Michael Bublé: "I Will NEVER Be Carefree Again!", Cancer Diagnosis, Dealing With Rejection & Being Mr Christmas!

26:48I, even now, man, I play 50 ,000 people and if there's one looking at their watch and I will play to that man and my mission, my mission. I love the rest of 49 ,999 of you, but you. I'm not leaving here until I break you. I'm not leaving here until, you know, you get me. I might not be your cup of tea. I might not be your favorite, but you'll walk away and you'll say, okay, the kid's better than, yeah, he's, I get it. One of your kids comes to you and says, Dad, I know. And they go, Dad, Dad, they go, they go, Dad, listen, they sing and it's terrible. And then they go, Dad, I know. And this is what I'm getting at.

27:29I was like, how do we know we're not just leaving ourselves? Yeah, because, well, you know, it's interesting. You say that because if that was just me sitting in my bathroom here and going, I'm amazing. Yeah, that's, I understand that. That's, but it wasn't. It was 10 years of them. I don't care if it was a shopping mall or a street corner or a nightclub or a bar or a wedding or a funeral. Every room was the same. So why wasn't the industry letting you in? Why would they? I didn't do anything that was mainstream. I mean, I used to do, it was like I had an indie record. I would do indie festivals.

28:07It's so funny, man. I talked about it now. It's like, you know, I'm so like mainstream, whatever you want to call it, like where I could probably, you know, you know. But I was like an indie act. It was a full on indie act. It was like doing weird shit that no one else was doing. And I think it was just so outside. Even listen, David Foster, that David Foster producer I'm talking about. It's funny. He doesn't remember this way, but I, I, I, I remind him many times that like Dave, I say, Dave, when you're going to, you know, when we're going to do this, you're going to produce my record. And he said in quotations, I will never produce your record.

28:45And we will never sign you. Never. He had a very sweet assistant, a meal who's a beauty, the sweetest kid. And when I see him once, I mean, I would see him and he would laugh and he would go, dude, I remember that I would like say to you, just walk away. Because this isn't going to happen for you. You know, he's not, you're not, you're not the one. I remember he said to me, he got pissed with me because I again said to him, hey man, come on, like sign me. And he was like, you need to get out. You need to go. He said, like, listen, dude, I told you you're on my radar. You and another 19 kids are, you know, it's just not happening.

29:28And it, and it's funny because the reason it happened when it came down to it was I was like, what do I need to do? Surely this is not impossible. And he went, okay, it's this much a track and six tracks minimum and money, money. And I was like, okay. And so this manager and I literally went back to Vancouver and she was an amazing woman and she went door to door bank to bank. And we found this incredible dude who under wrote and we bought the money. We brought the check. And I went to David's in Malibu and said that we said, we got it. Here's the money. David's a massive producer. I think there was a hundred thousand a song.

30:13And I think for David, I remember sitting up here at this room in Malibu and he had like all the Grammys, all over his piano. And I remember we were like, we got it. And he was like, you got it? It was like, well, okay. You know, okay. He said, but Warner will get the first ride of refusal. And even that wasn't the end of the story. We started making a demo and that we ended up going, he got Paul Anca, you know, Paul Anca. Okay. Well, Paul is, I'll remind you of who Paul Anca is if you don't know. Paul at 16 or maybe 15 had written a song called Put Your Head on My Shoulder.

30:54Or Diana, I'm so young and you're so old. He wrote another song called My Away. And now the end is near, huge massive star. He was just a beaver, okay. And he's still a huge star. He's still a, but he got involved. And then he was like, you don't need that money. My guys will get the money. And for whatever reason, when we started making the record, that deal somehow fell through. And David was like, it's over. The money deal fell through. Yeah, the money deal fell through. And he was like, and I didn't work out. And somebody else will do this. And I was like, dude, you know, and there was another producer in my birthday, Gatica.

31:29He was another massive producer, beautiful guy. And he said, he took me into the car. I was destroyed because I was this, I was there. I was making the record. I was four songs into making a record. And then it was done. And David was like, I'm really sorry Mike. It's just not going to happen. Why didn't you quit? Like Neil told you to. Well, a big deal was Umberto. And he said, he's a Chilean guy. And he said, hey, Boolean, man, you need a, he said, you need a, I drive you to your apartment. And I was, I was dead. Like I was, I had it. I was there, dude. It was there in my hand. It was there.

32:12And then it was gone. And he drove me home. And I remember he parked. I lived in Westwood. I rented this little place in Westwood. And Umberto parked the car outside. And he looked at me and he said, okay, meek lethal. He said, David Foster is a strong guy, but he doesn't like confrontation at all. He said, here's what you're going to say to him. And he literally told me what to say. And about three days later, David had brought me and hired me to do something. I think it was for Kenny G and his wife at the time at a anniversary party. And I said, David, can I speak to you? And he said, okay. And I took David to this other little room beside the banquet hall.

32:57And literally regurgitated word for word, you know, what Umberto had told me to tell this guy. You know, David was my hero. Right. David is a scary guy. You know, you're, you're looked, wow. This is my, and basically the gist of the conversation was, we have done something incredible. We have four or five songs here that are, you know, they're amazing. Please give me one opportunity to go to Warner Brothers records and to speak to the president and play my case. And if he doesn't want me, I will never, ever bother you again. You'll never hear from me again. You want me to show up and do stuff for you.

33:37I'll do it. But I'll never ask that question again. And he was like, okay, and he, I don't think he did love confrontation. And I remember he called me about a day two days later. And he said, let's see what a 26 year old kid knows about the record business. And I went into Warner Records in Burbank. Maybe probably the scariest day of my life of my life. And wood building, you know, look up on the wall and in its prints. And Tom Petty and Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers and like, you know, holy shit, you know. And I sat in the meeting with Wally. Tom Wally is the president. And he's like, real good looking dude.

34:25Like, like, imagine like Eric Stoltz or something. But, you know, as that, you know, the executive and, you know, I sat down in the office. And I think he said, well, why should we sign you? And we have Sonatron reprise. I think this is one of the first things he says. Sonatron reprise, what does that mean? So reprise was a subsidiary of Warner that Frank had started. And they had Frank on the label, you know, they had Sonatron on reprise, you know. And he said, why should we sign you? We have Frank. Must be like getting to the pearly gates and having one opportunity to get in. And I said, with all due respect, Mr.

