Ever wondered what happens when a podcast host's questions make a rock star laugh? In this captivating episode of Pat's Peeps, I sit down with Jesse Valenzuela, founding member and guitarist of the multi-platinum selling Gin Blossoms, for what turns into a refreshingly authentic conversation about music, success, and the journey from Arizona bars to MTV stardom.
The interview begins with a moment of vulnerability as Jesse laughs at my questions, initially causing some paranoia before revealing he's actually enjoying the fresh perspective. We dive into the origins of the Gin Blossoms' distinctive sound, with Jesse sharing how he started playing guitar as a teenager, taught by neighborhood friends Dave and Ed. "All the like-minded people wind up at the same end of the pool," he reflects, describing how musicians naturally find each other.
Jesse offers fascinating insights into the band's evolution - how he transitioned from lead vocalist to guitarist, the story behind their self-deprecating album titles like "New Miserable Experience," and the transformative impact of signing with A&M Records. The most revealing moments come when discussing their "overnight success" that actually took years of touring and persistence. "All of a sudden, MTV plays your records and then it gets attention from radio and the world changes for you quickly," Jesse explains. "In a week, you're filling what used to be a half-filled bar... Then you're moving to clubs, theaters, and then, all of a sudden, you're playing the Greek theater in Los Angeles."
Throughout our conversation, Jesse's gratitude shines through as he acknowledges both the luck and hard work behind their success story. For fans of 90s alternative rock, music history enthusiasts, or anyone who appreciates the human stories behind hit songs like "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You," this episode offers a rare glimpse behind the music that defined an era.
Don't miss the Gin Blossoms live at Rocklin Quarry Park Amphitheater on Sunday, August 17th - and be sure to dig deep into their catalog beyond the radio hits!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
welcome friends.
It is the patch peeps podcast.
We're at number 305.
Thank you for being here.
Happy Thursday to you, july24th.
Looking out the studio windowinto the beautiful foothills of
Northern California, it's alovely day Again, not too hot.
(00:38):
We are just spoiled here inCalifornia.
How are you?
Thank you for tuning in today.
What I'm loving is that we'regetting more and more rock stars
on the Pat's Peeps podcast.
Love interviewing the rockstars, although I'm going to
tell you here, I was a littleconcerned today For a second.
My guest was laughing over myquestions and I got a little
(01:04):
paranoid.
I thought, oh God, he thinksI'm an idiot.
But what happens is when Iinterview rock stars, it's
pretty amazing.
I would say this is the mostglaring example.
To be honest, I edit about 40seconds of the podcast only
(01:30):
because and now I kind of regretit because now I'm setting it
up properly, darn it, but I'mnot going to go back and unedit.
So I thought that he was notappreciating the interview
because he was laughing.
And he says to me I'll justparaphrase what actually
happened he says wow, you'rereally getting into it.
(01:52):
You're working off an old biotoday.
Huh, sounds like, and I didn'tknow how to take that exactly.
And I said well, I'm sorry if Iwasn't asking the questions
that you want.
I had a 15-minute time limit.
Okay, I had 15 minutes, theytold me.
The publicist told me 15minutes.
(02:13):
This is with Jesse Valenzuela,who is one of the founding
members of the Gin Blossomsmulti-platinum selling artists.
The Gin Blossoms, who, withmany other bands from the 90s,
were just at the top of the heapman.
You just go down the list Smash, mouth, sugar Ray, whatever it
(02:34):
was top of the heap back in the90s some great music.
We just saw Toad the WetSprocket Sunday night at the
Corey Amphitheater.
The reason I'm talking aboutthis is because the Gin Blossoms
are coming.
You'll hear me talk about this,say this 10 times in the
podcast, but they're going to bein Rockland at the Corey
Amphitheater coming up on the17th of August.
(02:55):
But what happens is every time Iso far I would say 100% of the
time I'll interview a rock starand I think that they imagine
that this is some guy or somegal somewhere, some media person
in that market.
Yeah, we'll do an interviewwith this band and they figure,
(03:17):
you know, like the localmeteorologist, tell us your
influence on me.
Now you guys were out in uh,what was it in the 90s?
Or something like that.
You know questions, you knowyou could just tell they're like
I don't mean to disparageanybody, but I see it all the
time, just being honest, Likeyou can tell, they did no
homework With me.
I know the music, I do myhomework, I know a lot about the
(03:42):
music in the band and then inthis case I really do.
And you'll hear in thisinterview that it wasn't or this
conversation I like to call ita conversation Pat's Peeps 305,
that I wasn't.
I liked their music.
I didn't need to see himnecessarily, or anyone else on
MTV, I just liked their music.
So what happens is halfwaythrough they'll go.
You can hear them.
(04:03):
It clicks in their head like,oh, this guy really knows our
stuff, this guy really knows.
So during the interview he'sgoing to start laughing and it
makes me very paranoid, right,because I think he doesn't like
me.
But as it turns out it was quitethe opposite of that.
You'll remember the GinBlossoms Great music, of course.
One of many great hits by theGin Blossoms Found out about you
(04:31):
, right?
Oh, great, great music.
All that summer keeps, youdon't recall?
I love those harmonies.
So they have a bunch of hitsand as I started to dig deep, I
(04:57):
was digging deep man into theblossoms and it kind of blew
them away.
All right.
So I'm going to play theinterview for you and you'll see
exactly what I'm saying, whatI'm talking about.
I'm very grateful.
Thank you, for listening toPat's Peeps, number 305.
Please check out patspeepscom.
