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DO YOU WANT PUNK ROCK, THE TRUTH?
Punk and disorderly? or sugar and spikes? Pay no attention to grizzled 40 nothings, the scene police and screaming teenage girls; GOOD CHARLOTTE have plenty to offer the world. By Jonah Bayer
"Hey who's in there?" asks a teenage boy, swiping a drooping multicolored Mohawk from his eyes.
"Good Charlotte" I yell back and im greeted with a roll of the eyes and a sarcastic grin as he walks away, nearly colliding with a line of defensive adolescent teenage girls squealing like fire engines as they exit the The A.P. tent where the band are signing autographs. This example is far from rarity- in nearly every town on this summer's Vans Warped Tour, Good Charlotte have been skirting the hazy line between idolatry and ridicule. But with the release of their second album The Young and The Hopeless, these four East Coast kids are set to prove that despite their good looks and barley legal (if at all) fan base, the music is the only thing that really matters.
As hosts of their own MTV show, All Things Rock, as well as being the bands songwriters, identical twins Benji and Joel Madden are obvious figureheads of the act (Benji's six inch Liberty Spikes don't hurt, either). But while pop-punk peers like New Found Glory and Blink 182 have songs dealing predominantly with puppy love and suburban set back, Good Charlotte draw a more perilous pool of experiences.
"It's not hard for me to relate, especially to New Found Glory- they're some of our best friends" says guitarist Benji, 23 who along with the rest of his band is often found on NFG's bus participating in PlayStation 2 tournaments. "But when I hear them talk about where they started it's hard for me to relate in a way, you know?"
When we started out my dad didn't buy me a guitar and we didn't have a van, so we couldn't tour the country. When we just graduated high school we were trying to pay rent.
During their formative years, the twins played baseball fanatically, and for the most part were normal adolescents. "we got our fair share of shit; we had our fair share of friends too" Recalls Benji. "We definitely weren't in the popular crowd. We found our place-But it wasn't at the party on Friday night" However, not being invited to boy-girl get together became the least of their problems when at 15, their on again, off again father vanished for the last time.
"He left a couple of times, [but] he left for good when we were 15 says Joel, the shyest member of the band, sporting a black pinstriped shirt with only the top button done, over a black shirt and a bandana around his wrist. "He was the sole breadwinner, back bone of the family. when he left everything kind of got flipped upside down" Literally overnight the twins lost interest in father son oriented sports and found a new obsession to channel their angst and confusion.
"I think music saved my life", continues Joel solemnly, leaning back on the couch in the bus that the band has called home for the last six weeks. "Even at that age we were writing songs about our dad, that was our way of getting things out you know?" And that's when we started the band. The Twins started going to Local punk shows; Benji acquired a cheap guitar and transformed a karaoke machine into a make shift amp; and together the duo began instantly writing three minute songs and producing their own lo-Fi recordings.
Paul Thomas, the groups cherubic blond bassist and long time crony, admits that he had his doubts during that first practice. "I was baffled at how much these guys could not play anything at all...and they wanted to start a band?" he says laughing. However the 17 year old high schooler was drawn to one thing- the striking melodies and harmonies that the twins seemed to pen effortlessly. In fact that he believed in the duo so strongly that the theatre aficionado dropped his first lead role ( as Antipholus in the Shakespeare classic comedy A Comedy Of Errors) during his senior year, to concentrate on the group-now comprised of the twins and another high school friend, Aaron, on drums ( Aaron left the band a year and a half ago, and Good Charlotte have yet to find a Permanent replacement) Then again, compared to what the twins went through Paul's Sacrifice was Miniscule.
"When a bank forecloses, it takes a couple of months and where we lived, everybody knew it...it's not like we showed up and everything was outside" Joel says a few days later, displaying a mature sense of perspective that's almost eerie coming from someone in his early 20's. "I hated it at the time, but it was really humbling to not have a place to live and then to find a place and make it work for your family" After the eviction, the twins along with their brother, sister and struggling mother moved into a rural two bedroom farmhouse and struggled through the lowest point of their lives.
