My Room’s a Mess-Q&A
The My Room’s a Mess Podcast was started by two best friends, Chelsea natives, Victor Rodriguez and Jason Mendez in the summer of 2019. The podcast metaphorically applies the idea of a “messy room” to cover topics that can range from local politics to educational science. Once a week, Vic and Jason will invite a guest to come onto their show and speak about life, their goals, or anything else. Some notable guests include artist Aaron Garcia, La Gente’s Dennys Hernandez, and Kliq’s very own, Javier Villeda. The podcast has made great strides in recognizing the rising talent, in all fields, of Chelsea and surrounding areas.
Johnny Dube: What were your childhoods like in Chelsea? where would you hang around?
Vic: Growing up in Chelsea I moved around 11 separate times just in Chelsea and I made so many friends and connections. I feel like I connected with the city and I knew my way around. I have no complaints. I love my city. We used to hang around at the complex, the high school, and on Spencer ave., playing manhunt.
Jason: I lived in Chelsea my whole life, up until I turned 15. I loved the city so much and had so many friends, I couldn’t leave Chelsea High and would take that troop everyday. The city always had the image of being bad and even had someone get shot in front of my crib, but it still felt beautiful and I learned so much from it. Without Chelsea I could not be the individual I am today. I would hangout with Vic at the complex, Chelsea High, and Spencer ave. Playing manhunt.
JD: How did you two meet each other?
Both: We met the summer before 8th grade on Green St., the street that connects Broadway where Jason lived and Spencer where Vic lived. We had mutual friends that lived on the same street too and it was kinda like “You're boys with him? Aight you’re cool” and that’s all she wrote. We’ve been friends ever since and it’s not even friends at this point, we’re family, we’re brothers.
JD: How did you guys get the idea to start a podcast? and how has that changed your friendship?
Vic: I had had the idea of creating a podcast for a long time because I loved people like David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Joe Rogan. So one day, I was amped after work and mad at myself because I felt I wasn’t doing anything in my life. So I started thinking of “Why the fuck have I not started a podcast. Alright Ima do this shit.” So then, I thought of the person that thinks most opposite of me and that’s my boy J. Then I hit up Jason. Then we got it rolling.
Jason: Our friendship has gotten even stronger and now we have daily podcasts that are unreleased, on the phone about everything and anything. And now we know how to piss each other off, just for laughs. We literally get each other mad on a daily basis just to make ourselves laugh.
JD: How do you select your guests? And which one(s) have been the most memorable?
Vic: We are always on social media looking for people that are doing something cool, going hard on some business or just seem cool to talk to. We have a saying “Support Supports Support” and that means if I support you and you support me we can help each other to success and we take that as word. When we have a guest on we want to highlight the cool shit they’re doing, so others can hear about it. But at the end of the day it’s just a conversation between some people which I think adds a chill dynamic.
Jason: I would say every conversation is memorable because everyone we have is super cool and passionate about the things that they do. Juan Juarado was definitely one that stood out for me because he came with the philosophy and that's a soft spot for me. We had a crazy conversation that I think anyone could enjoy listening to, but if they don’t I sure do lol.
JD: As an interviewer myself, I have learned a lot from people I have worked with, what have been some important lessons you guys have learned?
Both: What’s awesome about what we do is that we just talk to anybody, and you learn from everybody. I’ve learned a lot of stuff like DJing, making music, being a teacher, starting a restaurant, being a firefighter, barbering, God, being a scientist, politics, fitness, business, psychology, starting a clothing brand and a bunch of other stuff. I think when we had Javi from Kliq on we really learned the importance of being true to yourself. There is no need to hide your true self because if someone likes you and you’re being yourself, then you feel great talking to them.
JD: How has COVID-19 affected podcast operations?
Both: Honestly it has made it super easy. For example, we recently had Raven Baxter AKA Raven the Science Maven come on the show and she is not from Massachusetts. That would not have been possible if COVID didn’t make it so that everyone is on Zoom. Honestly, I had never even heard of Zoom before COVID came along. If we're getting nitty gritty, I think the little delay that all technology has during voice calls makes it so that sometimes we stammer over each other, which sometimes ruins the flow of the conversation. I can’t wait until we’re back in person and can read body language and stuff.
JD: Do you guys have any plans for expanding the podcast, or any other big plans?
Vic: Boy oh boy. Mannnnnnnn we got some plans. Picture how Disney owns TV and Movies, we want to own all types of media. We would love to expand and be more than just a podcast and have it be more than just us. We’ve been open to having people that would like to start podcasts come to us and do shows with My Room’s a Mess. I think if we can get a good following on our own we can leverage a move away from just our show to a bunch of them and about a bunch of different topics. The industry for podcasts is constantly growing and there is so much you can learn from podcasts, if we can hop on the wave and put some people on at the same time that shit would be awesome. Obviously we would love for the guest to get bigger too, Like if we had Drake on….. Bro that would be crazy. Although we would never lose our roots, cause without all the awesome people we’ve already had, we could not be what we are today.
Jason: My ultimate goal is to have “My Room’s a Mess” be a feeling. Like whenever you naturally think to yourself, “Damn, my room’s a mess”, you think of us and smile. That shit would be awesome. I do it like once a week and I laugh when it happens.
Follow My Room’s a Mess on Instagram!! @ourmessyrooms
You can find all of their episodes on all podcast streaming services, including Apple Podcasts
