024: Ryan Bingham

Episode 024 is with singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham. We talk about his early roots and proper debut album Mescalito, evolving as a writer and storyteller, discovering new sonic territory, living in California, and his latest album, Fear and Saturday Night.

Interview Transcript

Note: Transcripts aren’t always accurate since they are computer automated and haven’t been edited for spelling, grammar, etc.

Thomas Mooney 0:06

Okay, everyone, welcome to another episode of the newsletter podcast. This is episode number 24. I'm Thomas Mooney, the editor, writer and curator of new slang. So this week's episode is one of our oldest, perhaps most written about artists and singer songwriters since we started a new slang a few years back, it's Mr. Ryan bingum. If you look, you know, through our archives, I'm guessing there's probably, I don't know, three or four past interviews with Brian a handful of articles and about I guess, Ryan's career and probably like our biggest undertaking as a as a site. This old song catalog tournament that we did a while back at the time, we had taken 68 of Ryan's songs and which was basically like all what he had written at his in his career at the time. And then essentially, you know, put them all together into this big tournament and kind of decided what was his quote, best song. So it was basically Tomorrowland, junky star, Roadhouse sun, mescal Leto. Some stuff he did on various soundtracks, some pre mescaline material that we selected that was on either like wishbone saloon or Dead Horses or what have you, any of the I guess the the demos before that he you know that you record it on its own and worse on at shows during those early days. So yeah, we were pretty excited to finally get Ryan on the podcast while he was down in Midland this past Thursday. He's currently on this four or five week tour with Brian Fallon, who you probably know as the lead vocalist of Gaslight anthem. He just recently put out a solo record called pain killers. And then also one of our favorite songwriters going on going around right now. And he was actually if you go back to episode number 12 he was on the the podcast, Mr. Paul coffin. They're essentially on this is gonna be over in the east or on the East Coast, these next few shows. So if you're around in New York, or Boston, DC, Atlanta area, and you want to go to one of these shows, just go and search for them on Facebook and get some more details on on their schedule. So I'm not going to you know, just ramble off and like give you every single note on the show or anything like that. But I'll give you I guess a few tidbits of information. So Paul, you know, he opened up the show acoustic and now I kind of was expecting him to play full band. So I have to admit I was a little slightly disappointed at the very beginning thinking you know that he's playing acoustic only I wanted to see him full band because for banishes the experience with ball. But you know, about five minutes in that just seemed a little foolish to even why that even crossed my mind. Yeah, I really think like, it's just all because of Paul's voice. It's this, you know, this powerful Waylon Jennings kind of whale to it. There's a little bit of this Elvis swagger and some like Marty Robbins, Western textures to it. A little bit of like band morson horn aspects, I guess, to it. But yeah, this record is amazing. And like I said, if you haven't already listened to it, go back to episode number 12. We, me and Paul really go into talking about the making of this record on that podcast. So yeah, go and do that. After this, of course. You know, I guess it's just one of those things. When you're in a band like Gaslight anthem, I think people I wouldn't necessarily say that they think that you're going to be playing this Gaslight anthem songs or anything like that. I think you have to go a little bit more credit than that. But the same time, I think there is a little bit of the crowd hoping that you'll go into some of them. Personally, I think you're just really kind of setting yourself up for disappointment. If you do that. You know, this was not a gaslight anthem show. This is Brian Fallon. Brian ballin in the crow's. And like I mentioned before, Brian, he has this new record called painkillers out which I guess was was At least back in March, I hadn't really dived into the album, when it was released. I had only the you know, listen to,

