John Rzeznik stops by to talk about the Goo Goo Dolls' 40th anniversary, why Taylor Swift stands out as a songwriter, and the best advice he's learned over four decades in music.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Johnny Resnik is here and uh, okay that the sound
of five people. I'm plotting to myself. We had a
cow bell, the breaking cow bell that means something big
is happening. These are the days. It's like old school.
(00:22):
You know, we're talking before the break about what it
was like googoo dolling again, right, And we've had several
artists in bands who have come in and they put
everything on hold and maybe broke up at some point,
but they came back together the second time around. Second
time around was a whole different story. Jonas brothers. Okay,
they pulled the plug. They came back and they're doing it.
(00:43):
They're all around the world now. They're saying that they
are really truly enjoying it now more than they ever
would have enjoyed it before the break, because it's they
understand it young.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
The first time around, it's like, yeah, I'm a piece
of your childhood just sort of ripped away from you.
You know. But but I mean they had each other
and they had good people around them. So you know,
I've met those guys a couple of times. They were
really cool.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Jersey they're from their jersey. Look at that jerseys it's
the headline today.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
If you could tell your younger self something that you
learned or you know now to like make things easier,
what would it be. You're in as cool as you
think you are.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Oh really? You you were all that back then?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Huh A little bit? You know when you're twenty. I mean,
you know what thing? Can you remember doing? It just
disgusts you now discuss Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay, I
don't know because it probably happened in the middle of
a blackout drunk.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Okay, okay, amen.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
And like what I don't know is not going to
hurt me.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So you're saying, if you're blackout drunk, it didn't happen.
It didn't happen. You recognize in the corner last.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, they know they were there.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I've been black out drunk and both of those old
fossils over there that same rule. I don't remember.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
It didn't happen.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I don't remember. It didn't occur.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
You were saying that you're loving this now. Was there
a time that you did not enjoy it?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
We got signed to Warners in nineteen ninety and the
upper management and the people who were running the label,
it went from being a very old school record company
and the technology was just starting to really speed up,
and so everybody was kind of freaking out, not knowing
(02:25):
what to do about about you know, napster and wow,
all this kind of crazy stuff, I know, right, So
it got a little weird and they kept changing the
people at the top. Now we worked with a guy
named Phil Cordereo with Phil absolutely you know, and wow,
John Boulos is there with us, and that was my
(02:46):
happiest time at Warner Brothers because Phil would just shoot straight.
A lot of these guys that run these record companies
they don't know anything about music. You know, no offense
to any of you, but you don't know about music.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So how is the music changed?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I think as you get older. Say I was, I
was a carpenter's apprentice thirty years ago. Now I'm a
master builder, and not that my songs are masterpieces, but
it's like you just you just your toolkit gets bigger
and and the tricks that you learn from other people
gets the depth of that knowledge, you know, and it's like,
(03:24):
I mean, there are some pitfalls you have to avoid.
Like everything I write is amazing, you know what I mean.
That's something you can never say that. You have to
be very I have to be very hard on myself
about it, you know. And that's why it's like there's
not a lot of B sides of our music because
I throw that stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
People know what B sides are anymore? Oh do you know, God,
you do know what B side is.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I'm going to guess it's not as popular singles or songs.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yes, it's the backside of a single.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
You get a single, a forty five record forty five,
you know I'm talking about. Yeah, record the B sides
you turn over. Sometimes B sides became huger the side.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
That's true.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, Okay, how about music in general? How in your opinion,
what are you hearing now that's different than then.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I'm hearing a lot of people who are who are
listening to other artists and and and trying to be
those artists. I mean, I'm finding this very sort of
homogeneous kind of sound that's going onnest. I mean, maybe
it's a trend or whatever, but I don't believe that
the younger artists have the time to develop themselves as artists.
(04:29):
And this is something that I have to say about
Taylor Swift. Okay, when all the other humongous female artists
in the world were out putting their makeup line, getting
their their perfume, doing all this other stuff, becoming actresses.
She went out to the woods with the guitar and
wrote three incredible records. That's what you gotta do, and
that's why she is where she is, and that's why
(04:51):
she is. So it still works, you know what you
put the work, and it's gonna work, you know. And
she's and like I mean lyrically, it's like, my wife
is massive Taylor Swift fan, you know. So I listened
to all of it, and it's like even the stuff
when she was young was it was incredible, like like lyrically,
(05:11):
the sophistication of the whole thing. And then and then
you know, the last few records that she put out,
I've just been the writing is just so good. You know.
