#104 - Steve Moakler - Singer + Songwriter

know where I am when I'm talking about this. Let me encourage you to check out the Dave Heywood podcast we just did from Lady and Abellum. Also Jimmy Allen, who's got that song Best Shot New Artists that's up. And if you're liking a podcast, tell your friends about I love if you told your friends about The Bobby Cast if they love music. Or check out Christian Bush from sugar Land. He's got one called geeking Out, where you talk to people about what they're super geeking out about.

It's pretty cool. I mean, you think Christian would do you want about music, but he does a bit talk about it. But it's really cool because it's just about people who are super passionate about things. That being said, we have a David Lee Murphy Bobby Cast coming up soon, so Davidie Murphy has obviously might be a little dust about voices, a little fried from working all that today, but yeah, otherwise I would seeing that song perfectly. So that's coming up. But let's get into Steve Mokler. He

wrote Riser for Dirk S Bentley. It's got a new song out called Born Ready, and he's gonna talk about how he drives around and plays shows for fans and are basically a camper. So here we go, Episode one oh four. Steve Mockler, the Bobby Cast. Thank you very much. All right here with Steve Mokler, every buddy, what's up? Bobby. Good to finally get you here. I know, man, thank you so much for for inviting me, and I listened to this podcast all the time, so it's very cool

and surreal to be in this chair. I'm in slippers, as you noticed a second a. But as I said, it's my house, so I could do whatever I want if we're in my house. I've been slippers too, but I had to tredge across town, so I needed something a little more serious. Today. I had a pretty chill day, man. I went to the y m c A this morning. Gracey and I walked around the track a few times and made some breakfast and finished reading the book and went for a walk, fielded some emails. It was pretty

low key. Did someone cancel it right or did you just set today? No, No one canceled it right today. I don't think a lot of times mondays or just today. I have to to kind of just you know, gather ideas, get inspired and set a vision for the week. So it's funny. I know you mostly from Amy, my co host. Amy and Gracey, your wife are really good friends, and say, man, hang out Gracey all the time, she's we're jumping on the trampoline. I was like, Graysie, who's that Guysie moggler?

That's she runted to Steve. Yeah, I had Steve's wife, and so they became good friends. And I guess the first time you and I ever spent any time any time together was an Amy's house when her kids. We're back. Because we had met a couple of times. I think we met in passing maybe a stage coach, that's real quick. We talked to stage coach. That was a whole disaster in itself. It's just so much. It's the stage coach is just so big and so hot and dusty. But then we were over to Amy's house the day her

kids came in from Haiti. Back. That was a That was a rad day, man, that was a big celebration. That was a lot, even thinking back to the day, because I was on Hawaii and it was vacation for me. During that mid December to January, we just on the show We just go away, and I have a real problem with going away, but I went to Hawaii because it was disconnected, and I get there in the Amy calls and goes, hey, I need just come back because because we're gonna be here. So I'm I'm taking zig

zag flights trying to get back because I land. And then a few hours later they land, and then we go over to Amy's and have a party. And I remember I looked at the staircase and you were sitting with an acoustic guitar. I think you were learning Party in the USA from Miley Yes, for the kids, for the kids. I do love that song though. Yeah. I remember looking up because Eric Passley was there and it was just really close friends at Amy's house. It was

just people that in our personal life. It really wasn't a work thing. But the cool thing is you become friends with people that also do the same kind of thing that you do. And so musically it was you and I don't know who's getting work. I think Amy signed Taylor Swift guitar. I think that's what you were playing. That is what it was. That's wow, You're right, because I was I looked out, but I said, I know

that guitar. It was a Taylor Swift sign guitar. It was you passed Lay and Walker Hayes and you're all playing music. And Amy's kids were just stunned by what was happening that night. I remember too, because I don't know if you do therapy. I go to therapy, and I was talking about therapist and he's like, hey, because I have I get to social anxiety level, and so I don't. I just don't do things social with people

