UNITED KINGDOM: ROB THOMAS OF BAND MATCHBOX TWENTY TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW ALBUM 'SMOOTH" AND WORKING WITH SANTANA

Record ID: 389857

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: ROB THOMAS OF BAND MATCHBOX TWENTY TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW ALBUM 'SMOOTH" AND WORKING WITH SANTANA
  • Date: 14th June 2000
  • Summary: LONDON, UK (JUNE 14, 2000) (REUTERS) SCU RECOGNIZING HIM IN THE STREETS "You know, in The States that happened anyway, but what it did like before, if I went anywhere it would just be like 'Matchbox, Matchbox, Matchbox' and now at least they know my name, if you're gonna recognize me I'd rather they call me by my name."
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UK AND FILE
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7L9QQ8B39X5AXHERUIK0EJM0
  • Story Text: People know him best as the man who sings this year's summer smash hit "Smooth" together with multi-grammy winner Carlos Santana. But Rob Thomas is the leadsinger of his own band, Matchbox Twenty - already hugely successful in The States and now on their way to conquer Europe and the rest of the world. During their stop-over in London, Reuters caught up with Rob to talk "Smooth", Santana and the angry new single "Bent".
    Matchbox Twenty have been around for a few years, but it's really since Santana's "Smooth" hit the charts, that frontman Rob Thomas' face has moved into the spotlight.
    Teaming up with the veteran guitarist and his band was an incredible experience for the 28-year-old singer who won three prestigious grammys for "Smooth".
    "It's been amazing. I was a huge fan. Originally I was just supposed to write on the project so I was really happy about that and then they wanted me to sing and I was just 'yeah, great', then it became this whole thing on its own. It had its own life, for me it was like, you know I'm 28 years old and I got to work with Santana. Most people my age don't get that opportunity."
    Has the worldwide success of "Smooth" changed his life? Do people recognize him now? "You know, in The States that happened anyway, but what it did like before, if I went anywhere it would just be like 'Matchbox, Matchbox, Matchbox' and now at least they know my name, if you're gonna recognize me I'd rather they call me by my name."
    Matchbox Twenty have just released their second album "Mad Season", a selection of moody and catchy material. Some songs are quite angry, especially the new single "Bent". For Rob that's because he uses songwriting to get rid of all the negative stuff that bugs him.
    "I always think that writing represents the worst of me.
    It represents the worst of how I feel, the worst of how I see things, and the worst of things I go through and so that's my drop-off point so that the rest of my life will be prettier and happier because everything bad goes there. If I feel something I write it down. It's kind of like a binge and purge situation emotionally."
    Four years have passed since Matchbox Twenty's debut album "Yourself or Someone Like You", a time the band mostly spent touring. They spent over 600 nights on the road and reckon that the many performances helped them to evolve musically - culminating in "Mad Season".
    "Musically I think it's better. We had a definite plan as to who we were as a band and we went about it on the first record. And on the second record I think we went about it the same way, it's just that we're all five years older and we spent those five years doing nothing but playing music so if we didn't become better musicians we should quit. So hopefully, it's the same idea, just musically it's better, everyone is a little better at what they do. We're all a little better as a band, as well, we're all better at playing you know."
    Did he do that little stunt himself? "It's not me, no, but I watched it go down, it was scary, the guy got nailed, he really did. He flew up in the air, it was pretty frightening to watch, I was glad it wasn't me but I did get beat up by the band members."
    Rob was recently selected by an American magazine as one of the fifty most beautiful people in the world. An honour he's not so sure about: "I can't say it makes you a better musician, it's silly you know, it's part of this silly thing of like ... it goes along in the same category of teenage girls screaming when they see you, it's a by-product you know, it's not a by-product of music, it's like fame is a by-product of the music and that's a by-product of the fame, so it's like three generations away from what I do."
    After months of Santana hype and grammy excitement, Matchbox Twenty are back on the road again to promote "Mad Season" and their new single "Bent" - hoping they'll match the success of their debut album.
    "We're touring now and it's really up to everybody else, as long as people, as long as this record stays in people's consciousness and they keep playing it. When it stops we just have to make another one. It's an easy job when you just break it down to the specifics of what you do. You make a record and then you go and play it and now it's even more fun because we have two records and we don't have to play the same 12 songs over and over again, now we can mix it up."
    "Bent " is released in the UK later this month.
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