 What they gonna do with me now? I'm still a twerk of the town. Fuckin' the sisters, I'm hoakin' them down. All right, hey guys, we're in a new episode of Talk of the Town. Today, we got a special guest, Spike Tarantino. Spike Tarantino in the building. I have to pop off the talk of the town. You said, say what? I have to pop off the talk of the town. Show us to y'all, y'all doing your thing. You are too, you everywhere, academics, here, there, everywhere. So how, from, so who are you done away from? I'm from the Bronx, South Bronx to be exact. And how'd you get your start? Like, how'd you get started? I started when I was younger. I used to record all my friends dancing, have my own dance team. So I was always outside just doing anything and trying to go up every day. So I'm sure a back thing, going up versus now, going up is two different things. Yeah, it changed, it changed. Every different genre of music, every different, the styles of clothing, everything changed, it's always gonna change. Definitely, even the videos too, I feel like, for sure. So tell us the backstory. How you got your name, Spike Tarantino? I used to go by a whole nother name, which was K-Mac. And then I just started my two favorite directors, was Spike Lee and Quinn Tarantino. And they both got two different type of personalities. And that's the style I was bringing to the camera world. For me, I got two different type of shooting styles and ways if I could go about situations. So I put the names together and that's how I came up with it. And you kinda have a logo, but you kinda have a color. Orange is like a color, why orange? Yeah, that's my favorite color since I was a little kid. So I just stuck with it. People who was like, in the beginning when I made my logo, they're like, orange? I'm like, yeah, bro, I don't care. So was those two directors inspiring you? Or was it more? Yeah, they was inspiring me to switch the name, but they didn't inspire me to pick up the camera. That was just natural, like that was just natural as a young kid. So what inspired you to grab the camera? The dance culture, like when I was younger, light feet, it inspired me to record everything we was doing. So I always had a camera since then to now. Would you ever do a documentary? I'm like, oh, footage you have? Yeah, I still, it's crazy though that you say that. I got footage on the VHS that nobody saw, like some legendary footage, some old-school dances, people that's not probably even living, just mad footage that I collected when I was younger. I'm definitely gonna do a little documentary on it, though. Yeah, put all your footage together and stuff like that. So do you remember the first music video you actually shot? Yeah, the first music video I probably ever shot was for some dude named C.E.E.Z. from Slotary, one of the little T.J. people. He older than Lil' T.J., but that was the first video I shot. That was my young boy. He just started rapping, had a camera, and we just, we was always linking with each other. He like, yo, bro, I'm trying to rap. You got the camera, shoot my video. I'm like, let's do it. That's a funny story. So did you keep wanting to do music videos after that, or was people kept axing? Like, how did it transition into today? Yeah, no, people kept axing, because every time I would do a video, it would go viral. When I first did a video, for the light-fee videos that I used to do, most of them would go viral. Like, I did a video with my brother and him dancing, and everybody was like, you know, the way you edited it, that was OD. So it was like, people used stories to give me that compliment, like, your editing is crazy. So that was like the goal. I'm like, give me a project, give me something to work with, put it in the computer, I'm gonna make magic. And how'd you learn how to edit? I taught myself. Yeah, so YouTube for sure. I definitely taught myself how to edit. I didn't use YouTube. You were just trying stuff? Yeah, just into the computer. It was no YouTube when I first learned how to edit, it was no YouTube, like, to teach you. You feel me, I had to learn that on my own. I had to sit there, try and edit. So how'd you know the programs to buy? You was just acting around? All of, like, I had older people that was like my mentors. They wasn't even into videos. They was like, they had real estate companies. They just was business-minded people. And it was like, yo, you should get this, the MacBook, they just told me what to get. Had friends, French Montana, he was one of the first people to tell me what camera to get. So I just followed directions. I'm like, get this, get this, get that. Now I gotta learn the other parts. That was just, I was, and I was, and I was in the crib studying that, you know what I'm saying? That's crazy. So like, so a lot of artists, you know, put their music on, raps and hustles, flotastic and things like that. What are your thoughts on that being that you're a creator? I think it's good, I think it's, you know, it depends what type of market you're trying to reach. Like as an artist, you could still all your fan base and keep it to yourself and build it up in one spot or you could spread it around a little bit. So I think as artists, y'all should take heed to sometimes put your