Good Charlotte stirs ups memories of Chuck Taylors, guyliner, and mosh pits for most fans. But like the rest of us, the band has grown up and priorities have changed with the group taking a break back in 2011 to focus on family. We saw twins Benji and Joel Madden branch out with a project all their own in 2014 and mentor up-and-coming artists on The Voice in Australia; Billy Martin shifted artistic direction with the comic Darious McDreary: A Boy and His Bat and began contributing art to other titles; Paul Thomas went back to school and worked with the likes of Seeking Empire and The Strayed; and Dean Butterworth spent some time with Sugar Ray and provided the beat for Hollywood Game Night. But we’ve hardly heard a note from them for almost five years until the group finally released the single “Makeshift Love” late in 2015. They’ve triumphantly returned with a fresh single, an upcoming album named Youth Authority, and a four-city tour of the East Coast. I got to sneak into soundcheck when the guys made a stop in the Big Apple to discover the shift in their sound, share their advice for anyone looking to make it big in music, and revive the nostalgia from the early aughts’ pop-punk era while still moving forward.
What’s the biggest influence behind the new album?
JM: The biggest influence on the album is just I think being able to have time off and get to know ourselves a little bit better and miss each other a little bit. Really just wanting to make a record for the simple joy of making a record and not really worrying about where it will live or who will embrace it, just like we did with the first album, just making a record because we loved it.
BM: And having to win fans again and having to win people over again and having something to say. We were working on a bunch of other records and we couldn’t say anything on them. We had some things to say so this one’s full of it.
There are many bands who wait to have 10-year reunion tours. Why did you decide to come together again now?
JM: I didn’t want to do a 10-year tour because then it feels like it’s over. That’s the thing, everyone else did a 10-year. We’re not everybody else, we can’t be anybody else. I like when people do 10-years, but for me, we didn’t have any interest in doing that. We don’t want to just go out and sell something that we don’t believe in. We really do want fans to be able to have shows—
BM: But we want to be genuine about it.
JM: I feel like it’s important to be honest about what we’re saying up here and what we’re doing up here. But that’s a big compliment; that means a lot to us.
BM: It kind of makes you think that we’ve given up, and you’re just saying, “Let’s make more money off the record.” For me, the new record is everything we’ve wanted to say over the last five years that’s gotten bottled up. It’s built up ’til now. The first two songs are a nice hug back, but the rest of record—
JM: It’s pretty deep. There’s so much we’re saying on this record, and it’s so important to us that everyone hears it. This record is everything we wanted to do. I definitely appreciate the fact that [fans] care enough to come to a 10-year because that means a lot to us, but maybe we’ll do a 30-year [tour].
Favorite song off the new album?
JM: There’s a song that we did with our buddy Kellin [Quinn] from Sleeping with Sirens called “Keep Swinging,” and I really like it. I think it’s my favorite song on the album.
BM: I like the song called “Life Changes” and a song called “War.” Paul, what’s your favorite song?
PT: Favorite song? “Makeshift Love,” “Keep Swinging,” or “War.”
BM: Billy what about you?
Bily Martin: “40 oz. Dream” or “War”
DB: “40 oz. Dream” or “War”
BM: I like your style, Deano
We all love “40 oz. Dream” and can’t wait to see the video. When’s the album going to be released?
JM: [The album] a couple of months off, but it’s going to be more instant gratification. Every couple of weeks we’re going to release a couple more songs.
Are there any romantic songs on the new record?
BM: I think you should use “Life Can’t Get Much Better” off the new album. I wrote it for my wife—it’s a good love song. You’ll like it, I think. It’s just about that feeling, but it does have the word “f—” in it. Sorry, but it’s a good thing. It’s emotional and sweet. It’s fun. It’s the only time I ever felt it was important to use that word.
Who did the artwork on the album?
JM: The artwork for this album was done by an artist named Brian Montuori. He’s a really cool guy. He was around in the 2000’s with Dillinger Escape Plan and a bunch of other bands. We were talking about that era—the early 2000’s—about how great we felt in the late ‘90s and all of that stuff before there was downloading and streaming when album art was still important because you held it in your hands. We were like, “We hope the world never really loses that.” All of the art was made out of the box. It was actually a photograph of an entire wall with old flyers, things that we made, and he re-created a bunch of things from our past and present. He made this wall you’d see backstage at CBGB’s and all of these clubs that you’d see as you tour around the world. And it also goes back to your bedroom when you were a kid, putting posters up. A lot of those clubs are closed now, so we thought that maybe our album artwork would still be important, if anything, it’s important to us. We spent a lot of time and Brian spent a lot of time making it hopefully something really special.
What’s your advice for those who want to get into the music industry?
JM: Make sure it’s what you really want to do. It’s the only way you’ll make it. It’s a very tough business. It’s a business of heartbreak; it’s a business of always being criticized—rejection and more failures than wins. But the wins feel so good because you worked for it. So my only advice for any artist is ask yourself and really search your soul—if you can live without it, don’t do it, but if you can’t live without it, do it.