 Welcome to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. I am your host, Gwendolyn Harris. Since the beginning of March, the world has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This virus has completely shut down everything from restaurants, retailers, movie theaters, beaches, gyms, the tourist industry, and the entertainment industry. Today, my guest is a comedian, singer, actor, and songwriter. He has appeared on BET's Comic View, Comedy Central, and Showtime at the Apollo, just to name a few. He has also appeared on stage with recording artists such as the late Luther Vandross, Roger Troutman, Anita Baker, Lettucey, Frankie Beverly Amaze, and the list goes on. I am so happy to interview him today. Please welcome Jamming J. Lamont, also known as the human iPod. Hey, J, hey, how are you? Hey, hey, hey, Aloha, how you doing? Aloha, how are you? I'm doing great, just hanging in there, just like everybody else, just staying safe. I was listening to that intro when you said Aloha, I was gonna give you a little music background. Boom, boom, boom, boom. I was gonna do this. Boom, boom, boom. I said, let me calm down. So as you see for the viewers and stuff, J is a comedian, and I wanted to interview you just because of everything that has gone on right now that has been going on since March, that has brought the entertainment industry to a halt. But before we do that, I want people that do not know you, that may not have heard of you, and missing something if they haven't. How did you get your start as a comedian and singer? Well, it actually started as far as, well, for me, music is my background. So I actually started in music, and really my plan at the time was I wanted to be a musician, I wanted to get into the music business. And as fate would have it, at the time that I was in high school, I don't, I think like any kid as a kid, you always say, well, what do I wanna be when I grow? What do I dream about? What are your dreams, your goals? And so I said, you know what, I think I might wanna be a singer. Cause as growing up, I was singing in the church, my father, who was a pastor, my father passed to the church, my mother was a musician, so she played for the choir. So I think from that, with being around my mother, with her playing and stuff like that, it had a big effect on me. And so she actually was the one that actually taught me how to sing certain chords and how to harmonize and everything like that. So it really played a part into my life. And at the time that I got in high school, I was kind of a class clown, if you will. I wasn't the class clown of the school, but I was kind of like a class clown where I would joke about things. And that's kind of when I started doing impersonations cause I would listen to the radio at home, whatever I heard on the radio, whoever I was singing, I would just pant at my own those singers. But at the same time, but I would always imitate those singers based upon the musical influence that I had. So that, I kind of took that to the stage. And I think I was probably in the 10th or 11th grade. And a couple of my classmates who I did not know at the time played instruments. I mean, this is a talk about talent in our high school. They decided to get involved with this talent show that we had planned. And of course they didn't have no singers. They don't know, these guys don't sing. You know, we had one guy, one of my classmates, one of my neighbors, he played guitar. Another guy played bass. One guy who lived not far from me in my neighborhood played the organ for his church. So they brought him on as keyboard player. So they said, Jay, we need you, man, we need you. Because all around school, when I would always sing, I would sing to the girls. So all the girls had walked by. And really, and what's so funny, my nickname at the time, if they couldn't remember my name, they'd say hi radio, radio was my nickname. They said, man, we're radio, man, man, we need radio. Get radio over here. So I was always blushing when the girls walked by. Hi radio, hey, sing to me radio. So I'd be singing Michael Jackson at Prince and I'd be doing some cameo, confunction, you know. When I first saw you, you had sparkle in your eyes. It'd be like, oh, crazy, I'm good. Give me your phone number. So now I'm being, it's like, now that's fine. I'm being bombarded by the girls asking for my number. And a lot of times it's so funny because I remember times the girl, one girl that liked me, she would call me up and she'll say, sing to me. And I'd be singing, she'll be on the phone screaming, hold on, I'm gonna call my other girlfriend. So they'll click on the other line to call another girl and have me sing to them and imitate somebody. If their friends started screaming more than the girl that called me first, they'd be like, okay, that's enough, that's enough Jay. Okay, girl, I'll call you back because he's singing to me first. He's sung to me first, okay, you