Audacy Check In with Rob Thomas

Audacy Music

Rob Thomas stops by the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about his upcoming album with Karen Carson.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to an Odyssey check-in at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York City and

00:07we're with Rob Thomas. It's been a while since we've seen you and we're so

00:12excited about you. Let's see, it's been since 2019 you've done solo. We've seen

00:19you with Matchbox 20 but we're excited to have you back with your brand new

00:23album. Me too. It is called All Night Days. Can you tell us about that title?

00:28Yeah, I think we was, I was having a conversation, there's a song on the record

00:33called All Night Days and I was having a conversation with a friend about you know

00:37those days when you used to stay up all night and he was like yeah remember that

00:42man we used to be like we would never sleep and I was like I think I think my

00:44all-night days are over. And then that kind of yeah and so that kind of like and

00:50then when I when I looked up the phrase, this was just a little aside, when I

00:53looked up the phrase, it doesn't like it's it didn't exist anywhere you know

00:58like the in just in that order. There was like all day and all night and there's

01:01but there was no books or no other songs that were called All Night Days and so

01:05that's when I decided it was a good album title. It's a great album title. Your tour

01:09kicks off August 1st. The album first of all comes out on September 5th and the

01:15tour August 1st in Atlanta kicks off. How do you stay in shape for performing night

01:21after night after night? Well I mean luckily when you're on tour everything and

01:27everyone around you is geared towards just one goal. So everything is kind of

01:31making it so that this two hours a night gets off the ground. And you you know you

01:37have as much in your place so that nothing else kind of gets in the way of

01:40that for that little bit of time that you're on the road. And when you're if

01:43you you know if you've been fortunate enough to do it for a long time, we have a

01:46nice comfortable bus, I have you know I have the ability to go work out, I have the

01:50ability to eat well. Like so those things are kind of easy to find you know you

01:53just want to keep your head together. Has that changed much from when you first

01:57started out like with the Matchbox 20 or even solo? Has that changed? I mean it's

02:03changed a lot since 30 years ago. Yeah that's what I mean. I mean 30 years ago it

02:08was it was almost like you know you made the record and we went on tour and

02:12everything was brand new. Every place we went, every experience we had and so you

02:19know luckily we we did take some advantage of that and we had a we had a

02:22really nice time. You know we met a lot of very nice people who were generous with

02:26their time and and helped us learn the ropes and and and we had almost a

02:31little too much fun from time to time. Well you're supposed to, you're a rock star.

02:34But we reined it back in just enough to kind of you know you got you have to

02:37figure out how you can still have the fun but at the same time you know not be a

02:41not be a danger to yourself and others. So we're loving loving loving the two new

02:47singles. Hard To Be Happy is such a great vibe. I played it again in the studio

02:54just off the air this morning for the guys on my show and they were like what

02:57is this? I'm like this is the new Rob Thomas and they're like what a jam what a

03:01great song. It's so happy but it talks about things that are difficult like

03:06difficult days. What's your philosophy on difficult days? Well I appreciate you

03:11saying that you know I mean it was really so it was a really important thing for me.

03:14I was trying every time that you're fortunate enough to get to make a new

03:18record and live another year you start trying to figure out what your music

03:22looks like. You want to make music that sounds like it has a vitality to it but

03:26at the same time doesn't sound like everything else that's out there and I

03:29certainly don't want to try and sound like I'm trying to sound 25. And so I

03:32think Rob Thomas you write and sing amazingly. That's I mean you can keep

03:36saying that I'll take it all day long. Classic you. But I think you know I think the

03:41idea of mental health which it's it's such a big blanket to say that you know

03:47so it because it means something different to everyone else and

03:50everybody's you know struggles and everybody's ways of dealing with it is

03:53different and and also the impetus for it for struggles is different you know

03:56there's sometimes there are some things that people are going through that are

03:59that are insurmountable and I think to just kind of chalk it down to you're

04:02gonna be okay that's that's yeah falls flat it's not because maybe you're not you

04:06don't know what their situation is but I think the idea that you can try and find

04:09moments of being okay in the storm you can find little rife you know life rafts

04:14as you go along and and just being able to talk about it in a way that maybe you

04:19couldn't 15 20 years ago that in itself is a solace you know the idea to be able

04:23to say it's it's okay to not be okay and so a song like like hard to be happy just

04:28acknowledges the fact that it's fine there's nothing abnormal about the fact

04:34that that you can't muster up the energy for a smile today right and it's okay to be

04:39not okay totally okay I love that what makes you not okay what makes you cry you talk about

04:43crying in the song um I you know I I think just like any anybody else um I cry when I see

04:52when I see dads come back from the war and their puppies find them and there's no I'm just kidding

04:58um but I thought he's an actor too ladies and gentlemen a pretty good one um no I mean I listen

05:07I it's funny the things that used to really set you off when you're really young you realize that

05:14most of those things were things that were out of your control there were things that that you let

05:20bother you that you kind of let get into you that really didn't have anything to do with you and that

