01x01 - Chicago: Building a Mobile Music Bus (ft. Vanessa Hudgens)

[bunniefuu]

(CLEARS THROAT) All
right, I'm excited.

- RORY: Hey.
- I'm... Hey.

RORY: What's up, buddy?

What are you doing here?
I'm doing an interview.

I'm... I'm interviewing you,
dude. That's why I'm here.

- They told me... Yeah, yeah.
- No.

We did the show. I'm
doing the interview, okay?

- Yes.
- This is not gonna work.

I'm here. So, let's just... let's
make the best of this, okay?

It's good to see you. Look,
you need to explain the show.

Explain to everybody
how we got here.

Yeah, there's going to be
a cool opening for the show

with sparks, and the trucks,
and the people that we see.

- It's going to be awesome.
- (ALL CHEER)

- (HONKS HORN)
- Let's go!

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: So, I'm buying these
decommissioned government vehicles...

to help reimagine them to
serve this community again,

- just in a different way.
- (ALL CHEER)

RORY: Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Back up, back up for a second.

Explain how we got here.
Start at the beginning.

Yeah. Okay, the beginning.

(TRIUMPHANT MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: Since I was a kid,
I've always loved to build,

whether it was forts, bikes,
go-karts. I just love to create.

As I got older,

my passion for building
turned into huge vehicles.

Oh, this is amazing!
Look at this thing.

I got a lot of them. Fire trucks,
city buses, semi-trailers.

RORY: Which ones are his?

- COREY: They're all his.
- He said he bought two.

JEREMY: I saw really good
machines being discarded, sold off

when I knew they still
had a lot of life.

But I knew they could
serve a higher purpose.

I decided to reimagine, repurpose,
and renovate these vehicles.

Out here in the fields

JEREMY: I wanted to turn these
vehicles into something incredible.

I fight for my meals

JEREMY: And I want to
do it for communities...

There you go.

And for kids all over the world.

- (CHEERS)
- RORY: Let's show Hawkeye

how we play soccer.

- (CHEERS, GRUNTS)
- JEREMY: (GRUNTS) Nice shot.

JEREMY: So, I teamed up

with four organizations
that help kids in need.

Based in four different communities,
spread across the planet.

So, for each community,
I rebuilt an old vehicle

and gave it a new purpose

to help each organization
fulfill their mission.

We're going to change this truck
into a water filtration truck.

A mobile dance studio.

A music studio bus.

- A mobile rec center.
- (ALL CHEER)

JEREMY: Then I gave them
the reimagined vehicles.

Yes, yes, yes, I love that.

- I was still talking.
- RORY: What?

- (CHUCKLES)
- JEREMY: I also brought along...

- (CHUCKLES)
- Some talented and familiar friends

to help me deliver them.

(ALL CHEER)

- (BLADE SIZZLES)
- JEREMY: To do the work,

I assembled a rockstar
team of builders.

How long do we have to
build this one, Jeremy?

- We got two or three weeks on this thing.
- (CHUCKLES)

JEREMY: And finally, I needed a
co-pilot on this global journey.

And that's where Rory comes in.

Yes, it's about time.

You'll get it.

He's charming and handsome
in the dark. All right...

- (CHUCKLES)
- Why're you laughing?

- Yes!
- (ALL CHEER)

JEREMY: You'll wonder what he
does. And you're not wrong.

Holy... (bleep)

JEREMY: Let's just say he makes
this project way more fun.

(GRUNTS) I broke the
blade. Don't tell Jeremy.

JEREMY: He has a way
with people. You'll see.

- Bum, bum, bum...
- JEREMY: Step on the line!

He stepped on the line!

- (ALL CHEER)
- Hey! Thank you.

You're meaning that in a good way,
right? A good way with people?

Yeah.

- (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
- (CHUCKLES)

JEREMY: I know this whole
thing seems a little crazy.

- (CHEERS)
- JEREMY: But the only difference

between crazy and
courage is a plan.

You know how good this is going to
feel when we can actually get it done?

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

RORY: Okay, Jer,
what's the plan?

I want to make actionability
and thoughtfulness of others

cool as... (bleep)

- (RORY CHUCKLES)
- Right?

You can't say...
(bleep) on Disney, dude.

- (CHUCKLES) You can't do that.
- (CHUCKLES)

We just did.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS)

(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(PIANO PLAYING)

There's a house

In New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun

It's been the ruin

Of many poor boys

And God I know

I'm one

JEREMY: Music has always
been my first love.

It's a very personal
thing for me.

Something that I fell
into when I was younger.

Kept me out of trouble, and
becoming an adult, it still is.

Anytime I get overwhelmed
with personal problems or job,

music is such a
therapeutic outlet for me.

But I didn't really
share any music until

even more recently in the
last, like five years or so.

And in doing so, it opened
my eyes and opened my heart.

It gave me a sense of belonging.

Music unites people.
That to me is exciting.

- (PIANO PLAYING CONCLUDES)
- (RORY CLAPPING)

Wow! Wow! Unbelievable,
seriously unbelievable.

The acoustics is like
at Sydney Opera House.

