August 15th 2002

So who is Charlotte and why is she so good?
Billy (guitar) � Oh Charlotte is not really a girl, �Good Charlotte� is actually the name of a children�s book that Joel found back, like I think one of his friends back home is a teacher and she had all these kids books in a book shelf and we were all really young at the time and Joel was just like �oh it seems like a cool band name� and we�ve just had it for a long time. Nobody in particular.
Yeah that was kind of our joke question to get started.
Billy - It�s good though.
So how did you guys get together?
Billy - It started as a high school thing, actually what, I wasn�t in the band since the first day, I went to a different high school then those guys and they started playing together in high school and when they were old enough to move out, Benji and Joel moved to a different town which is Annapolis (Maryland) and that�s where I live, and we met and joined up with them, and we�ve been together all and all since the first day they started for eight years now I would say, so it took us a while.
Your new album �The Young & The Hopeless� will be out soon, when exactly can we expect that and how will that compare with your previous album?
Billy � It comes out on October 1st is the release date. I think that obviously people say when they make a second record that it is more grown up or whatever, but I think that for us it�s really the truth because when we made our first record, I was still in high school and most people are like 19, 20, and none of us were even old enough to drink or anything, you know we were like pretty young at that point, and now we�re all 21 and it�s like, we ourselves are more grown up and from being just turning 18 and going on a tour bus and spending the next two years away from home and just being around the whole world, I guess you grow up really fast, you know what I mean? On this record we went in, sat down and said �alright it really seems like we know what we�re doing this time, so instead of just going,� we did the last record in like a month, we went in, did it and it was done, like let�s really just sit down and find some really weird guitar sounds and just make sure these songs are just perfect, and we spent almost five months on this record, and like really put time in, and instead of being like this super pop-punk band or whatever, we really don�t think we�re a pop-punk band or whatever, people just kind of give us that name I guess because Benji really likes punk, and he looks like a punk, and they�re like �oh they�re punk because he�s got spikey hair and piercings and tattoos� and that�s cool, I mean whatever people want to give us, that�s fine, whatever you think we are, that�s fine, but I think we are just like a rock band. Some of us are into punk, but on this new record there are like four songs that are like ballads, like that are kind of slower and then there are some real kind of punk songs, and then there is this mid-tempo, like rock songs. I think we just expanded in every direction and like tried to show people what Good Charlotte is and not just some other pop-punk band.
Do you think it�s important to progress from album to album?
Billy � Yeah, definitely, and a lot of people say �would you go back and change your last album,� or you know it�s like, I definitely don�t think that, I think every album is your chance to do something better or different. I think it�s very important to progress album to album.
The band recently dropped down to a four piece, well I don�t know if it�s recently, but you guys dropped down to a four piece, what happened with that?
Billy � Not really a four piece, it�s just we haven�t had an official drummer yet. We just keep finding some people and being like �hey you want to come out and play drums with us?� It�s kind of hard to take some person that you don�t really know and say �hey, come join this thing that we�ve been doing for eight years,� so kind of as far as press and photos and everything we just do the four of us right now, and our drummer that is playing with us right now is actually, we met through another friend on this tour and he�s only been with us for about two weeks or something like that, so pretty much being that we�ve been doing this forever we kind of just do stuff that�s the four of us and hopefully we can find a drummer that will fit with us and we�ll bring it back up to five people, but for now we just do it with four of us.
You�ve been out on the Warped Tour right now, how has it been so far?
Billy � It�s been really, really, really good actually. Last year Warped Tour was good, we kind of played (sneezes), sorry I�m a little sick, we played the side stage a lot last year, which it kind of sucks because unless you like that band you�re not going to wander all the way over to the side stage just to see this band and if you�re on the main stage you might just be going to get some drinks or looking at shirts and here�s some band right there, because that is where all of the action happens, and you�re like �wow, that band is kind of cool,� so this year we get to play the main stage every day, and the crowds are just like triple what we played to last year, and it seems like everyone is digging it, and we just keep walking back to the bus everyday going like �wow man, this is awesome� because the crowds are just really great this year. We�re having fun.
Any bands that you�ve seen that have impressed you so far?
Billy � Yes, this band called The Used, have you guys heard of them?
Jay � Yes! (well I have!)
Billy- I think they are just the best band in like the last five years to come out, you know live they�re awesome, and they�re produced by John from Goldfinger which is even cooler, it�s just pretty much them and New Found Glory that I watch, New Found just because we�ve known them for like the last three years and because we�re real close with those guys, and, you know I�m not really into punk much myself, I never really growing up listened to punk, so there�s not really that many bands I listen to on this tour, but we�ve made like a million friends, like I probably know at least one person in every band on this tour, I�m always like �hey, what�s up.� But as far as friends and seeing bands, I�ve seen a lot of bands, but as far as bands that I really like their music, The Used and New Found Glory are probably the bands that I would pick.
Any touring plans for after Warped Tour?
Billy � Yeah, we�re going to go to Europe right away like the first week of September, we�ve never been there yet. We�re going to do a show in London with Our Lady Peace, so that should be good, then we�re going to come back here and start a headlining tour from October to November, just a full length like five week tour, and that�s the next thing.
Looking forward to anything in particular in Europe?
Billy � Just going there in general. We�ve been to Australia and New Zealand, and that was really awesome, but we�ve never been to Europe and it seems that a lot of bands go to Europe right away and we�ve never done that, so just to go there is going to be, I don�t know what to expect so the most thing I am looking forward to is just going.
What have you found to be the most effective way of keeping squirrels out of a bird feeder?
Billy � Don�t put any food in it (everyone laughs).
Wow that�s the first time we�ve heard that one! Bar soap or body wash?
