Scott Stapp of Creed stops by the house after Bobby had been talking about him on the radio for some time now about being a massive fan. Bobby and Scott talk about how he went from being a “jock” to the lead singer of a platinum selling rock band playing for thousands of people every night. Scott opens up about how he dealt the the critics of Creed and how it affected him personally. He also shares how he found peace in his family which brings him more joy than anything from his career.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
A welcomed episode three oh five, we finally after years
of waiting all the build up, we talked to Scott's
Stab of Creed Arms wide open man. We did an hour.
I had never met Scott's Stabb before, but it was
(00:21):
a huge Creed fan back in the day, and so
we've been talking about getting up forever. Huh. He came in.
He could not have been nicer. I think one of
the few times I've been like starstruck kind of. Yeah,
he walks in and he sits down and I'm just
like day like, I'm sitting six ft away from Scott's death. Yeah,
(00:41):
So it's an hour long. We didn't know. Sometimes people
come in and it doesn't flow in now we had
hoped or I'm having a bad day or they're having
a bad day and it goes twenty thirty minutes. But
with Scott, he was so open and there's an hour long,
and he didn't do many interviews. So pretty proud of
this that I got to talk with him for an hour. So,
(01:02):
I mean, he talks about it all, that they're unheard of,
rise to fame, how they got a record deal, which
was weird, meaning everybody wanted them that nobody wanted them.
How he dealt with being called the most hated band
in America, you know, finding peace in his family. All
that's coming up. Just I love this episode. I hope
you guys love it too. Before we get into the interview.
The New Music top five for the week, The Kid
(01:24):
Leroy and Justin Bieber have a new song called stay Here.
It is nobody else as good as when I'm Away
from You on Missie and the Other Reason I Believe It.
Number four. Zach Brown Band released two new songs. One
it's called Out in the Middle and this one is
(01:45):
called old Love Song, Damn Keep Falling, Say Nothing at
All Girl, put your records on, let me on song
something that classic. Zact Brown Band there At number three,
(02:05):
Post Malone has a new song I'll called Motley Crue.
We're gonna play Serious Can with Dang Mary Can with
gang Me. What's You're gonna do? I'm gonna put up
with the Crow When I'm out the Jewels, I'd like
to hang out the role. Number two. Lauren Jenkins has
(02:26):
an EP out called Miles on Me Part One. Here
is a new song called She's a Star. Jesus, Jesus,
Oh Kiss he tech you she has and my number
(02:51):
one new release of the week is Kaylee Shore. She
has a new song out called love Child. She also
has a podcast you can check out called uh So
(03:13):
too Much, too Much, too much to say With Kaylee Shore,
He's gonna say so much to say that today, Matthews
band song, do you know that? So much to say
so much? What? I don't know that song? So much
to say so much to say a minute Internet at
nothing nothing day. Uh. In quick music News, Mark Chestnut
cancels concerts to have back surgery. So if you're gonna
(03:35):
go watch Mark Chestnut and a little nineties country tour,
Budoo Boop will be having it. Hopefully he gets better soon.
HBO Max drops a trailer for the Woodstock documentary. HBO
Max is doing the new documentary premiering on July, Woodstock,
Love and Rage about how they didn't go that well. Yeah,
it looks crazy, looks if I were comparing it. The
(03:56):
analogy is sort of fire Firefest based in a different way.
Total destruction, Yes, but it just didn't go as planned. Yeah,
I guess that would be uh and um. Scott Steps
got a little part in that he does with Creed
in the band, Um Corn, Limbiscuit, Chili Pepper's Rage, Kid Rock, Metallic,
A Day of Atlantis, Insane clown posse. Uh. Those were
(04:18):
all people that were there and it turned into an
absolute yeah, like people were seemed more upset than they
should be. They got mad for no reason. Let's see.
Billie Eilish's brother Phineas was the number one songwriter on
Spotify and x x X tonight on they said that. Yeah,
that's right, that's right. Listen to the podcast about him
(04:41):
on the Disgrace Land by the way, which is a
good podcast here when he came in here. But that's
interesting cause he's not alive anymore. That wasn't a good dude, No,
not at all. Bruno mars Ariana Grande are banned in Indonesia.
I think that's it. Huh. Yeah, I'd banned a few
songs from are air waves. Could what would be? Yeah?
(05:02):
Not for not for hearing today, there's some real turns
on the radio right now that I'll be honest with you. Okay,
that's what's up. We'll do this and then we will
come back with an hour with Scott's staff of Creed.
Let's play a few create clips by the way, all right,
before we get into it here, what do you have?
You have? Um my own prison? Here you go Sunday morning.
(05:27):
Come on, do you have? What's this laughe for? Come on?
Do you have with arms wide open? Yeah? Do you have?
Can you take me higher? God? Do you have one? Feel?
(05:58):
What you having? Away? There? You got for my friends?
Enough thinking? Okay, what else? M my sacrifice? Me um free? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
(06:20):
Well down memory lane there you go. Scott staff of Creed.
That's coming up, all right, with Scott's staff of Creed.
And most of the time when friends come over, their
friends and their buddies and I'm like, hey, let's do
this because they're promoting something or or it's it's a
fun conversation. But rarely do I get to have someone
in that I have been a genuine fan of for
(06:41):
twenty years. And so like, I'm grateful that you took
the time to come over here and hang out and
let me talk with you, because again, I'm a fan
and it's rare for me to get to talk to
someone in that capacity. Man, Thank you, that means a lot, bro,
thank you, And it's awesome to be here. And uh,
you know, people have been trying to get us together
(07:02):
for a while. It's mostly been me going, come on,
I've been getting I've been getting text messages and whatnot,
and so it's awesome. Man, we're neighbors. Bro, you drove
up and I didn't you lived in Nashville for over
five years at this point. Yeah, coming up on six. Yeah,
I was talking to Brad from three doors down and
I said, hey, I saw you on Instagram with Scott
stat and I know Brad. Brad's come out and he's
(07:23):
done our radio show. We've played a couple of things together,
played charity events on my band, and I was like,
what did you tell Scott Stamp I'm a good guy,
Like I was like, if you go to dinner with him,
just put in the word that I just want to
say hello. But I saw you guys. Maybe it's like
a baseball game or something. It was my son's baseball
uh team, And he came out. And I've known Brad
(07:47):
since like, uh, and you know, we weren't you know,
we didn't stay in touch the entire time, but we
recently reconnected and UH love him. And he texts me
like from you know, I think here from wherever you
guys were. He's like, dude, I'm right here with with Bobby,
you know. And he sent me a message and and
(08:08):
uh and I was like, man, all right, I've got
to do something with Bobby. Hopefully good stuff. Hopefully good
every I've heard nothing but amazing things about you, bro,
and and and everyone who's who shot me a message
just told me you know that you were you were
a fan of the music, and and uh and it
was a positive thing. And and I haven't been trying
(08:28):
to avoid you, I promised. Well, it's I was such
a fan. And I want to tell you my one
Scott step Creed story. All right, it's a good story,
I think, except I'm embarrassed. I was like nineteen, it
was like two or nine, maybe ninety nine or two thousand,
and you're just few years older than I am, so
you must have been like twenty five or something like that.
(08:48):
You guys had sold out the arena and Little Rock, Arkansas,
and that's where I'm from, Central Arkansas, and Creed was
coming through as freaking pumped, and I was working at
a radio station, and I was it was that part
of my career where I was like, man, if I
can get backstage. All I want to do is say
hi to Scott Stab. That was my goal. And so
I'm back in the backstage area. And what people don't realize,
and you know, two, backstage really not that glamorous. There's
(09:10):
a place for some pictures, but it's not like the
band hangs out backstage. Mostly it's in the bus most
And so were you a ping pong player? We played
ping ping pong backstage tournaments with you point So I'm
back there and I'm just just like, man, I just
want any any time to see Scott Stab. And so
you come walking in. You were just chill. You just
(09:31):
were walked in the room, and I was like, oh
my god, you w does anyone play ping pong? And
I didn't, but I was like, this is my shot.
I was like, I played pain and I didn't play
ping pong, And I was like, I played ping pong
and we got up and we played and you were
up eight zero, and you go, does anybody else play
ping pong? That was it? And I was like it
was equally embarrassing and also at the same time because
(09:52):
you beat me eight zero and somebody else stepped up
from the crew. But I remember you were just whooping
to me and I could see the look on your face,
like this guy, he lied he does not play ping pong.
We had some intense ping pong tournaments back in the
day between the bandmates and with you know, the traveling
show that we were so we we were we were
(10:12):
into it, man, and uh so, hope it wasn't too
competitive with you. It was wonderful because you it's the
greatest story. Had been eight to three, that's not a
good story, but eight to zero where you whoop me
and then we're like, okay, I need a real player,
Like that's the best story. Like I got. I recently
got to play UM golf with Jordan's speech, who is
one of the best golfers in the world right now,
and he beat me so bad and took all my money.
(10:34):
I was like, this is the greatest outcome for me
because you are Jordan's speech to me, You're like the
greatest and you want me real good Oh man, what
a story. Well so good times. I was kind of
looking back at some of the older UM in our
younger days whenever you guys got together and there's a
big Florida State presence in the band because that's where
(10:57):
you you guys met to begin with. Right. It's so
you go to Florida State, and what was your idea
when you go to college? Like, what did you want
to be when you have to Florida State Because a
lot of people don't go to Florida State to go
I want to be in a band and be a
big star. Right. Well, I mean, I'll be honest with you.
The only reason that I left Orlando to go to Tallahassee,
(11:17):
uh and to end up going to school at Florida State,
it was because I was reading a biography about The
Doors and read that Jim Morrison, whom I was a
huge fan of and a huge fan of The Doors,
I went to Florida State and in my naive, uh
nineteen eighteen or nineteen year old mind at the time,
(11:40):
I thought, well, hey, I mean that that's just the
way that that you meet musicians and start a band
and yeah, and so I went there with the specific
goal of meeting musicians to start a band. Uh. And
that was that was the goal. Did you have a major? Well?
(12:00):
I did, um it was communications and minor in English
and uh. And like I think I had like three
or four miners because I kept changing my major, Like
I think it started out as like philosophy and and uh,
you know, and and you know, so I got a
lot of miners and and and you know. My backup plan,
(12:22):
which I didn't really focus on too much, was I
was going to go to law school. Uh and uh
and do that? Were you a smart kid? I did
okay in school? Yeah? I did. I don't know if
I was smart, but I I studied and and and
did well. Take me to like sixth grade, Scott, Like
when you're in sixth grade and they're like, all right,
what do you want to be when you grow up?
(12:43):
Because you kind of started around six seventh grade to
figure out what your bones are about? Like what did
you want to do at twelve thirteen years old? I
wanted to be a major league baseball player. Did you
have the genetic build, the work ethic? Did you have
that kind of at twelveth thir team were already advanced
at baseball? Yeah? Yeah, and uh and I practiced every
(13:04):
day um and uh and did well. And I was
a jock man, to believe it or not. I I sang,
I performed at school, at my church. Um, and you know,
even created wrote lyrics and poetry and whatnot. But then
my focus, though was was baseball and basketball and uh
(13:24):
and I put hours and hours and hours into both
of those sports. When did that dream pivot into music? Well, Um,
my senior year, I had got some scholarship offers, um
and did some some school visits, and believe it or not,
Vanderbilt was one of the schools that so you had
(13:45):
to vision one school saying hey should come play ball
here and recruited me yet and um, I remember me
and my father came up and met with a coach here, Uh,
did a tour of the school. Uh. And so you know,
I think it was my deak to me to end
up in Nashville because I I think, and and also
to be in music, because I think I think my
(14:08):
my philosophically and spiritually, I think my my life path
was was to go to Nashville then Uh, and I
think I believe it or not, that everything still would
have happened, maybe in a different way. Uh, but some
thing's happened. And and I ended up uh not coming
to Vandy and going to a school in Cleveland, Tennessee
(14:31):
called Lee College. Uh. And they were going to start
a baseball team. Uh, they had a basketball team, so
you were still going to play. Yeah, I was gonna
was gonna walk on their basketball team and then play
on their baseball team. Um. And then that, uh, that
didn't work out. I I tried some things at a
(14:52):
Christian college that you're not supposed to do, and so
they asked me to take a break. That's a nice
way of saying getting kicked out. We had a Christmans
school off the street from where I went to school,
and if you were like, if you had a picture
of you with a beer, they would suspend you. With
a similar type environment there, it was a very similar environment.