"It wasn't big enough but we made it work" Joel says with a sigh. "A lot of times we didn't have heat; a lot of times electricity would get cut off; a lot of times we didn't really have food. I hated it. I hated my life" He says with anger rising in his voice "I always wondered why my parents couldn't just have a normal divorce where the dad still comes and sees his kids. I felt like nothing could be normal for me; and that's when music was definitely our pill- that's what we took"
As a reward for graduating high school as well as a hard wrought consolation for all the nights that they slept in their clothes and left their oven open for heat- the twins mother bought the man open ended ticket to anywhere in the united states. they chose the punk Mecca of Berkeley, California for what they refer to as "pilgrimage" to the legendary DIY punk venue 924 Gilman Street where bands like Op. Ivy and Green Day got their start. After catching sets by FYP and Furious George, and, more importantly absorbing the atmosphere of the thriving scene, the twins decided that it wasn't whether they'd succeed, it was when.
Back home in Maryland the closest real scene was an hour away in Annapolis. Good Charlotte gigged there often and when the time came to move out of the house Naptown was the ideal movie. The Twins started hanging out with a dread locked metal head named Billy Martin, whom they'd met at an acoustic gig they played the year before, and soon the trio were inseprateable. When the twins were kicked out of their apartment, the three of them moved into a shed behind Billy's Parents house, and after he sat in on on practice. He quit his metal band and became the final Ingredient in Good Charlotte.
The now complete group applied the same energy they put into their songwriting into finding a record label for their nascent sound. Looking back, the group laughed at their homemade press packages and relentless label courting- like the time when they called their dream label, Epitaph records and asked to talk directly with owner, Brett Gurewitz. But at the time it was far from a joke- it was all the struggling teens had.
Contrary to popular legend the group was not handed a record contract after their first show. they paid their dues. "We just kept playing show after show and then things started adding up" says Benji. "We got a compilation for a local Zine and they got some interest in record labels" Good Charlotte's Big break came when they were offered the East Coast leg of a tour with Goateed rockers Lit. After wowing record execs with their distinct conglomeration of punk rock, modern rock and even a touch of hip hop, they seemed guaranteed to get signed. and just a year after the twins graduated (Billy the youngest member, was still in high school) they inked a contract with Epic and went straight to the studio to record their self titles 12 song debut. To promote it they jumped on a slew of tours ranging from MxPx to Rx Bandits, spreading international anthems like "Motivation Proclamation", "Little Things" and "Waldorf Worldwide" to the masses. They Just didn't know who was listening.
BACK AT THE AP TENT a teenage boy in earshot yells at the group "What are you too famous to talk to us now?"
In all the commotion, Benji actually hears this blurb being yelled at him gets up from the middle of the signing and calmly confronts the naysay. After about 30 seconds of casual conversation, the two shake hands and the boy walks away with a smile on his face. Benji sits down at the table as if nothing happens. Later in the day Benji recounts the situation from the comfort of the air conditioned bus. "Usually people don't expect you to talk to them, but we try to be real with all our fans" he explains. "If they give us a compliment we'll say thank you" if they say something disrespectful well tell them to shut up. so this kid said that and I just went over there and asked what's up so what do you mean your joking around? he was like "No man we used to be able to talk to you guys" ad I was like "so do you not want us to be here at all?" . we came out here because we really wanted to meet al you guys, just to say thank you for supporting us. it would be on hour for us to all chill on the bus but we figured we'd come meet all you guys. see that line, were going to try to meet all those people. and he was like "Oh ok your right"
It's true. while most bands at Good Charlotte's level rarely venture off the bus except to play a set and scope the back stage betties, Benji is often seen riding his sticker littered dirt bike through the crowd and chatting with fans. and when Joel who's often seen wandering around the premises posing for pictures and signing autographs says "Out of the 300,000 kids that have purchased our album, we've probably met every single one of them" it's not a carefully constructed sound bit...it's a fact.
