On March 13th, 2000 Stir were once again guests on the radio show Rockline, hosted by Bob Coburn from KROQ in Los Angeles.  They first appeared on the show on May 12th 1997 while in L.A.   This time around they appeared on the show from Chicago while kicking off the tour in support of "Holy Dogs"

 The Interview

Bob: Welcome back to Rockline, I'm Bob Coburn.  The last time Stir was on Rockline was May 12th 1997 and I vividly remember saying, this is a band we believed in and thank goodness because Holy Dogs is in stores tomorrow and it is a complete CD full of well written and well played songs and Rockline would like to welcome from Stir, Andrew Schmidt.   How are ya Andrew?

Andy: Uhhh, I'm good.   (laughing) No, I'm great I just had to throw the Uhhh in there.

Bob: We should tell people what we're joking about.  Somebody (me) transcribed the interview the last time you were on Rockline and they left everything in there.  The Uhhh's the And's and a few other things too.  

Bob: Brad Booker how are you tonight?

Brad: Pretty good.

Bob: Nice to have you back.   I feel you guys have grown as songwriters have other people said the same thing?

Andy: Certainly yeah.  this is the next level in our song writing on this record.

Bob: I think you guys have achieved that.  I don't want you to have to say that about your selves, but I'm not the only one that's pointing that out.

Kevin: Other people have told us that too.

Bob: Now does that mean you've grown as people too.

Kevin: Sure, I'm about a 1/2 inch taller that the last time I was on the show. (laughs)

Bob: Now you guys toured 21 months on the self titled CD.  How has that paid off in recording the brand new album?

Brad:   This record is different than the last one because the last record was pretty much songs that we had been playing live for years and this record is one we wrote, more than half of this record was written after we got off the road and into the studio, so it's quite a departure from the last record.

Bob: Last time you were on you played a song called "Take Me to the Moon".   Is that the song that's just been titled "Moon"  on the new CD? 

Andy: Yes

Kevin: Same song

Bob: Same song, just shortened the title and it did appear on the album.   So you have a live version of that if you have the last Rockline on tape and I know a lot of Stir fans do.  So why don't you play something live for us this evening,  what do you have in mind?

Stir plays an acoustic version of "Clear"

Bob takes a call from Jim in Dallas.

Jim: Hey that was great song.   I wanted to find out where they came up with the name Holy Dogs and what's the inspiration for some of the songs, because I listened to it online and there are a lot of them that are about space.

Andy: That's a good question Jim.  Holy Dogs, the title came from the song Holy Dogs, not that it's necessarily the title track, but we thought it fitting to be a title for the record.    The song is about kind of an apocalyptic farce, cause everybody was freaked out at the end of the millennium.  It was just kind of a joke about the whole thing.

Bob: Jim I've got a question for you.   How did you hear the Stir album online?

Jim: It's on Capitol Record's page.

Bob: Really?  Now you guys aware of this?  Andrew, Brad, Kevin.

Brad: Yeah, I think it came out a few days ago.

Bob takes a call from Vaughn in Tulsa

Vaughn: I was wondering what are the last five CD's you purchased?

Andy: I've got the new Colleel record, Rage Against the Machine, Lauren Hill and the Fugees.

Kevin: I can only think of the last two that I bought.   D'Angelo's new one and The Flaming Lips "The Soft Bulletin"

Brad: Same here I can only remember two records I bought and that was Sebo Motto and an old Firehose record with Mike Watt.

Bob: Wow, Firehose I haven't heard that name in a while.  That's good stuff though.   Play something else for us as long as you guys are into it and ready.   Maybe "Climbing the Walls"

Andy: Sure we can do that one

Stir plays an acoustic version of "Climbing the Walls"

Bob takes a call from Tina in Edwards Colorado

Tina: I was wondering.   Do you guys have any particular goals when you were starting out with the CD?

Andy: With this CD were still so early on.   I think the ultimate goal is just to be able to play in every city and throw CD's at the fans.

Brad: We wanted to make a CD that can play from start to finish and not skip around.   We wanted a person to be able to put it in and listen to the whole thing. 

Bob: And that goal was accomplished.  That to me is a lofty goal.  You can think that but I'll verify it because I listened to it over and over again and there's not a weak song on the album.

Bob takes a call from Jeremy in Pensacola Florida.

Jeremy: I want to know the favorite place you all toured.

Bob: I think it was probably that gig in Harrisburg the other night, don't you think?

Andy: No, that was the coldest Bob

Bob: Tell the Rockline listeners about that.  

Andy: Actually we did two.   On Friday we played a ski resort and Sunday we played another one.  Jack Frost Ski Mountain outside of Harrisburg PA.  We played outside on a flatbed trailer with the band Lit and a few other bands and it was about 20 degrees.

Kevin: That was not the favorite place.

Bob: When you go to a place called the Jack Frost Ski Lodge are you kind of expecting to see some snow and cold temperatures

Kevin: Absolutely

Andy: They have the F-14, turbo thruster heater engines up on the stage, you know your in trouble.  

Bob takes a call from Dave in San Diego California

Dave: What band that you toured with did you learn the most from or have the craziest time with?

Brad: Seven Mary Three

Andy: Seven Mary Three and The Samples

Kevin: The craziest time is a toss up between The Samples and Seven Mary Three, but I'd have to say that golfing with Seven Mary Three in New Orleans, semi clothed was one of the best touring dates we've ever had.

Andy: And losing a golf cart

Brad: We lost a golf cart and dented two other ones

Bob: We've gotta delve into this a little bit.  What are they doing semi clothed  and were you that way as well?

