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Davy Rolando Calls Into Hoppe Hour With Ryan Hoppe · Hoppe Radio (Hoppe Hour) With Ryan Hoppe

0:00
I somehow missed the phone call from Davi Rolando,
0:07
so let's do this real quick. This is how you
0:22
know the prank calls in the morning on the radio
0:24
are fake. Hello? What's up, Davi? How's it going?
0:28
Hoppy, what's good with you, my boy? On the phone
0:31
line right now on Hoppy Hour with Ryan Hoppy,
0:34
the one and only Davi Rolando is on Hoppy Hour.
0:38
What's up, bro? Let's go. Happy to be here, man.
0:42
I'm just kicking it. I'm at my tattoo shop right
0:44
now watching people suffer and go through pain
0:47
and make bad decisions. Where can people find
0:50
your shop? We're in Tampa on Fletcher in Florida.
0:55
It's called Emphasis Tattoo. It's basically like
0:57
USF area. We'll be celebrating our seventh year
1:01
here next month. So yeah, come in. Emphasis Tattoo.
1:07
What is your schedule like during the week? Because
1:11
for, well, first of all, how many years were
1:14
you on Orlando on the Freak Show? I was on the
1:17
Freak Show, I believe it's been about 13 years,
1:20
man. I've been working at Wild going on 20, but
1:25
yeah, a solid 13 on the Freak Show. And do you
1:29
still get up in the morning or once you left
1:32
O's show, did you kind of get rid of getting
1:34
up early? Absolutely not. No, I don't get it.
1:37
I was getting up at four 15. Um, I still get
1:40
up at like a reasonable time. I'm usually up
1:41
by like eight out the door by like eight 39 o
1:44
'clock. But, um, yeah, no, that was unreasonably
1:48
disrespectfully early. And, uh, one of the big
1:51
reasons why I left Ryan, I just couldn't do it
1:54
anymore. Dude, it was funny this morning. I worked
1:57
with MJ and I set my alarm for four 50 cause
2:00
I lived two minutes from work. So I, I got there
2:03
like five Oh five. The worst thing, I'm sure
2:06
you've been through this, is when you think you
2:08
have more time to sleep and it's like a minute
2:10
before the alarm. There's nothing worse than
2:12
that. Absolutely. You're on your last snooze.
2:15
You told yourself the last one was going to be
2:18
the last one. And now your back's against the
2:21
wall and you're running late, man. And nothing
2:24
worse than running late before the sun goes up.
2:26
And then you got your boss looking at you like,
2:28
yo, where the hell you been? And then especially
2:30
when they beat you there and they start to do.
2:32
What you're supposed to be doing, yeah, it's
2:34
not a good feeling. Yeah. How did you get your
2:37
start at Wild 94 .1? And was it Wild 98 .7 back
2:42
then? It was Wild 98 .7. Man, I started as an
2:46
intern, bro. I started as an intern. I had to
2:48
do 240 hours for my internship, ran through that.
2:53
Then from there, I got on the street team. I
2:56
was the street teamer for a while until I kind
2:59
of learned the on -air side of things. Started
3:02
to slowly get on air. I was the weekend guy,
3:05
the fill -in guy. My first time actually being
3:08
on air by myself was we had a big show. It was
3:12
like a techno -type show, and it was 1 a .m.
3:15
to 5 a .m., Friday and Saturday. So I would do
3:18
the club, and then straight from the club, I
3:21
would come to the station. I'd get here probably
3:23
about 2 a .m., and then I would do the techno
3:26
show. Did that for years until... Finally, somebody
3:30
got fired. That's what it took, man. Somebody
3:32
ended up getting fired. And that call came on
3:36
like a Tuesday night, was like, yo, we're going
3:39
to put you on the morning show. Can you be up
3:41
this early? And I was like, yeah. And then it
3:44
was like, can you be up this early starting tomorrow?
3:47
So it really came when I least expected it, bro.
3:51
I've had that happen. Like Andrew, who is the
3:54
MJ producer, he didn't know until 6 p .m. if
3:59
he was going to have to go to jury duty. Now
4:01
he got out of it, I think, because he works for
4:03
MJ. But the thing was. There was this waiting
4:06
around all day where I didn't have caffeine past
4:09
like 4 p .m. Because like when you got to go
4:12
to bed, bro, people don't realize for me with
4:14
my ADHD, I can't, it takes like an hour to go
4:17
to bed. So there were times working at the bone,
4:20
they'd be like, oh, can you work in the morning?
4:22
And it would be like 6 .30. And I'm like, fuck,
4:24
I got to go to bed now. To me, there's nothing,
4:27
especially during the summer, there's nothing
4:29
worse than that pressure of having to go to bed.
