Another summer day has come and gone

away in Paris or Rome, but I want to go

home cuz this place sucks. I should have

I should have had That should have been

the lyrics.

Michael Bublé, smoothest singer in town.

The king of Christmas. Have a holly

jolly Christmas.

Everything I did was music. I would

listen to Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin,

Dean Martin. I don't know why, I just

do.

Emulate them and then I would steal it

all. Cuz if you steal from one person,

you're just a thief, but when you steal

from everybody, it's research. But

there's 10 years of clubs, 10 years of

every agent saying the exact same thing,

"We will never sign you." But the reason

I didn't stop in those 10 years was

because if the right person sees me,

I am one of the greatest entertainers on

Earth. I play 50,000 people and if

there's one looking at their watch, I

will play to that man.

I'm not leaving here until I break you.

Hell, I'm a feeling

good. But in a moment,

my son's cancer diagnosis was a

sledgehammer to my reality. And I

remember saying to myself, "If we get

out of this,

um

if we get out of this, I'm living a

different life."

And I feel like I'm at a this point

where I want to do something different.

Michael, you're you're not going to quit

music, are you?

Quick one. This is really, really

fascinating to me. On the back end of

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you so much and I will repay that

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we do here gets better and better and

better and better. That is a promise I'm

willing to make you. Do we have a deal?

Michael, what do I need to know about

your

earliest context to understand the way

that you are? Cuz you are a unique

individual personality-wise,

talent-wise, your life is full of

uniqueness. So, where is the What is the

oven? Cuz I always think about humans

like an oven. Yeah. Um you know, they

get cooked in this oven when they're

young. What is that oven? What is that

environment? Well, the environment was

probably having the most incredible

family. And everybody says that.

Everybody says And of course, that's

beautiful that people always think their

family is the most special, but

if you met them, you'd like them all

more than me.

And then for me, personally, I think

being

the first child who uh

got way too much attention,

you know, probably

probably got told like, "You're amazing

and you're good at every And like uh

it's probably the reason I talk so much.

But everything I am,

everything I have, every decision I make

is based on

that family.

Even deciding, you know, "I want to be a

singer. This is what I'm going to do."

At 13, 14,

you know, by the time I was 16, my

grandfather was already taking me to

nightclubs and when I started playing in

the nightclubs at 18, 19,

they were full. And I was raw, but they

were full, full. And people were like,

"What Who is this kid? Like why did How

did he fill up Babalu's? Or how did he

fill up the Purple Onion? Or how did he

fill up, you know, this theater?" Well,

they didn't know, but it was

my cousins and aunts and my my

grandparents and my mom calling all her

friends and saying, "Come to the club."

So, this was a strange family affair

because

uh we had no connections. I wish I had

nepotism to lean on,

but uh

I didn't and uh so instead it took all

of these incredible people just loving

me and going, "Yeah, let's go." Let's I

mean, I was shocked. I was a fisherman,

you know, my fa- My great-grandfather

immigrated from Italy. He was a

shipbuilder.

Um my grandfather was a commercial seine

salmon fisherman

on a seine boat. Um That took him away a

lot, right?

Your father? Yeah, for sure. For sure.

Yeah.

Which is something that we understood

and uh it's interesting because um who

knew that

after leaving that life and having that

thing where your father's gone quite a

bit would be the life that I ended up

lea- leading, you know, where I had to

be gone quite a bit and um

the only difference was

I could say, "Dad, why are you leaving?"

And he would say, "Son,

this is my This is my job. This is how I

put

food on the table. This is how um

This is how Dad pays for for our house

and

for the for the holidays that we go on

and everything." And it changed for me

after certain amount of success because

my kids would say, "Poppy, why are you

going?"

And I couldn't say,

you know, "It's to pay to put food on

the table." You know, because obviously

it was

you know, we passed that point. Got very

lucky. So.

How do you answer that question? Uh I

answer it by

Well, I don't just answer it

with with language. I I answer it with

action. So,

um I have probably

I've probably made my tours uh I would

say financially

maybe one of the most irresponsible

tours

in in all of touring.

Um so, I started a rule where I said, "I

will do three weeks on, two weeks off,

two weeks on, two weeks off." So, that I

could come back or I would literally sit

with my wife and she's a tremendous

actress, you know, and she has a great

career and I I know how fulfilled she is

by it. And so, I would say to her,

"Let's sit down at the beginning, you

and your manager Peppo and me and my

manager Bruce, and uh let's go through

the calendar. So, when you making those

two films? Okay, June, July, I'm done. I

come with you and it can't happen if I

tour

in a financially responsible way. It's

so interesting to me because I'm coming

into that phase of life now. I'm going

to be starting a family soon and I'm

going to be getting married. And it's

interesting to hear from you about the

tradeoffs you have to make and you have

more experience in both sides of the

cost and the benefit of those tradeoffs.

Did you miss your father growing up? Oh,

man. Of course I missed my dad. I

remember used to And it's You know

what's interesting cuz

I am so lucky to to have been born when

I was born because my nights on tour

away from them, like tonight, I mean,

last night, for example. Last night was

doing a zoom

and uh

they put their iPad in their room and I

sat with them and I watched a Christmas

movie.

And uh we they ate popcorn and Poppy was

there.

I was just there. I was, you know, they

were walking around and

wrestling and um they I It's really

strange to say this, but uh I did this

thing. Have you ever heard of Calm?

