BM
I am a little bit disappointed we don’t have flat hair Jaret today. I spent a lot of time watching your TikToks yesterday, I can’t lie. Do you enjoy how much connectivity and connection you can get with your fans on that platform?
JR
Yeah, for sure. It’s kind of not unlike Instagram or Facebook as far as the interaction is concerned, but I definitely enjoy making people laugh and seems like it’s a completely different audience, obviously, on the other format. So that’s cool because it’s a lot of the “oh, my gosh. I used to listen to you guys back then, or I haven’t heard, or I haven’t thought about you guys in a long time.” So that’s always kind of cool when you’re just reminding somebody that you exist.
BM
Yeah. I think there’s a bit of a trend going on the elder emos or people in the late 20s and above. So do you still get the same reaction when you play Girl All The Bad Guys Want? Is that the song that when you play that live, it goes off the most, do you think?
JR
Yeah, it’s definitely up there. High School Never Ends gets that sort of the same thing. And obviously 1985, but Girl All The Bad Guys Want one is my favourite. The mostly because just playing guitar riff is so cool. So it’s cool to just start kicking into that song. It’s got to be one of those three is always the one that gets everybody really going.
BM
Yeah. So I listened to I Want To Be Brad Pitt when the video came out. And the video is amazing. I absolutely love it. It made me laugh, like fully laugh out loud. But the lyrical content, I would say that is the thing that got me. Was it one of those songs that you made during the quarantine time, or did it come about because of a single experience or has it been building because it’s a bit of a niche song?
JR
Just like the rest of the record really, we were locked away in quarantine and missed each other. And honestly, the best way that I could think of for us to go spend a couple of weeks together as a band was to go make a record. The writing of that album. Yeah. Just one day. I just kind of had that whole thing about writing a song about Brad Pitt. I love Brad Pitt. It came really quick, actually. I think it took me 30/ 45 minutes to write it and get it down musically. And then I toyed with the lyrics a little bit here and there just because I wanted to make sure that it was a tribute and not taking the piss at Brad Pitt’s expense. And so that took a little bit of massaging, lyric wise, but I feel like it settled in a good spot.
BM
Yeah. Good. Because you’re not afraid of a pop culture reference. I saw the video on your TikTok about Alexa Bliss. Are you still friends with her, do you keep in contact?
JR
I’m going to her wedding next week!
BM
Amazing. That’s so cool! Its awesome that one song can bring out this friendship. Just on this sort of story of like, quarantine, about ten years ago, I remember you did the sort of like, “see you in a bit tour, we’ll be back tour.” Do you think it’s good for bands to take this time away? Obviously this time I know Covid forced you to do that, but did you feel like it came at the right time about ten years ago?
JR
Maybe ten years ago, for sure. We needed it. We were about 20 years in and we were exhausted. And a lot of things happening in our lives, divorce and kids and a lot of things outside of the band that I think if we would have tried to just keep going and not taking a step back, we would have probably imploded, like a lot of bands do. I think a big reason that we’ve come on strong a few times in the past is just knowing when we need to tap the break. So, yeah, 2013, we took a little break. Honestly, it was an open ended thing. My life was changing in a lot of ways, and so was Eric’s, Gary was having kids and just a lot of things were going on. But as you say, we came out of that whole thing just like we were shot out of a Cannon. So we’ll see. This is the first tour since quarantine that we’re about to go on in the UK here shortly, but I certainly feel like we’ll be firing on all cylinders.
BM
Yeah. Awesome. So after that, you lost Eric, but you gained Rob has a dynamic change since he joined because obviously we’ve seen him with Patent Pending and those guys have supported you tonnes of timed. But has it the dynamic in the band changed? Like, was he a fan originally?
JR
Honestly he didn’t miss a beat. He had toured with us, obviously, as a member of Patent Pending, but he had also sat in on drums for a summer when Gary was having his second child. And then when Eric took a leave before he actually left the band, Rob played bass with us for the summer. So we knew that the dynamic was there. We knew that he would come fit in, and he not only fit in, again, it sort of relates to your last question. It sort of ignited a bit of a spark. Just having him he’s young and he’s experiencing a lot of these things for the first time and many things that we don’t necessarily take for granted but that we’re just sort of used to. And that is certain venues and certain places and so he’s very good about getting us to realise how lucky we are, how cool things are. We’re definitely very happy that we made the choice that we did.
