The key components to building any successful brand is to have passion, fun, and a whole lot of patience when seeing your dreams become reality. This is exactly how UK leading podcast 3 Shots of Tequila have stapled their blueprint within the industry, showcasing their talents to the masses in such an organic way.
Effortless in creating captivating content for listeners, Marvin Abbey, Keith Dube and Tazer Black have been a cornerstone in the creative community and have gone from strength-to-strength over the last decade. Becoming the UK’s first podcast to be signed to Spotify was the pinnacle at the time, this achievement can now be seen as a stepping-stone with the trio excelling onto setting new boundaries.
Whilst already sustaining longevity within the creative industry, business ventures have been built to add further success. Keith Dube is prepared for a memorable second half to the year, welcoming customers to the finest of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine at new restaurant Contigo. A pocket in the voice-over market has been filled by Marvin, whilst Tazer has built 2023’s event of the summer with RnB & Slow Jams.
With stocks rising alongside compiling a catalogue that sits on over 30 live shows across Europe, all three men have grown accustomed to thinking “What’s next?”. August 19th will see 3 Shots of Tequila go live at the iconic 02 Indigo and North Greenwich will be set alight as the ever-growing podcast meets its audience in SE10.
Many talented guests have entered the hallowed doors of 3 Shots of Tequila, but the trio believe their best content comes in the form of their own relationship which is evident to see when entering the podcast studio.
As we sit down with Marvin, Keith and Tazer, the conversation flows from the come-up of 3 shots, August’s live performance at 02 Indigo, business ventures and much, much more!
What inspired you guys to get into podcasting and how did you come up with the famous name 3 Shots of Tequila?
Keith: “I think in terms of coming up with the podcast, we’ve all had radio backgrounds and we thought “What’s the next step for us?”. We came together and that’s how the podcast was born essentially. The name, that’s a fun story. Tazer drank tequila and called himself “Tequila Taze” and I thought to myself “We are like a shot of tequila” – you either like it or you don’t like it! It was an ambiguous name; we were conscious that the fact we are three black guys. People expect a certain thing from you so we wanted to make it as not polarising as possible, so when people come across it, they wonder “3 Shots of Tequila, what could this be?” When they listen, their either going to like it or not, but we didn’t want people to pre-judge us because we’re three black guys. We didn’t want to call it anything that lets you know. The title is a conversation starter!“
What does a typical day look like being a part of 3 Shots of Tequila?
Tazer: “Let’s say Tuesday for example, I wake up and pay attention to the socials so I know what I’m coming inside the studio to talk about. I make notes, go to the gym, eat, chill, go to the studio then we record for about 2-3 hours then home time!“
Keith: “Minimum 90 minutes which would be a short episode”.
Marvin: “We split it into two, so two-hour episodes”.
Ahead of an episode, how do you go about what topics you want to discuss? Is it trending news? A topic you know listeners would be interested in? Life experiences you have gone through?
Marvin: “It’s a mixture, if something mad has happened on socials and everyone’s talking about, we’ll speak on that. We might record in advance, so we don’t miss something big. We like to make our episodes about trending topics. If Tazer is going to Bali we might speak about that, or if something mad has happened to me we’ll speak about that”.
Tazer: “Essentially, it’s like therapy, a diary, our thoughts on what’s happening in the world. A combination of all the above”.
Aside from yourselves, which other podcasts do you enjoy listening to?
Tazer: HC Pod – Chuckie and Poet, Filthy Fellas, Joe Budden, No Behaviour. All the mandem!
19th August will see you guys perform live at the Indigo, 02 (The Lock-In). How are you feeling ahead of this performance?
Keith: “For me, I’m excited because we have not done a show since November 2021. Our first show after quite a while so for me, I’m getting tingles and excited to be back on stage!“
Tazer: “I’m excited to just be back in front of the audience again”.
Marvin: “He loves it”.
Tazer: “It’s fun!”
How is everyone when it comes to live shows?
