Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is Stan with the Stan and Shen show bringing you a bonus episode to our Belmont on Broadway preview we recorded earlier this week. We are less than 12 hours away from Belmont on Broadway kicking off with Michael Globicki and the uprooted band taking the stage, followed by the Gin Blossoms on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. I had the opportunity to interview Michael Globicki along with Jesse Venezuela, singer, songwriter and guitarist for the Gin Blossoms earlier this week. Here are a few moments from those phone interviews before the bands take the stage tonight. First up, Michael Globicki talking about his stop with the uprooted band.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Yeah, we've been through, I can remember maybe I'd say four or five times.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Throughout the years and love it up there.
Good food.
[00:00:54] Speaker D: That's. We, we had that. We have a lot of. We should put food on the sign versus horses, health and history. I mean food should be right up.
[00:01:02] Speaker C: There with the amount of restaurants and options that are available to everybody.
[00:01:08] Speaker D: One of the biggest things that came.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: About with your being a participant in Belmont on Broadway was that the running line was Naira CEO David o' Rourke's favorite band maybe making appearance on on Belmont on Broadway. And it so happens that it did come true. And you are the Naira CEO's favorite band and he can't wait to bring his son to see you with your legacy of music and obviously with dirt too. So.
[00:01:39] Speaker D: Pressure, flattery.
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. Knowing that, you know, it's going to be some little bit of added energy to the gig.
[00:01:51] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Especially with the kid coming, you know, you gotta.
[00:01:54] Speaker C: What's the, like the, the open air stage? Like is that early rusted root days or is that as you get bigger and better?
[00:02:05] Speaker B: I think like we, we kind of eat it up as far as like get our energy live, being outdoors and you know, feeling the breeze. And sometimes if it's, if it's rained, you can kind of feel like the crowd's energy kind of come up through the, the water and the ground and stuff. It's, it's. It's an interesting kind of different connection with the audience. You know, nature gets involved and really kind of helps us out. Connecting with.
Yeah, we just got back from Hawaii.
[00:02:41] Speaker E: Okay.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: And the west coast. So that's my first time in Hawaii playing, which is kind of surprising, but loved it. And the crowd was great. And I mean it was just me and Dirk playing as a duo and we really kind of, we like those gigs too because it's really intimate and you can kind of really connect with people in an intimate way and different dynamics and quieter dynamics to loud dynamics.
But you know, getting started with this is kind of a big jolt for us. You know, we're, we're pretty excited to come up and get it going again.
[00:03:22] Speaker D: You, you had the career with Rusted.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: Root and now, you know, you got the duo and then you've also, you know, coming up with, with Uprooted. Is this a second or a third act, do you think? Is this just, or is just, or is this one continuous act and it just has evolved for you?
[00:03:40] Speaker B: I would say there's, there's, it's one continuous act, but with many lifetimes, I can't. You know, Ruster Breed was magical and kind of, kind of young and naive feeling. You know, now that I look back on it, the duo was kind of like a, you know, it was like a soldier's journey of learning how to play that kind of music intimately in front of people. Coming off of the seven piece band.
So that, that was probably like where I learned the most as a musician, as a writer, as a performer.
And then this, this Uprooted is just sort of like, it's a, it's a perfect situation. It's, it's these people that first and foremost I get along with and love being around. And it's beautiful, beautiful energy of the group and it translates on stage to where I don't have to worry that much. You know, I know that our energy is going to carry it and sophistication of the musical, the musicians and the musicality is something that I can trust and know that I don't have to do anything. I, at this point I just enjoy it and kind of sometimes I'm like above myself watching it as a fan kind of thing.
And that feels really good for me because like, it's just a joy and it's, there's a lot of laughter in it. It was just Saratoga Springs, you know, I didn't, I didn't hear about, you know, the full event. When I was asked, I decided I just, I love going up there. I love the, the main drag there and, and I love the people up there and I love playing up there. It's, it's a musical crowd. It's people that rarely get down and, and dirty with it. You know, it's, it's a good feeling.
