July 21, 2026 • 20 mins
Paul De Lisle, bassist and founding member of Smash Mouth, joins to discuss their new album "Mercury Comet." Plus, fond memories of late singer Steve Harwell, cameo in the 2001 movie "Rat Race," love for Guns N' Roses' rhythm section, and more!
More info:
https://www.smashmouth.com/
https://www.facebook.com/smashmouth https://www.youtube.com/@UCney_E5ANuRPZqOaIuAwz2A
Website:
www.afdpod.com
More info:
https://www.smashmouth.com/
https://www.facebook.com/smashmouth https://www.youtube.com/@UCney_E5ANuRPZqOaIuAwz2A
Website:
www.afdpod.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Guns and Roses was different. I wouldn't be called a herald,
but they were dirtier and they swung.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the podcast Appetite for Distortion. My name is
Brando and sorry I have to do this Paul. If
somebody once told me I was going to interview the
founding member of a smash Mouth, they said I wouldn't
be the sharpest tool in Has anyone started the interview
like that? Am I the only sharp tools that did that?
Has anyone started? Well? Welcome to the show of Paul
(00:31):
and it's it's the the Lele Paul Lyle.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
You know either one?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, I want to get it right. I have a
history Delile Delile of the founding bassist and member of
smash Mouth. Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Thank you for having me. Brando. Great to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Where are you zooming in from? Because that's the.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I'm at home here in San Jose, California. Lovely San Jose, California.
Another beautiful day.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I should have wore my Sharks hat I have a.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Sharks Oh no, that's ubject. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I'm an Islanders fan, but I love uh, I love
sports logos. So since I was a kid, I've always
collected jerseys and stuff like that because you're you're a Canadian.
I always wore my I'm a.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Huge hockey fan and you know, I'm from Ottawa.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So I got two teams of the Senators and the Sharks,
both tough teams to be fans of, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
And that's a that's an unexpected, beautiful talie into everything
because I've been to Ottawa. I dated a girl from Ottawa.
I should have could have wore my Senator's hat. She was.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I'm from Ottawa. Both my parents were born and raised
in Ottawa.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's a beautiful city. It really is.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
At full city. It really is. Going back there in
a month too. We're playing in Gatino, so that'll be
that'll be great.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Okay, cool because we're going to talk about everything you're
doing with smash Mouth and later on in Italian I
got to see guns and Roses in Ottawa. Believe it
or not.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
How was that?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It was amazing? Well my then girlfriend at the time,
even though we were broken up at the time. That's
another story for another time. And they it was who
was it was Sebastian Bach and the Suicide Girls. That burlesque,
you know, pin up kind of Style Alternative, you know
girl magazine. Uh, they opened up for Guns and Roses
(02:18):
where the Senators play in the Scotia Bank right, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Was gonna say, was it Lansdowne Stadium or no at
scot where the Senators play?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Okay, yeah, that's a little bit out of town now, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, yeah. So that's my one claim to fame when
I said I've seen my favorite band outside of the
country is seeing them in Ottawa. So there's there's a connection.
We'll talk more about Guns and Roses down the line,
but I want to talk to you about, honestly, this
new smash Mouth record which is titled, well, the new
single is Better Believer, and the new album is going
(02:51):
to be called Mercury Comet, which comes out August twelfth,
or Better Believer. Tell me the story behind this because
I'll preface it with this. You know, I'm forty two now,
but I was in high school when smash Mouth. For me,
I feel like you guys broke with before, before Shrek,
before all that stuff, Before you guys went into another
lum talking about another life, was with Walking on the
(03:14):
Sun and at the time Moves Sugar Ray. You know,
all of that I'm like, this is music I really like,
so I wanted. I'm glad, you know, despite hardships within
the band, you're going forward, So tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Thanks for mentioning Walking on the Sun too, because a
lot of people think that All Star was our first son,
you know, but Walking on the Sun was a and
you mentioned Sugar Ray. That was an exciting time when
we first came out because we actually when our first
album came out and our first single was Walking and Son,
we went on tour with Sugar Ray, who at the
time and it was like a club theater to at
(03:47):
the time had the number one song in the country
with Fly, you know, and and then halfway through the tour,
Walking on the Sun knocked Fly off the number one spot,
like you know. Uh, so that was kind of a
you know, that kind of music was you know, we
(04:07):
had very similar styles, So that was a very exciting time.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, that it was again, I vividly. It's just that's
what music does. It brings you back to a time
when I went to half Hollow Hills High School East
and Dix Hills, Long Island. That sounds so whatever, but
that's awesome. Yeah, but that's I just remember that time,
you know, three eleven. All of that, I mean, and
I'm a rock guy obviously guns and Roses, but I
(04:32):
mean that's there's a whole other side of rock. So
tell me about the new album and the story behind
it and moving forward as this new incarnation of smash Mouth.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Well, we started the record, started Jeeves nearly two years ago.