I guess some of the late late night performances and, you know, the promotion single kind of stuff. I guess, like, you know, I wasn't really too familiar with this new material, but I thought it was pretty amazing. Since then, you know, I've really gone back and listen to the album, given it's given its proper attention, I guess. And, you know, I think like one of the most, I guess, interesting aspects of the night was the kind of I don't know if I would necessarily call it culture shock between Brian and and these West Texans. But like this little bit of culture shock, and I guess, sharing of culture that was happening in between songs. I think there was definitely like an aspect to Brian's interaction with the crowd. That was supposed to be a little sarcastic. But genuine, genuinely, I think it was a little bit just because that's just the way Brian is just that natural, kind of like, New Jersey and attitude. The attitude is a little bit in his voice, the way he's talking to people. And I think it kind of made some people think he was angry or something, or, I don't know, not necessarily happy being onstage or something. You know, I think like, one of the funniest things was just people, I guess, differentiating West Texas and the rest of Texas. And, like, Brian kind of found that strange, in a way, or at least funny. It was some of the best, like stage manager I've heard in a while, you know, one of the things he he was talking about was, how Brian wanted to take him shopping and get him a cowboy hat and boots and stuff like that. And I really do think Ryan should go out and get a hat. If he's not been taken hat shopping, while in Texas, you know, I hope they stop at a shop someplace and in Nashville, maybe get Brian a Stetson open road or something like that. Think it would be a nice little look for. So like I mentioned before, these next few weeks are going to be up on the east coast. And I'm kind of assuming that the roles of Brian and Brian are going to be a little bit reversed. Once they're up in the northern territories. You know, down in Midland, it was very much a bingum show. More so than that then of being like this double bill a headlining ordeal. And you know, there was a I guess a lot of the ryan beat the quote unquote Ryan fucking being chanters out in the crowd if you just catch my drift on what kind of people I'm talking about, which I don't know like there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. I just think it's kind of funny. Just you know, these guys you're out there just broke claiming their love for Ryan in the chanting Brian fucking bingum 100 times in between songs. Every song You know, I've seen Ryan I guess three times now since this past November. And you know, I still think like it this moment during the show always has I don't know if it's caught me off guard. But like it's it's one of those like, Oh, I did not realize this was gonna be the best moment of the show. And the best moment to me is them turning Bluebird into this really this like rock and roll Opus? Just the way they have transformed it into this. You know, like this 10 minute burner, if you will. And if you go back and listen to the original version on Roadhouse son I guess like the bones of that are in there, but it's very much a I guess, you know, just like a three I guess maybe a four minute song that's contained to the love song and everything. But uh, it really I guess, they give it the some breath and some space when they play it live and so it turns into this really, I guess transfer more transformational piece it it really kind of like, sets the the tone for the entire show. And I don't know like it's weird because You would think that that is a song like, I don't know, like Southside of heaven or

like we recounted or hallelujah or whatever would be like the best moment of the show and and really like the bluebird really outshines them all because it's not just about the lyrics. It's not about just the guitar or rich Bowden's fiddle, it's all of it all kind of combined. And I don't know, to me that that's the best moment of these Ryan being in shows. So the last few years.

Anyways, I could probably ramble on about the show and just really bad like Paul, Bryan and Ryan's music for a while. But we'll save that conversation for like Facebook or Twitter or something. Speaking of which, if you're not following us on any of those, go to do so. We're at New slang on Facebook and new slang, underscore lbk on both Twitter and Instagram. Go ahead and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Now, if you haven't done so already. And if you can go in and give us a rating and review on there, it really does help us out. It plays into the whole iTunes algorithm aspect. And, you know, if we get more ratings and more reviews, and all that kind of good stuff, we can get more, I guess, cooler people like Ryan on here, which that's not a dig at any of these people we've already had on before we've had some pretty good guests on. So yeah. Also, I'd like to give a giant thank you to one of our good buddies, Jason Adams. He's a supporter and proponent of genuine live music and art out here in Texas. And he's really been a good friend of new slang for a while now. So yeah, thank you, Jason. for all you've done. Okay, so yeah, here's our conversation with Brian. Thanks. Okay, so even after sound checking, I've heard you was, I guess we'll see twice the night or hear you twice tonight. Okay. Where'd you do the the Bob Dylan cover? That added into the set now? Yeah, we've

Ryan Bingham 12:23

been we've been doing that a bit. You know, this is kind of the tail end of touring on this record. And we've been playing touring quite a bit over the past couple of years. And so some of these cities, we're coming back to for the second time. So we thought we'd mix it up and play some songs by other other folks as well that, you know, have inspired me over the years and just had to give the fans a bit of a different show as well than just the same song. So

Thomas Mooney 12:48

I think like the last few times, I saw you You did the Terry Allen cover. Okay. It'd be a low and sunny Southern California. Yeah, it's a love Terry. You play that on mandolin? I don't I think that's a really good little mix up there.

Ryan Bingham 13:03

It's great. And I've loved that song for so long. I love you know, I've loved all of Terry's songs for so long. So yeah, we've done that. We've done dogwood done a few other ones, too. So we just been trying to mix it up, you know, night tonight.

Thomas Mooney 13:17

Yeah, Terry's just like, we've talked about Terry before. And he's, I think, like right now, starting to get some recognition now in the national exposure. Yeah. Yeah. When was the first time you met Terry, like, well, how was that first meeting?

