By Paul Freeman [June 2012 Interview]

With the title of their third album, 1999’s “14:59,” Sugar Ray made it clear they were conscious of fame’s fleeting nature. But their 15 minutes has already extended beyond 15 years.

In fact, the band has been around long enough now to qualify as a nostalgia act. Sugar Ray joins other top ‘90s groups Everclear, Gin Blossoms, Lit and Marcy Playground on the Summerland 2012 tour. (See www.markmcgrath.com for upcoming dates.)

Sugar Ray lead vocalist Mark McGrath, 44, born in Connecticut and raised in Southern California, was inspired to try performing by the Orange County punk rock explosion in the early ‘80s.

He grabbed the mic and hit the stage with a band called Shrinky Dinx, which, in 1994, changed it’s monicker to Sugar Ray and signed with Atlantic Records.

At the outset, lead singer McGrath had no idea Sugar Ray would be his ticket to the sweet life. The Orange County band began in alternative metal before hitting its mainstream pop stride.

In 1997, the band’s collaboration with reggae artist Super Cat resulted in the number one song “Fly.” Later that year, Sugar Ray’s second album, “Floored,” went double-platinum. Suddenly a pop star, McGrath found himself on the covers of Rolling Stone and Spin and was named 1998’s “Sexiest Rocker” by People Magazine.

The “14:59” album went triple-platinum and included the hit singles “Every Morning,” “Someday” and “Falls Apart.” Their self-titled “Sugar Ray” became the band’s first Top 10 album.

When Sugar Ray’s sales numbers dropped off, McGrath adapted and found success on TV, making guest appearances on “Las Vegas” and “North Shore.” He has been featured on numerous MTV and VH1 programs, including the “Teen Choice Awards,” “My VH1 Music Awards,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Jeopardy,” the “American Music Awards” and the “ESPY Awards.” McGrath hosted VH1’s “I Love the 80’s” and “The Greatest: 100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll.” as well as “The World Music Awards,” “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” and “The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll.” He also appeared with Sugar Ray in the feature film “Scooby-Doo.”

McGrath raised his profile, co-hosting “Extra” and hosting the syndicated musical game show “Don’t Forget The Lyrics.”

Engaged and the father of two-year-old twins, McGrath isn’t ignoring his pop profile. He’s relishing the current Summerland tour.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
Are you enjoying the Summerland tour, seeing old friends in other bands, comparing notes?

MARK McGRATH:
Yeah, it’s kind of fun seeing these guys you toured with or were friends with or played radio shows with, hearing all these songs together in one night, it’s kind of a special night. It makes you take a look back and go, ‘Wow!’ You know, not to sound over-inflated, but these songs kind of defined the generation. Obviously, we’re a small part of the collective. It’s an interesting thing to see the rundown of the songs being played and how actually big they were in the ‘90s. That they’re still relevant today is kind of a cool little thing. And it’s kind of the catalyst for Summerland.

PCC:
Is it surprising that we’re already seeing nostalgia for the ‘90s?

McGRATH:
I remember the nostalgia for the ‘80s firmly being implanted in the mid-’90s. I remember when I was making fun of late ‘80s metal with ‘Pure Love,’ of course coming from a pure, positive, love place, in the mid-’90s, wearing the Spandex and stuff. What was interesting in the ‘90s, there was such a hangover in the millennium. The bands that were big in the ‘90s were sort of still big in the millennium, because the record industry imploded and they weren’t making new rock stars... or new rock bands. So there was a lot of carryover. If you look at Pollstar’s top 10 touring acts, they’re all from the ‘80s and the ‘90s. So there was a big hangover into the millennium. So it took a little while to actually have any nostalgia or any irony attached to the ‘90s at all. So I think that’s why it took us a little while to put Summerland together, because it’s something that Art from Everclear and I had been talking about for a while. The time just never seemed right. And I’m not even sure if the time is right now. But it’s something that we certainly wanted to know.

PCC:
When you were growing up, what was the music that really grabbed you?

McGRATH:
Obviously, I’m such a music fan. It’s way too broad. You’d have to talk about genres in music, Paul. I was into everything from rockabilly... I thought I was a punker for a second. A mod. A break dancer. I loved it all. And I bought records back then. And I kept all the records. And, for some reason, I retained all the knowledge. I didn’t know about anything in school. But I knew all five guys in Duran Duran. You know what I mean? I was just such a fan of music and it was such a part of my fabric.

