Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / Mack Fowler And Company Setting On Fire A New Age Of Rock Wth Bettin On Betty
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Aro dot net A r r oe dot net. It's
- 0:03Speaker 1: not just a podcast, it's twenty different podcasts with episodes
- 0:07Speaker 1: going at all times. The goal is to give you
- 0:10Speaker 1: the power of choice, because how many times have you
- 0:12Speaker 1: gotten in the car or at work and you go,
- 0:14Speaker 1: what do I want to listen to? What do I
- 0:15Speaker 1: want to listen to? Oh God, I don't want to
- 0:16Speaker 1: hear that. Oh I'm so tired of hearing the news.
- 0:19Speaker 1: Oh I don't want to hear another actor's interview. Oh
- 0:21Speaker 1: my god, what am I gonna do? One place? Aro
- 0:25Speaker 1: dot net A r r oe dot net. Enjoy your exploration,
- 0:30Speaker 1: Mac Fowler, how are you doing today?
- 0:32Speaker 2: Ero? Man, I'm doing great. It's such an honor to
- 0:35Speaker 2: be on your show, man, thanks for having me. Man.
- 0:38Speaker 1: Listeners need to understand that you and I actually started
- 0:41Speaker 1: this this conversation journey. What was it November of twenty
- 0:45Speaker 1: twenty four, and just to get back into this moment again,
- 0:48Speaker 1: we've been on a journey, the two of us, on
- 0:50Speaker 1: two separate paths, and it's finally met again.
- 0:53Speaker 2: Yeah. Man, it's been two and a half years. I
- 0:55Speaker 2: can't tell you how happy I am to get back
- 0:57Speaker 2: to it because we had a great time the first time,
- 1:00Speaker 2: but just really been looking forward to today.
- 1:03Speaker 1: You've gone through some changes since the last time that
- 1:05Speaker 1: we had a conversation. Let's talk about those changes, because
- 1:08Speaker 1: I mean, in listening to the new music, holy crap, Mac,
- 1:12Speaker 1: you guys have nailed the sound here that really is
- 1:15Speaker 1: extremely tight and attractive.
- 1:18Speaker 2: Well, man, I appreciate you saying that we're working really hard,
- 1:21Speaker 2: and I mean, you know, we're just playing real rock
- 1:25Speaker 2: and roll with a somewhat of a bluesy feel, and
- 1:29Speaker 2: we're just trying to perfect it, you know. So now
- 1:31Speaker 2: I've got a great group of guys.
- 1:33Speaker 1: What does that mean for you in this day and
- 1:35Speaker 1: age where the term classic rock is no longer part
- 1:38Speaker 1: of the radio vocabulary. And the reason why is because
- 1:41Speaker 1: they want to open the door to newer rock, and
- 1:44Speaker 1: I think that fits you guys right into that loop.
- 1:48Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that insight, because what we're trying to
- 1:51Speaker 2: do is bring some of the classic rock you know, current,
- 1:55Speaker 2: but it's all new and when using new technology, of course,
- 1:58Speaker 2: we're using classic sounds less Paul's and Marshall's. We've got
- 2:00Speaker 2: a fantastic singer, Danny Austin is unbelievable We've got a
- 2:04Speaker 2: new drummer, Lou mon Deli, and we worked with him
- 2:07Speaker 2: years ago. But Lou is fantastic, and man does he
- 2:10Speaker 2: take us for a ride. And he's played with Joe
- 2:12Speaker 2: Walsh and Joe Lynn Turner and now he's playing with us.
- 2:15Speaker 2: I mean, how cool is that you see?
- 2:17Speaker 1: And that's the connection that you have. I mean it's
- 2:19Speaker 1: so funny though that you know, you guys have always
- 2:21Speaker 1: said that you're the unlikely crew, and yet you experienced
- 2:24Speaker 1: this music and you're going unlikely, this band is likely
- 2:28Speaker 1: to become the next big attraction.