I don't know. And sometimes I don't even do things social because I know I'll get to this anxiety type place. He said, hey, find somebody that you think would be cool. And I've I haven't told you the story he said, and say, hey, let's hang out. Because that had two weeks. I had no idea what I was gonna do, and so he gave me this homework and we were naming his house and saying, hey, Steve, what are you doing? Yeah? You go no, because I was the only tip for

two days. Grace's gonna have this thing. We're going to that, And that was my one attempt to make a friend and tell dude, I didn't I couldn't tell the back remember I remember I was. I was flatter when you asked me to hang out. I didn't. I didn't know the back story. I was like, hey, dude, I just been passing. I just thought of it. You want to go to garth. But really it was, oh man, I think Steve's nice. I'll see if you wants to hang out. Due. Yeah,

I got rejected, like junior high. No, you didn't get rejected. If you told me the whole story, we we'd be we'd be singing friends in low places that Friday night. But you picked your wife over me. I did, but I didn't know what was at stake. I didn't know I could have helped you out in that way. But I live rain check rain check for sure. I got a lot of music up here from you. I guess cool, you know more than even just getting into the music.

Just I mean, I don't know much about you except and I don't purposely do a whole lot of research because I kind of like to pull things out of people. Except I guess you're you're Steelers fan. Huh, yes, sir, and your whole family Steve fans. My my mom's host side of the family is So I grew up in town called Bethel Park, just outside of Pittsburgh. So that's my mom's family is all die hard Stealer fans. And so, how did you get from Pittsburgh in Nashville? What made

you take that job? Um? Well, I made this little c D when I was a senior in high school. After playing in bands and stuff and through middle school. In high school, I made my own project, like a singer songwriter thing, and UM, I had this guy who was at this little independent record label in Florida. Hear it, and um ended up offering me this little little record deal, and to me, it was little at all at the time.

So he flies me and my dad down to Florida and and UH offers me this record deal, and I thought, you know, I, man, this is all about to happen right here, right now. UM ended up not taking the deal. The deal. Um, I had this attorney that h was like the only music business guy that I met through a bunch of phone calls, and I trusted him. And he revised the d for me and marked it up, like, added a bunch of zeros on it, and sent it back to the label guy. And and UM, the label

guy was like, you know, man, over insulted. We thought we had a relationship. You can either work with with us at the label or you can work with this attorney. You're gonna have to choose. And it was a really hard decision to make, you know, because I was eighteen

years old thinking everything was about to happen. But the the attorney said, you know, uh, he said, this is a long road and if you want to walk it, I'll help you do that, but I'd advise you not to get in bed with the first person who wants to sleep with you. That's how we said it. And UM, I just said, so I decided to turn down the deal, and but I knew I wanted to keep pursuing music and as my you know, as my main focus, and um, I was typing in my mom really wanted to go

to college. So I was typing in music business stuff, you know, college stuff on Google and found Belmont and ended up applying there. And it was actually the only school I got into that I applied to. UM, and that's just by the grace of God, because really there's you know, schools that weren't as difficult to get into that rejected my application. But I got into Belmont, and uh I went there for two years. So that was kind of my segue into Nashville. What do you want

to do a belt business? I studied music business for for three semesters and then I switched to English for my last semester. So you didn't study music. I didn't. I didn't. I thought about I thought hard about that decision. I kind of talked to different you know people at the school and the film before I decided what to apply for. And um, you know, I just I just really felt I knew I wanted to be a songwriter.