4:32
Yeah, absolutely, bro. And like one of my big
4:35
problems was that like I'm a DJ, right? Like
4:39
before I got into radio, before anything, I've
4:41
been DJing since high school. And for like a
4:43
long part of my life, like that was like my primary
4:46
source of income. So for me as a DJ, bro, and
4:50
then I got on the morning show, I was getting
4:52
more and more opportunities to. been but obviously
4:55
it's at night so I was kind of burning both ends
4:58
of the candle but I still I just had a hard time
5:01
saying no and passing up money so like there
5:05
were very many you know nights I'd be at the
5:07
club till 2 3 a .m. and then I had to be at the
5:10
at the radio station by like 5 30 and it was
5:13
just it was just kicking my ass I don't even
5:16
think even in my 20s I I've always been a guy
5:19
Dobby I've always needed at least six hours or
5:22
I can't operate I respect that, man, because
5:25
it's crazy when there's that feeling you're like,
5:28
there's nothing I can do. I have to get up. For
5:31
you, did you go right to coffee, caffeine? To
5:35
me, I go right to the energy drink in the fridge
5:38
immediately. Yeah, the Celsius were definitely
5:42
a staple of my diet at that point, and then a
5:46
lot of tea and things like that. But really what
5:48
was messing me up, Ryan, was around this time
5:52
I opened up my business, my tattoo shop. And
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that's really what was suffering. Because I could
6:00
do the club at night, and then I would power
6:02
through it in the morning. But then I'd be kind
6:05
of worthless throughout the rest of the day.
6:08
I'd need a nap, or maybe I had something else
6:10
that evening. And I was kind of letting the business
6:15
suffer. So that was one of the biggest factors
6:19
that made me, Kind of want to step away from
6:22
that morning schedule just so I can kind of pour
6:24
all my energy or more energy into the business.
6:29
Yeah, and so when you're not working and you're
6:33
not at your tattoo shop or doing mixes on the
6:35
radio or mixes at nightclubs, what do you like
6:38
to do in your free time? Man, so when I'm not
6:41
working, so I have this tattoo shop. I also have
6:44
two barbershops. So I bounce around like the
6:47
three of those during the week. But then, man,
6:50
I love to go to local sporting events, Bucks
6:54
games, Rays games, Lightning games. Love that.
6:57
Man, I love fine dining. That's probably one
6:59
of my – that's probably where I spend way too
7:02
much money. I love checking out restaurants,
7:04
getting a steak or just popping out. I like to
7:09
travel. Obviously, everybody likes to travel,
7:11
but I've been trying to do a little bit more
7:13
of that. I just went to – I went to Greece last
7:17
month. I went to Amherst. Amsterdam the month
7:18
before that. Um, so yeah, bro, I just try to,
7:21
I, but you know, I'm, I'm a worker, man. I like
7:24
to stay busy. I try to limit downtime and just
7:27
kind of stay focused and hustle. I'm the guy,
7:29
man. Even if I'm on vacation, I'm still working.
7:33
Like I visited a girl that I was trying to see
7:36
if she was girlfriend material. She wasn't, but
7:38
I flew to Minnesota eight months ago. And when
7:41
she worked during the day, I recorded my podcast
7:43
cause I brought my equipment. Like I have this
7:46
like thing, man. I, Even on vacations, I feel
7:49
like I need to do something. Even if it's not
7:52
a lot of work, I can't just turn it off. Yeah,
7:55
a lot of people, I would say, definitely have
7:57
a hard time disconnecting. Or, you know, there's
8:01
almost like you feel bad about leaving stuff
8:05
kind of undone or something like that. But, Ryan,
8:08
let me ask you this, bro. What made this girl
8:10
not girlfriend material? Oh, my God. You got
8:13
to hear this story. Two and a half years ago,
8:17
she was visiting from Minneapolis, and she got
8:20
an Airbnb. And for two nights, we hooked up,
8:23
and then we had a whole thing where we Snapchatted
8:27
every day. And it was like, oh, my God, it's
8:29
been 700 days. So I was like, you know what?
8:32
I was already going to Chicago. So I was like,
8:36
let me go to Minneapolis. It's right there. So
8:39
after I visited my mom for five days in Illinois,
8:42
I went to Minneapolis. And it was great. It was
8:45
Minnesota nice. It was blah, blah, blah. It was
8:48
the Minnesota Wilder playing. So we went to a
8:51
playoff game. This is where it's weird. She's
8:53
drunk, and I'm drinking, and she's like, do you
8:56
feel it? And I was like, what? And then she said
8:58
she loved me, told her I loved her. It felt real.
9:02
Okay. So then the next day, I have to leave to
9:06
go back to Illinois. So I wanted to kind of...
9:12
tell her that i'm kind of outspoken on the radio
9:14
because like i'm not gonna in the past i've dated
9:17
girls where i kind of neutered my my like product
9:20
to make the girlfriend happy so on my podcast
9:24
i was talking about something and i said i just
9:27
met this girl name whatever her name is doesn't
9:30
matter and i love her and she's the best because
9:32
we were talking all week and we were gonna have
9:34
me visit once a month she visits i send her the
9:37
audio and i go oh i gave you a shout out today
9:41
and then she was like omg and i was like what
9:45
and then she left me on red so then days were
9:49
going by and all of a sudden she was like posting
9:51
snapchats where there's like a few dudes in the
9:54
background and then i ended up like she's like
9:57
ghosted on me it was the strangest thing dude
9:59
it was uh i felt like i misused the word love
10:04
because i've told four girls that and i was like
10:09
Davi, I still can't figure out. And then the
10:11
funny part was, did I ask me anything on Instagram?
