On the finale of Season 2, Kickoff Kevin sits down with Spencer Crandall. Spencer and Kevin talk about their days of playing college football but being forced to retire early due to injuries, and how it led to new careers. Plus, Spencer dives into the advantages social media can give an independent artist, now that he has over 2.5 million TikTok followers. Spencer and Kevin also talk about him being on the road with Morgan Wallen in 2016 and much more!
- IG: @SpencerCrandall
- TikTok: @SpencerCrandall
Follow: @KickOffKevin
Podcast Description:
Unsigned and Independent is a six episode season podcast hosted by Kevin O’Connell that features unsigned and independent artists and bands in Nashville. The purpose of this podcast is to highlight the journey and grind musicians go through trying to make it in the industry; the journey most fans don’t see leading up to national success. People move to music city from all over the country to chase something they have only dreamed of – making music and performing for a living. This podcast will dive into stories on the road, late nights and early mornings on the infamous Broadway, their background story, and if there is an ultimate goal for each artist or band. The artists featured on this podcast don’t have the backing of a label or sometimes even management, or a publishing team to handle their bookings, travel, etc.… But what they all have in common is a genuine passion for the love of music and performing. There is hidden talent spread throughout music city and the aim of this podcast is to give this hidden talent an opportunity to have a platform for an audience to hear their story, what the process is really like in the industry, and hopefully gain a new fan or two.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
All right here with kickoff, Kevin, tell me about Spencer Crandall.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I came across him when I actually did a previous artist, Shalen.
She was in a video with him. They did a
song together, and I was like, who is this guy?
And he reached out a couple of times. I saw
an interview with him. I liked his charismatic like energy,
seemed like a fun guy. And then I found out
about his story. He was similar to mine. He played
college football D two. He was forced to stop playing
because of an injury, and then he picked up a
(00:34):
guitar and you injured?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah, I had concussion that.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You stopped Yeah, I probably been in the league by now.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Huh yeah, pretty much. So we talked about that and
how you know, kind of changed us and then he
picked up a guitar and the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So, Spencer Crandall, this is season two, episode ten of
Unsigned and Independent.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
The Guys from Colorado.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Denver Guy, Denver Guy.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Is he a Bronco fans Nuggets? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
A little What a year?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
What a last few years to be a Denver fan.
So they're pretty good. Yeah, I mean the Nuggets never
winning and then finally winning. That's awesome, especially if you've
been a fan for a long time. So now I
like the guy if he's a diehard Denver fan. They've
had some rough years. You went on tour with Chris
Line of Morgan Wall into twenty sixteen while he was
still in school.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, that's funny, he said in between shows he'd be
doing homework while they were partying.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Spencer has used the algorithm of social media to his
advantage and tried to hone in.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
It's a business. He talks about, it's a business.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You know who else does it really.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Well is Warren Ziders.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
You know, he really has not figured it out, but
he really has figured out how to use social media
as a business and really hit people over and over again.
It's a craft, yeah, niche Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really cool. Okay,
here we go, so let's do it unsigned and independent.
It's Spencer Crandall here with Kickoff Kevin.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I was doing some homework on you a little bit here,
and I found out that we actually have something a
couple things in common go on. And the main thing
I found out was and we're one of many, I'm sure,
but I just said it was interesting. You're the first artists.
I've had in here to play college football.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I played college football myself, really gold position tight end. Nice, Yeah,
what'd you play?
Speaker 5 (02:13):
I went to go play defensive line and then I
got there and I was wildly undersized by the time
I got there because I'd cut weight for wrestling and
stuff my senior so they're like, maybe try a different position.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
And then shortly after I hurt my shoulders and all
that stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And where'd you play?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
A Colorado Mesa dos? A little D two football?
Speaker 5 (02:30):
And it was so fun, but yeah, I got hurt,
and then here we are so same.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I played D two Okay, I had I had six
concussions in an eight year span, so I had to
stop playing. Yeah, So that's what I mean by it's
similar here, you know what I mean. And now look
at us living in Nashville. Yeah, and you're making music.
I'm talking about music, And what was that college experience
like for you then when you had the force of
quick Because for me, I mean, it still haunts me.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I don't even really like to talk about.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It, just because I feel like it's such a crappy
way to go out, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Yeah, it sucks.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Because there's this whole career you spend like a decade
of your life pouring into the gym and coaches and
all this stuff, and then it's kind of just over,
like in a snap. So it's really it's kind of trippy.
And then there's this like dark period of time. I
think this is a something that people don't talk about
a lot or maybe just don't know, is your identity
is so tied to sports. Like you go to a
(03:23):
party and people like, what do you do? I didn't
say my major. I said I'm a football player, right,
So all of a sudden, when people like what do
you do or who are you? I'm like, I don't know.
I don't know who I am. So there was like
a recovery period of kind of going, Okay, what do
I do? What do I want to do for the
rest of my life?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And it was really tough. I think, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Lucky for me, that's exactly when I found music, so
it all worked out. But yeah, there's a weird, like
little asterisk next to my career. It feels like that
I don't love that's like, oh yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I couldn't keep playing exactly, And that's I think that's
what it is, especially as athletes or a lot of
people just take pride in whatever they do.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I don't want to be told I can't do something.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I don't want to be forced to quit something or
be you know, it's my decision.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
I feel like that on your own term, yeah, right,
And with injuries, it's just over.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, and there's no like closure.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Really, you can't go get one last play, can't play
one last game like you want to.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Right, It's just it's done. So it was really it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I mean for a lot of guys, you pour, like
I said, like a decade of your life into this game.
You're learning about it and we'd all be crazy to think,
or I guess we would all almost be embarrassed to admit.
But there's a part of this that you're like, I
want to go get a shot at the league. I
want something crazy to happen where I have this incredible
season I can keep playing, like make football career, and
(04:38):
then it's just all over yet a snap.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
And what was that like for you?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
And we'll get into your music in a second here,
but just kind of more on a personal level, it was.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I remember when I had to realize that.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I went and talk to my coach and I told him, Hey,
this is not gonna happen anymore. And I had about
a day or so where I was just kind of
in the dumps.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
Man.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I was emotional and like you were saying that the
snap of the finger, You're like, wait, no, this is done.
It can't be how Yeah, I was just you know
what I mean, So how'd you handle that?
Speaker 5 (05:04):
I remember going up to my coach. Luckily, I have
had an awesome coach in Coach Martin att may Say.
He was awesome, and I went up to him and
I was crying in his office and I was like, dude,
I can't play anymore and I don't know what to
do about this, and luckily he was. He sat me down.
He's like, dude, football is not life like. We played
this game because it's fun and there's all these life
(05:25):
lessons and obviously you can pay for your school and
these incredible things, but you got to figure out what
life looks like because most guys and gals, like athletes
in general, right, you can max play to like you're thirty,
even if you're a pro, and then most of us
are done and there's still two thirds of life left,
and that's what he was pointing at. And so I
spent a lot of time wondering what those next two
(05:46):
thirds were going to be. I remember in my dorm room,
just like I didn't really leave my room for like
a full twenty four hours. I think I was just
sitting there in the dark and watching a movie and
my roommate came in. He's like, what's going on. I
told him I had to get this other shoulder surgery
and called my parents. That was like a really rough
day in my life. And you know, if I hadn't
had that happen, I don't have what I have now.
(06:07):
So I don't regret anything, but it is it's a
darker time. And I wish there was like some sort
of support group for athletes getting out of action, because
a lot of people, you know, they don't know how
to handle that identity switch. And I certainly didn't scre right.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And even if you said you like you said you
play up to college, or if your ten year vet
in the NFL, like everybody, you hear about it, but
until you have to go through it yourself, you don't
truly understand it. And that transition can be very tough.
I mean, it took me five years after all that
to figure out maybe this is something I want to
do as far as broadcasting and all that, you know
what I mean. So that transition for me was a
long one, but like you said, it got me worrying today.
(06:41):
So I'm grateful, grateful for it all, and I'm happy.
But you didn't pick up a guitar or start singing
or anything till college.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
No, I mean, it's a weird story.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
So my high school does a thing called the senior Project,
and it's like you got to pick like a learning
stretch and learn something and to get a mentor. And
I just didn't want to do like what all my
friends were doing. They were like, yeah, I'm going to
go into orthopedic surgery, so I'm gonna go shadow this person.
I was like, none of that sounds like me.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
But I love music. I was such a music fan.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
So I just decided, Okay, I'm going to write a
song and learn to play the guitar. So I literally
learned like three chords and I wrote this little song
and it was super fun. I'd passed my senior project,
thank god, And but I went to go play college football.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
I didn't think about it again.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
And so all of a sudden, I had this little
Walmart guitar that I stole from my little brother that
I brought up to college, and I had lost football
on it. So I had hours on hours on my hands,
and I was sad and I just wanted to fill
my time. I didn't want to think about it. So
I would sit on YouTube and I would just learn
a chord and I'd learn another chord, and now I
learned a few chords. Now I learned some covers, and
then I think I really got the bug. I like
(07:45):
got brave enough to write a song again, like after
my senior project, and I was like, this is just fun, man.
