Rob you recently changed your stage name from Robby Roadsteamer to Rob Potylo your real name, what's that all about?
Well uhhhh I decided to play this new character whose sorta a hermit and dork and doesn't do well in public situations from time to time. His name is Rob Potylo. He likes baseball, baseball cards, atari 2600, and movies from time to time.
Quiet Desperation is blowing up on youtube, the last episode just literally bursting with goodness, did you expect this from the start or just something you started for fun?
I love Quiet Desperation heart and soul and I wanted to cram everything I could about my life into it in a reality sitcom type format. Amazing people dance in and out of my life and I'm constantly on the run trying to stay away from Retail and trying to find something creative to do for a living in Boston which seems to be an E=MC2 problem for me. I wanted to showcase my favorite talents from the music, comedy, and performance art side of the tracks. A sorta Saturday Night Live for Boston without the stale dime a dozen skit. Just trying to keep creative types in this area with me.
Can we talk about the difficulty but possible hope of bringing it to the masses, local tv? That you, Comedy Central, Scott Matalon, Ernie Boch need to sit in a room and ink a deal?
It's just hard to make it that simple. The show keeps evolving and every time we try to make a pilot it becomes quickly outdated with every new episode and new talent we introduce. Everybody is telling me 100 ways to package it and sell it. I wish one of these times somebody would just show it to someone who might actually be able to get out there on a larger scale. In the meantime I'm trying to just focus on being creative like I always have. If I had a dime for every time someone told me something was right around the corner I'd have $1.80. That's not bad.
You're back at the Freedom Rally but this time it's not going to be Roadsteamer so what do you have planned for that?
No clue. That's September. It's a month at a time at this point. I've changed so much in the last six months musically and personally. Who knows where I'll be in May. And June.
The Battle For The Rally! you're hosting it, will you accept free thank you weed from fans for raising money again for MassCann/NORML?
Only from people I trust. This dude in a trench coat tried to give me some home-made in a white envelope last year at the MassCann awards and I kinda have to veto that one. I'm fragile. Please don't mess with my smoke.
Let me be your taste tester? I'll receive all the packages?
Will Quiet Desperation ever end? Will it just go on until it doesn't? Or do you have a long term plan for it?
I don't know. I'm trying to show in a comical fashion how crazy and manic life gets being creative in Boston. I'm aware that elements don't tend to stay the same for too long and I'm happy to work with all the wonderful vivid colors that are around me right now. It's a battle to be able to do what one wants 24/7 and that's the goal. It's turned into a war. The Sheriff wants me pushing data-entry or serving adjustable garment wash pink Red Sox hats to Nahant Soccer moms at Fenway. I wanna be freeeeeeeee.
What else is going on with you? You got new music ever five minutes? How many releases out and what's the newest and upcoming?
I have fourteen albums now. The last two have been under Rob Potylo and I'm very proud of trying to give myself a chance to be less cynical and see what I can do musically. I enjoy the process very much so now. Especially understanding that most musician types are dogmatic crazy folks trapped in what they feel the right sound is for them. I say forget perfection. Tyler Durden this ship. Let the chips fly. WILD. I got this Wide Wild Nintendo Noise in my head and I wanna lay it down whenever I can.
Do you miss hearing Linkin Park on WBCN 104.1 FM? Or just miss BCN as a local entity?
I miss BCN when I was on it and I could say what I want. I don't miss the Nirvana/Pearl play list picked by a computer at the beginning of the day or the lack of personality or excitement for the local scene. Just carbon copies of Howard Stern shock junk or soldiers just spinning the 70 song play list. But that was it's downfall and all the kings horses and all the kings men in CBS NY couldn't figure out from people meters how to put it back again. I miss talking on the air and the people I worked with though. Funnest job and adventures ever. But it could of been Ferris Bueller good.
Red Sox predictions for 2010?
Hopefully the Yankees only spend $250 million this year. What a (expletive removed by examiner.com word filter) up ugly sport. No salary cap. No rules. Florida and Kansas City- even if they have a run for a year just act as minor league towns to take talent from for the bigger markets. The juice ball error killed all the heroes I grew up on. But I love the Red Sox so much and hope only the best for those folks who have given me such amazing memories and drove me to stay in Boston and keep dancing.
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