Bunker Performance Lounge Founders Reveal How to Build a Thriving Music Community

Summary

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Living The Red Life

Episode: Bunker Performance Lounge Founders Reveal How to Build a Thriving Music Community

Air Date: March 31, 2026
Host: Rudy Mawer (with Ray Guterres as guest interviewer)
Guests: Candace Crawford, John Crawford, Jeremy Berg (Co-owners, The Bunker Performance Lounge & Cafe, Stratford)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, guest host Ray Guterres chats with the dynamic trio behind The Bunker Performance Lounge & Cafe—a venue in Stratford built by musicians, for musicians. Candace, John, and Jeremy share the inspirations, challenges, and secrets behind creating an intimate, artist-focused performance space that defies the typical “musician in the corner” mold. This candid conversation covers entrepreneurship, cultivating authentic community, maintaining creative momentum, and evolving beyond the standard music venue.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin Story & Mission (00:00 – 04:39)

• Purpose: The Bunker was founded to give musicians a true spotlight, in contrast to typical venues where live acts fade into background noise.
• Quote: "We wanted to just provide a space for artists and musicians to be seen and heard that's different from just your standard bar or restaurant where someone's playing in the corner and you don't really pay attention to them anyway." – Candace (00:00)
• The Bunker’s name has roots in 90s music culture and its new owners kept the legacy while modernizing the vision.
• Transition from an underground cafe to a licensed performance lounge.

2. Roles & Ownership (01:52 – 02:54)

• Candace manages the bar and daily operations, John handles booking/events, Jeremy joins as co-owner.
• Team wears many hats—bartending, event coordination, operations, and janitorial work.

3. Creating an Artist-Centric Venue (03:53 – 06:57)

• Focus is on performance first, then the lounge aspect.
• Stage constitutes 25% of the small room—creating a naturally intimate environment.
• Inspiration taken from famous venues like The Bluebird Cafe (Nashville).
• Quote: "Performance comes first...it's a space built by musicians for musicians." – John (00:27, 07:27)

4. Curating Performances (04:58 – 05:29, 17:46 – 21:11)

• Largely solo singer-songwriters, but genres range from folk and country to punk and metal.
• Open mics, karaoke nights, poetry readings, and "bring your own vinyl" events diversify the programming.
• Quote: "Our programming is accessible for everybody...skill up throughout the week.” – John (17:33)

5. Why Intimacy Matters (10:16 – 13:10)

• The room’s setup fosters attentive listening; audience naturally quiets for performances without needing to be told.
• Social sharing is encouraged—audience members often take pictures or video, commemorating their moment on stage.
• Candace notes the pride artists and their supporters feel: "We see a lot of people's Facebook profiles ended up turning over to, like, pictures of them on stage at the Bunker..." (12:15)

6. Staffing & Operations (14:13 – 16:38)

• For a long stretch, it was just the three co-owners—handling everything except for the sound engineer (shoutout: Nevin).
• Recent growth allowed for hiring bartenders and a server; learning to delegate so owners can focus on expanding the business.

7. The Challenge of Keeping Things Fresh (16:38 – 21:11)

• Importance of reading the community and not getting stuck in a programming rut.
• Featuring original music is a core value—e.g., signature Friday Night Sessions with original sets, monthly songwriter rounds inspired by Nashville’s writer circles.
• Quote: "We want to put value on the music, or the music won't be valued...you can't just always have free music." – John (21:12)

8. Value & Community Over Technology (21:35 – 22:53)

• Discussion on real, human experiences vs. digital or AI-generated music.
• The Bunker is positioned as an “anti-AI” space celebrating authenticity and original artistry.

9. The “Legacy Maker” Journey (22:53 – 24:11)

• Candid reflections on the emotional journey of starting a business in a community where they knew no one.
• Quote: "I really did, like, leave my old life behind, move to a city I didn't know, and start a business I didn't know how to run...and now we're still here." – Candace (23:25)

10. Future Vision & Evolution (24:14 – 25:54)

• Aspirations for a larger venue without losing intimacy.
• Recent launch of a mobile bar service to bring The Bunker experience to local events.
• Interest in growing their digital presence, more live stream events, and possibly a local talk show format with a live audience.
• Quote: “Music and drinks—it’s universal.” – John (24:58)

11. Community Shout-outs & Closing (26:40 – 27:15)

• Gratitude for staff, volunteers, community members, and artists.
• Call for sponsors and ongoing appreciation for local music supporters.

