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Steve Ewing of the Urge · Caught on the Mike...

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Disclaimer, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Listener discretion is advised.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Back in the late 90s, when I was diving headfirst and defining companies to find with likest finds, I was talking about everything that I could from the past of the past.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: What about it to speak present and connecting with an audience of speed to the band preferred?
0:44
SPEAKER_00: I worked so much just to watch him perform, and now I have the privilege of calling him a friend.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: In the second appearance on the show, we talked about 897 the River birthday celebration that happened July 12th, 2025, River Edge Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: And what audiences can expect when speed and urged at the stage.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: I have with me a two-time guest that doesn't happen very frequently, but of course it's gonna happen with this one.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: This guy is one of my most favorite singers of all time, one of my most favorite front men.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: If you're in the St.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Louis area, you could go have a delicious hot dog or a grilled cheese sandwich at one of his establishments, or maybe you can hear him sing some of the soulful sounds of Stevie Wonder.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: But most importantly, a lot of you, almost all of you, know him as the front man of the urge, the greatest live band of the 1990s, in my opinion.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: My friend.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: My friend Steve Ewings joining me on the podcast today.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: How are you, man?
2:04
SPEAKER_01: Good, man.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: How are you doing?
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me on.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, it's a pleasure.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: I think you and I went through something very similar this past Sunday, and it was the high school graduation of our senior daughters.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: Ha ha.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: How are you feeling a few days removed from that?
2:25
SPEAKER_00: Because I know I'm still like trying to cope with it.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just trying to put it all back together.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: It was uh it was a it was a crazy weekend all together.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, Madeline graduating, and we uh we had we had a big tornado that touched down here in St.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: Louis, and then we had Point Fest on Saturday.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: So just piecing it all back together, but uh yeah, it was a it was an awesome ceremony.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: Um super proud of her graduating, so it's super nice, yeah.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: Where did where in the hell does time go?
2:53
SPEAKER_00: Like I I get on the Facebook memories and I look at like five years ago and ten years ago, and I was like, shit, wasn't that just last week?
3:03
SPEAKER_00: Right, you know, it goes like that.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, since you brought it up, Point Fest, how was that experience?
3:12
SPEAKER_00: I have seen some clips that people shot with their cell phones of Nick joining you up on stage for jump right in, which warms my heart because I just had Nick Hexam on the podcast.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: So, how was that experience, man?
3:25
SPEAKER_01: So this was we've done point fest before, we've done a few of those, and this one was really cool because we were we were doing the show with 311 again, and we'd we'd done it in like 97 or 98 with 311, and it was great.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: Nick came out and sang jump right in with us.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, the single had just come out, so it was just perfect, and it's it was nice to have us back together again on this one, and he came out and sang the song again, so the crowd just went eight shit on it.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: It was uh it was awesome, man.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: It was it was a really good feeling.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we get a lot of support uh from the city.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: You know, we have we we're one of a few places that still have a radio station, a commercial station that plays alternative music uh left in the in the country, really.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: So um, so we're we're very lucky to have that.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, there we can still do these point fest shows and we can still go out there and play in front of a ton of people.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: It's awesome.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: And how's the restaurant business going?
4:27
SPEAKER_00: I swear, every time I check your social media, man, you have got something else going on with Steve's hot dogs or Steve's meltdown.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're in we're definitely in growth mode.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: So we have right now with all the concepts and the locate we have seven locations essentially.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so we're we're in that we're in that mode right now where we're we're expanding, we're growing.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: So that's that's why you're seeing a lot of uh activity.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, I tell you what, is there any plans on franchising out and moving to your uh moving a location up to your second home of Omaha, Nebraska?
5:01
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: We keep getting uh that question, we keep getting asked that.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: So uh if if there's a way to make that happen, uh possibly yes.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's funny.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: I was talking to my one of my buddies uh on the drive home this afternoon.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: I was like, yeah, I'm gonna sit down and have a conversation with Steve.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, dude, he goes, could you get him to drive up here and cater one of our inventories with his delicious hot dogs?