Shouldn't you be working?

- No... (GRUNTS) Dude, there's no one here.
- (JEREMY CHUCKLES)

It's just us.

- It's fantastic.
- (CHUCKLES)

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

Ooh, come on, you can do it

Nothing for free but the freeway
Turn up the music, crank up the bass

If I'm gonna do it,
do it all the way

It's a good day Just
me and my four wheels

I'm gonna touch the sky

Call me the bad guy,
call me the saint

Tell me I'm crazy,
call me insane

I was born a dreamer
with a heart of gold

Call me a rebel I'm
just a rebel on the road

Call me a rebel

I'm just a rebel on the road

(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: Look at these vehicles.

Just waiting to be
reimagined, repurposed,

and renovated to serve
communities in a new way.

All right, they need some work,

but don't we all?

- (CAR HORN HONKING)
- JEREMY: So, I picked one

for an incredible organization

- in Chicago that gets kids off the street.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Thank you Jeremy Renner
for being so nice to Rory.

No, it doesn't say that

- 'cause that's not true.
- (CHUCKLES)

JEREMY: And we turned it
into a mobile music studio.

(BLADE SIZZLES)

JEREMY: I know it
sounds a little crazy.

But I knew the perfect vehicle.
The 54-foot Prevost bus.

Okay, let's get back to
the day the build began.

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

- (BUS HORN HONKS)
- (ALL CHEER)

- Look at that thing!
- Whoo!

BENDER: Oh, that
thing's huge! Wow!

COREY: You're good. BENDER:
Bring it in, bring it in.

Whoo! That's a big boy.

Whoo!

Look at the size
of that radiator.

JEREMY: You got to
love Rory's enthusiasm,

but yeah, he's still
learning about vehicles.

That's not a radiator, buddy.

Holy crap!

When Jer talked about doing a music
bus for kids, it landed immediately.

Jeremy taught my daughter
how to play the piano,

and it's made an enormous
impact in her life.

- (CHUCKLES)
- JEREMY: Look at that.

RORY: It's just one of
the extraordinary tools

for kids to express themselves
and to have a creative outlet.

(GROANS) Oh, yeah. Hey, hey!

- (ALL LAUGH)
- (RORY GROANS)

JEREMY: He can get
out the other side.

(LAUGHS)

JEREMY: Unlike Rory, Corey
knows everything about vehicles.

That’s why I've been
working with him for years.

To see this tour bus
was surprising to me.

Jeremy bought it

and he was going to keep
it as a production bus.

But when he found out an
organization in Chicago needed a bus,

he gave it to 'em. Not
everybody would do that.

But he's that guy.

- This is the Cadillac.
- It is. It's like a Cad...

- 'Cause it's a Prevost, man.
- COREY: Cadillac. (CHUCKLES)

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: All right, as a
build crew you should know

that music is a big part of
my life, so if I get excited,

it's because this project
is very personal to me.

I cannot wait.

So, all the chairs come
out and all this comes out

and then we can rebuild.

(INHALES) But there's all
AC that runs through here,

a bunch of wiring, a lot of stuff
that we don't know what's happening.

So let's just be gentle

about what we're opening,
what we're doing.

We have a computer on this
bus that... Right? That...

If you mess with one thing,

the whole thing is
just not going to work.

It'll shut down the engine,
right? It won't even work.

- So, Rory, you're not allowed on the bus.
- (CHUCKLES) All right, fine.

JEREMY: You're like a rhino
in a China shop, right?

But first, we got to take
everything out of this bus

and start from scratch.

(CLATTERING)

You guys finding any
horror stories back there?

JEREMY: That's Bender.
He runs the crew.

Fun fact, he got his nickname from
bending his trucks while off-roading.

Yeah, he built the vehicles,
but I don't let him drive.

Anyway, he fabricates
vehicles for a living.

So, if there's anyone I trust to
get this build done, it's him.

BENDER: I felt really
good about the team.

What I didn't feel
really good about

is tackling something that's
never been done before.

But these builders bring passion and
vision and creativeness to the table.

Almost every single
one of us, me included,

come from the off-road racing
and rock crawling community.

We all have experience building a
vehicle completely from scratch.

So as long as I could
convey the vision to them,

they take it and run.

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

You got dirt bikes
or anything, quads?

BENDER: No, not currently.

Yeah, I have not had a
bike since I wrecked mine,

but, you know, someday.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

I work in a huge shop down
in Southern California.

Again, again.

We make some of the most
amazing high-quality parts.

Ta-da!

I love working on cars,
whether it's trucks

or rock crawlers,
or rock racers.

Done yet?

So when I found out about this project,
I was like, "Throw me in, Coach."

Like, "Let's go
build something."

SKI: It's really exciting
to be on this build team.

There's a lot of really
talented fabricators.

I'm a fabricator as well, but I
build sculpture art for Burning Man.

So, I felt really confident.

We're going to be turning out
something really neat for these kids.

JEREMY: You're
probably wondering,

why we decided to build
a mobile music studio

instead of a normal
music studio.

Well, the plan came together
after a friend introduced me

to an incredible organization
called BASE Chicago.

