Latest / The Bob Lefsetz Podcast / Ed Roland

Transcript

Ed Roland · The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left SAIDs podcast.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: My guest today is Ed Rulan of Collective soul Head.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Tell me about the new album.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Well, it's a double album. We'll start there when we
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: set out to make a single record, but we kind
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: of got inspired by where we were recording the record.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: My brother who's in the band, lives in San Diego,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: and I was like, we had the month of January
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: off in twenty twenty three, and I was like, man,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I got some songs. Let's get the band together make
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: another record. We already had one plan to go out
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: and he said, uh, well we've never recorded west of
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the Mississippi. Why don't we record out here and near me?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: And I about five or six years ago, had run
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: into or met, befriended the people that owned Elvis Presley's
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: estate in Palm Springs, two homes when he passed away.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Of course everybody knows Graceland, and then he on this
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: place in Palm Springs, which when he passed was just
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: left like Priscilla wanted nothing to do with it, Lisa
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Marie wanted nothing to do with it. But he spent
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: his last Thanksgiving, his last Christmas, his last birthday, and
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: he last three recordings he did there in that house.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: So I'd seen the home before and RCA acoustically treated
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: it for him to record there. So I called those
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: guys up, my friends, and I was like, Hey, can
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: we have Elvis's house for the month of January? And
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: they said, of course, yeah, whatever you want. You know,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: there's no furniture, there's nothing in there. You know, the
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: water may run, it may not. You may have hot water,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: you may not. So we were like, all right, we'll
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: take it though it's Elvis's house. So we go out
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: there and we put furniture in there because there's no furniture,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: and just set up the studio in there and started recording.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: And the funny thing when it went in to do,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: like I said, a single record. The guys we're old school,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: like Johnny. Our drummer sets his drums up and then
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: we circle horseshoe around him and I present them a
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: song if they like it. We kind of worked through
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: it for an hour to see the parts and the vibe,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: what we're feeling, and then we do maybe three, no
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: more than five takes. We do five takes because I
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: count them. If it's five takes. It's like, we got
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: to come back to this. It's usually it's three takes.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: So in four days we recorded twelve songs. And I
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: was like, well, we still got three weeks to go, guys,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: why don't y'all just go enjoy golf, hiking, biking, go
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: to Joshua Tree. I don't care. Let me just see
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: if I could come up with some other songs. So
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: I stayed at Elvis's house for four days and I
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: went to what they called his party room where he
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: throw all his parties. And I'm a Vinyl guy. I
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: love Vinyl. So I had fifty of my heroes albums
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: that I knew I wanted to listen to. Shift out,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: got a record player, and I just sat in Elvis's
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: party room dance, listen to my heroes, or as I
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: like to call him, my professor's teachers. And somehow came
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: up with ten more songs and they came back in
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: and there you have it, a double album.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, how were you aware of this house?
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: I had met through a show a friend, my friend,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: a guy named Michael Rogers. We called him Spike. It
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: was like, you know, we have this house in palm
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: springs in Elvis's house. He knew I was an Elvis fan.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: I was like, that's crazy, and I said, I want
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to come out. He goes anytime. So I came out,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: and then him and Tim the other owner, were like,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: we're thinking, what We're trying to figure out what to
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: do with this house because you don't want to lose
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: what it was because it's Elvis, but it was you know,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: it's dated, beautiful piece of property. But they didn't want
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: to take away from where Elvis lived. You know, it
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: wasn't a tear down. They really wanted to try to
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: maintain and contain, sustain what they thought Elvis would have
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: been living in that time. So they ask if I
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: would be interested in doing like a a show, like
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: a YouTube show where artists would come in and they
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: would perform their new songs, and then they performed two
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Elvis songs. So it started there, and then the pandemic happened,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and then it just kind of dissipated from there because
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the whole universe dissipated for a second there. But we
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: still kept in touch, and I just like I said,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: I just made the call to him and was like, hey,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: you still got that Elvis house anything going on, So
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: it was really just luck of the draw. And it's
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: actually cool to think that I am the only man
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: besides Elvis Presley to sleep in his bedroom as we know.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Of Okay, what about recording equipment.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: I always I grew up as an engineer recording in
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: the studios. I've always had recording gear and I had
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I wrote it down. With today's technology, we use what's
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: called Apollo, so I have a half rack, I have
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: all these digital mics, and literally I just loaded to
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: U haul and had my production fern drive from Atlanta
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: to Palm Springs with the U Haul and my SUV
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: and we just put it in Lisa Maurice. The control
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: room was in Lisa Marie's bedroom. Engineer producer Sean slept
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: in Priscilla, and I slept in Elvis's bedroom and the
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: rest of the guys. I rented a house that was
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Burt Lancaster's house, which is where Here to Eternity came
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: from because of the big movie that him and Frank
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Sinatra from Here to Eternity was a big movie for them.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: So I was like, so the title came really easy.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: I was like, here to attorney, the we're having fun
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: and it was that simple. Like with today's technology, it's
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: it's pack it up and go.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Okay, you're in Atlanta. You know, people want to go
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: to warmer weather. It's pretty warm in Georgia where they
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: go to Florida. Have you ever been to Palm Springs before?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Many times the first manager I had, we went to
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: la to see if I could get a We were
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: looking for an attorney because that was the first thing,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: and try to shop my songs for a publishing deal
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: because I didn't have a band. I just wanted a
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: publishing deal. And he woke me up one morning and said,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: we're going to Palm Springs. So we went there and
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: we went on hikes, and that was my first experience
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: with Palm Springs, but I had been there many times
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: prior to that. Our old tour manager, who was our
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: tour manager for thirteen fourteen years, moved out there, so
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: I would just go spend you know, long weekends with him,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: and I just fell in love with it. I love
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: the history, the vibe. The heat doesn't bother me. Like
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: you said, I'm from Atlanta, heat does not bother me. Actually,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: I'd rather have dry heat than the humidity that we
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: have here. But because I could play thirty six holes
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: of golf and dry heat, I can't do it in humidity.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: And I just fell in love with the culture. I
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: love that it's non judgmental. I mean, it's just anything goes.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: And I mean, if I had mine to do, but
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: I have a family and two boys, and I would
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: love to live there. I just love. And there's so
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: many other artists out there that live there now, musicians
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: and artists. I just I just find it's funny. I
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: only second home I ever had was in Arizona, and
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: I fell in love with it because I love the
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: living desert. I guess just because living in Georgia, where
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: you feel like you're living in a shrub, you know,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: cut a little shrub here and put a house. I
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: just yeah, I'm a spiritual cat, and I kind of
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: just fell in love the spirituality of living deserts Vegas.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Vegas is not a living desert. It's it's living, all right,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: but it's not a you know, ecosystem living like I love,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: like Palm Springs and Phoenix, Scottsdale, things like that. So
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: I just I just fell in love with it. My
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: wife tells me all the time. She's like, man, I
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: hope I don't get run over. If I do, I
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: know where you're gonna end up, Palm Springs.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: I was like, you're right, And do you find the
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: environment inspirational creatively?
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: One hundred percent? That's why we only we only recorded.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: I think we've only done two. This is our twelfth
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: recording studio album, and I think we've done too maybe
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: three in proper studios. We love homes. We like once again,
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: we're Southern boys and we're very family. Everybody grew up
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: with each other and knows each other, and we like
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: the environment that a home sets. There is no clock,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: you're not ticking. You don't have to be there at ten.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: You could. You could wake up at eight, have a
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: cup of coffee and be inspired. And also like that
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: you're a part of the community. It's something different. If
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: you're in a studio, you're not part of a community
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: because you feel like you have to be in that
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: room with no windows or anything like that. When you're
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: in a house, you got windows. You see life moving,
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: you see kids, you see everybody walking, hiking, whatever they're doing.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: So it's for us and I'm not saying that's the
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: right way to do it, or it works for every band,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: but for us, we love that we were a strange
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: rock and roll band. We don't. We not only like
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: each other, we love each other and we love each
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: other's company. So to me, when we go to these destinations,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: and I'll use it in that term, it kind of
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: brings in the vibrations from the community and it kind
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: of inspires us. And you know, I'm old school. I
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: do like the history of the Stones and Zeppelin, you know,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: renting castles or getting in you know, mix you know,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: South of France house and just recording making it work.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: It wasn't as much about the acoustic as it was
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: about the spirit of what they were doing. So that's
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: that's kind of where our gig is.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, you mentioned thirty six, so you know a round
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: and a half of golf. Are you a good golfer?
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Do you play a lot of golf?
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: I try to. I would love to. The first time
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: I ever played golf we were touring with Van Halen
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: and Eddie van Halen came on the bus and he said,
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: we're playing golf tomorrow, cigarette hanging out and I was like,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: you're Eddie Van Halen will do whatever you want to do.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: So I got up and he said, one of the
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: coolest things ever. He goes, I believe you're gonna have
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: a long career. He said. I really like what you do.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: I love your personality or your spirit, he goes, and
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you something right now. I'm gonna give you
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: some advice. Every hotel room looks the same. In his words,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: He's like, I have a shitter, a bed, a TV,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: a telephone, and he says, you end up at the bar.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: He says, what you need to do is get out,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: you play golf, bike or something. But I want to
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: take you to play golf. See if you fall in
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: love with it. So my first round of golf was
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: with Eddie van at Woodlands in Houston, Texas.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: And how often do you play? Now?