And I've never considered myself a great guitar player or singer. Um, I just I knew I wanted to to be in the scene and write songs. And you know, I don't know, I just id I did. I When I thought about the avenues of studying the instrument or my voice, that just didn't really excite me. So I studied music business just to kind of get an overview of what it was like. So what was the goal? Was it to be an artist or just to move down to be a song It was to be an artist. But I

really didn't know. I didn't have any you know, it's not until you get to Nashville you really realize all the different types of artists and paths you can take. But I just knew I wanted to to to have a career making my own music, you know, whatever that looked like. And that was really as far as I thought about it. So you moved to Nashville. You didn't say you went four years? So you dropped out a college. I dropped out to actually pursue your craft. Yeah, yeah,

before I went my mom. My mom was real relieved I went decided to go to school, and she said, hey, if you I just want you to go to school for two years, you know, I want you to know what that experiences. She'd always say, have two years of college under your belt, and just so I wasn't. I didn't go there and count down. You know, I was like, I can't wait two years, I'm out of here. But you know, I just after two years, I um, you know,

the classes were about to start getting harder. You know. Yeah. I was like, if I if I switched to English, I gotta take Spanish again, or if I go business, I gotta take accounting. And all the while, man, I was just getting really I just knew what I wanted to do, and I was just I couldn't sit in those classes any longer, and I wanted to get out

and play. What would you tell a kid now that's finishing high school and they know they're going to do music, man um if they know it, man, I think I think, I personally think going to Belmont was great for me because it was a natural segue into this music community. Whereas so when I was at school, I was making friends just the way you would at any other college. But they were really talented, and they were they were driven, and they were they were doing the same thing I did.

Or or years later. Uh, you know, my friends from Belmont now are people that are running publishing companies, are playing you know, band leaders and with big artists and writing hit songs. So but you know, I didn't have to do the whole networking. You know, check this out. It was kind of raised in the network and I didn't That was not intentional, but it was definitely a gift.

And I really, I really have a I really admire guys that come here a little later, you know, when there twenty six after college and and they have to do that game. It's it seems tough, but I felt, I felt, not that I have any means, had an easy road, but that was one not school that I didn't have to get over. Who were people in your class meeting around the same time you're talking about just

creating friendships. Yeah, there's this guy, Jeb Holmes is one of my one of my best friends, and he played guitar for Josh Turner and the band Perry Um. My ex girlfriend Parker Welling is a great songwriter. She had the number one song last week with Russell Dickerson. Yours. Casey Brown was also with that song. He was my sweet mate um for to Georgia Line was there at the same time. I wasn't tight with those guys um while we were there, but um, we definitely crossed pass

a lot. And because I wasn't here, Yeah, that whole thing blew up. It was pre me. Yeah. So by the time I got to Nashville, they were already a thing. Yeah, so I I missed the Independent. They signed with the label. They had a song that was blowing up into Were they already a thing in college a bit? They weren't even a band. They weren't even they were just friends, you know. I I I think Brian was. I think I think all I knew that they played at a

church and we're worship leaders. And uh, I remember I was playing at this hotel Indigo. There's a hotel down on West End. They used to have writers rounds there and I would play there. And I remember seeing Casey Musgraves come in there when she first got to town. And usually, you know, I played there on a lot of Wednesday nights for about twelve people, And I remember seeing Brian and Tyler get up and performed together to saying a song called black Tears that Jason al Dean

went on to cut. But I mean, no, they don't even know if they were called for to Georgia Line at that point, but it just they blew up. Man, it was crazy to see see I didn't see it. I wish I would have seen it. You know, it was part of the Sam blow up. Okay, Yeah, that to you was you know, poof was big. I didn't see the floor of Georgia line blow up. Yeah it was.

It was the really first time i'd ever you know, watch somebody go for Man, you were at my school, you were at this bar playing for twelve people like me, and now you're you know, you're head, You're on the c m A Awards and just this you have the biggest country selling country song of all times. Nuts. Doesn't it show you, though, that if you have the right whatever it is, things can change, just like that on a dime, for anybody at any time in the creative space.

