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Back Stage Pass with Steve Ryan
Steve Ryan is a former Radio DJ and Music Director, as well as a Promotion Manager for major record labels and spent 18 years in Media Management. Join Steve as he interviews some of your favorite artists. For questions, comments or to book an interview, email, steveryan.songoftheday@gmail.com
Back Stage Pass with Steve Ryan
Ep. #86 Jaret Reddick- Bowling for Soup
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Back Stage Pass with Steve Ryan Ep. #86 Jaret Reddick- Bowling for Soup. Talking about the new tour, politics in music, doing cover songs, and 1985, Girl All The Bad Boys Want, I'm Just A Kid, Ohio (Come Back to Texas), Summer of 69 and more. #bowlingforsoup
It's backstage back. It's Keith Ryan. And here's your host.
SPEAKER_00Well, good morning. Morning. Well, thanks for giving me some time, Jarrett. I uh I'm really been looking forward to speaking with you. I know we got a limited amount of time, and I got so much I want to go over with you. Awesome. Yeah. You know, this podcast is about songs, so I want to talk to you about a lot of songs. Um we'll never get through them all because you've got such a such an extensive catalog. But um before we kick that off, tell me about the tour and what's happening this summer. I know you're out with Simple Plan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, we're out with Simple Plan again. Um so we did this last year. They're uh they're they're bigger than you think tour uh with us. And uh last year it was uh Bowling for Soup, 303, and Lolo. This year uh it's we're doing it again, but we're doing uh some different markets, and it's just uh Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup and 303. And uh man, it's it's you know, it's it's it's uh pretty much selling out everywhere, and uh couldn't be more happy for those guys, and uh couldn't be more happy to be part of it.
SPEAKER_00You know, I just was watching this morning um before we got together the video for your guys' cover of their um song I'm just a kid.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Um, you know, we're doing uh a whole series of covers of our friends' songs, and uh, you know, that one seemed like uh you know, it seemed like the one that you we just had to do.
SPEAKER_01I woke up it was seven, I waited till eleven just to figure out that no one would call. I think I've got a lot of friends, but I don't hear from them. What's another nine? When you're spending every day on every call tonight because you know, we've known those guys since they were actually kids.
SPEAKER_02Um, and you know, we weren't far off. Uh we first took them out in 2003. We took them out in uh 2002, I think, actually. Took them for a tour around Texas and then uh and then took them over to the UK in 2003. And uh, you know, had it and you know, we've been friends ever since and touring together and uh you know playing warp tours and and uh you know it's been uh it's been good. It's been cool to watch, you know, both bands trajectories and uh you know those guys have worked really, really hard. They definitely deserve where they're at right now.
SPEAKER_00You guys never speaking of covers, you guys have never really shied away from doing covers. You've always done covers.
SPEAKER_02Always done covers. Uh, you know, it was a big part of our thing even in the club days, you know, back in the late 90s. We um we actually lived two separate lives. Um we we were a cover band that played across town uh in Dallas and Fort Worth and in and various other markets and stuff, and we could do four-hour shows, and um a lot of that was doing cover songs, but our thing was back then to do covers that sounded like our band. So we would take an Elvis song and make it what today would be considered pop punk. And uh and so also but so so that became a big part of of our whole thing, our niche. But also what what came out of those days was the comedy because we were doing these really long shows, we didn't always have enough songs to be able to do it, and so uh, you know, you're doing three 45 minutes, four forty-five minute sets, you know, so almost four hours of music. And so we you know, the comedy and the talking and the the just the hijinks between songs became such a big part of the show, and honestly, it was just a waste time. And now it's a big part of our show because that's just who we are as a band.
SPEAKER_00You guys have never taken yourself too seriously, huh? I mean you know I mean your music is serious music, but you know what I mean? You're you're a fun band that's not I don't know. I I mean I don't want to say political, but you know what I mean? I mean, you just don't get into those weeds. I mean when people come to to your shows, it's kinda like your videos. I mean, it's just fun.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, then that's the whole point. And and you know, I think I think everybody i you know, any band that's been around 32 years, you you you probably go through what every band does, and that is, you know, uh you you make a decision as to your direction. And you know, a lot of our peers, um you know, um say Sum 41 and uh Bleak 182 and uh obviously Green Day, you know, started out as sort of fun bands and then got into more serious stuff, you know, as espe especially in their their lyrics and things. Um and they made great music and that's who they are as bands. But you know, as as we looked at what who we were, we were like, man, you know, like that's just not who we are as people. It's not who we are, you know, as a band. Our band, I think, is like that band that you put on on a Friday afternoon after a long week, and it's just you know, it's sort of a departure from all that, you know. And uh so yeah, I mean, you know, it's funny because I I think on on the surface it probably, you know, we don't take things too seriously. Again, our show is very, very loose. Um, we go up there and we're entertaining ourselves as much as we are the audience. Um but you know, there's thoughtfulness that goes into all that, you know, and we obviously care about you know the product that we're putting out and stuff like that, but but definitely not from the aspect of, you know, I if one of us messes up, it's part of the show. You know, it's it's not it's not something that you're gonna get in trouble for.
