Good Charlotte

by: Susie Mudd

September 21, 2000

On the road to Annapolis, I was listening to a classic rock station, and it dawned on me -- I should be listening to WHFS, they might play Good Charlotte. I was on my way to spend time with Benji and Joel, twin brothers and founding members of the group. As soon as I switched stations they announced, "We've got some Good Charlotte coming up." It was supposed to happen. Everything about this band was supposed to happen.

The band was formed a little over five years ago. "Benji and I went to a Beastie Boys concert, and that was it." Joel remembers. "I loved it. I loved to rap. We were 15 years old and we decided, we're gonna do this. We had a guitar, and Benji said 'I'll play guitar,' and I said, 'and I'll sing.'" Joel couldn't hold still while he talked. He was so excited.

They taught themselves how to sing and play the guitar, and began writing songs.

"We started looking for band mates, and we found Paul and Aaron," said Joel. "They went to school with us," Benji added.

"We started jamming together. A week later, we were like, 'yeah, we're a band,'" Benji said. "We started having band practice, then we were hanging out together, all the time. Me and Joel were writing songs, and we were like, obsessed."

"All we cared about was the band," Joel shook his head.

Benji continued, almost on top of him, "There was a point where Joel and I started to read books on how to make it and how to get a record deal. We started putting together press packages every day after school. We would come home and we would just do it. I borrowed a typewriter from this lady from our church, and I started typing up letters and bios, and everything. I was doing everything they told you to do in books about the music business. I was writing letters to every label telling them they should sign us now for cheaper [and that they] better sign us now, because we're gonna be huge." "Huge!" Joel agreed.

Benji went on, "Things just started happening for us. We were on the Music Monthly Compilation, and that was the start of a snowball effect for us. That was the thing that led to us getting signed! Music Monthly is definitely a part of our heritage."

"We wouldn't be here without you," Joel spoke while he turned his baseball cap sideways. He couldn't sit still.

We were at the Acme Bar & Grill in downtown Annapolis. The three of us were in the window, getting ready to share a meal. We were in the same space that has been their stage for more than two years.

Joel ordered water, "I only drink water and chocolate milkshakes," and Benji ordered a Diet Coke. Just as we were getting ready to get on with it, the food came, and Benji and Joel stopped to say grace.

What? Benji's got black and red spiked hair, and piercings all over the place. Joel --- although rather 'normal' looking --- had just gotten a huge tattoo on his right leg, and he recently took all his piercings out. Grace --- what was that all about?

"We are thankful. We are thankful for everything that was have!"

It hasn't been easy life for the brothers, who were born and raised in Waldorf, MD.

"When we were 16, our Dad walked out and left us. Our Mom didn't have a job, so we didn't have much." They shook their heads in unison.

Joel elaborated, "All we owned was a mini van --- that's the only thing our family owned."

Together they survived.

Benji and Joel maintained their focus. They practiced every night. They hooked up with other bands, and they put all their energy into Good Charlotte.

"This band has been the biggest part of our teenage years. The biggest part of growing up is the last two years of our life. And this band has been it. Like really, we've watched each other grow up."

Benji continued, "when we started the band we were kids, you know? Now me and Joel are 21 and we're all living on our own, we're taking care of ourselves, we're men now, you know? It's been really cool, this band has been so much a part of our...."

Joel chirps, "But we're not MEN, you know?" and smiles.

"Before the band, when our dad left, me and Joel started getting into trouble, doing things like vandalizing, and we were angry. We were angry at the world, you know? And a lot of bad things started happening, like being evicted from our house, we didn't have a car, or it wouldn't start, and things like that. A lot of little things, of course we started writing about them."

Joel goes further, "All we write about is stuff that happens to us, and girls. We love girls."

It was five years ago, when the twins were 16, that their dad left. Since that time, they, along with Paul, Aaron, and most recently Lil' Billy have been working on making their dreams come true.

Staring into space, Benji said, "We have such a big dream, that we walk around all the time dreaming of making it big." Joel concludes, "We know this is going to happen. It is happening now!"

"It feels better than anything you could dream it to be," Joel shared. Benji agreed, "It's awesome!"

Since they were little boys, they both wanted to be on stage. "I used to get in front of the mirror and sing along to whatever." Then Benji added, "We used to practice for our music video all the time."

They are best friends. They love being twins, and they love being brothers. They will be together forever. Both agree that they will always call "Naptown" their home. Their dreams include a place on the water big enough for them each to have their own space. "We don't like to be apart too long. Being twins is really awesome. But we have our owndreams. Like someday, I want to have a wife and kids." Benji reiterated, "Someday."

As for Joel, he says, "I don't know about all that right now." Right now they are too busy making their dreams come true. They spend a lot of time touring. They first went on the road with Lit.

"We love those guys. When Lit asked us to go on the road with them, we couldn't do it because we didn't have any transportation. Our mom gave us her mini-van and bummed rides to work." In unison they said "We love our mom!"

"Drugs started coming into the picture and we were really lucky. We have a mom we really care about, and every time we started thinking about doing something wrong, like selling drugs to make money, we couldn't do it because we didn't want to hurt our mom!"

Joel finished Benji's thoughts. "Our whole family, our Mom, our sister Sarah, and our brother Josh, they've supported us in every way.... We're so lucky, and we wouldn't be here without them."

They are warm-hearted souls, with great manners. They say "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me." Neither of them eat with their elbows on the table, or chew their food with their mouths open. Nonetheless, Joel said, "please excuse the way we eat."

Their focus for the past five years has been Good Charlotte.

"All five of us --- this is our life --- we are brothers. We all got GC tattooed over our left elbow." They both raise their left arms as if they've practiced doing it at the exact same time for years.

