Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac CD morning show. I'm your host, Elliot Pierre. And we're going to start the show off the same way we start every episode off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hidden with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:21 Oh, she caught me, loves near listened to the next then morning show.
Speaker 0 00:00:30 All right. And we're back. I'm excited about today's episode because we have a gentleman who's been in the community for a very, very long time. A lot of history. Very interesting. He already said something this morning that I had no idea about. So you're going to learn with me today as you know, I do not introduce my guests. I let them do that themselves. So on that note, sir, can you please tell everybody at home who you are and what you're about?
Speaker 2 00:00:50 Well, hello everyone. My name is Mike D Rocher. If you haven't met me before, I'm also the owner of the local, Mr. Mike's a steakhouse restaurant, uh, having lots of space for everyone to come down and enjoy themselves with some good food.
Speaker 0 00:01:04 There we go. Okay. So let's get this started how long you've been in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:01:08 A little over 25 years now. We originally came here in 1997, uh, to run the music instrument repair program at Kendall college. I started designing the program in 1995 and then, uh, once it was completed and I wrote the curriculum and developed the spaces for it, uh, utilizing as many as Aquino, uh, programs as possible. We move forward with that. And that was a huge success. I did that for 15 years and then moved out, trying to bring innovation to this city. Um, building, uh, cement and Dolan was after that, uh, that didn't fly well because most of the engineers, while they could agree on the engineering and the strengths and the efficiencies, because it was non-traditional, they wouldn't consider it. So it didn't even make it, even though it had so many more proven products. So frustrating from there, I went on and I was the general manager for the meat to local 1935 for a bit. Um, my original goal with them was to get the, uh, the interpretive center done. I'm glad to see that that's now partway through my term there, uh, things changed and I ended up leaving because of the change in direction. Right.
Speaker 0 00:02:30 And now
Speaker 2 00:02:31 It's your mix now, Mr. Mix. Well, before that, you know, after we had the fire, what people may or may not know about me is, uh, because of my instrument repair background, when the fires happen during the rebuild, I pretty much rebuilt almost all the musical instruments in this city for all the schools and people. So we smoke remediated, we fixed cases, replaced them. We replaced their, um, items, your instruments that were subject to smoke.
Speaker 0 00:03:03 Okay. So how did you get into instrument repair? How does that, how do you find yourself in that
Speaker 2 00:03:09 Way? Way back before you even thought of my man, you're talking way back in the eighties. So what happened in the eighties was I was introduced to the repairment when I left, uh, high school, which was like 81. It's going back a ways a few years after high school, the gentlemen, Victor Horrocks was his name decided that he was going to retire. So the band teacher, I was with Mr. Romeo with Choa, uh, his soul, uh, and same thing with Victor offered me to buy the entire lot of everything. He had supplies and everything for $2,500. So we got a loan, we bought the tools and stuff. And then I had to find a place to study music instrument repair went to battle Creek, Michigan, which is the serial capital of north America, but there's not a lot there other than cereal. So, uh, the Grandmaster, um, was there and he took me under his wing and he tutored me to something he's only done to a couple of students. Uh, I had a short course there, very short, but very, very intense. And when I left there, I was doing things that, uh, his second year apprentice couldn't do. So yeah. Told me I have a good knack stick with it and, uh, go from there. And so that's what that started the journey. And I did that for a large part of my adult life.
Speaker 0 00:04:45 And so then how did Fort McMurray and Kenna college come on your radar in regards to starting a program?
Speaker 2 00:04:50 Well, so we were in Banff, uh, and we were at a conference for the, uh, Alberta music conference. And a gentleman, uh, approached me and told me that we needed to have a conversation. And Jeffrey Anderson was the chair of the visual and performing arts departments at can't recall. And they wanted to run this program, right? So it kind of started off a little on the crazy side. They told me what they wanted to do, and they told me how they were going to do it. And I looked at him and I laughed at him and, and, uh, being a, being a chair of a department at a college, he doesn't get that response. Right. And he asked me why. And so I told him, I said, you, you didn't under, you don't know our, um, professional association, you know, nothing about our industry. You're asking somebody who does no formal training in the industry to be your leading instructor.
Speaker 2 00:05:52 This is not going to fly in. There's not a reputable shop that's going to take you on. And so, you know, that was the reality. And so I got him in touched, uh, Mike Allen, myself and Jeffrey, uh, went down to the states and we visited one of the two year programs that was there. Um, on a plane ride, I actually had, uh, shown, uh, Jeffrey and Mike, uh, a curriculum that I had developed, um, in Calgary, right. Uh, to do an internship with an older gentlemen. And that turned that 16 week course that I had for him. We expanded into F uh, four 16 week courses, which turned out to be the curriculum that we used for 15 years.