(05:21):
Please support our localbusinesses.
Please, I'd be very, verygrateful.
Check out our Pats Peeps Mall.
And one more thanks to everyonewho came out to the Pats Peeps
gathering the other night.
So here are the gin blossoms andthen, without further ado,
(05:41):
jesse Valenzuela.
Let's do this.
I am so honored here on PatsPeeps podcast, number 305.
Hey, to tell you, number one,that the gin blossoms are coming
to Rockland, to Rockland QuarryPark, and I love Rockland
Quarry Park.
I just was there this weekendfor a show.
(06:03):
I'm there quite frequently butthe Gin Blossoms, who I
absolutely love.
I was so excited when I sawthat they're going to be playing
there, because this is right inmy area and this is going to be
Sunday, august 17th, at QuarryPark Amphitheater, which is a
great place if you've not beenout there to see a show, and I'm
honored here on my podcast totalk to Jesse Valenzuela, who is
(06:26):
the rhythm guitar player,singer, songwriter
extraordinaire, and, if I maysay, jesse, because I think this
is underrated and I don't thinkthis is brought up enough.
So, if I may, tied for the besthair in rock and roll.
How are you, jesse?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
That's very funny.
Who am I tied with?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Who are you tied with ?
That's a very good question.
Well, there's a lot of otherthat I could bring up, but I
think you'd be in the top mix.
You know, frank Zapp had somegood hair.
You know what I mean.
I could start off right there,you and Frank.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Frank had great hair.
Yes, he did he always did.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
God bless him.
Iconic hair.
Jerry Garcia Listen man, Jerryhad great hair.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, jerry had great hair.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He did.
And very recognizable faces too,both of those guys.
Now that I think about it, manand man, I'm so excited to see
you guys coming to town here toRockland Quarry Park.
By the way, you have the.
I don't know if you have anopening band, but the thing
about Rockland Quarry Park, likeI say, I've introduced many
shows out there.
It's a great place.
When you guys come out, the sunwill be down, so you won't have
(07:31):
that sun glaring directly inyour face.
Jesse, who did you see thererecently?
You know who I saw, and thiswas Sunday night.
I got invited and God's honesttruth, man, this was 90s stuff
too.
I didn't know any of theirsongs and I know music.
I'm probably the only person inthe audience that did not know
one song by Toad the WetSprocket.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Oh, they were just there.
Yeah, that's surprising theyhave a lot of hits there.
They're good friends of ours.
Those guys have a great show.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
They have a great show.
I just was unfamiliar forwhatever reason, uh to their
music.
I don't know what it was, but Ireally enjoyed it.
I'm not, you know, and I'm noteven sure how to really classify
what their music was.
And for me, when you guys cameout the gin blossoms, I wasn't
even sure how to classify thatmusic because I mean, it seemed
like it was.
(08:18):
You guys kind of had your ownvibe.
I don't know what it was andyou're from Arizona, right?
Yep, so in Arizona.
I don't know if maybe it's justme, but there's something that
is that I am drawn to by.
There's almost like a Southwestsound you know the Eagles and
some other bands that came fromthat area where I don't know.
(08:39):
There's just a great sound.
And here you are and you'replaying this rhythm guitar,
original singer for the band,and I just love your guitar
playing.
There's just a special sound.
Is there such a thing as aSouthwest kind of a sound?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I don't think so.
I mean, I don't know what.
If there is, I think thatthere's a Jimbo, some sound that
was really defined early, butnobody really plays like us back
home and they don't play likeus in Austin, texas.
No, but you know, there'ssomething that happens in the
Southwest, like when I was a kid, everybody liked Zeppelin.
(09:14):
I don't know if that was, Iguess they liked Zeppelin
everywhere.
But I don't know, I don't knowif that was, I guess they liked
zeppelin everywhere.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, um, I don't know, like I, I, I don't think
so like I don't think anyonesounded like you at all, but
there was other bands that had afeel.
Maybe it's just me, you knowhow music is so subjective,
maybe it's just in my head.
I think of, like the eaglesfrom that were southwest and uh,
and there's some other bandsthat I think of that are just
very free West sound.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
No, I don't know.
I mean, I sure love the Eaglesa lot, but I was probably the
only one who played like theEagles and the Jim Blossoms the
other guys.
That wasn't really necessarilytheir bag, they liked more rock.
I love the Eagles.
I always have since I was a kid.
It's really fabulous music.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
One other thing I did realize, if I just might dip
into this just for a splitsecond.
I noticed, I think and I hopeI'm not wrong you're a baseball
fan and you're a Dodgers fan.
Is that right, jesse?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I am a Dodgers fan, but I don't watch the series.
I don't watch the season untilwell after the All-Star game
because it's just too long forme.
So I'll probably start takingan interest here in the next
month or so.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Oh, okay, I'm a diehard I love, even though I'm
from Northern California, I geta little bad time about being a
Dodger fan.
But yeah, you began.
We're talking with JesseValenzuela from the Gin Blossoms
.
Again, they're coming to townat Rockland Quarry Park
Amphitheater Sunday, august 17th.
And, just like me, you grew uploving music and, as I
(10:47):
understand it, you startedplaying guitar somewhere like
around 15 years old.
Is that true?
And how did you really get yourlove for music?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Well, it started earlier than that, to be honest
with you.
I was playing in bars when Iwas 15.
There was just a lot of guysplaying guitar in my
neighborhood.
Dave and Ed were the guys whotaught me how to play, and they
were a couple years older thanme.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Dave and Ed.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
That's how it started .
