Boys of Brunch: The Tasteful Tandem of Pete Blackburn, DJ Bean

In an ever-evolving media landscape, it’s become abundantly clear that being a one-trick pony isn’t going to get you far. WEEI’s DJ Bean and Fox Sports’ Pete Blackburn — the Boston-based duo that collaborates with Joe McDonald on WEEI’s hockey-centric program, “Sunday Skate,” as well as their own pop culture-loaded podcast, “Brunch” — are two shining examples of those who understand the importance of that.

Bean has asserted himself as one of the most reliable go-to’s on the Bruins beat since taking on the gig full time in 2010, always striving to cover the team in a unique way. But he augments his coverage with many a musical musing — notably, now, on WEEI’s Not The Game blog. Since launching his own site back in college, The Nosebleeds, Blackburn’s accomplished his goal of finding the back door to the big stage, riding his savviness, quick wits and his trademark GIF-making ways to prominent roles with Uproxx and Fox Sports.

Blackburn’s sense of humor, as it turns out, was what originally drew the two together.

We’ll start things off in a straightforward fashion here: When did the two of you meet, and what led to you pairing up as on-air partners?

DJ: Like so many dynamic duos, we met on the internet. For as long as I’ve been aware of Pete, he has been hustling his ass off, and that includes being interactive with people who didn’t know him. I don’t follow a lot of people I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure he was still in college when I followed him. I just remember he pretty much always had a funny or smart response to everything I tweeted, so I followed him back one day and was like “HOLY SHIT.” GIFs, jokes, GIFs, GIFs; it was like this Twitter goldmine existed and I’d been in the dark.

One time on the podcast, Pete mentioned that I called him my funniest follower back in the day. I looked up the tweet and he apparently responded to something I had tweeted with an angry Tuukka Rask picture and a Seinfeld reference. I don’t know the context of the conversation whatsoever, but apparently it was a really, really good tweet.

@DJ_Bean “TWIIIIIIIIIIIIX!!” pic.twitter.com/X9ASJxNy

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 21, 2012

Dude, you are on fire today. Challenging @trentsouth and @jeffisrael25 for funniest follower “@PeteBlackburn: @DJ_Bean “TWIIIIIIIIIIIIX!!”

— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) January 21, 2012

Not long after that, Pete started doing little profiles on The Nosebleeds of media members who were also music people. He had done one with Naoko Funayama, who’s a good friend and seriously one of my favorite people in the world, and then he did one on me. The back and forth was pretty funny; I remember I told him to shut up about Breaking Bad or something. Side note: No one should ever shut up about Breaking Bad.

Anyway, by the time Joe McDonald and I started doing the “Sunday Skate” show on WEEI a couple years ago, everyone knew about Pete, even though I’m pretty sure none of us had actually met him. To give credit where credit is due, it was actually Joe Mac whose idea it was to get Pete involved, and that was such a no-brainer. Pete and I then became IRL friends, and he was always saying that we should have our own podcast. I loved the idea, but it was one of those things that we’d keep putting off. Then once we came up with the idea to make it a non-sports podcast, I think we both got really excited. The podcast is essentially just an audio book version of our Twitter accounts.

Pete: That’s exactly what happened. Although we also worked the same charity event when I was a college intern at CSSNE back in 2012 or 2013. We didn’t talk to each other but I remember thinking “DJ isn’t as tall as I expected.” That was a pretty good start for our friendship.

DJ: I definitely take that as a compliment, and I have no idea why. That’s also great because recently my parents met a few of my media pals: Steve Buckley, Gary Striewski among them. My dad remarked that they were both taller than they seemed on TV, but he phrased it, “All of your friends are taller than I expected.” Pete was three feet away petting a puppy that was roughly his size.

Pete, anyone who follows you has seen what your career trajectory has been like these last few years, but the “experience” section on your LinkedIn page is pretty much the media outlet equivalent of the 1927 Yankees’ lineup. What’s the journey been like from the day you created The Nosebleeds to today?