(TRAIN HONKS)

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

You can give me
all your troubles

And nothing but bad news

You can take all my money...

- RORY: You're up, Renner.
- Oh, we got a lefty in the house.

Yes, right. Lefty, lefty, lefty.

Jeremy Renner took from his time

to say that he wants to help
community on the West side of Chicago.

- Haven't done this in about 15 years.
- (FRANK CHUCKLES)

Wow.

And that means the
word gettin' around

that The BASE Chicago is
doing some good things.

FRANK: Hey, my grandmother

- gave me that bucket.
- (CHUCKLES)

- Good.
- (MUSIC CONCLUDES)

What we do is more than just rolling
the baseballs out or the basketball.

FRANK: Line those knuckles up.

We searching out young
people that need help

and rescue them from
their environment.

Because the gangs are
out there, every day.

Keep your head down,
see it, get through it.

There you go.

FRANK: There's some kids that have had
four, five, six of their friends m*rder*d.

And my job

is making sure that every one of
these kids can get home safely.

My mother used to say, "You know,
you might grow up in the projects,

"but the projects will
never grow up in you."

I want the whole world to
know that there's some awesome

young people that
live in this area.

And I think that what we're
doing now is just a mere shadow

of what we plan to
do in the future.

JEREMY: You want to tell
me a little bit about BASE,

and... So he can understand a
little bit about BASE as well?

(SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING)

ERIC: Well, Frank was a firefighter,
and I was a Chicago police officer.

We had a front-row seat to everything
that was wrong with our city.

What you see at The BASE
is us taking action.

We want to give our kids
an opportunity to dream.

Dream, dream, dream,
whatever that means.

Is there one particular area
that you need some support

or would like, you know, us
to create something for you?

There's one thing that every
kid here will tell you...

I'm really a rapper.

- (ALL CHUCKLE)
- Really, really, really?

(CHUCKLES) Love it.

- I got lyrics. (CHUCKLES)
- (CHUCKLES)

So, when we talk about
music in this community...

- JEREMY: Yeah.
- That's a winner.

It's pretty inspiring,
I think, music.

And we all have different
ties to music, right?

But it's... No matter of our race,
color, creed, music is a uniting thing.

That's... that's a great point.

I really advocate for our
entire city being more together.

We've been so polarized with the
North side versus the South side.

When we all get
on the same side,

- this city's gonna start moving.
- JEREMY: Yeah, I like that.

We'll have to bounce
some ideas off each other

and make something
really special.

JEREMY: Music is a
universal language

- that gives people an outlet.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(MILD TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS)

We go high

JEREMY: Music could help
connect the community

by engaging people from
different neighborhoods.

They go low, we go high

JEREMY: But the kids need more than
just a place to play instruments.

They're going to want to learn skills
to create and record music themselves.

- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- JEREMY: We had so many ideas.

The kids needed a chill-out
area to collaborate and write.

A soundproof room with
instruments to jam.

And a mixing area with all the gear
and technology to finish the tracks.

Basically, a high-end
music studio inside a bus.

Bender's going to have
a field day with this.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

Here we are, here we are, boys.

- Let me get that for you, Bender.
- Thanks, brother.

Uh-oh, I don't trust you.

- (RORY CHUCKLES)
- (CHUCKLES)

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

JEREMY: All right, so, this is
a really close project to me.

It's a Prevost bus, it's
a monster, monster bus.

I got it in Florida

and they were using it
for passenger travel.

It's a 55, 57 passenger bus.

Thinking this as a music studio
bus will be great for these kids.

But I want this to be more fun than
baseball, softball, and basketball

combined for these kids.

We're not doing anything crazy
to the outside of this bus.

This will probably just get a paint
job and we'll put some cool logos.

Yeah, I see this picture
with the roof cut off

- and that concerns me.
- (JEREMY CHUCKLES)

- This is just so we can see inside.
- BENDER: Okay.

JEREMY: There's a
roof on this thing.

Building a music studio
is not foreign to me.

I've done a couple of them myself.
I've just not done it in a bus.

Until now, right? So check
out the designs and listen up.

This bus needs three rooms.

The first room is a lounge
where the kids can hang out,

collaborate, and write music.

The middle room is for live performances.
It's the biggest room of them all

and packed with instruments
and recording equipment.

All this gear connects
to a snake nest of wires

that run to the third
room in the back.

A full studio is set up with a computer,
recording software, and mixing board,

for the kids to make beats
and engineer their own tracks.

It's going to be amazing. I wish I
had something like this growing up.

The interior and exterior
walls are soundproof

to create a barrier between
the music and the street.

It's kind of the theme here.

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

JEREMY: Bender, I can't wait
to see what you put together.

- (CHUCKLES)
- BENDER: No, it's super easy,

it's right there.

How's it driving, mechanically? You've
driven. Is it good mechanically?

Yeah, it runs and drives great.

These buses are really
well-built to begin with.

You know, they're built for...

To withstand a rollover
or anything like that.

The biggest challenge, I think, is
probably gonna actually be power.