Just a couple guys from theneighborhood.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Is that right, dave and Ed?
How did that happen?
They just saw that you had aninterest in guitar and kind of
just took you under their wing,or how'd that work?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Well, I'm sure you remember when you were a kid,
all the like-minded people windup at the same end of the pool.
You know, you just meet peopleon the bus or in school.
You find out that they likethis and they become great
friends.
So Dave and Ed were the guys inmy neighborhood who were
playing guitars.
(11:46):
So you know, you just gravitatetowards each other.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Wow, did you?
And you know I'm curiousbecause you were the original
lead vocalist right when youguys came out in 87.
And then you switched withRobin.
Robin Wilson takes over.
You guys kind of switched rolesthere.
I'm just curious how thathappened initially.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Well, we were both singing.
You know we used to play thiswas way before records and we
were playing you know playingfour or five hours a night.
So we both sang because it wassuch a long process, and then it
just kind of started working.
He wasn't playing guitar asmuch and then I started playing
(12:32):
guitar more, and then it justworks out that way.
So these things are fluid andthey just keep working out.
I haven't had these kinds ofquestions in a long time.
It's kind of it's kind of fun,what else you got?
This is pretty good.
I haven't been asked about theold days like this in a long
time.
I think it's fun.
What else you got?
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Oh well, I was going to talk about Dusted and some of
the titles that you guys have.
You know, having your I meannew, miserable experience.
I'm looking at some of thetitles and it always seemed like
self-deprecating titles.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I'm sorry if these aren't questions that you were
expecting.
No, no, I think it feels fresh.
I'm thanking you, okay.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
No, no, I'm digging it.
It's like, oh my God, we'regoing to talk about Dusted.
Yeah, let's talk about it.
You know what they were allself-deprecating titles and you
know it, kind of between you andme, it can be after a while you
really don't want to keep doing, you know, working the same
angle.
But we, we kind of did that fora long, a long time, right, and
(13:44):
I think it's because we, wewere working in bars all the
time and you know that sort ofbar mentality.
It's sort of defeatist and, uh,maybe a little, you know, 20s,
cynical right.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Well, I'm a big fan of self-deprecating and I just
couldn't help but, to you know,notice, some of the, you know,
some of those titles had that incommon, which I think is great,
because if you can do that foryourself, then you, you know you
can do that in other areas aswell.
But, but, but, so, then so, andI'm curious to see, I will, will
, I'll dig really deep into the,into some of these things.
(14:19):
But like, if you listen toDusted and and, by the way, I
love one of your songs, I loveso many of your songs I wish I
could Allison wrote till I hearit from you on and on and on.
But like, if you listen to heyJealousy, which came out
initially on Dusted and then itcomes out on the um, new,
miserable experience, veryinteresting listen, I mean, one
(14:41):
is much faster paced early onthe other one comes out a slower
pace, becomes a hit, becomesyour multi-platinum, and from
there everything took off well,those early recordings were made
by ourselves, uh, in a littlestudio in t Arizona, without any
real direction from maybesomeone who had a little more
experience.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
And by the time you get to a place where you can
afford a producer and they comein and they generally they tell
you you probably need to slowthat down.
And I think he would haveslowed it down a little more if
he could have, but the bandwould have fallen apart if we
played any slower.
We played everything prettyfast and furious at the time,
and we kind of still do, I'll behonest with you, and it was
(15:27):
just being young and certainsort of kind of reckless and
that tempo demands attention ina bar and I think that's why we
play it that way.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, it's great either way, and sometimes I'll
listen to the Dusted recordbecause I like the stuff that
you guys are doing on that andof course that's funny, I
appreciate that.
Thank you very much, absolutelyLike I say.
I'm the kind of guy when I goto a concert, I want to hear
some of that old stuff.
I want to hear things that aredifferent.
I don't want to just hear thehits, and, by the way, that's
(16:02):
what a lot of people do want tocome and see you and hopefully
they'll get to hear all thesewonderful hits.
We could just go down the list,because I know our time is
almost up.
We're talking with JesseValenzuela from the Gin Blossoms
.
Hey, je Blossoms.
Hey, jealousy.
Found out about you.
Allison Road.
Are you guys still loving it?
I know you're out on the roadright now.
Are you enjoying yourself?
Yeah, you know it's a nicesummer tour.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
We're out with Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors for
some of it, some shows we'redoing by ourselves, and we're in
the East Coast.
Right now I'm in the Midwestenjoying a nice day off, but you
know, I live in los angeles alot of the year and uh, so it's
going to be beautifully back incalifornia, which I just love
(16:47):
well, we welcome you here, jesseand um, enjoy your day off.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I'm thankful that you took a few minutes to talk with
me today.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
No, no, and if you have some more you'd like to ask
.
I have, I'm being told I havesome.
I have a little more time.
I'm happy to talk with you I'mkind of enjoying your.
I gotta be honest with you, I'menjoying your line of questions
.
I think you're you're veryfunny thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Oh my gosh, I was very concerned there for a
minute.
I have to say I was veryconcerned.
I'm like, oh god, I I didn'tmean to, all right.
Well, thank you for saying that.
I really great.
I'm very grateful for that.
So let's talk about then, if Ihave a couple of more minutes,
sure, a&m Records, which reallyreally made a big difference in
(17:32):
your career.
And I know Herb Alpert, I'vegot to know him over the last
few years.
What a great man.
He is, of course, responsiblefor A&M Records.