5:25
SPEAKER_00: And I go, maybe we just need to franchise and have a Steve's hot dogs in Omaha.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: That's a good idea.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: Man, uh, once again, thank you so much for doing the podcast again.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: I always love following your journey, and I am very sincere in the fact that um, you know, and I got to say this to Nick too, but it it's always great to tell your friends whenever you know they've inspired a certain portion of your life.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, I spent a number of years singing in bands myself, and had I not been a huge fan of 311 and the urge, I don't know if I would have been the type of front man that I was engaging the crowd, kicking up that energy and like creating that synergy between audience and band.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, you know, it goes like that, and we am I, you know, I have my influences as well as it's kind of the same thing.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: You grasp onto some some bands that you really love, and you even without even thinking about it, you end up doing some things that they do, and things rub off on you, and it goes it comes with you, it stays with you, it becomes part of your identity, which is pretty cool, yeah.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: So, are there any plans for any new urge music currently?
6:42
SPEAKER_01: We have a lot of things uh in the oven.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Uh a couple singles we're trying to get out uh by the end of the year.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: The the plan was to try to get something out by point fest, uh, but it just didn't happen.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: We we're pretty deep in rehearsals, and so uh we have two songs that are about done.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: So if we can get them out ready by the big Thanksgiving show we do here in St.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Louis, that'd be great.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: We're also we're also rehearsing because this year is the 30th anniversary of receiving a gift of flavor and the 25th anniversary of Too Much Stereo, and so we have a couple shows we're doing in Lawrence, Kansas, uh the September 5th and 6th, where we're gonna be playing songs from both of those records.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: So a lot of stuff we haven't played in 20 years.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's amazing.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: I kind of I I wondered if receiving was turning 30 this year as well.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is 30 years old.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, because that's hilarious, um, in or coincidental in the fact that you guys are playing 897 the River's 30th anniversary show at Riverside Edge Park with 311, Sublime, Blue October, Sick Puppies, and Anchando.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: The day before that show is 30th anniversary of 311's blue album, and to have the 30th anniversary of receiving the gift of flavor, man, 30.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: 30 just seems like a good number this year.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: A lot of a lot of anniversaries this year.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, the radio station's 30 years old.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh gosh, our the our record's 30 years old.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: 311's blue record is 30 years old.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, a lot of anniversaries this year.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: I even that show in in Kansas we're doing, the venue is 30 years old.
8:25
SPEAKER_01: So it's just 30 is a magic number.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: Dude, if you believe in numerology, it's time to cash in, right?
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Put it all on 30.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, I tell you what, man, um that kind of begs a good question, you know.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and it more kind of on the personal level, and that is when you consider the fact that receiving is turning 30 years old, you're playing this 30th anniversary show for the river, your daughter just graduated high school.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: What is your relationship with nostalgia and looking back on these times and the past, how has that changed when you kind of consider all of these things?
9:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh what I've noticed is that we're we're part, we're very much part of that whole nostalgia thing.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: And in a couple ways, one is our fans from back in the day are happy to see us outdoing things.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: They're like, oh, this is great, makes me feel young again, and like you know, how it was back in the day.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: And then I'm seeing a lot of kids who are getting into it because it's kind of we're postmodern right now, so it's this is new to them.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: This is like, you know, what would have been cool to us is listening to you know 50s rock and roll, you know what I mean?
9:42
SPEAKER_01: Like rediscovering that.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: So it's like it's a rediscovery thing for a lot of kids right now, too.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: So it's pretty cool.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: I I totally grasp onto that fact.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: My daughter, who just graduated, um, is singing in a band herself, and she is absolutely obsessed with every single band on that river show.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: And like when it got announced, she was like, shit, dad, I gotta go.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, okay, we'll make it happen.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: That'll be part of your senior gift.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: We will I will take you to the the River's anniversary show.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: It's pretty cool to see that happen.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've been a part of it, like I said, as a as a uh youngster, I started getting into some things that my parents were into, so it's cool to see it happen again.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: So who were some of your influences when you were younger?
10:30
SPEAKER_01: When I was younger, I was I was really into big bands.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: So I was into Earth Wind and Fire, um, and then Sly and the Family Stone, and then some you know, and James Brown, and some stuff that came after it was Prince, who basically was a mixture of basically Earth Wind and Fire and Sly and the Family Stone.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: So I was into those guys coming up, and uh really started to get into like stuff that was coming out of England, like the Ska stuff in the 80s, of course, like the post-punk you know stuff that was happening was was all cool, like Durandaran and U2 and the police and all that stuff I was really into.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it was it was a great time.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: That that was a great time for music.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: Whenever you consider how some of those influences shaped the urges sound, was there kind of a watermark moment for you where like you were like, this is the band that I kind of want to model my performance after?