But I didn't think that it was like a thing
people could do. I didn't think, you know, when you
think of like Kenny Chesney, it's like that's impossible. I
couldn't ever make money with songs or anything like that.
And I started posting online and again it wasn't anything crazy.
(08:09):
It was one follow, two follows, and then I just remember,
all of a sudden, I had like one hundred and
twenty five thousand followers on Instagram, as like a junior
in college, just by posting covers and people would say, hey,
next time you're in town, let's rite.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I was like, where's town?
Speaker 5 (08:23):
What was this magical, musical town that I was talking about,
And like it's Nashville, So you got to come take
a trip and went out there in like August twenty sixteen.
I just never went home. I just I was like,
this is so freaking cool. It feels like I'm on
summer break. And that's what my dad always told me,
is like, dude, find something that it feels like you're
getting away with it. Like I get to go into work.
(08:43):
I get to write a song today, and that is work.
That's like the coolest feeling in the world. So it's
like free drugs. It's the best thing in the world.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
It's a healthy drug, right, very healthy drug. So you
did you visit here and then you just stayed?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Or did you visit here and you're like, you know
what I liked is like going to grab my stuff
and I'm coming back.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
I went a few times, I guess.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
I came out in January for the first time, and
then my last trip was like in July, and I
just told my parents, I'm like I got to get
out there as soon as possible. So my buddy, Tyler
Rich who's an artist out here, he had a buddy
moving out at the same time, so we were next
door neighbors with him, and he's like, just do it, man,
what's the worst thing that could happen? Right, Like, you
move out here for a year, it doesn't work out,
(09:22):
you got to move home. So my deal with my
parents was if I finished college, they would continue to
like help me pay rent. So I was like, my
rent's actually cheaper in Nashville than it is at Colorado State.
So if you let me move and I'll finish my degree,
which I did, will you support me for the first
year well in Nashville just trying to figure stuff out.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
So I did. I would. It was actually funny.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
I got super lucky and I got picked up on
this tour with Chris Lane. Actually Morgan Wallen was a support.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
At the time. It was twenty sixteen.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Dude, wow, And I remember I would be typing papers
before I go on stage, and then afterwards they're like, yo,
bus party on Chris's bus, and I'm like, I have homework,
so I can't Like. It was such it's a weird
time in my life, but I had to do it,
and I had to like just kind of make some
sacrifices to get out there as soon as I could.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
How long were you out with them? Oh?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Man?
Speaker 5 (10:08):
So the kind of quick version of the story is
Tyler Rich introduced me to Chris Lane because they were
on tour with Dustin Lynch at the time.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
So we were all at a barbecue and I ran
into Chris.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
We got to talk in and I just like he
went to the bathroom and I looked up his tour schedule.
I saw I was playing in Denver. So I was like,
I'm gonna throw a hail marry here. Just at the
end of his conversation, So Chris, what's up, dude. You
know what's crazy? You're playing in Denver. I'm already gonna
be in Denver. I'm from Denver. I'll free acoustic open.
I've got a little Instagram follow if you want help,
(10:38):
bring out the family and friends, whatever, No pressure.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
He's like, dude, of course, absolutely. We had to hit
it off. So he invites me to play that show.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
I guess I didn't screw it up enough to where
he said, yeah, man, want you hop on the rest
of the tour. I can't pay you, but if you
want to hop on this tour. So yeah, again it
was Chris Lane and then a young mulletless Morgan Wallen
in twenty.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Sixteen, little long straight hair.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Yeah, he had like middle part and it was definitely
more like a leather cuff vibe than the cutoff sleeves
at the time.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yes, and it's crazy, man.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
I remember he's saying whiskey glasses on that tour and
this is not like a knock up, but people were
going to the bathroom like nobody knew who he was, right,
So I'd watch him every night. He'd hold out the mic.
People would go to sing the bridge and he'd just
like bring it back, like no one's singing along. And
like three years later, with my girlfriend at the time,
I went to my hometown Amphitheater eighteen thousand people screaming
(11:31):
that same bridge back to the point where they had
to cut the tracks like let them keep singing, because
they sang it like fifteen times over him, and then
when he was done.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
People were like leaving.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
It was like craziest turnaround or like, I guess, boosting
career I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
And it was crazy to watch every night this like
little artist who was kind of you know, fucking it along.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
And trying to figure it out. Boom updown comes out,
and it just felt like it never stopped. And it
still me and my manager Jeff always talking about, like,
can you believe that guy was we were on that tour?
Is Morgan freakin' walling? Like you know what I mean,
It's just crazy that turnaround.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I actually saw a video.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's funny you bring that up because I saw a
video and it might have been like around the same time.
I think he said twenty eighteen, but maybe sixteen. He
was on a stage like in a parking lot somewhere,
and I think he was singing whiskey glasses and he
did that same thing, and then it transitioned to now
him on tour this year. Yeah, and it was like
just picked up right with a song left off in
the original video sane, and it was it's like, like
you said, nothing you've ever seen before. You're like, wait,
(12:27):
how does this get from this to this?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Which just goes to show like you gotta just be
authentic because I think I think him and even Seth
like his manager would say this like they were doing
a thing, but it wasn't quite Morgan yet, right, And
then all of a sudden they lean into like kind
of your redneck buddy next door who's a little wild. Right.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
He cuts off the sleeves, he puts on the mullet.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
They put out that song with fgl a little bit
more party, and it just clicks. And I think a
lot of artists in town are like one click away.
That's what's really fascinating about this. I've watched so many
of my friends. We were talking about Lily Rose earlier,
like she was into and she was a writer. She
puts one song on TikTok Boom and it just changes everything,
and it's like, it's amazing that it's one song away.
(13:07):
It's also terrifying. It's like we're only one song away,
so you just have to keep plucking along and chugging. Yeah,
it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And what has social media have been like for you?
It's a major tool for you, right, absolutely, So, I mean,
let's pick up in the story. Right, I moved to Nashville.
I'm doing a little bit of you know, post on Instagram.
I'm watching guys like Luke Holm's and Kane Brown. I'm
studying them because they're on Facebook and Fine.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
All that stuff, and I'm like, this is a real thing,
Like I don't feel like this is going away. And
the crazy part is I'm watching these guys go sell
out like five thousand cap rooms and I'm watching people
with number ones like not being able to sell one
hundred tickets, so like something's not adding up, Like this
is real. I don't think people realize how real this is.
So I'm getting better at Instagram and all these things.
(13:48):
And that's right around when TikTok came, like to the
picture right. So my sister is spending a ton of
time on this app and I'm like, what are you on?
Like it was musically and now it's TikTok. She's like,
you should check it out. I'm like, I'm not a
thirteen year old girl who dances in her room, so
it's probably not for me. And she was like, but
what are they dancing to you, idiot? I was like, Oh,
it's music, and I realized it's actually a music app.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
That's what it is.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Like it's people using music in whatever forms, but it
is music. So I got on there in like late
twenty nineteen, kind of before it was hot, and I
had built some sort of following. So when COVID happened
the world shuts down, I just happened to already be
posting three times a day on what ended up being
the biggest app.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
In the world.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
And you can't plan that. You can't like there was
really no strategy like, oh, yeah, the world will end
and I'll just be in the right place. It was
just I saw some attention, some real eyeballs and ears
in this place, and I just shifted some of my
focus and then I got lucky. You know, I had
a song kind of do really well, and then I
had a few songs do really well.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And that's open up so many doors. I can't imagine.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
I'm a completely independent artist, so I don't have a
record label, and I can go out and you know,
cell eighteen hundred tickets in my hometown and we just
hit like three hundred and fifty million career streams, no radio,
no label, just the Internet.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
So for me, it's not just like a part.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
Of it, it's it's everything, and it's really connected me
to my people. I think that's what's so freaking cool
about the Internet. Is you can find your people even
if your niche. You can find hundreds of thousands of
people in your niche, which is crazy. So I'm crazy
thankful for it and I can't imagine where I'd be
without it.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Do you think your career would be totally different at
this point if there was no such thing as a
TikTok or an Instagram or Twitter? TikTok is is your
main following? You have a couple of million followers on TikTok, right, yeah,
so five six.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Something like that.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
It's it's crazy, A few a few humans, yeah, d
it's really crazy, Like I don't take that for granted,
Like even that number, I can't really.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Even process that number, right, what does that even mean?
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Right?
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Millions of people?
Speaker 5 (15:57):
I don't know what a world looks like without the
Internet today, I like do people?
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I guess I would just.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Be playing on Broadway praying to God that like Mike
Dungan's eating lunch at the right time when I'm singing
a song that I sound good on.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Like that's how people were discovered.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
And now it's really cool because I can lay real
bricks of my career as I go, And it's something
that nobody can take away from me. So even if
I sign tomorrow and I'm dropped to your later whatever,
right night, mere scenario, I still have real fans who
are streaming real music, coming out to real shows. So
that's pretty special.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Do you feel like that allows you to be who
you are as well? Because you've heard artists throughout the years,
maybe you probably know some people, or maybe they'll sign
something with a label and a year later they're totally different.
