Shinedown's Brent Smith On "Planet Zero," Upcoming U.S. Touring, Hobbies Outside Of Music & More

Shinedown's Brent Smith On

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[Music] about true cash now  with their Bell draw bits   get ready to listen to your favorite art artists [Music] hey Brent can you hear me hi Darren hey  how's your day going aside from having to do media   I'm so so excited to be here with you man I'm  very I'm pumped likewise thank you for taking   the time and Planet zero is the latest record  and it's admirably produced by your bass player   now he's got a great Studio setup but it  did it take convincing to go hey Eric's   going to produce the record or did you know  outright hey we want to do with Eric at the elm   it had been building up over time um throughout  uh the trajectory of the band and the music   that we were releasing Eric was stepping up  to the Forefront not only as a songwriter   but also he started to do Productions and  we started working with him in his studio   um in South Carolina which is actually where  I am right now I just got here last night   um but so he had done the production  on diamond eyes and that was kind of   the first uh Visual and as far as the audio was  concerned for myself watching what he could do   um and then we moved into his  next production was cut the cord   um threat to survival so moving into the album  attention attention um and we'll get to planet   zero But ultimately his first full-length  record was attention attention and we just went   through him and said you're you're ready for the  captain chair you're ready to to be at the helm   um the interesting thing about attention  attention was um because it was his first   record full-length record um as the producer  the engineer and the mixer alongside Doug McKean   um that was such a joy that entire record was such  an amazing experience for everybody involved and   when it comes to Planet zero if it ain't broke  don't fix it you know what I mean and he just   um and there's a difference  with Eric because Eric is   he's mixing he's recording he's taking a step  back as the producer and really understands   how to work with bands it just so happens that  he happens to be in the band but not everybody   can do that like it's not something that you  learn overnight how to work with different egos   um how to work with different styles but we're all  there for the greater good of the project and of   all the producers that I've worked with he is by  far my favorite you've worked some heavy hitter   producer scenarios you know Rick piedo which fiato  et cetera et cetera so that's a lot coming up   yeah Desmond child uh a lot well you never know  what the bass player at the helm if you're going   to get an overbased album or you're gonna get  like 51.50 by Van Halen or you know uh metallic   album where there's no base so congratulations on  having the correct amount of bass on this record   you know what's interesting about that  particularly for Planet zero he really   when it came to the base the great thing about  him as a bass player too is he's probably a bass   player last like he loves playing bass on stage  and things like that but he's multi-faceted   um the guy has Perfect Pitch A lot of that has  to do with a mother that was a vocal instructor   and a piano teacher growing up but on top of that  too is he plays multiple instruments right and he   also has he has an insane insane singing voice and  um he's just very eclectic his palate is very vast   um so yeah I mean you know working with him  and learning from him on a on a daily basis   when it comes to the bass guitar for this  record he actually purposely he said it more   in the frequency of the guitars so like when  he was doing the bass like he put a lot of   distortion on stuff or he would kind of carve  certain things out in the mid-range if you listen   to the record it has way more of an attack um  as far as just sonically everything on planet   zero is like pushed to the front there's not  a lot of vocal effects on a lot of the songs   um there's not a ton of layering uh with the  guitar work and things of that nature it's very   raw and the other thing they did with Barry  and Zach on the record was he made everybody   play through the songs right I saw in the press  release No Loops you guys actually did it the   old school way over those 18 weeks yeah and I  mean we're using you know some sophisticated   um equipment in regards to synthesizers and  certain techniques that we're doing and and what   have you but a lot of the loops that you hear were  created in the studio like with grabbing you know   just different in Adam inanimate objects or what  have you like he was really customizing everything   where you weren't going into a plug-in uh Plug-In  or a program and just picking stuff out of there   he really wanted it to have a very organic feel  and the way he looked at it was if we create it   then it doesn't exist somewhere else it's actually  ours well said well this is this is a compliment   there's no backhanded part as a warning coming  to this bring it on okay shinedown's an arena   band not many bands get to be in Arena band in  this upcoming tour is some very big halls and   at this point in your career theoretically if  you were doing the 15 song set all 15 of those   songs could potentially be songs that were on the  radio or that charted in some form so Planet zero   is a new record when the people come to see you  on these upcoming dates around how many suns or   Planet zero are they going to get right now they  will roughly get they should get probably four um right around four here's the thing um I  am never going to get used to the fact that   in in present company right now at this point  in time we are the band in the United States   on the billboard mainstream rock chart um that  holds the