#165 - Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down

Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down stops by the house to talk about their biggest songs Kryptonite, Here Without You, Be Like That and more. Brad wrote most of their first record when he was in high school and started as the singer and drummer for the band. Brad talks about their relationship with Nickelback, life on the road, getting sober and if he thinks they are considered an underrated band. 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to episode one sixty five of the
Bobby Cast. This is an exciting one for me because
it's Brad Arnold from Three Doors Down. Glad to have you, man,
Thank you for having men. I'm glad to be here.
I'm such a fan of Three Doors Down because how
old a guy are you? I am about the same
age you were, So you were were the same age basically, right.
You were so big and I was like an idiot

(00:22):
on the radio and Hot Springs, Arkansas, and you were
like all over the world. I felt so so small now, man.
We did start young. I started touring when I was twenty.
I just turned twenty one, and it was you know,
they say like youth is wasted on the young. So
it's touring because I think I would have enjoyed it
so much more now in the mindset that I'm in

(00:46):
in my life and just the place that I am,
than I did then, because you know, you get out
there and you're young and you start touring, and it's
that's a lot to handle hand a twenty one year old,
you know, and it's basically you know, just to here's
the I used to tell people, it's like having a backstage,
passed to life and eat out there and and I

(01:06):
was an idiot, and I didn't you know, I didn't
do a lot of things, but I was just I
guess my main thing that I got out, I just
got out and drank so much and things like that.
And and um, I've been without alcohol, been alcohol free
for a little over three years. As I wish, man
I could just take that and apply to my whole career,
I would have enjoyed it so much more. I think

(01:26):
I saw you guys probably five times, you know, all
through my years. Um, And so for me, I think
the last time I saw you guys was you guys
in Fuel. You guys were playing together. But I've bet
a lot of those bands, did you guys kind of
cross paths and tool randomly with a lot of those
guys kind of in that same class and when when
pop was rock, So how did those tours often come together?

(01:46):
Did you did you switch places sometimes? Like who had
the bigger song would kind of lead the tour? Well,
we um, by the grace of God, our first record
like done really good and we started touring together with
Nickelback was used to be uh their second record kind
of took off for them, and so that was the
first tour that we would kind of they opened for
us for and a couple first couple of years that

(02:09):
both of us were out and uh, and then their
second record took off, and we've done a tour together
to where we kind of flip flop back and forth
playing and then we had we went our separate ways.
So like not good blood, not good blood. So what's
the deal with Nickelback? Why does anybody hate on Nickelback?
I don't know, why do you think people hate on Nickelback?

(02:30):
And I wouldn't have went there for you, you know,
I didn't know you guys tore with Nickelback a lot.
There's been a lot of times were we both started
on two already Eagles, you know, like the nineteen eighties
Eagle buses, and one of them was always broke. So
there was a lot of times where there was I mean,
you know, in those days, all band and crew on
one bus. On that tour, there was both bands and

(02:51):
broth crews on one bus for a lot of times
because one of the bus was always tore, tore up,
and and it would break down and we just had
to get to the next gig, so everybody's just kid
on one. Which if a bus only holds twelve, now
a bustle whole twelve legitimately like my bustle whole twelve legitimately,
So that means there's enough bunks and legally you can
have twelve. This sounds like there's more than twelve people
on that bus, but there a lot of people some

(03:13):
Mondey would always give me a bunk and uh so
so the two singers could sleep or whatever. Um, but
uh yeah, we just kind of we Our old drummer
is now their drummer. Daniel used to be our drummer
for quite a while, and uh and and he's a
great drummer, you know. And um, it was just I
don't really know honestly how it got to be Bad Blood,

(03:34):
but I think kind of it was a thing in
the ward show. And I don't even remember what a
ward show it was. And it was even between the
two bands. It was between some crew guys or something.
But I don't know why people I don't know why
people hate on him so much. But well, if you
don't like him, I now hate Nickelback to Mike, let
him know, let him know I'm tired of defending them.
I don't like him anymore. But I don't like them.

(03:55):
I don't I don't dislike you know, honestly, I hadn't
talked to him in a really long time. Here's the
story one of my friends told me, because they went
to Canada and they're a country band, and they said
they were playing with Nickelback, and I guess those guys
are really rich. I guess Chad Corger is really rich.
And apparently went on a yacht. This is all hearsay, right,
They went out a yacht and they were throwing pillows
into the air and shooting them with guns, and that

(04:16):
he was just wild and they just had guns and
still like partying on boats and off the coast. And
I was like, man, Nickelback is still going hard right now.
I guess so, man. I've heard some stories about Ted
doing some pretty outland just things, but it was mainly
like throwing money around and and stuff like that. And
for me personally, I mean, I come from a good
family of saving kids. But my mom there taught me

(04:40):
to the value of money, and I still remember the
value of money, and I just think about it, you know,
I guess probably I was probably like nineteen or twenty,
and you guys, in my mind really blew up and
that rock sound became the pop sound because I was
working on pop radio and every song you guys are
put out would just be massive. And when you're in
the mid and I can feel this a bit with

(05:01):
me now, meaning I'll work so hard, I really don't
see the cool things that are happening around me at
the level I should really appreciate and see them. I wonder,
because you were so successful, just one after the other,
what felt like, like, did you really feel it an
experience it? Are we just running so hard? I think
you're just running so hard that you did you feel it?
And I think I feel it more now looking back,
you know, in Gina and I and we'll talk about

(05:23):
it sometimes and and and I mean we really were
like truly truly blessed. And we still are. Man, we
still go and we still play a lot. We don't
tour when we you know, when those first several years
we played three hundred shows a year. Sometimes you're on
the road that much, you were, man, we would we
would go. We we developed kind of the three week
rule to where you know, if we don't want to

(05:43):
be gone more than three weeks, and we'll come home
for a week and go again sometimes. But I remember
like going for three full months and not even coming home,
you know. Um, but we always we've always been a
radio band, and radio has always been our lifeblood, and
they've always been very very get to us. Did you
want to be a radio band at first? Or just
a rock band that the times happened to fit the sound?

(06:05):
I think that it just kind of happened because you know,
we never toured before we got signed. We were from
South Mississippi and uh and we're from Biloxi, Missisipiorst Point, Mississippi.
But basically Biloxi were just like halfway in between New
Orleans and Mobile, and um, we couldn't get a gig
in New Orleans. We couldn't get gigs in Mobile, nobody.