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Founders on their multifaceted roles:
  “I am...co-owner, bar manager, head bartender, janitor, multiple roles.” – Candace (01:59)
• On booking artists:
  “Do you have an original set?…You can kind of have an ear for it, and that’s what gets most people on the stage.” – John (19:14)
• On community pride:
  "Everywhere is branding, everywhere is content...you’re a brand within a brand." – Ray (12:25)
• On business growth:
  "You just do it when there's time and when there's need and go from there." – John (16:38)
• On the emotional journey:
  "It’s a first-time adventure for all of us." – Candace (23:05)

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic | |-----------|-------| | 00:00 | Founders’ purpose for The Bunker | | 01:52 | Team intros and roles | | 03:53 | Artist-centric venue philosophy | | 04:58 | Types of performers and acts | | 07:27 | Programming priorities and brand | | 10:16 | Intimacy and audience interaction | | 14:13 | Staffing and ‘wearing all the hats’ | | 16:38 | Keeping programming fresh and relevant | | 17:46 | Weekly programming rundown | | 19:14 | Friday Night Sessions & valuing original music | | 21:35 | Music’s value in the AI era | | 22:53 | “Legacy Maker” reflections | | 24:14 | Plans for scaling and mobile bar launch | | 26:40 | Shout-outs and gratitude |

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Closing Thoughts

This candid, lively episode offers an insider's perspective on building a music-first business in a small town. The Bunker’s founders demonstrate the challenges and joys of fostering a thriving local arts scene: prioritizing the artist experience, adjusting to community needs, and balancing hands-on hustle with big aspirations. It’s a must-listen for anyone passionate about music, community, and creative entrepreneurship.

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Transcript

[A]

We wanted to just provide a space for artists and musicians to be seen and heard that's different from just your standard bar or restaurant where someone's playing in the corner and you don't really pay attention to them anyway. You kind of know they're there, but you're involved in food and conversation. But we wanted to kind of change that around and make the artist the focus.

[B]

What's the priority there? Is it the service? Is it the acoustics? Is it the music? What takes the top three of your priorities when it comes to the Bunker?

[C]

When we rebranded to the Bunker Performance Lounge and Cafe, we did that on purpose because the performance comes first and then the lounge comes second. So what that means is it's a space meant, like, built by musicians for musicians.

[B]

What challenges are you facing now? I'm sure it's gotta be difficult to just be a brick and mortar of entertainment. Like, how do you keep that momentum going? How do you keep acts fresh?

[C]

Figure out your brand. What is it you want to present to the public, but also read the public, and what do they want to have presented to them? And finding that middle ground round.

[D]

My name is Rudy Mo, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in wonderland and change your life.

[B]

Welcome back to another amazing episode of Living the Red Life. For Inside Success, I am Ray Guterres. Today we're going to talk about my two favorite things, music and music venues. Joining me today, I've got John, Jeremy and Candace. Can you guess which one's which? You're Jeremy, clearly.

[E]

Yes, clearly.

[B]

I'm Candace.

[A]

Yeah, people confuse it all the time.

[B]

First of all, elephant in the room. You are quite the trio. You're our first trio. So there's a couple of extra mics here because I want to make sure you all sound amazing, especially running a music venue. Let's talk about this. First of all, introduce yourselves. And let's go down the line.

[E]

I'm Candace Crawford.

[B]

Hi, Candace.

[C]

John Crawford and Jeremy Berg.

[B]

All right, and what do you all do?

[A]

Well, we are all co owners at the Bunker Performance Lounge in Stratford. And I mean, I guess we all kind of have our various roles. I personally am, like I said, co owner, I guess, bar manager, head bartender, janitor, multiple roles, but, yeah, they do too.

