Exclusive matchbox20 Interview From The Road May 26, 1998

It's Memorial Day weekend and the roads are clogged with New Yorkers eager to flee to the shore and countryside. The weather is holiday perfect -- sunny, warm, and a clear forecast till we're all due back at work on Tuesday morning. Until then, it's time to kick back and a enjoy a respite from 'the real world' that seems to keep hassling me.

To start it all off, I'm on my way to Poughkeepsie, NY to spend an evening with the guys in matchbox20. Poughkeepsie is the home of Vassar College (apparently far over-sexed according to a recent SPIN magazine article), the Acropolis diner, one of the Roosevelt's many mansions, and the Culinary Institute of America (not over-sexed by anyone's estimations). The band have just spent the night in a town with one of the greatest German-English names, Fishkill, which means in it's bastardized way 'creek of fish.'

The band are hanging out backstage with their latest friend, a goldfish named Philippe. Each venue, as a part of the band's rider, gives them a goldfish, which they in turn give to a lucky fan. Philippe resides inside a bowl autographed by the entire band and will be carried home later by two giggling junior high girls who must promise over and over to take good care of him, feed him every day, and be good to Philippe.

Upstairs Rebekah is starting her set before the sold-out crowd in the Hudson Civic Center. So, I take a minute to sit down with Adam, the guitarist, in the band's dressing room. What follows is forty minutes of stream-of-consciousness conversation that is punctuated by entrances of all the other band members, their friend JD, the production assistant Kim, and some guy that nobody knows or recognizes. Throughout the conversation everyone takes on a new identity - I become alternately Scooter, Sparky and Timmy, Adam is transformed into Spanky or Blinky, Rob becomes Gondar, and each other band member takes on a bizarre namesake.

What becomes apparent in this casual interview is that the band are not only a unit on-stage, but offstage as well. It's the rock 'n' roll dream come true -- five friends form a band and become famous. Here's a peek behind the scenes of matchbox20's life.

Adam: Can I call you Timmy the whole interview?

Atlantic: In reference to....

Adam: Just Timmy

Atlantic: If Timmy makes you feel comfortable...

Adam: I won't do it, Scooter.

Atlantic: Oooh, I kinda like Scooter.

The first of many digressions occurs as we talk of gladiator films, the new tape recorder I just bought, former touring partners and 'issues.' We finally get to the topic of touring in Australia.

Atlantic: How was Australia?

Adam: Amazing actually.

Atlantic: You guys went to number one there.

Adam: Thank you very much. It was because of you and the people over at Atlantic and Warner Overseas. We're just so excited about that. We're excited about what's happening in the States as well. When you go overseas and you find out that people are even crazier over there, that's a great feeling.

Paul enters the room and conversation turns to the fish Philippe.

Adam: So we got a fish today?

Paul: Yep, his name's Philippe. Some lucky fan's gonna take him home.

Adam: Rob's already picked the fan.

Paul: You know what the fan says to me? I asked her if she was going to take care of him and feed him every day, and then she asked me, "Are you in the band?"

Adam: She doesn't get the fish. I don't think she was a good fish candidate to be really honest with you. We have this whole new 'matchbox20 is in power thing. (He grins widely and laughs.)

Adam: Every day we demand a new goldfish at each of our venues and so far, we're one for one.

Atlantic: Kind of like Van Halen's "No brown M&Ms in the backstage area" clause.

Atlantic: So, what's the next single going to be?

Adam: It'll probably be "Back 2 Good." We're not sure. It depends on what "Real World" does, then we'll see how to handle it after that. That's a good hint of things to come. That might be it, though there might be one after it.

Rob Thomas walks in to get dressed for the show and the revelry continues down more random paths of thought -- more nicknames, fishbowls, and the Village People. This continues until Adam decides to do an impromptu interview with Rob and commandeers the tape recorder.

Adam (with a serious voice): So Rob, how long have we been out on the road?

Rob: For-eva...

Adam: Are we having a good time still?

Rob: Yes.

Adam: Do we have a good time every day?

Rob: No.

Adam: And now, back to you Scooter. You know, we always have a good time, but there's always a minute or two in each day that's aggravating.

Atlantic: Getting back to getting nowhere...

The digressions continue as their keyboard player Carl comes in and explains why his name should be spelled "Cark" instead of "Carl." And then Brian, the bassist, enters the room to much ado.

Atlantic: So, what are you doing for the rest of the year?

Adam: Touring.

Atlantic: Where?

Adam: All over this great globe of yours. We'll be doing the States here for a little while till the first week of June and then we get our first break of the year. Taking a little vacation, have some time off, see the family, raise children, you know. So we're going to take a little week off, then maybe go back overseas to Europe for a little while, have some knockwurst, come back, do a little more States, maybe go back and do some more Australia.

Atlantic: Is it getting boring playing the same songs?

Adam: Actually, tonight we're really excited to be playing "Push" for the four hundredth time. Just kidding.

Atlantic: Last time I saw you, you played some b-sides, some covers...

Adam: Yea, we do b-sides, some covers, and we're throwing in a new ditty for the crowd tonight. No Marvin Gaye cover tonight [They've covered "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)" in the past - Ed.], we've thrown that one out of the set. There's not a lot of quality time for us to write songs. Rob has a lot of new material that we will be very excited to tackle, probably some time in the first third of next year. We're going to be out on this album probably till the end of this year. We'll take a little time off to rest and get our heads together and then we'll focus on some new material. Kyle and myself and Paul write stuff, but Rob will probably write the brunt of the album.

Atlantic: Do you have an overall game plan as to when the next album will come out?

Adam: Not really, it wouldn't be till late 1999 at the earliest.

Atlantic: You played a new song, "Happy," at your first Hammerstein Ballroom show in New York, where did that one come from.

Adam: That's a song that Kyle wrote that we all like. We throw a new song in here and there. And now we have a new song called "Heavy." Anything that starts with an 'h' and ends with a 'y' we're cool with. We're all working on new stuff, so we'll see what happens with it.

Atlantic: Are you doing any soundtrack contributions, benefit albums, anything like that?

Adam: There's nothing in the works now, but I'm sure we will, just to get some new stuff out there. We did the Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumors, and that was cool.

The rest of the conversation is filled with courses of thought not fit for young ears. I leave the band half an hour before they are set to go on-stage and join the sweaty mass of people are stomping around the Hudson Civic Center. That night matchbox20 roar through a set that leaves no one unsatisfied. The finale is a thundering cover of The Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want" followed by "Long Day." It was a rock show through and through, and that's what the kids need these days.