Matchbox Guitarist Strikes Up Conversation

Matchbox Twenty comes to the FleetCenter tomorrow with Sugar Ray in support of the band's third album, "More Than You Think You Are." Between gulps of orange juiceand attending to the plants in his Miami home, guitarist Adam Gaynor chatted with the Herald.

Do you know the guys in Sugar Ray? "Yes. I love (Sugar Ray singer) Mark McGrath. He's nuts, he's psychotic probably."

Does the Dixie Chicks debacle make you think twice about what you might say into the microphone onstage?

"Yeah. I think as much as artists have an obligation to speak their mind and to represent themselves or a movement, I think you have an equal obligation not to be an idiot." With your third record, Matchbox Twenty seems to have settled into a comfortable place creatively and commercially . . .

"I'm really, really content with our position. I really don't have aspirations beyond what we've achieved. Personally, I'll be really proud as long as we represent ourselves well and go out and play good shows and continue to develop and make good music. I think that would be just beautiful."

By Sarah Rodman
The Boston Herald