And and and I was a very very naive and
(15:12):
young and and just being a being an eighteen year
old and being an eighteen year old in college and
in any way, so uh, you know, ended up back
in Orlando, and uh, you know, my my baseball dreams
were gone. But I still had this passion for music
that was always there. It was it was like both
(15:33):
of them were in me. I had just focused on
on sports and in school and and the singing was
just something to do for for fun. Uh. And so
I really began to it just began to kind of
swell up in me, um and and and become something that, hey,
you know, I want to do this. And I remember
going to a couple of concerts and and seeing the
(15:55):
bands and and going I and I just believed in
my head I can do that. Were you in a
high school band of any sort? No, so you just
knew you wanted to do it. You had just focused
all on your athletic career though at that time. Yeah,
so you're back in Orlando. Okay, when did when do
you go Tallahassee? I read a book. I was working
at a restaurant. I was I was. I was a cook,
(16:15):
short order cook. Uh, going to community college. Um, and
something always in me said I need to stay in school,
you know. So I didn't give up school yet, so
I was uh doing that and and um and and
then read I read a book after after I was
introduced to The Doors by the movie, and uh just
(16:35):
became infatuated with that band and their whole persona and
how Jim Morrison approached lyric writing and and and and
just fell in love with that whole uh concept and
wanted that. You know. You Two was another band that
I in younger in in life, Uh fell in love
with and just really just felt inspired by and loved
(16:58):
how the songs made me feel, how how they were
written lyrically, the Joshua Tree album in particular. Um. And
so with those two influences, um, you know, and once
I decided that, hey, this is what I want to do.
When I read that, you know, Morrison went to Florida
State and was in Tallahassee, I was naive, and I thought, hey,
(17:20):
there must be a lot of musicians there, um and
and that's where I need to be, uh to start
a band and and and chase my rock and roll dreams.
I was watching a clip of Jim Morrison a couple
of weeks ago, and he was this is you know,
late mid to late seventies when computers and music that
wasn't a thing. They didn't mix at all. He was
doing an interview on one of those talk shows and
(17:41):
he was like, you know, I can see it now.
He goes, you got somethink I'm crazy, but you gotta
be making music with computers and it's gonna be I mean,
he was so out and he was out in front
of everything, like not by steps, but by miles. And
he's like, you don't see it now, he goes, We're
nowhere close to it. But I can see in generations
a couple of a few computers literally will be making
(18:02):
the music that we're doing right here with our hands.
And they thought he was absolutely bonkers, and he was,
but that made him also like so smart, so different, right,
I mean he was a visionary um and thought outside
the box and and uh and and and that definitely
shined through, uh in their music and in his gift
and and unfortunately, uh, you know, they didn't get to continue.
(18:27):
But U he definitely inspired me and and Bono inspired
me to h to chase these dreams. You get to
Florida State, Yeah, you want to do music, but how
the heck do you start, you quote, doing music? When
do you meet Mark? Literally, I went around and handmade
little flyers I want to you know, looking for a band,
(18:51):
looking for a guitar player, called this number, you know,
and was putting them up on campus. UM. And then
a friend of mine who I went to high school with,
she went to school at Florida State, UH, and I
was connecting with a couple of people that I knew
um in in high school, and she said, you know,
Mark's here, Mark Tremonti's here and he plays guitar. Uh,
(19:12):
And I said, you know what, I remember that. I
remember going to like one of the only two parties
that I snuck out of my house and went to
because I wasn't allowed to do that. I remember coming
out of the kitchen and walking by a sliding glass
door to outside and seeing some dude sitting outside alone
playing acoustic guitar. Uh. And I remember opening the opening
(19:34):
the door and looking outside and going, hey, you're Mark.
You're Mark Ronni right, and he goes yeah, And I
go you play guitar and he was yeah, and I
got I sing and he goes cool man. And that
was it because he was a junior and I was
a senior, and that was that was the only because
we weren't like buddies in high school, but we knew
of each other and that was our only interaction in
(19:56):
high school was that moment. And then you know, fast forward,
uh years later he had gone to Clemson University and
then transferred, uh you know over to Florida State. Uh.
And then we get introduced again, uh through a mutual
friend uh. And I think because we went to the
(20:17):
same high school and had some mutual friends that we
felt comfortable around each other. And I was so excited
man to to find someone to jam with that he's
I remember sitting down with him and and he's just
shredding all these metal licks and and playing all the
stuff that I really didn't know a lot about at
the time, but I didn't care. I was like, it's awesome,
(20:38):
it's awesome, let's write songs. And we sat down and
shared all these ideas, and I think we probably came
up with like twenty ideas in the first like three
hours we had set down with each other. Uh and uh.
And then it just started from there and and we decided, Hey,
let's let's let's do this. Let's start a band. So
what does that mean? Because you're gonna start a band,
(20:59):
you do you go out and do you play for anybody?
Just YouTube? Like, do you go to a coffee shop?
Do you well? What? We we kept getting together and
just jamming. Uh did he think you were good? I
don't know, you know, I I hope so, um you know, Uh,
you know, I I think we had a mutual admiration
(21:19):
for each other. And I know he saw because he
commented before you know, he saw my passion um. You know,
he saw how committed I was, how much I lyrics
I was writing and poetry that I was writing, and
how passionate I was about getting together to rehearse and
write and and so yeah, you know, I definitely think
so I think we inspired each other. I saw his
(21:41):
passion um and his his playing moved me uh and
and brought it was like it was amuse, it brought
things out of me. And I think that energy began
to share with you know, was shared with each other.
I would inspire him and and it just became this
this mutual admiration for each other eventually, um. And then
(22:02):
you know, we had to find a bass player and
a drummer um. And so we eventually did. We found
Brian Uh and Scott Phillips. Brian was actually playing in
a cover band, pretty successful college cover band that was
like playing gigs every weekend, making making money, you know,
and uh, you know, we we kind of stole him
from that gig, and that was a big thing. We
(22:23):
were like trying to recruit him and and he was like, man,
you know, I got this good thing going and I'm
making money, you know, and you guys aren't even playing
out like you're just you know, jam In and Scott
singing through Marks amp, same amp that he's playing playing
guitar from. And finally we got him. We had this
one bass player. This is hilarious. Uh, I can't remember
(22:45):
his name. My mind wants to tell me. His name
was Kern's Okay. Uh so anyone out there listening, um,
if you remember, uh, you know, shoot me a text
or call in or whatever. But he didn't play. He
didn't he actually did. He just stood there and pretended
to play. We couldn't tell because he didn't have he
(23:08):
didn't have an amp, or he had an amp, but
it was it's just the way we were rehearsing. It
was like maybe he did play a note here or there, uh,
during rehearsals. But we eventually realized when we would have
our friends come over and you know, and we were
playing original songs that coming up with ideas that me
and Mark were writing, he wasn't even playing bass. He
(23:30):
was just standing there trying to look cool. Uh. And
so we eventually we it's a funny spinal tap kind
of story, like you know, this this stand in bass
player that just you know and he would rock and
move and you know, look like he was playing, but
like nothing. Uh. And maybe we realized that at our
first gig, I think Mark came to be a mad
(23:51):
gig though he actually got to a gig, got to
a gig like he he fooled us just long enough
to get to to like one gig, I believe, if
my memory serves me. And then Mark came to me
afterwards and he goes, dude, Karns didn't play the entire night,
and I was like what and uh, you know, so
we let him go and and uh, you know, eventually
(24:13):
got Brian and and and Scott and and man, really
we were just kind of a you know jam. Scott
Phillips had this cool little rental house, uh that he
rented while he was going to school and and working
and and it had this outdoor concrete like garage but
(24:33):
I don't I don't even almost like a basement, but
it was like outdoors and separate from the house, just
a solid concrete room. Uh. And we would go out
there and and uh and just jam and write and
rehearse and rehearse, but we never played out uh. And
so finally we began to play out. Where did you
get your first gig? I believe it was a place
(24:56):
called Yanni's And what if I if I remember correct
not it was either Yawny's or or or Oh man, no,
yeah it wasn't you. I'm trying to remember. Did you
have a name? Then we we went through a couple
We went through a few names. I mean we we
didn't really have a definitive name. I mean we we
had some stupid ideas. Um I mean backbone, I mean,
(25:19):
you know, how cool is that? Right? But would have
been the hit, would have been like that normal? And
then we had this crazy name that that you know,
Mark had this idea and he goes, I've always had
this idea for a band name. And he pulls out
this newspaper article from his wallet and it said Naked
Toddler and he had always and he thought Naked Toddler
(25:42):
would be a killer band name. And and literally, man,
he carried the article in his wallet and he pulls
it out. So we're like, all right, let's be Naked Toddler.
And so we went and played a gig and they
had Naked Toddler on the on the billboard. Uh and uh,
I didn't go over too. Well, a lot of people
didn't show up. I think the name kind of I
(26:02):
think I was gonna show up. I may have not
kind of kind of scared them, but but you know,
no one was really showing up to see us anyway.
We were really just like playing at at bars, you know,
playing covers, uh, throwing in you know, an original here.
They're just trying to figure out our sound and our style. UM.
And so eventually, uh, Brian Marshall, our bass player, Uh,
(26:25):
he came and he said, you know, I used to
be in a band called Maddox Creed and UH. When
he said that, I instantly gravitated to the word creed. Uh,
you know, being the lyricist and and you know, writing
the songs that it just fit with how I was
writing and the songs that that Mark and I were
(26:46):
creating in the lyrics that I was coming up with. Uh,
and I go, let's keep the Creed part. Man. I
love that, And so we all agreed and Creed became
the name. Uh. And then we continued to uh to
play out. I think we played out at a place
called Big Daddy's uh Yawny's. Uh. There was another UM
(27:08):
club there that like all the the you know, regional
traveling bands. Uh. You know, Butch Walker, who's a big
producer now. Uh, he was in a band um and
I can't remember their band name, but he eventually it
was Marvelous Three, but he was in one prior to that,
and we used to go see them all the time.
(27:30):
And Butch was such an amazing performer. Uh so so
charismatic and and so I remember watching him going, man,
I want to bring that energy to what I do,
you know. And I was inspired by by him. Uh.
And then John Hopkins, who went on to be a
founding member of oh what's the band name? Um, Big
(27:52):
Country Act. Ah. I can't believe it just slipped my mind, right,
But John Hopkins was playing with a friend and and
they were acoustic um and uh he inspired me. Uh too.
There was a lot of great musicians and artists uh
that went on to have a pretty successful careers um
(28:14):
in the entertainment business. You know. Butch Walker is a
famous producer now and and and John Hopkins, Uh if
you google him, Zack Brown band, that's right, co founder
Zack Brown Band. Um. And he was a solo artist
at the time. And uh so that was the scene. UM,
and then Sister Hazel was coming through and UH and
(28:36):
the owners of the bar. UH also met the owners
of one of the bars that we played at. Managed
was a co manager of Sister Hazel or knew their manager.
There was some connection there, UH. And so he came
to us. His name was Jeff Hansen, UH and he said, Hey,
(28:56):
I want to manage you guys. Do you have a
CD uh? And we're like no, and he goes, well,
he hooked us up with this local UH engineer producer
who was kind of a regional star, UH, you know,
ten fifteen years earlier, named John Kerswig, And we put
in a hundred dollars a week or or fifty dollars
(29:16):
a week and started recording. Uh. And was that my
own prison? The first was to my own prison? Yeah,
And you guys did that. And again I'm just gonna
be a fan for a second, and maybe a fan
slightly wrong, but you guys did that on such a budget.
We're like five six seven dollars for the whole record,
right right. It ended up costing that much, and I
believe we borrowed the difference in what we needed from
Brian Marshall's dad. You you borrowed money, but we were
(29:41):
putting in money ourselves. But I think I can't remember exactly,
but we borrowed money to get it pressed, like to
buy our first run of CDs, and also finished the project.
And how old were you at this time? I want
to say twenty two three, somewhere in the probably twenty
three when we got that finished. So you finished it
(30:03):
with it. Listen, it takes six grand to cut, now, right,
if you're gonna do a record six You finished the
whole thing for we'll say, roughly six thousand dollars. Whenever
you gave it to him or gave it to people
where they like, wow, this is amazing. We started getting
that reaction in the local radio station. UH started playing
my Own Prison on on the locals only show UH,
(30:27):
and then another station in Thomasville, Georgia started playing another
song off the record called Pity for a Dime that
was their single, UH, and we started getting noticed from
you know, the l A and New York record companies
when UH My Own Prison went number one at the
(30:47):
Tallahassee rock station and Pity for a Dime went number
one at the thomas Phil, Georgia rock station. UM and
then we got it. I think we got like ten
thousand CDs printed. Were you still paying for that the
ten thousand CDs or it's somebody Well, I think that
was part of the sixth grand got it Okay? So
when you paid for all of it, you you had
(31:08):
ten thousand cis. Got it right, right? I think? I
think the sixth Grand encompassed not only making the record,
but also getting the first ten thousand pressing. I believe.
How fast were they selling? Well, we went, we took
them out to well, we invented a record company called
Blue Collar Records, and uh, our managers and and some
friends of ours would go to the record stores as
(31:29):
blue Collar Records representatives, um and uh, you know, because
we wanted to get him to sell our CDs. And
so we put them in the stores and we sold
all ten thousand CDs in the first four weeks. And
that's when the label started coming to Tallahassee because that
you know, it flagged on their on their sound scan,
(31:50):
you know. And who is this band that sold you know,
ten thousand albums uh last month? Uh? And so you
know that's when it started. So I'm gonna take one
step back because I am curious about that. You know,
how you guys blew up, But I'm always curious and
(32:11):
how it started and kind of the genesis of songwriting.
If you had never written music and you've written I
mean I listed all the just the massive songs of them,
basically everything. How I have songwriter friends have been doing
their whole life. I have written hit and they're really good.
You hadn't done it at all, and then you started
writing songs and you have so many, Like how easily
(32:34):
or was it not easy for you to start writing
songs that actually were good, catchy songs with hooks? You know?