Benji is sexy, is scribbled on girls and shouted at you every day, but are you ever insecure about your appearance? Benji: Completely. I never like what I see when I look in the mirror. ever. That's the way ive been since I was little [pauses] I never look in the mirror and go "Yeah I look good" every once in a while there will be a day when I look and I say "Yeah I look ok today". I avoid mirrors. I don't look in the mirror. I don't know if id be insecure cause I just stopped caring, but im definitely not confident in that way. Not at all I never have been. When I see those shirts and stuff I just think [the fans wearing the shirts] are delusional.
But you see girls everyday Benji: Yeah. I think their not looking at me their listening to the music. They haven't studied my picture. So those shirts definitely make me think they haven't looked, and I don't know what it is...One friend I had in high school one day was like "Dude your ugly" and it always stuck with me. In high school I hung out with a lot of girls as friends, but I never got the girls and I think that was just ingrained..."I guess I must be average or whatever"
So how do you view the band, physically? Benji: I just don't think were anything special; what we have special to offer is the songs and our lyrics There's no Brad Pitt in our band.
It's true;
Benji doesn't look much like the fight club star. with his smudged eyeliner and tattoo covered arms, he's more reminiscent of circa 1984 Social Distortion's Mike Ness. But comparisons aside, it's impossible to ignore that a majority of the groups fan base is female. although it's often catalyst for criticism from punk purists, the band embrace all their fans even if it comes with a price. "There's always haters out there" and im not gonna be one of them, Says Benji who has nixed the spikes lately in preference for a bandana and a side truckers hat. but besides jealous teenage boys whose biggest complaint is that the band are "gay" one of the groups most vocal detractors has been punk rock legend and Bad Religion/ Dag Nasty Guitarist Brian Baker, who's shared the stage with Good Charlotte all summer on the Vans Warped Tour, When I tell Benji of a recent quote from Baker in the Cleveland Scene where Baker states "Oh by the way Good Charlotte Sucks", Benji visibly sighs but stays characteristically calm and un effected.
"I could easily, easily come up with a thousand insults that would make people laugh their asses off" he says "But it's harder to sit here and go "Whatever" especially when Baker is In one of my favorite Bands of all time. I could get testoteroney and say "im gonna knock him the shit out" because I easily could, Im 23 he's like 40. That's the hard thing to do but to me im being the bigger man.
Why do you think you have so many Female Fans?
Joel: I think generally people write girls off. I have to say, a 15 year old girls life is just as hard as a 15 year old boys life. I mean with our female audience you do have screaming girls, but that's only a small percent. Ten girls can make a lot of noise at a show.
What about the rest of them?
Joel: The rest, more girls than guys, come up to me and tell me about their lives, and im like "Damn I wish I could do something" because girls have it pretty hard. They Have magazines telling them to look a certain way, and I feel bad for em' because there are girls who feel bad for themselves who shouldn't feel bad about themselves. I tell girls "Be proud of who you are and the way you look, cause you don't have to fit in to the Seventeen look or the YM look." the most attractive girl to me is a girl that's real.
So criticism doesn't bother you at all? Joel: anyone who is a punk rocker is not gonna pint there finger at someone else and tell them their not punk. "cause when your a real punk rocker your not gonna care what anyone else thinks" People have said worse to me man. If someone is gonna hate on me because girls like us, man hate on me all you want...that's a good problem to have.
Another reason the ladies seem to love the group is that their distinctive mugs are piped into households across America four nights a week. "They're not VJ's their rock musicians who are hosting a show on MTV" says Rod Aissa, MTV's vice president of talent development, who was drawn to the twins after seeing them host a segment on MTV2 "Their love of music is just so organic, it oozes out, regardless of what band their talking about" Surprisingly, The Fact that the twins have their own show on punk's mortal enemy hasn't garnered nearly the back lash the band anticipated. "I get so many punks coming up to me going, an it's so cool to see a punk rocker on American TV right now" says Benji. and although the twins don't get to pick the videos aired on the show, they're often seen wearing their favorite band's T-Shirts and they always manage to find a way to plug a band they admire "If we play Nickelback, I find a way to relate it to NOFX"
HOW MANY OF YOU ARE TIRED OF RICH PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS? Joel asks the audience. Moments later, a syncopated tom and snare beat kicks in and the band launch into the first single from their album The Young And The Hopeless "Lifestyles of the Rich and The Famous". Lyrically the song's social commentary is as political as any thing from Good Charlotte's street punk contemporaries taking swipes from everyone from OJ Simpson to Marion Barry ("Did you know if you were caught smoking crack/ McDonalds wouldn't wanna take you back, but you could always run for mayor of DC") the only difference is that the melody is so infectious that it sure beats watching CNN.
