Ed Roland

Mr. Collective Soul.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left SAIDs podcast.
My guest today is Ed Rulan of Collective soul Head.
Tell me about the new album.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, it's a double album. We'll start there when we
set out to make a single record, but we kind
of got inspired by where we were recording the record.
My brother who's in the band, lives in San Diego,
and I was like, we had the month of January
off in twenty twenty three, and I was like, man,
I got some songs. Let's get the band together make

(00:42):
another record. We already had one plan to go out
and he said, uh, well we've never recorded west of
the Mississippi. Why don't we record out here and near me?
And I about five or six years ago, had run
into or met, befriended the people that owned Elvis Presley's
estate in Palm Springs, two homes when he passed away.
Of course everybody knows Graceland, and then he on this

(01:04):
place in Palm Springs, which when he passed was just
left like Priscilla wanted nothing to do with it, Lisa
Marie wanted nothing to do with it. But he spent
his last Thanksgiving, his last Christmas, his last birthday, and
he last three recordings he did there in that house.
So I'd seen the home before and RCA acoustically treated

(01:24):
it for him to record there. So I called those
guys up, my friends, and I was like, Hey, can
we have Elvis's house for the month of January? And
they said, of course, yeah, whatever you want. You know,
there's no furniture, there's nothing in there. You know, the
water may run, it may not. You may have hot water,
you may not. So we were like, all right, we'll

(01:45):
take it though it's Elvis's house. So we go out
there and we put furniture in there because there's no furniture,
and just set up the studio in there and started recording.
And the funny thing when it went in to do,
like I said, a single record. The guys we're old school,

(02:05):
like Johnny. Our drummer sets his drums up and then
we circle horseshoe around him and I present them a
song if they like it. We kind of worked through
it for an hour to see the parts and the vibe,
what we're feeling, and then we do maybe three, no
more than five takes. We do five takes because I
count them. If it's five takes. It's like, we got
to come back to this. It's usually it's three takes.

(02:28):
So in four days we recorded twelve songs. And I
was like, well, we still got three weeks to go, guys,
why don't y'all just go enjoy golf, hiking, biking, go
to Joshua Tree. I don't care. Let me just see
if I could come up with some other songs. So
I stayed at Elvis's house for four days and I
went to what they called his party room where he

(02:51):
throw all his parties. And I'm a Vinyl guy. I
love Vinyl. So I had fifty of my heroes albums
that I knew I wanted to listen to. Shift out,
got a record player, and I just sat in Elvis's
party room dance, listen to my heroes, or as I
like to call him, my professor's teachers. And somehow came

(03:13):
up with ten more songs and they came back in
and there you have it, a double album.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, how were you aware of this house?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
I had met through a show a friend, my friend,
a guy named Michael Rogers. We called him Spike. It
was like, you know, we have this house in palm
springs in Elvis's house. He knew I was an Elvis fan.
I was like, that's crazy, and I said, I want
to come out. He goes anytime. So I came out,
and then him and Tim the other owner, were like,

(03:46):
we're thinking, what We're trying to figure out what to
do with this house because you don't want to lose
what it was because it's Elvis, but it was you know,
it's dated, beautiful piece of property. But they didn't want
to take away from where Elvis lived. You know, it
wasn't a tear down. They really wanted to try to
maintain and contain, sustain what they thought Elvis would have

(04:08):
been living in that time. So they ask if I
would be interested in doing like a a show, like
a YouTube show where artists would come in and they
would perform their new songs, and then they performed two
Elvis songs. So it started there, and then the pandemic happened,
and then it just kind of dissipated from there because
the whole universe dissipated for a second there. But we

(04:31):
still kept in touch, and I just like I said,
I just made the call to him and was like, hey,
you still got that Elvis house anything going on, So
it was really just luck of the draw. And it's
actually cool to think that I am the only man
besides Elvis Presley to sleep in his bedroom as we know.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Of Okay, what about recording equipment.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
I always I grew up as an engineer recording in
the studios. I've always had recording gear and I had
I wrote it down. With today's technology, we use what's
called Apollo, so I have a half rack, I have
all these digital mics, and literally I just loaded to
U haul and had my production fern drive from Atlanta

(05:16):
to Palm Springs with the U Haul and my SUV
and we just put it in Lisa Maurice. The control
room was in Lisa Marie's bedroom. Engineer producer Sean slept
in Priscilla, and I slept in Elvis's bedroom and the
rest of the guys. I rented a house that was
Burt Lancaster's house, which is where Here to Eternity came
from because of the big movie that him and Frank

(05:36):
Sinatra from Here to Eternity was a big movie for them.
So I was like, so the title came really easy.
I was like, here to attorney, the we're having fun
and it was that simple. Like with today's technology, it's
it's pack it up and go.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
Okay, you're in Atlanta. You know, people want to go
to warmer weather. It's pretty warm in Georgia where they
go to Florida. Have you ever been to Palm Springs before?

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Many times the first manager I had, we went to
la to see if I could get a We were
looking for an attorney because that was the first thing,
and try to shop my songs for a publishing deal
because I didn't have a band. I just wanted a
publishing deal. And he woke me up one morning and said,
we're going to Palm Springs. So we went there and
we went on hikes, and that was my first experience

(06:27):
with Palm Springs, but I had been there many times
prior to that. Our old tour manager, who was our
tour manager for thirteen fourteen years, moved out there, so
I would just go spend you know, long weekends with him,
and I just fell in love with it. I love
the history, the vibe. The heat doesn't bother me. Like
you said, I'm from Atlanta, heat does not bother me. Actually,

(06:49):
I'd rather have dry heat than the humidity that we
have here. But because I could play thirty six holes
of golf and dry heat, I can't do it in humidity.
And I just fell in love with the culture. I
love that it's non judgmental. I mean, it's just anything goes.
And I mean, if I had mine to do, but

(07:10):
I have a family and two boys, and I would
love to live there. I just love. And there's so
many other artists out there that live there now, musicians
and artists. I just I just find it's funny. I
only second home I ever had was in Arizona, and
I fell in love with it because I love the
living desert. I guess just because living in Georgia, where

(07:32):
you feel like you're living in a shrub, you know,
cut a little shrub here and put a house. I
just yeah, I'm a spiritual cat, and I kind of
just fell in love the spirituality of living deserts Vegas.
Vegas is not a living desert. It's it's living, all right,
but it's not a you know, ecosystem living like I love,

(07:54):
like Palm Springs and Phoenix, Scottsdale, things like that. So
I just I just fell in love with it. My
wife tells me all the time. She's like, man, I
hope I don't get run over. If I do, I
know where you're gonna end up, Palm Springs.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
I was like, you're right, And do you find the
environment inspirational creatively?

Speaker 2 (08:13):
One hundred percent? That's why we only we only recorded.
I think we've only done two. This is our twelfth
recording studio album, and I think we've done too maybe
three in proper studios. We love homes. We like once again,
we're Southern boys and we're very family. Everybody grew up
with each other and knows each other, and we like

(08:35):
the environment that a home sets. There is no clock,
you're not ticking. You don't have to be there at ten.
You could. You could wake up at eight, have a
cup of coffee and be inspired. And also like that
you're a part of the community. It's something different. If
you're in a studio, you're not part of a community
because you feel like you have to be in that
room with no windows or anything like that. When you're

(08:55):
in a house, you got windows. You see life moving,
you see kids, you see everybody walking, hiking, whatever they're doing.
So it's for us and I'm not saying that's the
right way to do it, or it works for every band,
but for us, we love that we were a strange
rock and roll band. We don't. We not only like
each other, we love each other and we love each
other's company. So to me, when we go to these destinations,

(09:17):
and I'll use it in that term, it kind of
brings in the vibrations from the community and it kind
of inspires us. And you know, I'm old school. I
do like the history of the Stones and Zeppelin, you know,
renting castles or getting in you know, mix you know,
South of France house and just recording making it work.

(09:39):
It wasn't as much about the acoustic as it was
about the spirit of what they were doing. So that's
that's kind of where our gig is.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay, you mentioned thirty six, so you know a round
and a half of golf. Are you a good golfer?
Do you play a lot of golf?

Speaker 2 (09:56):
I try to. I would love to. The first time
I ever played golf we were touring with Van Halen
and Eddie van Halen came on the bus and he said,
we're playing golf tomorrow, cigarette hanging out and I was like,
you're Eddie Van Halen will do whatever you want to do.
So I got up and he said, one of the
coolest things ever. He goes, I believe you're gonna have
a long career. He said. I really like what you do.

(10:18):
I love your personality or your spirit, he goes, and
I'll tell you something right now. I'm gonna give you
some advice. Every hotel room looks the same. In his words,
He's like, I have a shitter, a bed, a TV,
a telephone, and he says, you end up at the bar.
He says, what you need to do is get out,
you play golf, bike or something. But I want to
take you to play golf. See if you fall in

(10:39):
love with it. So my first round of golf was
with Eddie van at Woodlands in Houston, Texas.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
And how often do you play? Now?

Speaker 2 (10:52):
As much as I can. I'm playing tomorrow morning. I
just did. And I get to announce this. I do
a lot of stuff for Saint Jude. I go to
the Warmer Burger and the Ram and I just came
back and they just asked me to host the one
in Naples, Florida this year. So it's my golf tournament
man for Saint Jude. What a great cause, great place.

