A Conversation with Bowling For Soup’s Jaret Reddick – HuffPost 4.22.11

Mike Ragogna: Jaret!

Jaret Reddick: Hey, how’s it going? You’re the first radio DJ I’ve ever heard say “S-S-S-Saturday.”

MR: What do the rest say?

JR: Well, we really have only started getting it out there, so I’ve only seen it spelled.

MR: (laughs) Well, I’m happy to be the guinea pig.

JR: Our managers refer to it as a number of different things, sometimes it’s “Saturday Night,” sometimes it’s “Saturday.” Anyway, I appreciate the properness of your introduction of the song because it IS “S-S-S-Saturday.”

MR: Thank you. There will be a lot of formality during this interview.

JR: It’s good to keep it right between the lines.

MR: Let’s start right from the beginning. The band’s name was derived from a comedy act by Steve Martin?

JR: Indeed. We were big fans of comedy in general, and stand-up comedy with Steve Martin being one of our favorites. As our original drummer and I started the band, he jokingly said, “We should call the band Bowling For Soup.” So, that sort of became the title of our little group that we put together. We always had every intention of changing it, but we played our first show a month after we started the band and never really stopped. It’s kind of too late now, seventeen years later, you know?

MR: Yeah, and this is what, your eleventh album or something?

JR: Yeah, it’s our eleventh studio album, which is crazy. In June, we celebrate our seventeenth birthday, so we’ve been at it awhile.

MR: You’re almost legal.

JR: We can officially drive a car as a band, we’ll be voting next year, and we can stop drinking illegally just a few years after that, so that’s good stuff.

MR: Speaking of your name, how appropriate it is that you kicked off your new single by playing to a worldwide audience at The Professional Bowling Association’s Tournament of Champions on ABC.

JR: Yeah, it was pretty cool. We’ve done a few events with those guys, and the whole pro-bowling thing is growing again. This was their first time back on national television–I think that event has been showing on ESPN for the last several years–so, they were excited about it, and it was cool for us to get to be a part of it. That was the debut of the song, and like you said, it’s very fitting with the whole “bowling” thing.

MR: And, of course, Kingpin is one of the group’s favorite movies.

JR: It is. It’s funny because we’re terrible bowlers. For me, you never really run away from anything. I think one of the big mistakes people make is when people go see a band that has one hit and they’re kind of sad about playing that one song. For me, I’ll play only the hits, if that’s what everybody wants to hear. The bowling thing is the one thing where, after you’ve gotten sick of coming into town, and the programming director of the radio station says, “I have this incredible idea. Here’s what we’re going to do–we’re going to take you guys to a bowling alley, and we’re going to have a food drive! See? Bowling For Soup? What do you think?” After the two-hundredth or three-hundredth time, it was kind of hard to act excited about it. Anyway, we got to bowl a lot for free, back in the day, so that was fun.

MR: (laughs) You said “hits” before, so let’s remind everybody of your them: “High School Never Ends,” “Girl All The Bad Guys Want,” and my personal favorite because the lyrics are awesome, “1985.” Could you tell me the story behind “1985”?

JR: “1985” is actually one of the only songs by us that wasn’t originally ours. We had finished recording the album, A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, and a friend of mine from the band SR-71 literally called me on the studio phone and said, “I was just talking to my manager, and it’s you guys. I don’t think it makes sense for our band, I just don’t think we can really pull it off.” So, I said, “Dude, we’re done. Our album is finished, and I don’t want to waste your time.” He was like, “Just take a listen to it.” So, he sent me his version of it, and I took a couple of days with it. I finally thought, “You know, I think we could make this great,” but I wanted to make it more of a Bowling For Soup song. Lyrically, it didn’t really fit exactly the things that I would want to say, and musically it just didn’t flow like a Bowling For Soup song. He said, “Yeah, make it your own.” So, I did, and I locked myself in a room and made our version of that song, and obviously I’m very glad that we did because it remains our greatest hit to date.

MR: Another thing that you hear all the time is your theme song to a certain Disney show.

JR: The number one Disney show, Phineas & Ferb, probably one of the best cartoons that has come out in a long time. That’s an amazing experience in and of itself. The show was in development, and they had a theme song–the theme song that you hear, they actually already had–and they wanted someone to take that theme song and turn it into a three and a half minute song that could be played on the radio, during promos, and stuff like that. The two creators of the show, Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh, were big Bowling For Soup fans, so they sought me out directly to ask if I would do it, and I said, “Sure, I’ll do it.” I wrote the song “Today Is Going To Be A Great Day,” which is the full-length version you can sometimes hear on the show, and it’s on the soundtrack and stuff. During all of that, they asked me if I wanted to read for a part on the show, so I’m also the lead singer of the band Love Handle on the show, and that’s something that is really fun for me because it’s reoccurring. I’m even being cast in the movie that is being made right now, so it’s been a lot of fun. It’s definitely one of those deals where my grandparents started thinking I was really cool once I got nominated for a Grammy, and my kids think I’m cool now because ofPhineas & Ferb. It takes those little milestones to get the people that don’t really understand what you do excited.

