As the Goo Goo Dolls’ founding members Johnny Rzeznik and Robby Takac embark on their 16th year together as a unit, they’ve finally achieved—and sustained—commercial success and mainstream acceptance. The Goo Goo Dolls’ road to victory has been fraught with hardship, rejection and general strife—an ever-changing parade of record labels, financial ruin due to an unfair first record contract, a drummer replacement, personal tragedies, even a plane crash in Bosnia. After all their years of struggle, Rzeznik and Takac somehow managed to retain their drive to succeed and their sunny-natured optimism. That never-say-die attitude—along with superb songcraft—has finally paid off, first with the success of their tune "Name" from 1995‘s double platinum album A Boy Named Goo, then with their smash hit "Iris," which Rzeznik had penned after a long bout of writer’s block for the 1998 City of Angels soundtrack. This track also ended up on their last album, Dizzy Up the Girl, which was certified triple-Platinum.

Now, four years later, the Goos’ eagerly awaited new Warner Bros. offering, Gutterflower, entered the HITS Top 50 at #4 and has spawned the hit single "Here is Gone," proving to any detractors that the band is still capable of exceeding expectations, most of all, their own. With fame being fleeting and fans as fickle as house cats, the band has one thing to boast about that most musicians can’t lay claim to—longevity. And if early Goos fans don’t get their more radio-friendly incarnation, well, that’s just fine with the band. Having just embarked on one of their patented two-year stretches on the road, Rzeznik and Takac have a lot to say about a variety of subjects to HITS’ own gutterflower Lesley "You Can't Call Her Zimmy" Zimmerman.

How do you manage to keep your music sounding fresh after being together for so long?
Rzeznik: Thanks, that’s a really nice thing to say. We’ve made sure to take some time off in between each record. We try to live a little bit so we’ve got stuff to write about. You have to try to stay in the present moment.
Takac: Someone asked me what it felt like when we first started to get popular, and we started to lose some of the older fans maybe that we had because they were sort of getting hit with something different than from when they first heard us. I don’t know how many people we’ve lost along the way, because as my tastes in music were changing, most of my friends’ tastes in music were changing as well. Some didn’t change the same way as mine did, but I guess that’s sort of the key—to not be afraid to be yourself, to not allow your growth to be hindered by the fact that you’re worried about losing a fan or two. It’s a really selfish process for us in a way because we write the records for us, and if we like them, everyone gets to hear them.

I suppose there will always be those early Goo Goo Dolls "purists" that call you sell-outs.
Rzeznik: They can go outside and play a game of "Hide and Go Fuck Yourself"! I don’t want to make a record like I did before. I don’t want to be the same every single time. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel—I’m not talented enough to do something like that. Eventually, you start to grow beyond your influences. I’ve been really lucky to have a career long enough to do that.
Takac: I don’t hear that quite as much anymore—at least not to our faces. But right now, most of the kids are into the heavier music and stuff, and they don’t know us as that. They don’t even have the interest to look into it and see that’s where it came from.

The lyrics to the songs on Gutterflower seem like they were ripped out of your personal journals.
Rzeznik: A friend of mine called it my breakup record because I just went through a divoce. It’s It’s about getting out there and trying to get back into going out on dates and meeting people. It’s a nightmare. It’s bizarre.
Takac: I always end up writing about things that have affected me enough to shake some emotion out of me. It’s funny, because I got married in August—I’ve never been this happy in my life, and still all I could think to do is bitch about my old girlfriend. In order to let the muse in, I have to find that place again where I wasn’t happy. Angst is a much easier emotion to embrace for a male because there are no strings attached… I’m cold, I’m hungry, I’m angry, I’m annoyed. But happiness always comes veiled with something… You think you’re in a good spot, but you’re not sure. You’re waiting for the window to come down on your fingers while you’re looking out on a beautiful sunny day.

Why did it take four years between records?
Takac: That last record just wouldn’t slow down! They were like, OK guys… ready for the next single? And we’re like, we’re going home. We just got in a plane crash!
Rzeznik: Radio kept playing it and playing it and playing it. I love the fact that this band has been, more than anything else, completely driven by radio. Aside from newspapers, it’s the oldest form of mass communication. We’re so completely inundated with new technology which is supposed to streamline our lives, and I don’t know anybody that’s got any free time because of it.

The success of your previous record is going to be a hard act to follow…
Rzeznik: Each album gets exponentially harder to make. I’m really happy with the new album. It’s a lot tougher sounding than the last record. We had a different guy mix it. And I was feeling a little bit more cynical this time.
Takac: We’re lucky because we sort of came into this whole thing through the back door. No one, including ourselves, expected us to have the type of mainstream success we have right now. I think we’re lucky that we’ve been allowed to have our career progress as we see fit. We don’t get led down many paths. That comes from cutting our teeth at CBGB’s and Maxwell’s. That certainly was the prevailing attitude back then, and I think that’s one of those things that we managed to bring with us.

Do you learn something from each record you make?
Takac: The thing we learned going into this record is that we needed to retain more of the harder side of our personality. I think we lost a lot of that by the time the last record was finished. I feel really good about this one. This is a real rock record, and that was really important to us this time, so that’s our greatest victory in my opinion. We always put 12 decent songs on a record, but I feel like we just nailed it this time. I don’t know what anybody else will think, but in our selfish little world here, we’re a bunch of happy guys.

How do you stay sane while on tour for so long?
Rzeznik: I read a couple of books a week, and I go to the gym every single day. That hour at the gym is when nobody can touch you. It’s the only way to keep my head together. Otherwise, I’ll just start drinking like crazy. It’ll be like a year later, and I’m in St. Louis or something and I’ll sober up and just go, "Arrrgggghhhh… What the hell’s going on?" It’s not good for you.
Takac: I just try to surround myself with my toys. I bring my computer and my recording gear, and on days off, I set up my deal. And that allows me to stay creative at something that’s not this, because this does get to be a little old after a little while. You have to keep your brain active so you don’t turn into a mindless goon.

Do you think you’ve suffered backlash for your success?
Rzeznik: Backlash is inevitable. When we put our second record out, Jed, people were going, "Your first record’s amazing, but now you guys suck… You sold out, man!" But in order to sell out, you have to do something very distasteful to get the big payday. I haven’t done that yet, I really haven’t. At first, that backlash really hurt, but I can’t be burdened with other people’s psychology. I’m doing what I’m doing, and if people don’t like me, that’s their right. But I’m still going to live my life.