BM
Yeah. Because he will have never played like main stage Download, main stage Reading and Leeds. He might have done Reading and Leeds or Download in a tent but he might not have played to the masses.
JR
Right. Never played Brixton Academy. We sold it out last time we played there a lot of things like that. Yeah, you’re exactly right.
BM
So the tour that you mentioned, you’re coming to some different venues. I would say when I looked at the whole list, I was like they are not popular places to visit. You’re going to Grimsby, Scarborough, Blackpool. I hope you like fish and chips because that is the cuisine of the coast.
JR
There’s a reason for that. I mean, we had just been before the world shut down, we had done our tour in February of 2020 with Simple Plan. It was a huge tour and so this was supposed to have happened fall of that year. It’s supposed to be a return back to some smaller venues and some places that we don’t ordinarily get to go. And so that got pushed from fall of 2020 to spring 2021 and then it got pushed an entire year and here we are finally doing it. So it seems a bit odd that here it is, our first trip back to the UK and we’re not playing Manchester. Some of the other cities that we would play, but it’s just the way that it worked out. I mean, it felt like we had sold tickets to these fans and they deserve it.
BM
They’re all close to the bigger cities.
JR
Well we also have the acoustic tour in May and will be hitting some of those places.
BM
It feels like a bit of a mates fest this tour. You’ve got Lit, The Dollyrots (who we’ve seen support you before) and then Matt Stocks is a huge DJ over here. Do you enjoy taking on tour all the bands that you love?
JR
The thing for me I like backstage to feel like a family, historically we always try and take friends on the road, first of all, just to give them a chance to play in front of our crowd because our crowd are the best fans in the world. And then also, it just makes it for more fun. We bring people that’s we know we like to hang out with. I mean, I definitely am not one of those guys that I don’t sell spots on our tour, and I don’t take people as favours to somebody else or anything like that. If you’re seeing a band with us, it’s someone that we picked to be there.
BM
So will the set list for the tour in a couple of weeks time differ to the set list for the tour with you and Rob? Obviously, it’s acoustic, but is it going to be the slower stuff?
JR
So the tour with me and Rob is billed as a sing along song. And so it’s going to be the songs that people know. And that was also supposed to happen last year. And the idea was to come around and do a sing a long. We all need a night out. A lot of people at the time hadn’t even been out of their houses, and so that obviously got pushed to spring. It’s really strange to be coming over as a full band and then a month later coming back over acoustic. Well, luckily there are different cities, but you’ll hear the songs that you know. The idea, though, is again, just to have a triumphant night out. It’d be less story telling, not like my Heartache and Hilarity tour. Just like really just fun night.
BM
You were here around 3 weeks ago for the C2C Festival with your country album? How did you find that? Because that was you and a new band. How did you find that sort of experience? Was that completely different?
JR
It was completely different. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a band that I threw together because the opportunity arose after my buddy Steve, who works with AEG, heard of the album, and he was like, “Man, I think we’ve got a spot here if you want to come to a festival.” And that’s sort of how it started for Bowling for Soup over there. We got seen when the same guy, saw us at South by Southwest back in 2000 and brought us over for Reading and Leeds. So I was like, man, I feel like I got to do this. So I got a couple of the guys from the UK; from the band Lacey, a drummer that I know from here, and then my friend Eric, who’s on my Jaret Goes to the Movies podcast, and we made a go of it. We rehearsed once, and then we played two shows. Yeah, it was great fun. I feel like when I’m on stage, when I’m in front of a microphone, it’s almost like I’m in sort of my own little bubble. So it was nice to just sort of like look around and be like, okay, this is fun, this is new. And obviously I miss my Bowling for Soup guys whenever I’m on the road and they’re not there because we just have our ways of doing things. But it’s really nice to be there with some new guys and have some fun.
BM
But it’s almost like the full circle of going back to with Rob doing new things, you’re doing the new things as well, and you just having the new experiences. How did the country album go down? Because I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise that you did a country album because your voice lends itself to country. And of course, from where you from, was it something you’ve always wanted to do? Like always wanted to dip your toe into?
JR
Yes for sure it’s something I always wanted to do. Honestly, I just didn’t have the time and quarantine happened. The first year I played a lot of online shows, I wrote the Bowling for Soup record. We recorded the Bowling for Soup record. And then at the start of year two, which is about a year ago, my buddy who I’ve been talking about doing the country record with was like, “Man, if we’re going to do it, this is the time.” And I was like, you know what? You’re right. Let’s go. And yeah, about a year ago, we recorded it in about three weeks and it’s been great. The response has been absolutely, overwhelmingly positive and I’m very happy it’s out there in the world.
