MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Just for a minute, let's go back to the early 2000s.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE ANTHEM")
GOOD CHARLOTTE: (Singing) It's a new day, but it all feels old. It's a good life - that's what I'm told. But everything - it all just feels the same. And...
MARTIN: That's the 2002 hit "The Anthem" by the band Good Charlotte. The start of the new millennium brought a new sound, a new look and new bands. Good Charlotte was at the top of the list of those new emotional or emo punk bands. The angst was very real, and the group stood out with music that expressed the feelings of kids who saw themselves as fringe, as outcasts, as misfits.
Now it's almost 20 years later, and their lives are very different. They're married, most have kids. But they are still speaking to the moment with a new album titled "Generation Rx." We're joined now by Joel and Benji Madden, twin brothers that started the band together back in high school. And they're with us now from NPR West in Culver City, Calif.
Joel Madden, Benji Madden, thank you so much for talking with us.
JOEL MADDEN: Oh, thank you for having us.
BENJI MADDEN: Yeah, we're glad to be here. Thank you.
MARTIN: All right. Who wants to start? Should we - which - well, first of all, which one of you is older, and by how many minutes?
B. MADDEN: So this is Benj, and I am older by five minutes.
MARTIN: Oh, OK. So you're the big brother. All right. So why don't we start...
B. MADDEN: (Laughter).
MARTIN: Why don't you take the first one then? So let me start by asking you about the name of the album, "Generation Rx." I'm told - at least, I think I read - that this actually started when you played at a memorial for rapper Lil Peep at a memorial concert for him. Is that right?
B. MADDEN: Yeah. Peep was a fan of the band. We had gotten very friendly, and we were really appreciative of the new sound that he was pushing. And just kind of - overall, he was just genuinely kind of just a really sweet guy. And his mother actually had reached out and asked if we could try to do something special for the memorial, so we got together and tried to think of an idea of something that would be special for him and his family and his friends and his fans. And we came up with the idea of covering his song "Awful Things." And it was a really special experience for us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AWFUL THINGS")
GOOD CHARLOTTE: (Singing) Bother me, tell me awful things. You know I love it when you move that on me, love it when you do that on me.
B. MADDEN: It was really heartbreaking, the whole experience, and we started looking around at a lot of young people and even just kind of the - where culture's gone and all the things that we kind of - I think as a society distract ourselves with or medicate ourselves with, whether it's social media, whether it's actual prescription drugs, whether it's - you know, there's all kinds of different ways for us to look in other directions other than inward to what we're going through and what we're dealing with. And it sparked an entire conversation between me and Joel and our band and why are we here, and what are we contributing, and what can we do?
MARTIN: Perhaps it isn't clear to people from what I just said that Lil Peep died from an overdose.
B. MADDEN: Yeah.
MARTIN: Can I ask about the - how you approached this? I mean - and whoever wants to - just tell me who wants to answer. Did you approach this saying, I want to say something about this? Or how did this - how did it come about?
J. MADDEN: Well, I think - this is Joel - it really started in a conversation with why - where's the pain, and where does it come from, and why are we medicating? And outwardly, and at first glance, someone could say, oh, I'm just having a good time. This is just - that's my drug of choice. But really, what I feel from my perspective, is they are suffering inside, they are dealing with some pain that they're not really aware of or addressing.
B. MADDEN: And this is Benj. Just to add to that, I think what we've talked about as a band was, are we really honest and vulnerable with people? Because sometimes that can be hard to do when you're stepping out and putting your feelings and thoughts and experiences out there publicly. And when we went to make this record, we thought, you know, what's the point for us to be here if we're not going to be as honest as we can? And these are hard things to talk about. It's hard to talk about childhood trauma. It's hard to talk about depression. It's hard to talk about anxiety. And we thought - I wonder if we just open up our subconscious and the things that we think about and hide from people every day and just let them come out in some of these lyrics.