Yeah, yeah.

The Calm app?

Yeah, I know the founder, Michael. So,

yeah, it's it's about like I So, I used

to listen to this Calm app to go to

sleep. My wife hated it. And um Same

with me and my partner.

I was on the Graham Norton show and

Matthew McConaughey was a guest and I

was so excited and Graham was like, "Why

Why are you so excited? Well, everyone

loves McConaughey." I said, "Oh, no, no,

no. I I love McConaughey because my wife

would hate it, but every night I listen

Hi, it's Matthew. Hey, hey, hey, I got a

sleep story for you." And I would like

listen every night and I was like,

"Matthew, you sleep with my wife and I."

I was like I I

I was like, "I listen to your Calm sleep

story." And it became a you know, he He

was very good sport and he thought it

was funny. And then Calm called and they

were like, "Hey, you wanted to do a

sleep story?" I was like, "Hell yeah, I

want to do a sleep story." But I didn't

know So, last night, that's every

night's the same. So, we chill and then

I put on Poppy's sleep story. Oh, man.

Hi, this is Michael.

And tonight in this sleep story, woof

and the kids just go

That's so beautiful. So, what I was

saying about you asking about my father,

dude,

my dad used to carry a sock full of

quarters

and every two weeks he'd come into port

and he'd wait in line at a payphone

and then he'd call.

And then he used to Oh, man, it makes me

emotional, but

and I do the same thing now, but he used

to uh

he would leave notes

and he'd hide them everywhere.

And so, he'd be gone for like a month or

something and

you'd go into a drawer to go get your,

you know, pencils and

and then you'd see the note. And uh

I remember being like 7, 8 years old and

I don't know if you ever did this stuff

or maybe I'm just a weird kid, but I

remember like holding his clothes

being little and like

and just crying, you know, missing him

so much and this was the closest thing

that I would get

to him.

And uh

and it's crazy that as life went on, I

became

dude, I'm him.

Like thank Jesus, thank God I'm him, but

I turned out to be my dad. Your granddad

played a huge role in your life, didn't

he?

Yes, sir.

Grandpa Mitch. Grandpa Mitch, yeah.

Huge, huge, massive.

As a ma- As a matter of fact, yesterday

I did one of the probably scarier things

that you can do

in this entertainment business. I uh

I was asked to be a surprise

guest at to sing a song as a tribute to

Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees in his

induction and to the Kennedy Center

Honors, which I I think is

in my opinion, maybe if not the

pinnacle, one of the pinnacles of

of uh Americans uh celebrating culture.

But uh weirdly enough, my grandpa um he

passed away 5 years ago yesterday. Oh,

wow. And so

um

more than anything, I was standing

backstage

and um

I could hear my introduction.

And I was like,

my mouth was dry.

And my heart I could hear my heartbeat

in my ear.

And uh

I just took a big breath and I said

like, "Wow, Grandpa, okay. This is us,

man. This is us and um I always think

about my kids and say like, "Okay, be

strong. Don't let your kids ever see you

weak. Don't let your kids ever see you

scared." And weirdly, it just brought

this

wonderful calm over me and um

it was really nice, man. Like I

I it just brought me calm and I went out

there and I thought I killed it. I

thought I was very charming.

He was my hero, is my hero. Um at 13

years old, we were always best friends.

I don't know why, you know, you know,

dude, sometimes certain people

you connect

and

it's like you were made for each other

and that was my best buddy. We talked

about hockey

and we talked about music and even at a

young age, I was fascinated by

by the Great American Songbook. I was

just I didn't know how

I didn't understand and I remember being

confused why I was the only one to How

could other people not

understand

that Nat King Cole is that unbelievable.

What's wrong? How could they

How How does someone his age not hear

Ella Fitzgerald and just [ __ ] a brick

and realize that is stupid. That's just

too good or that that gorgeous uh or

castral arrangement of that song and

those horns doing that thing and that

that swinging real like I know hip hop

is great, but no, that that beat that I

just heard in that Dre song, that isn't

close to being as fat as the one I just

heard um backing up Bobby Darin in Mack

the Knife. Like that's smoking. I knew.

13 years old. Oh, dude, even before

that. For me, music was

it wasn't even a question. It was

it was a defining part of my the essence

of me.

Like I

everything I did was music. Was just you

know, a fascination and it's funny when

many times parents will go like, "My

daughter is 14 and she's and do you have

advice? You know, she wants to be a

singer." And I always I have advice and

it's like, "Listen to as much music and

all of it. Like go across the board of

every genre and download it and process

it and steal all of it. Steal the best

parts of all of it and you will find

yourself."

But another thing I always say is

fantasize.

Like dude, that it for me,

I would fantasize about

being on stage. I would fantasize about

singing in front of the crowd. Every

shower was another opportunity to go and

[ __ ] kill Madison Square Garden and

you know, know that the uh you know,

that that crowd in the shower was just

loving. Madison Square Garden?

Oh, yeah, you know, like you know what I

mean? Like I was 14 absolutely and like

thank god there wasn't like The Voice or

American Idol cuz if I was 13, I

would've been in the shower saying like,

"Hey, Simon, check this out."

Um Did you sound good at that age? Do

you do you have recordings? Do you have

like

You know

Yeah, man, I do. I do have recordings.