Our manager got the ball, you know, Caleb, and told me,
he's like, you know, you need to make a new
record of all original music. It's been you know, fifteen
years or something since our last of them, and you
need to make a record that's hearkens back to, like
(05:02):
you know, the first record, like fresh. You may make
it a little more punky and a little more up
thet the singles we've been releasing lately, we're sort of
more R and B style, and he's like, you know,
get back to the roots sort of thing. I go, Okay,
well this is this is going to be fun and
a lot of work, and we so, you know, we
took our time with it. It was not not have
any kind of deadline, and we worked on it for
(05:24):
like a year, you know, and then finished it up
this this spring and just you know, had it mixed
and mastered and really pleased with the results. It just
it all came together at the end there really nicely.
So yeah, we're very happy with it.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I was reading a story behind the lead singer lead
single about your former the late lead singer Steve Harwell,
about a Better Believer and how that came to light.
If you can you talk about that, like, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
We you know, we have our office in studio here
in San Jose, and one day Steve and I were
you know, this is a while ago, like maybe six
years ago or five years ago something. We were we
were sitting in Robert, our manager's office, and we were
talking about new songs, and he kind of he kind
(06:17):
of made me mad a little bit. He was saying
to me, he's like, you know, you can't write a
hit song. You don't know how to do My god, God,
I got one of my backpock and I'll show. He's like,
come in tomorrow and play me on it, because you
are your song that you think of, you know. So
I'm like, all right, you got it. So the next
day I come in with my guitar and I played
Better Believer all the way all the way through. And
(06:37):
when I was done. Steve, we just kind of like,
all right, but we can do that one.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well, I'm glad you're able to. I know, it's it's
it's after it's it's taken on another life with this single,
with this new singer. How does it make you feel
now when you think about him? And uh, you know
he obviously some special times, but some some difficult times.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, was special times and difficult times. I mean at
the beginning of the band, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Steve was Steve was my best friend. He was you know,
we were.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He was so enthusiastic and such a unique performer and
also pretty much the funniest guy alive. Steve Harwell was
a very very funny man, you know. And and he
was an American original, he really was. He he had
a different approach. He wasn't obviously a classically trained singer
(07:29):
or anything, but he just had so much charisma and
so much style.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
He was, you know, an American original.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I thought I almost wore I got in like a
vintage store once, like like a Hawaiian style shirt, just
intribute for it. But it's too hot in my apartment
and I'm breaking the fourth while too much.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
So popular in Long Island.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Baby, I'm not a huge one into that, but I
guess saw it and reminded me of like my my
grandpa for some reason. So but you know, maybe to
keep a light, can you tell me a story. I'm
glad you were somehow impressed or whatever the word you
want to say with walking on the Sun, because yeah,
that's the first song I think. I'm like, yeah when
I think of a smash mouth. To be honest with you,
(08:13):
the rest of it's great, But I'm also a huge
rat Race fan of that movie. And you're talking about
how he was a character, and he was a character
in that movie. You guys were so tell me about
that experience and just with this.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Great that was a great experience. In fact, I have
a line in the movie. My line is, hey, let's
give these guys some jackets. And I was so bad
I almost like stopped the whole movie, you know, but
Steve had to go early and like he actually had
dialogue and he actually had to act, you know, right,
and for our scene which is only like ten minutes
(08:48):
or even like man, movies take a long time to make.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
We were there for like five nights.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know, from seven pm to seven am when it's
dark and you just sit here trying to wait for
you know, it just great experience because there's there's all
these famous actors in it. You know, I was standing
next to Whoopy Goldberg the whole time and you know
she kept bumming cigarettes off me and John Lovett's and
Seth Green. It was really really a fun movie to make,
and I thought Steve was was great in it.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Such an underrated classic back in the day when Comedy Central,
when that was like in regular rotation. Now with all
these streaming services, I'm lost, but just that on repeat,
and it was. It's a great under mentioned because I
think often the greatest cameos, music cameos and movies or
(09:36):
things are brought up and you know, that's that's a
really fun one. That's a really because it's a So
I just wanted to ask you about that internally, uh, because.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
You know, it was a remake of Mad Mad, Mad
Mad World, if you remember that old movie, which I
loved when I was a kid.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
So that's what I dug about rap Brace. That was
that was fun.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Sure, Uh, tell me about just to kind of bringing
around your the I'm looking at your your Facebook and
stuff and you know, the crowds are so cool that
you're playing in front of right now, singing along to everything.