Joel is the lead singer. Benji plays guitar and does all the harmonies. Aaron plays the drums. Paul plays bass, and Lil' Billy plays guitar. They call him Lil' Billy because he is the newest member of the band, and the youngest.

"He's like a little brother to us all. We like to pick on him, all of us, you know, like brothers do." Joel snickers.

At first they would practice in their Mom's living room.

Joel remembered, "It was so small, we were practically on top of each other. We practiced as much as we could, and it wasn't long before we had taken our show on the road."

They started playing in kids' basements, and putting together multi-band gigs at the area Moose Lodge.

"They were some of the best gigs of our lives," Benji explained, "nothing like playing at a Moose Lodge."

It's tough being a musician hell bent on making it big. They had a hard time finding jobs in their hometown of Waldorf, in the southern part of Maryland. Then they moved to Annapolis, and although it was hard, it was love.

"When we moved here we felt the love, the acceptance. Waldorf was a good place to start, but we love it here," Benji went on, "Everyone in this music scene should be thankful for it. We are really lucky. This scene is here, and anyone can do whatever they want. They just have to go for it." Joel added, "The scene is overflowing with opportunities and possibilities. You gotta do it yourself."

Jobs were hard to come by, but people took care of them.

"Acme fed us, and gave us jobs. Jimi Haha (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) took us under his wing."

Benji smiled. "People like Jimi, man, they are the backbone of this scene. He is the number one supporter. He's trying to open doors for everyone else. He's been there for us in more ways than I can tell you...."

Joel smiled, too. "Even if it comes to buying us something to eat, Jimi's been there in every way."

They are lucky. They will tell you how lucky. They love their band, they love each other, and they love being a part of the Mid-Atlantic music scene.

"This scene is the best in the country right now!" Benji said, and Joel agreed. "We love it here."

And they've had so much support.

"WHFS is the reason we are where we are today," Joel said. Benji went on, "They've been behind us all the way."

For the last couple of years, WHFS has put them on stage for most of their major festivals, including the world-famous HFStival not once, but twice.

"They got the buzz started." Joel injected and continued, "Every chance they had, they (HFS) backed us up."

They were scheduled to appear on WHFS' morning show the following Monday, and when Benji reminded Joel, he said, "What time do we have to get up? I like my sleep."

Benji is more the business guy. Joel is the animated one, although one would question that statement, after all he's got red and black spiked hair (and claims it's natural). But he's the one who talks like a businessman, and seems to keep track of all the facts. Their record was coming out that Tuesday.

When it did, their first single was already on the charts and they were getting ready for the road.

"We want to do it the old-fashioned way. We want to be a touring band. It's great if we have radio hits, and all that stuff, but we want to be a touring band. Our live show is what we really pride ourselves on. We want to go into any town and have a fan base there," Benji dreamed aloud.

"The album is a soundtrack for our live show. It's not all about the record. It's about our live show. We want to be a touring band...." Joel agreed, "That's rock and roll!"

"We're gonna go as far as we can. Nothing is going to stop us. Nothing," whispered Joel.

Five years ago, they were kids with a dream. Five years later, their debut single, "Little Things," is on the charts before their self-titled album was released. Five months ago, they signed a "very cool deal," according to Joel, with Epic Records, thanks in no small part to Steve Feinberg of Fein Music Management.

"Steve Feinberg took the little GC seed and maximized it...Steve was the pit bull we needed." Benji then sighed, "he's more than our manager."

Epic's Dave Massey got wind of Good Charlotte, and immediately, he knew what they had always known, "they've got something going here."

Producer Don Gilmore (Lit, Eve 6) "picked us," Joel said. Benji inserts, "He's been a great teacher." The entire band loved working with him. They went to LA and then to New York, and back again to LA, to record their first disc. The self-titled debut hit stores on September 26th. The hype surrounding them is amazing.

The record is in the stores. Their video is on MTV. As a matter of fact, the first time Benji and Joel saw their video on MTV it was in a hotel room, on the road, alone together. "It was surreal..."

Their song is flying up the charts, and they are only 21 years old.

"We're young and everything. But we've paid our dues," Benji laughed. "We're still paying our dues."

"Every step is a step towards making it, at least that's the way we see it."

Benji went on, "It doesn't all happen at once. It's like steps along the way. We've always been thankful, even before we got signed. You don't just make it. You don't just wake up one day and you're a rock star. It happens in steps. We're going to enjoy each step."

They've been working towards this moment all their lives. They have a good band. They write good songs. They put on a stage show that won't soon be forgotten. And most of all, they relate to the kids, and for them that's what it's all about.

"We want kids to do whatever they want at our show. We want kids to forget about everything else but being at that show. We don't want to be a negative anything, we want to be a positive force for our fans..." says Joel.

"We had a dream and we set out to make that happen. And it's happening because it was supposed to happen," Benji shared. "My attitude is that if you want something, the only person who can stop you from getting it is you."

Five years ago it was a dream. Today it is a reality. The five members of Good Charlotte are ready. Their dreams are coming true, and it is because it is supposed to happen.

"If it's meant to happen, it will," Benji sat back. Joel finished, "nothing happens until it is supposed to."

Good Charlotte are here because they had a dream. They are here because their lives are Good Charlotte 24 hours a day. They are here because they are supposed to be.

Good Charlotte have just begun. They will go on tour for the next two months, and hopefully be home for the holidays. And then they will take it from there.

Good Charlotte is going to be huge. There's no doubt about it. They've got the look. They've got the music. They've got the hooks. In a nutshell, they've got it all. Everything is in place. It's simply a matter of time before all of Good Charlotte's dreams do come true.

"Thank you Mom!"

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