most number ones on that chart and   in the 39-year history of the chart  um one of the things that's really fun   about that is this next tour that we're getting  ready to do with our friends in Three Days Grace   We're the two bands that hold the most number  ones on the chart as well and we were like we   were ever gonna do it you know where we're gonna  do it let's do it now together so we can go out   there it's a night of number ones but when you  are putting a set list together you have to pull   from every record and you have to do your best  to make sure that the audience is going to get   everything that they wanted to the best of your  ability our set right now is about 20 songs   um it's a two-hour show um and we try to pull from  every record but there's going to be moments where   you're not able to do that all the time we have  19 songs on rock radio and we're getting ready   to release um our our single who were crossing  into other formats we're getting ready to release   a song called a symptom of Being Human to Top  40 and hot AC radio that will be our 30-second   single as a band 32 singles and so that doesn't  include the Smith and Myers sideband stuff that's   charged as well okay so another compliment  on that compliment are you okay with that   I I'm humbled So yeah thank you okay but I gotta  make I gotta make a really big you know a point   to this that's because of the fan base that's  because of the relationship going back 20 years   with terrestrial radio you know obviously we're  in modern day 2023 the exposure for music and the   consumption of music I mean it's so I mean it's  instantaneous I think it's something like 400   000 new songs a week a hundred thousand you know  100 to 120 000 songs in some in some circles a   day that are released uh that's mind-boggling um  but the thing is is we are constantly evolving   and we've always looked at age as just a  number and our fan base has always allowed   us to evolve and to grow we try to not make the  same record over and over again we do our best   to not write the same song Twice sure is this uh  the seventh album that you've done on Atlantic   yes okay how many bands stick around at the same  label for seven albums so that's a rarity unto   itself did you know outright when you're making  this record that it was going to be for Atlantic   yeah 100 um here's the thing about the  relationship between Shinedown and Atlantic   Records um it's very in a way it's it's quite  Shakespearean um that's the only way I know how   to how to say it you know there's definitely  a romance there and a friendship and they are   family it is not the norm in modern day for  an artist of any genre of music uh to be on   their record label for two decades plus and  still continuing to release records together   um so a lot of that I give credit to Craig Cowman  and Julie Greenwald at Atlantic Records because   they've been there from day one and I give a lot  of credit to Steve Robertson who has been the anr   for Shinedown from from day one and you know  the interesting thing is on this record we're   working with the lecture records promotion staff  on this album so it's in it's crazy to actually   be working with two labels at the same time but  at the end of the day it's all under Warner Music   Group which is WIA which stands for Warner Electro  Atlantic so right those companies work together   and it really is a foundation but I tell people  this there was always an understanding from the   get-go and I got to say something else too having  the same management for the last two decades as   well Bill mcgathey's been the manager from day  one and in the good entertainment um but the   reality of that is people need to understand that  it's called the music business for a reason and   in this industry it's very uh challenging it's  very competitive but you have to stick to your   guns and the one thing that Atlantic has always  allowed us to do as a bandage they've never put   a clock on us in the studio and they've they've  always said to us you turn it in when you're ready   and um they trust us that when we do come in  with it that it is ready but even in the past   you know if it's not been a hundred percent where  they needed its beer they felt like we needed to   continue writing or not all the way there 90 of  the time when they would have us go back in it   was it was the right call so there's a there's  a very real artistic relationship together but   there's also a very real respect that yo it's  still a business right I think the only other   band that I can think of besides Shinedown that  had that long relationship with the same label   and same management company ZZ Top otherwise  everyone's familiar uh I think I think things   easy top 40 years with the same manager and wow  40 years on RCA or something like that that's rad   though man I love hearing stuff like that right so  kudos to you on the loyalty and all that involved   so what is life like for you outside of music  when I asked that I said that shinedown's one   of those about the music kind of bands like  we don't know if you own a racing car team   or anything like that we don't know anything  about Brent besides yup he gets up there he   plays he has hit songs he tours he goes home is  that by design that you're kind of mysterious um I don't know if it's by Design it's just who I  am um I often will tell people that will say to me   do you know you're a rock star and I go I  don't necessarily know how to answer that   question because if I am a rock star  or what I would consider a performer   I am from my set time so oh the other 20 hours  out of the day what you see right now is exactly   who I am and I spend a lot of time now as much as  I can with my son who just turned 15 in December   of last year and he's got a lot of you know a lot  of things are going on in his life right