What's up, y 'all? It's me, Jarrett, from your
favorite band, Bowling for Soup, and you are
listening to My Weekly Mixtape with Brian Colburn,
and you're stoked because I am awesome on this.
What is going on, friends? Welcome to My Weekly
Mixtape, the show that takes the classic mixtape
approach. to building a modern playlist. I'm
your host, Brian Colburn, and my guest today
is pop punk royalty. He's the voice and pen behind
the Grammy -nominated Bowling for Soup. You might
also recognize his voice as Danny on Phineas
and Ferb, as well as the iconic Chuck E. Cheese.
And he's also someone who you might not know.
On multiple occasions, whipped both my and J
-Suite's ass in trivia. It's my honor and privilege
to welcome the one and only Jarrett Reddick to
My Weekly Mixtape. Jarrett, thanks for being
here, man. Hey, man. Thanks for having me. Well,
I'd like to start by asking you the question
I ask all of my first -time guests, and that's,
what does the word mixtape mean to you? Mixtape,
for me, is probably the actual meaning of it.
I mean, I was around when mixtapes were a thing.
So, you know, I had a... It's funny, I had a
girl give me a mixtape my junior year in high
school and I still remember the songs. I listened
to it so much that I think in the order that
they were, it almost became its own album kind
of thing. So yeah, a mixtape used to be this
thing that you would make for someone either
to let them know about what music you were listening
to or let them know how you felt about them.
It was a very, very powerful tool. That's a great
way of putting it. Well, normally here's where
I jump right into the interview stuff. But my
cousin and a few of my friends for the last 16
years have been hounding me about this one. So
I'm going to start tonight by embarrassing myself.
Back in 2009, Bowling for Soup toured with MC
Lars and Kay Flay. And one of the tour stops
was in Hackensack, New Jersey. So I picked up
a four -pack of tickets, and we all decided to
make an evening of it. Go to a steakhouse, grab
some drinks, and go to the show. Well, the steakhouse
had a two -and -a -half -hour wait, and we wouldn't
be able to sit down until after the show started,
so we said, ah, we'll hit the diner. The diner
had no drinks, and everyone said, no worries,
Brian, we'll grab the first round at the show.
It's the one and only concert in my entire life
that I ever went to that was an all -ages, non
-alcoholic show. And for the last 16 years, they
have been ripping me on it. Brian buzzkill. However,
it was an amazing show. Brandon Brown of weed
has joined you guys to close it out with a rip
through of teenage dirt bag. And now hopefully
they can leave me alone because I've admitted
it to the man himself. Well, there you go. Yeah.
Gosh, we didn't play a lot of all ages, no alcohol
shows back then, but I mean, we still don't,
but. Yeah, I'm sorry you did that to your friends.
Well, now that that's out of the way, let's actually
talk some music here. And I'd like to start and
go all the way back and talk about a couple of
the songs off of 1998's Rock On Honorable Ones.
As a band for that release, you featured a horn
section on the songs 2113, Belgium, Thespian,
I Don't Know, and Friday. And because of that
dynamic. This album brings kind of a different
feel to the band. Was there a reason that horns
weren't utilized moving forward and it was just
that outlier? Yeah, it was honestly just sort
of like a, it was a place in time. We had just
moved to Denton, Texas, where North Texas University
is. It's the big, it's one of the more popular
jazz schools in the country. It's big, big music
scene there or a big music section or what do
you call it? A program. music program there and
the guy that was managing our band at the time
who would go on to co -manage us with me until
2007 was actually a really high up trombone player
and so a lot of our friends at the time and friends
bands all had horn sections well in our kind
of music that year real big fish was doing great
less than jake goldfinger there were just a lot
of bands that had horns either as part of their
band or on certain sections and so especially
bands like goldfinger were ones that we looked
at like okay well they're a four -piece pop punk
band pop punk didn't exist yet but they're a
four -piece band doing kind of what we're doing
we should put some horns on some stuff and so
um i'm really glad we did it i mean again we
used so we would perform some places and they
would come up and play with you know locally
but it wasn't something that we ever thought
about making it a part of of who we were as a
band but Yeah, again, just kind of one of those
places in time, opportunity. And again, one of
those things, I'm glad we did it because our
horn, if you were to go back and listen to them,
our horn arrangements are way, way different
than what other people's would be or would have
been at the time. They sound different because
it was made by a jazz guy. And so with really
not a lot of knowledge of what we listen to,
you know, and so. Yeah, it's again, it's just
a place in time. Well, since I mentioned the
song already, let's get this out of the way.
Belgium was recorded, like we just said, with
horns for Rock On, Honorable Ones. It was recorded
without horns on Tell Me When to Woe, Let's Do
It for Johnny and songs people actually liked,
Volume 1. It was recorded acoustically on Drunk
Enough to Dance as an international edit on A
Hangover You Don't Deserve. as a polka on Sorry
for Partying, and as a solo piano ballad for
A Nice Night for an Evening, Volume 1. So when
can fans expect a Bowling for Soup The Best of
Belgium release? Not to mention the elevator
music version on Pop Drunk's Not Bread as well.
yeah you know that is one of those organic stories
that you know it's so basically we had done it
for rock honorable ones and then our we had met
our attorney who was going to be our attorney
for many many years and he was like man i think
y 'all need to do a version without horns because
i think belgium could be a single and so we did
that for tell me window whoa well then we got
signed to jive records and they essentially wanted
all of that ep on Let's do it for Johnny. So
now it's on three albums. So therein is where
the joke started. It was like, Hey, Belgium is
on our last three albums. We should put it on,
on a drunk enough to dance. And there was a band
that I listened to called diesel boy who, and
they're still around and touring now. And we're
friends with now, but at the time I just liked
their music, but they had a song on one of their
albums where you can hear them. walk in the room
and they play it acoustic and then you can hear
them walk out. And I was just like, man, that
would be cool. That's what I wanted to do. So
we set it up for that. And that pretty much just
started the snowball effect of like, okay, well,
what's the next version of Belgium going to be?
