May 1, 2023 • 24 mins
Ruben Studdard won the second season of American Idol. Clay Aiken was runner-up. Thus began two major music careers and a friendship that became akin to family. Now, in 2023, the two Idols are going on tour together. In this episode, we talk about how friends were the only reason they tried out for Idol, how music, technology, and social media has changed the landscape, which older artists they've gained appreciation for and which new ones they have their eye on, and more reflections on 20 years entertaining people - and what they have planned for their shows.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:09):
Hey, welcome back to the ARACast. It is time for episode forty
five. Had a chance to talkwith two American Idols, two of the
originals, Ruben Stuttered and Clay Aiken, who won and was runner up,
respectively of American Idol back in twothousand and three their second season, and
they were teaming up to do atwenty year anniversary tour coming to the Genesee
(00:31):
Theater in Waukegan, Illinois, Maytwelfth, twenty twenty three, and an
opportunity to have a nice conversation withthem about music, their thoughts about the
changes in the industry from the lasttwenty years, their experiences since, their
expectations, and obviously things about theshow. Fun conversation and it starts right
after this and welcome back to theARA Cast. A conversation with Ruben Studdard
(00:55):
and Clay Aiken, who are tagteaming for a twenty year anniversary tour twenty
years after they were the winner andrunner up respectively of American Idol. But
let's face it, they both wonthat show, right, They had great
careers afterwards, and it's awesome tosee how they've become such good friends and
touring together now So let's get toour conversation with Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken.
Here's how it started. Hi,Clay, how are you doing?
(01:19):
Actually, I've already got I've alreadygot Ruben on here. I thought I
had to pull him in, buthere we go, very nice. So
we got a party line going already. Ye let's do it. Okay,
let's party your tour. Thank youboys nineteen ninety eight, right, nineteen
ninety eight? Is that what yousay? Yeah? Yeah, oh oh,
are we talking about the song?I was like, no, that's
(01:40):
not when our idol season was,although not too far off. I thought
that was a trivia question on music. Sorry, okay, you're too better
than me. Eric Paulson from Lakeninety six one in Lake Geneva and I
have with me Ruben Studdard and ClayAiken, who are touring together again.
It is the twenty year tour atGennessee Theater in Waukegan. May twelfth is
(02:01):
the date. And I can't believeit's been twenty years. I can't either,
bro Here we are I think wefeel it a little bit in our
joints after the show. Now reallywere up in twenty years twenty years feels
a lot different than it did whenwe first toured together. After Idols.
Absolutely kind of aim my aching backkind of things. Hey, but I'm
(02:23):
Rey the rim shot for him.You get that after several hours of radio
too. It's kind of crazy howthat works now when it's funny with with
American Idol, and it was sobrand spanking new at the time, and
I can't believe it was. Itstill seems like just a couple of years
ago. Neither one of you sawthat show, like maybe in the first
season. I believe right and said, I want to exactly try out for
(02:45):
American Idol. You you had bothhad friends convince you to do it,
right, Absolutely, My friends areRita Duff convinced me. Actually I was
going with her to audition, andI just decided on the way up,
like, you know what, yougo and do it. I guess I
will, But I had no attentionof I really was honestly just going to
(03:07):
be her support system. And Iended up auditioning we need to do something
special for Sharia Ruben. Yeah,we need to do her something special,
real nice. You got her anice fruit basket or something after that?
Right, Absolutely, And clat youwere going to try out for the Amazing
Race. Initially, well, thatwas the show I watched. I always
thought that was the fun show.I had not seen Idle in the first
(03:29):
season. I was too busy watchinganother one, another show instead. And
it was the mother of one ofthe kids who I worked with, who
who had heard me sing around anddecide and kind of nagged me into doing
it and convinced me to audition inCharlotte. And I did and didn't make
it. And then I got realstubborn. I was like, well,
you're gonna cut me, that's fine, but you ain't cutting me on the
first day. So I went toAtlanta and auditioned again. Also, the
(03:52):
perseverance paid off. Well you callit perseverance, I call it stubbornness,
whatever or whatever it is. Itdid pay off. I was going to
say perseverance, but kids, stubbornnesspays off. Remember that. Yeah,
sometimes I said good lessons, goodlessons. Ruben, you won that season,
Clay you won as well, really, because look at what happened to
(04:12):
your careers after that. Both kindof different, different careers, different trajectories,
but you managed to bring everything backtogether with these tours, the Timeless
Tour in twenty ten, did yourBroadway Christmas special four or five years ago?
But when you each look at yourpaths, how when you look back,
what did you do differently than youthought you would when you first won
(04:34):
and became a runner up an AmericanIdol. I had no expectations of what
I would or would not do afterwinning the show, because everything that I
had ever expected or dreamed about honestlyhappened for us on the show. So,
you know, a lot of thepeople that I group grow up growing
(04:56):
up wanting to meet, like LionelRichie, I got a chance to meet
some of the you know, producersI wanted to work with. You know,
my first uh my, my singlefor the show was produced in part
by baby Face. You know,he's had such a huge impact on me
musically growing up. So um aftereverything after American Idol was really just a
(05:18):
bonus, like a plus. Uhyou know, I didn't have any expectation
of what was going to happen thereafter. Yeah, Idol was sort of entire
career packed into sixteen weeks, youknow, and not only the I mean
the highs, the lows, theups, the downs, the people we
got to work with, the criticism, the praise, the I mean,
(05:41):
it was you could probably stretch theexperience that we had in those sixteen weeks
over over this last twenty years andthat would still be filled with more stuff
than most people who were in thisbusiness get to experience. So um uh,
it was a boot camp in someways, it was a summer camp
in some ways was I mean,it was sort of everything since then has
(06:04):
had to in some ways sort oftry to live up to that impossible thing
to live up to. And umbut I do want to I do want
to clarify one thing you said.You know, we try to bring things
back together, and Ruben and Ihave stayed a part of each other's lives
since IDOL. I mean, weare back together to to reunite on stage.