That's what they kids need to do. They need to write.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
If your daughter wanted to go into the music business,
what would you beat her with a get out of here? No,
it wouldn't be no. You know what I was.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I've been lucky enough to make enough money so that
she can live at home with me for the rest.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Of her Dad, Now you're going to a new Jersey Dan. Yeah,
what's your daughter do?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
She's got a career in the arts, which means she
lives in the basement.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Wow, Johnny Resnick. Of course I've got to play ocean
in a second. What's next?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
What's next? Okay?
Speaker 1 (06:04):
For us, I'm gonna see you.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
This is the fortieth anniversary of this band.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
We got to go see you know.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
We wanted to kind of do a soft kind of thing,
like not make too big a deal out of it.
So but so what we're doing is we're playing. We're
playing like smaller markets. I just thought would be kind
of interesting. Because we had to get out of this
record deal. And so we called our booking agent because
we had to hire a big lawyer. You know, so
(06:29):
who's the best music lawyer? Guy named Peter Paterno, Okay, great,
call him. How sent him our old record contract, which
was like the size of a Manhattan phone book, not
that they have those anymore, but it was.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It was huge.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
It was this ridiculous contract. It was totally unfair. So
he looked through it and he called us back, and
then we said, how much money is going to take
to get us out of this, and he told us
and uh, and then so we called our booking agent
and we said, how can we earn you know, it's
like three hundred thousand dollars or something. How can we
earn three hundred thousand dollars? And he said, playing playing
(07:07):
county fairs and state fairs.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So he booked us into every county fair, every state fair.
And you know, we went to Davenport, Iowa, we went
to Cedar Rapids, We went to all these little cities
and we had so much fun and we saved our band.
I mean, we saved all the money.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So the smaller market as compared to the Garden in
New York City, you know what, it's just.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
A different vibe, you know, because it's like a lot
of bands skip over the smaller towns, you know, and
and we haven't been there, you know, maybe ten years
or that kind of thing. So so I want to
go back because I connect with those people because I'm
from Buffalo. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's like you're always gonna be from Buffalo, always from Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
You can't shake them.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
When we go to the Iowa State Fair because we
take the show there. Everyone once in a while, the
Iowa State Fairs awesome, Like.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Everything is the butter.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
The butter cow. Those pigs were the big balls. They
have the measuring contest with the gigs. We feel much
more love going to the Iowa State Fair than if
we're doing something on the streets in Manhattan, because yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well because I mean it's like there's so many other options.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
In the bigger cities, you know, and you made the money,
you saved, You saved the band, you got.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Rid of the band gave you the money. The lawyer
got out of that deal. And uh, we proved that
we could do it. That was part of the thing.
It's like, you know, I never give the younger guys
and girls my advice, my two cents unless they ask,
And when they do, I'm like, you know what, forget
about being a rock star because that don't mean anything. Uh,
(08:43):
work on your craft, don't be afraid to be yourself.
And you know, if you got to work a day
job to do your art at night, work a day job, Like,
I'm sorry, life.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
That's what people don't understand. It's so easy. The entwer
is right there in front of you, right work, that's
the answer. Yeah, you know, so it was good I've
been as you one hundred for forty years. So I'm Google
dolls age. Yeah, right, Froggy. Where were you when when
when Google Dolls first hit you?
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Remember, I was working at a radio station called the
Power Pig in Tampa, Florida. And Power Pig I had
only been there a year and and I remember that song.
I just started dating my now wife when that song
came out. And uh, that was the soundtrack of the
radio station, every singing both Goo Goo Doll songs iris.