Ryan Bingham 13:35

Now I met Terry. I want to say over 10 years ago, did a friend of mine out here in West Texas and I, you know, I don't even really remember exactly where it was, if we were at a party at some hotel, and everybody was hanging around playing music, you know, in the courtyard and, you know, somehow get a guitar got passed to me and I played a song and we all just kind of hit it off. And I kind of met Terry and Joey Lee and all the flatlander guys, all those guys about the same time. And, you know, I just remember kind of hearing Terry's music and seeing some of his artwork and things like that. And it just, it kind of I can't even think of the word right now. But it just kind of in all the things that I kind of had going on in my mind and in my heart and soul about how I felt about the world and kind of music just it

it's kind of made it I'll just drove it all home. You know, it was like, it just made it all you know, it made it made sense. And I was like, wow, okay, you know,

Thomas Mooney 14:45

I'm not the only one that feels like this. You know, that makes sense. One of the big things for me with Terry, and like, the guy that the flatlanders and anyone really from West Texas was, you know, growing up in West Texas, you kind of only get like that top layer of culture, TV, you know, yeah, the h1. And then all of a sudden, as long as like your parents weren't in the art world, if your parents were in the art world, you know, okay, that easy to get there. Yeah. But then once you start discovering music on your own, and you hear these guys for the first time, and you go, Oh, these guys are from where I'm from, you know, and it, I guess it, it opens that door up for you in your mind where you're like, Oh, these guys were from here, and they're singing about here. And it just makes it so easy to relate to, you know,

Ryan Bingham 15:32

it's like, oh, there's your tribe, you know, people. Yeah, that's where it is, like, that's where I belong right over there. Yeah, and I've been longing for that my whole life. And I finally found them, you know, that's what's

Thomas Mooney 15:45

like the, I guess like, we kind of like romanticize the the 70s in Lubbock, thinking about like, the flatlanders gioielli. Jimmy Dale, like the mains brothers, Terry, like, I don't know, in my head, like, I have it in my head, like, that all happen in a year. And they were all just hanging out putting out records. And, you know, it's, it really didn't happen that way. It's all talking to those guys who just like, it was a little bit more boring than,

Ryan Bingham 16:17

yeah, it was still flat and dusty out there. Yeah, you know, at the same time, and even even more. So. I mean, gosh, you know, if you think about how, now limited things, things are on the on the radio, or just kind of all the things that you're exposed to, you know, being from Hobbs just right across the border is just, you know, there just wasn't a lot there, what they weren't throwing a lot your way, you know, and so, to hear that music, and see what those guys are doing for me was like, oh, man, that's, you know, I can't believe that that's going on right now. You know, that's how it went. It was just that was probably the biggest influence, and the biggest motivator for me, of all didn't even consider playing music or even thinking I could do something with it, you know?

Thomas Mooney 16:59

Yeah, those guys, like, what I find so interesting is, you know, they started out in their 20s. But they're still going at it right now. And to be able to, like, create that longevity, and like, kind of stay at your core the same, but then also grow as a songwriter. Have you thought about like that, in your head is like, how do I stay relevant? How do I stay true to being a songwriter? as I grow older?

Ryan Bingham 17:28

Yeah, you know, I felt like, that's kind of one of the things I learned from them early on, you know, was just kind of the importance of, of just kind of, you know, writing honest music or songs, you know, I think you don't really have to worry about it that much. It'd be this, a friend of a friend of ours that I met through through Terry and Joe, and everybody is an artist from New York, their name is Kiki Smith. And she told me one time she said, Ryan, if you just take care of your art, your art will take care of you. And, you know, that was something that really hit home with me. And, you know, when you think about the big picture of it, all of you know, the industry and the longevity and all of that stuff. It's, you can dig into it as much as you want, you can get as complex as you want with the issues and think about, well, how do I do this? And how do I do that? And how am I gonna maintain what I'm doing. But at the end of the day, if you just keep it really simple, and just take care of your art, you know, it will, it'll take care of you and not even think about the rest of that. Don't even worry about it, you know, don't stress out about it. Just, you know, just make the kind of stuff that you're inspired to make and that makes you feel good. And like I've said it a lot like I've always thought that songs were a bit of like having a conversation with someone, you know, how do you expect someone to believe what you're saying, if you don't believe it yourself? And whether you know, you're writing fiction or nonfiction, you know, it's there's Terry says it's best, you know, it's, you know, half truce, truce, and half lies and all kinds of different directions. But at the core of it, there's something in there that, you know, you're deeply influenced by or had a big impact on your life, whether you are very literal literal about it or not. So, at the end of day, if you're just, you know, if you're kind of slinging stories out there, that doesn't mean that they're, they're all just made up. Yeah, that's Terry songs. You know,