(06:26):
I mean, we just had to play like right there.
It worked at what worked to our benefit was the
fact that there just wasn't a whole lot to do
in the area. So we always had a ton of
friends at the shows and stuff like that. And um,
so we went made a local a little CD at
a local studio and had Kryptonite on it. Along with
what would become like half of the first record. And

(06:47):
um so we begged our local radio station to play it.
And you know they can't just do that, right, but
they had a local radio show that they would do
once a month, and um so they played us on
there a lot. And and finally we begged the program
director long enough uh that he was like, okay, I'll
add Grip tonight, and he tried it and it became
the most requests it's only ever had. And now some
of those people might have been interference our family for

(07:09):
a little while, but after a while it became like
a hit on that station. And they were a reporting station,
and so you know, the report was going out that
this number one song, and but there was no record
company beside it. So there came the record companies and
uh and we weren't even trying to get signed. We
they just came and it just happened. So where all

(07:31):
you guys, where'd you come? How did you come together?
We were all from the same little town, Escuatapa, Mississippi,
and um mad and now which our our original guitar player,
he's he's passed away. We had he's my cousin and
we just always played together and started playing his garage
before I even had a drum set. And one of
his buddies left a jump set over there from new

(07:51):
Play and and uh Todd our original bass player. Um.
He asked me in Matt to come over to this
house one day and play, and we just started the
end and I was the drummer. I didn't. I had
never sang in front of anybody ever, and I just
I was like, oh, I try it. And I was
so shy that Todd lived in a trailer and I

(08:12):
would sit in the in the in the front living room,
move his trailer and I would A couple of his
girlfriend and one of her friends would always be over there.
They were always at Todd's house. I was so shy
sit in my face in the corner and singing. Really,
how hard was it to drum and sing? Not? Not
so bad. I always wonder how people play guitar and seeing,
because I mean, I just can't get my fingers to
do that. But for the drums I played, and I'm

(08:35):
not a great drum or anything, but I played all
my life, and so it was never I never really
thought about it too much. So you never sang and
you hop up and you start singing, although you're shy, like,
could you feel you're pretty good at it? I felt
like I was. Um. I think probably the breakthrough for
me was when when they told me, like Todd's girlfriend
was like, you sound really good, you know, like okay,

(08:58):
you know it from there, and that that definitely helped
me come out of my shield. But I remember when
we recorded that first record. I got to get home
and I played it from my parents and my dad said,
who's that singing? I was like, you know it ain't.
That's funny, And it's such a funny story that your
local radio station playing the song is what ended up
getting you guys a deal, because there's kind of breaking

(09:20):
down for our listeners. If stations are big enough, their
playlists get reported to basically a database, and they take
the database and they go, Okay, this meant this song
had this many plays at reporting stations, and that's what
builds the chart. So any station that's big enough has
a reporting tag, and you're on reporting station and there's
this song, the number one song that has no record

(09:41):
label beside it, because every song, every band has a
label written right beside it. Like if they're on Mercury
or Hollywood, but three doors that had nothing nothing, And
so the label did multiple labels approach you guys, They
did Universal in Atlantic. It was the main two that
we talked to in a couple of a couple of
others and Um and UM. Money Littman came down, who
is now the president of Universal. That was when he

(10:03):
and his brother Avery Littman at first started are not
just started, but recently started Republic, which was a rock
very label on inside of Universal. And he came down
and talked to us, and uh, and we just liked
what Money had to say and he was honest with us,
and and uh, what does he say to you? You
know what stand out about the meeting above what made

(10:25):
us ultimately go with them above anybody else. He said, Look,
he said, a lot of people come down here and
lie to you and tell you this and that and
tell you what you want to hear. He said, it's
like this. You sell me records where it's all good.
You stop selling records. I stopped answering the phone. I
think good enough. And when you get signed, is it
like a recoup? Whenever they give you money for a record,

(10:47):
do they give you any sort of money up front,
like you here have money to go buy some clothes.
They did. They gave us. They gave us um assignment
bonus when we first signed, and it wound up that
we all got fifteen thousand dollars apiece to sign on
in all four members before was at the time we
all wouldn't spin it all on jet skis that in

(11:08):
fifteen dollars. Again, we're the same agent basically from the
same part of the world. Because I'm from Arkansas. You
give me fifteen thousand dollars as a nineteen or twenty
year old, I mean one, that's more money that I've
ever seen it at once ever. And then too, I'm
probably gonna make some dumb decisions too. And so you
guys all go buy jess Kis. It was gold And
where do you do? You ride them in the Gulf? Yeah? Yeah, right,
we lived right on the Gulf and right kind of

(11:29):
we grew up on the river, but just ride up
the river from the golf That's funny. You know what
I didn't know is that you wrote Kryptonite in high school,
which is which is not? This is to me the
song that you guys would be known most for is it?
Is it to you? Um, it's what kind of started. Definitely,
I guess maybe Here without You is kind of the
song that kept it going. But Kryptonite is definitely what

(11:52):
kind of school I'm play a little Kryptonite? This was
the jam I remember when he came out. I was like,
I don't even know who these guys are, but I
love him. So tell me about this. You right? It
in high school hall the year like junior senior high school.
I was a senior, and so you sit down and go,
are you watching Superman? Or? You know? It was? It
was I guess it was just me asking a question

(12:12):
of of like unconditional friendship. It's like, if I'm doing good,
will you'd be there for me? And if I'm down,
will you'd be there for me? And you know, honest
to god, I didn't think a whole lot about it.
You know, it sounded good and the words rhymed. It
meant a lot more to me later and it still
means things to me right now because later on in

(12:36):
my life I started realizing that question was kind of
a pretty good question. If I go crazy, will you
still call me Superman? Or if I'm alive? And will
you will you be there holding my hand? And the
reason it became more meaningful to me later was the
fact that so many times it's like people are willingly
there for you when you're down, but those same people

(12:57):
that's like, oh, yeah, man, you're gonna do great, You're
gonna do well. If you start doing great, those same
people will kind of turn on you sometimes, you know.
And so that question kind of became a valuable question
to me and and and pretty meaningful for me. It's
almost like a marriage vale you know, for richer or poor,
you know, to death do us part. It's almost what
that is, like if I'm good, are we good? If

(13:18):
I'm bad? Are we good? Are you gonna You're gonna
be there the whole time? And that was the one
that the local stession played. Now was that you guys
first single, like right out of the box. It was
so it was the one that that worked for you guys,
and then you ran with it nationally and did you
feel good about it early? Like we're stations receptive to it?
They were, and they were, and it started doing good

(13:38):
and then it kind of it kind of leveled all
for a second, and they're like and then it. Really
it's kind of like hit another year and it took off.
Could you feel that when it was early? Yeah? And
so you start to get calls from like TV shows,
are you doing like the the the late night shows
or MTV stuff like that. We did. We never did
a whole lot on MTV, but we've done all the
late night shows. So back did you ever do Letterman? Oh?

(14:00):
We did? How was that? It was cool? Yeah? It
was literally cool because the theater was so cold. Yeah,
but we played I think I think we held the
record on Jay Leno Show for the most times on
I think we played Jay Leno Show seven times. Is
he super nice? Yas I was gonna say, like the
the whole thing with Jay was he would come by
and be super nice. Hey, hey he's dripping. He was

(14:20):
really really cool. So yeah, so that comes out and
you gotta be feeling pretty good. But do you start
to feel like, man, I wonder for a one and
done band, oh man, because that can be the kiss
of death, Like one huge song? Can that can do
you in? Just would you rather have had one huge
song let's say like a chumba wamba or lou bega
and went away or had no major song at all,

(14:41):
but a few that were okay. I think I'd rather
have a few that was okay. Yeah. Why is that?
Because I think it would create more longevity in your
career and allow you to go play more shows, because
you know, you know, a lot of bands kind of
look at it as like we toured to promote a record,
but we put out a record so we could go tour.
You know, we always we just always like to go

(15:03):
play live. And you also, I guess, would become kind
of a character of yourself if you have one song,
like you're always did that image of that one song
because there's not another one or two to balance it
out so much. And I say that because I was
watching this story about Bobby McFerrin, who has Don't Worry,
Be Happy. He won't play that song anymore because he's like,

(15:24):
that was like a goofy song that I never expected
to be a hit, and that actually doesn't represent me
at all, and so he doesn't play that at all. Really, yeah,
he doesn't play it at all. Like what do you
get tired of playing the big hits? I don't. I
don't because uh, and we're doing a lot of acoustic shows,
right now and I like doing acoustics because it gives
me a chance to talk to the crowd. And one