PCC:
Were you always focused on a career in music?

McGRATH:
Talent wasn’t in abundance in the McGrath household back in the day. No one’s ever going to confuse my voice with Pavarotti’s. So it took me a while to get jump-started into thinking, ‘Hey, you know, maybe I can do this.’ I think the punk rock explosion of the late ‘70s and certainly the Orange County punk rock explosion in the early ‘80s helped me think, ‘God, maybe anybody can just get up there and grab the mic, if you’re just kind of a jackass.’ And that’s certainly what I am. And that’s what I did.

PCC:
When the band started, was it more of a lark than a case of having grand ambitions?

McGRATH:
Absolutely. Back then, there was a lot of playing involved, a lot of guitar rock gods, Eric Clapton, the Slashes of the world. Being a rock star, it came with talent back then, you know what I’m saying? [Laughs] And it just seemed so far removed and so far away. This was pre-internet and it seemed like these rock stars lived on a Fantasy Island that wasn’t achievable. So we started just literally playing around a keg and playing Blondie, Motorhead and Judas Priest songs with an occasional Run-D.M.C. song... and played them badly. And that was the extent of our aspirations back then.

But it just slowly built, organically. And it was like, ‘Wow! Maybe we should write our own stuff.’ ‘Wow! Maybe we should play some clubs.’ ‘Hey, maybe we should send out this video we made to a couple people.’ And there were a bunch of serendipitous events that got us to where we are now. But it was never the plan. It was never, ‘Let’s be rock stars.’

PCC:
The showmanship, getting the personality across, was that just part of your nature?

McGRATH:
It comes from this insecurity and terrified place, where you act like you know what you’re doing and act like you’re in control. I think being a ham is something I’ve always done. I was the guy that had a tennis racket in his butt-huggers, ‘Risky Business’- style, back in the ‘80s, in front of the mirror, playing along to Cult records. So I always had that dream of being on stage. I just didn’t know if I could do it. A couple of beers and a shot put me on stage in late ‘88 and I’ve been doing it ever since.

PCC:
Were you ready for the whirlwind of success when ‘Fly’ hit?

McGRATH:
I don’t think you’re ever really, really ready for that, Paul. Luckily, I was a little older. I was 29, when ‘Fly’ hit. Certainly wasn’t worldly. Definitely immature. But certainly more qualified and prepared than if I was fresh out of college. So it took a little while. I saw bands that I knew kind of make it and come back down the hill, if you will. So I understood the perils that lay ahead of me. But even so, I certainly had to make my own mistakes. But we were a little and older and I think that was something that helped us.

PCC:
Was it difficult to stay grounded, when you were emblazoned on the cover of Rolling stone and being named People’s sexiest rocker?

McGRATH:
Oh, yeah, it was very difficult. I went off the rails. Had my fun. I drank. And I was crazy. And I did everything that a good maniac should. They give you a long leash, when you achieve a certain status in the music industry... and I was choking myself with it. I liked to push the boundaries and I was pretty selfish back then. I’m a dad now and I look back that time in my life and I’m like, ‘Wow, what a crazy time.’ I mean, I had a job where I showed up and there were three cases of beer at the workplace and they encouraged you to drink. Imagine going to your doctor’s office and seeing that. [Laughs] So it kind of came with the territory. And I certainly pissed all over the territory, for lack of a better word.

But, that being said, I still knew how fragile it was and how lucky I was to be there. And fortunately, I had good people around me, who kind of kept me grounded and focused. And we survived. We ended up selling millions of records and had couple of hits and had what you’d call a career, I guess. And we’re still playing today. I feel very fortunate, now more than ever, to have been in this band, to be in this band. And to have songs that mean something to people. After the cover of the Rolling Stone goes away and the hysteria, which was all fun, but I knew at the time, it wasn’t something to hang my hat on. If you didn’t have songs, you don’t survive. Look at ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, how big they were back then. But there’s just no marketplace for them now. Justin Bieber is the biggest thing in the world right now, there is no bigger star. But go see him in five years. Not everybody can be Justin Timberlake.