10:15
And one of her friends messaged me on it and
10:18
said, what happened between you and the Minnesota
10:20
girl? So I don't think she's telling them the
10:23
truth. I wish her the best. It's very weird.
10:26
Very weird. Interesting. Yeah, man, everything
10:29
changes when the L word gets thrown around. But
10:33
the thing was, she said it first, and then I
10:35
don't know what. I don't know if she had regret
10:40
and it was liquid. I don't know what it was.
10:43
It was very interesting. Cause I, I mean, maybe
10:46
she knew that life would never be the same after
10:48
she got on the hoppy hour and that shout out
10:50
just kind of, you know, that kind of opened up
10:54
her, her eyes to a whole new world. Well, she
10:57
did tell me, I'll never forget. We're texting.
10:59
I'm on the Delta airline going back. There should
11:03
have been a red flag. She goes, I never thought
11:07
I could date you because of your podcast. Ha
11:09
ha. Write that in there. I should have known.
11:12
Cause I mean, have you ever had it? Like, was
11:15
your wife cool with the edginess of Orlando show?
11:19
Or did you ever date somebody that kind of didn't
11:22
like radio? Well, yeah, actually, um, interesting
11:27
you ask. So when I first got into radio, I was
11:31
with this girl that ultimately gave me an ultimatum
11:36
where it was like our relationship or your little
11:40
radio fun. So I picked the radio fun, obviously.
11:44
But my most recent relationship, I just got,
11:47
we were engaged. We were together like 13 years.
11:50
And so she didn't listen, not regularly. She
11:55
didn't really listen. She was more of like, she's
11:58
like a reggaeton type chick. She likes Spanish
12:00
music. So she didn't really listen too often.
12:03
But what would happen would be that if we ended
12:05
up talking about her, she would hear it from
12:08
her friends. It's the worst. She would get everything
12:11
like out of context and the story would get all
12:15
messed up. Now, it wasn't like something that
12:18
it caused a lot of friction on regular, but there
12:23
were definitely times where I had some explaining
12:26
to do. Dude, I've been there. Dude. Yeah. Working
12:29
with Kelta, he would ask something and then.
12:32
Oh, my dude. Or did you ever have it where you're
12:36
talking on air and any girl you're dating texts
12:40
you and they're like, I'm listening. And then
12:42
you're kind of like, oh, shit. Yeah. Yeah. I
12:46
mean, I would I would know that it would get
12:49
back to her because they would be like. Certain
12:51
topics. I knew her friends were listening. Her
12:53
friends would like damn near never miss a show.
12:56
So I knew that like whatever I say is about to
12:59
get jumbled up and the version she gets is probably
13:04
going to be completely wrong. Well, the problem
13:07
with radio is people hear what they want to hear.
13:10
I always say read the transcript. People hear
13:14
what they want to hear. So if they hear an implication
13:17
about something, it's like the game of telephone.
13:20
They just tell your ex or whatever. It's very
13:24
weird how fast it happens because it's always
13:27
like to me, like I was on Orlando's show during
13:32
the toy drive and I was there recently single.
13:37
Like my situation ship and I broke up in December,
13:40
another girl. I'm on air and I was on dating
13:44
apps and there was a girl that I'll say it to
13:49
you afterwards. There was someone that used to
13:51
work at Beasley in the sales department. Her
13:54
name began with an R and she matched with me
13:59
on Facebook dating and she knew Orlando. So she
14:04
was listening. The 8 a .m. hour when I'm talking
14:07
about being recently single and getting all these
14:11
matches on dating apps. And you know how Orlando
14:14
is. He's really good at interviewing. So it was
14:17
like a 10 -minute segment. And then I go to check
14:20
Facebook dating just to check for the hell of
14:23
it. And her name wasn't there anymore. And then
14:26
she blocked me on Instagram. And I was like,
14:28
oh, my God. Oh, man. You get blocked on Instagram.
14:33
You just... She wasn't ready, man. No, but the
14:38
thing was, I think it was Rich asked how big
14:41
my junk is. It was just a very raunchy segment,
14:44
and I scared her off, and I was like, ah, that
14:47
sucks, whatever. Yeah, yeah, you definitely scared
14:50
her off. Regardless of what answer you gave,
14:53
it could be scary. If it's, you know, in either
14:56
direction, they might not be ready. But to me,
14:59
that's where you just got to be yourself, because
15:02
I feel like there's... I don't know why neuter
15:05
on the radio. Why neuter yourself? Why be half
15:09
-assed? Like my thing's always been like, the
15:12
problem is for the 12 years I've been in Tampa,
15:15
I've always pretty much told everything on air,
15:18
especially to Kelta. And my mom like has listened
15:22
to every second of when I've been on the radio.