(15:45):
of the things I was telling the crowd the other
night because I just talk whatever on my mind, you know,
and and I was just telling him. I was like,
you know, it never it never gets old. And and
because I love hearing him sing it back. And it's
weird because for the last fifteen years we wore in
ear monitors. Well, had a weird situation like two weekends ago,
my monitor guy, we were in and out of town,

(16:07):
you know, and he left our inn years at home
and thank god we had some wedges. And so that
was my first time to sing with wedges in like
fifteen years. Wow. And So by the way, wedges, for
people that don't know, the inner ears are uh a
little the tiny things that you see the artists wearing
their ears. And so basically it's a mix inside the
years and it seals off all the outside sound and
what the monitors are are, or the wedges are, the

(16:29):
the on stage, the little box speakers. Everybody can kind
to hear them, but they're pointed at you. And so
it was the first time in fifteen years you'd use us. Yeah,
and uh for one of our shows, and it allowed
me to hear the crowd, and I was like, man,
missing this because you know, sometimes for the inn ears,
you only hear what you want to hear. But it
can really kind of it can definitely separate you from

(16:50):
everybody out there. I have, I usually have some ambient
mics in there a little bit, but um and coincidentally,
the first the first of those two shows was it's
pretty small and uh, I could I could hear people
like talking while I was singing shut up, Okay. So
I just saw by the way, you mentioned the acoustic
before you get to the next point, back porch jams out.

(17:10):
Here's Kryptonite, the acoustic version that three doors down just
put out. Man, do you guys rerecord these? Did you
go energy pill stuff back? Or howd you do that?
We just we have a studio that we own just
up in Hendersonville and it's just a small, little nothing
studio and we just went in there and and ran

(17:30):
through them and just played them I think just maybe
once or twice, is that right? Because we tried to
keep it kind of live. We didn't want it to
be like to like right, you know, it's my whole life.
I don't want to be too right. I just won't
feel normal if it's too right. You know, you mentioned
people talking. I did a whole thing on the air
a couple of days ago where I was talking about
acoustic shows or even when I do stand up, Like

(17:53):
there's a difference because when someone's talking and I'm doing
stand up, it kills all of like my rhythm. I'm
talking and if you yell hey, you're all even if
you hey, you're awesome, it it stops it. It kills everything.
And I'm like, there's a difference in screaming that out
when I'm doing stand up or someone is doing an
acoustic show versus when there's fire and there's big electric

(18:15):
guitars and know, you can scream it all you want,
like tell tell the artist you love him, but if
he's depending on the attention of the room, he's got
to have the attention of the room. And so you're
playing these acoustic shows and you started to notice that
was a thing, huh you do It is irritating because
for me, but I don't know about you, but I
feel bad. Not for me. I'll be fine, Like I go,
I do the best I can, and I feel good
about it. But it's the people that are sitting out

(18:37):
there that paid for the ticket that have to hear
some idiot yelling and I feel bad for them, and
I get mad for them, and sometimes like I popped
off the crowd at people in the crowd, and I'm like, dude,
they didn't pay to hear you tell jokes. They paid
to come and experience whatever I'm bringing. And I wonder,
do you feel that way? I do? I do? And
you know, and and at one of the shows, that

(18:59):
that first show, so there was somebody over over out
on one side of the crowd that was just kept
on screen, and I remember I could hear them while
I was singing, and I mean they weren't like screaming
obscenities or something hateful or anything. But after a couple
of songs, security kim and got him and take them
took him out. And I don't like to see anybody
get taking out of the show. I was kind of glahead, Yeah,
and you know what, and they paid for it too,

(19:19):
but they can't run it everybody else. That's right. That's
what That's all it's about to me, is that you're
running it for everybody else that got asiter that took
a night and dedicated to come watch freaking three doors
downplay and there's some guy won't stop screaming as you
guys are playing here without you acoustic which is cool,
which is also on the record or so that I

(19:40):
don't know, sounds pretty perfect to me, I'll be honest
with you. This is out now the back course shams
the acoustic versions. So this song? What single was this? Um?
This was all? This was the second single off the
second record, So okay, so it was a bit but
Wain Kryptonite and here with us? So what was the

(20:01):
second single? A loser? That was the way loser starts
with that guitar at the beginning of it. Oh man,
that was a jam that that song. I didn't realize
it until speaking of like you don't realize what's going
on around you. And now I might be kind of wrong,
but in some way that song was number one at
rock radio for six months? Is that right? So in

(20:23):
one form or the other for six months it was
number one because I'm a loser? How is it? Jam man?
I said, love that song? I mean that's right here
in the baseline Boo boo that I loved it. Man,
I geek out over this music. When you played with us,
I was like, this is the coolest thing I've ever done.
And I get to play with some alls and people,
and I was like, I appreciate it. It was so

(20:43):
much fun because together you came and you sang Kryptonite
and here without you. I think it's a two songs
that we did and I just sang background vocals. That
was the coolest thing ever. It was so it was
so much fun. I really enjoyed, sincerely, I really enjoyed that.
I couldn't believe you said yes, because I I told
him that's that is there anywhere we can get, you know,
three doors down. I get bragged. I know he lives
here and I didn't know we had the same management.

(21:06):
And they were like, you know you have the same
and I was like, sure it, say where reach out?
We know him and so they said, yeah, he's gonna
do it. I was like, are you kidding me? This
is the craziest thing any time. Man. That was awesome.
Here's out here without your Now, let's do let's do
a loser a little bit. Here's a loser you guys,

(21:29):
pretty party and pretty hard at this point. Were yeah,
we were, But I actually you know how I wrote
that song, uh, when I was a teenager. Also, um,
I wrote it maybe before crypt well, no, it's a
little bit after. The Cryptic Knight was also like the
fifth song I ever wrote when I started, when we
wrote that first record, I've never even written songs. I didn't.
I didn't really. I started out writing poems. And I

(21:51):
guess the reason I wrote too many of them high
school because I think I had like algebra, which is
the class that I used to setting rhodium. I had
it right after lunch, and I think that was fourth period.
Third period was creative writing, and I used to love
creative writing. I was terrible in math, so I'd take
creative writing and then I go to lunch and I
go sitting math class and just like right, I fed

(22:12):
my brain, you know, and I'd go in there and
I wrote half that record in there. But I wrote
Loser right around that same time. But actually wrote her
about one of my friends and um and what actually
calling him a loser. But he and I grew up
together and I know him since we're little bitty kids,
and uh, he started getting into like jokes pretty bad

(22:32):
and stuff. And I wasn't writing a calling him a loser.
I watched his attitude chains to where I could tell
that like he thought he was a loser, and I was.
I was almost writing it from his perspective, looking at himself,
you know, you know what I mean. And um, and
thankfully dude straightened up. And he's a good dude. And
I had talked to him a long time. But um,

(22:53):
that it was written really about one of my friends.
You wrote those songs in high school, huh and here
they are lasting twenty years later. That's crazy. So were
you in high school? Were you the cool music kid?
Were the dorky music kid? I kinda hung out with everybody. Um,
And and it was really like I was saying earlier,

(23:15):
it worked hard at venues to be from that little town.
And I mean I kind of knew everybody. I wouldn't
like the kid that got picked on, but I wasn't
the kid that got invited every party either, you know.
And um, because we we we practice all the time.
We were just we played all the time and we
should have been better, but but we knew. We got