Yeah, can't have those big
generators going like you have

- in the other ones, can you?
- No.

Well, here's the thing,

here's the important part of things
that's really, really important.

Because generators, even
with the quiet ones,

you still get vibrations
and things like that.

If you're actually doing any recording
in there, you don't want that on.

So, we want to be able to have some
sort of power system that's quiet.

Honestly, Jeremy, I don't know
anything about soundproofing.

You're going to have to educate me
because I'm absolutely ignorant.

I'll bring in my engineer,

who's the big gearhead, who
knows where everything goes.

- Pratt?
- Pratt's the guy.

He lives at my house,
he lives in the studio,

and this is all he does for
a living and he loves it.

He's been sound-deadening the guest
rooms ever since I've been staying there.

- So he's got a lot of expertise.
- (CHUCKLES)

I was tired of hearing all the
groans and moans getting out of bed.

(ALL LAUGH)

- The "Rory Rumble" is a real thing.
- (CHUCKLES) The Rory Rumble.

(LAUGHS)

How long do we have to
build this one, Jeremy?

Yeah, we got two, three
weeks on this one, yeah.

That's doable, right?

What could possibly go
wrong, hey, big guy?

JEREMY: Once it warms
up, BASE gets very busy,

and then their summer
programs are starting up,

and they'd really like to kick
it off with some music programs.

The more puzzled you get,

the more your bill in
your cap flips up more.

- You get a little more...
- BENDER: You know what that's from?

It's from beating my head
on the table like this.

It looks like Rory's bangs.

(ALL LAUGH)

- All right, we have a lot of work to do.
- (MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

(VACUUM HISSES)

JEREMY: Bender is an
incredible leader.

He also won a high school
handwriting contest.

Well, I'm not sure
if that's true,

but either way, look at
those letters. Impressive.

All right, guys.

Big thanks for getting that
interior stripped out of this thing.

Well, here's the
plan for this bus.

I figured Justin and Roxanne,

you guys could break this bus into
pretty much three compartments

with the steel frame in there.

Merri and Ryan will
build some walls.

- Maybe some cool flooring.
- MERRI: Yup, absolutely.

BENDER: Corey, how's
this thing mechanically?

This bus is sound.

However, we demo'd
out the HVAC system,

so I think we'll have to
throw units on top of it.

And then power generation.

BENDER: Okay. AK?

I think our biggest hurdle is
honestly going to be power.

You got to really get
creative on that one.

- MERRI: Right.
- We got this.

The other thing is, cosmetically,
we're missing a window.

So, what happened to it? Did
somebody lose their temper?

- COREY: Well, I don't know.
- Tempered glass.

(ALL CHUCKLE)

High-five.

BENDER: All right,
guys, let's get to work.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: That guy, the one you can't
see because of the welding shield,

that's AK. He's a talented builder,
and relentless with the dad jokes.

You'll see. I'm sorry.

We got to run three rooftop
air conditioner heaters.

All of the sound equipment,
all of the lights,

huge, huge power requirements.

And it needs to be quiet.

That's not a thing, to
have a quiet power supply.

We gotta build it.

(MACHINE WHIRRING)

AK: I decided to buy 20
deep-cycle automotive batteries.

I've gotta wire this thing.

I've gotta make sure all of the voltage
is exactly where it needs to be.

It is definitely an engineering
nightmare. But for me, it's a fun puzzle.

- Show me what you got going on here.
- (SIGHS, SNIFFS)

I got a great idea for how
we can power this thing,

all day long.

The AC system was in here.
Since we don't need it anymore,

we're going to build like a
pallet. So we can load two rows

- of five batteries, stacked two high.
- BENDER: Nice.

We're going to have three
5,000-watt inverters

and we're going to tie it in

to the existing charging
system of the bus.

So, how long are we going to be
able to run just on battery power?

I planned this out to run all three ACs,
music at max volume with all the bass

- that Chicago can handle...
- (CHUCKLES)

- and run it for eight hours straight.
- BENDER: Eight hours straight.

All these batteries and I'm
not going to charge a thing.

(CHUCKLES)

- All right, let's do it.
- BENDER: Good on you, brother.

I am half-Hawaiian, half-White,
what you would call "hapa haole."

I grew up on O'ahu.

But when I moved from
Hawaii to Texas as a child,

I didn't really fit in.
So when I was a kid,

I spent a lot of my time in
the garage with my grandfather.

He could create anything.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

AK: My grandfather only had
a sixth-grade education.

But he was one of the
smartest men I've ever met.

And I believe that
anything that I can imagine

can become a reality.

BENDER: How long do you
think it's gonna take you

to get the battery banks built?

In the next two days, I should
have this thing fully built.

BENDER: I'll give you three.

That's a ridiculous task.

AK: Eyes.

BENDER: There's so much
stuff that goes into this.

To pull this thing off... (CHUCKLES)
you know, that's monumental.

We got some bets going on. Don't
really know how it started.

But we're all kind of
betting cheeseburgers

on whether or not he
would get it done.

We'll see who's buying
all the cheeseburgers

by the end of the build here.

BENDER: Let's make a deal.