And your singer, Zach Good, who's been with you guys
for a while. Can you talk about him and some
of the audiences, the current smash Mouth show and what
(10:17):
we can expect.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, Zach's been great.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
You know, he's been with us for four and a
half years now, which is, you know, longer than most
people think. But you know, when Steve Steve retired, you know,
he back in twenty twenty one, he obviously had health
problems and couldn't really do it anymore. So you know,
we were, you know, a little scared, apprehensive, but we thought, no,
(10:40):
we can carry on here.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
So, you know, we put the word out sort of.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
We didn't want a huge cattle call or anything, but
that we were looking for a new singer. And Zach
was actually one of the first to submit, like a
video so and he seemed like he might be a
good fit.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
So we flew him up to San Jose here and.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
I met with them and we went through a couple
of songs, and then we auditioned other guys and then.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Towards the end of the year, we had the like
five finalists.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Like for vocal, you know, for for lead singers come
down to the studio in San Jose and the whole
band was there and we were set up in our
big recording room and and we we give each singer
five songs that they had to do and know, and
then the whole band's there and we're going to play
through them live and they're no stopping.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
You got to go through all five songs.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then when we're done with that, we go sit
in the you know, the lounge area and and get
to know them and see if they're you know, jerks
or whatever. So there was type of and then towards
at the end of it, we were all going to
vote separately, including our manager and our engineer, Degan Uh
And when we did that, it was Zach was unanimous.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
So like it was a unanimous.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Vote every single person, and Zach was obviously the right guy.
And it was very exciting because it just gave new
life to the to the band.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
He sounds enough like Steve, he's got it, but he's a.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Real professional and just a fantastic singer, and so it
was very exciting for us, like a new band starting over.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Again, it's refreshing, and it was kind of like a
reminder because it's a topic of conversation obviously within my
world with lineup changes and certain other acts that remain
nameless about replacing members and scale. It comes up with
skid row a lot.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
And it's tricky, man, it really is tricky.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
But when I mentioned before, when you look out in
the crowd, how important the music is and as long
as you have I feel good representation up there, absolutely
it needs to be played. It needs to be heard.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
They want to hear the song. You're right, and and
Zach's good at that.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
He's enthusiastic, he's he's also kind of a similar physical
type to Steve, which doesn't hurt, and his voice is
somewhat similar.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
It's it's you know, bands do replace their lead singers.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You know. The one that I like to go back
to is when Brian Johnson replaced Bon Scott in E C.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
D C.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Now, bon Scott obviously had.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
A very you know, unique and you know, you know
when you knew his voice when you heard it, but
Brian Johnson was had kind of a similar voice in it,
with a different take on it, and you know, they
had their biggest album ever with him. So it is
tricky to replace a lead singer, but it can be done.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
You know, there are a lot of examples, you know,
whether it's a I know Steve had retired before he
passed away, about whether it's like Bond who passed and
they wanted to Okay, let's redo a C D C.
Or there's van Halen that you know, that van Halen sound,
but they were arguably more successful with Sammy Hagar. So
there's so many again, obviously with Guns of Roses, there's
(13:51):
a variety of examples and things like that. But yeah, yeah,
and it's just an honest reaction seeing that, you know,
go on smash mouths social I mean, everyone there is
bouncing up and down. It's just a nice reminder that
the music is important. We want to sing along to it.