Cuz I'm wondering how much of your

a recording when I'm 14 and it tripped

me out because I sound ex- I don't I

don't know if it's good, but Exactly the

same.

Exactly the same. What?

And I think it was like

it had to be you. I sound like that. I

sound exactly like that. The same way

and um what's weird is like it wasn't

like I put on an effect. That's what

That's how the voice sounded and uh my

buddies used to make fun of me. They'd

be I have one of my best friends, Brad,

would be in the bus and he'd go,

"There's Bublé singing with that fake

voice again."

There's

And even today and he's still my one of

my best literally one of my best friends

and we're drinking beer and he's he's

like, "Shut up, man." And he loves to

sing, too, and uh

But um I couldn't believe how much your

grandfather and your father and your

family supported you.

Oh, yeah.

I when I was reading that your

grandfather would trade plumbing work

Yeah, man. for for you to go and do

singing lessons or you know, auditions

etc.

Mhm.

That's that's unusual.

Yeah. Cuz most parents would go, "Oh my

god, my child's singing. That's not a

career."

No, I know. I know. It was

uncomfortable, too, cuz he loved me so

much. Listen, dude, my grandpa did more

than just

trade his plumbing things. He took me to

auditions. He would say I mean, they

used to hire me um to go work in the

malls

and he got me like these gigs where they

would pay me 20 bucks an hour and then I

would go to the mall and with a a guitar

player

and I would like busk. I guess it's

busking is what it is, right? And I

would go or outside I'd busk at

Granville Island or places and he would

just sit. And I loved it, man. I didn't

care who was listening, where I was. I

did

anything. And what was the first song

the first time you performed in front of

people and got a reaction? The first

song weirdly was uh

yeah, as I I think it was a Christmas

song.

Really? Well, it was cuz it was

Christmas Eve. We were coming home from

uh

This is I've told this story many times,

but it's we were coming home from uh my

grandma and grandpa's on Capitol Hill

and uh

I think it was like White Christmas or

something and my little sisters, I

would've been 12

maybe 11.

12. My voice was just starting to change

and um

and the girls were in the back, my two

sis- my sisters are great beautiful

voices and they were like, "I'm dreaming

of a white Christmas man." You know,

"with every Christmas card I write." And

I think from the back I went, "May your

days be merry and bright."

And it was like the whole car went,

And I think that was the first time they

were like, "What the [ __ ] is that? Where

did that just come from?" And uh

What's interesting is I think if I

really am honest with myself when I look

back,

that Bing Crosby was the first cuz that

was like

that was the first record in that style

and that played through the house at

Christmas.

That was my introduction to big band.

That was my introduction to jazz. That

was my introduction to um

those that swinging feeling and then

with that relationship with my granddad,

he used to we used to have a some of

shag He had this like a green shag

carpet and he had a

a record machine that he would he

attached to a cassette machine.

And we would sit down and we would just

for I'm not kidding you, man, hours. I

loved it. I loved it. And I used to go

with those cassettes

and I had a Walkman and I would just sit

in bed

and I would listen over

and over and then I would I would listen

to each of these singers and um

and I would learn songs for grandpa and

grandma so I could come over the next

day and I could I could sing for them.

And I'd sit at the table with them and

we, you know,

but I started to just steal. I mean,

steal. Full on

steal.

And uh

and I started to like almost impersonate

each of them and I would listen to Frank

Sinatra with the Pied Pipers.

There was ways that he would sing and I

would try to emulate. So, I would sit

there and then I would I would be like I

was a record player, you know, I'd come

home and grandpa would say, "Okay,

what's today? Stormy Weather." And I'd

say,

"Don't know why.

There's no sun up in the sky.

Stormy weather." I can't do it now, but

and then the next day would be, "Okay."

He'd go, "Dean Martin." Dean Martin and

uh

I'd say, "I don't know why I love you

like I do. I don't know why. I just do."

And I would emulate them. God damn. I

like listen to the Mills Brothers and

when I'm saying all of this, you

probably have no idea sometimes what I'm

talking about.

Music. Yeah, the way the Mills Brothers

sing, there was this weird "I want to

buy a paper doll that I could call my

own. A doll that other fella" or Nat.

I just he would the way he would open up

and everything was so "The very thought

of you and I forget to do." And there

was all these things that I would just

like, "Oh my god, I love that." And that

and then I would steal it all and I

would try to emulate all of it and then

one day,

you know, sitting with grandpa, I

started to realize, "Okay, I'm starting

to

Wow, grandpa, I'm starting This is the

way I do it now." Taking all those

things and And that's what creativity

is, right?

It is, man. And I met I'm I've told this

story too too many times, but I remember

the first time I met Tony Bennett, I

said uh you know, "Tony, I'm a

obviously, you know,

a huge fan. I've stolen so much from you

and Bing and Frank and

all of them." And he said uh "Good." He

said, "Cuz if you steal from one person,

you're just a thief. But when you steal

from everybody, it's research."

And I thought that was amazing. And I've

told that story a million times, too,

but it was everything, man. Like Elvis

was a big part of it and

you know, I just all of those things

that I loved, but um

Why was your grandfather doing that in

hindsight? Why was Are you kidding me,

dude? Yeah. Like

are you kidding me? So It was better

than crack. For who? For both of us.

It's my happiness. It's my It's my

passion. It's my thing.

And you know, and like I I love

Um he would have died to know that his

grandson was continuing the legacy of

our heroes.