They're like, I don't even know what I've been writing
last year performing. They because they try to transform somebody
and we've seen it in movies and shows whatever, into
a totally different person that they just picture in their
(16:47):
mind that they can sell to make them money and
this and that. So with social media now and this
is why I'm so glad we can do this podcast
as well as you could talk about being independent. Nowadays,
you can survive so much easier. I don't know if
easier is the right word, but you know, I mean
then you were ten years ago.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Oh my gosh. I mean, it's night and day.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
And for a guy like me, the difference is like
if I want to put out a song, if I
tease a song, tonight and it gets let's like, have
a fun scenario gets twenty million views. It's like my
driver's license or something. Right, I can put it out tomorrow,
Boom done. I have a ton of friends who, unfortunately,
(17:24):
through one way or another, there's so many cooks in
their kitchen, so the second that they feel something on
the internet, the response time can be six months and
then by then all the momentums gone away. So it's
a weird world that we live in where I think
even the labels and even label artists will have to
slowly adjust to the speed and the response time of
(17:46):
the Internet.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Now.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
So I'm lucky because if I want to put something out,
I can put something out. It can sound however I
want it to sound, and the album mark can look
out what it looks, and the video can look how
I want it to look. Now there's pros and cons.
I don't have, you know, massive teams of people helping
me with this. I have an amazing manager, Jeff, We
have an awesome PR team. I have an agent at
Willie Morris. I just signed a publishing deal, which is
(18:08):
really exciting. But at the end of the day, I'm
wearing twelve hats on any any given day, I'm going
over my own finances like that's not a lot of
people are just like I'm taking the big loan out
from the label.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Whatever happens happens.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
I'm saying, if I don't have X thousands of dollars
to take the bus out, we don't go out. You know,
that's a different way to run a business. And then
it's hard not to let the art and the commerce
feel like they're one thing. So you got to make
the art in a vacuum and then try to market
it like it's a business. It's it's a very weird
place to be and I don't think a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Have ever done this before. This is kind of a
newer idea.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
So there's not a lot of like there's not a textbook,
there's not a lot of friends even that I can call.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
There's like very few of us left in this independent game.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
And it's a beast sometimes, and it's so freeing in
some ways because I get to make music that I
want to make and put it out when I want
to put it out. So there's these these pros and cons,
and the grass is always greener.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
One day I wake up, I'm like I'm gonna sign.
I'm an idiot. I gotta go to country radio.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
And then the next day I'm like, oh my god,
I could have never put out that song, and like
I'm so lucky I'm not signed somewhere, you know. So
it's like a it's a weird time to be an
artist and an independent artist.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Have you been tempted? Have you been approached and offered
or anything like that? And you kind of said no,
maybe now it's not the right time.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Yeah, I mean there's been record deals on the table
and stuff. I always I think record deals or even
record labels. It's kind of like getting married. Like we
all want to get married. You want to find the
love of your life. You want to find the label
that gets you. But I don't want to sign to sign.
I don't want to sign because my friends are signing,
and I don't want to sign because I'm afraid to
not sign right just I get married. You want to
(19:53):
get married to get married. You don't want to get
married because you're not. So at a certain point, some
of that is out of my control. I can keep
talking to people, I can keep making the connections, but
the reality is someone's going to come along. Who won
understands this is not nineteen ninety Okay, we need to
draft some record deals that are creative and that give
(20:13):
me the freedom that the reason I'm doing what I'm
doing is because I have freedom. So allow me to
continue to make the music I want to make and
put it out in the way that I want to
make it or put it out. Excuse me, but when
it comes time to pour gasoline on the fire of
a song, what does that look like? How are they compensated?
I think there's a way to do all those things.
We're just still in talks. We're still kind of like
(20:35):
figuring out what that means. And in the meantime, I
got to do what I can do to keep moving
because the last thing you want to do is get
so caught up in the political machine of Nashville that
the reason that everything's working goes away, which is the fans.
And it's not like, you know, you hear fans first
as like such a catch all or like a buzzword thing.
For me, it's not even fans versus fans is everything,
(20:56):
because without fans, I don't have anything. I don't have
the label to prop me up. When a song is
not working. The song has to work, and the only
way song works is for it to get streams. The
only way get streams is real fans and real people
that we love and we treat and.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
We we feed. We give them something that they that
adds value to their life. So that's what I can control.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
Other stuff like I can't call somebody and you know,
hold them hostage till they give me the right deal.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
It's got to be the right fit.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Just like a marriage, you find somebody, it's two people
who feel like they're getting away with something like I
can't believe I get to work with this person.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Yeah, that's how I should feel. I just I haven't
felt that yet.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Do you have an idea of what that might feel like?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Because I love the marriage comperson and I'm not married myself,
but I have that. You know, a lot of my
friends are married now, they have kids now, and I
feel that pressure I should be there, But then I
remind myself of no, dude, you're doing what you need
to do right now.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
It's okay. It all come when you know it.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
So do you feel like you have an idea of
what it might be or is it one of those
just like maybe falling in love where you're like, you
know what when you know you know kind of thing.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
I think it's like falling in love. I think it's
gonna be when it happens. It happens when you know
you know, and the pressure of you know, I'm not married, right,
so I feel that same pressure.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
I actually just went to three weddings in one week.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
I don't recommend it, Denver, MAUI Denver, and it was
super fun, right, And I have half my friends are married, engage, pregnant,
and there's an obvious pressure in my head at least
I feel this way to go get married.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
I feel the same way in this town.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
I have so many of my best friends who are
signed to the biggest labels and doing all these things.
But I just I know that I can't force it
and that there's some patience involved. Because reality is, I'd
rather be married one or two or three or five
years less, but be married for sixty years than rush
into something and it not work out or not work
(22:47):
out the way I want it to, or it's just
a constant grind. And like like marriage record label is
just the start. It's not like you get married and
that's some sort of finish line. I always say, like
signing a record, deals, like getting your jersey, like cool,
go play like it does. You don't have a number one,
you don't have more people showing up tomorrow than today.
(23:07):
It's just putting in the right situation with the right people.
And reality is I'm a business owner. I have a
small business. They're a big business. If they see that
it is fortuitous of them to acquire my small business
and we work together, that's great. If not, I'm going
to keep building my business and control what I can control.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I always there's a meme. I don't if you've ever
seen it, but it's one of those I don't know,
how old are you?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Twenty eight?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, I'm thirty two. So I always think of it
and I laugh when I see it. I'm like, I've
just I've skipped my first divorce. That's all right, So
you skipped your first label breakups. That's proud of us.
I'm probably telling myself that every time I like remind myself,
I'm like, yeah, you're good.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
You're gay.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
I've needed that. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah, So use that for a motivation next time you
need it.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I got to you talk about your fans a lot.
They mean everything.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
You have a community text line of over thirty five
thousand people. I've seen this with artists, especially independent artists. Yeah,
can you explain, because I don't know exactly what this.
I mean, obviously it's a text line, but what is
this and how does this?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
As an artist? How do you handle this?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And you're you really respond to fans because I think
a lot of people don't really know exactly what it is.
So I want to hear it from your point of view.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Yeah, there's a good and a bad way to use it.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Like, the reality is, the texting list is just so
much more superior to email lists and some of these
other ways to get a hold of fans, because at
least for me, if I get a text, I'm going
to see it immediately, I'm going to open it, and
the open and response rates are like astronomically higher than
(24:36):
an email. Right, So everyone who wants to sign up
for an email but then they never even see it.
It just gets buried in our like Adida's promo or
like ray bands or whatever.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Right, you just get so much spam.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
So the theory of text text message lists is that
it's a way, better, more direct way to reach your fans.
The reality is a lot of people use it as
like sell sell, sell sell, so like every time you
have something coming out, it's like new song, new song,
new song, or merch merch merch or tickets, tickets, tickets,
And I try to use it as more like a
ligne to show my people, so we'll like just send
(25:08):
unreleased demos.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
I'll just send a selfie be like, Yo, what up,
I'm golfing today? What are you doing?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
And make it feel more like a friend is texting you,
so that by the time I you know, I'm not
gonna not ask, like I'm still gonna go, hey, got
a song coming out, but hopefully by then you don't
feel bugged, you don't feel like annoyed. So that's that's
the dream, And the reality is thirty five thousand people.
If even ten percent of those people go and pre
save a song, that's a game changer for us. In
(25:35):
a TikTok world, in a Instagram world, it's so hard
to reach your people now, which feels counterintuitive to me,
and I think someone's got to solve this.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
But it's like I have two point seven million followers.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
I'll post a TikTok that somehow gets like two thousand
views and I'm like, how does this math math?
