14:59 (Album #3)
Producer: David
Kahne Release Date: 01.12.99 Tracks: 13
Length: 40:30
Mark
McGrath - Vocals
Rodney Sheppard - Guitar
Murphy Karges - Bass
Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock - DJ
Stan Frazier - Drums
Tick...Tick...Tick...
Time has come today for the one-and-only Sugar Ray. "14:59"
-- the SoCal quintet's third Lava/Atlantic album -- follows
the success of their 1997 RIAA double platinum "FLOORED"
and its irresistible, unavoidable smash hit, "Fly." The
new collection beats Andy Warhol's celebrity clock as
the band takes a giant step forward in both its inventive
musical stylings and its heartfelt lyrical approach, while
always delivering the patented Sugar Ray energy and humor.
Gloriously beat-crazy pop confections like "Every Morning"
and "Falls Apart" virtually guarantee that the band's
fifteen minutes aren't even close to over.
"No one makes more fun of this band than ourselves," says
singer Mark McGrath of the record's puckish moniker, "so
we thought that we'd beat everybody to the punch. Everybody's
put us on that one-hit-wonder cruise ship, so we just
said, 'Fuck it, it was a great run with 'Fly,' let's name
the record '14:59.' If the album fails miserably, it's
genius, and if it succeeds, it's still genius." "We just
wanted everybody to know we weren't taking ourselves too
seriously, and we were well aware it could all be over
tomorrow," notes bassist Murphy Karges.
"14:59" essentially began on March 7th, 1998, when the
band followed the last official show of the "FLOORED"
tour -- a sold out homecoming gig at the Hollywood Palladium
on -- with some well-earned time off. The success of "Fly"
allowed them to finally move out of the house they'd shared
since their humble beginnings and find separate new digs.
After a couple of months' break, they reunited at Hollywood's
Studio 56, which they vibed up by decorating it with colored
lights, Bruce Lee posters and, of course, the ever-present
black-and-silver Sugar Ray banner. Each member brought
a little something to these informal sessions, including
riffs, ideas, and a number of groovy loops courtesy of
DJ Homicide. "It was a great situation," Karges recalls.
"We had a room to jam in and a recording booth to put
those jams on tape. So a lot of the stuff from the early
practice sessions made it to the record, like the guitar
lick for 'Every Morning.' It just started taking on this
organic, acoustic-guitar-and-loops vibe very early on,
and we just went with it."
"It's a totally collaborative effort," McGrath explains.
"Someone will write a verse, someone will write a chorus.
It's amazing because we each take our influences, what
we were raised on, and then we throw it in the mix and
it just seems to come together." "It's got everybody's
trademarked stuff going around," Murphy points out. "You
know, Rodney's guitar licks, Craig's drum loops, and these
killer little David Kahne parts all over the place. It's
certainly the Sugar Ray sound... whatever that is."
After the Studio 56 sessions, Sugar Ray moved into the
famed Sunset Sound Studios, smack dab on the Sunset Strip.
The band found themselves in thrall to the place's vibe,
not to mention the musical ghosts of the Doors and the
Rolling Stones. It was there, in the midst of a September
heat wave, that "14:59" began to come together. As they
cut the majority of the album's basic tracks, the band
recaptured their old togetherness -- shooting hoops, drinking
beers and generally just screwing around like they always
had.
"At the end of the day, what we wanted to get back into
the music was melody," Mark says. "Not to say that anything
we've done even resembles the brilliance of 'PET SOUNDS,'
but the Beach Boys and those harmonies were in my head
the whole time we were making the record, and I think
that's reflected in the music." The band proudly credit
their musical growth to their collaborative relationship
with "FLOORED" producer David Kahne. The renowned studio
whiz cooks up a surprisingly sunny sonic shindig of densely
ribboned harmonies and playful programming, highlighted
by the interplay between Sheppard's ingenious guitar work,
DJ Homicide's riotous barrage of sounds, and the delirious
rhythmic power of Karges and drummer Stan Frazier. "David's
become our George Martin, if you will," says Murphy. "He
really knows the dynamic. He's a record producer in the
truest sense of the word. He's worked with everybody from
Romeo Void to Tony Bennett to Sublime, so he encompasses
the full spectrum of music. And that's us. We needed someone
who could go to those extremes."
In addition to helping Sugar Ray find their musical voice,
Kahne also gave Mark a new strength and confidence as
a singer, something that rings clear in his vocals throughout
"14:59." "Before I was always just sort of clutching at
straws," McGrath says. "I'd be screaming here, I'd go
to a falsetto there. David really showed me where my voice
wants to be." Perhaps the most striking aspect of songs
like "Someday" and "Falls Apart" is their open-faced honesty
and sweet emotion, another relatively new terrain for
Sugar Ray. "Besides the title, the record really is lacking
irony," Mark says. "We've done irony, and I'm not sure
if we even do it that well. I mean, I'll leave that to
the Becks of the world. 'Fly' kind of validated us as
a band and let us know that we can really write songs.