It just takes the one whatever it is. Is it the right promotional vehicle? Is that the right song? Is that the right uh do at partner? Yeah? Because I've seen it happen seven or eight times. The chemicals just magically come together at the right time or and then boom. And it also inspires you to continue moving forward because at any time. It could happen for anybody. That's right. And that's how I feel watching a lot. And and

I have been the benefit. Fishery a part of that as well, because I moved here and it was the right time the you know, the form. I had gotten older and a bit out of touch in the radio part, and they're bringing me and I was like a bull in the china shop and I was too aggressive, but it was a perfect time for me to commend it. So I benefited too from that. But even with listen to your music, it's just like I keep your songs are so good. I just keep wondering, when's that one

going to be? Don't you wonder that like a little bit? Is it like which one is finally going to be the one? I I do sometimes, man, you know, I think I think for me, you know, my careers just has been kind of a steady, slow climb, whereas I screwed that. Man, let's go, let's get big. Let me talk about this for a second. Okay, So when you thought cyber criminals couldn't stoop any lower, you're wrong. They're stealing and selling social security numbers of infants. Baby, there's

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extra ten percent off for your first year. Promo code is bones life flock dot Com promo code Bones. So I like this one. I think I have Instagram. This one who came out and the the night it came out. But thank you and the Father the Fastest spend Now I'm just going to remember it here. Yeah, that was Caitlin Smith and Gordy Sampson and Caitlyn singing on it too. I remember and I love that song. She is awesome man.

Kitl was one of the first ones we ever did this, right, Mike, Really, We used to do this in my condo downtown and we just that's the reason our studios are crappy up here, because it's not a real studio. We just did a bunchet equipment together and said, hey, we're gonna do a podcast, and so some of the Caitlin Smith and Ryan heard like two years ago. Yeah, like hey, just come over to call the house and we started doing this and here we are over a hundred hundred hours later. But

I love Wills that suitcase. Is that commercially your most successful song that you've put out? It is? Yeah, they were great many this it's fun in a bunch. So when you do something like this case, are are labels calling you? Because there's a buzz. There's a constant buzz about you. But it's almost like if you're not super shiny or not shiny at all, because if you're in

that middle, no, it's a weird place to be. Yeah, yeah, you know, it's it's hard to have that outside or impossible maybe to have that outside perspective on on where I am in that I can give it to you you if you want it. You want you want the outside, you got it. Yeah, I have the because I'm not I don't do the game. I don't. I don't hang with industry people for this exact reason, so I can have outside perspective. So this is the Steve Mokler thing.

Super good, super consistent, great songwriter, just waiting on that whatever it is. Everybody keeps waiting on it because everybody knows you're that good, thanks man. And so it's everybody just kind of waits. And the thing is, you're not sixteen, but you're not too old either, and you're good lucking enough. So I don't I don't know. I don't know what everybody's waiting on. I don't know what's it. It's not that like you have a new style that you've reinvented.

You're just consistently nailing them with triples, thanks man. That's that's a compliment. Dude, that that's a that's a great compliment, and that's that's that's a huge coliment consistently hitting triples and eventually those things start to go over the wall. After you hit enough triples. Trust me, aplay high school baseball. I'm super b adlet. Yeah, eventually you start to hit home runs and you hit you know, a riser for with you know, for Dirk. Yeah, do you ever think

about keeping this one? Oh man? At the I recorded as well? Um, Travis meadows right, Yeah, yeah, you know this was a this song was a huge gift man and I I never thought the song would have the life it did with Dirk's um. So you I know Travis reporter it too. Yeah. Actually I don't think Travis released a version of it. I have he recorded the demo that I think is the demo that Dirk's uh listened to and it was inspired and recorded. But is that what we had, Mike? Do we just have it?