(11:12):
So yeah. And the other cool thing about golf, My
wife is so cool. When we got married, I was
really into it and I bought her a set of
clubs and she said, no, take them back. That's boytime,
that's your boytime. And I'm like, all right. I started
taking it too seriously, and then I realized, man, is
this is just fellowship. You know, it's you know, I've

(11:35):
met some of the coolest people on the planet. I'm
the worst golfer that's played the greatest courses on the planet.
But hey, I love it. It's just so much fun.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Okay, let's go back to the album. Needless to say,
the music business on the recording end, it's very different.
When you had your initial hits in the nineties, it's
hard to reach everybody. So for someone who's had international hits,
do you have the same motivation.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
We've always had the same motivation, and that is for
us to be happy with what we created. Is if
you can't be happy with what you've done, you can't
expect anybody else to. We've never been one to chase
hit songs anything like that. We literally look at each
other at the end of the session of the song,
we're like, everybody call and we're like and usually we're

(12:27):
all high five in each other, going, man, we got
lucky again. Or however we do it, however we make
it happen, And that's that's how we approach it. I
think you can get caught up in that craziness, and
we did for a second. You know, you sell a
million albums and then you go, why didn't we sell
a million in one? You know, you get caught up
in that rabbit hole. You're going to lose perspective real quick. So,

(12:49):
but with the songs and the records, we've always been grounded,
if that makes sense, Like it's it's about the song.
We're not like, oh this is this is a hit? Now?
Who knows what a hit is? And if you think
you do, why didn't you do it when you were
fourteen fifteen, sixteen? Nobody knows. It's just a timing and place.

(13:10):
But once again, the main, the cornerstone of all of
it is how you feel as a band and are
you happy? Do you feel fulfilled with what you just did?
And if you can feel that, nobody can take that
away from you. It doesn't mean everybody's gonna like it,
and that's cool. But if you're fulfilled with it, you win.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
So you make a record in today's change marketplace, what
are your expectations?

Speaker 2 (13:43):
I don't know. That's a good question. Let me think
of you know, my expectation is that we still present
ourselves musically artistically, and then to honestly go play live.
We love playing live. That's that's our favorite thing to
do as a band. We're like some bad frat fraternity.

(14:05):
Like we love being around each other. I mean we
high five, hug each other, you know, make pranks on
each other and kid with each other. But it does
start with the song. But then once that's done, it's
it's all about just getting on the road. Man.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Okay. Now the group paid for the record, right, correct,
So when you start, do you have in mind how
much money you want to spend, Because it's your money.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
We keep it within a budget. But I will be honest.
When the Elvis thing came up, I was like, boys,
we're gonna have We're just gonna have fun. There was
no limit to be and nobody's crazy, nobody's doing anything stupid,
you know. I was like, this is a once in
a lifetime thing, and we knew it was gonna be
our thirtieth record. We didn't know it was going to

(14:58):
be a double album. Then when we decided it was
to be a double album and we were so inspired
being there, I was like, you know what, go get
a nice steak dinner, you know, get you a nice
bottle of wine. Let's enjoy and absorb this moment. We've
earned it and the guys in the band have earned it.
And that one was a little expensive. But you know,

(15:18):
I'm actually as this morning, just rented a place in
the mountains in Tennessee, a cabin where we're going to
do our next record in October. But I keep it
on a budget. You know, I got to it. I mean,
you can spend everything. I got two boys I got
to put through college.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Come on now, Okay, so the record is done. You're
the record company. Getting the record on digital services is
not that difficult. What do you do for promotion in marketing?
Since you know you're your own record company.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
I call a man called Fred Kraschell. Fred Kroschell worked
at Maverick Records and met him twenty I think twenty
one years ago when we first went independent, and that
is that is. It's it's his job. He's gig and
he knows. If if I could tell you, I can

(16:14):
tell you how many people I've met that has said
a negative thing about Fred Krischell, that would be zero.
He's the most well liked, well respected man in the
industry and one of, if not the hardest working man.
I call him sometimes and forget I'm East coast, he's
West coast, but he's up. He's like, Eddie, what's up?

(16:35):
What we doing today? Like so it You know, one
of the smartest things I've learned to do in my
life is to be the dumbest man in the room.
And Fred is a smart man in that. So he
teaches me. But also I can trust him and I
have the and he has the freedom, and he makes

(16:55):
it happens. He's done them all. He's just a great
He wants to again. It's nice to be able to
work with people. You know, you got to think about Fred.
He was part of two of the top ten selling
albums of all time, a Linus More sets Jagged Littlepill
and Michael Jackson's Thriller. And for me to have the
knowledge that he has to just share with me and

(17:19):
work with me is amazing. So I'm just blessed to
know the cat from a personal standpoint, forget the business side.
He's a fun cat.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Okay, so you go on the road, how much of
the new album are you going to play?

Speaker 2 (17:34):
It depends on the set times that we have. We're
going out with Hoodie, so we get fifty minutes, so
we do the first two songs or new songs, because
that's not the pee break area I call it. So
they don't know that they're new. They're just excited that
there's music going on, so it kind of sneak to
in there, and then we'll do some hits and we'll

(17:54):
throw one more in there in a fifty minute set.
But when we get out and do our own shows, well,
I don't want to do over five. I do five,
you know, And it's tough to pick and choose, especially
when you just did twenty, but you do. I like
to do five. I think that's fair. It's fair to
the audience, you know, because they are there for the
songs that got us there on stage. So you don't

(18:16):
want to you want to stretch yourself too thin, if
that makes sense, But you do want to let them
know that you're still making music and songs are still
as good as they were before.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
Do you have hardcore collective soul fans?

Speaker 2 (18:31):
I guess so. I don't know. I'm not a social
media guy. I don't keep up with that kind of stuff.
I literally get up and watch sports, keep up with
the news a little bit. But I love just playing music.
I love playing the piano. I'll play the piano and
I try to write every day or just let something flow.

(18:51):
It doesn't mean it's good, bad, or and different. It
may be just a little idea that'll last, but it's
just an extension of who I am. I love and
I try to sing every day because it's a muscle.
You want to keep your voice going. So I don't
know much about I guess we do. People still show up,

(19:13):
and still people listen to what we're doing.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Well, how much you know, we've had the pandemic, But
generally speaking, how much does collective soul work.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
We usually do seventy five shows a year, and then
I would say I'll do privates and then I'll do
charitable events. So for me, it's around ninety to one
hundred a year, so and that never changes. It's pretty
pretty consistent. You know, Charlie keeps us Charlie, Charlie our manager,
Charlie keeps us busy.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
And what kind of buildings do you play?

Speaker 2 (19:48):
It varies, you know, it could be a two thousand,
and then with Hoodie we're out in outdoor amphitheaters, so
that's eighteen thousand. But I don't I don't look at
an audience's success. Like when my wife and I go
on holiday and I walk by a bar and there's

(20:08):
a band in there playing. I'm like, she knows what
I'm about to do because I just love to play.
I was like, I need to work, wrote these new songs.
I'm gonna go in, so I'll go in and tip
the band one hundred bucks. I'm like, can I just
borrow a guitar? I just want to play, So I
play the new songs and then I'll play like you know,
people recognize December World or Shine something, and it never fails.
They go, god, you sound just like that guy. I'm like,

(20:33):
I said, by the way, I do look like that guy.
I am that guy, But I just love I just
like playing music. Man, It's just kind of my good.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
Well, so do you ultimately tell him you are that
guy at.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
The end of the night. Yeah, you know, because I don't.
I'm just trying to help the band out because I
would have been doing that if I could. I still
would love to do it. I enjoy that, and I
actually enjoy them not knowing who I am, so I
can work on my new songs without being judged. You know,
if they knew, they go all right, that one sucks,
you know, like just working on it on myself.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Okay. So if you go on the road, the level
you go on the road depends on how many tickets
you sell. So you were selling a million albums. Nobody
sells a million albums today. Has that changed the level
of travel and how do you feel about that?

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Not?

Speaker 2 (21:27):
For us, it hasn't. I mean, we were never one
of those band. We were never a stadium band or
arena band. We were kind of mid level. So we've
maintained that and Charlie, our manager, keep bringing him up,
but he's been absolutely wonderful in maintaining that and helping
hus grow yearly. Because when we first started, everybody knew
the songs. They didn't know the band they you know,

(21:48):
they they had no idea who sang the song. They
just love the songs, you know, because everything happened so
fast for us, So Charlie's been putting it together for us,
like people now getting oh collector saw go see him
and they see us play live and they love what
we do. They know we love what we do. So
it's maintained a real consistency, it really has over the years.

(22:09):
There's never been a there's never been a big drop
and there's never been a big peak. It's just maintained.
Man kind of like the Dude and Big Lebowski. We're
kind of like the rug that ties everything together.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
So how long have you been with Charlie and how'd
you first connect with Charlie.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
I met Charlie years ago being in Atlanta. Charlie used
to call when I had a band and he would
he had nobody to open up, you know, he's a
promoter and had nobody open up. He called me and go, Hey,
I'm not paying anything, but you want to open up
with this band. I was like, yeah, man, let's go.
And then I mean, I think I've known Charlie for

(22:49):
forty years I think now. And then when we were
in management and we had discussions with other managers, I
never forget to flow up to the buffalo. But we
didn't feel at the time. I didn't feel it at
that moment, and that was I don't know when, that
was twenty years ago, twenty five. And then eventually we
got to a position where and like I said, I've

(23:10):
known Charlie and I've seen what he's done with all
the bands he's managed, and I see his loyalty and
I've witnessed I should say I've witnessed his loyalty, of
which witnessed his hard work. And when we had to
make a change, I was like, you know, I went
to Charlie and it was that simple. It was, and
it's been nothing but great. You know, it's nice to

(23:32):
have a manager that is not afraid of you, and
it's nice to have a manager who's not afraid of
the artist. And we're not either one like, you know,
we can have disagreements, but we don't get mad at
each other. It's just like, what can we do? We're
both here to resolve. Like he's so good at that,

(23:53):
and it's been a blessing to have him.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
You had a contract to with the previous manager. What
went on with the previous manager.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
Well, we didn't get paid. That's about all I can say.
We didn't get paid, but we had to go to
court and all that. But all we got out of
it was I retained the name, and I retained the songs,
and I retained the right to continue on as Collective Soul,

(24:25):
which is, you know, once again, that's all I wanted
that moment in my life.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
Did the guy just steal the money?