stuff in one spot and put it somewhere else, but always have your own channel. Yeah, so you are for artists having their own channel. Of course, of course. And like, you as a creator, because a lot of artists get into like, oh, like, some people feel like if they shoot it, it has to go in their channel. Yeah, some people, I think those people that's like that, they pick, they like, they so much of a creator that that's the lane that they want to be in. Cause it's like, if you paint a picture, like it's your personal work. So some people really be passionate about it. So they like, I want this project for me. So I know a few directors that do that. I think nobody wrong in that situation. Everybody could take the video or pass it out. Yeah. So what do you feel like makes you stand out as a videographer? Really, I just, I'm just me. Like I don't, there's no, I don't have no thing to learn from. I had to learn everything myself. So my format will be used over from somebody else. And then the little bit of stuff that they took from me is going to be used to the next person. My DNA is just natural. Like everything is me just chomping it up, learning stuff. I really have no inspiration from a camera man. I just go to myself and whatever I'm creative with. My mindset, I'm just going with it. It's like painting a picture. You can't, you can't really, you can't copy somebody's painting. You just got to, however you feel. Like my personality is too different for anybody to say they could do what I could do. Cause I might be moody. I might be happy. I might be sad. Like my moods is the way how I edit. It's my natural body, my natural self. Everything is natural. I can't fake that. So like you haven't been in a situation where you do artists, I know artists be wanting like slight changes and stuff like that. How do you deal with that? Cause I feel like a lot of people don't be doing it professionally. So like what's your way of going about it? With the artists, they want changes. I mean, you know, you always should at least give them that one change on the house. It's, you know, people sometimes have a hard time with like once again, the term painting. Like if I paint something, it's like the person's like, yo, I painted it. You paid me to paint it. Some people have a hard time with letting that go. To tell the person, y'all want to add this or take this out. But you know, you just got to work with the artists. At the end of the day, the vision is more important than anything. No, that is, that is very true. So while back you posted a list of all the artists you wanted to shoot for. It was G Herbal, tell us a little about that. Yeah, that was in like 2016, 17. I made a list. I was just on my Instagram manifesting stuff. I put G Herbal. It was Lil Pump. It was a 24 hours. There was a few people that was hot at the time that like creatively I'm like, nah, I like what they're doing. I know if we used to do something together I'll probably body it just because of the sound that they're projecting. So yeah, G Herbal was definitely on that list cause he definitely put on for Chicago. He's a goal. Yeah. So you fulfilled your list and it took from 2016 to now? Yeah. Did you make a new list yet? Or are you still waiting? I didn't really make the new list yet because I got the goals that I'm knocking off right now. So like the next list will come soon. Like whenever whoever I want to work with, like anybody could do whatever they want in this game. Like you just got to manifest it. Like feel me? Like my boy just did a song with Kanye West. I grew up with it. So anything is possible. Feel me? You could just talk about it, think about it and just put yourself in a position and it's going to happen. So I don't know who going to be next or what other big project I'm going to do. But I know it's going to be natural. It's going to happen when the time be. That's what that means. Definitely. So like some, so like drill, working with drill artists can get crazy sometimes. Do you ever have you ever ran into the situation where they're like, oh, we don't want to shoot because you shot for them or stuff like that? And how do you deal with that? No, not me. You never been in that position? I've been everywhere. I don't, like before shooting for drill artists, I was already shooting for drill artists. Like I was doing with Mob and DVD. It was the same concept. It was before it was even, people put it on wax. So I think I don't really, I could do any side. Like I'm cool, I'm mutual. Yeah, and it, well, I don't know how to say it, but has there ever been a time shooting where you didn't feel safe and how'd you deal with that? Um, yeah, there's been a time where I'll probably, I wouldn't say I didn't feel safe years ago. Yeah, because now I think everybody like every, yo, everybody know how to deal with what they doing. Like we dealing with a lot of mature people. So, you know, people might look from the image of all these kids, this, but these kids are very mature. So most of the time I've been dealt with people back then that was older than these kids that was all silly doing too much. And the kids that I deal with now, very, very mature. How do you feel about the people, how do you feel about the way like, I guess, the