(23:37):
to where we knew everybody because there was one little
bar in our town and we played there every weekend.
And I was only sixteen and I had to get
I literally had to get a note from a parents
saying it was okay for me to be in there
and know a note that's funny, A no to break
the law? That's fnny. Isn't that funny? Into a bar? Yeah?
Playing the bars, and we just we'd always have like

(23:58):
three or four people in there. It was never are
like but double all there was to go do. And
we charged like three or three or four dollars to
come in, and we just got to keep the keep
the cover charge. So they made the alcohol money and
you guys got the cover we did. Why about you
guys were doing all right then? Because again how we
grew up, you and I both, that's that's a lot
of money. I worked at McDonald's, and I could make

(24:20):
more playing in a bar both nights at the weekend.
I can make a McDonald's all week Did you continue
to work at McDonald's for a little bit? When did
you go? All right, I'm just gonna dedicate myself to music. Um,
I'm mainly quit there because I want to go to
a party and my manage let me help work. I
was like, see you make more money playing in bars anyway,
that's funny. Three doors down the acoustic versions, uh from

(24:43):
their acoustic back porch jam. Check that out. I'm gonna
do a break here real quick. Alright, so loser comes out?
What's next? What comes out to loser? Duck and Ruin
was the third single off that record, And um, that
was a fun zone And you wrote this one by yourself? Right?
We did? Um? Um, Well, this one, I wrote all

(25:05):
the lyrics. Um. The only thing I hadn't I didn't
write all the lyrics songs, Like two songs on some
of our later records, I co wrote those with a
couple of guys. Um. But this one, we had the
music for a little while for it, and I just
never could Sometimes we could have music and a couple
of the songs, I would write lyrics like completely independent

(25:27):
of the music, and I just had like this notebook
of lyrics, and we'd come up with songs and songs
and songs, and every now and then i'd be listening
to one and I'll be reading through there and It's like, heym,
those lyrics work with that music, and I think I
can run. Was at least part of it kind of
wound up like that. Man, this was a rock song.
Right here, I'll sing them all back. I'm here a

(25:47):
little bit of this. I mean it's heavy. Yeah, it
was it heavy and now here and now it's it's heavy?
Was it again to the time? Was it considered heavy?
M hm? So of that was the first song we
used kind of like that song was the first song
I ever heard auto tune on, and we used this

(26:08):
sort of as an effect. There's a couple of spots
you can hear my voice kind of like and uh.
I remember one of the guys from some forty one
like messing with me one day at the show. He
was like, so, tune all your vocals, I like, dududes.
In fact, he's like, it sounds like tuning in to me.
I was like, whatever it is. Which of those guys
that you become friends with during that time, like all

(26:29):
those bands that are, you know, basically touring together, seeing
each other on the road, who'd you guys become close with? Um?
I guess some of the guys that I became close
with that I'm still friends with this Uh, some of
the closer ones, would you know? I don't talk to
him all the time. But the theory of it dead
Man guys, is that right cool one to guys, that's
a that's a rock band. Yeah, and they're a good
bunch of dudes. Where they love now. I think they're

(26:51):
all in Canada, so the Canadians they are like. I
would listen to the Edge in Dallas. That's where I
would hear three of the Dead Man. I would this
is how dorky I was, right because I was really
into the rocks. You know. It went from like, uh,
I found nine Country in the nineties, and then the
whole grunge movement for me was big because I grew

(27:11):
up grungy anyway. And finally I just looked like those
people because I was dirty kid anyway. But that was
cool to be a dirty kid. And I was like, finally,
somebody that's that looks like me. And so I listened
to all that and that transitioned into kind of you
guys this time, you know, the two thousand's, the early
two thousands, and so I would have my friend get
on the Edge in Dallas and take a cassette and
just pit record play and tape an hour flip it

(27:33):
tape an hour then mail it to me and I
would listen to it back and I would hear you guys,
and some of the rock songs that wouldn't go to
pop but would just go to the edge, Theory of
a Dead Man, and you go through all those all
those bands like that, And that's what that reminds me of,
is that time period cassettes, man, and sometimes even I
would record songs. I don't know if you did this
back in your hold doubt, I would. I would go record,
play pause and then when the song that you like start,

(27:54):
you take that pause off quick, and you hope to
god the stupid DJ would talk over the intro. Yeah,
even like okay, so top five and nine don't talk
over the intro on posit? How many? How many singles
on that first record? Four? So what's the last one
that comes off? Be like that? Oh? If I can
be like, was this on a movie too? It's on
the soundtrack? It was. It was on the American Pie

(28:15):
that's right. We didn't write it for it, but it
wound up being on it. And actually we had to
change the first lyrics of it because the first lyrics
spans nice California. Well, that song takes place in Middle America,
so I didn't like to mention of California, so we
we changed it to spend his whole life being too young,
live life, to send his dreams. And it's still around

(28:39):
with the nickline. Instead of California being too young, is
California being too young? That's syllable that that's the So
did you change it for just the soundtrack like on
the on the record it was it was California on
the soundtrack. You have to go back in the studio
and re record that and hopefully it sounds the same,

(28:59):
like don't have a cold or something. It's hard to
do that, man, it's hard to go and I mean
you can use the same microphone, you could be in
the same studio, same everything. It's hard to go back
because I've tried. I have had to do it a
little touch ups here and there, and it's hard to
do it a couple of weeks later because my voice
changes every day, you know, and especially when you're younger
like that, and not from just your voice changing. But

(29:19):
I didn't have as much control over it then, and
it's hard to go back in there and and make
it sound the same to where it just lines up
with the rest of a of a take. You Now,
when you say that's the first thing I thought is, wow,
you had to change it. And from that's quite the
time difference from when you record it for the first
record and when this movie comes out. Four singles, that's
what a year, year and a half. Yere about a

(29:40):
year and a half a thing. So that first single, Kryptonite,
you've got a couple of rockets. That fourth one goes
back to pop and does it really well. I remember
that playing that one like crazy. So you start with
a bang and you end with a bang. Going into
the second record, you gotta feel pretty good about yourself.
It was that was It was amazing. It was amazing.
I remember I literally remember being so mad one night

(30:07):
and like at at my and R guy was like,
why a will to sell eighty thousand records last week?
That was like, man, this is bull crow last week?
Yeah a random week. Wow, times have changed. My friend
was like what or maybe it was like sixty thousand
or something, but it was like ridiculous. It was some
ridiculous amount of records and I was like what it

(30:28):
gets so crazy? I was killing it now. Artists auld
beg I think like Florida George lines like fifty last week,
it was like the biggest I don't listen, times have
changed to like the way that people get music. Absolutely,
but okay. So the second record was that Away from
the Sun. It was I don't even have notes on that,
like I'm just going straight from from memory here Away
from the Sun, like the black cover the sun kind
of tell me if I'm wrong, like, um, like maybe

(30:50):
like the moon's covering a little bit. There's like an
outside like edge of the sun. Is that right? I'm
so good at this. I'm good at And so first
song off the record is Wife. The first single off
of Away from the Sun was when I'm gone jam
come on. I had to think about that, now, what
this is the jam? Thats the jam too? Listen to this.