[C]

There's the feet on the ground. Yeah, yeah, we do most of the behind the scenes. Stuff. So again, John, co owner, I do all the booking, which we do a lot of booking. So you might say event coordinator, because there's, yeah, there's, I mean there's, there's music, there's stand up comedy, there's anybody who needs some stage space. We, we try and facilitate. Also do things like purchasing, pricing, serving on the weekends.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I hear Bunker. Is this legitimately a basement? A bunker. Or talk about the establishment.

[C]

So the Bunker, the name, the Bunker has roots back in the 90s. No longer related to what we do. No. But yeah. So it was originally a space that was underground. Okay. Yeah. And then that moved to above ground and then like ownership change, like vision changes. The whole, the whole business changed. But we decided to keep the, the name just because we thought it sounded good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we did like the routes, the past routes too, because it was like the old Bunker, like in the 90s was there were some like bands that actually were formed at that place. So it did have like music routes. So we, we thought it was a cool connection. And we're actually located right around like the corner from where the old Bunker was as well.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

So why, why get into a music venue? Like what, what inspired you to the Bunker?

[A]

Let's do it.

[B]

Like talk about the origin story.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You want to start on that? I can try. Yeah. So I, I, I'm actually, I'm like one of the original owners. These, these guys came on just over

[C]

a year later or so.

[A]

And what started it was really there was nothing else around. Like us, we wanted to just provide a space for artists and musicians to be seen and heard. That's different from just your standard no bar or restaurant where someone's playing in the corner and you don't really pay attention to them anyway. You kind of know they're there, but you're involved in food and conversation. But we wanted to kind of change that around and make the artist the focus.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. My experience with live venue events would be Nashville or 6th street on Austin with every other bar was a blues bar or dueling pianos, which is my personal favorite. What, what do you guys usually book live acts? You mentioned comedians. What's the montage of folks that you that perform there?

[C]

So it's mostly solo singer, songwriter kind of things. And it could be folk, country, rock. We've had punk, we've had metal, we've had, I mean lots of country, lots of blue, like some bluegrass bands in there. Just about everybody's been represented. But as far as like, what kind of variety? It's mostly solo singer songwriters, folks that just need a space to perform their stuff, get heard, get seen, connect with the audience. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

What's the ambience like? Is it dark and mysterious or is it bright and not mysterious?

[C]

Yeah, so, I mean, it started like, before it was licensed, before Candice and I came on. The cafe vibe was very. An immediate sense of community. You come in and the tables were set, you know, like so. And the lighting was nice. It was bright enough to create a particular atmosphere. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, the Stage is about 25% of the room. Yeah, yeah. It's a small room. It's not a big stage. It's a small room. And. But that, that also creates the vibe too. So when somebody is performing, they like, like your. Your focus is immediately drawn because it's, It's. It's such the focal point of the room. Sure, yeah. And you mentioned being down in Nashville. That's where some of our inspiration comes from. Yeah. There's the Bluebird Cafe down there. Oh, very cool. So world famous listening room. Like, Jerry mentioned how, you know, most bars, restaurants, they'll have the performer set up in the corner and then they're providing entertainment. And that's good.

[B]

That's a vibe.

[C]

That's, it's. It's a.

[A]

That's a.

[C]

It's a great night out. There's lots of them. Um, and it, it. That fulfills the need for. For a date night. Go out and have some drinks and listen to some music. But it, It's. It's less serving for an artist to, to get up there and really share what they have. It's just a. It's just a different thing altogether.

[B]

Sure.

[C]

And we found that in Stratford, nobody had really done it yet. Um, nobody was really doing it. Um, there's. There, there's some other cafes that, that are doing similar things and, and shout out to them, love what they're doing. We just wanted to take it into the license. Yeah, take. Take it that way.

[B]

Yeah, Very cool. What's the priority there? Is it the, the service? Is it the acoustics? Is it the music? What takes the top three of your priorities when it comes to the Bunker?

[C]

So that is reflected right in the name. When we rebranded, it went from the. The Bunker Cafe and Recording studio. And so we, we stopped the recording studio side, got the liquor licensed and ramped up the live music and rebranded to the Bunker Performance Lounge and Cafe. And we did that on Purp. Performance comes first and then and then the lounge comes second. So what that means is it's a space meant, like, built by musicians for musicians here. Not to say that you can't pop in and have a drink. We are a fully licensed bar. Come in before and after. Like, Stratford's a theater town, so, I mean, there's lots of opportunity to come in for drinks before and after the show. Yeah, before and after. Any programming that we have, we just happen to serve drinks while our programming is active. Yeah. Right on. Yeah.