15:24
So she remembers and retains things. So she knows
15:28
more about me than I remember. It's very, like
15:32
for example, Have you ever had it where you go
15:35
on a date with a girl and let's say you're on
15:40
a date and a girl goes, Oh, you were engaged.
15:43
And you're like, how did you know that? And it's
15:44
like, Oh, I heard about it on the radio. I've
15:46
had that happen a lot where girls would be like,
15:48
cause I was engaged at age 23 or 22 and I would
15:53
have girls be like, Oh, you were engaged. And
15:55
I'm like, how did you know that? They're like,
15:56
Oh, I used to listen to you on like, you never
15:59
realize what people remember, you know? Absolutely,
16:04
man. That's a, that's a great point. I definitely
16:05
had people that, I mean, I had people come up
16:08
to me and like, I used to have a cat named Foxy
16:10
and I'd have complete strangers come up to me.
16:12
Oh, how's Foxy doing? And what you just said
16:15
is like completely accurate. They would retain
16:17
something, a story that you told six months ago
16:21
where they could repeat it to you. And you're
16:23
like, I bet. Nah, no way. I've said that. Yeah.
16:26
That I, I got trapped with that multiple, multiple
16:29
times. And, uh, you know, it's, at one point
16:32
it's kind of flattering low -key but then at
16:35
the same time you don't want somebody that pays
16:37
too close attention or takes like things like
16:40
completely literal like give me you know give
16:43
me a little grace here it's just I've always
16:46
been now I'm more on edge but throughout my 20s
16:51
I just didn't think anybody was listening even
16:53
though I knew people were listening especially
16:55
working with Kelta And Orlando kind of has the
16:58
similar interview vibe. You just think you're
17:01
talking to somebody. You kind of forget that
17:02
you're on air because you want to be entertaining.
17:06
Because I know you guys did Plead the Fifth.
17:09
And Kelta kind of does stuff similar where you
17:12
want to just be an open book. Why not bring good
17:14
radio? But then you kind of realize, man, I might
17:18
have said too much. Yeah, and I'm never going
17:22
to be able to get a job outside of radio if they
17:25
hear about this. And now with like everything
17:27
being on video and things like that, something
17:29
that at one point was just like a fleeting conversation
17:32
now lives forever. Yeah, do you ever think about
17:35
like, I've just always heard how crazy. uh, Stiffy
17:41
used to tell me how crazy wild 98 seven was.
17:45
Do you ever think about like what it would have?
17:47
Cause like when you joined, I'm guessing is right
17:50
when the iPhone came out. So you'd like, do you
17:53
ever wonder what it would have been like if things
17:55
were filmed back then? Yeah. You know what? Um,
17:59
honestly at that point when I was still just
18:02
kind of like a do boy. So all of those were to
18:06
me still just like stories and tall tales. that
18:10
i heard but yeah from from the conversations
18:14
that i've been you know privileged to hear they
18:18
would have been a lot of people cancelled if
18:20
everything was recorded like it is now if any
18:23
time there was like some kind of issue every
18:26
you know how it is everybody just puts their
18:28
phone out um yeah i think i think it's a good
18:31
thing i think that's also kind of goes to speak
18:33
to part of the reason why People have been in
18:37
the game for so long, 20, 30 years without getting
18:40
canceled because of a lot of plausible deniability,
18:42
I would say. Well, also, I know a radio show
18:45
host. I met him at the morning show boot camp.
18:47
I won't say who, but he... knows Jimmy Kimmel
18:53
well enough. He does radio in Los Angeles and
18:55
he asked Jimmy Kimmel, how were you, this is
18:58
alleged, how were you able to escape your era
19:02
of the man show and all the dirty humor you did
19:06
back in the day? And there's a website called
19:08
Tweet Clean, I think it was, and it would clean
19:11
out any tweets that could get you canceled. And
19:14
supposedly Jimmy Kimmel had the internet scrub
19:17
anything he tweeted years ago. And to me, that's
19:21
where it's like, it's almost unfair to like,
19:25
try to cancel someone. Like I've, I've always
19:28
said, if someone has said something in the past
19:31
that was offensive or whatever, why not do like
19:34
a, like when Don Imus got in trouble for saying
19:36
nappy headed, he had a sit down with L, um, what's
19:41
his name? The, um, I'm drawing a blank, but he
19:44
had a sit down with people and he learned why
19:46
what he said was wrong. Why fire somebody when
19:50
you can have a class where we learn why that's
19:52
not cool? Yeah, you know how that goes, man.
19:56
Your boss at this point doesn't want to sit you
20:00
down. The optics are bad. And it's just, yo,
20:03
we're just going to cut ties at this point. It's
20:07
tough, man. It's definitely... And also, part
20:10
of it has to do with what are you known for?