(09:33):
We played them all of the time, and every single
request line when you answer, can you please play Goo
Goo Dolls iris? Because the movie was huge, City of Angels,
it was that was everything.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Then.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
My finger still hurts from making those calls.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
This was a mistake.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
You didn't realize how big you would be, right, So
I'm from Erie, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yep, je down from Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
We would go up to Buffalo.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
To shows, and you had booked a show November night,
nineteen ninety eight at Penn State there.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
That was right when you guys were hitting. It was
that a mistake that we were like, we didn't know
we would be this big. We wouldn't be playing an
auditorium at a community college. You don't sign on the dawn.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Well, I'm sure we got paid, which you know, I'm
I'm a whore like anyone else. As long as the
room's full, I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
And I got to say, I've seen you dozens of time,
close to dozen. This is going to creep okay. So
that was I think the best show I think I
ever saw you.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
You guys were so real right, like you just I
don't know if it's something about playing a smaller.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Crowd, like a smaller it just the I still remember it.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
I remember the date.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Wow. I know, I'm like, I can't remember what I
did an hour ago.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, but that was just something else.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Wow, maybe away a little you get security.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
You might not remember this, but you played the very
first Z one hundred jingle Ball in December ninety five
when name was out before Irish.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
What was going.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
Through your mind back then, because that was when you
were still you were truly the punk band.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, playing the pop show, yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
That was that was really that was an exciting thing
for us because it was like, you know, you're on
an indie label at first, and that was always sort
of like the farm team for the majors. And and
we were we were really picking up a lot of
steam at college radio. And that was the farm team
(11:40):
for commercial radio. You hoped to cross over into into
commercial radio, you know, because the audience is so much bigger.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
You know, I want to go to a college station.
I want to go back.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
You want to go back to it.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
I want to reverse my engines? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Why not? Did you? Now? Did you do radio in college?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I did not. I did. I did commercial radio when
I was in college. I'm studying radio and I just
got out because I was already in radio. Yeah, I'm
already working in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This is Robbie too, Robbie the bass player in the band. Yeah,
he got he got a degree in communications. He was
a DJ at the college radio station. He was he
had air shifts at commercial radio. And you know, I
mean he's just got that boy.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Say, man, it was very unique about this conversation with
Johnny is you know radio that was it back then?
I mean it really was. I mean, this is MTV
was out. I guess you doing that thing?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeah, I don't. Right around then they sort of started
to not play music right right, But I mean, now
you can get you get your music everywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I mean, there are so many songs that we don't
we don't even play one one hundred that are massive
hits around the world because it's just social media. It's everywhere.
It's changed, the game has changed very much.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So I don't understand it, you know, and it's and
it's a bit anxiety provoking at times.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
But you don't have to though, Just can't you just
do the music? Do you need to understand? Do you
really going to keep keep your fingers in the business
end where you understand the distribution of your music.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
A distribution of music is somebody uploads the song to
a laptop and it's done and and there you go.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
They're crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
There's your big release release parties.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, we should.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
We should have like launch parties where somebody has a
laptop and everybody's having a great time and then you
hit send.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah that sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah, I
go home.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You've been doing this now for forty years and you've
done so much. You did fairs and then you also
did huge, huge shows. Is there anything that's on your
bucket list still have to do or do you think
you've done.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It all well on my bucket list. It hasn't happened yet,
but it's all been arranged. Please see here now, because
to me, that is like, that is such an important
festival here now, see here now in Asbury Park, and
it's that's it's just the pedigree of that festival.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
What is it about that? There's so many festivals? Why
that one?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Why that one? Because it's Jersey and Jersey has the
best rock audiences, you know, and it's it's you know
what I love about Jersey. I know all these guys
there that I've met since I've lived there, and they
all play in bands. They all still play in bands.
And during the summer, these guys who like they work
on Wall Street and then they go they do gigs
(14:33):
with their bands at the Jersey Shore, you know. And
it's like and I love that. I love that. And
I did a I did a charity of that at
the Elks Lodge last Saturday, you know. And uh I
called my neighbor and I said, hey, man, you got
a shaker in a tambourine. And he's like, yeah, I'm like, well,
come do this gig with me, you know. And it
(14:55):
was in the backyard of an Elks lodge and watch
on New Jersey and you know, we played for about
forty five minutes.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
You know people Elk man, they know, yeah they did. Yeah,
what are you doing here? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Well I'm doing you know, raising money to build a
home for veterans.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You know. So that's a cool love.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
In New Jersey life. Man, I could tell I like it.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
I like, I'm I'm really excited. When I finally worked
up the nerve to actually speak to Bruce Springsteen at
the at the light of day right thing down down
in Red Bank, it was like because I was rendered
speechless by him and I and I was in his
proximity where I could have introduced myself and said, hey,
(15:41):
you know how you doing. I'm John so and so
I was like, you didn't do it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I couldn't talk to him, Are you kidding me? I
could not talk to He knows you, he knows your music,
you know.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, you know, man, it's like he's the boss. It's like, no,
but it is one of those things. Okay, the biggest
stars that I've ever met my life have always been
the most generous and open. And you know who's that Okay, Well,
John Bon Jovi, uh Bono god sting seems like he's
(16:13):
like that, I'm not saying nothing.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Oh my god, let's not start beef.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
You said that because because he fits into the other category,
you don't meet.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Your hero.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Several times and he has always been so yeah, he's
like I love the cuckoo dolls, you know, I love
you Donald.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
There's something daring about that.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It's that it's that posh English accent. But I'm married one,
so you know it works. I'm like these Australian guys,
you know, they've been here for forty years, and like, ah, yeah,
because it works.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It does. Don't ever change those accents now, you don't
lose that accident. But what you say is true. Paul McCartney,
the nicest guy. Bottom Botto gave me a massage.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, it's I heard ready music a little ladder. Yeah,
so tense is there massage? These are the guys who
they've done it and now they don't have anything to
have to permit anyone.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
When Keith Richards were opening for the Rolling Stones, and
Keith Richards and Ronnie would come up to us and
they're like, don't even knock, just come into the dressing room.
