, and they said, All right, kid, have a good time. And here I am, I'm 18 years old playing music that's 30 years older than me. Yeah, but but they had all the Billboard Hot 100 books in the back, and the record players were still there. So in between the songs, I would listen to other records and I would read about all the songs and just really dove into it. Yeah. And then that summer, I was the official scorer for the single-a baseball team. So I would report to the ballpark at four o'clock. Heaven forbid they go into extra innings because that would cut into my nap. But then by one o'clock in the morning I was on the radio for an entire summer, and I haven't looked back since. Wow. Literally went from weekends to uh uh old time overnights to nights to afternoons to to mornings.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

So is is it common in your world for the shift to be a four-hour shift?

The segmentation of roles in business (benefit of learning all the ins and outs)...

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Uh uh it used to be. It used to be, and then it became five. I remember when I got my first big break in San Francisco, it was nineteen ninety-eight, and I was twenty-four, and um my sh I literally had to report by twelve thirty and I was done at six and there was nothing else to do. And so you and so you carried on side jobs as well, or no, we got paid well enough. Well, great. But I remember thinking to myself, there's no way this lasts. I would literally be like, boss, is there anything else I can do? Uh because I'm of that mindset of like I want to learn how to do everything. I found that there are two schools of thought. There are the people that say, I want to learn how to do everything because it makes me more indispensable. And then there's a school of thought of, well, if I learn how to do that, they're going to ask me to do that. And I don't want to do that. Right? So I was always the former. Yeah. And so I've I've held every position at a radio station. Period. And and then and it's just, it's so much fun every single day, still to this day. Like no matter what.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

You know, just talking about business in general and kind of where where you've been, where you're at, and where Taylor is and and where she's going. Um, and what I've seen, at least in our industry, is the segmentation of roles. Uh, because you mentioned, you know, kind of like learning how to do, you know, everything soup to nuts and and and being able to run a radio station, be a producer, be a DJ, all that. We have run into a place where people are are in a specific role. You're either in winemaking where you were formerly trained, or you're in viticulture invenir management, or you're in marketing, or you're in sales. Uh rarely do we see somebody who is has kind of touched all of those pieces.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Um is that even a path you can go down in your industry?

SPEAKER_02 23:22

I don't know if it is anymore. But it used to be. Yes, it used to be. That that's the issue that I see now is that is that when I was just in like early in the industry, that was still a path that I was seeing play out with with people that were my peers, even a few a little bit older than me. Um, but is it is it kind of becoming that way as well, like very specialized in in the you know, broadcasting production.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

No, if anything else, it's the opposite.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

It's the opposite. Okay. Um we you were saying that you're you're able to get all of the information that you've learned in the first 10 years of your life trying to have Taylor absorb all that in 10 months.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Yeah. Right. And so and condensing it by by by condensing it, I mean like literally knowing uh you know, you know, facial placement on the microphone, how to open up your diaphragm, what about your cadence, all the little things. Like um, I always go back to the story of uh you know Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born. Well, he had to play a massive rock star in that movie, and he had to play what was basically, I think, the Glastonbury Festival for you know a hundred thousand people. Well, they brought in Eddie Vedder to teach him how to be a rock star. Yeah, I didn't know that. And so I love the stories of like pulling back the curtain because only Eddie Vedder knows how to be Eddie Vedder, right? And so I realized as I'm kind of, you know, Taylor has been on the air like six months, which is like six feels like six minutes, but she's so good and she absorbs everything so well. I can throw things at her and be like, okay, when we do these breaks, I need you to stand up. I need you to be aware of your your diaphragm in your chest opening. I need you to, you know, be aware of your breathing, keep the smile on your face. All the things that took me time to learn, I can just instantly just shave that learning curve off in two seconds. And she absorbs it and she takes it and she and she executes it and and it accelerates the growth process. Evolution.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Yeah, that's great. So yeah, well, good. I'm glad to hear it's going that way. Yeah. I'm I'm I'm hoping that this correction in wine actually starts to foster a little more of that where people are like, all right, now I've got to do something different. And now I've I've you know I well, what do you have to lose? Yeah, if you if you've never gotten out and sold wine, but you know how to make wine and you've grown grapes, yeah, go out and sell some goddamn wine. When I and figure it out, it's yeah, have some.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

When I started the morning show, my boss told me, Marcus, you you can almost do whatever you want. We are in a you are in a dare to be great situation. So be great, right? I mean, yes, the old adages and the old rules and whatever, you have to honor them and respect them, but also they may be the things that are holding you back, right? And so somebody like you got like you guys, you grew up in the valley. I can tell you have no fear. I've tasted your wines. Uh and and just don't mind offensive nature coming back to us. I mean, you know, I don't have to tell you, you're a guy that breaks eggs.