Thomas Mooney 19:22

I mean, I was actually gonna bring down a series specifically because I've had this conversation with probably five or six songwriters, this is the song truckload of art. It sounds so real, but then if you think about it, you're like, no, that's there's no way that happened. But like, probably did, you know, it is one of those like, it did happen. Like it just feels so real. that it could have happened, but also at the same time you think about you like, is it? There's no way that really,

Ryan Bingham 19:56

yeah, a lot of there's a lot of stuff too. There's a lot of that stuff in there that did I And you know that it's just like, wow, you know, I've heard stories from those guys and experienced a few stories alone out here too. And you know, realize real quick that it's not all made up.

Thomas Mooney 20:12

Yeah. How do you like, when you look back at songs that are, I guess now run on 10 years old? How do you relate to them? Now you kind of like keeping that mindset of like, when you play a song that was written 10 years ago? Do you kind of go back to that time? Or do you see the songs different and, and evolve after you've obviously a demand I,

Ryan Bingham 20:39

I see I'm different in some ways, but they really take me right back there, right into right back when I wrote them, you know, those same feelings and emotions of you know, how it all out can that's to me, one of the, the way that I can keep playing songs every night, you know, they have to really mean something to me, for me to get up and sing them night after night after night, you know, on stage and you know, and have that kind of conversation with people to the song. So, I mean, they've definitely evolved. And I think some of the songs to that I i've came to realize what they're about more now than I did when I wrote them, you know, a lot of that stuff kind of comes from your subconscious. And in the moment, you're just writing it down, or Vince venting it off your chest and letting it hang out there. And then sometimes it's a few years down the road, I'll be like, I'll listen back to it, I'll play and I'm like, Oh, that's what, yeah, that's what that was all about.

Thomas Mooney 21:32

Like, what was like the, what's been like, the biggest, like revelation in a song that you've learned,

Ryan Bingham 21:37

you know, it's kind of not really anything specific. It's just kind of deep personal things, you know, whether it's through family or things I grew up as a kid that I didn't really understand in my early years, or maybe it's about society about things going on the world, just, you know, in your late teens, early 20s, there's, you know, I felt like, especially coming from small town in West Texas, and then traveling the world and, you know, over in Europe and Australia, and all across the country, I mean, even within the United States, you know, you go from here to New York, or LA or in between, there's so many different subcultures and different things going on in the country that you're just exposed to a lot really fast, you know, and it can, it was very humbling, very kind of scary at the same time, and you know, something's gonna make you angry, you know, things going on in the world, socially, and politically. And, you know, you wonder why you're growing up, and nobody really ever talks about that stuff. Or, you know, you start hearing other perspectives from people that live in different places in the world, and start building your own ideas, you know, yeah, start seeing the world through your own eyes, and not through everybody else's, that you're raised by, or, you know, or wherever you live. And so that was, you know, part of growing up, you know, I'm part of kind of going through that phase and kind of, you know, having like a slight rebellious, you know, attitude towards the world, and then kind of come around growing a little older and starting to understand maybe why I was feeling that way. And, yeah, why those things meant the way they did to me and, then, and then settling in for the long haul. Yeah, having to get started a family and having kids and, and, you know, really start, start thinking about what's important in life and, and to solve those transitions, I guess, you go through and music has been right there along the way. Each song, each album, I think, I've written is almost feels like it's been a chapter in a journal throughout in the life of just different phases have gone through and, and keep building off those same songs. You know, I look back and think, you know, Man, I wish I would have took a little bit more time writing that song, or, you know, maybe I wrote that line, and it means something to me, but most people take it out of context. Yeah. And that's a big thing that, you know, I've learned over the years is to go back and look at songs. And not not to be, you know, just dwell on them too much, you know, some things, you just kind of got to let them be what they are. That's how you learn from your mistakes. Let that stuff, hang out there and see how people react to it, and then figure out how you want to say it the next time, you know, big believer in that. That's, you know, some of the biggest things that I think I've gone through musically, and

Thomas Mooney 24:19

yeah, you've been doing these bigger tours as of late these last couple of years. And I guess you were you were part of that bigger, like, Bob Dylan tour there for a while. When is these tours that you're, you know, it's so scheduled out? Like, what do you do in that time to kind of discover the area that you're in? Like, you know, like, for example, yesterday or earlier today, you posted a photo of you out in the White Sands, New Mexico. What do you what do you do to get those moments of where you're actually able to saturate the culture of a certain place instead Just being in a Yeah,