But you know, through all thestuff that I have done in the
(06:26):
past twenty years, Reuben's been thereor nearby supporting. I've tried to do
the same for him, and youknow, we we've become you know,
family in the past twenty years,and it is it is only him that's
kind of gotten me back on stage. But it is um it's it shouldn't
be seen as some sort of ohit's twenty years later, we'll reunite.
We've we've stayed in each other's livessince that day because of you know what
(06:50):
I just said. That show wassuch an experience and no one else knows
what it's like to have been atthe American Idol Season two from the beginning
to the end, like Ruben andI do, and we've shared that experience
and um, and we'll always havethat and we you know, will always
(07:10):
be friends because of it. Yeah, they were, like you both kind
of mentioned after Idol, which wasso intense, and there's you're not only
talking about that sixteen week boot camp, there's cameras in front of you everywhere
trying to capture everything. Absolutely,you definitely learn how to how to be
be on point at all times becausethat mean every every single movement. And
(07:33):
I have to say, it's notlike the reality shows are now okay,
where they're like cameras in their bedrooms, camera in the living room, Like
it's not like that, but theyyou know, there were a lot of
times, I know, when wewanted to have moments to ourselves and we
weren't able to do that because youknow, we were on the beginnings of
(07:54):
what reality TV will become. Youknow, well, and that's the thing.
American Idol is so pure. Whenit started, it was seemed like
one of the purest reality shows youcould have, and it was. It
was really great with that and thata lot of times they do go overboard
a lot of these shows later onbecause they start trying too hard, they
come up with all these ideas,when when y'all were on the show,
everything was so puring on the upand up, and that's one of the
(08:16):
reasons everybody loved it so much.And there's a lot of differences in the
world and in the music industry nowsince two thousand and three, and you've
both had successful careers in performing.But what have you each scene changing with
the landscape of the music industry withconcerts and performing and with audiences, and
especially with social media's influence that didn'treally exist twenty years ago. What's what's
(08:39):
been your experience with the changes?What's good and bad? In each of
your opinions, I would say,you know, and this is just the
old person in me. I thinkthe ending of having a physical copy of
the creative art is something that Ithink will ever be missed. I know
(09:01):
that I know that technology is movingat a pace that we will never be
able to catch up with. Andum, and I say this at the
expensive sounding extremely old, but I'mthankful that I was able to come into
the industry when I did because peoplestill um cared about having a piece material
(09:24):
that you created, and it wastangible to them, you know what I
mean. And there was something fascinatingAnd there's something almost romantic and magical about
waiting for that album to drop onTuesday and being at the store first when
it when it, you know,waiting in line to get it, and
rushing to the car to pop thatCD in or rushing home to put on
(09:48):
the record, you know, Andthat's I feel like that's sort of there's
there's a romance that's lost now whenyou just you know, you stream it.
You don't have to buy it.You type it in the computer and
it's there whenever you want it.So I I will say, I think
the one thing the only thing thathasn't changed, because so much of it
has, um so every part ofit has, But I think the one
thing that hasn't changed is live performances. You know, That's the one thing
(10:13):
that you cannot replicate, you cannotyou cannot get that on the internet,
you know. And so it's beenkind of fun for me. Ruben's been
on the road for twenty twenty years, pretty steady, and I stopped about
ten years or so long ago,and this is the first time I've been
back on tour. It's been nicefor me to return to the stage with
him and realize it's the one thingthat hasn't changed over the years. Concerts
(10:39):
still have are the still you know, have the energy and the magic that
you just cannot get from TV orthe internet. And as someone who is
really excited about being able to havethe nostalgia in this show for two thousand
and three, which is what somuch of the show is, it's it's
also nice to be a part of, you know, the one form of
(11:03):
entertainment, the one form of entertainmentthat has not been bastard of store changed
in some way over the you know, with technology, it's still it's still
the purest way to to enjoy music, and um, it's the most fun
way too. Well. It's theface to face, it's the sound and
(11:24):
the lights and the roadies and justthe experience of hearing all of that,
and maybe the opportunity to meet peopleafter. You know, you guys have
a VIP sound check option, whichwe'll talk about too. So yeah,
the live concert experience, that's verytrue until at least holograms come along and
in larger amounts. Don't don't don'tthink so don't do that. Social media?
(11:46):
What's good and bad about it?Nowadays? In music and entertainment?