You know, cuz he if he was being honest

when I played Madison Square Garden for

the first time and I said, "Did you

think I'd get here?" He said, "Oh, no.

No, definitely not."

Yeah, he says there's a clip of him on a

on a documentary. He goes, "No, I

thought you'd be good, you know, maybe

Vegas."

Um

But I just think it was because how

could I? We were this

My grandpa was a plumber and we came

we're fishermen. We didn't know anybody.

We're never going to get

We're never going to get to there. We

didn't even know We're from Vancouver.

We didn't even know anybody. How are we

going to get to there?

Your story is not a straight line

because you went and worked on those

fishing boats as well. Like so it's not

just you start singing at 30. Dude, my

story isn't even a straight line

from from fishing boats to

Chuck-E-Cheese to

working at restaurants to singing It's

There's 10 years of clubs. There's 10

years of me moving to Toronto. There's

10 years of me going into every record

company not getting in the door. There's

10 years of every agent saying the exact

same thing. Every manager I thought they

had a [ __ ] note that they would send

each other.

The note that said, "You're really

talented. You're a great young kid.

We just don't know what to do with you."

Over

too much Dude, to a point where I was

like, "You know what?

Okay.

I'm 26.

It's too late." And in this business,

you can people can say, "Oh, 26." No,

dude.

It's late. If you haven't been signed or

you haven't made a bunch of noise at 26,

27, I don't think it's right. I think

there should be late bloomers, but it's

it isn't the usual. You know, like the

record companies will be like, "Mhm."

And uh so I was going to go back to

Canada. I was going to go back to

Vancouver and I was thinking about going

to SFU or Douglas and taking up

journalism.

So even then, once I I I was in Toronto,

I got

I got, you know, connected to uh the

Prime Minister of our country who their

daughter was getting married and she

asked if I would sing at the wedding and

cuz I'd given an independent CD to

another guy at some corporate gig I'd

done. Um

and um

They said I I I was like, "Yeah, okay,

you know, I what an honor, you know?"

And she was like, "You know, David

Foster will be there."

And this one this producer who and he's

a one of the biggest producers in the

world. Billions of I mean, half a

billion or a billion records, I think.

Okay, this is my chance. This is the

shot for somebody see me. But even then,

after he saw me,

this story didn't it wasn't like

He didn't David Foster didn't say, "You.

I found my guy." He said,

"Come to LA

and uh

you're on my He actually said you're on

my radar now is what he said. Well, I

didn't know that he had another 18 kids

that were on his radar. Mhm. You know, I

was I you know, man, I got I was good. I

was going to I was in the atmosphere

now. You know, I was closer than I'd

ever been to a real guy. 10 years in. 10

years in that could make it. And like

and I remember he had this

I have to say, Michael, I think it's

very very important not to brush past

this 10 years. Because that is the no

man's land

that only passion could make someone

wade through. Yeah. And that is where

99% of people quit. And it's the bit

that no one ever gets to see. So it's

maybe the more more important part

of of of the journey which is why does

someone continue doing something for 10

years of their life when there's there's

no Madison Square Gardens, there's no

million dollar checks, and there's no

fame and fortune.

Like that that's the S cuz it's a it's a

recurring theme on my show. Yeah. That

these very very successful people, they

they did something which is objectively

dumb.

Yeah.

like they gave up their amazing chance

of being an academic and they went and

played magic on a restaurant card

tables.

I know. Comedians, you go you could have

been a lawyer. Yep. And now they're you

know It's funny I I was going to tell

you today I got watched your show I

watch your show religiously and I was

like, "What if you just call yourself

failure and why it's so great?" Because

it's like so many of the stories that

are told across this table are

I failed. I failed. They said no.

Um over and over again

and over again. Mhm. And uh I just

continued to to go forward. These people

seem like they had no choice though. And

when I say no choice, I mean because of

passion.

Mike, listen to me, man. I'm going to

say it's going to sound like it directly

um

it's sort of I don't want it to be

condescending at all, but

um

Half of that 10 years

was gave me humility.

Gave me appreciation

for when it would happen,

I would

be appreciative and I would still have

humility and I would

you know, still be able to be present

and aware enough of how lucky

I was, you know.

But the reason

that I didn't stop in those 10 years was

because

I knew I was the best in the world.

I mean,

no doubt that if the right person sees

me, I am one of the greatest

entertainers on Earth. And all you need

to do is come into my room

and you don't have to pay to see me. You

can be there just to drink booze and get

laid. But by the end of the night,

you'll you'll know. How do you know

that's not delusion? No, no, dude. I

You know what? It I knew because every

room I ever walked into, I was such a I

was a sensitive

um

insecure

kid. Really sensitive. And I think that

that beautiful kindness and empathy that

my family drove into me and my sisters

is what made me that man on stage.

You You understand this?

I 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 the 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. You might not 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 you. He's a He's I

get it." You one of your kids comes to

you and says, "Dad, I know." And and

they go Dad Dad they go No, 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 as like how do we

know we're not just deluding ourselves?

Yeah.

Well, you know, it's interesting you say

that because if that was just me sitting

in my bathroom mirror

and going, "I'm amazing." Mhm. Yeah,

that's I understand that that's

But it wasn't. It was 10 years

of um of I don't care if it was a

shopping mall or a street corner or a

night club or a bar or a wedding or a

funeral,

every room was the same. Every single

room was the same. So why wouldn't 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.

