>From Circus Magazine  9-99

Goo Goo Dolls
Rooted in Punk but boosted into the spotlight by a balled.

By Gabriella

The trio from Buffalo, in Upstate NY, have been around for a while. Founded 
in '86, they started out as what they call now a "cover bar band". They 
played in bars for almost 10 years, recorded a couple of albums, kept day 
jobs and never really believed they'd make it big. Then 
singer-songwriter-guitarist Johnny Rzeznik penned the sad, strummy ballad 
"Name" and sequel "Iris"- recorded for the soundtrack City of Angels, which 
was number one in five formats and the Goo Goo Dolls became a household 
name. The three Buffalo natives, John Rzeznik -vocals, guitar, Robby Takac ^Ö 
vocals, bass and Mike Malinin -  drums, have always blended power rock and 
acoustic sounds since their 1987 debut, and John seems slightly confused, 
that all of a sudden they're labeled as genre crossing. While the rest of 
their material clearly shows punk roots, their two number one hits are 
ballads.
  	Johnny Rzeznik, singer and songwriter, who resembles a younger version of 
Jon Bon Jovi isn't all that happy with critics. He's very aware of the fact 
that the Goo Goo Dolls have been more of a band for the fans instead of the 
critics, and he voices his opinions of critics loudly.
	"I don't like critics. I really don't like them. I think most of them are 
ignorant and don't have a clue!"
	He doesn't even try to hide the fact that he's carrying quite a grudge and 
explains why.
	"We got a lot of shit from them, you know. Most of them don't even play an 
instrument, they can't even pen a song, but they rip us to shreds. Look at 
them, most critics get 75 bucks for an album review. I'd gladly give them 
100 bucks if they'd just shut up and wouldn't write about us at all. I don't 
care what they think about me. We're writing songs and the people seem to 
like it, some critics just don't seem to understand it. If they're trashing 
you and keep trashing you, of course you start to develop a grudge. I would 
have to be some sort of superior being not to get phased by it at all it 
wouldn't be human anymore. As a musician, you have a special relationship 
with your songs, you feel them. If somebody comes along and trashes them, 
that just doesn't really endear them to your heart, you know!"
	The Goo Goo Dolls have been around for a while, they even toured with Bush 
and No Doubt, but Rzeznik doesn't care to be reminded of that tour. Not 
because there were any frictions between the bands, as he hastens to 
explain, but the audience wasn't very compatible.
	"We got on with Bush and No Doubt, but it was more or less the audience. It 
just wasn't our audience at all. The people who wanted to see us didn't want 
to shell out a lot of money to see Bush and No Doubt, and their audience is 
different from ours. It just felt so bizarre^Å"
	It's strange, that the Goo Goo Dolls, a band with a punk rock background, 
made their big break through single with a ballad. Even John seems to be a 
bit puzzled by that fact.
	"We didn't plan to write something that was radio compatible, but it 
introduced us to a broader audience because there were so many different 
radio stations who are playing it. It really kind of hit off with so many 
different people, really more than I expected. I had that song ["Iris"], I 
really liked it, and then all of the sudden everybody liked it, it was a bit 
mind blowing. From the moment we submitted it o the soundtrack for City of 
Angels, it really took off in a way that I never thought possible!"
	The original version of "Iris" was written for the soundtrack of City of 
Angels, as and acoustic ballad. Rzeznik explains how a punk rocker wrote a 
ballad for a movie.
	"Our management is involved with the film industry and they asked me to 
write a song for the soundtrack. After I saw the screening, I just wrote 
"Iris", I thought it would be a great song for the movie and apparently 
everybody else agreed. I think I really got the mood and everything right, 
it felt right! Sometimes those things just happen, things have a strange way 
to happen!"
	He's rather quick to deny rumors that he wrote the song for the country 
singer Iris Dement, or that there is some serious involvement there.
	"That's not quite right, I wrote the song for the movie but saw the name 
Iris Dement somewhere and I remember that I thought ^ÑIris was a beautiful 
name.' So I titled the song Iris."
	With a hearty chuckle, he confesses that he doesn't even know her 
personally.
	"But the name, Iris really is such a beautiful name!"
	While "Iris" more or less founded the fame of the Goo Goo Dolls, it also 