The Songs video directed by Bill Fishman (best known for Punk Classics) is an ideal companion to the lyrics, portraying the band and police standoff, in jail, and finally in a courthouse where their ostentious neighbor (Nsync's Chris Kirpatrick) testifies against them based on their appearance. It's a Perfect Parallel: The Boys have essentially been on trial for their entire careers, aesthetically judged by people without a clue about their tumultuous home lives, or by people who don't Read Good Charlotte's Lyrics and understand the positive effect their music can have on an alienated youth.
But try telling that to the teeming sea of kids hanging on the bands every syllable during the Warped stop in Cincinnati. Whether your a fan or a hater, there's something inexplicable about Good Charlotte's stage presence. Sporting a Sick Puppy shirt, Paul clutches his bass perpendicular to his body and spins like a giant corkscrew. While Billy hovers over the edge of the Stage over his massive pedal board, bangs covering his eyes, mouthing the words and adding tasteful delay and phaser included noodlings. In the meantime, Benji hops all around stage, playing guitar and tossing out clever between song banter, while Joel the consummate front man singing and beat boxing, ordering fans to jump, and thanking the audience between each song.
A quick listen to the new disc's instrumental introduction, an angelic wind chime heavy teased that's quickly smashed by galloping drums, blazing guitars and a gothic choir. Confirms that the band have grown up a lot over the past couple of years, bravely side stepping the formula that has gotten them this far. Ultra catchy numbers like "Anthem" describe the tribulations of high school, but just because a song is catchy doesn't mean it lacks substance. The albums peppiest number "My old Man" is arguably the most introspective number of their eight year career. It's chorus succinctly portrays their fathers abandonment "Monday he woke up and hate life/ Drank until Wednesday and left his wife/Thursday through Saturday lost everything/woke up on Sunday miserable again.
"It's about alcoholism really" says Benji, who himself is a recovering alcoholic and hasn't touched a drink in a year. "It runs in my family. Some people get it some people don't, but no one will know unless they read the lyrics"
While the lyrics might have been a bit simplistic on the last album, The Young And The Hopeless is darker and more complex. With it's ascending guitar intro "Bloody Valentine" could be a nod to "My Bloody Valentine's guitarist Kevin Shields in addition to a love-triangle that was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell Tale Heart. Plus it's catchy opening phrase "I ripped out his throat and called you on the telephone". Ditto to the Social Distortion inspired ballad "Day That I Die".
A simple 4/4 drum beat and four chord progression are the perfect back drop for this fictional journey through their last day on earth....Sort of like the Punk Rock Version of Ice Cube's "It was a good day" without the guns.
Speaking of Cube, the final night of this years Warped Tour is a punk rock version of a south central block party. In a parking lot an hour outside of Toronto, everyone is raucously celebrating the end of a grueling 2 month tour. Empty beer bottles litter the grounds ; Mike Herrera from MxPx runs around with an acoustic guitar strapped around his neck; and there's a group of 20 something huddled in front of a tour bus simply yelling, like their enraged in some bizarre frat ritual.
Amid all this debauchery, Benji rides over, looking strangely stoic, he pauses before he speaks, as if he's running mid sentence in his head. He looks me straight in the eyes. "I know we've had a hard life" he says "But I don't want this to be a pity piece on our band"
I assure him it wont, and a look of relief comes across his fatigued face. Then he smiles and kicks the clutch and rides away from the party disappearing into the darkness-AP
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