Um it's so funny, man. I talk 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 [ __ ] that no one else was doing

and uh

um I think it was just so outside Even

listen, David Foster, that David Foster

producer guy I'm talking about?

Um it's funny he doesn't remember it

this way, but I I

I

I remind him

many times

that like Dave I said, "Dave, when you

going to you know, when are we going to

do this? You're going to produce my

record." And he said in quotations, "I

will never produce your record and we

will never sign you. Never." He had a

very sweet assistant named Neil who's a

beauty. The sweetest kid. And um

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

cuz

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 I got he got

pissed with me cuz I had again said to

him, "Hey, man,

come on, like

sign me." And he was like, "Uh

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." And 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.

Uh it's this much a track

and six tracks minimum

and uh

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 underwrote and and

we bought the money. We bought the

check.

And I went to David's in Malibu and said

that we said uh

"We got it. Here's the money."

Um

David's a massive producer. I think it

was a hundred thousand a song.

And uh I think for David I remember

sitting up he had a this room in Malibu

and he had like all the Grammys all over

his piano and and I remember we were

like, "We got it." And he was like, "You

got it?" It was like I was like,

"Well, okay, you know, okay." He said,

"But Warner will get the first right 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 Anka. Do

you Paul Anka? No. Okay, well Paul is

I'll remind you who Paul Anka is if you

don't know. Paul at 16 or maybe 15 had

written

a song

called Put Your Head on My Shoulder.

Put your head on my shoulder or Diana,

I'm so young and you're so old. He wrote

another song called My Way.

And now the end is near. Huge massive

star. He is Justin Bieber, okay?

Of course I know who that is.

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, uh it didn't work out and

somebody else will do this.

And I was like, dude, you know, and

there was a another producer named

Humberto Gatica. He was a another

massive producer.

Beautiful guy and he said, he took me to

the car. I was destroyed cuz I was this

I I was there. I was making the record.

It was I was four songs into making a

record.

And uh

and then it was done.

And David was like, I'm really sorry,

Mike, you know, it's just it's just

not going to happen. Why didn't you quit

like Neil told you to?

Well, it was a big a big deal was

Humberto and he said he was a he's a

Chilean guy and he said, hey Buble, 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 I had it. I was

there, dude. It was there

in my hand.

It was there and then it was gone and he

drove me home and I remember he parked I

lived in Westwood. I'd rented this

little place in Westwood.

And Humberto parked the car outside

and he looked at me and he said

Okay, Miguelito.

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 3 days later uh

David had brought me in hired me to do

something I think it was for Kenny G and

his wife at the time had a anniversary

party.

And I said, David, can I speak to you?

And he said like, okay. And

I took David to this other little room

beside the banquet hall

and literally regurgitated word for word

you know, what Humberto had told me to

tell this guy. You know, David was my

hero, right? David is a scary guy. You

you know, you look wow, this is

and uh

basically the gist of the conversation

was

um

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 Brother 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, I'll do it but

I'll never ask that question again. And

uh

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 uh 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 and

it's Prince

and Tom Petty and Madonna

and Red Hot Chili Peppers and like

you know, holy [ __ ] you know.

And

I sat in the meeting with Wally, Tom

Wally is the president and he's like

real good looking dude like like imagine

like Eric Stoltz or something but you

know, as that you know, the executive

and

you know, um

I said he sat down in the office and I

think he said uh well, why should we

sign you? We have Sinatra on Reprise. I

think this is one of the first things he

said. Sinatra on Reprise, what does that

mean? Uh so Reprise was a subsidiary of

of Warner that that Frank had started.

Ah. And and they had Frank in on the

label, you know, they had Sinatra 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.

Wally, 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 uh

he sat, he listened to the four demos

and then two days later I I had flown my

grandfather down to LA

cuz I I mean, I had it's funny when I

walked out with David that day, I said,

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.

Uh but Mike

I I have no idea what that means. Like

he had no idea. And he honestly, I don't

think he had any

concept when we walked out of those

doors

what Mr. Wally was going to say, you

know. And then two days later I flew my

grandfather down I said, Grandpa, I 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 on the treadmill.

And uh

the door sort of flung open and he and

the manager at the time, Bev

opened the door and they were just

crying, you know. I said, you know Come

on, Bev. Yeah, come upstairs. Come

upstairs. Come upstairs, you know. And

so I we took the elevator up and I

grabbed the telephone and

said, hello and David said, hey Mike,

man. And I said, hi, David. He said

hey Mike, man.

I want to welcome you to Warner Brothers

Records and I want you to know we have

your 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.

Uh 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 um

you know, it's not it's not it's not

you're not killing it. There's not

there's not a ton of interest.

He said um

would you consider

going to Southeast Asia and Africa?

And 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. I made it in my first

big hit was in the Philippines

South Africa.

I started to do pretty good. I had sold

a couple million records and my manager

Bruce would call and he would say

hey kid.

You want to go to Germany?

I said like, what's in Germany? Well,

they they got a about eight journalists

there and you'd be singing in the Hyatt

lobby

doing a showcase

and uh

you know, and I guess there might have

been a thought at even that point maybe

that's beneath

and I was like, no [ __ ] man, go, yeah.

