Ah, things getting blown up. It never really gets old does it? As much fun as it is for the regular D.I.Y. geek dad to do, can you really make a career out of it? Sure, why not? Special effects on movies, the numerous shows on the Discovery Channel focusing on destroying things and so on. We're a destructive society. We like to build it so we can bash it down. Don't be ashamed, it's a basic human instinct. The instinct to destroy. Some of us are better at holding it in than others though. However, I wanted to talk to a couple people who don't have to.
So I set up an interview with Mike Senese and Zach Selwyn, hosts of the new Science Channel show Catch It Keep It which I previewed in an earlier post. While this interview is a great way of promoting the show, Mike and Zach are self made D.I.Y. geeks and stand on their own without a brand new show to carry them forward, although that helps.
Mike Senese grew up a science freak with a slight skateboarding addiction that led to building and destroying things at a young age. Eventually Mike ended up at Wired magazine in San Francisco (yes, this Wired magazine) where he worked events and played the interview circuit, trading words with such intellectual and influential folks like Richard Saul Wurman & Diana Eng. After Wired, Mike worked at ReadyMade magazine, where he designed products for the aptly named "Product Department." This led to his eventual casting on The Rock and Roll Acid Test on Fuse TV (he was the guy with the badass mustache), which led to his current role as "engineer of destruction" on Catch It Keep It. Mike has worked on everything from remote control cars to robotics, even restoring a 39-foot, 26 ton 1963 caboose.
Zach Selwyn meanwhile, is an actor/singer-songwriter and the host of Catch It Keep It along with the aforementioned Mike Senese. Zach recorded the theme music for the show and has released five CDs with his band "Zachariah and the Lobos Riders." He is also currently the host of Fanarchy on Versus. Though you might remember him best for his time on Attack of the Show on the G4 network, or possibly from the first season of ESPN's Dream Job. He was the guy in the leisure suit.
I recently sat down (via the magic of the internet) with the Science Channel's new "engineers of destruction" to chat a little about their love of smashing things, music and mustaches.
GeekDad: On your new show, Catch It Keep It you guys get the opportunity to destroy some pretty nice stuff. Metaphorically, how was that for you?
Mike Senese: You haven't lived until you've built a deathtrap that would destroy a year's supply of beer in a second flat. Metaphorically? The prizes that didn't survive are like salmon jumping into the mouth of a bear as we all return upstream to spawn anew.
Zach Selwyn: At first I was a little timid to smash anything - BUT Once you throw an old TV 80 feet to the concrete ground and watch it smash into 35 million pieces, you realize that breaking stuff is quite therapeutic. I felt like Joe Walsh in a hotel room in 1977.
GD: Mike, in a sense you've done this type of thing before on The Rock n' Roll Acid Test. Are you afraid of getting type-cast as the guy who likes to destroy things?
Mike: Afraid? I've spent my whole life trying to get here!
GD: Aside from the items you get to destroy on the show, what are some things sitting in people's homes you wouldn't mind destroying? Keep in mind, anything bought at Sharper Image is automatically on that list.
Mike: Porcelain dolls. I've had a lifelong hatred for them, and they have a satisfying sound when smashed. Also, negative attitudes. They suck. And I've always wanted to see a propane fuel tank blow up an entire house.
Zach: I don't like people who have a tepee in their house. I think they should remain outside. And walls. Walls are totally overrated.
GD: Mike, tell us a little about your passion for D.I.Y. Tech and photography and how the two mesh in your life.
Mike: Even with all the conveniences that we're presented with today, some things still need to be home-built. Like aerial kite photography rigs. Or decent-quality RC vehicle-mounted camera setups. Or motorized tripods for incredible, slow time-lapse pan shots.
GD: Growing up, how often did your action figures find themselves duct taped to half a pound of explosives in the middle of the street?
Mike: I've actually always been meticulous about my action figures - I still have all of their packaging saved safely. But growing up I would design and build models of buildings and castles to destroy with soda bottle bombs. Somehow, the cops only showed up once.