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: As much as I can. I'm playing tomorrow morning. I
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: just did. And I get to announce this. I do
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: a lot of stuff for Saint Jude. I go to
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: the Warmer Burger and the Ram and I just came
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: back and they just asked me to host the one
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: in Naples, Florida this year. So it's my golf tournament
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: man for Saint Jude. What a great cause, great place.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: So yeah. And the other cool thing about golf, My
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: wife is so cool. When we got married, I was
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: really into it and I bought her a set of
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: clubs and she said, no, take them back. That's boytime,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: that's your boytime. And I'm like, all right. I started
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: taking it too seriously, and then I realized, man, is
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: this is just fellowship. You know, it's you know, I've
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: met some of the coolest people on the planet. I'm
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: the worst golfer that's played the greatest courses on the planet.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: But hey, I love it. It's just so much fun.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's go back to the album. Needless to say,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the music business on the recording end, it's very different.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: When you had your initial hits in the nineties, it's
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: hard to reach everybody. So for someone who's had international hits,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: do you have the same motivation.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: We've always had the same motivation, and that is for
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: us to be happy with what we created. Is if
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: you can't be happy with what you've done, you can't
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: expect anybody else to. We've never been one to chase
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: hit songs anything like that. We literally look at each
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: other at the end of the session of the song,
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: we're like, everybody call and we're like and usually we're
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: all high five in each other, going, man, we got
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: lucky again. Or however we do it, however we make
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: it happen, And that's that's how we approach it. I
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: think you can get caught up in that craziness, and
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: we did for a second. You know, you sell a
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: million albums and then you go, why didn't we sell
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: a million in one? You know, you get caught up
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: in that rabbit hole. You're going to lose perspective real quick. So,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: but with the songs and the records, we've always been grounded,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: if that makes sense, Like it's it's about the song.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: We're not like, oh this is this is a hit? Now?
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Who knows what a hit is? And if you think
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: you do, why didn't you do it when you were
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: fourteen fifteen, sixteen? Nobody knows. It's just a timing and place.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: But once again, the main, the cornerstone of all of
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: it is how you feel as a band and are
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: you happy? Do you feel fulfilled with what you just did?
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: And if you can feel that, nobody can take that
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: away from you. It doesn't mean everybody's gonna like it,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: and that's cool. But if you're fulfilled with it, you win.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: So you make a record in today's change marketplace, what
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: are your expectations?
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know. That's a good question. Let me think
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: of you know, my expectation is that we still present
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: ourselves musically artistically, and then to honestly go play live.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: We love playing live. That's that's our favorite thing to
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: do as a band. We're like some bad frat fraternity.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Like we love being around each other. I mean we
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: high five, hug each other, you know, make pranks on
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: each other and kid with each other. But it does
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: start with the song. But then once that's done, it's
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: it's all about just getting on the road. Man.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Okay. Now the group paid for the record, right, correct,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: So when you start, do you have in mind how
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: much money you want to spend, Because it's your money.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: We keep it within a budget. But I will be honest.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: When the Elvis thing came up, I was like, boys,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: we're gonna have We're just gonna have fun. There was
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: no limit to be and nobody's crazy, nobody's doing anything stupid,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: you know. I was like, this is a once in
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: a lifetime thing, and we knew it was gonna be
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: our thirtieth record. We didn't know it was going to
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: be a double album. Then when we decided it was
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: to be a double album and we were so inspired
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: being there, I was like, you know what, go get
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: a nice steak dinner, you know, get you a nice
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: bottle of wine. Let's enjoy and absorb this moment. We've
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: earned it and the guys in the band have earned it.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: And that one was a little expensive. But you know,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: I'm actually as this morning, just rented a place in
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: the mountains in Tennessee, a cabin where we're going to
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: do our next record in October. But I keep it
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: on a budget. You know, I got to it. I mean,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: you can spend everything. I got two boys I got
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: to put through college.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Come on now, Okay, so the record is done. You're
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: the record company. Getting the record on digital services is
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: not that difficult. What do you do for promotion in marketing?
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Since you know you're your own record company.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: I call a man called Fred Kraschell. Fred Kroschell worked
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: at Maverick Records and met him twenty I think twenty
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: one years ago when we first went independent, and that
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: is that is. It's it's his job. He's gig and
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: he knows. If if I could tell you, I can
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: tell you how many people I've met that has said
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: a negative thing about Fred Krischell, that would be zero.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: He's the most well liked, well respected man in the
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: industry and one of, if not the hardest working man.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: I call him sometimes and forget I'm East coast, he's
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: West coast, but he's up. He's like, Eddie, what's up?
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: What we doing today? Like so it You know, one
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: of the smartest things I've learned to do in my
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: life is to be the dumbest man in the room.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: And Fred is a smart man in that. So he
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: teaches me. But also I can trust him and I
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: have the and he has the freedom, and he makes
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: it happens. He's done them all. He's just a great
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: He wants to again. It's nice to be able to
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: work with people. You know, you got to think about Fred.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: He was part of two of the top ten selling
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: albums of all time, a Linus More sets Jagged Littlepill
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: and Michael Jackson's Thriller. And for me to have the
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: knowledge that he has to just share with me and
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: work with me is amazing. So I'm just blessed to
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: know the cat from a personal standpoint, forget the business side.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: He's a fun cat.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you go on the road, how much of
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: the new album are you going to play?
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: It depends on the set times that we have. We're
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: going out with Hoodie, so we get fifty minutes, so
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: we do the first two songs or new songs, because
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: that's not the pee break area I call it. So
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: they don't know that they're new. They're just excited that
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: there's music going on, so it kind of sneak to
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: in there, and then we'll do some hits and we'll
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: throw one more in there in a fifty minute set.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: But when we get out and do our own shows, well,
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: I don't want to do over five. I do five,
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: you know, And it's tough to pick and choose, especially
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: when you just did twenty, but you do. I like
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: to do five. I think that's fair. It's fair to
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: the audience, you know, because they are there for the
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: songs that got us there on stage. So you don't
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: want to you want to stretch yourself too thin, if
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: that makes sense, But you do want to let them
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: know that you're still making music and songs are still
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: as good as they were before.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Do you have hardcore collective soul fans?
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: I guess so. I don't know. I'm not a social
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: media guy. I don't keep up with that kind of stuff.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: I literally get up and watch sports, keep up with
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: the news a little bit. But I love just playing music.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: I love playing the piano. I'll play the piano and
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: I try to write every day or just let something flow.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: It doesn't mean it's good, bad, or and different. It
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: may be just a little idea that'll last, but it's
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: just an extension of who I am. I love and
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: I try to sing every day because it's a muscle.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: You want to keep your voice going. So I don't
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: know much about I guess we do. People still show up,
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: and still people listen to what we're doing.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Well, how much you know, we've had the pandemic, But
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: generally speaking, how much does collective soul work.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: We usually do seventy five shows a year, and then
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: I would say I'll do privates and then I'll do
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: charitable events. So for me, it's around ninety to one
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: hundred a year, so and that never changes. It's pretty
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: pretty consistent. You know, Charlie keeps us Charlie, Charlie our manager,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Charlie keeps us busy.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: And what kind of buildings do you play?
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: It varies, you know, it could be a two thousand,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: and then with Hoodie we're out in outdoor amphitheaters, so
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: that's eighteen thousand. But I don't I don't look at
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: an audience's success. Like when my wife and I go
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: on holiday and I walk by a bar and there's
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: a band in there playing. I'm like, she knows what
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: I'm about to do because I just love to play.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: I was like, I need to work, wrote these new songs.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna go in, so I'll go in and tip
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: the band one hundred bucks. I'm like, can I just
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: borrow a guitar? I just want to play, So I
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: play the new songs and then I'll play like you know,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: people recognize December World or Shine something, and it never fails.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: They go, god, you sound just like that guy. I'm like,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: I said, by the way, I do look like that guy.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: I am that guy, But I just love I just
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: like playing music. Man, It's just kind of my good.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Well, so do you ultimately tell him you are that
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: guy at.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: The end of the night. Yeah, you know, because I don't.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: I'm just trying to help the band out because I
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: would have been doing that if I could. I still
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: would love to do it. I enjoy that, and I
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: actually enjoy them not knowing who I am, so I
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: can work on my new songs without being judged. You know,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: if they knew, they go all right, that one sucks,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: you know, like just working on it on myself.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Okay. So if you go on the road, the level
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: you go on the road depends on how many tickets
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: you sell. So you were selling a million albums. Nobody
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: sells a million albums today. Has that changed the level
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: of travel and how do you feel about that?
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: Not?
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: For us, it hasn't. I mean, we were never one
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: of those band. We were never a stadium band or
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: arena band. We were kind of mid level. So we've
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: maintained that and Charlie, our manager, keep bringing him up,
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: but he's been absolutely wonderful in maintaining that and helping
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: hus grow yearly. Because when we first started, everybody knew
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: the songs. They didn't know the band they you know,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: they they had no idea who sang the song. They
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: just love the songs, you know, because everything happened so
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: fast for us, So Charlie's been putting it together for us,
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: like people now getting oh collector saw go see him
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: and they see us play live and they love what
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: we do. They know we love what we do. So
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: it's maintained a real consistency, it really has over the years.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: There's never been a there's never been a big drop
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: and there's never been a big peak. It's just maintained.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Man kind of like the Dude and Big Lebowski. We're
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: kind of like the rug that ties everything together.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: So how long have you been with Charlie and how'd
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: you first connect with Charlie.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I met Charlie years ago being in Atlanta. Charlie used
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: to call when I had a band and he would
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: he had nobody to open up, you know, he's a
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: promoter and had nobody open up. He called me and go, Hey,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: I'm not paying anything, but you want to open up
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: with this band. I was like, yeah, man, let's go.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: And then I mean, I think I've known Charlie for
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: forty years I think now. And then when we were
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: in management and we had discussions with other managers, I
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: never forget to flow up to the buffalo. But we
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: didn't feel at the time. I didn't feel it at
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: that moment, and that was I don't know when, that
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: was twenty years ago, twenty five. And then eventually we
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: got to a position where and like I said, I've
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: known Charlie and I've seen what he's done with all
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: the bands he's managed, and I see his loyalty and
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: I've witnessed I should say I've witnessed his loyalty, of
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: which witnessed his hard work. And when we had to
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: make a change, I was like, you know, I went
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: to Charlie and it was that simple. It was, and
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: it's been nothing but great. You know, it's nice to
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: have a manager that is not afraid of you, and
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: it's nice to have a manager who's not afraid of
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: the artist. And we're not either one like, you know,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: we can have disagreements, but we don't get mad at
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: each other. It's just like, what can we do? We're
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: both here to resolve. Like he's so good at that,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: and it's been a blessing to have him.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: You had a contract to with the previous manager. What
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: went on with the previous manager.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Well, we didn't get paid. That's about all I can say.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: We didn't get paid, but we had to go to
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: court and all that. But all we got out of
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: it was I retained the name, and I retained the songs,
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: and I retained the right to continue on as Collective Soul,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: which is, you know, once again, that's all I wanted
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: that moment in my life.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Did the guy just steal the money?