I think I think we wrote probably seven or eight
songs that, you know, in trying to find our sound.
And then we wrote a song called grip My Soul,
(32:55):
which never made a record, should have, but it didn't
make the record. We didn't record it, or maybe we
did record it, but it didn't make the record. That
might have been our eighth or ninth song. And I
remember when we wrote that song, we all looked at
each other, and Mark and I specifically, and we're like, Okay,
we got it. We figured this is it. We figured
(33:15):
it out. Um And from that moment on, uh, what
you hear on My Prison was written we I mean
literally only probably once we figured out what our sound
was from Gripped my Soul to what was recorded on
my own prison. Um, I mean we probably only wrote
(33:36):
fourteen songs and and total since Mark and I were together,
maybe twenty songs, which is a very low number. For
those were the first twenty songs I had ever written
in my life. And that's my point exactly. Like I
have friends that have been doing it for twenty years.
They wrote they write sixty songs for a record. Now.
The only thing I can think of, man, is that
(33:57):
that you know, the the artist that I list into,
you know, being YouTube also you know growing up listening uh,
you know, the only thing that was allowed in my
home growing up was was Christian rock or Christian artists, um.
And so you know, I would listen to a lot
of Takes six and I think that's who taught me
(34:17):
how to sing, because I would sing along with those
records and sing every vocal part on that record. And
then d C Talk, which is became which became which
became Toby mac um that was allowed in my house.
And and then you too because the same thing that
people ended up doing with Creed that we're in Christian homes,
saying wait wait there, Christian band, mom and dad, even
(34:39):
though Creed wasn't an official Christian band, just like you
too is not a Christian band, but Bono is a
Christian um. And so I snuck Josh Retreat, got it
into my house and was able to listen to that
by telling my parents that they were a Christian band.
But I think those those bands that I listened to
growing up. Stryper was another one. Uh that was was
(35:03):
a jam uh in my house. But I think all
that was just imprinted in my brain. I think song
structure and how to write songs based on those records
was just imprinted in my brain. Mark the same way
Mark was, He was much more. He was much different
than me, and that Mark knew what he wanted to
do when he was probably ten or eleven years old.
(35:25):
Mark knew he wanted to be in a rock band,
play guitar and write songs and be a singer and
a guitar player. He knew, um at least that that's
how I recall it. And so he he he, he
knew all these bands that I had never heard of.
He you know, he learned all. You know, he probably
knew hundreds and hundreds of songs on guitar, you know,
(35:48):
by learning him on tab and and just listening and
playing them. So of course that taught him song structure
and and taught him. So I think me just just
hearing that in him, I think we just inherently new
structure and how to put a song together, um and
and and then it just came out once we got together.
We didn't think too much about it. We never sat
(36:10):
down and thought, um, let's write a radio song, or
or we need to do this. We we were just like, hey,
that's the verse, that's the chorus, that's this. We never
we never put any pressure on ourselves and we just
wrote what made us feel good because in the beginning
we were just playing for us. You know what I mean,
(36:32):
my own prison. I'm gonna play a few of these
hooks here here is actually my own prison. That's whenever
I hear a song from like when I mean like
I feel like I felt, then music does that. Like
when you hear a song that reminds you of a
really big part of your life, for a second, you
feel that part of your life again. And this record
(36:53):
does that to me? Is the record in general? Torn?
Here's a clip of Dorm. What's This Life for? Whis what?
Which was a rock number one for you guys? Was
this a big separator for you guys? Did this one
turn you guys from a national known band to like
a whoa, here they come? I think, you know, My
(37:16):
Own Prison went all four of our first singles went
number one at rock, and I think it was a
build um and then you know, my Own Prison was
our first video that was on MTV and v H
one UM and then What's This Life For? I think
was our second video that was on MTV n v
H one, and it was more of a It had
(37:38):
more of a appeal to a wider audience. What's this
Life Ford? Did? I think that's when I felt other
people were knowing about you get because the edge Dallas.
I would have a friend record take a cassette tape
because your kids now don't know you do record, play
pause and you undo pause, you record what's on the radio.
And I have a friend send it to me and
he was like, you gotta hear Creed, What's this Life For?
(37:59):
And I was like, I already been known about Creed
but I felt like that song. Yeah, I definitely, I
definitely think that that just you know, expanded it even further.
And I think the video had had a lot to
do do with that too, And I think it was
it was really palatable, um, you know, to a wider audience. Um.
And I think we began to see our audience by
(38:20):
by the time What's this Life for? And then once one,
the song one became a single and and had its time,
our audience really expanded from and was a mix of
men and women. And initially it was just you know dudes, um,
based on our first two singles, you know, into heavy
you know, heavy aggressive rock. But those two songs showed
(38:43):
a different side of the band and began to really
open up our audience. Uh. And then you know the
next record, you know, with higher and did you fill
the rocket ship for the first record you make it?
You don't spend a lot of money on it, but
you're hustling, right, you got fake representatives going to record stores.
I mean, you aren't in the hustle, right. Do you
feel the rocket ship or do you just realize, oh boy,
(39:05):
we're on it now. We expected it. We we were
so at least I did. I had this blind confidence
and and I had these blinders on, and I just
thought that it was going to happen. I just had
such belief in the music that we were creating. And
then once we made the CD, and then once the
(39:27):
record label started coming down, I just thought that, Hey,
here it is. We're gonna be playing arenas soon. That's
what happens. That's what happens when you get a record
deal and you get on the radio, you play arenas.
That that's idea. I had no idea that that was
only the beginning, and and the chances of you you know,
(39:47):
even making it past your first single were slim to none.
You know, I was so naive. Um. But I think
that was a that was actually a benefit to me
at the time because it took away any fear or
doub out or or or anything that could stand in
the way of of me, uh, you know, achieving uh
and and giving what I needed to give from my
(40:09):
standpoint to make it happen. And I think it was contagious,
uh to the guys in the band, um, and and
we all just had this belief, um in what we
were doing, and and uh, we didn't we didn't think
it would turn out any other way. With you guys
having your music already made and knowing who you were
(40:31):
as a band, did that make your first deal easier
to actually know what you wanted to not get ripped off? Well,
here here's another funny story or not funny story. But
we almost didn't have a record deal. We had literally
every major label interested, um, and then one by one
(40:52):
they started bowing out because I don't know, Uh, they
just they're interested, They're down, they're talking with our managers,
their meetings, they're talking with our big New York lawyer
that we had. Uh. They got everybody signed, uh, you know,
and one by one they would bail. And then it
came down to Atlantic Records. Uh, and the two Nicks
(41:16):
that we were talking to, and we were in their offices,
uh meetings, New York back and we were a percent
sure that that, you know, it was going to be
Atlantic Records, and uh, you know, negotiations were going on
the whole nine yards. I think they ended up signing
a band instead of us called Seven Mary three right
(41:39):
and uh. And so we were like, oh my god,
what are we gonna do? Everybody dropping? Do you do
you know I have no idea and uh then this
little company never signed a band before. Ah. A woman
named Diana Meltzer and her husband Alan Meltzer. They had
(42:01):
just started a label called wind Up Records, and somehow,
I think through our lawyer are Blue Collar Records c
D got in Diana Meltzer's hands and she heard it
and she's was a convinced that this She had to
(42:22):
sign this band. She had to sign this band. Uh.
So she told her husband Alan, I'm going to tell
haassee and I'm signing this band. Whether you come with
me or not. He came. He ended up listening to
the c D. He loved it. They came. Um, you
know it was so funny. I remember looking in the
crowd and you know, there wasn't that many people there
(42:42):
at that particular time. Um, and they looked like they
were in the mafia. You know. There was there was
this little guy in an all black suit, you know,
New York looking guy, and and his wife and all
black and and and we were like, whoa, who are
these two mafia people in the crowd And they were
standing in the center and they were just rocking out,
(43:03):
you know. And uh, and then we our managers came
and said, Uh, there's some record company folks that want
to meet with you guys afterwards. So we went to
this bar next door and it had like a rooftop bar,
and we went up there and we talked and and
they said we want to sign you. And this is
right after we had, you know, been basically passed on
(43:24):
by everybody else, and we had no other option. Uh.
And in looking back, it was the greatest thing that
could ever happen to us because this man was a
very successful businessman and he was starting a new business
and we got all the attention from his company, and
he did not want to fail. And he was a gambler.
(43:45):
We didn't learn that until later on in life that
he was a gambler. Uh. But he put all his
resources uh into into the band. Uh and uh but
again we had no we had no other options, so
we we took it and uh, you know, again naive,
but he knew what he was doing. Uh. And so
we signed with little little wind Up Records, the engine
(44:08):
that could uh and uh the rest is history. Did
you guys make any money off the first record after
signing with them? Because it did so well? Uh? Yeah,
money started coming in yeah, I mean we we we
didn't have a very good deal. It's a bad deal.
What about your publishing from writing the song? Did you
get paid from that differently? Uh? We we got paid. No,
(44:29):
we we got publishing, we got recording, we got royalties. Um,
we just got a tiny advance and and just probably
you know, your basic crappy record deal that that was
probably pretty standard in in n um you know, I
mean our publishing deal. We still owned you know, the
vast majority of our publishing of course, um. And and
(44:52):
then had the typical probably standard record deal. Um. But
the record you know went six times platinum, h I believe.
And so we definitely um, you know recouped because they
used our demo. Man, they didn't just use the record
spent six right, and so we had nothing to recoup
except you know, the a couple of music videos, uh
(45:15):
and maybe some tour support early on. And so yeah,
you know, our lives changed really quick. You know what
is that like you talk about a rocket ship? When
your lives changed so quickly, do you go crazy or
are you scared? It was? It was happening uh, so fast,
and it was so awesome and it was such a
(45:35):
high and so exciting. Uh, and our dreams were coming true.
We were just enjoying every minute of it. Man, Um,
without the thought of of it could ever end. You know,
we were just caught up in it. Did you guys
get a plane eventually? Yeah? After after Human Clay we
had a plane. We had a G five. Um you
(45:59):
know what I mean? Yeah, man, I mean it. But
Human Clay was so big, like it was next level.
When when Higher comes out, I mean just that drum
part and you singing like that to me personifies that
whole like to your two thousand like time period in music,
I mean Higher, what's and here's the we'll play the
(46:19):
club of Higher because you've a eleven under a rock
or your twelve? Was this another level for you guys
with a song? Ye, this took us. This took us
to another level. Um, it took us higher pun intended.
Uh and uh. And then you know there was another
song on this record. What if that was tied in
(46:41):
with the Scream three movie? Uh? And so we did
a video, uh with all the screen three you know,
actors and and and and that also you know, to
have that title track for a soundtrack and and the
whole movie machine behind that gave us exposure to you know,
(47:02):
another great greater portion of the world, and and uh
and then higher and then you know, and then the
grand slam that just took it, you know, to the stratosphere.
Um was armed wide open, which which came later. I
remember vividly that heartbeat and I don't know if it
was a radio version or the album version, but it
would be like, yeah, yeah, then well I just heard that.
(47:25):
The heartbeat still sits with me, like that song comes out,
because that was a number one pop song too, Like
that's you beating everybody right again. It had to be
just another notch of what is happening with our life
right now. It was we were in it and enjoying,
(47:45):
enjoying it and just living it. And and like I,
like I said earlier, we or at least I let
me just speak for me. I thought that's what was
supposed to happen to a band when they got a
record deal and got on the radio. I didn't realize
until years later that that's not what happens to every
(48:08):
band that gets a record deal and gets on the radio.
But in that moment I did so I thought everything
that was happening was just what was supposed to happen,
you know what I mean? Um, what would you go
back and tell that kid? Though? Now? Oh man, I
could tell that kid a lot, um man, appreciate ah
(48:30):
the people around you. Let him know even though you
may appreciate them, let them know on a regular basis. Uh.
You know, I was so caught up in and and
you know, I had a lot of anxiety. Uh. That's
one issue that I dealt with, you know. And so
every day that we had a big show in front
of an arena crowd or wherever, you know, I was
nervous all day long. And so I would I would
(48:52):
kind of isolate myself because I was just nervous and
didn't want to mess up and whatnot. Uh. And so
I would tell that guy, hey, chill man, and and
and just appreciate the people around you more and let
them know, you know. And I did periodically, but I
would do more. Um also also spend more time h
(49:14):
nurturing all the relationships that you make uh in this business. Um.
You know, I was so caught up in what I
had to do and in the in creed and in
writing the songs. Uh. And you know that I think
the peripheral things I didn't pay enough attention to that,
you know, as a more mature human being now I
(49:35):
realized are so important. I mean, it takes a team.
You know. It wasn't just the band that was doing everything. Uh,
it's it's the team. Um. And so you know, I
think I would definitely and and also I would have
would I would have told myself, um, you know, two
(49:58):
look at it. This is a job too, you know
what I mean. And and it's not just one big party,
it's you know, uh. And so definitely have a lot
of things to say to my younger self about relationships,
about taking care of my myself mentally and physically. Um.