We always there's always a party going on in there.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Johnny Resid just dropped some names on the floor.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
I did. We didn't clean up in the studio five.
There's a shovel.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Famous person in your phone, like if I went in
there now, I'm just carring.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Let's call them. I don't know is the most poet.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I'm telling you. You got to walk down the street with
this guy in Manhattan some time. It's like the friggin mayor.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Everyone.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And Patty was going. Everyone loves Patty. You gotta go
fishing if you're in Jersey, go fishing with Patty.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Paddy.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, he's quite the fisherman, he is.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
He lies about every one of them. I'm gonna play
some music, Johnny John Resnick, thank you, Johnny Johnny Resnick.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
It's either one.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
John Resnick, thank you so much for coming in and
standing in the ouse.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Fans.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I'll ovate, well, you shouldn't even give yourself ovation. I
am giving myself. I'm gonna play Ocean by the way,
Uh Summer Anthem EP is out right now, and of
course anchored by misery and Ocean and whatever else we
play next. It's Ocean, John Resnick, thank you for coming in,
and thank you for having it's Google dolls.
Johnny Resnik is here and uh, okay that the sound
of five people. I'm plotting to myself. We had a
cow bell, the breaking cow bell that means something big
is happening. These are the days. It's like old school.
(00:22):
You know, we're talking before the break about what it
was like googoo dolling again, right, And we've had several
artists in bands who have come in and they put
everything on hold and maybe broke up at some point,
but they came back together the second time around. Second
time around was a whole different story. Jonas brothers. Okay,
they pulled the plug. They came back and they're doing it.
(00:43):
They're all around the world now. They're saying that they
are really truly enjoying it now more than they ever
would have enjoyed it before the break, because it's they
understand it young.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
The first time around, it's like, yeah, I'm a piece
of your childhood just sort of ripped away from you.
You know. But but I mean they had each other
and they had good people around them. So you know,
I've met those guys a couple of times. They were
really cool.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Jersey they're from their jersey. Look at that jerseys it's
the headline today.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
If you could tell your younger self something that you
learned or you know now to like make things easier,
what would it be. You're in as cool as you
think you are.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Oh really? You you were all that back then?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Huh A little bit? You know when you're twenty. I mean,
you know what thing? Can you remember doing? It just
disgusts you now discuss Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay, I
don't know because it probably happened in the middle of
a blackout drunk.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Okay, okay, amen.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
And like what I don't know is not going to
hurt me.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So you're saying, if you're blackout drunk, it didn't happen.
It didn't happen. You recognize in the corner last.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, they know they were there.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I've been black out drunk and both of those old
fossils over there that same rule. I don't remember.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
It didn't happen.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I don't remember. It didn't occur.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
You were saying that you're loving this now. Was there
a time that you did not enjoy it?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
We got signed to Warners in nineteen ninety and the
upper management and the people who were running the label,
it went from being a very old school record company
and the technology was just starting to really speed up,
and so everybody was kind of freaking out, not knowing
(02:25):
what to do about about you know, napster and wow,
all this kind of crazy stuff, I know, right, So
it got a little weird and they kept changing the
people at the top. Now we worked with a guy
named Phil Cordereo with Phil absolutely you know, and wow,
John Boulos is there with us, and that was my
(02:46):
happiest time at Warner Brothers because Phil would just shoot straight.