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Um there was a lot.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: There was a lot, especially early on when we started touring, that's when kind of I started to kind of figure out what I was gonna do, or and it didn't it wasn't like it just clicked.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Right.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: It just was, oh, this is what I do now.
11:48
SPEAKER_01: So um after you know, doing a couple tours, but we toured with some bands like the Boston's and uh Murphy's Law, a punk band from New York, and we just saw a whole other level of intensity on stage, and uh just was like, man, I really like that.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: I really like how they get the crowd going, like love the interaction.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh another big band that we've always been influenced by was uh Fishbone.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's a huge influence on us.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: Same thing, which is I really like how they interact with the crowd, and you know, um that's that's something I want to do, and I was definitely uh it definitely kind of rubbed off on us.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: And as far as like, you know, what we do now is really a lot of times it's just what's on top of my head is just like it's like here we go, let's just do this thing.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so do you find that your music tastes kind of have a sense of seasonality to them where you're like summertime, I'm into this shit.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Fall time, I'm into this.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: You know, how do your seasons run?
12:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a good question.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: During usually during the cold months, I'm usually listening to stuff that's heavy.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Although there's not really a a time when I'm not listening to like deaf tones.
13:04
SPEAKER_01: I love the deaf tones, right?
13:06
SPEAKER_01: And I love helmet.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, those bands are really like special to me.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: So I'm always listening to some stuff like that uh when it's cool out.
13:14
SPEAKER_01: I love drum and bass, jungle.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: So right now I'm listening to a ton of jungle, drum and bass.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh so yeah, it's definitely seasonal, no doubt.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: I find the same thing.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: Like, usually whenever that temperature just drops, and we're Midwesterners, we know.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that day where it's like 95 degrees on one day in September, and then the next day it's 60, and you're like, oh man, it feels awesome again.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like that's when I start putting on like Bill Evans trio, like jazz, piano jazz albums.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: I totally take the shift.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I go from aggressive to like really mellow really quick.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: But like you, I get angry in the wintertime and I have to turn angry.
13:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what it is, but yes.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: I think that's just being Midwesterners too.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: I think you're right.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, for my audience that maybe hasn't watched a nerd show before, tell them what they're in for on July 12th.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: So I, you know, if you're listening to receiving a gift to flavor, it's essentially a live record.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: So that like you're gonna hear, you're gonna see what you're hearing.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, you're gonna see six guys moving around a lot.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, I interact a lot uh with the crowd, so you're gonna you guys are gonna be doing some singing as well as me.
14:34
SPEAKER_01: So I always make sure the crowd is working just as hard as I am.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, you'll see us jumping around, you'll see us doing a lot of stuff, but I always like interacting with the crowd.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: That's my thing.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and that's that's why the crowd has always adored the Urge.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: There was never a radio station music festival that you guys played on that I didn't walk out of, and people were kind of chattering and saying, Man, I gotta choke those guys out again.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't want to use the term you guys have stolen the show, every show you've played, but there have many been many occasions where the urge has stolen the show on every show that they've played.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we like we go out with fire, like us when we hit the stage, we go out there with fire with the idea is to really to you know not just to win over crowds, but to to make that connection.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: So like uh so we can come back and we can do it again.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's that we're that's uh that's uh that's a goal for us.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: So if you were to consider the urge's career trajectory, and I I would say you know, your biggest block of time would be like 96 until you guys called it quits the first time.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: What was that, like 2002, 2003-ish?
15:47
SPEAKER_00: That was oh two, yeah.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, so if you kind of look at that block of time from 1996 to 2002, what were some of the biggest things that you never expected to happen, but happened?
16:01
SPEAKER_01: Well, the whole thing with MTV was was uh was surreal.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: So this was at the height of you know MTV.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh our first major record, which was received from the Gift of Flavor, came out in '95.
16:14
SPEAKER_01: Made a video, and then by the time Jump Right In came out, you know, Nick was in that video, we had regular rotation on MTV, which was pretty, pretty crazy.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: That was surreal to me.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: Like I was like to my mind, in my my career, I was like, if we just can get on MTV, that'd be great.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: And then we went beyond that.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: So that that was that was a great one.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: Just seeing, you know, seeing your video up there with the with the little thing that tells your name and the you know and all that kind of stuff.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: That was that was huge for us.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: And one of the big shows that I really thought was uh a landmark for us was when we played Red Rocks, and we did that show with 311, so it was uh 311 The Urge, and then Michael Franti was on that show.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, yeah, and I'm a huge fan of uh of uh hipophecy, like uh so I Michael Franti was uh in like an idol of mine, so it was just a great day to be on stage with uh with Michael Franti and 311.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: That was awesome.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: What is it about is it the fact that you guys are linked throughout the Midwest or that stylistically you have similar elements?