35:05Wally, Frank's dead. You know, don't bury the music. I said, I will keep it alive. I love it. I cherish it. I will break my ass for you. I will go out there and I will will this to be great. And he sat, he listened to the four demos. And then two days later, I had flown my grandfather down to LA because I mean, I was funny when I walked out with David that day. I say, thank you, David, for putting your balls on the line for me like that. I said, so what do you think? And he looked at me and he said, I think you did a great job. But Mike, I have no idea what that meant. Like he had no idea. And he honestly, I don't think he had any concept when we walked out of those doors.

35:52What, Mr. Wally was going to say, you know. And then two days later, I flew my grandfather down to the ground by, I can't do this. I need you, man. So he flew down to LA and in that little Westwood apartment. And I was down in the treadmill. And the door sort of flung open and he and the manager at the time, they opened the door and they were just crying, you know. I said, you know, come on, dad. Yeah, come upstairs, come upstairs. Come upstairs, you know. And so we took the elevator up and I grabbed the telephone and said, hello. And David said, hey, Mike, man. I want to welcome you to Warner Brothers Records.

36:34And I want you to know we have you back and you're never going to have to worry again. And it was like, man, it was, I don't know. And again, dude, it sounds like that's the end of the story, but that wasn't the end because the record came out. And it was awesome. But I believe I debuted at 198 on Billboard. And I had a manager named Bruce Allen. He was known as the one of the greatest manager in the business and still is. And he said to me, kid, you're an American signed act, but. It's not, it's not, you're not killing it. There's not, there's not a ton of interest. He said, would you consider going to Southeast Asia in Africa?

37:18And I was like, yeah, I'll go anywhere you want. And I did, dude, I just started going to all the, and man, that's where it happened. And I made it in my first big hit was in the Philippines, South Africa. I started to do pretty good. I'd sold a couple million records. And my manager Bruce would call on you would say, hey, kid, you want to go to Germany? I said, what's in German? Well, they just, they got about eight journalists there. And you'd be singing in the high at lobby doing a showcase. And, you know, and I guess there might have been a thought at even that point. Maybe that's beneath.

37:54And I was like, no, shit, man, go. Yeah. And I did it, dude. I just went literally, man, I did that in. All over Asia, Switzerland, German, Paul, dude, you name the country. And I shot up in the showcase. What age were you in your thoughts? Shit, this is, you know, this is big now. Oh, probably probably 30, 29. So it's like, it's happened leave for me, man, like this whole thing happened late. I was really for what isn't the norm? Yeah, man, I didn't know what I had my first taste of fame. And maybe 28. And it was in the Philippines. And I went to get sushi at a mall in Manila. And there was a security guy.

38:44I was like, don't go without me. And I was like, yeah, sure. And I went and went about sushi. And then all of a sudden, I was like surrounded by these beautiful Filipinos speaking Tagalog and asking for pictures. And I was like, and I remember he was really pissed with me. He's really upset that I hadn't taken him to security. I was like, why I don't need security. And then he took me, we went up to my room. And I was like, dude, I'm sorry. Like that was crazy. Like I've never, this is crazy. I feel like I'm backstreet boy or something. You know, like they were there. And then he, I remember that he opened the curtain and this curtain opened.

39:25And it was a building facing us. And the dude, the full building was just my face. You're too. And I was like, oh shit, I understand now. This is, but dude, it was so new. You know, when you've had to fight to get there for, say, 14, 15, 16 years, whatever it is. Is there a part of you that is sort of innately scared of losing it in a way that someone who just got it like that might not appreciate? He either was the first sure there was. And does not result in what quality is for us. I'm sure you sit and go like, I'm kicking ass right now. But you know what? Well, you know why? Because naturally everything that goes up must come down.

40:06No, there's no, there's no career. I don't give it. I don't care if you're a school teacher or a doctor. I mean, nothing just continues to go. I mean, you have to understand that there are peaks and valleys. And that there are times when you might not be the hottest, but those are the times when you continue to stay true to the brand, you know, you don't panic. It's hard not to panic. Like I was talking about Paul Anka, but you know, Paul is very sweet. Like he'll call me. Just out of the blue and he'll go like, hey dude, you're the man. Don't, don't trip. You know, whatever you're feeling, if you're feeling it's up or down, just keep doing your thing, man.

40:45Be true to yourself. Don't panic. And it's beautiful. It's a beautiful. You know, and listen, for me, having four kids and an incredible like a wife that is my favorite human being in the whole planet, that made it makes the process of that worry easier because, you know, it's funny, dude. I was terrified yesterday, that event. Terrified, man. I wanted to be great and scary to be in front of your peers. That's something you know is so important. And this morning I woke up and I was brushing my teeth and I was on FaceTime with my wife and the kids, you know. And, and she said, okay, how are you?

41:25How do you feel? And it was like I said, listen, Lou, I said, Faith number one, my family number two, and my career, really, you know, a distant third. And so for me, I'm blessed to really feel that. Because of course I get scared, man, I don't want to lose it. And there's a million ways to lose it. And, but I also haven't put all of my eggs into that one basket. Has it always been as clear the parameters? No, man. No, of course not. Absolutely not. And by the way, there can be times where my fault self allows that to change. My fault self. Yeah, my fault self. I would say the ego. I, you know, I, you know, I should read more acratolian power of now and tell stories about the hockey team that I'm a part owner of the Vancouver Giants.

42:21Talks about eight, the ages, how, how substantial that is. But he's a big part of my life too, you know. And by the way, practicing to get to this place where it's really easy to let your fears and your fault self give you these negative messages. And, and it was helpful for me to understand that I could control that, you know, not not allowing those negative things to get a hold of me. One of my sort of deep, I think existential fears is that I'm not going to have my priorities in the right order. And I'm going to find out too late. I've said this a few times on this show. Yeah. I'm scared that as a guy who's like spent on a 12 years building businesses and pursuing success whenever form that life is going to tell me Steve, at the moment when you needed to have your priorities in order they want.