Speaker 0 00:06:39 That's awesome. And it was a well attended program. I know a number of individuals who actually took pieces of the program at Kiana college. And they came from across north America to,
Speaker 2 00:06:51 And Europe. We've had people from, uh, Japan. We've had people from Korea in the last year when we were, uh, shutting down, we actually had ready to be enrolled, uh, uh, four people from, uh, Korea. We had one from Germany and that we had seven international people ready to come out of an intake of 12. And it was shut down before they could actually formalize their applications
Speaker 0 00:07:20 Because it was a great program. And I know when it got announced in the today paper back in the day, I'm like, that was oh, sad.
Speaker 2 00:07:27 Well, it was, I mean, on many of our, in our industry, we're a little upset too, because at the time we had sort of reached what we would consider a number one status in the world, as far as turning out grads and that, and the quality of those grads, they were actually able to think, uh, to the point where, um, we ran a program where we challenged the students in their second year to come up with a presentation. And the winners would actually present at the international convention, uh, mapper, which is the national association of professional band instrument, repair technicians. Now, you know why we use the acronym,
Speaker 0 00:08:13 Right? So now, as far as instruments are concerned, do you
Speaker 2 00:08:15 Play any instruments? I'm a jazz and blues trumpet player and play in the local community band, uh, both the concert band and the jazz band and that. So looking forward to getting that back on,
Speaker 0 00:08:29 Oh, I used to play the trumpet when I was in grade six, when I was in band, it was good. It was a hard instrument to play. It was hard on my list,
Speaker 2 00:08:36 Grade six, that would be a challenging year. That's most people start off on a Coronet and the states because it's so much smaller, easier to handle that would make sense. And then they grow into the trumpet. As they get older, that develops the, what we call the chops.
Speaker 0 00:08:50 There we go. You know anything about the harmonica? I was just going to ask, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 00:08:55 The harmonica it's, it's sort of like a Reed instrument on four, but they use metal reeds. So each little Tang is cut to a certain length in that. And it basically quivers. And that's what proves is a tone.
Speaker 0 00:09:11 I keep asking people when they come in, cause I do want to pick up the harmonica. Like I have a nice harmonica to start playing. I've watched a few videos. I need a teacher to teach me. And like Mike Allen was here a little while ago and he gave me some online, uh, literature and books and videos that you could get. But I need somebody to hold me accountable. So everybody who plays instruments in this community, I know it's not you, but I'm putting a bug in your ear. If you ever find anybody who's willing to teach harmonica lessons, keep me in mind.
Speaker 2 00:09:41 Well, you can't, uh, nowadays, uh, one of the great attributes of computers and that is you can get lessons from some of the best people in the world on how to play the harmonica over Skype.
Speaker 0 00:09:52 Oh, that's not a bad
Speaker 2 00:09:54 Idea video. And they'll actually watch your technique and you can book your time with them. And it's much cheaper than in person because they have much more students. So that is a carer for your guests to walk there and you get, and you can get that on any instruments and by some amazing artists and teachers, and there are differences.
Speaker 0 00:10:16 That's all I'm going to. That is an out of the box idea. That's why I keep bringing it up. I feel if you talk about something, people come with different ideas. That's not a bad one in regards to like Skyping. Cause it's, I just need somebody to hold me accountable.
Speaker 2 00:10:28 Well, you know, you need something to practice too. So one of the apps that are out there is an app called I real pro. Okay. And it's, uh, iPhone based, but you can get it for Android. It has all the backing tracks. You can change, whatever key you want. You can slow down the tempo, speed up the temple. You have almost ultimate control. You can also put how many times. Yeah. So when you talk about the harmonica, you're typically talking, playing blues, right? So there are certain keys that they have. And a good cheat is to use a, a harmonica that's built in the S in the same key. And you'll a lot of times see harmonica players with a belt and they have all the different keys. Now. Now for the rare gifted ones, there is a chromatic, a heart mouth harp, and that plays like any other instruments. I actually played a gig where the chromatic harmonica player was the lead instrument. Super cool. Super cool little town called coronation.
Speaker 0 00:11:30 Okay. You've given me something to look into now. Now we're at the part of the show called the Mac CD minute. This is Tanner segment. He's going to ask you some questions. I have no idea what he's going to ask you. So I wish you nothing but the best of luck, Tanner hidden with the max 80 minute.
Speaker 3 00:11:42 Alrighty, question. Number one. What is the biggest change you've seen in Fort McMurray since you got here?
