As Westword's Ask the Bartender columnist, I've talked with many bartenders for Cafe Society's "Behind the Bar" series, posing numerous questions to Denver's top bartenders...and often receiving the same answers: "I love chartreuse," or "I'm really into smoked cocktails/barrel aging/bottled cocktails."
See also: A bartender by any other name...is still a bartender.
Some time ago, a Facebook friend posted 25 things about himself that most people weren't aware of -- and then he tagged me in the post, at which point I was supposed to do the same: rattle off 25 little-known facts about myself and ask someone else to follow suit. Instead, I'm asking Denver's bartenders to get up and close with Westword readers and share 25 lesser known tidbits about themselves -- and then name the next bartender that I should interview.
I have to admit that when Lost Lake Lounge first opened, I avoided it like the plague. From the outside, I saw a typical pretentious hipster hangout full of people with big glasses and skinny jeans with a bunch of "fixies" -- fixed gear bicycles -- parked out front. But my friend Courtney Wilson hung out there and one night on a bar crawl, she convinced me to check it out. I was right...sort of. There were a number of "fixies" out front, but once I made it inside, I found a great neighborhood bar. Friends, bike messengers and local service industry employees filled out a very eclectic crowd. Luke Fairchild is a fixture behind the bar at Lost Lake, and ever since that first visit, I've been back for several more, and Fairchild has taken great care of me each time.
When I asked Fairchild if he would do this week's "25 things you never knew" interview, he was initially reluctant. But once he was convinced, he submitted some of the most interesting answers yet. Below, Fairchild recalls how Black Sabbath used to scare him, the time Olivia Newton John saved him from being arrested, and why some call him the "Turtle Whisperer."
1. My name is Lucius Armond Fairchild.
2. I was born in Peetz, Colorado. Population 175. My Mom was the esteemed mayor and the reason why Main Street is now paved.
3. I grew up around rock music. When I was five, my favorite bands were the Ramones and the Blasters; I also remember Black Flag record covers.
4. My dad used to blast "Iron Man" from Black Sabbath, which would send me running, screaming and hiding under the bed while he and his buddies would laugh.
5. My dad was a dry land farmer (wheat) and an aspiring songwriter. He was murdered for his Harley.
6. My uncle taught me to pick locks at age six. He later hanged himself in jail.
7. When I was a little fella, I was attacked by a dog and came close to death. I still like dogs.
8. When I was twelve, I went to a Red Hot Chili Peppers/Fishbone concert. Things got very violent at shows in those days, and this concert ended when my knee completely dislocated. Anthony Kiedis visited me in the ambulance.
9. I lived in Sterling, Colorado and Greeley, Colorado before moving to Denver in 1989.
10. I was the fourteen-year-old state champion in BMX. I raced and rode dirt until my mid-twenties, and then I gave it up for rock-and-roll. That, and I wasn't very good and kept knocking myself out.
11. I went to Ranum high school in North Denver, where I was an All-Conference linebacker and a decent baseball player. I was a total jock wearing Jane's Addiction and Fugazi t-shirts...and listening to gangster rap.
12. I play in a few Denver bands, including Git Some, Kingdom of Magic and Mako. I've been able to tour all over the U.S. and Europe.
13. Git Some once got pulled over in no-tolerance Nevada by a K-9 unit. They let us go without searching us, because they thought it was funny that we were jamming to "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton-John. Without her, we would have been fucked.
14. We once got pulled over in France, too, and they didn't search us there either because we were "artists." Presumably had we been something else, we would have been fucked.
15. We got pulled over last summer in Missouri, and we did get fucked.
16. I saved a lost turtle in Minneapolis and became known to some as the Turtle Whisperer.
17. I was beat up and robbed in Buffalo, New York.
18. Once, when I was passed out on a floor in Phoenix, a crackhead broke into my house and stole my pants. They weren't on thankfully, but all the band money was in them. We found the pants down the street with everything but the money.
19. Lucas Baumgartner gave me my first bartending job at Bar Bar. I saw many things, most notably my friend getting stabbed. And I poured a lot of Tic Tac shots.
20. Matty Clark gave me a job at Lost Lake, and I owe him lots. He taught me everything.
21. I think people that smoke those E-cigs at the bar are ridiculous.
22. I hate it when I greet you and ask for your order and you whisper to your girlfriend to order it for you.
23. I've been noticing more and more people coming in to the bar on Internet first dates. It's hilarious, and I've not seen one date where the people left together.
24. I live in a basement apartment in Capitol Hill with little sunlight. No plants, no pets, no girls.
25. Alcohol can be bad for your health.
P.S. The bartender I chose for Sean to interview next is JJ Hilger from Hi-Dive.
Missed one of my interviews with a Denver bartender? Read the rest of them below. - 25 things you never knew about Brandon Forrester, bartender at the Skylark Lounge - 25 things you never knew about Dwight Long, bartender at My Brother's Bar - 25 things you never knew about Ken Kodys, beverage manager of Breckenridge-Wynkoop - 25 things you never knew about Brian Smith, bartender at the Squeaky Bean - 25 things you never knew about Kade Gianetti, bartender at Linger - 25 things you never knew about Melissa Durant, bartender at Acorn - 25 things you never knew about Steuben's bartender Ryan Layman - 25 things you never knew about Chad Michael George, bartender at Williams & Graham
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