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: I can't really say that he's passed. He passed about
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: three years ago, but in the court rulings, we're really not,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: you know.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, but you know there have been bands like Bad
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Finger where the guys have literally committed suicide when they
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: haven't gotten paid. So how did you cope with that?
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: Man? I go back to and people think I'm and
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: it's not. I go back to my parents. My parents
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: were such strong people, very supportive, and it really came
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: down to them, and not just me, but all the
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: other band members. We all grew up in the same community,
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: had the same kind of understanding of life and were
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: raised very similar. I think it came down to our
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: parents because there were there was times where I've never
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: taken my life, or there's time it's like, man, what
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: just happened, you know, all of a sudden, you shoot,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: you shot out of a shotgun. Then you're a dead
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: bowling ball falling from the air. But it was it
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: was family. It was family, family strength.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Okay, you're going out with Edwin mccainn and Hoody. Do
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: you know those guys.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: We've all known each other before, we all got signed,
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: so being in the Southeast, and it's like a fraturn
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: going back out, like we've known each other for over
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: thirty years now, and to be able to go out
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: and just hang with your buddies, like Edwin is one
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: of the funniest men on the planet. And the Hoodie Boys,
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: I hate to use the word, they're a hoop. They're fine,
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: you know, and it's just it's almost like you're in
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: college again. There's no egos, which is a great thing
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: to have when you're on tour with other bands. There's
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: no egos. Everybody supports each other and everybody wants each
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: other to succeed as we did when we first met
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: each other. We were so happy for you know, when
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: we got signed, Hoody and the boys were extremely happy,
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: and then we were for them. And then everyone gets
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: signed there, you know, it's just a family kind of vibe.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: So, you know, Hoody really had a moment there in
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: the mid nineties. Did you expect that and what do
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: you think about that?
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: I don't think they expect Nobody expects that. And I
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: think they handle it great. I think, you know, to
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: you think we shot we shot up really quick. But
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: with Hoodie, they kind of they had a little swell
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: to it. So I mean, that's a lot to take in,
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: you know, what they had to go through, and they
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: handled it great. And they've been nothing but gentlemen. And
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: you know, and for Darius to go on to another
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: career like he did, I mean, it's pretty uh inspiring,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: to be honest with you, That's the word I would
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: use for Hoodie and Edwin. Also, they're very inspiring artists
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: and friends.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Okay, you're in Atlanta, Okay, needless to say, they Allman
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Brothers had a song called Hot Lanta. Al Cooper moved
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: to Atlanta signed the Leonard Skinnard but at Disley date,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Atlanta is an epicenter of hip hop.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: What's it like being a rock musician in Atlanta today?
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't get out as much as I
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: used to because you know, having children and wife, it
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: takes your time up when you are home, you want
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: to be with your family. But back in the day
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: when we were coming up, or when I was coming
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: up in the eighties and the early nineties, Atlanta it
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: was just a hotbed of rock and roll. It was great,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: like it was incorporating Southern rock. Just I call it
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: keeping the traid on the wheel. You know, it was
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: so much fun. I don't see that anymore right now.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: I just don't. Being honest, and once again, maybe there
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: I am sixty, so maybe I'm too old to recognize
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: where it is and who it is. But it doesn't
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: feel you know, I got a twenty five year old
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: sign and I just go like, where do the rock clubs? Like?
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: I just missed that stuff so much, not even playing it.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: I just used to love to go to him, you know,
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: just the vibe of it all was, I don't know, man,
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: felt like you had a halo. When I walked out,
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, yeah, I'm about to kick some
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: ass here now. Man. That just fired me up. They
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: would fire me up. I don't know where you find
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: that in Atlanta right now, to be honest with.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: You, and who from Atlanta. Do you think deserve more
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: success than they got from your era?
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Driving and Crime? Driving and Crime without a doubt, the
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: Kevin Kenney is one of the best songwriters. That band's
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: one of the best bands. I would go, Drive In
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: and Crime. And there's an artist, well, Sheryl Crow's band director.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: But he's like our sixth member to Peter Stroud. He's
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: played with everybody from Don Henley, Sarah maclachlin, like just
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: just the talent. So he's found his niche where he's
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: like the sixth man on a lot of these artists.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: But he he is. But the one I would say
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: first and foremost would be Driving and Crime. No if answer, but.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Okay, So what was your situation growing up? What were
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: your parents doing when you were growing up?
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: Well, my dad was a minister. He was operatic trained
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: and he was about to leave to live in Italy
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: and sing opera and then him and God had a
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: talk and he decided he was going into the ministry.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: So he became a minister of music and eventually became
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: a minister. But he's a minister of music first, and
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: my mom played piano in church and that's what I
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: grew up in I knew nothing different and it was awesome.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: I mean they I had loved discipline, sports, you know,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: it was outside playing all the time. And I had
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: their devotion. I had my devotion to them, like my
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: childhood was great. We had no money, but that didn't
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: That's why I always tell my wife money doesn't it.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, So your father had his own church cracked. And
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: where was that church?
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: Scottridge, Georgia, south of Atlanta, about twenty miles south of Atlanta.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: And how big a congregation was that?
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: About three to four hundred.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Okay, So you're the minister's son. So once you walk
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: out the door, is that a good thing or bad thing?
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: People make fun of you, people treat you special.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Oh I didn't get treated special. I mean you know,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: when the principal of your high school is the deacon
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: of the church, you're being watched. Twenty four to seven.
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: I was scrutinized quite often. I mean I didn't mindn't
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't do anything crazy. I mean, you know, when
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: I was fourteen, when I decided I want to do music,
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: was like that's all I cared about. I just did music.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: But now nobody ever made it was a small town.
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: So it was like once again, I go back to
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: like if you want to, if I could compare it
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: to anything, it'd be like Mayberry, you know Andy Griffith show,
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: Like it was just that everybody was a neighbor and
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: it was just that simple. Everybody made mistakes, everybody did
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: some wrong things here and there, but everybody were neighbors
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: and cared for each other.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: So we live in this polarized era. You know, when
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: I grew up, which is you know, kind of when
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: you were born, you were a little later than from me,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: there was all this. You know, the South is rednecks
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: below the Mace and Dixon line, you know. Then there's
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: issues of the Confederate War. Now there's maga. What does
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the North not understand about the South?
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: I don't know. It seems they're all moving down here now.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I just think that's just you know,
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: folk lore for lack of a better term. You know,
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: my wife's from Washington State and are there and I
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: hate to use the word rednecks because if you understand
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: what redneck means, it's actually the farmers that worked in
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: the fields, that worked hard and fed people and they
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: would get their next burn so it wasn't. So it's
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: taken another turn, and I know what people mean by it.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: You can find hatred and bigotry and racism in any
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: part of this country. Trust me, I've seen it in
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: every part of this country. I've seen it more than
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: I have in the South. It's one reason I've never
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: left the South or Atlanta, because I love the diversity
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: of Atlanta, and I wanted my children raised in diversity
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: to understand that my children don't even know they're best
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: friends are African Americans are ancient. It doesn't matter to
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: that generation. And that's how I wanted to teach my children.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: And that's why I stayed in Atlanta because it offers that.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: And I don't know why the Northerners think that. I
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: don't know why anybody thinks that, you know, there's good
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: people here. I mean, I don't think everybody up in
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: the Northeast is in the mob.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Let's go one step deeper. There's a lot of news
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: in Georgia having to do with Fanny Willis and stuff
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: like that. Is there a big red blue divide? Is
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: that something you feel or is that just something you
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: read in the newspapers.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: I'm sure it's there. I personally haven't seen it. Now
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: you can talk red and blue and have difference. The
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: people I talk to that have different ideologies politically have conversations.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: They're not angry, they're just having conversations. So I think
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: some of the stuff is what do you you know?
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: I think they want it for TV, or they want
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: it or maybe even for their individual selves. I don't know.
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know those people. All I know is the
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: people that are surround myself with. We differ even in
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: the band. We differ politically, we differ religiously. We different ideology.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: To me, that makes up a society. And like I
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: said earlier, not only do we like each other, we
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: love each other, and just that's that's society. If we
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: all thought the same way, we'd be a bunch of
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: cows in the pasture waiting to get grazing and waiting
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: to get slaughtered. You know, at least you're learning and
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: taking and absorbing other people's thoughts. So I think it's
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: I just think it's ratings or clicks, whatever the kids
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: call it nowadays. I think it's for that.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: So if your wife from Washington State, how did you
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: meet her?
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: She her family moved to Atlanta, and I had a
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: apartment that all the players on the Atlanta Falcons when
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: they got hurt would just come stay at my house
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: just because I was single and I had the nicest
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: TV and had all the sports channels. Then they didn't
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: want to spend money to go back for rehab. They
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: get rehab in Atlanta. So one of the guys was
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: on the University of Washington and he called me and
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: said he was out. He said, hey, I got a
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: friend coming over to get some Falcon tickets. I was like, okay.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: So I thought it was a dude, because their dudes
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: would come in and out. Like I'm old school Southern
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: door was always open, just come and go. And I
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: opened the door. It was this beautiful woman and I'm
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: sitting there in my boxers because I just thought it
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: would dude, and and she was on the date and
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: I was like, here, my name's Ed. And then we
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: went and did a European tour for three weeks and
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: it was the last face of a woman I truly saw.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: And I got back and called her and said, do
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: you remember me? My name's Ed. She has no pop culture,
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: She had no idea who I was and I said,
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: RIM's in town tonight. I'd love to take you to
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: the show. I said, I just got back in from
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: Europe and she says no. She made every excuse and
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know what got into me.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: I just said, you know what, I'm going to sit
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: here at this bar and when you get here, I'm waiting.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: And she showed up three hours later, three hours later,
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: and we went to RIM and we've never been separated
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: since twenty years.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: Now. You've been married before, right, I was, yeah?
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: Correct?
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: And how long were you married and how long between
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: the two wives?
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Uh? I think the first marriage was four years and
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: I think it was four years in between the divorce.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: So why did you get divorced?