I'm curious if you could tellmy listeners kind of, how that
changed everything for the GinBlossoms.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, if you're lucky enough to get signed up with
A&M Records, a label of thatcaliber, it changes your whole
world.
They gave us opportunities tomake records and they gave us
budgets to really live andrecord comfortably, and they had
(18:13):
all the wisdom to let us makeour own mistakes and uh and then
offer a way to fix things.
If you know, we were smartenough to ask them.
Um, I can't say anything.
I can only say great thingsabout my experience at A&M
records.
They were wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And and and meeting, and meeting and, of course,
meeting her and Jerry Moss, theM and A&M, Albert and Moss,
they're, they're, you know,Jerry's pastor, they're
wonderful, wonderful people andthey really cared about, really
cared about music and they caredabout their, they cared about
the people on their label.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, herb seems like a very genuine guy who really,
really cares, and I reallyrespect him so much.
You know, mtv was another one,because here you released this
great record, the New MiserableExperience, and correct me if
I'm wrong in any of this, aswe're talking with Jesse
Valenzuela, guitarist for theGin Blossoms coming to the
Rockland Quarry Park.
(19:16):
It took a little while you putit out Maybe.
I don't know how long it wasbefore people caught on, but MTV
kind of got behind you guys.
Suddenly.
Once they did that, all ofthese hits come pouring out and
they're multi-platinum hits.
Talk about how that sort ofcame about and how that changed
(19:37):
your career as well.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Yeah, I don't know how it comes about.
You know, I wasn't privy to theset source.
It's just that we had been, asyou said, for a long time,
probably a year or so.
We were just touring thecountry trying to make ends meet
Through the generosity of A&MRecords.
You know we could stay on theroad and play dates and touring
with Sprocket and other bands,but you know the powers that be.
(20:03):
They were so good at A&M thatthey got us to MTV, and MTV was
kind enough to say, well, let'splay this video.
And then it sort of takes off.
And I can tell you thetransformation, though, because
all of a sudden, mtv plays yourrecords and then it gets
attention from radio and theworld changes for you quickly.
In a week, you're filling whatused to be a half-filled bar.
(20:28):
It's completely full now.
Then you're moving to clubs,theaters, and then, all of a
sudden, you're playing the Greektheater in Los Angeles.
All of a sudden, you're playingthe Greek theater in Los
Angeles.
You know what is the old cliche?
That it was an overnightsuccess that took, you know, a
year and a half to happen.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, and then when it happens, then you guys, the
trajectory, just it wasskyrocketing, because I remember
seeing you I think maybe on itwas because I would always watch
the Late Show with DavidLetterman and suddenly, like
you're on all the late nightshows, you were on the Tonight
Show a couple of times.
I'm trying to think of what itwas.
(21:05):
It wasn't.
I think it was, I don't knowwhy.
It seems like it was JonStewart show or something early
on.
But I was seeing the ginblossoms everywhere.
And I can tell you this Iwasn't even an MTV fan.
Because I didn't want to watchMTV, jesse, because I wanted
what the song was to be in myhead.
I didn't want it to beprojected to me from MTV.
(21:27):
So I would hear, like Alice inthe Road, and hear your songs,
and to me there was justsomething different that stood
out at the time.
I was very attracted to itmusically and still am, and I I
really can't wait to see you.
but talk about that when you sayyou are so much, absolutely
talk about that, if you might,just for a couple of minutes on.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
When you were on all of these shows well, I mean,
it's a long time ago I, it wasjust very busy and very heady
times.
But yeah, I don't know.
You know, obviously we wereyoung and we weren't that young,
I'll be honest.
We were probably in our early30s by then.
(22:09):
Very busy, you know, andexcited and happy, but exhausted
at the same time.
You have to realize it'salready.
There was years of touringbefore the record and then the
record happened.
You make the record and thenthere's touring, touring.
So we're probably three, fouryears on the road.
I never saw my hometown.
(22:30):
It was a beautiful moment and Ido remember saying to my manager
at the time I said I reallythink I need to get home, I'm
tired, I think we've done all wecan, and him, you know, saying
to me no, this is life-changingnow you have to stay on this,
you have to.
This is not the time to go home, although you may be tired I'm
sure you are but this is reallymake or break at this moment.
(22:54):
You know we listened, so that'swhat happened.
But you know it distills downto this for me, which is I'm
really thankful and gratefulthat we had a lot of people who
really cared about us at A&MRecords and our publisher.
And we got lucky.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
We got really lucky and we stayed in there and kept
working don't forget about allthe other gin blossom stuff that
you can still discover.
There's so much stuff out there.
Um, I mean, you could just gothrough their, their album
collection and you will be sohappy that you did that.
Dig deep, uh, into the ginblossoms.
(23:35):
Dig, my friends, it's one ofthose things.
You listen to it, you go.
I can't tell you how many timesI'll go.
How on earth is this not on theradio now?
This needs to.
That should have been on theradio, because if that's not a
hit, then I don't know what I'mtalking about.
And I can tell you that, overand over, with so much of your
music You're very generous withyour time today, jesse so much
(23:56):
of your music.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
You're very generous with your time today, jesse, and
I appreciate the extra fewminutes and thank you, I
appreciate you and I and I I'm adig your positivity.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Thank you.
Thank you, I'll be there to seeyou in concert on Sunday.
Yes, sir, I will, for sure I'llbe there, and that'll be Sunday
, august 17th, and this is theCorey Park Amphitheater in
beautiful Rockland.
Doors open at 6, show begins at7 pm, and you don't want to
miss it.