Rapid fire golden hour

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Yeah, yeah, you got you've got to. You have to, yeah. I and and I think I think we're gonna see a lot more of those people in this industry. Yeah, yeah. I love it. You want to jump into these rapid fires? Dude, if you're ready, Taylor, coffee or tea in the morning, or something else.

SPEAKER_04 26:25

Water.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 26:26

I don't drink. I don't drink caffeine.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Okay. That's oppressive.

SPEAKER_04 26:31

No, so it's just I'm just I can't do it at all. I know it's all vibes, so we're gonna go.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Follow-up, what is your your what is your schedule? Your sleep schedule, like because I I used to be a 4 a.m.er. Yeah. And now it just my kids stay up later, and so I don't I can't go to sleep at 7 p.m.

SPEAKER_04 26:50

It depends on the day. Like, cause when when we do bingo, like it goes till nine, and then it's about a 30-minute drive home. And then usually I'll stay and hang out and talk to people for a little bit. So I'm not really going to bed until like 10:30, maybe 11.

SPEAKER_03 27:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 27:02

Like I went to bed at 11 last night.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_04 27:04

Um, and then had to wake up this morning at four. So it's it really just depends on the day. Like, ideally, I would like to be like in bed by eight, but it doesn't always happen.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Do you remember our rule? You want to tell him our rule?

SPEAKER_04 27:14

Oh, yeah. Um, he's like, he always says, like, you can party as much as you want to as long as you show up.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Rock and roll all you want. I don't care what you did last night. Just you gotta show up. Yeah, yeah. That's that's I I that's how I live my life too.

SPEAKER_04 27:26

I've done a hungover now, and it's not fun.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Oh, that's news.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

It's oh, I'm sure you called it out. Come on. I can I can see my guys like the in the cellar crew that come in on a Monday and they're just like crudo, just totally ruined. And it's like they're still jumping in, man. Doing it. Um, all right. Uh, how about you, Marcus? Coffee or tea? I'm coffee all day. And you said you're doing uh some adaptogen or some I do adaptogen coffee. Okay. Oh, nice. What what is which one is that? Is it what are they do you remember what they put in it? Mudwater?

SPEAKER_01 27:59

It's I did mud water for a hot minute, but I couldn't get it to dissolve properly and it irritated me.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

So that's A. It was fine. Uh no, this is like a coffee that is then laced with Ashwagandha, which really sounds illegal, frankly. I'm trying to remember. You say laced. Yeah. I'm trying to I'm trying to remember if you're trying to remember the brand.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Sorry. Okay, no, no, but it's it's ashwagandha. Okay. Yeah, and there's a lot of those things that like we were talking earlier about it. And it's like, is it is it helping me or is it hurting me? Right. You know, I don't know. I don't have a doctor that's that's able to check all my shit and tell me, like, oh, that is definitely because of the, you know, right. The L thing. I'm just wondering, is it helping me or am I wasting my money? That's a good point.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

You know, hey, you're number one. Hey.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Hey, I'd like to say you're number one right now. I think you guys are doing something right. Yeah. You weren't number one when you weren't taking much. I was not. I was not. All right. Now uh your star, Marcus. Favorite Bay Area restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Oh, wow. That is a loaded question. Depends on what I want to eat. Uh, I gotta get a shout out to 25 Lusk and my my guy, Chef Matthew Dolan. He he his experience is just top tier. Okay. Uh, whether you want to go fancy or you want to go like right before the ballpark type situation.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

And and you have some culinary experience as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Uh so my culinary experience is just a deep love for the game. And I I classify myself as a not a foodie, but a food nerd. Like I want to know where stuff comes from, and I consider it to be art. Cooking is art to me. Yeah. Um, I don't have any actual industry experience other than like cracking 75 crabs at a you know charity crab feed. You know what I mean? But um, I do all the cooking at my house. Yeah, and I really enjoy it. It's art form to me.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Well, we we uh we're similar in that way. Yeah, maybe we'll do an iron chef one of these days. Say less. Those are those are a ton of fun. That if you've ever like your friends pick out all the groceries and you have to do three courses, and I love that. The two people contending have no idea what it is. Oh, it's fantastic. But you have to use every ingredient provided.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

Oh I went head to head with the uh executive chef at the four seasons in Palo Alto, and by my count, I won. Like I did a I did a take. I did a take on a pork riot taco, and the game winner was handmade tacos with tortillas, but then I realized about three quarters of the way through there was no way they were gonna let me beat their chef in their hotel. That was not happening.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

It was rigged.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

I'm not saying it was rigged, but I was like, there's no way you're winning this.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

There's just no way. All right, uh, Taylor, your favorite Bay Area restaurant.