Marvin: “I just don’t think about it until the day. When we have discussions about the running and ideas, then I will get more involved. Day-to-day I don’t think about it. When the moment comes, you just have to live for the moment. The beauty of it is, I can go quiet and Keith or Tazer takes over. Someone will always fill the void if there is a void”.
What is the biggest difference you find when taking on a show in the studio opposed to a live audience?
Keith: “For me, I think it is the crowd. It will take you a while to figure out what crowd you have. A rapper can go on stage and he has his set already, for us, everything is off the cuff. You can speak to a crowd and know there not receptive to some topics. When we’re in the studio, we’re not thinking real time, but in that moment, you have to cater to who’s in that room and figure out who you have in that room. The biggest difference is figuring out who is in front of you that day. Different cities have different reactions”.
Marvin: “The thing is most people at the place know us. If we were to go in a room where no one knows us, we’re going in blind”.
Keith: “We’ve done that once in Barcelona!“
Marvin: “Hella Americans from Memphis!“
Keith: “They was looking at us like “Who’s man is this””.
Knowing there is a live audience, do you change your material to make it more interactive and engaging for fans?
Tazer: “Not really because we’ve told stories so many times, we’ve mastered the art of telling stories and realising our punchlines. We’re not thinking about it’s not written and its off the dome. When we tell stories, it’s sick! To the average listener they might think it’s too sick to be true so overtime we’ve mastered the art of storytelling”.
Marvin: “Because we’ve been doing bigger shows, it’s hard. When we used to do smaller shows, the audience was right in front of us so we could jump down. At Royal Albert Hall, if you jump down you might twist your ankle! Sometimes there’s a disconnect with the audience but they understand they’re not going to be as close”.
Keith: “It sounds crazy, like I love the big shows we do, but I prefer the smallest shows. My favourite ever show was in Birmingham where we were sitting on top of the bar and the crowd was right there. You can control the crowd so well and you feel like you’re connected to every single person”.
Longevity is key in any career and finding multiple avenues brings in more success, so let’s talk on how you built other business ventures?
Tazer: “With getting into events, I did a party in my Mum’s house and it was lit. Some of the girls and guys there I’m still friends with today. I linked up with one of my boys and said let’s start making this a thing. I did another house party in Willesden at some girls flat, I gave her £80 to go raving and use the flat. I charged a pound of the door with mandem running the door. The morning after, I’ve gone to count the kitty and there was £329. People started paying £5, £10. That’s when it clicked for me, and I started to do events. That’s when Faded was born”.
What made you choose the theme RnB &Slow Jams, and did you expect it to take off as much as it has?
Tazer: “I didn’t expect this to take off the way it is. I wanted to do that because I felt like it’s a genre that’s went missing. When we used to go raving, there used to be 15-20 minutes to wind down the rave now it’s Asake to the last drop! I listen to R&B in my spare time, so I thought is this something that could pop in a venue? One time, I went on Chuckie’s podcast and said let’s do it! We have a mutual friend who’s a promoter and he’s been saying to Chuckie “You and Tazer link up”. During COVID, we did the first one and about 200 people showed up. The night popped off and then we went to Amazing Grace and it’s grew to where we are now. We’ve announced Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Dublin!“
Keith – How rewarding was it to release a book?
Keith: “It was rewarding and painful at the same time as I had to pull the book because I had so many issues with PayPal at the time. I moved to Australia for a bit and I had a lot time on my hands, my life was changing and I was thinking “what am I going to do with all this time?”, I ended up writing a book! I came back to the UK and released the book and what happened with PayPal, I sold a lot more copies than I expected and I ended up getting flagged. There is so many rules and they froze the funds. In 10 days, I sold 1100 copies. In 2016, my following was next to nothing and I had all these books to send out, but I don’t have the money to print the books! I ended up having to pull it back at the time, but its one of the best things I did. I’m re-releasing next year and I feel like it’s more relevant now”.
You’re also looking to open a restaurant. Could you tell us a bit more about Contigo?