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: You know, some people, some people do things they probably
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: wish they didn't do. So I'm not going to get
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: into that because that's not worth it. You know. I
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: will tell you the one beautiful thing. She is a
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: wonderful mother and I'm proud to have a child with her,
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: So I'm just gonna leave it at that.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: Okay, did you meet her before or after you had success?
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: Right at it?
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: And did the level of your success affect the relationship?
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: Yes? Yeah, definitely, And once again, she was young. I
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: was naive, and my attention was spent a lot on
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: Collective Soul because that's everything was just happening so fast.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: So you know, we should have probably dated two more years,
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: would have probably helped the relationship instead of going to
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: Vegas and have Elvis marry you. So, you know, hindsight's
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty. They say, I wish I had twenty twenty vision.
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: Now you have a child with this woman.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Crack. He's twenty five and what is he up to?
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: He's bartending right now. You know, he's one of those
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: twenty five year olds trying to figure it out. He
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: loves music, he loves going to concerts, and I'm like,
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: we'll figure something out. Brother, He'll get there.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: Okay. How do you know all the Atlanta Falcons that
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: they're coming crashing at your place?
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: Well, because one of the guys lived across the I
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: it was dearing my divorce, so it was after he
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: lived across at the apartment and he was on the
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: Falcons and they were and they were all it was
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: all the drafted kids, the ones trying to make the
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: team if they got drafted, or the ones trying to
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: make the team. So they would just come over there
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: and he'd go go Toad's house. He's got the beer,
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: he's got the TV. So they would just crash at
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: my house. I don't know. It was just like I said,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: I have an open door policy.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: Well, are you the type of person who makes friends
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: everywhere you go?
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: Yes? My wife says that's a fault of mine, and
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: I'm like, I kind of like it. Like I guess
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: just being a preacher's kid, I watch my father and
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: mother do it my whole life, and I'm like, if
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: somebody's over there sitting eating alone, I'm going to go
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: talk to them, like, hey, everything cool, you know. I mean,
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: they can show me away, but it just makes me uncomfortable.
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: I want everybody to know somebody in the world loves them.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: So your father was a minister. Are you still a believer?
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: I am. I have no problem with that. I don't
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: believe in how he believed that way. I do believe,
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Like I meditate every day. I'm actually going to meditate
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: with monks this weekend. I believe in spirituality, and I
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: know that's a cop out, but I do believe the
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: teachings of Jesus because it's really kind of simple and clean.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: You know. I don't really have to do anything except
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: please forgive me, and I mess up a lot, so
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: it's kind of an easy cop out there too.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: Okay, just when we talk about these.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: My wife, my wife. My wife's Jewish, so it doesn't
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: you know. So it's and I don't. I don't care
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: as long as you're a good person.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: But you've been in the rock and roll lifestyle. Have
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: you overdone it with drugs or alcohol?
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: Never? Never?
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: Not your personality.
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: No. I didn't drink till I was thirty, and it
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: was first time we were on tour, and I was
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: just bored. Never smoked till I was fifty. I was
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: like bored, Like no, I just never wasn't a part
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: of my gig. Man to be, as my wife would
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: like to say, Ed likes to be in control.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: I understand that completely, but just go one step further.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Are you controlling?
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: No? No, I want to be in control of my temple,
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: in control of my at my surroundings, but not controlling
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: of any No. No, no. I love people that do
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: their own gig. I learned from that. I actually get
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: inspired by it. Like that's cool, that's people would go, man,
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: they're crazy. I'm like, no, they're not. They're they're living
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: the dream right now. Man, that's cool.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, So how many kids in the family.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: And my family you have three siblings, two younger brothers
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: and a younger sister.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you're the oldest I am, and usually all
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: the hopes and dreams are in the oldest. Did you
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: feel that?
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: Not all? Not at all? Now, I'm telling you, man,
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: my childhood it was crazy back in the day. People go,
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: must have been horrible growing up with it as your
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: dad being a preacher. I was like, now, it's kind
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: of cool. You know. First concert he took me to
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: is Johnny Cash. Then he took me to see the Liberachi,
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: and he took me to see the Kinks, took me
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: to see Elton John was like, no, that sounds kind
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: of good to me. That's kind of cool.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, your father was trained operatically. How do you end
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: up being a fan of the Kinks and going to
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: see the Kinks?
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: Don't ask me. I wish I could ask him now.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: I should have asked him that a while back. He's
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: been he's been good. Lord said hey to him about
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: twenty years ago. I wish like The Kinks is the
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: one that throws me off. I understand Liberaci because his mother,
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: my grandmother, loved Liberachi. So something there, you know, like
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: going to see your mom's favorite artist, Elton, I could
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: get Johnny Cash, I could get the Kinks. That one
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: goes by me a little bit. I'm like, I'm glad
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: he did because I always tell people they're like, you know,
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: my brother's and the band Dean, and people go to
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: y'all fight and you know, like the Davies brothers, and
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: I was like, you know what I always tell my
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: brother Dean. I was like, dude, I love you, but
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: I would never break a guitar over your head because
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: I have so much more love for my guitars than
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: I do you. It's just an inside joke.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: Okay, so your father's taken to these shows. Is that
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: what infects you with music and makes you decide to
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: become a musician.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: What made me want to become I wanted to be
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: become a songwriter. What happened was because we had records.
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, I grew up basically on gospel and hymnal music,
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: and Elvis was in the house and they'd be Jerry
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: Lee Lewis and Frank and Dean Martin. But it was
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: when I saved up enough of my allowance to go
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: by the first record, And to this day I could
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: remember it was at Richway and the what do you
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: used to call them where they put all the records.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: Who's the front and center had Olivia Newton, John, John
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: Denver and Elton John. And I didn't know any of
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: these artists, and I would made no mistake by going
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: with either one. But I was like, man, that guy
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: dress is really cool. I'm gonna I'm getting Elton John
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: and it's literally when I put the needle down, I
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: was like, I want to write like Elton John and
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Bernie Tale. I just I can't. Nobody ever will. But
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: that's what inspired me. Literally your song. When I put
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: it on, I was like, oh my gosh, like it's
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: the flow and the beauty of it. I could still
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: remember when I put it on the record player and
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: then you know, listening to the greatest hits and I
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: just would wear that record out. I probably have over
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: the year. I probably over the years, I probably about
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: twenty of those records, because like I said, I'm a
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: vinyl guy, so I love Vinyl. I will wear that
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: record out just inspires me. It makes me feel youthful
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: and brings inspiration.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, so when did you start playing an instrument.
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: Well, my first instrument I was eight years old and
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: I joined the elementary band and I played clarinet, which
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: I always like to say is the gateway to rock
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: and roll. The claire is the gateway to rock and roll. Okay,
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: so I played clarinet. I actually told my parents I
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: wanted to play the coronet, and they thought I said clarinet.
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: So my Southern slang must have been worse than it
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: is now. So anyway, brought to clarinet, and you know,
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: at that age the only I was the only boy
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: in that section because it's the clarinet, the flutes, and
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: there's it. And to come to learn later in life.
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: I was like, this is kind of cool. I'm with
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: all the checks man. And then I took a class
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: and started learning saxophone. And I was fourteen when I
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: learned to play the guitar. That's when I started really
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: wanted to learn. I wanted to learn to write songs,
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: and then piano just came naturally because it was just
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: in the house. I just I don't know. I used
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: to know that. I don't know. I didn't know theory
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: on piano. I would just watch my mom play warm
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: up for her and dad's gig every Sunday morning, and
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: I would just watch her fingers and I'm like, oh,
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: that's cool. So I would just get up there and
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: try to figure out what she was doing.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you took Clearnett lessons? Did you ever take
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: guitar lessons?
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: I did not. I went to Berkeley College of Music,
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: and when I got there, they told me that I
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: was holding the pick wrong and I was like, oh boy,
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: this ain't gonna go well. So no, I just a
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: friend of mine gave me his guitar. I was in
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: the lunch room. I was fourteen, and I said I
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: think I want to be a songwriter, and sitting with
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: all the jocks, and this one guy goes, I got
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: a guitar, and I got a guitar book, and so
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: he gave me one of his Kmart guitars. I don't
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: know people out there remember Kmart, but it was cheap.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: And he gave in Elvis Presley book that showed how
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: to play the chords in the Eagles book showed you
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: how to play the chords. So I just sat there,
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: you know, bloody fingers, so I could figure it out.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: And did you play in bands in high school?
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: No, it wasn't stop. Rich was a very small place.
• 48:11
  Speaker 2: I did play in a Dixieland band, which was my
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: first paying gig. I played banjo. I did learn to
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: play the banjo for a second. But no, it was
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: such a small town and it was more based on
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: football and baseball and basketball and things like that. And
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: I was the only one that even played an instrument.
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: So that's one reason I went to Berkeley. I just
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: wanted to surround myself with other musicians.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you're gonna graduate from high school, how do
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: you know about Berkeley? And how do you decide to
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: go there?
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: I became a just I couldn't get enough of music.
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: So it started with the cars because they were from
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: Boston and a couple of them had gone to a
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: place called Berkeley. And I was listening to Steely Dan
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: too and saw somehow back then you didn't have the internet.
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: I would get these cream or whatever those magazines were called,
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: you know, and they would go it went to Berkeley College.
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: Music was huh, so you know, just send an application
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: and back then you mailed everything. I would and they
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: would send me information. And then I just I decided
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: I'd needed to get out of a small town. And
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: at the time, I thought it was going to be
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: a really good guitarist, and you know, I wanted to
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: write songs. But when I got up there, you know,
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: kind of got my ass handed to me. You go
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: into a rehearsal room and you see these cats just wail,
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: and I'm say, okay, I'm gonna try songwriting.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: Now, okay, if you come from a poor family, how'd
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: you pay for Berkeley?
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: A student loan of which I did payback. My uncle
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: was a banker. So I went to my uncle really
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: correct and got a loan.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Do you remember how much it was.
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: For twenty four hundred bucks?
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: So how long did you last at Berkeley?
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: Six months. He wasn't gonna teach me. He wasn't gonna
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: teach me what I wanted to learn. I mean, I
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: tell this story quite often. I was walking, you know,
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: I was a naive Southern boy from a small town.
