The Marvelous 3 - Preparing for the Rock Epiphany of the New Millenium

By Kara Uhrlen (Phillips), tprs.com

The Marvelous 3's history began when vocalist/guitarist Butch Walker and drummer Mitch "Slug" McLee started playing together in a heavy metal cover band about fifteen years ago.

When the teens moved to Los Angeles they added singer Jesse Harte and bassist Jayce Fincher, Walker moved to background vocals and guitar, and Bite the Bullet was formed. The band went on to release two hard rock albums on Charisma, an independent subsidiary of Virgin Records, under the name Southgang at a time that Walker describes as "the end of a dying era."

 "When your 18, 19, 20 years old like we were at that time, its just like anyone else, you look at like Silverchair and bands like that that are super young and sound extremely derivative of bands that were out at that current moment. As they sounded like 'Nirvana in pajamas' as we called them, we sounded like Bon Jovi and Skid Row and Motley Crue, because we were only influenced by what was out at the time because we were so young," explained Walker.

While Walker says that the band had done well for the time, he started to explore other kinds of music and didn't want to be trapped into a category with the bands of that era. "I ended up kind of imploding the band after we got back from a tour of China, because it was just beating a dead horse, and I wanted to sing, and the singer obviously had a problem with that. But we're still the best of friends, it just didn't work out."

Adding to the tension was the fact that their label chose to play it safe and "follow the leader" when it came to production, videos, songwriting, and packaging the act instead of trying to redefine the music of the era. And playing the major label game, Walker says he often found himself discredited for his contributions to the albums.

As a result, he walked away from the industry for almost seven years, until he could come back and play the game on his own terms. And by moving on from Southgang, he says it was the best way to start a new relationship with bandmates Jayce and Slug, which lead to the Marvelous 3.

"We're blessed obviously, because if we would have went huge back then, it would have been f*cked - we would have never gotten anywhere after that, because you'd be jaded as that band that was so and so&ldots;For some reason, you know no matter how good the next Warrant record is or how good the next Skid Row record is or even if it sounds just like something out today, they're gonna have a problem. And I hate that for them, because those bands sold a lot of records and were good at what they did," said Walker.

"The problem is that good music is good music but were too critical and disposable of a generation to give anything a chance regardless. Unfortunately we don't distinguish what's good and bad music, we distinguish what the packaging is and what the history of it is. So, we got lucky, because we totally f*cking fooled the whole industry (laughs), they thought that we were these newcomers cause we were these fresh-faced kids still," he added.

During the years preceding their latest success, the band became what Walker calls a "dedicated bonafied touring act" in an effort to establish themselves and gain momentum before getting signed to a major label.

 "All we had before we got signed and had a big hit ("Freak of the Week") was touring. And touring to us meant playing in front of sometimes two people a night, sometimes two thousand. Driving a van, driving it ourselves - no crew, loading in our own gear, being in a different city and state everyday of the week just like now, and being in a bar and being unheard of in that town. But, we enjoyed doing it and we did it, and I think what it did was, it made us one of the best live bands unarguably."

But the band doesn't just want to be just known as the band that tours, Butch says he wants to have infectious songs, and while he says he's not trying to go over people's heads, he does want to give them something that they have to chew on a little bit, to digest.

"I just don't want to sit there and say 'glycerine, glycerine' fifty thousand times and call that art and have that be a song. I mean that's great and all, it sounds good, but I want to tell stories, I want to make people like laugh and cry, and relate maybe. So, hopefully that's working. It may not be selling millions of records but at least its real&ldots;I think we make great records and I want that to balance out and now that we have a couple of hits under our belts, I feel like I've justified that."

As a result of his success as a musician, songwriter, and producer with the Marvelous 3, Walker has been keeping busy with other projects, including co-writing "Right Now" with vocalist Mitch Allan of SR-71, and planning to produce the debut album for the band Injected, who has recently signed with Island/Defjam and will be on the road with the Marvelous 3 beginning November 10. He is happy to say that there is a waiting list of bands that would like to write with him, but unfortunately he could not offer up any band names since his is unsure of what will transpire.

 "I would rather actually expand and see my name in different places instead of all down this narrow tunnel called the Marvelous 3, because that just means I'm only going to be known as Marvelous 3, and I'm a producer and a song writer and a singer and performer. Walker explains.

So its kind of good to see that name thrown out everywhere, plus I'm producing records for other bands now too cause of accolades from the last two records of me producing,"

The music of the Marvelous 3 is described by walker as "as ballsy as it can get I guess for being influenced by melodic power-rock," and he sites the bands other influences as being everything from "arena rock from the seventies and eighties all the way to funk all the way to R&B."

"It doesn't sound like that on our records, but lyrically I was influenced by Elvis Costello and Billy Joel and people like that, that could just tell these amazing stories, but I didn't want the songs to lack the teeth that made me want to go out to see Motley Crue concerts and KISS concerts when I was little so I try to fuse and confuse the two," Walker explained.

"The only thing I really liked about growing up in the seventies and eighties was the music, and I've kind of always had that. If you listen to lyrics, I've kind of always had that brewing in the sound and in the songs, but never really went over the top and made it apparent like I did on this record," he continued.

While some of the band's influences may become apparent through the somewhat comic approach of minuets of cover tunes and extended versions of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Always Something There to Remind Me" that the Marvelous 3 include in their live performances, they took a risk with their new album by releasing songs that reflect on classic bands instead of the sounds that grace the airwaves today.

One track in particular, "Radio Tokyo" which quite obviously sounds like it could have been lifted from the extensive catalog of David Bowie and Queen songs, is something that has been playing out in Walker's mind for some time now. He explains that the tune is describing an "imaginary tale that translates into the factual world of the music business," and ironically, it has been doing very well in Japan. So, the band is hoping to hit the stage there early next year.

Despite their varied influences and hard rock edge, the Marvelous 3 have still been able to capture a modern sound with the help of co-producer Jerry Finn and guest performances by Roger Manning, Jr. from Jellyfish and Imperial Drag, Jeremy Popov from Lit, and Yogi from Buckcherry, who all joined in the recording sessions through Walker's "open door policy."

The band is currently touring in support of the first single off of Readysexgo!, "Sugarbuzz," and according to Walker, they will continue to tour until they start yelling at each other. While they will be taking a break from the road during the upcoming holiday season, fans can expect a new single on December 4th. Currently, it is a toss-up between "Get Over," "Little Head," and "Grant Park." For more information on the Marvelous 3 visit www.themarvelous3.com or www.marv3.com.