Has Garbage Gone Mainstream?

I couldn’t understand why the prospect of having a conversation with Garbage’s Shirley Manson gave me sweaty palms. Maybe it was because of all those claims that tagged her as the "mega-bitch" of pop. Or was it rock? Alternative? Whatever.

She’s known to be highly opinionated, and I hate artists who feel they have the right to bite my head off. Or maybe I was secretly thrilled to be interviewing the chick.

Irony of all ironies, Manson was unable to keep her promise of a phoner due to a last-minute shoot. Geesh, all that jitter for nothing.

Not that I didn’t have the best time chatting up a storm with the band’s bassist, Steve Marker. Even he himself admitted that Shirley was a bit of a pill. Too bad I couldn’t see for myself. I’ll have to take his word on her, on their third album, BeautifulGarbage, and everything else about the group that has shattered the concept of stereotypes.

YOUNG STAR MAGAZINE: Garbage started out using that whole sense of isolation to carry the image of the group. Today, however, being different is considered cool. Don’t you think you’ve become mainstream in that respect?

STEVE MARKER: I think we continue to stick out like a soar thumb. We’re a little alternative, but never really fit into that genre completely. Our songs always have melodic pop undertones, but we’re not manufactured at all like your typical Britney Spears or ’NSync. There’s a little bit of a rock band in us, too. Same thing goes for hip hop and techno. We’ve sort of carved our own turf. Mostly, we’re concerned with writing songs and seeing how they turn out, all depends on what direction we choose to lead the lyrics. Our music is very tongue in cheek.

For instance, the song "Shut Your Mouth" has a double meaning to it. The first being a message to the whole media world in general. Everyone seems to have an opinion about everything nowadays, and it’s annoying sometimes. As for Shirley [Manson], she tends to get herself into a lot of trouble because she’s highly opinionated. She’ll pretty much speak her mind to anyone.

Honestly, when I first heard "Androgyny", I thought it was some knock-off band trying to assimilate your style! What was the character of the song that made it sound slightly different?

"Androgyny" is a schizophrenic song. It’s got lots of urban groove to it, very Missy Elliot. Then it’s got a bit of that ’60s fuzz guitar, loads of strings. There are like three or four different styles of music in it. It’s basically just a weird song. It’s gotten good previews, though.

The album BeautifulGarbage is a definite hodgepodge of semi-ballads, bubble-gummy songs, and typical "Garbage" hits. Is this why Duke Erikson was quoted in saying "That’s just called a bad mix!"?

Nah, Duke was just being cheeky. BeautifulGarbage is a paradox. It’s a juxtaposition of different sounds and influences, but it all comes together and makes sense.

I guess I shouldn’t ever let my mother come across "Cherry Lips", "Stupid Girl" and "I Think I’m Paranoid".

That’s actually very punk rock—the lyrics are cloaked by catchy sounds. Everyone’s singing along to songs that sound harmless, but they could be giving out messages of suicide, drugs, or other heavy topics that society tends to deal with. So yeah, I guess you shouldn’t play the song for your mom.

And what did Steve Marker mean by it being a "foggy record?"

We drank a little too much red wine while making the album.

Is that the group’s drink of choice?

It’s all dependent on where we are and what’s available. Right now, we’re getting used to sake.

So how do you find Japan?

Love it! We really enjoy being exposed to different cultures. We’ve always been open-minded, willing to do and try anything.

Interesting. You should hop on over to the Philippines—got some local cuisine I’d like you to try.

Oh, for sure! I’d love to. What you got out there?

You cool with pig’s blood?

I wouldn’t mind trying it. Hopefully we get the chance to visit real soon. For now we’ll be busy with touring the U.S. and the U.K. We’d like to hit South America as well. So warm, cool cultural experience.

The group is forever taking chances, not keeping with a standardized framework. There’s always a sense of jeopardy involved. What exactly is Garbage? What have you evolved into? And where do you go from here?

We’re just a weird band, sort of like a little family. We produce our stuff and hang out together. I guess you can say our group’s dynamic is a very intimate and private. It’s a fascinating process. We never know what’s going happen next. We’ll just ride it as far as we can.