Actor, musician, businessman, and former minor league baseball player, Scott Patterson, will be making his first-ever Fandemic Tour appearance in Houston on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20.
Years after his minor league baseball career, Patterson landed his well-known role as Luke Danes in “Gilmore Girls.” Since the show ended in 2007, Patterson has pursued ventures outside of the TV and film industry, including the formation of his band, SMITHRADIO, and the creation of his coffee business, Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee.
On Oct. 17, Patterson spoke with The Signal about his upcoming appearance at Fandemic Tour, his time with “Gilmore Girls,” Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee, the Houston Astros, SMITHRADIO and potential future projects.
Q: What made you want to take part in Fandemic Tour?
A: You know, I know it’s a nice show, it’s a classy show. I’ve never done a Fandemic [event] before and my agent told me it’s a nice opportunity to reconnect with fans and that’s why I do [conventions]. It’s all about meeting the fans, so it’s the best way to do it.
Q: For seven years you played the role of Luke Danes on “Gilmore Girls,” how did this shape your life and impact your future career decisions?
A: Well, there’s an upside to it, obviously, and there’s a downside to it. But listen, when we were all studying in New York and doing theater and we were kind of snobby theater people, we promised each other that we would never sell out and do television, right? Because television really wasn’t that good back then. But television got a lot better; in fact, I think it surpassed film in a lot of regards.
So, I got this script for “Gilmore,” and it was just fantastic. It was beautifully written, and I thought I never would have a shot at it because film stars were now crossing over and doing TV stuff because TV stuff was becoming of quality. And lo and behold I got the damn part! (Laughs) And it was just a guest star role for the pilot, but the chemistry was such that they just had to have me. (Laughs)
So, it changed my life immediately in profound ways, sure. I lived in a little rent-controlled studio apartment and had my expenses all kind of figured out and very very low and all that. And I stayed in that apartment for the first three years of the show, because you just never know, right? I mean it’s like the acting life is unpredictable, to say the least. You can be riding high one day and then the next day you don’t have a job.
But I had confidence in the show, so the first time in my life I ever bought a house was in 2003. So yeah, that changes everything. You’ve got all this responsibility now. Money changes your life in good and bad ways. The show gave me a nice cushion, it gave me some fame – a little taste of fame – and ability to navigate a little easier through the [entertainment] business, and to start my own coffee business. And just sort of take some time and some nicer vacations.
You’re just working a lot, right? For seven years, nine months out of the year you’re at the studio, basically in your trailer and you’re on the set. And then when you’re done you don’t really want to do much else except go home, eat and go to sleep. You do it all over again, the weekends are for sleep, you really can’t do much on the weekends because you’re so tired. So it’s really about getting into the right habits, the right patterns.
I got healthier as a result because I had to. Lauren [Graham] used to smoke cigarettes. I think, during the first episode that we were shooting at Warner Brothers, I pleaded with her to stop smoking, because we were going to have a nice long run, and I wanted her to survive it intact. (Laughs)
Q: Did she ever stop smoking?
A: She did! Yes, I added years to her life. (Laughs)
So yeah, it does change you, and it brings you more opportunity. It also has some funny effects on people that know you or want to know you or people that have known you for a long time. But it’s all pretty much a positive experience for sure.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your coffee business, Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee. What inspired you to start it? What are some of your goals for the company?
A: So first of all, the goal is world domination of course, but in a responsible, environmentally friendly way. I just got tired of drinking crappy coffee that was really expensive, so I thought, look I’ve done this before, I started a business before where I offered a superior service for a third of the price, and that’s how you win in business if you’re new and you come into a competitive space.
I wanted to create an affordable coffee that was specialty quality, so that’s what I did. It was a pain in the ass and it took a long time to nail the blends, but we did it and we had a couple of hiccups this year but we’re coming back out with 12oz ground, we’ve got a new house blend with a special ingredient in it called coffee cherry, which is an antioxidant. It’s full of iron, magnesium and dietary fiber.