Ryan Bingham 25:02

it's hard sometimes, you know, like, he just you have to, you have to kind of fight for a little bit more, you know, whenever you have those days off, you know, you try to like, plan ahead and be like, okay, where am I gonna be on Thursday and you know, I've got a couple hours what's close by, you know what I want to go check out what I want to see. Sometimes it helps a lot just fans or local people in the area and hit you up on social media and tell you about cool things to check out whether it's a restaurant or whether it's a historical site or you know, a museum or just something that's interesting in town that you haven't seen before. And you start looking at you know, facts and you know, bad chicken cities and things like that, but it's it's a little more difficult, especially on the bus. It's nice traveling, but you're kind of tied down to that bus and whatever alley at parks and you're stuck to that dumpsters parked next to in the alley behind the arena. But yeah, I mean, I did a that tour with Willie last summer. And he was it was all in big arenas across the country. And you'd play the show and go to sleep on the bus at night and you'd wake up in the bus would be parked inside of an arena in a garage. You know, you just wake up me. You could be anywhere in the world. Yeah. And you need to get out and they're just the Rena would be surrounded by cornfields. Yes. You wouldn't have anywhere to go you just hang out. But yeah, well, that's

Thomas Mooney 26:19

one of those things driving up here. I saw that photo you posted and I was like, why? No, it's not gonna be a problem today in Midland. Yeah, you're gonna just see go rides get drunk and ride some pump Jacks is the walk them all

Ryan Bingham 26:34

the way to like the White Sands yesterday, it was awesome. You know, we got up a bit, it's a bit of a process and we went and rented a car and kind of got, you know, between us and Brian found band, the guys in his band, we just kind of sent to the word out like, Hey, man, we got a we got a van going to White Sands does anybody want to go and have everybody loaded up and we went out there and had a blast and has a great day off and went and had some good food last night and then rolled in United States it would get to where we play a lot more music to on the bus because you get to where you're just sitting around, you don't really have anywhere to go, but we got all the instruments around and we'll sit on the bus and we'll start working up cover songs, you know, songs about people we really like and so that's been you know, one thing of just playing a lot more music, and we get a little bit more time to sit and work on things like that. And, and then just getting a little older too. We're not always heading straight for the bar. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 27:28

Yeah, the, like, who on this tour on any of these stores? Have you met that? You know? I guess that you were officially like starstruck with digit like whenever you met Willie was it kind of like,

Ryan Bingham 27:43

man, I don't know about Willie so much. So I met him. I met him a long time ago, I used to play in the role bar that his role manager had putti lockup there that outside of Austin to hilltop. But I there was somebody that met recently where he was just, you know, I think I think that on that deal and tour, you know, I mean, I've always been a big fan of him, but I've never had any expectations of ever meeting him. And when he started getting us up on stage to, to play the weight the bands. Yeah, you know, that was pretty cool. And, you know, every time we'd play the song, and he'd come over and shake your hand and say, thanks for coming on the tour and stuff like that. And I don't know if I was really starstruck, but it was just kind of like, now, you know, it's just really surreal. Yeah. I mean, being around all those even you know, the Wilco guys and my Morning Jacket. And that whole tour was, was just fantastic. Everybody was so friendly. And, you know, a lot of times, kind of those collaborative tours and festivals and things people can be quite jaded and conceited and lot of egos floating around the room and people don't really collaborate, they kind of stick to their corners and things like that. And, but you've, the more that I've realized getting around kind of the people that are real professional and that have done it for a long time, they're all pretty open and they don't really have anything to be insecure about and they're always willing to collaborate and get you up on stage and and have fun if everything's going in the right direction, you know, and so that was such a refreshing you know, just to kind of meet some people like that were just really open and you know, not just kind of sticking in the green room in the back and telling you to come out when it was your turn to play and to hide out till it's your time you know, so it gave me a really a fresh perspective on tour and and even playing music and want to do even more

Thomas Mooney 29:34

you know, like, I guess right? When you released tomorrow land there were some critics who weren't the biggest fan of the record just because it was such a different direction. Like a rock record kind of thing. Like were you did you think that was gonna happen were you like bracing for some people aren't gonna like this?