17:27
SPEAKER_00: What is it about the brotherhood between the Urge and 311 that is a bond like none other?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Because you guys her your careers have kind of been married together the whole time, and I think that's great.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: And they have been, and there's a there's a lot of similarities as our age, we're the same age.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, all of us are around 55, 54, 55.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: So we have we came up on the same music, um, we're you know, and we're Midwesterners, right?
17:57
SPEAKER_01: So we have we kind of have an inherent chip on our shoulders, and we uh we have a Midwest work ethic, so we we work hard.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: So it's we have that in common, we have those things in common.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: So when when you sit down and you hang out with them, like we you find a so uh it's yeah, well, we we immediately like connected with each other.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: The first time we played together was on a festival down in Atlanta, and we just got to talking to each other and made a great connection and said let's go out on the road and just found out that we really like each other a lot.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: We have fun with each other a lot.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: So um, and it helps us uh we push each other when we're out on the road too.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: It's nice.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: When you see the two bands together, you're always gonna see a great performance from both bands.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I think it's the iron sharpens iron com concept, really.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: And I I think that's something that's kind of common amongst us gentlemen of the Midwest is when we were in our younger years, we could walk into a room full of people we didn't know and leave with a room full of best friends by the end of the night.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: No doubt.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: And that's something that kind of goes away as we get older.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: And I I think, and I'm just starting to discover getting into my era where I'm about to enter the 50s, and I I'm like, it's starting to come back.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know what it is, but it's starting to come back.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: That's good though.
19:25
SPEAKER_01: You get out and see music, that's what it's all about, getting out and seeing live music.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: That is definitely a connector.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter how old you are, if you go out, you're gonna make a connection like out in that crowd.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: So it's without fail.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's it's all about that, I think.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: And so I it's yeah, I'm really glad to be on the other end of it where I'm out here providing that uh that space for folks that get back together.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: And to share it with our kids for for God's sakes.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it like I'm it's for real, man.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, man.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: There there's there's just not too much that I think bonds us more than a common love of a great band.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: It's part of it becomes part of your identity.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: It's like who you are.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, I'm I'm really into this band, or I mean, that becomes really part of your identity.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: So you've never really stopped being involved with music, even though you've taken on all of these other entrepreneurial type assets with the restaurants and stuff, but you have been able to kind of take a step backward and see how the industry has changed without being fully, fully immersed into it.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: What are your thoughts and feelings with the way that music is distributed and released these days?
20:42
SPEAKER_00: Like, do you have feelings about that?
20:44
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I have feelings.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: Um but I knew you know, things change, things evolve, things have always evolved um in this industry.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: So um I don't know.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: I think there's some there's some good things about it, you know, with streaming.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh you you have the opportunity for some kids to make some great music at home and get it out to folks and get their hustle on uh without having to you know have a ton of money to at least get started.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: So I like I love the idea of that.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Um we can we that's how we start it independently, uh making records on with a small our own small label and getting the word out there by touring.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: So I think you really got the same opportunity, um, just the medium is different, um, in my opinion.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: No, I I I totally agree.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: The one thing that I am always encouraged by that I always go out of my way to point out, as musicians, we've always been diverse.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: We've always been the guys that are like, yeah, I I love this hip hop album, I love this punk rock album, I'm gonna go check out this bluegrass album, I'm gonna check out this jazz album, I'll check out anything, right?
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Right.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: But the common listening audience, especially when we were younger, Was really segmented out based on what their genre was.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: And their genre was their identity.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm a punk rock guy.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm a metal guy.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Like and and I think the the encouraging thing for me is in again watching through my kids' eyes is them creating these playlists on streaming that are all over the fucking place.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: I think you're right.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: I think that's and it's not just that, but now with TikTok, they're being exposed uh to a lot of older music uh through through that medium.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, their their playlists are very varied.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: Not like you're saying musicians are playlists, our playlists are always gonna be varied.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: But now the kids don't just identify with one form of music or a couple or a scene.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're all over the place.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: It's because now the music is is easier to get.
