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Track X Track with Meltdown, Episode 1: "Leave a Whisper" with Shinedown's Brent Smith
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00:00On this episode of Track by Track, Brent Smith of Shinedown discusses every song on their debut
00:05album, Leave a Whisper. That record celebrates its 20th anniversary on May 27th, 2023. Brent
00:13talks about the way they recorded the songs, the writing process, and much more. Why did they cover
00:18Leonard Skinner's Simple Man? He answers that question and talks about the connection they have
00:23with the legendary Southern rock band. He speaks to the input, original members Jason Todd on
00:28guitars, Brad Stewart on bass, and Barry Kirch on drums had in the making and crafting of this
00:34album. It's Shinedown's Leave a Whisper on Track by Track, starting now. This is Track by Track,
00:41a deeper look at some of rock's biggest albums from the artists who wrote them. Track by Track.
00:46And now, with today's album, here's your host, Meltdown. Well, Brian, thanks so much for joining
00:52us here today. The show is called Track by Track. We're going to go track by track over some of the
00:57biggest records from some of the bands, and we're going to take you back to 20 years. It was May 27th
01:02of 2003 when Leave a Whisper dropped, and I'll never forget seeing you guys for the first time
01:08here in Detroit with Brad and Jason. But first, before we do that, go back and tell everybody,
01:15this record didn't just come together willy-nilly, did it? It took a while, didn't it?
01:19It took a lifetime. I remember my good friend Brad Arnold from Three Doors Down, because he was a huge
01:28part of the beginning of the touring of this band going back 20 years ago. Three Doors Down was the
01:35first band that really took us on a proper tour where we were out for like months at a time. And
01:40he said, you're going to get your whole life to do your first record, and you're going to get six
01:44months to do your next one. And he was 100% right. It was a life's journey at that point in time.
01:53You know, I'm 20-something years old. I think I was 23, 24 years old when the record came out.
02:00Now, you were in a band called Dreave, right? In the 90s. And then the record company,
02:06they liked you, but they weren't crazy about the band. Is that how, am I reading that right?
02:10Well, what it was, was that they were trying to figure out if they're, they were trying to figure
02:17out, if I'm being honest, if we were capable of writing songs. Like what, and we demoed for 10
02:27months. And, you know, sometimes when you're in a band, it is one of those elements where I think of
02:33a band like Rage Against the Machine. Those guys get into a room, and from the day they probably met each
02:38other, it just was something where when they got in the room, it was just crazy energy. And that's
02:43how a lot of the songs were created. And then you have some bands where some members of the band will
02:48go, and they're meticulous about the songwriting, and they scrutinize over everything. And it's really
02:53about the melody, the lyric, and there's a lot of time put into that. And then you go to the band and
02:58the other components and build the songs around that. A good example of that would be Lennon and
03:03McCartney from the Beatles. Never heard of them, but I'll take your word for it. Okay. Right,
03:07right, right. You know, some dudes from Birmingham. But for what was happening with us,
03:14we were signed. This is the first band on Atlantic, signed out of Knoxville, Tennessee,
03:20signed by Steve Robertson with Atlantic Records, which by the way, 21 years later is still the A&R for
03:27the band, which is an anomaly and still on Atlantic Records, which is an anomaly. But it was all about
03:35artist development. And a lot of that had to do. I mean, ultimately, Craig Kalman from Atlantic had a
03:42huge part in this. And so did Steve-O. And so did Bill McGathey, the manager of the band. But yes,
03:50in answer to the question, the reality was the band got signed to demo. And then 10 months of demoing
03:58just was not there. But about two months before the band was dropped, Steve-O sent me to Los Angeles
04:06for the very first time. It was the first time I'd ever been on a plane, all of that. And he sent me
04:11out there to work with these two really, at the time, and still are, very prolific songwriters,
04:16Tommy Sims, and a gentleman by the name of John Shanks. These guys are, I mean, as far as songwriters
04:23are concerned, there's a lot of songs that people know that these guys have written. Anyhow, getting
04:27me in the room, because what they were trying to figure out is, if we put him in a room with
04:32songwriters, will he contribute? Is there a mechanism there that we're not seeing with this
04:40band that he's in? And so that's exactly what they did. And I went out there, I wrote, I think it was
04:46six songs between the two of those gentlemen. And then he had me go and work with Desmond Child,
04:52which was a pretty wild experience. And then I wrote with a couple other people, and then I came back.
04:58And then they were assessing these demos with these other writers. And the band was dropped. And then
05:06two weeks later, I remember I was making a decision whether I was going to go to New York or Los
05:12Angeles. And this was during the holidays when we got dropped. And two weeks after we were dropped,
05:19Steve called me back. He called me and he said, I want to re-sign you. And I go, well, he goes,
05:25I want to sign you. And I said, I'm confused. You just dropped us. He's like, well,
05:31I want to sign you. And so I had no idea what an artist development deal was. And this was
05:37something that was created by Ahmed Erdogan, which was the founder of Atlantic Records, God rest his
05:42soul. But Ahmed was all about the development of the artist. And he was always about, don't put a
05:50clock on an artist. Like, let them have time to evolve. Let's help them hone in their craft.
