Inside the Desert Oasis Room

Drew Brophy is a world reknown lifelong surfer and traveler who's career exploded in the late 1990's when he began painting surfboards using techniques he developed with water based paint pens. On this episode, we join Drew in his gallery and studio to chat about how he got his start as an artist, some fun stories of his travel adventures, his philosophies on life, and how his art has evolved and...

On this episode we record a swapcast with the crew from Jonah Raydio! You might know Jonah Ray from such projects as Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, or as former co-host of The Nerdist Podcast. Along with Jonah, we chat with is own co-hosts on Jonah Raydio, Neil Mahoney and Cash Hartzell and of course, we are accompanied by our old friend Boris Hamilton! Join us f...

On this episode we come to you live from The Bamboo Club in Long Beach, California to hang out with Bamboo Ben at his "No Tiki Drama" mug release event. And joining us is one of the owners of the newly opened Bamboo Club, Brett Gallow, who details to us the history, background and future of Southern California's newest tiki bar! This episode is sponsored by Tanduay Rum, Tonga Hut, Tiki Bar T-Shirt...

On this episode we chat with international recording artist, Iakopo! Iakopo is a culturally wise, island reggae artist that's lived all over the world! He was born in Orange County, California and after a difficult childhood, was eventually adopted and raised by a local Samoan family on the South Pacific island of Upolu Samoa, where he lived an island lifestyle in a small village with no refrigera...

On this episode we chat with comedian, actor and host, Mike Siegel! You might know Mike from HGTV's "If Walls Could Talk" or Fine Living network's "What You Get for the Money." You might have even seen him performing stand up comedy on numerous shows like "Last Comic Standing", "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" or even recognized him in roles he's played in TV shows like "JAG", "Prison Brea...

Today we go backstage with Maoli! Since forming in 2007, Maoli has taken the Hawaiian Music Charts by storm having released 6 albums with countless hits along the way such as "No One," "Blew It," "Rock Me Sober" and more! They recently dropped a new single, "Sunshine" available now on all outlets including Amazon and iTunes. On this this episode, we chat backstage before a sold out crowd at The Ag...

Recently I was privileged with a part in A Rum Story, a docuseries that follows the adventures of Ed Gamester, master of The Guild, as he travels the world in a quest for knowledge about the origins, history and progression of Rum! Join us as we chat with the crew behind this project; Kevin Marcus, the producer, Keith Lancaster, the director and of course, Ed Gamester, the host of the series! This...

On this episode we welcome back the Tiki Boss and the Tiki Addicts! Join us Inside the Desert Oasis Room in another one of our fun hangout episodes on an Aloha Friday night as we chat with the Tiki Boss and the Tiki Addicts! We talk about scary movies, singles at Disneyland, real stuff vs fake stuff, travel tales, Texas BBQ and more! This episode is sponsored by Tanduay Rum, Tonga Hut, Tiki Bar T-...

On this episode we chat with Miss Mooneyes aka Deedee Cupcake! I'd been wanting to have Miss Deedee Cupcake on the podcast for quite some time now because she's got such an interesting background. Raised in Chicago and having lived in Las Vegas and now Los Angeles, she's been a mid-westerner, a desert dweller and now a Southern California Angelino. She competed on Food Network's Cupcake Wars (henc...

On this episode we hang out with Coco Cruz! Join us Inside the Desert Oasis Room with our friend Coco Cruz! Coco is someone I met from the Hawaiian Reggae Music scene, namely a local show with CRSB when they were performing at Bruddah's Bar & Grill here in Southern California. We mix up 4 rounds of rum and whiskey based cocktails and are even joined with a cameo appearance by Chris Ramos from CRSB...

Today we chat with Jaymee Mandeville & Boris Hamilton! Jaymee Mandeville is a former career mixologist and current Senior Brand Ambassador for Bacardi USA and joining us for our chat is our old friend Boris Hamilton. We recorded this episode live and direct from DAMA, located in the fashion district of Los Angeles, California. Learn about Bacardi's lineage, their rich history, their product portfo...

On this episode with are joined by the Tiki Boss and the Tiki Addicts! Our friends, Ross Aliotti, Randall Wilson and Sarah May joined us to record this special episode a few weeks ago on Repeal Day. We chat about the history of Prohibition in the United States historically and currently and the cultures and sub-cultures it created then and now. We even mix and share the recipes to a couple of tast...

On this episode, we travel to San Francisco, California to attend the Zombie Village VIP Sneak Peek Soft Opening Party. Zombie Village is California's newest tiki bar and lounge curated by Daniel "Doc" Parks built in conjuction with Bamboo Ben, Crazy Al, Bosko Hrnjak, Ivan Mora, Woody Miller and Mikel Parton. We start the episode in the middle of our journey to Northern California, joined by Tim W...