(50:19):
And and just appreciating every moment and the people around me,
like I said, um, and and preserving and nurturing um,
those those relationships, despite what I was going through at
the time. Would you get nervous when a record would
come out because you know my own prison, Probably not
because you hustled. But then after it's a success and
human Clay is about to come out or whether it's
(50:40):
about to come out, are you like, well, we gotta
beat the last one, or you just go and let's
just go fire them off. We were in such a
rapid motion from making a record, promoting singles tour right
back in the studio. We we wrote Human Clay on
tour because we only had like ten or eleven song
us to play and and so we were like, we
(51:03):
gotta write some more songs. So we were playing um,
you know, say I and Faceless Man and and some
other songs off of Human Play eventually Arms Wide Open,
Um and probably even higher uh live prior to recording
them on the album UM. And so you know, we
(51:23):
kind of would see how the fans would react. You know,
they were getting positive reactions, and so we just we
weren't thinking about failure. We we we never we never
thought about that. Uh, looking back, We just were so
focused on what we were doing in that moment and
that the doubt didn't come in. We didn't we didn't
(51:46):
set any expectations on ourselves. With Arms Wide Open written
about your son, Yes, it was about it was It
was inspired when I found out I was going to
be a father for the first time. Is he an
adult now? Yes? Why wild? That's what I'm like? How
old am I? As one of those moments where you're like, well, yeah,
well it's it's funny that that you know, my other
three children, Um, they all know the song, and it's
(52:08):
it's kind of you know, it's a family song. Now,
it's for all of it's for all of it's for
all of you, you know what I mean. It's just
inspired by your big brother, but it's for you too,
you know. When you when you play dates now, when
you're doing solo dates, which by the way, August five
and St. Charles, Illinois, August six, in Mankato, Minnesota, August fourteenth,
and Carlton, Minnesota, do you do all the Creed songs? I?
(52:30):
I do a lot of them. Yeah, I do. I
I pretty much do like a solo song and Creed song,
a solo song and Creed song. Uh so because you know,
the fans that are there are started out with me
uh liking Creed uh and you know, I want to
give them. I'm I'm there to entertain and give the
fans what they want. Uh And and I still enjoy
(52:51):
playing those songs. I love them, uh and so it
feels good to play them, and it's great to be
able to mix that up with my solo material and
and uh, you know, the fans have have responded well
to that your latest project, The Space between the Shadows.
Whenever you are making a solo record, Like, what are
(53:13):
you seeing differently than when you would make a collaborative
record with the band, Like how are you approaching that create?
And how did you Because that's got to be a
big creative change when you first started doing your solo project,
Like what was different in your mind and in your
creative process? Well, I mean the creative process with Creed
was primarily Mark and I would go away alone um
(53:36):
and and write the songs and then come back and
jam them with the band, um and. So I just
that's the only way that I knew how to write,
you know. It was that kind of one on one relationship.
Uh And, So I just took that into my solo
and and would find guys that that I connected with,
uh and and right that way, So I just recreated
(53:58):
the same, you know, the same writing scenario. You know,
now as I've gotten older, I love to collaborate with
various people. Sometimes it will be three guys in a
room jam, and sometimes it will be four, uh and
and that's that's fun, you know. And and moving to Nashville,
and and and writing here has really opened up. Uh,
(54:19):
you know, my my outlook and thoughts on on songwriting
and how to write songs and and love having as
many I mean, if there's six guys in a room, man,
and we're and we're all just like, hey, man, let's
write a song, would do it? You know? And that's
why I love about Nashville. Uh and uh and and
so you know it's changed in that regard. Uh And
(54:42):
I think it's it's changed in a good way. Are
now yeah, I'm writing now. I'm actually leaving here to
go to a session to write for my next record.
Are recording now? Um? Nope, just writing. I mean I
may record a demo if we finished something and you know,
just to get the idea down. And what's funny is
(55:03):
on my last solo record, UM, a lot of those
demo vocals that I that I recorded in that moment
at that time, same day, you know, within the two
hours of writing the song ended up being the final vocals. Um.
And I'm finding that that doing that sometimes you can't
recreate the magic of that emotion that comes out in
(55:27):
that moment. Uh. And so thankfully we record them. Uh.
Even when we're making the demos we record the vocals
like they could be right, you know, final. And that's
another Nashville thing. As you start to do these solo shows.
I mean it's Creed as a unit. Will you guys
ever play a band show again? I don't know, man,
I mean I don't see why not. But you're not
(55:47):
broken up right now? You're just not to get am
I right on this. I wouldn't say that we are
broken up. No, I would say we are on an
extended hiatus. Um. You know, I I've recently uh spoken
with Mark and and Flip and and you know we
we stay in touch, not not like I don't want
(56:08):
to mislead anybody. You know, It's not like we're we're
texting every day or calling every day, but you know
we reach out um on holidays and birthdays, and we
have ongoing business that we handle. But you wouldn't be
asposed to ever getting back together again to play shows? No?
Absolutely not so much. Oh no, absolutely not. I would.
I'm not opposed to that at all. I mean, it
(56:28):
just has to be the right um, the right time,
uh and and I I think you know, the right
the right energy and vibe uh and and it has
to be authentic uh, in organic uh and and we
all have to be in the right place to do it.
And I and I think we're close to that, you know,
Like I said, I don't see any reason why, um
(56:50):
that couldn't happen uh in the near future. You know,
when you see someone gets so popular, it doesn't matter
what it is, what if it's a writer or an artist,
like I love Coldplay. Cold plays on my favorite bands,
and the fact that people can hate on Coldplay just
because they're so famous, that's like the platform continues to
rise till so many people see you that you're just
gonna get enough haters. I have to tell my fiance
that now because she didn't want the public life at all,
(57:13):
but because she's with me, she now has two Instagram followers,
and she people will come at her. She's like, I
didn't do anything right. She's like, I don't want to,
Like people are death threats talking to how ugly she
is and she's not ugly at all, and she shouldn't
be killed, you know. And so I'm like, you know,
your platform, even though you don't want it, has been raised,
and so more people see you, people get jealous. You
(57:34):
had to feel that at some point where you guys
were so big ya felt that um and and it
it hurt UM for a number of years once once
things turned from you know, I'll never forget uh. You know,
I've got an article framed, uh in in one of
(57:56):
my rooms where I keep stuff, and it says, you know,
creed in Scott Staff or this summer's rock and roll Saviors. Okay,
So we went from those type of headlines to literally,
you know, the most hated band in America. And it
was weird, like going from those two extremes. Um. And
(58:20):
it hurt because you didn't understand why. Um. And it
also hey that that's not a part of what the
rock and roll dream is supposed to be. That. Did
that happen to Zeppelin? Did that happen to the Doors?
Did that happen to YouTube? Did that you start asking
those questions. I'm not saying that we're in that category
of those bands at all, but you know, we we
(58:42):
we were pretty big band at the time, and um,
you know, and and and some of the hate you know,
I'm human man, and and you know it it hurt
and and you know, and I took it personal, uh
for a number of years and you know, and then
there was a number of years where I got angry
about it. Uh. And I'm the type of person that, uh,
(59:07):
you know, gets angry and and says, well, screw you now,
I'm gonna screw myself. And so instead of lashing out
at them, I actually lashed out at myself. So I
began to self sabotage. Uh. And you know, and that's
when I began to kind of you know, when I
(59:28):
would feel down and got to got into depression, began
to you know, you know, drink and do things that
that would lead to behaviors that were very out of
character for me when I was under the influence, and
it was just self sabotage and and it was it
was dealing with with almost being without you know, I
don't want to sound like a victim and in any sense,
but I felt, you know, it was kind of traumatizing,
(59:50):
you know, uh, to be so elevated and then to
have such hate. Uh. And it wasn't so much that
it was from the fans, because it wasn't from the fans,
from the media, and so it was public and it
was out there, and so it was embarrassing on one
regard publicly and then it hurt publicly. Uh. And then
I contributed to that by my inability to handle that.
(01:00:15):
I wasn't equipped uh emotionally or or with the maturity,
and did not have the people around me for support
um that I needed to to advise me. Uh. You know,
I'm sitting right here. Uh. And and my publicist Tiffany
is here. My god, had I had her in, man,
(01:00:39):
you know, had I had my wife Jacqueline, Uh. Oh,
my god, had I had my wife Jacqueline in you know,
so many things would have been different in my life.
But you know what, I probably would not have Milan
my daughter. I probably wouldn't have Daniel my son, or
(01:01:02):
Anthony my son. So things all happened the way they
were supposed to happen. Man. Uh. And you know, of
course there are things that I wish I could do
different and change, uh, definitely with how I handled certain things,
how I handled some of the success, you know, with
the over partying and the over confidence and and sometimes
(01:01:25):
the ego getting out of control, you know, and which
I looking back and now having a twenty two year
old son, I mean that's part of being twenty and
twenty four. Uh. So you know, he's not even you know,
playing arenas and he deals with those issues. So imagine
throwing you know, money and on that. You know, I
(01:01:46):
wish I could go back and be more mature and
and do those things. But but uh, you know, at
this point in my life, man, it's it's all about
peace and and and happiness and enjoying what you do
and all of those experiences that we just talked about,
(01:02:08):
that that, you know, the good and the bad, have
led me to a place, uh today where you know,
I have an amazing wife and and four beautiful children
that I'm able to be a father too, and and
and and coach little league and and uh, you know,
go to recitals for my daughter and play guitar with
(01:02:31):
my daughter. You know, my my daughters sitting in our
music room and she's like, Dad checked this out and
she's playing, arms wide open. Uh. And I'm like, oh,
I can't wait to have you on stage with me
playing at Of everything we talked about, what's funny is
of all the success and the songs and the blah
blah blah, that where I saw you light up the
absolute most was you talking about your kids. Absolutely, of
(01:02:52):
all the success and the money and the records and
the deals. You're like, yeah, that's but when you were
talking about your kids and your family, that's in your
face being went to a whole new place. Are you
happy right now? Absolutely? I'm I'm happier today, uh than
I think I've ever been in my entire life. And
(01:03:14):
and that's that's the God's honest truth. I am a
very very blessed and fortunate man. I have an amazing wife,
I have an amazing children. I have an amazing family,
people that speak truth into my life to make me
a better human being. You know, I couldn't I couldn't
ask for anymore. Uh. And and I'm thankful, so thankful
(01:03:38):
and so grateful uh for the life that that that
I was given, uh And for the fans and and
and for the music industry that gave my music a
chance and an opportunity, uh and and all that that
has afforded me. I mean, I tear up, man, because
I'm so I'm so thankful uh and grateful uh for
(01:03:59):
all that, but also just to be here uh and
and to be able to sit in this moment here
with you and talk about all this uh and reflect
on it and realize you know what what a what
a blessing and a gift that it was, and and
and uh and just the opportunity that I could get
(01:04:20):
to continue to do this man, Uh with all these
other blessings. Um, I'm very blessed. And I hope that
you know my story, uh, you know some some of
the stuff that we haven't touched on. I hope that
my story and and and then the music that that
has inspired and will continue to inspire, UM, can can
help someone else along the way, man, because life is
(01:04:45):
not all about me uh and uh, it's it's about
what I can give uh and what I can share
and how I can help others uh and and that's
what I feel my purpose uh is at this point
in my life, aside from being a husband and a father. Well,
with that, I think we've we've done it all for today. Listen.
(01:05:06):
This has been a thrill for me. We sat here
for an hour. We've scratched the service. Listen. We could
we could have done another hour, but you gotta ride
and I gotta you know, but six months, nine months,
maybe a year, we'll do it again. You get more
music out you want, you're ready to put it out
this to come knock on my Do you know where
I live? Now? Yeah? Man, you come knock on my
door and maybe showing up. You're only like eight miles
from my house. What that would be the we play
(01:05:28):
basketball in the backyard. You still play ball? It so well,
let me say that, I know you don't do a
lot of interviews, and so to come over and do
this with me for an hour, it is just genuinely
an exciting day for me. So so thank you. I
say that as sincerely as possible. I can talked to everybody.
I'll be honest with you. I've pretty jaded at this point.
I don't give a crap. I'm like, it's part of
(01:05:48):
my job of talking to people. Occasionally you get that
little like flutter again where you're like, oh this is cool.
Now was the day for me? Oh thanks man. So,
I I appreciate you and everybody who reached out to
you saying I'm not a total tool like I appreciate
them whomever they are. You know, everyone who reached out
to me told me just how authentic and real you were,
and and man, I feel that right here in this room.
(01:06:09):
I see it by looking at you. Man, I've been
around the block. So just just like you, Just like you,
I'm jaded and I get a vibe in a sense
of somebody. And you know, because we've met so many
people in our lives that when we meet someone new
and we feel their vibe, we've met someone like them before,
you know what I'm saying. And and you've got great energy, man,
(01:06:32):
And thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.
A very final question. You can answer it with a word.
Did people ever stop you at Walmart and goat hey you,
Scott Stap Yes, yes they because that would beat me.
I'll be like, oh dude, I wouldn't even say hi,
I would just take a picture from behind you and
to be like I'd posted me like I think that's
Scott stabbed. Um. Listen, you guys can follow Scott go
to his show's um He's at Scott's stab on Instagram
(01:06:55):
and TikTok um Creed Instagram. Still you guys are still
to me, just still rolling, yeah, man, still rolling? Yes
they are. Let's go. Let's do it. You heard it here,
Let's go. I will be all right. Scott. Great to
see you, Thank you, so great to see you. Thanks
for having me. Bobby
A welcomed episode three oh five, we finally after years
of waiting all the build up, we talked to Scott's
Stab of Creed Arms wide open man. We did an hour.