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: I would just walk up to people and say hey.
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: And I met this mailman. He was doing his route
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: and I said hey. He's like, hey, you know I
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: looked interesting at that time. I had orange hair and
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: all over the place. He goes, you're in a band.
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: He was like, no, I'm going to Berkeley. He goes,
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: I graduated from there. I was like, really, what are
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: you being a mailman for? He goes, well, if you
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: graduate there, you're really just going to be a teacher.
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: I was like really, he goes, well, what do you
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: want to do? I said, I want to write songs.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: He said, you need to quit and go explore life
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: and learn about life and find it within yourself. They're
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: not going to teach you how to write his song
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: in there, And so I always say I had a
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: life lesson from Cliff Claven from Cheers.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, in the six months you were there, did you
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: feel alienated? Did you fit in? Did you learn anything?
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: I learned more about life. Yeah, fit in. I had
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: that personality where I was I'm not afraid to meet
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: people and do things. Yeah. I mean I got a
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: girlfriend there, like I was. I was happening baby. Plus,
• 51:24
  Speaker 2: you know, you know what the funny thing is, the
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: accent gets the girl at that age, They're like, you
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: sound funny. So I mean, we hitched tight to go
• 51:35
  Speaker 2: see Billy Joel, Like, we did all kinds of fun
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: stuff that you can't do nowadays. But yeah, I fit in.
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: I had a great time. But I learned more about life,
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: and I did learn structure of chord progressions, Like they
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: were playing chords I'd never thought of or heard of.
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: So I was just watching. I'd go in rehearsal spaces
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: and play with these guitar players and I was like,
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: what cord is that hold on? And so it was
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: learning a different I don't know tonality or timber of
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: like different chords.
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: How hard was it to decide to drop out? And
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: what did your parents say about it?
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: Oh? Once again, they've been nothing but supportive. They were like,
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: get home, get a job, which I did immediately work
• 52:21
  Speaker 2: for the hospital. And then there was a studio. Well
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: I just stacked. I mean once again, I went and
• 52:28
  Speaker 2: put all the drugs and all the surgery rooms. And
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: then there was a studio and where I grew up, Stockbridge, Georgia,
• 52:38
  Speaker 2: wil Turp and a bass player's father owned. So my
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: dad was like, if you really want to do music,
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: just go down there and start learning. So I would
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: go down there and I would sit in the back
• 52:47
  Speaker 2: of the room for three months. I would ask clean
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: the toilets, made coffee, did everything I could, just sat
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: there for three months, and the head engineer finally got
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: a job in Nashville. So Bill asked me if I
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: wanted to be the engineer, and I was like, I'd
• 53:04
  Speaker 2: love to, And so that's how it kind of started
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: there with the whole once again, it gave me the
• 53:08
  Speaker 2: opportunity to not only learn how to engineer, but produced
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: and learned mike placements temperament. And then when there was downtime,
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: that's where I would sit there and do my own songs.
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: So what kind of stuff were you recording?
• 53:23
  Speaker 2: Horrible? Oh? For me, mine was horrible.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: But no, no, no, no, no, no, you're working in this studio,
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: in this studio, what kind of talent came in through
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: the doors?
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: The first session I ever had was Rue Paul. I
• 53:36
  Speaker 2: can't make that up. You followed my first session and
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: he and I became buddies and we just and he
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: allowed me to like he would sing a melody or something.
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: So it started me like learning to play and producing.
• 53:51
  Speaker 2: And then it was an intermediate studio. I'll use that
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: word so I would get a lot of bluegrass app
• 54:00
  Speaker 2: was starting to happen, to get wrap, I get heavy melt,
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: I get everything, and it was just fun. It's up
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: and coming bands are sometimes people that just wanted to
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: hear their voice on tape, and I just got you know,
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: It's like a cornucopia of music, and I just absorbed it.
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: I loved every bit of it.
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: So did they teach you how to engineer? How'd you learn?
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: I mean, engineering is not that simple to be any
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: good edit anywhere.
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: I watched for three months. I just sat there and watched,
• 54:30
  Speaker 2: and then at the end of the night Scott Scott
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: Long was the engineer. I was like, I would ask
• 54:37
  Speaker 2: him question. He was so patient. He goes, yep, you
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: do you know? This is when you plug things in?
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: And I was like, I got you, I got you,
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: got you. So it was really just determination. And then
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: I literally would sit there from eight o'clock at night
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: to two o'clock in the morning and then bit the
• 54:52
  Speaker 2: hospital at seven to five and just rent and repeat
• 54:57
  Speaker 2: for three months.
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: And then after those three months, you gave up the
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: hospital work full time at the studio.
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: I did, but the studio didn't pay that much so
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: every once in a while, I have to go out
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: and you know, scratch around. And I was a janitor
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: for a second at my dad's church. I put up siding,
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: I did roofing, landscaping, just just anything to pay the bills.
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: You know. At that point, I never got myself and dad.
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: I've always lived within my means, so and it didn't
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: cost much to live back then. I'd go to Arby's
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: and get five or five dollars and that'd last me
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: all week. You know.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: And where were you living?
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: Midtown girlfriends and a lot of time, I just lived
• 55:42
  Speaker 2: at the studio. I just sleep under the board.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: So you're working, you're recording your own music, So how
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: does that evolve?
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: Slowly? Because I had nobody else to help depend on,
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: so I was recording everything myself, which is it's good.
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: It's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing that
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: you learn how it's done and the curses that you get.
• 56:11
  Speaker 2: You mentioned it earlier over control, So when I started
• 56:19
  Speaker 2: having bands, I was like, wait, They're like back it up, dude,
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: you know, because I'd just done it myself for so long.
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: But I wouldn't change anything. I got to learn somehow,
• 56:31
  Speaker 2: I guess, and that's how I learned, just sitting along
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: by myself in a studio.
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, how long between dropping out of Berkeley and the
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: success of Shine?
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: Eleven years?
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: So you have confidence you're going to make it. What's
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: going through your head?
• 56:52
  Speaker 2: No, I just love music. I just loved it. I
• 56:56
  Speaker 2: didn't expect to have a grandiose lifestyle. That's not what
• 57:00
  Speaker 2: I wanted. I wanted to play music. I just wanted
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: to learn music. I wanted to write songs. It was
• 57:05
  Speaker 2: never about I mean, the blessings that I have now
• 57:08
  Speaker 2: was not the end all of end all. It was like,
• 57:11
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to play music. And the week before
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: we got signed, I was already signed up to play
• 57:16
  Speaker 2: on a cruise ship to play guitar. So I was
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: just I just wanted to play music.
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: Okay, So you're working in the studio in the eleven years,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: At what point do you start getting a band and
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: working out?
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: There were so many bands, Like people would come in
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: and they'd go, oh, I like you want to join
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: a band. I'll go yeah, and then then they would
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: fizzle out and fizzle out, And I had a band
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: A couple of times we did okay, but you know,
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: you get I call it, you know, the old Southern
• 57:49
  Speaker 2: saying long in the two about twenty four to twenty five,
• 57:51
  Speaker 2: all your friends are like, whoa, I got to get
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: a life here, this is this isn't not. Everybody's like
• 57:57
  Speaker 2: you ed. Nobody just wants to sleep under a board
• 58:00
  Speaker 2: to you know, eat Army's every day. And so they
• 58:06
  Speaker 2: really did started wanting, you know, things in life that
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: they wanted, families and that, but that didn't matter to me.
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: All I wanted to do was music. So I call it,
• 58:14
  Speaker 2: you know, twenty four to twenty five, it's fourth down
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: and punt or you go for it. All my friends punted,
• 58:19
  Speaker 2: and I just kept going for it. So it was
• 58:21
  Speaker 2: like just vicious. Whoever was next?
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: Okay? Shine was a demo? How many demos did you
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: have to cut before you got to Shine? Uh?
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: Probably one hundred at least.
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: Did you think any of the previous ones were going
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: to be the turning point? Did you think Shine was
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: going to be the turning point? Or it was just
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: an endless you know, as you say, laundry cycle.
• 58:50
  Speaker 2: I thought there were many of them before that. I
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: start I clicked when I was to me I clicked
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: twenty five or twenty six when I felt like I
• 58:58
  Speaker 2: got the writing thing down. I was just a slow learner,
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: but I was working and then songs just started flowing,
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: and I thought there were a lot lot more that
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: I thought would have started a career or me as
• 59:13
  Speaker 2: a songwriter. And then when I did Shine, I did
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: like it. I mean, but I didn't. I didn't hear
• 59:22
  Speaker 2: it is what it became. There was a song called
• 59:25
  Speaker 2: good Night, Good Guy that I thought was the song.
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: And my brother is the one that took it to
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: album eighty eight in Georgia State, and I said, just
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: take take these. It was a cassette. You have one
• 59:35
  Speaker 2: song on one one another said tell them play good
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: Night good Guy. So he took it when he went
• 59:39
  Speaker 2: to class and they played Shine. And then here we
• 59:43
  Speaker 2: are today, you know, thirty one years later.
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: Basically, okay, you were in a band where you had
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: a woman who was the lead singer before that. What
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: happened with that band?
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: Well, we would play as much as it was called
• 59:56
  Speaker 2: Marching two step. And her name is Michelle ray Kaplinger.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 2: She's like my sister. We're still tight thicke as these.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 2: I think she's head of like the southeast of Grammys. Now.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 2: We uh, we didn't know what we're doing. We were
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: just trying to find something. We're trying to find a
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 2: sound because she kind of came. She was in bands
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 2: prior to this new wave, and I was kind of
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: like wanting the new wave, but music was changing. I
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: was trying to find a sound that fit what I
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 2: was comfortable with writing. So, you know it, I think
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 2: it lasted a year or two, I don't know, but
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 2: we had a lot of fun and it was just
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: a learning experience. You know, I call it pre production.
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 2: You know, both bands get signed and they go into
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 2: pre production. They spend six months just learning to write,
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 2: recording and all of that. That's kind of what we
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 2: were doing. We were out on the road doing that band.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, when you give your brother that cassette for the
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: college radio station, is there a band?