And that's why I know it if I'm singing it and and I get the geek out on stuff and keep stuff. So you recorded the song? I did, and what did you do it? But I put it on this record called Wide Open. It was my third record, and I recorded it with this guy named Mike Rucky and uh yeah, and it came out. It wasn't you know, a single at that time. My whole team, I don't even think I had a booking agent yet. It was

just me and my buddy, Tim was my manager. So uh we we you know, as far as what we did with it, we put it on a record and we went out and toward it. There was no nothing else really behind it but Dirk's. You know, Dirk's really gave that song a big life and um and and now when we go out and play it, it's cool because people a lot more people know it than from my version, for sure. So you wrote it, you cut it,

you put it out. From when it comes out for consumption to when Dirks puts it out, what's that time? So Dirk's put it out first, so we actually, um man, it's hard to remember now, I don't know I remember if it was part of the agreement or what, but we definitely said, you know, he wanted to put the song out first and his team didn't, and we said, heck yeah, so my record came out. We didn't wait to put my record out. But just happened to come

out after his. So then let me go back to my original question, why, when you finished writing it, would you go, hey, let's go ahead and pitch this song. Well, at that point, I was I was really going through a thing where I just I did. I wasn't sure what my aspirations were as an artist. I was really I was kind of a little bit tired, um from my first two records and really trying to figure out what box I fit in and um or at least tired of feeling that was something I had to do.

And I just said, you know what, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna write songs, fall back in love with writing songs, and and and that was actually when I got married, and I actually, you know, I just kind of hunkered down here in town and and and just worked on my songwriting and um and that was when I recorded that song. So at the time, I wasn't really going, hey, let's I want to be a big star, I want to have this on the radio. I was just I was writing from a different placed. Was gonna

put that as a single when he took it? No, No, I had no idea. Uh, I was just I was psyched when it actually just made it on the record, because I've had a couple of songs say they're gonna be on the record and they don't. So when I heard it was for sure on there, I was excited.

And then I'll never forget the morning. Uh, I woke up and opened my email and and or I don't know if it was an email or Twitter, and I saw Dirk's released this whole riser campaign to announce his record, and I was just oh, man, I was just it was in the video was so inspiring, and uh it was. It was amazing for only Yeah, and that's a great When they announced the record and it's the name of your song, you pretty much know it that it's going

to be a single. Rarely and it happens occasionally, it does ye know that's happened where they name it after a tract that doesn't come out. But most of the time that ends up being a song like a radio song. Yeah, so you got it, that's true. But I wouldn't let my song. I've got so many self defense mechanism built at this point, I wouldn't let myself go there. But I was when it finally did, I was really excited,

your wife really excited. We both were went to remember going to see Dirk's and going to see him in Birmingham on the Riser tour. And actually sorry the tour is named after the Yeah, dude, actually know it was l A. We saw him in l A. First we said we saw a couple of shows on that tour. Um. But uh yeah about the Risor t shirt, man, I was I was psucked. Didn't even get a free one. I didn't ask. I probably could have my way. He didn't know, he didn't know. Let's see Steve Mochlan. What

else do Yeah, I like your sound. I'm a little partial because I to bring in anybody I want. So I'm a fan of your sound. You're the singer songwriter artist. That's what I like. Cool. Thanks, man. So when I hear like here, let's talk about ballad. Oh I love it. Let's fresh off the skiel and I'm totally into telling about this one. This song has a very unique backstory. Um. So there's a song on my last record called Siddle Saloon that's it's about a bar and my grandfather's basement.

And in the second verse, I say, there's a line that says Grandpa and his brothers back when they were young, come down here once they and loaded those trucks. So one of my one of my agents at CIA, had to had been talking to Mac Trucks at the time and they were looking for somebody to write a song for them. So mag and I just played my record for CIA and told them about the you know story about that song long and how my grandfather was a mechanic and had a fleet of concrete hauling trucks and

so being now is from Pennsylvania. And with that stat alone, they said, hey, maybe this guy can write your song. So the Mack Truck's team came to my Steel Town album release party and just got to know me, and we really hit it off and and they ended up asking me to write this song. And so I had a bunch of phone calls with them trying to write them the song. And as they unwrote, they were rolling out a new truck called the Anthem, and uh, you know,

I just said, hey, cool, I would love that. Be awesome. Uh. And I end up writing the song and just loving it that. They paid me well more than that for any other song I've written any of the corporate stuff. That I do. It's just money. It's awesome money because they have so much of it. They don't even comprehend what a normal human once and we'll get and they just they just throw it at you. It's amazing. It was.