A lot of these guys that run these record companies
they don't know anything about music. You know, no offense
to any of you, but you don't know about music.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So how is the music changed?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I think as you get older. Say I was, I
was a carpenter's apprentice thirty years ago. Now I'm a
master builder, and not that my songs are masterpieces, but
it's like you just you just your toolkit gets bigger
and and the tricks that you learn from other people
gets the depth of that knowledge, you know, and it's like,
(03:24):
I mean, there are some pitfalls you have to avoid.
Like everything I write is amazing, you know what I mean.
That's something you can never say that. You have to
be very I have to be very hard on myself
about it, you know. And that's why it's like there's
not a lot of B sides of our music because
I throw that stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
People know what B sides are anymore? Oh do you know, God,
you do know what B side is.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I'm going to guess it's not as popular singles or songs.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yes, it's the backside of a single.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
You get a single, a forty five record forty five,
you know I'm talking about. Yeah, record the B sides
you turn over. Sometimes B sides became huger the side.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
That's true.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, Okay, how about music in general? How in your opinion,
what are you hearing now that's different than then.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I'm hearing a lot of people who are who are
listening to other artists and and and trying to be
those artists. I mean, I'm finding this very sort of
homogeneous kind of sound that's going onnest. I mean, maybe
it's a trend or whatever, but I don't believe that
the younger artists have the time to develop themselves as artists.
(04:29):
And this is something that I have to say about
Taylor Swift. Okay, when all the other humongous female artists
in the world were out putting their makeup line, getting
their their perfume, doing all this other stuff, becoming actresses.
She went out to the woods with the guitar and
wrote three incredible records. That's what you gotta do, and
that's why she is where she is, and that's why
(04:51):
she is. So it still works, you know what you
put the work, and it's gonna work, you know. And
she's and like I mean lyrically, it's like, my wife
is massive Taylor Swift fan, you know. So I listened
to all of it, and it's like even the stuff
when she was young was it was incredible, like like lyrically,
(05:11):
the sophistication of the whole thing. And then and then
you know, the last few records that she put out,
I've just been the writing is just so good. You know.
That's what they kids need to do. They need to write.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
If your daughter wanted to go into the music business,
what would you beat her with a get out of here? No,
it wouldn't be no. You know what I was.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I've been lucky enough to make enough money so that
she can live at home with me for the rest.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Of her Dad, Now you're going to a new Jersey Dan. Yeah,
what's your daughter do?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
She's got a career in the arts, which means she
lives in the basement.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Wow, Johnny Resnick. Of course I've got to play ocean
in a second. What's next?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
What's next? Okay?
Speaker 1 (06:04):
For us, I'm gonna see you.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
This is the fortieth anniversary of this band.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
We got to go see you know.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
We wanted to kind of do a soft kind of thing,
like not make too big a deal out of it.
So but so what we're doing is we're playing. We're
playing like smaller markets. I just thought would be kind
of interesting. Because we had to get out of this
record deal. And so we called our booking agent because
we had to hire a big lawyer. You know, so
(06:29):
who's the best music lawyer? Guy named Peter Paterno, Okay, great,
call him. How sent him our old record contract, which
was like the size of a Manhattan phone book, not
that they have those anymore, but it was.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It was huge.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
It was this ridiculous contract. It was totally unfair. So
he looked through it and he called us back, and
then we said, how much money is going to take
to get us out of this, and he told us
and uh, and then so we called our booking agent
and we said, how can we earn you know, it's
like three hundred thousand dollars or something. How can we
earn three hundred thousand dollars? And he said, playing playing
(07:07):
county fairs and state fairs.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So he booked us into every county fair, every state fair.
And you know, we went to Davenport, Iowa, we went
to Cedar Rapids, We went to all these little cities
and we had so much fun and we saved our band.
