With the number one music video last week on MTV's Total Request Live, a new album debuting on the seventh slot of the Billboard charts and a sold-out show last night at the Showplace Theater, it's odd that Billy, the guitarist for Good Charlotte, is so concerned with getting respect.
But it's one of his main sources of frustration in a career that, to say the least, has exceeded the band's expectations.
"It's definitely a challenge to be a respected band. Kids who don't really like the band say we're just trying to latch on to them," said Billy (the band members only go by their first names).
Disaffected teenagers aren't their only concern. Rolling Stone magazine reviewer Greg Kot dissed the band's latest effort, "The Young and the Hopeless," stating that "sometimes Good Charlotte sounds too desperate to establish their punker-than-thou credentials."
But the attacks that sting the band the most come from punks like themselves. Speaking in an interview from the Warped Tour over the summer, Greg Graffin, the Washington, D.C.-based guitarist from legendary punk band Bad Religion, referred to his tour mates as "everything that's wrong with the music industry today."
Billy's response to this criticism is calm, though indignant.
"When bands say that stuff, of course it hurts your feelings a little bit, because you're like, 'They're not the right persons to judge us.' But it makes you want to work harder, and hopefully they'll just sit back and be like, 'Wow, they're working 10 times harder than we are.'"
For the past three years, Good Charlotte has attempted to live up to this reputation by touring heavily. Founded by twin brothers Joel and Benji, the group was buoyed by the success of their breakout hit, "Little Things," off their self-titled debut album in 2000.
Billy claims that the band played its way to the top of the musical food chain to earn their success. But unlike other groups that overestimate the power of their music, Good Charlotte actually has ground to stand on. Without the assistance of another massive radio or MTV hit, the band launched a hefty touring schedule that greatly increased their following.
"We said (to our record company) that we want to tour until we can't move anymore. We want to tour and tour and tour until we can't take it. It's sort of a blessing in disguise that the first album didn't have this huge success and explode. We were forced to go out and sell this record on the road. Now we're ready to put another record out, and we built that fan base the real way."
"The Young and the Hopeless" has a harder and more forceful sound than the band's previous release, which is evident on their current hit, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," featuring a drumbeat similar to Iggy Pop's heroin-laced anthem, "Lust for Life."
While the band intentionally changed its sound for the new album, lyrically, Good Charlotte remains interested in exploring what makes angst-ridden adolescents tick. Not that other tracks don't treat their subject matter seriously. Billy said that "Hold On" was written in response "to all the kids who come up to shows with letters saying 'Your band changed my life, I was going to commit suicide, and I listened to your record, and it totally made me feel like I could live again.'"
There is no mystery behind why the band has managed to stay connected to their youthful fan base. Billy, who as of this June was legally allowed to drink in Maryland, notes that he's not too far removed from high school. But the guitarist, who is now ready to launch his own clothing line, is convinced some of his maturation occurred on the road and even before the band's name was known outside Maryland.
"This band was together for five years before the record labels even paid attention to us. We've done countless number of basement shows," Billy recalls. "We've definitely paid our dues for a long time. Other bands should realize that."