And I did it, dude. I just went

literally, man. I did that in

all over Asia, Switzerland, Ger Pol

dude, you name the country and I showed

up and did a showcase and What age were

you when you thought, [ __ ] this is

you know, this is big now. Oh, probably

probably 30.

20 29. So like it's happened late for

me, man. Like it this whole this whole

thing happened late. I was

really for for what isn't the normal

Yeah, man. I I didn't know what it I had

my first taste of

fame at maybe

28.

That is so And it was in the

Philippines.

And I went to get sushi at a mall in

Manila and there was there was a

security guy he was like, don't go

without me. And I was like, yeah, sure.

And I went and went bought sushi and

then all of a sudden

I was like surrounded by all these

beautiful Filipinos speaking Tagalog and

asking for pictures and I was like

and uh

I remember he was really pissed with me.

He was really upset that I hadn't taken

him, the 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 like a [ __ ]

Backstreet Boy or something, you know,

like they were they

and then he I remember that he opened

the

curtain and this curtain

opened

and it was a building facing us and the

dude, the full building was just my

face. You're joking. Yeah, and I was

like, oh [ __ ] 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? Yeah, there was.

There for sure there was, man. And does

that result in workaholism?

for all of us. There is for you. I'm

sure you sit and go like, I'm kicking

ass right now but you know what?

Well, but you know why? Because

naturally

everything that goes up must come down.

No, there's no there's no crown given. I

don't care if you're a school teacher or

you're 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 um you

might not be the hottest but those are

the times when you continue

to uh 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. Be 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 incre- 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

I was terrified yesterday at that event.

Terrified, man. I I wanted to be great,

and it's scary to be in front of your

peers. It's something you know is so

important.

And uh 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

uh

And she said, "Okay, how are you? How do

you feel?" And it was like I said,

"Listen, Lou." I said,

"Faith, number one. My family, number

two. And my career, a really, you know,

a distant third."

And so

for me, I'm I'm blessed to 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 priorities?

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. My I would say the

ego.

Um I I you know, I I you know, I should

read more Eckhart Tolle and

Power of Now and he tells stories about

the hockey team that I'm a part owner

of, the Vancouver Giants.

Talks about eight the ages, how how

substantial that that is. But uh

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

and your uh

your fault self give you these negative

messages and

and um

it was it it was helpful for me to

understood 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, I

don't know, 12 years building businesses

and pursuing success in whatever form,

that life is going to tell me, Steve, at

the moment when you needed to have your

priorities in order, they weren't. When

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?

I I listen, I had like I said to you

before, this whole thing starts with

family.

And I uh

I have never been so out of touch

because I have too good of a family.

My mom and dad are just

they just they're just two beautiful

people, and my grandparents, and um

listen, I may not do it, but I know what

the difference is between right and

wrong and and um

and putting ego first. Um

I don't want to get too deep into it

because it's it's not it's not that it

isn't comfortable for me,

but my son has his own life and his own

story.

Um My son's cancer diagnosis

rocked my world.

It pulled a curtain from over my eyes,

and um I don't want to get deeper into

it, but I can tell you that

um

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 um

I will

I will never be carefree again in my

life,

and that's okay.

Um it is a privilege for me to

to exist.

And uh

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 uh

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.

Like really, like the crisis that you're

talking about. You know, um

I don't think I had my priorities

straight.

I mean, I I I I always my family was

always a love of, you know, I think I

don't think I was a terrible guy, but um

dude,

it was

the blinders.

Career.

You know, ambition.

How do I become

the baddest, biggest, best

uh

you know,

more ego, more power, more money, more

and um

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? Mhm. And the moment that

they said,

"This is what's happening."

Um

I that reality

hit me.

Um

Filter gone.

Filter gone, and I mean

in a moment, in one

moment, gone.

And I went,

"Okay. This is it. This is life. This is

This is it. This is what's important."

Um

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 um you have your priorities.

Uh this this is what your priorities

are. And they This is what your

priorities must be in order to be happy

in your life. And um

it is

I just can't imagine. I just can't

faith it's faith, family, and and

A member of my family got diagnosed with

um

a very similar illness, and I remember

where I was and where I was 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.

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 I you know, Yeah. and that my

life should never have been so focused

on self in such a way, if 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 uh

and I remember

closing my eyes and saying to myself,

"If I get If we get out of this,

um

if we get out of this, I'm living a

different life.

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 fault self to take over. I want to

know how lucky I am.

And dude, I'm a lucky man. Like I you

know, I just look at I 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

to sort of lead me through and and carry

me through these things, you know."

Mhm.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's a it's a

it's it's um

I was 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, um

especially as it relates to my romantic

relationships, where you know, you can

end up in divorce court or you lose

something, and then you think, "Fuck,

what's what are all these gold coins

worth?"

No, but I had the Dude, it's funny, you

know, we've all had 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,

Yeah. and 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, it's

so easy to lie to other people, but it's

even easier to lie to yourself.

You know?

Harmful. Dude, it's so easy, and it's

like

um

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. If you

need like medicine or mushrooms or

whatever it is, Mhm. but like to look in

the mirror and to go, "Hey, these are

the things that

I think I suck at." Um and uh

you know, and I hope I really do. I hope

within us there's a opportunity for all

of us to to have that self-diagnosis and

honesty and to go, "Yeah, I can do

better than that." Mhm. You know? I on

this podcast so many times I've spoken

to parents about about grief, but I've

never really shine a shone a light on

just the trauma of going through

moments like that, and really the like

blast radius of of knock-on effects that

person's life that it can have,

implications to their mental health.