Speaker 4 (25:54):
It doesn't.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
But the text list is the perfect example of those
are people who said, no, I actually do want to
always see it right. It's like basically saying, I want
to be at the top of your algorithm, no matter what.
Let me know when something's coming, let me know when
when you're working on something. So that's what it's for,
and it's it's actually been a huge game.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
Changer for us.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
And what's that phone number?
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Six one five three five eight seven seven two nine.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
There you go, that's my QVC voice text Now it's
sixty one five three five eight seven seven two nine.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
And I'm gonna text everybody back that texts me today
and I'll prove to you that I am actually texting
people because I actually do.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
I sit down probably thirty minutes in the morning, like
thirty minutes at night and just have conversations. And the
crazy part is people come to shows and be like, yo,
I've been texting you. I'm like, I know, I know
your name, like I know who you are. So it's
really really yeah, It's like I think a lot of people,
even myself, underestimate the value of like one to one
relationships with fans, Like we all want a million fans,
(26:46):
but what would it look like to have ten thousand
fans that you like, actually talk to, that you actually
add value to their life.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Like that's a different level.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I think it's almost like a more personal form of
social media, absolutely right, that's read way to put it,
more of a one on one Hey, get to know you.
So that's interesting. I didn't know that. Like I said,
I've seen artists, bands have this text line and I've
never really done it because I don't really know what
it is. So that's that makes you as a fan,
you feel a lot better as a fan. You're like, hey,
I actually know Spencer, I hope.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
So that's funny now, And that's that's I try to
do that on all my socials, which is like how
do I give you something that is music related?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
But then how do I like show you what lights
me up or what breaks my heart? You know?
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Like I think the artists that I connect with, they're
saying something deeper than just here is a single, here
is an album. They're standing for something they're proud of
themselves for doing. Something they're they're letting you into their diary.
I think that's like what great artists do. They'll go, hey,
am I crazy to feel this way? Here's my diary,
and you go, no, you're not, because I feel the
(27:48):
same way.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
So that's the text list, that's stories, that's you know,
even just posting on TikTok, Like when I post a song,
I hope I'm trying to give some sort of context
of like here's why.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
I hope this gives you value in your life.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
You know, if it's you're going through a breakup or
you're trying to figure out who you are, I hope
this helps you in some way.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
And that's why music's the best.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
It is, dude, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I mean there's a sad song, there's a happy song,
there's a party song, there's anything you can think of.
Whatever emotion you're feeling that day or that hour or
that minute, you can relate to it.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
And that's when I knew I wanted to get into music,
is I was in college and I'm feeling these things,
but I don't know how to say it almost right,
Like you have this gap between how you feel and
how and the vocabulary you have to express it. And
the gift we give as artists or as creatives or
as songwriters is to bridge the gap between how we
feel and how we don't know how to say it.
(28:40):
So like when someone says, drunk me, you can't get
over you, right, that's like a great song or like
insert any of your favorite songs. There's usually a little
light bulb that goes off.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
You're like, WHOA, that's how I feel.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
And I didn't even know how I felt or I
didn't even know how to say it like that. And
I think that's when I was like, WHOA, if I
could give that gift anybody, Like, that's magic, Like I said,
it's free drugs, like and it's good drugs, not even.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Destructive, right, what about it? I got to ask them?
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Are on the subject here. I had Shalin in a
few episodes ago. So that's how I actually saw you
for the first time cool doing some you know, homework
on her before we sat down and saw you guys
a song together, and you quoted this song, the song
to be continue, that's what it's called, and you quoted
saying the booty Call twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Is that the relation that we're having there. I saw that.
I think on TikTok or something like that.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
You know, sometimes the hook is just meant to be
uh inflammatory.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
I love but yeah, the booty call anthem, you know,
it's real.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Like I think I say this at my shows.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I'm like, don't raise your hand, but if you've been
through this with this one's for you, and sure enough
someone will be like this is me, they'll raise their hand,
they'll out themselves, but everyone's you know, if you've broken
up with somebody and you really care about them, it's
really hard to just like let it be. I think
a lot of us go through this like back and
forth and maybe we'll work out. Okay, maybe we've both
(29:58):
figured ourselves out, and and then there's the like come
hang out, come whatever.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Right, Like we've all been there, so we me and
Shay had had to deliver. The booty Call anthem of
twenty twenty three just had to be done.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
I love it. I love it. I mean you're giving
me flashbacks, yeah, bringing that up right now. I'm like,
I know you.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Got a war flashback, yes exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I'm like seeing five years later, I'm still thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
It sucks.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Let's do some real off music a little bit. You're
from Denver, I'm a big sports guy. You're a big
sports guy. We're not gonna talk about the Broncos, but
we will talk about the Nugget. Yes, let's do it.
Let's do it real quick. I just want to sum
it up work as we close this out pretty soon here.
I mean, what was that like for you?
Speaker 3 (30:36):
First one?
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I was happy for you guys, awesome team. So what
was that like for you as a.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
Fan, Dude, I've been a Nuggets fan. I've been a
Denver sports fan my entire life. Grew up in Denver.
So like there's been years where the Broncos are really
great and that feels good. The Nuggets have never been
good my entire life.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
And even when we.
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Were like okay, Like I remember one year we made it,
we lost like the first round of the playoffs and
George Carl was given Coach of the Year and fired
that same year, Like that's just the story of the Nuggets.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
We've been kind of a mess in many ways for
so many years.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
So for me, I mean, I've watched so many Nuggets games,
so many seasons. My dad like never misses a Denver
sports game ever and just never even thought it was possible.
And then over like even like the Bubble Year, we
got like close and you started to look good and
Jamal gets hurt and you're like, oh man, we're just
gonna be out of it for a long time. So
for me, I went to a finals game, even though
(31:33):
we lost, and it's like one of my favorite memories ever.
Like I went with one of my best friends and
just the energy in that place felt like this, it's
so cool to be with a team from terrible too good,
Like that is such a special feeling. So just we
love you, Joker, don't go anywhere ever. We love you Jamal,
don't go anywhere ever. Really special, man, that team was
(31:53):
a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I'm a Celtics fan, I'm an boss, my dad's from
back East, but as a Celtics fan, I mean, as
soon as we got bounced the Eastern Conference finals there,
I was like, Okay, that is gonna win.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
I was, honestly, I was a little nervous just to
play you guys, because you guys are just well.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
I was nervous to play you guys, honestly, Like when
the Heat won, I was like, cool, this matchup is
way better. Like I feared the Celtics, so it all
worked out. We got that ring. You know, just a
forty seven year drought.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
It's just a little, just a little one. So I'll
be happy for you there. I can't root for your Broncos.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
I'm sorry. As the Patriots fan, I just can't do.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
We're terrible. It'll probably be three years until we even
have to have a conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Sean Payton should that's definitely a step up.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
But uh, I think we'll go five hundred this year,
which would be which would be a step up. But
I don't think as long as Patrick Mahomes sits in
the AFC West, it is going to be a tall order.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
The entire AFC is loaded.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
Well, dude, I mean even the Chargers are sneaky good. Yeah,
and the Raiders are sneaky good. And now the Broncos
have a Super Bowl winning quarterback as super Bowl winning
head coach and we still are like the obvious last choice.
That's how good our division is.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Yeah, insane, But the balls almost here, so I'm excited
about it.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
I cannot wait.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Same same all right.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Well, Spencer, you got a new song out today actually
called didn't do, sir, would Cooper Allen?
Speaker 3 (33:09):
What is a song?
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Just talk about that real quick and if you're listening
to this, makes you go stream after this is all done.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Yeah, give it a little streamy stream.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
It's out everywhere. It's called didn't do with my buddy
Cooper Allen. So I have tons of songs out and
love songs and breakup songs. But on every album, I
think I want some sort of song about like life
just in general, and I want something that's like, especially
on this last album that talked about kind of like
(33:37):
the urgency of life.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
I find myself.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
You know, it's so easy, like today I was like
it's July whatever, Like how how is it already July?
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Right?
Speaker 5 (33:47):
And I lose the sense of urgency and it's like
kind of I think it's gonna be one of my
bigger regrets in life if I if I were to
live this way, is like I didn't really realize how
quick it's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
I didn't realize. You know, you don't get thousands of Christmases.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
You get like eighty if you're lucky, you get eighty
summers if you're lucky, like to live in the now
and to really go for it, because life is short,
I think is like underrated.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
So I just started writing something in my phone one time.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
It was like I think I literally wrote the first
line of the songs, like sometimes I catch myself living
like I'll never die, and it's like I just feel
like I'm gonna be down here forever.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
It's just not true.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
So I just started writing out these lyrics like kiss
the girl, call your mom, do the thing, and all
of a sudden, I realized it's like that message is
I'd rather regret what I did than what I didn't do.