I had never met Scott's Stabb before, but it was
(00:21):
a huge Creed fan back in the day, and so
we've been talking about getting up forever. Huh. He came in.
He could not have been nicer. I think one of
the few times I've been like starstruck kind of. Yeah,
he walks in and he sits down and I'm just
like day like, I'm sitting six ft away from Scott's death. Yeah,
(00:41):
So it's an hour long. We didn't know. Sometimes people
come in and it doesn't flow in now we had
hoped or I'm having a bad day or they're having
a bad day and it goes twenty thirty minutes. But
with Scott, he was so open and there's an hour long,
and he didn't do many interviews. So pretty proud of
this that I got to talk with him for an hour. So,
(01:02):
I mean, he talks about it all, that they're unheard of,
rise to fame, how they got a record deal, which
was weird, meaning everybody wanted them that nobody wanted them.
How he dealt with being called the most hated band
in America, you know, finding peace in his family. All
that's coming up. Just I love this episode. I hope
you guys love it too. Before we get into the interview.
The New Music top five for the week, The Kid
(01:24):
Leroy and Justin Bieber have a new song called stay Here.
It is nobody else as good as when I'm Away
from You on Missie and the Other Reason I Believe It.
Number four. Zach Brown Band released two new songs. One
it's called Out in the Middle and this one is
(01:45):
called old Love Song, Damn Keep Falling, Say Nothing at
All Girl, put your records on, let me on song
something that classic. Zact Brown Band there At number three,
(02:05):
Post Malone has a new song I'll called Motley Crue.
We're gonna play Serious Can with Dang Mary Can with
gang Me. What's You're gonna do? I'm gonna put up
with the Crow When I'm out the Jewels, I'd like
to hang out the role. Number two. Lauren Jenkins has
(02:26):
an EP out called Miles on Me Part One. Here
is a new song called She's a Star. Jesus, Jesus,
Oh Kiss he tech you she has and my number
(02:51):
one new release of the week is Kaylee Shore. She
has a new song out called love Child. She also
has a podcast you can check out called uh So
(03:13):
too Much, too Much, too much to say With Kaylee Shore,
He's gonna say so much to say that today, Matthews
band song, do you know that? So much to say
so much? What? I don't know that song? So much
to say so much to say a minute Internet at
nothing nothing day. Uh. In quick music News, Mark Chestnut
cancels concerts to have back surgery. So if you're gonna
(03:35):
go watch Mark Chestnut and a little nineties country tour,
Budoo Boop will be having it. Hopefully he gets better soon.
HBO Max drops a trailer for the Woodstock documentary. HBO
Max is doing the new documentary premiering on July, Woodstock,
Love and Rage about how they didn't go that well. Yeah,
it looks crazy, looks if I were comparing it. The
(03:56):
analogy is sort of fire Firefest based in a different way.
Total destruction, Yes, but it just didn't go as planned. Yeah,
I guess that would be uh and um. Scott Steps
got a little part in that he does with Creed
in the band, Um Corn, Limbiscuit, Chili Pepper's Rage, Kid Rock, Metallic,
A Day of Atlantis, Insane clown posse. Uh. Those were
(04:18):
all people that were there and it turned into an
absolute yeah, like people were seemed more upset than they
should be. They got mad for no reason. Let's see.
Billie Eilish's brother Phineas was the number one songwriter on
Spotify and x x X tonight on they said that. Yeah,
that's right, that's right. Listen to the podcast about him
(04:41):
on the Disgrace Land by the way, which is a
good podcast here when he came in here. But that's
interesting cause he's not alive anymore. That wasn't a good dude, No,
not at all. Bruno mars Ariana Grande are banned in Indonesia.
I think that's it. Huh. Yeah, I'd banned a few
songs from are air waves. Could what would be? Yeah?
(05:02):
Not for not for hearing today, there's some real turns
on the radio right now that I'll be honest with you. Okay,
that's what's up. We'll do this and then we will
come back with an hour with Scott's staff of Creed.
Let's play a few create clips by the way, all right,
before we get into it here, what do you have?
You have? Um my own prison? Here you go Sunday morning.
(05:27):
Come on, do you have? What's this laughe for? Come on?
Do you have with arms wide open? Yeah? Do you have?
Can you take me higher? God? Do you have one? Feel?
(05:58):
What you having? Away? There? You got for my friends?
Enough thinking? Okay, what else? M my sacrifice? Me um free? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
(06:20):
Well down memory lane there you go. Scott staff of Creed.
That's coming up, all right, with Scott's staff of Creed.
And most of the time when friends come over, their
friends and their buddies and I'm like, hey, let's do
this because they're promoting something or or it's it's a
fun conversation. But rarely do I get to have someone
in that I have been a genuine fan of for
(06:41):
twenty years. And so like, I'm grateful that you took
the time to come over here and hang out and
let me talk with you, because again, I'm a fan
and it's rare for me to get to talk to
someone in that capacity. Man, Thank you, that means a lot, bro,
thank you, And it's awesome to be here. And uh,
you know, people have been trying to get us together
(07:02):
for a while. It's mostly been me going, come on,
I've been getting I've been getting text messages and whatnot,
and so it's awesome. Man, we're neighbors. Bro, you drove
up and I didn't you lived in Nashville for over
five years at this point. Yeah, coming up on six. Yeah,
I was talking to Brad from three doors down and
I said, hey, I saw you on Instagram with Scott
stat and I know Brad. Brad's come out and he's
(07:23):
done our radio show. We've played a couple of things together,
played charity events on my band, and I was like,
what did you tell Scott Stamp I'm a good guy,
Like I was like, if you go to dinner with him,
just put in the word that I just want to
say hello. But I saw you guys. Maybe it's like
a baseball game or something. It was my son's baseball
uh team, And he came out. And I've known Brad
(07:47):
since like, uh, and you know, we weren't you know,
we didn't stay in touch the entire time, but we
recently reconnected and UH love him. And he texts me
like from you know, I think here from wherever you
guys were. He's like, dude, I'm right here with with Bobby,
you know. And he sent me a message and and
(08:08):
uh and I was like, man, all right, I've got
to do something with Bobby. Hopefully good stuff. Hopefully good
every I've heard nothing but amazing things about you, bro,
and and and everyone who's who shot me a message
just told me you know that you were you were
a fan of the music, and and uh and it
was a positive thing. And and I haven't been trying
(08:28):
to avoid you, I promised. Well, it's I was such
a fan. And I want to tell you my one
Scott step Creed story. All right, it's a good story,
I think, except I'm embarrassed. I was like nineteen, it
was like two or nine, maybe ninety nine or two thousand,
and you're just few years older than I am, so
you must have been like twenty five or something like that.
(08:48):
You guys had sold out the arena and Little Rock, Arkansas,
and that's where I'm from, Central Arkansas, and Creed was
coming through as freaking pumped, and I was working at
a radio station, and I was it was that part
of my career where I was like, man, if I
can get backstage. All I want to do is say
hi to Scott Stab. That was my goal. And so
I'm back in the backstage area. And what people don't realize,
and you know, two, backstage really not that glamorous. There's
(09:10):
a place for some pictures, but it's not like the
band hangs out backstage. Mostly it's in the bus most
And so were you a ping pong player? We played
ping ping pong backstage tournaments with you point So I'm
back there and I'm just just like, man, I just
want any any time to see Scott Stab. And so
you come walking in. You were just chill. You just
(09:31):
were walked in the room, and I was like, oh
my god, you w does anyone play ping pong? And
I didn't, but I was like, this is my shot.
I was like, I played pain and I didn't play
ping pong, And I was like, I played ping pong
and we got up and we played and you were
up eight zero, and you go, does anybody else play
ping pong? That was it? And I was like it
was equally embarrassing and also at the same time because
(09:52):
you beat me eight zero and somebody else stepped up
from the crew. But I remember you were just whooping
to me and I could see the look on your face,
like this guy, he lied he does not play ping pong.
We had some intense ping pong tournaments back in the
day between the bandmates and with you know, the traveling
show that we were so we we were we were
(10:12):
into it, man, and uh so, hope it wasn't too
competitive with you. It was wonderful because you it's the
greatest story. Had been eight to three, that's not a
good story, but eight to zero where you whoop me
and then we're like, okay, I need a real player,
Like that's the best story. Like I got. I recently
got to play UM golf with Jordan's speech, who is
one of the best golfers in the world right now,
and he beat me so bad and took all my money.
(10:34):
I was like, this is the greatest outcome for me
because you are Jordan's speech to me, You're like the
greatest and you want me real good Oh man, what
a story. Well so good times. I was kind of
looking back at some of the older UM in our
younger days whenever you guys got together and there's a
big Florida State presence in the band because that's where
(10:57):
you you guys met to begin with. Right. It's so
you go to Florida State, and what was your idea
when you go to college? Like, what did you want
to be when you have to Florida State Because a
lot of people don't go to Florida State to go
I want to be in a band and be a
big star. Right. Well, I mean, I'll be honest with you.
The only reason that I left Orlando to go to Tallahassee,
(11:17):
uh and to end up going to school at Florida State,
it was because I was reading a biography about The
Doors and read that Jim Morrison, whom I was a
huge fan of and a huge fan of The Doors,
I went to Florida State and in my naive, uh
nineteen eighteen or nineteen year old mind at the time,
(11:40):
I thought, well, hey, I mean that that's just the
way that that you meet musicians and start a band
and yeah, and so I went there with the specific
goal of meeting musicians to start a band. Uh. And
that was that was the goal. Did you have a major? Well?
(12:00):
I did, um it was communications and minor in English
and uh. And like I think I had like three
or four miners because I kept changing my major, Like
I think it started out as like philosophy and and uh,
you know, and and you know, so I got a
lot of miners and and and you know. My backup plan,
(12:22):
which I didn't really focus on too much, was I
was going to go to law school. Uh and uh
and do that? Were you a smart kid? I did
okay in school? Yeah? I did. I don't know if
I was smart, but I I studied and and and
did well. Take me to like sixth grade, Scott, Like
when you're in sixth grade and they're like, all right,
what do you want to be when you grow up?
(12:43):
Because you kind of started around six seventh grade to
figure out what your bones are about? Like what did
you want to do at twelve thirteen years old? I
wanted to be a major league baseball player. Did you
have the genetic build, the work ethic? Did you have
that kind of at twelveth thir team were already advanced
at baseball? Yeah? Yeah, and uh and I practiced every
(13:04):
day um and uh and did well. And I was
a jock man, to believe it or not. I I sang,
I performed at school, at my church. Um, and you know,
even created wrote lyrics and poetry and whatnot. But then
my focus, though was was baseball and basketball and uh
(13:24):
and I put hours and hours and hours into both
of those sports. When did that dream pivot into music? Well, Um,
my senior year, I had got some scholarship offers, um
and did some some school visits, and believe it or not,
Vanderbilt was one of the schools that so you had
(13:45):
to vision one school saying hey should come play ball
here and recruited me yet and um, I remember me
and my father came up and met with a coach here, Uh,
did a tour of the school. Uh. And so you know,
I think it was my deak to me to end
up in Nashville because I I think, and and also
to be in music, because I think I think my
(14:08):
my philosophically and spiritually, I think my my life path
was was to go to Nashville then Uh, and I
think I believe it or not, that everything still would
have happened, maybe in a different way. Uh, but some
thing's happened. And and I ended up uh not coming
to Vandy and going to a school in Cleveland, Tennessee
(14:31):
called Lee College. Uh. And they were going to start
a baseball team. Uh, they had a basketball team, so
you were still going to play. Yeah, I was gonna
was gonna walk on their basketball team and then play
on their baseball team. Um. And then that, uh, that
didn't work out. I I tried some things at a
(14:52):
Christian college that you're not supposed to do, and so
they asked me to take a break. That's a nice
way of saying getting kicked out. We had a Christmans
school off the street from where I went to school,
and if you were like, if you had a picture
of you with a beer, they would suspend you. With
a similar type environment there, it was a very similar environment.
And and and I was a very very naive and
(15:12):
young and and just being a being an eighteen year
old and being an eighteen year old in college and
in any way, so uh, you know, ended up back
in Orlando, and uh, you know, my my baseball dreams
were gone. But I still had this passion for music
that was always there. It was it was like both
(15:33):
of them were in me. I had just focused on
on sports and in school and and the singing was
just something to do for for fun. Uh. And so
I really began to it just began to kind of
swell up in me, um and and and become something that, hey,
you know, I want to do this. And I remember
going to a couple of concerts and and seeing the
(15:55):
bands and and going I and I just believed in
my head I can do that. Were you in a
high school band of any sort? No, so you just
knew you wanted to do it. You had just focused
all on your athletic career though at that time. Yeah,
so you're back in Orlando. Okay, when did when do
you go Tallahassee? I read a book. I was working
at a restaurant. I was I was. I was a cook,
(16:15):
short order cook. Uh, going to community college. Um, and
something always in me said I need to stay in school,
you know. So I didn't give up school yet, so
I was uh doing that and and um and and
then read I read a book after after I was
introduced to The Doors by the movie, and uh just
(16:35):
became infatuated with that band and their whole persona and
how Jim Morrison approached lyric writing and and and and
just fell in love with that whole uh concept and
wanted that. You know. You Two was another band that
I in younger in in life, Uh fell in love
with and just really just felt inspired by and loved
(16:58):
how the songs made me feel, how how they were
written lyrically, the Joshua Tree album in particular. Um. And
so with those two influences, um, you know, and once
I decided that, hey, this is what I want to do.
