Marvelous 3 provides dose of 'cigarette lighter rock'

October 12, 2000
Kari Knutson
LaCrosse Tribune

If there's a musical bandwagon, Marvelous 3 would jump off of it. "We've never really gotten into trendy stuff,'' lead singer Butch Walker said. "We try to stay mixed in with the good straight up rock 'n' roll." Their latest album, "ReadySexGo'' with the new single, "Sugarbuzz,'' demonstrates this. The album was produced by Walker along with Jerry Finn who also has worked with Blink 182, Rancid and Green Day. There are guest appearances by musicians they've toured with including Jeremy Popov of Lit and Yogi of Buckcherry.

Last year, the song "Freak of the Week'' off "Hey! Album'' became one of the most played radio records of 1999. Walker also has had success with helping other bands. "Right Now'' by SR-71 was co-written by Walker. "We set out to write a radio rock song, and it worked."

Not following trends can seem like a risky maneuver, Walker said, but he doesn't want his desire to have hits to overshadow his love for making music.

"If you want to sell millions of records and follow all the trends, your shelf life is a lot shorter."

Walker likes to call his band's music, "Cigarette Lighter Rock,'' which is also a name of one of the songs on "ReadySexGo.''

"The main thing is to have as many different emotions as possible on it -- highs and lows. We want to make sure there's a little bit of everything. I hate one dimensional records."

The trio of Walker, Jayce Fincher on bass and Slug on drums, finds inspiration in artists who aren't afraid of doing or saying anything.

"I'm a big fan of Prince and people like that that didn't have any rules. They did whatever they wanted to."

Walker's calling to rock came when he went to a KISS concert in 1977. "That changed my life,'' he said. "The Ringling Brothers would never be the same after that.''

Going to a Marvelous 3 show might inspire a few careers as well. The band has gotten a reputation for putting on a high energy show. The band wanted to capture that frenetic feel on its new album. Marvelous 3 offers Walker a kind of freedom that other vocations can't offer.

"It's the only job in the world you can have where no one can tell you how to do it."