SPEAKER_00Right. Not too tight.
SPEAKER_02Not too tight.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think that's that's what people love about live shows. When you guys put your set list together, I mean do you guys pretty much stick to the same set list, same are are you so loose that you just kind of call it out or uh maybe a little of both.
SPEAKER_02So we don't use a set list um unless we have pyro. So if uh if you see us and there's no fire, uh the list of songs in front of us isn't actually a set list. It just says songs bowling for soup might play tonight. And honestly, it's just reference. Yeah. Um it's like reference to and there's a lot more songs on there than what we can play in a night. Um and and that's just it. It's it, you know, we've never been honestly, we started out as a band that uh I, you know, nobody would make the set list, so we just didn't use one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then it became part of our show. You know, it's like, hey, I I don't really know what I want to play fourth until I get there. You know, what is what's the audience like? Are they ready for Ohio come back to Texas?
SPEAKER_01She said she needed a break. A little time to think. But then she went to Cleveland with some guy named Leland that she met at the bank.
SPEAKER_02When are they ready for that one? And so um, yeah, it's uh it's very, very uh spontaneous. There's a lot of ad lib that goes into it. We try never to play the same show twice. Um and and honestly, you know, when we're walking on the stage, many times the guys are like, hey, what are we starting with? You know, and I'm like, hey, we're gonna do almost into high school never ends, or we're gonna do, you know, the bitch song, or you know, whatever. And uh and the show unfolds from there.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Especially for people who who might go and see you more than once in the same tour.
SPEAKER_02100%. And and you'll you'll you do you find fans that do that. You you know, we have have fans that that come to see us, you know, on a 15-day tour and they'll come to every show, and they do the VIPs and you know, all of that, you know, and and you know, I that is honestly a big reason why I don't like to recycle things, you know, like there are certain jokes that are bits that are part of the show that you you will hear from from show to show or you know every other show or whatever. You know, there's there's obviously things that work that I can put in there when it's time, but as far as the overall sense of what's happening on stage and all of that, I really try to keep it so fresh that if you came to see us three nights in a row, thought four nights in a row, seven nights in a row, you would never see the same thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that. You know, there was a time when it it sounded like maybe you guys weren't gonna tour anymore.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Uh you know, only it it it happened to us um about 2013. Um a lot of things were going on. You know, I was getting a divorce, Eric was getting a divorce at the time. Um, you know, I I it it it it sort of seemed like maybe in a sense that you know the press kind of was had had enough of us, and you know, it's it's I I wouldn't say there was a decline in sales, but you know, there it definitely it had kind of peaked for us at the time. Um and so yeah, um we we had a really big meeting and and it was it was sort of like, you know, hey, I I don't want to run this into the ground, you know, and so we took a nice break, you know, almost a year, and uh, but when we came back, we were shot out of a cannon, and it ended up being the best thing we ever did for the band. And uh, I mean, we we were clicking on all cylinders, everybody was happy to be there, you know, crew guys were were uh, you know, really killing it. It was just uh it ended up being a real blessing. You know, we caught a little bit of shit from uh from the UK audience for doing uh a farewell tour, but we tried to make it while we were doing that, we we kind of we kept saying it's not goodbye, it's farewell. Like we at that time we were going over there, we were going to the UK two to three times a year, and it was just really taking its toll on everybody's life. Um and uh because again, at the time we were going through a lot of stuff personally and and uh you know as a band as well. And so yeah, you know, again, it it's one of those things where I really did consider breaking the band up. And um, you know, I as I look back, obviously I'm very glad I didn't. Because, you know, we're at a point now where we're selling more tickets than we ever have, you know. We have a new album in the can. We're signing with a label for the first time since 2009. We're you know uh and just the we're very happy to be out out there, and and so uh yeah, it it uh it ended up being a a real blessing for us to step back from it and then then come back. And I I'm I'm really, really thankful that we were smart enough to do that when it was time. Because I think um a lot of bands just go and go and go, and then you know, there's a there's a time where you just implode. And uh, you know, I I think the one thing that we've always had though together is uh and you know, I know we've had a few member changes lately with Chris retiring and Rob joining the band in 2017, and um but the one thing that we've always had is is friendship and uh a closeness within our ranks that uh you know supersedes anything else. And uh you know that's that's uh I think that's that that's a big testament to the success of the band.