older people are paying this new generation? Um, I'm not really jacking it at all because they paying it like that. And what about their generation? What about the generation before that? The generation before that? You can't put music and you can't use something for like say, oh, drill is the reason for some. It's been going on before we was even born. You know what I'm saying? Like this is the DNA of the culture that the America was built on. You know, when people try to put it on drills, like, y'all see how big it's getting. So it's like, let's cut these kids down so they don't get this bag. So I look at it. Right. And then I see that they're trying to make this new law about using the lyrics for the, like, you as a, you know, you shoot videos and things like that. So like, how do you feel about that? Um, I think this is not fair for the kids. You know what I'm saying? Because if they was going to use that concept, why they didn't been doing it? Like think about it. We grew up on 50 Cent. He had a song called Many Men. He's telling us about his whole life story. He had a documentary, you know? So it's, I can't, they can't do that to these kids. I think it's unfair. I feel like they're just trying to figure out ways to like, I guess stop this whole drill movement. Like even today, the mayor went on to say like he trying to take drill music off social media. Like it's getting type crazy right now. I feel like it's only like this in New York City though. What you think? I think it's cause just the biggest city in the world and it's promoted so much on TV, every movie. So people come here, they just want to protect it, you know? So what advice would you give to artists currently with the state of music right now? And you know, you're working with artists. Yo, just make music. You don't like, just focus on building and focusing on fixing your craft and getting the best out of it. You don't gotta always this, you know, you don't always gotta take too many shots. Just try to feel me like practice, practice make perfect. So just, you know what I'm saying? Focus on the music more and start falling in love with it. Don't just do it, you know what I'm saying? That when you fall in love with music, you're gonna start to treat it a certain way. You can always tell people that's really into it for the long haul, you know what I'm saying? That's so true. I like that. So of course you were also trying to make opportunities for artists. I see you got the studio, New Legacy. How did that come about? My sister, you know, she just came to me. You know, we both came together and we just wanted to open the studio. And you know, we just came with the name because you know, that's how we feel. Personally, New Legacy, you know, we didn't come from nothing, we came from the mud. So we're trying to build a new legacy for our kids. And then the kids that's out here doing what they doing for the music or the Tik Tok, we're just trying to help them build a legacy too. That's dope, that's dope. So what's the, I would say the, well, you kind of said trying to leave the legacy. I was gonna say, what's the mission? When people go to New Legacy, what do you expect them to see, feel? I wanted to feel like, you know, it's just a home studio. Like I want them to feel like they just vibing. Sometimes I'm gonna try to be in there, you know, helping them with some songs. I've been in the studio with all different type of artists. So I just want to, you know, give the knowledge that I got to the next person because you never know what could happen with them. Mm-hmm. And do you like, what else is on your like bucket list? Studio is officially open. Anything else on your bucket list? New goal? Yeah, one of the biggest things that I gotta do is I have to do a documentary on the Bronx. That's the biggest thing. It has to happen, it's going to happen. I got some people that's hit me up for it and all that that wanted to do it and so they're gonna bring me to Netflix and stuff. So we're gonna make that happen. So it's definitely gonna work. So who gotta be in that documentary right now? Like, give me five people from Bronx back then. We marvel in DVD days to now, right now. That's a good question. Five people that has to like be in it so they can start hitting you right now. For that documentary, I'm gonna have to have like, I'm gonna have to have a few people in there, like different areas to say, I'm gonna just say like, I'm gonna have to have different like groups of people that separated, like, you know, everybody got their own little beef, but I'm gonna need both sides. I'm gonna need both sides. Yeah. The beef gotta be squashed for the documentary. I need everybody in there because like the journey's been crazy and everybody played a part. You feel me? Whether we lost somebody or did somebody went to jail or somebody became rich or successful. Everybody played a part, you know? So you definitely will be reaching out to all sides. That's good to know. That's good to know. Give everybody a fair shot. Anything else though, documentary, new space. That's pretty much it. Like the first beginning of the year, I'd just be in a zone figuring and seeing what direction I'm going. So it's not even the new years yet for me. My new years