Music and Booze With Mo

Claire Swenson was a regular at iconic Minneapolis dive bar and music venue Palmers and eventually wound up on the other side, serving drinks to patrons who considered her "the new guy" for several years. Claire does online radio shows (sometimes from Palmers), plays the rubber chicken in a band, and dishes on proper dive bar etiquette (on both sides of the bar) while also teaching us about the we...

Millita Gonzalez grew up in a family of music bookers & club owners, so of course she started bartending at her dad's Latin dance club as soon as she could! (Her tales of conquering high volume crowds with only a blender are amazing.) She worked her way through Nashville and NOLA, catching the fine dining bug along the way and happily mastered craft cocktails. She currently leads the program a...

Adri Ramos is the bar manager at LA's Employee's Only and the founder of FLAG LA, a female led apprenticeship group to empower other women in the LA bar industry. She's a fan of moody vibes and great cocktails, and wanted to bartend so badly when she was young that she took classes before she was 21 just so she could get some practice! Her natural skills landed her in some of LA's most creative sp...

Sebastian de la Cruz of Bangkok's Tropic City loves to create a vibe with both his cocktails and his playlists, as being a DJ has been as much a part of his life as bartending has. From his humble beginnings as a barback in Stockholm (his mom got him the job!) to being inspired by the NYC craft scene and then finding himself an expat in Thailand opening a bar in a burgeoning creative district of B...

Ash Murray, head bartender and main playlist maker at Meteor in Minneapolis, talks their journey through the world of coffee into the world of spirits by jumping from one top tier destination to another, finally landing in a music lover's bar owned by musicians. Not one to shy away from a challenge, they applied those mood making skills to curating tunes for the bar and helped create a cozy commun...

We're catching up with a previous guest, Nick Sinutko! He is currently a self proclaimed "mocktologist" (said very tongue in cheek) as he is leading the charge of n/a cocktails at Leucadia's Atelier Manna, and will soon also be creating drinks for skater Tony Hawk's latest enterprise, Chick and Hawk. Formerly the beverage director of San Diego's legendary Campfire, Nick is now crafting in a farm t...

Han Suk Cho composes music and alcohol free cocktails, passionately pursuing perfection with both. Her n/a contributions to the beverage menu at Kato in Los Angeles helped earn the spot a Michelin star, and she also has her own line of alternative sodas, Zero Proof. Han studied music composition at university in her home country of Korea since she already played several instruments, starting at th...

Siobahn Jones is a queen at creating vibes musically and a speed demon behind the bar conquering a massive cocktail menu at Standby in Detroit, Michigan. While she hasn't started her DJ training (yet), she's been going to concerts since she was 4 and is the one to go to for any kind of playlist. In the drinks world, she uses those same creative skills to craft crowd pleasing cocktails. Check out h...

Cara Devine gives us the strong, sweet, & bitter (that's the name of her book!) story about her behind the bar (that's the name of her You Tube channel!) experience around the globe and at her home bar Bomba in Melbourne, Australia. There's also a lot of reminiscing about our club days and all the music that involved. Listen for lots of laughs on this one! Get behind the music with Cara here:...

Heath Gorenflo was a straightedge punk drummer forever, touring the US and playing the club circuit. When that lifestyle got old, they figured they'd sling rum & cokes to get by. Now they're at Baltimore's Dutch Courage, love bartending (and drinking in moderation), & are drumming again with a couple bands. Check out their story of musical and cocktail evolution, and this massive playlist:...

Geoffrey Wilson bartends at Cane & Table in New Orleans to maintain his DJ & mentoring lifestyle. He's been bartending notably in Chicago, Phoenix, and Portland but it's his work with Turning Tables NOLA that he's most proud of - an organization teaching black & brown hospitality professionals the tools for success. When he's not doing that, he's providing the soundtrack to events arou...

Jerrold Khoo started bartending to pay for design school and support his hard rock band, but eventually he took those talents and became the cofounder of one of Asia's best bars with Stay Gold Flamingo in Singapore. Although his hair metal days are behind him, he applies the rock and roll aesthetic to the bar and might even be creating a supergroup with the other musicians in Singapore's bar indus...

Andrew Whibley, bartender and co-owner at The Cloakroom in Montreal, wouldn't call himself a DJ but he definitely spun hip hop records at parties and today oversees the musical mood at his bar (often lauded and listed as one of the world's best). His amari, bourbon, and beats obsessions have led to him making a Gin & Juice for Snoop Dogg, the creation of a soon-to-debut Cloakroom Amaro, &...