So, jesse Valenzuela, thank youso much for your time today and
(24:27):
enjoy your day off, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Hey, I thank you.
I really appreciate you andhave a great day and please come
by.
I'd love to meet you and sayhello.
I will do that.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'll let them know.
I look forward to it as well.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
All right, sir, all right brother Be well, thank you
, God bless.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thank you to my guest today here on Pat's Peeps,
number 305.
Thank you, jesse Valenzuela.
I appreciate it, brother.
I thought that went very well.
I look forward to meeting theguys, meeting the band.
Hulk Hogan passed away today.
(25:27):
Just finding out Hulk Hogan,talk about that on my show
tonight, the Pat Walsh Show.
We also have another.
We got rock and roll coming upon my show tonight.
We're always rocking androlling on the Pat's Peeps
podcast.
See you on the radio.
(25:49):
I know I want to love her but Ican't decide on Allison.
welcome friends.
It is the patch peeps podcast.
We're at number 305.
Thank you for being here.
Happy Thursday to you, july24th.
Looking out the studio windowinto the beautiful foothills of
Northern California, it's alovely day Again, not too hot.
(00:38):
We are just spoiled here inCalifornia.
How are you?
Thank you for tuning in today.
What I'm loving is that we'regetting more and more rock stars
on the Pat's Peeps podcast.
Love interviewing the rockstars, although I'm going to
tell you here, I was a littleconcerned today For a second.
My guest was laughing over myquestions and I got a little
(01:04):
paranoid.
I thought, oh God, he thinksI'm an idiot.
But what happens is when Iinterview rock stars, it's
pretty amazing.
I would say this is the mostglaring example.
To be honest, I edit about 40seconds of the podcast only
(01:30):
because and now I kind of regretit because now I'm setting it
up properly, darn it, but I'mnot going to go back and unedit.
So I thought that he was notappreciating the interview
because he was laughing.
And he says to me I'll justparaphrase what actually
happened he says wow, you'rereally getting into it.
(01:52):
You're working off an old biotoday.
Huh, sounds like, and I didn'tknow how to take that exactly.
And I said well, I'm sorry if Iwasn't asking the questions
that you want.
I had a 15-minute time limit.
Okay, I had 15 minutes, theytold me.
The publicist told me 15minutes.
(02:13):
This is with Jesse Valenzuela,who is one of the founding
members of the Gin Blossomsmulti-platinum selling artists.
The Gin Blossoms, who, withmany other bands from the 90s,
were just at the top of the heapman.
You just go down the list Smash, mouth, sugar Ray, whatever it
(02:34):
was top of the heap back in the90s some great music.
We just saw Toad the WetSprocket Sunday night at the
Corey Amphitheater.
The reason I'm talking aboutthis is because the Gin Blossoms
are coming.
You'll hear me talk about this,say this 10 times in the
podcast, but they're going to bein Rockland at the Corey
Amphitheater coming up on the17th of August.
(02:55):
But what happens is every time Iso far I would say 100% of the
time I'll interview a rock starand I think that they imagine
that this is some guy or somegal somewhere, some media person
in that market.
Yeah, we'll do an interviewwith this band and they figure,
(03:17):
you know, like the localmeteorologist, tell us your
influence on me.
Now you guys were out in uh,what was it in the 90s?
Or something like that.
You know questions, you knowyou could just tell they're like
I don't mean to disparageanybody, but I see it all the
time, just being honest, Likeyou can tell, they did no
homework With me.
I know the music, I do myhomework, I know a lot about the
(03:42):
music in the band and then inthis case I really do.
And you'll hear in thisinterview that it wasn't or this
conversation I like to call ita conversation Pat's Peeps 305,
that I wasn't.
I liked their music.
I didn't need to see himnecessarily, or anyone else on
MTV, I just liked their music.
So what happens is halfwaythrough they'll go.
You can hear them.
(04:03):
It clicks in their head like,oh, this guy really knows our
stuff, this guy really knows.
So during the interview he'sgoing to start laughing and it
makes me very paranoid, right,because I think he doesn't like
me.
But as it turns out it was quitethe opposite of that.
You'll remember the GinBlossoms Great music, of course.
One of many great hits by theGin Blossoms Found out about you
(04:31):
, right?
Oh, great, great music.
All that summer keeps, youdon't recall?
I love those harmonies.
So they have a bunch of hitsand as I started to dig deep, I
(04:57):
was digging deep man into theblossoms and it kind of blew
them away.
All right.
So I'm going to play theinterview for you and you'll see
exactly what I'm saying, whatI'm talking about.
I'm very grateful.
Thank you, for listening toPat's Peeps, number 305.
Please check out patspeepscom.
(05:21):
Please support our localbusinesses.
Please, I'd be very, verygrateful.
Check out our Pats Peeps Mall.
And one more thanks to everyonewho came out to the Pats Peeps
gathering the other night.
So here are the gin blossoms andthen, without further ado,
(05:41):
jesse Valenzuela.
Let's do this.
I am so honored here on PatsPeeps podcast, number 305.
Hey, to tell you, number one,that the gin blossoms are coming
to Rockland, to Rockland QuarryPark, and I love Rockland
Quarry Park.
I just was there this weekendfor a show.
(06:03):
I'm there quite frequently butthe Gin Blossoms, who I
absolutely love.
