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Topic: Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Speaks / interview (Read 584 times) |
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Shannon
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Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Speaks / interview
« on: Jul 27th, 2007, 5:14pm » |
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Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Speaks - Band To Appear In Atlanta On July 31
Posted July 23, 2007
The group will perform at the Chastain Park Amphitheater in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 31. In the following interview, frontman John Rzeznik talks about his songwriting influences and the effects of life on the road.
Russell Hall: What sort of music did you listen to when you were growing up?
John Rzeznik: Mostly it was my older sisters’ albums. There was a lot of Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks. And some Yes albums, oddly enough. But then the youngest of my older sisters started getting into punk, so I began picking up on bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash.
RH: Where do you think your strong sense of melody comes from?
JR: I think a lot of that comes from listening to AM radio when I was a kid. There was a radio station in Buffalo – WKBW – that played all the hits. This was in the early ‘70s. By around 1980, I was getting into other kinds of music. This was after I discovered FM radio. I listened to a lot of Cheap Trick and Kiss. People don’t often realize it, but Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were really great songwriters. Kiss’s songs had great hooks and melodies.
RH: The Goo Goo Dolls formed at a time "metal" bands were popular. What do you think steered you toward music that was more pop-oriented?
JR: It’s true that I was different from most of my friends, who were definitely into metal. But looking back, you can see that a lot of vintage metal bands – Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and so forth – wrote terrific melodies. What they did was based on real songs.
RH: Which come more easily to you -- ballads or rockers?
JR: I don’t really know. I think they’re equally difficult. It depends on how I’m feeling. When you’re trying to express something you feel deeply – something that’s really close to the bone – it usually comes out of you pretty easily. It only becomes difficult to deal with once you’ve gotten it out, and turned it over for public consumption. I’ve written some things and then thought, "There's no way anyone is going to hear that.” Sometimes I write things that I think are too personal – or maybe too specific – to share with other people.
RH: Is it difficult to continue being creative in the midst of all the extraneous things that go with success?
JR: Well, I don’t write when I’m on the road. That would be too schizophrenic. To try and go from tapping into the most introverted part of myself, to being a completely extroverted, entertainer-type guy on-stage, would be too difficult. It’s hard enough to sing certain songs in front of a certain type of audience. If we happen to be playing some place that’s really rowdy, I might pull out the acoustic guitar and think, “This doesn’t feel right tonight.”
RH: Are the things that inspire you today the same sorts of things that inspired you before the band became successful?
JR: Oh, sure. You draw upon whatever is around you, if you’re writing honestly. There is one theme I’ve come to see in my music. I think it often has the flavor of a guy who’s looking through a window at the rest of the world. Sometimes I feel slightly separated from a lot of what I write about. I’m just kind of observing.
http://independentmail.com/blogs/russell-hall/2007/jul/23/russell723/
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ChickenCookie
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Re: Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Speaks / interview
« Reply #1 on: Jul 27th, 2007, 5:30pm » |
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The title of this thread makes me chuckle: John Rzeznik Speaks. It reminds me of that scene in Forrest Gump where he was running, suddenly stops and turns and the leader of his gang of followers shushes the rest of them: "Sssh, he's going to speak", as if he's about to say something incredibly philosophical and deeply meaningful.
"I'm tired. I want to go home now" Forrest responds.
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| « Last Edit: Jul 27th, 2007, 5:32pm by ChickenCookie » |
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mylondoncalling
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Re: Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik Speaks / interview
« Reply #2 on: Jul 28th, 2007, 7:56pm » |
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hahaha the title makes me laugh too. like rzeznik is finally breaking the silence after years of being mute or something. pshhhh
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| « Last Edit: Jul 28th, 2007, 7:57pm by mylondoncalling » |
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