The Marvelous 3 have reunited and are back on the road, rocking a three-night stand at the Tabernacle Oct. 25-27, but leader Butch Walker said after two-plus decades apart, the extended hiatus was just what the band needed.
“It’s kinda funny,” Walker says with a laugh. “There were so many good — and bad — memories attached to our band, but the thing was, we had to be done with it officially — at least for a while. It was just time to put it away. Now it’s finally time to revive it.”
The gregarious Cartersville-born singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer recently called from his Nashville studio for a chat with the AJC about the serpentine road that led to last year’s Marvelous 3 reunion, which has bloomed into something even bigger this year.
In the ‘80s, Walker recalled he was a member of “a few little rock things.” In 1988, his band Bite the Bullet relocated to Los Angeles for the lure of a major-label record deal. After rebranding as SouthGang, it released two albums and managed to tour China before returning to Georgia. With collaborators including bassist Jayce Fincher and drummer Doug “Slug” Mitchell in tow, he regrouped, christening their new venture Floyd’s Funk Revival, eventually known as the Floyds.
But when Walker, Jayce and Slug reemerged as the Marvelous 3 in 1997, their fortunes changed for the better. “Steve Craig was playing them on the ‘Locals Only’ show on 99X,” remembers veteran radio programmer and on-air talent Leslie Fram. “He played them for me and I was blown away. When I heard ‘Freak of the Week,’ we knew it was a smash. We put it on the air and the reaction was huge. They deserved the attention they got back then and to see them now, still making great music, is just incredible.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Butch Walker
Credit: Photo courtesy of Butch Walker
Recently reunited with Steve Barnes for “The Morning X with Barnes and Leslie” show on Cumulus Media’s WNNX-FM, Fram praised the band’s incendiary live performances. “Hands down, of the top five live bands I’ve ever seen, I’d have to put the Marvelous 3 in there. They deliver on the record and on the stage. A lot of bands in that whole sort of pop-alternative world weren’t doing what they were doing. I’d say they pretty much epitomize the whole 99X mindset. Now we’re doing it again and they’re doing it again. It’s so great to see them still at the top of their game, and we’re honored to help present their Friday night show as part of the 99X Brouhaha.” (For the uninitiated, the “Brouhaha” is a revival of the yearly Halloween-themed party the commercial alternative outlet sponsored during its ‘90s heyday.)
After debuting in 1997 and playing several successful Atlanta showcase gigs, such as the long-defunct Atlantis Music Conference, the band released its debut album “Math and Other Problems” on the indie Deep South label. The following year, the group issued the “Hey! Album” on its own Marvelous label and was eventually signed to Elektra Records. After disappointing returns from its third album, “ReadySexGo,” Walker and company asked to be released from their contract and officially broke up the band.
Active from 1997 until 2001, the group felt internal and external pressures to call it a day as times and tastes were shifting. After three albums of material and a slew of hyperactive live performances, the band went on what became an epic hiatus.
“In 2001, pretty much everything was changing,” Walker explained. “We could feel it, the label could feel it, our management could feel it. At that point, the only way to get out of our contract was to just break up the band.”
Yet the Marvelous 3′s “Freak of the Week” single is still in rotation on classic rock/alternative radio playlists, a lasting reminder of its early glory days.
Post-breakup, Walker had plans for a solo project. In retrospect, however, he said he didn’t know it would turn into 10 albums under his own name — or lead to a burgeoning career as record producer and songwriter.
“[Around that time] I knew I wanted to do something new, but Jayce and Slug and I had such an amazing understanding and respect from all our years together,” Walker said. “This industry tears so many people apart and the fact that it didn’t tear up our friendship was incredible.”
Walker returned to California for a lucrative career producing a varied slate of top artists that included Pink, Train, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry as well cowriting songs with an array of collaborators. In between all that success, he managed to survive two devastating home fires in Malibu.
Credit: Robb Cohen Photography & Video/
Credit: Robb Cohen Photography & Video/
Eventually, Walker and family relocated to their current home near Nashville. Now that the “smoke has cleared” from his schedule, Walker said playing music again with his “musical brothers” is pure recreation.
“I’m so fortunate that all through my solo career, they’d come out to my shows in Atlanta, and we’d just get up and play,” he said. “We’ve never wanted to lose that bond.”
After what he called a “long tease,” Walker revealed plans last year to make the Marvelous 3 reunion official. “We released a record [”IV”], pretty much just for the fans who really wanted it, and played the Tabernacle, and it was a total blast. We brought back the pyro, had these big LED video walls, threw streamers, balloons, confetti and everything to just made it a party. We did all that with no fighting, no egos, and had the best time doing it — and we made thousands of people happy. It was so much fun we want to do it every year and finally treat it as a real reunion.”
The band decided to make it a recurring tradition, just to be able to see each other and catch up with its fans. “We’re all getting older, so we don’t want to make it taxing on anybody. We just want it to be fun. This will be a personal vacation for us all.”
Now 54, Walker said the Marvelous 3’s dynamic isn’t quite the same as it was in the late ‘90s. Back then, “We were coming to that stage to win it. Whatever it was, we wanted to win. We were absolutely coming to ‘search and destroy.’” But now he added, things are more relaxed and family-oriented.
“Before we disbanded, our second guitarist was our friend J.J. Jones, who was great and is still a good friend of ours. But for the reboot, with no disrespect to him, I wanted to bring Jayce’s son, Holden Fincher, on board.” Walker said, adding that young Holden was barely walking when the M3 broke up in 2001.
“He would come out on stage with a toy guitar, and mimic our stage moves back in the day. Cut to now, this kid’s in his 20s, and he’s killing it with a real guitar! He’s an incredible artist, singer, songwriter and performer. Now he’s a permanent member of the band. He keeps us on our toes, too. We can’t go out there, wheezing and out of breath after three songs with this kid around.”
Walker said he’s happy — and somewhat relieved — that the band has nothing to prove anymore, beyond playing a great show. “At this point, it’s all about positivity with none of the dark weirdness that destroyed it the first time.”
Now the Marvelous 3 are enjoying their camaraderie while playing multiple shows for supportive audiences in Atlanta as well as a few of their favorite U.S. cities, buoyed with generous hometown radio support.
Does Walker feel that it’s a full circle moment?
He paused for a minute to mull the question.
“Maybe it’s not circles,” he said. “Let’s call them ‘the rides.’ The rides are pretty short in this weird little amusement park called the music business, so you’ve got to make the most of that ride.”
CONCERT PREVIEW
Marvelous 3 / 99X Brouhaha
American Hi-Fi opens. 7 p.m. (doors) 8 p.m. (showtime) Oct. 25-27, $58-$224. The Tabernacle, 152 Luckie St. NW, Atlanta. 404-659-9022. www.livenation.com.
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