J. MADDEN: What kind of record were we making?
B. MADDEN: Yeah, what kind of record will we make?
MARTIN: Wow. Well, let's hear some of the new music. Let's start with "Self Help."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SELF HELP")
GOOD CHARLOTTE: (Singing) And it cuts like a knife, it feels like a fight to take back your life. Searching for the meaning, I'm living with these feelings, I'm ready for a reason to believe. Now I'm working on my insides 'cause outside there's no reasoning. If anyone's here, it's never what it seems.
MARTIN: It does sound like a very - like a heartfelt letter that you could write to yourself, right?
J. MADDEN: Absolutely.
MARTIN: I was wondering if you were ever worried that the audience that you most want to speak to wouldn't be interested in what you have to say anymore.
J. MADDEN: This is Joel. I do think that we've questioned, like, where do we fit into music today? And I think, at some point, we had to just accept that we don't know and that our best foot forward is just to be honest and to make records that we like, that we're proud of.
B. MADDEN: I also think we've had the conversations where - you know, I can remember very clearly really tough mornings on the bus ride to school. We were just getting beat up by life in every direction - at home, at school - and remembering those records that you put, you know, your headphones on that you listened to that just gave you confidence and gave you that strength to get through the day and go, like, I'm going to be somebody. I'm going to be some...
J. MADDEN: Some energy, yo.
B. MADDEN: ...And some energy. And we think about - like, even if there's just, like, one kid out there who's maybe in the same situation who's listening to a record - for us, like, when we're in the studio, we have that conversation, and that just makes it all feel worth it no matter what happens with the record. It's really kind of a really nice feeling.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ACTUAL PAIN")
GOOD CHARLOTTE: (Singing) Tell me why I hurt this way. Should I even love you anymore? I don't want to find out why I'm too scared to look behind that door.
MARTIN: I don't want to gloss over the fact that the two of you have been through a lot, I mean, to get where you are - hearing your dad left when you were young, and you kind of were really fighting the battle. And you've been very open about that. And I know, Benji, you've been open about the fact that you had a struggle with alcohol, you know, earlier in your life, and you conquered that.
And I wondered if you ever - now we're in a moment, you mentioned - it's not just Lil Peep. There's XXXTentacion, who was murdered. But that - you guys kind of came through, and they didn't. And I wonder why you think it is that you all survived circumstances that, frankly, defeated other people.
B. MADDEN: I think about that all the time. I think about people whose lives maybe hadn't turned out as well as me and Joel's lives, and I just think it's just pure luck and the grace of God. I also think we were lucky to have each other as brothers. We made a deal when we were 16 that we were always going to stick together and never let anything come between us. And we shook hands on it, and we never looked back.
MARTIN: Wow.
B. MADDEN: And I think there comes a crossroads in your life when you're - especially, I think, as young men and young women who maybe don't have the guidance of a mentor or a parent - you know, there are times when the only reason I made a good decision is because I had my brother by my side, and I wanted to be a better person and a better brother for him and make him proud. And I just think that there's a lot of these young people out here who don't have that. And I feel just - I was lucky I was born with a built-in best friend. And it's really hard to do this life - to be a human being alone.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRAYERS")
GOOD CHARLOTTE: (Singing) Born on a lonely planet full of broken dreams where no one understands me.
B. MADDEN: It's just important to remind each other about - just that we're all human and to have some compassion for each other. And, you know, I don't want to sound too, like, Zen or anything, but, for me, that's why it hits so hard when Peep passed away or when XXX passed away. All these kids that you just - you go, I wish I could have been a part of their life to maybe have - maybe even just influence in some positive way. And so we do wonder if we matter anymore. I said it to my wife the other day. And then we go, you know what? All we can do is just think about what we can put into the world - not really kind of what we can get out of it. And the rest just is that that's all the universe, you know?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRAYERS")
GOOD CHARLOTTE: (Singing) Prayers, they don't mean a thing, you know. Do they answer when you call? These prayers when you don't mean what you say - would you die for me today? No, I just can't relate. None of...
MARTIN: That was Joel Madden and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte talking to us about their latest album, "Generation Rx."
Joel Madden, Benji Madden, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.
B. MADDEN: Thanks for having us.
J. MADDEN: Thanks for having us.
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