Honestly, it’s been pretty surreal. I can’t speak for everyone, but one of the most common things I heard from people when I told them I wanted to pursue a career in sports writing was about how hard it was to crack the industry. It was really discouraging to basically be told, “you’ll hate your fucking life for about 10-20 years, but maybe you’ll get a good job with a living wage eventually.” The closer I got to the mainstream media crowd, the easier it was to see that pretty much everyone was miserable, and I didn’t want to become that. I wanted to avoid getting poisoned by the “traditional” path, so I basically looked for ways to cheat that system and get noticed without having to work a bunch of shitty local jobs right after college.

I never thought that the personal blog that I started while on the toilet at Endicott would ultimately lead to the opportunities and jobs that it has, but I’m super grateful. I’m not the smartest or most talented person in the world, but I’ve put a lot of time and energy into the silly stuff I do and, thankfully, some awesome people have given me a chance to continue doing it. I still love sports as much as I did when I started, and I think that’s the most important thing. If I ever find myself not having fun or enjoying the things I write about, I might as well just quit.

DJ, how much have you evolved as a writer since joining the Bruins beat during the Stanley Cup-winning, 2010-11 season, and what’s it been like to be able to broaden your horizons with Brunch and Not The Game?

DJ: Confidence is everything. I think pretty much anybody can be a good writer. The challenging part – and the part where you really have to try – is reporting. I wasn’t a good reporter when I was fresh out of college. I was quiet (for me, anyway), and I didn’t want to embarrass myself. Then I remembered that embarrassing yourself rules, trying hard at something feels great and being good at something is key to that whole sleeping-at-night thing. I think I’m a good reporter now and I couldn’t say that when I was younger.

To that point, I feel like you can’t just be a good writer. You need to have something else. You need to be a good reporter or have some sort of creative aspect (as Pete does) that makes what you write interesting. So often you’ll read something eloquently written that doesn’t say anything. What’s the point there?

As for the other stuff, “Brunch” honestly completes me. I’ve always had some sort of counter-balance to sports. I grew up playing hockey, but I was also in bands and did chorus. I did sports writing and sports radio in college, but I also did music stuff. Then for a little bit I took comedy classes after college while I was a sportswriter. Now I’ve got “Brunch” and Not the Game. I’ve always had some other thing going on the other side of sports, and that’s made me enjoy both things more.

DJ, is there anything more grating than dealing with the “stick to hockey” crowd on Twitter? Do you just become numb to it, have fun trading barbs?

DJ: Honestly, I barely get it anymore because people are either down or they aren’t. I completely understand that I’ve cultivated my own little corner of hell on Twitter and it isn’t for everyone. It’s not super accessible and it’s really weird for some people who might fit what is the very dated “sports fan” demo, but for the nine or 10 people who are into it, it’s LIT.

One thing I always give Pete credit for is being better at the internet than anyone I’ve ever met, and he seriously is. He knows how to play the hits when he wants, but he also informs what’s “cool” to do on Twitter. So even though we interact a lot on Twitter, I think our Twitter existences are very different. Pete’s the Mall of America. I’m the weird-ass record store or something.

Pete, speaking of “dishing it right back,” you’re not afraid to call it like you see it on Twitter. Do you light up when someone drops a derogatory “gifboy” on you?

Pete: I’m definitely not afraid to call it like I see it, but I used to be a lot more petty in that I looked for things to call people out on. I lived for the battle too much and have learned to to pick my spots a bit better so I don’t come off as a total dick. But, man, sometimes people just make it too hard to resist. The whole derogatory “GIFboy” thing has always been hilarious to me because it’s like “ha ha, you create things that people enjoy and want… loser!” Not to mention I feel I’ve proved that I bring a lot more to the table than that. If that’s the worst thing someone can say about me, then I’ll take it.

DJ: I want to weigh in on this: People – especially hockey writers – who dog the GIF community are super disingenuous. If a writer spends an entire game tweeting instead of watching it, chances are they’re going to miss a lot of plays, including important ones they’re going to have to write about and discuss later. GIFs bail that writer out every time.

Though basketball can give it a run for its money, hockey is the hardest sport to watch as a writer who’s counted on to post a story at the final horn. It’s nonstop action, so there’s so much frantic writing between whistles. Pretty much the only time you won’t see me tweet much is when I’m at a game, because you basically have to choose between watching and tweeting. The people who choose the latter need GIFs. Also, GIFs fucking rule in general.

How do you guys possibly coexist when Pete doesn’t give a damn about The Beatles?