Speaker 2 (24:37):
I can't really say that he's passed. He passed about
three years ago, but in the court rulings, we're really not,
you know.

Speaker 1 (24:46):
Okay, but you know there have been bands like Bad
Finger where the guys have literally committed suicide when they
haven't gotten paid. So how did you cope with that?

Speaker 2 (24:58):
Man? I go back to and people think I'm and
it's not. I go back to my parents. My parents
were such strong people, very supportive, and it really came
down to them, and not just me, but all the
other band members. We all grew up in the same community,
had the same kind of understanding of life and were

(25:21):
raised very similar. I think it came down to our
parents because there were there was times where I've never
taken my life, or there's time it's like, man, what
just happened, you know, all of a sudden, you shoot,
you shot out of a shotgun. Then you're a dead
bowling ball falling from the air. But it was it
was family. It was family, family strength.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
Okay, you're going out with Edwin mccainn and Hoody. Do
you know those guys.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
We've all known each other before, we all got signed,
so being in the Southeast, and it's like a fraturn
going back out, like we've known each other for over
thirty years now, and to be able to go out
and just hang with your buddies, like Edwin is one
of the funniest men on the planet. And the Hoodie Boys,

(26:13):
I hate to use the word, they're a hoop. They're fine,
you know, and it's just it's almost like you're in
college again. There's no egos, which is a great thing
to have when you're on tour with other bands. There's
no egos. Everybody supports each other and everybody wants each
other to succeed as we did when we first met
each other. We were so happy for you know, when
we got signed, Hoody and the boys were extremely happy,

(26:37):
and then we were for them. And then everyone gets
signed there, you know, it's just a family kind of vibe.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
So, you know, Hoody really had a moment there in
the mid nineties. Did you expect that and what do
you think about that?

Speaker 2 (26:55):
I don't think they expect Nobody expects that. And I
think they handle it great. I think, you know, to
you think we shot we shot up really quick. But
with Hoodie, they kind of they had a little swell
to it. So I mean, that's a lot to take in,

(27:16):
you know, what they had to go through, and they
handled it great. And they've been nothing but gentlemen. And
you know, and for Darius to go on to another
career like he did, I mean, it's pretty uh inspiring,
to be honest with you, That's the word I would

(27:37):
use for Hoodie and Edwin. Also, they're very inspiring artists
and friends.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
Okay, you're in Atlanta, Okay, needless to say, they Allman
Brothers had a song called Hot Lanta. Al Cooper moved
to Atlanta signed the Leonard Skinnard but at Disley date,
Atlanta is an epicenter of hip hop.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
What's it like being a rock musician in Atlanta today?

Speaker 2 (28:06):
You know, I don't get out as much as I
used to because you know, having children and wife, it
takes your time up when you are home, you want
to be with your family. But back in the day
when we were coming up, or when I was coming
up in the eighties and the early nineties, Atlanta it
was just a hotbed of rock and roll. It was great,
like it was incorporating Southern rock. Just I call it

(28:31):
keeping the traid on the wheel. You know, it was
so much fun. I don't see that anymore right now.
I just don't. Being honest, and once again, maybe there
I am sixty, so maybe I'm too old to recognize
where it is and who it is. But it doesn't
feel you know, I got a twenty five year old

(28:52):
sign and I just go like, where do the rock clubs? Like?
I just missed that stuff so much, not even playing it.
I just used to love to go to him, you know,
just the vibe of it all was, I don't know, man,
felt like you had a halo. When I walked out,
I was like, oh, yeah, I'm about to kick some
ass here now. Man. That just fired me up. They

(29:12):
would fire me up. I don't know where you find
that in Atlanta right now, to be honest with.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
You, and who from Atlanta. Do you think deserve more
success than they got from your era?

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Driving and Crime? Driving and Crime without a doubt, the
Kevin Kenney is one of the best songwriters. That band's
one of the best bands. I would go, Drive In
and Crime. And there's an artist, well, Sheryl Crow's band director.
But he's like our sixth member to Peter Stroud. He's

(29:47):
played with everybody from Don Henley, Sarah maclachlin, like just
just the talent. So he's found his niche where he's
like the sixth man on a lot of these artists.
But he he is. But the one I would say
first and foremost would be Driving and Crime. No if answer, but.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
Okay, So what was your situation growing up? What were
your parents doing when you were growing up?

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Well, my dad was a minister. He was operatic trained
and he was about to leave to live in Italy
and sing opera and then him and God had a
talk and he decided he was going into the ministry.
So he became a minister of music and eventually became
a minister. But he's a minister of music first, and

(30:43):
my mom played piano in church and that's what I
grew up in I knew nothing different and it was awesome.
I mean they I had loved discipline, sports, you know,
it was outside playing all the time. And I had
their devotion. I had my devotion to them, like my

(31:04):
childhood was great. We had no money, but that didn't
That's why I always tell my wife money doesn't it.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Okay, So your father had his own church cracked. And
where was that church?

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Scottridge, Georgia, south of Atlanta, about twenty miles south of Atlanta.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
And how big a congregation was that?

Speaker 2 (31:27):
About three to four hundred.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
Okay, So you're the minister's son. So once you walk
out the door, is that a good thing or bad thing?
People make fun of you, people treat you special.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
Oh I didn't get treated special. I mean you know,
when the principal of your high school is the deacon
of the church, you're being watched. Twenty four to seven.
I was scrutinized quite often. I mean I didn't mindn't
I wouldn't do anything crazy. I mean, you know, when
I was fourteen, when I decided I want to do music,
was like that's all I cared about. I just did music.

(32:02):
But now nobody ever made it was a small town.
So it was like once again, I go back to
like if you want to, if I could compare it
to anything, it'd be like Mayberry, you know Andy Griffith show,
Like it was just that everybody was a neighbor and
it was just that simple. Everybody made mistakes, everybody did
some wrong things here and there, but everybody were neighbors

(32:25):
and cared for each other.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
So we live in this polarized era. You know, when
I grew up, which is you know, kind of when
you were born, you were a little later than from me,
there was all this. You know, the South is rednecks
below the Mace and Dixon line, you know. Then there's
issues of the Confederate War. Now there's maga. What does
the North not understand about the South?

Speaker 2 (32:54):
I don't know. It seems they're all moving down here now.
I don't know. I just think that's just you know,
folk lore for lack of a better term. You know,
my wife's from Washington State and are there and I
hate to use the word rednecks because if you understand
what redneck means, it's actually the farmers that worked in

(33:17):
the fields, that worked hard and fed people and they
would get their next burn so it wasn't. So it's
taken another turn, and I know what people mean by it.
You can find hatred and bigotry and racism in any
part of this country. Trust me, I've seen it in

(33:38):
every part of this country. I've seen it more than
I have in the South. It's one reason I've never
left the South or Atlanta, because I love the diversity
of Atlanta, and I wanted my children raised in diversity
to understand that my children don't even know they're best
friends are African Americans are ancient. It doesn't matter to

(33:58):
that generation. And that's how I wanted to teach my children.
And that's why I stayed in Atlanta because it offers that.
And I don't know why the Northerners think that. I
don't know why anybody thinks that, you know, there's good
people here. I mean, I don't think everybody up in
the Northeast is in the mob.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
Let's go one step deeper. There's a lot of news
in Georgia having to do with Fanny Willis and stuff
like that. Is there a big red blue divide? Is
that something you feel or is that just something you
read in the newspapers.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
I'm sure it's there. I personally haven't seen it. Now
you can talk red and blue and have difference. The
people I talk to that have different ideologies politically have conversations.
They're not angry, they're just having conversations. So I think

(35:02):
some of the stuff is what do you you know?
I think they want it for TV, or they want
it or maybe even for their individual selves. I don't know.
I don't know those people. All I know is the
people that are surround myself with. We differ even in
the band. We differ politically, we differ religiously. We different ideology.

(35:27):
To me, that makes up a society. And like I
said earlier, not only do we like each other, we
love each other, and just that's that's society. If we
all thought the same way, we'd be a bunch of
cows in the pasture waiting to get grazing and waiting
to get slaughtered. You know, at least you're learning and
taking and absorbing other people's thoughts. So I think it's

(35:51):
I just think it's ratings or clicks, whatever the kids
call it nowadays. I think it's for that.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
So if your wife from Washington State, how did you
meet her?

Speaker 2 (36:03):
She her family moved to Atlanta, and I had a
apartment that all the players on the Atlanta Falcons when
they got hurt would just come stay at my house
just because I was single and I had the nicest
TV and had all the sports channels. Then they didn't

(36:24):
want to spend money to go back for rehab. They
get rehab in Atlanta. So one of the guys was
on the University of Washington and he called me and
said he was out. He said, hey, I got a
friend coming over to get some Falcon tickets. I was like, okay.
So I thought it was a dude, because their dudes
would come in and out. Like I'm old school Southern

(36:44):
door was always open, just come and go. And I
opened the door. It was this beautiful woman and I'm
sitting there in my boxers because I just thought it
would dude, and and she was on the date and
I was like, here, my name's Ed. And then we
went and did a European tour for three weeks and
it was the last face of a woman I truly saw.

(37:06):
And I got back and called her and said, do
you remember me? My name's Ed. She has no pop culture,
She had no idea who I was and I said,
RIM's in town tonight. I'd love to take you to
the show. I said, I just got back in from
Europe and she says no. She made every excuse and
I was like, I don't know what got into me.

