Marvelous 3
by Rhonda Barake
Jezbel Magazine
September 1999
Atlanta's Marvelous 3 has stayed true to its rock roots for 12 years, skillfully preserving the music in its quintessential form.
"Hey! Album," the three-member band's debut on Elektra Records, is an amalgam of true-grit rock and roll -- complete with hearty, supercharged production and clever lyrics whittled out of the personal experiences of lead singer/guitarist Butch Walker.
When JEZEBEL spoke with Walker, the band was on the road (what else is new?) preparing for a show in Roanoke, Virginia. Since the major label release of "Hey Album" (it was first released by the band on its own Marvelous Records in 1998), Marvelous 3 has grown accustomed to the narrow confines of a tour bus and the wide open playground that is their concert stage, playing to crowds as intimate as 300 and as massive as 150,000.
The road-seasoned band first toured seven years ago "with beat-up gear in a beat-up van playing for peanuts." And even though their schedule is more grueling now, Walker's not complaining. "I'd rather be doing this than flipping burgers any day."
As if.
Walker and his band-mates, drummer Slug and bass guitarist Jayce Fincher, always knew they would be rock singers. They grew up in "small suburban stick towns" (Rome and Cartersville) as rock and roll "wannabes."
Walker recalls the three of them going to rock concerts with their older sisters. "We'd be in the back seat while they'd be up front with their boyfriends, going to see whoever was at the cool concert in Atlanta. We always knew what we wanted to do. There was never a alter-version of us. We were always what we are now. We pretty much did what everybody else didn't want us to do in these small towns."
And when they got older and formed Marvelous 3, they continued to march to the beat of a different drummer -- a beat they thought no one else heard. They were wrong.
"We put out our record on our own label because we didn't wanna' waste our time with a major label because we didn't feel we were marketable," says Walker. "We've been through all different styles of rock but we never tried to do what was popular at the time." But their underground mystique would be short-lived. The buzz about the group grew louder within the music industry as A&R reps started swarming around like so many gnats trying to take a bite out of Marvelous 3.
"We'd be juggling A&R guys," Walker recalls fondly. "One night it'd be Epic and the next night it would be Universal. We'd be in a different town and it'd be a different courtship each night." But it was Elektra Records who would put the best deal on the table and walk away with the prize.
So why did the band shrug off the freedom and independence of putting out their own material and tag team with a major? "We decided that we could deem ourselves a cool underground band that says no to major labels, but [if] the real deal [about] selling out is wanting a half million people to hear your music and buy it, then call me a sell-out. I want everyone in this world to hear the music that I've worked hard on writing."
Besides, says Walker, the group's fans are happy as long as they can get the music. "Our fans have been with us since day one and they didn't care that we put a record out that was available at the record store instead of having to buy it at the shows only. We told them we wouldn't change our sound or style and we didn't. All we've done is evolve over the years and I don't think there's anything wrong with that."
"Hey! Album" is at once rocking and poetic. Not head-banging but not sedate. The vocals -- reminiscent of both Joe Jackson and the late Freddie Mercury -- are crisp, revealing Walker's true talent as a singer. Standouts like "You're So Yesterday." "Freak of the Week," "Until You See," and "Every Monday" tap the heart and soul of rock in a way that few modern artists have been able to do.
Says Walker, "I don't wanna sound like every other dude out there saying I was going through a rough time when I wrote this record 'cuz it sounds too contrived and it's not true. I was having a good time on the road but all the lyrics reflect that I couldn't keep a relationship. I always stayed faithful and true to my music and the made relationships suffer, so I ended up with a shit-load of songs about first-hand experiences. I think this record definitely reflects a lot of tongue-in-cheek heartache." And a lot of regard for the true essence of rock music.
**Jezebel Magazine**