20:14
So when you're the... like Bill Cosby type where
20:19
it's like, don't cuss, you know, do the right
20:21
thing. And then you're, you know, doing what
20:24
you're doing with all, you know, pop putting
20:25
things in people's drinks. It's like, Oh my God.
20:27
But if you're known for kind of pushing the envelope
20:30
and being raunchy, I feel like you should have
20:32
a pass. At some point you got to be uncancellable.
20:35
And I think you're uncancellable Hoppy. I appreciate
20:38
that. Well, yeah, yeah. Venonymous losers. I,
20:41
but that's all I'll say. Uh, the thing is, Oh
20:45
my God. The thing is, I've noticed, dude, I'm
20:50
telling you right now, the shock jock, I've worked
20:53
with a lot of quote unquote shock jocks. They're
20:56
the ones that are introverts off air that don't
21:00
want to talk to anybody that just chill. The
21:03
people that you have to watch out for in radio
21:06
are the, and I'm not saying Ryan Seacrest, because
21:09
I've heard that he's a nice guy, but the people
21:12
that try to be like Ryan Seacrest, where they're
21:14
so, There's a few people in Tampa that do it,
21:17
that act like they're so perfect and wonderful,
21:19
and then you hear the stories. Those are the
21:23
people you got to look out for are the ones that
21:25
always try to portray themselves like they're,
21:27
like Ellen did Generous. That's a perfect example
21:30
of someone that's like, she acted like she was
21:33
so clean cut, but behind the scenes, everyone's
21:36
crying, you know? Facts, yeah. The stories that
21:40
come out. and they say you're a terrible person,
21:44
you're a monster to work with, but when the camera's
21:47
on, you're everybody's best friend. Did you,
21:51
so Tampa radio was always known for its wars.
21:55
When I moved here and I was working with Calata,
21:56
we had to deal with Bubba and whatever, and then
21:59
he got taken out, but did you ever have to deal
22:03
with any of the radio war kind of culture in
22:06
Tampa? Honestly, Hoppy, bro, I didn't, dog. You're
22:11
lucky. It was so dumb. And, you know, from early
22:14
on, I kind of looked at this. I kind of know,
22:18
like, yo, these companies don't love you. You
22:20
know, you're going to do a great job. But, like,
22:23
these other people are my friends. So I was always
22:27
kind of out of it. I don't really, I honestly
22:31
don't even know that many radio people. I never
22:35
really. hung out with radio people. I know of
22:39
them, but like personal relationships or even
22:41
kind of communications kind of at, at a minimal
22:45
for me, I kind of always gravitated more to the
22:50
DJ space where I like, I know a million DJs.
22:53
I have some really, some of my closest friends
22:55
in the world are DJs. So I would say like in
22:58
the music game, in the radio game, I was always
23:01
kind of more like on the DJ side of things. Whereas,
23:06
For me, it was never like our, you know, Bloods
23:08
versus Crips, the radio, this station versus
23:11
that station. I was just kind of always cool
23:14
and chill with everybody, to be honest with you.
23:17
I was able to kind of miss all of that. And that's
23:20
kind of, I've talked to people, like people will
23:23
talk about radio, and that's kind of the reputation
23:25
you have, as they say, in the streets. Like,
23:28
everybody says that, like, you're fun to be around.
23:32
Like, I don't think, like, Anyone's ever like,
23:35
oh, that guy thinks he's the shit or that guy
23:38
expects this. You've always kind of had a calm
23:41
and very chill vibe. Yeah, bro. I don't think
23:45
I'm the shit. I don't think anybody owes me anything.
23:49
I'm super grateful for all of the years that
23:53
I've been here. Ryan, my thing is I've always
23:57
felt like I am not the most talented. I've always
24:02
felt like I'm nobody's favorite. But I've always
24:05
known that people aren't going to outwork me.
24:07
So I know that whatever I put my energy into
24:11
will be successful, not because I'm this visionary
24:16
or anything extra special about me, just because
24:20
I know that I'll go that extra mile and I will
24:24
forego the hours of sleep to make something happen.
24:30
So, like, you know, it's gratifying to hear that
24:34
that's kind of a reputation that I've, you know,
24:38
accumulated. And that's how people look at me.
24:41
But, yeah, bro, it's going to be rare for you
24:44
to see me in a bad mood or having a bad day.
24:47
I kind of, you know, I just handle my business.
24:49
I try to be as accommodating and help my friends
24:53
and peers and coworkers. And, bro, it's going
24:56
to take a lot to kind of. get me off my pivot
25:00
to get me out of character. Not to say that I
25:02
don't, obviously we all do, but like some silly
25:05
radio shit or somebody kind of talking behind
25:08
your back or a little bit like that, bro. They
25:11
got to try harder than that, bro. It ain't going
25:14
to work. I've always noticed the people that
25:16
talk behind your back are some of the most unhappy,
25:20
miserable people, like a truly successful person.