[B]

So how did you get involved, the whole. This whole mix?

[E]

Well, John and I went for a date to the Bunker, and then we. We met Jer and we met the other owner and. And they kind of got me up on stage singing and. Yeah. So we started going out for open mics and. And then it was the possibility that they might close. So we knew we had to kind of come on board and keep it going.

[B]

So why the closure? Why? Why? Let's. Let's talk prequel. What was going on? Why this closure? Was it Covid was. Did rock and roll finally die? Like, what happened here? No.

[A]

So it was. We opened just post Covid. So we started out as just a cafe. We weren't licensed. And then it people. We would get people in all the time that said, oh, wow, we really love the space. This is a really cool spot. Wish you had alcohol. And then quite frankly, they would leave and most likely never return for that reason. Apparently alcohol is important in life. So we kind of had to step back and say, okay, if this is really going to work, we need to make a shift.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It was at that time that my co owners at the time, they didn't want to go down the lounge and liquor license route. It just wasn't something they were able to do for various reasons. And it kind of just left me. I was like, well, what am I going to do now? Right. If I'm going to do this, I don't think I can do this myself. I'm going to need some help. And then these guys, you know, came on and John said he always wanted to own a bar. And I said, oh, okay,

[C]

that's the dream, isn't it? You're 40, you buy a bar.

[B]

Yeah. You're already two years ahead of me. I was 42. I'm like, oh, I want a bar. I want a nightclub.

[A]

You want a partner up.

[B]

So talk about the performance. It's. You talk about. It's no longer about a band in a corner and you're just kind of going on your business. It's not just a frequency, a noise, background noise. This is centerpiece. I'm sure you've got a spotlight. Yeah, you do the whole spotlight gag where you look that way in the spotlight. Go, all right, Crusty the clown joke. So what do people feel here? Like, when you go see an artist, you. You're there to. For an emotion. What? And you said it's a small. It's a. It's a big stage, small room. So there's intimacy. There's obviously a connection, and you're. I'm sure the artist is, like, right there, and there's obviously a moment there. Can you talk about what. What. What is happening manifesting here? Is it joy? Is it folks buying more drinks? Like, what is happening? What's the energy like there?

[C]

What surprised us, actually, one of the inspirations to. To really model it after a listening room was the natural attentiveness that people gave the performances. As soon as somebody gets up there and starts to do their thing, singing, playing guitar, whatever, it happens to be people in the room, just hush down, get quiet, and focus on the stage.

[A]

We don't ask them to.

[C]

We don't. Yeah. It's not something we advertise, but I think it's just that tells us that. That we're filling a need in the marketplace for what people want to go experience.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you find a lot of folks pulling out their cell phones there, or is it too small?

[C]

They do, but not.

[A]

Not.

[C]

Not just a lot to zoom. Scroll.

[B]

Right.

[C]

They'll pull them out because they're, like, shocked at what's going on on stage.

[B]

Happening.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Like, they can. Like, this artist, like, oh, my gosh, you know, they're doing so well. Or oftentimes it's. Who's in the. In the audience is. Is just friends and family. Sure. And fans. Right. So they. They're proud. They want to, you know, get their pictures and video and. And. And post it on Facebook. And we. We see a lot of people's, like, Facebook profiles ended up turning over to, like, pictures of them on stage at the bunker because, like, they're getting that, like, recognition of, like, hey, I performed somewhere.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's. That's something we.

[C]

We.

[B]

We take very. A lot of pride in in our studios. I like to refer to them as showrooms. Like, we want folks to come here and film their. Their. Their episodes or whatever it may be, but I also want them to feel like, wow, I'm a brand within a brand. And every time you pull out your phone Rudy's designed it in a way where everywhere is branding, everywhere is content. So it leads to my question. How do you lean. Do you lean towards folks just kind of like using their soul sucking device to go energy or do you do, like, encourage that? Because you mentioned Facebook and folks are having happiness and moments of their advertising. How do you keep the intimate. How do you keep the venue intimate but also not like everyone's friend? You know what I mean? Like, how do you keep it personal and quiet without flashing everywhere on Facebook?