05:23no matter how you can you try to control them it was going to be the same way so you narrow those

05:29down as I get older to like I the things that have to do with my family things that have to do with

05:33my son things that have to do with my wife you know the things have to do with my best friends like

05:37those kind of things the things that matter most they really affect me and and I find that like if

05:42you if you try to not give too much to the wrong people you can give everything to the right people

05:49that's really good and so I feel like that's where I've been trying to be is like trying to be

05:55less pay less attention to the things to noise and more attention to being there for the people that

06:01could use me save your energy for the things that matter yeah yeah so I we're loving that song it's

06:07just gorgeous thank you very much and it's really fun and and you can shake your ass to it so I think

06:12that's what I mean like we're not happy and you can shake it's great I love it and thrill me is

06:17beautiful thank you through me um you say that you are always inspired by your beautiful wife

06:23Marisol and I'm thinking that could be the song or one of the songs that was inspired by her I mean

06:30with that there's it's it's endless I mean because she's my muse in every way and we laugh sometimes

06:35because like I I can take a certain song and be like I can remember when remember that fight like

06:40remember we had that fight that started this song and she's like oh my god yeah um but I always think

06:47like thrill me I said was a and I had to clarify it because it's a it's a second wedding song

06:52but to the same person like because I used to say it's a second wedding song and my wife's like what

06:58are you trying to say like I said no no no like my second wedding to you you know like if you know

07:03because you I think there's certain sentiments in that song that you you need to have been with

07:07somebody for for a while and we've been together for 27 years now right 1999 yeah you got married

07:13yeah got married your love story is so inspiring I mean especially in a rock and roll world it's it's

07:21it's so cool to just see the bond you have and and how you guys just stay together you work together

07:29actually she chooses your singles does she still do that yeah without a doubt I mean as I'm writing

07:33them she lets me know you know yeah she's the first person that hears she I mean she um she's a rock

07:39star herself we uh and we met just like I matchbox 20 started to break I got a little bit of time to

07:47kind of go out of my own and explore and see what that was all about but when I met her I was definitely

07:52I was more famous than she thought that I was but less famous than I thought that I was

07:59right okay to her she was like oh you're just a guy with a song on the radio like who cares

08:04yeah so so many of those first that I got to be a part of she was with me you know I didn't really

08:10have a lot of money when I met her I was just starting to make money I hadn't really traveled

08:13the world as much and I didn't appreciate it when I did you know I was spending a lot more time just

08:18kind of like drinking my way through Germany and waking up right before the show as opposed to like

08:23experiencing the fact that I was getting this gift to be able to travel everywhere right and so her

08:28and I got to do all of those things together that's really and so at this point I don't remember

08:33anything before you know and I mean that literally in some cases like I mean I've met people that I'm

08:40like they're like you don't remember and I'm like no I'm really sorry and they're like I lived on your

08:45bus like 25 years ago for like two weeks and I'm like that's the worst they're like I dated Paul I was

08:49like I was gonna marry Paul I'm like I know I don't remember at all I'm sorry Paul doesn't remember

08:53either I'm sorry that's great well it's a it's really really nice to see and it's such a beautiful

08:58song it's definitely something to check out thank you I'm really proud of that one I just want to

09:02congratulate you on this album I mean um let's talk about music and strong songwriting for a second

09:08does it still come to you do the did the songs on this album just are you the type that wakes up and

09:14hears it and has to write it down or talk it into your phone or is it sometimes you struggle like

09:19do you set out to say today I'm just gonna write all day or does it have to be inspired I mean I'd

09:25like to say that God just comes down and touches me on the head and I hear a song but that no I um

09:32I find it's there's a constant noise in my head of melodies and they're all I you know you wake up

09:41in the middle of night you put them on your voice note you try and figure them out um they're not all

09:46great but you kind of you you got to chase them all down so I feel like sometimes I'll I'll write

09:50two or three records worth of material to get one good record like and some of them I'll have to like

09:56make full demos like I'll be in my studio for nine hours doing bass parts and keyboard parts and

10:01background vocals to really be able to listen to it and go I don't think it's that good or more likely

10:07sometimes now like I'll write a song that I think is pretty good but I feel like a I've written it

10:13already it sounds very much like something maybe I've done before or very much like something

10:19that's out there right now that sounds like I'm trying to copy it that that's got to be hard so

10:23it's like there's so much good stuff out there and I'm getting older and older and older and I keep

10:27making records and so trying to not rip myself off is like a really big part of of writing right I can

10:34I totally understand that well it sounds fresh it sounds new um hard to be happy I think is just like

10:41wow it's it's definitely a great great vibe I remember once I I write a song with matchbox and

10:47it it was one of those ones that had like you know the the rhythm track was like that stomp clap stomp

10:52and I and I started I was like this is great and Paul's like are we really gonna do another stomp clap

10:56song like don't you think the world's got enough of them right now well you're kind of right yeah oh

11:01yeah okay I guess I'll go in a different direction um you have Grammys you have uh tons of awards

11:08I've read that you don't like to keep that in your studio or keep that in your workspace

