Tick...Tick...Tick...
Time
has come today for the one-and-only Sugar Ray. "14:59" -- the SoCal quintet's
third Lava/Atlantic album -- follows the success of their 1997 RIAA double
platinum "FLOORED" and its irresistible, unavoidable smash hit, "Fly."
The new collection beats Andy Warhol's celebrity clock as the band takes
a giant step forward in both its inventive musical stylings and its heartfelt
lyrical approach, while always delivering the patented Sugar Ray energy
and humor. Gloriously beat-crazy pop confections like "Every Morning" and
"Falls Apart" virtually guarantee that the band's fifteen minutes aren't
even close to over.
"No
one makes more fun of this band than ourselves," says singer Mark McGrath
of the record's puckish moniker, "so we thought that we'd beat everybody
to the punch. Everybody's put us on that one-hit-wonder cruiseship, so
we just said, 'Fuck it, it was a great run with 'Fly,' let's name the record
'14:59.' If the album fails miserably, it's genius, and if it succeeds,
it's still genius."
"We
just wanted everybody to know we weren't taking ourselves too seriously,
and we were well aware it could all be over tomorrow," notes bassist Murphy
Karges.
"14:59"
essentialy began on March 7th, 1998, when the band followed the last official
show of the "FLOORED" tour -- a sold out homecoming gig at the Hollywood
Palladium on -- with some well-earned time off. The success of "Fly" allowed
them to finally move out of the house they'd shared since their humble
beginnings and find separate new digs. After a couple of months' break,
they reunited at Hollywood's Studio 56, which they vibed up by decorating
it with colored lights, Bruce Lee posters and, of course, the ever-present
black-and-silver Sugar Ray banner. Each member brought a little something
to these informal sessions, including riffs, ideas, and a number of groovy
loops courtesy of DJ Homicide.
"It
was a great situation," Karges recalls. "We had a room to jam in and a
recording booth to put those jams on tape. So a lot of the stuff from the
early practice sessions made it to the record, like the guitar lick for
'Every Morning.' It just started taking on this organic, acoustic-guitar-and-loops
vibe very early on, and we just went with it."
"It's
a totally collaborative effort," McGrath explains. "Someone will write
a verse, someone will write a chorus. It's amazing because we each take
our influences, what we were raised on, and then we throw it in the mix
and it just seems to come together."
"It's
got everybody's trademarked stuff going around," Murphy points out. "You
know, Rodney's guitar licks, Craig's drum loops, and these killer little
David Kahne parts all over the place. It's certainly the Sugar Ray sound...
whatever that is."
After
the Studio 56 sessions, Sugar Ray moved into the famed Sunset Sound Studios,
smack dab on the Sunset Strip. The band found themselves in thrall to the
place's vibe, not to mention the musical ghosts of the Doors and the Rolling
Stones. It was there, in the midst of a September heat wave, that "14:59"
began to come together. As they cut the majority of the album's basic tracks,
the band recaptured their old togetherness -- shooting hoops, drinking
beers and generally just screwing around like they always had.
"At
the end of the day, what we wanted to get back into the music was melody,"
Mark says. "Not to say that anything we've done even resembles the brilliance
of 'PET SOUNDS,' but the Beach Boys and those harmonies were in my head
the whole time we were making the record, and I think that's reflected
in the music."
The
band proudly credit their musical growth to their collaborative relationship
with "FLOORED" producer David Kahne. The renowned studio wiz cooks up a
surprisingly sunny sonic shindig of densely ribboned harmonies and playful
programming, highlighted by the interplay between Sheppard's ingenious
guitar work, DJ Homicide's riotous barrage of sounds, and the delirious
rhythmic power of Karges and drummer Stan Frazier.
"David's
become our George Martin, if you will," says Murphy. "He really knows the
dynamic. He's a record producer in the truest sense of the word. He's worked
with everybody from Romeo Void to Tony Bennett to Sublime, so he encompasses
the full spectrum of music. And that's us. We needed someone who could
go to those extremes."
In
addition to helping Sugar Ray find their musical voice, Kahne also gave
Mark a new strength and confidence as a singer, something that rings clear
in his vocals throughout "14:59."
"Before
I was always just sort of clutching at straws," McGrath says. "I'd be screaming
here, I'd go to a falsetto there. David really showed me where my voice
wants to be."
Perhaps
the most striking aspect of songs like "Someday" and "Falls Apart" is their
openfaced honesty and sweet emotion, another relatively new terrain for
Sugar Ray.
"Besides
the title, the record really is lacking irony," Mark says. "We've done
irony, and I'm not sure if we even do it that well. I mean, I'll leave
that to the Becks of the world. 'Fly' kind of validated us as a band and
let us know that we can really write songs. And that opened the floodgates
for us in terms of creativity."
That
growth is perfectly in tune with the band's shared experiences in the years
since their 1995 Lava/Atlantic debut, "LEMONADE AND BROWNIES." Among the
adventures shared by Sugar Ray was the relentless activity which followed
"FLOORED." The band hit the road across America and Europe with a vengeance,
including a spot on the big Blockbuster RockFest in Fort Worth, Texas and
a summer kicking it on Warped Tour '97 .
