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I had a chance to interview lead singer Steve Harwell of the San Jose-based rock group Smash Mouth before their concert on Oct. 23 at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz.  The Catalyst is a small nightclub that has been host to many legendary acts, including James Brown and Nirvana.  Approaching the interview I felt as though I were reliving the movie “Almost Famous,” as tour managers made sure I was on “the list” as I waited behind the club.  I spouted off a few names given to me by Smash Mouth’s agent, and a manager looked at me and said, “Well, you said all the right names, so you can stay here.”

Shortly thereafter, I was brought into the tour bus to interview Harwell.  Looking around the luxury tour bus equipped with green leather seats, TVs, and a fridge, I saw Harwell sitting at a table wearing a blue Kangol hat as candles flickered off to the right.  He offered me a drink, which I gladly accepted.  We started the interview.

Harwell answered my questions with a calm demeanor as if he had answered the same questions millions of times.  Sometimes he stared up at the TV screen.  However, it was difficult to decipher whether it was “Steve Harwell the artist” talking, or “Steve Harwell the businessman.”

Smash Mouth released its self-titled third studio album just three days after my interview with Harwell.

“You can expect a lot of fun music,” Harwell said.  “I think we did a good job on this one.  It’s got the really cool traditional Smash Mouth sound, but at the same time we went a little edgier on some of the stuff and a little darker on a couple of the songs.  But all around it still feels like Smash Mouth.”

Smash Mouth also added a new drummer, Michael Urbano, formerly of Cracker (remember “Low”?).  Harwell said, “[Urbano] has made a big difference in the record.  He has really brought a lot to the table.”

After 1999’s commercially successful Astro Lounge, which produced hits such as “All-Star,” Smash Mouth was on the verge of breakup.  Smash Mouth had released two albums and still lacked a steady drummer.  The original drummer, Kevin Coleman, was forced to leave the band because of back problems.  A second drummer named Mitch was hired, but, as Harwell described, “He was cool, but I don’t really think he had what it took for the band to move on.”

Harwell was ready to leave the band.

“I talked to [band members] Greg and Paul and I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.  I’m tired of not having a really solid four-piece band.’” 

Urbano, who had played on a few songs on Astro Lounge, got the call and agreed, on the condition that he become a full band member.

“Michael whipped everybody into shape.  He’s worked his whole life for this, so it’s nice to have someone with some real desire to get bigger.  Now, everyone else is pumped.”

The cover of the new album features a group shot of Smash Mouth.  According to Harwell, “People look at me and they say, ‘Oh, you’re Smash Mouth.’  Yeah, but I’m not the guy who wrote the song.  So I try to bleed the credit off . . . I’m like, ‘Hey, these guys are part of the band, too.’  We've really got to market the whole band.”

“We have one of the best songwriters in the business with Greg, and he loves to write songs, and it’s a natural thing for him,” Harwell said of lead guitarist Camp.  But in true businessman style, Harwell said, “Not everyone can play chief in a band.  I think the nice thing in our band is that everybody knows their role.  I love this business, but at the same time it gets hard, and I want to be able to put some of the pressure on the other guys and let them feel what I feel every day.”

Often the interview felt as though he was representing the business of music and not the art of it.

“We’re kind of one of those bands that basically always concentrates on writing hits,” Harwell said.  “There are some bands that love playing and writing music, and we do, too, but we pay our bills from writing hit songs.  The most important thing is writing songs that radio will like.”

I asked Harwell if he thought there was something inherently wrong with this philosophy.

“Totally,” he said.  “Record labels are having a problem finding the bands with the hits.  So now what they are doing is finding their Britney Spears and putting bands together.  They are going out and hiring the best songwriters in the world, and that’s all they do:  write hit songs.  They are the most non-rock ‘n’ roll-looking people in the world, but they are the most talented motherfuckers you’ve ever seen.”

Harwell went on to talk about his new record label, Spun Out Records, at which he, too, is searching for hit songs.  I think he totally missed my point.

To me, Harwell represented the young boy in love with music who became jaded by the business and is now an insider himself. He recalled his younger days when he idolized and impersonated Elvis.

“Every time we would have a Thanksgiving or Christmas party, once everyone was getting drunk and plastered they would bring Steven out and they would tell Steven to be Elvis.  It was like a capella karaoke night before they had karaoke machines, and I would just make a total ass of myself.”

Harwell agreed that ’90s music was overproduced and unoriginal.

“I can agree with you a hundred percent, cuz, motherfucker, there was some poo poo out there fucking in the ’90s.  Turn the guitars up, fuckin’ do it all.  It was a bunch of crap,” he said.

But is Smash Mouth any different, I asked?

“Nobody sounds like us.  Tell me one band that sounds like Smash Mouth,” Harwell demanded.  Interesting, coming from a man who also advocates styling music after others.

“So if I could tell any band (any advice), concentrate on hit songs, listen to every fucking hit song out there and take something from it.  I’m not saying rip it off, but take something from it and put it to your own band,” Harwell said.

Ironically, Harwell also said, “Every style of California music: we are in one.  We are a California-sounding band.”  Pick up the new Citizen King album and you might notice some similarities.

Smash Mouth is out there perpetuating the business model of music.  Radio should not determine what is good music, but as long as people buy into this model, music will continue down the path of overproduction and lack of vision.

source:  Stephen Vigil, The Stanford Daily, Nov. 8, 2001