43:13Or maybe you want to have a family or a wife or something, you know, what was it that changed illuminated the true nature of what your priorities should be. Listen, I, like I said to you before, this whole thing starts with family. And I, I have never been so out of touch because I have too good of a family. My mom and dad are just, they're just, they're just too beautiful of people and my grandparents and listen, I may not do it, but I know what the difference is between right and wrong and, and, and putting ego first. I don't want to get too deep into it because it's not, it's not that it is uncomfortable for me, but my son has his own life and his own story.

43:59My son's cancer diagnosis rocked my world. It pulled a curtain from over my eyes. And I don't want to get deeper into it, but I can tell you that I don't think that I had what you're talking about. I don't think I had context. And that was a sledgehammer to my reality. And I will, I will never be carefree again in my life. And that's okay. It is a privilege for me to, to exist. And, and that, that pain, the fear, the suffering that comes with those sort of things is, I guess it's part of that beautiful, this life, you know, it's a, but it, I, if I wasn't clear and I wasn't clear, and it's interesting because when it actually happened, I was going through, I think a crisis.

45:03Like really, like the crisis that you're talking about, you know, I don't think I had my priority straight. I mean, I, I always, my family was always a love of, you know, I think I was a terrible guy, but dude, it was, the liners, career, you know, ambition. How do I become the baddest, biggest, best, you know, more ego, more power, more money, more. And on Halloween, however many years ago, that was, dude, it's like life was lived with like a curtain in front of me, like a filter. And the moment that they said, this is what's happening, that reality hit me, filter gone, filter gone. And I mean, in a moment, in one moment gone, and I went, okay, this is it, this is life.

46:14This is, this is it, this is what's important. And that's when, that's when, it's not like I thought about it. It didn't. There was no time to process it. It was, you have your priorities. This, this is what your priorities are. And this is what your priorities must be in order to be happy in your life. And it is, I just can't imagine. Yeah, it's faith, it's faith family and, and remember my family got diagnosed with a very similar illness. And I remember where I was and where I stood when I got that call. And again, I'd been running, you know, just in my own little world hadn't called them in a while.

46:56Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, wasn't really in touch with them. And then in that exact moment, it made me realize the true reason why I do what I do. Like I, you know, and that my life should never have been so focused on self in such a way. That makes sense. Yeah, of course, absolutely, absolutely. Dude, I remember being at CHLA. I remember peeing in a stall. I know it sounds weird and it's not sexy, but I remember just sitting in the stall, standing there, you know. The children's hospital. Yes, sir. And I remember closing my eyes and saying to myself, if I get, if we get out of this, if we get out of this, I'm living a different life.

47:48I'm a better life. And I did, I made that promise to myself in like a moment, you know. I want to be kinder. I want to be more empathetic. I don't ever want to allow that ego and that false self to take over. I want to know how lucky I am. And dude, I'm a lucky man. Like, you know, I just look at my wife. Like, you know, it's like how the, how did that happen? How did I get, you know, this incredible human being who's the best of all of us, you know, to sort of lead me through and carry me through these things, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's, it's, it's, I'm just thinking about, um, goes back to what I was saying about how I don't want life, life to show, show me my priorities, especially as it relates to my romantic relationships where, you know, you can end up in divorce court or you lose something and you think, fat, what's all these gold coins worth.

48:49No, no, no, I have to do this funny. You know, we've all have those moments too. Like, listen, much younger. I had that moment where I was like, oh, dude, do you like you? Do you trust you? Do you respect you? And then I was like, if you don't, you're expecting that person to or any person to maybe you're asking too much. I hope we're allowed to look at ourselves in the mirror and man is so easy to lie to other people, but it's even easier to lie to yourself. You know, I'm so, it's so easy and it's like, I hope everybody has the chance to figure your way to do it. I don't know what it is or how you get there.

49:29If you need like medicine or mushrooms or whatever it is, but like to look in the mirror and to go, these are the things that I think I suck at. And, you know, and I hope I really do. I hope within us there's an opportunity for all of us to have that self diagnosis and honesty and they go, yeah, I can do better than that. You know, I on this podcast so many times I've spoken to parents about about grief, but I've never really shown a light on just the trauma of going through moments like that and really the like blast radius of knock on effects to that person's life that it can have implications to their mental health.

50:12Your son, no, is it? No, I've got four wonderful kids are here. Yeah, is doing great. 10 years old. 10 years old. Yeah. But for all the, all the priorities and the cut and that it pulled back. Is there still a healing process there that needs to have it happen that you typically see similar to grief, if you know what I'm saying? Oh, no, no, no, because you already, I think any parent, I mean, I've now I've become, I've had such great relations with so many parents and people not just come through this. I mean, listen, man, going through any kind of thing with like, you know, you're not going to get away without it.

50:47I don't know if you have already, but I'm not kids yet. No, I'm not talking about your siblings or your mom, dad, or we all going to go. I mean, it's just a part of life. It takes a piece of us, you know, like my grandpa, man, I miss my grandpa every day, but that's just that's life. That's a part of life. And I don't know that any of us even have the capacity to deal with it. I think it's why obviously we, we move to faith, you know, something feels good about hoping that there's something more. But men in the mental health, we don't talk about these things. No, dude, you must be soft. Don't be soft.

51:20I'm no crying. I'm guilty of this more than anyone, especially like a CEO and I've been a CEO since I was 18 and I had hundreds of employees. So I would, I can't, I felt like I couldn't flinch. Yeah. But how do you can ask you? How do you? Because you are a brand now, man. Yeah, I know you're a beautiful, nice guy, human being, but dude, there's a brand. It's a brand. And I know you have people on your team. And I know you have a team that like they come to you and say, we'd love you to do this. And your team goes, you can't do that. That is off brand. Yeah. How do you, how do you? Are you able to, because you're in the wave, man, that title wave is moving, but you're inside it.

51:59All you got all your people on top and they can all kind of see, how do you deal with it? Like, what do you do? Can you, do you feel it? Do you think you're self aware enough to know what the brand is or how to protect it or how to move it forward? I think it comes back to this point about authenticity. You know, you know when something is you and when it's in line with you, and you know when you're kind of abandoning yourself, some signal inside of me goes, you know, you know, this isn't right. Especially if someone offers you a lot of money to do something. Yeah. Oh God. I know that something so fortunate.