It was cool and as cool as the money was, it was really cool to actually love the song for me to eat first before he loves on. You gotta eat real food and you gotta pick. But when you can do both, you know, that's that's the sweet spot. I agree, you got to eat first. You do gotta eat. So when you moved to town, how did you make money for the first couple of years, Well, the first couple of years I was here, out of college, out of coms. Okay, you just grind on the road, man.

I didn't have enough gigs to do that. I I had a couple of jobs I worked. I I bought headlights off of busted cars and resold them to uh my ex girlfriend's stepdad's auto company. So the cars were busted. Not the headline, the direct cars headline for so Good. Yes, And actually at that time I lived in When I was driving over here, I was back in my oldhood.

I lived on Lookout drive just a little bit away from here, and I drive around two different body shops in the area, and I'd go in there and with a little bit of cash and and um, you know, just I it was just this whole subculture of of you know, of business where these guys got headlights, are sitting on there waiting for guys like me to come in and they're hoping that I'll pay over pay for him, and then I'll sell them back and they'll be refurbished

and sold on you know, eBay or something. Oh. It's fascinated with happy people made money too survive and then thrive creatively. Because I struggled hard for years. They just making money and living. So I'm fascinating with people's stories about how they were able to live when it was really lean. Yeah, and so you're in this flip this headlight,

flipping headlights. I was doing that. I was also working childcare at a church on West End one day, Like you're watching kids watching kids, yeah, like a daycare, Like yeah, dude, Steve mcre daycare. So I was I was going from body shop into daycare and and then still trying to you know, do my shows. And at a certain point, Um, I was, I was making more money selling T shirts and CDs than I was investing in these headlights. I was, I was, I was seeing a faster return on on that.

So I've eventually was able to stop doing it, But I was in this. I think my my break, I guess was getting to do this college touring scenes called naka and uh. So I drove around and played a lot of colleges a lot of times. It was you know that lunch time, um, you know when we're kids reading Chicken Caesar wraps with their back to you, and you're playing your own music, maybe mixing a little bit

of Miley Sorry Cyrus to get their attention. And I did that for a couple of years, and I actually made good money doing that, but it was I could tell I really wasn't building a fan base and I wasn't getting better at writing songs. So I decided to change gears and stop doing that and be poor again. Word, And you know what being poor is also because you really find out who you are. Yeah, that's where that I mean, that's the only reason I can still know who I am, because I go, what would I do

about if I still poor? Because it was I'm not poor anymore. I was poor for most of my life. And sometimes when I have these decisions like Okay, which lane would I want to go? I go, Okay, if you're still poor, which lane would you go? That reason? That's me real quick. Yeah, so you're you're out, you're playing colleges, you're playing cafeterias. Yeah, and you go, Okay, it's not for me, burnt out, burnout exactly. Then how do you start to develop a fan base? What do

you do to develop a fan base? Well, a couple of things happened. Um, I became friends with these guys in town, Ben Rector. Well this actually before Ben record came. Town was Dave Barnes and Matt Worts. I don't know if you know much about those guys, but they were kind of, I would say, pioneer singer songwriters here in Nashville. They were they weren't signed in major labels, but they were building a following just by going out and making

great records and playing clubs. And and those guys heard my first record and let me come out and open for them. That was one big break, um, where it was actually playing for fans for their fans, and um, and but shortly thereafter met Ben Rector and he did some touring with him, and he was the one that gave me the advice when I was like, dude, I'm burned out. I don't know if I could do this anymore.

He remember him saying, man, you know you're gonna see a return on whatever you invest your time, and if you want to be a better songwriter, you should invest your time in writing songs. So at that point I came, I stopped doing that, and um, I just really started putting in time on music. Real. I'm a big bend Rector guy. I want to enjoy his style of music and too. Arkansas. Yeah, he's in Arkansas, Guys, I'm a Rector. Oh my god, he's awesome. Yeah, he's one of the best.