You think, I think it's justthe good part is that you can reach
a lot of people in a reallyshort period of time. Whereas you know,
back in the day, we haveto do the radio at every single
market too, you know, explainyou know how our tool was going to
run. Now, you know,you just post a picture and everybody in
(12:09):
the world can see it. Trueif they said, now you get now
you get to read what everybody's opinionof yours give around the whole world.
That is I mean, I thinkit is. I personally just think in
Reuben's right, although I just asolution to that for me is just not
(12:30):
reading them. But I think Ithink it's made us as a as a
human race in ways more selfish.You know. Um, I think that
I think that one of the reasonsAmerican Idol was successful in two thousand and
three. One of the reasons isthat, you know, they weren't seven
thousand TV channels. There weren't umeighteen thousand different streaming options on the Internet
(12:56):
or the computer, and people learnto enjoy what was available to them,
and idle was an opportunity for everyoneto come around and find something that they
liked. And I feel like nowwith Twitter and all these different social media
we have, we have come toexpect exactly what we want and we're not
(13:16):
happy compromising or working together in anyway. And I feel like social media
has kind of made us expect theworld to think and feel and believe the
same things we do. And youknow, we're not a community anymore.
It's strange that the world has gottenthis ability to come together on social media
(13:39):
and be closer to each other onsocial media. But in some ways,
I think it has made us lesssensitive to what other people think and feel,
because we assume that everything we wantto say is more important than anybody
else. Well, it has balkanizedus a little bit, and it has
split music up into different genres.I mean, even Top forty isn't every
that used to be songs from everygenre on one station and they usually kind
(14:01):
of pick a lane within that nowadays, so it has been a lot of
changes with that. And he remember, I mean two thousand and three,
that was before Twitter, that wasbefore YouTube, which didn't even come out
and tell five. So that's kindof you know, Justin Bieber would have
had to try out on Canadian Idol. They were a message boards, but
we had to there was the onlydial up too, so we didn't even
(14:24):
waste our times with it. Onesound we don't miss is the sound of
that AOL dial up, right rightright. So in music today, what
are some of do you have anysome of your favorite newer artists on the
scene who you think might be thenext big thing? Man, That's that's
hard to say because I mean Iheard Bruno Mars pretty early on before like
(14:48):
everybody was like Bruno Mars crazy.I knew he was gonna be like that
because his voice is impeccable and Iheard also heard some of the songs that
he had written prior to him beinglike a big stuff for other people.
M Jazz Miss Sullivan, I thinkis one of the most amazing singers in
the industry right now. That doesn'tmean that she's gonna be the biggest star
(15:11):
because a lot of childs, themost amazing singers don't always are always the
ones that, um, I don'tknow, man, it's hard to say,
man, like I don't know,like I don't know. Music has
also changed. Music has also changedso much too. I mean, what
what I used to think when wewere on an idol sometimes I would think,
and when we were putting together ouralbums after the show, Oh,
(15:35):
man, I wish that we livedin the nineties, when songs like One
Sweet Day would stay at the topof the chart for sixteen weeks or whatever,
when when voice come in and MariahCarey and Whitney were making singles and
real singers mattered. You know,a voice was what was so important in
the nineties, and you know thetwo thousands and the twenty tens and so
(15:56):
on, vocals have not always hasbeen often been the most important. And
that's what Ruben and not too well. But you know, there are people
who surprise us, folk like Adelewho pop up and it's all about the
voice with her. So there arestill places for great singers. There's a
group called There's a rock. There'sa band called Scarlet Offer right now with
(16:17):
a leite singer, who is Ithink the next Freddie Mercury. I mean
there are still places where singers canbe you know, can make have an
impact. It's not just all DJsanymore, but it is fewer and further
between. I think, yeah,absolutely. What about there's some classic artists
or groups or songs that you weren'tthat into twenty years ago that you gained
(16:41):
a greater appreciation for since Idol.I didn't even know the Begs When I
was on Idol. We talked aboutthe whole stage every night. I didn't
even know who they were. Didn'tknow who they were until I did Idol
and we had a BIG's week Andnow you know, I love the bgis.
So I think that's another thing we'vetalked about. Rube and I about
Idol and how it exposed people inits infancy and the years we were on
(17:03):
it and a few years after.It really exposed people to styles of music
and groups that they had never heardof before. Now it's built around so
much current music, they don't dothat anymore. But it really exposed viewers
and help may participants contestants to alot of classic music, and you bring
a lot of that classic music backand you'll put your own stamp on some
(17:25):
of those songs and everything sometimes too. Now, you know, you had
your Timeless tour before you had yourBroadway Christmas Special, it was about four
or five years ago. What canpeople expect on this tour? It's it's
the twenty years tour and you're comingto the Genesee. What can people expect
on this particular show when they cometo see on May twelve? I think
people could just expect to have agood time. We put these songs together
(17:48):
because we like them. We putthese songs together because we want people to
enjoy themselves and we want to havea good time on stage as well.
So h you know, I thinkpeople are going to enjoy themselves up and
people that can sing along. Ithink it's exactly what you know, people
look for when they come out fornot in the family. They get stories
and they get great songs, andthat's what it's all about. Yeah,
(18:11):
there's not much in this show thatyou can't sing along too. Um And
I think that's what, like Ijust said, made Idol so much fun
back in the day that it was. People were singing songs that you knew
already, and Ruben and I aresinging stuff that has uh, you know,
significance to us from the show.You know, songs that he sang,
songs that I sang, stories thatgo with those songs. The song
(18:33):
everything was Everything was picked because ithas some sort of real significance to the
last twenty years and to really twothousand and three for us, and I
think that people will hopefully have thethe nostalgia that that's the nostalgic feeling,
um, that's safe, fun feelingthat they had back when they washed Idol.