When I read that, you know, Morrison went to Florida
State and was in Tallahassee, I was naive, and I thought, hey,
(17:20):
there must be a lot of musicians there, um and
and that's where I need to be, uh to start
a band and and and chase my rock and roll dreams.
I was watching a clip of Jim Morrison a couple
of weeks ago, and he was this is you know,
late mid to late seventies when computers and music that
wasn't a thing. They didn't mix at all. He was
doing an interview on one of those talk shows and
(17:41):
he was like, you know, I can see it now.
He goes, you got somethink I'm crazy, but you gotta
be making music with computers and it's gonna be I mean,
he was so out and he was out in front
of everything, like not by steps, but by miles. And
he's like, you don't see it now, he goes, We're
nowhere close to it. But I can see in generations
a couple of a few computers literally will be making
(18:02):
the music that we're doing right here with our hands.
And they thought he was absolutely bonkers, and he was,
but that made him also like so smart, so different, right,
I mean he was a visionary um and thought outside
the box and and uh and and and that definitely
shined through, uh in their music and in his gift
and and unfortunately, uh, you know, they didn't get to continue.
(18:27):
But U he definitely inspired me and and Bono inspired
me to h to chase these dreams. You get to
Florida State, Yeah, you want to do music, but how
the heck do you start, you quote, doing music? When
do you meet Mark? Literally, I went around and handmade
little flyers I want to you know, looking for a band,
(18:51):
looking for a guitar player, called this number, you know,
and was putting them up on campus. UM. And then
a friend of mine who I went to high school with,
she went to school at Florida State, UH, and I
was connecting with a couple of people that I knew
um in in high school, and she said, you know,
Mark's here, Mark Tremonti's here and he plays guitar. Uh,
(19:12):
And I said, you know what, I remember that. I
remember going to like one of the only two parties
that I snuck out of my house and went to
because I wasn't allowed to do that. I remember coming
out of the kitchen and walking by a sliding glass
door to outside and seeing some dude sitting outside alone
playing acoustic guitar. Uh. And I remember opening the opening
(19:34):
the door and looking outside and going, hey, you're Mark.
You're Mark Ronni right, and he goes yeah, And I
go you play guitar and he was yeah, and I
got I sing and he goes cool man. And that
was it because he was a junior and I was
a senior, and that was that was the only because
we weren't like buddies in high school, but we knew
of each other and that was our only interaction in
(19:56):
high school was that moment. And then you know, fast forward,
uh years later he had gone to Clemson University and
then transferred, uh you know over to Florida State. Uh.
And then we get introduced again, uh through a mutual
friend uh. And I think because we went to the
(20:17):
same high school and had some mutual friends that we
felt comfortable around each other. And I was so excited
man to to find someone to jam with that he's
I remember sitting down with him and and he's just
shredding all these metal licks and and playing all the
stuff that I really didn't know a lot about at
the time, but I didn't care. I was like, it's awesome,
(20:38):
it's awesome, let's write songs. And we sat down and
shared all these ideas, and I think we probably came
up with like twenty ideas in the first like three
hours we had set down with each other. Uh and uh.
And then it just started from there and and we decided, Hey,
let's let's let's do this. Let's start a band. So
what does that mean? Because you're gonna start a band,
(20:59):
you do you go out and do you play for anybody?
Just YouTube? Like, do you go to a coffee shop?
Do you well? What? We we kept getting together and
just jamming. Uh did he think you were good? I
don't know, you know, I I hope so, um you know, Uh,
you know, I I think we had a mutual admiration
(21:19):
for each other. And I know he saw because he
commented before you know, he saw my passion um. You know,
he saw how committed I was, how much I lyrics
I was writing and poetry that I was writing, and
how passionate I was about getting together to rehearse and
write and and so yeah, you know, I definitely think
so I think we inspired each other. I saw his
(21:41):
passion um and his his playing moved me uh and
and brought it was like it was amuse, it brought
things out of me. And I think that energy began
to share with you know, was shared with each other.
I would inspire him and and it just became this
this mutual admiration for each other eventually, um. And then
(22:02):
you know, we had to find a bass player and
a drummer um. And so we eventually did. We found
Brian Uh and Scott Phillips. Brian was actually playing in
a cover band, pretty successful college cover band that was
like playing gigs every weekend, making making money, you know,
and uh, you know, we we kind of stole him
from that gig, and that was a big thing. We
(22:23):
were like trying to recruit him and and he was like, man,
you know, I got this good thing going and I'm
making money, you know, and you guys aren't even playing
out like you're just you know, jam In and Scott
singing through Marks amp, same amp that he's playing playing
guitar from. And finally we got him. We had this
one bass player. This is hilarious. Uh, I can't remember
(22:45):
his name. My mind wants to tell me. His name
was Kern's Okay. Uh so anyone out there listening, um,
if you remember, uh, you know, shoot me a text
or call in or whatever. But he didn't play. He
didn't he actually did. He just stood there and pretended
to play. We couldn't tell because he didn't have he
(23:08):
didn't have an amp, or he had an amp, but
it was it's just the way we were rehearsing. It
was like maybe he did play a note here or there, uh,
during rehearsals. But we eventually realized when we would have
our friends come over and you know, and we were
playing original songs that coming up with ideas that me
and Mark were writing, he wasn't even playing bass. He
(23:30):
was just standing there trying to look cool. Uh. And
so we eventually we it's a funny spinal tap kind
of story, like you know, this this stand in bass
player that just you know and he would rock and
move and you know, look like he was playing, but
like nothing. Uh. And maybe we realized that at our
first gig, I think Mark came to be a mad
(23:51):
gig though he actually got to a gig, got to
a gig like he he fooled us just long enough
to get to to like one gig, I believe, if
my memory serves me. And then Mark came to me
afterwards and he goes, dude, Karns didn't play the entire night,
and I was like what and uh, you know, so
we let him go and and uh, you know, eventually
(24:13):
got Brian and and and Scott and and man, really
we were just kind of a you know jam. Scott
Phillips had this cool little rental house, uh that he
rented while he was going to school and and working
and and it had this outdoor concrete like garage but
(24:33):
I don't I don't even almost like a basement, but
it was like outdoors and separate from the house, just
a solid concrete room. Uh. And we would go out
there and and uh and just jam and write and
rehearse and rehearse, but we never played out uh. And
so finally we began to play out. Where did you
get your first gig? I believe it was a place
(24:56):
called Yanni's And what if I if I remember correct
not it was either Yawny's or or or Oh man, no,
yeah it wasn't you. I'm trying to remember. Did you
have a name? Then we we went through a couple
We went through a few names. I mean we we
didn't really have a definitive name. I mean we we
had some stupid ideas. Um I mean backbone, I mean,
(25:19):
you know, how cool is that? Right? But would have
been the hit, would have been like that normal? And
then we had this crazy name that that you know,
Mark had this idea and he goes, I've always had
this idea for a band name. And he pulls out
this newspaper article from his wallet and it said Naked
Toddler and he had always and he thought Naked Toddler
(25:42):
would be a killer band name. And and literally, man,
he carried the article in his wallet and he pulls
it out. So we're like, all right, let's be Naked Toddler.
And so we went and played a gig and they
had Naked Toddler on the on the billboard. Uh and uh,
I didn't go over too. Well, a lot of people
didn't show up. I think the name kind of I
(26:02):
think I was gonna show up. I may have not
kind of kind of scared them, but but you know,
no one was really showing up to see us anyway.
We were really just like playing at at bars, you know,
playing covers, uh, throwing in you know, an original here.
They're just trying to figure out our sound and our style. UM.
And so eventually, uh, Brian Marshall, our bass player, Uh,
(26:25):
he came and he said, you know, I used to
be in a band called Maddox Creed and UH. When
he said that, I instantly gravitated to the word creed. Uh,
you know, being the lyricist and and you know, writing
the songs that it just fit with how I was
writing and the songs that that Mark and I were
(26:46):
creating in the lyrics that I was coming up with. Uh,
and I go, let's keep the Creed part. Man. I
love that, And so we all agreed and Creed became
the name. Uh. And then we continued to uh to
play out. I think we played out at a place
called Big Daddy's uh Yawny's. Uh. There was another UM
(27:08):
club there that like all the the you know, regional
traveling bands. Uh. You know, Butch Walker, who's a big
producer now. Uh, he was in a band um and
I can't remember their band name, but he eventually it
was Marvelous Three, but he was in one prior to that,
and we used to go see them all the time.
(27:30):
And Butch was such an amazing performer. Uh so so
charismatic and and so I remember watching him going, man,
I want to bring that energy to what I do,
you know. And I was inspired by by him. Uh.
And then John Hopkins, who went on to be a
founding member of oh what's the band name? Um, Big
(27:52):
Country Act. Ah. I can't believe it just slipped my mind, right,
But John Hopkins was playing with a friend and and
they were acoustic um and uh he inspired me. Uh too.
There was a lot of great musicians and artists uh
that went on to have a pretty successful careers um
(28:14):
in the entertainment business. You know. Butch Walker is a
famous producer now and and and John Hopkins, Uh if
you google him, Zack Brown band, that's right, co founder
Zack Brown Band. Um. And he was a solo artist
at the time. And uh so that was the scene. UM,
and then Sister Hazel was coming through and UH and
(28:36):
the owners of the bar. UH also met the owners
of one of the bars that we played at. Managed
was a co manager of Sister Hazel or knew their manager.
There was some connection there, UH. And so he came
to us. His name was Jeff Hansen, UH and he said, Hey,
(28:56):
I want to manage you guys. Do you have a
CD uh? And we're like no, and he goes, well,
he hooked us up with this local UH engineer producer
who was kind of a regional star, UH, you know,
ten fifteen years earlier, named John Kerswig, And we put
in a hundred dollars a week or or fifty dollars
(29:16):
a week and started recording. Uh. And was that my
own prison? The first was to my own prison? Yeah,
And you guys did that. And again I'm just gonna
be a fan for a second, and maybe a fan
slightly wrong, but you guys did that on such a budget.
We're like five six seven dollars for the whole record,
right right. It ended up costing that much, and I
believe we borrowed the difference in what we needed from
Brian Marshall's dad. You you borrowed money, but we were
(29:41):
putting in money ourselves. But I think I can't remember exactly,
but we borrowed money to get it pressed, like to
buy our first run of CDs, and also finished the project.
And how old were you at this time? I want
to say twenty two three, somewhere in the probably twenty
three when we got that finished. So you finished it
(30:03):
with it. Listen, it takes six grand to cut, now, right,
if you're gonna do a record six You finished the
whole thing for we'll say, roughly six thousand dollars. Whenever
you gave it to him or gave it to people
where they like, wow, this is amazing. We started getting
that reaction in the local radio station. UH started playing
my Own Prison on on the locals only show UH,
(30:27):
and then another station in Thomasville, Georgia started playing another
song off the record called Pity for a Dime that
was their single, UH, and we started getting noticed from
you know, the l A and New York record companies
when UH My Own Prison went number one at the
(30:47):
Tallahassee rock station and Pity for a Dime went number
one at the thomas Phil, Georgia rock station. UM and
then we got it. I think we got like ten
thousand CDs printed. Were you still paying for that the
ten thousand CDs or it's somebody Well, I think that
was part of the sixth grand got it Okay? So
when you paid for all of it, you you had
(31:08):
ten thousand cis. Got it right, right? I think? I
think the sixth Grand encompassed not only making the record,
but also getting the first ten thousand pressing. I believe.
How fast were they selling? Well, we went, we took
them out to well, we invented a record company called
Blue Collar Records, and uh, our managers and and some
friends of ours would go to the record stores as
(31:29):
blue Collar Records representatives, um and uh, you know, because
we wanted to get him to sell our CDs. And
so we put them in the stores and we sold
all ten thousand CDs in the first four weeks. And
that's when the label started coming to Tallahassee because that
you know, it flagged on their on their sound scan,
(31:50):
you know. And who is this band that sold you know,
ten thousand albums uh last month? Uh? And so you
know that's when it started. So I'm gonna take one
step back because I am curious about that. You know,
how you guys blew up, But I'm always curious and
(32:11):
how it started and kind of the genesis of songwriting.
If you had never written music and you've written I
mean I listed all the just the massive songs of them,
basically everything. How I have songwriter friends have been doing
their whole life. I have written hit and they're really good.
You hadn't done it at all, and then you started
writing songs and you have so many, Like how easily
(32:34):
or was it not easy for you to start writing
songs that actually were good, catchy songs with hooks? You know?
I think I think we wrote probably seven or eight
songs that, you know, in trying to find our sound.