don't start until the sun come. That's when it's the new years. That's cool. So how do you keep motivated? How do you keep going? It's within, you know? You just gotta, like, sometimes you just gotta look at the world and for what it is and find motivation in that. Cause you could work every day and sometimes you're just not feeling this. Some days you are, some days you're super motivated, but you gotta have the balance cause like, and you gotta be humble because like any opportunity, just treat it like it's nothing. That's how you stay in this game long. Like you could have your biggest moment but treat it like it's nothing. Just keep working, you know what I mean? What would you say is your biggest moment so far? Probably, you know, getting some budgets that was one of my director goals, getting budgets to work with budgets, just working with production teams, working with a group of people, stuff like that. So that was my biggest, one of my biggest goals that I knocked off. Oh, and then opening the studio but with the director thing too. Definitely. Do you feel like you did anything differently in 2021? You know, you won director of the year this year with Talk of the Town. So was there anything you feel like you did differently that you didn't do back then or you just felt like timing? I think what I did was I just, you know, focused on one goal and I just said, I'm just dealing with this mission and this plan, sticking to it. And that's it. Cause you know, all the years I'd be, I would be doing other things and you know, I'd be working with so much of different people. I just kind of got on my like whole Ben and Bob's. It's on the down a little bit. Yeah, you feel like you're fucking COVID-19. Yeah, he definitely be doing a lot. He got a team of people. Do you want to work on a team of videographers? Yeah, shout out to one of the crews that I worked with. They was amazing on the set. Feel me? They made me feel like family is like family. It was like, it was a good thing. Like, as a director, that's the goal. You know, you want to be on set. You want to be with your peers. You want to learn more. It's not always about the one-minute show. Definitely. And you plan treatments for your videos so you kind of let the artist be creative. Yeah, for the ones we did, we usually try to plan treatments. And then also, you got to make sure you cater to the artist because some artists ain't doing everything. Have you ever brought to an artist a crazy idea? They was like, nah. Yeah, all the time, all the time. Especially when the music shifted to drills. Like, a lot of artists was like, I'm not doing that. Like, it was the same. Like what, acting stuff? Certain acting stuff, certain funny stuff, certain skits. Like, they just, you know, some people be in the box until it's like, all right, now I got to go there. Sometimes they just be in the box. So eventually it does get to the acting and something. That's really good. So five years from now, Spock Santino, what do you see? Where do you see it right? Five years from now, probably like five studios. Recording studios. Five recording studios. One in New York, one in Atlanta, one in Houston. One in Jersey, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah. And one of the biggest production companies. And I'm going to have my 100 million views. So you want 100 million views? That's the goal. That's it. That's cool. So what advice would you give an upcoming videographer right now where all the heavy competition is so many videographers right now? What advice would you give them? First thing, I ain't going to lie. Just take a step back and just think about life for a second and then focus on yourself. Figure yourself out. Meditate a little bit. Take the time to yourself and then go back at it. Because sometimes you might be out there and there's a lot of competition. And you might find yourself trying to compete with them. You never supposed to be in competition with nobody. Your competition is who you was last year, a year before that. That's it. So tell people where to find you. How could they hit you? How could they get in tune with Spike? You could find me on Instagram at Spike Tarantino. That's pretty much it. Facebook and all other stuff. I really try not to use it. I got a TikTok. I only made it for one reason to see what was going on there. And that's it. But yeah, just Instagram. I try to stay off of social media because, of course, you got to focus on who you are before you see what everybody else is doing. Yeah, but are you still dropping on YouTube channel? Sort of, Conner. I'm about to, when I finish getting the studio set up and hiring thing I want, I'm going to start doing a lot of stuff, dropping on my own channel, giving more content. I haven't really been focusing on content because I've been focusing on the studio and then also just trying to hone into what I wanted to do for this one last year that passed. So I set to the goal and I got it done now. You know, I got to do one thing at a time. So studio now, build it up, then just keep going crazy. So you have a team of people with your business stuff? Yeah. I do legacy, follow my lead. That's my sister's company. Oh, very cool. So definitely. All right, y'all, and that's good.