You have this thing built, I'll
buy five cheeseburgers, bro.

- (CHUCKLES)
- Good deal.

RYAN: So you're a car builder
and a floor installer also?

I get what needs to be done, done,
but I'm going to tell you right now.

I'm not completely new at it, just
new enough to know I don't like it.

(CHUCKLES)

(MACHINE WHIRRING)

Recently, actually, I had
pulled up my friend's floor

and put it in my house, so
it would pass inspection.

Because you're supposed to have like
a floor in your house, apparently.

So, this is definitely
nothing new.

Ryan, you think it's
worthy for my resume?

I'd say so. Done!

- (CHUCKLES)
- RYAN: I'm your reference.

RYAN: Merri has a great
wealth of knowledge

when it comes to building
cars, especially off-road.

- She's a rock crawler like myself.
- (MACHINE WHIRLING)

RYAN: And she's one of
the few people I've met

that legitly has me beat
on the injury scale.

But she's got a
personality that stands out

amongst the brightest
personalities. (CHUCKLES)

MERRI: Anybody knows me,
knows I joke around a lot.

But I have not always been
a happy outgoing person.

A few years ago, I
was in an accident

and it opened my eyes and
changed my perspective.

I got cut off on the road,
ended up losing control

and bounced off a couple trees.

Woke up 31 days later.

(MACHINE WHIRLING)

MERRI: After a couple years
of being stuck in bed,

in the wheelchair,

I decided I'm not going to waste
any of the days that I have left.

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

Every time I take a ride I
feel alive with nowhere to go

I'm a king of the road

Now baby, let's ride

We got nothing but time

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

You get all the reactions
You're the main attraction

JEREMY: Okay, Bender wasn't learning
about music studios on his own.

So to move things along, I
invited him over for a lesson

from my friend and
sound engineer, Pratt.

You're the perfect distraction

You're the main attraction

- That could all be done on the bus.
- This place is amazing.

Pratt, this is his domain.

- PRATT: Pleasure, brother.
- JEREMY: He lives in here, sleeps in here.

- And this is his, like, little Death Star.
- (CHUCKLES)

All right, so Pratt, why don't
you tell Bender, kind of,

you know, the workings of how
this room works in particular

and then how it relates
to the room outside,

the live room, if you will?

This is more like the sound section,
so like, this is a guitar sound,

so you could change guitars,
like change vocal sounds.

Then all of that leads over
here to the digital side.

Everything is wired underneath

- in a very, very complex way.
- (CHUCKLES)

These are basically just
soundproof like insulation almost.

And it's just wrapped in burlap.

And so we have them
all over the room.

JEREMY: These things are very important.
It really helps deaden the sound.

It's like the value
of a foot of concrete.

BENDER: Oh, wow.

I've never made a
music studio before.

It seems real easy, you
make a room and that's it.

But it's not that simple.

So, this is the idea of
what the middle of the bus

should hopefully
kind of be like.

The engineering behind making this
thing needed to be absolutely perfect.

PRATT: So, yeah, so the ports
that are on the other side

feed right here.

Basically, I'm feeding every one
of these channels over there,

and vice versa. So,
like, you can have access

to all the instruments in this
room and still play from that room.

BENDER: When you peel back
those layers... (CHUCKLES)

there's so much stuff
that goes into this.

Wow.

BENDER: This one is challenging to
me because I can't hear the things

that normal people hear.

I'm almost 70 percent deaf. Everything
over 3000 hertz is just gone,

like I can't hear a watch, I can't
hear squeaks, I can't hear beeps.

I can hear somebody talking,
you know, unless it's the wife

but so... (CHUCKLES)

The idea is, like, condense
this down into the bus.

It's about the same size, I
think this is about eight feet.

It's challenging to get
out of my comfort zone

and trust that Pratt can fill in
all those blanks of this puzzle.

Although frustrating,

it's going to be super
rewarding when it's done.

So you can fit quite a
bit of stuff in there

and lay it out and you have a lot of
room for a lot of magic to happen.

Man, I got to get to work.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

We're getting close to this
bus having to get on the road

- and go to Chicago.
- Yep.

So, you know, I want to
plus this thing up a bit.

I feel like the bus has
turned out so great.

I just feel like there's another
way to create more attention.

And I'm thinking of a friend of
mine who I just saw at the Oscars.

- And I want to give her a call.
- RORY: Well...

- JEREMY: Her name's Vanessa.
- Vanessa, who?

She's in High School Musical.

My kids see... My
kids watch that.

- So maybe you know her from that.
- Yeah, yeah.

- And she's a singer, obviously.
- Yeah, singers. She's a singer, actress.

- Hi. How are ya?
- How you doing? What are you doing?

I'm great, I'm just
chilling. What's going on?

I got a little thing.

And if you got some
time, I'd love your help.

I got a bus

- that I built into a music studio...
- VANESSA: Yeah.

For these kids in Chicago. My
worry is that I'm not enough.

I know that you love kids,
I know you love music.

Can you please come help
me to deliver this thing?