I mean, we saved all the money.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So the smaller market as compared to the Garden in
New York City, you know what, it's just.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
A different vibe, you know, because it's like a lot
of bands skip over the smaller towns, you know, and
and we haven't been there, you know, maybe ten years
or that kind of thing. So so I want to
go back because I connect with those people because I'm
from Buffalo. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's like you're always gonna be from Buffalo, always from Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
You can't shake them.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
When we go to the Iowa State Fair because we
take the show there. Everyone once in a while, the
Iowa State Fairs awesome, Like.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Everything is the butter.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
The butter cow. Those pigs were the big balls. They
have the measuring contest with the gigs. We feel much
more love going to the Iowa State Fair than if
we're doing something on the streets in Manhattan, because yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well because I mean it's like there's so many other options.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
In the bigger cities, you know, and you made the money,
you saved, You saved the band, you got.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Rid of the band gave you the money. The lawyer
got out of that deal. And uh, we proved that
we could do it. That was part of the thing.
It's like, you know, I never give the younger guys
and girls my advice, my two cents unless they ask,
And when they do, I'm like, you know what, forget
about being a rock star because that don't mean anything. Uh,
(08:43):
work on your craft, don't be afraid to be yourself.
And you know, if you got to work a day
job to do your art at night, work a day job, Like,
I'm sorry, life.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
That's what people don't understand. It's so easy. The entwer
is right there in front of you, right work, that's
the answer. Yeah, you know, so it was good I've
been as you one hundred for forty years. So I'm Google
dolls age. Yeah, right, Froggy. Where were you when when
when Google Dolls first hit you?
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Remember, I was working at a radio station called the
Power Pig in Tampa, Florida. And Power Pig I had
only been there a year and and I remember that song.
I just started dating my now wife when that song
came out. And uh, that was the soundtrack of the
radio station, every singing both Goo Goo Doll songs iris.
(09:33):
We played them all of the time, and every single
request line when you answer, can you please play Goo
Goo Dolls iris? Because the movie was huge, City of Angels,
it was that was everything.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Then.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
My finger still hurts from making those calls.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
This was a mistake.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
You didn't realize how big you would be, right, So
I'm from Erie, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yep, je down from Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
We would go up to Buffalo.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
To shows, and you had booked a show November night,
nineteen ninety eight at Penn State there.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
That was right when you guys were hitting. It was
that a mistake that we were like, we didn't know
we would be this big. We wouldn't be playing an
auditorium at a community college. You don't sign on the dawn.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Well, I'm sure we got paid, which you know, I'm
I'm a whore like anyone else. As long as the
room's full, I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
And I got to say, I've seen you dozens of time,
close to dozen. This is going to creep okay. So
that was I think the best show I think I
ever saw you.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
You guys were so real right, like you just I
don't know if it's something about playing a smaller.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Crowd, like a smaller it just the I still remember it.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
I remember the date.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Wow. I know, I'm like, I can't remember what I
did an hour ago.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, but that was just something else.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Wow, maybe away a little you get security.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
You might not remember this, but you played the very
first Z one hundred jingle Ball in December ninety five
when name was out before Irish.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
What was going.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
Through your mind back then, because that was when you
were still you were truly the punk band.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, playing the pop show, yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
That was that was really that was an exciting thing
for us because it was like, you know, you're on
an indie label at first, and that was always sort
of like the farm team for the majors. And and
we were we were really picking up a lot of
steam at college radio. And that was the farm team
(11:40):
for commercial radio. You hoped to cross over into into
commercial radio, you know, because the audience is so much bigger.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
You know, I want to go to a college station.
I want to go back.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
You want to go back to it.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
I want to reverse my engines? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Why not? Did you? Now? Did you do radio in college?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I did not. I did. I did commercial radio when
I was in college. I'm studying radio and I just
got out because I was already in radio. Yeah, I'm
already working in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This is Robbie too, Robbie the bass player in the band. Yeah,
he got he got a degree in communications. He was
a DJ at the college radio station. He was he
had air shifts at commercial radio. And you know, I
mean he's just got that boy.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Say, man, it was very unique about this conversation with
Johnny is you know radio that was it back then?
I mean it really was. I mean, this is MTV
was out. I guess you doing that thing?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeah, I don't. Right around then they sort of started
to not play music right right, But I mean, now
you can get you get your music everywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I mean, there are so many songs that we don't
we don't even play one one hundred that are massive
hits around the world because it's just social media. It's everywhere.