MR: Yeah, it takes you from the category of, “Oh, that’s nice” to “Did you know that my son…?”

JR: It’s really true. My grandparents are the best because they want to be excited about something, but it was kind of hard for my grandmother for the first several years of the band to hear, “How are your grandkids?” “Oh, my college educated grandson has two degrees, and he just lives in a van and drives around the country playing songs for people.” Then, a flash in the sky happens, and all of the sudden we’re in People Magazine or something and it’s like, “Hey, this is what my grandson does for a living.” I think that kind of stuff helps.

MR: In ’05, they could have seen you in the movie Cursed, right?

JR: Yeah, we’ve had two movie appearances, actually. We were in Crossroads, the Britney Spears movie, as the prom band, and we’re in the opening scene of the Wes Craven movie, Cursed, which is really cool because we recorded a cover of “Little Red Riding Hood” in L.A., and Wes Craven actually came out to the studio to listen to us do that. The list goes on and on–it’s just amazing all the experiences we’ve had. We’re very lucky guys.

MR: You are. I remember my first exposure to you guys was a cover of A Flock Of Seagulls’ song, “I Ran.” That cover was played everywhere.

JR: Yeah, it was. That worked out really well, though it definitely wasn’t our choice. We had released Drunk Enough To Dance, which did really well, and it had been out for like a year before the Grammy nomination happened. So, the label wanted to sort of repackage it, as they would do back in the day–this was like ’03–and we had this song, “Punk Rock 101,” and they were like, “We want to put ‘Punk Rock 101’ on here, but we need a cover.” Grand Theft Auto was out, and they were playing that Flock Of Seagulls stuff on there, and the label insisted that we cover that song. In hindsight, that’s one of the only things we’ve done that the label demanded. It was basically a matter of doing that song, or getting the plug pulled, and it was just like, “Well, I don’t really want the plug pulled right now,” and I’m glad we did it because you hear that thing all over the place. There are definitely cover songs that we’ve chosen to do, for instance, we did the Britney Spears song, “Hit Me Baby One More Time” for the Freaky Friday movie. With that one, we got to make it our own, and that one is still a fan favorite.

MR: You also had, “I’m Gay,” which was the second UK single for you, right?

JR: Yeah, that was the second single off of The Great Burrito Extortion Case. That song is about being happy, it’s a happy song.

MR: We could go on and on about the past…

JR: Well, the other big ones were “Almost In Ohio” or “Come Back To Texas” and “When We Die.”

MR: And, of course, Playlist: The Very Best Of Bowling For Soup is coming out soon, on Sony. So, there’s that release, but let’s get to Fishin’ For Woos.

JR: Yes, let’s talk about Fishin’ For Woos.

MR: Yes. Fishin’ For Woos. So?

JR: Well, Fishin’ For Woos is basically a term that I use for when we’re playing live. For anyone who hasn’t seen us, our show is very loose, and we don’t use a set list or anything, we just walk out on stage, and whatever happens, happens. So, there’s a lot of banter and interaction with the audience, and sometimes, I’ll say something, and the audience will react with a “Woo,” and I’ll say, “I wasn’t fishing for that, but I appreciate them.” That’s where the title Fishin’ For Woos comes from. It’s an album that I wrote last May, and we recorded it last June, and we’re excited because it’s our first indie album in this decade. We were on Jive for ten years, and as the industry changes, their philosophy is changing on what they want to do, so they basically dropped all of their mid-level bands, which is what we would be considered, I guess. At first it was like, “Aw man, that’s a bummer,” but at the same time, it frees us up to do so many things that we’ve always wanted to do, and one of those was to make a new record, and get it out as soon as possible, so that’s what we did.

MR: I imagine you will hear a lot of “woos” when you play a song like, “Let’s Pretend We’re Not In Love.”

JR: That’s the first song on the album, definitely one of my favorites, and I sort of argued for that. I sort of have line item veto power and can get whatever I want, but with that one, I was kind of discouraged by Linus Of Hollywood, who produced the album with me, and our management because I don’t think they understood what I was trying to do. Once it was recorded, they both kind of came back and were like, “Oh, we get it. You were right.” It’s the lead song on the album.

MR: It’s great. Are you able to talk about what went on behind the scenes during the recording of this album, or were you sworn to secrecy?

JR: (laughs) Only the illegal stuff, but we usually try to keep that under wraps, anyway.

MR: (laughs) Fine. What can you say?