22:54
unknown: Yes.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: You don't just have radio stations anymore.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's easier to get.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: You can get your hands on it much faster, quicker.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a relationship with physical media where you are you still do you still hearken for the times of somebody being able to have that ritualistic um exercise of opening up a CD package or a record and it being like a gatefold cover and reading the liner notes and stuff?
23:21
SPEAKER_01: I actually don't.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: So really and I was I spent every dime I had on records and CDs and cassettes, but I tell you what, yeah, I like I this joke, but I I get I got tired of moving all of my medium from one form to the next.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: So it's just now it's great.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: I get reminded of a song and I can easily like find it.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, if I'm at a bar or if I'm out someplace and I hear a song that I love, like, oh, I haven't heard that in years, I can immediately go reconnect.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: And uh I I like that.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: So um I do sometimes feel like with streaming, like this is just too easy.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: This is too good.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: But I do enjoy it.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: I enjoy it.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, I and part of the reason I ask is it would be really cool, and this is kind of an ask and a suggestion, it would be really cool to get 30th anniversary copies of receiving the gift of flavor on vinyl.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: You are the 25th anniversary of Too Much Stereo on vinyl.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: You are, you're gonna get it.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get it.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Yes, love hearing that.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm definitely gonna get it.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: Awesome, awesome.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: So, outside of the urge, um, any other big musical projects that you're working on?
24:39
SPEAKER_00: I know you were doing the Stevie Wonder tribute for a while.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: You were also doing the Steve Ewing band.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, talk about both of those.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: So the the tribute was something that happened.
24:51
SPEAKER_01: A friend of mine was like, Yeah, we're gonna play some Stevie Wonder songs.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: You want to join in?
24:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, man, I don't know.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: That's some tough music and it's super challenging.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: So we we went, we really just went into it just working out some songs, me, a guitar player and a bass player.
25:06
SPEAKER_01: Right.
25:06
SPEAKER_01: And uh I got a call from uh big amphitheater in the area, like, hey, we're putting together this tribute series, you guys got something.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, I'll have a Stevie Wonder tribute, which I really didn't.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: But um I got so then we had to go through the process of putting together a band and all that.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: It's a 12-piece band, it's a lot.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: Um and uh a good a good friend of mine, Dave Gorelli, is really great at being a uh a band leader like that, a program uh music director.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, can you put this band together?
25:41
SPEAKER_01: So he put a killer band together.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: So we we do the we do like a couple hours with Stevie Wonder, and it's a big party.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: We do it about two or three times a year with that band.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: And I have the Steve Ewing band, which plays a lot.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: We I mean we're we're doing a lot of shows every year, and then I have another band that I've just started singing with called Boomtown United.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: Okay, they are a ska band out of St.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: Louis, like a more like a traditional ska band.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh, like two-tone.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: So we do uh and it's all original music, and I just uh I was I've always loved the band, and their singer uh left and they asked me if I wanted to do some stuff with them.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: I said yeah, and so we do a handful of shows with that band, and I have a blast.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: I love doing that.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Oh, are there any recordings from that coming out?
26:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh we're work we have a couple songs done, but we haven't gotten in the studio yet.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: So we just had a couple live shows with the band uh with a plan to get in the studio sometime.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: We don't really have any plans exactly, but uh they have two previous records out that are great in this company.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Boomtown United.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: They're they're fantastic.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: So are you doing any of their legacy material or are you just creating new material with them?
26:55
SPEAKER_00: All new material.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm I'm doing like there's a few new things, and then like some of the stuff on their previous records that when we go out and play.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Gotcha, gotcha.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you if you haven't learned anything else from mine and Steve's conversation this time around, or maybe the first time he's been on the show, um, you have to see the urge.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: The urge is a can't miss set on 897 the river's 30th anniversary show on July 12th, 2025, at River's Edge Park.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: That is going to be a blast.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: How excited are you to commemorate the river and play with this lineup?
27:40
SPEAKER_01: We're all like crazy excited about that.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: Like just getting back into Omaha and hanging out and uh especially being able to do it with 311.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: That's their hometown.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that energy, we know how that energy is gonna be.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be just crazy a reunion with an entire city.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, we can't wait.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're gonna we're all gonna be rehashing those old ranch bowl memories as much as we possibly can.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: No doubt.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: What do you have a crazy Ranch Bowl memory?