SPEAKER_00Well, you guys have been together longer than a lot of marriages.
SPEAKER_02Right, yes, exactly. And you know, it's again, it's it's uh that that's that's not lost on me. You know, I'm on my third marriage. You know, it's uh you know, I d I lost uh I lost one wife to the band, you know. That's again, that's that's when I was going through that divorce, you know, my schedule and and what I was doing and and uh and just touring and and life and and uh the things that that rock and roll brought with it were a big part of that relationship not working, you know. But I got two beautiful kids out of it, and she and I are great, and uh so you know uh everything happens for a reason. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, speaking of covers on that first um on the let's do it for Johnny LP, you guys did a cover of Summer of 69, Brian Adams song, a lot faster than his version.
SPEAKER_02You know what's funny about that, uh, the story that I will tell is that you know, we knew we wanted to put a cover on the record because again, cover we we could pull a cover out every show that you came to, and you would, you know, you'd never hear the same one. And so it's a big part of as I I didn't actually finish what I was saying earlier. We were a cover band across town, but then you know, in the clubs where local bands played, we were we weren't a cover band. We were going out there and doing original sets, but we would do a wacky cover every show, and we had this arsenal of 80 songs that we could pick from, and you know, we could do everything from Elvis to you know to uh to the Beatles to uh the Beach Boys to Brian Adams, you know. I mean, everything we could do it all, Bon Jovi. And that leads us to the story um that the two songs that I had up for that record were Summer 69 and You Gave Love a Bad Name. But when I sing hair metal, I I do it by do it, I basically impersonate the person that I'm singing because that's what I grew up on. And they thought I sounded too much like Bon Jovi. They were just it just sounds like Bon Jovi.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So Summer 69 won out. And uh, you know, that ended up being a real blessing to us because that when the record came out, uh there was a DJ at the BBC over in the UK that heard it. And, you know, you getting played on Radio One over there is like the equivalent to I mean, I don't even know.
SPEAKER_00There's nothing in the US like that.
SPEAKER_02No, we don't have that. So, like, you know, there's it imagine, you know, there only being four radio stations in the in the country, and the biggest one that everybody listens to you you get played on it. Like one play is cons is insane over there, right? And so Summer 69 got played multiple times over there by a by a certain DJ uh and that you know I it really garnished a lot of attention and uh really you know the success of Let's Do It for Johnny and the Bitch Song and Summer 69 over in the UK really is the only reason we got to make a second record because the label was over here. Um and uh quite frankly, we the the the that album was not a success over here, and touring wasn't adding up to what what it needed to be over here, and you know, we were c sort of lost a little bit, and uh, but the UK grabbed hold of it and uh you know we got to do a second record, and Girl of the Bad Guys What came out and you know, the rest is history.
SPEAKER_00When um I read, tell me if this is right, that you started playing music somewhere around 13-ish. Yeah. Who who were your influences when you were kind of figuring yourself out and what you what you were getting into, what you liked and didn't like? Because at that age, you're kind of forming your opinions, right? Yeah. Who were who who were your musical influences when you decided, yeah, I I music is what I'm into?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, I was really lucky that my parents were uh listened to a lot of music. There was always music playing in the house and in the car, and so my palette was pretty vast in that, you know, I grew up listening to Wayland and Willie. I have a Wayland and Willie tattoo, Neil Diamond. I I loved the storytellers, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, uh Donna Summer, you know, all of that stuff. Um it wasn't till I heard Ozzie Osbourne, you know, when and when I was 13, and then I saw Motley Crue on TV. Yeah. And I was just like, well, this is this is it, this is what I want to do. And, you know, so I wanted to be Tommy Lee. So I got a drum set and I started playing drums and I was in dr I was a drummer and and all my bands as a kid. And uh I uh you know, but but yeah, I you know, I d I took from so much of that, you know, um, and then when I started writing songs, um, you know, it was obvious that the storytellers that my parents had had played for me so much as a kid were really what influenced me. Uh and then the Eagles and and bands like that with with the harmonies and stuff. And so, you know, here I I was, you know, when I started the band before Bowling for Soup, yeah, all of my songs were stories and we were doing all these like three-part harmonies and stuff. And uh so I I you know I'm indebted to to my parents for unknowingly playing all of those songs and for me so much as a kid. And then and then yeah, and then you know, man, once I heard Motley Crue and Rat and Dawkine and stuff like that, I mean I was just lost in it, you know. And then I got he it got heavier and heavier and heavier, you know, through through life and and uh you know it's we really kind of we we became more of like a death metal thing, the band that I was in, and then I started singing. And then uh yeah, I I discovered punk rock by hearing the descendants and and uh early Green Day and the Ramones and uh you know I at that point, you know, I was a young adult and I was like, no, this is what I want to do. And uh, you know, it's it changed the direction. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well and your a lot of your songs, if you if you listen lyrically, they are they are story. I mean, 1985 is a story.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 1985 Girl the Bad Guys Want, you know, even uh, you know, th they're they're all almost, you know, all the hits, Ohio, they're all stories. And uh yeah, that that's that's really I always loved the imagery, you know. I felt like songs were like books to me. Like I loved how I could picture it. And even as a young kid, you know, I I was aware that, hey, you know, it's funny because I can picture this, but I bet everybody else pictures their own thing. You know, they picture something completely different. And that's you know, that's again, it's what reading does, and that's and and I think that's what music does. It you know, it's funny we all just hear a different thing. I I'm really fascinated by what people hear when they hear music. You know, there's I have a lot of friends that are in bands that like they say they don't hear lyrics, and I'm like, God, how can you not hear lyrics? That's all I hear. That you that you listen to a lot back in high school. For me, the big one is Faith No More. You know, if I if I put the real thing album on, I can smell it, taste it, see it, feel it. You know, I just it's it's just I'm in high school, I'm in in my truck, driving over to my friend Scott's girlfriend's house to go in the pool, you know, and uh it's it's music is so magical that way.
SPEAKER_00Have you ever heard you I I assume you've heard um Faith No More, We Care A Lot?
SPEAKER_02Oh, of course, yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. But before Mike got in the band, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I love that song. I used to do a radio show and Friday night it was a party show. I I played party music, you know, for my whole block. I was a night DJ. I opened and closed the show with that song.
SPEAKER_02No, oh I know, I love it. Yeah, I mean, again, sort of uh they had already had their you know, they had the feel of it, right? And uh and they and that was that was that it was it's it's interesting how that whole thing went down when Mike joined the band and you know they had the I'm sure you know the story, but they had that album written, but he just wrote top line over the whole thing. And so you know, all that music and stuff was done, and like how he came up with some of those hooks to to go along with that to me is just crazy because that's a that's a near perfect album. Uh Angel Dust is my favorite, by the way, by them.
SPEAKER_00But great album.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I am uh just I love Angel Dust so much, which oh, which brings us back to Let's Do It For Johnny. Matt Wallace mixed that record, and uh and that is uh he missed mixed the bitch the bitch song.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_00Hey, uh uh what we were talking about 1985 a minute ago. I looked last night. Do you know that has 86 million views?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Is that insane? Yeah, yeah, it's uh it's pretty wild, man, and just the plays too on Spotify and stuff is just uh it's it's wacky. You know, that is a uh you know, it's it's interesting because, you know, that I the story of that song is quite unique in that w we were done making that record. That that uh Hangover You Don't Deserve was done almost was gonna be the single. I think Trucker Hat was supposed to be second. And get a call from uh Butchwalker's manager. And he's like, Hey this guy Mitch Allen. I'm like, I know Mitch, you know, SR71. He goes, Man, he's got this song. I think you should hear it because you know, it's a bowling pursuit song. You know, and uh yeah, and so 1985 came across and I was like, meh, you know, and my drummer Gary was just like that's pretty good. You should listen to it again, you know. And uh but so SR 71 had already put it out in Japan, but there's no digital at the time, right? And so it was never gonna make it to these shores. And uh listening to it, I was just like, you know, it's pr I I just I don't I don't want Debbie to be like the target, you know. I think it's more it should be more fun. Like it's more of just like a oh mom. Like I don't want you know, and so lyrically theirs was pretty pointy, you know. And uh so I spoke to Mitch and I said, Hey man, I'd really like to to do something with it, but you know, are you cool if I do a rewrite? And uh and he was like, Man, just do with it whatever you want. And uh yeah, I you know, I changed a few things here and I changed a few things there, and then and uh, you know, Butch listened to it with me and and had a little input here, and uh we recorded it and uh man it just took off like wildfire. And uh, you know, that song just it resonates with people still to this day, in that, you know, everybody everybody nobody's kids think they're cool, you know. I'm a rock star and my kids don't think I'm cool, you know.