- 2:30Speaker 2: Well, man, I hope everybody else feels that way, and
- 2:33Speaker 2: I appreciate your kind words. We also have a new
- 2:36Speaker 2: bass player. Yes, SAME's Jim Patson. Jim Hodson, great bass player,
- 2:40Speaker 2: great all around guy. But these four guys, the four
- 2:43Speaker 2: of us, just have a cool vibe going on and
- 2:46Speaker 2: it's just when we get together, it's a good time
- 2:48Speaker 2: and we're being creative and you know that keeps us
- 2:52Speaker 2: complete and the more you create, you know, you have
- 2:55Speaker 2: more success, and success breed success. So I'm really about
- 3:00Speaker 2: where we are and with these new songs and new videos.
- 3:03Speaker 1: I love the idea that you brought it the new
- 3:04Speaker 1: bass player, because right away, I'm thinking bass players are
- 3:07Speaker 1: in a world of their own. How do you bend
- 3:10Speaker 1: into where a bass player is and you've got a
- 3:13Speaker 1: sound that's already established. How did you work that out?
- 3:16Speaker 2: That's a great question. He just happens to be a
- 3:19Speaker 2: really talented guy, and he's been a really good sport
- 3:22Speaker 2: because he's learned some songs that somebody else played and
- 3:24Speaker 2: wrote the bass parts. We've worked on some new material
- 3:27Speaker 2: and he's of course writing those parts. But he just
- 3:30Speaker 2: wants to play. That's his comment. Man, I'll play anything.
- 3:32Speaker 2: I just want to play, and he fits right in.
- 3:35Speaker 1: One of those songs is betting on Betty. I mean,
- 3:37Speaker 1: my god, let's break this song down because it opens
- 3:39Speaker 1: up with why we love muscle cars and the women
- 3:43Speaker 1: that take us for a ride. You guys had some
- 3:45Speaker 1: fun putting this video together.
- 3:47Speaker 2: Oh man, betting on Betty, counting on Betty, you name it?
- 3:51Speaker 2: Who or what is Betty to you? That's the question.
- 3:54Speaker 2: You know, everybody has a Betty in their life, whether
- 3:57Speaker 2: it's a real person, a hot car, your guitar, your motorcycle.
- 4:02Speaker 2: You know, could be that sexy waitress you know with
- 4:05Speaker 2: that name tag that says Betty.
- 4:08Speaker 1: Now, one of the things that you do Mac that
- 4:09Speaker 1: really catches my attention is I don't My term is
- 4:12Speaker 1: is that you put a lot of guitar stabs in there.
- 4:14Speaker 1: In other words, when you're when you're playing that guitar,
- 4:16Speaker 1: you'll go, you'll give me that little bit of a stab.
- 4:19Speaker 1: It's almost trying to reattract my attention as a listener.
- 4:23Speaker 1: Are you doing that on purpose? To really do that?
- 4:26Speaker 1: Get my attention? Keep my attention. Let's get to the
- 4:29Speaker 1: end of this song.
- 4:31Speaker 2: Oh yeah, man, I'm a guitar player, and I write
- 4:33Speaker 2: the songs. You know, the icing on the cake is
- 4:35Speaker 2: the vocal, and Danny does a great job. But I
- 4:39Speaker 2: get my moments. But if I can put in a
- 4:41Speaker 2: little jet, if I can put in a little jab,
- 4:43Speaker 2: as you call it, it's like, hey, guys, I'm right here.
- 4:45Speaker 2: You know. I mean, I grew up listening to great players,
- 4:49Speaker 2: and you know you can probably tell who my influences are.
- 4:53Speaker 2: But I mean, I just want to hear cool, tasteful
- 4:56Speaker 2: guitar riffs. I don't want to overplay. I just want
- 4:58Speaker 2: it to be appropriate.
- 5:00Speaker 1: Yeah, because I mean, to me, the guitar riff is
- 5:02Speaker 1: every bit the reason why I even walked into a
- 5:04Speaker 1: music store that had guitars or a pawn shop to
- 5:07Speaker 1: buy my very first guitar, because I heard something in
- 5:10Speaker 1: those guitar riffs. I love me some lead vocals, but
- 5:13Speaker 1: it's what's going on in the background that really serves
- 5:16Speaker 1: as the inspiration and the influence.
- 5:19Speaker 2: Well, that's it, and I write the guitar parts first.
