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By GERRY GALIPAULT
From www.pauseandplay.com
July 30, 2000
After Blind Melon lead singer Shannon Hoon died of a drug overdose in the band's tour bus in New Orleans on Oct. 21, 1995, bassist Brad Smith went through all the stages of grief: shock, denial and resignation.
Not only did he lose one of his best friends, he wondered what his future would hold.
"At the time, it was complete shock," Smith said
recently, "because the band was the focus of my life and it was for
the rest of the guys as well. It was the big
machine we were trying to make work in the big social personality experience
that we were trying to get through every day, because if you get five guys
in a room, not everything goes smoothly. It was kind of like a cruel science
project."
Devastated, Smith wallowed away the next few months with mindless extracurricular activities.
"I didn't want to be a musician, I didn't want to write music, I didn't want anything to do with the music business," he said. "I was going to do exactly what I wanted to do every day, go out and smoke dope and ride a snowboard. I did that for a long time.
"I lost a friend, and Shannon was one of the dynamic
personalities that will never be replaced. I have met characters outside
of Shannon, and I see little parts of Shannon in them. I think, 'God, that
reminds me of Shannon.' Shannon, that guy was a total nutcase. He was so
funny, he had so much energy and then he could get real serious and write
the most crushing lyrics
on the planet.
"Shannon was one of those unrewarded folk heroes
of our generation that most people have missed. We still have some hard-core
Blind Melon fans following us out there that really understand what Shannon
was about, but most people know him from the 'Bee-Girl song' band. He could
write lyrics about growing up in Indiana or about the common man that were
astounding and profound. He was one of those
guys who you'd hang outwith at a party and he knows everybody at the party
before you; he's walking out with 10 new best friends. He was an original
cat."
Nearly three years after Blind Melon shook the alternative-rock world with its debut Capitol album (which sold more than 4 million copies) and the video for the Top 20 hit "No Rain," featuring a young Heather DeLoach prancing around in a bee costume, Smith finally realized music played a huge part in his life.
He had to get back into it.
"I started writing a solo record about six months
after Shannon died," Smith said. "A lot of the content is about Shannon,
some of it's just personal stuff, me growing up in Mississippi. I started
falling back in love with music again, which is what kept us all in Blind
Melon in the first place: the love of music and having a gift of being
able to write music, create something out
of thin air."
Smith also kept busy with session work, and he eyed other musicians, wondering if he could recapture that rare band magic that Blind Melon had.
Band chemistry can't be concocted in a laboratory, but eventually Smith knew it would happen. With his new band, Unified Theory, Smith's wish has come true. The group's self-titled debut album (on 3:33 Music Group/Universal) will be released Aug. 15, preceding the first single, "California."
Formed with former Blind Melon guitarist Christopher Thorn and original Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen (who played on the "Ten" album), Unified Theory didn't fully consolidate until they stumbled upon lead singer-guitarist Chris Shinn.
"Chris just walked out of left field for me," Smith said. "Christopher found him down here in Los Angeles, and said, 'Hey, man, I have this guy, he's the biggest sweetheart, the nicest guy you'll ever meet and he can sing like a bird.' I was like, 'Really?' He brought him up to Seattle and we wrote two songs and recorded with him within 24 hours and that was the chemistry.
"Everybody's at a certain period in their life. We crossed paths, and we all see eye to eye. We made a beautiful thing out of thin air, and nobody can touch us. That's chemistry."
The band is like a modern-day Jane's Addiction, unafraid to tackle Middle Eastern influences ("Passive"), ethereal sounds ("Cessna") and pop-flavored rock ("California").
"We wanted to make quality music, and we didn't want any rules," Smith said. "That's a philosophy that I've followed since day one. We had no guidelines, 'we're not going to be a pop band, and we're not going to be this crazy Radiohead vibe, we're not going to be Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, we're going to fall in between,' because all those bands have amazing strengths.
"The whole Jane's thing, I'm not afraid of that. Jane's one of those bands that changed my life when I first moved to Los Angeles from Mississippi. I saw them at the Jefferson Ford Theater in Hollywood, and they blew my mind. It made me feel like it's okay to be different."
On paper, it would seem that Unified Theory's collective pedigree would open many record company executives' doors. Smith says it wasn't that easy, especially the timing of it.
"We were actively looking for a deal for about six months, and the industry was so weird," he said. "Literally, the day we flew to Los Angeles, they put the black banner across A&M Records. When we rolled into town, there were 170 bands dropped that week. And here we're out there trying to get a deal. But we kept believing in it; we went out on a tour under the name Luma, down the west coast and up to Vancouver, and caused enough of a stir that 3:33 came to the table."
3:33 Music Group was founded by film director
Tom Shadyac ("The Nutty Professor," "Liar Liar," "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"),
Tom Schleuning and Tom Crate. The label is headquartered on the Universal
Studios lot in Universal City, Calif. Unified Theory was the label's first
signing. Another 3:33 discovery, Killing Heidi, a multiplatinum act in
its native Australia,
makes its debut Sept. 19 with the album "Reflector."
Smith likes Unified Theory's chances in this Eminem world.
"I think it's going to do well," he said. "There's
a lot of Blind Melon fans wondering what the hell happened to some of us,
and Chris has such a strong, identifiable voice, and I feel we have some
songs that can get on the radio. If they don't get on the radio, we can
follow in the footsteps of the beginning of Blind Melon's career, where
we can tour and then when we
come back around there'll be twice as many people."
THE FIRST RECORD I EVER BOUGHT: " 'Don't Bring Me Down' by ELO, with the flip side '21st Century Man.' I bought it on 45 at a Wal-Mart."
THE FIRST CONCERT I EVER WENT TO: "This is embarrassing, it's going to totally date me, but it was Rick Springfield at Mississippi State University at the Humphrey Coliseum. Anything was good when you were 13 or 14 and you're going to the coliseum to see a rock concert. It did change my life, but I wish it had been somebody cool."
THE LAST CD I BOUGHT: "I just bought about five or six things. I got both of Ben Harper's albums, and the Air CD is great. Now I'm into this programmer guy named BT; he's like the Ygnwie Malmsteen of programmers. I love it, it's a total detachment from things I normally listen to. And I like the Q-Tip record, and I love the Flaming Lips' 'Soft Bulletin.' Can we talk about Flaming Lips for a second? The Flaming Lips, to me, are like the American Beatles for me. Everybody looks at me like I'm a fucking idiot when I say that, but those guys push the envelope of acceptable, creative, melodic music and they haven't gotten their fair shake. They should be huge. The musicianship's great, and the drummer's a total bad ass. That band's amazing. They should be playing stadiums."
BWF (before we forget): Theorize with Unified Theory on the Web @ www.unifiedtheorymusic.com. ... Upcoming Unified Theory tour dates - Aug. 4, Minneapolis, 400 Bar; Aug. 5, Lincoln, Neb., W.C.'s Downtown; opening for Goudie - Aug. 8, Oklahoma City, VZD's; Aug. 11, Houston, Fitzgerald's; Aug. 12, Austin, Antone's; opening Live and Counting Crows - Sept. 12, Milwaukee, Marcus Amphitheater; Sept. 13, Minneapolis, Target Center; Sept. 16, Seattle, The Gorge; Sept. 19, Reno, Reno Hilton Amphitheater; Sept. 20, Sacramento, Sacramento Valley Amphitheater.