So it’s an interesting thing, that fame thing. And the bigger it is, the more of an elixir it is and it sucks you in. But I think Bieber’s a smart kid and has the right guys around him and is already trying to get out of that. But you can see, you can fall into that trap and think you’re the greatest thing in the world... and then it goes away. And it’s how you deal with that. And the only way you can deal with that is songs that mean something to people.

PCC:
What was it about sugar ray’s music that people really grabbed onto?

McGRATH:
One thing I found out, a good, simple lyric and a great melody had always been in vogue in the music industry, all the way back to Bill Haley & The Comets, ‘Rock Around The Clock.’ People will always respond to a great song and a great lyric. And if the lyric has a bit of that element where people can insert it into their own lives and say, ‘He’s talking about me, talking about my mom, talking about us,’ that’s when it’s special.

I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Mark, in ‘Fly,’ when you sing this and it means that... ‘ And it doesn’t mean that. But it means that to them. That’s when it’s special. I don’t even tell them what the lyric means, because I don’t want to break their hearts. And when songs become property of the universe, that’s when you’ve hit a nerve.

I’m getting really New Age-y. And I’m not a Tony Robbins-type guy [chuckles] But it’s interesting to be part of that phenomenon, where songs that are bigger than you and the band, become part of the universe, for lack of a better term. And people retain proprietorship over these songs and they mean so much to people, that’s when you’re in a special place. And that’s kind of what Summerland’s about. That’s what these songs are to people.

PCC:
As the band evolved musically, were you concerned about what critics might say?

McGRATH:
We were never the critical darlings. I’ve been well criticized my whole life. I was the white kid that break danced in high school. I was that guy. I was the guy with the blond pomp, thinking he was Brian Setzer, when the Stray Cats were happening. My lameness has been well documented. So I’ve always been used to the scrutiny. And I was never the coolest guy in the room. But that’s okay. So I’m never really concerned with that.

Once we wrote a hit song, I was so honored to ever hear yourself on the radio, to ever hear the band on the radio and all the accolades that came with that, it’s pretty enticing. And to see your song sitting next to a Pearl Jam song or sitting next to a song by someone like Michael Jackson on the charts, that’s stuff that you can’t even think about when you’re young. So it’s pretty special stuff. And that was the stuff that drove me. And as a fan of music, as a historian of music, as a three-time rock n’ roll ‘Jeopardy’ champion, damn it, I love music and to be with my heroes, have our little place in history, a number one song in ‘99, a number one song in ‘97, that was stuff that kept me going. So I was happy to write songs that people wanted to hear. And unfortunately, or fortunately, whatever the energy of the world is, music changes. And once something is in vogue, it’s out of vogue the next day. The kids don’t like what their older brother and sister listen to. And then the music changes and all of a sudden, the sound you worked so hard to get, goes away and it’s not popular anymore. So how do you deal with that? And not everybody can have these glorious Aerosmith, Madonna, Rolling Stones careers. It’s how the rest of us adapt and stay focused and still try to have a career, is what really matters.

PCC:
As far as adapting, the transition to TV presenter, did that come effortlessly to you?

McGRATH:
It’s sweet of you to even think that might have come effortlessly. Anybody who saw on me on ‘Extra’ for the first six months was like, ‘Wow.’ I had to learn in front of America on ‘Extra.’ I’d had a little bit of experience, hosting some throwaway things for MTV and some awards shows, but those required no professionalism. You just walked up there and read the monitor. But there were a lot of subtle moves at ‘Extra.’ I come from the stage, where everything’s kind of big and over-inflated. On ‘Extra,’ everything’s kind of subtle.

I remember I was walking at a mall or into a 7-11 and this guy came up to me and said, ‘Dude, you kind of sucked when you started, but you’re getting better at it.’ I could kind of feel that people were rooting for me. But it took me a while to get some chops together.

So it certainly wasn’t a calculated, ‘Let me do my other talented thing, and show the world how great I am as a host.’ It was something that I kind of fell into. If you kind of showed up and you could chew gum and read a monitor, they would let you host a few of these awards shows in the ‘90s at MTV. One of the executives at ‘Extra’ had seen me do this and said, ‘There’s something about this kid. Let me bring him in.’