Keith: “Contigo is a restaurant that I’m opening closer to the end of this year. It’s a Japanese/Peruvian restaurant opening on The Strand. The way the restaurant came about was I originally wanted to open a tequila bar, then I thought to myself, rules that surround clubs and bars are stress! If you throw some food in there, councils will be more relaxed and that’s how I got into the restaurant space. My initial idea was to have a Mexican restaurant but unless it’s super gourmet, it’s difficult to get people in the UK to get into Mexican cuisine. I then looked into Japanese/Peruvian. Whenever I say Japanese and Peruvian, most people thought I took both and out them together. At the end of World War 2, Japanese people migrated from Japan to South America, and Peru was the first place to accept Japanese migrants. They wanted to continue eating Japanese food but didn’t have the same ingredients, so they started cooking their food with Peruvian ingredients. So, it’s got a little more flavour and colour. When you go to SUSHISAMBA and Koya that’s Japanese and Peruvian. I attached the tequila to the South American side of the restaurant, so in the next three to five years, we want to have the biggest South American drink collection I London. This podcast is one of the inspirations for that restaurant. It’s taken a couple years to get here and developed to something totally different, but that’s how it’s came about! The back of the restaurant is Japanese, the front of the restaurant is South American, so it’s a journey from Tokyo to Lima!“
Marvin – Could you tell us more about your voice over work?
Marvin: “That’s something I always used to do with reels. One in particular was in the gym where I didn’t know the name of the set, so I called it the “John Wick!”. One of Tazer’s guys then said “You should get into voice over work, the voice you have people will he interested to hear what you have to say”. I’ve always had girls say they like my voice! I then went to a place in West End and done a voice over recording”.
Do you find it similar to doing podcast recordings?
Marvin: “Voice overs are so hard to do. It’s mad because when I do it here, I find it difficult, when I’m at home, I find it easier. That’s why I rate actors that do Disney and films. They’re in a studio with a TV screen in front of them, and they have to get into character and make you believe how they’re talking is them. When you’re doing voice overs, they say dance! When you’re reading a line, if you move side to side you can read it better”.
As a trio, how do you go about making it to that next level and showcasing yourself to the rest of Europe?
Keith: “I think that’s something we’re working on now. I think with the shows we’ve done before, we can adapt quickly and that’s a superpower that we have. We get thrown in the deep end with a crowd you’ve never seen before, and we just have to make it happen. We are very adaptable and that makes it possible for us to be anywhere”.
Marvin: “We have fans in Europe already. We got quite a fanbase in Sweden. It might be about tapping into places that we know we have a fanbase and building from there. I wouldn’t just go to Poland and say “Yo, 3 Shots live”. It’s for us to go to places where we have fan bases and grow it from there”.
Who are your current go-to artist on your playlist?
Keith: “For me, who I’m listening to now is Central Cee and Dave! It caught me off guard because it’s not someone I was listening to. I’m also excited for J Hus. Nines project I really enjoyed”.
Marvin: “At the moment, I’m listening to Clavish, ‘Purple Hearts’ (Youngs Teflon and Tiny Boost) and Central Cee. I take in projects. It depends on my mood and where I am”.
Tazer: “When I get in my car, who I’m rotating the most would be K-Trap, Rimzee and Nines. That’s my top three for now. We was spinning K-Trap in Cancun. Over time they were like “We don’t know what he’s saying, but the way you lot are hyping, it’s a vibe!”“
Marvin: “Can’t forget Potter Payper and Fredo. In terms of freestyles, anytime he drops, Fredo hits home. In terms of UK, Fredo is up there for me”.
Tazer: “I think Fredo is most improved”.
After Dave and Central Cee released ‘Split Decisions’, who in the UK would you want to see collaborate for a joint project?
Tazer: “Apparently they got one, but Nines and Fredo!”
Keith: “The one I thought was Dave and Cench. It’s crazy that came out because Central Cee wasn’t really collaborating!”