Other than yeah, it's great to hear on the radio,
it's great to hear on the soundtrack of a movie
you're watching. But the singing along with other people that
(14:13):
take you back to a time like me and thinking
about a high school. Yeah, those are cool memories to have.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
It is fun. We just we just played a couple
of days ago in Vermont and Mount Mount Hell. They
told me the proper way to pronounce today Mount Peelier.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
We played with Toad the Wet Sprocket and I.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Love Toad like that, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And there's songs you know, mean a lot to people too,
and we toured with them, so it's nice to have this. Yeah,
you can use the word nostalgia and everything, but they're
old friends and it's nice to see them, you know,
and still doing their thing.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
So it's a wonderful show.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Nostalgia. I'm a fan of nostalgia. I mean obviously, but
it's like it's don't make it a dirty word. It's
it's just a.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
No, it's not.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It means good vibes, good memory. It's it's it's good
stuff you can you can have remember the past while
looking forward to the future with the new album.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yes, yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And there's still the energy, you know, crowds still are
still digging it. So you know where still liar here
right on?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Uh so let me ask and wrap up. I know
you know this is a gun to Roses podcast. I
try to buy what I call a six degrees of
G n R Bacon, like the Kevin Bacon situation thing.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I don't know if you've ever come across any of
the guys, if you've seen a concert or just it
could be a fond memory of listening to Appetite and
where that takes you back. So what's your gun story.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
The total memory of that, I was, like I was young.
I was in my early twenties. I just graduated from
Santa Die State, and that was you know, getting on
with life. And we had it like we had this
huge half pipe in our backyard that we build inny
scale there, and I.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Like crushed my right leg, like I broke my right
leg so good.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
It was like a like a you know, compound spiral
fracture from my knee into my ankle displays, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
And so it was I had to move back to my.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Parents' house and I had this full cast and.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I'm watching MTV all the time, and late one night they.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Play Welcome to the Jungle comes on and I was
immediately just stunned by, like, Okay, this is different because
at the time, like in eighty seven, I think it was,
that was when like the La Hair.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Metals scene was in full force.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
You know that Motley Cruz poisons warrant you know, winger
of those events.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But Guns n' Roses was different.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
They weren't They weren't your typical They weren't I wouldn't
really call them a harat, but they were dirtier.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
And they swung. They had swing.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Like the rhythm section of Steven Adler and Duff McKagan
was so tight and so good that allowed I think
isy Strel and Slash to be more I don't know,
I don't want to say sloppy, but loose with the
guitars and the combination just gave it this swing and differently.
It was almost closer to like Jane's Addiction than say
Poison or something. But I loved it immediately. I was like,
(17:06):
this is real rock and roll. Of course, you know
Achel's voice and everything, but yeah, it really hit me hard,
you know, like, this is different and really cool.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Did not care metal. It's more like early Aerosmith or something.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I appreciate those kind of answers because it's one thing
for a fan to say. And look, I was a
little too young when Appetite came out. I was four,
I'm sorry. I was into some Muppet babies then I
could cycle it. Avati was still a few years away
from me, But so did they hear that story from
you know, an a accomplished musician, and it brings you
(17:41):
back to when you broke your leg and everything. So
I'll share. I appreciate you sharing that story.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, And I remember immediately, you know, got the album
and it came with a guns and rosa sticker that
immediately put on my base.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
You know, I was a fan.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I just thought it was a real breath of fresh
air and really an important record. Appetite was I just
I love that that it was just dirty, you know,
And and like I said, the main thing was it swung.
It had that swing that a lot of other like
metal bands didn't have. I you know, I hesitant to
(18:15):
call them a real meta band. They're just more of
a rock and roll band, you know, almost like the
Rolling Stones or something like.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
That's what I thought.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Did Duff his playing influence you were playing at all?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
You know, Duff is it's such a history is whole
punk rock, you know, beginnings back in Seattle and him
moving to la and and you know that he's such
a fantastic Uh. The bass on that album is so
important and you know, and him playing with a pick
and being so precise, and you could tell that him
and Steven Adler had really worked on this, the rhythms,
(18:49):
the rhythm section on Guns on the you know, Appetite
for Destruction is so important. You know, people need to
be reminded that that's you know, Duff Steve Adler's. That
was like their record as much as anyone's.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
You know, Well, I'm taking my I'm taking my three
year old to see them for the first time in
two weeks. We'll see if he remembers it at all.
I'm going to enjoy myself. Yeah, did you ever get
a chance to see them when you were younger? At all?
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I never got a chance to see Guns and Roses
we did play with. The closest we came was we
played with Velvet Revolver once, which was, you know, pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
But yeah, smash Mouth play with Velvet.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Yeah, yeah, many many years ago.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah. Where what was it a festival?
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Where was the festival? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
It was in the Midwest festival and it was very
very cool, you know.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Oh, right on right of it. I got to see
Velvet twice live. Lucky another great band talk about them
often as well. Yeah, thanks, this is Paul. This was
such a great conversation Congratch on the new album Mercury
Comment Again, coming out on August twelfth. Better Believer is
the new single out now. I hope we get to
do this again.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, me too, Man. Nice talking to you, Brandon. I
really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Likewise, Canadians are always nice. They're always.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
So.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
That does it for this episode of appetite forward distortion.
