We wanted to be in LocalsGuide again. We asked our dad, roguewriter what we could do and he said that we could interview the Ice Cream Man. We came up with some questions and asked our friends for some too. He answered our questions really quick. Here is what we asked him and his answers were really funny. Thanks for letting us interview you Matt!
TSB: Why do you give away free ice cream?
ICM: There are a few reasons:
- Free ice cream makes people happy
- Because I know there’s a way I can give away hundreds of thousands of free ice creams
- It’s the best job in the world (I think)
- Hopefully it’ll inspire and motivate people to get out and do things/stuff, like fulfilling their dreams.
TSB: How do you make the ice cream?
ICM: I pick up ice cream from different companies and warehouses all over the country. I don’t work with one specific ice cream company right now and we don’t make our own ice cream…. yet. Eventually I’d like to make a bunch of different face pop items. Like the cartoon ones; Pink Pather, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Powerpuff girls.
TSB: Do you ever run out of ice cream?
ICM: We do occasionally run out of ice cream. It’s not the easiest thing to keep frozen, especially when on the road. Sometimes events are a lot larger than we expect, like Lollapalooza last year. We ran out every day. This year we’ll have close to twice as much on board so we hopefully won’t run out so easily
TSB: How do you keep the ice cream cold?
ICM: There are a few ways to keep ice cream cold. Probably the best is dry ice. It’s solid Carbon gas that’s 109 degrees below zero. That means the ice cream gets super frozen and you don’t have to worry about it melting, even if you’re opening the freezer all day long. We also use special ice packs that we freeze overnight sometimes. Those will usually last 4-5 hours. I have a generator on my truck that I can power up and plug the freezers into that. I’ve been using that a bit more now to cut down on the cost of dry ice, which can sometimes get a bit pricey (fifty cents to two dollars a pound)
TSB: Do the freezers ever break down? What do you do if they break?
ICM: Chest Freezers, where the lids are on the top, are very dependable. I’ve broken a hinge on one of mine but the compressors, cooling units, all seem to work very well. Ice Cream needs to be very cold, around 20 degrees below zero to freeze solid. A lot of normal freezers that are attached to refrigerators (the vertical versions) don’t usually get cold enough.
TSB: What’s your favorite kind of ice cream?
ICM: My favorite scooped ice cream is Rocky Road, which I don’t eat enough of. For stuff we carry on the truck, I like It’s Its (or UFO’s) and Fruit Bars the most. I could eat fruit bars all day long… yum. I like Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Pistachio (yes I know it’s not really a fruit), Strawberry, and lemony ones a lot.
TSB: What do you do in the winter?
ICM: I spend a lot of time in southern California so I can sling cream year round. I put up Christmas lights on homes and businesses around Christmas time to make a few bucks. I also want to start traveling internationally with Bessie, the ice cream truck, so we might be in Australia this winter, since it’s summer there.
TSB: Are you from Ashland?
ICM: I was born and raised in Long Beach, California but started Ice Cream Man in Ashland in 2004. I lived in Ashland on and off for two to three years. I love it there but it’s hard to make a living and I’m not ready to settle down yet. I do look forward to the day when I can return to Ashland for an extended period of time to relax, it’s my favorite place I’ve lived so far.
TSB: Where did you get your truck?
ICM: I got Bessie in Grants Pass. Dan, the local ice cream man that used to drive his truck around Ashland, saw it for sale on the side of highway 99 and told me about it. I went out and checked it out then bought it and fixed it up a bunch.
TSB: How do you pay for gas?
ICM: Levi’s is our main sponsor for Ice Cream Man’s 2007 Tour. They make it possible for us to travel the country and give away free ice cream. We go to a lot of music festivals and events and also stop by Levi’s stores and showrooms when possible to give everyone free treats. Technically speaking, I usually put gas on a credit/debit card. If I actually paid attention to all the money I spent on gas, it’d probably make me sad. Eventually I’d like to convert Bessie to run on alternative fuels. Hopefully we’ll be able to make some headway on that this winter if there’s enough down time. If you know of any companies that do conversions (Bessie is gas powered, not diesel) we’re looking for a sponsor to help.
TSB: What cartoon ice cream goes the quickest?
ICM: With the recent release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, the TMNT pops have been very popular. My favorites that I try to carry on board most of the time are Pink Panthers. They remind me of when I was a kid and everyone loves Pink Panther. Spongebob pops look really cool and they move pretty quick but I don’t think they taste that great (fruit punch and cotton candy…eeewww)
TSB: What do people like better: ice cream or popsicles?
ICM: I’ve found that when it’s cooler out people usually like ice cream more. Once it’s gets really hot, like over 90 degress, then the popsicles are the way to go. Overall I’d say we give away more ice cream than popsicles though.
TSB: Do you ever make suicide ice creams, like with sodas?
ICM: Wow… these are some of the best interview questions I’ve ever got. I do occasionally make suicide soda’s but haven’t had too much luck with the ice creams. There are a few combo’s that are quite popular. They’re usually standard popsicle size, like one in my logo, so you can stack them on top of each other.
Two fruit bars, usually one cream based (coconut for example) and one water based (strawberry??)
Fudge Bar and Fruit Bar. This is a slam dunk good time. It’s like chocolate coating your favorite fruitbar. It’s really good with a pistachio bar too…. yum
We recently had Mayfield Dairy Pops on board and we ran out of creamsicles so people would order an orange bar and a snow cream bar and eat them at the same time ( see pic HERE)
TSB: Has anyone ever given you a million dollars for one ice cream?
ICM: Yes they have, while I was in Ashland. I’m not sure where the Million Dollar Bill went but there’s a part in my movie I made while driving around ice cream where I sell a popsicle for a million dollar bill. Hmm… maybe I should try to cash that, I could probably buy a lot of ice cream with all that money.
TSB: Do you ever give away free candy, too?
ICM: couple years ago I gave away free ice cream at the premier for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Movie in Hollywood. Once the party was over they had tons of free candy and I ended up with over a hundred pounds of Laffy Taffy’s, Nerds, and other Wonka treats. It took me probably half a year to give it all away. I used to like Nerds a lot but I think I overdosed on ‘em.
(Editors’ Note: Join LocalsGuide and Ice Cream Man August 18 at 3:00pm in Garfield Park, Ashland, for the 4th Annual Ice Cream Social for FREE Ice Cream! You can follow Matt’s cross-country adventures on icecreamman.com.)