25:25
doesn't give a shit if someone else is doing
25:26
well. You know what I mean? That's the thing,
25:28
bro. It's very rare that it's somebody doing
25:31
better than you. For me, it's in one ear, out
25:38
the other. I try to keep myself busy enough that
25:42
I don't even have the bandwidth to kind of absorb
25:47
that and let it affect me. You'll make a mental
25:50
note, like, okay, that's how this person feels,
25:52
so I probably would... on an opportunity to collaborate
25:57
in one way or another. But like for me, my boy,
26:01
it's always business, never personal. One of
26:05
the buy and navigate this music and entrepreneurial,
26:11
you know, endeavors that I'm doing, it's always
26:14
business, never personal. What's your go -to
26:17
playlist when you're at Goodnight John Boy? It's
26:20
one of my favorite bars, by the way. I love Goodnight
26:23
John Boy, man. Goodnight John Boy is a really
26:25
cool. disco 70s 80s uh club in downtown st pete
26:30
that i dj at uh pretty regularly man you know
26:33
it's funny because being that it's like disco
26:35
and being that it's you know 70s and 80s it's
26:39
like it's basically like the same songs you know
26:43
are gonna work every single week so it's like
26:47
give me a man after midnight it's dancing queen
26:51
and staying alive and It's Aretha Franklin and
26:55
Donna Summers and Earth, Wind and Fire. We might
26:57
throw the Gap Band in there. You know, it's fun,
27:00
man. I really do enjoy that spot. And honestly,
27:03
DJing there has made me like a better, more well
27:08
-rounded DJ where like I didn't really, I've
27:11
been DJing there maybe about a year and a half
27:13
pretty regularly. But like before that, I didn't
27:16
really have a need. to have a good disco set
27:19
or have like, you know, a big bag of 70s and
27:23
80s songs. Now I have that. And now, you know,
27:26
I can kind of incorporate that into other things
27:28
that I'm doing. I might, you know, drop September
27:31
here just because like, oh, you know. So I love
27:34
Goodnight John Boy, man. People come there to
27:36
dance and have a good time. It's like, you know,
27:39
you go to like a place that's like a bunch of
27:41
bars, a bunch of clubs. People tend to like,
27:43
I'm going to have a drink here. Then we're going
27:45
to go check out this spot. I'll have a drink
27:46
there. People go to John Boy and they stay. They
27:49
chill all night. So, yeah, I really enjoy that
27:52
spot. My go -to move if I do go out and I've
27:55
been to John Boy's is I go to Pelican Pub, chill
27:59
for about 40 minutes, and then I go to Goodnight
28:02
John Boy's. So I go lit and then I get a drink
28:04
there. That's my go -to move. That's a smooth
28:08
move right there, bro, because, you know, Pelican
28:11
Pub is a cool little spot. It's right next door,
28:14
so you almost do like a little pre -gaming at
28:16
the pub and then go to the disco. I like your
28:19
style. I appreciate that, dude. Who was an artist
28:24
that when you worked at Wild, you weren't sure
28:28
if they were going to be cool or not, but they
28:30
ended up being like an absolute blast? Oh, man.
28:37
Machine Gun Kelly. machine gun kelly he's awesome
28:40
i met i met him in cleveland when i when i worked
28:43
for rover machine gun kelly's the man yeah yeah
28:47
mgk we we got with him early and um he ended
28:52
up out of out of every artist that i've ever
28:55
met i would say mgk was the only one that like
28:58
at one point i kind of considered a friend um
29:02
where he bro mgk's been in my house Um, at that,
29:05
or my apartment at that time, he would like,
29:08
he would be in Tampa pretty regularly and we
29:10
would usually kind of link up in one way or another.
29:13
If it was like an interview, if it was dinner,
29:15
I mean, I was cool with his manager Dre for,
29:19
for a while. So yeah, MGK definitely, uh, stood
29:22
out as someone that was really cool. Um, I had,
29:25
uh, and I'm trying to think of the, of the artists
29:28
that I've got to deal with, like on multiple
29:31
occasions. You know, Plies was always super gracious.
29:37
You could get like really good, insightful conversations
29:40
out of Plies. I interviewed him a handful of
29:44
times. And then one time I ended up seeing him.
29:47
We were in the same restaurant at International
29:50
Mall. And he invited me to his table. So we ended
29:53
up having dinner together. So he was, you know,
29:55
a real nice, genuine guy. And I think, I mean,
29:58
we probably... sat and had dinner for maybe an
30:01
hour, hour and a half, I think we barely talked
30:04
about music. Like we talked about like football
30:06
and like stuff like that. So, so yeah, I think
30:10
off the top of my head, those, those are two
30:12
that were super cool down to earth guys. Now
30:15
are you a Tampa born and raised? I was born in
30:19
Costa Rica. Okay. I was born, I was born in San
30:23
Jose, Costa Rica. We moved to Tampa when I was
30:26
four. So I've been, I grew up in Tampa for sure.