28:14
SPEAKER_01: Every one of them was a crazy Ranch Bowl memory.
28:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: We've been we have played there since 89, 89 or 90, and we were I think probably the first time we played there, that's my most memorable because we were with the out with the Boston's.
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: And man, the show was sold out, and man, we got in there, we walked in the place, like, wait a minute, where's the venue?
28:42
SPEAKER_01: This is a bowling alley.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: So like, no, that's this is it.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: So we walked through another door, there's like a whole club in there.
28:49
SPEAKER_01: Like, holy cow, this place is in a bowling alley.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: And uh so that the first that that first memory is like my my favorite.
28:58
SPEAKER_01: Just it's like, oh my god, we're we're playing a bowling alley, and the show was insane, insane.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: So and like they didn't even know who we were.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it the energy was just so amazing when we hit the stage, the place went crazy.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: So that was uh that was the beginning of our you know love affair with the city.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: I tell you what, man, uh, you know, and I gotta get I gotta shout out some props here.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: My very first time seeing you guys was at a club in Des Moines right around 96.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: And it was you guys in Slipknot on a show together.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: And you know, of course, our mutual friend Sophia was in Des Moines back.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: I think it was a Safari club, probably.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, it was, yes, it was.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, and that was insane.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: That was my very first ERS show.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: That was crazy.
29:50
SPEAKER_01: That was before they had their uh their masks and stuff, yeah, yeah.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: That was back in the day.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: Right when they were get getting going, and oh man, it's just insane how far everybody's come, how much we've all grown up, Steve.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
30:04
SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: So Safari, those Safari Club uh shows were awesome, those were fun.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: Little Punk Club, like right on the strip, that was a blast.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Right by Drake University.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, man, those were the days.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, my friend, I always like asking this question as a closing question to everybody that's been my guest on the show, and I've probably asked it to you before.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: But Steve Ewing, what is your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
30:37
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, yeah.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: Get out there and help in your community.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: In other words, whatever you can possibly do, like what we do here is we feed people, I give out food.
30:46
SPEAKER_01: So things like that are great, you know.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it gives people hope and uh it you know, it helps them get get to the next day.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: So anything you can do like that is what you should be doing, no doubt.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, and those of you that don't know, and I know this episode is going to drop after it happens, but Steve and I are recording this episode on a Tuesday.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow's Wednesday, you are doing a benefit in regard to the tornado victims, are you not in the St.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Louis area?
31:15
SPEAKER_01: That's correct.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: So well, right now we're right now we're just feeding people, so we're we're setting up uh kind of a food staging area outside of one of my shops, and we're we're feeding the community.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of people who are displaced, uh, that don't have access to food, water, just the basics.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of need right now.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: So we're just trying to plug in.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of other folks helping us out.
31:40
SPEAKER_01: So that's where we're that's we're at right now.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't listen to me about anything else, let me tell you, this guy is one hell of a follow on social media because you can see every day that he lives out the values that he speaks of.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, I am very, very glad to call Steve Ewing a friend.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: I am glad to have had the urge in my life to some capacity.
32:09
SPEAKER_00: But moreover, man, the man sitting in front of me, Steve, thank you so much for doing the show.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: The world's a much better place with you and it, my friend.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, I appreciate that.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, brother.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: All right, everybody, make sure you're following Steve Ewing at Steve Ewing on Instagram.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you follow The Urge Rocks on Instagram.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: Follow Steve's hot dogs, Steve's Meltdown.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: Steve's got all of his social media linked on his page.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: He's always doing something.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Doing something.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: Thanks a lot, Steve.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you doing the show today, man.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Right on, brother.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: Once again, I want to thank my friend Steve Ewing for joining me on the podcast today.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: I mean it when I said it.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: The Urge is one of the greatest live bands of all time.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: If you've never experienced it, I hope to see you there on July 12th.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have a blast.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're following Steve at Steve Ewing STL like take list.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Or follow the urge, or I shouldn't say or I should say and follow the urge at the urge rocks on Instagram.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: Steve's got a few businesses on there.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: Steve's hot dogs and Steve's Meltdown.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: You can follow both of them as well.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: While you're being generous with the follows, make sure you're following Caught on the Mic on all social media platforms.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: And make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel as we watch this podcast grow.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the Mike with Michael Clark.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: I am Michael Clark.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, thank you.