Well, one of the things I've always loved about
Bowling for Soup is there are multiple layers
to these songs. There are tracks like I want
to be Brad Pitt, the bitch song or getting old
sucks, but everybody's doing it. That show off
a sense of humor. but they're balanced out with
songs like When We Die or one of my favorite
songs from the band Turbulence, which for someone
like myself who struggled with anxiety for years
has truly helped me through some rough patches
in life. So interview aside, first off, thank
you for putting this song out in the universe.
Thank you for saying that. Thank you. How does
Bowling for Soup strike a balance between the
humor and the serious side? Yeah, you know, thanks
for asking. What a great question. And definitely,
you know, one of those things where there's a
definite evolution to this. You know, I think
really the reason we became more humorous at
first was really because of my insecurities in
writing songs. I really just was insecure in
writing lyrics. So if I put a funny spin on it,
then nobody could really take it. seriously so
even if it was a serious song or something that
meant a lot to me i could sort of put a funny
spin on it at the end of it or in the bridge
or whatever and then it'd be like oh okay well
he's not speaking from the heart so let's not
judge you know what it is he's saying but then
i i wrote a song you know i guess for tell me
when to woe called you and me And that song was
kind of like one of those first ones where I
was like, OK, I'm going to stick my toe in here
and see what writing like a real heartfelt song
feels like. And it got a really, really great
reaction and definitely one of my favorite songs
of Bowling for Soup's history. And then that
started the whole deal of, you know, we're all
metal fans. And so you remember back in the hair
metal days, bands always had at least one power
ballad. So I was pretty adamant at that point.
OK, we're going to have at least one power ballad
on every single album. And that's really what
started us down that path. Whereas so like when
we did Let's Do It For Johnny, you had Where
To Begin. And then, um, wait a minute is where
to begin on. No, where to begin is on drunken
at the dance. I believe I don't, I don't know.
It doesn't matter. Point is, is that, uh, no,
cause you and me would be, it does. God damn
it. And it's, there's a lot of albums, you know,
but, uh, I know I've got them all sitting here,
the whole stack. Oh, thank you. Thank you. But
yeah, so that, you know, where to begin, I think
was the next one. And then, uh, from there, you
know, you've got that songs like. I mean, there's
just there's a thousand of them now. You know,
we just started playing Me With No You on the
last tour. And that song's got a lot of personal
stuff to it. So really, I just sort of had to
find the balance internally of what I was willing
lyrically to let out. And so with Bowling for
Sleep, I sort of always had a barrier until songs
like until Turbulence really, you know, when
we die, you know, that's really in the area where
I started going, OK, well, I'm going to. I'm
going to let it all out and just see what happens.
So, but yeah, and you know, which is great because
it's an evolution into songwriting today where
like, you know, if I'm writing for my country
stuff, sorry to get off topic, but like I really,
really let it out there and I'm not as worried
about saying, you know, as many things that actually
mean something to me. And then by having those
other outlets, it allows me to keep Bowling for
Soup reeled in a little bit, meaning that like,
I don't really expect to start talking about,
you know, again, even like let's talk about Hello
Anxiety. Right. So like my anxiety song is a
is kind of a silly, funny song that's actually
kind of sad for Bowling for Soup. Right. Instead
of whereas if you hear the country one that I
just wrote, it's like, oh, God, you know, like
my heart, you know, kind of thing. Well, I am
going to jump onto the hairband thing for a moment
because I know you're a big hair metal fan, as
am I. My first ever concert was Poison and David
Lee Roth on the Skyscraper tour. So this is kind
of my wheelhouse here. Hell yeah. Knowing you're
into the hair metal scene, Poison, Skid Row,
Warn, and you mentioned that you always wanted
to have a power ballad. Yeah. I've always referred
to them as punk rock power ballads. Was that
something that has ever, because I feel like
Bowling for Soup is one of the few bands that
truly embraces that moment on every album. I
call them power ballads. I mean, we really do.
I mean, that's always been what we call them,
you know. And really just because of that, that's
how it was categorized. You know, when you bought
a Poison record, you got I Won't Forget You,
you know, and you got Tesla, You Got Love Song.
And, you know, you got a power ballad on every
record, at least one. And then, you know, as
those became like the movie soundtracks and more
popular songs going into the 90s, sometimes you
get two, you know. But, you know, I mean, there's
not, you know, like on the Cinderella record,
the one with Coming Home, A Long Cold Winter.
I think there's three. But Coming Home is just
a gosh, what a great song. So anyway, yeah, I
mean, we refer to them as power ballads. I try
to do one a record at least. And we just sort
of see where we end up. You know, I think the
one for Pop Drunk's Not Red ended up being a
little bit more like. retro it was more you know
like kind of looking back um less about relationships
and more about like hey i wouldn't change anything
sort of like here's i'm gonna pay pay homage
to what's going on but still same vibe all right
before we move on top three power ballads of
all time from the hair metal scene what do you
got oh man okay first of all a he's putting me
on the spot so i did not prep for this but i
love um top three of all time well home sweet
home is easily the best. I mean, you know, you
can say what you want about Motley Crue. And
I realize there's especially this day and age,
but 80s hair metal ballads. Absolutely. That's
the biggest and best of all time. The original
theater of pain version or the 91 decade of decadence
version where he's playing on a grand piano.
