Just as the ’90s music era cannot be anchored to one quintessential sound, Sugar Ray cannot be characterized by one blanket label.
Lead singer Mark McGrath, 47, said the band drew inspiration from a mixed-bag of influences, from mod culture to rockabilly. It might have been a marketing guru’s nightmare, but from an artistic perspective, it kept things exciting.
“Sugar Ray is giant stew. If you listen to all our records, it’s annoyingly so. That was a problem with our record company. They didn’t know how to market us at first,” McGrath said in a recent phone interview with The Blade. “We were touring with Korn and the Deftones, but we had ‘Fly’ on the radio. It was kind of a marketing nightmare, but it kept us engaged. It didn’t anchor us to any certain style: We could dance in the pop markets; we could hang out in the alternative world; or we could play in the rock world as well.”
The band reached stardom with its No. 1 single “Fly” in 1997. The swanky song with its deliciously infectious verse I just wanna fly. Put your arms around me, baby appeared on the CD Floored twice. One version featured Jamaican-born artist Super Cat, who injected it with a reggae vibe, lifting the song up to a summertime hit.
It also didn’t hurt that frontman McGrath was very easy on the eyes, with a goatee, spiky frosted blond hair tips, a chiseled jawline to match, and at times raspy voice, all of which he used to woo fans.
Today, his hair is still spiked, although he did go through a “long blond, nightmare bangs hairdo” in 2003. “Though my hair is getting a lot grayer, I do dye it. I’m happy to just have hair. So if it’s going to go spiky, or go kooky, or go nutty, I’m gonna do it. And it worked for Rod Stewart for 60 years, so what the hell,” he said.
That humorous, “what the hell” attitude, trickles into his latest musical projects, his debut solo EP Summertime’s Coming and the third annual Under the Sun Tour, which brings some of those popular ‘90s earworms to Centennial Terrace at 7 p.m. Sunday.
“My whole sales pitch is: If you don’t like No. 1 songs from the ’90s please do not come to the show. That is what we have, incredible music from this decade the ’90s. If it meant anything to you — if you bought a CD; if you remember a song; if you had a life’s moment to one of these songs — you are going to have a great time,” he said.
Sugar Ray originated in Southern California in the late ’80s. It wasn’t until a decade later that it would get a taste of success with a string of top 10 hits and two No. 1 singles, “Fly” and “Every Morning.” Beginning as a “punk rock thrashy band,” the songs that made them famous were likened to breezy melodies.
Mirroring the band’s assorted style, McGrath’s tastes span a spectrum from the Beach Boys and the Beatles, to Slayer, the Wu-tang Clan, and Bastille. The three-time VH1 Rock & Roll Jeopardy! champion credits the Sex Pistols for “having the belief, the will, and fortitude to get on stage regardless of what happens.”
The band gained popularity during a period when beatmakers experimented beyond the mainstream genres, breaking down musical walls and opening up “the ears and minds of people.”
“There isn’t one [definitive sound of the ’90s]. That is what made the ’90s so great. It truly was the Lollapalooza Age, when all the barriers and genres of music were broken down. It started with Lollapalooza [music festival] in the ’90s, when you had Ice-T touring with Jane’s Addiction with Nine Inch Nails, and the Pixies. Pop music should really be given a lot of credit in the ’90s because you would literally hear DJs say this: ‘Coming up we’ve got Eminem, Mariah Carey, and Blink-182 [he recites in a stylized voice].’ So you’ve got R&B, punk rock, and hip hop and all in the same format being played back-to-back,” he said.
McGrath’s entertainment footprint expanded to TV and film, co-hosting Extra, putting his best business foot forward on the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice, and appearing in the “campy and kooky” film series Sharknado 2 and recently released Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!.
His first love, though, is music.
For his solo EP and namesake song “Summertime’s Coming,” McGrath and guitarist Rodney Sheppard were casually writing songs and wanted to have some fun. The upbeat, bright single released on fan site PledgeMusic at pledgemusic.com/projects/markmcgrath, almost makes you wonder if he has a dark side.
“Oh, God, yes. Oh, totally, I’m Irish, come on,” he said. “There’s a lot of torment in my soul. The lead singer is a lot like comedians. There’s a lot of tears of a clown type thing. I just don’t think anyone wants to hear darkness from me. I don’t think it’s organic and it’s certainly not organic in our songwriting.
“What worked with us is our summertime vibe. When you think of Sugar Ray I hope you think of summer. It’s been told to me for the last 20 years that people do, and that’s a great place to be.”
Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at: 419-206-0356, or ntrusso@theblade.com, or on Twitter @natalietrusso.
First Published July 31, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