Kevin: Let's just say that it wasn't any of the three guys in this room that were semi clothed, but there were some naked men on the golf course that day.

Brad: They had a hard time keeping their drawers on on the seventh hole.

Bob: and somebody crashed a couple of carts.  I assume that wasn't you guys as well.

Kevin: Well you know, we plead the fifth on that.

Bob: A little fun going on on the golf course and when did this take place.

Kevin: That was late 97

Bob: It would be nice to hear something from Seven Mary Three, I haven't heard from them in a while.

Bob: We're gonna play "Superstation" off Holy Dogs.   Did you get any flak from TBS or is that just a term?

Andy: Not Yet we're waiting for Ted Turner to call up.

CD version of Superstation is played from Holy Dogs

Bob: There you go, Stir on Rockline.   Superstation the name of that.   There's some people talking through the songs on this album.   What's up with that?

Andy: Some of it was studio rhetorical jumbled garbage, but some of it was samples, but some it was just people at the subway station that we sampled.

Bob: It adds a little mystery to the album.

Bob takes a call from Jason in Greenbay WI.

Jason: How has your life changed since your first album and where do you guys see yourselves ten years from now?

Andy: Making some far out records

Brad: Our lives haven't changed that much.  The last record we toured non stop and this record's getting ready to come out.   We will tour indefinitely from this point on, so not a whole lot has changed.

Bob: Now you guys know that, but do you think the perception of your friends and those around you that think you've changed.

Andy: I think our immediate friends  have been with us since we started.   Our best buddies don't treat us any differently and I guess we don't treat them any differently.

Bob: That's a good thing.    Now you had to make this transition to that first album and now to this Stir-ling second effort.   what's the last day job each of you guys held?

Kevin: I worked at a guitar store

Brad: I substitute taught for a friend of mine at a behavioral middle school, which was quite an experience.

Bob: did it have an effect on you?

Brad: Yeah it tested my patience, but it was good though.

Andy: I taught Brad how to teach at a behavioral school  (everyone laughs)

Bob takes a call from Sheila in Dayton OH.

Sheila: Who were you talking about in "Climbing the Walls" and what does the title mean?

Andy: Climbing the Walls is about overcoming addictions, we all have them, be it from your peers, your surroundings, from anything and it's just trying to overcome what ever comes your way.

Bob: Now we were talking about sequencing, the way the songs are set up during Superstation (off air conversation) and you said that the album was a series of events.  Did hat help settle what song was first and on down the line, and in your mind that was the logical progression?

Andy: I think Superstation was the best pick for the first song because of the opening line "welcome to the party" and it just goes through a series of events throughout the whole record.   It kind of ties it up at the end.

Bob: takes a call from Vinnie in Detroit MI.

Vinnie: Are there any limitations to a trio format?

Andy: Starting off, yeah certainly because we did add a lot of things to this record that we didn't have on our previous release, keyboards and samples.   We do those live, so it will be interesting to see, when you come and see us, how three guys try to pull off what's on the record.  Believe me, we have not mastered it yet.

Bob: How long has it been since there were five guys in the band, how far back do we have to go for that.

Brad: Very primitive stages

Andy: The very beginning

Brad: It's almost like we were just jamming, We knew four songs and had to play for an hour, so we extended every song with extra guitar solos.  The other guitar player and percussionist took off pretty soon after we started, so we've been a three piece for a long time.  

Bob: If my memory serves me well, you guys formed at Columbia Missouri where the University is.  University of Missouri.

Brad: That's right

Bob: takes a call from Adam in Washington D.C.

Adam: How did you meet up with Train and how did that tour get evolved?

Brad: We first met Train several years ago.   Before we were on Capitol, we were on Aware Records.   Before Train was on Columbia, they were on Aware Records also, so we knew of each other long ago.   We just happened to play with them for one date in Lawrence Kansas in December and the show went well.   Because of that, we hooked up with them and we leave to go on tour with them the first week of April.

Bob: How long are you going to be with them, because I know in May your going to be out with Creed?

Brad: About four to five weeks and then were gonna jump right to Creed in May.

Bob: Anybody else in the Creed lineup?

All answer: Sevendust

Bob: One of the things I ran across was a quote saying you try to write stories personal to other people and I guess Andrew with you being the poet in the band, How do you accomplish that it seems like a daunting task?

Andy: I just want people to be able to plug in their own ideas and scenarios in each song.

Bob: You kind of listen to it and whatever it means to them is what you want them to take away from it.

Andy: Some of the songs are a bit personal, but you can kind of take them in a couple of different contexts.

Bob; Howard Benson produced your album, he's worked with P.O.D.  What did he bring out of the band.  What did he get Stir to accomplish that you might not have otherwise?

Brad: Our first record was done in Nashville and had kind of a twangy vibe to it.   Howard definitely offered the left coast street vibe.  He came from a very heavy metal background doing Motorhead records and hopefully some of that spread over our stuff.

Bob: You definitely have an edge on this album and I recommend this album highly.   They have overcome whatever sophomore jinx that may or may not exist in this world.

Bob: you guys Kiss fans?

All answer: Absolutely

Bob: We got them coming up Wednesday night on a special Rockline.

Kevin: We'll be listening

Bob: Congratulations again and thanks for being on Rockline and we'll see ya again, because this is going to be around for a couple of years without a doubt.

End of Interview

*Rockline sent me a CD copy of the show back in 2000 to post on the old site*


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