I'm going to go theater of pain version just
for nostalgia. OK, fair. And then. i guess for
number two i'm gonna go uh living on a pri no
i mean uh oh gosh uh wanted dead or alive by
uh by bon jovi and then uh let's see um is that
the right one is that that's the one um that's
how i walk these lotus six train oh yeah yeah
i got it okay so that's that one and then uh
number four has to be poison um So I'm going
to actually I'm going to dig deep on this one
because I still think I won't forget you is just
a freaking great, great. That's a punk rock song,
you know, like that. That could be a punk rock
song. All right. Well, one of my favorite things
about the hair band scene was the vocal harmonies
besides the guitar theatrics and everything else.
And that's something I've always thought has
been a staple of Bowling for Soup sound. What's
your approach to incorporating but not over utilizing
vocal harmonies throughout the band's music?
Well, you know, we were literally built to be
a singing band. When I started Bowling for Soup,
I wanted to start what I considered to be the
punk rock Beatles. And when you know, and it
was very important to me. And if you listen to
the first album, you know, again, we made three
months into us forming. that Eric and I were
both lead singers I wanted two leads I didn't
even stand in the middle like we were everybody
was and everybody sang and uh you know so it
was the four of us singing until Lance left the
band and when Gary started he really and that's
you know just a few years in by the way um so
but it was always the harmonies have always been
a huge part and I'm very proud of that because
it's still the thing that people, when they come
away from our shows, even though it's just me
and Rob now singing, when they come away from
our shows, they're still like, man, those harmonies,
holy crap. But yeah, I think you can go big and
you can go over the top sometimes. And I think
for me, the secret is try everything. And you
can always have, as my friend Linus says, all
you need is enough footage. you know and so we'll
put oohs and ahs on everything we put harmonies
on everything i'll put a low part an octave and
blah blah blah on everything and we use some
of it and we don't use some of it and so and
then sometimes you you know you have a chord
harmony wise where you're just like oh my god
that changes how it all feels i want to reimagine
now i want to reimagine that guitar part because
this is stepping on that and and so you know
i i really do let the vocals drive the song itself.
And I think that's why we're such a band that
you can sing along to. I'm very adamant about
enunciating and about everybody in the band enunciating
when they sing so that you can understand the
words and that the melodies are easy and not
confusing to sing. Because I like bands like
Jellyfish and bands like that where the melodies
are a little crazier. But that's not our style.
Our style is I want your ear to feel real comfortable
going to the each next note, you know, and and
so, you know, again, it's it's very, very much
a big part of of the whole song itself. And I
feel like when you've rerecorded some of the
songs for the compilation songs, people actually
liked volume one and two. You kind of honed in
and tweaked a little bit because on the bitch
song. I remember the original from Let's Do It
to Johnny, but one part that always jumps out
to me is in the second verse when you sing, and
then you're in my face telling me to grow up.
I wish you'd grow up. The layers of harmonies
in there makes that version feel so much bigger
than the original. Was that something that you
were thinking about during the re -record? We
also added an energy by changing the key of it,
and we sped it up a little bit. So we didn't
do that to all of the songs. The bit sung for
me. We had just never really gotten what the
energy, you know, that, that song was what got
us signed. And I, and I really, there was a lot
riding on it. I never thought we nailed it, you
know, and I just really, I thought the feel was
just, it always felt like it was pulling back
to me. And so, yeah, there was a little bit of
stuff here and there. The thing about the bitch
song though, the reason why there's a little
bit more pizzazz to it on the rerecord is because
it was recorded at a different time. We did that
when we recorded Stacy's mom. for the i've never
done anything like this little single and then
we re -recorded the bit song so this is before
we had really decided that we were going to go
re -record all of the hits so that's a very good
ear by you to hear that that we did a little
bit more on that particular song than we did
trying to keep the other songs more intact to
really where they were just like sonically kind
of give them a little bit of a lift so i gotta
bring up stacy's mom yeah I understand that this
was 2003 and this was the era of Napster and
it was probably Kazaa at this point. Was that
the same type of situation? Because I know there's
a lot of people that say, oh, all for you, the
blues traveler song. And I'm like, what? Right.
Were you guys attributed to Stacey's mom because
of file sharing or how did this happen? Well,
there's. there's a lot of theories i i think
probably limelire and nabster and that stuff
is probably a good part of it but also i think
it's actually a little later than that because
it's it's because i really feel like it really
happened when 1985 was on we were on vh1 every
day and stacy's mom was on vh1 every day and
our band was very like out there and personal
and stuff whereas fountains of wayne were a little
bit more cool and they they were you know their
video like they're uh you know in black and white
and like looking at the camera at different angles
and stuff you really didn't come away knowing
what they looked like well you knew exactly what
we looked like so i think we were in everybody's
heads i think the songs were kind of neck and
neck and going in the same places and then i
think there's the mislabeling of the files as
well you know i think it's the perfect storm
And then the fact that we sort of kept going
down that same path, whereas they didn't really
write a lot more songs like that. Fountains of
Wayne, you know, Fountains of Wayne is one of
those bands, bands, you know, where Adam Schlesinger,
God rest his soul, was a genius. But they weren't
setting out to write pop punk hits. They were
being Fountains of Wayne, right? I mean, and
we, again, it's unfair of me to say that we weren't
just being Bowling for Soups. I definitely wasn't
trying to write hits. I loved what I was doing.
But yeah, I think it's a big combination of all
of it. And then also like where we were playing
at the time, you know, we're starting to get
into like where we were getting to play at more
like citywide things where little kids were able
to come to see our shows. And so again, just
this perfect storm of a wild misinformation.