(37:27):
I just said, you know what, I'm going to sit
here at this bar and when you get here, I'm waiting.
And she showed up three hours later, three hours later,
and we went to RIM and we've never been separated
since twenty years.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Now. You've been married before, right, I was, yeah?

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Correct?

Speaker 1 (37:44):
And how long were you married and how long between
the two wives?

Speaker 2 (37:49):
Uh? I think the first marriage was four years and
I think it was four years in between the divorce.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
So why did you get divorced?

Speaker 2 (37:59):
You know, some people, some people do things they probably
wish they didn't do. So I'm not going to get
into that because that's not worth it. You know. I
will tell you the one beautiful thing. She is a
wonderful mother and I'm proud to have a child with her,

(38:21):
So I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
Okay, did you meet her before or after you had success?

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Right at it?

Speaker 1 (38:30):
And did the level of your success affect the relationship?

Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yes? Yeah, definitely, And once again, she was young. I
was naive, and my attention was spent a lot on
Collective Soul because that's everything was just happening so fast.
So you know, we should have probably dated two more years,
would have probably helped the relationship instead of going to
Vegas and have Elvis marry you. So, you know, hindsight's

(38:58):
twenty twenty. They say, I wish I had twenty twenty vision.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
Now you have a child with this woman.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
Crack. He's twenty five and what is he up to?
He's bartending right now. You know, he's one of those
twenty five year olds trying to figure it out. He
loves music, he loves going to concerts, and I'm like,
we'll figure something out. Brother, He'll get there.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Okay. How do you know all the Atlanta Falcons that
they're coming crashing at your place?

Speaker 2 (39:28):
Well, because one of the guys lived across the I
it was dearing my divorce, so it was after he
lived across at the apartment and he was on the
Falcons and they were and they were all it was
all the drafted kids, the ones trying to make the
team if they got drafted, or the ones trying to
make the team. So they would just come over there

(39:50):
and he'd go go Toad's house. He's got the beer,
he's got the TV. So they would just crash at
my house. I don't know. It was just like I said,
I have an open door policy.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
Well, are you the type of person who makes friends
everywhere you go?

Speaker 2 (40:07):
Yes? My wife says that's a fault of mine, and
I'm like, I kind of like it. Like I guess
just being a preacher's kid, I watch my father and
mother do it my whole life, and I'm like, if
somebody's over there sitting eating alone, I'm going to go
talk to them, like, hey, everything cool, you know. I mean,
they can show me away, but it just makes me uncomfortable.
I want everybody to know somebody in the world loves them.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
So your father was a minister. Are you still a believer?

Speaker 2 (40:34):
I am. I have no problem with that. I don't
believe in how he believed that way. I do believe,
Like I meditate every day. I'm actually going to meditate
with monks this weekend. I believe in spirituality, and I
know that's a cop out, but I do believe the
teachings of Jesus because it's really kind of simple and clean.

(40:57):
You know. I don't really have to do anything except
please forgive me, and I mess up a lot, so
it's kind of an easy cop out there too.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Okay, just when we talk about these.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
My wife, my wife. My wife's Jewish, so it doesn't
you know. So it's and I don't. I don't care
as long as you're a good person.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
But you've been in the rock and roll lifestyle. Have
you overdone it with drugs or alcohol?

Speaker 2 (41:26):
Never? Never?

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Not your personality.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
No. I didn't drink till I was thirty, and it
was first time we were on tour, and I was
just bored. Never smoked till I was fifty. I was
like bored, Like no, I just never wasn't a part
of my gig. Man to be, as my wife would
like to say, Ed likes to be in control.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
I understand that completely, but just go one step further.
Are you controlling?

Speaker 2 (41:55):
No? No, I want to be in control of my temple,
in control of my at my surroundings, but not controlling
of any No. No, no. I love people that do
their own gig. I learned from that. I actually get
inspired by it. Like that's cool, that's people would go, man,
they're crazy. I'm like, no, they're not. They're they're living

(42:16):
the dream right now. Man, that's cool.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Okay, So how many kids in the family.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
And my family you have three siblings, two younger brothers
and a younger sister.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
Okay, so you're the oldest I am, and usually all
the hopes and dreams are in the oldest. Did you
feel that?

Speaker 2 (42:35):
Not all? Not at all? Now, I'm telling you, man,
my childhood it was crazy back in the day. People go,
must have been horrible growing up with it as your
dad being a preacher. I was like, now, it's kind
of cool. You know. First concert he took me to
is Johnny Cash. Then he took me to see the Liberachi,
and he took me to see the Kinks, took me

(42:56):
to see Elton John was like, no, that sounds kind
of good to me. That's kind of cool.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Okay, your father was trained operatically. How do you end
up being a fan of the Kinks and going to
see the Kinks?

Speaker 2 (43:10):
Don't ask me. I wish I could ask him now.
I should have asked him that a while back. He's
been he's been good. Lord said hey to him about
twenty years ago. I wish like The Kinks is the
one that throws me off. I understand Liberaci because his mother,
my grandmother, loved Liberachi. So something there, you know, like
going to see your mom's favorite artist, Elton, I could

(43:31):
get Johnny Cash, I could get the Kinks. That one
goes by me a little bit. I'm like, I'm glad
he did because I always tell people they're like, you know,
my brother's and the band Dean, and people go to
y'all fight and you know, like the Davies brothers, and
I was like, you know what I always tell my
brother Dean. I was like, dude, I love you, but

(43:54):
I would never break a guitar over your head because
I have so much more love for my guitars than
I do you. It's just an inside joke.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
Okay, so your father's taken to these shows. Is that
what infects you with music and makes you decide to
become a musician.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
What made me want to become I wanted to be
become a songwriter. What happened was because we had records.
I mean, I grew up basically on gospel and hymnal music,
and Elvis was in the house and they'd be Jerry
Lee Lewis and Frank and Dean Martin. But it was
when I saved up enough of my allowance to go

(44:42):
by the first record, And to this day I could
remember it was at Richway and the what do you
used to call them where they put all the records.
Who's the front and center had Olivia Newton, John, John
Denver and Elton John. And I didn't know any of
these artists, and I would made no mistake by going

(45:04):
with either one. But I was like, man, that guy
dress is really cool. I'm gonna I'm getting Elton John
and it's literally when I put the needle down, I
was like, I want to write like Elton John and
Bernie Tale. I just I can't. Nobody ever will. But
that's what inspired me. Literally your song. When I put
it on, I was like, oh my gosh, like it's

(45:24):
the flow and the beauty of it. I could still
remember when I put it on the record player and
then you know, listening to the greatest hits and I
just would wear that record out. I probably have over
the year. I probably over the years, I probably about
twenty of those records, because like I said, I'm a
vinyl guy, so I love Vinyl. I will wear that
record out just inspires me. It makes me feel youthful

(45:45):
and brings inspiration.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
Okay, so when did you start playing an instrument.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Well, my first instrument I was eight years old and
I joined the elementary band and I played clarinet, which
I always like to say is the gateway to rock
and roll. The claire is the gateway to rock and roll. Okay,
so I played clarinet. I actually told my parents I
wanted to play the coronet, and they thought I said clarinet.

(46:16):
So my Southern slang must have been worse than it
is now. So anyway, brought to clarinet, and you know,
at that age the only I was the only boy
in that section because it's the clarinet, the flutes, and
there's it. And to come to learn later in life.
I was like, this is kind of cool. I'm with
all the checks man. And then I took a class

(46:40):
and started learning saxophone. And I was fourteen when I
learned to play the guitar. That's when I started really
wanted to learn. I wanted to learn to write songs,
and then piano just came naturally because it was just
in the house. I just I don't know. I used
to know that. I don't know. I didn't know theory
on piano. I would just watch my mom play warm

(47:03):
up for her and dad's gig every Sunday morning, and
I would just watch her fingers and I'm like, oh,
that's cool. So I would just get up there and
try to figure out what she was doing.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Okay, so you took Clearnett lessons? Did you ever take
guitar lessons?

Speaker 2 (47:17):
I did not. I went to Berkeley College of Music,
and when I got there, they told me that I
was holding the pick wrong and I was like, oh boy,
this ain't gonna go well. So no, I just a
friend of mine gave me his guitar. I was in
the lunch room. I was fourteen, and I said I
think I want to be a songwriter, and sitting with

(47:39):
all the jocks, and this one guy goes, I got
a guitar, and I got a guitar book, and so
he gave me one of his Kmart guitars. I don't
know people out there remember Kmart, but it was cheap.
And he gave in Elvis Presley book that showed how
to play the chords in the Eagles book showed you
how to play the chords. So I just sat there,

(47:59):
you know, bloody fingers, so I could figure it out.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
And did you play in bands in high school?

Speaker 2 (48:07):
No, it wasn't stop. Rich was a very small place.
I did play in a Dixieland band, which was my
first paying gig. I played banjo. I did learn to
play the banjo for a second. But no, it was
such a small town and it was more based on
football and baseball and basketball and things like that. And

(48:28):
I was the only one that even played an instrument.
So that's one reason I went to Berkeley. I just
wanted to surround myself with other musicians.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Okay, so you're gonna graduate from high school, how do
you know about Berkeley? And how do you decide to
go there?

