by Sandi Salina MessanaThis is not one of those overnight success stories that took forever. Sure, "Counting Blue Cars" is now a bonafide hit, strangely enough, one year after the release of Dishwalla's debut album, Pet Your Friends.
But Dishwalla's story isn't a long drawn-out one. After forming four years ago in Santa Barbara--the same Southern California town as Toad the Wet Sprocket and Ugly Kid Joe--singer J.R. Richards and crew started playing clubs regularly between Santa Barbara and L.A., working their pop power with a restless guitar crunch and itchy melodic sensibility. A&M Records wasn't the only label Dishwalla was impressing with their sold-out shows. But it was the one that eventually signed them, and later egged them on to participate in a Carpenters' tribute project that would be their entree into the national spotlight in late '94 (they recorded "It's Going To Take Some Time," one of the standout tracks on If I Were A Carpenter).
Earlier this year, the band embarked on a seemingly-endless radio promotion tour that threw them in front of warm and cheery audiences opening for labelmates the Gin Blossoms and Sheryl Crow. Since then, Dishwalla's been touring almost nonstop--and that's exactly what spurned the breakthrough success of "Counting Blue Cars." Richards, bassist Scot Alexander and drummer George Pendergast recently spoke with Ozone while they were on a tour break in Hollywood, to find out how the world's been treating the four surfers.
What's it been like to be on the road for almost a solid year?
GP: It's been a full parade of crazy shows, like some of the radio promotions where we've played to thousands at big festivals. Sometimes your audience is only 20 feet away at these things, so you get to see how your music affects people personally, and I like that.
Tell some of the war stories from the road over the past year.
JRR: Well, the biggest ambush I had was getting slammed by Lenny Kravitz. We were playing at a festival with him, and he had just finished playing this acoustic thing. It was so amazing, I was sort of mesmerized. I'm standing off to the side of the stage, and all of a sudden he just gets up and leaps off, and I'm like, wow, what's he doin'? I didn't even think to move, so he just ran right over me. And he had his bodyguard right behind him, who trampled me again.
SA: Bottle pelting has become popular. It's because kids are having fun with our music, it's not because people think we suck. They're into it so much they feel like throwing things. So when kids want to do that, we insist they throw all the bottles up onstage.
GP: It feels more like they're a part of our show when people are out there throwing things, or shoving, or jumping.
JRR: We also had a close run-in with "road-death," somewhere between Utah and Denver, trying to get to one show from another in the middle of a storm. Hitting black ice, sliding off the side of the road, and having your tires ripped off your car is a frightening experience, needless to say. Not something you want to deal with easily after you're dead tired from performing.
That does sound grueling, Santa Barbara surf types having to deal with black ice...
GP: Yeah, and the funny part was that when we returned to California, some A&M executives that have worked here for 25 years told us that back in their day, only British bands would tour the states in the winter time. They were the only people who could deal with the cold. And after seeing what it was like to get up in the Rockies and tour, well, you can imagine we won't be doing that again soon. I think we'll just go snowboarding this winter, like decent human beings.
You've also been to Europe over the past year. How was that?
JRR: Each place is so different over there. We rode a tour bus part of the time, and flew around between countries the rest of the time. We covered mainly Northern Europe and Scandinavia, and boy was it butt-ass cold.
SA: When we were in Helsinki, we had to listen to the endless chants of "MELISSA, MELISSA" coming from huge throngs of fans. We were on tour with Melissa Etheridge, at the time, another radio darling who we've been matched with because of the success of "Counting Blue Cars." Not that our guitar sounds match or anything. But when you're thrown out on the road with many different types of performers, you instantly fall in love with your own material all over again because that's all you have of yourself to offer. We're not a Top 40 band. But the moods our music creates can affect a lot of types of audiences, so in effect, these odd-pairing tours have really worked for us.
When did the success of "Counting Blue Cars" change things for you?
JRR: In February of this year, our crowds grew from medium to huge because of it. When we first started touring last year with Better Than Ezra, there'd be only 50-60 people showing up. Then when their song "Good" started enjoying regional radio success, we'd still have the 50-60 people, and it would be packed when Ezra came on. And it was like that for us until the last tour, with Superdrag and Thermadore this year. For those first two bands it was still the usual small gathering. And then we'd play, and fans would come out of the woodwork. What a nice change.
GP: We've broken bones and thrashed ourselves, just hanging out learning how to play with other bands. There's a strange political thing you go through. Invading another band's space is something you have to look out for, especially when you're opening for them. Learning to live in a van, too, was a big lesson of life.
SA: And of course, learning to live off of McDonald's.
Hmmm. After people read this, they may start throwing you more nutritional food items onstage, instead of bottles.
JRR: I wouldn't be surprised. They've started throwing blue cars now, too.
Plastic ones?
JRR: No, metal ones, like Hot Wheels.
GP: There again, it's that thing where people are throwing things at you because they're really digging you, so they're chucking blue cars and trying to hit us, because they love us.
SA: Now we have a great collection of toy cars that you wouldn't believe.
JRR: I jumped offstage and broke my foot trying to get one at a show; unfortunately I landed in a part of the pit that didn't have any people in it.
SA: He had a very Broadway attitude about it--the show must go on. We tried to get him to use a cane for a few weeks because it was obvious the thing was broken. It would've been so punk rock, like when Billy Idol wrecked his bike, but J.R. wouldn't do it. He just wanted to hobble.
What's next for Dishwalla on the road?
SA: Several dates with the Goo Goo Dolls, some possible Canadian shows with Alanis Morissette, and a two-week opening trek with Kiss in the western states, if you can believe it.
Excited about that one?
GP: You bet. But I think it's going to be weird, and I don't know if the crowd's going to be super receptive to us. But I don't really care, just as long as I get to see Kiss with all the original members, in make-up, with all the explosions and blood.
JRR: The Goo Goo Dolls tour will be a blast too, because it's like a little slice of Americana. They're playing an entire leg of State Fairs on their tour, so we're going to bring a whole Astro-turf, canopy, BBQ, lawn-chair conglomeration to put by our tour bus to create our own little picnic zone.
People really come out in their true forms at picnics, don't they?
JRR: Yeah, it's going to be interesting. But then we're winding down with only a few shows scheduled for September, one in Hawaii, then we go to Anchorage, and then home for a free show in Santa Barbara. Going home is always something to look forward to.
GP: The Goo Goo Dolls tour will be the first time we've toured the States in an actual tour bus,. That's what I'm looking forward to. And we'll have a four-track and gadgets and stuff to create songs. Yippee! I mean, if you aren't inspired to write music when playing Six Flags over Dallas, when are you going to write?