And then we wrote a song called grip My Soul,
(32:55):
which never made a record, should have, but it didn't
make the record. We didn't record it, or maybe we
did record it, but it didn't make the record. That
might have been our eighth or ninth song. And I
remember when we wrote that song, we all looked at
each other, and Mark and I specifically, and we're like, Okay,
we got it. We figured this is it. We figured
(33:15):
it out. Um And from that moment on, uh, what
you hear on My Prison was written we I mean
literally only probably once we figured out what our sound
was from Gripped my Soul to what was recorded on
my own prison. Um, I mean we probably only wrote
(33:36):
fourteen songs and and total since Mark and I were together,
maybe twenty songs, which is a very low number. For
those were the first twenty songs I had ever written
in my life. And that's my point exactly. Like I
have friends that have been doing it for twenty years.
They wrote they write sixty songs for a record. Now.
The only thing I can think of, man, is that
(33:57):
that you know, the the artist that I list into,
you know, being YouTube also you know growing up listening uh,
you know, the only thing that was allowed in my
home growing up was was Christian rock or Christian artists, um.
And so you know, I would listen to a lot
of Takes six and I think that's who taught me
(34:17):
how to sing, because I would sing along with those
records and sing every vocal part on that record. And
then d C Talk, which is became which became which
became Toby mac um that was allowed in my house.
And and then you too because the same thing that
people ended up doing with Creed that we're in Christian homes,
saying wait wait there, Christian band, mom and dad, even
(34:39):
though Creed wasn't an official Christian band, just like you
too is not a Christian band, but Bono is a
Christian um. And so I snuck Josh Retreat, got it
into my house and was able to listen to that
by telling my parents that they were a Christian band.
But I think those those bands that I listened to
growing up. Stryper was another one. Uh that was was
(35:03):
a jam uh in my house. But I think all
that was just imprinted in my brain. I think song
structure and how to write songs based on those records
was just imprinted in my brain. Mark the same way
Mark was, He was much more. He was much different
than me, and that Mark knew what he wanted to
do when he was probably ten or eleven years old.
(35:25):
Mark knew he wanted to be in a rock band,
play guitar and write songs and be a singer and
a guitar player. He knew, um at least that that's
how I recall it. And so he he he, he
knew all these bands that I had never heard of.
He you know, he learned all. You know, he probably
knew hundreds and hundreds of songs on guitar, you know,
(35:48):
by learning him on tab and and just listening and
playing them. So of course that taught him song structure
and and taught him. So I think me just just
hearing that in him, I think we just inherently new
structure and how to put a song together, um and
and and then it just came out once we got together.
We didn't think too much about it. We never sat
(36:10):
down and thought, um, let's write a radio song, or
or we need to do this. We we were just like, hey,
that's the verse, that's the chorus, that's this. We never
we never put any pressure on ourselves and we just
wrote what made us feel good because in the beginning
we were just playing for us. You know what I mean,
(36:32):
my own prison. I'm gonna play a few of these
hooks here here is actually my own prison. That's whenever
I hear a song from like when I mean like
I feel like I felt, then music does that. Like
when you hear a song that reminds you of a
really big part of your life, for a second, you
feel that part of your life again. And this record
(36:53):
does that to me? Is the record in general? Torn?
Here's a clip of Dorm. What's This Life for? Whis what?
Which was a rock number one for you guys? Was
this a big separator for you guys? Did this one
turn you guys from a national known band to like
a whoa, here they come? I think, you know, My
(37:16):
Own Prison went all four of our first singles went
number one at rock, and I think it was a
build um and then you know, my Own Prison was
our first video that was on MTV and v H
one UM and then What's This Life For? I think
was our second video that was on MTV n v
H one, and it was more of a It had
(37:38):
more of a appeal to a wider audience. What's this
Life Ford? Did? I think that's when I felt other
people were knowing about you get because the edge Dallas.
I would have a friend record take a cassette tape
because your kids now don't know you do record, play
pause and you undo pause, you record what's on the radio.
And I have a friend send it to me and
he was like, you gotta hear Creed, What's this Life For?
(37:59):
And I was like, I already been known about Creed
but I felt like that song. Yeah, I definitely, I
definitely think that that just you know, expanded it even further.
And I think the video had had a lot to
do do with that too, And I think it was
it was really palatable, um, you know, to a wider audience. Um.
And I think we began to see our audience by
(38:20):
by the time What's this Life for? And then once one,
the song one became a single and and had its time,
our audience really expanded from and was a mix of
men and women. And initially it was just you know dudes, um,
based on our first two singles, you know, into heavy
you know, heavy aggressive rock. But those two songs showed
(38:43):
a different side of the band and began to really
open up our audience. Uh. And then you know the
next record, you know, with higher and did you fill
the rocket ship for the first record you make it?
You don't spend a lot of money on it, but
you're hustling, right, you got fake representatives going to record stores.
I mean, you aren't in the hustle, right. Do you
feel the rocket ship or do you just realize, oh boy,
(39:05):
we're on it now. We expected it. We we were
so at least I did. I had this blind confidence
and and I had these blinders on, and I just
thought that it was going to happen. I just had
such belief in the music that we were creating. And
then once we made the CD, and then once the
(39:27):
record label started coming down, I just thought that, Hey,
here it is. We're gonna be playing arenas soon. That's
what happens. That's what happens when you get a record
deal and you get on the radio, you play arenas.
That that's idea. I had no idea that that was
only the beginning, and and the chances of you you know,
(39:47):
even making it past your first single were slim to none.
You know, I was so naive. Um. But I think
that was a that was actually a benefit to me
at the time because it took away any fear or
doub out or or or anything that could stand in
the way of of me, uh, you know, achieving uh
and and giving what I needed to give from my
(40:09):
standpoint to make it happen. And I think it was contagious,
uh to the guys in the band, um, and and
we all just had this belief, um in what we
were doing, and and uh, we didn't we didn't think
it would turn out any other way. With you guys
having your music already made and knowing who you were
(40:31):
as a band, did that make your first deal easier
to actually know what you wanted to not get ripped off? Well,
here here's another funny story or not funny story. But
we almost didn't have a record deal. We had literally
every major label interested, um, and then one by one
(40:52):
they started bowing out because I don't know, Uh, they
just they're interested, They're down, they're talking with our managers,
their meetings, they're talking with our big New York lawyer
that we had. Uh. They got everybody signed, uh, you know,
and one by one they would bail. And then it
came down to Atlantic Records. Uh, and the two Nicks
(41:16):
that we were talking to, and we were in their offices,
uh meetings, New York back and we were a percent
sure that that, you know, it was going to be
Atlantic Records, and uh, you know, negotiations were going on
the whole nine yards. I think they ended up signing
a band instead of us called Seven Mary three right
(41:39):
and uh. And so we were like, oh my god,
what are we gonna do? Everybody dropping? Do you do
you know I have no idea and uh then this
little company never signed a band before. Ah. A woman
named Diana Meltzer and her husband Alan Meltzer. They had
(42:01):
just started a label called wind Up Records, and somehow,
I think through our lawyer are Blue Collar Records c
D got in Diana Meltzer's hands and she heard it
and she's was a convinced that this She had to
(42:22):
sign this band. She had to sign this band. Uh.
So she told her husband Alan, I'm going to tell
haassee and I'm signing this band. Whether you come with
me or not. He came. He ended up listening to
the c D. He loved it. They came. Um, you
know it was so funny. I remember looking in the
crowd and you know, there wasn't that many people there
(42:42):
at that particular time. Um, and they looked like they
were in the mafia. You know. There was there was
this little guy in an all black suit, you know,
New York looking guy, and and his wife and all
black and and and we were like, whoa, who are
these two mafia people in the crowd And they were
standing in the center and they were just rocking out,
(43:03):
you know. And uh, and then we our managers came
and said, Uh, there's some record company folks that want
to meet with you guys afterwards. So we went to
this bar next door and it had like a rooftop bar,
and we went up there and we talked and and
they said we want to sign you. And this is
right after we had, you know, been basically passed on
(43:24):
by everybody else, and we had no other option. Uh.
And in looking back, it was the greatest thing that
could ever happen to us because this man was a
very successful businessman and he was starting a new business
and we got all the attention from his company, and
he did not want to fail. And he was a gambler.
(43:45):
We didn't learn that until later on in life that
he was a gambler. Uh. But he put all his
resources uh into into the band. Uh and uh but
again we had no we had no other options, so
we we took it and uh, you know, again naive,
but he knew what he was doing. Uh. And so
we signed with little little wind Up Records, the engine
(44:08):
that could uh and uh the rest is history. Did
you guys make any money off the first record after
signing with them? Because it did so well? Uh? Yeah,
money started coming in yeah, I mean we we we
didn't have a very good deal. It's a bad deal.
What about your publishing from writing the song? Did you
get paid from that differently? Uh? We we got paid. No,
(44:29):
we we got publishing, we got recording, we got royalties. Um,
we just got a tiny advance and and just probably
you know, your basic crappy record deal that that was
probably pretty standard in in n um you know, I
mean our publishing deal. We still owned you know, the
vast majority of our publishing of course, um. And and
(44:52):
then had the typical probably standard record deal. Um. But
the record you know went six times platinum, h I believe.
And so we definitely um, you know recouped because they
used our demo. Man, they didn't just use the record
spent six right, and so we had nothing to recoup
except you know, the a couple of music videos, uh
(45:15):
and maybe some tour support early on. And so yeah,
you know, our lives changed really quick. You know what
is that like you talk about a rocket ship? When
your lives changed so quickly, do you go crazy or
are you scared? It was? It was happening uh, so fast,
and it was so awesome and it was such a
(45:35):
high and so exciting. Uh, and our dreams were coming true.
We were just enjoying every minute of it. Man, Um,
without the thought of of it could ever end. You know,
we were just caught up in it. Did you guys
get a plane eventually? Yeah? After after Human Clay we
had a plane. We had a G five. Um you
(45:59):
know what I mean? Yeah, man, I mean it. But
Human Clay was so big, like it was next level.
When when Higher comes out, I mean just that drum
part and you singing like that to me personifies that
whole like to your two thousand like time period in music,
I mean Higher, what's and here's the we'll play the
(46:19):
club of Higher because you've a eleven under a rock
or your twelve? Was this another level for you guys
with a song? Ye, this took us. This took us
to another level. Um, it took us higher pun intended.
Uh and uh. And then you know there was another
song on this record. What if that was tied in
(46:41):
with the Scream three movie? Uh? And so we did
a video, uh with all the screen three you know,
actors and and and and that also you know, to
have that title track for a soundtrack and and the
whole movie machine behind that gave us exposure to you know,
(47:02):
another great greater portion of the world, and and uh
and then higher and then you know, and then the
grand slam that just took it, you know, to the stratosphere.
Um was armed wide open, which which came later. I
remember vividly that heartbeat and I don't know if it
was a radio version or the album version, but it
would be like, yeah, yeah, then well I just heard that.
(47:25):
The heartbeat still sits with me, like that song comes out,
because that was a number one pop song too, Like
that's you beating everybody right again. It had to be
just another notch of what is happening with our life
right now. It was we were in it and enjoying,
(47:45):
enjoying it and just living it. And and like I,
like I said earlier, we or at least I let
me just speak for me. I thought that's what was
supposed to happen to a band when they got a
record deal and got on the radio. I didn't realize
until years later that that's not what happens to every
(48:08):
band that gets a record deal and gets on the radio.
But in that moment I did so I thought everything
that was happening was just what was supposed to happen,
you know what I mean? Um, what would you go
back and tell that kid? Though? Now? Oh man, I
could tell that kid a lot, um man, appreciate ah
(48:30):
the people around you. Let him know even though you
may appreciate them, let them know on a regular basis. Uh.
You know, I was so caught up in and and
you know, I had a lot of anxiety. Uh. That's
one issue that I dealt with, you know. And so
every day that we had a big show in front
of an arena crowd or wherever, you know, I was
nervous all day long. And so I would I would
(48:52):
kind of isolate myself because I was just nervous and
didn't want to mess up and whatnot. Uh. And so
I would tell that guy, hey, chill man, and and
and just appreciate the people around you more and let
them know, you know. And I did periodically, but I
would do more. Um also also spend more time h
(49:14):
nurturing all the relationships that you make uh in this business. Um.
You know, I was so caught up in what I
had to do and in the in creed and in
writing the songs. Uh. And you know that I think
the peripheral things I didn't pay enough attention to that,
you know, as a more mature human being now I
(49:35):
realized are so important. I mean, it takes a team.
You know. It wasn't just the band that was doing everything. Uh,
it's it's the team. Um. And so you know, I
think I would definitely and and also I would have
would I would have told myself, um, you know, two
(49:58):
look at it. This is a job too, you know
what I mean. And and it's not just one big party,
it's you know, uh. And so definitely have a lot
of things to say to my younger self about relationships,
about taking care of my myself mentally and physically. Um.
