John: I’m fine. How are you?

The Edge: I’m great. It’s nice to hear your voice again. You’re in Portland, Maine today.

John: Yeah. I’m mastering the new record.

The Edge: So that’s kind of an exciting thing, right? Sort of like the final little bit before you have to let it go.

John: You know what was really funny? Last night was actually the night I actually slept more than four hours in about six months. Yeah, it’s like WOW, it’s almost done.

The Edge: So I would think with the joy, there’d be some trepidation mixed in because, I mean, this has been something you’ve been working on for a long time. And these songs were your babies and they’ve evolved and grew and there’s that great quote that records are never finished, they’re just sort of abandoned.

John: Ha ha! Well, believe me I’m ready to abandon this one.

The Edge: Well, how do you feel? Do you feel confident. Do you feel any trepidation about it?

John: Um....well, you know, I can’t say what’s going to happen once you let it go...once you ‘abandon’ it. Um....bum I’m pretty proud of it. I’m happy that I actually got to do it. There were points that I went, “Oh my God. I’m never going to finish this. How the hell did I do this before?” And you know, you sort of buckle down and get to work and then it’s done. I’m pretty proud of it, and what happens once it leaves us, you know, it’s beyond my control. I’m not going to drive myself nuts thinking ‘bout it.

The Edge: Well, I think there’s all indications that it will be well received. The fact that it’s prefaced by a song like Iris, it has been such an enormous hit for you. It’s put you firmly back in the public mind.

John: Yeah, I know. Iris was like a blessing! It really was! It just came out of nowhere! WOW! WHEW! It really kind of took the heat off me for awhile.

The Edge: But you know what’s sort of interesting about this song, if you permit me. It’s similar in, if you remember, when the song ‘Joey’ came out, Concrete Blond, some years ago, and it was such a beautiful song. It was really a big hit for the band, but it was probably the least representative of their sound of a whole. And although you’ve certainly written tender songs before, I mean, Iris, doesn’t really give the full Goo Goo Dolls picture.

John: No. But I keep saying, I want a chance to rock in public pretty soon. You know what I mean? It’s nice to have a night like that, but it’s definitely just one small component of what the band is about. We’ve always had slow tunes, or ballads, or whatever you want to call them, on every record. And the two songs we’ve had the most success with have been ballads. In between we sort of had a minor hit with Lazy Eye from the Batman and Robin soundtrack or Batman Forever. One of those movies....I don’t know which one. But, you know, I definitely want to have some heavier stuff get out there.

The Edge: What I was going to say was, there’s some interesting guests on this record. So it’s just beyond a trio. Tell us a little bout that.

John: We did the record in Los Angeles with the guy who produced Iris. We felt a little weird doing a record on the left coast cause we were always like, “oh man, I don’t know....I don’t dig the vibe out there.” But I’m really glad we did cause everyone else lives out there, and it was really cool to get some people involved with us. We got Benmont Tench from the Heartbreakers. And Tommy Keene. Great singer/songwriter.

The Edge: And guitar player.

John: amazing guitar player. I was watching him playing and was like, “ok, that’s good. That’s enough. Go home.” So we got him real loaded and poured into his house at about five in the morning. He was fantastic. He was just SO good. Gosh, who else played? A guy named Louis Conti did all the percussion. Nathan December, who’s actually playing guitar with us on tour. He did some guitar. And David Campbell did all the string arrangements. He did the string arrangements for Iris. He put strings on a couple of other songs. He’s actually done some stuff for the Dead Man Walking soundtrack. He does a lot of other stuff. He worked with Cracker. Strangely, he’s Beck’s father, which was an interesting footnote.

The Edge: Yah, that guy’s done a lot of interesting work.

John: Yah. He’s amazing. He’s SO brilliant. It was really kind of intimidating working with all these really amazing musicians.

The Edge: Yah. I’m pretty sure they were thrilled about you. They wouldn’t have shown up unless the songs were good. I mean, if it wasn’t so fundamental they would of been nodding off in the studio and you would have known something was wrong. It works both ways.

John: Yah. I think we made a couple of friends, which is always good.

The Edge: Indeed.

John: Yah, we’ve got some other stuff coming up on the next tour. Like, we hired a second guitar player to work with us on the road. And, we’re bringing out a keyboard player for a couple, four songs. Kid’s from Buffalo.

The Edge: Cool.

John: Yeah, I’m really excited about it...and here I am just BLAH BLAH BLAH!

The Edge: No! People want to hear you. Well, if you’re going to put it that way, I’m going to make you stop for just a second, put on a song, and then talk some more, if that’s alright... THEY PLAY IRIS

The Edge: Music from the Goo Goo Dolls. That of course, was Iris from the City of Angels soundtrack. I do believe included on Dizzy Up The Girl...coming out on September 22nd, in this part of the world. And we’re speaking to Johnny Goo Goo right now. Is it ok? Can I call you Johnny Goo Goo?

John: Actually, my last name is Rzeznik. That’s ok. You can call me whatever you want.

The Edge: Yeah, cause bands sometimes take their own band name.

John: There ya go...

The Edge: We were speaking just before we got to that song, we were taking about recording in California, and the various guests who came by. There is also this great story that escaped on a less important level that you guys were having these things called Lemon drop parties? True?

John: Oh boy! Yeah, the infamous Lemon drop parties. We went into mix the record with this guy, Jack Joseph Puig right? And he works at ocean Way Studio. Which was this famous recording studio in Hollywood. Like, the Beach Boys recorded Pet Sounds there and all these other crazy stuff. So there’s this room. Jack set up this room that looks like an opium den with a mixing board. You know, we work so late every night so we need to set up a bar cause we can’t go out anymore cause all the bars close at one in LA. So there’s this paper called the Recycler where they resell old stuff, so I just looked for a bar. So I found this brown noggin hyde bar in there for a hundred bucks, and he brought it down to the studio and just went out and brought a few cases of vodka and some martini glasses. And just started inviting people over. And all these people started showing up that we didn’t even know. So we just started having these great Lemon drop parties. You know, if you want the recipe, I’ll give it to you.

The Edge: So word on the street is, you make a martini that may be as good as mine.

John: I make a bad-ass martini and a really good lemon drop. Robby’s a little different. He leans heavier on the vodka than me.

The Edge: and you just pass over???? on the glass right?

John: Just a whisper. Just a hint. You don’t want to bruise it. But are you a vodka-martini drinker, or a gin-martini?

The Edge: Absolutely vodka. We probably shouldn’t be talking too much about alcohol, but let’s just say, I have a warm loving relationship with vodka.

John: There you go! Vodka’s good. Do you drink Belvedere? Cause that’s the one you really drink. The rest is barbaric like industrial solvent.

The Edge: Uh, I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure but if you’d like to bring me a bottle perhaps we can try it on air.

John: You know what? I’m going to do you a favor and bring you a bottle. It’s dangerous though, cause you don’t get a hangover. And it’s really strange cause Belvedere will not give you a hangover. And its stranger cause there’s no price to pay for your indulgence. I start drinking cheaper vodka just to remind me of the misery I could be getting into.

The Edge: You may be well my new best friend

John: I’ll make you a lemon drop! A bad-ass lemon drop.