Our Talk With Jonathan Larroquette and Seth Romatelli from Uhh Yeah Dude (UYD)

I first learned of the Uhh Yeah Dude (UYD) podcast a little over a year ago via another podcast that I no longer listen to. I was intrigued with the way these fellows spoke, interacted and thought. I decided to subscribe to their podcast through iTunes and since then the Monday train ride home from work is filled with amusement, laughter, and the comfort in knowing you are not alone in a world that seems to be steadily sinking into madness and stupidity. Jonathan Larroquette and Seth Romatelli, though I never met them remind me of the friends that I love sitting at the bar and talking to for hours on end without ever getting bored, rolling my eyes at their stupidity, or wanting to pick up my phone in search of someone better to talk to.

I have wanted to interview these guys for quite some time, and I was finally able to get a hold of them, via the phone number they give out on their podcast and website...who would've thunk it.

SYFFAL: Is the chemistry between the two of you simply a miracle of nature, or do you build it through trust exercises and long walks in the park?

Uhh Yeah Dude (Jonathan Larroquette): Actually, we are biological brothers. Seth is 18 months older than I am. At this time we don't feel comfortable divulging the exact details of our biological lineage. But we will say John Larroquette is the father of Jonathan and Marcia Romatelli is the mother of Seth.

SYFFAL: I first learned of you show from the Jordan Jesse Go Podcast. Being that they are a two man team and you are a two man team, who would win in a tag team match for WWE Tag Team championship of the world and what would be your "Road Warriors/Bushwhackers" style gimmick?

UYD: We were trained by the Von Erich family. I am not exactly sure about the differences in rules and regulations between the WWE and TNA, but we think we could adapt, adjust and be just fine. By just fine we mean destroy anyone. The notion of a gimmick concerning the training of our bodies for battle is insulting. However you had no way of knowing who we have been working with for the last quarter century so "no harm, no foul".

SYFFAL: How much editing is done to "cut the fat" from your episodes, or is the final product an unadulterated conversation of Uhh Yeah Dude?

UYD (Jonathan Larroquette): We don't edit. The show starts and then it stops and then it goes up. Then you listen to it. And Seth has lost about 40 pounds on P90X so don't mention "fat". The only bad thing is he is constantly crossing his arms and yelling X!

SYFFAL: I often find myself nodding in agreement while laughing maniacally on the subway when I listen too you, because obviously you guys speak for a large contingent of people who find this whole shit absurd and completely fucked. How does it feel to be the voice of a generation, and on a scale of one to ten how much do you relate to Bob Dylan because of it?

UYD: I think you might be confusing us with FRANGELA.

SYFFAL: So exactly how fucked are we? My girlfriend thinks we are Rome A.D fucked, I think we are more Idiocracy level fucked, is it somewhere in that window? or worse?

UYD (Seth Romatelli): It all comes out in the wash. Hakuna Matata. Wood grain grippin'. Right?

UYD (Jonathan Larroquette): Fucked? Trapped more like. Have you ever seen The Matrix? It's pretty much like that except there are aliens involved too. And god and stuff. There are massive spiritual wars being waged currently here and elsewhere in the time-space. We have been spared thus far but our inter-dimensional counterparts have not. We feel that galactic crunch inside us even though we don't fully understand it yet. That constant steady hum. By the time we do we will all be vapors again. Puked back out into the emptiness of space. Carrying all of the necessary ingredients for it to begin again. It doesn't stop because it never began.

SYFFAL: How long until Access Hollywood replaces traditional news, or has that already happened and when will Billy Bush be our president?

UYD: We still can't believe the motherfuckers at E! cancelled the Daily 10. Catt Sadler, the 45th President of the United States. Vice President Menounos.

SYFFAL: Seth, since you live a life of self-imposed restraint, choose between these two indulgent options:

a. A consequence-free 72 hour binge of alcohol/drugs/sex/energy drinks.
b. One weekend per month for the rest of your life in which you get to drink yourself silly, but you have to deal with hangovers.

UYD (Seth Romatelli): Run a bath. Light some votives, and eat 2 pills of ecstasy. Shhhh, don't tell.

SYFFAL: Jonathan, being that in your younger days you were a poet in the past can you please answer the following in the form of a haiku - Religion vs. Science who wins?

UYD (Jonathan Larroquette):

I gave up Haiku
for Lent. Science wins because
she fights so dirty.

SYFFAL: You guys have a reoccurring segment where you read celebrity twitter accounts, which celebrity stands out to you as the most amusing, most bat shit crazy, and most inspiring?

UYD: Michael "Mike" Ironside. William "Bill" Forsythe. Clancy "Carl" Brown. Not necessarily in that order.

SYFFAL: You reference hip hop acts, hip hop slang, and occasionally use hip hop as intro and outros, most recently the great "Chez Chez Le Ghost" are you guys big hip hop heads?

UYD: We both share a deep love and appreciation for all of the urban arts.

SYFFAL: Do you guys have any upcoming live shows? Please tell me you are coming to nyc again.

UYD: We are doing several live dates in January 2011. 01-03 IBIZA, 01-05 Qatar, 01-10 Zurich, 01-12 Turkmenistan, 01-16 Dharamsala, 01-19 Addis Ababa, 01-24 Roanoke. We always close it out back in America.

SYFFAL: Do you guys plan to keep running with the podcast until Seth's residual cream from Crossroads dries up?

UYD (Seth Romatelli): Dries up? Have you heard something? Did Jesse Camp tell you something? We are currently in pre pre production on a sequel. Right now we only have Anson Mount attached but we have had several productive meetings with Zoe, Taryn, and Britney. The story would pick up in current day. Britney and Anson's characters are going through a painful divorce and fighting over custody of their son Randolph.

SYFFAL: Subquestion - Shouldn't Steve Vai and Ralph Macchio be pissed that Brittney jacked the title of their movie?

UYD: I think you meant to say Eric Clapton and Ry Cooder. Ralph Macchio passed away earlier this year. Look for his angelic face during an end of the year farewell montage. Goodnight sweet prince.

SYFFAL: What kind of prep goes into the show?

UYD: NYC PREP

SYFFAL: How do you feel your upbringing has helped you to see the world differently than what it seems like the majority of Americans do? And do you feel that this inability to blind yourself with the idiotic and absurd nature of our world is a blessing or a curse?

UYD: The combination of "latch-key kid" and "lot kid" has given birth to UHH YEAH DUDE. Our primary interest is the similarities we share with the listeners not the differences in a majority. We are here to build things up, not tear them down.

For all things (UYD) visit the Uhh Yeah Dude website.