- 5:21Speaker 2: I mean, I gotta have fun. Oh, I've gotta have
- 5:25Speaker 2: something catchy. I've got to have something I like, and
- 5:27Speaker 2: then we put a vocal to it that fits the mood,
- 5:30Speaker 2: so to speak. You know, you want to bring out
- 5:32Speaker 2: the emotion that the music is bringing to the table.
- 5:36Speaker 1: Now, I don't want to knock what's going on with
- 5:38Speaker 1: the lead vocalist, because what you guys are doing with
- 5:39Speaker 1: lyrics is to pinus as well, because anytime that you're
- 5:42Speaker 1: relating with us with real life stories, that to me
- 5:46Speaker 1: is the reason why we really do love songs. I mean,
- 5:50Speaker 1: you can take Nazareth love Hurts. We've all been there, dude,
- 5:53Speaker 1: love hurts.
- 5:54Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh yeah. I've got a line in True Love.
- 5:58Speaker 2: I love that song, but the line is not my intention.
- 6:01Speaker 2: But she sold my soul already. I bought it back,
- 6:04Speaker 2: but it show ain't pretty. I mean, you got to
- 6:07Speaker 2: be able to relate to that Danny things that like,
- 6:10Speaker 2: you know, he invented it, and you know he's been
- 6:13Speaker 2: my partner in crime for years now. I write him
- 6:16Speaker 2: and he makes the magic unbelievable sittinger.
- 6:19Speaker 1: See, that's what I love about music is that it
- 6:21Speaker 1: creates collaborations. And that's the part of the story that
- 6:24Speaker 1: a lot of listeners don't understand. We just think that
- 6:27Speaker 1: it all comes together and that there's not a struggle,
- 6:30Speaker 1: there's not a band or a wobble, it's just there.
- 6:33Speaker 1: And that's not true at all, because you're proving through
- 6:36Speaker 1: your music that hey, we live a life just like
- 6:38Speaker 1: you do. We just happen to be musicians.
- 6:41Speaker 2: Well that's right, that's who we are, and we just
- 6:44Speaker 2: go with what we know. And let me tell you,
- 6:46Speaker 2: writeing these songs, some of them are easy, some of
- 6:47Speaker 2: them take a long time, and you get an idea
- 6:50Speaker 2: in your head and you go so far and then
- 6:52Speaker 2: you hit a wall and then you maybe wait a
- 6:54Speaker 2: couple weeks, wait a couple of weeks, and then you know,
- 6:56Speaker 2: you get some more inspiration and then you find the
- 6:59Speaker 2: right line. Now.
- 7:00Speaker 1: Is that your way of saying that? There are sometimes
- 7:02Speaker 1: that one of these guitar riffs has been with you
- 7:04Speaker 1: ten or fifteen years and now it's finally going to
- 7:07Speaker 1: be heard.
- 7:09Speaker 2: Well, I think that's a safe thing to say. Maybe
- 7:11Speaker 2: not that long. But sometimes I'll be in the middle
- 7:14Speaker 2: of writing a song and I'll come up with the
- 7:15Speaker 2: second or third part and I go, hold on, wait
- 7:17Speaker 2: a minute, you can do something else with that. Let's
- 7:20Speaker 2: say that. Let's put that over here. And it's a process,
- 7:24Speaker 2: you know, because you want to just get it right.
- 7:27Speaker 1: Please do not move. We've got more fun with the
- 7:29Speaker 1: one and only Mac Fowler from mac Fowler and Company.
- 7:35Speaker 1: All right, The songs I want you to check out
- 7:37Speaker 1: include betting On Betty, Going Down Fast, Ain't No Damn Way,
- 7:41Speaker 1: Call Me Crazy, and Vamp. That is just a sample
- 7:45Speaker 1: of mac Fowler and Company. We are back with Mac.
- 7:49Speaker 1: Let's talk about that song call Me Crazy, a Carolina Cruiser,
- 7:52Speaker 1: the Roads off the Highway beat. I mean, the thing
- 7:55Speaker 1: about this is it opens up and it hits the
- 7:58Speaker 1: throttle when this song? Did it start that way when
- 8:00Speaker 1: you were writing it? Because the moment this song starts,
- 8:03Speaker 1: I'm going, God, dang, get in the car, let's go.