05:58Um, but long story short, I re-signed and it took me on a three-year journey and then
06:06Leave a Whisper was released. Yeah. Three years. I mean, that is this, this short of it, uh, for sure.
06:13So, so you, uh, if I'm not mistaken, it was you, Brad and Jason, uh, Brad Stewart and, uh, and Jason
06:19Ty went out on tour. Now tell everybody what this tour was called where he went from radio station to radio
06:24radio station. So it was a promotion tour. Um, and what we were doing was the record was done
06:32and the first single fly from the inside, which by the way, you were one of the very first people
06:39in North America to play fly from the inside. I believe, I believe if I'm not mistaken, I think
06:48you were either the, I know the station was one of the first top five stations in America to play
06:55the first single. So thank you for that. Um, but so instead of like the song was starting to percolate
07:03on radio and the label said, we want you guys to go out and you're going to fly to different places.
07:11But ultimately the flight, the flights were going to cost too much money. So they said, you're going
07:17to drive everywhere. So me and Jason and Brad got in a Buick, a Brown, um, I'm not even joking.
07:25And you were there. Um, we got in this Brown Buick and we just hit the road. And when I say we went to
07:36every single radio station in North America, I'm not joking. Aside from Alaska and Hawaii,
07:45we went to every single state in North America, multiple radio stations. Cause also too, in 2000,
07:532000, early 2003, uh, I think in North America, there was close to, I think it was roughly almost
08:05300 rock stations at that time. I think there's 90 now. Um, and some of them are, are, uh, they're
08:16a combination of alternative and active, and then there's mainstream and then there's pure active
08:20rock. Um, and then there's mainstream rocks. But at that time, rock radio, like modern rock
08:27radio, there was about 300 stations. We hit every single one of them. We would just go
08:32into radio stations and introduce ourselves. And we would play live in the station and we
08:36would do all these different, you know, acoustic lounges and what have you. And then we would
08:40go out that night and hang out with everybody. And you're young, you know, you're 23, 24 years
08:45old. So the recovery was a little easier the next morning. Um, but it was, I mean,
08:51we were hustling it. We were out there doing it for real, man. It was called the shit Brown
08:57Buick tour. It was, it was, well, you mentioned fly from the inside. That was the first song
09:04I ever played. That was the first song I heard from you guys. That's how leave a whisper opens
09:07up. Uh, what are your recollections about writing that song?
09:12I remember that Bob Marlette, who was the producer on that song. Um, I remember that
09:21the day I went in to do the vocals for it, um, we had kind of the lyrics and the melody
09:30was kind of flushed out, but he had gotten the band to put the song together the way we
09:38all heard it. I was still working on the lyrics at the time, because what we did is we had
09:43the group of songs that we were going to record. We did a, uh, we did two weeks of pre-production
09:48with Bob too, before he even put us in the studio, which was very smart. And he was amazing.
09:53He was great with, with debut bands. He was great with like beginning bands. He knew how
09:58to be patient and really work through, uh, what was going on because there's so many things
10:04going on when you're brand new and it's exciting and everything. So honing that in, he was great
10:08at that. Um, and so by the time we got to the vocal sessions and we had all the music
10:16beds done, cause he did want to do that. He was like, let's get all the music first and
10:20then I'm going to do Brent in the end. Um, and I think Jason had a couple of, uh, guitar
10:27parts. Jason stayed a little bit longer, um, out in LA, um, while I was doing vocals,
10:34but fly from the inside was the first song we did first vocal song, uh, first vocal song that
10:40we did. And I remember the first day, the beginning of the song where the riff comes in
10:47and it's, here's the weight of the world on my shoulders. Here's the weight of the world
10:50on my shoulders, the yell, you know, where it's like on my show, that part, the first
10:57day was all just that was trying to, because we didn't know that that's what it was going
11:04to be. Like, so we were trying out all these different variations. We had the part where
11:09it was, here's the weight of the world on my shoulders twice. And then he was like, and
11:14then we got to have something huge coming into this. So it was like a combination of
11:21me trying out just all different kinds of things and like singing and yelling and screaming
11:26and doing all these different variations and what have you. And because I wasn't necessarily
11:30trained at the time and what have you, um, I blew my voice out, you know, just on that
11:36one thing. So I had to wait like another, like four days for my voice to come back. Once
11:43again, I was young, you know, I didn't have any training or anything like that. You know,
11:47obviously I know how to do it way better now. Um, but at the time you're young, you're
11:53impressionable, you're excited. But I, that's what I remember the most was getting that,
11:58that scream, that yell. And that first day we just kept doing it over and over and over.
12:03And it was never the same take. It was always like a different take until we landed on something.
12:08And then it goes into, uh, left out, which you wrote with, uh, Brad and Jason, as far
12:13as the writing credits on this record, I think that's the first one you guys kind of wrote
12:16together. Uh, what do you remember about that song?
12:19That was something that we just, um, we worked it out with a producer songwriting, uh, partner
12:26of the band who was a huge part of, of the DNA of, of this band, which is a gentleman by
12:32the name of Tony Battaglia. And he helped you guys out a lot with this record. Yeah.