(CHUCKLES) I love this
chain of sentences

- that is happening.
- (JEREMY CHUCKLES)

So, where do you need me?
You need me in Chicago?

Chicago. It'd be a lot
of fun with you and me

and then my friend,
you're going to despise.

(RORY CHUCKLES)

- What do you mean? I'm right here.
- I'm so sorry.

- I'm throwing you under the music bus.
- And backing... beep, beep.

- (JEREMY CHUCKLES)
- RORY: "Why? I looked out for you!"

Okay, sounds like my cup of tea.

Okay, good, good.

Can you come hang out
with me for a day or two?

I want to talk to you about
some more details about it.

VANESSA: Sounds amazing. I can't
wait. I'll talk to you soon.

- Bye.
- JEREMY: Bye.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: Yeah, yeah, I know
we were tight on time.

And the team was working
as fast as they can.

I wanted to see
instruments in the bus.

But before that happened,

I was told that we
needed, you know, walls.

And not just ordinary
walls. I'm talking wood,

vinyl, and steel sandwiches.

MERRI: This is definitely
an ambitious build.

I have never done so much
carpentry work in my life.

But floors were installed,
walls were put up,

things were upholstered.

JUSTIN: Hey, Ry. How
does it look over there?

RYAN: I mean, we're good.

MERRI: I can't get
over how much we did.

JUSTIN: We're going to
need to insulate doors,

walls, some of the ceiling.

- Okay, you're ready? Let's do this.
- Okay.

(GRUNTS) That's Chewbacca.

- (GRUNTS)
- (CHUCKLES)

- Did that work?
- I think it works.

MERRI: But it was a little
bit of a learning curve.

Because of my accident, I
have a short-term memory.

I was hitting something with a
hammer. I can't remember what it was.

You ever see 50 First
Dates? That's like me.

Uh... If I was painter's
tape, where would I hide?

But considering all
the injuries I have,

I'm happy that I can
still do what I'm good at.

I collapsed this lung, punctured this
one, broke seven discs in my back.

I broke this arm in
three different places.

I got a titanium rod and
six screws in that one.

I'm almost RoboCop by now.

It's going to be
so crazy in here.

MERRI: I laugh because I'm
like, you tried to take me out

and I'm still here.

There's something
about Merri. (CHUCKLES)

Where's your marker?

BENDER: Merri is a
wild child. Hyper.

She bounces all over the place.
But if you can focus that energy,

you can rest assured that project
will be done to perfection.

She's awesome.

- Hey, lady, how you doing?
- MERRI: Hey, Bender.

BENDER: Oh, geez, you're good.

I'll tell you what, if you were
any better, they'd call you Bender.

- (CHUCKLES)
- (MERRI CHUCKLES)

BENDER: That looks
amazing, though.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

(GUITAR PLAYING)

JEREMY: Okay,
seeing is believing.

So to better understand the impact
music can have on kids at BASE,

a recent BASE graduate

set up a lesson at a local school
for some current BASE students.

Jamison can rip.

Even got Rory to stop talking.

Love that guy.

JEREMY: Amazing. Where'd
you learn to play?

- I started when I was around six or seven.
- JEREMY: Oh, wow.

- How did that come about?
- Oh, my dad just bought a drum set.

- (CHUCKLES) There you go.
- (CHUCKLES)

- You guys are just learning?
- Yeah, yeah. We're beginners.

All right, I mean, everybody's got
to begin somewhere, right? (CHUCKLES)

So in the community, the
resources involved in music

are really limited.

Students and people
around the neighborhood

do not have easy
access to instruments.

- You play an instrument?
- I mean...

I've taken a couple of
piano lessons at the school.

- JEREMY: Yeah.
- But I'm much more of a vocalist though.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

It's like music, it's so good because
instead of having all that emotion

bottled up and doing something bad,
you can just release the effort

into doing something good with
your life and doing music.

I started off with drums,
and then moved to guitar.

He had a band, his first band.

And you'd never going to forget, what
it's called. It was called Hot Ice.

(ALL CHUCKLE)

RORY: He had the mullet, he
had the whole thing going.

What was the song called? It
was "Straight to the Top,"

or "Rise to the Top"?
What was the big track?

- Yeah, I don't remember.
- Yeah, you do.

(ALL CHUCKLE)

(SOFT HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)

JEREMY: Kids are vulnerable.

It's tough to feel alone,

surrounded by distractions
without a safe outlet.

Music bus is designed as a
cool alternative to the street.

A place where kids can escape

and release their emotions in a
constructive way, through music.

That's the dream.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

BENDER: Hey, Pratt,
check this out.

- Oh, man.
- BENDER: What do you think?

This is absolutely incredible.

BENDER: I'm pretty happy
with the way it's turned out.

The crew's just
absolutely k*lled it.

You have a lot of
stuff to put in here.

I do, we might have
went overboard, but...

- it's going to be fun.
- (BENDER CHUCKLES)

I don't think that "overboard"
is in Jeremy's vocabulary.

- Well, let's go get some junk.
- All right, let's go get it.

That's... (MUMBLES)

JEREMY: This is going to be a...

This is gonna be a lot
of work, dude. For Pratt.