The
mindblowing popularity of "Fly" found Sugar Ray dominating America's airwaves
-- the song held the #1 position on the Billboard "Hot 100 Airplay" chart
for six consecutive weeks while the song's companion clip was a #1 video
at MTV, VH1, and The Box-- and performing on national TV programs such
as Late Show With David Letterman, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Late Night
With Conan O'Brien, and The Howard Stern Show, not to mention Mark's smart
appearances on Politically Incorrect and VH1's Rock 'N' Roll Jeopardy.
They also found their faces in any number of magazines, including Rolling
Stone, Details, Spin, Cosmopolitan, Request, Alternative Press, TeenPeople,
and People (who declared Mark one of the sexiest men of '98!). With all
the hubbub surrounding them, Sugar Ray became a close-knit family, confronting
deaths, celebrating marriages, revelling in a huge hit record, and ultimately
coming through with the evolved perspective that marks "14:59."
"We're
starting to write about what's real in our life," says Mark. "When we first
came to L.A., it was all about beer and chicks and cars, that's where our
mentality was. Now we're not afraid to say 'I miss you' or 'I love you'
in a song. We've done a lot of living in the last four years, and I think
that we've grown from those experiences."
"'Fly'
taught us that we can sing a softer song," notes Murphy, "a song with lyrics
that might actually have some meaning."
Case
in point: "Ode To The Lonely Hearted." The Sugar Ray of old would never
have dared to wear their hearts on their sleeves with a tune this tender
and soulful. Originally performed by Rodney and Stan's Eighties-era Newport
Beach combo, the Tories, the song was penned by Nick Sopkovich, a longtime
friend who remains a hero to the members of Sugar Ray.
"This
guy was the most unreal prodigy songwriter of all time," Mark enthuses.
"We were thinking of some songs to do, and I'm like, 'I always loved 'Ode
to the Lonely-Hearted.' I'd love to give that a try.' It's just a classic,
classic song. There's no bullshit there. It's not hiding behind any sort
of 'alternative' curtain. It's just real heartfelt sentiment."
Not
to say Sugar Ray didn't have plenty of vinegar left in them -- check out
the old skool punk F. U. of "Aim For Me," or the fired-up "Burning Dog"
(a different version from the one which appears on Atlantic's 1997 "THE
AVENGERS: MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE.") Near the conclusion of the sessions,
the band had a re-think that led to some of the album's best moments. "Falls
Apart," and the Devo-inspired post-punk-pop of "Personal Space Invader"
and "Glory," were written and recorded in a three day burst of creativity.
"We
were looking at the record and there were a lot of songs like 'Someday'
and 'Every Morning,' which are great, but we just thought we were stuck
in this alt cocoon," Mark says. "We forgot about the rock! So we said 'Time
out,' and went back into the studio."
The
final track recorded for "14:59," the album-opening speed metal pisstake
laughingly dubbed "New Direction," could never be mistaken for anything
other than pure, unadulterated rock, even if it is only a 47-second-long
blast. As for the "New Direction" which closes the record, that's yet another
Sugar Ray in-joke.
"That's
actually 'Every Morning" done in the fashion of a Russian polka," Murphy
explains with a grin. "We've always said we'll do everything, we'll cover
any sound, we'll even do polka... and we had yet to do polka. Now we have."
Springing
happily from alt to alt, the band have proven themselves remakably open
to outside input. Just as "Fly" saw Sugar Ray joining forces with Jamaican
toaster Super Cat, the new album's skankin' funk anthem, "Live & Direct,"
sees them teamed with legendary Boogie Down Productions founder, KRS-One.
"It's
phenomenal," Mark beams. "To be in a position to be able to collaborate
with someone like KRS-One, it's truly amazing. Collaborations are something
we really enjoy doing, especially with artists from other alts, because
there's so much music out there, and it's good to to be turned on to different
things.
"I
look at this band as more like fans making music as opposed to us being
'musicians,'" he adds. "We don't want to limit ourselves to one alt, you
know, and that's why we're able to write songs like 'Fly' or 'Every Morning,'
songs that cross over to so many formats."
1999
should be Sugar Ray's wildest ride yet. "Every Morning" has proven an instant
hit, and with a passel of smashes waiting in the wings, they'll take the
"14:59" show on the road, bringing their special brand of madcap rock 'n
roll intensity to the people. The truth is, for Sugar Ray, it's still simply
about fun, fun, fun.
"We're
just so happy to be doing this," avows Mark. "We got into this for fun,
you know, and we're maximizing our fun to death. It's been incredible,
so anything else that comes our way is gravy. We still lose our minds every
time one of our songs comes on the radio."
"Things
have changed," Murphy says. "'Fly' changed us. It gave us confidence to
make this music. But we're still the same five boneheads from Hancock Park.
We just don't live in the same joint anymore."
The
fat lady hasn't even begun to sing. Reset your clocks, folks. Sugar Ray
are back in town...