And so all of the songs aredesigned. The set list is pretty
(18:56):
much all familiar songs. Do youhave any new or less familiar things you're
in there? Well, not everything, Rubens things I'm familiar with until he's
sung it. He's got a brallrepertoire of music. But but yes,
yes, everything that's on this showis either something that we did on Idol
or that is connected to the show. I mean, this this show is
about celebrating twenty three and celebrating whatyou know, what that show meant to
(19:22):
us and meant to so many people. In the country. So yes,
beautiful. Yeah, a lot ofpeople love I mean they love the music
and concerts in the singing, butso many people, it seems more so
lately. They pointed out when themusic stops and they talk to you the
audience and relate stories, and thatseems to resonate so much more with them,
which I think is one of thethings that makes a live show so
special. Well, we do ourbest. Sometimes we get off track,
(19:45):
or at least I do. It'sour telling stories we didn't plan to tell,
so we we try. We keepit fresh right, Absolutely, we
want to make sure that people havea good time or we are and we're
having listen, we're silly as everon stage like that. I think both
of us come live when we getan opportunity to perform. So um,
I think you know, people areyou know, having a wonderful time right
(20:07):
along with us. I think so. Now you two, by the way,
you both grew up in the SouthAlabama and North Carolina. I know
you've performed up up in this areabefore. Clan. No, you've performed
at the Genesee Theater. Reuben,I don't know if you have. You
both performed at Summerfest in Milwaukee,I believe. Okay, so you have
been at Genesee as well. Imean, because you're going to so many
(20:29):
beautiful theaters in the area. You'rewrapping up the tour in Lassaw, Wisconsin
on the sixteenth at the Grand Theater, which is another beautiful one, just
like Genesee is. But what whatmemories do you have of like the Chicago
Milwaukee area or Wisconsin or Madison.Do you have any particular memories of this
area, some experiences you've had,I mean one of my talking about your
(20:51):
food from Wisconsin Ribbon, Yes,please. I definitely am a fan of
the Kringle for sure. But youknow, my in my in the beginning
of my career, I had areally great record rep from that area.
His name was Alan Cole, andhe, you know, he made sure
I went to every single radio stationin the area, and I spent a
(21:15):
lot of time up there, andthat you know, that area did really
well for my record. So I'malways appreciative of that area for sure.
Nice Clay. I just worry aboutthe winters. I did so many Christmas
stores, y'all freeze my butt offsup there. So I've spent a lot
of time. I've spent a lotof time in the whole Chicago land area,
um in the winter time around theholidays, and so I haven't gotten
(21:38):
out as much because I was afraidI would die in the cold. You
know what the bad news is earlyMay is not a guarantee of summer yet.
Of heirs, I know, well, finally I'll finally get to experience
it. But May it's it's notgonna be freezing. It's not gonna be
like January. So I finally beable to get out and see see the
area. No, it won't besnowing. Definitely get out and enjoy everything.
(21:59):
So, by the way, thisis your first leg of the tour,
right, I mean there's more datesthat will be announced down the pike.
Um, I'll find out about datesevery day. But I didn't know
we're being so somebody tells me somethingwent on sale that I didn't even know
about. We've had a lot,we've had a lot of interest in this
show, which we're both excited aboutand feel blessed about. So um,
(22:22):
the fact that I think a lotof people are really into nostalgia right now,
and they just they really were longWe've we've gone through a very tough
past three years or four years orso, hell maybe more depending on you
ask, and it's just been Ithink people are longing for something that is
that feels safe and fun, andI think that this show has provided that
(22:45):
to people already. On this tourwe've the response we've gotten so far has
just been. I mean, theaudiences I think are some of the best
audiences I've performed in front of intwenty years. They're just having so much
fun bringing sign dancing in the inthe aisles and so you know, we're
enjoying doing it and we'll do itfor as long as people will let us.
(23:06):
It's amazing to have the twenty yeartour because music and especially like things
like rock and roll. You know, bands used to start and flash out
in five years, and nowadays youhave the Rolling Stones still on tour,
so they've been at a sixty becauseyou got at least forty more to go.
Right. Yes, we'll take youup on it as long as people
will come to you, and we'lldo it perfect. People. You do
(23:27):
have the VIP sound check option whereyou can or you can meet them and
Ruben and Clay dot Com is thissite with all the details on that.
Are you b E, N Aand d C LA why Ruben and Clay
dot com. You can also gettickets just the regular kind at Genesee Theater
dot com. So May twelfth,that is a Friday night. Hopefully you'll
(23:48):
have the weekend to uh or atleast the next day or something to check
out the area. And I knowyou're back up in Wasaw on May sixteenth,
so please enjoy this area. Iknow you'll enjoy the crowds. I
know they love you because you guysbring the pure voices and the pure talent
that people appreciate the most in music. So, Ruben Clay, thank you
so much for your time today.Thank you very much. I still can't
believe it's been twenty years, butthank you for listening to the Eric Cast.