Speaker 2 00:11:49 Probably the attitude. Um, when I first got to this city, there was 30,000 people. We seen that grow to over 140. We've seen it come down, but a lot of times what we've seen is the attitudes and some of the people that have come, um, we were always a very working community and that, and, um, very, very friendly. I was small town field. We've got a bit more of a big city feel. Now. Obviously we attracted a lot of, a lot of professionals in this city and that's changed some of the attitudes a little bit. And, um, some for the better, some for the worse. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:12:26 There we go. Alrighty. Question number two. What do you think is the most underrated menu item at Mr. Mike's?
Speaker 2 00:12:35 Um, that's a darn good question. Uh, cause our menu changes, I would say underrated. I think people, um, don't understand that our bruschetta is very different than almost any other place. We have a couple of toppings on there that make bruschetta not just a tomato taste, but it has a taste and flavor all of its own and people rave about it. So if you've never tried a Mr. Mike bruschetta, I guarantee it it'll be different than almost any other place you've ever tried.
Speaker 3 00:13:08 Interesting. Question number three. What is your favorite song to play on the many instruments? You know,
Speaker 2 00:13:16 Uh, hotel California. Oh, I play that with, uh, uh, Dan, um, Danny Tolkien and um, in that and free form with Dan Gillies, Dan Gillies, and I will do some jazz sets and all that, and he will lay down a rift and we will just free form, uh, five minutes worth of improvisation. Nice
Speaker 3 00:13:39 Question. Number four. What is your favorite instrument to repair?
Speaker 2 00:13:45 Well, the one I've made the most money off of is the saxophone. Um, I enjoy the flute. The flute is basically one-on-one, it's a chess game of, of thousands and of a, of an inch, uh, accuracy to get a flute working as perfect as it can requires patience, uh, concentration focus, uh, and the ability to get there.
Speaker 3 00:14:15 And your final question, what is one thing that drives you to running a local business,
Speaker 2 00:14:22 I guess, care for this community? Um, I did an awful lot of networking in this city and one of the things I've found out is although the food was good everywhere I ate, it was almost all the same. There was niche and there was about four or five things that you would gravitate to every time you went there, if you eat out an awful lot, four or five things at the same places, get a little boring, we wanted something with a little bit difference. And so that's what Mr. Mike's menu ended up being. And those have been your five questions. One of the thank you.
Speaker 0 00:14:55 So my question is now talking about Mr. Mix, and it's funny that that's how we ended up. How did you find yourself in the restaurant business, out of all these different career paths that you've had? That's seems further from musical instrument repairs, you can get,
Speaker 2 00:15:11 Well, thinking back, I think it's probably a little bit of brain damage, but, um, honestly it was, you know, our group was looking for, for something. Once we left Ghana there's, uh, our group consists of there's five of us, um, and myself and another gentleman named Mike as well are the two main shareholders. Uh, we were looking for something that would generate profit for us for when we retired that we would have income. So we wouldn't just be spending our, our retirement funds that it would actually allow us the freedom to enjoy that retirement. So, you know, we still hope to get there. You know, we were probably about six months away. Had we seen what was developing that we would have never, ever got into it, but we're here, we're survivors, we're fighting hard to be there. And hopefully this next challenge, which starts today, uh, will allow us to continue as well.
Speaker 0 00:16:11 There we go. So being a small business owner over the last few months or year, must've been challenging, what have you guys done? That's you find a little bit more innovative in your industry to help you guys fight and survive?
Speaker 2 00:16:23 Well, we've looked at efficiencies, so we've tried to nail down the efficiencies as much as possible. Um, we've tried to, uh, staff with staff that understand the training that can, can handle the most, uh, staffing almost killed us in the first year, but we learnt an awful lot of lessons on there, but we learned our food costs. Uh, and actually surprisingly we found, uh, on a, on a few items, we were able to, uh, save significant savings by shopping local. Okay, here we go. And give a much fresher product.
Speaker 0 00:17:00 That's awesome. All right, my man. Well, that's the end of the show. That's 20 minutes. It flies at the end of the show though. Everybody's gets a shameless plug. So plug, so see what you got.
Speaker 2 00:17:14 Hey, welcome to Mr. Mix. We've had a great time talking here today and we wish you all the best and hope you come down to Mr. Mike's. Give us a shout. We'd love to see ya. And so what our servers remember, we're doing this to help our servers provide for their families and provide for all of you. Thank you, Mr. Mike, stay coasts 80.
Speaker 0 00:17:37 So I love that. All right. Well, my man, like I said, 20 minutes had flies. Um, please, please, please feel free to come back as many times as you want. We've only scratched the surface of who you are and the stories you have. So the door's always open. Afraid. There you go. So please come back. Um, everybody at home, once again, thank you very much for watching. It does mean the world. To me, that's been another episode of the Mac city morning show. Hopefully you're having a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