I was so excited when I sawthat they're going to be playing
there, because this is right inmy area and this is going to be
Sunday, august 17th, at QuarryPark Amphitheater, which is a
great place if you've not beenout there to see a show, and I'm
honored here on my podcast totalk to Jesse Valenzuela, who is
(06:26):
the rhythm guitar player,singer, songwriter
extraordinaire, and, if I maysay, jesse, because I think this
is underrated and I don't thinkthis is brought up enough.
So, if I may, tied for the besthair in rock and roll.
How are you, jesse?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
That's very funny.
Who am I tied with?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Who are you tied with ?
That's a very good question.
Well, there's a lot of otherthat I could bring up, but I
think you'd be in the top mix.
You know, frank Zapp had somegood hair.
You know what I mean.
I could start off right there,you and Frank.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Frank had great hair.
Yes, he did he always did.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
God bless him.
Iconic hair.
Jerry Garcia Listen man, Jerryhad great hair.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, jerry had great hair.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He did.
And very recognizable faces too,both of those guys.
Now that I think about it, manand man, I'm so excited to see
you guys coming to town here toRockland Quarry Park.
By the way, you have the.
I don't know if you have anopening band, but the thing
about Rockland Quarry Park, likeI say, I've introduced many
shows out there.
It's a great place.
When you guys come out, the sunwill be down, so you won't have
(07:31):
that sun glaring directly inyour face.
Jesse, who did you see thererecently?
You know who I saw, and thiswas Sunday night.
I got invited and God's honesttruth, man, this was 90s stuff
too.
I didn't know any of theirsongs and I know music.
I'm probably the only person inthe audience that did not know
one song by Toad the WetSprocket.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Oh, they were just there.
Yeah, that's surprising theyhave a lot of hits there.
They're good friends of ours.
Those guys have a great show.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
They have a great show.
I just was unfamiliar forwhatever reason, uh to their
music.
I don't know what it was, but Ireally enjoyed it.
I'm not, you know, and I'm noteven sure how to really classify
what their music was.
And for me, when you guys cameout the gin blossoms, I wasn't
even sure how to classify thatmusic because I mean, it seemed
like it was.
(08:18):
You guys kind of had your ownvibe.
I don't know what it was andyou're from Arizona, right?
Yep, so in Arizona.
I don't know if maybe it's justme, but there's something that
is that I am drawn to by.
There's almost like a Southwestsound you know the Eagles and
some other bands that came fromthat area where I don't know.
(08:39):
There's just a great sound.
And here you are and you'replaying this rhythm guitar,
original singer for the band,and I just love your guitar
playing.
There's just a special sound.
Is there such a thing as aSouthwest kind of a sound?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I don't think so.
I mean, I don't know what.
If there is, I think thatthere's a Jimbo, some sound that
was really defined early, butnobody really plays like us back
home and they don't play likeus in Austin, texas.
No, but you know, there'ssomething that happens in the
Southwest, like when I was a kid, everybody liked Zeppelin.
(09:14):
I don't know if that was, Iguess they liked Zeppelin
everywhere.
But I don't know, I don't knowif that was, I guess they liked
zeppelin everywhere.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, um, I don't know, like I, I, I don't think
so like I don't think anyonesounded like you at all, but
there was other bands that had afeel.
Maybe it's just me, you knowhow music is so subjective,
maybe it's just in my head.
I think of, like the eaglesfrom that were southwest and uh,
and there's some other bandsthat I think of that are just
very free West sound.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
No, I don't know.
I mean, I sure love the Eaglesa lot, but I was probably the
only one who played like theEagles and the Jim Blossoms the
other guys.
That wasn't really necessarilytheir bag, they liked more rock.
I love the Eagles.
I always have since I was a kid.
It's really fabulous music.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
One other thing I did realize, if I just might dip
into this just for a splitsecond.
I noticed, I think and I hopeI'm not wrong you're a baseball
fan and you're a Dodgers fan.
Is that right, jesse?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I am a Dodgers fan, but I don't watch the series.
I don't watch the season untilwell after the All-Star game
because it's just too long forme.
So I'll probably start takingan interest here in the next
month or so.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Oh, okay, I'm a diehard I love, even though I'm
from Northern California, I geta little bad time about being a
Dodger fan.
But yeah, you began.
We're talking with JesseValenzuela from the Gin Blossoms
.
Again, they're coming to townat Rockland Quarry Park
Amphitheater Sunday, august 17th.
And, just like me, you grew uploving music and, as I
(10:47):
understand it, you startedplaying guitar somewhere like
around 15 years old.
Is that true?
And how did you really get yourlove for music?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Well, it started earlier than that, to be honest
with you.
I was playing in bars when Iwas 15.
There was just a lot of guysplaying guitar in my
neighborhood.
Dave and Ed were the guys whotaught me how to play, and they
were a couple years older thanme.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Dave and Ed.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
That's how it started .
Just a couple guys from theneighborhood.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Is that right, dave and Ed?
How did that happen?
They just saw that you had aninterest in guitar and kind of
just took you under their wing,or how'd that work?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Well, I'm sure you remember when you were a kid,
all the like-minded people windup at the same end of the pool.
You know, you just meet peopleon the bus or in school.
You find out that they likethis and they become great
friends.
So Dave and Ed were the guys inmy neighborhood who were
playing guitars.
(11:46):
So you know, you just gravitatetowards each other.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Wow, did you?
And you know I'm curiousbecause you were the original
lead vocalist right when youguys came out in 87.
And then you switched withRobin.
Robin Wilson takes over.
You guys kind of switched rolesthere.
I'm just curious how thathappened initially.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Well, we were both singing.
You know we used to play thiswas way before records and we
were playing you know playingfour or five hours a night.