Marvin: “I thought it was just one tune! I found out late, then I listened to “UK Rap” and that’s cold!”
Tazer: “The way they’re dominating the charts is just rude!“
Marvin: “K-Trap and Blade Brown, that was a combo which I think we needed to hear. When Asco comes out, if he was to do something with Fredo, that would be cold. Ghetts and Kano would be cold. You know what’s sad? I feel like Kojo and Hus would have been a sick collab. Musically, the melodies and style they create would be sick”.
Keith: “I feel like that’s where it wouldn’t work because they do the same thing. With singers you’re fighting to do the same. Hus when it comes to hooks, I don’t think many would touch him!“
Marvin: “I also think Stormzy and Dave would be a cold collab just off “Clash” alone. I think if them two came together, where they’re bredrins, it would work. It makes sense”.
Who in the group has the most potential to be a music artist?
Tazer: “Keith, he used to be a rapper!“
Keith: “Get out of here! Like you wasn’t making music as well”.
Tazer: “You was rapping, I was on Grime!“
Marvin: “It would be me, I can sing”.
Tazer: “Sing at the 02! Me and Keith will take a step back and the stage is yours bro! remember he said that. Look forward to his solo performance at the 02!“
Marvin: “Michael Jackson – ‘She’s Out Of My Life’“
Tazer: “Make sure you wear a low V-Neck as well!“
What has been your most enjoyable episode to date and which guest has given you the best conversation?
Keith: “Dwayne Chambers for me. Very open conversation and I still get people today talking about the episode. This was one of the first places he got to properly open up. The content of the conversation was great”.
Tazer: “Do you know what? My favourite episode is when it’s just us three”.
Marvin: “I agree”.
Tazer: “We’ll be speaking about a topic for 20 minutes; Keith will make a joke. We’ll speak about something else for 10 minutes, I’ll make a joke. The joke I’ve made is linked to Keith’s joke 10 minutes ago. Wherever we take the topic, there’s always a reference”.
What separates 3 Shots of Tequila from the rest?
Tazer: “For me, we live our raps. Everything you’ve heard on the pod, it’s actually happened!“
Marvin: “What separates us is the consistency. We’ve been doing this for seven years and we’ve never missed a week”.
Keith: “We was doing this for three years before Spotify got started!“
Tazer: “We did say that would be a problem, that people think we started from Spotify. Spotify now launch original content with people, whereas we had our own content before Spotify came. We were already a podcast before we signed. We had 150 episodes in the bank before we joined”.
What advice would you give to those who are trying to make a career out of podcasting?
Marvin: “Don’t make a career out of podcasting! You have to start it for the love. Don’t start it for the money, because when the money don’t come you’re not going to want to continue. You have to start because you want to start”.
Tazer: “Let’s be honest, are you an interesting person? Are you someone that people listen to? You can’t just start a podcast and wonder why no one listens to you. We didn’t just start podcasting; we were already interesting people. People forget that. These two on socials, madting! I was the little bro like “Can I get some?”. Every Sunday, they had the timeline in a chokehold”.
Keith: “I went from The Breakfast Show at Radar to doing the podcast with it at the same time. When people ask me “What advice would you give me to start a podcast?”, I say you have to think about whether it’s something you actually want to do. For me, it’s always the “Why?”. If you can answer that question for yourself then you’re good”.
Tazer: “Think about it like this. Imagine having a podcast where you’re talking about current things, but when listening to it, it just sounds like your regurgitating things on Twitter. Whereas we would give you our unique spin on topics”.
Marvin: “The thing is there is room for everyone. Some people might want to hear that, but my problem is with podcasting, everyone is trying to do the same podcast. We were talking the other day and Tazer threw in the metrics of true crime podcasts. That makes so much money! If you’re interested in podcasting, maybe look at another avenue where you have an interest and there’s a crowd for it”.
3 Shots of Tequila will be performing live at the 02 Indigo on 19th August. Tickets are available now to purchase from https://linktr.ee/3shotsoftequila