On this episode we recorded LIVE from False Idol in San Diego, California at their Mandatory Mug Monday holiday party! We wrap up 2018 with our last episode of the season from Mandatory Mug Monday with a pair of Martins - Martin Cate (of Smuggler's Cove, Hale Pele, False Idol and more) and Martin S Lindsay (historian, author and curator of ClassicSanDiego.com) in addition, we are joined by our fri...

Mele Kalikimaka! For this holiday season we are back at the Tonga Hut's Tiki Wonderland holiday event and on this episode we chat with an allstar lineup about spirits and beer! First up we are joined by Sven Kirsten (author of the Book of Tiki, Tiki Modern, Tiki Pop and The Art of Tiki), Jeff "Beachbum" Berry (Owner/Founder of Latitude 29 and author of the Grog Log, Intoxica, Sippin' Safari, Potio...

So a couple weekends ago, Boris Hamilton and I drove out to Phoenix, Arizona to crawl some of their craft cocktail and speakeasy bars. We were joined by our friends Ross "Tiki Boss" Aliotti, Odd Rodney McLellan and Southern California transplant Brian Schaub to tackle 7 bars in the span of one night. We recorded this episode on the road trip out, leading up to the crawl, followed by a recap of eac...

Today we host our first ever food challenge inside the Desert Oasis Room! As fans of spicy foods and the show Hot Ones by First We Feast, we thought it would be fun to try a hot wings challenge of our own and so we threw out the challenge on our social media pages and welcomed a group of brave souls to run the gauntlet with us. Starting from a mild Frank's Red Hot at 2,000 scovilles to the insane...

On this episode we chat with the team behind the upcoming hot rodding documentary, "Squeezed Up!" Join us inside the Desert Oasis Room as we chat with the director, Dirk Behlau, executive producer, Stefan Immke and the rest of their crew including Andy Schmidt, Shane Bagnall and more. To check out a sneak preview of their project, follow them on Instagram @squeezedupmovie or go to www.squeezed-up....

In 1958 a little bar in North Hollywood opened on Victory Blvd named "Tonga Hut." Back then, a gallon of gas was a quarter, the average cost of a new house was $12,000, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president of the United States and The Beatles hadn't even formed yet. Since the Tonga Hut has been open, the Berlin Wall was raised (and demolished), Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, television went from...

Today we return with part 2 of the Orange County US Bartenders Guild's Tiki Night! As I mentioned in part 1 of this series, a couple weeks ago I was graciously invited by Amin Benny to attend the Orange County US Bartenders Guild's "Tiki Night" being held at Tiki Farm. The event was sponsored by Plantation Rum with a Hawaiian BBQ Buffet and cocktails crafted by the Blind Rabbit. This episode is th...

So a couple weeks ago I was graciously invited by Amin Benny to attend the Orange County US Bartenders Guild's "Tiki Night" being held at Tiki Farm. The event was sponsored by Plantation Rum with a Hawaiian BBQ Buffet and cocktails crafted by the Blind Rabbit. This episode is the first segment in a 2 part series and in this segment we chat with Amin Benny and his counterpart Mariah Tatham to learn...

Today we chat with musical guest Lea Love! Lea Love is a Southern California born and raised, singer-songwriter with a rich Hawaiian, Japanese and Samoan heritage. Lea graciously joins me over a cup of coffee to chat about her performance background and the future of her music. Check out her new single, "No Feels" on all music platforms and give her a follow on Facebook or Instagram @lealovemusic!...

Today we go behind the scenes during the making for Jason Lee and the RIP-Tides new video, Fright Factory! Inside the Desert Oasis Room got the honor of being involved with this production and so we brought my mics and recorder along to chat with the players involved with making and bringing this video to life! Director: Jason Lee, Director of Photography: Arak Bernal, Art Director: Matt Reese, Pr...

Sammy J is a born and raised Maori from New Zealand who found his way into the Island Reggae pop charts quite by accident. He's since performed venues all over the world from The Roxy and House of Blues to even sold out stadiums to crowds as large as 25,000 or more! We talk about how he got his start in music, his song writing process and his upcoming Sleepwalker Tour beginning next month. As a hu...

Today we are joined by Dean Torrence, Doug Cavanaugh and Bamboo Ben from the private debut of Jan & Dean's Tiki Lounge in Huntington Beach, California. Jan & Dean's Tiki Lounge is a fun tiki and surf themed dining space located in Ruby's Diner at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier built by our friend, Bamboo Ben. We chat with Ben about the build of this special space along with Doug Cavanaugh, t...