SPEAKER_00Man, I am right against the clock and I know you've got other things going on, but I just wanted to ask you about two things real quick and I'll let you go. And hopefully we can get together again because I didn't even get to a quarter of my notes. But you you've done some solo stuff that I really appreciate. And I was listening to a song last night called There's You.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's a ballad, and it's unexpected, and it's so beautiful. And I just wanted I just wanted to talk about it because I think it's uh it's it's a different side, kind of unexpected, that I don't know that a lot of people are aware of.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, um I I I I started to experience issues with my mental health um around that time in 2013, actually, when you you and I were talking about earlier when the band is again another part of what was going on in life, you know. Um anxiety and depression uh excuse me entered my life and uh you know it was something that I held pretty close to the vest for a long time. In fact, too long, because my friends didn't know what was going on with me and just kind of thought I was pushing everybody away, and you know, that ended up being its own thing. Um so I shared my story for the first time um th through a friend's website. It was called Louder Than Stigma, and uh that has escalated into its own uh full, full-fledged uh charity here in Dallas called Amplified Minds. And uh but I shared my story for the first time and just the response that I got uh each time I would talk about it, uh people would just be like, oh man, you know, dude, like thank you for speaking out. You know, I'm gonna go make an appointment with my doctor, or I'm gonna go s I'm gonna talk to my family, or you know, yada yada. And so uh mental health has always been a big thing for me. And uh, but honestly, man, I gotta I gotta hand it to my buddy Zach Malloy. Excuse me. My buddy Zach Malloy, who um produced and co-wrote my country record, he actually hit me up and he goes, you know what you've never done? Just a song with you and piano. Like he goes, I don't think people really know your voice and you know, like how flexible and you know, how cool it would sound over that. And I was just like, Yeah, I mean, you know, that could be cool. And I was just like, I I guess it would need to be about something. And I yeah, I just uh I I wrote down the words to the chorus and sent it back to him and and uh and we wrote that song. And you know, um I re-release it or at least start really pushing it every May during Mental Health Awareness Month. Uh, because you know the message is is that you know, there's hope, there's love, and thank God there's you, you know. Uh we're all important, you know, and uh and I think that gets lost a lot.
SPEAKER_01I know exactly how you feel, and you are not alone, the bears repeating, you are not alone, keep holding on, your heart's still beating, you're gonna make it through. There is hope, there is love, and thank God there is you on people, you know.
SPEAKER_02I think people, um, you know, I I think it it's it's real easy to get caught up in your own shit, but what you what you don't really think about is the impact that you have on people just by being here. And uh, and so that's really what the song is about, is like, hey, you know, I mean, you know, there's there's hard times, you know, and there's there's things, but you can make you can make other decisions other than just you know then giving up. And uh that's what the song's about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, man, I appreciate that. Speaking of your your country album, um, there's a song that you do called Way More Country, which with Uncle Cracker, which I love. Do you have 112 tattoos?
SPEAKER_02I got more than that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Singing a punk rock band, and I know everywhere to that MM song stand, and I've got about a hundred and ten tattoos. But I'm way more country than you. Don't drive a truck. If you do, it's probably a teslock. You don't drink melanite. Thank you for a champagne guy. And I've got about a hundred and twelve tattoos. But I'm way more country than you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh, yeah, I think it gets up to 117 in the song, but uh yeah, I got I got a lot now. But uh yeah, I think there comes a point where you just lose you just lose touch with it, you know, and and you're just covered. And uh and somebody said that to me uh recently, actually, where they were just like uh, you're covered. I'm just like, yeah, I'm pretty covered. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Man, I I know I'm against the clock and I promised uh I would keep you on time. So I'm uh I'm gonna let you go. But boy, I love talking to you. I could talk to you all day long. And and again, we only got through about half of what I want to go through. So I'm hoping we can have a follow-up sometime. Maybe we'll get to shake hands uh here when you're uh in my hometown in August, and and I'd love to see you.
SPEAKER_02Man, I really love this, man. I would love that. I'll give you an hour next time. Uh and uh, you know, and we'll do it. I really enjoyed this, brother.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I love talking to you. I can't wait to see you to see the show uh in a couple weeks. Take care. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I look forward to seeing you, Steve.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you, man. I'll I'll talk to you soon, okay?
SPEAKER_02Sounds good, brother. Okay, bye-bye.
SPEAKER_03For questions or comments, email Steve at steverion.song of the day at gmail.com.