- 8:05Speaker 2: Yeah, call me crazy, man. As soon as I started
- 8:08Speaker 2: writing that, I wrote the first you know chord progression,
- 8:12Speaker 2: and it just it just started and went from there.
- 8:14Speaker 2: But I mean, you know, and that's a great line
- 8:17Speaker 2: to me, call me crazy, because we've all said that,
- 8:20Speaker 2: yeah and yeah, and we feel that sometimes, you know.
- 8:23Speaker 1: But then to put it into music though, because that
- 8:25Speaker 1: you know, people are gonna be walking around singing this song.
- 8:27Speaker 1: That to me is the power of the hook of
- 8:29Speaker 1: the song, which you guys are giving back to us
- 8:32Speaker 1: as listeners because for so long it's not been about
- 8:35Speaker 1: that hook. It's been about the attraction of the entire piece.
- 8:40Speaker 2: Yeah, and I hear you. I try to write lyrics
- 8:43Speaker 2: that people can relate to and say, yeah, I get it,
- 8:45Speaker 2: I get it.
- 8:47Speaker 1: This is experience we've all had and and experiencing it.
- 8:51Speaker 1: I mean, that makes you one of us, because you
- 8:53Speaker 1: seem to be the type of person that would jump
- 8:55Speaker 1: off that stage and come over and have a beer
- 8:56Speaker 1: with us during a break.
- 8:58Speaker 2: Well, that's just it. We're just a bunch, that's regular guys.
- 9:00Speaker 2: I mean, you know, oh boy, let me tell you, you know.
- 9:07Speaker 1: And to be a regular guy in this world of
- 9:09Speaker 1: music where it seems like that technology has given musicians
- 9:12Speaker 1: everything they ever wanted back in the fifties and sixties,
- 9:15Speaker 1: it's just that it was in the hands of other
- 9:16Speaker 1: engineers and people who press the flesh. Now you guys
- 9:20Speaker 1: are in control of your own future.
- 9:23Speaker 2: Man. I love that because we can write a song
- 9:26Speaker 2: and we can release it and nobody tells us how
- 9:28Speaker 2: to do it or how to produce it, and you know,
- 9:31Speaker 2: we get to put out there exactly what we intended.
- 9:34Speaker 2: And again, i'd like to bring rock and roll back
- 9:38Speaker 2: in all its glory. Now that's going to come back
- 9:40Speaker 2: in some form one or another, and we'll see. But
- 9:44Speaker 2: there's some great bands out there, like Dirty Honey and
- 9:46Speaker 2: the band Field. I like what they're the band feel,
- 9:48Speaker 2: I like what they're doing. You know, there are three
- 9:50Speaker 2: piece bands with the singer out front, just like us,
- 9:53Speaker 2: and now I like seeing what they're doing and how
- 9:57Speaker 2: they're evolving.
- 9:58Speaker 1: Well, and that's the thing that's fun about music. But
- 10:00Speaker 1: do you really want the rock music to come from?
- 10:02Speaker 1: Because right now I see it as being underground and
- 10:04Speaker 1: it can be mean and nasty, it can be something
- 10:07Speaker 1: we sing with, it can be called our own and
- 10:09Speaker 1: I always felt like that. The hairbands of the nineteen eighties,
- 10:12Speaker 1: It's like you took yourself away from my private little
- 10:15Speaker 1: area because remember those posters on the wall. We would
- 10:18Speaker 1: sit there and just imagine what it was like. There
- 10:20Speaker 1: was so much mystique in led Zeppelin.
- 10:24Speaker 2: Oh yeah, man, I mean I like the underground part
- 10:27Speaker 2: of it, but I'd like it to be more mainstream.
- 10:29Speaker 2: I mean I grew up and it was mainstream. Yeah,
- 10:32Speaker 2: and I love rock and roll. That's it, And where's
- 10:36Speaker 2: it going to go? It's not gonna change.
- 10:37Speaker 1: Well, you kind of prove that in the song Vamp,
- 10:39Speaker 1: because I would love to see this one in a stadium.