(31:17):
Would you get nervous that a song was coming out
of would you? At this time You're like, we're kind
of feeling that, we feel like it's gonna do good,
just put it out. I was nervous. I was why
is that? Because it was the first one was so big.
We had every chance in the world to fail, you know,
because because at the same time, you know, we were
never we were never like the cool band. You know,

(31:40):
It's like we never got like coverage of this band
or this band, because it was always you know, things
that tend to follow the trendy bands, you know what,
so many, so many of those musement movements of music
just like that just spike up. And you know, it
was like, is it gonna work amongst all that? And

(32:00):
and and it would, but I think I got nervous
every time. Was there ever resentment that you guys didn't
get the coverage? And did you ever go is it
because we're from super South? Is it because I mean
I resented it? And I mean and you know, because
even really, you know, they wanted us to kind of
separate ourselves from being so Southern. And I mean you
can hear the way I talk. I've tried not to

(32:22):
for a little while, and I just couldn't help it,
you know, and and uh, and you know, I guess
they associated with being kind of stupid or whatever. Then
especially you know, it's like because there were no Southern
bands out and Hatton been for a long time. You know,
I think the last Southern bands out before us, there
was a rock band. And you know, how does that

(32:44):
conversation go where they go, And is it a conversation
where they say, hey, like we need you to be
a little more California, a little more you know not,
because again it's another Southern guy right in front of
you asking this question. Because when I started in radio
and they were like, he if you're gonna do pop
an epop, you have to lose rags in a little bit.
So that conversation has had to me. And I did
a bit, and now I've kind of got back to

(33:04):
you know, I sound a bit like I sounded growing up.
But was that conversation had with you, Like, guys, you
gotta chill out a little bit on the in the Mississippi?
They did, and they sent this to a voice coach
for a couple of sessions and just to help us
like like me, which you know, a new proper grammar.
I just don't like to use it, you know what
I'm saying. And but I did. I tried to lose

(33:25):
it for a little while. And I mean, and it's
not as thick as it was when I started, man,
that was it was. I probably could have managed to
shave a little bit of at all of these are
people surprised sometimes I think your accident is when you
do talk, they are because you don't really hear it
in the music. But again, you don't really hear the
Spice girls being British and most of the stuff they
sing either I know or it bows me away. Like
you you've seen this actor in four or five movies

(33:47):
and then you see him excepting an award or something.
It's like, what the guy walking Dead kills me. He's
off the show now. But the main guy, Rick Grimes,
he would say he's on the show. He's like from
Atlanta and he talks and he's like Rick Grimes and
then he's on the awards show is going it my
thanks for the award. I'm like, what is happening right now?
Like I don't want to hear this. You're running everything
I know about this guy. I pictured him in the

(34:08):
Grinds in Atlanta, not this kangaroo guy. So you keep
making heads, but you're probably not getting the respect that
you just you feel like you deserve in the mainstream.
Like that would that would irritate me. It was a
little irritating, but um, but then you know, I guess,
But then you go home and forget about it. You know,

(34:30):
because you're amongst your friends and and they're glad that you.
I always just thought it was more important to stay
me than it was to be who they wanted me
to be, because you know, I think for my mom daddy,
you know, they were always encouraging to me and and
just let me do my thing. You know, they didn't
force me to do it, but they didn't keep me

(34:50):
from doing it. But you know, my mom just always
your mind's like, Brad, that won't always be there son,
you know, And it's always kept that in my mind
that this will you know, who I am will always
be here, but that won't always be there. So I
just kind of got to where I just took it
with a grain of salt and I just am who
I am, you know. And how is the relationship between

(35:12):
the band as you guys started to skyrocket with the
songs doing so well, getting better, getting worse worse? Really
it did, because honestly, I mean we all got out there,
party in and like one of us was, all of
us drink a good bit, but like one of us was,
it wasn't that we didn't get along, our drugs didn't
get along because one person was on this and one

(35:33):
person was on this, one person was on this, and
and and by our third record, we all had our
own buses. It was four five guys in the band
um and four four band busses and then all the
crew busses. So we were rolling around with seven busses
because the four main band guys just hated each other.
So how does that dynamic work when you have to

(35:54):
work on things and when you have to get on
stage and be a collective. It that got to where
it was like the only time that we've seen each
other with sound check and on stage, and you know,
we were playing amphitheaters and stuff. You keep a pretty
consistent sound, so we'd get a sound established and we
wouldn't even do sound check. I wouldn't see some of
those see the guys until it was you know, if

(36:15):
we played at nine, I'd see M and eight thirty
we were in the addressing room and putting years on
and it was just all right, you guys ready, And
then you go out and play and rocket show and
everybody thinks that you're the best friends ever because you
used to be and you look like you I mean,
you go out and you you're you're a rock band.
You're rocking, people think you're rocking as brothers. When does
it get better? Um? Or does it? It's it's sort

(36:38):
of didn't man. I mean, you know, I'm the There
was three of us to start, and I'm one that's here,
you know, and and one Frankly is in prison and
one's dead and both there's a result of drugs, man.
And you know, and Chris, Chris was not one of
the original guys, but he was in the band when

(37:00):
we got signed. And I think I for him because
he got clean. You know, he was on toe completely different.
My thing was just always drinking and I drink profusely,
and uh, he he did a lot of different other
other things, but uh, he got clean. And my drummer,
Greg up Church, he's been a drummer for he became.
He used to play for Puddle of Mud. And when

(37:22):
Daniel left and went to Nickelback. Um, that was right
after we had done a tour that was nickel Back
three doors down in Puddle of Mud, and Daniel went
to Nickelback. Greg came with us and in Greg' from
Oklahoma and uh and Greg drink like a fish too. Um.
And it got to where, you know, Chris Bye, not
so General Persuasion, went to went to rehab and he

(37:45):
got clean and somehow, and it's a testament to his sobriety,
stayed sober with us still partying like mad men. And
then a few years later, Greg about not so General Persuasion,
went to rehab and he got clean from just from drinking.

(38:05):
And man, I started seeing those guys and I was
still I knew that, I knew that I needed to
to change, and but you know, I started seeing what
those guys had, and you know, you see them over
there and they're happy, and I'm still here miserable. And
I think I for a man because seeing them like
that and through their encouragement, you know, they were They

(38:27):
never pushed it on me, but I was like, I
have to and they got to be where I could trace.
I was ruining my life. There was no big tragedy
or no catastrophe or anything, but I was putting my
wife through hell. I was putting everybody I knew through
hell and putting myself through hell. And I was seen
around me and I was like, I have to change.
And I went to rehab, and it's the best thing
I ever done, because I wanted to get sober, but
I didn't know how. And I went out there and

(38:50):
they taught me how how to deal with my problems.
Because people don't have drug addictions, they have life problems.
And they you know, they don't have drug problems, whether
they have life problems. And they sidestepped there the facing
their problems. They sided step them and use drugs. And
that's what I was doing. And and and I just
had to learn how to and I had to miss
in the gross misconception of what rehab was. I thought that,

(39:10):
you know, like you're going to a hospital and they
stepped you down, and like you're gonna sit here and
do you sober. But I just went out there and
they it was like going to college to learn how
to be sober. And it was awesome and it was
the best thing I've ever done. And it ain't like
you come out in your life's perfect, but it's sure
started to get a lot better. And and beans that

(39:31):
I was sober, and two other guys we were sober
in the band. The other two guys who didn't really
have a problems anyway, they might casually drink a little bit.
We all got sober and it was like being in
a different band. Man, I was. That's why I said,
we should could have always been like that, because we
go out there now and we didn't. We generally we
h h during our last summer to where we were

