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Hi, Odyssey fans. I'm Jesse. And I'm Bob. Welcome to the official Adventures in Odyssey podcast. Today on the podcast, we'll be talking to the man and the boy on the cover of April's Clubhouse magazine. Robbie Bruce plays Buck Melsner, and both of them are on the latest issue of Clubhouse.

And as important as it is to be on the cover, I think it's fair to say that that's not the biggest thing that's happened to Robbie lately.

Yeah, Robbie and Buck both have a lot going on in their worlds. You can find out what's changed for them by checking out that cover story in Clubhouse or by listening to our interview. Let's get right to it.

But only after we issue a... Spoiler warning! If you haven't heard Buck's story through Value of a Buck Part 2, you probably want to wait on this podcast until you do.

If you hurry, you can still listen to that episode online for free on the radio section of the website.

It's also available in the club, on CD and download, along with the rest of Album 80. Okay, is that enough? Is everyone gone who hasn't listened yet? No, we've been more than fair with our warning labels. Let's jump into our chat with Robbie. Hey Robbie, welcome to the podcast. Hey, glad to be here. Of course, you're an old friend of the podcast, and I say old, that's a relative term, meaning we've had you on a few times. But before we get to today's episodes, let's catch up on your life. A lot of young actors stay in film and TV. You've gone in a different direction. Lately, you've been working a lot in the live music world. What drew you to that?

i i think it was just my love for music in general i wanted to be a drummer as a kid you know as every parent's you know favorite dream nightmare right yeah exactly um but i mean i grew up going to church and that kind of gave me the itch for music and at some point i started uh someone gifted my sister and i you know our first microphone and uh a way to record yeah i'd always seen friends who could play guitar and all that kind of stuff and it was very very interesting intriguing to me and so that's that's kind of where where all of that kind of

came from so you run front of house yeah i put that in quote marks too um because i'm not even sure what that means so what do you do on a typical show day for uh the bands you work with

um so my role is actually production manager and front of house and for production managing is is pretty straightforward i'm you know managing the show i'm managing you know the band and their equipment and making sure that it's all running properly and that the show goes off on time at all times and i'm making sure the band is where they're at when they need to be of course um and then front of house is basically just running sound uh i'm sure a lot of church people can understand they see the guy standing at the back of the room behind this big plastic uh piece of machinery and they're pushing what are called faders or buttons. And, you know, they're making it hopefully sound really good. And I do my best to try to make sure that the audience can come away from the show, having experienced something really, really cool. Now, you know, we've done a

few Odyssey live shows, which are always eventful. You never know what's going to happen. Exactly. Can you give us one good, you won't believe this happened story from a concert that you've worked I mean, something that went sideways and then how you handled it.

Um, I think the worst thing genuinely that has happened in, in a concert for me is I lost complete power to my whole entire rig, a rig, meaning like my console, our monitor set up, no power in the room, shut off. Uh, what ended up being the linchpin to it was a stage hand, unfortunately stepped on one of our power supplies. And we lost, like I said, we lost complete power, uh, to the whole thing. And so the band was up there playing and then they realized what had happened. And I realized what had happened. I ran to stage from front of house, uh, and I fixed it. The guy was super apologetic and it was fine. It took maybe 30 seconds total of our show time, but you know, it's, it's obviously something that everyone notices, but it definitely is one of my worst nightmares to have that happen. You know, it happened to the Super Bowl once. You remember

that? Oh, I do. Yeah. And some of our listeners may be too young to remember that, but yeah.

I remember that. And of course, at the Odyssey live event, we just had for the 1,000th, you know, the one grand party. So it happens to the best of them, Robbie.

Yes. Yes, it does. I do remember the one grand party.

Right. You just roll with it and it's live, right? What can you do? Exactly. So you just keep going.

Yeah. Now, of course, when you travel with the bands, you're on the road together for a long time. You only have to deal with us for a couple of hours in the studio yeah is there a difference because uh of the amount of time that you spend

together on the road um there is a difference because we're literally living with each other for uh the last tour i went on was six weeks straight like we literally just were in we were in a bus thankfully um we weren't in a in a cargo van driving across the u.s we literally live with each other and i think the the biggest topic that always comes up is making sure that you're okay you know if anything comes up that's that's tough or even good you know learning to celebrate the good with everyone all that kind of stuff and and just helping each other communicate and just kind of be a little family together you know we're all there for each other yeah speaking of family

and being there uh it's not everybody knows this but you're a dad now hey congratulations

thank you thank you it's actually it's been a year now she is yeah it's been incredible absolutely incredible um her name is clara uh and she is absolutely beautiful and her and my wife are amazing together and she has just got such a little personality now it's nothing like what i would have ever expected there are good days and there are bad days but at the same time i know that i'm not in control of a lot of things and so it makes the bad days become more of a learning lesson of like, okay, well, didn't do that right today. Tomorrow, we'll get it better. It'll be

fine. That's right. If we worry that we're going to scar our kids, I think more often than not, they roll with it pretty well. Let me ask you this though, Robbie. First of all, what has been the most joyful surprise of fatherhood? And then going back to your previous thoughts about being on the road so much, what are you doing to try to kind of maximize your dad time? Because obviously this is a period in a child's life, a lot of changes happening and to be gone for extended

periods. It's hard. Yeah, it is hard. Emotionally, it's, it is very hard. Um, what we do while I'm on the road is we FaceTime a lot. You know, my wife is calling me, um, maybe two or three times a day. Uh, and we FaceTime with, with Clara. And so, but I think the biggest surprise to me that has come with fatherhood in general has been just the absolute amount of unconditional love that comes from a baby is incredible. You know, it makes me feel like I'm doing something right, you know? Yeah. And so, yeah.