know. So, but, but no, no, but I was, but it was something about that talent show. So we decided to do a concert in our auditorium, but it was actually a talent show where they were looking for a couple of acts to do something. So I was reluctant at first, but a lot of my friends said, no, man, you need to get on this talent show, man, you will turn it out. So that was really my first time, I think, when I realized, okay, I think I might want to do this as a profession. So I think, what did I sing? A song by Dabarge, you remember Dabarge? Yes. And the song, the name of the song was All This Love. And I think there was a girl, I think I sung it with this girl, it was like a duet. And so I remember I had the mic and I'm nervous because I mean, the auditorium was packed, all my classmates, all the kids and some of our teachers. So that was the first time that they saw me on stage. So one of the singers I said, I had some trouble, I mean, I mean, they just screamed. Girls, I never in my life could I have imagined females screaming at me. So I, so that's what, that's what all of a sudden, your ego just skyrocketed, you know, your psyche. Like, oh man, I think I might want to do this. So, you know, but then later on in college, you know, we would do a lot, a lot of concerts in the auditorium because I met a lot of guys, I met a couple of guys in college who I wind up being good friends today. So we wind up putting a band together. And so the plan was we were gonna just put a group together and record some demos and see if we can get a record deal, put out an album, get a record deal. So as of right now, there's like maybe 400 to 500 demos in the studio of tracks that we did with my vocals on it. And so hopefully one day we'll be able to get that stuff out and maybe, you know, maybe re-record some stuff. I just happened the other day just to talk to some of my former band members and we've been thinking about maybe doing like, maybe regrouping and putting something out later on. But at the time I said, well, you know what, if this doesn't work out, I may give comedy a try as a plan B. Comedy was plan B for me at that time. Plan A was music. And plus I was studying broadcasting in college. I was a DJ. Of course, a lot of folks don't know that. I did radio for like eight or nine years. So I have broadcast experience. And... At HBCU, I may add. I went to an HBCU. College university. Proud graduate of Langston University in Oklahoma. The only HBCU in the state of Oklahoma. So go L.U. Lyons, L.U. Lyons. And, but no, but I had said, and I told the guys, I said, if things don't work out with this, because, you know, it didn't really think, it wasn't too successful as far as us trying to get a record deal because the folks that we were meeting at the time didn't really live up to what we thought they were gonna do. So some of the guys, you know, in the band, you know, everybody just went their separate ways during that time. Some guys got married, had families and stuff like that, got regular jobs. But we had said, you know, if the time comes, if we know when the right time comes where something will jump off, y'all let us know. And they even said, Jay, you do your thing, man. You funny and everything, man. Show your talent, man. Matter of fact. And it was really, it was really through them that I thought to myself, you know what? I'm gonna do a comical act where I can incorporate all the other talents that I have. I'm gonna make you laugh. I'm gonna do impersonations of stuff that I used to, that I was doing growing up. And I'm gonna sing to you. I'm gonna put some singing in it too. Kind of give you, it was kind of like my way of doing something that's off the cuff. Kind of like a one-man variety show. And that's when things just kind of, kind of just took off, unbeknownst to me. You know, I remember getting a phone call from a producer from BET's Comic View. You know, because we were told at the time, I was working in Houston, Texas at a radio station. And we were told of a new show that was getting ready to come on BET called Comic View and they needed some artists. And so people said, Jay, you need to be on, you need to get on this show. So my first time on television was when I did Comic View. That took off. Then I got a phone call from someone from Showtime at the Apollo. So I flew to New York, my first time in New York doing Apollo. That took off. And you know, that was one of those moments where you're scared. You see this crowd. And like they say, if you don't bring your A game, they will boo you off the stage. Yes, they will. Yes, they will. For some reason, for some reason, that didn't happen. They liked what I was doing. They were like, who is this dude? Got a standing o, got two standing o's. One of the times I did it, deaf comedy jam, then show after show. So it was unbelievable. So here I am now. And you've done a lot because when I saw you, it was last year, you were at, you were the