Most people think tour security means being big, intimidating, and ready to throw someone out. Mehdi Rabii has spent 22 years proving that the real job looks nothing like that. It is logistics, empathy, advanced planning, and the kind of situational awareness that never really turns off, not at a show, not at a school recital, not anywhere.

In this episode of Shady Characters, Tim and Evan reconnect with Tim’s longtime friend to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to keep a world-class touring act safe. Mehdi has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Queens of the Stone Age, Ozzy Osbourne, Paramore, The Offspring, Swedish House Mafia, and Twenty One Pilots, and he walks through everything from building out security perimeters for arena shows to navigating real Al-Qaeda threat assessments, managing rogue drones in RF-heavy environments, and carrying a 90-pound client on his back for a mile after a rough afternoon in Cancun. He also opens up about the personal cost of being gone, two broken relationships and a lifestyle that most people flame out of fast, and why he is finally starting to slow down, water his garden in the morning, and enjoy the honey from the bees in his backyard.

The best night on tour? No paper. Not a single incident report.

When Bare Bones Tattoo opened its doors in San Juan Capistrano, it became the first tattoo shop in a city that just celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Mission. Alex Blackwell and Zane Leibowitz did not stumble into this craft lightly. Between them, they have over 30 years of experience, hard-earned apprenticeships, and enough war stories to fill a flash book.

In this episode of Shady Characters, Alex and Zane get into all of it: the unglamorous reality of sweeping shop floors and scrubbing tubes before ever picking up a machine, the surprising learning curve between putting something on paper and putting it on skin, and the unwritten rules that separate a good tattoo from one that holds up 20 years later. They also talk about what makes a street shop different from a gallery shop, how AI is starting to creep into their world, and why tattooing under anesthesia misses the whole point.

Equal parts candid, funny, and genuinely insightful, this one is for anyone who has ever sat in the chair or wondered what it takes to earn a place behind it.

“You get what you give.”

Beneath the Surface: Storytelling, Conservation, and the Power of the Ocean

Katie Thompson has spent her career building brands, but her true impact lives far below the surface. As Executive Director of the PADI AWARE Foundation, she is helping mobilize a global community of divers to protect and restore the ocean through data, conservation, and storytelling.

In this episode, Katie sits down with Tim and Evan to trace her path from Oakley to PADI, and how the principles of emotional storytelling shaped her approach to conservation. What began as a passion for adventure evolved into a mission to create meaningful change, using diving as a gateway to connection, awareness, and action.

The conversation explores the transformative power of the underwater world, from personal stories of resilience and recovery to the technical challenges of capturing those moments on camera. Katie shares how diving can reconnect people to themselves and to nature, often becoming a catalyst for profound personal change.

They also unpack the scale of PADI AWARE’s work, including global programs focused on marine debris, habitat restoration, vulnerable species protection, and marine protected areas. With millions of divers worldwide contributing data and participating in conservation efforts, the organization is turning exploration into measurable impact.

At its core, this episode is about perspective. It is about what happens when you look beyond the surface, challenge conventional thinking, and choose to build something that matters.