And, you know, it's one of those things where
we still joke about it all the time. I mean,
but again, I meet my kids. friends parents and
i'm like i what do you do i'm in bowling for
soup yeah stacy's mom no we're 1985 but i get
it well i do want to touch on the grammys because
you had mentioned that in your music videos you
guys had a look and while you did not win the
grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group
with vocal for girls all the bad guys want You
did win, and I'm using quote marks in the air
when I say this, worse dressed from Joan Rivers,
which, I mean, she was dot matrix at Spaceballs.
So as far as I'm concerned, that's kind of a
W right there. Well, not to mention, you know,
People Magazine, too. And so, you know, it was
that was a weird thing where some people would
see as a negative. And for us, it was this legitimizing
thing to where it's like, oh, we're in the magazine
that our grandparents. Our grandmas are looking
through at the hair salon on Wednesdays, getting
their their wet set. Like we're on Joan Rivers.
They know what that is. They know what Joan Rivers
is. And so things had started happening for us
in another country. And it's like, you know,
and there's no real digital age yet. So honestly,
what they saw is, you know, these a couple of
a few guys that have college educations and a
couple of other dudes like going around and not
using what they have available to them to go
in. and get a real life and all of a sudden okay
well we're on the grammys and now my grandmother
can show everybody at the beauty shop that we're
in people magazine and you know so there was
uh you know it's you know the the old saying
all press is good press is really not i mean
it it really is you know all press is good press
and especially if it's sort of light -hearted
and fun like that right like where people would
go oh man but you know you guys got Joan Rivers
worst dress I'm like yeah you know what that
got us I mean that got Chris pointed out on Jimmy
Kimmel and then when we went on Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel had to fess up to the fact that
he had just said this about Chris you know what
I mean like it we got so many miles out of all
of that not to mention Brad Paisley who we had
never met walking with us on the red carpet he
goes can I just hang with you guys y 'all look
fun we were like hell yeah I get to say I did
my first ever really big red carpet walk with
Brad Paisley, one of the greatest guitar players
that ever lived. Oh, my God. I think he's one
of the most underrated. People don't put him
in the top pantheon of guitarists and listen
to a track like Time Warp and your mind is going
to be blown. Well, you have to go see him. Because
if you go see him, he does this thing. Well,
I mean, of course, I haven't seen him in probably
15 years, but he used to do this thing where
he would switch amps and he would start playing
metal and his band would sort of join. He didn't
sing or anything, but he would just shred for
a while. But then he goes back into chicken picking,
which people don't understand. Country guitar
is way harder at that level. Country guitar is
so hard. There's a reason why Paul Gilbert from
Racer X, one of the greatest guitar players that
ever lived. studies bluegrass. I was going to
say Mr. Big, but Racer X works too. That's right.
Yeah. So as one of the good things that came
out of that. Now, the actual Grammy nod itself,
because that seems like it's something that's
commonly used as a benchmark in terms of a band's
success. That's the top of the mountain. It's
the Grammys. Did it move the needle or open new
doors for Bowling for Soup outside of the press
aspect of it? Again, there's a legitimacy to
it. Girl, the bad guys want had been on rock
radio and was failing miserably. And what happened
was, is that a guy named David Edgar, Pittsburgh
Steelers fan, by the way, was at in Indianapolis
at a station called Radio Now and had decided
this is a pop song. And he started playing it.
And by the time we went into the Christmas break,
which for the listener, basically the industry
shuts down from around mid -December to mid -January.
And radio stations, as far as. their playlists
are concerned are locked. Now they stopped playing
Christmas songs and stuff like this, but still
it's like everything is locked in. So like charting
wise, everything stays the same for, for this
amount of time. Well, he had put the song into
power. So we come back after the break, we had
gotten nominated for a Grammy for the song and
it's in power rotation at one of the leading
reporting stations in the country. That's a pop
station. So. that's really what it did was it
got everybody else going oh okay well maybe we
need to be playing this and then so then this
song added it and this this station added this
station and then the next thing you know we had
a legitimate hit and then you know i mean again
as as far as you know one of those things is
we had been doing this for 10 years in a van
not joking eric and i lived in it for two of
those 10 years and a grammy is like a doctorate
You know, I mean, I'm going to be Grammy nominated
forever. So it's one of those things where they're
just I'm overusing the word legitimacy. But this
is sort of what we're talking about. Right. Is
like when these things started to become, hey,
this feels this way, this feels this way. Well,
that is a deal where it's just like, you know,
my mom could say to her friends, oh, yeah, he's
I don't know, he's traipsing around the country,
but they got nominated for a Grammy. Right. Like
so. But that's really what it did. And then again,
it's one of those things where we were asked
about it all the time. And again, I hold it very,
very, very, very near and dear to my heart that
we got to experience that. Now, before we move
on, I just want to remind anybody listening,
if you want to hear all the songs we're talking
about in this interview tonight, just head over
to the episode page. You can find it at myweeklymixtape
.com. Well, being a huge fan of cover songs like
I am, Bowling for Soup has always scratched that
itch for me. As far back as Summer of 69 from
Let's Do It for Johnny to your version of Fergie's
London Bridge to your latest cover being a rendition
of Taylor Swift's Actually Romantic. Can you
talk about what the band likes to bring to these
interpretations or songs? Because I never feel
like a Bowling for Soup cover is a color by numbers
cover. Well, the idea is always to make it sound
like us, you know, with exception of the Britney
Spears song, which is a different story because
we didn't really have any control over that.
And just to give you some insight into that.
So when we did Baby One More Time, that was already
temped into the movie Freaky Friday at that.
tempo in that in that key and they had already
filmed the actors singing along to it so they
were like we have to do it at this tempo this
this key so when we started playing it it coming
out like this big like sort of heavy rock song
wasn't our it really that was not our idea but
once it did happen we embraced it other than
that the covers the idea is to make them sound
like us i mean i think there's a few like maybe
the social distortion where we just pretty much
just played the song. Cause you don't want to
do any disrespect to social distortion. Um, but
you know, when you go out and you do a kid Cuddy
song or, um, you know, as I said, we, you know,
we've done this Taylor Swift song or whatever.