And that opened the floodgates for us in terms of creativity."
That growth is perfectly in tune with the band's shared
experiences in the years since their 1995 Lava/Atlantic
debut, "LEMONADE AND BROWNIES." Among the adventures shared
by Sugar Ray was the relentless activity which followed
"FLOORED." The band hit the road across America and Europe
with a vengeance, including a spot on the big Blockbuster
RockFest in Fort Worth, Texas and a summer kicking it
on Warped Tour '97 .
The mind-blowing popularity of "Fly" found Sugar Ray dominating
America's airwaves -- the song held the #1 position on
the Billboard "Hot 100 Airplay" chart for six consecutive
weeks while the song's companion clip was a #1 video at
MTV, VH1, and The Box-- and performing on national TV
programs such as Late Show With David Letterman, The Rosie
O'Donnell Show, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and The
Howard Stern Show, not to mention Mark's smart appearances
on Politically Incorrect and VH1's Rock 'N' Roll Jeopardy.
They also found their faces in any number of magazines,
including Rolling Stone, Details, Spin, Cosmopolitan,
Request, Alternative Press, TeenPeople, and People (who
declared Mark one of the sexiest men of '98!). With all
the hubbub surrounding them, Sugar Ray became a close-knit
family, confronting deaths, celebrating marriages, reveling
in a huge hit record, and ultimately coming through with
the evolved perspective that marks "14:59." "We're starting
to write about what's real in our life," says Mark. "When
we first came to L.A., it was all about beer and chicks
and cars, that's where our mentality was. Now we're not
afraid to say 'I miss you' or 'I love you' in a song.
We've done a lot of living in the last four years, and
I think that we've grown from those experiences." "'Fly'
taught us that we can sing a softer song," notes Murphy,
"a song with lyrics that might actually have some meaning."
Case in point: "Ode To The Lonely Hearted." The Sugar
Ray of old would never have dared to wear their hearts
on their sleeves with a tune this tender and soulful.
Originally performed by Rodney and Stan's Eighties-era
Newport Beach combo, the Tories, the song was penned by
Nick Sopkovich, a longtime friend who remains a hero to
the members of Sugar Ray.
"This guy was the most unreal prodigy songwriter of all
time," Mark enthuses. "We were thinking of some songs
to do, and I'm like, 'I always loved 'Ode to the Lonely-Hearted.'
I'd love to give that a try.' It's just a classic, classic
song. There's no bullshit there. It's not hiding behind
any sort of 'alternative' curtain. It's just real heartfelt
sentiment."
Not to say Sugar Ray didn't have plenty of vinegar left
in them -- check out the old skool punk F. U. of "Aim
For Me," or the fired-up "Burning Dog" (a different version
from the one which appears on Atlantic's 1997 "THE AVENGERS:
MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE.") Near the conclusion of
the sessions, the band had a re-think that led to some
of the album's best moments. "Falls Apart," and the Devo-inspired
post-punk-pop of "Personal Space Invader" and "Glory,"
were written and recorded in a three day burst of creativity.
"We were looking at the record and there were a lot of
songs like 'Someday' and 'Every Morning,' which are great,
but we just thought we were stuck in this genre cocoon,"
Mark says. "We forgot about the rock! So we said 'Time
out,' and went back into the studio." The final track
recorded for "14:59," the album- opening speed metal piss-take
laughingly dubbed "New Direction," could never be mistaken
for anything other than pure, unadulterated rock, even
if it is only a 47-second-long blast. As for the "New
Direction" which closes the record, that's yet another
Sugar Ray in-joke. "That's actually 'Every Morning" done
in the fashion of a Russian polka," Murphy explains with
a grin. "We've always said we'll do everything, we'll
cover any sound, we'll even do polka... and we had yet
to do polka. Now we have."
1999 should be Sugar Ray's wildest ride yet. "Every Morning"
has proven an instant hit, and with a passel of smashes
waiting in the wings, they'll take the "14:59" show on
the road, bringing their special brand of madcap rock
'n roll intensity to the people. The truth is, for Sugar
Ray, it's still simply about fun, fun, fun. "We're just
so happy to be doing this," avows Mark. "We got into this
for fun, you know, and we're maximizing our fun to death.
It's been incredible, so anything else that comes our
way is gravy. We still lose our minds every time one of
our songs comes on the radio." "Things have changed,"
Murphy says. "'Fly' changed us. It gave us confidence
to make this music. But we're still the same five boneheads
from Hancock Park. We just don't live in the same joint
anymore." The fat lady hasn't even begun to sing. Reset
your clocks, folks. Sugar Ray are back in town...
© Atlantic Recording Corporation 1/99