BM
You ever going to open up for Bowling for Soup as you doing your country stuff.
JR
My voice is one that can withstand a lot, but I don’t know if for a long period of time, singing for three or 4 hours a night would be tough. And I’m not sure that fans need that much of me. But I am very excited about getting over and playing again in the UK for both Bowling for Soup and for my country stuff.
BM
Brilliant. That’s awesome. I listened to an interview with you the other day where you said you’ve almost taken a step back from the other bits around music. So you’re not writing for as many people, are you just sort of focusing on the country stuff and Bowling for Soup at the minute, is that it?
JR
Country, Bowling for Soup, my podcast and then my voiceover stuff. So I’m not trying to book any other voiceover stuff right now. I’m not writing for any other bands. I’m not managing any more, I’m not producing as well. Most of the stuff that just was things that I was doing because it was a labour of love more than anything, I really kind of had to focus and I’m honestly, I’m having to even go back a little bit further, like not do as many solo acoustic shows, things like that, because it’s just time. I’ve gotten myself to the point where it’s the opposite of what it was two years ago. Two years ago when everything disappeared off my calendar, I was freaking out and now I’m freaking out because it’s like, oh, my God, there is literally not an hour in any day where I don’t have something going on. And that’s not a bad thing, I’m not complaining. I just want to make sure that my focus is on those things. That where it needs to be. I’m super proud of this BFS record. I’m proud of my country record so I’m making sure that I’m paying the right amount of attention to those things.
BM
Yeah, that’s great. And just to touch on the new album, I’ve got to make sure I get this title right. Pop Drunk Snot Bread?
JR
Pop Drunk Snot Bread yeah.
BM
So we’ve heard a few little bits. What else have we got to expect? The same sort of Bowling For Soup charm and riffs?
JR
Yeah, I think. Well, there’s some retrospective stuff in the album. There’s a lot of looking back on Bowling For Soup’s history. There’s a lot of celebrating who we are as a band. Honestly, I really do think that this will be a lot of people’s favourite Bowling For Soup record. I try not to say that because I realise that’s super cliche when a band, especially a band that’s been together 28 years, releases new stuff. People are always going to gravitate towards Drunk Enough To Dance or The Great Burrito Extortion Case. But I really do believe that this, over time, will become the one where people are just like, it’s crazy that they did this 28 years in, because it’s my favourite album.
BM
Yeah. I mean, I Wanna Be Brad Pitt. I feel like it’s a classic, like, it’s such a sing along tune. So, just to wrap it up. It’s not a really question, it’s more of a thank you. So I want to say thank you for being so open about your mental health over on TikTok and through your music and things like that, but I just wanted to thank you really on behalf of anyone who suffers. I just wanted to thank you for opening up and saying it’s okay to talk about it and know you’re not alone and I know that’s cliche to say but I just really wanted to say thank you and look you in the eye and say thank you so much.
JR
Thank you for saying that and it’s not cliche at all and that’s the whole thing is that the more we are just open about it, the less there’s a stigma attached to it. If we got the flu, you tell everybody that you can almost that will listen just like, “Oh my God, I’m miserable. I have the flu.” But then you have an anxiety ridden day or whatever and people are like, “what’s wrong with you?” And you’re like, nothing. I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine and you’re not fine. Once you can start to just get in touch with that and be able to communicate it and get it out there and if I’m the guy who gets some people to come out of that hole, I guess it’s not really a shell, but almost a cave or a cloud. If I’m the guy who can speak out and get you to go okay, well, if the funny fart joke guy is depressed and I can be too, I need to talk to somebody, then so be it. I certainly appreciate you saying that. It’s something that it didn’t start out to be a cause for me it started out to be something that I was actually, not really embarrassed about, but it was something that I felt I didn’t know if putting things out there about my own mental health would overshadow this happy band that I’m in. But once I got past all that and realised that it’s just super important that we all are open about it, that’s where I’m at, so I appreciate that.
Bowling For Soup’s new album Pop Drunk Snot Bread is out on 22 April via Brando Records/Que-So Records and you can pre order it HERE
The band are also heading out on tour in April and May, all details can be found on the BFS website HERE.
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