Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty

MATCH POINT
After Soaring on Santana's Supernatural, Rob Thomas Volleys Back with Matchbox Twenty
It's been three years since matchbox twenty released their last album, Mad Season -- a span bisected by frontman Rob Thomas's extracurricular bust-out with Carlos Santana on the Grammy Award–winning "Smooth." And while the music universe moved on, matchbox recharged and regrouped for More than You Think You Are, an album that builds on past efforts without turning its back on them. While the quintet enjoys Top 40 radio play -- and the pinup status that invariably accompanies such a pop-culture hot spot -- Thomas's credentials lured collaborators as varied and esteemed as Mick Jagger and Willie Nelson. A peripatetic Thomas sat still (well, more or less) long enough to tell Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague why we're all more than we think we are.

Barnes & Noble.com: What did you go into this album expecting to achieve?

Rob Thomas: We listened back to all our old records and tried to pin down exactly what we like about ourselves as a band. We didn't want to do it anymore if we weren't having fun, so we sat down and asked ourselves if we were, and if we were in the band we all wanted to be in. That's hard with five people coming from different places, all coming into our 30s with new priorities. Success or no success, it's not worth doing this if it's just a paycheck. We knew sonically, we wanted to make [something like] the records we grew up with -- Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, you know, records where guitars sound like guitars and drums sound like drums

B&N.com: Wasn't that the case with your other records?

RT: We listened back and weren't happy with the way some things sounded on our earlier records. Like the guitars -- they served their purpose and they were in tune, but they were all wrapped in the same package. This record was about changing that. Like we love Wilco, and we're never going to be Wilco, but when they have an acoustic guitar, it sounds like one, a piano sounds like a piano, not stereoed out and effected to the point where it could be anything. That's why we picked Bearsville to record. Jeff Buckley did Grace there, R.E.M. recorded there, Patti Smith...all these records we loved.

B&N.com: In the downtime, do you put matchbox on the back burner mentally? How about music in general?

RT: I'm always finding something to do with music. In between records, I did some stuff with Willie Nelson, with Marc Anthony, and when I do things like that, things that are out on the edge, that gives me something to bring back here. For me, the in between times are all about writing. It sounds weird to me when all you do is write right before you go into the studio: That way, all the songs are coming from the same place and it sounds that way, which I don't like.

B&N.com: How do the other guys in the band feel about that?

RT: If I'm writing as many things that wouldn't be on a matchbox record that I can, that expands the idea of what matchbox is, and the fact that everyone else in the band is starting to write more is also helping matchbox grow into something else. We're not a "rock" band or an image-driven band, and that affords us the luxury of not having to worry about losing any rock credibility. We can have a song and have it rock, but if we want, we can have a slow country song with a steel guitar without alienating anyone.

B&N.com: Did your outside projects create any friction within the band?

RT: We joke about it a lot. I can't think of any band that's made the jump to being a career band without one person, usually the lead singer, being singled out. Every picture or poster you see has five guys that could be the same five guys. You need a focal point, one guy that you recognize. If you stay around, people start to know everyone. First, people knew Eddie Vedder; then they knew the rest of Pearl Jam. We're adamant about the fact that we're a band, though. I don't want to perpetuate any notion of myself as separate from the band.

B&N.com: You've got Mick Jagger appearing on the first single, "Disease." Are you past the point where you get intimidated by dealing with stars of that magnitude?

RT: No. I hope I never am. Mick Jagger has had the kind of career that merits you feeling intimidated just by being in a room with him -- and not just as a rock star. Yeah, he's the singer for the Rolling Stones, but he's also half of one of the greatest writing teams in rock. When I first met with him, it wasn't said, but there was a sense of "Did I pass the audition?" We didn't spend a whole lot of time together, but he's so generous, such a gentleman. We haven't become friends like Carlos and I have, but he's a wonderful guy.

B&N.com: Speaking of Santana, you wrote some stuff for the new album, Shaman, but didn't sing on it. Was that a conscious choice?

RT: Yeah, you know...it was such a great thing to be part of Supernatural, but there was no way to re-create that honestly. I would know it was honest, but everyone would look at it as an attempt to do another "Smooth." It would never happen. I could sing on it, it could be a great song, but it wouldn't be "Smooth." But I look at it as a double whammy. I got to work with Carlos and his band, and I got to have Seal sing the song, and I'm a huge Seal fan.

B&N.com: You've never been the most acclaimed band in the press. Does that ever stick in your craw?

RT: We don't mind criticism, because by the time anyone's said anything critical about one of our records, chances are one of us has said it already. But this time, that's not the case. There's nothing about this one that, if someone says, "That sucks," we'll say, "Really? You think so?" You can criticize it, but I'll say, "F--- you, I love this record."

B&N.com: Much like the first album, you gave this an open-ended title. Does it have a resonance for you?

RT: For us, it seemed like a nice positive statement. We didn't want people to think this is about us -- saying we're more than you think we are. But it was a reminder to us that wow, this is a pretty good record and we are a pretty good band. It's just a nice, blatantly positive message to ourselves and to anyone who's holding it.

November 12, 2002