DJ: I’ll need Pete to confirm here, but I’m pretty sure he’s not one of those “The Beatles were overrated/I don’t get the fascination with them” people. I think he’s an “I know they’re great and I just never got obsessed” person. Those people are tolerable because you know that one day it’s going to click. It’s the people who have heard everything they’ve done and act like it isn’t perfect who are beyond repair.

Pete: Fuck you, DJ. The Beatles suck.

DJ: You fuck you. I was trying to protect you.

Friends is one topic you both love to talk about. Are you on the same page when it comes to the show’s best character? Who’s your choice, and why?

DJ: Overall I lean Monica. She and Chandler got brutal in the middle of the series, but her entire body of work holds up best. Process of elimination: Start by getting rid of all three guys because Joey is a useless person, Chandler is outstandingly unremarkable and Ross hates lesbians for a minute. Rachel loses her marbles more than Phoebe, which people overlook. You’re left with good ol’ Monana.

Pete: For all her neuroses, Monica is a strong character. Maybe even the best. But DJ’s opinions become null and void when you find out that he thinks Ross is the best male character on the show. That’s such a bad take. For as dumb as Joey is and as much of an “unremarkable” basic white dude as Chandler is, they both have certain redeeming qualities. They’re funny. Most people could hang out with them and get along. Ross just fucking sucks so much. There’s nothing at all redeeming about him. He’s a lil’ bitch for sure.

From Master of None’s Lena Waithe to Silicon Valley’s Jimmy O. Yang and Chris Diamantopoulos, you guys have had the opportunity to chat with some pretty cool people on Brunch. What’s prep like for interviews like that — especially, for DJ, when compared to lining up an interview with an NHLer?

DJ: Interviewing people is my favorite part of my job, and it’s one of my favorite aspects of Brunch. I watch interviews on YouTube as much as I watch old concerts, and that’s super often. We set a pretty casual bar for our own conversations, but we take having guests really seriously. Every time we have a guest, we’ll have already seen and read a zillion interviews with that person because the best part of interviewing somebody is finding stuff out. I also wasn’t really used to interviewing someone in tandem until this podcast; Pete and I pretty much always know where the other one is going, though.

Pete: Early on we decided that we didn’t really want (or need) guests that we weren’t super excited to have on the show, so whenever we do have one it’s usually someone we’re really excited to talk to. We don’t do a ton of prep for the show outside of interviews, but I think we do a pretty good job of researching to make sure we take a fresh approach and ask them questions they don’t often get asked. Like, when Darren Rovell told us that we were the first people to interview him about how everyone on Twitter hates him, that was a cool moment for us.

Are Sinbad and Kevin Spacey still atop your wish list for guests on the show? What — more than anything — would you want to ask each of them?

DJ: That’s actually pretty funny because I have no fucking clue what I would ask Sinbad right now. If we got the go-ahead we’d obviously get to work and come up with some cool stuff, but honestly my dream Sinbad interview wouldn’t be as much about him as it would be about other stuff. Like I want to talk about Trump with Sinbad.

As for the top of the wish list, I think I speak for both of us when I say that Miles Teller probably tops it at the moment. I would love to interview that guy. He’s so good at what he does and he seems like the type who would call you dumb if you asked something dumb. God, get me Miles Teller.  

Pete: Miles Teller just seems like the perfect podcast guest for us. Not only do we love him, but he seems like the kind of guy who would shoot the shit with us and be real. In fact he’d probably be too real. He’d let loose, shoot his mouth off and say something that’d make his publicist cringe. That’d be dope.

DJ: In general though, we’re constantly brainstorming guests and most of the time we look to get someone who people would want to hear from but somehow haven’t. Diamantopoulos, Waithe, Yang and Derek Phillips are all great examples of that and we had so much fun with them. Like all people were talking about during Season 2 of “Silicon Valley” was Russ, and he was this dude that we had all seen in a million different things before. Why wouldn’t that guy be awesome?

DJ – You once tweeted you’d hate someone forever who didn’t believe Janelle Monae is one of the 10 most attractive people on the planet. Is that a hill you’d be prepared to die on?

DJ: As Pete recently pointed out, I die pretty often on a number of hills.

Pete: Yeah, because you’re an idiot with bad opinions.

