Good Charlotte |
 |
|
Fri. April 04.2003 12:00 AM EST |
||
Good Charlotte: Young Guns On the Pop BattlefieldJoel Madden explains Goldfinger's energy, the White Stripes drumming, and high school guidance counselors' lack of vision. by C. Bottomley |
||||
|
||||
 |
Good Charlotte (Publicity) |
|
||
The last time a pair of identical twins made this much noise, they were Nelson and it was scary. Fortunately, Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden and his guitarist brother Benji - born five minutes apart from each other on March 11, 1979 - are as far
The products of a broken home in Waldorf, Maryland, Benji and Joel decided music was their calling after seeing the Beastie Boys on the Ill Communication tour. Older brother John provided their musical schooling, playing discs by the Cure, Minor Threat, and the Smiths. When future Good Charlotte bassist Paul showed Benji his first guitar chords, the band were off and running. Their self-titled 2000 debut caused only a minor ripple. But last years The Young & the Hopeless found the band mastering the art of pithy punk songs. MTV liked it enough to make Benji and Joel hosts of the show All Things Rock. Now the band are so white-hot Joel can only spare ten minutes for VH1 to check his head. He explained why he has a lot to learn from L.A. ska punks Goldfinger, why the White Stripes should dump their drummer, and why, if you eliminate the photo shoots, being a rocker is the best job in the world. VH1: You and Benji are identical twins, so how do I know Im not talking to him right now? Joel Madden: Youve got to trust me, man! Youd know Ben because he cusses a lot and hes a little crazier than I am. Hes probably more exciting to talk to. VH1: Prove it. Tell me something about yourself that Benji doesnt know. Joel: I dont know, dude. He pretty much knows everything! Were that close. VH1: Have you ever pretended to be Benji with his girlfriend? Joel: Nah, weve never done that. Even though were identical twins, were not that identical. Were not into the same kind of girls anyway. Benjis into dirty punk rock chicks. Im into all different kinds of girls, but theyre pretty normal compared to his girlfriends. VH1: Whats the last rock show youve been to that really blew your mind? Joel: Goldfinger are one of the best live bands. Any band that thinks theyre good should go see Goldfinger and see how much energy they have. Were both pretty melodic, but they go faster. VH1: As your groups front man, do you envy the energy Goldfingers singer has? Joel: A little bit. If a bands kicking ass and ripping it up onstage, you want to put on as good a show as they do. It gives you a run for your money. Weve toured with all those bands, and when you watch play live, you learn a lot. VH1: Whats the last thing you learned or stole from another band? Joel: Thats a tough one. I dont know. Weve been on the road for the last four years straight, so weve learned stuff from a hundred different bands. VH1: Are the White Stripes the greatest rock group on the planet? Joel: Hell, no! Theyre good, but theyre like a critics band. The critics bands are always a let down. I checked them out because theyre so acclaimed, but the girl cant play the drums to save her life. Im sure the White Stripes are nice people and good at what they do. But the best rock band on the planet? Whatever! The Foo Fighters theyre the best band out right now. VH1: The Anthem seems directed at high school outcasts. Were you bullied a lot at school? Joel: Not really. I was pretty normal. I was quiet and kept to myself. The Anthem isnt just about high school. Its about everyone that doesnt want to have that status quo lifestyle where they go to college, get a job, get a house and two cars, and a wife and two kids. High school is a part of that, because thats where they teach you how to be the rest of your life. I hated high school. The songs aimed at kids who want to be different and do something like be a band. VH1: Did you tell your guidance counselor you wanted to be a rock singer? Joel: Yeah. I failed a class one time because of it. We were doing this whole semester of career things. We had to take these aptitude tests. You had to fill out all these questions and then theres a whole list of careers to choose. I was looking at it and thought, I dont want to be any of these jobs! I want to do music. The teachers were like, Well, musics not a real job. I refused to do the test. It was like an eight-week college prep course and I failed the class because they didnt have any options I wanted to do. In a small town like the one where I came from, nobody believed that music could be a real job. VH1: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous took aim at celebrity self-pity. Whats the best thing about being a rock star? Joel: I dont consider myself a rock star. The best part is being able to do this for a living traveling around, seeing the world, being with my best friends, getting to play music and make records and live every kids dream. VH1: How does the reality compare to the dream? Joel: Its a lot more glamorous when youre imagining it as a kid, but I havent been disappointed. The only downside is doing photo shoots. VH1: Why dont you like photo shoots? Joel: All of a sudden you have to concentrate on how you look. Doing that kind of stuff is weird to me. Were the worst band to take photos of, because we dont do anything fun or cool. We just stand there and say, Are you done yet? Why cant you just take two pictures? Thats all you need. Youre only going to pick one. The photographers will be like, Well, we need a lot & Its pretty bad. VH1: Whats the last dream you had? Joel: The other night I dreamt I was stuck on a battlefield. I guess it was because I was watching too much CNN. I was running around, didnt have a gun or anything, and I was getting shot at. It was pretty weird. VH1: So come on, soldier. What are we going to do with Saddam Hussein when we catch him? Joel: I dont know. Send him into exile in Afghanistan. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
 |
Machine Gun Kelly Spits Bars, Vibes With Good Charlotte |
|
Good Charlotte's 'Last Night' Video A Tribute To 'Family Double Dare' |
|
Good Charlotte Talk 'Family Vibe' On Bamboozle Tour |
|
Good Charlotte Wanted To 'Dig Deep' For Cardiology |
 |
 |
 |
|
Receive Free Music News Daily Via Email |
|
Receive Free Artist Updates Via Email for Good Charlotte |
|
All news for Good Charlotte |
|
Breaking Music News |
 |
Add VH1 News to My Yahoo |
|