(24:11):
Hope you enjoyed our conversation with RubenStuddard and Clay Aiken. I'm Eric
Halson and I'll look forward to talkingwith you in episode forty six.
Hey, welcome back to the ARACast. It is time for episode forty
five. Had a chance to talkwith two American Idols, two of the
originals, Ruben Stuttered and Clay Aiken, who won and was runner up,
respectively of American Idol back in twothousand and three their second season, and
they were teaming up to do atwenty year anniversary tour coming to the Genesee
(00:31):
Theater in Waukegan, Illinois, Maytwelfth, twenty twenty three, and an
opportunity to have a nice conversation withthem about music, their thoughts about the
changes in the industry from the lasttwenty years, their experiences since, their
expectations, and obviously things about theshow. Fun conversation and it starts right
after this and welcome back to theARA Cast. A conversation with Ruben Studdard
(00:55):
and Clay Aiken, who are tagteaming for a twenty year anniversary tour twenty
years after they were the winner andrunner up respectively of American Idol. But
let's face it, they both wonthat show, right, They had great
careers afterwards, and it's awesome tosee how they've become such good friends and
touring together now So let's get toour conversation with Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken.
Here's how it started. Hi,Clay, how are you doing?
(01:19):
Actually, I've already got I've alreadygot Ruben on here. I thought I
had to pull him in, buthere we go, very nice. So
we got a party line going already. Ye let's do it. Okay,
let's party your tour. Thank youboys nineteen ninety eight, right, nineteen
ninety eight? Is that what yousay? Yeah? Yeah, oh oh,
are we talking about the song?I was like, no, that's
(01:40):
not when our idol season was,although not too far off. I thought
that was a trivia question on music. Sorry, okay, you're too better
than me. Eric Paulson from Lakeninety six one in Lake Geneva and I
have with me Ruben Studdard and ClayAiken, who are touring together again.
It is the twenty year tour atGennessee Theater in Waukegan. May twelfth is
(02:01):
the date. And I can't believeit's been twenty years. I can't either,
bro Here we are I think wefeel it a little bit in our
joints after the show. Now reallywere up in twenty years twenty years feels
a lot different than it did whenwe first toured together. After Idols.
Absolutely kind of aim my aching backkind of things. Hey, but I'm
(02:23):
Rey the rim shot for him.You get that after several hours of radio
too. It's kind of crazy howthat works now when it's funny with with
American Idol, and it was sobrand spanking new at the time, and
I can't believe it was. Itstill seems like just a couple of years
ago. Neither one of you sawthat show, like maybe in the first
season. I believe right and said, I want to exactly try out for
(02:45):
American Idol. You you had bothhad friends convince you to do it,
right, Absolutely, My friends areRita Duff convinced me. Actually I was
going with her to audition, andI just decided on the way up,
like, you know what, yougo and do it. I guess I
will, But I had no attentionof I really was honestly just going to
(03:07):
be her support system. And Iended up auditioning we need to do something
special for Sharia Ruben. Yeah,we need to do her something special,
real nice. You got her anice fruit basket or something after that?
Right, Absolutely, And clat youwere going to try out for the Amazing
Race. Initially, well, thatwas the show I watched. I always
thought that was the fun show.I had not seen Idle in the first
(03:29):
season. I was too busy watchinganother one, another show instead. And
it was the mother of one ofthe kids who I worked with, who
who had heard me sing around anddecide and kind of nagged me into doing
it and convinced me to audition inCharlotte. And I did and didn't make
it. And then I got realstubborn. I was like, well,
you're gonna cut me, that's fine, but you ain't cutting me on the
first day. So I went toAtlanta and auditioned again. Also, the
(03:52):
perseverance paid off. Well you callit perseverance, I call it stubbornness,
whatever or whatever it is. Itdid pay off. I was going to
say perseverance, but kids, stubbornnesspays off. Remember that. Yeah,
sometimes I said good lessons, goodlessons. Ruben, you won that season,
Clay you won as well, really, because look at what happened to
(04:12):
your careers after that. Both kindof different, different careers, different trajectories,
but you managed to bring everything backtogether with these tours, the Timeless
Tour in twenty ten, did yourBroadway Christmas special four or five years ago?
But when you each look at yourpaths, how when you look back,
what did you do differently than youthought you would when you first won
(04:34):
and became a runner up an AmericanIdol. I had no expectations of what
I would or would not do afterwinning the show, because everything that I
had ever expected or dreamed about honestlyhappened for us on the show. So,
you know, a lot of thepeople that I group grow up growing
(04:56):
up wanting to meet, like LionelRichie, I got a chance to meet
some of the you know, producersI wanted to work with. You know,
my first uh my, my singlefor the show was produced in part
by baby Face. You know,he's had such a huge impact on me
musically growing up. So um aftereverything after American Idol was really just a
(05:18):
bonus, like a plus. Uhyou know, I didn't have any expectation
of what was going to happen thereafter. Yeah, Idol was sort of entire
career packed into sixteen weeks, youknow, and not only the I mean
the highs, the lows, theups, the downs, the people we
got to work with, the criticism, the praise, the I mean,
(05:41):
it was you could probably stretch theexperience that we had in those sixteen weeks
over over this last twenty years andthat would still be filled with more stuff
than most people who were in thisbusiness get to experience. So um uh,
it was a boot camp in someways, it was a summer camp
in some ways was I mean,it was sort of everything since then has
(06:04):
had to in some ways sort oftry to live up to that impossible thing
to live up to. And umbut I do want to I do want
to clarify one thing you said.You know, we try to bring things
back together, and Ruben and Ihave stayed a part of each other's lives
since IDOL. I mean, weare back together to to reunite on stage.