I'd rather get to the end and be like, you
know what I tried. I tried everything. I went for
my dreams. I tried to make the relationship work. I
was always intentional with my brothers and sisters, and I
(34:46):
think if you do that, hopefully you mitigate some of
those regrets. So then I showed it to my buddy
Coop and he freaked out. He was like, dude, I
love the song. So we're two independent guys, you know,
we're without labels, and there's something kind of like a
chip on our shoulder to be like, we think this
hit song and we're gonna put it out together and try.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
To make some magic happen. So it feels really special
to us.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
I like it. I like, well, we'll get that timing
of it toohun drops today. I sit down. This is great.
Go check that out.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Go check them out on Instagram and TikTok as well
at spencer crandall correct. And then he has over three
hundred million total global streams, two point six million followers
on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
But no big deal. It's all good, Spencer. I really
appreciate it, and thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Appreciate it. Of course, thanks for listening to a Bobby
Cast production
All right here with kickoff, Kevin, tell me about Spencer Crandall.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I came across him when I actually did a previous artist, Shalen.
She was in a video with him. They did a
song together, and I was like, who is this guy?
And he reached out a couple of times. I saw
an interview with him. I liked his charismatic like energy,
seemed like a fun guy. And then I found out
about his story. He was similar to mine. He played
college football D two. He was forced to stop playing
because of an injury, and then he picked up a
(00:34):
guitar and you injured?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah, I had concussion that.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You stopped Yeah, I probably been in the league by now.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Huh yeah, pretty much. So we talked about that and
how you know, kind of changed us and then he
picked up a guitar and the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So, Spencer Crandall, this is season two, episode ten of
Unsigned and Independent.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
The Guys from Colorado.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Denver Guy, Denver Guy.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Is he a Bronco fans Nuggets? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
A little What a year?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
What a last few years to be a Denver fan.
So they're pretty good. Yeah, I mean the Nuggets never
winning and then finally winning. That's awesome, especially if you've
been a fan for a long time. So now I
like the guy if he's a diehard Denver fan. They've
had some rough years. You went on tour with Chris
Line of Morgan Wall into twenty sixteen while he was
still in school.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, that's funny, he said in between shows he'd be
doing homework while they were partying.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Spencer has used the algorithm of social media to his
advantage and tried to hone in.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
It's a business. He talks about, it's a business.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You know who else does it really.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Well is Warren Ziders.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
You know, he really has not figured it out, but
he really has figured out how to use social media
as a business and really hit people over and over again.
It's a craft, yeah, niche Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really cool. Okay,
here we go, so let's do it unsigned and independent.
It's Spencer Crandall here with Kickoff Kevin.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I was doing some homework on you a little bit here,
and I found out that we actually have something a
couple things in common go on. And the main thing
I found out was and we're one of many, I'm sure,
but I just said it was interesting. You're the first artists.
I've had in here to play college football.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I played college football myself, really gold position tight end. Nice, Yeah,
what'd you play?
Speaker 5 (02:13):
I went to go play defensive line and then I
got there and I was wildly undersized by the time
I got there because I'd cut weight for wrestling and
stuff my senior so they're like, maybe try a different position.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
And then shortly after I hurt my shoulders and all
that stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And where'd you play?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
A Colorado Mesa dos? A little D two football?
Speaker 5 (02:30):
And it was so fun, but yeah, I got hurt,
and then here we are so same.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I played D two Okay, I had I had six
concussions in an eight year span, so I had to
stop playing. Yeah, So that's what I mean by it's
similar here, you know what I mean. And now look
at us living in Nashville. Yeah, and you're making music.
I'm talking about music, And what was that college experience
like for you then when you had the force of
quick Because for me, I mean, it still haunts me.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I don't even really like to talk about.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It, just because I feel like it's such a crappy
way to go out, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Yeah, it sucks.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Because there's this whole career you spend like a decade
of your life pouring into the gym and coaches and
all this stuff, and then it's kind of just over,
like in a snap. So it's really it's kind of trippy.
And then there's this like dark period of time. I
think this is a something that people don't talk about
a lot or maybe just don't know, is your identity
is so tied to sports. Like you go to a
(03:23):
party and people like, what do you do? I didn't
say my major. I said I'm a football player, right,
So all of a sudden, when people like what do
you do or who are you? I'm like, I don't know.
I don't know who I am. So there was like
a recovery period of kind of going, Okay, what do
I do? What do I want to do for the
rest of my life?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And it was really tough. I think, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Lucky for me, that's exactly when I found music, so
it all worked out. But yeah, there's a weird, like
little asterisk next to my career. It feels like that
I don't love that's like, oh yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I couldn't keep playing exactly, And that's I think that's
what it is, especially as athletes or a lot of
people just take pride in whatever they do.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I don't want to be told I can't do something.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I don't want to be forced to quit something or
be you know, it's my decision.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
I feel like that on your own term, yeah, right,
And with injuries, it's just over.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, and there's no like closure.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
Really, you can't go get one last play, can't play
one last game like you want to.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Right, It's just it's done. So it was really it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I mean for a lot of guys, you pour, like
I said, like a decade of your life into this game.
You're learning about it and we'd all be crazy to think,
or I guess we would all almost be embarrassed to admit.
But there's a part of this that you're like, I
want to go get a shot at the league. I
want something crazy to happen where I have this incredible
season I can keep playing, like make football career, and
(04:38):
then it's just all over yet a snap.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
And what was that like for you?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
And we'll get into your music in a second here,
but just kind of more on a personal level, it was.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I remember when I had to realize that.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I went and talk to my coach and I told him, Hey,
this is not gonna happen anymore. And I had about
a day or so where I was just kind of
in the dumps.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
Man.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I was emotional and like you were saying that the
snap of the finger, You're like, wait, no, this is done.
It can't be how Yeah, I was just you know
what I mean, So how'd you handle that?
Speaker 5 (05:04):
I remember going up to my coach. Luckily, I have
had an awesome coach in Coach Martin att may Say.
He was awesome, and I went up to him and
I was crying in his office and I was like, dude,
I can't play anymore and I don't know what to
do about this, and luckily he was. He sat me down.
He's like, dude, football is not life like. We played
this game because it's fun and there's all these life
(05:25):
lessons and obviously you can pay for your school and
these incredible things, but you got to figure out what
life looks like because most guys and gals, like athletes
in general, right, you can max play to like you're thirty,
even if you're a pro, and then most of us
are done and there's still two thirds of life left,
and that's what he was pointing at. And so I
spent a lot of time wondering what those next two
(05:46):
thirds were going to be. I remember in my dorm room,
just like I didn't really leave my room for like
a full twenty four hours. I think I was just
sitting there in the dark and watching a movie and
my roommate came in. He's like, what's going on. I
told him I had to get this other shoulder surgery
and called my parents. That was like a really rough
day in my life. And you know, if I hadn't
had that happen, I don't have what I have now.
(06:07):
So I don't regret anything, but it is it's a
darker time. And I wish there was like some sort
of support group for athletes getting out of action, because
a lot of people, you know, they don't know how
to handle that identity switch. And I certainly didn't scre right.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And even if you said you like you said you
play up to college, or if your ten year vet
in the NFL, like everybody, you hear about it, but
until you have to go through it yourself, you don't
truly understand it. And that transition can be very tough.
I mean, it took me five years after all that
to figure out maybe this is something I want to
do as far as broadcasting and all that, you know
what I mean. So that transition for me was a
long one, but like you said, it got me worrying today.
(06:41):
So I'm grateful, grateful for it all, and I'm happy.
But you didn't pick up a guitar or start singing
or anything till college.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
No, I mean, it's a weird story.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
So my high school does a thing called the senior Project,
and it's like you got to pick like a learning
stretch and learn something and to get a mentor. And
I just didn't want to do like what all my
friends were doing. They were like, yeah, I'm going to
go into orthopedic surgery, so I'm gonna go shadow this person.
I was like, none of that sounds like me.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
But I love music. I was such a music fan.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
So I just decided, Okay, I'm going to write a
song and learn to play the guitar. So I literally
learned like three chords and I wrote this little song
and it was super fun. I'd passed my senior project,
thank god, And but I went to go play college football.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
I didn't think about it again.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
And so all of a sudden, I had this little
Walmart guitar that I stole from my little brother that
I brought up to college, and I had lost football
on it. So I had hours on hours on my hands,
and I was sad and I just wanted to fill
my time. I didn't want to think about it. So
I would sit on YouTube and I would just learn
a chord and I'd learn another chord, and now I
learned a few chords. Now I learned some covers, and
then I think I really got the bug. I like
(07:45):
got brave enough to write a song again, like after
my senior project, and I was like, this is just fun, man.
But I didn't think that it was like a thing
people could do. I didn't think, you know, when you
think of like Kenny Chesney, it's like that's impossible. I
couldn't ever make money with songs or anything like that.
And I started posting online and again it wasn't anything crazy.
(08:09):
It was one follow, two follows, and then I just remember,
all of a sudden, I had like one hundred and
twenty five thousand followers on Instagram, as like a junior
in college, just by posting covers and people would say, hey,
next time you're in town, let's rite.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I was like, where's town?