[C]

I just think there's a social understanding when you, when you get there. I mean, oftentimes the loudest person in the room is Jer.

[B]

Yeah, that's true. We have to like, like.

[A]

Yeah, behind the bar.

[B]

Behind the bar.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Somebody will be playing a song. Ice machines. Yeah. The espresso machine turns on or you got to grab some ice and it's kind of like, oh, no, we should maybe bar some arrows.

[B]

What is your real, real transparent opinion about mixologists?

[A]

Real transparent.

[B]

I lived in the bay for 10 years. A lot of mythologists.

[A]

Moody.

[B]

Yeah. I've been in a pirate ship, the COVID and it's just like unmarked, just a red light and you walk and it's like three stories of a pirate ship.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's all mixologists.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I won't say where, but it's in the bay. Yeah, for sure. And that's kind of like what I'm talking about. Like, you don't see a lot of folks that are going, oh, my God, it's low lit. You kind of can't see what's in front of you. But again, it's not a place where people are performing. This is more of like a quiet, intimate, dungeony, like.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Where the freaks come out, I guess, including myself. So. Well, how is the tribe? I'm sure you all have a staff or is it just you all three? Like, what, what's the staff like? What's the. What's the crew like?

[A]

For a long time it was just the three of us.

[B]

Hell ye.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

We've had.

[B]

I know the feeling. Yeah, We.

[A]

I mean, we've mixed in a couple staff here. There. We actually have a couple, two right now that very recently that we brought on.

[B]

Are you turning out bodies or are you just like throwing bodies? Are you throwing bodies? Are you throwing bodies at problems? Like, how are you staffing? Like, how do you go through your onboarding here?

[C]

Well, I mean, there's. I mean, yeah, the three of us really ran the entire thing. Thing. Except for one very special Shout out our sound guy, Nevin. Without him, we. We could not do what we do.

[A]

Sound engineer is also moody.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Just had to say that the better.

[B]

But they can't. Yeah, they can't be your friend. Like, you're not doing your job. So.

[C]

But like, yeah, you know, five days a week, we kind of run the place front and back. And then when we need a sound guy, Nevin's there who's got us. And. And that's. That's almost. Almost enough to cover everything. Almost. At that point, we just kind of, you know, we're spending so many plates and we kind of wonder, like, okay, which one are we going to drop this week? Right. So. And you just take turns, right? We develop systems to make things run a little smoother. Last summer we decided, yeah, it's time to bite the bullet and try hiring an employee. So we did that and worked out really well. Yeah. Yeah. And it was seasonal, so that was good. And then this year we've taken on two. So we've got a spare or an extra, like trained bartender and then a server.

[B]

So I was just gonna say, how do you hire someone that's good at everything? Because it sounds like you need a

[A]

little bit of everything, right?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The thing is, is, like, when. And we're learning this as we go, like, being owners, how can you best spend your time to, like, grow the business? And although we want to have first point of contact and make sure people have the best experience, that is one of the things we feel we can outsource to the right people. Sure. While we go and develop other parts of the business which cannot be outsourced by other people. No. So, yeah, we. You just do it when there's time and. Or when there's need and go from there. Yeah.

[B]

What, what, what challenges are you facing now? I'm sure it's gotta be difficult to just be a brick and mortar of entertainment. Like, how do you keep that momentum going? How do you keep acts fresh? How do you promote? And the reason why I'm asking is because I'm gonna own a club that one day, and I'd like to learn because how do you. How do you keep it fresh? Like. Yeah, how do you just turn out? Well, this works. Let's just do it again and again. No, you gotta keep it fresh and creative. Like, how do you keep the momentum?

[C]

Yeah, it's a little bit. I mean, figure out your brand. What, what, what is it you want to present to the public, but also read the public? And what do they want to have presented to them and finding that middle ground. And I think that's. That's a good way to go as far as keeping it fresh. Just read the room. What do. What are people after?

[B]

Yeah, I see. I was going to ask, do you. Do you kind of provide entertainment for a public that doesn't know what they like or do they know exactly what they like and you're providing that entertainment for them?