[00:05:42] Speaker C: But as you look down Broadway, you could potentially be playing in front of 20,000 of your closest friends.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: Oh, nice.
[00:05:52] Speaker C: You know, five, five blocks down tomorrow night.
What's that like as a Performer. I mean, everybody wants to play in front of a packed house, whether it be a club or a bigger venue or something like that. But what's, what's that like for you when you're looking out and you just see heads that are looking at you and, and they're there for you and your music?
[00:06:16] Speaker B: You can go one, you know, it can be nerve wracking or it could just completely be.
Completely relax me. And these days with a new band, I kind of feel more relaxed and confident and, and I don't mean like, I don't mean like a trying confident. I mean like it's just, you know that, you know that this is going to work and, and you know that the magic that you bring to the music is, is sometimes, sometimes can be scary just because it is so different. You know, it's like different every time we play. And like I said, the musicians do something different and, and I just kind of trust in that even more when there's a big crowd there.
[00:07:00] Speaker C: How is the, how's everybody else? They pretty, in a sense jazz? Because you know, we have jazz festival and less than a month away in.
[00:07:06] Speaker D: Saratoga, but I threw that in there.
[00:07:09] Speaker C: Are they kind of amped up and you know, excited for this, do you think?
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. Everybody's chatting and texting away and we're real excited and can't wait to get there tomorrow night.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Thank you, Michael. And next up, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jesse of the Gin Blossoms.
[00:07:32] Speaker D: And so first off, happy belated birthday.
[00:07:35] Speaker E: Oh, thank you very much.
[00:07:37] Speaker D: I wanted to add that and then also with that kind of like welcome back to Saratoga Springs because obviously so many dates, but I looked up and you guys were actually at Saratoga performing arts in 93 and, and 94. So you're back.
[00:07:57] Speaker E: You know what, we've been there since.
[00:07:59] Speaker D: Oh, have you been there?
[00:08:00] Speaker E: A few. We've been there a few times, like events and I don't know, I don't know if you guys do a barbecue festival or something. But anyways, we've always stayed right on that main drag and that beautiful.
It's just a fabulous place. I love it.
[00:08:19] Speaker D: Fantastic.
So you're headlining Belmont on Broadway. So the Belmont Stakes are out of Elmont here for the second year in a row.
And last year was the first ever, you know, closed down Broadway free concert, 20,000 plus filled Broadway. I think it was a tad higher than the 20. I mean they didn't exaggerate on the 20 and it was just so well received. And this year they kind of Condensed it with. With two brand, two bands with uprooted and yourselves.
How is this for you? Is this like, kind of like when you're. Like when the band was starting out and getting out there or being a part of a big headlining show.
What's an open air kind of like for you? What's that experience like?
[00:09:07] Speaker E: Well, long. We're in open air, so it's nice. It's very joyful.
And you, you play a little differently, hopefully. And you.
You can engage and resonate.
So it's much different than when you first start out, usually in small bars or clubs and low ceilings and either very cold or very hot and nothing in between.
So you're either wearing a parka and singing or just in a T shirt because it's so hot. But I prefer this.
I gotta be honest with you, this time in my career is a joy.
And to come to a place like this and play outdoors, oh, it's just, it's great. You can take a walk during the day and play that night, have a glass of wine and go to bed and do it again.
[00:10:06] Speaker D: Exactly. And how did this set up? You know, you get an invite, you know, the powers that are there, you know, use their contacts, and the band gets an invite, you know, was there an attraction? Because again, you're going to meet up with John and Blues Traveler in a cut in a little on July 4, you know, and Blues played last year. They headlined last year at the same event.
Yeah. So I, I know the comments we received from everybody, that was well received by the band. They were really happy. They couldn't believe the turnout. So I didn't know if that juice kind of helped, you know, our pitch to, to the, you know, to man and can or.