52:29Go ahead. I was going to say this shows a good example, which is a good question is what are the sponsors? The sponsors are companies that I are in line with my values. So, you know, my, my Zoe, my, you know, the products that I, and I also, I'm a shareholder in those companies. They're spot the podcast and I'm in the team. That's a good example of it. Whereas some brands are on aligned. Yeah. I think what I meant even more than just brands is like, you know, I'm, you know, I understand I'm, I'm two different people, right? Who's the other guy? Well, the other guy is this is me. I'm Michael Booblay.

53:01Yeah. I'm an idiot who is I think sweet and so you got a map. Little bit. Well, I'm the other guy from stage. That's, that's a completely different dude. That guy. That's Michael Booblay. This is on Mike fantasy football hockey loving idiot who, you know, is a bigger idiot than you, then you, I'm, you're seeing him. Yeah, even I'm, I'm a little bit more of the suit guy. Yeah, man, like, I'm, I would say close to Michael Scott from the office. But dude, every night I go and I put on this like this suit. And then when I walk out on stage, I become the guy that I always wanted to be. He is so cool and tough on.

53:52And he says all the right things and nothing can, nothing can. And I'm, I can be goofy, but, you know, but there's this, there's another, I mean, can I meet him? Oh, dude, you're going to meet him. You're going to meet him. I'm going to make sure that the whole world meets him for 20 years. I have done the same thing. Cycl, it's been cyclical. Michael writes and makes a great record. And then I go and I promote it. I go to 40 countries and promote it. And then I go and tour for, for a year and a half. And for 20 years, it has been. Write it, promo it, tour it. And, and I feel like I'm at at this point of my life and my career where I, I want to do something different.

54:40Listen, again, music will never, it will always be my, my happy place and, and my love. But, I need time to do some other stuff, man. I need time to challenge myself and to, to wake up and go, yeah, this is different and fun. And, and it's really, it's about being that other guy, not a suit guy. Being Mike. Being Mike, man. And, and doing that, whether that's in, in movies or television or whatever it is, it has to happen now. Why? Because, dude, this is my favorite part of me. And I never, I've never really, there was just, it was just too good. All the other stuff was so. Because I love the other stuff.

55:26I love touring. I love, like, I love making money doing that. That's amazing, dude. What's the symptom telling you that you should do more of Mike and less of Michael? Well, just that I, honestly, truly, the excitement of doing something different, you know, like, yeah, it's time to, it's time to take that challenge. It's time to take that trip, you know, like, and I know it's there. The same way I kind of told you, like, that I had so much faith in, in, in knowing, like, hey, man, I think I'm, I got a pretty good voice and I can be good. I'm a good entertainer. Like, I can, if I do this, I have the potential to really have fun doing that at a level I think I can, I can do.

56:09For the challenge as well, for the pursue of, of, yeah, it's fun to wake up and go, like, you know what? Instead of that same cycle, I'm going to do the record, make the record sell the record. And musical again, we'll always be there, but I need to express myself in a different way for me, man, and it really isn't for, for them. It isn't for the audience. It's for me. It's like, but is there a moment where you, something happens? Cause I'm trying to put this into, like, my world or whoever's listening to it. Is there a moment where you wake up? Then you go, I'm just a little bit less excited and it's just falling below the level of excitement that I need to do this again.

56:45No, no, no, because, man, honestly, genuinely, I love being out with, I love making, dude, I just, the music is just, it fills me up with happiness, you know? So the second, I mean, I just did, I look like a corporate gig the other night with my boys and this band has been with you for 20 years. They're my brothers, man. So I get up there and it's like, I'm home, you know? And it's like, it's, it's fun. It's, it's fulfilling. It's everything. But dude, it's, I'm as fulfilled in, in acting, you know? When this tour started to wrap down and I was like, you know, I, I want to have fun doing something little different.

57:24Everyone can relate to that in their own context because when you have a comfort zone, I say something you're really good at. And then you have the rewards also will align with the thing that you've developed mastery and it's very easy to spend a decade doing or two decades doing that thing and wake up one day and go, shit, I'm a lawyer. Why am I lawyer again? Oh, it's paid really well and I'm good at it. But that doesn't necessarily mean it'll make you happy, right? Totally. And I think the branding stuff, I definitely had an impact where all of a sudden, I wasn't, we want you to come and sing something.

57:54It was like, you know, we want you. Yeah, we want booblay, we want booblay to do a bubbly commercial or we want booblay to show up and do an Azza commercial or we want, you know, we want you to be the face of our thing. We want you. And I was like, okay, well, what do I sing? And they were like, no, no, we don't want you to sing. We just, we want you to be your idiot. So I mean, that as the ad that I just did, I don't know if you've seen it, that was like getting to sit with Tykel Wattiti, who's one of my favorite directors and writers of all time. And to have him direct this thing, I mean, I was, I had so much fun and it wasn't singing.

58:31It was just, it was literally, you know, we had this talk about the concept and we were like, what if I'm this, I was like, what if he's, he's sent to me like, dude, dude, what if you're the head of, you know, quality control. And I was like, yes. And I think I know what exactly I'm an asshole who has no idea what I'm doing. But, you know, egotistically, you, I'm, you know, I'm, and he, and he understood exactly what I was going for. And we, we laughed. We had, it was that was three days of us just, you know, just laughing, laughing at ourselves, laughing. And that just, I was so happy. And it's like another reason why I'm like, man, this is my person.

59:13This is me. When you go for support, Michael, when you're, when you're struggling or when you're trying to figure out these sort of impasses in life, is there, do you, have you ever been to therapy, do you speak to each other? Yeah, I've been a therapy, but I don't know. I don't know what to say, man. I don't know if it, I don't know if it worked for me. You know, I felt good to talk about stuff. But then after about like four times, I was like, am I just, am I bullshiting right now? Am I just telling her something just to fill up the hour because I sort of went through my big stuff. And it didn't, and the therapy doesn't feel like it worked very well.

