Godsmack

April 22, 1999
Web posted at: 10:46 a.m. EDT (1446 GMT)

By Donna Freydkin
CNN Interactive Contributing Music Writer

(CNN) -- The lead singer of hard rockin' foursome Godsmack follows a very simple formula for creating good music.

"I write what gets me off," Sully Erna says. "If I listen to a song and jump around the living room with a broom in my hand, I know that that will trigger the same reaction in other people."

So far, his songwriting specifications seem to be working. The Boston band's self-titled major-label debut has just been certified gold, and is steadily climbing the Billboard album charts, up 12 slots from last week. And their first single, "Whatever," has been on steady rotation both on rock radio and on certain MTV shows.

Godsmack's music lies somewhere between the relentless pulverization of Metallica and the steady grind of Alice in Chains. Rolling Stone described the band's sound as "hard as nails and cranked to 11."

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The Boston band seems poised to make it big, and at this point, it would seem almost unavoidable -- from June 3 through July 17, they'll be touring as part of mega-festival Ozzfest, performing on the main stage in the company of Black Sabbath and Rob Zombie. And the band plays "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on April 30.

Through relentless touring and steady radio play in their hometown of Boston, Godsmack have forged a grassroots fanbase. And those listeners are serving them in good stead in a time when metal acts -- no matter how good, and with the exception of rap/metal outfits Korn and Limp Bizkit -- rarely crack the top 50.

But Erna, currently headlining a national a national club tour with bandmates guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Tommy Stewart, attributes the band's success to the lucidity and universality of the band's music.

"Our music is very simple and doesn't go over people's heads," says Erna. "Simplicity has been the recipe for us so far."

Godsmack may be the latest boy wonders, but even they're not immune from their share of controversy. The band is regularly compared to grunge-rock scions Alice in Chains, and have been charged with snagging their name from the Alice in Chains' song "God Smack," from the 1992 album "Dirt." It's a charge that both baffles and annoys Erna.

"A little bit of an influence is there, but we don't sound like Alice in Chains," insists Erna. "We're influenced and don't lie about it, but everyone is compared to someone."

MULTIMEDIA

"Moon Baby" [150k MPEG-3] or [205k WAV] "Whatever" [175k MPEG-3] or [245k WAV] (From Universal Records)

The country may getting its first taste of Godsmack, but the band has been a steady, familiar presence in Boston for years. This year, the band has been nominated for four Kahlua Boston Music Awards (winner announced April 22), including outstanding debut rock band, rising star, single of the year (for "Whatever"), and debut album of the year.

"It's unbelievable what's happened in New England," says Erna, who has played drums for 27 years, and didn't start singing until four years ago. "We have the best fans there. Every place we've been playing has been selling out. It wasn't that long ago that we'd been playing to 50 people in Boston, and we just headlined a 7,000-seat arena and sold it out."

The band's eponymous major label debut started out as a self-released CD, recorded in 1996 for $2,500 in borrowed money. Hoping to make back a little of the cash, they peddled the album, then called "All Wound Up," to local retailer Newbury Comics, the only outlet that agreed to carry the album. But shortly thereafter, influential local rock radio station WAAF started playing the single "Keep Away."

After Godsmack became a presence on the local music scene, WAAF started playing the searingly heavy single "Whatever," and the album ultimately became Newbury's No. 2 best-selling album.

"I predict that Godsmack will get to the same level of sales as Korn, Rob Zombie, or Limp Bizkit. Persistence has paid off for this band. There's really no secret. Their live show is what makes this band stand out," WAAF's Dave Douglas told Billboard last month.

Erna, of course, says he's swallowing all the praise with a very large grain of salt.

"It's just a crapshoot. You never know what people will like so you have to write what you love," he says.

The name game

And regarding that nagging comparison to Alice in Chains, Erna says the band got its name not from the Alice single of the same name, but from Godsmack's drummer's cold sore. Seems that upon seeing the cold sore, Erna told the drummer that God had smacked him with one.

If anything, the whole Alice in Chains "controversy" has been a boon to Godsmack. After all, as Erna readily admits, there could be worse bands to be compared to than the Seattle grunge gurus.

"That's a blessing in disguise because they left a big void in their genre of music and that's opened a little hole for us to fit in there," says Erna.

Of course, a March 21 tussle at a Florida concert could offer up another explanation about the origins of Godsmack's name. After diving into the crowd at the WJBX-FM "X-Fest," Erna returned to the stage, only to be tackled by an "obviously confused security guard," according to the label, who "mistook the lead singer for an overzealous fan and attempted to physically remove" him.

Erna's response? He "punched the guard, knocking him unconscious. The security guard was dragged offstage and the show went on."

And the band would probably say, "Whatever."