(39:52):
out and we uh, we were coming somewhere. We're going
from point A to point B and we were in there,
like five miles of arches National Parks. We got off
the bus and everybody went walked around the park together.
I was like, I cannot believe it. I've been in
this band for twenty years and this is the first
one of the first times I can. I could look
around and I was standing in the National Park with

(40:13):
all five band members in it, and I was like, man,
when you took that in, I wish you could have
always been like that. You know what's funny is you
talk about these guys are not being put in um
with gentle persuasion like my So I'll give you a a
quick backstory before I tell you the question. I appened
my mom died in authorities from drinking and drugs because
then I put into rehab a couple of times, and

(40:33):
she never wanted to be in rehab, so rehab never
worked for her. If that makes sense. Like when you
say they didn't want to go, I go, man, because
you have to embrace that. Really do they to hear
that they didn't want to go and it still worked
for them? It's pretty amazing, it really is. It's it
really is. It was a miracle. It was a miracle

(40:54):
because Crystal tell you, I mean, it's not it's not
a secret. And and we we're not and you know,
we're not ashamed of where we've been or and how
we got to where we are. And he'll tell you
that he was bad and I was bad, just on
a different on a different kid, you know. And and
when he when he had to go, it was he

(41:15):
had to go. I mean he had to go and
and and I think when he got there, he like
realized it's like okay, it's I think he realized it's like, okay,
it's this or death. It was that that close. Was
it was that much of a problem. Was do you
do the thing? Because so I've never had drink of
alcohol because I like, I see my mom died from it.
I don't know my real dad because an alcohol Like

(41:37):
I have a lot of family problems with this. I
was early on I was like, I'm not gonna have
this happen to me. But what happens is people will
treat me different, even though I'm let everybody drink around
me like I'm good. But I have to face. I
was out a couple of nights ago and I was
meeting up with a friend, new friend, and I have
to get there early and order something that looks like
a drink, or people treat me completely. They'll go, you
know what if you're not drinking, and I'm like, no, no,

(41:58):
just beat yourself. I want to do you have those
alun whe people who go, oh, he's sober. Now we
have to act different? And do you want them to
act different? Do you need them to act different? Do you?
And do you feel like sometimes you have to kind
of go guys, it's good, yeah, because I do all
the time. I was read a thing on it was
a postal Instagram not longer. It's it said is that

(42:18):
follow a few recovery pages and stuff on there, and
one of them it said it said, uh, alcohol is
the only drug you have two justified not doing? Oh? Yeah, true,
you're right, because it's it's such a social such a
social drug, you know that. Yeah, that's wild. You're like,
why don't you Why don't you drink? And it's like,
because I do, because I'm allergic to it. That's what

(42:40):
I just tell I'm allergic to alcohol. You know that's crazy.
And listen, that's a great story. I didn't even I
wasn't gonna spear off into that. But I'm comfortable talking
about my story and it's great to hear somebody else
that that is the same. Um, well, let's talk about
here without you, because this is the second of where.
This is where we are in the live I'm for
freaking three doors down and this one this is it.
This is the train. This is the train that really
like cements you guys as we are for real here

(43:03):
it is. Did you know this was the song? Did
you feel it? Um? You know it's it's kind of weird.
I had to fight for the song to be on
the record, and not against the record company or anybody,
but against my guitar but not Chris Matt, my first
guitar player, the woman that passed away. He fought me
tooth and nail about putting this song on the record.
He did not want He's like man, because he thought

(43:24):
it was he thought it was cc like a ballad
because it's like a it's a love song. No love
songs for three Doors Down, no ballads. He did not
want it. They're kind of stup. Come on, listen to this.
Did you know immediately when it was released that it
was well received, that the record company had a lot

(43:47):
of I think had more faith in that than we did,
because I was a little leary of it too, because
of people saying your close stock going I don't know,
I don't know, and you know, and I think, what's
a what's a good gauge for me? This wound up
being our biggest song. And and I say that in
the modern sense, I guess because I use YouTube as
a gauge. Um, because you know, being were universal artists,

(44:11):
they have what is it, uh uh vimo, Vivo Vivo.
I'm sorry, um, they have Vivo. So they took all
the universal catalog awfu of YouTube and they put it
all back on it once. So even though Kryptonite came
out a few years before Here Without You, or a
couple of years before Hit About You, they both got

(44:32):
a reboot and start over on the same day. And
I think Kryptonite has like two hundred something million views
on there. Here Without You has four hundred eighty nine
million views. I was like, well was that I have
a billion views? So I was like, what did That's
crazy and it's still going. I mean, you can look
on there now and I'll bet there's a comment from
like three hours ago. That's crazy. And that digital you know,

(44:56):
and that's how you get paid now, those digital plays.
There's that's money. That's crazy. It really is, um And
I mean, I'm just incredibly thankful for it. Man I
I can't. I'm I think I'm just thankful for it.
I'm gonna tell you whenever um like Away from the Sun,
I love that one. You like this again, slow ish

(45:21):
Away from the Sun. I was like, man, I can't
say any of the songs on the shower. I'm pretty good, Brad.
I can see something's really good in the shower, but
you have to hear me there. It's probably not a
place for us to go. But like this was a
jam too, Like that is my song. Yeah, if there's
never been a song, and I still feel it sometimes,
I mean, but I tell you know, when I'm telling
the story of the acoustic shows, you know, if there's

(45:42):
one song that I had to choose to represent me.
This is this is why is that? I don't know,
I just feel it, you know, And I think we
can all. I think we all just feel like we're
we're climbing a heel. You know. It's only video that
I ever really had anything to do with, like conceptually
and um. And it's just a kid who's actually my
nephew plays the character in this video. And he'd never

(46:02):
been in a in a video or anything. And we
were talking about it and they were like, all right,
we'll find a kid. And I was like, got it.
Got him and he lives in the Mississippi lived in
Mississippi at the time, so you got to him. My
sister got to fly out to l a and and
he had to be in a video and stuff. But
he's done a great job. You watch the video was
like dang and good. But and that's a kid. He's
just bound with all these leather straps and he's found

(46:24):
to these big stones. He's dragging up this hill and
he'll get to go in and it shows different like
images of mirages or things that he sees, like you know,
people talking about him and being bullied, and those are
the things that knocks him back down. And it shows
his his father slapping back down and and uh and

(46:45):
and it shows like an angel at one point kind
of guiding him come on this way. And and I
think we can all relate to that that we're all
in some way climbing that hill that jam. I love
that song, Thank you man. That's why I still listen
to Thank You. You know, I don't I don't curse
my personal life, and I definitely don't curse on stage,
like I have my my shows to be completely clean. Um.

(47:08):
And I know that's the same thing with you guys.
Now do you do if the bands are opening for
you have songs with curse words, you have that talk
with them like, hey, we don't do that, or not
we shy away from a band and if they get
out there, you know it's one thing. It was the festival.
You can't really say and and I don't speak perfectly
in my private life, but do not cuss on stage.

(47:29):
And and that also goes back to my mama told
me I better not get out this. She's said to Brad.
My mom has other baptist of the bones. She said
to Brad, you gotta do comes on that stage. Don't
be shamed of you. So I never did, and and
and but you know it's worked out and people value
that very very much because I can't tell you, you know,
especially we're having songs about Superman and this and that.