And after our record in 2003 didn’t set the charts on fire, the writing was on the wall for bands of my fraternity, you know? Kind of the bands in Summerland, the Everclears, Third Eye Blinds, Smash Mouth. The landscape of radio was changing. The Strokes were coming in, Southern hip-hop was coming in. And the time was right to look and see what else was around. I certainly was never going to quit the band. Never quit the band. We’ve always played 40, 50 shows a year. We released a record in 2005 and 2007 and 2009. So we’ve always been involved. But the focus kind of changed a little, when I took the ‘Extra’ job. It was just on a lark. My life’s been a series of lucky events. I’ve been in the right place at the right time and I picked up another set of skills in hosting and I hope we can use that, too. If that extends the band a little longer, then God bless it, because we all know it’s a multi-pronged attack now in the entertainment business. That’s for sure.

PCC:
How did the rest of band react to your TV career?

McGRATH:
The band kind of inspired me to do something else, because after the record in 2003 didn’t sell that well, these guys had families, and now that I’m a dad, I understand the sacrifices they were making back then. But they had families and they didn’t want to get in the rhythm of going back in studio and doing another 10-month tour around the world. They wanted to see their kids for a couple months. They wanted to take a break. They didn’t say how long it was going to be. And I didn’t know what I was going to do. But I said, ‘Yeah, let’s shut it down for six months, maybe a year.’ And during that time, I got the ‘Extra’ gig and they were very supportive. They kind of initiated the break anyway. And they wanted to do a few things, too.

You get caught up in this world, you get a couple hits and all of a sudden, you’re on this whirlwind train of success and six, seven years pass you by and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, I want to do this, want to do that.’ So it was a nice time to stop and smell the flowers and see what else was out there. And it was necessitated by the fact that the band was falling out of vogue a little bit. We were coming back down the other side of the hill, so to speak. And if we had sold 10 million copies of that 2003 record, I wouldn’t have been working at ‘Extra,’ believe me.

PCC:
Leaving ‘Extra,’ was that a matter of other opportunities coming up?

McGRATH:
I kind of ran my course at ‘Extra.’ My contract was up. It was interesting, they said, ‘You can stay. We want you to work more. We want you to work weekends. We want you to up the ante.’ The entertainment news, tabloid TV world is kind of circling the drain, because TMZ was coming along, Perez Hilton, and they were really upping the ante, what they were doing there. They’ve moved sets to different locations. They really had to go lean and mean and everybody on deck, 24/7. And I didn’t love the job that much. I had a great time and loved the people there. But when my contract expired, I just said, ‘Guys, thank you for the time. I’m out.’

We were making a record simultaneously with that and I didn’t know I was leaving at the time, but I said, ‘You know what? Maybe it’s a good time to finish this record and promote it and do a real tour.’ And that’s what I did. I just didn’t want to commit myself to another three years of ‘Extra’ and really have to go full bore. It was something I enjoyed doing at the pace I was at, but I wasn’t ready to take it to the next level and it was a good time to leave. I still love those people and they’re great to the band and to me.

PCC:
And ‘Don’t Forget The Lyrics,’ was that fun?

McGRATH:
Yeah, you can see, no one’s having more fun than me. I look back at myself hosting that thing and I think, ‘What a maniac! Look at this guy running around like an idiot.’ Being spoofed on ‘SNL’ by Jason Sudeikis was like the biggest honor of all time. I was like,’ It must have been a slow week at SNL, if you’re spoofing ‘Don’t Forget The Lyrics.’ It was just amazing when that happened. But it was a lot of fun. I was jumping around like a maniac. I look back at it and want to say, ‘Hey, settle down there!’ [Chuckles] I’m like a host on crack. Is that guy on drugs or what?’ I don’t think anybody had more fun than me. But I love music. If there’s karaoke, I’m in there.

PCC:
You’ve had some acting opportunities come up, is that something you’d like to explore more in the future?

McGRATH:
You know, it’s funny with the acting thing, there’s been opportunities for a while. Once you have a hit, people come sniffing around. But for every Marky Mark in the acting business, that highway is littered with a gang of Vanilla Ices. [Laughs] Not everyone can step off a microphone into the acting world. And I tried it. I’m not the best actor in the world. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable in front of the camera. So it’s certainly something that I’m open to. And I’ve got an agent in that department. We’re looking for things, as well. But I’m taking my pace and I certainly know my limited abilities, to say the least.