12:37Massive, massive, um, uh, uh, that three year journey, a lot of, I would say a good year
12:45and a half of that three year journey was working with Tony and then the band working
12:49with Tony. And, uh, as far as the song, he was by far on Leave a Whisper. Tony Battaglia
12:56was the essential songwriting teacher to all of us on, on that album. He was extraordinary.
13:04Very, very lucky to have found him. Um, but left out with something that we were just kicking
13:11around and we would work on it. And, you know, it had a good groove to it and Tony did a demo
13:15on it and what have you. And, and I just remember Bob being like, this, this, this will be a,
13:23he goes, it's not a, he said, it's not a single, but it's a great, and it's not necessarily even,
13:29he goes, I don't want to disrespect it and call it an album track, but it's going to be a great
13:34song for you live. It's going to be like a big energy live. And he wasn't wrong. Um, and we just,
13:41but he was like, but it's got to sound a certain way on the record. And, um, and it was way more
13:46raw when we would do it live. Um, but I love the recorded version of it. I mean, that's why it's on
13:52the album, but that's what I remember the most about left out was we were always, we were always,
13:56um, structuring that song with the intent that this is going to be a big crowd song. This is going to
14:02be a song where it's really going to lift the momentum of the show when it comes in. And for a
14:08long time, man, it was the jump song. It was, it was the song that got everybody like bouncing.
14:14And then we go into the third track, a lost in the crowd, which is like, uh, it's, it's a little bit
14:18slower, but you also bring in a, uh, Rick Beato, which is super interesting because for people that
14:23don't know him, that guy, he's unbelievable, isn't he? He's extraordinary. A lot with his, I say
14:29extraordinary, amazing, uh, profound on that first record, man. When I think about it, we had a lot of
14:36just incredible people that worked on that album, but yeah, Rick Beato wrote the song with him. He has
14:41the production on the song and, um, if people don't know this about Rick Beato, he's, uh, now he is
14:48considered an influencer and really a YouTuber, but if you don't know, he's a theorist, theorist,
14:54right? Yeah, absolutely. And he has a, uh, just look him up, Rick Beato on YouTube. I'm, I mean,
15:00you talk about going down a rabbit hole. He's amazing, no doubt, but he actually has a segment
15:06about this song on his YouTube channel because, um, I was living, um, Judy Van Zandt
15:18who, um, was a big part of the band's beginnings as well, uh, in Jacksonville, Florida. I had run
15:25out of money, uh, while I was demoing, demoing in Jacksonville and what have you. And I just,
15:30I didn't have any money at the time. I'd kind of gone through all the record advances and things
15:35of that nature. Um, and she, how she's part of the Leonard Skinner family. She is. Yeah. Yeah.
15:41She was right. She was, uh, Ronnie Van Zandt's widow. Okay. And, um, uh, uh, she also, she
15:47is a huge part of the DNA of this band as well. Um, a massive coming up. Yeah. Yeah. But
15:53I love the crowd. I mean, what a great song that is just, I mean, like I said, build up
15:58in the whole thing. The reason I bring that up is because we're at, I, she housed me rent
16:03free for, for like a year. And so Rick came down to that, that place. And it like, there was no
16:09furniture or anything in this place. It was just, I had a garbage bag of my stuff and a TV on the
16:14floor. And Rick talks about this and he comes in and essentially he just, he drove down there from
16:20Atlanta. He comes in, he's got an acoustic guitar and he goes, let's just mess around. And I said,
16:28sure. He's like, do you got anything? I'm like, not really. I'm like, do you have anything?
16:31And he just starts playing this thing. And just through stream of consciousness,
16:35the song was written in about, I think we wrote the song in close to like an hour and a half and
16:40it was done. Wow. It's one of, it's one of the highlights on the record. One, uh, a song I
16:45thought could have actually been a single personally. It actually was supposed to be a single. We just
16:50kind of ran the, one of the things that happened we'll get to here in a minute was one of the
16:56things that occurred was nobody knew that the simple man. Yeah. That they, no one knew that
17:02the, uh, the moment was going to happen when they kind of changed the course a year into the record
17:08when that happened. And it kind of changed the course of the record.
17:12Well, moving on here, we got, uh, uh, no more love. Uh, also, uh, you know, uh, Bob Marlett,
17:18uh, Jason helped do that. Tony as well. What do you remember about that song?
17:21I just remember the, the interesting thing about that particular song was, uh, Jason had a lot of
17:29influence in that one musically. And, uh, I, what I remember is I, I lived at a comfort inn in
17:40Jacksonville beach for like eight months. And, you know, some people would be like, well, that must
17:45have been awesome. It was kind of a seedy hotel. It was on the beach. So what was cool was,
17:51I was able to, every single morning, I will never take it for granted. I was able to look out
17:55at the Atlantic ocean every morning, which was cool. Um, but he was in the, he was in my hotel
18:02room and this was kind of early when I met him. And it was one of the first things that me and
18:07Jason ever wrote together. And we wrote it in that, that hotel room. And, um, I just remember
18:13one thing was this drone that he had. And it was the very first time that I had seen a baritone
18:21guitar. He had like this little amp that he brought and he brought an acoustic with him,
18:25but he brought this guitar in with him. And, you know, some people at that time to seven
18:30strings were a big deal. Down tuning, like corn biscuit, all that kind of stuff. Like
18:35it was really down soon. He brought in a, a baritone guitar, something that I had not
18:41really ever seen before. And I remember we're kind of playing on the acoustic and he's kind
18:46of showing me this riff. And I said, play it on that guitar and on the baritone. And
18:53when he played it on the baritone, it kind of changed the tonality of what the song was.