SPEAKER_04 30:35

It's gonna have to be this place in Los Gatos, downtown Los Gatos. It's called the Pastaria. Okay, and it's it's really small and it's uh really great pasta place. They have pretty much anything, like any pastas that you can think of. And um, I've been going there for a really long time. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

The pastaria.

SPEAKER_04 30:54

I love pasta.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Next time I'm down in that area, I'll the yeah, I'm gonna have to take a look.

SPEAKER_04 30:58

You'll have to check it out. Definitely would recommend getting reservations because it's a pretty small location and it fills up really, really quickly.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Are they doing like fresh? Are they making their pasta fresh? Fresh.

SPEAKER_04 31:06

Everything is completely fresh, and everyone that works there is Italian, like it's a huge deal, and it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Okay, that's good to know. Italians like us. Uh sticking with the food thing. So, Taylor, now your turn. Go to comfort food.

SPEAKER_04 31:19

Pasta.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

As I was just gonna say, I was about to say it.

SPEAKER_04 31:24

Or wings. I also have to say wings, honorable mention.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Let's go favorite pasta and sauce.

SPEAKER_04 31:30

Uh Carbonara.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

Just carbonara all the way through.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

That's yeah, that's and that one. Uh have you made it from scratch yourself?

SPEAKER_04 31:40

I did, and it was terrible.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

It turns into egg fuel real fast.

SPEAKER_04 31:44

Yo, it's so bad. I would not trust it.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

Once you get it right, it's like I think it's better than it's like cachioepe and and carbonara. If you get those right in your house, you may never make another pasta dish. Period. Uh, all right, how about you?

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Chicken taquitos. Oh yeah. So it was a fantastic way to utilize leftovers, and anything deep fried is fantastic, you know, full stop. But then you you throw in the cheese and the and the you know, you hacemos la bandera, we make the flag on top. The green lettuce, the red tomatoes, uh, and a little bit of crema sour, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

You make the flag. Awesome. Okay. I don't know if I should relate this to your guys' industry, but uh, Marcus, the most overrated trend right now. It could be anything or in broadcasting. Gosh.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

Uh social media in general. Is that is that an answer? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:34

I guess.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Coachella. Yeah. I should have a better answer than that. You know, the overrated food trend that I'll give you is the the the idea of tenderism is big right now. Like just just like cooking stuff too, you know, so it's fall off the bone. Oh, tenderism, yeah. Okay. And everybody's doing it, and it's like, yeah, I get it. It's a it's a cool way to eat. It's not the only way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

I actually haven't run into that yet. Okay, it's all over the socials. I mean, I love like like surf clam. I love that that pop. Yeah. You know, rather if you so you're there, people are going anti-texture. They just want tender, tender, tender. They just want tender the more tender the better.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

Yeah. Yeah. I said, and that's not how I like my ribs. I like mine with a little pop on them.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

Yeah. Yeah. Uh, if you guys get a chance, we're gonna get the beef ribs from uh Busters up in Calistoga.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

Oh yeah. Shout out.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Best beef ribs I've had. If you like barbecue and you like, you like you don't mind gnawing on a bone. Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm in on that. Uh Taylor, you have a a an overrated trend?

SPEAKER_04 33:37

Mine's not overrated, but it's a trend I want to die is uh low-rise jeans. Please don't ever bring those back. Ever for anybody. Lowrise coming back right now or they already come back and we're making a comeback and I need them to die.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 33:51

It's not great.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

For men or women?

SPEAKER_03 33:54

Anyone. Anyone, please.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Okay, can I ask a follow-up about scrunch shorts? Because we had a conversation about this. What is scrunch shorts? You know, like the scrunchness that kind of brings out the booty. Oh yeah, wearing them.

SPEAKER_04 34:10

You're lying.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

No, no, this is true. No, this is actually a thing.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

We were still talking about this. What man? Who?

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Well, see this on the internet. Yeah, there's a Chad. Chad is obsessed. Chad, Chad is uh Chad feels called out to him.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

No, but I've seen I don't I don't have the influencer's name, but there's a uh there was a guy that's been trending who is basically kind of doing these videos where, okay, you know, like you would see it more, I'd see it more from the female side where it's like, oh, I'm in the gym. This is how I would do my glutes, but the camera angles like this like super low angle, and it's like the scrunch shorts, and it's kind of like the technique is not even like there. I know what you're talking about today, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:52

It's thirst trapping as well.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Yeah, it's just it's just so it's like that. So then he just kind of started doing this as it just be like funny, but then I think it started just kind of catching on that like some guys are wearing scrunch shorts. I've been seeing in Wii Ho.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

I actually looked them up. You can buy them on Amazon for men. They have the pouch and the scrunch butt, the whole thing for the menu.

