Questions and answers with Sandwich Kid “Bread Talk’s” – The lumberjack

By | Bryan Donoghue

Sandwiched between school and life, Albert Bernales takes the time to record podcasts on his talk show called “Bread Talk”. Topics range from food to money to the word “bread”. Before the interview, Bread Talk host Bernales sat me down and made me a grilled cheese sandwich with my favorite type of bread, sweet Hawaiian buns. Bernales did “Bread Talk” because he wanted to create his own show. Using it as a creative outlet, his voice now speaks to the Humboldt community.

Q: To begin with, what is your name and your major?

A: My name is Albert Bernales, my alias for Bread Talks is “Sandwich Kid”. I am a major in business with a minor in economics.

Q: What is your favorite type of bread and why?

A: It would probably be sourdough because when you dip it in soups it tastes really good. Not all things will be sweet, there will be bitter things that will happen. I think the leaven represents life.

Q: So you could be the “Kid of the Sourdough Sandwich”. Why did you decide to start a podcast and call it “Bread Talk”?

A: I decided to do a podcast just for fun. I listened to people like Jimmy Fallon and all those late night talk shows. They kind of inspired me, because they’re just talking to someone, but it’s still a lot of fun and interesting. This is one of the reasons why, and as soon as I started listening to podcasts, I realized that “it’s pretty easy, I can do it”. I called it Bread Talks because it catches your eye. I’m quite interested in business, but it allows me to talk about other things. I can just post a few articles that I’m interested in and talk about.

Q: What is Pain Talk? Are you talking about bread, money, or whatever?

A: Definitely about anything bread-related like the physical bread that we have here, this sweet Hawaiian bread. It also goes in the money, that’s where the business aspect of this podcast comes in. A lot of rappers have inspired me, like E-40. He said, “I choose to have money, I’m stuck to this bread”, in his song “Choices”. Definitely talk about the rap culture and community, as they tend to rap about money and stuff like bread. But there is certainly another meaning, like bread as in food, because I also love food and cooking.

Q: Food and money seem to be two universally popular topics. Everyone wants to talk and listen to these two topics. In your fifth podcast, one topic you were talking about was the change in iPhone headphones from iPhone 6 to iPhone 7, and how it affects people today. What subject does it fall under?

A: It’s pretty business related. They took a risk in their products, and I think people need to take a bolder risk. It’s really appreciated when they take those risks. It takes a lot of courage to do that.

Q: Where do you check in?

A: The first time we recorded in a real studio in Gist Hall, but for the second and third time we had a headphone microphone that came with the iPhone and put it on an empty water bottle. and spoke in the bottle. We literally had no option for Episode 2-4. You can hear the difference on Soundcloud, it’s either very loud and clear, or not.

Q: Is Soundcloud the primary medium you use to stream your podcasts?

A: Yeah, definitely that’s the first thing that happened to me, and it’s a great way to have your voice heard.

Q: And Bread Talk is an ongoing series. You have your own clientele of listeners.

A: Sure, always shout out to listeners, we love them. At Bread Talk, we’ve certainly come a long way, recording wise, from iPhone microphones to studio microphones, and I’m now recording on the library microphone. So also contact the digital media lab. They have all the snowball microphones that I use. I can just plug it into the computer and record a podcast when I need it.

Q: When is the new Pain Talk coming out?

A: Originally it was supposed to come out weekly, but we were very busy, so it ended up being monthly. Then each month became every two months. But I have some extra podcasts stored on my laptop, I only have to add the intro music and I will be able to download it. For the show, I did the Entertainment Tonight intro music, but on a keyboard.

Q: You still have a few episodes in a storage vault, but are they ready to go?

A: We have number 2, but it’s a lost episode, since we don’t know where to find it. It was on my friends’ USB drive but I didn’t receive the file. But since this is a lost episode, let the idea marinate in your mind to see how good it’s going to be. It’s a comedy-type show, you know. It’s super spontaneous, you don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next Pain Talk.

Q: It’s really interesting that you decided to take this approach.

A: I have an article here to actually highlight the upcoming Pain Talk. Here is the teaser, it is about a “master pickle tester”. Basically there is a person who eats pickles for a living to determine the quality. This is the article I chose to talk about in the next podcast.

Q: You have a lot of guests on your show, but in terms of subject matter, is it just spontaneous? How do you prepare before the questions you want to ask?

A: Definitely, in my head, I find an interesting subject. So I go on the Internet and find some interesting articles. We will talk about it and do an analysis on this article. For the questions I ask, they are generally solid but generally the same every episode. And at the end I have quick questions, where it’s like filling in the blank. I change them every episode.

Q: I noticed your Bread Talks are listed by number, but some are also listed by words, how do you find them?

A: They are the focal point and central theme of every episode. Like the one under “ninja — no income, no job,” which comes from a friend of mine who works on this with me. He had a finance class, and ninja was a term they were discussing. So I asked if he just wanted to leave it as Bread Talk Number 5, and he said add the ninja.

Q: Ninjas and economy together is an unusual combination. Do you know what ninja means?

A: Ninja pretty much means no work or no assets. So pretty much if you don’t have the money, you won’t have a job or anything of value. And vice versa.

Q: You have a sandwich or any meal that includes bread with your guests before or during an interview. For my last question, spontaneous from me, why are you eating with your guests while talking about bread?

A: Well, I try to always have bread. It’s Pain Talk after all. You are going to want bread and eat it with your guests. It’s a real Pain Talk.