Ryan Bingham 29:57

Oh, yeah, yeah. from the get go that, you know, it wasn't going to be, you know, what people were expecting. And but at the same time, that's not really what I was in it for, you know, I wasn't really in it to milk the machine and, and do that, and if anything it was, you know, that was kind of one of those moments in my life that I was kind of in that rebellious phase anyway, and I was ready to, you know, stick it to the man anyway. Yeah, I really didn't care too much. I mean, it was hard. It was definitely hard. And, you know, people can be rough on you. But at the same time, I think it was really good for me to do that. And it was a record that I felt like I needed to make, you know, those were songs that even if people didn't like them, you know, they were they're pretty honest songs for me about things that I was really going through and about things I really felt, you know, and so, you know, at the end of the day, if I would have made that same record with the same lyrics and songs, but would have used fiddles and mandolins, and banjos and shakers on it, you know, probably would have got a lot of a different response. But it was just, you know, all the heavy guitars and all of that, you know, probably people decide, I'll bring him lost his mind. to California. Yeah, call me liberal login lives out in California Now breathe and all that weird air.

Thomas Mooney 31:14

Yeah, but uh, you know, I guess like, that's one of those things about you, you're you kind of live in, I guess, it's just because you've been in the Texas circuit, playing dive bars, and forever, you kind of do have that. Two careers as far as like, people in Texas, and then people in American, you know, that national fan. And I think like, a lot of Texas fans were just like, we've we've lost our guy. Yeah. And it's kind of like one of those where, you know, you got to share some people, you know,

Ryan Bingham 31:46

is interesting, you know, but like, guys, like Terry Allen, you know, gave me the, you know, probably the confidence to make a record like that, you know, they're the ones are like Joe and then like, and these, you know, I mean, they're the ones that inspired me to, you know, to think outside of the box, and not just kind of follow down the wormhole of what everybody else is, you know, kind of going through and, and not to say that it's any better than what anybody else is doing or anything like that. It's just kind of No, I kind of just thinking in a different way and acting on it and, and kind of making hearing those different sounds and traveling around the country and the world, you have just been influenced by different music and different kinds of bands. And, you know, it's interesting, I'll go over to Europe and play like small clubs, and the crowds will be a little bit older and a little more reserved, but at the same time, they want to hear all the songs like tomorrow land all the heavy, like guitars and rock and roll and, and it's just such a strange, you know, to kind of go from one to the other. Yeah, different places and, and just hear what people are wanting to hear what songs people want to hear. You know, it's it's really interesting.

Thomas Mooney 32:58

Yeah. What's, uh, I guess, like, here in Texas is probably more like mescaline or area where they want man, it's

Ryan Bingham 33:04

changed a lot. It was, you know, I say it was a couple years ago, but now I think it's felt like there's been kind of a shift in the where the fans have been really pretty open to things and and it's really interesting to see how much that Tomorrowland record has really grown on some people too. Yeah. Like I you know, at first people just, you know, really lashed out against it and all that and then now and then I get a lot of people at shows calling out for those songs. You know, I don't know if maybe it just took longer for that record to reach other people that like that kind of music or Yeah, there's been some kind of crossover within you know, different you know, fan bases and stuff and yeah, but it's been really interesting show to show to hear kind of songs that what people will, you know, kind of call out in the crowd.

Thomas Mooney 33:50

Yeah, I think like one of the big things for me is always you know, in our culture, you have to do an album review and you've had the record maybe like a month, two weeks and you're supposed to have some kind of take on it and you know, records don't you don't absorb a record in two weeks. Now. You know, it takes time to really try and figure out what that person's saying and like when they're going for and you know, obviously some records soak in a lot quicker but like some records that takes some investment in yeah listening to and

Ryan Bingham 34:24

really figuring out even takes it my own records for me like I said, like I'll like you know, a year down the line I'll go back and listen to some of those songs and oh, that's you know, that's what I'm really that was what I was really kind of probably going you know thinking about you know, so yeah, you're right it takes a while for me to

Thomas Mooney 34:43

Yeah, now I guess like you're What are you like four records in four? official? Yeah. How do you pick that setlist now because that's that's a lot of songs, you know, to choose from.