But you know, through all thestuff that I have done in the
(06:26):
past twenty years, Reuben's been thereor nearby supporting. I've tried to do
the same for him, and youknow, we we've become you know,
family in the past twenty years,and it is it is only him that's
kind of gotten me back on stage. But it is um it's it shouldn't
be seen as some sort of ohit's twenty years later, we'll reunite.
We've we've stayed in each other's livessince that day because of you know what
(06:50):
I just said. That show wassuch an experience and no one else knows
what it's like to have been atthe American Idol Season two from the beginning
to the end, like Ruben andI do, and we've shared that experience
and um, and we'll always havethat and we you know, will always
(07:10):
be friends because of it. Yeah, they were, like you both kind
of mentioned after Idol, which wasso intense, and there's you're not only
talking about that sixteen week boot camp, there's cameras in front of you everywhere
trying to capture everything. Absolutely,you definitely learn how to how to be
be on point at all times becausethat mean every every single movement. And
(07:33):
I have to say, it's notlike the reality shows are now okay,
where they're like cameras in their bedrooms, camera in the living room, Like
it's not like that, but theyyou know, there were a lot of
times, I know, when wewanted to have moments to ourselves and we
weren't able to do that because youknow, we were on the beginnings of
(07:54):
what reality TV will become. Youknow, well, and that's the thing.
American Idol is so pure. Whenit started, it was seemed like
one of the purest reality shows youcould have, and it was. It
was really great with that and thata lot of times they do go overboard
a lot of these shows later onbecause they start trying too hard, they
come up with all these ideas,when when y'all were on the show,
everything was so puring on the upand up, and that's one of the
(08:16):
reasons everybody loved it so much.And there's a lot of differences in the
world and in the music industry nowsince two thousand and three, and you've
both had successful careers in performing.But what have you each scene changing with
the landscape of the music industry withconcerts and performing and with audiences, and
especially with social media's influence that didn'treally exist twenty years ago. What's what's
(08:39):
been your experience with the changes?What's good and bad? In each of
your opinions, I would say,you know, and this is just the
old person in me. I thinkthe ending of having a physical copy of
the creative art is something that Ithink will ever be missed. I know
(09:01):
that I know that technology is movingat a pace that we will never be
able to catch up with. Andum, and I say this at the
expensive sounding extremely old, but I'mthankful that I was able to come into
the industry when I did because peoplestill um cared about having a piece material
(09:24):
that you created, and it wastangible to them, you know what I
mean. And there was something fascinatingAnd there's something almost romantic and magical about
waiting for that album to drop onTuesday and being at the store first when
it when it, you know,waiting in line to get it, and
rushing to the car to pop thatCD in or rushing home to put on
(09:48):
the record, you know, Andthat's I feel like that's sort of there's
there's a romance that's lost now whenyou just you know, you stream it.
You don't have to buy it.You type it in the computer and
it's there whenever you want it.So I I will say, I think
the one thing the only thing thathasn't changed, because so much of it
has, um so every part ofit has, But I think the one
thing that hasn't changed is live performances. You know, That's the one thing
(10:13):
that you cannot replicate, you cannotyou cannot get that on the internet,
you know. And so it's beenkind of fun for me. Ruben's been
on the road for twenty twenty years, pretty steady, and I stopped about
ten years or so long ago,and this is the first time I've been
back on tour. It's been nicefor me to return to the stage with
him and realize it's the one thingthat hasn't changed over the years. Concerts
(10:39):
still have are the still you know, have the energy and the magic that
you just cannot get from TV orthe internet. And as someone who is
really excited about being able to havethe nostalgia in this show for two thousand
and three, which is what somuch of the show is, it's it's
also nice to be a part of, you know, the one form of
(11:03):
entertainment, the one form of entertainmentthat has not been bastard of store changed
in some way over the you know, with technology, it's still it's still
the purest way to to enjoy music, and um, it's the most fun
way too. Well. It's theface to face, it's the sound and
(11:24):
the lights and the roadies and justthe experience of hearing all of that,
and maybe the opportunity to meet peopleafter. You know, you guys have
a VIP sound check option, whichwe'll talk about too. So yeah,
the live concert experience, that's verytrue until at least holograms come along and
in larger amounts. Don't don't don'tthink so don't do that. Social media?
(11:46):
What's good and bad about it?Nowadays? In music and entertainment?
You think, I think it's justthe good part is that you can reach
a lot of people in a reallyshort period of time. Whereas you know,
back in the day, we haveto do the radio at every single
market too, you know, explainyou know how our tool was going to
run. Now, you know,you just post a picture and everybody in
(12:09):
the world can see it. Trueif they said, now you get now
you get to read what everybody's opinionof yours give around the whole world.