11:14that's not true I wear them around my neck I have a Grammy necklace when I go out I bet right just a

11:21little replica no I have um I thought that was interesting I have a studio but it's in it has a

11:27lounge okay so like my wife put up everything in the lounge area okay so like there's plaques and

11:34there's you know like those are where you kind of put things to remind yourself of past accolades

11:39and then in the workspace it's just like art you know because in the workspace I don't want that

11:47staring at me in the face I don't want a younger successful version of me looking at me going what

11:52do you got now oh stop but I I get I get the vibe but okay all right that yeah that makes sense not

11:58me I'd be like look what I won okay right you can do this maybe if I if I were single I might

12:04have a whole different game I'd be like oh let's go down to the studio oh what's this oh look at that

12:08is that a Grammy oh where'd that come from yeah I love that um you're working with your son on tour

12:15that's fabulous um now he I read that he went on tour with you guys with matchbox 20 and he hung

12:23out in Australia and everything so now he's your lead guitarist yeah how's that gonna go it's

12:28great so he went to he started playing I think when he was like 10 okay um and then he went to he

12:34graduated he went to and graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston yeah um and just really

12:40thrived there did all the right things you're supposed to do there learned all the things that

12:43you want him to learn there um met his band there they all moved out to LA together this band called

12:48The Lucky and uh and he and I it was something I never even knew if he would want to do but

12:54my solo so this is again I like this is the 20th anniversary this year of my first solo record

12:59and my solo band has pretty much been the same band that whole time I can't believe it's been that

13:06long it has 20 years wow it was uh 2000 2005 it came out yeah so uh my guitar player in that band

13:15when we were talking about doing this record he had decided that he wanted to retire from playing

13:20live he's been writing for people and producing been really successful and just doesn't want to

13:24tour anymore and he was the first one that said you know I've been watching your son's instagram

13:28you should have him do it I think he would love to and I was like I he's good enough but I just don't

13:34think he wants to spend all summer you know hanging out with his dad how old is he now he's 27

13:39okay but then uh when I asked him last year he was like dad that's the most time we've ever get

13:45we'll ever get to spend together that's awesome that's oh that's so cool that yeah it was really

13:49sweet and uh and he's and he's killing it like he's been he's been in uh up in up north rehearsing

13:55we started rehearsing but they started last week so I I just came in last night for the first time and

14:00just stepped into it and was just like oh you guys sound great so that's amazing probably your best

14:05known collab uh Carlos Santana when you did a radio show uh for WNEW um a while back we stepped

14:13outside and and we were chatting because we were waiting for to go on stage and you were texting on

14:19your phone you were texting Carlos Santana um and you were like he calls me my child are you guys still

14:27in touch I mean like what a great relationship what an amazing song what happened like the relationship

14:34that came with me and Carlos and me and Clive Davis were both very very special relationships

14:40that that kind of just continued on you know through those years and Carlos especially like

14:45when we're on the road together like you know touring at the same time I mean it's

14:50our wives laugh at us because we'll get off we'll get off we'll get on the I'll get on the bus and he

14:55gets on his plane but we uh and we you know we start texting each other like how was the show we send

15:00each other pictures you know like he'll send me like that he'll send me an article and I'll be like

15:04are you bragging he's like yeah I'm bragging that's um yeah but him and Cindy are just you know those

15:09guys are like family to us I was wondering about that because that was a really cool moment um and

15:14I'm like yeah it was kind of funny like it was something that neither one of us saw coming uh I

15:19don't think either one of us really even knew what it was worth when we were doing it you know but it's

15:25something that you know we're really proud of and really proud of of in all the ways that that one

15:31little song has kind of helped us and brought us together you know it's amazing I love I'm so glad

15:35you guys are still in touch that's great well congratulations on all night days uh that comes

15:41out on September 5th and the tour begins uh August 1st in Atlanta and um are you going to be doing

15:50live audience shots in your tour well you have to you have to ever since the invention of social

15:56media you have to do live audience shots I've been trying to get an all nude audience but they

16:00will not go for it uh that probably would take off more than what has happened I'm referring to what

16:06happened at Coldplay yeah it's just like that's my thought if everybody's nude it's fine it's fine

16:13because we're all doing it everybody's doing it you feel bad for that guy I feel I mean listen

16:16forget morality just like damn that's a bad way to go what are the chances that is a bad way how many

16:22people 80,000 at that studio uh state or venue rather and you two get caught you've and they

16:30went up to Boston from New York and you've I'm sure you've interviewed Chris before right yes I mean

16:35he is the sweetest guy in the world I know he is horrified by that do you know what I mean he's he

16:41is lightly joking about it and and and moving on he's lightly acknowledging and come on but I bet you

16:47that night he went back and he was just like oh that's awful I don't know why my version of Chris

16:54Martin sounds like Liam Gallagher that's awful Gallagher's are like do whatever you want I just

17:02had to ask your opinion on that and congratulations thanks for coming in today to talk to us I appreciate

17:08the time

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