Speaker 2 (48:45):
I became a just I couldn't get enough of music.
So it started with the cars because they were from
Boston and a couple of them had gone to a
place called Berkeley. And I was listening to Steely Dan
too and saw somehow back then you didn't have the internet.
I would get these cream or whatever those magazines were called,

(49:06):
you know, and they would go it went to Berkeley College.
Music was huh, so you know, just send an application
and back then you mailed everything. I would and they
would send me information. And then I just I decided
I'd needed to get out of a small town. And
at the time, I thought it was going to be
a really good guitarist, and you know, I wanted to

(49:27):
write songs. But when I got up there, you know,
kind of got my ass handed to me. You go
into a rehearsal room and you see these cats just wail,
and I'm say, okay, I'm gonna try songwriting.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
Now, okay, if you come from a poor family, how'd
you pay for Berkeley?

Speaker 2 (49:45):
A student loan of which I did payback. My uncle
was a banker. So I went to my uncle really
correct and got a loan.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
Do you remember how much it was.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
For twenty four hundred bucks?

Speaker 1 (50:03):
So how long did you last at Berkeley?

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Six months. He wasn't gonna teach me. He wasn't gonna
teach me what I wanted to learn. I mean, I
tell this story quite often. I was walking, you know,
I was a naive Southern boy from a small town.
I would just walk up to people and say hey.
And I met this mailman. He was doing his route
and I said hey. He's like, hey, you know I

(50:28):
looked interesting at that time. I had orange hair and
all over the place. He goes, you're in a band.
He was like, no, I'm going to Berkeley. He goes,
I graduated from there. I was like, really, what are
you being a mailman for? He goes, well, if you
graduate there, you're really just going to be a teacher.
I was like really, he goes, well, what do you
want to do? I said, I want to write songs.
He said, you need to quit and go explore life
and learn about life and find it within yourself. They're

(50:51):
not going to teach you how to write his song
in there, And so I always say I had a
life lesson from Cliff Claven from Cheers.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Okay, in the six months you were there, did you
feel alienated? Did you fit in? Did you learn anything?

Speaker 2 (51:09):
I learned more about life. Yeah, fit in. I had
that personality where I was I'm not afraid to meet
people and do things. Yeah. I mean I got a
girlfriend there, like I was. I was happening baby. Plus,
you know, you know what the funny thing is, the
accent gets the girl at that age, They're like, you
sound funny. So I mean, we hitched tight to go

(51:35):
see Billy Joel, Like, we did all kinds of fun
stuff that you can't do nowadays. But yeah, I fit in.
I had a great time. But I learned more about life,
and I did learn structure of chord progressions, Like they
were playing chords I'd never thought of or heard of.
So I was just watching. I'd go in rehearsal spaces
and play with these guitar players and I was like,

(51:56):
what cord is that hold on? And so it was
learning a different I don't know tonality or timber of
like different chords.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
How hard was it to decide to drop out? And
what did your parents say about it?

Speaker 2 (52:14):
Oh? Once again, they've been nothing but supportive. They were like,
get home, get a job, which I did immediately work
for the hospital. And then there was a studio. Well
I just stacked. I mean once again, I went and
put all the drugs and all the surgery rooms. And

(52:35):
then there was a studio and where I grew up, Stockbridge, Georgia,
wil Turp and a bass player's father owned. So my
dad was like, if you really want to do music,
just go down there and start learning. So I would
go down there and I would sit in the back
of the room for three months. I would ask clean
the toilets, made coffee, did everything I could, just sat

(52:55):
there for three months, and the head engineer finally got
a job in Nashville. So Bill asked me if I
wanted to be the engineer, and I was like, I'd
love to, And so that's how it kind of started
there with the whole once again, it gave me the
opportunity to not only learn how to engineer, but produced
and learned mike placements temperament. And then when there was downtime,

(53:16):
that's where I would sit there and do my own songs.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
So what kind of stuff were you recording?

Speaker 2 (53:23):
Horrible? Oh? For me, mine was horrible.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
But no, no, no, no, no, no, you're working in this studio,
in this studio, what kind of talent came in through
the doors?

Speaker 2 (53:33):
The first session I ever had was Rue Paul. I
can't make that up. You followed my first session and
he and I became buddies and we just and he
allowed me to like he would sing a melody or something.
So it started me like learning to play and producing.
And then it was an intermediate studio. I'll use that

(53:56):
word so I would get a lot of bluegrass app
was starting to happen, to get wrap, I get heavy melt,
I get everything, and it was just fun. It's up
and coming bands are sometimes people that just wanted to
hear their voice on tape, and I just got you know,
It's like a cornucopia of music, and I just absorbed it.

(54:18):
I loved every bit of it.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
So did they teach you how to engineer? How'd you learn?
I mean, engineering is not that simple to be any
good edit anywhere.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
I watched for three months. I just sat there and watched,
and then at the end of the night Scott Scott
Long was the engineer. I was like, I would ask
him question. He was so patient. He goes, yep, you
do you know? This is when you plug things in?
And I was like, I got you, I got you,
got you. So it was really just determination. And then

(54:46):
I literally would sit there from eight o'clock at night
to two o'clock in the morning and then bit the
hospital at seven to five and just rent and repeat
for three months.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
And then after those three months, you gave up the
hospital work full time at the studio.

Speaker 2 (55:03):
I did, but the studio didn't pay that much so
every once in a while, I have to go out
and you know, scratch around. And I was a janitor
for a second at my dad's church. I put up siding,
I did roofing, landscaping, just just anything to pay the bills.

(55:24):
You know. At that point, I never got myself and dad.
I've always lived within my means, so and it didn't
cost much to live back then. I'd go to Arby's
and get five or five dollars and that'd last me
all week. You know.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
And where were you living?

Speaker 2 (55:38):
Midtown girlfriends and a lot of time, I just lived
at the studio. I just sleep under the board.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
So you're working, you're recording your own music, So how
does that evolve?

Speaker 2 (55:54):
Slowly? Because I had nobody else to help depend on,
so I was recording everything myself, which is it's good.
It's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing that
you learn how it's done and the curses that you get.
You mentioned it earlier over control, So when I started

(56:19):
having bands, I was like, wait, They're like back it up, dude,
you know, because I'd just done it myself for so long.
But I wouldn't change anything. I got to learn somehow,
I guess, and that's how I learned, just sitting along
by myself in a studio.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Okay, how long between dropping out of Berkeley and the
success of Shine?

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Eleven years?

Speaker 1 (56:48):
So you have confidence you're going to make it. What's
going through your head?

Speaker 2 (56:52):
No, I just love music. I just loved it. I
didn't expect to have a grandiose lifestyle. That's not what
I wanted. I wanted to play music. I just wanted
to learn music. I wanted to write songs. It was
never about I mean, the blessings that I have now
was not the end all of end all. It was like,
I just wanted to play music. And the week before

(57:14):
we got signed, I was already signed up to play
on a cruise ship to play guitar. So I was
just I just wanted to play music.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
Okay, So you're working in the studio in the eleven years,
At what point do you start getting a band and
working out?

Speaker 2 (57:30):
There were so many bands, Like people would come in
and they'd go, oh, I like you want to join
a band. I'll go yeah, and then then they would
fizzle out and fizzle out, And I had a band
A couple of times we did okay, but you know,
you get I call it, you know, the old Southern
saying long in the two about twenty four to twenty five,

(57:51):
all your friends are like, whoa, I got to get
a life here, this is this isn't not. Everybody's like
you ed. Nobody just wants to sleep under a board
to you know, eat Army's every day. And so they
really did started wanting, you know, things in life that
they wanted, families and that, but that didn't matter to me.

(58:12):
All I wanted to do was music. So I call it,
you know, twenty four to twenty five, it's fourth down
and punt or you go for it. All my friends punted,
and I just kept going for it. So it was
like just vicious. Whoever was next?

Speaker 1 (58:27):
Okay? Shine was a demo? How many demos did you
have to cut before you got to Shine? Uh?

Speaker 2 (58:35):
Probably one hundred at least.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
Did you think any of the previous ones were going
to be the turning point? Did you think Shine was
going to be the turning point? Or it was just
an endless you know, as you say, laundry cycle.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
I thought there were many of them before that. I
start I clicked when I was to me I clicked
twenty five or twenty six when I felt like I
got the writing thing down. I was just a slow learner,
but I was working and then songs just started flowing,
and I thought there were a lot lot more that
I thought would have started a career or me as

(59:13):
a songwriter. And then when I did Shine, I did
like it. I mean, but I didn't. I didn't hear
it is what it became. There was a song called
good Night, Good Guy that I thought was the song.
And my brother is the one that took it to
album eighty eight in Georgia State, and I said, just
take take these. It was a cassette. You have one

(59:35):
song on one one another said tell them play good
Night good Guy. So he took it when he went
to class and they played Shine. And then here we
are today, you know, thirty one years later.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
Basically, okay, you were in a band where you had
a woman who was the lead singer before that. What
happened with that band?

Speaker 2 (59:54):
Well, we would play as much as it was called
Marching two step. And her name is Michelle ray Kaplinger.
She's like my sister. We're still tight thicke as these.
I think she's head of like the southeast of Grammys. Now.
We uh, we didn't know what we're doing. We were

(01:00:14):
just trying to find something. We're trying to find a
sound because she kind of came. She was in bands
prior to this new wave, and I was kind of
like wanting the new wave, but music was changing. I
was trying to find a sound that fit what I
was comfortable with writing. So, you know it, I think
it lasted a year or two, I don't know, but

(01:00:35):
we had a lot of fun and it was just
a learning experience. You know, I call it pre production.
You know, both bands get signed and they go into
pre production. They spend six months just learning to write,
recording and all of that. That's kind of what we
were doing. We were out on the road doing that band.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
Okay, when you give your brother that cassette for the
college radio station, is there a band?

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
That's honestly a good question that I do not know.
I cannot answer that because I don't think there was
a band. I don't I don't know. That's a great question.
I've never thought about that because it was something that
there was Eddie, then there was a rollin, there was

(01:01:24):
brothers and brides, that's interesting. I gotta check that out.
That's a great question.

