"... Have Fun Playing Rock Music And Rebel Against Things That Suck"

By-Matt Thompson

For those not paying attention, Atlanta pop-rock trio Marvelous 3 seemingly came out of nowhere earlier this year. After more than a decade of total obscurity, the band found itself on top of the rock and roll world with a major-label record titled Hey! Album and a single in heavy rotation on modern rock radio ("Freak of the Week"). Like clockwork, the crowd that considers anything on mainstream radio to be worthless crap have limbered-up their throwing arms and picked up stones. Frontman Butch Walker is ready for it, though, because it's all part of the ride.

"If I weren't prepared for it, I'd pull an Eddie Vedder and just go hide," says Walker. "If you're scared of being told you suck or you're doing nothing new, you shouldn't be doing this. You're definitely putting yourself right up on the cross to be stoned for doing this as a living, so have the balls to know you're gonna get shit."

While M3's mainstream success happened more or less overnight, it's been 12 years in the making. Formed by childhood friends Walker, bassist Jayce Fincher and drummer "Slug" (that's his name), the group went through a staggering, Spinal Tap-like variety of styles - from a hair-metal cover band to white-boy funk to Southern boogie - and several band names before settling on a punk-influenced style of power-pop.

The band released the full-length Math and Other Problems in 1997 on New South Records, and followed it up in 1998 with a self-released version of Hey! Album. With some help from Atlanta radio station 99X, that release created quite a stir among the major labels. The band chose Elektra, re-recorded parts of the album and added bits of polish to its act. Things took off rather suddenly from there.

Walker says that while the last year has been quite an adventure, he and his bandmates recognize the enormity and outrageous fortune that is the music business and understand the very real possibility they could find themselves on the Isle of Forgotten Rockers this time next year.

"There's a sale on, like, ska clothes right now, I think," he jokes. "If you're trying to stay afloat in this market we're in, you'd better keep your eye on what's going on. You can't worry about it too much, though; you really just have to be comfortable with what you do best. If this ends tomorrow, and we go back to the van, we'll still have fun doing it. We've always loved it, or we'd have quit years ago."

In fairness, one could easily tap the ready ammunition and take shots at Marvelous 3, but even some detractors give the successful trio props for sticking to its guns after all these years. The band's energetic, joyful sonic attack is admittedly nothing new, drawing comparisons to such power-pop icons as Cheap Trick or the Cars. Walker's clever, self-conscious lyrics delve into teen angst and jilted love affairs sung in a pleasant "I wish I was punk" warble while the rock-solid rhythm section allows him to indulge in '70s arena rock guitar fantasies.

The tongue-in-cheek live shows, with such antics as synchronized strutting and flipping guitar picks (Rick Nielsen-style), seem to jibe at not only the band, but rock and roll itself. Walker gleefully admits to being an unashamed "Top 40 baby" trying to reach as many people as possible, whether "indie cred" is lost or not.

Walker emphasizes that he and his mates grew up on everything from Queen, KISS and Mötley Crüe to Cheap Trick, Duran Duran and the Pretenders, and they're determined to play songs with hooks and melodies.

"If that's being a sell-out, definitely, please tell me I sold out," he laughs. "I'm happy this way, and I don't worry about that ["indie"] demographic because that's about one percent of the world's population. You know what? Selling records to one percent of the world doesn't appeal to me. The only thing that bothers me is people who're close-minded to label stuff and put stuff down without ever listening to it."

The years of experience playing to crowds of fewer than a dozen people - half of whom couldn't have cared less - has helped Walker and company look at their situation with both an optimistic and a realistic eye toward the future.

"Luckily, people who know our story from the last 10 years know we're not doing anything different from [what] we've always done except evolved for different styles," he explains. "We've always had the same work ethic and goals; we want to be successful at this. We don't want to stay in the basement and mope; we want to get up on stage, sell a million records and have everyone love our music. We got a long way to go, and I'm not gonna stop doing this tomorrow. If anything, this has just charged me up for the next 12 years."

Although the band has been touring steadily for a year, it recently found the time to record a version of "People Are Strange" with guitarist Robbie Krieger for an upcoming Doors tribute album. There are already plans to start recording the follow-up to Hey! Album. Walker also hopes to use some upcoming downtime to help out a few Atlanta and Athens-area bands in conjunction with his own yet-to-be-named record label.

Walker: "We're just being kids again, having fun and not letting any of the bullshit affect us. We try not to let it ruin our sanity or fun. The original reason we got into this in the first place was to have fun playing rock music and rebel against things that suck."