Speaker 5 (08:23):
What was this magical, musical town that I was talking about,
And like it's Nashville, So you got to come take
a trip and went out there in like August twenty sixteen.
I just never went home. I just I was like,
this is so freaking cool. It feels like I'm on
summer break. And that's what my dad always told me,
is like, dude, find something that it feels like you're
getting away with it. Like I get to go into work.
(08:43):
I get to write a song today, and that is work.
That's like the coolest feeling in the world. So it's
like free drugs. It's the best thing in the world.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
It's a healthy drug, right, very healthy drug. So you
did you visit here and then you just stayed?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Or did you visit here and you're like, you know
what I liked is like going to grab my stuff
and I'm coming back.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
I went a few times, I guess.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
I came out in January for the first time, and
then my last trip was like in July, and I
just told my parents, I'm like I got to get
out there as soon as possible. So my buddy, Tyler
Rich who's an artist out here, he had a buddy
moving out at the same time, so we were next
door neighbors with him, and he's like, just do it, man,
what's the worst thing that could happen? Right, Like, you
move out here for a year, it doesn't work out,
(09:22):
you got to move home. So my deal with my
parents was if I finished college, they would continue to
like help me pay rent. So I was like, my
rent's actually cheaper in Nashville than it is at Colorado State.
So if you let me move and I'll finish my degree,
which I did, will you support me for the first
year well in Nashville just trying to figure stuff out.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
So I did. I would. It was actually funny.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
I got super lucky and I got picked up on
this tour with Chris Lane. Actually Morgan Wallen was a support.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
At the time. It was twenty sixteen.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Dude, wow, And I remember I would be typing papers
before I go on stage, and then afterwards they're like, yo,
bus party on Chris's bus, and I'm like, I have homework,
so I can't Like. It was such it's a weird
time in my life, but I had to do it,
and I had to like just kind of make some
sacrifices to get out there as soon as I could.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
How long were you out with them? Oh?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Man?
Speaker 5 (10:08):
So the kind of quick version of the story is
Tyler Rich introduced me to Chris Lane because they were
on tour with Dustin Lynch at the time.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
So we were all at a barbecue and I ran
into Chris.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
We got to talk in and I just like he
went to the bathroom and I looked up his tour schedule.
I saw I was playing in Denver. So I was like,
I'm gonna throw a hail marry here. Just at the
end of his conversation, So Chris, what's up, dude. You
know what's crazy? You're playing in Denver. I'm already gonna
be in Denver. I'm from Denver. I'll free acoustic open.
I've got a little Instagram follow if you want help,
(10:38):
bring out the family and friends, whatever, No pressure.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
He's like, dude, of course, absolutely. We had to hit
it off. So he invites me to play that show.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
I guess I didn't screw it up enough to where
he said, yeah, man, want you hop on the rest
of the tour. I can't pay you, but if you
want to hop on this tour. So yeah, again it
was Chris Lane and then a young mulletless Morgan Wallen
in twenty.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Sixteen, little long straight hair.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Yeah, he had like middle part and it was definitely
more like a leather cuff vibe than the cutoff sleeves
at the time.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yes, and it's crazy, man.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
I remember he's saying whiskey glasses on that tour and
this is not like a knock up, but people were
going to the bathroom like nobody knew who he was, right,
So I'd watch him every night. He'd hold out the mic.
People would go to sing the bridge and he'd just
like bring it back, like no one's singing along. And
like three years later, with my girlfriend at the time,
I went to my hometown Amphitheater eighteen thousand people screaming
(11:31):
that same bridge back to the point where they had
to cut the tracks like let them keep singing, because
they sang it like fifteen times over him, and then
when he was done.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
People were like leaving.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
It was like craziest turnaround or like, I guess, boosting
career I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
And it was crazy to watch every night this like
little artist who was kind of you know, fucking it along.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
And trying to figure it out. Boom updown comes out,
and it just felt like it never stopped. And it
still me and my manager Jeff always talking about, like,
can you believe that guy was we were on that tour?
Is Morgan freakin' walling? Like you know what I mean,
It's just crazy that turnaround.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I actually saw a video.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's funny you bring that up because I saw a
video and it might have been like around the same time.
I think he said twenty eighteen, but maybe sixteen. He
was on a stage like in a parking lot somewhere,
and I think he was singing whiskey glasses and he
did that same thing, and then it transitioned to now
him on tour this year. Yeah, and it was like
just picked up right with a song left off in
the original video sane, and it was it's like, like
you said, nothing you've ever seen before. You're like, wait,
(12:27):
how does this get from this to this?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Which just goes to show like you gotta just be
authentic because I think I think him and even Seth
like his manager would say this like they were doing
a thing, but it wasn't quite Morgan yet, right, And
then all of a sudden they lean into like kind
of your redneck buddy next door who's a little wild. Right.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
He cuts off the sleeves, he puts on the mullet.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
They put out that song with fgl a little bit
more party, and it just clicks. And I think a
lot of artists in town are like one click away.
That's what's really fascinating about this. I've watched so many
of my friends. We were talking about Lily Rose earlier,
like she was into and she was a writer. She
puts one song on TikTok Boom and it just changes everything,
and it's like, it's amazing that it's one song away.
(13:07):
It's also terrifying. It's like we're only one song away,
so you just have to keep plucking along and chugging. Yeah,
it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And what has social media have been like for you?
It's a major tool for you, right, absolutely, So, I mean,
let's pick up in the story. Right, I moved to Nashville.
I'm doing a little bit of you know, post on Instagram.
I'm watching guys like Luke Holm's and Kane Brown. I'm
studying them because they're on Facebook and Fine.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
All that stuff, and I'm like, this is a real thing,
Like I don't feel like this is going away. And
the crazy part is I'm watching these guys go sell
out like five thousand cap rooms and I'm watching people
with number ones like not being able to sell one
hundred tickets, so like something's not adding up, Like this
is real. I don't think people realize how real this is.
So I'm getting better at Instagram and all these things.
(13:48):
And that's right around when TikTok came, like to the
picture right. So my sister is spending a ton of
time on this app and I'm like, what are you on?
Like it was musically and now it's TikTok. She's like,
you should check it out. I'm like, I'm not a
thirteen year old girl who dances in her room, so
it's probably not for me. And she was like, but
what are they dancing to you, idiot? I was like, Oh,
it's music, and I realized it's actually a music app.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
That's what it is.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Like it's people using music in whatever forms, but it
is music. So I got on there in like late
twenty nineteen, kind of before it was hot, and I
had built some sort of following. So when COVID happened
the world shuts down, I just happened to already be
posting three times a day on what ended up being
the biggest app.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
In the world.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
And you can't plan that. You can't like there was
really no strategy like, oh, yeah, the world will end
and I'll just be in the right place. It was
just I saw some attention, some real eyeballs and ears
in this place, and I just shifted some of my
focus and then I got lucky. You know, I had
a song kind of do really well, and then I
had a few songs do really well.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And that's open up so many doors. I can't imagine.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
I'm a completely independent artist, so I don't have a
record label, and I can go out and you know,
cell eighteen hundred tickets in my hometown and we just
hit like three hundred and fifty million career streams, no radio,
no label, just the Internet.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
So for me, it's not just like a part.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
Of it, it's it's everything, and it's really connected me
to my people. I think that's what's so freaking cool
about the Internet. Is you can find your people even
if your niche. You can find hundreds of thousands of
people in your niche, which is crazy. So I'm crazy
thankful for it and I can't imagine where I'd be
without it.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Do you think your career would be totally different at
this point if there was no such thing as a
TikTok or an Instagram or Twitter? TikTok is is your
main following? You have a couple of million followers on TikTok, right, yeah,
so five six.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Something like that.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
It's it's crazy, A few a few humans, yeah, d
it's really crazy, Like I don't take that for granted,
Like even that number, I can't really.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Even process that number, right, what does that even mean?
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Right?
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Millions of people?
Speaker 5 (15:57):
I don't know what a world looks like without the
Internet today, I like do people?
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I guess I would just.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Be playing on Broadway praying to God that like Mike
Dungan's eating lunch at the right time when I'm singing
a song that I sound good on.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Like that's how people were discovered.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
And now it's really cool because I can lay real
bricks of my career as I go, And it's something
that nobody can take away from me. So even if
I sign tomorrow and I'm dropped to your later whatever,
right night, mere scenario, I still have real fans who
are streaming real music, coming out to real shows. So
that's pretty special.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Do you feel like that allows you to be who
you are as well? Because you've heard artists throughout the years,
maybe you probably know some people, or maybe they'll sign
something with a label and a year later they're totally different.