That is I mean, I thinkit is. I personally just think in
Reuben's right, although I just asolution to that for me is just not
(12:30):
reading them. But I think Ithink it's made us as a as a
human race in ways more selfish.You know. Um, I think that
I think that one of the reasonsAmerican Idol was successful in two thousand and
three. One of the reasons isthat, you know, they weren't seven
thousand TV channels. There weren't umeighteen thousand different streaming options on the Internet
(12:56):
or the computer, and people learnto enjoy what was available to them,
and idle was an opportunity for everyoneto come around and find something that they
liked. And I feel like nowwith Twitter and all these different social media
we have, we have come toexpect exactly what we want and we're not
(13:16):
happy compromising or working together in anyway. And I feel like social media
has kind of made us expect theworld to think and feel and believe the
same things we do. And youknow, we're not a community anymore.
It's strange that the world has gottenthis ability to come together on social media
(13:39):
and be closer to each other onsocial media. But in some ways,
I think it has made us lesssensitive to what other people think and feel,
because we assume that everything we wantto say is more important than anybody
else. Well, it has balkanizedus a little bit, and it has
split music up into different genres.I mean, even Top forty isn't every
that used to be songs from everygenre on one station and they usually kind
(14:01):
of pick a lane within that nowadays, so it has been a lot of
changes with that. And he remember, I mean two thousand and three,
that was before Twitter, that wasbefore YouTube, which didn't even come out
and tell five. So that's kindof you know, Justin Bieber would have
had to try out on Canadian Idol. They were a message boards, but
we had to there was the onlydial up too, so we didn't even
(14:24):
waste our times with it. Onesound we don't miss is the sound of
that AOL dial up, right rightright. So in music today, what
are some of do you have anysome of your favorite newer artists on the
scene who you think might be thenext big thing? Man, That's that's
hard to say because I mean Iheard Bruno Mars pretty early on before like
(14:48):
everybody was like Bruno Mars crazy.I knew he was gonna be like that
because his voice is impeccable and Iheard also heard some of the songs that
he had written prior to him beinglike a big stuff for other people.
M Jazz Miss Sullivan, I thinkis one of the most amazing singers in
the industry right now. That doesn'tmean that she's gonna be the biggest star
(15:11):
because a lot of childs, themost amazing singers don't always are always the
ones that, um, I don'tknow, man, it's hard to say,
man, like I don't know,like I don't know. Music has
also changed. Music has also changedso much too. I mean, what
what I used to think when wewere on an idol sometimes I would think,
and when we were putting together ouralbums after the show, Oh,
(15:35):
man, I wish that we livedin the nineties, when songs like One
Sweet Day would stay at the topof the chart for sixteen weeks or whatever,
when when voice come in and MariahCarey and Whitney were making singles and
real singers mattered. You know,a voice was what was so important in
the nineties, and you know thetwo thousands and the twenty tens and so
(15:56):
on, vocals have not always hasbeen often been the most important. And
that's what Ruben and not too well. But you know, there are people
who surprise us, folk like Adelewho pop up and it's all about the
voice with her. So there arestill places for great singers. There's a
group called There's a rock. There'sa band called Scarlet Offer right now with
(16:17):
a leite singer, who is Ithink the next Freddie Mercury. I mean
there are still places where singers canbe you know, can make have an
impact. It's not just all DJsanymore, but it is fewer and further
between. I think, yeah,absolutely. What about there's some classic artists
or groups or songs that you weren'tthat into twenty years ago that you gained
(16:41):
a greater appreciation for since Idol.I didn't even know the Begs When I
was on Idol. We talked aboutthe whole stage every night. I didn't
even know who they were. Didn'tknow who they were until I did Idol
and we had a BIG's week Andnow you know, I love the bgis.
So I think that's another thing we'vetalked about. Rube and I about
Idol and how it exposed people inits infancy and the years we were on
(17:03):
it and a few years after.It really exposed people to styles of music
and groups that they had never heardof before. Now it's built around so
much current music, they don't dothat anymore. But it really exposed viewers
and help may participants contestants to alot of classic music, and you bring
a lot of that classic music backand you'll put your own stamp on some
(17:25):
of those songs and everything sometimes too. Now, you know, you had
your Timeless tour before you had yourBroadway Christmas Special, it was about four
or five years ago. What canpeople expect on this tour? It's it's
the twenty years tour and you're comingto the Genesee. What can people expect
on this particular show when they cometo see on May twelve? I think
people could just expect to have agood time. We put these songs together
(17:48):
because we like them. We putthese songs together because we want people to
enjoy themselves and we want to havea good time on stage as well.
So h you know, I thinkpeople are going to enjoy themselves up and
people that can sing along. Ithink it's exactly what you know, people
look for when they come out fornot in the family. They get stories
and they get great songs, andthat's what it's all about. Yeah,
(18:11):
there's not much in this show thatyou can't sing along too. Um And
I think that's what, like Ijust said, made Idol so much fun
back in the day that it was. People were singing songs that you knew
already, and Ruben and I aresinging stuff that has uh, you know,
significance to us from the show.You know, songs that he sang,
songs that I sang, stories thatgo with those songs. The song
(18:33):
everything was Everything was picked because ithas some sort of real significance to the
last twenty years and to really twothousand and three for us, and I
think that people will hopefully have thethe nostalgia that that's the nostalgic feeling,
um, that's safe, fun feelingthat they had back when they washed Idol.