So we both sang because it wassuch a long process, and then it
just kind of started working.
He wasn't playing guitar asmuch and then I started playing
(12:32):
guitar more, and then it justworks out that way.
So these things are fluid andthey just keep working out.
I haven't had these kinds ofquestions in a long time.
It's kind of it's kind of fun,what else you got?
This is pretty good.
I haven't been asked about theold days like this in a long
time.
I think it's fun.
What else you got?
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Oh well, I was going to talk about Dusted and some of
the titles that you guys have.
You know, having your I meannew, miserable experience.
I'm looking at some of thetitles and it always seemed like
self-deprecating titles.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I'm sorry if these aren't questions that you were
expecting.
No, no, I think it feels fresh.
I'm thanking you, okay.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
No, no, I'm digging it.
It's like, oh my God, we'regoing to talk about Dusted.
Yeah, let's talk about it.
You know what they were allself-deprecating titles and you
know it, kind of between you andme, it can be after a while you
really don't want to keep doing, you know, working the same
angle.
But we, we kind of did that fora long, a long time, right, and
(13:44):
I think it's because we, wewere working in bars all the
time and you know that sort ofbar mentality.
It's sort of defeatist and, uh,maybe a little, you know, 20s,
cynical right.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Well, I'm a big fan of self-deprecating and I just
couldn't help but, to you know,notice, some of the, you know,
some of those titles had that incommon, which I think is great,
because if you can do that foryourself, then you, you know you
can do that in other areas aswell.
But, but, but, so, then so, andI'm curious to see, I will, will
, I'll dig really deep into the,into some of these things.
(14:19):
But like, if you listen toDusted and and, by the way, I
love one of your songs, I loveso many of your songs I wish I
could Allison wrote till I hearit from you on and on and on.
But like, if you listen to heyJealousy, which came out
initially on Dusted and then itcomes out on the um, new,
miserable experience, veryinteresting listen, I mean, one
(14:41):
is much faster paced early onthe other one comes out a slower
pace, becomes a hit, becomesyour multi-platinum, and from
there everything took off well,those early recordings were made
by ourselves, uh, in a littlestudio in t Arizona, without any
real direction from maybesomeone who had a little more
experience.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
And by the time you get to a place where you can
afford a producer and they comein and they generally they tell
you you probably need to slowthat down.
And I think he would haveslowed it down a little more if
he could have, but the bandwould have fallen apart if we
played any slower.
We played everything prettyfast and furious at the time,
and we kind of still do, I'll behonest with you, and it was
(15:27):
just being young and certainsort of kind of reckless and
that tempo demands attention ina bar and I think that's why we
play it that way.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, it's great either way, and sometimes I'll
listen to the Dusted recordbecause I like the stuff that
you guys are doing on that andof course that's funny, I
appreciate that.
Thank you very much, absolutelyLike I say.
I'm the kind of guy when I goto a concert, I want to hear
some of that old stuff.
I want to hear things that aredifferent.
I don't want to just hear thehits, and, by the way, that's
(16:02):
what a lot of people do want tocome and see you and hopefully
they'll get to hear all thesewonderful hits.
We could just go down the list,because I know our time is
almost up.
We're talking with JesseValenzuela from the Gin Blossoms
.
Hey, je Blossoms.
Hey, jealousy.
Found out about you.
Allison Road.
Are you guys still loving it?
I know you're out on the roadright now.
Are you enjoying yourself?
Yeah, you know it's a nicesummer tour.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
We're out with Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors for
some of it, some shows we'redoing by ourselves, and we're in
the East Coast.
Right now I'm in the Midwestenjoying a nice day off, but you
know, I live in los angeles alot of the year and uh, so it's
going to be beautifully back incalifornia, which I just love
(16:47):
well, we welcome you here, jesseand um, enjoy your day off.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I'm thankful that you took a few minutes to talk with
me today.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
No, no, and if you have some more you'd like to ask
.
I have, I'm being told I havesome.
I have a little more time.
I'm happy to talk with you I'mkind of enjoying your.
I gotta be honest with you, I'menjoying your line of questions
.
I think you're you're veryfunny thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Oh my gosh, I was very concerned there for a
minute.
I have to say I was veryconcerned.
I'm like, oh god, I I didn'tmean to, all right.
Well, thank you for saying that.
I really great.
I'm very grateful for that.
So let's talk about then, if Ihave a couple of more minutes,
sure, a&m Records, which reallyreally made a big difference in
(17:32):
your career.
And I know Herb Alpert, I'vegot to know him over the last
few years.
What a great man.
He is, of course, responsiblefor A&M Records.
I'm curious if you could tellmy listeners kind of, how that
changed everything for the GinBlossoms.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, if you're lucky enough to get signed up with
A&M Records, a label of thatcaliber, it changes your whole
world.
They gave us opportunities tomake records and they gave us
budgets to really live andrecord comfortably, and they had
(18:13):
all the wisdom to let us makeour own mistakes and uh and then
offer a way to fix things.
If you know, we were smartenough to ask them.
Um, I can't say anything.
I can only say great thingsabout my experience at A&M
records.
They were wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And and and meeting, and meeting and, of course,
meeting her and Jerry Moss, theM and A&M, Albert and Moss,
they're, they're, you know,Jerry's pastor, they're
wonderful, wonderful people andthey really cared about, really
cared about music and they caredabout their, they cared about
the people on their label.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, herb seems like a very genuine guy who really,
really cares, and I reallyrespect him so much.
