Garbage 3.0: How the band went from an experiment to a group with staying power
When Garbage formed a quarter-century ago, the concept was an avant one-off project for fun among three friends.
But after its eponymous album sold more than 4 million copies in 1995, the band became a priority. Songs like “Stupid Girl,” “Only Happy When it Rains” and “Queer” made the band a hit. “Version 2.0,” their second album, earned Grammy nominations, and they performed the theme song to “The World is Not Enough” — the 1999 James Bond film.
Guitarist Duke Erikson took a break from driving in Los Angeles traffic to talk about how Garbage has endured. The band will perform at the Ritz May 7.
Q: Who would have ever guessed that Garbage would still exist in 2019?
A: Not me. We didn’t know what we concocted when we came up with this idea. (Guitarist) Steve (Marker), (drummer) Butch (Vig) and I thought it would be fun to make an album and have multiple singers. It was just an experiment. It wasn’t a serious thing and then we met (vocalist) Shirl (Shirley Manson) and here we are.
Q: Manson was that surprising ingredient for Garbage. She’s larger than life.
A: I guess that makes us smaller than life (laughs).
Q: What is it like being smaller than life?
A: I like it. Shirl is great under the spotlight. Being smaller than life is nice because you can just focus on the music. We appreciate Shirl. There’s not a lot of larger-than-life performers out there but we have one of them. What larger-than-life bands are there out there?
Q: The Darkness looked like they were going to be a larger-than-life success story.
A: What happened to them?
Q:I think they’re in search of songs.
A: We’re in search of songs, too, but we’re not in search of a hit single. We’re in search of good songs. If we feel we have enough of them, we’ll put out an album.
Q: It’s been three years since the last Garbage album, “Strange Little Birds.” Are you close to completing a new Garbage album?
A: We’re not far enough along to play anything new. We were recently together for a couple of weeks and we were recording in Palm Springs, of all places. We recorded about 30 or 40 sketches of songs that rose out of improvising. We were heartened by the number of good ideas we had.
Q: The reality is that it’s difficult to keep coming up with consistently good material. There have been a lot of bands like The Darkness that had one good album filled with solid songs. The Fixx, The Knack and The Sex Pistols, who entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, all had one very good album and that’s about it.
A: It is hard to make one good album after another. We’ve been very fortunate. We keep coming back.
Q: Since you’re not touring behind an album, what will your set be like?
A: We’re doing a different set than we’ve ever done before. We’ll play a few of the familiar songs but we’re going to do some songs we’ve never played live. We’ll play some obscurities. It’s a really good time. Shirl’s in good voice and we’re having a lot of fun onstage.
Q: The music world has changed dramatically since Garbage formed.
A: But guitars are coming back. There are a number of cool young, guitar bands out there.
Q: Who are your favorites?
A: I set myself up for that one. Give me a second. I really like Car Seat Headrest and Cherry Glazerr. I love that Car Seat Headrest album (“Twin Fantasy”). Those bands prove that guitar-rock is alive and well.
Details
Who: Garbage with Ioanna Gika
When: 8 p.m. May 7
Where: The Ritz, 2840 Industrial Drive, Raleigh.
Tickets: $37.50
Info: 919-424-1400 or ritzraleigh.com