Goo Goo Dolls Interview
Launch CD-ROM
Issue #25
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The Legacy
MIKE: Robby's stuff is a lot more manic, basically you have to push it harder. I actually think of the material in two different ways. When we're doing Robby's stuff I like to play ahead of everybody and pull everybody along with me. And with Johnny's songs I just sit back a lot more in the pocket, and sort of get a groove thing going on there.
JOHNNY: People don't realize that, that we've always had slow songs, or ballads or whatever you wanna call it, on every one of our records. And that's only one component of what we do, as a band, you know? Most of the other things that we do are pretty hard, kind of rock, rock and roll songs, you know?
ROBBY: I think guys in the Ramones t-shirts with their red suspenders and boots on from 1978 still, they think our first record's a masterpiece and everything since then has been downhill. But, that's just an opinion. I don't know. Once again, you just gotta be happy with the record you make, and really put that all aside. I'm sorry if we lost 'em, you know, I didn't mean to.
The Artistry
JOHNNY: My tattoo is, um, was done by a guy named Randy Howell in Los Angeles. And, uh, he, uh, it's a Picasso painting, called "The Dream" and I just, I just like it cause, um, she just, she just looks like she's enjoying herself. *laughs*
ROBBY: That's, uh, some angels. That's a bug. See, I got these when important things happened to me. And that's a space-age version of my chickee.
MIKE: Nope, no tattoos. I'm lame.
The Irony
JOHNNY: I always wished that I was a better, a better singer, you know? I always wanna be a better singer, I wish I was a better guitar player. Like an actual, you know, like a guy that knew how to play a little better than I do, cause I don't play very well. And um... I mean, I do my own thing, but I, like as far as technically, my guitar tech blows me away. It's just like, you know, he'll be playing at sound check, and I'll come in, I'm just like, "Stop that." You know? *laughs* It's just like, "Don't make me look bad, man."
ROBBY: *gasps* You know who we are?? Get out of here. You know, like I don't think we have that thing going, that a band that gets a deal, writes a hit, and you know, it's like the next day they got girls pounding on their limousine windows. We had cops pounding on our van door, because we were sleeping on a dead-end street somewhere. You know, that's where our career began.
MIKE: Most of the bands I played in were pretty straight ahead. Ironically, I actually played in a band that covered a couple Goo Goo Dolls' songs. I think it's great that I was just able to get into this situation. That is my favorite kind of stuff, the kind of stuff that they do.
The Agony
JOHNNY: When I have to tell somebody the name of my band, I'm generally pretty embarrassed. The funniest thing is, I just think it's the stupidest name I've ever heard in my life. I don't know how it happened. I don't know why it happened. It's the bane of my existence.
ROBBY: What does it mean? I don't know. Where did it come from? I don't know. We've said everything from, uh, it was a Viet-Kong mine that blew your nuts off, you know? Like, that was the name for it. We've just said everything we can possibly think of. You know, it was a toy at the time we were basically a speed-metal punk band, kind of. And we just thought it was funny. Goo Goo Dolls, da-da-da. *plays air guitar* It was funny, you know? And, uh, you know it just gets to a point where it just kind of doesn't fit anymore.
MIKE: I think names of bands sort of become okay once people get to know the bands. I mean, there's all sorts of silly names floating out there that you don't really think are that silly when you're saying them. What do people think about the Beatles? You know, it's a pretty silly name if you really think about it.
The Ecstasy
MIKE: I think "Slide" came out really great. I was really happy with the way it turned out. There were a lot of little things going on in the background when we were mixing that song. We were just like weeding through them, doing this and that. That one was almost, I guess the most pleasant surprise 'cause it came out great. And I think we were a little bit tentative about how it was going to come out when we were in the studio.
JOHNNY: I never really aimed for some kind of... big commercial success. I mean the whole, I mean, you know how hard it is to write a hit song? *laughs* It’s like if I could understand what the formula was, I mean, I would do it. You know, I would be incredibly rich right now.
ROBBY: John tries to push himself a lot harder than I do, at everything in life. He's a really driven guy. And, I've always been sort of about the pop song, you know?