(47:51):
We have a lot of kids at our shows, and
we still have a lot of kids at our shows.
It's like just the next generation of them, which is
freaking cool. It's the kids of the kids, yeah it is.
And um and but I I've over the years had
so many parents come up to me and said thank
you for putting on the show that I can bring
my kids too. And and you know, we really have
tried over the years to kind of two I mean,

(48:14):
you know, hey, man, come on, you know you can't.
How do we hate to try to control an opening band.
But they got out the humor volga or something. We
definitely say something to them about it. Yeah, I will
have that talk with my openers, like I'll bring music
as because I'll when when I tour, I'll go and
I'll do an hour set of stand up. But I
kind of treat like a variety show. I have someone
coming to open musically for me, and I have to

(48:35):
talk like, hey, people, it's not a kid's show, but
there may be some kids in the crowd, but people
feel like this is safe space. Like don't get out
there and be political, don't get out there and be
dropping F bombs and S bombs. Like, just know that
people feel like this is a spot for them to
come and breathe and smile and taking a show. And
there can be some kids. And if it's PT thirteen,
that's all right, or if it's SpongeBob Escort you make

(48:56):
a joke that's the only adults will get and kids
really won't. That's okay too. But that's a you know,
I do that, and people appreciate that because they don't
have to come in and worry and sit and go
all right, is this gonna be a place where one
of the ways I'm gonna feel uncomfortable? I don't want that,
And that's that's awesome that you do that too, man,
because it's not a whole lot of that in the

(49:17):
world right now. It's cool. I mean, it's better. It's
better like that too. And and also that's quality. You know,
you don't need that, you don't when you I don't
feel like I need Like, yeah, I feel like, because
you put on a quality show and you're entertaining, guy,
you don't need that. I appreciate that. I don't know
about that, exactly appreciated. I appreciate what you think about.

(49:37):
I was listening to some of these bands talk about, like,
imagine dragons, they're really big, but when you get so big,
you start to get a lot of hate, and they
imagine dragons A get a lot of hate from a
lot of these quote unquote finger quote legit rock artists
like Nickelback gets hate for their music. Wh how do
you feel like, imagine dragons getting all this hate right now?

(49:58):
I didn't know that they were. Who are the bands,
Mike that are like out ripping imagineaty slip not it's
pretty big on ripping them slip now. They're like, you're
not real rock? What even is real when it comes
to art? I mean, those guys real monsters, right the
mask on stage? You're right about that? When you did
you guys ever start feeling that hate because you've got

(50:20):
so big? Did um from from? It was? It was
like those little movement bands, and it was from bands
like some forty one and then those I like, I mean,
I don't mean to stick as they say, spelled the tea,
who is it? I mean, it's just all those like,
you know, those those movement bands, the punk bands that
come through and then this little movement comes, you know,
and we were we were never like the cool guys. Um.

(50:41):
But at the same time, it's like we've done a
lot of the stuff that we've done sort of under
the radar, you know, because we were never like big
enough that that We've got a lot of hate. You know,
I would say that you guys are one of the
most underrated bands in my lifetime because of the amount
of hits you have, and people unfair they don't put
you in that conversation of the sounds that changed other

(51:05):
and influenced other sounds, because again we we don't even
play all your hits. I just would have like nine
ten humongous songs. Here we're talking about humongous songs that
crossed the genres. And you know, I feel like you
guys are super underrated. Would you think that three Doors
Down an unrety band. It's hard, it's hard to be
humble and say yes, But I wonder, I wonder what
you say, Um, we never got a lot of attention.

(51:28):
But but it's okay, I'm cool with it. Wouldn't not me.
I'm too competitive because I always felt sorry, you know,
like just's just say like it's easy to easy to say,
Like Britney Spears always felt sorry for her man living
under that microscope. It would drive me crazy too. I
know she had like her little episode and stuff, but

(51:48):
I mean, when there's constantly I can't imagine walking out
of every restaurant, heavy establishment, everywhere that I went, somebody
standing there with the camera or something. Are always wanting
to just living under the microscopes. I never always used
to say, men, I love being a radio band because
everybody knows their songs. They don't know what I look like,
and so I can sell a bunch of racers, but
I can see go to Walmart. That's funny you mentioned

(52:11):
Walmart because I was talking to a friend of mine
who lives in Boston. I was like, growing up, we
used to hang out of Walmart. Like you go to Walmart,
you know, you're in the parking lot, or you're in
Walmart or Sonic like in the South, that's where you
hang out. And he was like Walmart. I was like yeah,
and like we used to go and hang out the
jets of Belle Walmart, Like, all right, Friday night, we'll
go and quote cruise, you know, you drive around this

(52:32):
little square and then we'll just end up at the Walmart.
And you know, it's funny that you would say that,
because that's that's totally a Southern thing to like to
hang out of Walmart. That's funny, man. So but did
they ever do the thing with you guys where they go, hey,
you should like they had another celebrity, because if you
do that, they can raise the image of the band.
They ever did that with you guys? You know I

(52:52):
would have been like, Brad, there's Christina Aguilera. I'm gonna
set you up right now. Do you ever think about
moving to Los Angeles? Did you move to Los Angeles?
Not only only while we were making a record? How
they there for like a month? They ever say in
the movie need to get where the action is and
live there to be a part of it. Not so much.
I think they kind of wanted us to move to
New York for like a little bit, and I was like, uh,

(53:15):
what was up with that? But why do they think
that was a good idea? Just to be in being
just like amongst the label and just being amongst the
business and everything. Um, but I just I couldn't do it, man,
I am I am a country mouse. I can't do it.
What's home life for you? Like now, we live on
a farm out in Murphysborough. My wife, Barrol, racist horses,
and we have six horses at our house. We got

(53:36):
a fifty acre farm, which I never thought i'd have
much that much land. And it's kind of out in
the country, but it's at the same time, I got
a grocery store like six miles from the house, and
and it's not fancy, but it's it's my heaven. And
I will get there and if we have stuff to eat,
and I'll go home and the gate closes behind me
and I won't leave for three or four days. As

(53:57):
we do. I assume you have help. We have. My
my friend comes and feeds horses when we're out of
town or something if I'm gone. And I have some
guys that cut part of the yard, but just because
I don't have enough time to cut it all, they
probably cut like because I have to mow it all
because some of us back in the woods and some
of it like the horse pastures may only cut a

(54:17):
couple of times, maybe once a month, just to kind
of knock them, knock the tops off, um, because they
won't eat it once it gets a certain height. They
have their we have phenicky horses. They're spoiled. But there
are kids. Um, but you know that, right. Um. So
they cut probably ten acres and I cut the pastures

(54:39):
and we do it all ourselves. When when I leave here,
I'm going home to clean horse steals. And you're smiling
as you say it, like it's like you love it.
I like they're my babies though, because we don't have kids.
Our horses are kids. And and and now I say,
I'll smile about it here, I'll run about it, but
I'm standing here doing it. But you know, there are
a lot of times when I'm busy and just kind

(55:00):
of going and going and going back. Man, I would
love to be standing on in my barn right now.
And it's just I mean it's peaceful, you know. And
you get to do both. You get to be alone
on your property and then you get to go and
play shows and still have that lifestyle too and sing
your songs. It's a blessing. And how often are you

(55:20):
guys on the road right now? Oh? We go right
now like every other weekend, and I have shows this
weekend and next weekend, and we have a a little
more coming up later on in the summer, and then
next year will be the twentieth anniversary of The Better Life,
and we're gonna do like a full world world tour
on that one. Is that right? Is? That'll be fun
and but I look forward to it. But I'm not

(55:43):
twenty one years already anymore. Do you ever think about,
because you know, the big thing with and not for me,
but the big thing with a lot of people that
go in country music, they're like, what that any country
like yours country? As it gets? Do you ever think
about doing a country song and country record? I've been
writing some lately, and I wrote about half of a
country record one time. But honestly, I took it in in.