I kind of want to make it our own, but keep the
song intact and you'd never want to disrespect
the songwriter or the artist. And, uh, even if
you're doing it for a bit of a laugh, you know,
which I. i i can't really think of any of them
off the top of my head that we did for a laugh
but you know because honestly when flowers by
miley cyrus came out i mean i i saw that on a
video from a friend who was across the world
and i had never heard it and i just went holy
we've got to cover this song right and so we
covered it we got it out really quick And the
Taylor Swift one was really input from other
people going, guys, this sounds like you guys.
Y 'all should cover this song. So we did it that
way. So again, all with respect to the artist
and to the original people who do it. And never
as anything other than just like, hey, we're
going to make this song our own because we think
the song is cool. Well, you mentioned Freaky
Friday. So I want to go down that. Disney rabbit
hole for a second. The band recently wrapped
up a weekend of shows at Walt Disney World in
Orlando, a setting where you had to keep things
PG like the 2009 show I mentioned at the top
of the interview. Yeah. Kind of foreign to anyone
who's seen you many a times like I have, but
Bowling for Soup has a long history with Disney
as Radio Disney used to air clean versions of
songs like Almost, High School Never Ends, 1985.
and Punk Rock 101. Then you have, of course,
the band performing today is going to be a great
day, the theme for Phineas and Ferb. Along with
that, you've also recorded Disney covers over
the years, including The Bare Necessities from
The Jungle Book, and most recently, Friend Like
Me from Aladdin for the A Whole New Sound compilation.
How did that Disney relationship kind of come
together initially and continue to thrive over
the decades? Well, the relationships with the
channel and the radio station are different.
Radio Disney was actually located in Dallas.
And we had a guy that worked for Jive that had
a vision that was just like, man, I think Bowling
for Soup is perfect for this. And he took us
out to lunch. And the program director at the
time, Robin Jones, was a little bit iffy, but
gave Punk Rock 101 a shot. And it just did so
great. And it just kept going and kept going
that. We developed a really great relationship
and still friends to this day. And at that point
we would do like full on radio version, radio
Disney versions of our next two albums. You know,
so we would do a Boeing pursuit. We did our version.
which is just the version that's out a clean
version and then we would do radio disney version
because you can't just cut the cuss words in
the radio disney versions you gotta like change
the words so instead of one prozac a day one
workout a day right so you know something that's
urban mama do and then honestly everything else
is just super organic i mean the uh phineas and
ferb came because the creators were big fans
of the band and that's been a really cool relationship
to continue to work with and then Them hiring
us finally this year. We've been working on trying
to get in to Eat to the Beat for a while. And
they had us there this year at Epcot. And it
just went so great. And we're so happy to be
doing it. I think with shows like that, it's
hard to convince a promoter who can get online
and see us playing at clubs and doing off -color
humor and making that such a big part of our
show and a lot of swear words and stuff. you
have to be able to show them like, oh, okay,
we can do this kind of show too. And we've been
playing state fairs and things like that for
many, many years. And so keeping it clean is
not that difficult. I had a lot of fun with it
this time because a lot of times what we'll do,
most of the state fairs and stuff, and you can
say the words, you just don't cuss in between
songs. But with Disney, they were just like,
they kind of frowned upon that. I just changed
the words to all the songs just, you know, as
I went. And so I'm just trying to make the audience
laugh as much as I'm making myself laugh. And
we had a good time doing it. It was, it was a
lot of fun. It's been, it was a great weekend.
So I have to ask, did the Disney connection and
your role with Phineas and Ferb have any bearing
on you becoming the voice for Chuck E. Cheese
back in 2012? No, there's, there's no, there's
no tie in there. That's all a separate thing.
Yeah, I've lent the mouse my voice now since
2012. And it's one of my favorite things on the
planet. I love him so much. And it's one of my
favorite jobs. And I grew up going to the restaurants
and playing the games. But I was doing improv
comedy here in Dallas. And the guy that got the
relaunch account happened to... see me but and
knew the band and was just like i think this
guy would be the guy and uh and it just worked
out and so man i i i feel so blessed to be able
to do that because it's just because chucky is
just such a huge part of nostalgia and culture
and and uh you know of a lot of people's childhood
and so you know the fact that since gosh for
13 years or so i've been your kids chucky cheese
it means a lot to me and, uh, and I'm, I'm super
happy about it. Yeah. I grew up in North Jersey.
So there was the battle between Chuck E. Cheese
and the Rockafire explosion from showbiz pizza.
So you had the dueling thing there. Does that
Chuck E. Cheese gig get you like lifetime game
tokens? Are you like, can you walk in and pull
that card with them and be like, do you know
who I am? I never asked. Uh, I, uh, my kids are
a little older now, but when they were little,
we went there just like everybody else. And,
uh, you know, there was one year where they gave
me a, a golden band that, uh, that got free games
for a while. But, uh, but now I never, you know,
they, uh, they treat me well enough to where
I don't mind going in there and supporting the
restaurant. And, uh, and, and, you know, I, I
don't really like to make a big deal about me
being in there. I mean, sometimes I'll get recognized
or whatever. And, uh, and they'll come up and
be like, we listened to your voice all day. And,
and, uh, sometimes a kid will just hear me talk
and go Chucky, you know, actually that happened
to me at the airport yesterday. I was just talking
to Gary, my drummer, and a guy just walked by
and he just goes, you sound like Chuck E. Cheese.