SPEAKER_04 35:09

Honestly, like I'm with it. Go for it. Like whatever you want to wear. Like, I know I don't discriminate.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

I will not cancel my Amazon order.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

I did scare the shit out of Chris. I was like, I'm I'm buying these for you and I. We're we're wearing these.

SPEAKER_03 35:25

I love whatever you're able to cancel.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

Those are all women. It's you know, it says men, even though Chad didn't.

SPEAKER_04 35:35

I need a photo of a man for scrunch shorts. I love that that's how you typed it into the screen.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Where was I the only one that sees my grandfather?

SPEAKER_02 35:45

Are they pretty obvious about the age gap here? Is this yeah? Let's see. Uh Taylor, back to you. Favorite weekend activity.

SPEAKER_04 35:53

Ooh, uh bedrotting or um going to see my family.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

What is bedrotting for the the older folk?

SPEAKER_04 36:02

Uh bedrotting. I'm guessing please educate him.

SPEAKER_02 36:05

Explain it like he's 50.

SPEAKER_04 36:06

Okay. Uh like you do you know what doom scrolling is?

SPEAKER_02 36:09

Yeah. Well, that's just that's a part of the bedrotting, though. That's part of it? Yeah. Oh.

SPEAKER_04 36:14

That's like one of the things I'm doing while bedrotting. So, like bedrotting, yeah. That eating in bed. Yeah. Okay. Working out in bed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

Working out in bed.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

Basically, like going through all the phases of my day, but in my bed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

All right, Marcus, your favorite weekend activity?

SPEAKER_01 36:30

I would say uh copious video games followed up with karaoke. All right. Yeah. What games? I am just still on Red Dead Redemption 2. That's all I play. I don't care. I've run through it 17 times and I enjoy it every second. I'm basic and I still have a PS4. Don't at me.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

So have you played that?

SPEAKER_02 36:51

I haven't. Man, I haven't. I have to.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

It's it's like, well, I mean, correct me. You could be a cowboy doing cowboy stuff. We used to be around. Yeah, GTA for cowboys, though. Like Western City.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Scram Theft Auto, but you're a cowboy. Okay. You get to be in a crew that does heists and robs banks, and you can hunt, and you can like if I just went outside, I could probably do the same stuff, but I'm not doing that.

Family and relationships (on-air and off-air boundaries)

SPEAKER_02 37:10

I might have to I might have to try to at some point. Yeah, I might have to try that at some point. All right. Uh Marcus, uh, one thing you'd never talk about on air. How am I supposed to do that? Well, no, you're not on air right now. This is pre-recorded.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

He's always on air.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Uh we don't we don't talk about politics or religion. Okay. And trust me, there are some times, if I'm being honest, where I want to go off on the state of the world. Yeah. But but the chances of me getting into a trick bag, and frankly, our audience, that's not what they're here for. Yeah. We're here for vibes, baby. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

And so, Taylor, same thing.

SPEAKER_04 37:46

Well, that, and then also too, like, I don't really talk like talking about like current relationships that I have going on. Like, I don't mind talking about like past relationships, but like if I'm in something, like I'm not gonna talk about that. Yeah, respect.

SPEAKER_02 37:58

Yeah, actually, uh, quick question for you, Marcus. So, like kids, because I I try to not really have my kids too exposed on like social media and whatever else, but um, is that something that you try to veer away from as far as well?