18:58And it gave it this really dark impeding kind of feeling that I hadn't heard before. And,
19:04uh, yeah, that's what I remember the most about it was just the sound of that baritone
19:08guitar, which gives it the sound that it has on the record.
19:11Yeah. And this, this song really, I mean, a lot of these songs show off your vocal prowess,
19:16but I thought this one really did.
19:18Yeah. There's like three characters in that song. There's like three versions of me
19:22in that song. So it was, uh, it was fun to write, man. That was, I remember also too,
19:29in the studio, that was super fun to, I had kind of my, my footing at that point with that song
19:35with Marlette and we were kind of rolling. So like, I remember going in and doing No More Love
19:40and we, we had a blast doing the vocals on that.
19:43Yeah. Did that take a lot of takes too?
19:46Not really.
19:47No.
19:47Not, not really. Yeah. Bob was never, Bob was never about like over,
19:52like one of the reasons why Leave a Whisper is the debut album. It sounds so full and it sounds
19:58so rich and has that analog, like that warmth, but it also has that high end. This was right
20:06when this is essentially when the record was mixed, it was probably the back half of 2002,
20:17but Andy Wallace mixed all of Bob Marlette's songs that he produced on the record. And so
20:25Bob was always really focused on, we had an idea that Andy was going to do the mixes on
20:31it. But Bob was never like, I'm not going to stack, stack you crazy. He said, you know,
20:37we're going to harmonize some stuff. We're going to do some ad-libs here. And the other thing cool
20:41about Bob was everybody was on Pro Tools, everyone. And he was one of the only producers in Los Angeles
20:49that worked on Logic. So it was a totally different program. Yeah.
20:54And I think that honestly, man, those Bob Marlette songs, the reason they have a very original tone
21:02to them and a very unique sound is because he, he recorded it analog drums and bass at Henson
21:08Studio. So all that was to two inch tape. And then he did everything on, on Logic instead of Pro Tools.
21:13I think that's what kind of gave it its character.
21:15Well, another track that he's got a writing credits with, uh, as well as a better version
21:20that you wrote with that says here, uh, uh, Brad Stewart. Now was, was it, was this song?
21:24I don't know. Is this a little bit autobiographical or no?
21:29Yeah, it totally was. I mean, my favorite, my favorite lyric in that song is I am not perfect
21:35and I don't claim to be. And if that's what you wanted, well, then I'm so sorry.
21:40And I always thought that that was kind of tongue in cheek and a bit clever.
21:44That was a difficult song to do. Um, because Bob had a cadence that he wanted me to do on that song,
21:52like in the, in the courses, because I remember being in the, in the studio. And when I first started
21:58to do the chorus, Bob was like, stop, stop, wait a minute. Because what was happening was it sounded
22:04like, it sounded like, um, back in the day, little league, when you were at a baseball game and they'd be
22:10like, Hey, badder, badder, Hey, badder, badder swing. Hey, badder, badder, badder, you know, badder, badder swing.
22:16And better version was like, how about a better version of the way that I am? How about it? And I was like,
22:22it sounded like I was saying, Hey, badder, badder. And he was like, no, no, no. It has to be. How about a better version?
22:29And there was so much enunciation that I had to do. And this is the very first time that he talked to me
22:36about, um, when you're doing vocals, the smile. So what people may not understand, there are certain
22:43vowels, consonants in, in, in the, in the English language, where when you're in a studio and you're
22:48singing certain things with a cadence and a rhyme pattern and what have you, if you don't enunciate
22:53the word very specifically, you can't understand what it is. And that was one of those songs. It's
22:59just where it fell and it's cadence. I had to be really, really on the cadence of the song and the,
23:07the enunciation of the song. So I just remember being in front of that microphone, like how about
23:13a better version? Like I had to really, it took me a while to get it. That was a long vocal process,
23:18but I think the song sounds cool. I think it's an awesome song. Yeah. You don't want to end up on
23:23one of those videos, like misheard lyrics, like you hear all the time. Right. Yeah. Like yellow
23:27lead better from Pearl jam. I still don't know what they're saying on that song. Uh, but then
23:31even the lyrics that are actually there, I don't know what the, I don't have no idea what it actually
23:35means. And I've read them before. I know it's crazy. We go into your next song, a song number
23:40six, a burning bright. This was a song that became a single as well. You guys played this for many
23:44years. Uh, tell me about that one, man, this, this was a really emotional one because, um,
23:53the, something I don't talk about a lot, but everybody knows how much I love my granny and,
24:01you know, my hometown and what have you. So my granny is my mother's mother, but my grandmother,
24:09my father's mother, her name was Jesse. And while I was demoing for what would become
24:17leave a whisper. I was in Jacksonville and, um, like kind of early, you know, early stages
24:27of the demoing process and what have you. I, um, my mother called me and I said, Hey, what's
24:37up? And she goes, I need to tell you something and I need you to, to, she goes, where are you?
