Today we’d like to introduce you to Café Brass Monkey Karaoke Hosts.
Café Brass Monkey Karaoke Hosts, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Sal: In my teens & twenties, I worked professionally as an actor & musician. In 2005 while pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree, I was hired as an MC at Bourbon Street’s Cat’s Meow in New Orleans. There, I entertained crowds & celebrities from around the world during their New Orleans visits. I worked special events & collaborated with numerous organizations & foundations to provide entertainment for their event. In New Orleans, there’s something special every week, whether it’s Mardi Gras or the Red Dress Run or the numerous conventions like the librarian convention or pirate convention (real things!!). This place helped me grow into the adult I am & I am proud to have spent so much time there. While working at the Cat’s Meow in 2014, I mentioned to my longtime colleagues James Hernandez & the late Andy Steib that I was attending graduate school in LA & would soon be moving. They connected me with another Cat’s Meow alum, Luke Adams, who was currently working at the Brass Monkey in Koreatown. I reached out to Luke where he brought me in for a visit & I was working the next week. I’ve been working at the Brass Monkey since.
Lucas: I grew up in Wichita, KS. Moved to LA in 2002 in pursuit of a career in the recording industry. I started working at the Brass Monkey in 2006, & intermittently through to today. Hosting at the Monkey for me has always been a great way to stay sharp with current music, & to keep my chops up as a session vocalist.
Jackie: I’m New Zealand born & raised, my nomadic life moved me to LA 7 years ago where friends/bandmates sharing my musical passion brought me to the Brass Monkey. I was a regular patron, constantly telling Kevin that he should get me hired until xmas 2017 Kevin saw an opening (or buckled) & I’ve been hosting Wed/Thu Happy Hour since.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Lucas: The road has been full of struggles but the family at the Monkey has always been a source of support & love. The strangers, the regulars, the drunks & the staff, make the Brass Monkey a never-ending source of excitement & entertainment for me.
Jackie: Are any roads smooth? There are always ups & downs, & LA can be a fickle place, but the Monkey is a solid for me. Without fail every week I see familiar faces that I adore. I genuinely enjoy my job & that makes a lot of other stuff fade away.
Sal: As an independent artist, the road is never smooth! It is all about remaining adaptable & level headed even in the roughest of times. As an artist & creative producer, it is in the nature of our work that things change. It’s a gig economy where we are working project-to-project, risking plenty of stability to pursue our dreams. That road is never smooth. Working at places like the Cat’s Meow in New Orleans & the Brass Monkey in LA have provided stability to help balance my creative endeavors. Working strange hours left plenty of “normal people” time to create art.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Jackie: The Brass Monkey has been open since 1947, I’m very proud to be part of that legacy. We do what we do, we do it well, & it’s been done there for longer than most people remember. If you’ve lived in LA for a year or more, you are bound to have some form of Brass Monkey story. The open format means that you are not paying for room rental & a system that you can’t adjust; you may not get to sing as often as you want, pending how many other singers are lined up, but your sound gets mixed, your voice gets mixed, & you get to perform as STAR of your own superbowl show, to a cheering crowd – 3 to 6 minutes at a time.
Sal: I work as a DJ & host at the Brass Monkey in Koreatown. Plenty of people use the term KJ, etc. & those just don’t work for me. I don’t know if it’s coming from New Orleans where our roles were clearly stated as an MC or DJ, KJ seems a bit more ambiguous to me. I am a DJ & my job is to trigger moments & memories from audiences to assist them in having an ideal evening. I serve as a your host & guide, & will make sure you have a good time & hear some songs that you love that you haven’t heard in ten years. I enjoy laughing & pranking the staff & guests as well. Always a good time!
Lucas: My Saturday nights are known packed tables, deep bass, & a nightclub vibe. I aim to seamlessly mix classic disco, retro funk & modern Hip-Hop into the karaoke sets. The party never stops & the dance floor is rarely empty on Saturday nights.
What were you like growing up?