(CHUCKLES)

PRATT: All right, cool.
Another silver Strat.

JEREMY: Oh, that's beautiful.

Yeah, these necks are great,
man. These are such...

You get such great sound
out of these necks.

- PRATT: Yeah.
- Oh, my God, this is so great.

- This is gonna rip.
- (CHUCKLES)

This is gonna rip.

I mean, I thought I had a lot of
good stuff in my studio before this,

but this... this is a lot better
version of a studio than I got.

This is awesome.

- This is like Christmas morning.
- Yup.

(CHUCKLES) It is
like Santa came.

- Yeah.
- Santa!

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

BENDER: I had to lean
on Pratt really heavy

with all the music equipment
that goes into this thing.

And pretty soon, this simple
project takes on a life of its own

and it just gets bigger and better
than I ever thought imaginable.

It far exceeded every expectation
that I even had designing the thing.

MERRI: Oh, my God.

BENDER: What my team has been
able to create is mind-boggling.

But no matter how confident

I felt about my design
or the overall picture,

when it really comes down to it, we
need to be able to power everything.

- That was huge.
- (MUSIC CONCLUDES)

- I need you to push this in.
- BENDER: Yup.

- AK: Do you want to crimp this one?
- Nope.

You want to see how this works?

(WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(GRUNTS) You do
the sound effects.

- (GRUNTS)
- (GRUNTS)

BENDER: You have how
many more crimps to do?

AK: Uh...

- BENDER: A lot.
- Seriously, Bender, you want to try it?

- I mean...
- BENDER: No.

I don't want to crimp
your style or anything.

Uh-uh. No.

I know that you're not
really down for working.

- No, not at all. But I'll watch you.
- Yeah.

The power system at this
point is still a theory.

I really only had about a day

to figure out exactly how we
were going to pull this off.

(GRUNTS)

I hope it works.

Morning, boys.

- Hey.
- BENDER: Hey. Hey.

- How's it going?
- I'm good. I'm glad you showed up.

I'm sure you are.
What do we got here?

- We have an assembly line going here...
- RORY: Yeah.

And you can definitely
help us cut the cable.

- RORY: That... Is this live right now?
- AK: It is.

In all serious, don't
let metal touch...

RORY: Oh, dude, I'm not
touching this thing.

I don't wanna have like a perm
coming out of this when I touch this.

- You will.
- Yeah.

- Your ears would definitely be smoking.
- (CHUCKLES)

So the key to all
of this is that

you just... you really want
to have a positive attitude.

Oh... Ba-dum-tss. AK
with the one liners, hey.

- You can bank on it.
- You can bank on it.

- (CHUCKLES)
- All right, so...

That's just...
It's way too early

- for those one liners.
- (AK CHUCKLES)

JEREMY: You see what I
mean about the dad jokes?

Relentless.

Yeah, we don't normally
see you till lunch.

Yeah, the crack of noon.

That's like the Canadian military. We
get out of bed at the crack of noon.

(CHUCKLES) I'm gonna
leave you two at it.

I'm gonna go get some parts. Is
there anything else you need?

Cables, wires, a little
time, and a few kind words.

That's really cool.

Well, I'm going to let
you keep going on this...

No, no, the work's
about to start.

Now, we've talked about
what we're going to do.

- Hey, Mom. Yeah. Hey, just...
- Oh, my God.

Gotta jump here, buddy.

- All you do is slow me down.
- AK says hi.

I thought I was training
you how to do this.

Oh, no, you have a good
one. Have a good day.

(AK GRUNTS)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

- What's up, amigo?
- AK: Oh, hey.

- SKI: How's this coming?
- Um...

I put the last inverter
in right now. And then...

we get to test this thing.

I definitely need some help
putting the batteries in.

Bring it up.

- (FORKLIFT SQUEAKS)
- All right, perfect. Bring it forward.

SKI: AK, he's got so
much pressure on him.

You're in. Set it
down all the way.

We have a lot weighing on this.

- Will all of these turn on at one time?
- Yeah.

Maybe. I don't even
know if it'll work.

SKI: It'll work.

AK: Either that or the
whole thing blows up.

SKI: All right.

AK: This is it, the moment of
truth. If the lights turn on,

the battery system is
working, we're good to go.

If they don't turn on, I'm screwed. Can
you check that connector on the floor?

- SKI: We're all hooked up, let's go.
- Let's try it.

AK: It works.

Maybe we should open up a
tanning business instead.

- (CHUCKLES)
- AK: Nailed it! So bright.

I am so happy that I'm
done with this thing.

It passed that test
with flying colors.

We've got more than enough power to
power anything they can think of.

Hey h*, let's go!

Yeah, it's done.

Hey h*, let's go!

AK: We'll be able to run this
thing at max power with the AC on,

all the amps, all the recording
for eight hours completely quiet.

This thing is crazy.
It just blows my mind.

It was really cool because we didn't
use an off-the-shelf fix for this power.

We used normal, everyday
automotive car batteries

and made our own power supply.

AK: My grandfather
would definitely be...

he would definitely
be proud of me.