And then I turned around and he goes, oh my God,
you are. And so, but yeah, that's, you know,
I definitely don't mind having a very recognizable
voice. Well, I want to bring up something that
is something I know you've talked about before,
but for the listeners of the show who might not
know, I want to bring up one of the band's biggest
hits, which is 1985. Now, along with Bowling
for Soup, I'm also a big fan of SR71, whose third
album, Here We Go Again, was originally released
in Japan only in May of 2004. So you can imagine
my surprise when two months later, Bowling for
Soup released your version of the track. Over
the years, I've read a lot of conflicting stories.
One, that you heard SR71's version and you asked
to cover it. Two, that Mitch Allen from SR71
called you and offered it up. And three, Butch
Walker, the incredible producer, singer, songwriter,
and front man of The Marvelous Three, had some
connection to it. Would you mind shedding some
light on this once and for all? Yeah, absolutely.
And also, if you want to hear the full story,
it's pinned at the top of my TikTok. But yeah,
it's a very simple story. We were done recording
Hangover You Don't Deserve. Mitch and I had known
each other forever. We were in Butch Walker's
studio, but Butch was not even there. We had
stayed there to finish the album after he produced
the first three tracks. And then we stayed there
and finished the record. And it was his manager,
Donathan Daniel, who's still his manager today,
manages Train as well, Butch's new band. And
Donathan Daniel called and was just like, you
got to hear this song because Mitch Allen just
sent me and they knew one another because Butch
had produced their big hit right now. So he just
said, man, I just got sent this song. And the
thing was, is that Mitch wasn't looking for anything
for SR 71. He was looking for management as a
songwriter or as a solo artist. And so this was
just on his reel. Jonathan Daniel had the foresight
to go. And that sounds like a bowling for soup
song and send it over. And quite frankly, their
version is pretty harsh. It's kind of mean. And
so at first I didn't really get it. you know
and uh it list a couple of listens with gary
and gary going man it's pretty good and gary
doesn't really ever he doesn't say anything unless
he means it and so then then it was a conversation
between me and mitch and me just going hey man
can i just have my way with it he goes you can
do whatever you want with it and uh yeah the
rest is history i was able to make a few changes
here and there butch coached me through some
of that as the producer he came back produced
that track and uh and we had a big hit with it
and everybody's happy You know, because it's
like, I think some people will hear, you know,
like, oh, well, that's an SR -71 song. Yeah,
kind of. I mean, you know, Mitch and I and John,
the other writer who was the drummer by then
in SR -71, considered a collaboration. And it
certainly wouldn't be the song that it is unless
all of those things. had happened so if all of
those things hadn't happened so a lot had to
happen um you know we needed to be on the right
label we had to go make the right video i mean
that the video was such a huge part of the success
of that but everybody involved deserves all the
credit because there's there's you know there's
mitch you know and john writing the song and
then mitch being cool about it and jonathan daniel
and then butch and then our and our guy howie
you know, being even open to the idea and, you
know, just, just a lot of moving parts that had
to happen to make that song a hit. And so, but
yeah, you know, I think sometimes people will
kind of look at it as like a negative thing that,
oh, well they covered an SR 71 song and, and,
you know, to me, it's like, I don't think they
understand how much it benefited SR 71 and how
much they wanted this to happen, you know, as
well. And, uh, and I think, and another thing
you're, you're a, you're a, you know, a guy that's
talking about songs. I think you'd be surprised
how many people don't write their big hits, you
know? And I think, you know, just the general
person on TikTok, they like to point out, you
know, oh, SR71. Yeah, SR71. That's great. You
know, but, you know, I don't take that as a negative.
You know, it's a positive thing. And we all got
a bunch of plaques on the wall from that song.
Now, you were mentioning the collaborative effort
of 1985, and I want to dive into that a little
bit more because you recorded a cover of Hanson's
Where's the Love with the members of Hanson as
a single for the Don't Mind If We Do album. You
also did a split EP with Kelly Ogden and the
Dolly Rots, which is the Dolly Rots versus Bowling
for Soup, where you each covered each other's
music. You also worked with Poison. We were talking
hair bands before. Poison's Bret Michaels on
a cover of Sublime's What I Got. And you collaborated
with, I mentioned them earlier, Blues Traveler
on I Know Right and Right Here Waiting for You
on their 2015 album, Blow Up the Moon. Can you
talk about how these collaborations come together
in a traditional sense and maybe what all the
bands take away from the crossovers and the cross
-pollinization of genres here? I mean, that's
a super complicated question because every one
of those things you listed is a completely different
story, different relationship. Fair. You know,
I mean, it's, you know, it's for us and the Dolly
Rots, you know, doing a split seven inch around
a tour, you know, that's kind of where that,
I had done that before. We had, we did a tour
with the Dolly Rots and a band called Patent
Pending, Rob's original band. And we actually
did a whole album of that. where we all put a
new song and we covered one of each of the other
band's songs. Is that the One Big Happy compilation?
One Big Happy, yeah. And so each one of those
is its own thing. With Brett, his guitar player
Pete Evick is a good friend of mine, and I met
him because Pete is a really big Bowling Pursuit
fan, and thus Brett became a fan, and I got asked
to be a part of that. Blues Traveler, all of
those songs on that record are all collaboration.
So they went and worked with 303 and they went
and worked with a lot of different other bands.
And so when they came in, I had them for two
days and I got to write with John and we wrote
one song the first day and we recorded it. We
wrote one song the next day and recorded it.