They're like, I don't even know what I've been writing
last year performing. They because they try to transform somebody
and we've seen it in movies and shows whatever, into
a totally different person that they just picture in their
(16:47):
mind that they can sell to make them money and
this and that. So with social media now and this
is why I'm so glad we can do this podcast
as well as you could talk about being independent. Nowadays,
you can survive so much easier. I don't know if
easier is the right word, but you know, I mean
then you were ten years ago.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Oh my gosh. I mean, it's night and day.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
And for a guy like me, the difference is like
if I want to put out a song, if I
tease a song, tonight and it gets let's like, have
a fun scenario gets twenty million views. It's like my
driver's license or something. Right, I can put it out tomorrow,
Boom done. I have a ton of friends who, unfortunately,
(17:24):
through one way or another, there's so many cooks in
their kitchen, so the second that they feel something on
the internet, the response time can be six months and
then by then all the momentums gone away. So it's
a weird world that we live in where I think
even the labels and even label artists will have to
slowly adjust to the speed and the response time of
(17:46):
the Internet.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Now.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
So I'm lucky because if I want to put something out,
I can put something out. It can sound however I
want it to sound, and the album mark can look
out what it looks, and the video can look how
I want it to look. Now there's pros and cons.
I don't have, you know, massive teams of people helping
me with this. I have an amazing manager, Jeff, We
have an awesome PR team. I have an agent at
Willie Morris. I just signed a publishing deal, which is
(18:08):
really exciting. But at the end of the day, I'm
wearing twelve hats on any any given day, I'm going
over my own finances like that's not a lot of
people are just like I'm taking the big loan out
from the label.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Whatever happens happens.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
I'm saying, if I don't have X thousands of dollars
to take the bus out, we don't go out. You know,
that's a different way to run a business. And then
it's hard not to let the art and the commerce
feel like they're one thing. So you got to make
the art in a vacuum and then try to market
it like it's a business. It's it's a very weird
place to be and I don't think a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Have ever done this before. This is kind of a
newer idea.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
So there's not a lot of like there's not a textbook,
there's not a lot of friends even that I can call.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
There's like very few of us left in this independent game.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
And it's a beast sometimes, and it's so freeing in
some ways because I get to make music that I
want to make and put it out when I want
to put it out. So there's these these pros and cons,
and the grass is always greener.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
One day I wake up, I'm like I'm gonna sign.
I'm an idiot. I gotta go to country radio.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
And then the next day I'm like, oh my god,
I could have never put out that song, and like
I'm so lucky I'm not signed somewhere, you know. So
it's like a it's a weird time to be an
artist and an independent artist.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Have you been tempted? Have you been approached and offered
or anything like that? And you kind of said no,
maybe now it's not the right time.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Yeah, I mean there's been record deals on the table
and stuff. I always I think record deals or even
record labels. It's kind of like getting married. Like we
all want to get married. You want to find the
love of your life. You want to find the label
that gets you. But I don't want to sign to sign.
I don't want to sign because my friends are signing,
and I don't want to sign because I'm afraid to
not sign right just I get married. You want to
(19:53):
get married to get married. You don't want to get
married because you're not. So at a certain point, some
of that is out of my control. I can keep
talking to people, I can keep making the connections, but
the reality is someone's going to come along. Who won
understands this is not nineteen ninety Okay, we need to
draft some record deals that are creative and that give
(20:13):
me the freedom that the reason I'm doing what I'm
doing is because I have freedom. So allow me to
continue to make the music I want to make and
put it out in the way that I want to
make it or put it out. Excuse me, but when
it comes time to pour gasoline on the fire of
a song, what does that look like? How are they compensated?
I think there's a way to do all those things.
We're just still in talks. We're still kind of like
(20:35):
figuring out what that means. And in the meantime, I
got to do what I can do to keep moving
because the last thing you want to do is get
so caught up in the political machine of Nashville that
the reason that everything's working goes away, which is the fans.
And it's not like, you know, you hear fans first
as like such a catch all or like a buzzword thing.
For me, it's not even fans versus fans is everything,
(20:56):
because without fans, I don't have anything. I don't have
the label to prop me up. When a song is
not working. The song has to work, and the only
way song works is for it to get streams. The
only way get streams is real fans and real people
that we love and we treat and.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
We we feed. We give them something that they that
adds value to their life. So that's what I can control.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
Other stuff like I can't call somebody and you know,
hold them hostage till they give me the right deal.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
It's got to be the right fit.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Just like a marriage, you find somebody, it's two people
who feel like they're getting away with something like I
can't believe I get to work with this person.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Yeah, that's how I should feel. I just I haven't
felt that yet.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Do you have an idea of what that might feel like?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Because I love the marriage comperson and I'm not married myself,
but I have that. You know, a lot of my
friends are married now, they have kids now, and I
feel that pressure I should be there, But then I
remind myself of no, dude, you're doing what you need
to do right now.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
It's okay. It all come when you know it.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
So do you feel like you have an idea of
what it might be or is it one of those
just like maybe falling in love where you're like, you
know what when you know you know kind of thing.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
I think it's like falling in love. I think it's
gonna be when it happens. It happens when you know
you know, and the pressure of you know, I'm not married, right,
so I feel that same pressure.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
I actually just went to three weddings in one week.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
I don't recommend it, Denver, MAUI Denver, and it was
super fun, right, And I have half my friends are married, engage, pregnant,
and there's an obvious pressure in my head at least
I feel this way to go get married.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
I feel the same way in this town.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
I have so many of my best friends who are
signed to the biggest labels and doing all these things.
But I just I know that I can't force it
and that there's some patience involved. Because reality is, I'd
rather be married one or two or three or five
years less, but be married for sixty years than rush
into something and it not work out or not work
(22:47):
out the way I want it to, or it's just
a constant grind. And like like marriage record label is
just the start. It's not like you get married and
that's some sort of finish line. I always say, like
signing a record, deals, like getting your jersey, like cool,
go play like it does. You don't have a number one,
you don't have more people showing up tomorrow than today.
(23:07):
It's just putting in the right situation with the right people.
And reality is I'm a business owner. I have a
small business. They're a big business. If they see that
it is fortuitous of them to acquire my small business
and we work together, that's great. If not, I'm going
to keep building my business and control what I can control.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I always there's a meme. I don't if you've ever
seen it, but it's one of those I don't know,
how old are you?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Twenty eight?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, I'm thirty two. So I always think of it
and I laugh when I see it. I'm like, I've
just I've skipped my first divorce. That's all right, So
you skipped your first label breakups. That's proud of us.
I'm probably telling myself that every time I like remind myself,
I'm like, yeah, you're good.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
You're gay.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
I've needed that. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah, So use that for a motivation next time you
need it.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I got to you talk about your fans a lot.
They mean everything.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
You have a community text line of over thirty five
thousand people. I've seen this with artists, especially independent artists. Yeah,
can you explain, because I don't know exactly what this.
I mean, obviously it's a text line, but what is
this and how does this?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
As an artist? How do you handle this?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And you're you really respond to fans because I think
a lot of people don't really know exactly what it is.
So I want to hear it from your point of view.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Yeah, there's a good and a bad way to use it.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Like, the reality is, the texting list is just so
much more superior to email lists and some of these
other ways to get a hold of fans, because at
least for me, if I get a text, I'm going
to see it immediately, I'm going to open it, and
the open and response rates are like astronomically higher than
(24:36):
an email. Right, So everyone who wants to sign up
for an email but then they never even see it.
It just gets buried in our like Adida's promo or
like ray bands or whatever.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Right, you just get so much spam.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
So the theory of text text message lists is that
it's a way, better, more direct way to reach your fans.
The reality is a lot of people use it as
like sell sell, sell sell, so like every time you
have something coming out, it's like new song, new song,
new song, or merch merch merch or tickets, tickets, tickets,
And I try to use it as more like a
ligne to show my people, so we'll like just send
(25:08):
unreleased demos.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
I'll just send a selfie be like, Yo, what up,
I'm golfing today? What are you doing?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
And make it feel more like a friend is texting you,
so that by the time I you know, I'm not
gonna not ask, like I'm still gonna go, hey, got
a song coming out, but hopefully by then you don't
feel bugged, you don't feel like annoyed. So that's that's
the dream, And the reality is thirty five thousand people.
If even ten percent of those people go and pre
save a song, that's a game changer for us. In
(25:35):
a TikTok world, in a Instagram world, it's so hard
to reach your people now, which feels counterintuitive to me,
and I think someone's got to solve this.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
But it's like I have two point seven million followers.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
I'll post a TikTok that somehow gets like two thousand
views and I'm like, how does this math math?
Speaker 4 (25:54):
It doesn't.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
But the text list is the perfect example of those
are people who said, no, I actually do want to
always see it right. It's like basically saying, I want
to be at the top of your algorithm, no matter what.
Let me know when something's coming, let me know when
when you're working on something. So that's what it's for,
and it's it's actually been a huge game.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
Changer for us.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
And what's that phone number?