When we see the next one. In the words of
Axl Rose concerning Chinese democracy, you'll see it. I don't
know as soon as.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
The word Thanks to the lame ass security, I'm going home.
Guns and Roses was different. I wouldn't be called a herald,
but they were dirtier and they swung.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the podcast Appetite for Distortion. My name is
Brando and sorry I have to do this Paul. If
somebody once told me I was going to interview the
founding member of a smash Mouth, they said I wouldn't
be the sharpest tool in Has anyone started the interview
like that? Am I the only sharp tools that did that?
Has anyone started? Well? Welcome to the show of Paul
(00:31):
and it's it's the the Lele Paul Lyle.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
You know either one?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, I want to get it right. I have a
history Delile Delile of the founding bassist and member of
smash Mouth. Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Thank you for having me. Brando. Great to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Where are you zooming in from? Because that's the.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I'm at home here in San Jose, California. Lovely San Jose, California.
Another beautiful day.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I should have wore my Sharks hat I have a.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Sharks Oh no, that's ubject. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I'm an Islanders fan, but I love uh, I love
sports logos. So since I was a kid, I've always
collected jerseys and stuff like that because you're you're a Canadian.
I always wore my I'm a.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Huge hockey fan and you know, I'm from Ottawa.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So I got two teams of the Senators and the Sharks,
both tough teams to be fans of, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
And that's a that's an unexpected, beautiful talie into everything
because I've been to Ottawa. I dated a girl from Ottawa.
I should have could have wore my Senator's hat. She was.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I'm from Ottawa. Both my parents were born and raised
in Ottawa.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's a beautiful city. It really is.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
At full city. It really is. Going back there in
a month too. We're playing in Gatino, so that'll be
that'll be great.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Okay, cool because we're going to talk about everything you're
doing with smash Mouth and later on in Italian I
got to see guns and Roses in Ottawa. Believe it
or not.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
How was that?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It was amazing? Well my then girlfriend at the time,
even though we were broken up at the time. That's
another story for another time. And they it was who
was it was Sebastian Bach and the Suicide Girls. That burlesque,
you know, pin up kind of Style Alternative, you know
girl magazine. Uh, they opened up for Guns and Roses
(02:18):
where the Senators play in the Scotia Bank right, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Was gonna say, was it Lansdowne Stadium or no at
scot where the Senators play?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Okay, yeah, that's a little bit out of town now, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, yeah. So that's my one claim to fame when
I said I've seen my favorite band outside of the
country is seeing them in Ottawa. So there's there's a connection.
We'll talk more about Guns and Roses down the line,
but I want to talk to you about, honestly, this
new smash Mouth record which is titled, well, the new
single is Better Believer, and the new album is going
(02:51):
to be called Mercury Comet, which comes out August twelfth,
or Better Believer. Tell me the story behind this because
I'll preface it with this. You know, I'm forty two now,
but I was in high school when smash Mouth. For me,
I feel like you guys broke with before, before Shrek,
before all that stuff, Before you guys went into another
lum talking about another life, was with Walking on the
(03:14):
Sun and at the time Moves Sugar Ray. You know,
all of that I'm like, this is music I really like,
so I wanted. I'm glad, you know, despite hardships within
the band, you're going forward, So tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Thanks for mentioning Walking on the Sun too, because a
lot of people think that All Star was our first son,
you know, but Walking on the Sun was a and
you mentioned Sugar Ray. That was an exciting time when
we first came out because we actually when our first
album came out and our first single was Walking and Son,
we went on tour with Sugar Ray, who at the
time and it was like a club theater to at
(03:47):
the time had the number one song in the country
with Fly, you know, and and then halfway through the tour,
Walking on the Sun knocked Fly off the number one spot,
like you know. Uh, so that was kind of a
you know, that kind of music was you know, we
(04:07):
had very similar styles, So that was a very exciting time.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, that it was again, I vividly. It's just that's
what music does. It brings you back to a time
when I went to half Hollow Hills High School East
and Dix Hills, Long Island. That sounds so whatever, but
that's awesome. Yeah, but that's I just remember that time,
you know, three eleven. All of that, I mean, and
I'm a rock guy obviously guns and Roses, but I
(04:32):
mean that's there's a whole other side of rock. So
tell me about the new album and the story behind
it and moving forward as this new incarnation of smash Mouth.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Well, we started the record, started Jeeves nearly two years ago.