And everybody in our bands played on them and
stuff like that. And I got to produce freaking
John Popper in the studio, which was great. You
know, a lot of times it's about relationships
and sometimes it's about ideas. You know, I think
a lot of times you've got a smart manager or
smart and our person that puts two people together
for me. most of these have have been most of
my stuff most most of my collaborations have
been about relationships whether it's just you
know wanting to do something with a friend or
you know being asked to do something by a friend
or you know somebody's kid is a fan and they're
like i get this guy to do this you know so um
so it just varies but you know i think collaboration
is one of the one of the key components to to
to it all like you learn so much just from writing
songs with other people and i think also fans
love to know that their that their favorite bands
like each other and stuff it's a reason why you
know when you go see a tour you know you always
almost always see one of the bands come out on
stage with one of the other bands and stuff because
that shows this camaraderie that shows that oh
man that's so cool that they do that and that
they know each other and that they love one another
and you know and all that and so i think that's
one of the it's very special aspect of the whole
the whole darn thing Well, I could honestly go
album by album asking you questions about all
my favorite Bowling for Soup songs, but out of
respect for your time, I'd like to touch on a
trio of songs. The first one being my daughter's,
both of my daughter's favorite Bowling for Soup
songs. So if I don't ask about this, I'm going
to get in trouble. And they're both teenagers,
so they will hold this against me now. You don't
want any part of that. No, I most certainly don't.
And that song is a really cool dance song from
Sorry for Partying. Do you consider Bowling for
Soup a band that, quote unquote, has no boundaries
when it comes to recording? Because to kick off
an album with a song that is literally a dance
song and you're screaming, it's our new sound.
That takes a lot of brass, man. But I got to
admit, it was a home run right out of the gate.
Yeah, you know, that song, it just it's one of
those things where it was that time. You know,
in that time in 2008, 2009, when I was I was
I came up with that idea. You know, I was I was
writing my very first songs with my best friend,
Linus of Hollywood, who would go on to produce
most of almost every Bowling for Sleep song until
today. And it was our first time writing together.
And I was like, I got this idea for a song. And
it's basically making fun of everybody else in
my genre because everybody has added all these
keyboards and he calls them bleep, bleep, bloop,
bloops. And I'm like, they're all like putting
the four on the floor beat. You know what I mean?
Like everybody was doing that. And so it really
kind of goes back to our reaction with the horns,
you know, back in the late 90s. It's like, well,
why don't we just do it? But in this way, let's
be a little bit silly about it. Let's go in and
go, hey. We're going to change our whole sound
to this. And it just couldn't have worked out
any perfect. I remember we had had the beat down
and we had already written all the lyrics and
stuff. And the first time he went, and I was
just like, oh my God, that's perfect. And so,
yeah, a song. honestly written to make fun of
the genre that we hold so near and dear to our
hearts um you know fortunately we're all back
out of that i think now i don't think anybody's
really still doing that anymore but you know
a place that's up and i think my i don't think
any of my peers were like upset about it because
everybody knows who we are you know it's it's
all in good fun it's definitely one of those
ones where anytime a dance song is on My girls
will literally say to me, we are dancing. This
is awesome. We are dancing and we're dancing,
dancing because I can't dance for shit. So they
love to throw that in my face. Well, you can
tell them this about all of that is all ad -libbed.
So that's all just like we. all of that is just
me fucking around at the end of a song and i'd
had a few beers and and uh you know it's just
uh you know you got to do do what's called a
an ad lib section or whatever and and then so
in all of it and it just damn we're back like
all of that is just uh it's yeah it's great it's
funny for me to listen to now because i remember
laughing about that for days afterwards you know
and that's that's sort of how most of the stuff
like even the thing like if i'm talking usually
in a song for example if only you were here or
here's your freaking song or whatever almost
every single one of those is first take because
i'm really weird about things starting to sound
rehearsed so i just get up on the mic and do
what it is i want to do and normally it sticks
Well, now for the only Brian would ask this question
portion of the interview. So I apologize in advance,
but at the beginning of a friendly goodbye from
the great burrito extortion case, you yell out
freeze frame as the song kicks in. And I've listened
to that song a million times and I'm like, this
doesn't sound like the Jay Giles band. I'm trying
to picture the keyboard. Is there some connection
or did you just, was that another ad lib? Hold
on ad lib. And, uh, You know, we were having
so much fun making that record. There's a lot
of Easter eggs like that. And so, no, absolutely
no real reason why I would have said that. It's
just don't I say something after that or say
something before it? I say something and then
I say freeze frame. But yeah, all ad lib and.
You know, again, no rhyme, no reason to that.
OK, so I'm not crazy because I sat there going
like I'm trying to put the keyboards from freeze
frame over the guitar. And I'm like, these are
different keys. What the hell? Thank you for
clearing that up for me. And now, as my youngest
and I are both big WWE fans, I'll assume you
are as well, given the track Alexa Bliss. Why
the hell hasn't she used that for her entrance
music yet? You know, I don't know how much control
she has over that. I mean, you know, I can't
really speak for her, but I can tell you, you
know, the WWE is its thing. I mean, it controls
a lot or all of everything. You know, what I
can tell you is that, you know, that was a very,
very lucky relationship because I'm so blessed
that we're friends and she ended up marrying.
a friend of mine from back you know me and ryan
cabrera have known each other since he was a
kid and because he's from here but you know actually
i my son who's now 19 had gotten into wrestling
and so i liked wrestling when i was a kid but
i'm from texas i like the von eric's you know
you guys would call the texas tornado but we
call them carrie von eric the modern day warrior
and of course now you can see the movie and you
know that but The Von Eriks were, in fact, if
you don't know this, I actually used Von Erik
as my stage name for the first four or five albums.
And Kevin has made me an honorary Von Erik. So
it's all legit. But gosh, I can't get to the
answer to the question. I'm just keep adding
to this. But yeah, I had seen someone had tagged
me on Twitter that there was a wrestler who like
way back in the day had said something about
us. You know, and I couldn't quite remember who
it was. And I just sort of put it back there
or whatever. Well, then me and my son are at
a wrestling thing here in Dallas. And Alexa Bliss
comes out and I go, hey, I think that girl. I'm
not sure how to help you with that. Alexa off.