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 2: That's honestly a good question that I do not know.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 2: I cannot answer that because I don't think there was
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 2: a band. I don't I don't know. That's a great question.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 2: I've never thought about that because it was something that
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: there was Eddie, then there was a rollin, there was
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 2: brothers and brides, that's interesting. I gotta check that out.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 2: That's a great question.
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: Well, who played on that demo?
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: Me? It's all me. The original lead guitarist played the
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 2: lead guitar, but everything else is me because I was
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 2: the only one in the studio.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: Okay, So you give that cassette to your brother?
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: Correct?
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: Had you you know, in this eleven year period, were
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: you working it? Were you giving cassettes to other people,
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: whether it be radio stations, managers trying to make it?
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I sent it to everybody. I would just
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 2: once again it was now you got me thinking about
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 2: the name. I'm wondering if I had the name before
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 2: because we weren't a band. Then interesting. Oh, I would
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 2: give cassettes to anybody. I gave one to rick O Kasich.
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 2: I'm sure he went one hundred yards on the road,
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 2: rolled the wind down through it out. I gave one
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 2: to Sting. I mean I would sneak backstage everywhere. I
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 2: went to New York and snuck into every record label
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: at twenty years old, just lying my way through it
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 2: and sit there and they listen to it and it
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 2: was god awful, but they you know, I got in there.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 2: I was learning to hustle a little bit.
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: And did you ever have any bites before Shine broke through.
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 2: Zero? And I had so many? You know, back then
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 2: they would write you letters back to say we pass
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 2: you know the letters. And I had some nasty ones
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 2: a couple of times, and I will not in their
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 2: names that said please do not ever send me. One
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 2: said please do not ever send me another piece of
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 2: your music. You're a horrible songwriter and a horrible singer.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: Well wasn't that disheartening?
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: Hell No, I went and I proved them wrong.
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: Now, okay, so you give this cassette to your brother.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: The radio station flips it over, they start playing Shine.
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: How does it build from there?
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 2: It became their most requested song, and it was I
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 2: think he took it to like an November or something.
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 2: And then they called me because I had my probably
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 2: just set of Roland and now I have my phone
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 2: number on there, they called me and said that the
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 2: number one requested a song they want to play at
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 2: their Christmas party. And it was a big deal. Then
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 2: it sold out and it's like a thousand people. And
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 2: my brother and what became Collected Soul. We're in a
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 2: frat band that played at Georgia State and Georgia Tech.
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 2: So I called him and I said, hey, guys, just learn
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 2: I got three songs. Let's learn three originals and we
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 2: can do the frat stuff. Y'all can do that. I'll
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 2: walk off stage or whatever. They're like cool. And we
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 2: got up there and we played one song. Then we
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 2: played Shine and place went nuts and I just said, hey,
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 2: let's play that again. I think we played Seine six
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 2: times that night. I mean, people couldn't get enough of it.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 2: I've never seen anything like it, and I've been to
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 2: a lot of shows.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: What was the experience like from your viewpoint? Being on stage?
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 2: Confused? Seriously confused? I was like, what is going on?
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 2: And I mean every time we played it, they just
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 2: got nuts. And I was like, good gosh, what's going on?
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: Okay, you play that gig? The college radio station is
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: playing it. What's the next block in the building.
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: Oh w j R in Orlando started playing it?
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: And how did they get it?
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 2: I sent it to everybody. I sent a CD to
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 2: cassettes to everybody, uh, manager of producers, like, I literally
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 2: had a list back of the day. There was a
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 2: book of people in the industry. I sent it to attorneys.
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 2: I sent it to business managers. I just sat there
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 2: and make cassettes all day long and just would ship
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 2: them out again.
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: With the store with the story that it was number
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: one on this college radio station.
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 2: Nope, just send them the song. Just send them the cassette.
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: And now a station in Orlando starts playing it serendipitously
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: with no push correct and called it just to go back.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: There's only two songs on this cassette. Correct, Okay, so
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: Orlando starts.
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 2: To play there might have been five, might have been five,
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 2: or it might have been the whole record, just because
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 2: it might I think. I take it back. I think
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 2: it was the whole record. I just sit the whole
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 2: cassette kitt kaboodle because I wanted to showcase that I
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 2: could write different types of songs. Because the first song
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: is to me, very not coordinated. First album, I should
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 2: say it's not very coordated because you can see I'm
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 2: trying to write country a little bit here there, Americana, rock, grunge, whatever. Anyway,
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 2: So if they start playing and they call and they
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 2: want us to come down and do a show, and
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 2: it's like, so I get the guys again, and we
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 2: rehearsed a little bit. This time we had a thirty
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 2: minute run we could do and you know, if had
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 2: do covers, they could do it. And we get down
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 2: there and I know if we were driving down there
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: and they go, you know, they're top five at five.
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 2: You know, it was like STP, Pearl, Jam Kings X,
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 2: Nirvana and number one some band called Collective Soul out
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 2: of Atlanta, Georgia. And we all looked at each other,
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 2: going what is going on? Most requested, so I pulled
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 2: the van over once again. My parents van pulled the
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 2: van over. I was like, we all just sat there.
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 2: We got out and just looked like what is going on?
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 2: Especially for me, they're exciting because they're twenty years old.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 2: The rest of the guys in the band, they're like,
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 2: this is awesome.
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 2: I was like, what is going on? So we show
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 2: up and it was like the Beatles showed up. We
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 2: were like, what is going on? It was just very confusing,
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 2: and then that night we got signed somebody from Jason
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 2: Flom from Atlantic Records, flew down and it was done.
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: Okay, once again you ship the CDs and did nothing else,
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: and radio just started to play it from an unsolicitously.
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 2: I would call them. I personally would call them, and
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 2: then because I remember, I called a place in New
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 2: Mexico because I had once again there was a book
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 2: that I had. So I would sit there on the
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 2: phone and call and say, Hey, I'm a Collective soul
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 2: and I was wondering if you could play that, and
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 2: he goes, We've been playing it. He goes, I can't
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 2: believe you called, because you know that's the radio department's
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 2: job to do, you know, radio promo. I was like, yeah,
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 2: he goes, we do an interview. I was like, sure,
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 2: I don't know what I'm gonna talk about, you know,
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 2: like I didn't know what was going on, and uh.
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 2: And I called one station was based out of a
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 2: pool haul somewhere, and the guy just flipped out. He's like, dude,
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 2: this is the best song ever. Hey, We're gonna do
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 2: an interview in five four three two one. I'm like, hey,
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 2: I'm ed.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: Okay. So when Jason Flomm's person comes down.
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 2: No, Jason came down.
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: Jason came down. Was he the first person from a
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: record company who showed interest?
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 2: No. We actually had four calls in one day, and
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 2: my manager said we're going with Atlantic with Jason Flohm
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 2: because they called first. I was like, that doesn't make
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 2: good business news. Say called first, does it? He goes, Nope,
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 2: it's done. I was like, okay. So Jason came down
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 2: and they flew us to New York, you know the
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 2: old rock and roll story, you know, wined and dined us,
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 2: and I was just like, I didn't know what was
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 2: going on. It was just like over the moon and
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 2: it was. But it was funny because I got to
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 2: tell Ergon that I had snuck into his office to
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 2: meet him at that time, about fifteen years earlier, to
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 2: play him something. And he was very kind and listened
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 2: to it and told me to keep working, which I
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 2: thought was kind of cool. Cycle in life or whatever.
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 2: He liked it. He was a good man.
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you play this gig in Orlando, you make
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: a deal with Atlantic. How long after that did they
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: push the button? Unshine?
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, it was pushed. We already charted on our own.
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 2: We didn't know what was going like. Literally, we were
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 2: top forty in rock radio for sure before Atlantic signed.
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 2: And then we he thought, Okay, it's not a band,
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 2: it's a batch of demos that I had been doing
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 2: over the last five seven years. We thought we were
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 2: going to go make a record and they were like, nope,
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 2: y'all are out. And the first thing they do is
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 2: they put us at Woodstock ninety four, and then a
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 2: week after that, we're on tour with Errol Smith and
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 2: we're like, I mean literally, I think we did three
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 2: shows before Woodstock, which was in front of god knows
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 2: how many people, and then a week later we're out
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 2: with Erol Smith. We're like, what is going on? It
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 2: was just that fast?
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: So what was it like playing Woodstock ninety four?
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 2: Loved it, every minute of it. Everybody that was there
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 2: was great. Everybody the night we played like Sheryl Crow Live,
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 2: everybody was new and they, you know, were just to
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 2: surprise what was going on with their life and their
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 2: success we were. So it was kind of a therapy
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 2: moment for some of these bands. Together. We were like, man,
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 2: can you what what is? This is great, but like,
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 2: how did this happen? You know? A month ago, I'm
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 2: in my parents' basement rehearsing, and now I'm sitting here
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 2: with Sheryl cru and Live and Blues Travelers. I'm like,
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 2: what is going on?
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: And at what point did they make the video?
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 2: The week after we signed, We just did it, and
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 2: we did it in Atlanta. I was like, there's some
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 2: train tracks and a worn out building over here, so
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 2: they were like okay, and you didn't have to back
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 2: then in Atlanta. You didn't have to pay for permits
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 2: or anything like that, so it was cheap.
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: So by time you take the stage at Woodstock ninety four,
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: is MTV play in the video?
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 2: Yes? And it was our I think it was number
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 2: one at that point.
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: So you're backstage with all these happening people. Do they
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: recognize you? Do they know who you are? No?
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 2: No, because they were as busy as we were. I
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 2: wouldn't have you know, they were just out early and
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 2: we were, you know, they had records out earlier. But
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 2: now actually we were following Kings acts because we're huge fans.
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 2: And finally they turned around. Doug turned around and says,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 2: what do y'all want? And we're like, we're just fans, man,
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 2: we just want to say and they were so sweet,
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 2: but we were just naive. We didn't know what was
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 2: going on.
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: And then what was the tour with Aerosmith?
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 2: Like it was great? It was once again we're just
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 2: trying to get our feet on land. It was everything
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 2: was happening so fast. But they were extremely nice and
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 2: extremely just cordial. I mean, we stayed out of the way.