And so all of the songs aredesigned. The set list is pretty
(18:56):
much all familiar songs. Do youhave any new or less familiar things you're
in there? Well, not everything, Rubens things I'm familiar with until he's
sung it. He's got a brallrepertoire of music. But but yes,
yes, everything that's on this showis either something that we did on Idol
or that is connected to the show. I mean, this this show is
about celebrating twenty three and celebrating whatyou know, what that show meant to
(19:22):
us and meant to so many people. In the country. So yes,
beautiful. Yeah, a lot ofpeople love I mean they love the music
and concerts in the singing, butso many people, it seems more so
lately. They pointed out when themusic stops and they talk to you the
audience and relate stories, and thatseems to resonate so much more with them,
which I think is one of thethings that makes a live show so
special. Well, we do ourbest. Sometimes we get off track,
(19:45):
or at least I do. It'sour telling stories we didn't plan to tell,
so we we try. We keepit fresh right, Absolutely, we
want to make sure that people havea good time or we are and we're
having listen, we're silly as everon stage like that. I think both
of us come live when we getan opportunity to perform. So um,
I think you know, people areyou know, having a wonderful time right
(20:07):
along with us. I think so. Now you two, by the way,
you both grew up in the SouthAlabama and North Carolina. I know
you've performed up up in this areabefore. Clan. No, you've performed
at the Genesee Theater. Reuben,I don't know if you have. You
both performed at Summerfest in Milwaukee,I believe. Okay, so you have
been at Genesee as well. Imean, because you're going to so many
(20:29):
beautiful theaters in the area. You'rewrapping up the tour in Lassaw, Wisconsin
on the sixteenth at the Grand Theater, which is another beautiful one, just
like Genesee is. But what whatmemories do you have of like the Chicago
Milwaukee area or Wisconsin or Madison.Do you have any particular memories of this
area, some experiences you've had,I mean one of my talking about your
(20:51):
food from Wisconsin Ribbon, Yes,please. I definitely am a fan of
the Kringle for sure. But youknow, my in my in the beginning
of my career, I had areally great record rep from that area.
His name was Alan Cole, andhe, you know, he made sure
I went to every single radio stationin the area, and I spent a
(21:15):
lot of time up there, andthat you know, that area did really
well for my record. So I'malways appreciative of that area for sure.
Nice Clay. I just worry aboutthe winters. I did so many Christmas
stores, y'all freeze my butt offsup there. So I've spent a lot
of time. I've spent a lotof time in the whole Chicago land area,
um in the winter time around theholidays, and so I haven't gotten
(21:38):
out as much because I was afraidI would die in the cold. You
know what the bad news is earlyMay is not a guarantee of summer yet.
Of heirs, I know, well, finally I'll finally get to experience
it. But May it's it's notgonna be freezing. It's not gonna be
like January. So I finally beable to get out and see see the
area. No, it won't besnowing. Definitely get out and enjoy everything.
(21:59):
So, by the way, thisis your first leg of the tour,
right, I mean there's more datesthat will be announced down the pike.
Um, I'll find out about datesevery day. But I didn't know
we're being so somebody tells me somethingwent on sale that I didn't even know
about. We've had a lot,we've had a lot of interest in this
show, which we're both excited aboutand feel blessed about. So um,
(22:22):
the fact that I think a lotof people are really into nostalgia right now,
and they just they really were longWe've we've gone through a very tough
past three years or four years orso, hell maybe more depending on you
ask, and it's just been Ithink people are longing for something that is
that feels safe and fun, andI think that this show has provided that
(22:45):
to people already. On this tourwe've the response we've gotten so far has
just been. I mean, theaudiences I think are some of the best
audiences I've performed in front of intwenty years. They're just having so much
fun bringing sign dancing in the inthe aisles and so you know, we're
enjoying doing it and we'll do itfor as long as people will let us.
(23:06):
It's amazing to have the twenty yeartour because music and especially like things
like rock and roll. You know, bands used to start and flash out
in five years, and nowadays youhave the Rolling Stones still on tour,
so they've been at a sixty becauseyou got at least forty more to go.
Right. Yes, we'll take youup on it as long as people
will come to you, and we'lldo it perfect. People. You do
(23:27):
have the VIP sound check option whereyou can or you can meet them and
Ruben and Clay dot Com is thissite with all the details on that.
Are you b E, N Aand d C LA why Ruben and Clay
dot com. You can also gettickets just the regular kind at Genesee Theater
dot com. So May twelfth,that is a Friday night. Hopefully you'll
(23:48):
have the weekend to uh or atleast the next day or something to check
out the area. And I knowyou're back up in Wasaw on May sixteenth,
so please enjoy this area. Iknow you'll enjoy the crowds. I
know they love you because you guysbring the pure voices and the pure talent
that people appreciate the most in music. So, Ruben Clay, thank you
so much for your time today.Thank you very much. I still can't
believe it's been twenty years, butthank you for listening to the Eric Cast.
(24:11):
Hope you enjoyed our conversation with RubenStuddard and Clay Aiken. I'm Eric
Halson and I'll look forward to talkingwith you in episode forty six.
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