Zach: In Tucson, I grew up in the desert, so we only got to play Star Wars in Tatooine... That being said, magnifying glasses and 108 degree sun made for excellent torture devices on my Tuscan Raiders...
GD: Mike, you founded a record label. Zach, you're a musician. Obviously you both are into music. Speak a little about that and any upcoming projects, releases, tours, etc.
Mike: My pal Eric (the creative director of Creative Commons) and I started our label Sneakmove when we were both working at Wired, as a way to promote cool new music we wanted to hear more of. We've released a series of 7" vinyl compilations featuring great acts from around the globe, plus CDs, digital releases and an awesome Stephen Colbert t-shirt which sold out of all three runs immediately. The proceeds from that went to savedarfur.org.
Zach: Well hell, my band is a unique blend of outlaw country and hip-hop. We play all around the West Coast, and occasionally east and worldwide. In L.A., we're at Genghis Cohen for an acoustic night on the 30th, Cafe Cordiale on August 5th and at Hotel Cafe in late August. Then Halifax, Nova Scotia in September. BUT - I have a new video for the Netgear Powerline premiering in a week or so. A new video game/rap song I wrote and produced. My brother directed the video. I'm also making a new country record as we speak, tentatively titled "DUST." I'd love to make it on CMT, but I'm not as sexy as Julianna Hough.
GD: Zach, besides the music, you tried out to be an anchor for ESPN's Dream Job and ultimately, was the second loser coming in third. Would it really have been a dream job? Do you regret not cutting your hair and ditching the leisure suit? (Yes, I watched it and remember.)
Zach: "Second Loser, coming in third?" Sweet. That was an incredible experiment that changed the entire direction of my life. It led me down a great career path and I don’t regret anything. If anything, cutting my hair was like any actor cutting his hair for a role - you gotta look the part. Still, I'm now hosting Fanarchy on Versus so I struck a weird sports fan chord somewhere! ESPN will always have a great place in my heart and I hope to be back on the network - when I'm 55 and sober.
GD: Speaking about not being sober, Zach, you've done some goofy (and hilarious) bits in your time on Attack of the Show. Any amusing behind the scenes type anecdotes you'd like to share?
Zach: Well, let's see. Chris Gore and I were thrown out of the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego for drinking and turning our rooms into a dual party suite. Then, I got arrested for making my bed a WATER bed with 15 buckets of pool water... Bad idea. Kevin Pereira and I got so drunk in Japan, I vomited in a Starbucks at 6 in the morning. Olivia Munn and I had a torrid love affair until the network made us cut it off - and one time in Osaka, Japan Wil O'Neal and I were politely told to leave a restaurant by actual YAKUZA gangsters because we were so unruly and wasted. This after sake, bento boxes, and the best sushi I have ever had in my entire life with Vinnie Rutherford. Oh, and Seth Rogen is a fan of the show, and until this day, when we see each other, he congratulates ME on my awesome career. I'm like, "DUDE! You're a freaking MOVIE STAR with the best career EVER! Why do you care about my life??" And then we hang out and laugh a lot.
GD: That certainly sounds like the rock n' roll lifestyle. So besides Seth Rogen, better wingman - Keith Olbermann or Adam Sessler?
Zach: Sessler is a mack, gotta give it up, but Olbermann is a sports casting legend. Plus, he used to have a "Mike Senese" mustache so I'll give it to Keith. (For the record, KARL RAVICH has mad game...)
GD: Mike, that is a mean looking mustache. Was that grown naturally or through sheer willpower?
Mike: It's not a real mustache. It's a very, very expensive tattoo.
GD: Guys, thanks for your time. Any tips for the kids out there and D.I.Y. dads looking to intentionally trap their valued possessions with the threat of destruction then build something to save them?
Mike: Two words: contingency plan. You always want to cover your ass.
Zach: Yes. Stop doing that and spend more time with your kids.
Be sure to watch Catch It Keep It on the Science Channel and catch Zach Selwyn as he hosts Fanarchy on Versus!
Links:
Zach's YouTube channel
Sneakmove.com
The Science Channel
Fanarchy at Versus
Mike's Project Page
Follow Zach on Twitter
Follow Mike on Twitter
