They’re not going anywhere, guitarist says
By Steve Hammer
"Steve?” Atlantic Records publicist Carise Yatter asked me. “Here’s Adam.”As in Adam Gaynor, the rhythm guitar player for the zillion-selling yet critically ridiculed Matchbox Twenty.
Matchbox Twenty will be playing at Verizon Music Center on Aug. 7. You either like their laid-back, pop-influenced music or you don’t. There seems to be no middle ground with these cats.
Critics have called them “this year’s Hootie” and ridiculed lead singer Rob Thomas on various fronts. On the other hand, millions and millions of music buyers have picked up their CDs.
So when Gaynor picked up the phone, defending his band’s artistic integrity was not on his mind. Having a good time with me was, however.
Gaynor: I’m wiping the phone with my sock. I have never seen such a disgusting phone in my life. It’s a little better, but it’s gross.
Me: Hey.. how’s it going...
Gaynor: STEVIE!
Me: ‘Sup.
Gaynor: Little Stevie! Can I tell you something? I have a — I wouldn’t call him a friend, because he’s somebody I grew up with and he’s a couple of years older than me. But he lives in my building and his name is Steve Hammer.
Me: No way.
Gaynor: It’s kind of weird when you find out someone has your same name. You kind of freak, don’t you?
Me [freaked]: Yep. It is bizarre.
Gaynor: So how’s Steve Hammer doing?
Me: This one is fine. How’s your buddy doing?
Gaynor: He seems to be fine. He’s a very handsome man. He’s kind of got that Robert Redford vibe to him. He’s a ladies’ man, he’s a lawyer, he’s all set, y’know?
Me: That pretty much describes me, too, I guess. {both laughing} Where are you calling me from?
Gaynor: I’m in South Florida, just chilling out, getting some crap done and running around a lot and just relaxing before leaving in four days.
Me: How can you prepare for a two-month tour?
Gaynor: You want to put your life both in order and on hold for two months. It’s a little weird. It’s a little disconcerting. And the first thing you need to do is clean your house. And my house is a wreck. And basically everything I own in my life is piled up four feet thick on a pool table. And I have three days to get it in order. And today I had to do some other work and now I’m stuck on the phone with Steve Hammer.
Me: Um..
Gaynor: Can I be honest with you? I love doing these interviews.
Me: It seems like the interviews where people try to be all serious and straight with you are really shitty and boring.
Gaynor: THANK YOU FOR NOTICING THAT! I don’t care what you need to ask me, and I know sometimes every reader needs to be informed of whatever you want. But I appreciate that just being an open statement of honesty. I’ve had some really shitty interviews. The staple stuff just doesn’t excite me and I can go through it, and when I’m in that kind of a mood, I’ll just make up lies and that makes it more fun anyway.
Me: Some bios I read said you spent some time in Indiana but others don’t.
Gaynor: That has been around for so long. It was a mistake in one piece and it’s been spread since. KYLE is from Indiana.
Me: But I was alarmed to see in one interview that you said you were glad the Indiana Pacers lost the finals last year. Don’t come here and say that. It’s a very, very bad thing.
Gaynor: I’m SORRY! Are you from Indiana?
Me: Yep.
Gaynor: Well, I’m a New York boy. I was born in New York. So what I am is probably a Knicks fan, and Knicks and Reggie Miller don’t get along. So here’s the deal: If Reggie was on the Knicks, I’d love him. Not on the Knicks, hate ‘im. I actually love most of the Pacers. We can go with your Jalens and Davises and I‘m very well briefed and knowledgeable on sports, much more than I should be.
Me: Do you think Jermaine O’Neal has a future with the Pacers?
Gaynor: Of course he does.
Me: Webber just inked a deal today with the Kings. Do you know what it was for?
Gaynor: $123 million over seven years, the most you can make in the NBA with the salary cap.
Me: That’s about what you guys make on an average tour, right?
Gaynor: No, I actually make $123 million. But it’s over 10 years, not seven. [Laughs]
Me: So what’s the stupidest question you’ve ever been asked in an interview?
Gaynor: It would have to be something about whether I was from Indiana. [Laughing] I was proud of your boys, being a sports fan. You’ve got to be proud of the way they played. I think they’re in a lot of trouble now. They had that pinnacle, they’re losing pieces and that sucks for them. They needed to add pieces and they took away pieces. On a vibe level, I’m very sorry for them. Their time has come and gone. The Pacers were building and building and then they hurt their team.
Me: But even if the Pacers just win 10 games next year, two of them will be at Madison Square Garden with Reggie hitting a three with :0.3 on the clock.
Gaynor: Miller is possessed and there’s not one other player you’d want on the court in that situation.
[Chatter follows: a discussion of the Philadelphia 76ers, Allen Iverson and the innate goodness of Coach Larry Brown, the new NBA rules changes.]
Me: We haven’t even talked about Matchbox Twenty music yet and there’s some stuff I want to hit.
Gaynor: Anything you want, Babyface.
Me: Did you know that the highway running through Indianapolis is called the Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds Highway? He’s from here.
Gaynor: No it’s not. I love that. I like Babyface. He’s very cool. One of my trippiest moments is playing the American Music Awards and looking at the front row. And there’s Babyface. Me and him had eye contact for just a second and that was enough. I am a big fan, and that freaked me out. Just having him sitting there was pretty damn cool.
Me: Did he nod or give a wink of approval or anything?
Gaynor: He tilted his head, he gave me the gunshot thing, he gave the thumbs-up, he crossed his legs to the left — [laughing]. And sitting next to him was Julio Iglesias, who I worked with when I was answering phones at Criterion Studio. So that was cool too.
[Chatter follows: about the Beatles and Kiss and how Gaynor’s dad worked with Paul Stanley of Kiss. Discussion somehow turns to the media]
Gaynor: A certain magazine or certain magazines really have it in for us. As a player and a band member, it doesn’t matter. If we’d sold 100,000 albums on the first one, I’d be pretty freaked and worried and needing to make major adjustments and figuring out what went wrong. But because we sold 13 million, I can’t let criticism bother me. I can’t lie to you and tell you it wouldn’t be great if every person in the world wrote about being the most creative and original and unbelievably talented band. That would feel great. Not everybody disses us, but there are some people who are more than excited to write bad things about us.
I think we’re pretty average people that I think do our jobs really well. We work well with melody and hooks and write good pop music and good rock music. And anything else you may be looking for may or may not be there. We’re pretty decent guys. We haven’t developed any major head problems. And maybe it’s boring. And that’s the problem [with the press]. But what we do I think we do pretty damn well.
There are people who are going to write bad things about you, but 10 to 13 million people like it, and I think I’m sleeping well because of that.
...I don’t think we’re trying to perform brain surgery here, nor do we ever claim to do that. We claim to write some great hooks and pretty fun songs and anything else that’s taken from the band in a negative tone doesn’t bother me.
Me: Right on. That about does it. I appreciate the interview.
Gaynor: Thank you. Good luck to you.