Billy � Oh bar soap, definitely.
Alright, what�s sexier, a chick with a mullet or a chick with a mohawk?
Billy � Uhhh, I�m not into mohawks, but I definitely wouldn�t go with a mullet, so I guess I�d have to go with a mohawk I guess.
You could always go with neither.
Billy � I�m going to go with neither then, I couldn�t go for a girl with hair like that (everyone laughs).
Who would win in a fight between the Keebler elves and the Smurfs?
Billy � Oh the Smurfs, definitely, just because it�s the Smurfs, you know, they�re blue, and they have white socks on their head or whatever, and the elves all they do is make cookies (everyone laughs), I say the elves would be making cookies and the Smurfs are going to come up and go �bam� right behind them.
And they outnumber them by many.
Billy � Definitely, definitely.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Billy � My biggest one would be Silverchair, is probably the reason why I play music, because when they were like 15 and did their first record I was like 14 and I was like �oh man, if they can do it, I can do it� and I�ve been following that band like obsessively since that day, I even have a Silverchair tattoo, I love that band, and bands like Korn when that first Korn album came out, I was just like �this is so heavy,� I really like a lot of like grunge bands and heavy stuff from back in the day. I like the Deftones a lot. I like Incubus a lot. I�m not really into a lot of the old punk and stuff, which I know a lot of the bands on this tour, they talk about their influences and all these bands they used to listen to and I�m like �man I never used to listen to one of those bands,� so I�m not sure how I got to be in this kind of band I�m in, I guess I just met these guys and they were like my best friends, and they were like �you want to play in my band,� and I was like dreadlocks down to my shoulders, I was like wearing make up and stuff in high school, �alright I�ll give it a try,� and it was a totally different thing for me, but it was really fun, so I�ve kind of grown to, like a lot of the bands that we�ve played with have grown on me, but for the most part I�m like a metalhead. I like heavy stuff, or I like fuckin Nirvana or a lot of the grunge stuff is what I like.
Daniel from Silverchair is actually really sick right now�
Billy � Yeah, he�s really sick, I was planning on, they were going to come and do some shows in New York City and I was ready to go and then they cancelled it all, it sucks. It�s really bad, I hope he gets better.
Definitely. So what would your dream tour be?
Billy � Hmm, right now I would probably like to have us, The Used and Silverchair, because The Used, for some reason me and Burt, the singer just like clicked really well, and I get along with him really well, and I would love to tour with those guys again, and plus Silverchair, if we could do the three of us, I�d be set.
What do you do to keep busy on the road?
Billy � Play a lot of video games. I have my own clothing line too, Level 27, it�s just like this hat I have here, it�s like my clothing line, and I like to draw a lot, I�ve been drawing since I was a little kid, so I want to do something with art, so I just kind of draw some t-shirt designs and stuff, and I�m wearing a shirt too (hits recorder) oh sorry dude.
Do you design your own tattoos?
Billy � I come up with the ideas, but if I drew something myself and had it tattooed on me and saw one little thing that was wrong, it would drive me nuts, so I can�t really draw it myself because I am too critical, but I have my own clothing line, it�s sort of a thing to do when there is down time.
What keeps you motivated on the days you�re sick and just don�t feel like playing? On days like today for example.
Billy � It�s hard, like yesterday was the worst, I�m actually better today, but it�s really hard because no matter how sick you are, no matter how tired you are, if some little kid comes up and is like �you�re my favorite band� and they�re like freaking out and jumping in your face you can�t be like �leave!� you know? Because I know if I met my favorite band and they were like whatever, you know, I�d be pissed off, so you�ve got to put a smile on your face and you�ve got to talk and be as friendly as you can, and every day we sit for an hour and do a signing at the tent, so I was sick all day yesterday but I had a smile and was like �hey what�s up, thanks for coming� and (hits recorder again) man I�m going to want to throw that thing (everyone laughs), but I think the part is you�re like �oh this show is going to suck, I�m going to play so bad,� and then you walk out on stage and you see all the kids and you�re like �oh yeah, that�s why I do this,� and then all of a sudden it just happens, you don�t even feel sick anymore, and then when you get off stage (makes some kind of dying noise that is quite indescribable, while we all laugh of course) for some reason it just happens, as soon as you walk on stage everything is perfect.
How would you sell your new album �The Young & The Hopeless� to someone who's never heard of Goldfinger, shit, I mean never heard of Good Charlotte before? I don�t know why I said that (haha, let�s all laugh at Jay)
Billy � Hmm, I would say that we�re not Goldfinger (everyone laughs), no I�m kidding. I like Goldfinger a lot. How would I sell it to someone? I guess, I think maybe the biggest selling point that I could think of would just be the fact that we�re all pretty young, and most of our audiences is pretty much around the same age, and all the songs are about things that happened growing up, it�s not like all love songs, it�s about being the kid that got picked on at school or like not being cool or feeling like fuck man there�s nothing I can do with my life anymore, I�m 15, and when you�re 15 you feel like the world is going to end when you get a C on your report card, and your parents ground you. Most of our songs are sort of about like being, that�s why we call it �The Young & The Hopeless� because you feel like the kid who says �man my life sucks,� but in all honesty if you just do something and work really hard at it you�re going to get to it, and I think our album in general is just an album that if you�ve had problems in your life, you can listen to this and be like �wow, I guess there is a way out, or something I can do.� Our outlet is music, and other kids can hear our CD and hopefully find a way to get out of that rut.
Last comments?
Billy � I think you guys covered it. I just want people to go and check this new record out. We were proud of the last one, but I think I�m 50 more times prouder of this record and I just want as many people to hear it as possibly can, because we�re really proud of it.