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Adela
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Hometown Inspires Goo Goo Dolls
« on: Apr 11th, 2006, 7:06pm » |
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http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/04/11/1529061.html
Hometown inspires Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls left toasty L.A. because their cold, barren hometown city somehow inspires them
By MARY DICKIE -- Toronto Sun
The Goo Goo Dolls -- (from left to right) bassist Robby Takac, singer-guitarist John Rzeznik and drummer Mike Malinin -- pose for the Sun at a Toronto hotel yesterday. (Alex Urosevic, Sun)
A decade ago, The Goo Goo Dolls made the giant leap from little-known Buffalo punk-rock band to hugely successful L.A. mainstream rock band. But strangely enough, it took moving back to Buffalo for the veteran trio to find the inspiration for their eighth studio album -- and first in four years -- Let Love In, which comes out April 25.
Perhaps even more strangely, it was Toronto singer-songwriter Andy Stochansky who provided the impetus.
"We took some time off after our last album, and I produced a couple of artists, including Andy Stochansky," recalled Goo's singer-guitarist John Rzeznik at an interview here yesterday. "And he was actually a big influence on me when I was thinking about the writing of this record. He's such an open book, and I was really struck by the honesty he wrote with. I wanted to be that open, that ready to be vulnerable. And shortly after that, I got a truck and went back to Buffalo."
It seems that despite their success, Rzeznik, bassist-singer Robby Takac and drummer Mike Malinin had found themselves at a creative standstill in Los Angeles.
"We were rehearsing and writing, but I don't think we could really get a handle on what we should and shouldn't use," said Takac. "So nothing really developed. Everything was in this nebulous maybe-this-riff-isn't-good-enough state, for a really long time."
"The only way I can describe it is that I was in a really bad mood for about three years," Rzeznik explained. "I do a lot of reading about social issues, and it seemed like everybody was focusing on the problems, but not providing any solutions. And I started to feel really hopeless.
"It was December, and it was 80 degrees outside, and I thought, 'There's something fundamentally wrong with this.' "
Soon, Rzeznik, Takac and Malinin returned to their old Buffalo stomping grounds, rented a Masonic hall and started writing. And it seemed to work.
"L.A. has so many distractions," said Rzeznik. "The great thing about being in Buffalo is that it's snowing, it's freezing and there's nowhere to go, so you work all the time, and it puts you in a different frame of mind. Winter is an amazing time -- to me, the most fertile time to create. And it was great to have this sort of self-imposed exile where you've got nothing to do but work."
"It would have been nice to have some heat, though," interjected Takac.
"Yeah, it was $200 a month to rent the building and $2,000 to heat it, and you still saw your breath," laughed Rzeznik. "But Buffalo is a city where you always know where you stand with people. Every day I'd drive down the street and it would provoke some sort of memory, good or bad. I think that environment had a huge role with reaquainting me with what I feel is the plot for the band."
The Goo Goo Dolls then took their Buffalo demos back to L.A. for hitmaker Glen Ballard's magic touch.
"Glen is all about the good vibe," said Takac. "It's like happy camp, when we were used to Siberian recording camp."
"He's got this surreptitious way of working, where you're playing something over and over, but you listen afterward and you think, 'Wow, how'd he get me to do that?'' said Rzeznik. "He makes you feel really safe to experiment and be creative."
The result is an album of songs that replace bitterness and cynicism with a kind of cautious optimism.
"I realized that I needed some hope to hang on to in my life," said Rzeznik. "And at a certain age, I think that becomes more of a choice than when you're a kid and it comes naturally. So I'm trying to feel more hopeful about everything, and I think these songs have some of that in them."
The Goo Goo Dolls play the Opera House tonight, and promise to return -- not only on a bill with the Counting Crows this summer, but for a Canadian tour in the fall.
"We missed Canada on our last tour," said Takac.
"That was strange, 'cause we always do really well here," added Rzeznik. "So we'll do a proper tour with maybe 15 dates. I've never been to Halifax, and I really want to go there."
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Adela
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Re: Hometown Inspires Goo Goo Dolls
« Reply #1 on: Apr 11th, 2006, 7:07pm » |
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And the extra article:
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/04/11/1529060.html
First song was a 'disaster'
By MARY DICKIE -- Toronto Sun
Better Days, the first single from The Goo Goo Dolls' new album, was actually released way back in September, when it became a sort of theme song for the relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans.
"It was the last song written, and the first one released," said Robby Takac. "It was out within 10 days."
"It was strange, because that song started out as just something for a Christmas compilation," said John Rzeznik.
"It was on iTunes, and for some reason CNN decided to use it, and now it's the song that everybody uses for every disaster. It's our disaster anthem!
"And now it seems to be the theme for this whole album. It's kinda hopeful. It may not be a solution, but at least there's something to be hopeful about."
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