There's almost that spiritual parallel, like you were saying, that unconditional love that you have for her and that she has for you. It's almost that same relationship that we have with god right he just loves us so much and we love him so much that sometimes being a dad just elevates that like you you understand it a little bit better uh than you did i was wondering like has becoming a dad changed the way you even connect to buck right like even particularly in the scenes that explore kind of his big brother protective side in his relationship

with Chase? It definitely has. I feel like it's definitely made me be able to see every issue or every situation with like a thousand foot point of view. And being a dad has definitely made me change my perspective on a lot of those kinds of situations within the show. On a lighter side,

And I have to ask this because we just get so many, you know, messages about this. And fans are kind of divided on which characters should end up together. Okay, so some are rooting heavily for Buck and Lexi, while others are on Team Buckles, right? They want Buck and Jules. So where do you land on the subject? And maybe has your answer changed over time?

I don't really know. I mean, I think Buck has a lot of exploration to be done before he gets into anything supremely serious. There's a lot of self-exploration. In simplest terms, I'm very neutral. I think the majority of the fans would like me to say Buckles, given that the Lexi thing is newer. Because, you know, Jules has been around for a long time now. Totally, yeah. They want that. And so I think that relationship has definitely grown and it'd be really cool to see through what that relationship would look like, whether it becomes, you know, something more or even if it's just sticking together as friends. You know, I think that relationship is really, really cool.

Yeah. Well, now it's time for our PRQ. A totally random question sent to us by a fan. Robbie, it's the middle of March, which really seems like the perfect timing for this question from AIO19DP. This person wants to know.

Do you have a favorite college basketball team? I mean, I don't watch college basketball, but I have always been a big supporter of the University of Texas, the Texas Longhorns. And so whether it's football or basketball, I know that they've been really good in the past and I haven't kept up with them as of late, but I would have to say that it's always college-wise, it's always going to be UT in my heart.

All right. So our fans out there who don't really have a rooting interest but are maybe watching some games this month, if they see Texas playing, they can root for them for your sake outside.

Right. Put on some burnt orange.

Yes. Yes. All right. Thank you, AIO19DP, for the question.

All right. So, Robbie, there's some very poignant scenes in these episodes. And you get another scene with Mr. Skint. And, of course, Buck's past with Skint is complicated, right? There's anger, grief, even loyalty on your part because he kind of helped raise you, mentor you. So your first scene ever on Odyssey was acting opposite of the character of Skint. So did you rewind mentally to those sessions from many years ago when you were doing these current scenes?

Yeah, yeah, I did. I, um, it's absolutely wild to think that I've been doing this for 15, 16 years now with you guys. Yeah. It's, it's crazy. And I remember my first day walking in and seeing this really tall, older fellow within David and being like, is this Mr. Skint? And then seeing everyone else walk in and getting to find out who is who of the who in the cast. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And it was just it brought me back a lot of really, really cool memories. And it was really, really cool. Yeah.

Wow. In the scene, Skint gives you, gives Buck a kind of a twisted sort of affirmation. He says, the student played the master and won. So how did you play the way that Buck feels in that moment? Like, was he proud? Was it disgusted at, you know, just the conniving part? Heartbreak, frustration? Like, what was going on?

I think it's more of, yeah, Buck feels like he succeeded, but at the same time, he knows that he didn't succeed the way that Skint thinks he did. I think that's the ultimate win is, you know, he's fought a lot to not become that you know and he's he's struggled with that a lot but he still has that loyalty like we said to towards him but at the same time he it's it's like his dad i want my dad to know that i'm a good human you know it's it's kind of that same idea even though he's not actually his dad and eugene is now and yeah right all of that stuff and so there's still but there's still that fatherly figure within you know his heart of that kind of stuff i i would assume and so i played it more of with that frustration that like i wish i could tell you everything but at the same time i don't care because i we're we're done this is it i'm moving on and i'm moving into a better uh moving on to greener pastures so to speak you know better more meaningful

right fulfilling life yeah exactly yeah you mentioned eugene and uh buck also gets a few more scenes with eugene in value of a buck part two talk about the experience of recording those scenes with towns and coleman playing eugene and and as robbie how did it feel you know stepping into a scene that's so connected emotionally and historically to will ryan yeah um it's tough

you know i i think it's tough for everyone i think the first time that we did that it definitely was the roughest okay katie was crying and you know there's it's just it's crazy and i remember hearing back what it actually sounds like and it's will you know it's really cool that the technology is there to be able to do that and it's just so cool to have his memory live on like that And so, yeah.