59:57Hey, man, for me, listen, my relationship, again, with with the God and that, that is a far, that brings me far more satisfaction. And so that, for me, and by the way, and like my wife, like being able to say to my wife, like, and I'm so honest with her, like, I'm like, hey, dude, I'm not doing good with this thing. And she's like, well, still being an idiot, you know? My partner's, I think that's part of the role of being a wonderful partner is that they, they call you on your feet. Oh, God, I love you that you're opening it. Are we allowed to drink this? We are allowed to drink it if you want to drink it.

1:00:34So my morning, my morning just got way better. I just found this on the phone. No, didn't really. Frazier and Thompson. Yes, sir. This is a whiskey brand that I'm holding in my hands. That's it. You have built in a building with an incredible team of whiskey experts. I know nothing. They've told me that you're driving this business and incredibly involved, which is. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, I'm involved in this, this, I'm, you know, but like, what do I know about whiskey? No, I mean, what do you know about Frazier and Thompson? I know that, listen to me. I know that if you don't know what you're doing, you hire and bring in the greatest people in the universe who literally hold your hand.

1:01:17And tell you what to do. And you know that when you find a guy like Paul Serka, who is one of the greatest whiskey, you know, connoisseurs in the world and he. And then you ask him how big his brewery is and he tells you idiot is called a distillery, not a brewery. You realize that you don't know what you're talking about. But this is you. You want to actually pull for them Alexa. Three years. We would three years. I tell you what I worked three years because I wasn't going to be part of something that I didn't love. And the truth, man. We tried to reverse engineer a whiskey for people that may not love whiskey.

1:02:04And, you know, I know that there's highfalutin, fancy, dancing, whiskey, that we can talk about the okinus of the barrel. And they've been aged 47 years. And this isn't that. This isn't an approachable drink that truthfully I love. And as you're opening it, my mouth is going like. And my wife loves it and my friends all of it and all the whiskey snobbs I know like it. And I'm so proud of it. And Paul Serka, you know who that is. But he's a star. Who I read about him. Three years. And we went to the beach. I was a pain in the ass and I drove them all crazy. I researched. I was researching photos of you and Paul and seeing you down at the distillery at nearly three.

1:02:49I know. Frazer and Thompson. What is the name come from? That's from my grandpa. Because when I was a kid, my grandpa used to take us up to camping. And we would go to British Columbia. We have the Fraser River. It's like the muddy Fraser. And we have the mighty Thompson, which is glacier water. And they come together in this beautiful confluence. And the truth is that it was an attribute to my grandfather. But better than that is they said to me, you know, we have the juice. Now we need a name. And like it was all these stupid ideas like, boublé or and then and serenade in blue and all these musical things.

1:03:28And I was like, and every time I come up with a good one, like some of I was like, real cool and sophisticated. They'd be like, that one's taken. And finally I was like, you know what? Why don't I just pay tribute to my grandpa who is my guy? And it's funny, man. If you look on the bottle, there's all these little hidden he's tricks like his birthdays on. 1927. Yes, sir. Born at the fork of two rivers, Fraser and Thompson. And does it just sound so good? It sounds the branding that he've nailed it. No, you have because there's a story there. And it's a very authentic story. But the smell. Yeah.

1:04:02You know what I really like? I actually pour out a little bit of the bottle. And then I take like this. I take like brown sugar. I mix it up and I put like brown sugar in there with vanilla and a little bit of bitters. And then I smash an orange and I just put it in the freezer. And it's weird because my wife was never a whiskey drinker. But again, that's what it was for. It was for it was to make an approachable, delicious whiskey for everybody. And you know what I really like about it? We were talking about money. So I was like really happy that we could come up with what it was. I think it was like $35 .40.

1:04:34And I was like, that is great value because my dad as a fisherman, he talks about value all the time. Because even in my ticket sales, he's like, if you know son, if you just bring them, if you give them value for their money, they'll come back. You know, if they feel that they've been ripped off, you'll never see them again. So that was part of the whole thing. Are you scared? No, I can I drink it a little bit? Can you keep touching it? Yeah, I'm like, what's going on? So we have a little, I know this guy. You guys go. Am I scared of getting wasted with you? It's like a reinvention, isn't it?

1:05:07It's a new mountain to climb building a whiskey company. It is, it is what's nice to tumble brand. It's so me dude. It's just like, yeah, it's an easy thing. It's me. And again, you know how we were talking about the challenge of it? We were talking about the challenge. This isn't just me. This is it. This is my wife. We're partners. This is my best friend Ron, my dad, my manager Bruce. We're all like, this is our thing. It was like part of that thing of mine. What can we do that's fun and like, and you it would be really nice to make a gillian dollars. I have a feeling it's going to do extremely well because it has all the cool components.

1:05:52I've just a beautiful brand and product. It's I mean, it's gorgeous in every respect. I'm sorry, man. I even know what to say. It is it. You know what I hate selling shit? Can I be honest with you? I really do. I feel itchy. But it's I just hope people will go and however they need to do it. Get it free. What you want to do? I want them to just try it. I feel like if people just try it, they'll go like, boobly, boobly. You don't suck. I actually, one of the first things I did was called Ryan Reynolds. Oh, yeah. This company is the same. These my partners are the same as Ryan with his aviation, Jan, right?

1:06:32And so I called Ryan and I was like, Ryan, do what do I do? And he was like, Mike, just have fun, dude. Like have fun. I was like, Ryan, but I don't know what I'm doing. And he was like, I didn't, he says you don't have to know it. Let the, let the, let the other people that are helping make it and then let them know what they're doing. He said, just have to just be yourself and have fun. It's really incredible. So you know, one of the things I always think about people that become really successful, I always wonder if it's a person away because you've been such a successful artist. You've been, I mean, your Christmas record was released in 2011.

1:07:06I'm so sorry about that. And I'm so, I'm told it is one of the best selling albums of the 21st. It's not crazy. You know, it's cute yesterday when I was on the bus. I was driving to the White House because of the Kenneth Saini Honors. My first time, you know, I think I was the only Canadian. And Sigourney Weaver was behind me. And I was sitting with Sheila Easton. And there was all these fancy people on the bus. And I got on the bus and, and we got to the White House. And the first thing that I heard was me going, have a little, jolly Christmas. It's the best time. And I was like, oh, shit. I am so sorry.