PCC:
You mentioned the kids. Are they two now?

McGRATH:
Yeah, they just turned two April 29th. God, it goes by so fast. Two years old, Lydon and Hartley, a boy and a girl and it’s the greatest and the hardest thing I’ve ever done, simultaneously.

PCC:
And how has fatherhood changed your life?

McGRATH:
It’s great. I think I waited too long to have kids, because, subconsciously, I knew what a responsibility it was. I waited until I was 42 to have children. I mean, come on. People are grandfathers at that age. But I did it differently. I was running around the world. I was a real selfish person, back in the ‘90s. I was living for myself. I was really career-minded. And I was running an organization. I didn’t have time for children. It didn’t really figure into my life and it wasn’t something I was thinking about.

And once I took the job at ‘Extra,’ my life became a little more of a 9 to 5 deal. Everything kind of settled down. And with a girl I’ve been in love with for 18 years [Carin Kingsland]. It was a good space. So I said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s have kids.’ So I’m so lucky that it happened now, because, boy, it’s difficult, but it’s the greatest, most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life. All the clichés are true for a reason.

I was in Dallas last weekend for a show, came in on Father’s Day to my kids running down the hall, 100 miles per hour, with this giant hug. And I was like, ‘I get it now. This is what it’s about.’ It’s that simple. I had to go around the world, rock a couple stages with The Rolling Stones to figure that out. But that’s what it’s about.

PCC:
Are you married yet or still engaged?

McGRATH:
I’m still not married. I do everything backwards. I’m engaged. And the funniest thing is, she won’t marry me now, because she says she has the power, whatever that means. So after 18 years, we’re still playing high school games. She wanted to get married for so long. And I thought we got engaged when she was pregnant, ‘Oh, my God, let’s wrap up this tiny little bow.’ And now she’s going back and forth, the kind of wedding she wants, blah-blah-blah. And she has the power, so to speak, whatever that means. I’m sure we’ll do it in due time. I don’t want the kids to know we’re not married, that’s just something I want, but we’ll see. I think it’ll be sooner than later, that’s for sure.

PCC:
I’d read that you have a tattoo of James Lynn Strait, is that to remind you to enjoy each moment?

McGRATH:
Absolutely. I knew Lynn and all the guys from Snot pretty well. They’re from Santa Barbara, California. Really good friends of mine. And like, things were really happening for our band. And their band was starting to happen. They got signed to Geffen. He was coming back and forth from Santa Barbara. One of the most charismatic, talented people I’ve ever met in my life. We became best friends immediately.

I was talking on the phone to him. And I was going to the KROQ Weenie Roast. I’ll never forget this. And ‘Every Morning’ had just hit the radio. And he goes, ‘Oh, you guys have another lame song that just hit. Congratulations.’ You know, making fun of it [Laughs]. Because, you know, they were a hard band. He had a great sense of humor. So he was like, ‘Nice lame song, Dude. Come on, where’s the metal?’ And my last words to him were, ‘All right, Dude. I love you. I love you.’ And that was it.

And then, two hours later, I get a phone call from someone, hysterical, saying Lynn just died in a car accident. I’m like, ‘What!’ How could this guy, so vibrant, so full of life, so full of incredible opportunities in front of him, be taken from us? If that doesn’t make you stop and smell the flowers, nothing will. And it’s just a constant reminder to let me know how lucky I am and to live in the now. You’re entirely correct on that.

PCC:
What are the goals ahead of you now?

McGRATH:
I’m a Pisces, I’m kind of a dreamer, Paul. I still have in the back of my mind that we can get back on the radio, if that’s as Sugar Ray or as the Mark McGrath Band, I don’t know yet. But I still have that same dream. And people laughed at me 20 years ago, when I thought about that. So those are things that keep driving me. I still think we can sell records.

I see bands like Train. Pat Monahan is an incredible artist and incredible songwriter, so I’m not comparing myself to them. But certainly, seeing them back on the radio inspires me. And my brother, Uncle Kracker, man, he had a hit a couple years ago, a big giant hit. So I don’t think we’re done yet. I think when you can write a melody and a great lyric, people respond. And whether I deliver it or the band delivers it or someone else delivers it, I think it’s still there. So I’m still dreaming, Paul. I still have that enthusiasm I had as a kid. You never know what’s around the corner.