DJ: I haven’t seen every attractive person on the planet (yet), but Janelle Monae is so stunning. Pete and I discussed one time on the show that there’s this thing where if a guy really enjoys a female artist’s music, bozos make “OH SHE’S GOTTA GET A RESTRAINING ORDER” jokes, when in reality I think we both like talking about music so much more than talking about which girls are hot. We’ve each got a bunch of artists like that.

Pete: Yeah, that’s Taylor Swift for me. I don’t want to date or make sex with Taylor Swift. She’s very pretty, but I like her because she makes absolute heaters in the studio. I’d date her music, but I’m not sexually attracted to Taylor Swift.

DJ: That’s exactly the way I feel about Sara Bareilles. Janelle Monae is just too attractive, though. Let’s talk about how gorgeous she is.

Pete: Top 10 is a major stretch, though. There are a lot of attractive people on this planet.

What takes the cake as the worst concert/show you’ve ever been to?

Pete: I saw The Fray when I was in high school. They came on stage like an hour late and played for maybe 45 minutes. Fuck those dudes.

DJ: So this wasn’t necessarily a bad show, but it was a bad time: When I was in college I went with a friend to see Megadeth and I had a fever of the non-dance variety. Have you ever been to a metal show with a fever? It’s the opposite of fun.

Pete, when Jimmy Kimmel apologizes to your doppleganger, Matt Damon, for running out of time every night, do you take it personally? What’s your favorite Damon movie/performance?

Pete: Jimmy Kimmel can catch these hands if he keeps disrespecting my dad like that. All Matt Damon movies are pretty awesome, except The Talented Mr. Ripley. That movie was a piece of shit. I don’t agree with Bill Simmons’ take that every Leonardo DiCaprio movie would be just a little bit better if it was Matt Damon instead. That’s a pretty bad take. Matt is more handsome, though.

DJ: HUGE fan of “catch these hands.”

DJ, what’s the crummiest, least glamorous part of being a beat writer? What’s the most gratifying?

DJ: Being a beat writer can be really mundane if you let it: lots of standing around, moving around in a pack. I hate that. Because of availability you’re bound to end up in at least a couple scrums a day, but I avoid scrums wherever I can. If I’m interviewing someone and it turns into a scrum, I walk away.

I’m well aware that I’m not the most well-known hockey writer in the world, so my way of getting read is writing something different from the one story that everyone is writing. That presents its own challenge because if everyone is writing about Patrice Bergeron being on a 10-game point streak or something, you’ve got to think of a more interesting story with someone else and execute it. Even if the stories aren’t always better, they’re not the same thing you can read a billion other places. As writers, we know readers can’t always tell who’s going through the motions and who’s trying to be creative, but when you successfully come up with something that everyone else was snoozing on, it’s pretty gratifying in a “no one really cares about this but me” sense.

Pete, if Kevan Miller ever walked up to you and said, “Hey, you’re that gif guy,” what would you do?

Pete: I would probably respond, “I hope that’s all you know about me.” There aren’t too many people I feel bad about roasting constantly but, man, I’m so mean to that guy. If he murdered me, I’d honestly be like, “yeah, I deserved that.”

Kevan Miller, excellent defenseman! pic.twitter.com/xTYw77xheA

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 6, 2015

If you had to wager on it, will Claude Julien still be the coach or will Don Sweeney still be the GM the next time the Bruins make it to the Stanley Cup Final?

DJ: I like to play the odds, so I’ll say the chances are both will be gone because it could be 50 years before they make it to the Final.

Pete: Probably not, though I’m not sure those guys are to blame for the steps backward the team has taken over the past few years. Cam Neely seems to get more of a pass because of who he was as a player, but I think he’s as worthy of criticism as anyone. I just don’t think he wants to let the “Big Bad Bruins” thing die.

Toucher and Rich just celebrated their 10th anniversary with a party at the Wilbur featuring a rap-off. In 2025, how do you envision the party to celebrate a decade of the dynamic, “tasteful AF” duo of Blackburn and Bean going?

DJ: Well 2025 is the nine-year anniversary of Harambe’s death, so it would be pretty messed up to throw any parties. SMH.

Pete: Yeah, show some fucking respect, Jesse.

Click away to follow DJ, Pete and Brunch on Twitter, and here to listen to Brunch on SoundCloud.