(56:03):
I was talking to some record guys about it, and
it's like sale, I said, why, They said, because it's
because it's like it's really country in the two countries.
Like help, what'd you listen to growing up? Um? I was.
I'm the youngest seven kids, so I grew up listening
to whatever My brother's sisters listened to when I was
a kid. My favorite band growing up was bon Jovi,

(56:25):
and I grew up on the eighties rock and I
loved it and loved it and and honestly, when when
Nirvana and Stuff came out, I kind of fell off
of it. I wasn't ready for it. I was too
young for it, I think or something. And I listened
to probably more country growing up than like my all
time favorite songs the dance from Garthen Oh Yeah, I
love it? You ever meet Garth? I never had the

(56:46):
best You'd love him? Hiss a trust heater? What was
up here? A few days ago? And I got a chance.
I got to know Garth. A love that Garth played.
You know the show you played with this this year.
I think you played with us the year before. I
know it's awesome. I love Garth Brooks. I would love
to meet him. He's and he's a He's a guy
too that you know. I've I've learned a bit from
when like with people like Garth, Brust walks into a
room and every single person doesn't matter who you are,

(57:07):
it gets the same attention. And Garth looks you in
the eye and he spends time and when Garth leaves,
you go. That was amazing. Yeah, And I think Taylor
Swift learned from Garth and I'm just trying to get
his crumbles and like I just want to learn, you know,
did anyone to take kind of take you under the
wing a bit or at least go, Brad, this is
what's gonna have Like other artists who would be like,
this is what you gotta do or was that kind

(57:28):
of not cool? Then I never knew a whole lot
of them. I never knew like a ton of artists. Um,
but I guess the people that you meet along the
way do do kind of let you, let you uh,
let you have some info. And but you know, we
had the opportunity of there earlier in our career to

(57:48):
to work with Alex Lisson. He produced a couple of
be size fortune and guitar player for Ruish and and
he had some pretty interesting conversations with him, and he's
a great, great guy. And um, you know, I think
what meant more to me than anything was I was
very fortunate to meet like you say that that Garth
comes into the room and he's like everybody gets attention,

(58:09):
and he's a he's like a real person. And I
was very fortunate to be around some just for moments
here and they're like really famous people like that, and
see that, just get a chance to see that. Wow,
it's just he's just a dude. Dude, Yeah, just a
freaking dude. Fans make us who we are. Man, I'm
just the before my my when I got signed, I

(58:31):
drove a forklift, and before that, I drove a bush
halt tractor, I mowed tank fields. And I'm I'm so
thankful I get to play in a rock band for
a living. Just humans. Yeah, it's crazy that it's other
people that make other people like Garth. It is just
a good dude who has a skill at being Somebody

(58:53):
else may have a skill like a brain surgeon, you know,
at learning how how math works. They don't get that
because people don't make a that. Imagine a math if
in America, if people that did good math were celebrities
or count wuld be way ahead of China. They're taking
our butts right now exactly because we need we need,
like we need to start a movement to make mathematicians cool.
Get us out and get us up and out of there.

(59:14):
Way so you do you drove folk? Left? Word? You
do that? At down in Passacola, Mississippi Electric Motor Shop,
I've cleaned like electric motor we rebuilt electric motors and
things like that, and and us I clean parts and
and be blast them and stuff like that. But mainly
probably drove more than anything. Could you hop back on
one right now and feel like a bike? You could?
I have two jackets at home and that stay on

(59:36):
all the time. Let me ask you a simple one.
Where did the name come from? Three doors down? Um?
It came off of an old boarded up building on
us actually um we um. We used to get down
to Gulf Shores a lot and which is like the
beachs down in Alabama, but pretty close to where we
grew up. And driving down there you went through, uh

(59:56):
a little town that was just full of fruit stands.
And there would be several of those fruit stands in
one building. And we had a gig, like our first
show that night coming back and we didn't have a name,
and we had like a notebook full of names. And
one of those buildings had closed up and moved just
a couple of parcels down and there was like tech

(01:00:16):
on wooden letters. It said, you know, business move like
so many doors down and somebody falling off or whatever.
And there was three of us at the time, and
and Todd said, well what about three doors down? And
we're like all right, and it just kind of stuck.
So like the first real name you came up with,
you kept, well, that's odd. Most bands are like, well,
our first name was the Wiener Jumpers, but we didn't

(01:00:37):
like that, so then we just had to go with
the Tonell Kids, and we didn't like that. Next thing,
you know, here we are you too, were like that
was weird, But that's the first name. You guys had
first name, and it's the only band I've ever been in.
I've never been in another band. And you wrote too
songs in high school and look at you. You're like happy, man,
I'm telling you bless because I am. I have not
that talented, still so inferior at the same age, and

(01:01:00):
you're like, how to rock star live? Man? I got you. Well,
I'm a fan. I'm a genuine fan. I appreciate it. Man,
that's you don't be that al right, Episode one sixty five.
This has been fun for me. Help. This is what
we did an hour we're an hour into this thing. Dang,
look at us. So we're just talking away. We weren't
even recording now we'll start now just me talking like
asking questions. Um, this is an episode one sixty five.

(01:01:22):
If people want to see because you're not now doing shows. Um,
you have all the dates on on your website. We do. Okay,
so three Doors down dot com. Okay, so head over
to three Doors down dot com. You're not doing Are
you doing acoustic shows? Now? We are. We might have
a couple of acoustic shows left. We're about to get
in back into the electric shows. How do you feel
about that? I'm ready? Yeah, I like. I like playing
acoustic shows a lot because it gives you an opportunity

(01:01:42):
to stand up there and like perform the songs and um,
and like tell the stories about it and stuff, you know.
But at the same time, it's like standing there and
you're into weird because there's nothing to hide behind. There's
no like, you know, you kind of flood it a
little bit if you if your throat's hurting or something,
and you know it's real loud in the rock show,
it's like, ah, they'd be fine acuty shows. Man, you're

(01:02:03):
if you're there. Um, so I'm ready to get back
out there and placing rocks shows. I'm ready to run
around a little bit. We got the whole uh the
tour years twenty five years, said twenty years. So does
that mean you're gonna put any into new music? Are
you guys thinking about? We're gonna where we're gonna rerelease
The Better Life and I think maybe remaster it, and

(01:02:24):
we're gonna package it along with that first CD because
of our first CD that got us signed had about
half the songs that was wound up on A Better
Life but a different recording of them, and then some
other songs that that had just never been released. Um.
So we're gonna package it with that our first local
CD because we only ever made two thousand of them, um,

(01:02:44):
and just put that out, just kind of put it
out there. And we do need to we do need
to write some more songs and and put out another record.
But at the same time, somebody asked me the other day,
I was at a at an event here and and
guys like you guys, you guys reach out and I
was like, no, man, we still play a lot. He said. Uh.
He said, well, y'all gonna put out some new records.

(01:03:07):
And I said it jokingly, and it is a good
problem to head. I was like, we're not really worried
about He's like, well, why not, I said, because we
already can't play all our right now, what a problem, right,
it's a good problem to have. Look at this. There
he is Brad Arnold with three doors down. Go watch
him live Episode one. Good to see you, my friends.

(01:03:28):
All right, that's it, Thank you very much.