We were on the Southwest flight from here to California. I think we're both in life in the bathroom and I was like, hey, dude, have you been I was like yeah, I said, hey, Bob. We talked like ten minutes. We took a league. It was all we say. I mean nice that it could be. I watched his a YouTube live. He did a YouTube live concert. I don't know if I knew that it was and it was the coolest live concert I've ever seen it. I think it was that I think Chapel Hill in North Carolina.

And he's because he plays piano. He you know, he's just it. But it was really, uh a cool thing to see a live YouTube concert with someone that you see bouncing around town. Yeah, because you just say, he just walks, you know, in he's Nashville. I don't know if he still where he lives anymore, but yeah, he's He's seemed like a nice guy. He's a really nice guy. Man. It's it's always we we know, we did a lot of touring together at the beginning, and it's it's always

crazy for me. You know, he's he's big time now. Man, it's he it's by being his friend, being his friend from from the beginning of that. It's again it's hard to have a glimpse of until you go to one of his shows and you're like, wow, man, the show still does And he's independent as far as much as

you can be an independent artist. That's him and that has to inspire artists too, that you can just do your thing and if you do it the right way and you hit that right chord that a following will develop, and he's done that. He certainly has. Yeah, he's got a people pour into his shows, and he super serves his audience. Where we are now in this culture of I would say the nineties and back nineties to the sixties, where you could put something out and you just wanted

to be mass popular for everybody. You just want to make the best thing and hope that most people loved you. We're in this culture now of super serving your slice of the pie so much that that's all I care about anymore. They're just talking to my people. I want to super serve my people, and that's it. And what I've noticed is my little slice. When I superserve my people, it starts to get a little wider. I'm not chasing this. If so, I would have send in top forty, but

that wasn't for me. I wanted to come over here. These are my people, and I feed them as much pie as it can possibly eat. And I'm only feeding them. I don't care about anybody else. But I start to notice that I just feed them, that little piece of pie gets a little bigger and a little bigger, and I think that's where it's all going now. It's so many avenues, from streaming to YouTube, to radio to everything

on the phone. There are ten tho quote unquote celebrities now, and you can try to be big for everybody and nobody's gonna care. Or you can be big to your specific group of people. And that's how you make it now, and that's how you continue to make a living. At least that's how I've done it. I don't even know, dude. Here's the song. I like this one, Fearful and take me. This is this is vintage right here. I'm amazing you pull this up? How old are you? Dude? I'm it's

hard to listen to. Why I think I'm I think I'm why is this hard? My voice? Dude, it's it's so emotional, it's so so. It does sound like a vampire playing piano. I thought I actually looked a little bit like a vampire in this album cover. Shoot too long and hard to day. What would you tell this nineteen year old right now? Relax? I think I'd say, relax? Man. I was, um, you know at that point, man, I

think I was. I was really thinking, um, I remember, you know, making that record and thinking, oh man, you know, someone's gonna pick this up and gonna be you know, tour bus, you know, in any minute now. And I was I was also you know, uh, I think really really in my head too about relationships. I was just I was just pretty uptight, um and it took for me a while to kind of chill out. But I think I would say, man, um, keep making music from your heart and uh, and don't be in a hurry

and enjoy the ride. I think that's what i'd say. I have some songs here that you've written. Here's that Dirk Marty grawl before bad yeah before Afteriser, that was an Afteriser actually wrote that one with Dirks and now we Himby. Do you feel oh man, that's powerful? Right? It was awesome. So you know, if you're writing with and foreign artist and someone like Natalie Himby is there, that song is going to get used. I felt pretty

good that day. I was. I was in a good spot. Yeah, that's just a because those guys, they only have so many rights. An artist only has especially of that stature on the road all the time and only has so many rights, and they're writing for a specific reason. Derk is not just dicking around and he's there right, songs for him and then Natalie Himby who writes everything. I mean, so you wrote that with her and Dirk's yeah, and so you gotta feel pretty good. Yeah when Dirks goes yeah,