Garret Richard, co-author of the book Tropical Standard and Chief Cocktail Officer at Brooklyn's Sunken Harbor Club, has taken technique to a whole new level. On this episode (his second appearance on M&Bw/Mo!) he breaks down how the once lowly blender achieved superstar status, the cultural relevancy of vaporwave, the importance (and fun) of bar theatrics, and what xanthan gum can do for you....

Cheyenne Serene, bar manager of acclaimed New Orleans tiki bar Latitude 29, was once a bike messenger in Chicago but traded that for swampy NOLA dives. Their love of emo once drove them to pick up a guitar, but they were better at ukulele and tropical cocktails. We chat about meeting your heroes, managing your vices, and getting deep into lofi beats on this episode! (pic by Jon Peterson) Check out...

Brandon and Kimberly Grilc moved to Kobe, Japan and soon realized they really missed tiki bars... so they opened their own! Brandon tells us about their labor of love, The Kazan Room, one of four tiki bars in the country. He discusses the challenge of erratic deliveries, curating the perfect musical mood, the inclusion of fun local ingredients, and educating the clientele in everything from rum to...

Alexis Romero got his bartending start in his hometown of Tijuana, but eventually crossed the border to show San Diego what he could do. In TJ, he and his friends booked death metal shows. Now in SD, he creates electro beats. Find him making tropical magic at Mothership and on the bartender competition circuit! His cocktail inspiration playlist can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/...

Cory Starr got his tiki on bartending in Hawaii, took his skills to Chicago's Three Dots & A Dash, & then moseyed his way to Austin to become the beverage director of the incredible Tiki Tatsu-Ya. He tries plays metal when his daughter isn't demanding Bad Bunny. Check out his zombified playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4n1VsKmrlh81Gi6yWmzq7y?si=3f53a227d1d54a0b

Jen Ann Tonic took her retro lifestyle and love of tiki cocktails and partnered up with her husband to bring Swizzle and Dallas Tiki Week to life in Dallas, Texas. Growing up in the Bay Area with a family that danced hula during the swing revival definitely influenced her taste in tropical beverages, and she decided that the south could use a bit of aloha. Check out her swingin' playlist here: htt...

After an attempt to crack the into music industry in LA, Meghan Riggs went back home to Boise, Idaho to a much more entertaining & educational gig as a shot girl at a dive bar. Now she's crafting beautiful cocktails at The Modern Bar & Hotel, putting Boise on the cocktail map while contributing to a hip community and reminiscing over her emo days. Check out her playlist here: https://open....

Steen Bojsen-Moller started bartending in Auckland before sailing through the Caribbean, landing in London, going back to the islands, opening a bar back home in New Zealand, crossing over to SF and the Future Bars group while DJing and booking entertainment in art galleries, heading down to LA to join ACME Hospitality, and now finding himself co-proprietor of two iconic Palm Springs spots: Seymou...

Chris Hannah stepped behind the bar at Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans and became a bartending legend. He came to NOLA not only to work in these beautiful old places, but to live in a town where you could be anything you wanted to be, which for him meant a snazzy dresser, a blues connoisseur, and owner of spots Manolito and the award winning Jewel of the South. Join us as we travel the Mississip...

Remmington Pearce tends bar at Los Angeles music venue the Moroccan Lounge and is the guitar tech for L7, among other things. She's been a touring musician for over 10 years and fills in the blanks sneaking in craft cocktails when people ask for them. She also swears by the healing properties of Malort. Check out her playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6PkJ7f9BwyD9L3mQT64500?si=4e9b93...

Joey Houghtaling, beverage director at Nickel City in Austin, was a record store guy and pop punk guitarist in Milwaukee until he realized that it wasn't going to pay the bills, but bartending might. After years of learning from old school bartenders and brand ambassadors, he traded those midwest winters for Texas heat and now helps keep Austin weird with drinks inspired by MST3K and Lemmy from Mo...

Janice Bailon left her days of voiceover work and pop idol dreams in Hollywood to find her calling as a bartender in San Francisco. Despite being denied a post behind the bar due to her gender and stature, she worked her way into little dives and made it to the storied Bourbon and Branch before becoming the bar manager at For the Record in the Marina District. Instead of competing for American Ido...