Your son, Noah, Is it Noah? Yeah. You've

got four wonderful kids, I hear. Um is

doing great. 10 years 10 years old? 10

years old. 10 years old. Yeah.

But for all the all the priorities and

the the curtain that it pulled back,

is there still a healing process there

that 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 relationship with so

many parents and people have not just

gone through this. I mean listen, man,

going through any kind of thing with

like you know, you're got you're not

going to get away without it, man. I

don't know if you have already, but I

haven't had kids yet, so

No, I'm not talking about kids. I'm

talking about your siblings or your mom

and dad or we're 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 um

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 and no crying. I'm guilty of this

more than anyone, especially as like a

CEO and I've been a CEO since I was 18

and I had hundreds of employees. So I

can't I felt like I couldn't flinch.

Yeah. You know?

But how do you Can I ask you how do you

because you are a brand now, man.

Okay, 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. Mhm. That is off

brand. Yeah, yeah.

How do you How do you

are you able to

cuz you're in the wave, man, you're

going to tidal wave is moving, but

you're inside it. All you got all your

people on top and they can all kind of

see

but 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. There's

some signal inside of me that goes, hey,

you know, you you know, this isn't

right.

You know, especially if someone offers

you a lot of money to do something and

you're like, oh my god, oof, I know

that's not me. So fortunately

Go ahead. No, I was going to say for

this show's 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 Yes. you

know, my We my my Zoe, my you know,

Yeah. the products that I and also I'm a

shareholder in these companies that

sponsor the podcast and I'm in the team.

That's a good example of it, whereas

Yes. some brands aren't 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 I'm two different

people, right?

Who's Who's the other guy? Well, the

other guy is this is me. I'm Michael

Bublé. Um I'm an idiot who is I think

sweet and

um So the guy I met? Little bit. Well, I

mean the other guy from stage. Yeah,

well, that's that's a completely

different dude. That guy? That's Michael

Bublé.

This I'm Mike.

Uh fantasy football hockey loving idiot

who, you know,

um

you know, is a bigger idiot than you

than you I'm your seeing Really? Even

I'm I'm I'm a little bit more of the

suit guy, right? Oh, [ __ ] Yeah, man,

like

Bigger? Um

I would say closer 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 Teflon and he says all

the right things and nothing can nothing

can and I'm I can be goofy, but

you know, um

but there's this there's an other 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 that the whole world

meets him.

For 20 years I have done the same thing.

It's It's been cyclical.

Michael writes and

um 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 promote it

tour it

and um

and I feel like I'm at this point of my

life and my career where

I I want to do something different.

I listen, again, music will never it

will always be

my my happy place and and my love,

but um

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 um

and and it's really it's about being

that other guy, not the suit guy.

Um 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? Cuz 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

um

cuz I love the other stuff. I 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? Uh well, just

that I honestly, truly

the excitement of doing something

different,

you know? Like, yeah, it's time to

um

it's time to take that challenge. It's

time to take that trip, you know? Like

uh

and I know it's there. The same way I

kind of told you like that I had so much

faith in

in

um

in knowing like, hey, man, I think I'm a

like 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.

For the challenge as well, for the

pursuit 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. The music again will always be

there, but I need to express myself in a

different way. For me, man, and 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 you something happens cuz I'm trying

to put this into like my world or

whoever's listening to the world. Is

there a moment where you wake up then

you go

I'm just a little bit less excited and

it's just fallen below the level of

excitement that I need to do this again.

No, I know. No, because man, honestly,

genuinely

um

I love being out with I love making I

dude, I just the music is just it fills

me up with happiness, you know? So the

second I mean I just did uh

I did like a corporate gig the other

night with my boys and this this band

has been with me 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?

Well, when this tour started to wrap

down and I was like

you know what? I

I want to have fun doing something

little different. Everyone can relate to

that in their own context because when

you have a comfort zone per se,

something you're really good at

Yeah. and then you have the rewards also

will align with the thing that you've

developed mastery in. It's very easy to

spend a decade doing or two decades

doing that thing and wake up one day and

go, [ __ ] I'm a lawyer. Why am I lawyer

again? Oh, cuz it paid really well and I

good at it. Yeah. But that doesn't

necessarily mean it will make you happy,

right?

Totally. And I think the branding stuff

definitely had an impact where all of a

sudden

it wasn't we we want you to come and

sing something. Mhm. It was like, you

know, we want you. Yeah. We want Bublé.

We want Bublé to do a

a Bublé commercial or we want Bublé to

show up and do an Asda commercial or we

want you 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 stuff. I

mean that Asda ad that I just did, I

don't know if you've seen it.

That was like getting to sit with Taika

Waititi, who's one of my favorite

directors and writers of all time and to

have him

direct this thing. I mean I I was I had

so much fun and it wasn't singing. It

was just

it was literally you know, we had this

talk about the concept and and we were

like, what if I'm this

I was like, what if I he's he said to me

like, dude, dude, what if you're um the

head of uh

you know, quality control.

And I was like, yes, and I think I know

what exactly I'm an [ __ ] who has no

idea what I'm doing, but you know,

egotistically you I am you know, um and

he and he understood exactly what I was

going for

and we we laughed, dude. We had it was

like it was three days of us just

you know, just laughing, laughing at

ourselves, laughing

and it that just I was so happy and it's

like another reason why I'm like, man,

this is my personality. This is me.

