Welcome to “The Horse’s Mouth” with Tom McManus, live from Lynch’s Irish Pub. Sponsored by All Dry Services of SE Jacksonville, The Horse’s Mouth is a unique talk show where Tom’s guests sidle up to his bar to discuss the intersection of sports, business, and life. On today’s show, Tom talks with Beau Brown, Rich Craven, Steve Arflin Jr and Steve Strum.
Speaker 1
From Studio Three at Buzz TV — it’s The Horse’s Mouth with Tom McManus!
Speaker 2
I welcome you into The Horse’s Mouth here at Lynch’s Irish Pub, brought to you by our good friends at All Dry Services of Southeast Jacksonville. Great to be back. Lynch’s is an iconic place out here at the beach. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend you visit this awesome place. We’ve got a great show lined up for you.
We’re going to talk a little production, a little IT, a little marketing, and a little life with my friend Steve Strum, who’s here from the Daily News Network as part of this show. So let’s welcome the panel and say hello. Bob Brown is up first — our production pal. What’s up, bro?
Speaker 3
Hey, how’s it going?
Speaker 2
How you doing?
Speaker 3
I’m doing great.
Speaker 2
What do you produce, man?
Speaker 3
Well, you name it — concerts, shows, and everything in between. I do live audio predominantly. A little bit of video — I dabble in that. Mostly on the West Coast — nobody on the East Coast knows, so I keep it safe. I do a lot of concerts around town, and I tour with some artists and just make things loud.
Speaker 2
How long have you been doing that?
Speaker 3
Thirty-something years.
Speaker 2
Really? How’d you get started — were you a musician?
Speaker 3
I am. I’m a recovering drummer.
Speaker 2
You’re—
Speaker 3
I am, yeah. So I was a musician. I love being around music, but musicians are typically a difficult bunch inside the walls of a rehearsal facility. So I got into the production side, and it’s been great for me.
Speaker 2
Cool, man. That’s a big job, and you’ve got a lot going on with that.
Speaker 3
It is.
Speaker 2
Software, different sounds — I’ve seen it from afar, and it’s really interesting. What’s your favorite gig, if you had to pick one?
Speaker 3
That’s tough — there are so many, and they’re all great. I do a bluegrass festival at Swamp Music Park every year, and that’s become one of my favorites. The people that attend are just awesome and super laid back. A lot of fun. It’s a really good time.
Speaker 2
Music heals, man.
Speaker 3
It does.
Speaker 2
Music brings us together — like football.
Speaker 3
For the most part, yeah.
Speaker 2
Willie, great to have you on the show. You’re my friend. Rich Craven — tell us what you do.
Speaker 4
Sure. We’re an office technology company. We provide services to small and mid-sized companies that really can’t get first-tier IT support. We’re talking about putting in VoIP phones to save them money over Comcast, right-sizing their managed print services — if you’ve got a really expensive contract, we can help you get out of that.
People aren’t paying as much today, and they want to get more out of their funding. We also provide managed IT services — everything from managing your desktop to cybersecurity. We partner with a great company here in town called OnDefend — have you heard of them?
Speaker 2
No.
Speaker 4
They’re providing the security for TikTok. I’ve got a great network of entrepreneurs here in the IT space. We try to broker some things and really provide the best service we can to small and mid-sized companies.
Speaker 2
Very cool. TikTok needs security — my wife’s on that gosh-dang thing.
Speaker 5
I can laugh and laugh.
Speaker 2
And your kids too? A dog?
Speaker 4
Yeah. The other thing we do — my wife Wendy and I — is add a layer of customer delight. We have a client success manager assigned to each customer, and we go out there proactively to make sure everything’s working. We go through a standard process once a month or once a quarter, at your request. We walk you through everything and ask how we can improve.
Speaker 2
That’s great. Wendy’s a BK grad like myself.
Speaker 4
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2
Tell her I said hey. Steve — our Flint Creative man, what’s up?
Speaker 6
Let me start by saying — I think you got a little more handsome since the last time I saw you.
Speaker 2
I appreciate that. You’re so nice.
Speaker 6
Flattery works!
Speaker 2
Right off the field, yeah. How do you balance that? Seriously — you guys gotta be vicious on the field, but off the field, you can’t be that way.