Sal: Small town kid! As a kid, sports & music were at the center of my life. I grew up in New Orleans suburbs & my parents are wonderful & supportive people. Lots of love!! I have one older brother & we could not be more different. I am an optimist that tapped into his creativity. I learned a lot as a child & apply it all everyday as an adult. Sports taught me the value of teamwork & it is that value that I apply today as a producer that allows me to thrive as a creative.
Jackie: Growing up music was beyond important & no family member’s music collection were safe from me! My Grandparent’s 50s-70s record collection & Dad’s 50s-80s CDs were my very first hit lists – I pull a lot of what I play at the bar from this nostalgia. I was definitely a shy yet determined performer with big dreams. I’m still that person.
Lucas: I was a gothic, theatre-geek in my youth. I have always had a soft spot for the freaks, the geeks, the artists & the outcasts surrounding me. The karaoke scene has always been a great match & I have truly found my niche at the Brass Monkey, for this reason.
Kevin: My personal story is dull at best. I’m simply going to offer a few personal tips & tricks on how best to enjoy your time at any karaoke bar instead, especially for anyone unfamiliar with how it works.
1) ARRIVE EARLY!
If you DO intend to sing more than once but cannot be there at the beginning of the show, try to arrive AT LEAST 1 to 2 hours earlier than you would hope to sing your first song. Karaoke lines can form quickly. I’ve been running shows my entire adult life & I’m STILL amazed at how we can go from 3-4 people in line to a 2-hour wait within the span of ten minutes or less. On that same note, if you arrived late, sometimes sticking around to the very end is all it takes. Though never a guarantee, many times the whole room can clear out after last call, opening things up enough for those who stay to the bitter end to jump in.
2) DON’T DILLY DALLY!
Remember that 1 to 2 hours I mentioned above? That clock doesn’t actually start ticking UNTIL you’ve submitted your song slip to the KJ! Be sure to have the doorman point you towards the songbooks & slips after they check your ID. Make a beeline to them, slap your name down on a song request slip & IMMEDIATELY hand it into the KJ!
THEN you can figure out where you’re going to sit, order your drinks, hit the bathroom & figure out WHAT you’re going to sing.
I’ve had too many people over the years come in, grab a book & sit there for an hour or more trying to decide on a song while trying to get drunk enough to sing BEFORE they even turn in their slip, wind up expressing utter shock upon realizing that just BEING IN THE ROOM didn’t count towards some sort of imaginary “Time Served” theory of principle.
3) DON’T BE THAT GUY/GIRL
It’s a long wait. You’re sitting there. You’re bored. We get it. But sometimes after a few drinks there are those who mistakenly assume that they haven’t been called up yet because, I suppose, they don’t feel as if they’re well liked or popular enough yet, & then insist upon making their presence known by constantly sliding up to the KJ Booth to chit chat, repeatedly ask where they are in line or attempt to employ any number of different strategies in an effort to convince, trick or even outright annoy the KJ into finally bumping them up higher along in the line.
These Tactics Never Work. In fact, employing any of them are a sure-fire way to ensure that the process moves along much S-L-O-W-E-R than normal, because it takes time away from the KJ who is typically mixing, prepping the next break video, looking up the next song or otherwise in the process of doing something go make SOMETHING about the overall process go faster or about the overall sound get tuned in better. Your average KJ is typically doing about 3-4 jobs all at once, & the more that one makes them focus on THEM, the less the KJ is able to focus on doing all the other things they need to be constantly doing to keep the show moving forward smoothly.
Hopefully, these tips will help a few more people to enjoy their time as much as possible, make the most effective use of their time & sing the most songs possible when joining us. We can’t wait to hear what songs you want to add to our next hit song lineup!
Pricing:
- Happy Hour $4 Domestic Beers, $5 Imported Beers, $5 Margaritas, $6 Well Drinks
- Burger & Fries $8
Contact Info:
- Address: 3440 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90005
- Website: www.cafebrassmonkey.com
- Phone: 213-381-7047
- Instagram: @cafebrassmonkey
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