- 10:41Speaker 1: I mean I can actually hear people chanting this song,
- 10:45Speaker 1: and I mean, if you've done it live, are they
- 10:46Speaker 1: doing that?
- 10:47Speaker 2: Oh yeah, man, that song goes over great live. I
- 10:50Speaker 2: mean it's just got a groove. Danny kills it. You know,
- 10:53Speaker 2: it's just got some different dynamics in it, and I
- 10:56Speaker 2: think it's a song that's different from anything else we do.
- 11:00Speaker 2: It's just got that Well. One of the reasons is
- 11:02Speaker 2: that guys love that song because there's parts of it
- 11:05Speaker 2: us stop playing.
- 11:08Speaker 1: And even with the song, ain't no, damn way. I
- 11:11Speaker 1: love how you guys toy with this because you're getting
- 11:14Speaker 1: inside the imagination of every man and woman on this planet.
- 11:17Speaker 1: Because when you walk into that bar and you get
- 11:20Speaker 1: that cold beer and she's over there playing pool, that's hot, dude,
- 11:23Speaker 1: that's hot.
- 11:25Speaker 2: Oh man. We had a blast making that video and
- 11:29Speaker 2: we went in that club. We had the club. We
- 11:31Speaker 2: went in at ten am on them Saturday morning. They
- 11:34Speaker 2: opened the bar and we made that with all our
- 11:37Speaker 2: friends and there was no script. It just all went
- 11:40Speaker 2: down the way it went down, and it you know,
- 11:43Speaker 2: we got to promote that one a little more. Thanks
- 11:45Speaker 2: for bringing that one up.
- 11:47Speaker 1: Well, it's a journey, and that's the thing about it,
- 11:49Speaker 1: And that's what I love about you guys, is that
- 11:51Speaker 1: you accept the journey and you take the bumps and
- 11:53Speaker 1: the hits and the dents and the dings. And the
- 11:55Speaker 1: thing about it is, though, is that when you get
- 11:57Speaker 1: to the end result of these songs, when they've gone
- 11:58Speaker 1: through their final mixed down, it's like, holy crap, it
- 12:01Speaker 1: was so well worth a desire.
- 12:05Speaker 2: Well, you make a good point, because we know what
- 12:07Speaker 2: we're doing is pretty damn cool. I mean, we're not
- 12:09Speaker 2: reinventing the wheel or anything like that. But you take
- 12:12Speaker 2: a lot of hits in the music business. I mean
- 12:14Speaker 2: it's it's a brutal business. But we believe in what
- 12:17Speaker 2: we're doing and we're just going to keep smoking.
- 12:19Speaker 1: What is it about that Marshall amp that the world
- 12:22Speaker 1: still loves? What are they doing? Right?
- 12:27Speaker 2: Oh man? The first time I heard a Less Paul
- 12:30Speaker 2: and a Marshall, I was all in. I mean, first
- 12:33Speaker 2: guitar and AMP I bought was a Less Paul and
- 12:35Speaker 2: a Marshall and that was my I was very fortunate
- 12:39Speaker 2: and that was my sound always has been. There are
- 12:41Speaker 2: a lot of great guitar sounds out there, of course,
- 12:44Speaker 2: but I mean that just does it for me. And
- 12:46Speaker 2: when I was a kid and I'd go to concerts
- 12:48Speaker 2: and I'd see that, you know, line of Marshal's up there,
- 12:50Speaker 2: and I said, hey, man, I'm liking this. This sounds good.
- 12:54Speaker 2: So I looked into it. But I mean, it's just rock.
- 12:57Speaker 2: It's the sound of rock and roll. Yeah. I play
- 13:00Speaker 2: I play vintage seventies Marshals, and there's a sound there
- 13:04Speaker 2: that that's the only way you can get it.
- 13:08Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Because as a kid, this is what
- 13:10Speaker 1: we used to do. With our garage band, we'd all
- 13:12Speaker 1: have pvs because that's all we could afford was a PV.
- 13:15Speaker 1: But then we would sit there and mic that PV
- 13:17Speaker 1: and send it through a Marshall. We wouldn't send it
- 13:19Speaker 1: through the Marshall in the original. It had to be
- 13:21Speaker 1: a secondary sound because I could screw with a sound
- 13:23Speaker 1: on that.