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 2: I think we were just so scared of them because
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 2: we didn't know how this works. You know, We've never
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 2: been on a arena tour and never been on an
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 2: arena stage, and all of a sudden, here we are.
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 2: So we kind of just stayed out of their way.
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 2: But they were extremely cordial and nice.
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: So how how long after at Lenox signed you do
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: you start thinking about the second record and when do
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: you start making that?
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 2: We started immediately because once again we felt like that
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 2: wasn't a true representation of what we weren't event I mean,
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 2: we were just learning whatever we could. So I would
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 2: write during the day and during sound checks we would
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 2: play it, learn it, play it that night. Some of
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 2: the lyrics would be done, some wouldn't be done, and
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 2: then any day off we had we would go into
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 2: the studio. So it was recorded all over the place,
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 2: kind of just haphazardly wherever we could find a studio
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 2: when we're off, and that's how we recorded. I mean,
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 2: the second one came out eight months after the first
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 2: one was released, and during that time we probably did
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 2: at least one hundred and twenty shows and made a
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 2: record in eight months.
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: So how do you meet Matsroletk and how does he
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: get involved?
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 2: I knew Matt when I was at studio. His jazz
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 2: band came in and I would record, and he and
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 2: I just struck it up, like because he's such a
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 2: pure talent and he loved music and wanted to be
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 2: involved so in anything. And I don't know, it's just
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 2: you know, you have those friendships, that connection, and our
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 2: connection was we had the same type humor, We enjoyed
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 2: hanging out with each other, and we loved music. He
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 2: was very similar to me, like he couldn't absorb enough music.
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 2: So he went off to the University of Miami and graduated.
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 2: And during that time I kept working and I I
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 2: just knew I would always work. I trusted Matt. I
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 2: still do. I would love to work with him again.
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 2: I just knew what he was capable of and his talent,
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 2: and like I said, more importantly, I just trusted him
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 2: and everything and in my vision of collectivesault, like I
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 2: would say this, he goes, well, how does that work.
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know, let's figure it out,
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 2: let's go for it. So it was fun.
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: Did you have any trouble convincing Atlantic to let you
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: co produce the album with Matt?
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 2: No, I mean basically, I just I just did everything.
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm the one that produced it. Just allowed
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 2: Matt to co produce because I wanted him around, because
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 2: I trusted him so much. No, they didn't care. They never.
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 2: They never said a word. They never. They never even
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 2: knew and made a record. To be honest with you,
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 2: I just show up in New York and say, hey,
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 2: we just made a record. They go, oh my god,
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 2: we're going to make our second quarter. I was like,
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 2: what are you talking.
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: About, Let's go back to shine. Was that something you
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: just got inspired on or was it something that you
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: built over months or weeks or whatever.
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 2: No, I was I was writing a lot. This is
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 2: like nineteen eighty eight. I was writing a lot on droning.
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 2: You know, he droned the A and play melodies underneath
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 2: it and come home and see Mom and Dad and
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 2: Deane was in the house and he was playing guitar
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 2: and I didn't know he played guitar. I'm like, cool.
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 2: So I grabbed There were guitars in the house all over,
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 2: so I grabbed one and was like, check this out.
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 2: And I was showing how different risks and drones, and
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 2: he goes, oh, I like that one, you know. Don no, no, no,
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 2: you know Sean Riff. I said, yeah, man, I don't
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 2: have anything else. But I said, give me a second,
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 2: let's see what I can figure out here. And so
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 2: I just sat right there and wrote it right in
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 2: front of him. And it was that simple.
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: But you wrote it in nineteen eighty eight and it
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: didn't come out till ninety ninety four.
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Yeah. Like I said, there were there are
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 2: a lot of songs I recorded and wrote before all
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 2: this happened.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: Okay, So why did you put it on the cassette
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: that you gave to your brother if it was a
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: six year old song?
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 2: Oh? Because I didn't record it till then I wrote it.
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 2: But I just, oh, yeah, I had the idea. So
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 2: I wrote it that night, and then when ground started hitting,
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 2: I was like, well, I can make that kind of
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 2: grungy sound and you know that no no, no, no, no
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 2: no no no no no no huh.
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: Okay. So in the follow up album. You know, you
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: have two huge tracks, the World, I Know in December.
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: How were those written?
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 2: World? I know? I wrote when I was in New
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 2: York impressing my ex wife. It's the first time she'd
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 2: come out on the road, and I was like, you know,
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 2: just trying to impress her. I said, I'm going to
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 2: walk around New York for an hour, say if I
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 2: can come up with some kind of visual what I
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 2: want to write about. And back then New York hadn't
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 2: been cleaned up yet, so you'd walk around and you
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 2: see people in the cardboard homes and you'd see people
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 2: and fur coats and limousines back then, not the big
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 2: black SUVs. And I was like, well, I know, like
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 2: the yen and yang of life. So I just went
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 2: back in and sat right there and Strum didn't wrote
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 2: it out. And then December is the only song that
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 2: we ever disagreed as a band because I wrote it
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 2: one morning before the guys came in. So I was
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 2: listening to some XTC song and it was the same
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 2: progression over and over, but it was so creative how
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 2: they brought different melodies in. So I was like, I
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 2: want to write a song like that. Intertwines different melodies,
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 2: but the same chord progression the whole time, trying to
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 2: challenge myself as a songwriter. And the only problem is
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 2: when you play it for somebody, it's the four Court.
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 2: If you don't hear the other melodies that are in there,
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 2: it's four minutes of the same chord progression, and I'll
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 2: never forget. The guys are like, that's the most boring
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 2: shit I've ever heard in my life. I was like,
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 2: hold on, hold on, there's other melodies in here. There's
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 2: other melodies in here. They're like, we're not recording that.
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 2: It was like, yes, we are. I hear it. I
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 2: know it's gonna work. So that's the only song ever
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 2: that they've ever like adamant, and I was at them.
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 2: We've had disagreements on other songs. They will say, you know,
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 2: it's not as strong as I think you can do it,
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 2: and I'll go, I get that, and but this one
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 2: was the only one where I put my foot down.
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 2: I guess.
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: Okay. So you have this song from nineteen eighty eight,
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: it becomes a worldwide smash. Now you make another record,
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: do you expect this level of success again? And when
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: you have these you know, two successful tracks. Do you
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 1: say to me and I'm God? Or what's going through
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: your head?
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 2: No? When we finished the record, once again, we were
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 2: really set. We looked at each other and we're all like,
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 2: you know, good job, you know, and now it's out
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 2: of our hands at this point, but if it's left
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 2: in ours. We were proud. It was a proud moment
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 2: for us. I would be lying if I didn't. Yeah,
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 2: we expected it to do well, We really did. We
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 2: felt that confident and the songs and we felt that
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 2: confident in the generation, the momentum that was going with
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 2: us at that moment. So yeah, we saw no end
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 2: in sight, which is a beautiful thing because we still
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 2: don't thirty years later. We just don't.
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: Okay, So you have this gigantic success as you continue
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: to make records with Atlantic, you don't reach those peaks. Again,
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: what's going through your head?
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 2: Nothing? I thought they were great records, and you just
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 2: you know, there was a point where I thought Atlantic
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 2: wasn't paying attention to us, which they never did because
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 2: who were self sufficient? You know, they, like I said,
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 2: they never knew we made a record. No A and
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 2: R person ever stepped in the studio nobody. We just
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 2: went made records and we presented to them, so there
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 2: was no cheerleading. And I get that now now I
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 2: know how the whole thing works. There was nobody cheerleading
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 2: for us. We just went and made records and somehow,
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 2: knock on wood, people accepted the songs and they were successful.
• 1:20:56
  Speaker 2: And once again you can get caught up in that
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 2: rabbit hole to meh, we sold a million, why didn't
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 2: we sell a million? One? Once again, to me, the
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 2: success is when all five of us look at each
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 2: other and go, that's that's pretty darn good, guys, that's great,
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 2: let's let's go. So I don't. I don't put emphasis
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 2: on numbers unless it comes to uh engineering, make sure
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 2: the plane flies correctly or the lawn war doesn't fly
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 2: off the handle or something like that. But like I
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 2: can't when it comes to artistic things, it's you know, why,
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 2: why why does a Picasso cost so much? I mean,
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I used to say there's another artist
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 2: that doesn't shouldn't be there, I mean, just because it
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 2: puts the air somewhere different.
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: To be fair to say that you believe on your
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: later Atlantic records that there were songs that would have
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: been more commercially successful if the label had worked harder
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: on them.
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 2: I mean literally, you got to the point they didn't
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 2: even pay attention to us. There was just there was
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 2: no effort whatsoever, which led to us wanting to become
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 2: independent because I went up and spoke to him about
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 2: that that issue. And this was during the time when
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 2: Metallica and Napster were going at it, and I'll never
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 2: forget I was talking to the president of Atlantic. I'll
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 2: never forget this conversation. So I was like, he goes, no,
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 2: he love you, We love you. I was like, well,
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 2: you don't even have the CDs and stock when we
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 2: go play these shows. We're doing these shows, y'all aren't
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 2: filling the bins. I said, nobody's there to just say hey,
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 2: you know, which is fine. You need your You need
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 2: to know you're loved at some point or liked at least.
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 2: We didn't get any of the above. But when I
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 2: asked him about what's going on with this digital thing,
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 2: you know, Napster and stuff, and he threw his hands
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 2: in the air and he goes, ah, that's going to
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 2: go away. I I literally excuse my self and called
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 2: my attorney and said, I want off this record label
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 2: now because that was That's that just showed where they
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 2: just didn't. They just weren't paying attention. And I have
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 2: no problem saying that they they were not paying attention
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 2: at all.
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: And did you consider trying to get a deal with
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: another major label.
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 2: No, because we had and the guys were really supportive.
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 2: We had. We made a change in line up a
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 2: couple of guys. I felt that we had a brand,
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 2: which I'm very grateful to Atlantic for helping create. It
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 2: wasn't as strong a brand as it should have been
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 2: and could have been, and what we were striving for
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 2: it to be. But we had a brand, and I
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 2: was like, now, let's go take care of this and
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 2: do it ourselves. So we became the first true band
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 2: to get off label to go be independent when everybody
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 2: thought we were nuts, which we could be. I don't know,
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 2: I just it was just the right timing and the
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 2: change in the music industry. You could see it coming
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 2: to miles and miles away, but nobody in the music
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 2: industry could see it coming. It was just weird.