Speaker 1 (01:01:31):
Well, who played on that demo?

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
Me? It's all me. The original lead guitarist played the
lead guitar, but everything else is me because I was
the only one in the studio.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
Okay, So you give that cassette to your brother?

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Correct?

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
Had you you know, in this eleven year period, were
you working it? Were you giving cassettes to other people,
whether it be radio stations, managers trying to make it?

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
Oh? Yeah, I sent it to everybody. I would just
once again it was now you got me thinking about
the name. I'm wondering if I had the name before
because we weren't a band. Then interesting. Oh, I would
give cassettes to anybody. I gave one to rick O Kasich.
I'm sure he went one hundred yards on the road,

(01:02:20):
rolled the wind down through it out. I gave one
to Sting. I mean I would sneak backstage everywhere. I
went to New York and snuck into every record label
at twenty years old, just lying my way through it
and sit there and they listen to it and it
was god awful, but they you know, I got in there.
I was learning to hustle a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
And did you ever have any bites before Shine broke through.

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
Zero? And I had so many? You know, back then
they would write you letters back to say we pass
you know the letters. And I had some nasty ones
a couple of times, and I will not in their
names that said please do not ever send me. One
said please do not ever send me another piece of

(01:03:08):
your music. You're a horrible songwriter and a horrible singer.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Well wasn't that disheartening?

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
Hell No, I went and I proved them wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
Now, okay, so you give this cassette to your brother.
The radio station flips it over, they start playing Shine.
How does it build from there?

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
It became their most requested song, and it was I
think he took it to like an November or something.
And then they called me because I had my probably
just set of Roland and now I have my phone
number on there, they called me and said that the
number one requested a song they want to play at
their Christmas party. And it was a big deal. Then

(01:04:00):
it sold out and it's like a thousand people. And
my brother and what became Collected Soul. We're in a
frat band that played at Georgia State and Georgia Tech.
So I called him and I said, hey, guys, just learn
I got three songs. Let's learn three originals and we
can do the frat stuff. Y'all can do that. I'll
walk off stage or whatever. They're like cool. And we
got up there and we played one song. Then we

(01:04:22):
played Shine and place went nuts and I just said, hey,
let's play that again. I think we played Seine six
times that night. I mean, people couldn't get enough of it.
I've never seen anything like it, and I've been to
a lot of shows.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
What was the experience like from your viewpoint? Being on stage?

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
Confused? Seriously confused? I was like, what is going on?
And I mean every time we played it, they just
got nuts. And I was like, good gosh, what's going on?

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Okay, you play that gig? The college radio station is
playing it. What's the next block in the building.

Speaker 2 (01:05:04):
Oh w j R in Orlando started playing it?

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
And how did they get it?

Speaker 2 (01:05:11):
I sent it to everybody. I sent a CD to
cassettes to everybody, uh, manager of producers, like, I literally
had a list back of the day. There was a
book of people in the industry. I sent it to attorneys.
I sent it to business managers. I just sat there
and make cassettes all day long and just would ship

(01:05:31):
them out again.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
With the store with the story that it was number
one on this college radio station.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
Nope, just send them the song. Just send them the cassette.

Speaker 1 (01:05:42):
And now a station in Orlando starts playing it serendipitously
with no push correct and called it just to go back.
There's only two songs on this cassette. Correct, Okay, so
Orlando starts.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
To play there might have been five, might have been five,
or it might have been the whole record, just because
it might I think. I take it back. I think
it was the whole record. I just sit the whole
cassette kitt kaboodle because I wanted to showcase that I
could write different types of songs. Because the first song
is to me, very not coordinated. First album, I should

(01:06:18):
say it's not very coordated because you can see I'm
trying to write country a little bit here there, Americana, rock, grunge, whatever. Anyway,
So if they start playing and they call and they
want us to come down and do a show, and
it's like, so I get the guys again, and we
rehearsed a little bit. This time we had a thirty
minute run we could do and you know, if had
do covers, they could do it. And we get down

(01:06:38):
there and I know if we were driving down there
and they go, you know, they're top five at five.
You know, it was like STP, Pearl, Jam Kings X,
Nirvana and number one some band called Collective Soul out
of Atlanta, Georgia. And we all looked at each other,
going what is going on? Most requested, so I pulled

(01:06:58):
the van over once again. My parents van pulled the
van over. I was like, we all just sat there.
We got out and just looked like what is going on?
Especially for me, they're exciting because they're twenty years old.
The rest of the guys in the band, they're like,
this is awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:07:13):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
I was like, what is going on? So we show
up and it was like the Beatles showed up. We
were like, what is going on? It was just very confusing,
and then that night we got signed somebody from Jason
Flom from Atlantic Records, flew down and it was done.

Speaker 1 (01:07:31):
Okay, once again you ship the CDs and did nothing else,
and radio just started to play it from an unsolicitously.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
I would call them. I personally would call them, and
then because I remember, I called a place in New
Mexico because I had once again there was a book
that I had. So I would sit there on the
phone and call and say, Hey, I'm a Collective soul
and I was wondering if you could play that, and
he goes, We've been playing it. He goes, I can't
believe you called, because you know that's the radio department's

(01:08:02):
job to do, you know, radio promo. I was like, yeah,
he goes, we do an interview. I was like, sure,
I don't know what I'm gonna talk about, you know,
like I didn't know what was going on, and uh.
And I called one station was based out of a
pool haul somewhere, and the guy just flipped out. He's like, dude,
this is the best song ever. Hey, We're gonna do

(01:08:25):
an interview in five four three two one. I'm like, hey,
I'm ed.

Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
Okay. So when Jason Flomm's person comes down.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
No, Jason came down.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
Jason came down. Was he the first person from a
record company who showed interest?

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
No. We actually had four calls in one day, and
my manager said we're going with Atlantic with Jason Flohm
because they called first. I was like, that doesn't make
good business news. Say called first, does it? He goes, Nope,
it's done. I was like, okay. So Jason came down
and they flew us to New York, you know the
old rock and roll story, you know, wined and dined us,

(01:09:10):
and I was just like, I didn't know what was
going on. It was just like over the moon and
it was. But it was funny because I got to
tell Ergon that I had snuck into his office to
meet him at that time, about fifteen years earlier, to
play him something. And he was very kind and listened
to it and told me to keep working, which I

(01:09:31):
thought was kind of cool. Cycle in life or whatever.
He liked it. He was a good man.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
Okay, so you play this gig in Orlando, you make
a deal with Atlantic. How long after that did they
push the button? Unshine?

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
Oh, it was pushed. We already charted on our own.
We didn't know what was going like. Literally, we were
top forty in rock radio for sure before Atlantic signed.
And then we he thought, Okay, it's not a band,
it's a batch of demos that I had been doing
over the last five seven years. We thought we were
going to go make a record and they were like, nope,

(01:10:12):
y'all are out. And the first thing they do is
they put us at Woodstock ninety four, and then a
week after that, we're on tour with Errol Smith and
we're like, I mean literally, I think we did three
shows before Woodstock, which was in front of god knows
how many people, and then a week later we're out

(01:10:32):
with Erol Smith. We're like, what is going on? It
was just that fast?

Speaker 1 (01:10:37):
So what was it like playing Woodstock ninety four?

Speaker 2 (01:10:40):
Loved it, every minute of it. Everybody that was there
was great. Everybody the night we played like Sheryl Crow Live,
everybody was new and they, you know, were just to
surprise what was going on with their life and their
success we were. So it was kind of a therapy

(01:11:02):
moment for some of these bands. Together. We were like, man,
can you what what is? This is great, but like,
how did this happen? You know? A month ago, I'm
in my parents' basement rehearsing, and now I'm sitting here
with Sheryl cru and Live and Blues Travelers. I'm like,
what is going on?

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
And at what point did they make the video?

Speaker 2 (01:11:26):
The week after we signed, We just did it, and
we did it in Atlanta. I was like, there's some
train tracks and a worn out building over here, so
they were like okay, and you didn't have to back
then in Atlanta. You didn't have to pay for permits
or anything like that, so it was cheap.

Speaker 1 (01:11:42):
So by time you take the stage at Woodstock ninety four,
is MTV play in the video?

Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
Yes? And it was our I think it was number
one at that point.

Speaker 1 (01:11:49):
So you're backstage with all these happening people. Do they
recognize you? Do they know who you are? No?

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
No, because they were as busy as we were. I
wouldn't have you know, they were just out early and
we were, you know, they had records out earlier. But
now actually we were following Kings acts because we're huge fans.
And finally they turned around. Doug turned around and says,
what do y'all want? And we're like, we're just fans, man,

(01:12:15):
we just want to say and they were so sweet,
but we were just naive. We didn't know what was
going on.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
And then what was the tour with Aerosmith?

Speaker 2 (01:12:25):
Like it was great? It was once again we're just
trying to get our feet on land. It was everything
was happening so fast. But they were extremely nice and
extremely just cordial. I mean, we stayed out of the way.
I think we were just so scared of them because
we didn't know how this works. You know, We've never

(01:12:47):
been on a arena tour and never been on an
arena stage, and all of a sudden, here we are.
So we kind of just stayed out of their way.
But they were extremely cordial and nice.

Speaker 1 (01:12:59):
So how how long after at Lenox signed you do
you start thinking about the second record and when do
you start making that?

