|
MTV: From the moment I put "When It's Over" on, I imagined myself in a convertible with the top down, sun shining …
McGrath: Beautiful, beautiful.
Frazier: That's what we tried to do.
McGrath: That's been our niche … pop-flavored songs, [that have] a summer quality. Growing up in Newport Beach and Southern California … Rodney [Sheppard], our guitar player, played in reggae bands for 10 years. That sort of crept into our sound. The lyrics are a dreamy type of thing. I'm a huge Beach Boys fan, and the band is too, and that's crept its way in there as well. It's great to have a sound. You strive your whole life for that, so we'll be the "summer band."
MTV: What's the inspiration behind the single "When It's Over?"
McGrath: I've been in a relationship for seven years with this girl. [It's been a] tumultuous, up-and-down, rock-and-roll, throwing-flowerpots at the wall [kind of relationship]. The first line of the song is "When it's over, that's the time I fall in love again." It's one of those with or without you, I-can't-live-with-you, I-can't-live-without- you [types of songs]. The song just goes through those emotions and … you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. That was the first song written [for this album]. It dictated the vibe of the record: celebrations and problems.
MTV: You went back a little bit to your roots?
McGrath: I don't even know what our roots are really, but we certainly wanted to write a rock record where we could be proud of [it] top to bottom. I think we did that.
MTV: What do you think of the Duran Duran reunion?
McGrath: Did they ever go away? That's my question.
MTV: It's the original lineup and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo is going back with Missing Persons.
McGrath: I'll be the first guy in line. If you see this video we did [for "When It's Over,"] I basically stole the costume from "Is There Something I Should Know?" Do you remember the blue suits with the white tie tucked in? I literally stole that and tried to be [Duran Duran bassist] John Taylor in the video.
MTV: Tell me about 311 vocalist Nick Hexum's appearance on the record on the song "Stay On."
McGrath: We toured with 311 a few years ago. I've been a fan since day one. I think they are one band that truly mixes up hip-hop, reggae and rock and does it really well. Nick's got such a radio-ready voice and writes incredible hooks.
Frazier: Nick's my neighbor. I see him walking his dogs, so one day I pulled over and said, "Hey Nick, we're working on this song. Do you want to collaborate? Can we get you on this record somehow?" So, I dropped off this CD of the song in his mailbox. He'd get it, take it into his studio, work on it and give it back to me. I'd take it into my studio, work on it. It was just a great collaboration.
Chillin' with Scooby Doo, the king of "Rock & Roll Jeopardy" and heaven forbid they sell a couple of records … NEXT >>>
|
