Shannon
WOG Administrator
 
Gender: 
Posts: 6800
|
 |
Q & A with Robby from Weekly Surge
« on: Oct 14th, 2010, 11:02am » |
 Quote  Modify
|
Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010
Just say Goo
By Paul Grimshaw - For Weekly Surge
It's been reported that John Rzeznik, the oddly good-looking, and immensely talented lead singer and songwriter of the Goo Goo Dolls wishes that way back in 1986 he'd named his band almost anything else. The Buffalo, N.Y.-based pop/punk band was forced to change its original name, Sex Maggots, because local newspapers refused to print it. When pressed for a new name, Rzeznik saw an ad for a doll that said "Goo Goo," when turned upside down. He grabbed the name, almost as joke, and it stuck, like glue, glue. Twenty four years later, the band with the silly name has earned four Grammy nominations, sold nearly 9 million records, scored 14 top-ten singles, and is touring in support of a new record "Something For the Rest of Us."
The Goo Goo Dolls will appear at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach on Friday, and is likely to play crowd favorites from the 1995 smash "A Boy Named Goo," including the breakout single; "Name." The band's 1998 release, "Dizzy Up The Girl," produced five hits including "Iris" and "Slide."
We had a moment recently to chat with co-founding band member, 46-year-old bassist and vocalist Robby Takac. We talked about the band, the music business, and Takac and Rzeznik's nearly quarter-century as partners in a business where few partnerships last 25 months, let alone 25 years.
QUESTION | You play a variety of markets - large and small - how does Myrtle Beach stack up?
ANSWER | We love the House of Blues. Because of the way they're set up, it allows us to play some of the smaller markets. We play 'em all over the country and are looking forward to Myrtle Beach.
Q. After 24-plus years as a band, many millions of albums sold, lots of radio charting, what does that feel like? Do you ever sit back and say "wow?"
A. | Yeah, I guess you see and hear all that stuff, but you're so busy, that you can't ever focus on it. For bands like us it's rare to sit back - you're always looking at what's next - for survival's sake. At the times of our most significant benchmarks, we were the busiest.
Q. | Speaking of benchmarks, next year marks the 25th anniversary of the band's beginnings back in Buffalo, and your long partnership with John Rzeznik. What have you learned about each other and the music business over that course of time?
A. | The whole thing is like an experiment in human nature. I like to think that I'm getting better at dealing with relationships. John has always said "when you're involved in a band with someone, and you're friends, too - in a lot of ways those things have to stay two separate things, for either to grow in any honest and substantial way."
Q. | And how about the music business?
A. | Everything I've learned over the years, you can pretty much toss out the window. Things aren't easy for us. We're not one of those bands that steps out at number one on the charts and then goes home. We've been whipping ass on the road for 25 years. I think that because of that, and staying in the trenches, that that's valuable in this new music industry. The sale of recorded music has become a pretty difficult task. People still love music, that hasn't changed, but at the same time the way we survive as a band has changed dramatically.
Q. | I loved your YouTube video clip of the band on "Sesame Street" singing "Pride" with Elmo. Besides Elmo, you appeared to be having the most fun.
A. | (laughs) Yeah, it's one of those things you get a lot of mileage out of. That was maybe 13 years ago, and every week somebody talks to me about that.
Q. | What was the one career-making song, that pushed the band into the A-list?
A. | I think there were two. "Name" because it was a huge song and got us in the eye of the industry, and when of course "Iris" happened on the "City of Angels" soundtrack, all of a sudden we were on an album with U2 and Peter Gabriel. (Note: The album achieved the number one spot on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1998, and by February of 1999 it had sold more than five-million copies.) We had the biggest single off that record. Then we put it on our record and had five more singles.
Q. | You have two official days recognized by the City of Buffalo. Isn't that more recognition than the Bills receive?
A. | (laughs) I'm not huge football fan, but it's nice to be recognized. The first single off our new record is "Home." We recorded the song in a studio near Buffalo and spent a lot time back there.
Have a thought, comment or newsworthy item for Weekly Surge Music Notes? Send an e-mail to [email protected].
Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/10/14/1751344/just-say-goo.html#ixzz12Lji L5RR
|
Home
Help
Search
Members
Login![[MFC]](http://www.musicfanclubs.org/googoodolls/images3/tag_mfc.gif)
Reply
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print
Author
IP Logged