It's changed, the game has changed very much.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So I don't understand it, you know, and it's and
it's a bit anxiety provoking at times.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
But you don't have to though, Just can't you just
do the music? Do you need to understand? Do you
really going to keep keep your fingers in the business
end where you understand the distribution of your music.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
A distribution of music is somebody uploads the song to
a laptop and it's done and and there you go.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
They're crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
There's your big release release parties.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, we should.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
We should have like launch parties where somebody has a
laptop and everybody's having a great time and then you
hit send.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah that sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah, I
go home.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You've been doing this now for forty years and you've
done so much. You did fairs and then you also
did huge, huge shows. Is there anything that's on your
bucket list still have to do or do you think
you've done.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It all well on my bucket list. It hasn't happened yet,
but it's all been arranged. Please see here now, because
to me, that is like, that is such an important
festival here now, see here now in Asbury Park, and
it's that's it's just the pedigree of that festival.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
What is it about that? There's so many festivals? Why
that one?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Why that one? Because it's Jersey and Jersey has the
best rock audiences, you know, and it's it's you know
what I love about Jersey. I know all these guys
there that I've met since I've lived there, and they
all play in bands. They all still play in bands.
And during the summer, these guys who like they work
on Wall Street and then they go they do gigs
(14:33):
with their bands at the Jersey Shore, you know. And
it's like and I love that. I love that. And
I did a I did a charity of that at
the Elks Lodge last Saturday, you know. And uh I
called my neighbor and I said, hey, man, you got
a shaker in a tambourine. And he's like, yeah, I'm like, well,
come do this gig with me, you know. And it
(14:55):
was in the backyard of an Elks lodge and watch
on New Jersey and you know, we played for about
forty five minutes.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
You know people Elk man, they know, yeah they did. Yeah,
what are you doing here? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Well I'm doing you know, raising money to build a
home for veterans.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You know. So that's a cool love.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
In New Jersey life. Man, I could tell I like it.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
I like, I'm I'm really excited. When I finally worked
up the nerve to actually speak to Bruce Springsteen at
the at the light of day right thing down down
in Red Bank, it was like because I was rendered
speechless by him and I and I was in his
proximity where I could have introduced myself and said, hey,
(15:41):
you know how you doing. I'm John so and so
I was like, you didn't do it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I couldn't talk to him, Are you kidding me? I
could not talk to He knows you, he knows your music,
you know.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, you know, man, it's like he's the boss. It's like, no,
but it is one of those things. Okay, the biggest
stars that I've ever met my life have always been
the most generous and open. And you know who's that Okay, Well,
John Bon Jovi, uh Bono god sting seems like he's
(16:13):
like that, I'm not saying nothing.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Oh my god, let's not start beef.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
You said that because because he fits into the other category,
you don't meet.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Your hero.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Several times and he has always been so yeah, he's
like I love the cuckoo dolls, you know, I love
you Donald.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
There's something daring about that.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It's that it's that posh English accent. But I'm married one,
so you know it works. I'm like these Australian guys,
you know, they've been here for forty years, and like, ah, yeah,
because it works.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It does. Don't ever change those accents now, you don't
lose that accident. But what you say is true. Paul McCartney,
the nicest guy. Bottom Botto gave me a massage.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, it's I heard ready music a little ladder. Yeah,
so tense is there massage? These are the guys who
they've done it and now they don't have anything to
have to permit anyone.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
When Keith Richards were opening for the Rolling Stones, and
Keith Richards and Ronnie would come up to us and
they're like, don't even knock, just come into the dressing room.
We always there's always a party going on in there.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Johnny Resid just dropped some names on the floor.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
I did. We didn't clean up in the studio five.
There's a shovel.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Famous person in your phone, like if I went in
there now, I'm just carring.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Let's call them. I don't know is the most poet.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I'm telling you. You got to walk down the street with
this guy in Manhattan some time. It's like the friggin mayor.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Everyone.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And Patty was going. Everyone loves Patty. You gotta go
fishing if you're in Jersey, go fishing with Patty.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Paddy.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, he's quite the fisherman, he is.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
He lies about every one of them. I'm gonna play
some music, Johnny John Resnick, thank you, Johnny Johnny Resnick.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
It's either one.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
John Resnick, thank you so much for coming in and
standing in the ouse.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Fans.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I'll ovate, well, you shouldn't even give yourself ovation. I
am giving myself. I'm gonna play Ocean by the way,
Uh Summer Anthem EP is out right now, and of
course anchored by misery and Ocean and whatever else we
play next. It's Ocean, John Resnick, thank you for coming in,
and thank you for having it's Google dolls.
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