Ryan Bingham 34:57

Yeah, you know, I just try to mix it up and Um, we try to kind of, you know, have all the songs down to so if people are really calling songs out in the crowd, you know, yeah, we can, we can mix it up like and then making a set a setlist for the tour and having a whole list of some cover songs and then kind of everything is everything's on the table everything's getting you know, you're gonna have to have it ready to go. Yeah. And then it's fun for us to to be able to mix it up each night and play different songs and things like that. It's it's been a cool experiment in a ways like, in some ways, it's kind of it's, it's interesting if you keep the setlist the same for three or four nights, because the band will just get to where, you know, you're not even thinking about playing the songs in this all of a sudden deals, the band will start doing things with this, the songs just come from wherever that place is. And, you know, sometimes if you mix it up too much every night, it just kind of creates this hesitation because you don't really know what's coming next or your instead of just being in the song that you're playing, you're trying to think about what the next song is going to be and this and that. But sometimes if you make that setlist and you know, it's gonna be what the show is gonna be for that night, man, it just like everything hits so hard and so solid. And that's a pretty cool feeling, too. So, yeah, kind of go back and forth between the two.

Thomas Mooney 36:16

Yeah, um, you know, writing, like, I know, like you, you kind of go out, and you have these ideas. And that's where you kind of go and work on your songs. And especially like this last record, I remember you saying how you had like, a, like a little trailer or something. Yeah, and go out there and really work on the songs He's like, right now is that what you're kind of doing is like gathering those ideas and going like, this is a song I kind of want to do what you're doing like right now for Yeah, yeah, I

Ryan Bingham 36:47

am a lot of that come from being on the road, you know, I have to go out on the road for a while and just live I like I don't really carry a notebook and a pen around and just write down everything I see every day and try to try to more or less live in the moment. And then when I get home, like after this tour, I'll go home and, you know, probably find some solitude and just kind of think about and reflect on, you know, what I've been gone through in the past year or so. And then that's when the song start coming. Usually they pour out pretty quick, you know, like, just kind of keep that stuff, you know, building up building up and then get home and just open the floodgates. And then there it starts to come, you know, yeah. Anyway, that's how it's kind of been, you know, the entire house, but I'm always open to try new things. And like, I don't really have like a set way of, you know, this is the only way I can write songs and only way I can do it. I just, I just kind of try to wait for them to come to me.

Yeah, have you? Like, I guess, like the most of your catalogue is just you solo writing all those songs? Obviously, you've met a whole lot of really cool people and become friends, a lot of cool people, had there been opportunities to do any co writes or anything like that, or have you really ever gone down that road of I've tried it, you know, I haven't had much luck. I've got a couple of friends that I like to sit down with, it'll come up with music. But when it comes to lyrics and stuff, it's just, you know, I can, I'll come up with some ideas, but a lot of that stuff. So personal, like, it's just kind of a strange thing for me to sit down with somebody. I can write songs, if they're just kind of on the surface, you know, about whatever if it's some topics somebody wants to write about, but like to dig down for the deep stuff, you know, I've kind of kind of need to be on my own. I've tried to, you know, I've gotten kind of wrangled into some of those songwriter circles in Nashville and the cubicle rooms, and it's just so stale and weird place to write. It's so awkward. It's so weird. It's like, it's the most uninspiring thing I've ever done. Like, I'm gonna go, go get a job. Yeah, that's one of those things about, obviously, some great songs have come out of collaboration, but like, all amazing songs, but it's just for somebody else. But so much of it has to do with you know, I came here who it was, we were talking about this kind of thing. And they kind of said, like, you have to think about it as like you're giving up an idea and like you have one shot and doing this and really if it doesn't work, like there's no putting the toothpaste back. Yeah, ideas gone, you know, to really do anything with it after Yeah. It's a lot of trust. Yeah. And then somebody else, which we're sure

it is, man. And then, you know, if you get three or four people in the room, and you start going down with something you never know, you know, where they're going to take it after that. And then yeah, you know, I mean, it is kind of is what it is, but yeah, it was that's just not really my scene, you know?

Thomas Mooney 39:48

Yeah, I hear you. I know like, maybe one day you'll do like a collab record like Dylan Dylan did. He co wrote a couple records with that one dude from the Grateful Dead. Yeah, that was like, I don't know, blanket on a name.

Ryan Bingham 40:06

I'm totally into that kind of stuff of doing like a whole record or something like that, you know, and collaborate and writing songs and especially music wise, having some, you know, collaborate, you know, letting somebody else like I've got a good friend named Jed Hughes. It's a guitar player. I've known for a long time that we've kind of combined our studios and LA and we've done a bunch of stuff where he's built the music up, and I've kind of gone in there and you know, just started singing to him. And, you know, just kind of making things up like that. We've we've, we've come up with some pretty cool stuff. So I'm really into that that kind of

Thomas Mooney 40:38

Yeah, yeah. You've worked with some really great producers. T bone.

