How a Homemade Grill Became Part of a Music Video — And Then Became a Smoker
Our DIY off-grid grill started with a pallet of cinder blocks, but it eventually became much more than a place to cook. It became part of a music video—and later evolved into a full smoker.
That’s exactly what happened with our homemade grill.
When Gayle and I first started talking about building a grill here on the ranch, I had been looking at Santa Maria-style grills for quite a while. I love barbecuing and smoking meat, but some of the grills I liked were thousands of dollars.
That didn’t make much sense for us.
We’re still developing our 40 acres and we’re not even building at our permanent homesite yet. I didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a grill, and I especially didn’t want to build something so permanent that we couldn’t move or change it later.
So, like a lot of things we’ve done since starting this off-grid journey, we decided to work with what we had.
It Started With a Pallet of Cinder Blocks
I bought a pallet of cinder blocks and started putting together my own version of the grill I wanted.
Nothing fancy.
No expensive outdoor kitchen package. No contractor coming out to build it. Just an idea, some blocks, steel for the cooking surface and a willingness to figure it out as I went.
One of the advantages of using the cinder blocks was that the entire thing could evolve. If a block cracked, we could replace it. If we needed to change the design, we could move things around. And when the time comes for us to move over to our permanent homesite, we’re not leaving a $10,000 outdoor kitchen sitting behind.
Little did we know that this homemade grill was about to become part of something else entirely.
2PCS Steel Expanded Metal Sheet Flattened 48×24 Inches, 11 Gauge Mesh Sheet
Then Came “I Decided”
Not long after putting the grill together, I wrote my song “I Decided.”
Even the song itself wasn’t something I had completely mapped out from the beginning. I remember writing the first verse and wondering where in the world I was going with it.
Gayle heard something in it before I completely did.
As the song developed, we started thinking about shooting a music video. We had both been involved with much larger productions in our previous life in California, but this time we decided to do something completely different.
We had an iPhone.
We had our ranch.
We had the grill.
Why not?
So we shot the “I Decided” music video right here on our property using an iPhone.
That pile of cinder blocks I had turned into a working grill became one of the settings for the video.
There was no massive crew or elaborate production setup. It was simply another example of using what we had available and creating something with it.
And we had a blast doing it.
That’s Become Part of Our Off-Grid Mentality
One thing Gayle and I talked about in our recent video is how reluctant we’ve become to throw useful material away.
We have our little collection of pieces left over from projects.
A piece of fencing might not have a purpose today, but six months from now I may be looking for exactly that piece.
We’ve used materials from one ranch project to solve problems on another project more times than we can count.
It can look like a pile of leftover stuff to somebody else.
To us, it’s inventory. 😂
That’s part of what living and building out here has taught us: before you throw something away, think about what else it could become.
The Grill Wasn’t Finished Yet
Here’s where the story gets even better.
The grill you see in the “I Decided” music video wasn’t the final version.
Not even close.
After using it for a while, another idea started forming in my head.
What if I turned part of this thing into a smoker?
So the cinder-block grill started evolving again.
With some sheet metal, angle iron, welding and a whole lot more figuring things out, I built a smoker directly into the original setup.
What started as blocks and a cooking grate now has an enclosed smoking chamber, multiple racks, doors, vents, temperature gauges and a firebox.
The original grill is still part of it.
I didn’t tear down the first idea to create the second one.
I built on it.
And in a strange way, that might be the part of this story that represents our journey the best.
Build On What You Already Have
When Gayle and I look back at everything we’ve done here, very little has followed a perfectly straight line.
We build something.
We use it.
We learn from it.
Then we figure out how to make it better.
The grill is a perfect example.
It started because I wanted something to barbecue on.
Then it became part of a music video.
Then it evolved into a smoker.
And somewhere along the way, leftover materials from other projects became useful in this one.
That’s life on our ranch.
It’s also why we call this Get Fascinated.
Sometimes the fascinating part isn’t the finished project.
It’s looking back at where you started and realizing how one idea led to another.
Watch the Story
Gayle and I sat down for about 12 minutes and talked about the story behind “I Decided,” building the original grill, shooting a music video on an iPhone and how repurposing materials has become part of the way we do things here on the ranch.
Watch the full Get Fascinated Family Ranch video:
https://youtu.be/6FibWS3pGiU
And then you can see where that original homemade grill became part of the finished music video.
Watch Mon-sta — “I Decided” Official Music Video:
https://youtu.be/nA8TnrypVh8
Get Fascinated With Life.
Ramon & Gayle Vincent
Get Fascinated Family Ranch
