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Shannon
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Robby interview from OSU: The Lantern
« on: Jul 18th, 2006, 1:19pm » |
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Dolls 'Let love in' product of time, devotion
Web Exclusive
Kathryn White
Issue date: 7/18/06 Section: Arts
What do veteran rock stars do on a day off between touring? I had the chance to ask Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac that question last Thursday as he called me on his cell phone from his hotel room. It was the band's day off before their Columbus show, their third stop here in Ohio of the week, and between resting up and wandering across the street to retrieve some cloth bandaids for his finger - Takac cut himself the night before during the show - he found time to share.
The Lantern: So you've put out your 8th record, "Let Love In," and we hear it was quite the process getting it put together - you went back to Buffalo (New York) to make it?
Robby Takac: Yeah, I think we found Los Angeles to be a little too business-orientated for us to make creative decisions there that we were comfortable with, so we went to Buffalo, and spent some time there, and ... spent six months, actually, in the freezing cold. And we came back to L.A. with an entire record. And so it was quite a process, but we wanna make sure that we could get a record out, and feel good about it by the time it gets out, so that if it's not ready yet, no one hears it.
TL: So you seem really pleased with your new record, especially since you've said that you guys took some bad advice after the end of "Gutterflower" and you thought for awhile that you were going to break up.
RT: Ah yeah, you never know what's gonna go on ... definitely things seemed a little shaky at the end of Gutterflower. But I think once we kind of pulled our perspectives together a little bit, we got to go out there and see what the real world was like a little bit, I think that it was really good. And it's something that we know how to do, and we know how to do it well. And performing ... that's seventy minutes of my life that I understand, I know exactly what's expected of me, I go out and do it and it feels great.
TL: Was there something in particular that prompted your decision to switch to producer Glen Ballard from Rob Cavallo? You'd worked with Rob for what, eight years - a couple of previous records?
RT: Yeah, I think just the need for some new stimuli, within the group. I think after twenty years of making records we got too - I don't know, maybe a little bit familiar with the process of record-making with Rob, and so I think that having a guy in there with you, especially a guy that you've never worked with, ever, which was the case with Glen, it really puts a new perspective on what you're normally doing. We're really enjoying working with him, trying to break free in the process. He's kind of like a hippie kind of dude, he's really into trying new things, and all that. So to us, it was a much different experience and a much different way to make records than we're used to, and that's exactly what we're looking for.
TL: You and Johnny have been in this band for 20 years. That's longer than a lot of marriages last. Is there something in particular that has helped you guys stay together where other bands have broken up?
RT: I think we wanna do it, you know? It's just what I want to do. I've always wanted to do this. And you know, very recently we looked at this whole thing when there were thoughts of maybe not carrying on because of one reason or another, but I started to think to myself ... We've been pretty lucky, man, to have a job like this. There aren't a lot of people who get to have this kind of chance in their lives, and especially bands - there aren't a lot of bands who get the opportunity to be able to exist for twenty years and still somehow feel like we're still doing something relevant ... We've been together for 20 years and we go out and we play 85% percent of our new record because that's what we do, and if that ever changes I'm fairly sure that you're not going to see us driving around in three vans called "The Goo Goo Dolls" tryin' to run this thing out.
TL: You've said that "Let Love In" is the first album you've really co-written songs with Johnny since "Superstar Carwash."
RT: Yeah, yeah, pretty crazy. We were getting pretty used to writing our own, to completing our own sentences, if you will. I think we got pretty used to being able to sit in our houses, write a song, come into the studio and know exactly what they were going to sound like, and I think on this record we were a little less concerned with that ... I don't think we needed to hear exactly what was in our heads as we're writing these songs. I think that was one of the first times that has ever happened to us. We came in, we were like, "All right, how is this gonna get better? We wanna know." So when Johnny and I wrote together on this record, we started talking an awful lot about the disparity between what our songs started to sound like since we stopped writing together. It just seemed like the right time right now to pool our resources and try to come up with something that, as a band, was a little bit more representative of all of us, which is probably what led to the initial ideas of us writing together for this record, I think.
TL: How about touring with the Counting Crows? Do you feel like you share a fan base?
RT: I think that if we don't share a fan base on the way in, on the way out, probably most of them have joined the team, you know what I mean? I think that we're a funny band; we're a little soft for people on the radio, we're a little heavy for people live, but I think that finding that group of people, that you can share your music with, with a band, that's a touchy thing, you know? You put the wrong band on the bill, and you ruin the whole night. The Counting Crows, they're very musical people, they're very song-orientated people. You know if what you wanna hear is great songs and great music, whether or not you're a direct Counting Crows fan, you know that you're gonna get some great songs. They're a great rock band. It's a great bill, and they're awesome, awesome, awesome guys. And we kind of make some adjustments along the way, because of weather delays and things like that, but it's always been a pleasure to chill with them. So we're having a great time.