24:43I'm like, I'm at the hotel. And she goes, okay, I need you to sit down. And I sat down
24:48and she told me that my grandmother had been killed in a car crash. And it was to say that
24:55it was devastating would be an understatement. It was, um, one of the worst days of my life
25:01and, um, by far one of the worst days of my life. Um, so I flew home and we, you know,
25:11we put my grandmother, um, to rest and I came back and I was really not in a good headspace
25:22when I came back. And it was the first time that I had really experienced in my family.
25:28It was the first time I experienced death to someone that I was so close to. Um, and it
25:36was a huge part in raising me and I wrote burning bright about her.
25:43Wow. The hair on my arms, man, it's unbelievable. A story in memory is next. I was going to ask
25:50you if that's about anyone in particular.
25:53In memory was one of the last songs that, uh, was, was not only written and recorded for
25:59the record. This was also a song with Rick Beato. Um, Rick Beato also has the writing credit
26:05on it as well with me. Um, and you know, I remember that you have to kind of put this
26:12into perspective. We have been, this is towards this three year journey, like the end, like
26:17right before we're in the midst of, we had already recorded everything with Bob Marlette in Los Angeles.
26:25We had been working with Tony for over a year and a half. And now Atlantic brought this man
26:30in this unique, this, this other individual in named Rick Beato, but me and Rick Beato were having
26:35this momentum and he was having momentum with us as a band. So we were continuously working on songs
26:43and the structure of this record. If you break it down, Leave a Whisper has three producers,
26:48ultimately three mixers. Um, and you know, you're working with different songwriters and, and, and
26:55what have you. But I remember that in memory was also a point with me where I was a little,
27:04I was so tired of writing songs. Like I was, I was like kind of over it at that point. I had written
27:09so many songs and been all over the place, but the label was like, we need a couple more because
27:15the last songs that were written for the record were, um, this one in memory and stranger inside.
27:24And so those were the last ones. And I just remember if you listened in memory and you
27:29really listened to stranger inside, which I know we'll get to, but there is an attitude
27:34on those songs that's kind of different than the other songs. And it was just like, I have to will
27:40these songs to be what I need to finally get this record to be released, to have it done,
27:46to have it. Cause we weren't even in the process yet of, you know, taking photos for anything. We
27:52hadn't figured out the album cover. We were in the midst of looking at album covers while that,
27:56while I was doing vote while I was doing vocals for that song. And so I just remember that that one
28:03in particular, I was just, I was on a tear. I just wanted to get it done, but it's, there's also in
28:11that song, one of my favorite lyrics of, uh, one of my favorite lyrics that, that I've ever come up
28:17with, which was, um, some of the ugliest things took the longest time to make. And some of the easiest
28:24habits are the hardest ones to break. Yeah. So I always, I always dug that lyric.
28:30Yeah. And you, you've lived that over the, over the years, right?
28:35You can't, you know, for me, me and you have known each other for two decades and I can't
28:40necessarily pull it out of thin air, man. I have to live through it.
28:42That's right. All I ever wanted comes up next to heavy riffy song. What do you remember about that
28:48track? I remember that that one was, that came in, uh, that was by Brad. Um, he's one of the main
28:56writers on that song. I remember we had a lot of fun, uh, recording that one. And that was also
29:03with Rick Beato. We recorded that in Atlanta at tree, uh, studios. And I just remember that,
29:11that Rick was like kind of the same thing with, uh, Bob where he said, it's not necessarily going
29:17to be a single, but I think that it's, I think that this song, this is Rick talking. He goes,
29:24I think this song will button the record up really well. I think it'll kind of give it,
29:29um, cause we had 10 songs and everybody was pretty cool at that time, but Steve came in
29:35and was like, we need a couple more. We need two more. And, uh, again, uh, this was one of the last
29:43songs that was written for the record. But, uh, what I remember was this was probably one of the
29:48first moments in the studio vocally where I, I recall Rick turning around and looking at me
29:55because at the end of that song, if you listen to it, I just go for it at the, at the end of it.
30:02And I'm singing as hard and as high as I can go. And I just, just giving it everything that I have.
30:07I remember Rick turned around and looked at me and was like, what's wrong with you? You bring in a
30:12shovel to the studio when you do vocals. And I'm like, what do you mean? He's just like,
30:17how are you going to do this live? And, you know, I'm like, I'm like, I'll just figure it out.
30:23You know, I just, you just got to do it. You know what I mean? But I, I remember that that was the
30:27first time that I heard the term, like, did you just bring a shovel every time you come to do vocals?
30:32You're just digging yourself a hole, you know, like it was all that was, that's what I remember from
30:37that, that, and that it was a lighthearted session. Like once we had that song,
30:41it wasn't super stressful. Yeah. And then that goes into a stranger inside, uh, also, uh, uh,
30:48help with Rick there. And that's like, uh, just prolific shine down as far as I'm concerned.