Our manager got the ball, you know, Caleb, and told me,
he's like, you know, you need to make a new
record of all original music. It's been you know, fifteen
years or something since our last of them, and you
need to make a record that's hearkens back to, like
(05:02):
you know, the first record, like fresh. You may make
it a little more punky and a little more up
thet the singles we've been releasing lately, we're sort of
more R and B style, and he's like, you know,
get back to the roots sort of thing. I go, Okay,
well this is this is going to be fun and
a lot of work, and we so, you know, we
took our time with it. It was not not have
any kind of deadline, and we worked on it for
(05:24):
like a year, you know, and then finished it up
this this spring and just you know, had it mixed
and mastered and really pleased with the results. It just
it all came together at the end there really nicely.
So yeah, we're very happy with it.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I was reading a story behind the lead singer lead
single about your former the late lead singer Steve Harwell,
about a Better Believer and how that came to light.
If you can you talk about that, like, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
We you know, we have our office in studio here
in San Jose, and one day Steve and I were
you know, this is a while ago, like maybe six
years ago or five years ago something. We were we
were sitting in Robert, our manager's office, and we were
talking about new songs, and he kind of he kind
(06:17):
of made me mad a little bit. He was saying
to me, he's like, you know, you can't write a
hit song. You don't know how to do My god, God,
I got one of my backpock and I'll show. He's like,
come in tomorrow and play me on it, because you
are your song that you think of, you know. So
I'm like, all right, you got it. So the next
day I come in with my guitar and I played
Better Believer all the way all the way through. And
(06:37):
when I was done. Steve, we just kind of like,
all right, but we can do that one.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well, I'm glad you're able to. I know, it's it's
it's after it's it's taken on another life with this single,
with this new singer. How does it make you feel
now when you think about him? And uh, you know
he obviously some special times, but some some difficult times.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, was special times and difficult times. I mean at
the beginning of the band, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Steve was Steve was my best friend. He was you know,
we were.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He was so enthusiastic and such a unique performer and
also pretty much the funniest guy alive. Steve Harwell was
a very very funny man, you know. And and he
was an American original, he really was. He he had
a different approach. He wasn't obviously a classically trained singer
(07:29):
or anything, but he just had so much charisma and
so much style.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
He was, you know, an American original.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I thought I almost wore I got in like a
vintage store once, like like a Hawaiian style shirt, just
intribute for it. But it's too hot in my apartment
and I'm breaking the fourth while too much.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
So popular in Long Island.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Baby, I'm not a huge one into that, but I
guess saw it and reminded me of like my my
grandpa for some reason. So but you know, maybe to
keep a light, can you tell me a story. I'm
glad you were somehow impressed or whatever the word you
want to say with walking on the Sun, because yeah,
that's the first song I think. I'm like, yeah when
I think of a smash mouth. To be honest with you,
(08:13):
the rest of it's great, But I'm also a huge
rat Race fan of that movie. And you're talking about
how he was a character, and he was a character
in that movie. You guys were so tell me about
that experience and just with this.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Great that was a great experience. In fact, I have
a line in the movie. My line is, hey, let's
give these guys some jackets. And I was so bad
I almost like stopped the whole movie, you know, but
Steve had to go early and like he actually had
dialogue and he actually had to act, you know, right,
and for our scene which is only like ten minutes
(08:48):
or even like man, movies take a long time to make.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
We were there for like five nights.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know, from seven pm to seven am when it's
dark and you just sit here trying to wait for
you know, it just great experience because there's there's all
these famous actors in it. You know, I was standing
next to Whoopy Goldberg the whole time and you know
she kept bumming cigarettes off me and John Lovett's and
Seth Green. It was really really a fun movie to make,
and I thought Steve was was great in it.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Such an underrated classic back in the day when Comedy Central,
when that was like in regular rotation. Now with all
these streaming services, I'm lost, but just that on repeat,
and it was. It's a great under mentioned because I
think often the greatest cameos, music cameos and movies or
(09:36):
things are brought up and you know, that's that's a
really fun one. That's a really because it's a So
I just wanted to ask you about that internally, uh, because.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
You know, it was a remake of Mad Mad, Mad
Mad World, if you remember that old movie, which I
loved when I was a kid.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
So that's what I dug about rap Brace. That was
that was fun.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Sure, Uh, tell me about just to kind of bringing
around your the I'm looking at your your Facebook and
stuff and you know, the crowds are so cool that
you're playing in front of right now, singing along to everything.