entertainment for a convention I was attending. Oh yeah, that's right. I remember it. Yeah. Yep, yep. And for my viewers, he is, you have not seen Jay, he is hilarious. Just like he says, he is like a one man comedy show. He'll take you on that ride for him old school, old school music, mix some comedy in there. I mean, he just does everything. But Jay, the question that I wanna ask you because it's really big today, really big. And this is why I wanted to interview is with this pandemic that's going on, it has put a stop to the entertainment industry. Like you literally stopped, you know, it's been shut down. It has been shut down. What have you been doing to make ends meet basically? Because I know you were supposed to come to Hawaii and we had to, we had April the 24th, you were supposed to be here. Don't remind me, don't remind me. I'm still sick about that. I'm sick. And we had to postpone the show, but you will be coming. We just have to wait for all of this to clear. But what have you been doing? Because I know you and other artists, gigs and things have been canceled so far. What have you been doing? And you know what's crazy about that Gwen is that I had to explain to certain friends. I mean, and the one thing about doing what we do, as I've always been, I've always learned, you don't want to tell everybody your business. You don't want to tell everybody the insides of what we deal with, but it's come to the point where we have to explain to some people. And well lately, so what I've been doing lately is I've been doing a couple of side hustles that I've been doing all along. I've been writing music, so I'm taking some time out to listen to some tracks that my producers been sending me. So I'm listening to some tracks for an upcoming album that I'm going to be doing with him, my good friend Trey Balfour. So this has given me time to write. And of course, like everybody else in the game, you know, we're doing what we're doing right now. Everything is going online, digital, doing virtual interviews. So I've been doing a couple of interviews here and there. What's so funny, I just did a virtual private event for this lady who was honoring her mother for her birthday. So they booked me. So it's almost like I'm working, it's like everybody else said I'm working at home. So that's what I'm doing, I'm working at home doing shows online. And it was so funny because this one lady, she heard a lot about me. She seen me on YouTube and stuff like that. So she booked me to come on live. All her family, everybody who came on live to honor their relative and her mother for a birthday party. So she asked me to come on to do like a 10 minute performance. And she paid me, so I get my income here and there. And when it comes to that, I'm selling merchandise on my website. Thank God I have merchandise because a lot of us don't. And that's pretty much what's been going on because the thing is all the shows that I had lined up for March, April, including Hawaii, some other concerts I had to do, some of them have been canceled, others have been postponed. So like I was telling one friend the other day and he didn't realize, he didn't realize it was like that with us. He said, man, I thought, I thought y'all had it going on or whatever. I said, well, I mean, and I kind of had to break it down to him. And he's like, oh wow. So he felt so bad for me. So like I told him, I said, since they've shut everything down as far as social gathering, like I told him, social gathering also includes, shows, concerts, when you go to a club or whatever. Because what we do, and you know this, what we do, we perform in front of an audience, which is a social gathering. And because if we don't have that, then we can't work and then what happens? So it cuts off our income. So basically I'm just doing what I'm doing right now. Just like I said, doing virtual interviews, a little performances. Sometimes I'll go on my live Facebook or Instagram and do like a little- And I see it too, I see it. And it's been a blessing. Cause I just go on there and just talk to the followers and they love it. I mean, I remember one time, one night I went on and everybody from all over was just hitting me or commenting, man, you're so talented, man. I've been watching you all my life. So what I've been doing lately is go on live and just showing them what all I do. Sometimes I might play or pull a track up and sing a song. I've been featuring some of my new music that I've been doing. And people are shocked. They're like, man, I didn't know you did that. I didn't know you had that. And then it's gotten to the point where they'll send donations too. I've had people send me tips on my cash app, Venmo, it's been unbelievable. I've had classmates who've hit me up that I went to high school and college with. It almost makes you tear up because they're like, hey, man, what you want me to send? Man, I got something for you. I've had some tax me. Check