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Tiki Talk with Ben Willis: 2nd Wave Tiki & Goth Culture · Mega Rock On Demand

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's Friday afternoon, and that means it's time to light the torches once again for Tiki Talk on Mega Rock.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ben Willis with you.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I love tiki culture, not least of which because there's more than just one flavor of it floating around out there in this now third wave of tiki that we're experiencing.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: You've got your bright floral beachside aesthetic that's you know more in line with what you expect to see at a Palapa Hut tiki bar down in Florida.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Or you've got your traditional Don the Beach Comor of Trader Vicks style.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna bespangle all the walls with the accoutrement and stuff we've collected from our travels across the world, that style as well.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: But then there's also the dark, dangerous, ominous side of Tiki that a lot of establishments, modern establishments, have adopted, like the Inferno Room, for example, in Indianapolis, which is just absolutely covered in skulls and fire motifs everywhere you go.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you might say to yourself, well, where does that influence come from?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you can point to one source in the melding of cultures that came into the second wave of tiki in the 1990s, and talk, of course, about punk rockers and goths from the 1980s.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: For whatever reason, as the 80s turned into the 90s and the tiki revival started to pick up its first head of steam, a lot of the folks that were drawn to the early Tiki Revival were former punks, goths, rockabilly people, members of the other alternate subcultures that really loved that shared 1950s, 1960s nostalgia.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it be for things like old school rock and roll and greasers and cars, surf rock, or in some cases with the goth people, you had that aesthetic that really melted into the awesome B horror movies.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Those classic flicks like Dracula, Frankenstein, the creature from the Black Lagoon, and to say nothing about the Polynesian noir sub-genre that was very prevalent in television, movies, and even adventure novels in the mid-20th century.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And this all goes to inform the danger inherent in this style of tiki.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Dark, heavy jungles, headhunters, and other 20th century stereotypes.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: When you talk about lost civilizations and oh, you don't know what they're gonna do to you.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, in the case of Tiki, the natives tend to be friendly.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And by now, we even have Tiki Goth Club, which I am proud to be a member of.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: This was formed five years ago in July of 2020, believe it or not, by Ray Wyland out of Seattle, Washington, originally from the coal region in Pennsylvania, believe it or not, but he established the Tiki Goth Club to celebrate that shared 1950s, 60s, and now 1980s goth nostalgia with the love of tiki culture and escapism and great drinks, immersive theatrical aspects of everything, all just come together because what else is tiki except the love of escapism?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you can check out some pictures from the Tiki Goth Club and other events up on our Facebook page at Mega Rock PA.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: But there's one drink in particular out of my Smuggler's Cove recipe book that is just absolutely appropriate for today's discussion.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: That is the Undead Gentleman.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's a twist on a zombie that's been simplified and served up on a stem glass for the sophisticated savage.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: This was created by Martin Kate all the way back in 2011.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna start off by chilling a coop glass and rinsing that out with just one or two dashes of absinthe to swirl it around in that chilled glass.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: In your cocktail shaker with some crack or cube dice, we're gonna take 1 half ounce of fresh lime juice, 1 half ounce of fresh grapefruit juice, either white or pink will work in this case, 12 ounce of cinnamon infused syrup, 1 half ounce of velvet filernum, 1 ounce of a black blended overproof rum, something like a Lemonheart 151, would be perfect for this.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: 1 1 ounces of a blended aged rum, the Appleton Estate Reserve blend would be perfect in this case, or if you can't get that, go with their signature blend.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, 1 dash of Angestur bitters.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Shake that well until it's well chilled.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Double strain into the coop, add your little garnish of a mint sprig, and there you go, the undead gentleman.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So until we meet on another island out there somewhere, this is Ben Willis saying Aloha.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of all things spooky and rock, originally hailing from St.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Petersburg in Russia, their name can be roughly translated, by the way, as Knife Lollipops.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna leave you with Messer Chups and Cemetery Beach on Tiki Talk on Mega Rock.