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Music on the Road

Goo Goo Dolls hit the road

By Jodi Ross
CNN Entertainment Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- It's been almost four years since we've heard new goo from the guys who call themselves dolls.

But now the Goo Goo Dolls are back with "Gutterflower," an album that debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard charts.

It's like the band never left. The group, which formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1985, scored huge hits with acoustic ballads such as "Name" and "Iris" in the 1990s. The band's current single, "Here is Gone," is climbing the charts.

To support the album, the Goo Goo Dolls have embarked on a summer tour. Rock 'n' roll tours have a glamorous reputation, but the boys in the band say life on the road isn't as exciting as it sounds.

CNN spoke with guitarist and vocalist Johnny Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac about the new record.

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Watch the video for the song 'Here is Gone' featured on the new Goo Goo Dolls album 'Gutterflower' (May 30) Play video

CNN: You named the album "Gutterflower" after a Pablo Neruda poem?

Johnny Rzeznik: Yeah, "The Beggars." What a great writer. He is one of my favorite poets.

CNN: It's been a while since you're last album. Why the break?

Johnny: You know it kind of burns you out. I think that's why we decided to take some time off after the last record, because it was just like, oh my god, I've got to get a life, so you do that.

CNN: When putting out a record, what happens if you aren't happy with it?

Johnny: at the end of the day, you really have to hope that you like your record É or else you're in trouble. Or else you shouldn't put it out.

CNN: Is it a difficult or frustrating process to write?

Johnny: Well yeah. I don't think it would work out well if it wasn't. I'm starting to get comfortable with the fact that you're going to be uncomfortable and freaked out by it because there is so much uncertainty in the process or writing a song. You don't know what you're going to do or how it's going to turn out.

People say to me now É "What's that song about?" I say, "I don't know. Check back with me in a year. Once I get some distance from it I'll know better what I'm thinking about." But it's that kind of uncertainty where I think your best stuff comes out of.

CNN: The musical landscape has changed all around you. Did you ever think where you guys fit in in the musical landscape?

Johnny: It never mattered. We put on blinders. I think you have to be really more concerned about what you're doing, and not look around and see what other people are doing. I don't care what musical trend they throw at us. We've survived a lot of them É grunge and swing and ska and punk. We just do what we do, we're an odd fit, we've never really fit in anywhere, so I think that fits in to our advantage.

CNN: Is it hard to premiere some of the new songs, when audiences want to hear the old stuff?

Johnny: You've got to mix it up. I mean, I think if you play a set of new material, the audience doesn't know if they like it or not, but you have to get it out there.

CNN: You guys seem excited about the tour, are you excited to get back on the tour bus again?

Johnny: No É but I'm exciting to be working again. É Once the record is done you start going, wow, wouldn't that be cool if we can play at Madison Square Garden. Wow, wouldn't that be cool, maybe we will this time. You start dreaming.

Robby Takac: People romanticize the tour bus. [But] when it boils right down to it, it's just like living in a trailer. It's a nice trailer, [but] it smells like shoes and old shirts, and someone always drinks the last Coke before you get to it.

Johnny: You have to deal with somebody snoring. Did you ever see that movie "Das Boot"? É That's what it's like on the tour bus. There's produce swinging from the ceiling, guys fighting, and everyone is in dirty underwear. It's terrible.

Robby: I'm thinking about buying my own tour bus. When it's over, you can just pull it right into the lot and live there the rest of my life.

Johnny: Put it up on cinderblocks. Take the wheels off. That will be great.