Yeah. This is such a powerful story. I mean, these episodes are so powerful. Which part of the story do you remember maybe that needed the most takes or took the most time to get it right?

Definitely, if memory serves, there was a very long line that I kept messing up. I try to read the scripts ahead of time. I really do. um if i remember correctly buck gives a big speech right and so i believe that speech itself was probably the hardest and so and that the thought of buck salvation was just so cool in my head and it was hard to concentrate at some points. And so that was probably the biggest difficulty. And that was

just, I was so excited. And that was, yeah. Well, these episodes revisit the theme of identity. I mean, who Buck is, who people think he is, and then of course, who God says he is. Did any moments

in this story hit you personally as a believer? Yeah. I mean, I think the first thing I said to Kathy uh when we got to this point was we're here we're finally here yeah you know it's finally it's finally here Buck is finally making the decision to to get it done and to like to actually put himself you know and his faith first which is really really cool and it's one of those things I feel like with this character I came in as a bad guy you know so to speak yeah and the the complete turnaround that he's made is incredible and the stories we've gone through to get there are absolutely wild and hilarious and heartwarming and sad and there's just there's the whole spectrum of emotions that we've gone through to get to this point and it it's so

awesome to just finally be here. Yeah. The scene is beautiful, really. And there's so much evidence of God in the world. And people always say, how do you know God is real? One of the biggest evidences is life change. Like you said, Buck comes in there kind of as a bad guy. He's cunning. He's always trying to get an edge, always trying to get ahead. He's following and Mr. Skint's footsteps in some ways, but then learning about God, getting those influences from Mr. Whitaker and Eugene and Katrina, of course, and just seeing how his life has turned around to something that's so much more filled with hope and peace and everything that goes along with following Christ. So what do you hope listeners take away from Buck's salvation story? You know, especially the kids and maybe even the parents, you know, who had to deal with some guilt in their past and the second chances or feeling like they can't escape their past?

It's never too late. Even when you think all hope is lost for you, it's never too late. You know, you could be 10 or you could be 80 years old and God would accept you exactly the way you are. And I feel like that's probably the biggest thing that I feel with Buck as well as like there were so many times where he just felt worthless and not acceptable to to the people around him um and i think the thing that helped him through this that stands true with god is the fact that they never they never gave up yeah they never gave up on him they helped him through everything even when he didn't want help or he didn't like them you know he he still got help and they still gave it freely and willingly. And, and I think that that's very much what's led him to this point. And just seeing that, that unconditional love and want to just be there, whether he believed or not, they still loved him and they still cared about him. And that's, that's, I think a huge, huge factor. And I think that tells the massive story of just,

it's never too late. Yeah. And God's arms are always open, right? Just like with you, with your daughter, Clara, like she turns to hug your arm, boom, like just embracing. And that's what God, that's the picture of God in heaven, just waiting to embrace his children when they turn to him. So really well said, Robbie. This was a great conversation. Thanks for your time today. Thanks for being with us. Yeah, it was great talking to you guys. i've loved getting to know robbie over these years you know so much has changed for him since that first green ring recording back in 2010 he and buck have been on some amazing adventures and there's more to come for both of them and speaking of more to come album 80 continues to release on the radio and online the first of a three-part series about connie and renee comes out this weekend it's called face the future when this album is over we'll have our usual We'll call in Q&A with audio questions from fans. But this time we're switching it up. Instead of talking to the writers, we'll hear from the sound designers.

So if you have a burning question about the production of Album 80 or anything production-related in our storied history, give us a call.

The number is 1-855-784-WIT. Always make sure to have your parents' permission before you call. And then stay tuned to a future podcast to hear your questions and their answers. But before we go, Bob, what's happening in the club now? We've got a new episode coming out tomorrow. It's the second half of a Wooten adventure titled...

the Prodigal Twin. Part one of this episode had some big Bassett bombshells. And part two has more. Right, Chris? Now on the

Adventures in Odyssey Club, the search for Wellington Bassett continues. I'm in some trouble. Wellington, where are you? I have to go. Difficult questions are raised. Was he having money problems? Any debts he couldn't pay? The Bassetts don't borrow money, detective. We make it. And painful memories resurface. So he was

afraid to talk to me and considered

running, weren't he? He did more than considering. Secrets come to light and the stakes are raised as the prodigal twin concludes on the Adventures in Odyssey Club. That's tomorrow, March 19th,

only in the club. And that's all for this edition of the official Adventures in Odyssey podcast,

a presentation of Focus on the Family. Visit adventuresinodyssey.com to join the club. If you want to leave a question for the production team, the number is 1-855-784-WIT.

Or if you need to talk to someone in person, call 1-800-A-FAMILY. I'm Bob. And I'm Jesse, reminding you that with God in your life, every day is an adventure.