[A]

There's a wide variety.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Like our programming to go through the Bunker programming. We're open five days a week, Tuesday behind the scenes. We don't advertise it this way, but we skill up throughout the week.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

So we want to make sure that we're accessible to everybody, like for everybody. So we open up and we have our karaoke night, which is fair game. Right. Come on in. You want to be a star on stage? You know, come, come sing your heart out. Yeah. Wednesdays is our open mic night, which is a long running tradition that's been going since the day the Bunker opened. That's been. Got Candice and I out. What gets lots of artists out. Yeah. So that's where you can be just a new performer starting out, maybe doing your first song on stage or you're a seasoned performer and you just want to do something on a Wednesday night. Right. Like you could get anything. Thursdays were traditionally another open mic night that was carried over from the cafe days. We're working on replacing that with other stuff. So we've got right now we have like a monthly poetry night again. People looking for a stage who knew there'd be an audience for poetry. Right.

[B]

For sure.

[C]

But it's a listening room. We're like. That makes so much sense.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Bring your own Vinyl night is another thing we just recently launched again for music lovers. Not that it's like, you know, part of the skill up, but it's definitely what people in the area like. And the other two we're still leaving open as like wildcards right now for touring artists and people who want specific dates or things like that. That Fridays and Saturdays are our signature nights. That's when most people go out. So Friday we call it Friday night sessions. So we book a different artist every hour on the hour. 8, 9, 10 o'.

[B]

Clock.

[C]

Yep. Yeah. And then two out of those three should be at least would be original sets. So I ask an artist or they maybe they reach out and say, I'd like to play at the Buck Road. Do I got to do? I said, well, do you have an Original set. Like you have 10 to 12 songs that you could do that you've written and can perform. And if it's yes, normally we'll say we'll come out on an open mic. Maybe we'll have a listen first. Or if you can, if you have something to send us, we can kind of check it out. And. And I trust that, you know, your other live performances are going to sound like the one you're going to give us, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And yeah, so most people, I just say, yeah, come on. Like, you know, you can kind of have an ear for it. And that's what gets most people on the stage is the Fridays. We might have started the night 8 o' clock with some covers just to sort of get people in off the street. Like we put them a speaker out on the street just to let people know we're here for sure and bring people in. And then the last two sets, again, originals. And then the last Friday of the month, building on that, we do a songwriter series. So we're going to do all originals for the night, but we're going to do it in a Nashville style writers round. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's a very new thing for Canada. Like there's other places doing it. Like, we're not reinventing the wheel, we're just seeing what works and trying it out here. Right. And it seems to go over really well. People think that's really cool. You can sit down and listen to three different artists do their thing kind of one after the other, riff on each other, tell different stories. And oftentimes it's three artists I have never met before. And we're able to help introduce them to each other and they can network. And we've actually seen other artists now are hosting their own writers rounds in other cities after having participated in ours for a few, because they realize, like, oh my gosh, this is. This is a vibe. Like, yeah, let's keep this going. And the Saturdays is our Saturday Night Live. So it's. It's all that means it's a ticketed night.

[A]

Cool.

[C]

We want to put value on the music or the music won't be value. Right. You can't just always have free music or else people come in and they, they devalue it. They'll talk over it and it's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, he's here. They're always there, they're always playing. Right, Whatever. But when it comes to a listening room, especially when that's set up for the artists, you have to put a Value on it because. Because they're valuable. Yeah, right.

[B]

That's. That's phenomenal that you said that, because you're absolutely right. I was gonna hit you up with. Things are gonna be okay. You know, there hasn't been a new bright iPhone in quite a while. There hasn't been a new social media in quite a while. I feel like folks are gonna start putting their phones down even with the now. Oh, AI is gonna take over everything. Well, not quite. I think it's really gonna give artists a new way of expressing themselves. Sure, you'll be able to write a song in a couple of minutes as opposed to a couple of days or months or years, but you have to kind of change your perspective of what music is nowadays, unfortunately. And fortunately, depending how you're speaking, my point of that whole AI ramble is folks like you are the anti AI, where it's like you value the music and the original product so much that you actually have a brick and mortar, a venue where people can feel the actual music performed by a human being. And so, of course, the Overlords. Robot Overlords take over. Yeah, but. But you have this price of admissions. It's like we're not just a venue. We're not just a performance area, but the bunker. But no, we're an area where human beings can be human and still feel art and express themselves. So congratulations. I think you're all going to be just fine. Let's talk about your episode Legacy Makers. You're legacy makers. Congratulations. What are we going to learn about all y' all on Legacy Makers?