And it’s creating jobs in source countries for bean farmers and all up-and-down the supply chain because the coffee fruit that surrounds the bean is usually discarded and there’s 46 billion tons of waste that go into the environment every year and we figured out a way to turn that into powder, and it’s a super superfood, super healthy ingredient in the coffee so we’re going to do that with the house blend that’s coming out in November, and we’re going to put it in the K-cups, as well. So, we’re very excited about that.
Another reason to start the company [was], when you’re an actor you’re an independent contractor, so you don’t own anything. It’s a good situation because you show up, they pay you, you’re not risking any capital, but I wanted to own something, build it from the ground up so my son could see me doing that. Succeeding and failing, and keep trying. I wanted to set a good example for him and inspire him to go get a law degree and an MBA so that he could take over the company. (Laughs)
It’s also an homage to my mother because of all of my memories of when I started drinking coffee. When I was growing up people wanted to be older, everybody wanted to be an adult. Now it’s reversed, but [back then] kids wanted to behave like adults, they wanted to be adults, they wanted to grow up quickly. So, [I] would sit around in my early teens and drink coffee, these Folger’s freeze-dried crystals and talk about life and talk about choices that I was going to make, and where it all was.
So, all that bonding stuff with my mom, and discussing my future and discussing my day, and all the stuff that is associated with coffee and that’s kind of how people see coffee, and that was another inspiration to stay close to her, to build a brand around family.
Q: In your role as Luke Danes, Luke is really popularly known for his iconic backward baseball cap. Did you ever keep any of those hats from the set or any other props that you could tell us about?
A: Oh, I used to remove things from that set for the first six years. The seventh year, they started stopping cars as they left the gate, and inspecting the trunks, and looking underneath the car because I guess they heard that there were some people taking items from sets. (Laughs)
Pretty much, if the Smithsonian called…You know the Rolling Stones, they did a tour in London, I think they took it all around some big cities. Their origin house outside of London, where they all hung out at first, writing the songs and they named the band and the whole thing. And so, they have the inside of that and they have a lot of mixed clothing and all that stuff. I could actually do that if somebody actually wanted to do that, I have enough stuff from that set where I could pretty much launch a whole other career. (Laughs)
Q: You know, it’s a big time in baseball for us in Houston right now. It’s game four of the American League Champion Series tonight, with the Astros and the Yankees. We’re wondering if you may have any World Series predictions you may want to share with us?
A: Well, listen, starting pitching is everything, and I just don’t see the Yankees getting into the World Series. I just think Houston is too good, they’re just too good. And this is me being objective, I don’t have a dog in this hunt. But, when you’ve got a Gerrit Cole, good lord. (Laughs) I mean, what a nightmare he is for hitters. And then you’ve got [Justin] Verlander, I mean these are guys that they both struck out over 300 batters this year, it’s insanity.
You’ve got Gerrit Cole coming at you with 100 miles per hour, and you’ve got Verlander coming at you with 96, 97. They both have great sliders, they both know how to pitch, they’re both bulldogs. I mean, it’s just like, are you kidding me?
Then you’ve got [Zack] Greinke, who is just a total fiend out on the mound. I mean, it’s like, how are you going to get around that? And then you’ve got to face [Carlos] Correa, [Jose] Altuve, you’ve got to face this Cuban kid, who, if he ever gets hot, look out, he’s going to hit a 600-foot home run. You’ve got [Alex] Bregman…I’m a former pitcher, I would not want to face this line-up.
They’re firing on all cylinders. They’re playing great defense, they’re hitting the baseball, and they’re pitching great. And they’re hot at the right times, so how are you going to beat that?
You know, I was in the Yankees organization for five years, and I have very mixed feelings about that organization, but I had a chance, when I was thinking of walking away, Houston offered me a contract to go to the minor leagues and I said no thanks, and I walked away from the game. But, I probably should have taken that offer, I don’t know. After seven years I was kind of done.