SPEAKER_01 38:10

I do, especially as my daughter gets older. Yeah, um, when she was a baby, it wasn't as much of an issue, but but you know, there's always a safety issue if I'm if I'm being 100% honest. Um, but my daughter is smart and she hits hard and uh and and she's quick. And and you know, anytime and you know, I people because I feel connected to people, like I want them to meet my family. Yeah, right. And so every once in a while you'll see me post a picture of my family, and it has to be vetted by the missus, the boss, if you will. Yeah. Um, but they're very few and far between. And then as far as like talking about her on the air, I got some really good advice from Bob Sagitt. When my daughter was first born, I had a chance to interview him. And I said, How do you manage that? Like, I have a kid now, I'm gonna want to talk about her because it's my life. But like, what do you do? He said, Marcus, be very careful. And I said, How do you mean? He goes, just remember that she might be listening. I said, he said, because I he so he found when his daughter was a teenager, he found a pair of her unmentionables and they were very risque in in the dryer. And he was horrified. And he was she's like 16, and he was like, What? You're wearing these? And he said, I went on stage and did a bit about them in my act, and she heard about it, and then she didn't talk to me for two years. Oh Jesus, very, very careful, young man. And I take that to heart. Yeah, my daughter and I have a pact. I'm not allowed to talk about her when she's being bad. She told me that when she was five. She's like, Daddy, when I'm being bad, you are not allowed to talk about me. Wow. I said, That's fair. Um I I never I knew nothing disparaging about my wife. I'll disparage myself all day long. Like I'm a self-deprecating fool. Like it's my favorite thing. And frankly, at my house, I am the one screwing up most days. Uh so that's kind of how I manage that. You know, they want to know her, they want to know my ladies, but um but but my wife's a very private person and I respect that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 40:12

Yeah, that's yeah. My some of the kids want to come on the podcast. Yeah. And I'm like, eh. I don't think it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

How old are your kids? Well, the youngest is 12. Okay. So they're they're uh the then the 14, 17-year-old, I think they'd be fine. And then I've got an 18-year-old and uh two 20-year-olds.

SPEAKER_01 40:31

Yeah. You know uh Tony Bourdain had the best line because they people would always ask him, Well, how come we can't see your daughter? And he would say, No, I chose this life, she didn't. Yeah.

Dream guests?

SPEAKER_02 40:42

That's another good one. Uh, all right, so let's see. Dream guest for your show, Taylor. What why don't you start?

SPEAKER_04 40:50

My gosh, that's so hard. Um, I mean, I just love Billy Eilish, so if Billie Eilish were to ever come into the studio, I would cry.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:04

That might happen one day.

SPEAKER_04 41:06

And I will cry.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

FYI. Be prepared. Um, Matthew McConaughey.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

Like the love of his life.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

I would absolutely do people actually see you again? No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

That was okay. I was not kidding when I said that. Yeah, that coachella.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

Oh, you were photo.

SPEAKER_02 41:20

No, but that photo doesn't look anything like me. Well, no, but but I could so I could draw the correlation from Matthew McConaughey to the photo and then the photo to you. And so there's a huge compliment.

SPEAKER_04 41:31

Just take it.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

I may cry on the ride home. I might cry on the ride home. I just, you know, I've I've read his autobiography, Green Light, and I just think he's the coolest dude ever. And I think that if if we sat and hung out and drank some pantalones tequila, like we would vibe. Yeah. And I wouldn't nerd out as hard as everybody thinks I would. And uh low-key man crush at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 41:53

He seems like just a regular dude. Yeah, he seems like an awesome dude. Good origin story, too, like where I actually came from and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

So yeah, he's I just I feel like we're kind of oriented the same way, like the way we look at things, you know. So I don't know. Now I'm being delusional. It's all right. What do they call that parasocial? Yes. I feel very parasocial with him. Do you know what parasocial is? I'm learning all new words today. Parasocial is when you have a relationship with a celebrity typically, where you follow them online, you feel like you know them, but you don't actually know them, but you feel like you know them. Okay, and you feel like you're friends.

SPEAKER_04 42:26

And like you're affected by things that happen in their life, like things like that. Like you have like a little bit closer of a relationship and they don't even know you exist.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

Parasocial. So, and this is because of social media?

SPEAKER_04 42:36

Yes. Yes, it can only really happen over social media.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

We all have a lot more access now. Well, yeah, they're I mean, people are showing shit they shouldn't show. Yeah. And I mean, it uh it's up to them. And people are are watching it, right? I mean, to you, I think you made a comment earlier about how people are taking in kind of media, right? Like, I mean, journalism has just screwed itself over. Yeah. I I mean it's it's kind of the the the same thing where you know now everybody's all about clickbait. That's social media, it's that's journalism, it's everything. It's just infiltrate.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

I feel sorry for anybody who still clings to the idea of being a real journalist because it's so hard up there right now. Yeah, yeah. You just need a good hook. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

That's it. You just need a good hook and then go into it. Yeah, that's yeah. All right. Well, hey, thank you guys very much for being here. It was a pleasure to get to know you. Look forward to doing some other stuff in the future. The karaoke cruise.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

Yes, heck yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

The dates on that. Uh August 1st. August 1st. One to four. We day drinking, baby.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Start stretching now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:33

We launched out of Alameda. Okay. All right. More more info coming soon.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

Well, it was a pleasure having you guys here showing around the winery.

SPEAKER_01 43:41

Cheers and thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Thank you to the back room.