You know, mtv was another one,because here you released this
great record, the New MiserableExperience, and correct me if
I'm wrong in any of this, aswe're talking with Jesse
Valenzuela, guitarist for theGin Blossoms coming to the
Rockland Quarry Park.
(19:16):
It took a little while you putit out Maybe.
I don't know how long it wasbefore people caught on, but MTV
kind of got behind you guys.
Suddenly.
Once they did that, all ofthese hits come pouring out and
they're multi-platinum hits.
Talk about how that sort ofcame about and how that changed
(19:37):
your career as well.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Yeah, I don't know how it comes about.
You know, I wasn't privy to theset source.
It's just that we had been, asyou said, for a long time,
probably a year or so.
We were just touring thecountry trying to make ends meet
Through the generosity of A&MRecords.
You know we could stay on theroad and play dates and touring
with Sprocket and other bands,but you know the powers that be.
(20:03):
They were so good at A&M thatthey got us to MTV, and MTV was
kind enough to say, well, let'splay this video.
And then it sort of takes off.
And I can tell you thetransformation, though, because
all of a sudden, mtv plays yourrecords and then it gets
attention from radio and theworld changes for you quickly.
In a week, you're filling whatused to be a half-filled bar.
(20:28):
It's completely full now.
Then you're moving to clubs,theaters, and then, all of a
sudden, you're playing the Greektheater in Los Angeles.
All of a sudden, you're playingthe Greek theater in Los
Angeles.
You know what is the old cliche?
That it was an overnightsuccess that took, you know, a
year and a half to happen.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, and then when it happens, then you guys, the
trajectory, just it wasskyrocketing, because I remember
seeing you I think maybe on itwas because I would always watch
the Late Show with DavidLetterman and suddenly, like
you're on all the late nightshows, you were on the Tonight
Show a couple of times.
I'm trying to think of what itwas.
(21:05):
It wasn't.
I think it was, I don't knowwhy.
It seems like it was JonStewart show or something early
on.
But I was seeing the ginblossoms everywhere.
And I can tell you this Iwasn't even an MTV fan.
Because I didn't want to watchMTV, jesse, because I wanted
what the song was to be in myhead.
I didn't want it to beprojected to me from MTV.
(21:27):
So I would hear, like Alice inthe Road, and hear your songs,
and to me there was justsomething different that stood
out at the time.
I was very attracted to itmusically and still am, and I I
really can't wait to see you.
but talk about that when you sayyou are so much, absolutely
talk about that, if you might,just for a couple of minutes on.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
When you were on all of these shows well, I mean,
it's a long time ago I, it wasjust very busy and very heady
times.
But yeah, I don't know.
You know, obviously we wereyoung and we weren't that young,
I'll be honest.
We were probably in our early30s by then.
(22:09):
Very busy, you know, andexcited and happy, but exhausted
at the same time.
You have to realize it'salready.
There was years of touringbefore the record and then the
record happened.
You make the record and thenthere's touring, touring.
So we're probably three, fouryears on the road.
I never saw my hometown.
(22:30):
It was a beautiful moment and Ido remember saying to my manager
at the time I said I reallythink I need to get home, I'm
tired, I think we've done all wecan, and him, you know, saying
to me no, this is life-changingnow you have to stay on this,
you have to.
This is not the time to go home, although you may be tired I'm
sure you are but this is reallymake or break at this moment.
(22:54):
You know we listened, so that'swhat happened.
But you know it distills downto this for me, which is I'm
really thankful and gratefulthat we had a lot of people who
really cared about us at A&MRecords and our publisher.
And we got lucky.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
We got really lucky and we stayed in there and kept
working don't forget about allthe other gin blossom stuff that
you can still discover.
There's so much stuff out there.
Um, I mean, you could just gothrough their, their album
collection and you will be sohappy that you did that.
Dig deep, uh, into the ginblossoms.
(23:35):
Dig, my friends, it's one ofthose things.
You listen to it, you go.
I can't tell you how many timesI'll go.
How on earth is this not on theradio now?
This needs to.
That should have been on theradio, because if that's not a
hit, then I don't know what I'mtalking about.
And I can tell you that, overand over, with so much of your
music You're very generous withyour time today, jesse so much
(23:56):
of your music.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
You're very generous with your time today, jesse, and
I appreciate the extra fewminutes and thank you, I
appreciate you and I and I I'm adig your positivity.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Thank you.
Thank you, I'll be there to seeyou in concert on Sunday.
Yes, sir, I will, for sure I'llbe there, and that'll be Sunday
, august 17th, and this is theCorey Park Amphitheater in
beautiful Rockland.
Doors open at 6, show begins at7 pm, and you don't want to
miss it.
So, jesse Valenzuela, thank youso much for your time today and
(24:27):
enjoy your day off, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Hey, I thank you.
I really appreciate you andhave a great day and please come
by.
I'd love to meet you and sayhello.
I will do that.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'll let them know.
I look forward to it as well.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
All right, sir, all right brother Be well, thank you
, God bless.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thank you to my guest today here on Pat's Peeps,
number 305.
Thank you, jesse Valenzuela.
I appreciate it, brother.
I thought that went very well.
I look forward to meeting theguys, meeting the band.
Hulk Hogan passed away today.
(25:27):
Just finding out Hulk Hogan,talk about that on my show
tonight, the Pat Walsh Show.
We also have another.
We got rock and roll coming upon my show tonight.
We're always rocking androlling on the Pat's Peeps
podcast.
See you on the radio.
(25:49):
I know I want to love her but Ican't decide on Allison.
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