With classic hits like “Hey Jealousy” and “Follow You Down” to their name, the Gin Blossoms remain one of the most enduring acts of the 1990s. Tonight, they’ll perform those tracks and more at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.
We talked with lead singer Robin Wilson about his favorite Gin Blossoms deep cuts, smoking a joint with SNL legend Phil Hartman, and why you should never talk about your bandmates behind their backs.
The Gin Blossoms have outlasted so many of their contemporaries.
Yeah, fuck them! (Laughs) You can quote me on that.
Take that, Jellyfish! What is it that’s kept the band going for nearly four decades?
One of my bandmates said that it’s out of spite. So that might be it. You know, honestly, it's just kind of an obligation and a promise that we made to each other. You know, we've just decided years ago that everybody should just shut up and do their jobs and play music as good as we can.
It's a partnership. Something like a family. But it's kind of like four people were married and then we all got divorced but decided to still live together. (Laughs) We make it work because we enjoy playing music and we care about each other's families and each other.
You’ve played songs like “Hey Jealousy” and “Allison Road” hundreds of times over the years…
Thousands. I would estimate we've done, my guess is somewhere around 4,000 shows in the 38 years that we've been together. At least somewhere around there. You know, there have been a few years that were kind of lean, but we generally have always done at least like 100 shows a year.
How do you keep the songs fresh and exciting after all that time?
Oh, they're not. (Laughs) They're not fresh, but we still enjoy playing them. And we know that people enjoy hearing them. We were lucky enough to be a part of people's lives and to represent something special and nostalgic inside of them. That's why we all started doing this, because our heroes made us feel that way. And being like them seemed like the thing to do.
I know I’d love to hear a concert of all the deep cuts. I was listening to “Not Only Numb” recently and that’s such a great song. What are some of your favorite Gin Blossoms deep cuts?
Actually, that's a good one. “Not Only Numb” is a song that's kind of special to me. We haven't performed that in a long time. I'm really fond of “Hold Me Down.” We've been doing that in the set for the last few years, and that one kind of rocks and took us to a place musically that I really wanted to go. When we first wrote that song, Doug (Hopkins) and I, we had just gotten signed to A&M Records, and we were talking about what kind of record we wanted to make, what sort of single would be the first thing we want people to hear. I said it should be a rocker. It should be like a Cheap Trick song, something that's upbeat and has got some tempo and aggression to it. Doug came up with the song. I helped him finish it, and it's always been one of my favorites.
Your third major label album, Major Lodge Victory, is not on Spotify. Is there any chance that that's going to be rectified in the future?
Well, in order to get our hands on the rights to Major Lodge Victory, we would need to employ a team of very skilled lawyers to dig through that mess. As far as I'm aware, what happened is that the label that put that out got bought up by some kind of venture capital firm, and then those people either died or, you know, got bombed. (Laughs) I don't exactly know what happened, but the rights to that album are just lost in some weird legal limbo. So I don't know if it'll ever happen. But we play one or two songs from that album and keep them alive. I think for now that's the best we can do.
And of course it’s on YouTube whenever I need my “Come on Hard” fix. What about your debut album, Dusted?
We still have, or at least until recently, we've had CDs of that available. You know, we had bought so many CDs initially, back in the 2000s we printed a bunch up, and so I'm pretty sure we still have some. I think we sell them at the shows, but I can't remember.
Going from Dusted to the present day, it's been a while since we've had an update on new Gin Blossoms music. Is there anything in the works right now?
Yeah, we're writing some songs, and hopefully we'll have some recordings done by the end of the year. We're going to be a bit distracted for the next few months, but hopefully sometime in the fall we'll be able to start recording.
We did just recently record something new that we might be just putting out this summer. Just one song. I'm not 100% sure what the plan is behind that, but I do know that I forgot to upload the files to our Dropbox the other day, and so when I get home this coming Sunday, that has to be something that I get done. Sunday night is to get on the damn computer and upload those files, so we can finish mixing it.
Definitely make that a priority, I can’t wait to hear it. I have to indulge myself with this next question. You were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 1996, and the host that night was the late great Phil Hartman. Do you have any memories of interacting with him?
Oh my god, do I. He came into our dressing room after the show and fired up a joint, and so we all smoked a joint with Phil Hartman, and he told us a great story about when he was a roadie for Hendrix. It was amazing. Then, when I first met him—this is one of the greatest moments of my entire life—when I first walked onto the set that day, he walked right up to me. He knew who I was. He shook my hand, and he said, “Hi, Robin, I'm Troy McClure, and you may remember me from such educational films as Locker Room Towel Fight and The Blinding of Larry Driscoll,” and my jaw hit the ground, and I was just like, “Holy shit, this is so cool.” So yeah, hanging with Phil Hartman was awesome. One of the greatest experiences we've had.
From a great experience to another kind, New Miserable Experience and Congratulations I’m Sorry are two terrific album titles. I’m curious, what are some of your favorite album titles, regardless of the quality of the record, Gin Blossoms and otherwise?
For Gin Blossoms, I got to pick out the title of the last record, Mixed Reality. I thought that was kind of cool. A Night at the Opera (by Queen). Really none better than that. Let's see. Candy-O by The Cars. It's just so vague and sexy, and the cover's so awesome. And of course, it's one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Cheap Trick’s In Color, that's a great one. You know what jumps out at me is Surfer Rosa by the Pixies. I always thought that was an interesting title. Never had any precise idea what it was referencing, but seemed to set the mood.
What has been the band's biggest Spinal Tap moment over the last 38 years?
One that jumps out to me is that we were on a U.S.O. tour of Iraq. The whole band flew on Army transport planes, and I was offered a chance to sit in the cockpit for the flight. So I sit up in the cockpit, and they give me this headset so I can hear what they're saying, and I've got a microphone so I can have a conversation with the pilots. And so the pilots are grilling me about what's it like to be in a rock band and all that, and I just let loose all of this confessional shit. And I'm always careful never to say anything to strangers or other people that would be some kind of a betrayal to my bandmates, that would never stab my bandmates in the back. That's one of the ways you keep a band together all those years, you've got to stay loyal to each other above all else. But I did let loose all of this confessional shit, and we were at it for like an hour and a half, where I was in the cockpit, and they just kept grilling me, and I just kept telling them all this stuff.
And then when the plane landed, we got out onto the tarmac, and one of my bandmates came up—again, my whole band and crew had been in the back of the plane—apparently, they all had headsets, too. And my bass player, Bill, comes out, he puts his arm around me, he goes, "Robin, we could hear all of that."
Gin Blossoms perform at Rivers Casino (3000 S River Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60018) Friday, June 19 (doors 7pm, show at 8pm). Tickets (starting at $62) are on sale now.