30:29
So I've been here from the jump. So it must have
30:31
been crazy then growing up hearing about Wild
30:34
98 .7 and then working for Wild. You know, to
30:38
tell you the truth, Ryan, I didn't grow up like
30:43
a radio consumer whatsoever. I was not, I never
30:48
listened to the radio. I was a CD guy. I was
30:52
a huge music head and I started DJing in high
30:56
school. So growing up, I was the every single
31:00
Tuesday, I'm going to be at the CD store. I know
31:04
the albums that are going to drop. I know who's
31:06
coming out next week. I got the last week's release.
31:10
I would get an album or two or three. Bro, I
31:13
would read all the credits. I knew who produced
31:16
what song, what older song they sampled. And
31:20
then from there, I took that love for music into
31:24
DJing. I bought my first... pair of turntables
31:27
from a pawn shop. I think it was my sophomore
31:29
year of high school. By my senior year, I was
31:32
DJing at house parties and things like that.
31:34
But for me, it's not that I didn't have anything
31:37
against radio. I just never listened to it. I
31:40
don't even know if the radio in my car worked.
31:43
I don't even remember ever turning the radio
31:45
on because I was so proud of my CD collection
31:49
that I had amassed. I'd spend all my money on
31:52
CDs. So when Radio, I mentioned the girl a little
31:58
while ago that issued the ultimatum. I have to
32:01
give her a lot of credit because she was actually,
32:04
when her and I first started talking, she had
32:07
just moved out of her mom's house and had got
32:11
her own apartment for the first time, which was
32:13
right down the street from the radio station.
32:16
And she was the one that was like, you should
32:18
try to work there. You should try to get an internship
32:21
at the radio station. And it was... honestly,
32:24
something I never thought about. I never considered.
32:27
It just never crossed my mind. I was like, oh,
32:30
you know what? That's a good idea. I'm going
32:32
to look into that. So, yeah, to answer your question,
32:35
bro, I didn't know much about Wild growing up
32:39
here. I didn't have any strong feelings. I couldn't
32:42
have told you any. I mean, now I've. heard all
32:44
the stories, and now I've kind of, I know about
32:47
98 .7, and I remember 93 .3 used to be the power
32:51
pig and stuff like that. I kind of heard all
32:53
of those stories like after the fact, you know?
32:57
Dude, it's crazy when you hear about it. Like,
32:59
for example, the alleged story when I worked
33:01
at iHeart on Gandhi was that Bubba the Love Sponge
33:05
put a hot tub inside of the Gandhi building when
33:10
it was the power pig. there was a girl that worked
33:14
at sales who was in her fifties and it was the
33:18
goodbye party to Gandhi. And she goes, we're
33:22
leaving the hot tub stories here. And it's like,
33:24
what happened in that hot tub? You can, yeah,
33:29
you could only imagine. And back then, man, it
33:31
was, it was the wild, wild West. Yeah. Everything
33:34
I've heard a lot of stuff, but everything was
33:35
like secondhand. I never, never heard it out
33:38
of the horse's mouth, but yeah, I remember the,
33:41
Bubba the Love Sponge days and the MJ and BJ
33:44
days, but I always would just catch those a decade
33:48
later where they'd be like, yo, you remember?
33:50
I'd be like, nah, but tell me about it. You know
33:53
what's crazy about MJ? For me, if I have to get
33:56
up in the morning, I need caffeine to talk on
33:58
air. I don't know if he drinks anything at his
34:02
house, but that's just him. That energy he has,
34:06
that's just MJ, dude. Pretty insane because he's
34:10
very chill off air, very quiet. And once the
34:13
mic's on, man, I'm like, man, I want that. If
34:15
there was one thing I wish I had, I wish I had
34:18
that. Like he sometimes gets like four hours,
34:21
five hours of sleep, dude. That's crazy. Yeah,
34:24
that dude's a different beast, bro. Absolutely.
34:27
I mean, he's been doing this at a high level
34:29
for a long time. So, I mean, somebody like that,
34:33
you got to kind of like, man. What is it? How
34:36
does he do it? I have a ton of admiration like
34:39
seeing him because he would I would watch him
34:42
like he do the morning show because we used to,
34:43
you know, our shows were at the same time or
34:45
whatever. And then like he would leave the morning
34:48
show. And then the next thing I know, he's like
34:51
on live doing another radio show. I think it
34:54
was like a politics show or something. I'm like,
34:57
yo, this dude is a he's nonstop. And it's like,
35:01
yo, you really love this shit. And you really
35:04
have to admire somebody that's been any, whatever
35:06
field it is, man, if you're that deep and you're
35:10
decades in and you still have a love and a passion
35:13
for it, man, my hat's off to you, especially
35:16
a guy like, like MJ, who's, you know, he's been
35:19
super successful here and he doesn't have to
35:22
do this. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm
35:24
sure MJ could not work another day in his life
35:29
and be fine and to still keep such a busy schedule
35:35
and do it with a smile on your face and no need
35:38
for caffeine. Yeah, a lot of respect for that.