Speaker 6
I’ll talk about that. My favorite coach was George Yano — he coached the Dolphins. I think he was the only coach that understood me. In practice, I was super laid back with teammates. But in the game — flip the switch — I’d become a different person. He was ten times more intense. On game day, I’ve never seen a more terrifying man in my life.
Speaker 2
So it’s a switch you flip.
Speaker 6
Exactly.
Speaker 2
But you’ve got to have the balance. If you take it off the field, you get into trouble and nobody likes you.
Speaker 6
Before every game, I used to listen to Badfish by Sublime just to calm down. So I wasn’t too crazy when I went out there.
Speaker 2
Tell us about Flint Creative. What’s the latest?
Speaker 6
We’re surviving and creating a niche. We do commercial art installations, immersive environments, and creative build-outs. I’ve been a commercial artist for 25 years. When I launched the business, I leaned heavily into the construction side, but now — four years in — we’ve exclusively done highly creative, artistic jobs.
Speaker 2
Have you always been the artist type?
Speaker 6
I come from a family of artists. I was on a potter’s wheel at age three. I was a giant kid, so it worked out that I became a football player too.
Speaker 2
Great to have you back.
Speaker 5
Steve, it’s so cool to be on this episode. I was listening to the intro — how fun is it to be known as the plucky commentary? I’m a recovering drummer too — from a band in college. Not a great band. Mr. Craven — excellent to see you, sir. We did some charity work together. You might be the biggest artist I’ve ever met. I can’t wait to see who wins the arm wrestling contest — though I’d need both hands in one of yours.
Speaker 2
You do a lot of interviews — Daily News, all of that. How do you prep? Are you like me and wing it, or are you more prepared?
Speaker 5
I try to prep. Mike Tyson said, “Everyone’s got a plan till they get punched in the mouth.” So I do some prep. Our producers at Clairvaux Media and the Dailies Network sometimes take my cue cards away. I carry a pen and tattoo ink in my pocket so I can write notes discreetly. I try to be ready and bring it for the guests and audience.
Speaker 2
You do a great job. Alright — as we wrap up, what’s the best part about living in Jacksonville? Paul, let’s start with you.
Speaker 3
Living in Jacksonville is great. People say there’s nothing to do, but that’s not true. There’s music every week.
Speaker 2
You don’t know those people — they’re from way out west or something.
Speaker 3
Yeah, there’s so much to do. And for my career, I’m six hours from a lot of work. It’s a great place to live. I’ve got family here — what’s better than that?
Speaker 2
Nice. What about you, Rich?
Speaker 4
It’s a big small town. I’ve lived here since ’89. There’s barely a place I can go without knowing someone — west side, north side, anywhere. I love the community spirit and diversity. That’s what makes it interesting.
Speaker 2
Steve?
Speaker 6
I hate to say it, but I live in St. Augustine now. I’m from Jacksonville, though. What I love most is the recent movement for creativity — murals downtown, more artists showing up. I’m proud to be a part of that. Back in the day, it was a tough scene. So I’m glad to see it grow.
Speaker 2
Jacksonville’s got a kind of art.
Speaker 6
It’s growing. Huge movement in the last two years — the results are beautiful.
Speaker 2
What about you, Steve?
Speaker 5
You know, it’s a football reference, man. I’m from South Florida, and when I was in grad school, I did a whole economic study on population growth and job opportunities. For every city with an NFL team that’s hosted a Super Bowl, there’s been 5 to 10% economic growth — except for one, way up in the Midwest.
But for everywhere else, there’s been exceptional growth. I moved here to raise a family and build a life. I’ve now planted roots — I’ve been here 20 years.
Speaker 2
Nice!
Speaker 5
Yeah, so any NFL city that’s hosted a Super Bowl — it’s a great place to live. And this is a wonderful place to be, surrounded by all these amazing people.
Speaker 2
And you’re not too shabby yourself!
Speaker 5
(Laughs)
Speaker 2
I’d say the best thing about Jacksonville is the people, the climate — and it’s just the best place to raise a family. Simple as that.
Thanks for being here — appreciate it, guys.
Alright, that’ll do it for us this time around. Check out their profiles, check out this conversation and many others — go to the DailyNewsNetwork.com website and see it all right there.
Until next time — stay safe, be cool out there, and we’ll see you right here on The Horse’s Mouth.
Speaker 7 (Commercial)
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