now and I   need to be there with him but he also understands  that I have to be gone also that's why I'm very   thankful that we have technology like FaceTime  because he's Generation Z and they don't want to   text and they don't want to talk on the phone they  want to FaceTime which I absolutely love they like   to look at each other um and but I appreciate that  for me you know it I look at the Rockstar element   as the set time for when I'm performing as soon  as I walk on stage there is a switch that goes   off because I'm there to perform and then when  I walk off the stage I come back to reality   um I think that that's one of the reasons why  mentally I've been able to do this at the level   that I'm doing it at not to mention the people  around me I always express this to people you have   to you have to surround yourself with the hardest  the people in your life with the hardest workers   in the room and you need to lead from the front um  and that's what I just try to do I'm so immersed   in my family which really and truly is my son um  but my livelihood is this band and has been from   from day one this isn't a hobby this is my this  is my life you know and I'm also responsible for   a lot of other people's lives yeah because we  have a we have a crew now and that's something   that I make very very poignant to everybody  your crew if you are a live musician they are   your anchor they are what keeps you grounded  and and allows you to be able to do what it   is you do I can't stress the fact that you know  we are in a place now and our career as a band   where we have a staff of about 80 people on the  road and we're responsible not only for them and   there's a lot of lifers with us too people  that have been there for over 10 years plus   um and we're responsible for their families  as well and their livelihood so it's a big   responsibility right the stupid direction that  I was going to take that one is so there's not   a diamond Dave equivalent of Brent where you go  there's three personas there's the guy on stage   there's a normal Family Guy and then there's  the backstage guy you don't have that third one   no and I kind of the guy on stage is is still me  yeah you know um the thing that I've always looked   at like people will ask me like what are your  hobbies what do you like to do and you know what   how do you decompress here's the thing about me I  lived in California from 2010 to 2016 because I do   a lot of work out there and so I got a house  it's a beautiful house but I was never in it   I was always on the road so I sold that house I  haven't owned a home since 2016. I live in hotels   I I go rental car to rental car but I'm constantly  moving because I'm off I'm constantly networking   for Shinedown there's always another step there's  always another country to go to another city to be   explored um we're always up we the rule of thumb  is at least for me is I'm always five years ahead   so I'm trying to make sure that we're laying out  the groundwork ahead of time because communication   is key in this industry also there's a lot of  moving parts and for me I don't do very well with   downtime but as I've gotten older the place that  I am the most at home if I'm not on the road is   with my son okay well down to two quick questions  and I'm Gonna Let You Go and the first one is I   said the words Diamond Dave and you worked with  Bob Marlette who did an album for David Lee Roth   did you ever I love it Bob for David Lee Roth  stories I never pumped Bob for for David Lee Ross   stories it's so interesting how the universe  is real here recently I've been seeing Bob's   name pop up and uh that guy I'm just gonna say it  right now that dude is Bob Marlette as a producer   songwriter engineer massively underrated yes um  like massively underrated um he I mean for for   me you know I remember him geeking out when I met  him um back in 2002 when we were for when we were   basically um recording our debut record which  is even crazier this year because on May 27th   it's the 20-year anniversary of our debut album  legal whisper this year and I just remember him uh   I remember him geeking out that he  got to work with Tony Iommi yes and   um he also has some really interesting stories he  played um if I'm not mistaken and because we have   Google I'm I'm sure we can fact check this but  I'm trying to remember from memory if I'm not   mistaken he played piano or synthesizer on fast  car from Tracy Chapman that is correct that was   his first big session and one of those credits  you go what okay I agree like amazing if you look   up Bob Marlette to your viewers and your listeners  and what have you go and research this guy because   he has a like really really uh tight with John  five did a lot of work with him um but like just   a plethora of different styles and different kinds  of musicians anyone who gets along with Rudy sarzo   and Ozzy you know is the real deal yeah 100 and  he's got an interesting story about Andrew W.K   um yeah Andrew wk's debut album I believe Bob  was in the running in the beginning to to help   him with that production wise I don't think that  they ended up obviously being able to do it and   John Fields I think did it right uh but Bob is  like he said that guy just ahead of his time uh   even when Bob was like even when I met him he was  ahead of his time because like the digital side   of that sound if you go back and you listen to I  think that record is called I get wet yeah yeah   if you go back and listen to  Andrew WK and that first record   in 2023 that record is still crushing  everything that came you know that came   out after it and that was in such a very um  early stage of digital of what he was able   to do and how they were able to create  that record it's pretty mind-blowing

2023-03-02 10:51

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