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Six one five three five eight seven seven two nine.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
There you go, that's my QVC voice text Now it's
sixty one five three five eight seven seven two nine.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
And I'm gonna text everybody back that texts me today
and I'll prove to you that I am actually texting
people because I actually do.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
I sit down probably thirty minutes in the morning, like
thirty minutes at night and just have conversations. And the
crazy part is people come to shows and be like, yo,
I've been texting you. I'm like, I know, I know
your name, like I know who you are. So it's
really really yeah, It's like I think a lot of people,
even myself, underestimate the value of like one to one
relationships with fans, Like we all want a million fans,
(26:46):
but what would it look like to have ten thousand
fans that you like, actually talk to, that you actually
add value to their life.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Like that's a different level.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I think it's almost like a more personal form of
social media, absolutely right, that's read way to put it,
more of a one on one Hey, get to know you.
So that's interesting. I didn't know that. Like I said,
I've seen artists, bands have this text line and I've
never really done it because I don't really know what
it is. So that's that makes you as a fan,
you feel a lot better as a fan. You're like, hey,
I actually know Spencer, I hope.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
So that's funny now, And that's that's I try to
do that on all my socials, which is like how
do I give you something that is music related?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
But then how do I like show you what lights
me up or what breaks my heart? You know?
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Like I think the artists that I connect with, they're
saying something deeper than just here is a single, here
is an album. They're standing for something they're proud of
themselves for doing. Something they're they're letting you into their diary.
I think that's like what great artists do. They'll go, hey,
am I crazy to feel this way? Here's my diary,
and you go, no, you're not, because I feel the
(27:48):
same way.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
So that's the text list, that's stories, that's you know,
even just posting on TikTok, Like when I post a song,
I hope I'm trying to give some sort of context
of like here's why.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
I hope this gives you value in your life.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
You know, if it's you're going through a breakup or
you're trying to figure out who you are, I hope
this helps you in some way.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
And that's why music's the best.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
It is, dude, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I mean there's a sad song, there's a happy song,
there's a party song, there's anything you can think of.
Whatever emotion you're feeling that day or that hour or
that minute, you can relate to it.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
And that's when I knew I wanted to get into music,
is I was in college and I'm feeling these things,
but I don't know how to say it almost right,
Like you have this gap between how you feel and
how and the vocabulary you have to express it. And
the gift we give as artists or as creatives or
as songwriters is to bridge the gap between how we
feel and how we don't know how to say it.
(28:40):
So like when someone says, drunk me, you can't get
over you, right, that's like a great song or like
insert any of your favorite songs. There's usually a little
light bulb that goes off.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
You're like, WHOA, that's how I feel.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
And I didn't even know how I felt or I
didn't even know how to say it like that. And
I think that's when I was like, WHOA, if I
could give that gift anybody, Like, that's magic, Like I said,
it's free drugs, like and it's good drugs, not even.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Destructive, right, what about it? I got to ask them?
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Are on the subject here. I had Shalin in a
few episodes ago. So that's how I actually saw you
for the first time cool doing some you know, homework
on her before we sat down and saw you guys
a song together, and you quoted this song, the song
to be continue, that's what it's called, and you quoted
saying the booty Call twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Is that the relation that we're having there. I saw that.
I think on TikTok or something like that.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
You know, sometimes the hook is just meant to be
uh inflammatory.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
I love but yeah, the booty call anthem, you know,
it's real.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Like I think I say this at my shows.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I'm like, don't raise your hand, but if you've been
through this with this one's for you, and sure enough
someone will be like this is me, they'll raise their hand,
they'll out themselves, but everyone's you know, if you've broken
up with somebody and you really care about them, it's
really hard to just like let it be. I think
a lot of us go through this like back and
forth and maybe we'll work out. Okay, maybe we've both
(29:58):
figured ourselves out, and and then there's the like come
hang out, come whatever.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Right, Like we've all been there, so we me and
Shay had had to deliver. The booty Call anthem of
twenty twenty three just had to be done.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
I love it. I love it. I mean you're giving
me flashbacks, yeah, bringing that up right now. I'm like,
I know you.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Got a war flashback, yes exactly.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I'm like seeing five years later, I'm still thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
It sucks.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Let's do some real off music a little bit. You're
from Denver, I'm a big sports guy. You're a big
sports guy. We're not gonna talk about the Broncos, but
we will talk about the Nugget. Yes, let's do it.
Let's do it real quick. I just want to sum
it up work as we close this out pretty soon here.
I mean, what was that like for you?
Speaker 3 (30:36):
First one?
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I was happy for you guys, awesome team. So what
was that like for you as a.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
Fan, Dude, I've been a Nuggets fan. I've been a
Denver sports fan my entire life. Grew up in Denver.
So like there's been years where the Broncos are really
great and that feels good. The Nuggets have never been
good my entire life.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
And even when we.
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Were like okay, Like I remember one year we made it,
we lost like the first round of the playoffs and
George Carl was given Coach of the Year and fired
that same year, Like that's just the story of the Nuggets.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
We've been kind of a mess in many ways for
so many years.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
So for me, I mean, I've watched so many Nuggets games,
so many seasons. My dad like never misses a Denver
sports game ever and just never even thought it was possible.
And then over like even like the Bubble Year, we
got like close and you started to look good and
Jamal gets hurt and you're like, oh man, we're just
gonna be out of it for a long time. So
for me, I went to a finals game, even though
(31:33):
we lost, and it's like one of my favorite memories ever.
Like I went with one of my best friends and
just the energy in that place felt like this, it's
so cool to be with a team from terrible too good,
Like that is such a special feeling. So just we
love you, Joker, don't go anywhere ever. We love you Jamal,
don't go anywhere ever. Really special, man, that team was
(31:53):
a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I'm a Celtics fan, I'm an boss, my dad's from
back East, but as a Celtics fan, I mean, as
soon as we got bounced the Eastern Conference finals there,
I was like, Okay, that is gonna win.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
I was, honestly, I was a little nervous just to
play you guys, because you guys are just well.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
I was nervous to play you guys, honestly, Like when
the Heat won, I was like, cool, this matchup is
way better. Like I feared the Celtics, so it all
worked out. We got that ring. You know, just a
forty seven year drought.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
It's just a little, just a little one. So I'll
be happy for you there. I can't root for your Broncos.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
I'm sorry. As the Patriots fan, I just can't do.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
We're terrible. It'll probably be three years until we even
have to have a conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Sean Payton should that's definitely a step up.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
But uh, I think we'll go five hundred this year,
which would be which would be a step up. But
I don't think as long as Patrick Mahomes sits in
the AFC West, it is going to be a tall order.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
The entire AFC is loaded.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
Well, dude, I mean even the Chargers are sneaky good. Yeah,
and the Raiders are sneaky good. And now the Broncos
have a Super Bowl winning quarterback as super Bowl winning
head coach and we still are like the obvious last choice.
That's how good our division is.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Yeah, insane, But the balls almost here, so I'm excited
about it.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
I cannot wait.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Same same all right.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Well, Spencer, you got a new song out today actually
called didn't do, sir, would Cooper Allen?
Speaker 3 (33:09):
What is a song?
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Just talk about that real quick and if you're listening
to this, makes you go stream after this is all done.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Yeah, give it a little streamy stream.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
It's out everywhere. It's called didn't do with my buddy
Cooper Allen. So I have tons of songs out and
love songs and breakup songs. But on every album, I
think I want some sort of song about like life
just in general, and I want something that's like, especially
on this last album that talked about kind of like
(33:37):
the urgency of life.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
I find myself.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
You know, it's so easy, like today I was like
it's July whatever, Like how how is it already July?
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Right?
Speaker 5 (33:47):
And I lose the sense of urgency and it's like
kind of I think it's gonna be one of my
bigger regrets in life if I if I were to
live this way, is like I didn't really realize how
quick it's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
I didn't realize. You know, you don't get thousands of Christmases.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
You get like eighty if you're lucky, you get eighty
summers if you're lucky, like to live in the now
and to really go for it, because life is short,
I think is like underrated.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
So I just started writing something in my phone one time.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
It was like I think I literally wrote the first
line of the songs, like sometimes I catch myself living
like I'll never die, and it's like I just feel
like I'm gonna be down here forever.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
It's just not true.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
So I just started writing out these lyrics like kiss
the girl, call your mom, do the thing, and all
of a sudden, I realized it's like that message is
I'd rather regret what I did than what I didn't do.
I'd rather get to the end and be like, you
know what I tried. I tried everything. I went for
my dreams. I tried to make the relationship work. I
was always intentional with my brothers and sisters, and I
(34:46):
think if you do that, hopefully you mitigate some of
those regrets. So then I showed it to my buddy
Coop and he freaked out. He was like, dude, I
love the song. So we're two independent guys, you know,
we're without labels, and there's something kind of like a
chip on our shoulder to be like, we think this
hit song and we're gonna put it out together and try.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
To make some magic happen. So it feels really special
to us.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
I like it. I like, well, we'll get that timing
of it toohun drops today. I sit down. This is great.
Go check that out.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Go check them out on Instagram and TikTok as well
at spencer crandall correct. And then he has over three
hundred million total global streams, two point six million followers
on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
But no big deal. It's all good, Spencer. I really
appreciate it, and thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Appreciate it. Of course, thanks for listening to a Bobby
Cast production
Host
Bobby Bones
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