Speaker 2 (01:13:08):
We started immediately because once again we felt like that
wasn't a true representation of what we weren't event I mean,
we were just learning whatever we could. So I would
write during the day and during sound checks we would
play it, learn it, play it that night. Some of

(01:13:28):
the lyrics would be done, some wouldn't be done, and
then any day off we had we would go into
the studio. So it was recorded all over the place,
kind of just haphazardly wherever we could find a studio
when we're off, and that's how we recorded. I mean,
the second one came out eight months after the first
one was released, and during that time we probably did
at least one hundred and twenty shows and made a

(01:13:51):
record in eight months.

Speaker 1 (01:13:53):
So how do you meet Matsroletk and how does he
get involved?

Speaker 2 (01:13:58):
I knew Matt when I was at studio. His jazz
band came in and I would record, and he and
I just struck it up, like because he's such a
pure talent and he loved music and wanted to be
involved so in anything. And I don't know, it's just
you know, you have those friendships, that connection, and our

(01:14:19):
connection was we had the same type humor, We enjoyed
hanging out with each other, and we loved music. He
was very similar to me, like he couldn't absorb enough music.
So he went off to the University of Miami and graduated.
And during that time I kept working and I I
just knew I would always work. I trusted Matt. I

(01:14:40):
still do. I would love to work with him again.
I just knew what he was capable of and his talent,
and like I said, more importantly, I just trusted him
and everything and in my vision of collectivesault, like I
would say this, he goes, well, how does that work.
I was like, I don't know, let's figure it out,
let's go for it. So it was fun.

Speaker 1 (01:15:03):
Did you have any trouble convincing Atlantic to let you
co produce the album with Matt?

Speaker 2 (01:15:10):
No, I mean basically, I just I just did everything.
I mean, I'm the one that produced it. Just allowed
Matt to co produce because I wanted him around, because
I trusted him so much. No, they didn't care. They never.
They never said a word. They never. They never even
knew and made a record. To be honest with you,
I just show up in New York and say, hey,

(01:15:31):
we just made a record. They go, oh my god,
we're going to make our second quarter. I was like,
what are you talking.

Speaker 1 (01:15:36):
About, Let's go back to shine. Was that something you
just got inspired on or was it something that you
built over months or weeks or whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:15:47):
No, I was I was writing a lot. This is
like nineteen eighty eight. I was writing a lot on droning.
You know, he droned the A and play melodies underneath
it and come home and see Mom and Dad and
Deane was in the house and he was playing guitar
and I didn't know he played guitar. I'm like, cool.
So I grabbed There were guitars in the house all over,

(01:16:08):
so I grabbed one and was like, check this out.
And I was showing how different risks and drones, and
he goes, oh, I like that one, you know. Don no, no, no,
you know Sean Riff. I said, yeah, man, I don't
have anything else. But I said, give me a second,
let's see what I can figure out here. And so
I just sat right there and wrote it right in
front of him. And it was that simple.

Speaker 1 (01:16:28):
But you wrote it in nineteen eighty eight and it
didn't come out till ninety ninety four.

Speaker 2 (01:16:32):
Mm hmm. Yeah. Like I said, there were there are
a lot of songs I recorded and wrote before all
this happened.

Speaker 1 (01:16:41):
Okay, So why did you put it on the cassette
that you gave to your brother if it was a
six year old song?

Speaker 2 (01:16:46):
Oh? Because I didn't record it till then I wrote it.
But I just, oh, yeah, I had the idea. So
I wrote it that night, and then when ground started hitting,
I was like, well, I can make that kind of
grungy sound and you know that no no, no, no, no
no no no no no no huh.

Speaker 1 (01:17:02):
Okay. So in the follow up album. You know, you
have two huge tracks, the World, I Know in December.
How were those written?

Speaker 2 (01:17:13):
World? I know? I wrote when I was in New
York impressing my ex wife. It's the first time she'd
come out on the road, and I was like, you know,
just trying to impress her. I said, I'm going to
walk around New York for an hour, say if I
can come up with some kind of visual what I
want to write about. And back then New York hadn't

(01:17:34):
been cleaned up yet, so you'd walk around and you
see people in the cardboard homes and you'd see people
and fur coats and limousines back then, not the big
black SUVs. And I was like, well, I know, like
the yen and yang of life. So I just went
back in and sat right there and Strum didn't wrote
it out. And then December is the only song that

(01:17:57):
we ever disagreed as a band because I wrote it
one morning before the guys came in. So I was
listening to some XTC song and it was the same
progression over and over, but it was so creative how
they brought different melodies in. So I was like, I
want to write a song like that. Intertwines different melodies,
but the same chord progression the whole time, trying to
challenge myself as a songwriter. And the only problem is

(01:18:20):
when you play it for somebody, it's the four Court.
If you don't hear the other melodies that are in there,
it's four minutes of the same chord progression, and I'll
never forget. The guys are like, that's the most boring
shit I've ever heard in my life. I was like,
hold on, hold on, there's other melodies in here. There's
other melodies in here. They're like, we're not recording that.
It was like, yes, we are. I hear it. I

(01:18:41):
know it's gonna work. So that's the only song ever
that they've ever like adamant, and I was at them.
We've had disagreements on other songs. They will say, you know,
it's not as strong as I think you can do it,
and I'll go, I get that, and but this one
was the only one where I put my foot down.
I guess.

Speaker 1 (01:19:07):
Okay. So you have this song from nineteen eighty eight,
it becomes a worldwide smash. Now you make another record,
do you expect this level of success again? And when
you have these you know, two successful tracks. Do you
say to me and I'm God? Or what's going through
your head?

Speaker 2 (01:19:27):
No? When we finished the record, once again, we were
really set. We looked at each other and we're all like,
you know, good job, you know, and now it's out
of our hands at this point, but if it's left
in ours. We were proud. It was a proud moment
for us. I would be lying if I didn't. Yeah,
we expected it to do well, We really did. We

(01:19:49):
felt that confident and the songs and we felt that
confident in the generation, the momentum that was going with
us at that moment. So yeah, we saw no end
in sight, which is a beautiful thing because we still
don't thirty years later. We just don't.

Speaker 1 (01:20:10):
Okay, So you have this gigantic success as you continue
to make records with Atlantic, you don't reach those peaks. Again,
what's going through your head?

Speaker 2 (01:20:22):
Nothing? I thought they were great records, and you just
you know, there was a point where I thought Atlantic
wasn't paying attention to us, which they never did because
who were self sufficient? You know, they, like I said,
they never knew we made a record. No A and
R person ever stepped in the studio nobody. We just
went made records and we presented to them, so there
was no cheerleading. And I get that now now I

(01:20:44):
know how the whole thing works. There was nobody cheerleading
for us. We just went and made records and somehow,
knock on wood, people accepted the songs and they were successful.
And once again you can get caught up in that
rabbit hole to meh, we sold a million, why didn't
we sell a million? One? Once again, to me, the

(01:21:06):
success is when all five of us look at each
other and go, that's that's pretty darn good, guys, that's great,
let's let's go. So I don't. I don't put emphasis
on numbers unless it comes to uh engineering, make sure
the plane flies correctly or the lawn war doesn't fly

(01:21:26):
off the handle or something like that. But like I
can't when it comes to artistic things, it's you know, why,
why why does a Picasso cost so much? I mean,
I don't know. I used to say there's another artist
that doesn't shouldn't be there, I mean, just because it

(01:21:47):
puts the air somewhere different.

Speaker 1 (01:21:49):
To be fair to say that you believe on your
later Atlantic records that there were songs that would have
been more commercially successful if the label had worked harder
on them.

Speaker 2 (01:22:05):
I mean literally, you got to the point they didn't
even pay attention to us. There was just there was
no effort whatsoever, which led to us wanting to become
independent because I went up and spoke to him about
that that issue. And this was during the time when
Metallica and Napster were going at it, and I'll never
forget I was talking to the president of Atlantic. I'll

(01:22:25):
never forget this conversation. So I was like, he goes, no,
he love you, We love you. I was like, well,
you don't even have the CDs and stock when we
go play these shows. We're doing these shows, y'all aren't
filling the bins. I said, nobody's there to just say hey,
you know, which is fine. You need your You need
to know you're loved at some point or liked at least.

(01:22:46):
We didn't get any of the above. But when I
asked him about what's going on with this digital thing,
you know, Napster and stuff, and he threw his hands
in the air and he goes, ah, that's going to
go away. I I literally excuse my self and called
my attorney and said, I want off this record label
now because that was That's that just showed where they

(01:23:06):
just didn't. They just weren't paying attention. And I have
no problem saying that they they were not paying attention
at all.

Speaker 1 (01:23:15):
And did you consider trying to get a deal with
another major label.

Speaker 2 (01:23:19):
No, because we had and the guys were really supportive.
We had. We made a change in line up a
couple of guys. I felt that we had a brand,
which I'm very grateful to Atlantic for helping create. It
wasn't as strong a brand as it should have been

(01:23:40):
and could have been, and what we were striving for
it to be. But we had a brand, and I
was like, now, let's go take care of this and
do it ourselves. So we became the first true band
to get off label to go be independent when everybody
thought we were nuts, which we could be. I don't know,
I just it was just the right timing and the

(01:24:06):
change in the music industry. You could see it coming
to miles and miles away, but nobody in the music
industry could see it coming. It was just weird.

Speaker 1 (01:24:18):
You talked about changes in the band. What caused the
changes in the band?

Speaker 2 (01:24:23):
I'll leave it at this. When I signed with Atlantic,
I'm the only went to sign, so they were and
they were employees of mine, and I put a moral
clause in there, so I'll just leave it that two
of them did some moral things. That's as far as
I'll go. And tried to help as much as it could,
but that's where it landed.

Speaker 1 (01:24:45):
So is it a band of equals or is it
really your band?