[00:10:46] Speaker E: I didn't know. I didn't know that they had been there last year. We just, we were just with them a few days ago in Hollywood and that was a real fun time. It's. It's a. They're great guys to. They're great band to watch and, and really terrific people. So it's going to be a nice, beautiful summer with them. But no, you know, honestly, playing Saratoga this, this, this week is.
It's really the highlight playing shows like that.
You know, it's a, It's a great city. It's fun to walk, as I said, because we've been there quite a bit through the years.
[00:11:18] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:11:19] Speaker E: And I've always loved walking on those little curio shops and getting a piece of fudge.
[00:11:27] Speaker D: Yeah. Everyone will be glad to hear that.
[00:11:31] Speaker E: And maybe A seltzer water.
[00:11:34] Speaker D: Yes, absolutely. Our famous blue bottles, our famous Saratoga water.
[00:11:39] Speaker E: I. I know. I. And that's the first thing I thought of when they said, hey, Saratoga. I said, man, I'm in.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: Oh, that's.
[00:11:47] Speaker E: Weather's always great.
[00:11:49] Speaker D: Is there with this kind of kicking off, do you experiment more with, with your, with your set or is this. Do you just go with our tried and true. What are you doing that like first one out for us?
[00:12:07] Speaker E: I mean we play all the time, so it's not, you're not getting them a ban off the bench where we've been getting our innings in. So we're fully, fully loaded and ready to, to bring the music.
[00:12:25] Speaker C: What's.
[00:12:26] Speaker D: And again, when you, you know, you're an established band, you're established name, you've got those hits, you've got that history and what's that like is again, as we say, a little bit later in your career, but when you're playing venues and you're seeing, you know, adults, you know, and their kids and your music is crossing generations, what's that like when you're on stage? And I know there's always that the phrase about people singing you back your lyrics, you know, well, it's nice, you know, it's.
[00:12:59] Speaker E: It's a good time. It's. Our job is to. Is to play the. Play the songs that people remember and want to hear.
And I have a very joyful life, you know, playing music and, and getting to do that. I've been in my own mind, very successful for a long time because I have been able to play music since a pretty young age.
And when you get to do something you love for a living, I hope that I'm smart enough to appreciate it and always try to do my best.
[00:13:38] Speaker D: Like I said, this kind of kicks off.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: You saw John and everybody there and.
[00:13:42] Speaker D: You'Re going to meet up.
The hardest question I usually ask people on my podcast is what's next?
Is the hard question for a lot of people.
[00:13:55] Speaker E: I've been, I've been really busy this in last year writing for film and TV and some other artists and, and it's. It's a great, it's a great, it's really, it's the ultimate for me. I really enjoy doing that.
So right now I'm coming off that and trying and going to enjoy this summer tour.
So I've kind of got a schedule in the mornings. I can work for a couple hours on music I'm working on and then have my lunch and take a walk and play a show.
So I think when the tour ends September, I'll probably take a couple, take a week off and then head back to Los Angeles and get back to work.
[00:14:52] Speaker D: Do you have the best of both worlds? Because you have that morning where this is about Jesse and Jesse's work and Jesse's projects, and then later on you get to do that thing that you've known and been passionate about also.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:15:10] Speaker E: I think you just hit it right on the head. I think that was greatly expressed.
You know, I get to do these things.
It's a pleasure and it's an honor.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: I can't thank these two people enough for taking the time to talk to me and look forward to seeing them perform tonight.
Look for myself along with Shen on Broadway today and this evening.
Say hello and get a small token of our appreciation as a keepsake and.
[00:15:39] Speaker D: As always, love your life.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: It's the only one you have.
[00:15:43] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Stan.
[00:15:44] Speaker F: And I'm Shen.
[00:15:45] Speaker D: And each week we bring you the Stan and Shen Show.
And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the capital region. We touch on food, we touch on news, try to touch heavily on good news. And Shen's always available with hot takes.
[00:16:02] Speaker F: Yeah. So if you could follow along and listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms, we'd love to have you join us.