Mark forward.

What's the difference? Like, what's the difference between working with those guys?

Ryan Bingham 40:51

What's the different different hours of the day probably was the big thing. But, uh, yeah, I don't know, they all have their own things. You know, Mark was a lot more hands on as far as like playing in the studio. I mean, like on Becka Leto and Roadhouse son, I mean, you know, most of those guitar solos are, that's mostly art playing, you know, he played bass on that record, he played a lot of there, he played piano on that record, he really built a lot of the music on the on that stuff, you know, weird. You know, when I was with the Dead Horses weird, just a pretty rough road house band, you know, we, you know, I was probably the least musical person in the band, you know, I knew, you know, a handful of, you know, cowboy chords on the guitar. You know, Corby was probably the most versed, you know, having some kind of formal music training and, and, but other than that, Mark, you know, being able to play really built a lot of seven really taught me how to play in a band, you know, how to play with other musicians. And so that was a, you know, kind of like going to rock and roll school with Mark he's, but at first got to put electric guitar in my hand was on that record. He bought me this old Craftsman guitar for like 100 bucks on eBay and handed it to me with a slide and goes here, man, I think this fits your personality. Yeah, I didn't even know how to plug it in. You know, I've never even had an AMP before, you know. And really took that ride on the road. And like, the first time I played electric guitar was like at a gig. Yeah. I just way too loud up all the way. Nobody could hear anything in the band. And then by the time we got to work with T bone, yeah, we did that a couple of years of touring and under our belt and had a little bit more experience. But he was even, you know, he was just kind of like, you know, set up, like you're setting up in the living room of my house and just play the songs and I'll record them. Yeah, that was about it. Yeah, we did that whole record in three days. Really? Yeah. So you just track like five songs a day. And this, we did one out that the other and, you know, those a few things, if it just sounded horrible. He'd step in and be like, you know, you guys need to maybe go change the direction on this. Yeah. But, you know, I kind of think he understood that, we were only going to be able to play those songs, how we were going to be able to play them, you know, it wasn't like, we weren't gonna be even if he gave us a bunch of direction, you know, I don't know, if we were musically inclined not to take them to, you know, that far of a different place, you know, maybe where he would head in that. So that was kind of the experience with that record. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 43:22

You know, him saying, set up, like you're gonna play in my living room. Those songs are really like living room songs. Like those are those are, like, I want to hear those songs in a room of 25.

Ryan Bingham 43:33

And we did that too. I mean, we before we did the record, we went over to his house, and he's just like, man, I'll just set up in my living room. And we just sat like, just close in a circle around a table. We played all the songs for him to the whole, whatever how many songs I had. And he goes, this is doing just like that. We get over the studio notice put y'all in the same room, but some mics in front of you. And he said, let's just do that.

Thomas Mooney 43:56

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I thought there's, you know, it's one of those things where it's like, don't meet your heroes. Yeah, I think it's like I was expecting some, like, you know, t boned. He's wearing the sunglasses the entire time. Oh, he was just doing the way he talks with somebody else and then they tell you what to do that kind of thing.

Ryan Bingham 44:18

Know that he was there and in the room and you know, had a lot of input, you know, totally on getting sounds of amps. And you know, a lot a lot. There's a little bit more going on than just that. Yeah, I don't want to downplay it too much. But it was just what was really cool that I liked about t bone. It was the atmosphere you created was it it was such a laid back kind of, you know, you're so comfortable in there. Like you didn't really feel like you were on there was no pressure. You didn't feel like you're in the hot seat. You didn't feel like somebody was watching you and judging you to what you're playing. It was just really like, we're kind of sitting in the living room just having fun playing the songs and really in the songs you know, and I think the subtleties of of him creating that atmosphere was is kind of something that he's a master at. Yeah, you know a lot of producers or people you get in the studio with him and it's just not a very comfortable vibe, you know, you feel like there's pressure, they've got a lot of people in the room that you know, you don't even know who they are. And they're, you know, it's just you're sitting there pouring your heart out with these songs for the first time on an over a microphone in the studio. It's, you know, you kind of want people around you that you trust and that he know and you can kind of be in this headspace and and, you know, you don't have somebody over there filming you with their phone in the corner or whatever, something like that. It can it can get weird. So I really enjoyed that part of being in the studio with T bone of just kind of his subtle ways of creating an amazing kind of atmosphere. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 45:45

Well, we'll go ahead and let you go here. All right, about 30 minutes or so. All right. Good to see you guys.

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