Where do 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 to 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 if it worked for me.

Mhm.

You know? Like it felt good to talk

about stuff, Mhm. but then

after about like four times, I was like

am I just am I bullshitting right now?

Am I just telling her something Mhm.

just to fill up the hour because I sort

of went through my my big stuff

and it didn't

and this therapy doesn't feel like it

worked very well. Mhm. You know, hey,

man, for me, listen, my relationship

again with with the God and and that

that is a far that brings me far more

satisfaction.

And uh

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

and and um she's like, well, stop being

an idiot, you know?

My point is I I think that's part of the

role of being a

a wonderful partner is that

they they call you out on your [ __ ]

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.

God, my morning my morning just got way

better. I just found this on the floor.

No, I didn't really. Um Fraser and

Thompson Yes, sir.

This is a whiskey brand that I'm holding

in my hands that

Yes, sir. you have built in a building

with an incredible team of whiskey

experts and

nothing.

They've told me that you're in you're

driving this business and incredibly

involved, which is atypical of you.

mean, like I'm involved in in this this

I'm you know

But like what do I know about whiskey?

No, I mean what you know about Fraser

and Thompson. I mean, this is

I I I know that listen to me. I know

that if you don't know what you're doing

you

you hire and bring in the greatest

people in the universe Mhm. who

literally holds your hand and uh

tell you what to do. And you know that

when you find a guy like Paul Cerka,

who's 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, it's called a

distillery, not a brewery.

You realize that you don't know what

you're talking about.

But this

Yeah. is

you. You worked with Paul for the last

three years, but this is you.

dude. We worked three years three years.

I'll tell you what, I worked three years

because I wasn't going to be part of

something that I didn't love.

And uh

the truth, man.

We tried to reverse engineer

a whiskey for people that may not love

whiskey.

And um

you know, I know that there's

highfalutin fancy dancy whiskeys that we

can talk about the oakiness of the

barrel and uh

they've been aged 47 years and uh

and this isn't that.

This is an approachable drink

that truthfully

I love and as you're opening it

my mouth is going like

And uh my wife loves it and my friends

all love it and all the whiskey snobs I

know like it and I'm so proud of it and

Paul Cerka I you know I know who that is

but he's a star. No, I read about him.

Dude, three years and he we went we I I

was a pain in the ass and I drove them

all crazy. I've researched I was

researching photos of you and Paul and

seeing you down at the distillery and

you said you were annoyed.

I know. Um

Fraser and Thompson, where's the where's

the name come from?

That's from my grandpa.

Because when when I was a kid, my

grandpa used to take us up to uh

camping and we would go to we in in

British Columbia, we have the Fraser

River. It's like the muddy Fraser and it

and uh we have the mighty Thompson,

which is glacial water. And they come

together in this beautiful confluence.

And um the truth is that it was a in

tribute 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 there was all these stupid

ideas like Bublé and

and then and Serenade in Blue and all

these musical things and I was like and

every time I'd come up with a good one,

like some I would thought was like real

cool and sophisticated they'd be like

that one's taken.

And uh 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

Easter eggs like his birthday's on

there.

1927.

Yes, sir.

Born at the fork of two rivers, Fraser

and Thompson.

Yeah, and doesn't it just smell so good?

It sounds the branding is you've nailed

it. Because there's No, you have because

there's a story there and it's a very

authentic story, but the smell Yeah.

You know what I really like? I I

actually pour out a little bit of the

bottle

and then I take like this uh 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 cuz 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 bucks and I was like that is

I was like that is great value cuz my

dad as a fisherman, he talks about value

all the time.

Cuz we 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. Mhm. 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?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuz you keep touching

it and I just So we have a little Oh,

here we go. Look at this guy.

Look at this guy. Am I scared of of of

getting wasted with you at the table?

It's like a a reinvention, isn't it?

It's a new mountain to climb building a

a whiskey company. So

Dude, it is it is uh what's nice about

the Dumbo brand? It's so me, dude. It's

just like uh

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 a This is my wife.

We're partners. This is my best friend

Ron, my dad. Um

my manager Bruce

uh we're all like this is our thing. It

was like part of that thing of going

um what can we do that's fun and like

and new.

It would be really nice to make a

gillion dollars, too.

You know?

I have a feeling it's I have a feeling

it's going to do extremely well because

it has all the cool components of just a

a beautiful brand and product. It's I

mean, it's gorgeous in every respect.

man. I

I don't even know what to say. This is

You know what? I hate selling [ __ ] 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 a free

What do you want them to

I want them to just try it. I feel like

if people just try it, they'll go like

Bublé.

Bublé, you don't suck.

I actually one of the first things I did

was called Ryan Reynolds. Oh, yeah.

Because this company is the same these

my partners are the same as as Ryan with

his Aviation Gin, right?

And so I called Ryan and I was like,

Ryan do

like what do I do? And he was like,

Mike, but just have fun, dude. Like have

fun. I was like, Ryan, but I don't know

what I'm doing. He was like, well, I

didn't He goes, you don't have to know.

Let the Let the

Let the other people that are helping

make it and let them know what they're

doing. He said, just have Dude, just be

yourself and have fun.

It's really It's really incredible. So,

you know, one of the things I always