And your singer, Zach Good, who's been with you guys
for a while. Can you talk about him and some
of the audiences, the current smash Mouth show and what
(10:17):
we can expect.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, Zach's been great.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
You know, he's been with us for four and a
half years now, which is, you know, longer than most
people think. But you know, when Steve Steve retired, you know,
he back in twenty twenty one, he obviously had health
problems and couldn't really do it anymore. So you know,
we were, you know, a little scared, apprehensive, but we thought, no,
(10:40):
we can carry on here.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
So, you know, we put the word out sort of.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
We didn't want a huge cattle call or anything, but
that we were looking for a new singer. And Zach
was actually one of the first to submit, like a
video so and he seemed like he might be a
good fit.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
So we flew him up to San Jose here and.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
I met with them and we went through a couple
of songs, and then we auditioned other guys and then.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Towards the end of the year, we had the like
five finalists.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Like for vocal, you know, for for lead singers come
down to the studio in San Jose and the whole
band was there and we were set up in our
big recording room and and we we give each singer
five songs that they had to do and know, and
then the whole band's there and we're going to play
through them live and they're no stopping.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
You got to go through all five songs.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then when we're done with that, we go sit
in the you know, the lounge area and and get
to know them and see if they're you know, jerks
or whatever. So there was type of and then towards
at the end of it, we were all going to
vote separately, including our manager and our engineer, Degan Uh
And when we did that, it was Zach was unanimous.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
So like it was a unanimous.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Vote every single person, and Zach was obviously the right guy.
And it was very exciting because it just gave new
life to the to the band.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
He sounds enough like Steve, he's got it, but he's a.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Real professional and just a fantastic singer, and so it
was very exciting for us, like a new band starting over.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Again, it's refreshing, and it was kind of like a
reminder because it's a topic of conversation obviously within my
world with lineup changes and certain other acts that remain
nameless about replacing members and scale. It comes up with
skid row a lot.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
And it's tricky, man, it really is tricky.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
But when I mentioned before, when you look out in
the crowd, how important the music is and as long
as you have I feel good representation up there, absolutely
it needs to be played. It needs to be heard.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
They want to hear the song. You're right, and and
Zach's good at that.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
He's enthusiastic, he's he's also kind of a similar physical
type to Steve, which doesn't hurt, and his voice is
somewhat similar.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
It's it's you know, bands do replace their lead singers.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You know. The one that I like to go back
to is when Brian Johnson replaced Bon Scott in E C.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
D C.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Now, bon Scott obviously had.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
A very you know, unique and you know, you know
when you knew his voice when you heard it, but
Brian Johnson was had kind of a similar voice in it,
with a different take on it, and you know, they
had their biggest album ever with him. So it is
tricky to replace a lead singer, but it can be done.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
You know, there are a lot of examples, you know,
whether it's a I know Steve had retired before he
passed away, about whether it's like Bond who passed and
they wanted to Okay, let's redo a C D C.
Or there's van Halen that you know, that van Halen sound,
but they were arguably more successful with Sammy Hagar. So
there's so many again, obviously with Guns of Roses, there's
(13:51):
a variety of examples and things like that. But yeah, yeah,
and it's just an honest reaction seeing that, you know,
go on smash mouths social I mean, everyone there is
bouncing up and down. It's just a nice reminder that
the music is important. We want to sing along to it.
Other than yeah, it's great to hear on the radio,
it's great to hear on the soundtrack of a movie
you're watching. But the singing along with other people that
(14:13):
take you back to a time like me and thinking
about a high school. Yeah, those are cool memories to have.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
It is fun. We just we just played a couple
of days ago in Vermont and Mount Mount Hell. They
told me the proper way to pronounce today Mount Peelier.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
We played with Toad the Wet Sprocket and I.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Love Toad like that, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And there's songs you know, mean a lot to people too,
and we toured with them, so it's nice to have this. Yeah,
you can use the word nostalgia and everything, but they're
old friends and it's nice to see them, you know,
and still doing their thing.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
So it's a wonderful show.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Nostalgia. I'm a fan of nostalgia. I mean obviously, but
it's like it's don't make it a dirty word. It's
it's just a.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
No, it's not.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It means good vibes, good memory. It's it's it's good
stuff you can you can have remember the past while
looking forward to the future with the new album.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yes, yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And there's still the energy, you know, crowds still are
still digging it. So you know where still liar here
right on?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Uh so let me ask and wrap up. I know
you know this is a gun to Roses podcast. I
try to buy what I call a six degrees of
G n R Bacon, like the Kevin Bacon situation thing.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I don't know if you've ever come across any of
the guys, if you've seen a concert or just it
could be a fond memory of listening to Appetite and
where that takes you back. So what's your gun story.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
The total memory of that, I was, like I was young.