Where's my cheeseburger?

- (CHUCKLES) Let's go.
- (CHUCKLES) Beautiful.

Hey h*, let's go!

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING)

BENDER: Finishing touches.

You guys did all the work.
I get to do this last part.

It's hard to even put into words,
this satisfaction as a builder.

That day that you unveil
something that you've built.

MERRI: You got it.
Come on, muscles.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

- Chi-Town. Yes!
- Yeah.

- (ALL APPLAUD)
- Hey, Bender, great job.

Looks like you got all
your bases covered.

(GRUNTS)

I can't say enough about these
builders and their ability

to overcome a problem

and create this... this
unbelievable project.

So, you guys just grand
slam with this one.

This is crazy over the top.

- AK k*lled it on the... the power.
- AK: Thanks.

BENDER: You guys k*lled it on
the interior. Congratulations.

I can't wait to see the
look on these kids' faces.

- BENDER: It's all done, right?
- COREY: Got my bags packed.

I'm ready for the drive.

JEREMY: Hold on a
sec. You didn't think

that I was going to drive
the bus to Chicago, did you?

- No, that's Corey's domain.
- Let's go.

BENDER: Let's go, let's go.

JEREMY: He's the lead mechanic. He's
got loads of experience on the road.

The bus is in good hands.

BENDER: You got it,
you got it, you got it.

- Whoo!
- (ALL CHEER)

MERRI: Yeah!

- (WHISTLING)
- Whoo!

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

- JEREMY: Welcome to Chicago.
- VANESSA: Thank you, thank you.

I'm so happy to be here. Kids are,
obviously, they are our future...

- JEREMY: Yeah. Yes.
- So anytime I can get around them

to inspire them,
I'm... I'm so there.

They're going to lose their minds. It's
going to be such a beautiful moment.

Music is everything,
music is life. (CHUCKLES)

- Yeah, yeah.
- It really is though.

What does it mean to you? Like
music in your life, you know.

Music to me in my life
is... there constantly.

I don't think I would be
as joyous as I am today

if music wasn't
a part of my life

- as a kid.
- A hundred percent agree.

It genuinely brings so much joy

- and wonderment.
- JEREMY: Yeah.

And that's something that
I think we lose as adults.

So, we have to be
conscious to keep it alive.

- JEREMY: Yeah.
- But it... Music provides that.

A hundred percent agree. And
it's what it is for me as well.

- Yeah.
- JEREMY: What we can do,

and we can do together,
and you can really help me,

is be here and create an even bigger,
brighter spotlight for The BASE.

And for this community
and what they do.

- Yeah.
- I'm so here for it.

- Yeah, thank you so much.
- Let's bring the kids the music.

JEREMY: That is right.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

(ALL CHEER)

Here we go.

All right, let's do it.

(CHUCKLES) We did it.

- MALE VOICE: One, two, three!
- ALL: Base!

- MALE VOICE: Four, five, six!
- ALL: Ground base!

JEREMY: I have another friend
I want to introduce to come out

and help deliver
this bus with me.

- Vanessa, come out.
- (CHUCKLES)

- (ALL CHEER)
- MALE VOICE: Hey, Vanessa!

(ALL CHEER)

Jeremy: We've got the
builders here as well.

FRANK: Thank you,
thank you so much.

So, to make it official,
I pass this on to you.

(ALL CHEER)

We forever indebted to you, man.
Thank you so much, thank you.

Go check out the bus! Yeah!

VANESSA: Wait until
you see inside.

I didn't choose
This was my world

I can't lose, got to fight more
It's the love I would die for

If I fall, they
should cry for me

And I know they got eyes on me
But I'ma be fine, you'll see

'Cause I'ma be royalty

When I make history

I'ma make history

Oh, but you cry for me

'Cause I'ma make history

- JEREMY: Come on, come on.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)

OGECHI: Oh, my gosh.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, my gosh.

(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)

Let's go.

- OGECHI: Oh, what?
- Welcome to your own personal paradise.

OGECHI: Oh, my gosh.

Ogechi was in there and I just
got to see her face light up.

I feel like I don't even
deserve this right now.

- Like this is...
- You do.

Thank you so much. Oh, bro, in
five years, you gonna know me.

That's right. Heard it
here first. (CHUCKLES)

JEREMY: It's pretty awesome
to see all the kids light up.

These kids deserve goodness in
their life, beyond the music.

You have to be bold, and be
brave, and pave your own path.

- Beautiful, beautiful.
- (ALL CHEER)

Wow. Wow, man.

Frank and I, we've had a lot of dreams
of things we wanted for our kids.

We have so many young people that
are trying to find their way.

ERIC: Now, we have more adventures
that we're going to create for our kids

and hopefully the
whole city of Chicago.

Man.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)

My youngest daughter plays the
piano because Uncle Jeremy here

taught her and inspired
her for the first time.

Oh, here we go. Hawkeye on the keys,
baby. Tickle the ivory, Hawkeye, come on.

(OGECHI CHUCKLES)

(CHUCKLES) Woah!

(ALL CHUCKLE)

I k*lled it, right?