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: You talked about changes in the band. What caused the
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: changes in the band?
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 2: I'll leave it at this. When I signed with Atlantic,
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 2: I'm the only went to sign, so they were and
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 2: they were employees of mine, and I put a moral
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 2: clause in there, so I'll just leave it that two
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 2: of them did some moral things. That's as far as
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 2: I'll go. And tried to help as much as it could,
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 2: but that's where it landed.
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: So is it a band of equals or is it
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: really your band?
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 2: I'm the songwriter and I am the leader, but it
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 2: goes with I. If they don't like the song, you
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 2: have to have a lead. If you don't have a leader,
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 2: you're you're you're gonna fail. So a lot falls on me,
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 2: but a lot falls on them too, and I expect
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 2: a lot out of them. They expect me to write
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 2: songs that they feel comfortable and then we can record,
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 2: and I expect them to I call it they put
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 2: their fairy dust on there. They just make a song
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 2: just bigger, better and explode and be something that I
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 2: could have never dreamed of on my own, but they
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 2: make it this wonderful piece. So uh, there's I mean,
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 2: there's no stalin over here. You know. We talk and
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 2: we communicate as a group, but the final I do
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 2: have to make the final decision. I mean, it's it's demoment.
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 2: They're they're tough decisions that has to be made. But
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 2: that's part of being a leader or the leader of
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 2: whatever organization.
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: Okay, needless to say, you've been to the mountaintop. Very
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: few people have been to the mountaintop and the business
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: has completely changed. But does that affect you, say, shit,
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: I was in the mountaintop. I want to be in
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: the mountaintop again. Or you've made peace with the fact
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: that it's hard to get there and the game changes.
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: What goes through your mind there?
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't think about things like I said,
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 2: I don't think about things like that. I think about
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 2: the next song, and I think about the next show
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 2: with my friends on stage and enjoying life with them.
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 2: I just do I mean, and I don't think if
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 2: we don't get whatever you define the mountaintop as, I'm
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 2: happy as can be. And I don't think there's a
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 2: reason we can't get to the mountaintop. I don't know
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 2: what the mountaintop is to me. I am on the
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 2: mountaintop right now.
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, we're in this story. Do you part ways with
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: the initial manager is he on all through Atlantic or.
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 2: He ended up the gaining of the second one, the
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 2: Collective Soul record the second one.
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: So when you're done with Atlantic, do you ever get
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: recording royalties? A lot of record coupies say, oh, you're
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: still in the red. Oh yeah, but Atlantic paid recording
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: royalties to you.
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I was very you know, one good thing about
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 2: being thirty and long in the tooth, I was very
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 2: aware because I've watched so many bands come and go,
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 2: like recording them and getting to know a lot of
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 2: them in the Atlanta area. I knew a lot about
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 2: the business still, So yeah, I was very that part
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 2: of my life. I was not naive about.
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: And the songs? Do you own the songs?
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 2: I did? I owned everything and then I sold a
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 2: percentage to a company three years ago, but I still
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 2: own a percentage a lot.
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: Of percentage in what company did send them to sell
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: them to Round Hill? And what made you decide to
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 1: sell that interest?
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 2: Security for my family at my age, I felt, and
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 2: it was it was an extremely good deal and it
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 2: just it just brought security for me to know that
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 2: my family if something ever happened like my family's okay,
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 2: you know, want for me to go out and buy
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 2: big house or bigger house, or more cars, or it
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 2: was just security for my family.
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: And what did you do with the money.
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 2: It's in a trust for my family. I can't even touch.
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: Okay. So if now it's three years later, three years later,
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: you still feel good about your decision to sell.
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 2: I did because once again I surrounded myself with people
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 2: that know how to take care of me and do
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 2: take care of me. And once again I can't touch it.
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 2: And I live within my means. I came from absolutely nothing,
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 2: and I can once again, if Aby's ever came back
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 2: out with it five or five, I'm out there every day.
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 2: I don't care. It's like money doesn't scare me. It
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 2: just doesn't.
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: Did you sell the recording royalties too? Or do you
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: still oan those?
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 2: Uh? Own those?
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 2: So but I re recorded those. I had the right
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 2: to re record them, So I re recorded all the hits, right,
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 2: So I so the the hits of the nineties I
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 2: re recorded and I own that.
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: Okay. If you stop working tomorrow, is there enough income
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: to make it all work? Or do you have to
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: go on the road.
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 2: I do not have to work another day. Neither do
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 2: my children. So it's that that's there's a simple answer
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 2: right there, right so then, but I want them to work.
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 2: I don't want that to be a part of you know,
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 2: my thing is I set it up for initiative. I
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 2: need them, haven't, you know, to get out there and
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 2: do their own gig.
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: Now, in Collective Soul, you're the songwriter and there's a
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: lot of income from being a songwriter, which generally speaking,
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: the other members are not in your being. Does that
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: cause any friction?
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 2: It does not, and I think a lot of it
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 2: has to do. I'm still ready to go out. We
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 2: make good money touring and I love touring, so I
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 2: don't I hadn't been brought up to me yet. I
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 2: hope you're not causing any trouble over there, Ball.
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: No, I'm not.
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 2: So.
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: I listened to your record okay, and I think it
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: was let it flow, could have been not the same,
• 1:30:44
  Speaker 1: And I said, all of a sudden, I'm looking at
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: the speakers, I go, wait a second, this is my
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: kind of music. I really dig this. What's the status
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: of rock in the world today.
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I honestly, I gotta be honest with you.
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 2: The last three to five years I just kind of
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 2: referred back to what brought me joy and happiness and
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 2: what inspired me. I mean, I got all my records
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 2: over here.
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 3: I'll buy new records. I just I think I'm lazy.
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 3: I don't want to hear anything else other than what
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 3: I call them, the professors or the artists that help me,
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 3: that brought me joy. It's just kind of where I
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 3: am in life. I just I'm cool with listening to
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 3: I'll look over here now. I got Elton R. M.
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 2: Pink Floyd, I was George Michael a c DC, Bob
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 2: Seer put Beach Boys, crowded house. But who, I mean,
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 2: what else do you need? There's only so many times,
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 2: so many minutes, hours in the day. I'm cool with
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 2: what I grew up with.
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: So you talk about vinyl. Do you have a good stereo?
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 2: I did. I did it when it was over here.
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 2: I got audio Technica. I like audio Technica, then some
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 2: Yamaha Howard speakers in a sub. I have four in
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 2: the house. So any room I go into I can
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 2: play records.
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: And where do you live now, I'm not looking for
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: the address, but.
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 2: It's Sandy Springs, Georgia. It's it's right outside of Atlanta,
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 2: just a suburb of Atlanta.
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 1: And when you're not listening or playing music or being
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: on the road, what occupies your time?
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 2: Family? You know, getting a boy to school, spending time
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 2: with my wife. But as far as hobbies, I love golf.
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, I very rarely have time to see friends.
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 2: So golf is my fellowship with my buddies, and that's
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 2: that's it. I mean, it's a pretty simple life I live.
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: And are those buddies are those people you grew up with,
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: people you met in the studio years? Who are the
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: buddies you're playing golf with?
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 2: Now? Two are from my childhood, but the other ones
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 2: are all that I've met during just you know, growing
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 2: up in life, different areas.
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: And you go on the road. Do you go on
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 1: the road during the summer? School's not on during the summer.
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: Do you take your family on the road. Do they
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: come out to visit you? What goes on there they do?
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 2: This year, little man's in camp so much getting ready
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 2: for going to high school. But my wife comes out,
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 2: my mom comes out, bring my mom out for a week,
• 1:33:40
  Speaker 2: just hang out. So yeah, like we're a very family.
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 2: We're in the band. Other band members moms come out
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 2: like we just it's like going to camp. We're silly boys.
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 2: We love our life.
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: You come across as so even tempered and happy. I mean,
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: do you ever get angry, frustrated, depressed?
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 2: Of course I do. I don't think I ever get depressed.
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 2: I have. I get frustrated and angry, of course, but
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 2: I don't think. I don't. I don't remember being depressed.
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 2: I just don't like, I don't know. No, I don't
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 2: get depressed, angry and frustrated. Of course, of course I get,
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 2: and the anger is usually it myself for being a
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 2: damn idiot. I get mad at myself more than I
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 2: do anybody.
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's really interesting because I certainly seen
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: your image in videos and on album covers, but I
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 1: had no idea what your personality was like and what
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: you were like. I mean, you're really I can see
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 1: why you're successful, and you're more even tempered certainly than
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: I am.
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 2: Now there's no way you get angry. There is no way.
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: Oh man, I cover the spectrum of what I was
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: asking you. That's what I You know, when I see
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: someone like you, it's more even tempered and more warm whatever.
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: Believe me, I notice that, and I evaluate myself and.
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 2: It's hard for me when I have friends that do
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 2: to get depressed because I don't understand that, you know.
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 2: And I try to be as patient and I am
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 2: patient with that, and you want to help them, but
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 2: I don't. It's a that's a tough one for me.
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 2: But it doesn't mean they're wrong. It's no right or wrong.
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 2: It's just I don't want anybody to press I want
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 2: us all to you know, get through this whatever this is,
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 2: life chapter whatever, enjoying, enjoying whatever this gift is.
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: So you would say you're generally optimistic.
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 2: Whenever sent on.
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: And on that node, folks, I'm going to leave you.
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 1: I've been talking to ed Rowland, who's new band has
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: a label here to Eternity, and it's really pretty good
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: if you like rock music. You can see him on
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: the road, both with Hoodie and Edwin McCain and Loan.
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: So I want to thank you so much for taking
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: this time to talk to my audience.
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. This was awesome. Thank you so much.
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: No, really, it was really cool getting to know you.
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 2: Where do I send the four hundred and fifty dollars
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 2: check for therapy? To p O box.
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, ed, I'm gonna leave it there all right, Rather
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: until next time it's Bob left sets