your inbox, check your cash app. I sent you something, man. It ain't much, you know? And like I said, they're going on my website ordering my merchandise since I have a DVD out and I've got my music on a hard copy CD. So it's- Well, we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about that when we come back. But we're gonna go on a quick break and we'll be right back. Aloha. Aloha, I'm Keisha King, host of Crossroads in Learning on Think Tech, Hawaii. On Crossroads in Learning, our guests and I discuss all aspects of education here in Hawaii and throughout the country. You can join us for stimulating conversations to enrich and liven and educate. We are streamed live on Think Tech bi-weekly at 4 p.m. on Mondays. Thanks so much for watching our show. We look forward to seeing you then. Aloha. Aloha and welcome back to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection with my funny, funny guest, Mr. Jim and Jay Lamont. Jay. I like it. Aloha. Yes. What a very white said that. Aloha. See, I'm just saying a thing to myself. If I was driving somewhere around Hawaii and just thinking if I got pulled over, bro, because I'm in Hawaii, how does the police greet you? Aloha. Step out the car. Let's say Aloha. Could you please step out the car? Okay, you're under arrest. Aloha. Not that I want that to happen. I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. Okay. Before we went on our quick break, we were talking about the music industry and how the pandemic has affected all the artists across the board. So with that being said, because no one expected anything like this to happen, you know, I shorted it. I never thought in this whole world that something like this would happen. What do you think the entertainment industry can do better or could do or will do to better prepare you guys for something like this in the future? Man, I mean, you know, I think just be creative. It's so funny because I ran into another, one of my comedian friends the other day at the post office because I was going to the post office to send off some packages of my merchandise, people who were buying my stuff. And so we were talking about that. And I said, man, it's funny how this just doesn't happen to shut everybody down. And I was telling him what I was doing. He was telling me what he was doing. He said, man, we just got to be creative. It's so funny because once they shut this down, I started, first thing I said, okay, let me start thinking. What can I do? What can I do? I've got my merchandise. I've got the website. So I just started planning. I said, okay, let me just start plugging my website more and more in my social media. Let folks know I do have merchandise. And all of a sudden, orders just coming in left and right, orders coming in left and right. Okay, what can I do next? And then like I told him, I said, okay, something said, Jay, why don't you go live on your social media and just talk to your fans, you know, entertain them, you know, have some fun with them, do a couple of things. Why don't you do some songs? That's why I said, you know, let me go off the cuff. And that kind of generated them to say, okay, let me go and send him something because I know he's going through it, you know, and so it's like all those buses are coming in. But I think it's just a situation of just being prepared. And now that we know what's going on now, now once they get this handled, we'll know what will be ready for the next time, you know, God forbid if this happens again, you know. So just, I think like everybody, I was just, you know, even though I have a musician friend, he's a bass player, same situation with him. He lost, he told me he lost over $5,000 worth of gigs. He had like five shows, he had five shows lined up for about, I think March and part of April, which was five grand altogether that he would have made. So that's down the drain. And so even he and I were talking and I said, you know what, I'm just going to do some things. I'm just going to show all my talent, show all my creativity. So folks will know what I really do and just put it out there. Because that's like I said, now it's come to this. Now everything is virtual, everything is online, digital. Yes. And thank God, I mean, thank God we have this invention right here that we can do this, you know. Right. But do you think because we don't know how long this is going to last, I mean, we still don't know when Hawaii is going to open up. They're saying one day stuff like that. But and I saw somewhere on Facebook where they, and I think it's over in Europe somewhere where they're doing like a drive-in concert type thing. Have you seen that? Have you heard about that? I think, you know what, I think I have heard about something like that, you know. And I think that's a good concept, you know, because, you know, they're even talking about maybe, maybe reinventing the drive-in theaters. Because, you know, there's a lot of drive-in theaters across the country that's been vacant for years. Correct. And everybody's like, you know what, let's open that back up because that's a good way of social distance. You sit in your car, watch the movies. Do what we used to do when I was a kid growing up. Yes. I remember my big brother said, get back in the truck so we ain't got to pay for you. So get in the trunk, be quiet. Wait, that's how, that's how we are. Be quiet. Stay back and don't say nothing. I'm going up to the office now. Okay. Let me get two tickets. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me get two social distance tickets. And we want to see Shaft and Superfly right over there. All right. No, no, it's okay. I'm sorry. I know it's four of us because me and my little brother, we're in the backseat of the trunk. You're so funny. So what do you have moving forward and for things that you can see that you pretty much, let's say like in the fall, right? Because I think maybe summertime things maybe kind of like postponed or canceled something. Yeah, yeah. But you, what do you have lined up? What are some things that you have lined up? Well, here's what's happening so far. So far, I've already gotten two, I have two of my shows that were scheduled, two shows that were scheduled for March and April have now been rescheduled for August. I do know that I have one of my shows. One show that was scheduled for April is now being, I'm trying to think, yeah, it's being re-booked for August the 18th. So August the 18th, I'll be in Santa Barbara, California. And this is going to be with, this is an old school concert. I love, I love doing those type of shows. It's, I don't know if you remember, do you remember Stevie B? Yes, I do. Stevie B, Memo Man Ace, Rodney O'Joel Cooley. That's all old school. Yeah. So I'm going to be on that show. That show, we were supposed to have done that show last month. So that's been rescheduled for August the 18th. I know I do have one concert coming up July the 18th and I just talked with the agent for that show. They're supposed to call me back because that might be postponed. That's going to be in Richmond, Virginia. I'm scheduled to open for Jeffrey Osborn. Oh, nice. Okay. So we'll see what, I don't know what's going on with that, but as of right now, that's still on, but we'll see, you know, in case they do postpone it. August the 8th, I do August the 8th, right here in Los Angeles. I'll be with, it's a big funk fest at the Greek Theater, the world famous Greek Theater. It's going to be more stay in the time at the SOS Band, Zap, original, the original Lakeside. Fantastic Boys Lakeside. I want to say Yaw Bro and Peoples are on that show who did Yaw, Don't Stop the Music, and also the Mary Jane Girls. So, and then I know I have another, I have some other stuff later on in the year because some shows that I have, that's already been booked for later and later, the later part, the latter part of the year, they're already still, I think they're already still scheduled as is. So, we're going to see what happens, hoping, I don't know, but I hope they'll get this under control because we're ready to board. We're ready to perform. And we're ready to have you over here in Hawaii. But tell us about it. I'm tired of going out in the street panhandling. I've been panhandling a couple of times, you know, people drive by, Jay, is that you? What you doing out here? Well, good, take this five. I'll be right back. Your son from McDonald's, you know, they'll go get McDonald's. I'm on the street corner right here. Just give me that, yeah. Give me that five dollars right there, you know. No, I bet, no, you better not see me out there, no. So, tell us about your album Celebrate as well. Celebrate? Yes. Matter of fact, this is my hard copy CD right here up, and it's got Celebrate on here. We just put these out because most of my music is streaming on all outlets like iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby, Apple Music. But we have a hard copy here, so I've been urging all my fans and friends that they'd like to get a copy of this CD. They can order my, I have it right here, order my new live comedy DVD right there. See, I'm doing the infomercial right now. Go ahead and do it. Get the new live comedy DVD right here, and if you order right now, order out that folder right at the bottom of the screen. 