I can't say her name anymore. You should have
heard it when I was recording that song because
they're everywhere all over this house, by the
way. So. I said, I think she likes my band. He's
like, no way. And so I look her up and sure enough,
I found the tweets. But not only that, I found
pictures that would turn out to be her final
photo shoot before she left for training for
the WWE. And she was wearing a Bowling for Soup
shirt. And so I just sent her a message in her
DMs and she messaged right back. Like, hey, are
you coming backstage? I'm like, no, I'm in the
nosebleeds up here. Anyway, long story short,
we met, and it turns out she's a big fan of Bowling
for Soup, and she's just such a lovely, lovely
girl, and they have such a beautiful family.
But the song is because all of these bands just
have these cock rock songs, you know, what a
lot of people would call, what do you call it?
ass rock or any i would call it cock rock but
which is great but to me they all sound the same
so i was like why wouldn't this girl who is like
so set up she suits she sets herself apart so
well from everything else and she loves pop punk
like why wouldn't she have a pop punk song and
so we did the song and wwe was amazing she was
more amazing and helping get it through but literally
let her come to my house be in character use
the suit be in the video like as her like i mean
I don't know how much you know about the red
tape that is the WWE, but you could probably
imagine that was not fucking easy to pull off.
And she spearheaded that and made sure it happened.
And there was rumors that we would get to play
her out at WrestleMania. And then the pandemic
happened. And so then it's kind of been lost
in the, and you know, she's in and out of wrestling
and, and you know, building her family and stuff
like that. And so I think it probably missed
the window on it being her walkout song, but.
To be honest, I'm just happy that the song exists.
And I'm so happy that, you know, she's a part
of our lives. And we're really, really lucky.
As I said, I feel very, very lucky that just
that one interaction that my kid took and that,
you know, that ended up, that we ended up building
this friendship just based on that one, me remembering
that there was a tweet. Well, in the spirit of
my weekly mixtape. If you had to choose three
Bowling for Soup songs that resonate with you
the most. Now, I'm not talking about the hits
or the fan favorites. I'm talking about the tracks
that mean the most to you, Jarrett Reddick, the
songwriter. Which three would you choose and
why? Friends of mine. That song is really, really
important to me and the band and really sums
up how much I just absolutely love them and what
we do. Turbulence, because of the lives that
it's impacted, including mine, and what that
song will continue to do as long as I'm talking
about mental health and that song gets associated
with me and my cause with that, with depression
and anxiety. and all of that uh and then um i
mean i really have to say girl the bad guys want
is just is one of the most special songs in the
world because the bitch song got us a record
deal but girl the bad guys want gave us a career
you know i mean if if it weren't for that you
know if the bitch song we got to make a record
and then it did well in the uk but and if it
weren't for that we wouldn't have got to make
a second record but had we not had that hit on
pop radio and crossed over and got the grammy
nomination and went out and met all these radio
stations and people and fans and all these things
because of that song then we would have never
had the chance to make hangover you don't deserve
which is you know the the album that that you
know it's it's it changed our lives and so uh
you know again it's it's it's funny i a kid i
just did an interview with a kid before you and
he he did this thing where he just goes, you
know, you, you started the band and then you
had a hit. He did this. Like how, how, how was
all that or whatever? And I just go, you, that
is a lot of time. That's a lot of time. But from
the time we started the band to the time girl,
the bad guys want was out was nine years. So
he hit 10 years in 10 years is a third of the
time we've been a band, you know? So it's. you
know nothing none of this was was easy so you
you kind of look back for me i look back on the
work that those songs did if that makes sense
and oh wait oh i should tell you this that's
my first ever like real co -write so i'd only
written songs either by myself or a few with
you know the guys in my band me and butch set
and wrote girl the bad guys want which opened
up the whole world to me as far as co -writing
is concerned you know it's just like as i i really
like that in my life now. So a lot of the material
wouldn't even exist. So yeah, those are definitely,
I think those are a safe three and definitely,
you know, I'll stamp it. All right. So before
we close out, what does Bowling for Soup have
in store for 2026 and beyond? Is the most recent
single holding onto that hate the first taste
of a new Bowling for Soup album? Absolutely.
We went and did holding onto that hate with really
no plans to get in the studio. And once we came
out of there, It was obvious that we got the
fever. So we're going up to the Poconos. We're
going to record a new record in February. We
have tour dates in Australia with Frank Turner
already announced. We have plans for the UK and
the USA and hopefully Japan. And also more releases
that we already have in the can as well that
I can't talk about. But so much good stuff. And,
you know, it's just a true blessing to be able
to do this still 31 years in. and through band
member changes and band retirements and to still
be on the road with my best friends. And, you
know, I just feel very, very lucky. And, you
know, and even sitting here talking to you, man,
it's a true blessing. Well, the honor's been
all mine. I've been looking forward to sitting
down with you for a long time. Thank you for
the many smiles, the many laughs, and the many
heartfelt moments with Bowling for Soup's music.
It means the world to me. And thank you for joining
me on my weekly mixtape. Thanks for having me,
brother. If you have a suggestion for a future
episode or you want to chime in on this interview,
you can hit me up on all the social media haunts
at My Weekly Mixtape. And you can also join the
Mixtaper community over at patreon .com forward
slash My Weekly Mixtape. It's free to join. And
there's tiers if you'd like to support the show
on another level. Once again, my name is Brian
Colburn. This has been my weekly mixtape, and
I hope you enjoy going down the Bowling for Soup
rabbit hole because I sure as hell certainly
have. Thank you all for listening, and we'll
see you next week.