I like it. It was awesome. It was it was It was a really fun day, man. I remember it was just that day. It just came easy and it was. It was a blast there, both so talented. So what's happened with you right now? Um? What do you? What

do you people to consume of yours? Well, we just released that song Born Ready, which is the title track of the new record we have coming out, and we're gonna be rolling out a couple more songs and we're announcing a toorical the Born Ready tour this for this spring, so all the tour will kind of lead us right to the record release. The hurts thing like that depends on how much water I've had to drink or beer.

Do you have to hydrate fully? Yeah? I mean yeah when I'm on when I'm on tour, I definitely drink a lot of water and that keeps me out of trouble. Howay, So you're getting there? Yeah, A water man need that water dude, you need it, and I don't really appreciate it. Water and knees are the two things that never really thought much. If you just leave your knees, you're done. You're right, man, I guess mine are still all right. Drink a lot of water and take care of your

knees and your teeth. How do you take care of your knees? Just not beat them up too bad? Or is there you got any knee exercise? A little thing like I'll do pull ups. I used to just boom, follow my feet. Now you go down and you're cushion it by bending your knees a bit, right. Just take it from someone a few years older than you. We were watching Olympics last night. That hitting the moguls, those dudes. I just crushes my knees to watch him. Yeah, I

can't ski though I've never been snow skan. I'm a snowboarder. I grew up doing that. I guess so you're from that bought a stupid question you pay. No, it's I don't, it's I don't. I wouldn't say it's that that obvious. But about a coat? Everything you want to ask, Oh, Steve Mockler, you feel like we you felt like we covered it over you did? Uh one of the crowdfunding things for your record back in the day, right, Oh yeah, man,

early in the crowdfunding days. It was early. Yeah, we was the kickstarter like it was one of I was with this guy Andy Davis did it in here in town and and then we did one shortly after him, and it was from my second record, watching Time Run and uh, and it went really well. I went skydiving. I was like, if we're gonna ask people for money, I gotta do something cool. So I kind of made this whole thing where I was like, I'm gonna go skydive and kind of made this metaphor. It's like I

got the studio time. It's like jumping out of it, but I don't have the money to pay for It's like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Are you gonna be there for me? So we called all the all the little packages parachute packages, and it worked. It was cool and and it made me overcome my fear heights you jumped out of a plane. Do you feel did you? Did you do something for everybody? Is what that is like? If you can sign something to send it to you. There's all different kind of packages.

You know. You can you can get a sign poster and get the record early. You can, you know something, you could even write a song with me. That was one of the higher end packages. So there's all kinds of stuff. It was cool. Oh dude, it's I don't charge anybody now, man, let me been on that one. Uh, Steve, good to see buddy, Great to see too. Man. Pretty for having me. Yeah, I appreciate you coming to the house and check out Born Ready to These things gets

to do all the time. Maybe the records all By the time someone hears this is the record takes be called Ready, it's gonna be called Born Ready. That could be the one you never know. It could be the one Nashal's waiting for you. I'm not going anywhere, man, I suppose watching you, you're just on that pressive I see it. You're just right there. You're just tinkering. People just don't know where to put you. And that's the best place to be because that means there's nowhere already

carved out for you. When people don't know where to assign you, that's the best and the worst place to be. I'm a home run hitter, though I mean to strike out a live Nobody kne where to put me, and they still don't, and I scrub a lot. Nobody knows where to put you right now, And you know what it's awesome about that there's not a place already designed for you. Thanks man, that's encouraging. And if you want to hit home runs, that's what you do. Freaking you

don't go into another person's hole. I'm gonna keep swinging. That's probably not a good thing out the way, don't ye Like. Yeah, I'm a fans fancy thank you. I appreciate you. Going by there is Steve moclaire. Yeah, thanks hanging out with us, See you next time. M