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| « Last Edit: Jul 18th, 2006, 1:35pm by Shannon » |
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Re: Robby interview from The Lantern
« Reply #1 on: Jul 18th, 2006, 1:21pm » |
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TL: You just went ahead and told me that you went back to Buffalo, your home town, to record and work on your new CD, because you weren't very happy with L.A. Were you guys thinking of moving back to Buffalo, since you had such a positive experience there?
RT: I don't know if moving to Buffalo is in the cards. I don't think there's much question - I have a recording studio there with Johnny that we run, and I don't think that… I can't see us living there full-time any time soon, but I don't think we'll ever lose that connection or desire to be there, or share our lives with the people we care about back there. It'll always be a part of my life. I don't know that it'll always be the epicenter of my life, you know, my wife's from Tokyo, so, that's a whole different world from Buffalo, New York. And you know, living in Los Angeles is something she understands, so you know… I don't know, man, she really likes Buffalo too, but I don't know if it's in the cards right away. I'd love to, but…
TL: You guys have always been outspoken about your opinions on world views, but most especially in the past couple of years. Johnny has said that certain events like Hurricane Katrina have really influenced your songs, like "Better Days" (from your new CD "Let Love In.")
RT: Yeah. Well, "Better Days" was actually originally written as a Christmas song. Initially, yeah. We did a record - we gave a song to this compilation record called "Sound of the Seasons," which had a bunch of different artists on it. They asked us to record Christmas songs, and we went ahead to record - we were gonna do a cover of "The Grinch," and at the last minute we changed our minds, and decided to try to write a song. So we took about four or five days and came up with a demo, and went in and recorded "Better Days." I can't remember exactly what month it was that we did it, but ... When did Katrina hit, did you remember?
TL: It hit in like September of last year, I think.
RT: So we must've been recording the song, probably, in September. And as we were recording the song, the hurricane hit. And somehow it went across someone's desk at Time Warner, who heard it, said "Oh my god, this is great," for the campaign that they were doing to raise money on CNN for Katrina relief, and so they asked us if they could use the song. And having not written it, but having been involved in (Katrina), you know, probably eight minutes after it was written - to watch the process, this change, from what we hear the song meaning compared to what other people might think - it was written as a Christmas song, and it also took on this whole different meaning. It was so representative to me of what - of like a really bold example, kind of what happens with every song, you know what I mean? Like someone hears a song and they, they read the words, they listen to the words, they distinguish them and apply them to their situation. And it really sort of gave me some insight into how average people must sort of like…decode what we sort of do on an every day basis, or what any songwriter does. I find that really interesting.
TL: That's really interesting, yeah. You guys are running a food drive along with your tour - you're having concert-goers bring cans of food to the venues.
RT: Yeah! We do that, we do radio promotions, I don't know if there's one - where are you at?
TL: I'm in Columbus, I listen to CD 101 and that kind of thing.
RT: Oh, okay. I don't know if they did any radio promotions here or not, sometimes they do some radio promotions or some of the local charities help us out for you know, canned food drives, bring stuff, and get bins outside the concerts, for people to drop food in as well, and we're still sort of unfortunately pulling it together. We tried a new system this year. It's been a little bit tough to find some of the bins at every show, they're usually at the entrance gates, but we've been doing really really well ... this is our third tour with USA Harvest and we've raised over half a million meals since we started, and it's just all this, three minutes of just chatting about this and we've helped so many people - not we, our fans have helped so many people. It's really amazing to think that something this fun and exciting can actually be socially beneficial, too.
TL: What's the one question no interviewer asks even though you wish they would?
RT: Ahhhh ... you know I'm gonna turn that around and tell you that that's the one question that every interviewer asks me. And that I never seem to have an answer for. They ask me that and they ask me, "What's your favorite band?" or like "What are you listening to now?" and all I can ever think to say is like really stupid stuff, like "Three Dog Night" or "I just bought a Kris Kristofferson record." I can't come up with any ultra-hip bands. So I think I need to do my homework and work on these questions a little bit ... I wish someone in charge would ask me my opinion about what's going on, internationally. Because I think there's a big mess going on on this globe, because people aren't understanding anyone. There's a real movement towards people insisting that eveyone around them think and believe the same way that they do - this whole idea of spreading democracy across the world blows my mind. Some people don't want democracy. That seems foriegn to us, but some people don't understand that system. The system grew in some parts of the world because it was embraced; you can't force democracy upon people, and unfortunately I think that there's a pretty materialistic ... a pretty huge corporatocracy, if you will, that's driving all this nonsense and it scares the hell out of me and I fear for our children, so I hope that people understand that there are different types of people in this world.
Check out the Goo Goo Dolls' new CD "Let Love In" in record stores now.
http://www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2006/07/18/Arts/Do lls.let.Love.In.Product.Of.Time.Devotion-2132
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| « Last Edit: Jul 18th, 2006, 1:32pm by Shannon » |
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