1-800-I-don't-know-what-it-is. 1-800-I-don't-know-what-it-is. No, but this is my DVD, and we'll put the CD along with that, and we'll send it right off to you. So, I've got that, and of course, my website, if I can give that out or... Yes, yes, do whatever you have to do. Give your website, your cash out, whatever it is you have to do. Oh, go over, I can give it all. Yes, yes, give it out, give it out. My bank account number is... No, never mind, never mind, no, we're gonna do that. No, but no, my website, my website, if you wanna get my DVD and CD, is www.vjlamot.com. That's T-H-E-J-A-Y-L-A-M-O-N-T. And of course, if you'd like to send a blessing or whatever, I mean, trust me, it would greatly be appreciated. My cash app is Dollar Sign Human iPod, since that's what they call me. Dollar Sign H-U-M-A-N-I-P-O-D, and my Venmo is Jammin' Lamott, J-A-M-M-I-N-L-A-M-O-N-T. And there you have it. See, you heard it, right here on Hawaii. Come on, help a brother out, help a brother out. If you have not heard, if you have not seen or heard, Jay, especially for those of you that are here in Hawaii, we're making sure I need to get with management and figure out when we're going to bring you over here. You know? To reschedule you here. I'm just doing background. I'm going to stop, I'm going to stop, I'm going to stop. No, don't stop, because this is what makes it fun. This is a fun interview right here. But one thing that I do ask, and I ask of all my artists, comedians, jazz artists, whoever, for people or people that are in your industry, comedian, music, whatever, okay? What suggestions do you have for them? What, you know, in this industry? Because it's hard to make it, just like now, you know? It's hard to make it. But what insight can you give, or what suggestions can you give artists now? I've always said, you know, I think about what was told to me at the time when I started in this games, always have something, have a plan B. I've always been told that even in this game, even in this business, you know, have a plan B and have a plan C. Be serious about what you want to do and just be prepared, be well prepared, and have fun, have fun with this. Because one thing I can say about this business, and I've been in this business for over 20 some years, I love what I do. I think anybody, as far as entertainment will tell you, I love what I do. And the greatest blessing is to do what we love and to make a living at it. Even though we're in this pandemic situation, we cannot make a living right now. And the fact that, you know, we're staying faithful, we're doing what we can. That's why I said, like I said, I quickly started thinking, what other avenues could I utilize to try to make some type of income? And I've done it. So basically, just be prepared, have a good time, but just know that there is a plan B that you have to put on the side just in case, and just go for it. Well, before we go, because our time is ending, it's ending very quickly. But before we go, I'm just wondering, have you talked to our former president, Barack Obama? Oh, Lord, I miss him. You just had to say that name. I miss him. And that's right. He's from Hawaii. He's from Hawaii. Yes. I'm sure you see, I can see him looking like this. Oh, I'm telling you right now, I cannot believe what an honor it is to sit here before you win. And I love you. And of course, you know, Michelle, my girl, Sasha Malia, they ask about you all the time. They say to me, Dad, see that looks that. Dad, what can we do to get to Gwynn? What can we do to get to Hawaii? Notice I said, Hawaii. Some people, there are some people that don't know how to pronounce Hawaii. Some will say Hawaii. Others will say Hawaii. I had one guy who came to me and said, I understand that you are from Hawaii. So, you know, but the fact there, the matter is, is that I'm glad to be here. I cannot wait to get back over to the islands because that is my home. Let me say to all the homies in the home, aloha, and the hood will say aloha, my brother. Throw your hands up in the air, waiting like you just don't care. The roof is on fire. I remember, you know, Gwynn, when I was in the White House, I remember I said, I told Vice President Joe Biden that the roof is on fire. And he thought I was going to burn the White House down. I was just excited. I was just excited that I was getting out the White House. Me and Michelle, matter of fact, we went to the bar on the last day of my presidency. We went to the first bar and got lit. You notice how I did? We got lit. And then, you know, how do you folks say, turn down for what? We're going to get turned up. Turned up. I don't know how many drinks I took, but I cannot get back to Hawaii. Aloha, aloha, aloha, Hawaii. Then I'm going to go to Hilo. I'm going to go to Waikiki. I like how he says it. Waikiki. Then I'm going to go to Hilo. Then I'm going to go come back to Aloha, aloha. All right, Jay. Well, you had me cracking up so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate you, love. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much. With us today. Good luck to you. I'll be keeping track of you. Most definitely. We check it on you. All right. Oh, yeah. Also, let me let everybody know if you want to follow me on social media. I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, jamming Jay Lamar. Just spell it all the way out on all social media. All right, you heard that. Everyone. Well, Aloha, thank you so much, Jay. Thank you, love. Aloha. Aloha, thank you, everyone, for tuning in. And until next time, God bless.