[A]

Well, I guess you'll learn some of our background. You'll learn how we. The crazy journey that brought us to basically where we are today.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The highs and lows of running a business and kind of figuring it out as you go along and really is first time adventure for all of us. So we'll kind of go through all of that.

[B]

Do you feel a little different now that you've had all these microphones and cameras on you and you're like, just talking about yourselves, you feel a little more.

[A]

A little bit.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

No, I. One of the things. So, like, we started out with you and you were asking us to give the. To say, like, why I am a legacy maker because of this. Right. And then we did that at the end again and my answer was still similar, but a little. But different. And I won't give too much away, but after I put it out, like, I don't know, I felt a little emotional in a way. It's like, wow. Like, I really did, like, do this. I really did, like, leave my old life behind, Start. Move to a city that I didn't know and start a business I didn't know how to run. So it's like, yeah. And now we're still here. So.

[C]

Nora, Manny, what's going on?

[E]

What happened?

[B]

Very cool. So what's next? What's the big plan? What's the Bunker two look like?

[C]

Yeah, good question. I mean, if we could change anything or evolve to any next picture, it would probably be. We'd love to have a bigger room without losing the intimacy, of course. Yeah, we did just start another sort of small side venture with a mobile bar. So the Bunker, the performance sound is under the corporation, the Bunker Entertainment Incorporated. So we thought, that's interesting. You know, why. Why stick to a brick and mortar building when the. With the room so small, we need to serve more people. So let's get a mobile bar and we can bring the party to you. Right?

[B]

For sure.

[C]

Yeah. So, yeah, now we have the Bunker Bar, where we can come and serve corporate functions, weddings, anything like that. Jeremy can bring his excellent, excellent cocktails on site. And of course, we could arrange for entertainment. Somebody's looking for some live music. You know, like, why. Why be confined to just the lounge, right? Music and drinks. It's universal. Right on. Yeah.

[B]

Maybe live streams. Hosting live stream events maybe.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, we started live streaming a little bit. We might get back into it. I really love the format of, like, the talk show.

[B]

Oh, for sure.

[C]

That's our. Our wind down at the end of the night. Like, It'll be like 1, 2 in the morning. And of course, they're all on YouTube now, so we'll will come home and, you know, visit with the dog and have some water and. And. And throw on, like, Stephen Colbert or like, whatever, right? And I dry pee. So.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Poor guy. But I love the format and I thought, man, wouldn't that be cool if the Bunker, like, we have the stage. It'd be really neat to have a live studio audience and do some, like, local interviews and have some live music. I was like, oh, man, more of a variety show. Yeah, I'm like, the pieces are like

[B]

live or legacy makers podcast. I did kind of know what you're talking about. Well, guys, that was such a great, amazing conversation. I'm so eager to learn more from your episode. I'm rooting for you. I love, love, love, love the live music experience. There is so much more for you guys. I'm so excited for y'. All. Thank you so much for your time and energy and I sure as I hope you enjoyed sitting on this very cramped lip tonight. Is there anything else you'd like to say right before we wrap up? Any plugs, any hellos we shout outs?

[C]

Just a shout out to everybody at the bunker who helps make our room work. Yeah. Nevin on sound Bruce for open mics.

[E]

Geez, you start naming people, huh?

[C]

I know, I know. There's so many people. All the performers that come out Tuesdays, Wednesdays, everybody who comes out to view live music and consume their content live. Thank you. Thank you. And of course, if there's anybody who wants to sponsor an artist on stage, please reach out. We'd love some help getting more talent on stage and yeah, we'd love to. We'd love to hear from you.

[B]

Yeah. That concludes yet another amazing episode of Living the Red Life podcast. For Inside Success, I am Ray Gutierritz.