(50:19):
And and just appreciating every moment and the people around me,
like I said, um, and and preserving and nurturing um,
those those relationships, despite what I was going through at
the time. Would you get nervous when a record would
come out because you know my own prison, Probably not
because you hustled. But then after it's a success and
human Clay is about to come out or whether it's
(50:40):
about to come out, are you like, well, we gotta
beat the last one, or you just go and let's
just go fire them off. We were in such a
rapid motion from making a record, promoting singles tour right
back in the studio. We we wrote Human Clay on
tour because we only had like ten or eleven song
us to play and and so we were like, we
(51:03):
gotta write some more songs. So we were playing um,
you know, say I and Faceless Man and and some
other songs off of Human Play eventually Arms Wide Open,
Um and probably even higher uh live prior to recording
them on the album UM. And so you know, we
(51:23):
kind of would see how the fans would react. You know,
they were getting positive reactions, and so we just we
weren't thinking about failure. We we we never we never
thought about that. Uh, looking back, We just were so
focused on what we were doing in that moment and
that the doubt didn't come in. We didn't we didn't
(51:46):
set any expectations on ourselves. With Arms Wide Open written
about your son, Yes, it was about it was It
was inspired when I found out I was going to
be a father for the first time. Is he an
adult now? Yes? Why wild? That's what I'm like? How
old am I? As one of those moments where you're like, well, yeah,
well it's it's funny that that you know, my other
three children, Um, they all know the song, and it's
(52:08):
it's kind of you know, it's a family song. Now,
it's for all of it's for all of it's for
all of you, you know what I mean. It's just
inspired by your big brother, but it's for you too,
you know. When you when you play dates now, when
you're doing solo dates, which by the way, August five
and St. Charles, Illinois, August six, in Mankato, Minnesota, August fourteenth,
and Carlton, Minnesota, do you do all the Creed songs? I?
(52:30):
I do a lot of them. Yeah, I do. I
I pretty much do like a solo song and Creed song,
a solo song and Creed song. Uh so because you know,
the fans that are there are started out with me
uh liking Creed uh and you know, I want to
give them. I'm I'm there to entertain and give the
fans what they want. Uh And and I still enjoy
(52:51):
playing those songs. I love them, uh and so it
feels good to play them, and it's great to be
able to mix that up with my solo material and
and uh, you know, the fans have have responded well
to that your latest project, The Space between the Shadows.
Whenever you are making a solo record, Like, what are
(53:13):
you seeing differently than when you would make a collaborative
record with the band, Like how are you approaching that create?
And how did you Because that's got to be a
big creative change when you first started doing your solo project,
Like what was different in your mind and in your
creative process? Well, I mean the creative process with Creed
was primarily Mark and I would go away alone um
(53:36):
and and write the songs and then come back and
jam them with the band, um and. So I just
that's the only way that I knew how to write,
you know. It was that kind of one on one relationship.
Uh And, So I just took that into my solo
and and would find guys that that I connected with,
uh and and right that way, So I just recreated
(53:58):
the same, you know, the same writing scenario. You know,
now as I've gotten older, I love to collaborate with
various people. Sometimes it will be three guys in a
room jam, and sometimes it will be four, uh and
and that's that's fun, you know. And and moving to Nashville,
and and and writing here has really opened up. Uh,
(54:19):
you know, my my outlook and thoughts on on songwriting
and how to write songs and and love having as
many I mean, if there's six guys in a room, man,
and we're and we're all just like, hey, man, let's
write a song, would do it? You know? And that's
why I love about Nashville. Uh and uh and and
so you know it's changed in that regard. Uh And
(54:42):
I think it's it's changed in a good way. Are
now yeah, I'm writing now. I'm actually leaving here to
go to a session to write for my next record.
Are recording now? Um? Nope, just writing. I mean I
may record a demo if we finished something and you know,
just to get the idea down. And what's funny is
(55:03):
on my last solo record, UM, a lot of those
demo vocals that I that I recorded in that moment
at that time, same day, you know, within the two
hours of writing the song ended up being the final vocals. Um.
And I'm finding that that doing that sometimes you can't
recreate the magic of that emotion that comes out in
(55:27):
that moment. Uh. And so thankfully we record them. Uh.
Even when we're making the demos we record the vocals
like they could be right, you know, final. And that's
another Nashville thing. As you start to do these solo shows.
I mean it's Creed as a unit. Will you guys
ever play a band show again? I don't know, man,
I mean I don't see why not. But you're not
(55:47):
broken up right now? You're just not to get am
I right on this. I wouldn't say that we are
broken up. No, I would say we are on an
extended hiatus. Um. You know, I I've recently uh spoken
with Mark and and Flip and and you know we
we stay in touch, not not like I don't want
(56:08):
to mislead anybody. You know, It's not like we're we're
texting every day or calling every day, but you know
we reach out um on holidays and birthdays, and we
have ongoing business that we handle. But you wouldn't be
asposed to ever getting back together again to play shows? No?
Absolutely not so much. Oh no, absolutely not. I would.
I'm not opposed to that at all. I mean, it
(56:28):
just has to be the right um, the right time,
uh and and I I think you know, the right
the right energy and vibe uh and and it has
to be authentic uh, in organic uh and and we
all have to be in the right place to do it.
And I and I think we're close to that, you know,
Like I said, I don't see any reason why, um
(56:50):
that couldn't happen uh in the near future. You know,
when you see someone gets so popular, it doesn't matter
what it is, what if it's a writer or an artist,
like I love Coldplay. Cold plays on my favorite bands,
and the fact that people can hate on Coldplay just
because they're so famous, that's like the platform continues to
rise till so many people see you that you're just
gonna get enough haters. I have to tell my fiance
that now because she didn't want the public life at all,
(57:13):
but because she's with me, she now has two Instagram followers,
and she people will come at her. She's like, I
didn't do anything right. She's like, I don't want to,
Like people are death threats talking to how ugly she
is and she's not ugly at all, and she shouldn't
be killed, you know. And so I'm like, you know,
your platform, even though you don't want it, has been raised,
and so more people see you, people get jealous. You
(57:34):
had to feel that at some point where you guys
were so big ya felt that um and and it
it hurt UM for a number of years once once
things turned from you know, I'll never forget uh. You know,
I've got an article framed, uh in in one of
(57:56):
my rooms where I keep stuff, and it says, you know,
creed in Scott Staff or this summer's rock and roll Saviors. Okay,
So we went from those type of headlines to literally,
you know, the most hated band in America. And it
was weird, like going from those two extremes. Um. And
(58:20):
it hurt because you didn't understand why. Um. And it
also hey that that's not a part of what the
rock and roll dream is supposed to be. That. Did
that happen to Zeppelin? Did that happen to the Doors?
Did that happen to YouTube? Did that you start asking
those questions. I'm not saying that we're in that category
of those bands at all, but you know, we we
(58:42):
we were pretty big band at the time, and um,
you know, and and and some of the hate you know,
I'm human man, and and you know it it hurt
and and you know, and I took it personal, uh
for a number of years and you know, and then
there was a number of years where I got angry
about it. Uh. And I'm the type of person that, uh,
(59:07):
you know, gets angry and and says, well, screw you now,
I'm gonna screw myself. And so instead of lashing out
at them, I actually lashed out at myself. So I
began to self sabotage. Uh. And you know, and that's
when I began to kind of you know, when I
(59:28):
would feel down and got to got into depression, began
to you know, you know, drink and do things that
that would lead to behaviors that were very out of
character for me when I was under the influence, and
it was just self sabotage and and it was it
was dealing with with almost being without you know, I
don't want to sound like a victim and in any sense,
but I felt, you know, it was kind of traumatizing,
(59:50):
you know, uh, to be so elevated and then to
have such hate. Uh. And it wasn't so much that
it was from the fans, because it wasn't from the fans,
from the media, and so it was public and it
was out there, and so it was embarrassing on one
regard publicly and then it hurt publicly. Uh. And then
I contributed to that by my inability to handle that.
(01:00:15):
I wasn't equipped uh emotionally or or with the maturity,
and did not have the people around me for support
um that I needed to to advise me. Uh. You know,
I'm sitting right here. Uh. And and my publicist Tiffany
is here. My god, had I had her in, man,
(01:00:39):
you know, had I had my wife Jacqueline, Uh. Oh,
my god, had I had my wife Jacqueline in you know,
so many things would have been different in my life.
But you know what, I probably would not have Milan
my daughter. I probably wouldn't have Daniel my son, or
(01:01:02):
Anthony my son. So things all happened the way they
were supposed to happen. Man. Uh. And you know, of
course there are things that I wish I could do
different and change, uh, definitely with how I handled certain things,
how I handled some of the success, you know, with
the over partying and the over confidence and and sometimes
(01:01:25):
the ego getting out of control, you know, and which
I looking back and now having a twenty two year
old son, I mean that's part of being twenty and
twenty four. Uh. So you know, he's not even you know,
playing arenas and he deals with those issues. So imagine
throwing you know, money and on that. You know, I
(01:01:46):
wish I could go back and be more mature and
and do those things. But but uh, you know, at
this point in my life, man, it's it's all about
peace and and and happiness and enjoying what you do
and all of those experiences that we just talked about,
(01:02:08):
that that, you know, the good and the bad, have
led me to a place, uh today where you know,
I have an amazing wife and and four beautiful children
that I'm able to be a father too, and and
and and coach little league and and uh, you know,
go to recitals for my daughter and play guitar with
(01:02:31):
my daughter. You know, my my daughters sitting in our
music room and she's like, Dad checked this out and
she's playing, arms wide open. Uh. And I'm like, oh,
I can't wait to have you on stage with me
playing at Of everything we talked about, what's funny is
of all the success and the songs and the blah
blah blah, that where I saw you light up the
absolute most was you talking about your kids. Absolutely, of
(01:02:52):
all the success and the money and the records and
the deals. You're like, yeah, that's but when you were
talking about your kids and your family, that's in your
face being went to a whole new place. Are you
happy right now? Absolutely? I'm I'm happier today, uh than
I think I've ever been in my entire life. And
(01:03:14):
and that's that's the God's honest truth. I am a
very very blessed and fortunate man. I have an amazing wife,
I have an amazing children. I have an amazing family,
people that speak truth into my life to make me
a better human being. You know, I couldn't I couldn't
ask for anymore. Uh. And and I'm thankful, so thankful
(01:03:38):
and so grateful uh for the life that that that
I was given, uh And for the fans and and
and for the music industry that gave my music a
chance and an opportunity, uh and and all that that
has afforded me. I mean, I tear up, man, because
I'm so I'm so thankful uh and grateful uh for
(01:03:59):
all that, but also just to be here uh and
and to be able to sit in this moment here
with you and talk about all this uh and reflect
on it and realize you know what what a what
a blessing and a gift that it was, and and
and uh and just the opportunity that I could get
(01:04:20):
to continue to do this man, Uh with all these
other blessings. Um, I'm very blessed. And I hope that
you know my story, uh, you know some some of
the stuff that we haven't touched on. I hope that
my story and and and then the music that that
has inspired and will continue to inspire, UM, can can
help someone else along the way, man, because life is
(01:04:45):
not all about me uh and uh, it's it's about
what I can give uh and what I can share
and how I can help others uh and and that's
what I feel my purpose uh is at this point
in my life, aside from being a husband and a father. Well,
with that, I think we've we've done it all for today. Listen.
(01:05:06):
This has been a thrill for me. We sat here
for an hour. We've scratched the service. Listen. We could
we could have done another hour, but you gotta ride
and I gotta you know, but six months, nine months,
maybe a year, we'll do it again. You get more
music out you want, you're ready to put it out
this to come knock on my Do you know where
I live? Now? Yeah? Man, you come knock on my
door and maybe showing up. You're only like eight miles
from my house. What that would be the we play
(01:05:28):
basketball in the backyard. You still play ball? It so well,
let me say that, I know you don't do a
lot of interviews, and so to come over and do
this with me for an hour, it is just genuinely
an exciting day for me. So so thank you. I
say that as sincerely as possible. I can talked to everybody.
I'll be honest with you. I've pretty jaded at this point.
I don't give a crap. I'm like, it's part of
(01:05:48):
my job of talking to people. Occasionally you get that
little like flutter again where you're like, oh this is cool.
Now was the day for me? Oh thanks man. So,
I I appreciate you and everybody who reached out to
you saying I'm not a total tool like I appreciate
them whomever they are. You know, everyone who reached out
to me told me just how authentic and real you were,
and and man, I feel that right here in this room.
(01:06:09):
I see it by looking at you. Man, I've been
around the block. So just just like you, Just like you,
I'm jaded and I get a vibe in a sense
of somebody. And you know, because we've met so many
people in our lives that when we meet someone new
and we feel their vibe, we've met someone like them before,
you know what I'm saying. And and you've got great energy, man,
(01:06:32):
And thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.
A very final question. You can answer it with a word.
Did people ever stop you at Walmart and goat hey you,
Scott Stap Yes, yes they because that would beat me.
I'll be like, oh dude, I wouldn't even say hi,
I would just take a picture from behind you and
to be like I'd posted me like I think that's
Scott stabbed. Um. Listen, you guys can follow Scott go
to his show's um He's at Scott's stab on Instagram
(01:06:55):
and TikTok um Creed Instagram. Still you guys are still
to me, just still rolling, yeah, man, still rolling? Yes
they are. Let's go. Let's do it. You heard it here,
Let's go. I will be all right. Scott. Great to
see you, Thank you, so great to see you. Thanks
for having me. Bobby
Host
Bobby Bones
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