1:07:46Has that ever bothered you that your shirt, you were so successful with that Christmas album, that you hear yourself every Christmas album. Now, at first, you know, it's funny, like about seven years into it. I was like, I was like, because, you know, all I would get was calls it, like, especially to come October. It was like, if you were a famous person with a movie or a record, you were calling me. Like, I'm not even exaggerating. Like, it was, you know, and I would get so excited. It was like, oh, my God, you know, this, oh, my God, my hero's calling. Are they going to ask me to be in the film?

1:08:21Are they going to do it? And it would be like, so we're doing a Christmas. And I'd be like, oh, Yeah. It's actually funny. Jack, Jack Whitehall, you know, Jack? Yeah. He called me the other day. He said, my God, this idea. And I was like, you're going to say Christmas, aren't you? And he was like, yes. And I was like, Jack, I love dude. It's interesting. We were talking about my son in that moment. But that again was an epiphany moment for me, where I was sitting in the hospital room and I was like, oh, my God, I am now synonymous with this beautiful time of year, where people don't treat each other like assholes.

1:09:02And there's kindness and goodness. And that's, this is, I get to be a part of this. And then people invite me into their homes at a time that is, is everything to them. And their connection with the people they love and their memories. And then I started getting deeper. And I was like, oh, my God, oh, my God. They're not going to, the people I'm going to remember shit when I die. They're not going to remember home or the duet or this whiskey. It's my favorite song. Excuse me. You don't want to mean, but like it goes. It's interesting to me. But I'm like, dude, 200 years from now or I am dead, isn't dead.

1:09:33You know, people are going to be saying, have a little, a little Christmas. I'm going to be there. It's so cool. It's so fucking tight. It's so cool. Yeah. I associate you with great memories, good times. And I have to say, home is my favorite song. Oh, did I love you? Thank you. I mean, we were, I was in karaoke before you came. An hour ago. And I was like, put the, are you joking really? No, it's on video. That's amazing. I went on YouTube. I went, put on Michael Bubley home. And I had a lyric video. We're going to do karaoke. And there's four of us. I was the only one singing and I can't sing.

1:10:04Yeah. But I sang, I know every word. I know every word of that song. Thank you. What's your favorite song? Other Christmas stuff? No, no, no. Oh, if anything. Yeah. No, songs that you sing and that you, yes, songs that you sing. Songs that I sing of the standards. Your own or somehow. Oh, my God. There's so many. Just one. It's impossible. It's impossible, man. It's impossible for me. Home. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Another summer day has come and gone away. In Paris or home. But I want to go home. Because this place sucks. I should have been the lyric. I was, yeah, that's it's so weird, you know, like not to get too deep and too like weird.

1:10:52But I have this friend Dion and I do his, I love doing his acts in the South African. And before I wrote that song, I remember he used to say, oh my God, Bautchik. He's from Sezy Africa. He'd say, oh my God, you know what? The greatest artists in the world just open up their mind to the universe. And they let the universe in. So when you're writing, just open up your mind to the universe. And I was in the shower. And I was like, and I was thinking, I was like, no, I'm going to open up my mind to this. It's so weird. But I was like, you know, enter. And I think weirdly enough for whatever reason I had like canon in D in my head.

1:11:39And I just went, no, another summer day is coming. Call away, who in Paris room, but I want to go home and the whole literally almost the whole. I mean, that and the pre, whoom in two minutes. And I remember getting out of the shower with the towel. And those days we didn't have the iPhone or anything right. I had like one of those little tape recorders. And I remember singing a tape recorder and listening back and going, oh no, no, I've most definitely stole this from somewhere. I stole this from someone. And it was cool. And at that time too, my record company, they were like, we don't want original songs.

1:12:16You're the Frank guy man. You're going to sing the standards. And I was like, no, I think I can write. It's weird. Even as I got on to writing other songs, I second record I wrote everything and hold on or lost one of the songs. And I remember the president of the label. We were the video shoot for everything and he said, man, I wish I would have known that you wanted original music because we would have hired. We would have hired writers for you. And I was like, oh my god, this is terrible. But it's weird, man. Like, you know, like, I live in a weird place artistically too. You know what I mean?

1:12:52I don't belong. I never did. I never did. Like I go to those Grammys and stuff. And I would like look around and I was like, I was not in the pop thing and I was not in a classical thing and I wasn't an jazz thing. And so many times I was like, really on. I was like, what? What am I? This is weird. Like, I'm doing standards and yet my, you know, I'm on the radio. It was weird. Still weird. So I think about this when you say this and I go, isn't not belonging how you end up doing these kind of numbers because if you were more of the same artistically vocally, you wouldn't have have all these Grammys and all the best selling six multi platinum albums, five Grammy Awards, more billions of streams than I could possibly count stream myself a lot.

1:13:40But I do, if you were, if you would like everybody else, you wouldn't have those achievements. Yeah, I don't know. I wonder if it was lonely. Like sometimes I look at like, like I go to those awards show even last night at the Kennedy Center on us. I felt like everybody knew each other. Like they kept like high -fiving and then there was like this group of Broadway people that all know each other from the functions they don't draw when there was like cool pop people and like. And then there was like me and I was like, I saw her be Hancock. I was so excited. I love her be Hancock. And but I didn't want to go in here.

1:14:13He was talking to Qi Rivera and I love her too. And I didn't want to be that guy that went, but you know what I mean? I don't know where I mean, maybe I'll never know where I really belong. But I'm trying to say that that's why you're so special. I don't know. Even with what I do here, I absolutely don't feel like I belong anyway. I'm not a journalist. I'm not qualified to do this. I go to, they don't invite me to their award shows for journalists and media. I'm not invited to that. Yeah, how does that work? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know where we sit. I don't even know what we are. We are podcasts, but it's on TV.

1:14:45It's a, this is on planes. It's on chat. Yeah. So you do have that sense of like someone's going to cut you and tap you good. What are you doing? Yeah, it's interesting because I feel like I, if you asked me, if someone asked me about you, I would, I would, I would, in a sentence, be able to define what I, what I feel is. Please keep in the sentence. Oh, man, I honestly think watching you and watching this shown like I have for years is a perfect mix of education and entertainment. I don't know how else to say it. It's like really, it really is. It's both things. I'm often highly entertained by what's happening.