- 13:26Speaker 2: Well. You know, there Marshall gets its own sound. It's
- 13:28Speaker 2: it's unique. That's why they're famous. And Jim Marshall just
- 13:33Speaker 2: he figured it out early on. Wow.
- 13:35Speaker 1: Wow, how is the technology helping you guys out? I mean,
- 13:39Speaker 1: I mean, because I mean AI is everywhere, And the
- 13:41Speaker 1: more and more I dig into AI, the more and
- 13:43Speaker 1: more I see that it does repeat itself. Ah lot,
- 13:47Speaker 1: How is that? Is it helping out with the imagination
- 13:49Speaker 1: for a band or is it something you're going you know,
- 13:51Speaker 1: I just don't want to touch it right now.
- 13:54Speaker 2: I'm not touching it except for some promotional things like
- 13:57Speaker 2: some reels and you know, just posts. But we're not
- 14:03Speaker 2: using AI to write anything. We're all school. We really
- 14:06Speaker 2: write it, we really play it. It's us and it
- 14:10Speaker 2: has some benefits, but there's some concerns about it, you know,
- 14:14Speaker 2: and we're in a transition here and it's it's what
- 14:17Speaker 2: it is.
- 14:18Speaker 1: Oh my god, you sound just like Tom Schols from
- 14:20Speaker 1: the group Boston because of the way that Remember, he
- 14:22Speaker 1: was always about I'm using real instruments, I'm using a
- 14:24Speaker 1: real organ, I'm using this real stuff, real stuff. I
- 14:28Speaker 1: love that, and that, to me is the real soul
- 14:30Speaker 1: of great rock music when you can keep it authentic
- 14:33Speaker 1: and very valuable.
- 14:36Speaker 2: Well, everything we plays authentic. Yes, we play it and
- 14:39Speaker 2: it's you know, it's coming from the heart and it's
- 14:41Speaker 2: full of emotion. And you know, again, the four of
- 14:45Speaker 2: us in a room is pretty damn cool because we're
- 14:48Speaker 2: on the same page. Yeah.
- 14:50Speaker 1: Are you all in the same room at the same
- 14:51Speaker 1: time recording or are you doing this one track at
- 14:53Speaker 1: a time?
- 14:55Speaker 2: Well, I'm when we're rehearsing or played, but you know,
- 14:57Speaker 2: when we're in the studio, Yeah, we do it separately.
- 15:00Speaker 2: We'll do the drums in the bass and everybody's in
- 15:02Speaker 2: a separate room, and you know, you just build it.
- 15:06Speaker 2: But it's all live, it's all real. We're all playing together,
- 15:10Speaker 2: but we're in separate rooms and we're listening through headphones.
- 15:14Speaker 1: Wow, where can people go to find out more about you?
- 15:17Speaker 1: Mac Fowler and your company, because I want people to
- 15:19Speaker 1: dive into everything that you're planting.
- 15:23Speaker 2: You can go to YouTube and go to our music page,
- 15:26Speaker 2: Macfowler and Company. I think in the last two and
- 15:29Speaker 2: a half years we've released ten or eleven songs. There
- 15:32Speaker 2: are two Christmas songs in there, but the rest of
- 15:33Speaker 2: them are rock songs or blue songs. And of course
- 15:37Speaker 2: we have a website, Macfowlerancompany dot com and that's a
- 15:41Speaker 2: little bit more involved. But you know, people just need
- 15:43Speaker 2: to go see our videos and listen to our songs.
- 15:46Speaker 2: And you got more coming. We've got a lot more coming.
- 15:50Speaker 2: You know what.
- 15:50Speaker 1: Dad just told me. We're gonna be talking again. But
- 15:52Speaker 1: just don't wait two and a half years for the
- 15:53Speaker 1: next one.
- 15:54Speaker 2: There, buddy, No, man, We're not waiting two and a
- 15:57Speaker 2: half years. I'm gonna be a Dutch Brother'll be in touch.
- 16:01Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today? Okay, sir?
- 16:03Speaker 2: Will you sound great? Man? I really appreciate this.