turned out to be a double-edged sword. While it was a huge success, a lot of 
their earlier fan and quite a few critics decided to accuse them of selling 
out. Being mellow wasn't really something the Goo Goo Dolls were famous for, 
but John stresses, that they always wrote mellow songs and he's quite 
annoyed with people who are not aware of that fact!
	" That is so stupid, we always had mellow, acoustic songs, always! I won't 
say that we're still a punk band, but I think we've still got our roots in 
punk and it's one of our main influences. To call us sellouts because we 
don't sound like wee used to when were 18 is ridiculous. People grow, people 
change and the music reflects those changes. That's really natural and 
normal. I think it would be ridiculous to try and sound like we're still 18. 
There are enough bands out there who try to do that.
	Actually, I would consider that selling out, you know if you don't dare to 
change because you're afraid to lose your audience."
	The Goo Goo Dolls started out from Buffalo, NY, in the mid 80's as the Sex 
Maggots.
	"Yes we started out as the Sex Maggots, then became the Goo Goo Dolls, 
well, and we're still the Goo Goo Dolls!"
	Johnny Rzeznik still remembered that Sex Maggots was not a name that went 
down well in conservative Buffalo, and laughs about the frictions it used to 
create.
	"A promoter "strongly advised" us to change our name. Buffalo is not 
exactly metropolis and it was considered offensive, so we changed it to Goo 
Goo Dolls. Some people still find that offensive, but hell, you can't please 
everybody!"
	When asked about their humble beginnings, he almost gets a bit reminiscent, 
muses and grins, when he thinks back to the early days, when they were just 
a couple of guys who wanted to escape the feeling of a small town.
	"I think we got started like all bands start, we wanted to make some noise, 
hang out, and have some fun. Remember we're from Buffalo, there isn't really 
that much to do. When we started we were a cover band and slowly developed 
our own material."
	 While a lot of bands would be biter about the fact that it took them 
longer than most bands to hit it big, Johnny Rzeznik stays level headed and 
even finds an advantage to it.
	"It was pretty good that it took a while for us to make it, I think it gave 
us more experience. For a long time we never really thought about making it 
big, going anywhere, it was more or less a hobby who became a job at some 
point along the road. Of course you always dream about making it big, every 
band does, but we never really expected it. I see it as a learning 
experience. A lot of band s who had a quick success just lost perspective. 
Look at all the one-hit-wonders who lost their heads. We did the circuit and 
we paid our dues. It's been such a slow build up, we grew up into it and 
kept our heads.
	Of course things are better now, better hotels, better busses, but I rather 
have it like this than going from a fast success back to dingy little hotels 
and dirty vans. On the other hand, I wouldn't have minded having a bit of 
that some time ago, but I don't complain. It worked out for us, and that's 
really what counts I still prefer the going from rags to riches instead of 
the other way ^Ñround. From riches to rags would be a lot worse."
	While bands are busy complaining about the pressure that comes with success 
and losing their privacy, Rzeznik just shrugs it off.
	" Success has its hassles, but playing in shabby bars has its hassles too.  
If you're scrounging around for your next meal, it isn't exactly fun. I 
don't understand the guys who complain about that all the time. If you don't 
want fame, it's easy enough to avoid it, it's a lot harder to get it than 
avoiding it. I get really fed up when I hear someone whining "Oh God, I'm 
rich and famous, I never wanted it^Å" well there's an easy solution for that. 
Give the money away and move to some quiet place somewhere in suburbia. 
Don't record another song, get a day job and give all your money away. Soon 
nobody's going to care for you any more anyway. There are enough bands who 
disappear into oblivion and who don't really want it."
But he confesses that fame didn't really pass him by without changing him, 
instead of the big ego boost and believing he's invincible-like a lot of 
artists seem to do ^Ö he became almost withdrawn.
	"One thing that really got to me was, that after we had a hit, I started to 
be far more critical about my song writing. It almost blocked me completely, 
but I got over it, now I don't care anymore who likes it and who doesn't. 
Now it's just back to normal, and that's making the best music we can!"