People say, 'wow you're the best DJ.' I'm like, well, technically I'm the only DJ in
the whole place so... thank you! (How you doing?) I've been a cook in the back for a long
time. One day, one the karaoke hosts just quit. They asked me if I know how to
like turn knobs and operate slidey volume things. I was like, yeah, sure I'll do it.
Just hopped right up there, sat in the chair. I've been doing it every year since 1994.
A lot of people don't connect Asia Gardens with being a karaoke
club. They recognize it for the great food that they order for here or to-go, but
then they say, 'That place has karaoke? In a bar? A nightclub?' It's not a regular bar.
It's a karaoke lounge.
There's no pool tables or dartboards or anything to do but karaoke, and hang out
and eat and drink. And repeat. The boss, she's a sweetheart. She loves a little
bit of everything. So you'll see a little bit of Christmas and Halloween and
Marilyn Monroe. It does kind of all fit together pretty well around here.
I love it. It's interesting. With every new person that comes in to sing, it's a new
experience. Yeah you got to get used to a lot of love songs.
The Electric Slide, that line dance, played it so many times in my career. It's like
okay here we go again. They get out of their house, they're driving to Asia
Gardens going, 'I'm gonna sing!' It's an opportunity to become like somebody for
a short period of time. I think everybody likes having that at some point in time.
It gives them a great outlet to just forget about everything; and even though
they love rock-and-roll they all of a sudden find themselves, like, dancing to
some country song.
And just that opportunity to let loose, especially when it's winter and
everybody wants to be inside, it's just... people come from all over when it's
gonna be something kind of weird to see. I mean the guy's like throwing
himself all over the place! You only get to see that at karaoke;
and the more you drink, the more the more entertaining it gets. The first few
moments of the song, the first few seconds, if you can tune them in and then
let them have at it, it turns out better for their singing.
All right, here we go. Have fun with it, don't forget we have
three microphones. To make a good karaoke DJ is somebody who, like, smiles and acts
like they care; and I think that's something everybody wants.
Makes me happy that they're happy, and that's the best thing about this job.
Some people, they move out of state, they come back to Asia Gardens and
they're like, 'you're still here!' I'm like, 'yeah, I've been waiting for you to come
back so I could hear you sing.' (How you doing? Whats up?) But over time I recognize everybody and remember their names.
My secret is the pen and paper. This place, I don't think is gonna fade away.
It's gonna be here for a good, long time. As long as we keep the food going, the
live music... and I enjoy it. Especially after doing it so long, if I didn't like it,
I'd find a different job that's all there is to it.