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        Goo Goo Dolls >> Goo Goo Dolls >> Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga / audio interview with John
        
(Message started by: Shannon on Nov 19^th, 2007, 6:31am)

Title: Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga / audio interview with John
Post by Shannon on Nov 19^th, 2007, 6:31am

Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga

By Jim Welte
Conducted November 18, 2007, 09:00 PM
Singer and Next Great American Band judge John Rzeznik talks about his band's new greatest hits album and getting booed on the show.

audio link ..... http://www.mp3.com/media_player/2426/5/viewer.php?context_id=&context_type=&ont_id=&launch_page_id=&user_uploaded=0&item_id=2426&time=1195414645&auth=4fa867309e9b0f39c051e424b63ed331

They've been one of the biggest bands in rock for years, but even diehard Goo Goo Dolls' fans would likely be surprised to learn that the Buffalo, N.Y. rockers have garnered a whopping 14 Top 10 singles in their career.

The group is celebrating that fact this month with the release of The Goo Goo Dolls Greatest Hits, Vol. 1--The Singles, anchored by the band's smash hits like "Iris" and "Slide." It will be followed up in February with a Vol. 2 full of with B-sides, rarities, remixes, and some new tracks.

But despite the career retrospectives, the trio won't be resting on its laurels. The band built a studio in its hometown of Buffalo and plan to hole up there over the winter to record material for its next studio album, which frontman John Rzeznik said should hit stores by next summer.

In the meantime, Rzeznik has been serving as a celebrity judge on Fox TV's The Next Great American Band, and has had to face some boos from the crowd after serving up criticism on some of the contestants.

Rzeznik spoke with MP3.com about being a celebrity judge, the reality show's place in the music business, and sustaining a 20-year career in music.

Hey, John.

Hey, what's up? How you doing?

How you doing, man?

Good, good.

So what's worse, growing up in a house full of sisters or getting booed by the audience of Next Great American Band?

I think growing up in a house full of sisters. That's definitely worse.

Okay. So how is the experience of doing the show?

It's actually been a lot of fun. I mean, at first I was sort of like, 'Well I don't know if I want to do this.' But then they were really cool about just saying that I can speak my mind. Nobody's really trying to push me into any sort of position.

Right. You get to kind of frame your own identity as a judge and that kind of thing.

Yeah, and you get to see real bands. Good or bad, you get to see real bands.

Right. It sounded like that was the thing for you that distinguished this show from something like American Idol or something else, that these are actual working bands as opposed to kind of fabricated would-be hopefuls and that kind of thing.

Yeah, I mean, they all came out to L.A. together to get their chance, you know what I mean.

Right.

And they get to play original music, so that's a good thing.

Absolutely. Now I'm sure you were prepared in advance in terms of how many different kinds of bands you would see in the course of auditions and the show and that kind of thing. Has there been anything that has completely surprised you that has just kind of knocked your socks off either good or bad?

Either good or bad?

Yeah. I mean, I guess they don't want us to talk about the bad but sometimes the good is worth talking about too.

Yeah, no, I got it. I'm pretty amazed at those little kids playing the heavy metal [Light of Doom]. I think that's pretty crazy actually.

We were just talking about that here.

Yeah, it's pretty out of control.

Are you surprised that these sorts of shows have become such a kind of cultural phenomenon and a way that music gets its next big star, so to speak? I mean, it's an interesting development over the course of the last six years or so.

Well I was never really a fan of them.

I mean, is it good for the business?

I was never really a fan of reality TV shows like American Idol just because it was a lot of slick session players getting together and someone doing vocal gymnastics over it.

Right.

But as far as this show goes, you know it's like real bands are going to get a chance to be seen and heard and get some exposure.

Right, get a deal.

Well, the record business is in such a transitional phase. It's sort of like they're all sort of in survival mode right now instead of trying to be creative and develop talent. So something like this is a good way for a band to at least get noticed by somebody.

Absolutely. Now speaking of developing talent, I mean, I'm curious how you think your band, The Goo Goo Dolls, would have fared on this type of a show or in this type of environment.

I'd be off the show the first round.

You think?

Probably. Yeah.

Well let's talk about the Greatest Hits album. It's quite an achievement to get a point where you can say you have 14 Number 1 singles.

Well Top 10 singles.

Top 10 singles, sorry.

Yeah. There are a few Number 1's in there.

What does it mean to you to have reached this point in your career?

It means I've been around awhile, for sure.

Right.

I never would have thought that the band would have stayed together long enough to have two hits, much less 14. People come and go quickly. I'm really grateful that we've stuck it out and hung on and that we have a really loyal base of fans. That always makes life a lot of easier.

Absolutely. So are you guys building a studio in your hometown of Buffalo.

Yeah, Robby and I are. We decided that we were just going to just the next record ourselves.

Oh, cool.

So we're going to produce it ourselves in our own studio and sort of hide out. We've got our own little secret hideout now. So it's kind of cool.

Nice. I mean, so is it the kind of thing where Buffalo has been in need of this sort of a facility for a while?

I think there's some talented people in Buffalo that I would like to get in the studio. I mean, we're kind of keeping it, like, a private sort of thing.

Mm-hmm.

But, there's definitely a lot of talented bands that deserve to be able to make a decent recording.

So you're going to hole yourself up over the winter and get writing and recording. Can fans expect another album say maybe late next year or something like that?

I would hope that we can get it done by June. So I'm not sure when it would come out. It would be out in the summer for sure. I'm really hoping for maybe a late summer release.

That would be great. You guys have really developed a rhythm over the years of kind of continuing to churn records out and then head out on tour, obviously, in support of them for quite a while and then get right back in and do it again. Rinse and repeat, so to speak.

Yeah. You've got to move quick these days.

Is that what you think has helped you sustain a career for so long.

Obviously it's the songwriting and those sorts of things. But, I mean, do you think that that is part of the secret to your success is your ability to kind of keep your nose to the grindstone?

Yeah, I mean, after doing it for so long it's like all the sort of the gloss kind of wears off and you're just sort of just grateful to be working.

Right. Yeah, I mean, it goes from the, like, the dream and then you achieve it and then it kind of at some point sets in that this is the job.

Yeah, the work starts. I mean, it's a great job. It's a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work. I mean, I don't mind doing it 12 hours a day because I really enjoy it.

Absolutely. Well, John, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.

Great. Thank you.

Good luck with the Greatest Hits and the new album and the studio and everything.

Thank you very much.

Thanks a lot, man.

Bye.

http://www.mp3.com/news/stories/10475.html

Title: Re: Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga / audio interview with
Post by ChickenCookie on Nov 20^th, 2007, 7:05pm

Dear Santa,

If I can have only one thing for Christmas (and world peace is impossible), I would like to request that no journalist, at any time in the future either near or distant, ever again use 'ga ga' at any point in the heading or body of a Goo Goo Dolls story.

Thank you. I'll leave you cookies and milk on the 24th.

Love,
Gail

:coolsanta:

Title: Re: Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga / audio interview with
Post by nmf009 on Nov 20^th, 2007, 9:16pm

Dear Gail,
Your wish has been DENIED.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=623527

Love,
Santa
:waving:

Title: Re: Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga / audio interview with
Post by ChickenCookie on Nov 21^st, 2007, 7:34am

Damn. I knew you didn't like me. It was the fruitcake, wasn't it? :-/

Title: Re: Goo Goo Dolls go ga ga / audio interview with
Post by Agent Orange on Nov 24^th, 2007, 4:30pm

on 11/20/07 at 19:05:26, ChickenCookie wrote:

We obviously need to go higher than Santa. We need the stupid "goo goo ga ga" headlines outlawed!