35:41
I know. Whenever I work with a show, I always
35:46
observe what they're doing because it's like
35:49
you're looking at the top tier talent, the best
35:54
of the best. You know what I mean? And it's like.
35:58
I've learned more from watching the shows I've
36:01
worked on than at the radio school I went to
36:03
in Illinois where I just learned Adobe Audition.
36:05
Like being around Kelta, MJ, Orlando, other people
36:11
I can't think of right now, people at The Bone,
36:14
just watching them do it and their confidence
36:17
and the way they project themselves, you can
36:20
learn more than from any class. Hey, my boy,
36:24
man, you're not too far from people being able
36:27
to say that they saw what Hoppy was doing and
36:29
going and doing his own thing. And I'm sure there's
36:34
a lot of people that admire and would like to
36:38
take a similar path, bro. So don't ever lose
36:41
sight of that. I appreciate that. I just try
36:46
to be humble about it because I've worked with
36:48
people that were real, real rude. And it's like,
36:52
I don't ever want to make people the way some
36:54
people made me feel in my twenties. I don't ever,
36:58
for example, I was up for the, that Ryan Seacrest
37:03
top host competition. And I don't know, I have
37:06
a friend who's out of work in radio in Illinois
37:09
and I didn't even promote that. I was a part
37:12
of it. I was like, vote for him. And now he's
37:16
in like the running and I'm trying to, I want
37:19
others to win because I feel like there's enough
37:21
power at the top. Like I feel like the old mindset
37:25
with these radio wars was, Oh, we, we must take
37:29
over the top and nobody can be at the top. And
37:32
I feel like our generation was kind of like,
37:34
no, we want to see others do well, you know?
37:37
Yeah, man. It's, it's the crab crabs in a bucket
37:40
mentality where a lot of people think that your
37:43
success, is going to affect mine. Where in actuality,
37:47
I see it all the time with my tattoo shop, man.
37:49
In the tattoo industry, there's a lot of gatekeeping.
37:52
There's a lot of artists that don't want to see
37:54
other artists win. Artists that think if you're
37:57
busy, that means you're taking clients from me.
37:59
And in the actual, like the grand scheme of things,
38:03
there are way more clients than there are, there's,
38:07
you know, there's enough to go around is what
38:09
I'm trying to say. And, you know, somebody else's
38:12
success isn't gonna negatively affect yours and
38:17
i think i think hopefully that stigma is kind
38:19
of slowly slowly breaking away but i i see it
38:24
all the time with djs man there's a there's a
38:25
lot of like dj hate and not hate but like a lot
38:31
of people just don't want to see somebody booked
38:33
and busy where in the actual grand scheme of
38:37
things there's more than enough gigs to go around
38:41
And it was like what we were just talking about,
38:42
man. The guys that are doing it at a high level,
38:44
that have stood the test of time, that are getting
38:47
the best gigs, most of us, we're all friends.
38:51
We root for each other. If I'm DJing and one
38:54
of my DJ friends was like, yo, that remix you
38:57
played was crazy, I'll send it to him. I'm like,
39:00
yo, what song did you want? I got you, bro. Because
39:03
me helping you out is ultimately not going to...
39:07
affect me negatively. It's like what they say,
39:10
man. You might forget what somebody said to you,
39:13
but like you'll always remember how that person
39:14
made you feel. Now, if people want to book you
39:18
for an event, how can they find you? Oh, I mean,
39:21
the best way to reach out to me, probably just
39:23
Instagram. I'm pretty, I'm pretty mindful. I
39:27
book a lot of, you know, gigs and weddings and
39:30
events just off of DMs. So, you know, somebody
39:33
could just reach out to me. It's at Davi Orlando,
39:36
D -A -V -Y. dot Rolando on all of the socials.
39:40
I'm pretty mindful of the DMs. So yeah, that'd
39:43
be the easiest way. Now, would I be able to get
39:45
you to record a liner real quick? Yeah, I got
39:49
you. It would be, hey, this is Davi Rolando and
39:52
you're listening to Hoppy Hour with Ryan Hoppy.
39:55
Let's do it. All right, I'm ready. What up? This
39:58
is Davi Rolando and right now you are listening
40:01
to Hoppy Hour with my boy, Ryan Hoppy. Turn it
40:05
up. Well, Davi, it's been, well, first of all,
40:08
Can you believe it's been 39 minutes and 48 seconds
40:12
that we've been talking? Hey, man, time flies
40:14
by when you're having a good conversation. I
40:16
appreciate that, dude. I got to have you on again
40:18
sometime. Davi Rolando, thank you again for calling
40:22
in Hoppy Hour. I appreciate it, and keep up the
40:24
good work. Hey, thank you, fam. It was good talking
40:27
to you. All right, see you, bro. Later, bro.
40:30
And that was Davi Rolando. We're going to come
40:32
back, and we got about 22 minutes left in this
40:36
broadcast, so let's do it. Happy Hour. Happy
40:40
Hour. And happyradio .com. Happy Hour will be
40:54
right back.