1:15:25But at the end, I feel like I, I was educated. I learned something, either something that is, you know, either ideas or philosophies or sometimes it's literally, literally, logistic science. Where, you know what I mean? I can't tell you how weird that is to hear from you. Someone I've, I've looked up to since I was a kid at home in Plymouth all those years ago watching my tea. Q1 is often when businesses start implementing new systems and processes in hopes of creating efficiencies for the year ahead. And over the course of my career, I've learnt just how crucial having the right systems in places, one which has helped me across many of my investments is net suite.

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1:16:46That's netsweep .com slash Bartlett. The four kids Michael. I know. They come to you now, line up in front of you here and they go, Daddy, listen. Just need some advice on this thing called life. You know, you've lived a great life and it's twisted and turned and all those wonderful things. Daddy, what should we know about the nature of living a good life and? I say that I do that. They ask me. They don't ask me that way. They ask me and I say they have a two right now. I have the same I have the same answer every time. I say rich isn't what you think of this kid. That word rich that your friends use.

1:17:25Rich sounds like money and stuff and things, the Lamborghinis and tickets to go see it. Massey. That's not rich. Rich is having a strong faith. Rich is having a great family and loving your family. Rich is having great friendships because those rich things they're talking about the money. The people that I know that have the most stuff are the most miserable people that I know. I don't know how else to explain it. It's easy to say right. It's easy for someone to watch this podcast to go like, well that's easy for you to say, you got a bunch of stuff but it doesn't take long to realize that life has nothing to do with stuff.

1:18:11We're all sitting on that deathbed. We're all going to die every single one of us and nobody looks back and says, yeah, I wish I collected more stuff. What would you regret if today was that going? Nothing, my friend. Not a thing. Not one thing. Not one thing. I have lived a beautiful life.

1:18:31I have been so blessed. I don't even think it was like I made this thank guy. I got a great family. I got beautiful. My wife is the best thing ever. I got kids. I look at my four kids. I was scared to have the fourth one. I was like, oh my god. Now I look at this little girl, she yellow and I think, wow, how could I ever, how did I live without her? This gorgeous little fat, little beautiful personality. Not a thing. It's funny. I said it to my wife many times. God forbid. It's my time. I've said it many times. I would just know that I am completely satisfied. I have lived a full and beautiful life.

1:19:21And that I have no regrets. Except that I didn't drink more of this whiskey faster. Your story is so incredible. The thing that I mean, the perseverance of the harder your story and where you come from and the fantasizing about the life that you now lead, all of those things are so unbelievably inspiring because there's so many people out there that are, they're Michael at 14. Maybe they're Michael at 14. Maybe they are that fantasizing Michael, that was 14, but maybe they're 44. And they're still holding out hope that maybe those dreams, that ballet dancing in the hills of Peru or that playing the piano or starting that business, is it too late for them?

1:20:01No, this is going to sound so cheesy, but dude, it is, I say this to people all the time. I just did a masterclass thing for these beautiful kids. He's under -privileged kids basically. He was in Orange County and they didn't have music programs in their school. And the first thing I said to all of them was, I talked about in the other grass Tyson. And I said, you know, the greatest scientist on the planet will tell you that nothing cannot make something. Something cannot come from nothing. I mean, I don't care how many times they run the experiment. Something cannot come from nothing. It cannot exist.

1:20:40Yet somehow, you magic a little beast walk into a room with absolutely nothing. And you walk out with something. You are defying gravity. You are your magicians. And listen, we will be crushed in relationships. Our partners will break our hearts. We will have businesses that fail. We'll have doors shut on us. They'll say, no to us a million times. But if you're lucky enough to have something like music or a passion that you really follow enough, it will never hurt you. It will never leave you. It will stay loyal to you. And to me, it's a massive gift. And it's funny. It's going to sound like a really strange transition.

1:21:25But I love TikTok. And my wife said to me, go on TikTok. I said, I'm too famous to go on. I said, I'm too famous to go on TikTok. And she was like, you are TikTok. She was like, you will love it. And I was like, no, I'm not going to love it. And then I did my stupid TikTok. I did a dumb whatever it was, the first TikTok. And then I started to like, I was like, oh, you can go, it's not just about making the TikTok, because I'm an idiot. It was fun. It was about, wow, you can go through TikTok. And then the addiction began. And the addiction wasn't about saying stupid TikToks. The addiction was finding those people you're talking about.

1:22:11And that was like, oh, my God. Like, if I don't know where my phone is, here's my phone, it's in my butt. I could go on to TikTok and can I just, yeah, man, do this. This is going to be weird. But okay, here's a good example. There's a girl named Julia Michelle voice. That's what she goes under. I think she was making TikToks from like her, maybe her parents house or something. I don't want it. But like, I heard her voice. And I was like, oh, my God, she has a beautiful voice. And I never would have, you know, in the way that our structure of business used to exist. In the record labels and stuff.

1:22:48Dude, I never would have heard her. And then there's a girl named useless farm who works on a farm where she has emused an attacker.

1:22:59Adam Rose, who is an actor, who is, anyway, I, like, I deeply love that I can go on TikTok. And it's exactly what you're talking about where I like see these people and I'm like, oh, my God, you are, you are a tremendous. Like, people need to know, like, they, and it's funny, because now with some of them, it's happening. It is exactly what we were talking about where it was just inevitable, and it's a terrible Mr. Anderson. People were going to find out because they're really good. You know what I mean? It's just, but life just tells you to fucking get your shit together and go get a real job and stuff.

1:23:37I know, but I think it might be, in this business, it might be changing a little bit with, with platforms like TikTok where, you know, I know it sounds so goofy, but like, dude, I love that there's a community. And you know, I love even more that I write them. You write to them. Yeah, man, I do. I write to them with me. I do every day. I love, oh, my God, dude, that is hilarious. People making fun of me. Like, can I show you one that I just saw that just... If people don't think it's your like, agent or something, that's where you're socially involved. Let's see if this can work. I'm not great with this.

1:24:10Maybe, surround it. We're just doing an interlude while I sing. I'm used to around it by a million people. I just feel alone. I want to go home.