30:54Yeah, but there's a, um, you know, it's interesting. I listened to this record for the first time
31:03front to back and I'm not even joking probably in over a decade. Um, just recently, uh, when I was
31:11coming back from the UK from last year, when, uh, the end of last year, we were, we were doing headline
31:18shows, uh, over in the UK and on the plane ride back, I listened to this record like front to back.
31:24I hadn't done that in forever. Um, and obviously because I, you know, we're finishing out last year.
31:29I knew that this year was the 20 year anniversary. And when it got to that song,
31:34it completely transported me back to Atlanta at once again, at tree studios,
31:42here's the unique thing. This isn't, this is Rick Beato. And I wrote this song with Rick Beato as well.
31:47And, um, um, so they had four different studios in tree. Rick had kind of carte blanche at the time
31:57to any studio that he wanted, but they had brought in this, like, it wasn't a makeshift vocal booth,
32:05but it was like, you walked into this one studio, I think it was studio B and it was like this white box
32:12and, uh, almost kind of looked like a pod. You know what I mean? When people are moving and stuff
32:17like that, it's kind of like what it looks like had a window in it. And it had, I remember the walls
32:23were like two feet thick in it and it was all soundproof. So it, it, and it was constructed a
32:29certain way to make the room like super dead. They would do like drums in there. And when they needed to
32:35isolate stuff like really like that had no decay and they could control the sound. Um, and so I
32:41remember that session, that vocal session walking in and it was probably like, I didn't start that
32:48particular song. I started the vocals at midnight. I remember that. And it went to about 6 a.m.
32:57Cause we did all the vocals and then we comped everything together. And then I did all the
33:02the harmony. Like we did the whole thing in like six hours. Um, and what I recall in the tonality
33:09of my voice in that song specifically had a lot to do with that box. Like Rick called it the hot box.
33:17And, um, so sorry, sorry. He didn't call it the hot box. He called it the hot box because, um,
33:25meaning vocals. Yeah. Right. Um, and so when you walked in, it was, if you were claustrophobic,
33:33it would be a little funky for you because the sound is deadened and then you have your headphones
33:38on and you know, the mix sounded great and everything like that. But like, if you would
33:41take the, the, the headphones off and kind of like breathe in the oxygen was very like non-existent
33:48in there. And so what would happen is anybody that knows me, like, I look like I've jumped in a
33:53swimming pool after the third song when we're playing live. So I put everything into it.
34:00So I start singing this song and he wants me to start kind of, you know, build up to it. So we do
34:08the verses first in the free course, and then we'd go to the course. When we got to the choruses in that
34:13song, I was, I had, I was down to my underwear
34:19and I was drenched and I was in there, but it had so much humidity in that box that it completely
34:29opened everything up and I could just hit any note I went for. And like, there was just a different
34:37kind of, uh, and he, once again, he did it on purpose. That's like a, that's like a vocal trick.
34:42It sounds like. Yeah. Because you're so open and you have so much moisture in the room and it's just,
34:47and I, anytime you're in a humidity area, people talk about like, I'm sweating. This is awful. I hate
34:53it. I love it because everything is open. And, um, for a vocalist anyway, humidity is a big deal. So
35:03that's what I remember about that particular song. And man, I'll tell you this too, that song in
35:08particular, I was one, once again, I was just, I was done writing songs and I was done. Like,
35:17I just wanted to, I needed to change. And I put every amount of frustration and intensity into that
35:24song that I possibly could. And it's still to this day, one of my favorite vocal performances on an
35:30album that we've done. Lacerated is the, uh, next track, the 10th track on the record. Uh,
35:35also working with Tony and, uh, Jason on this one, or I'm sorry, Brad on, uh, this one, but, uh,
35:40tell me about that track. There's a lot of things I can say about this track. Um,
35:47some people might call this what, uh, we say in the music business, uh, filler.
35:53Well, maybe it just buttoned everything up together. I like how you use that line before.
35:57Cause we'll say that it, we'll say that it buttoned up. All right. Um, but a unique thing
36:04about this particular song, I remember being in Henson studios, uh, when Barry was cutting
36:09the drums for it. And I, at this point in time, when we were in Henson studios,
36:16the cool thing about Bob is he's made so many records and worked with so many record labels
36:20and what have you. So he understands the budgets and, you know, some of the rock and roll things that
36:25you want to do when you're making a record, especially your debut album. So he was like
36:30carte blanche on everything. And we were also getting the label to like buy us a bunch of stuff.