JR: It was an interesting album for us because Sorry For Partyin’, which was our album before this one, had come out, and four weeks later, we parted with Jive. It was actually kind of a sad time for me because I had worked really hard on that album, and I thought that Sorry For Partyin’ was, to date, our best work. I really thought it was going to be something great, and I think the fans thought the same way, and then when it wasn’t on the radio, people were really confused, so it was kind of tough. We were touring a lot, and touring on an album that wasn’t really being pushed and stuff. At the end of the day though, it was like I could either bask in the darkness of all of this or we could be proactive, like we’ve always been, and go out there and kick some ass, and that’s what we did. I wrote the record in about three weeks. A couple of the songs were songs that I didn’t finish for the record before, but for the most part I locked myself in a room and did it. We recorded this album in Dallas, at home, which we hadn’t done since like ’97 or ’98. So, that was really cool, to work on an album in the studio where we do a lot of the movie and TV songs that we do. We went in and recorded 18 songs, and I’m very, very proud of how it came out.

MR: Nice. Now, not being with Jive anymore, you’re now in the same boat as a lot of indie artists, as far as self-marketing, self-promoting. But you also have self-control, so to speak…or let’s call it total control.

JR: I definitely don’t have any self-control. (laughs)

MR: (laughs) Yeah, I had to rephrase that. I usually ask this question towards the end of an interview, but it makes sense to ask it now–what is your advice for new artists jumping into music now?

JR: The thing is, things are changing so fast now. For many, many years, there was a formula–it was so simple–songs for the radio fit a certain model and bands went out and did the same things–you bought a van, and just went out and toured. Things are different now, obviously, with the decline of the live music scene, and with people more focused on what’s happening on the computer. So, social networking almost takes the place of touring for a lot of young bands, in my opinion. You’re just being able to go out there and market yourself and push yourself online, and then tour regionally and build it that way, which is super important. It’s funny because every day is different. You used to have to learn to do six or seven social networks, and now, we’re back down to two or three, and who knows what’s going to be next? It’s an exciting time for us because we’re putting this new record out, we’re re-releasing our first three albums, which haven’t been available for years and years. And we just released a Christmas album this past year that we had been kind of sitting on, so the cool thing is, once you’re free of the label only allowing you to do certain things, the audience gets more content, and I think that’s pretty important with as much access as the audience has these days.

MR: In your case, your years of hard work have paid off, and now you find yourself in the same boat as a lot of other artists, the difference being that you guys have already had seventeen years to mold your career. When it comes to your act, isn’t just a little scary not having the major label to take care of things?

JR: Definitely not. We’ve been self-sufficient forever. We weren’t a band that got money from the label to tour–we’ve always been self-sufficient on the road–and we do our own artwork and things like that, so we didn’t depend on the label for that. Obviously, to not have their money to go make a video and things like that is where it hurts a little bit more–to actually have to figure out how you’re going to get a video made–but that is, again, where technology comes in. You just have to get out there and figure out what those resources are going to be. We just made the “S-S-S-Saturday” video, and we’re actually asking fans to submit footage of themselves, and be part of the video–you just have to get creative. I’m definitely not scared because, like I said before, I do not ever deny or run from how absolutely blessed we are, and how amazing and loyal our fan base is, but it’s crazy. I know that as long as we keep putting out great songs and playing great shows, they are going to support us. So, I don’t sit around and worry about that stuff, I just try to stay up on everything, remain as creative as I can be and challenge myself to do things better.

MR: Is there anything we should be looking for, I mean as far as new projects that you are a part of?

JR: There is tons of stuff happening–it’s just crazy. When I start to list it, it makes me a little anxious. I have a new band called People On Vacation, which is a side thing. Obviously, Bowling For Soup remains my number one thing, but you can check it out at wearepeopleonvacation.com. That group is me and another guy from Dallas named Ryan Hamilton, who is in an indie band called Smile Smile. Essentially it’s two friends –I’m in a funny, joke band, he’s in the saddest, most indie band in town–and we got together to see what would happen. When you merge the two styles, it’s just great. I was just in L.A. with Erik, who is working on his first solo album, so we’re excited about that. You can check his stuff out if you go to Facebook/Erik Chandler, and click on his fan page. Like I said, we’ve got the re-releases of all the Bowling For Soup stuff, we’re touring constantly–the US tour starts in May–and if you’re not listening to my pod cast, you should, it’s on iTunes or Podbean, so check that out as well.

MR: You found some extra hours in the day to do all this?

JR: That’s not even all of it! I was limiting it because I didn’t want to be overwhelming for the readers. The last thing that I want is to give everybody else an anxiety attack just because I’m having one. I’m also making videos for up-and-coming bands now. We’ve got a company called Built By Ninjas, and we’re making the Bowling For Soup videos. I’ve got another little project with Linus Of Hollywood called, Jarinus. It’s one of those things–it’s so much fun to be free, and just do whatever you want.

MR: It has really been a pleasure, Jaret. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.

JR: Oh, thank you very much for having me, and for all those reading, I hope to see you on the road really soon.

Transcribed by Ryan Gaffney