1:24:25I don't want to think of people listening. Let me go home. Because I want to dance even though he's fat in his pants. I couldn't remember the rhyme. I'm so sorry that this is... Here it is. I found it. You never have to apologize. Okay. Sometimes once in a while, like, I find stuff like this. And I go like, they're geniuses. Like, truly geniuses. So the Tedding says, when you change... When you change... When you change the radio station at the wrong time. Tannikos is coming... I love like a face...

1:25:09That was a long lead up. But... You said... That's my window. Dude, I see that. And I go like, someone... Like, thought of that. And then shared it. And it was like... I think I don't even know. Hundreds of millions of times people have watched that. That's crazy. I think it's crazy. I think it's beautiful. And I love that I wrote the guy. I said, this is the mashup that I didn't know I needed. God of magic, I got a message from Michael Buble when you've made something so... That's what the coolest part of that TikTok is. Is that it isn't about you. No one gets a shit about me. And by the way, I don't even belong on TikTok.

1:25:43And no celebrity really does. I think the only way you belong on TikTok is if you understand what TikTok is. And TikTok is about a community of creators and like supporting and laughing and being inspired and do it. It's the platform that you spend 14, 15 years fighting for. Which, you know what I mean? Before we had social media, there was people like you just singing at restaurants and singing here there and everywhere. Just knocking on doors, pulling someone into a back room in a bank with it. And now you don't need to go and... No. You know, attack David in a back room. I think it's funny because it started like I remember Bieber just in about how...

1:26:22Yeah, you know what I mean? Even Ed, it was... You know, it wasn't TikTok but it was... YouTube and Bieber. Exactly. Back in the day, that's where I first saw Justin. It's so different now, man. But it's still fundamentally the same business too. Where if you can... It's all about live business. If you can do the job of putting people in seats and entertain them live because what's really weird is like even talking with my record company, it's like, oh, we just signed this act. It's great. And I go like, oh, cool. Like, where can I go see them? And they go, oh no, they don't... They don't tour.

1:26:58No, they've never ever played outside of their bedroom. They've never been in front of people. And you go like, what? Different, but just what it is. And this is not just about music. Look at me. I used the same platforms to build a show. And I... You know what's crazy? No one knows this. I went to a big radio station in the UK before I start this podcast. And I begged them to give me an audition. I went down there for two hours. They know who they are. I wouldn't name them because I'm a good guy. Or it was Wano, it was BBC. I wouldn't say which one was. You wouldn't say, okay. And I went there and I did...

1:27:33Capable. Somebody. I knew it. I knew it. And I went in there. I sat in there and the guy wasn't paying attention to me pretty much at all. I sat in there. My audition started. The guy that's meant to be judging my audition takes a phone call, walks out. Doesn't come back. But I'm in there for two hours doing these fake phone calls. I leave the radio station. This was only like three, three, four years ago. I leave the radio station. I never hear anything. No feedback. No, you did well. You did badly. You were crap. Nothing. Never hear anything. So started a podcast myself. Which did well. Yeah.

1:28:05And then yeah, like a year ago, the same radio station sent me an email saying, hey, I would love you to come in and do like a little guest thing to promote your book. And I responded, I said, I'm still waiting to hear my feedback. And they conducted this in like internal investigation to find out why nobody ever got back to me. They really did. They really did. Because they sent me an email asking me to come back and do some guest appearance. I was like, I came, they were asking me to like a guest show or whatever. And I said, I came in and did no addition. And I still haven't had back and it's been almost two years now.

1:28:37But we have these platforms where we can do it. Whether you're a podcaster, sing out. That's what I think I find so cool about it is that there's no more the gatekeeper. It's gone. It's gone. That one guy who, why the hell did, why was he the gatekeeper? What did he have? And now it's like, no, no, no, no, nobody likes you but the people. Like the people get to choose. Right? Right? And there's no, honestly sometimes I'll watch something and there's no, even there's no rhyme or reason. It just, it resonates, man. And you go like, okay, well that's the people have spoken. That's a vote isn't it?

1:29:10Yeah. Michael, thank you. Thank you. We're done. We're done. Okay. Fine. I'm ready for my second cup. I'm feeling really, I'm starting to feel really good and loose. I've got one last question for you. Oh, yeah. We have a closing tradition where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, not knowing who they're going to be leaving it for. Interesting. The question that's been left is, what was your last big fork in the road decision and how did you make it? It's coming. Right. Literally. It's coming. I would say within weeks. And I will make it by speaking to number one. First thing I'll speak to my wife.

1:29:49And then I'll speak to all the people that I trust. And I will weigh what everyone says and then I'll help me make the decision. It's coming. Michael, you're not going to quit music are you? No. No, I'm not. Never. It's impossible. That's like saying, are you going to stop breathing, dude? No, no, no. I like to breathe. And music is my breath. I can't stop. Give me a little bit of concern and that's all when you say this. Oh, no, no, don't let it be like it's a good thing. Oh, okay. It's just a big, you know, just a big decision. Interesting. Yeah. We shall wait and we shall see. Yeah. Michael, thank you so much.

1:30:31I'll leave my question for the next guest. In the book. Oh, I'm going to say it. I've got so many. Please do. Thank you so much.

1:30:44Do you need a podcast to listen to next? We've discovered that people who liked this episode also tend absolutely love another recent episode we've done. So I've linked that episode in the description below. I know you'll enjoy it.

1:31:06Q1 is often when businesses start implementing new systems and processes in hopes of creating efficiencies for the year ahead. And over the course of my career, I've learnt just how crucial having the right systems in places, one which has helped me across many of my investments is NetSuite. They're also a sponsor of this podcast. NetSuite is the number one cloud financial system through their streamlined platform. You'll find all of your accounting financial management inventory and HR in one place. Their technology has been a real game changer, especially for my team at Flight Studio. As over the last year, we've moved out of startup mode and into scale at mode.

1:31:41We no longer have to juggle multiple systems and having everything together has reduced the number of manual tasks and errors. Over 41 ,000 businesses have chosen to future proof their business with NetSuite. So if you'd like to learn how it can help your business, head to netsuite .com slash Bartlett and free download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning. That's netsuite .com slash Bartlett.