36:40But the coolest thing in my personal opinion that I remember that we got on the leave a whisper
36:46sessions when we were in, uh, Henson studios was Craig Rosen, who is a, he is such an important part of
36:57this band from the label side. Um, he's the money man with Warner music, um, Atlanta,
37:05electric, you know, Atlantic electric music, we, uh, what have you. And he, he had to sign off on
37:10everything like financially, like when you would get something or you would ask for something or
37:15this and that, the other, like you could have a wishlist, but it didn't necessarily mean that
37:18you would get it. And you really, really wanted it. You had to call him or that's what, you know,
37:23I didn't know that that's what you had to do. So he gets submitted this stuff. And on the day we
37:29did lacerated, I was like, I want to gong. I want to gong. And I want to set it on fire
37:36when we record it in the room. So he calls me, they, I'm in the studio and Jamie, the assistant
37:46comes in and she was like, Brent, there's a Craig Rosen on the phone. And I said, and they always
37:51said, you know, they had phones in the studio and stuff like that. There's a Craig Rosen on the phone
37:54for you. I'm like, Oh, cool. I get the phone in the studio. I'm like, what's up? And me and him
37:59had had an interaction with each other and what have you. And he goes on records yet.
38:04I know exactly. And dude in, in the record, when you open up the, you know, when you,
38:15if you have the album and you open it up, when it goes through the thank yous, there's a very specific
38:22title next to Craig that to this day, he is known for, to this day, he is known for in the industry.
38:29Jamie's like, there's a Craig Rosen on the phone. I grabbed the phone. I was like, what's up, Craig?
38:34And this is the first thing he says to me. He goes, a gong.
38:40So I go, yes. And he goes, a gong. And by the way, for people that don't know, gongs aren't cheap.
38:49Yeah. And, um, but in the liner notes of the album, when I, when we thank Craig,
38:58it says Craig in parentheses, a gong Rosen.
39:05That's what I remember from Lacerated.
39:06That's funny. All right. We got a few more here and then we got to cut you out here,
39:10but, uh, crying out that's a, that's another song I thought could have been a single.
39:13It was talked about being a single once again, very early on in the vocals with Bob Marlett on
39:20that one. That was one of the first ones we did. Um, I think we did that right after
39:25fly from the inside. I think it was the second one I did, um, a little bit more loosened up a
39:31little bit, had more of a flow, you know, with Bob and what have you. And once again,
39:36just an incredible live song too. I remember Bob saying that, like, he goes, this is another one
39:40where might not be a single could be, but this song is going to serve you well live. And it did
39:47for a number of years. And then the, uh, record are wraps up obviously 45, a huge gigantic kit.
39:54There's also, uh, you know, you got the bonus track on here as well. It's funny. It's so ironic.
39:58I walked in the station today and the acoustic version of 45 is playing on the radio station.
40:03Like seriously, it's just kind of weird how it works, you know?
40:06No, man, that's the universe. That's right. So 45, I mean, a huge hit. Talk about that one.
40:14We'd be here and we'll be here another hour to talk about. I got you.
40:18I'll try to, I'll convince it. That is such an emotional song for me.
40:29Yeah. It really, really is. It was, uh, to everybody out there,
40:35it was the very first song that I wrote with, uh, Tony Battaglia when I first met him.
40:44And this song of the 20 years that we've been a band and I look forward to the next 20 and the next 20,
40:53and however long we can go knock on wood. Um, but I remember that song is where we talk about
41:02in shinedown when we're making an album, we call it staring down the beast.
41:09And when you're staring down the beast, what the beast is, is the blank sheet of paper.
41:14What the beast is, is the blank session on a pro tools rig. It's what are you going to create?
41:24What do you have to say? And I remember Tony being like, if this was your last,
41:28if this was your last day on earth, you know, what would you say? What would you express?
41:35What, what would be your mark? And you gotta remember something. This is in the beginning.
41:42And, uh, we wrote 45 and literally, I'm not even kidding. We wrote it in about 30 minutes
41:51because all, I just remember him playing that part, that intro is a very Jason or Tony.
41:58Well, when we were, when we were working it out, I wrote the song with, with Tony.
42:02Okay. So it was me and him working it out first. Jason played on the record, obviously.
42:07Right. Um, and played it on the record. Um, but I remember Tony putting the part,
42:14presenting me the part and it's such an iconic guitar part now. Um, and it was like,
42:23it was like a flash. It was like a flood of inspiration, almost to the point of where like
42:29the song literally, like, as soon as the, as soon as the pattern hit me,
42:34all the lyrics came at once into my mind. And I just remember, I just was writing ferociously,
42:40like just as fast as I could go. And because it was happening in stream of consciousness,
42:46like I wasn't like 90% of what you hear on that song. I wrote it all out within the first like 10 minutes
42:53and didn't have necessarily what the chorus was going to be or, or, or what, how it was going to,
42:59what the melody was going to be, but I was writing the words and then we were kind of honing it in.
43:05But that was, uh, that was our introduction really, I think, uh, to the world.
43:10Yeah. And I love how at the end of it, you're like kind of exasperated.
43:13Oh, so that whole, that whole vocal session was in Tony's home studio. Um,
43:23I'll tell you something else about 45 that I remember because we've not talked about a very,
43:27very influential and important person to which none of this would be happening right now if he,
43:33uh, if, if we hadn't found each other. And that is, uh, the illustrious Mr. Barry Kirch.
43:40Hmm. And Barry Kirch, his ultimate, like he was the seventh drummer that we auditioned.
43:51That's right. Yeah. And the 45 that you hear on the record, the drums that you hear on the record
43:59on leave a whisper, that's his demo drums when he was auditioning for the band.