So yeah, I definitely think it’s going to be Houston in the World Series with the Nationals, and I just don’t see how you can get around [that]. I mean, Houston, that is just a hell of a ball club. I mean, if [Stephen] Strasburg can silence their bats, if [Max] Scherzer can silence their bats, I don’t know. I just think Strasburg and Scherzer are a little bit more vulnerable, and this is just my gut talking. And I know Strasburg is unhittable in the playoffs, but I just kind of feel, I’ve just got a sense that Houston’s pitching staff is not terribly vulnerable at this point.
Q: Some of our readers don’t know that you actually formed and are the frontman of your own band, SMITHRADIO. We want to know, if you could have a jam session with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
A: Oh, good god. Dead or alive? Oh man, a jam session. I can’t just say one, I mean there’s too many. (Laughs)
Q: I can let you list a top five?
A: Alright, let me give you the top five. Definitely, David Bowie, there’s no question. I would love to jam with Pete Townsend, from The Who. And I would really like his drummer to be there who died, Keith Moon, who was just maybe the greatest rock drummer of all time. And let’s count that as two because it’s the same band, so that’s not three, that’s two.
Let’s see, who else? I would love to jam with Noel Gallagher, I just think he’s an amazing songwriter. I’d love to jam with, well, obviously The Beatles, and I would love to jam with The Stones. The Beatles were my first discovery of popular music when I was a small child, and I used to sing Beatles’ songs all over the house, and then the next discovery was The Rolling Stones a couple of years later, so those two bands really formed my song-writing, somewhat. So that’s four, I’m saying four, and I want one more.
There’s a band in Europe named Kasabian, and I would love to jam with them. And it’s maybe the best live band in the world, they’re crazy good, they’re just nutty good. Their live shows are just unbelievable.
I would’ve said Jimi Hendrix, but I just would not want to jam with him because I’d just stand there and watch him. I wouldn’t be able to play anything, he’s so beyond what any guitar player has ever done that I would be embarrassed to be on stage with him. So, I would say, I’m just not worthy to jam with Jimi Hendrix. (Laughs) Not that I would think I’m worthy to play with any of those other people I mentioned, but I want to, I think I would try. (Laughs)
Q: Do you have any upcoming projects that fans can be expecting from you either as an actor, musician or otherwise?
A: Well, I just signed with a new management company, so the acting thing is coming back to life, I would say.
Musically, I’m getting ready to record some new music, but they’re going to be kind of prettier songs, I just never wanted to do the pretty song-type, but, you know, I made the mistake of listening to some of my own music and my own recordings and I said, “oh, well this needs to sound better.” (Laughs)
I’m just more into melody now, creating a nice melody, and you know for me it’s a challenge of structure and melody, and that kind of thing. And if I can do it, it’s a good day, it’s hard to do it. Some people, I don’t think it’s easy for anybody, but I think it’s easier for like if you take somebody like Elton John, who’s musical, he’s just gifted. You know that guy created unbelievable melodies because he was a child prodigy and he’s just a gifted person.
Freddie Mercury, same thing, I mean there are just some super gifted people that can do this. I don’t really count myself as one of them, but I work really hard at it when I have the time to do it. And, I know what I’m after and I think I’ve captured some nice melodies over the years, and those are the ones I’m going to record, and we’ll just see what happens.
Q: Lastly, what would you like our readers to know about your upcoming appearance at Fandemic Tour?
A: Well, I’m going to be doing a dual photo op with Milo Ventimiglia on Saturday and Sunday, so that’ll be the first “Gilmore” reunion on the convention scene. So, if they want a picture with Milo and myself, they should come on down.
I’m also doing a little bit of a contest for my solo photo ops, where we are going to pick a winner, and people who purchased tickets for that, at random, and I’m going to play them a little song right there on the spot. And it’s one of the prettier songs, so I’m going to serenade somebody. (Laughs) I hope I remember the song and don’t screw it up. (Laughs)
For more information on Fandemic Tour and to purchase tickets, visit www.fandemictour.com.
Scott always gives the best interviews. I especially enjoy hearing him go into detail about baseball. I’m happy to hear there will be more acting in his future. He’s had parts in quite a few indie, lower budget projects and, while the films themselves are not gems, he steals every scene he’s in.