I was in my early twenties. I just graduated from
Santa Die State, and that was you know, getting on
with life. And we had it like we had this
huge half pipe in our backyard that we build inny
scale there, and I.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Like crushed my right leg, like I broke my right
leg so good.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
It was like a like a you know, compound spiral
fracture from my knee into my ankle displays, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
And so it was I had to move back to my.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Parents' house and I had this full cast and.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I'm watching MTV all the time, and late one night they.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Play Welcome to the Jungle comes on and I was
immediately just stunned by, like, Okay, this is different because
at the time, like in eighty seven, I think it was,
that was when like the La Hair.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Metals scene was in full force.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
You know that Motley Cruz poisons warrant you know, winger
of those events.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But Guns n' Roses was different.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
They weren't They weren't your typical They weren't I wouldn't
really call them a harat, but they were dirtier.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
And they swung. They had swing.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Like the rhythm section of Steven Adler and Duff McKagan
was so tight and so good that allowed I think
isy Strel and Slash to be more I don't know,
I don't want to say sloppy, but loose with the
guitars and the combination just gave it this swing and differently.
It was almost closer to like Jane's Addiction than say
Poison or something. But I loved it immediately. I was like,
(17:06):
this is real rock and roll. Of course, you know
Achel's voice and everything, but yeah, it really hit me hard,
you know, like, this is different and really cool.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Did not care metal. It's more like early Aerosmith or something.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I appreciate those kind of answers because it's one thing
for a fan to say. And look, I was a
little too young when Appetite came out. I was four,
I'm sorry. I was into some Muppet babies then I
could cycle it. Avati was still a few years away
from me, But so did they hear that story from
you know, an a accomplished musician, and it brings you
(17:41):
back to when you broke your leg and everything. So
I'll share. I appreciate you sharing that story.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, And I remember immediately, you know, got the album
and it came with a guns and rosa sticker that
immediately put on my base.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
You know, I was a fan.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I just thought it was a real breath of fresh
air and really an important record. Appetite was I just
I love that that it was just dirty, you know,
And and like I said, the main thing was it swung.
It had that swing that a lot of other like
metal bands didn't have. I you know, I hesitant to
(18:15):
call them a real meta band. They're just more of
a rock and roll band, you know, almost like the
Rolling Stones or something like.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
That's what I thought.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Did Duff his playing influence you were playing at all?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
You know, Duff is it's such a history is whole
punk rock, you know, beginnings back in Seattle and him
moving to la and and you know that he's such
a fantastic Uh. The bass on that album is so
important and you know, and him playing with a pick
and being so precise, and you could tell that him
and Steven Adler had really worked on this, the rhythms,
(18:49):
the rhythm section on Guns on the you know, Appetite
for Destruction is so important. You know, people need to
be reminded that that's you know, Duff Steve Adler's. That
was like their record as much as anyone's.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
You know, Well, I'm taking my I'm taking my three
year old to see them for the first time in
two weeks. We'll see if he remembers it at all.
I'm going to enjoy myself. Yeah, did you ever get
a chance to see them when you were younger? At all?
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I never got a chance to see Guns and Roses
we did play with. The closest we came was we
played with Velvet Revolver once, which was, you know, pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
But yeah, smash Mouth play with Velvet.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Yeah, yeah, many many years ago.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah. Where what was it a festival?
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Where was the festival? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
It was in the Midwest festival and it was very
very cool, you know.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Oh, right on right of it. I got to see
Velvet twice live. Lucky another great band talk about them
often as well. Yeah, thanks, this is Paul. This was
such a great conversation Congratch on the new album Mercury
Comment Again, coming out on August twelfth. Better Believer is
the new single out now. I hope we get to
do this again.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, me too, Man. Nice talking to you, Brandon. I
really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Likewise, Canadians are always nice. They're always.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
So.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
That does it for this episode of appetite forward distortion.
When we see the next one. In the words of
Axl Rose concerning Chinese democracy, you'll see it. I don't
know as soon as.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
The word Thanks to the lame ass security, I'm going home.
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