44:06No kidding. Those, those are, those are, those are those drums. And so, um, you know, the,
44:14the dynamic of what that, that song represents and, and, and what it's about and kind of like
44:22the folklore of the band and what have you, uh, it's why we call it the gift. And now,
44:28and from that point on every record we would do, we would always fingers crossed,
44:32like, just give us one gift, just one gift. And we've been very, very fortunate knock on wood
44:38that we've had a gift on every album and people don't know a gift. This is a song that kind of
44:44comes out of nowhere, out of, out of the blue, if you will. And it just kind of lands in your lap
44:49and it, it almost writes itself. Uh, I mean, what a great song. I mean, just, you know,
44:56you know, what, what more can we said about that song? And finally, let's wrap things up here.
44:59You talked about, uh, the Van Zandts earlier, uh, simple, man, you guys cover this song,
45:04obviously an iconic song. Uh, some people, some people think it's better than the original,
45:08you know, whatever the case is, but it's like, uh, uh, first of all, tell everybody,
45:11we got about five minutes left. Tell everybody about like how you guys figured out to do that
45:16song and, and, and the, and the connection between Leonard Skinner and shinedown.
45:21I'm going to say this in the, the only way that I know how to,
45:25what we look at in regards to shinedown and the song simple man is that it was an,
45:33I don't want to call that. I don't want to say that it was an accident,
45:36but it wasn't planned. What happened? Like again, Judy Van Zandt housed me for people that don't know
45:43Jason Todd, who was on the first two records, he was married to Melody Van Zandt, which was Ronnie
45:49Van Zandt's daughter. And so the reality is that the lineage between Skinner and shinedown is very
45:57real. And, um, we are very much family. And so when Judy housed me for like a year straight,
46:07I told her, I was like, I have no idea how I'm going to pay you back. I mean, but I promise you
46:11one day I'll pay you back. And I remember the very first time the band played live was at Freebird
46:17Live, which was the club that Judy and Melody owned in Jacksonville. And what I had done is
46:21I had worked up simple man that night and, uh, and I dedicated it to her and I sang it to her.
46:27And that was kind of my thank you in a way. And we were on the road with, uh, three doors down
46:34at the time when we played that show, we had a one-off, we did it, we went back to tour.
46:37And so, uh, we were in Boston and we had gone in for the very, very first time at a radio station
46:49there with, uh, called WAAF and with a very, very, you know, legendary DJ, Mistress Carrie.
46:57Long story short, we were, we got in there and for whatever reason, she was having bands that were
47:01coming in that day and what have you do like cover songs and what have you. And we had a cover of
47:05something else that we kind of tried to work up and it was just a train wreck. And, um,
47:12it was just a train wreck. And so Brad looked over at me and was like, do, do simple, man. I'm like,
47:17absolutely not. I like, I can't, because here's the thing. I didn't know if I would have remembered
47:22all the words and, and what have you. I like studied it the night before to give it to Judy,
47:27but they somehow got me to do it. And I was terrified, but I did it and they recorded it. And this is in the
47:35days of MP3s, the very early days of streaming, if you will, and downloading music. Fast forward six
47:42weeks later, we come back to Boston and play our own show. And Mistress Carrie comes in to us and
47:48she goes, I'm going to show you a number. When you all left, our phones went ballistic over what you
47:56all did with that song. So, well, we recorded it. There's this thing called MP3s now that we can do,
48:02and we recorded it and put it on our website. And in six weeks, they had the, it had been downloaded
48:08over a half a million times. And so they were, they showed me this. And so we went down to Florida,
48:16we cut it in Sanford, Florida, AAF, you know, for, for 20 years, man, they, even though we had a
48:23version that we went there recording, then we re-released the record, but they just played the
48:28one from that day. But long story short at the time, and it became a single. And at the time,
48:36Judy Van Zandt owned 51% of the Lynyrd Skynyrd publishing. And I remember I looked at her and I
48:42said, I told you I'd pay you back. And that's, you did. And that's how we're going to wrap this up.
48:49Brent, really just a pleasure to have, you know, known you all these years and thank you so much for
48:54doing this going on track by track with a Leave a Whisperer record, sold 1.5 million copies and
48:59really just kicked off an illustrious career that's continuing going and continues to get stronger,
49:04it seems like. Yeah. And a lot of that is because of you, sir. And I will always say this about
49:10terrestrial radio. You know, I know we live in a world right now where the consumption of music
49:15is at our fingertips and what have you, but nothing, especially when you talk about Leave a
49:21Whisperer and that timeframe and what not only stations like the Rift and people like yourself
49:27that have been with us again, it's an anomaly for 20 years. And I, I look forward to the next 20 and
49:32so on, but I got to give a lot of credit to terrestrial radio specifically with this album,
49:38Leave a Whisperer, because you guys and girls were one of them. I mean, you were the reason that
49:43you played the music and you presented it to your audiences and we wouldn't be who we are today
49:48without you. Well, I appreciate that, my friend. And thank you again so much for this. We'll see
49:54you August. I'm sorry, April 3rd. Yeah. On that tour. But Brent, thank you so much for your time.
50:00I love you, my man. I'll see you later.
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