Speaker 2 (01:24:50):
I'm the songwriter and I am the leader, but it
goes with I. If they don't like the song, you
have to have a lead. If you don't have a leader,
you're you're you're gonna fail. So a lot falls on me,
but a lot falls on them too, and I expect
a lot out of them. They expect me to write

(01:25:13):
songs that they feel comfortable and then we can record,
and I expect them to I call it they put
their fairy dust on there. They just make a song
just bigger, better and explode and be something that I
could have never dreamed of on my own, but they
make it this wonderful piece. So uh, there's I mean,

(01:25:36):
there's no stalin over here. You know. We talk and
we communicate as a group, but the final I do
have to make the final decision. I mean, it's it's demoment.
They're they're tough decisions that has to be made. But
that's part of being a leader or the leader of
whatever organization.

Speaker 1 (01:25:56):
Okay, needless to say, you've been to the mountaintop. Very
few people have been to the mountaintop and the business
has completely changed. But does that affect you, say, shit,
I was in the mountaintop. I want to be in
the mountaintop again. Or you've made peace with the fact
that it's hard to get there and the game changes.

(01:26:17):
What goes through your mind there?

Speaker 2 (01:26:20):
I don't know. I don't think about things like I said,
I don't think about things like that. I think about
the next song, and I think about the next show
with my friends on stage and enjoying life with them.
I just do I mean, and I don't think if
we don't get whatever you define the mountaintop as, I'm
happy as can be. And I don't think there's a

(01:26:40):
reason we can't get to the mountaintop. I don't know
what the mountaintop is to me. I am on the
mountaintop right now.

Speaker 1 (01:26:48):
Okay, we're in this story. Do you part ways with
the initial manager is he on all through Atlantic or.

Speaker 2 (01:26:58):
He ended up the gaining of the second one, the
Collective Soul record the second one.

Speaker 1 (01:27:05):
So when you're done with Atlantic, do you ever get
recording royalties? A lot of record coupies say, oh, you're
still in the red. Oh yeah, but Atlantic paid recording
royalties to you.

Speaker 2 (01:27:19):
Yeah. I was very you know, one good thing about
being thirty and long in the tooth, I was very
aware because I've watched so many bands come and go,
like recording them and getting to know a lot of
them in the Atlanta area. I knew a lot about
the business still, So yeah, I was very that part
of my life. I was not naive about.

Speaker 1 (01:27:42):
And the songs? Do you own the songs?

Speaker 2 (01:27:45):
I did? I owned everything and then I sold a
percentage to a company three years ago, but I still
own a percentage a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:27:57):
Of percentage in what company did send them to sell
them to Round Hill? And what made you decide to
sell that interest?

Speaker 2 (01:28:06):
Security for my family at my age, I felt, and
it was it was an extremely good deal and it
just it just brought security for me to know that
my family if something ever happened like my family's okay,
you know, want for me to go out and buy
big house or bigger house, or more cars, or it

(01:28:28):
was just security for my family.

Speaker 1 (01:28:30):
And what did you do with the money.

Speaker 2 (01:28:33):
It's in a trust for my family. I can't even touch.

Speaker 1 (01:28:36):
Okay. So if now it's three years later, three years later,
you still feel good about your decision to sell.

Speaker 2 (01:28:44):
I did because once again I surrounded myself with people
that know how to take care of me and do
take care of me. And once again I can't touch it.
And I live within my means. I came from absolutely nothing,
and I can once again, if Aby's ever came back
out with it five or five, I'm out there every day.

(01:29:06):
I don't care. It's like money doesn't scare me. It
just doesn't.

Speaker 1 (01:29:12):
Did you sell the recording royalties too? Or do you
still oan those?

Speaker 2 (01:29:16):
Uh? Own those?

Speaker 1 (01:29:20):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (01:29:20):
So but I re recorded those. I had the right
to re record them, So I re recorded all the hits, right,
So I so the the hits of the nineties I
re recorded and I own that.

Speaker 1 (01:29:33):
Okay. If you stop working tomorrow, is there enough income
to make it all work? Or do you have to
go on the road.

Speaker 2 (01:29:43):
I do not have to work another day. Neither do
my children. So it's that that's there's a simple answer
right there, right so then, but I want them to work.
I don't want that to be a part of you know,
my thing is I set it up for initiative. I
need them, haven't, you know, to get out there and
do their own gig.

Speaker 1 (01:30:03):
Now, in Collective Soul, you're the songwriter and there's a
lot of income from being a songwriter, which generally speaking,
the other members are not in your being. Does that
cause any friction?

Speaker 2 (01:30:16):
It does not, and I think a lot of it
has to do. I'm still ready to go out. We
make good money touring and I love touring, so I
don't I hadn't been brought up to me yet. I
hope you're not causing any trouble over there, Ball.

Speaker 1 (01:30:35):
No, I'm not.

Speaker 2 (01:30:38):
So.

Speaker 1 (01:30:38):
I listened to your record okay, and I think it
was let it flow, could have been not the same,
And I said, all of a sudden, I'm looking at
the speakers, I go, wait a second, this is my
kind of music. I really dig this. What's the status
of rock in the world today.

Speaker 2 (01:30:56):
I don't know. I honestly, I gotta be honest with you.
The last three to five years I just kind of
referred back to what brought me joy and happiness and
what inspired me. I mean, I got all my records
over here.

Speaker 3 (01:31:12):
I'll buy new records. I just I think I'm lazy.
I don't want to hear anything else other than what
I call them, the professors or the artists that help me,
that brought me joy. It's just kind of where I
am in life. I just I'm cool with listening to
I'll look over here now. I got Elton R. M.

Speaker 2 (01:31:35):
Pink Floyd, I was George Michael a c DC, Bob
Seer put Beach Boys, crowded house. But who, I mean,
what else do you need? There's only so many times,
so many minutes, hours in the day. I'm cool with
what I grew up with.

Speaker 1 (01:31:52):
So you talk about vinyl. Do you have a good stereo?

Speaker 2 (01:31:56):
I did. I did it when it was over here.
I got audio Technica. I like audio Technica, then some
Yamaha Howard speakers in a sub. I have four in
the house. So any room I go into I can
play records.

Speaker 1 (01:32:17):
And where do you live now, I'm not looking for
the address, but.

Speaker 2 (01:32:21):
It's Sandy Springs, Georgia. It's it's right outside of Atlanta,
just a suburb of Atlanta.

Speaker 1 (01:32:28):
And when you're not listening or playing music or being
on the road, what occupies your time?

Speaker 2 (01:32:36):
Family? You know, getting a boy to school, spending time
with my wife. But as far as hobbies, I love golf.
I mean, I very rarely have time to see friends.
So golf is my fellowship with my buddies, and that's
that's it. I mean, it's a pretty simple life I live.

Speaker 1 (01:32:58):
And are those buddies are those people you grew up with,
people you met in the studio years? Who are the
buddies you're playing golf with?

Speaker 2 (01:33:05):
Now? Two are from my childhood, but the other ones
are all that I've met during just you know, growing
up in life, different areas.

Speaker 1 (01:33:18):
And you go on the road. Do you go on
the road during the summer? School's not on during the summer.
Do you take your family on the road. Do they
come out to visit you? What goes on there they do?

Speaker 2 (01:33:30):
This year, little man's in camp so much getting ready
for going to high school. But my wife comes out,
my mom comes out, bring my mom out for a week,
just hang out. So yeah, like we're a very family.
We're in the band. Other band members moms come out
like we just it's like going to camp. We're silly boys.

(01:33:52):
We love our life.

Speaker 1 (01:33:55):
You come across as so even tempered and happy. I mean,
do you ever get angry, frustrated, depressed?

Speaker 2 (01:34:02):
Of course I do. I don't think I ever get depressed.
I have. I get frustrated and angry, of course, but
I don't think. I don't. I don't remember being depressed.
I just don't like, I don't know. No, I don't
get depressed, angry and frustrated. Of course, of course I get,

(01:34:24):
and the anger is usually it myself for being a
damn idiot. I get mad at myself more than I
do anybody.

Speaker 1 (01:34:31):
Well, you know, it's really interesting because I certainly seen
your image in videos and on album covers, but I
had no idea what your personality was like and what
you were like. I mean, you're really I can see
why you're successful, and you're more even tempered certainly than
I am.

Speaker 2 (01:34:49):
Now there's no way you get angry. There is no way.

Speaker 1 (01:34:55):
Oh man, I cover the spectrum of what I was
asking you. That's what I You know, when I see
someone like you, it's more even tempered and more warm whatever.
Believe me, I notice that, and I evaluate myself and.

Speaker 2 (01:35:09):
It's hard for me when I have friends that do
to get depressed because I don't understand that, you know.
And I try to be as patient and I am
patient with that, and you want to help them, but
I don't. It's a that's a tough one for me.
But it doesn't mean they're wrong. It's no right or wrong.
It's just I don't want anybody to press I want
us all to you know, get through this whatever this is,

(01:35:31):
life chapter whatever, enjoying, enjoying whatever this gift is.

Speaker 1 (01:35:37):
So you would say you're generally optimistic.

Speaker 2 (01:35:41):
Whenever sent on.

Speaker 1 (01:35:47):
And on that node, folks, I'm going to leave you.
I've been talking to ed Rowland, who's new band has
a label here to Eternity, and it's really pretty good
if you like rock music. You can see him on
the road, both with Hoodie and Edwin McCain and Loan.
So I want to thank you so much for taking
this time to talk to my audience.

Speaker 2 (01:36:08):
Thank you so much. This was awesome. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:36:11):
No, really, it was really cool getting to know you.

Speaker 2 (01:36:13):
Where do I send the four hundred and fifty dollars
check for therapy? To p O box.

Speaker 1 (01:36:23):
Okay, ed, I'm gonna leave it there all right, Rather
until next time it's Bob left sets