Better Than Ezra thrives

"Aha, it was good living with you."\nThat's all it took, a man impersonating a guitar's wah pedal and a catchy phrase, to propel three guys from Louisiana from indie-rock status to No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Rock charts. Even now, Better Than Ezra"s "Good" stands as one of the most memorable tracks from the mid-'90s alternative rock-scene. Tonight, BTE will bring its sound to Axis for a Toys For Tots benefit show.\nBut the road to and from success hasn't been easy for BTE. Following the release of the group's third album, the band's label, Elektra, dropped BTE in a house-cleaning that also included the Marvelous3. Unlike the Marvelous3, which fell apart following the loss of major-label support, BTE went to work recording a new album, Closer, and found a new label, Beyond Music, on which to release it.\n"I think with Closer we really kind of figured out what people want from Better Than Ezra," says Kevin Griffin, the band's lead singer, guitarist and songwriter.\nThe album was a departure from BTE's previous effort, How Does Your Garden Grow?. Gone was the experimental atmosphere, replaced by heavy pop songs that were reminiscent of the band's first major-label album, Deluxe. \n"Part of the reason we've been able to stick around and still tour and do better year after year is because we just do what we want to do as opposed to what people think Better Than Ezra should be," Griffin says.\nAmong the collaborations on Closer were two tracks featuring DJ Swamp, who has worked with Beck and The Crystal Method. Griffin recalls when DJ Swamp showed up at the studio in a beat-up 1982 Grand Marquee, then proceeded to break out his turntables and bag of albums.\n"He totally looked like a goth rocker," Griffin says. "The guy is so intuitive. I've never seen somebody that good at doing what he does."\nWith the help of DJ Swamp, BTE created the single, "Extra Ordinary," and released it to radio, hoping for label support to propel the band back into the limelight. But soon after the song was released, Beyond Music folded, leaving BTE with no corporate money to release further singles or make music videos. The band didn't give in; it continued to tour and got some breaks in the form of television and movies. "Extra Ordinary" was featured on a McDonald's commercial, and CBS is using "One More Murder," off Garden, on its previews for the show "CSI."\n"Somehow we just managed to keep kicking," Griffin says.\nGriffin attributes the band's success throughout the years to the fans. Griffin says that has been the case ever since the release of its independent first album, Surprise.\n"People just kept coming to the shows and asking when we were playing, and the crowd kept getting bigger," Griffin says of the band's early days. "We were doing something right, and we just we said lets just ride this thing."\nBTE started 14 years ago at Louisiana State University. Griffin and bassist Tom Drummond are still around from the original trio, while drummer Travis McNabb joined the band before the release of Friction, Baby. Remaining close to its roots, the band records in its own Fudge Studios in New Orleans and routinely plays Mardi Gras, among other events in New Orleans.\nMaterial surfaced from the band's early days on an Internet-only released called Artifakt. The band released Surprise independently in 1990, but most fans haven't heard it yet. Griffin says this is due in part to legal troubles with the band's former drummer, Cary Bonnecaze, and hesitation to publish material recorded when the band was still putting together its style.\n"Some songs, as a band, you're like, 'I never want to hear that song again,'" Griffin says.\nGriffin says the band at some point will again release some of its rare material, along with some possible footage shot on 35mm at a New York City show, but BTE's next project will be a new album, which Griffin says should be out in March or April.\n"Hopefully it's going to be the best," Griffin says.\n"I think you'll see kind of along the same lines of Closer. Some of them are rougher around the edges, a little more rock."\nGriffin says he likes the feel created by Brendan O'Brien, who has produced albums by Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. So, as much as this album may lean toward the band's heavier edge, there's a part of BTE that Griffin won't give up.\n"There's a big sappy side to our band, a big sappy, melancholy side to us, that I like as well, and that's our forte," he says.\nRecently, BTE has gone to playing live in the studio, recording on a hard-disk platform.\n"It's fun to kind of build a song piecemeal," he says. "It has a nice effect. That's what you're hearing mostly on the radio these days."\nGriffin says his ideas for songs come from all things.\n"It's hearing a song you like on the radio and (saying), 'Gosh, I wish the melody would have gone this way,'" he says.\nOther times, Griffin says just playing the guitar for a while can generate a song idea. He also keeps his cell phone handy and has voicemail that he can call at anytime to record a melody, guitar idea, word or phrase.\n"I heard somewhere a long time ago that you draw on a well of experience, and if you're not replenishing it, one day there's not going to be anything there," Griffin says.\nRecently, Griffin has been reading "Sailing Alone Around the Room," by U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins.\n"I'm always reading stuff, and I pick up a book of poetry every once in a while," he says. "I don't do that as often as I should. Every time I do I'm like, 'Wow, I need to do this more often.'"\nAlbum work aside, BTE is a consistently touring band. Before and after the release of Closer, BTE toured relentlessly, trying to build up fan support that the label wouldn't help generate. BTE's show at Axis will come in the middle of a week-long road trip through the Midwest.\nMaryann Garber, a junior who has seen the band live five times, describe BTE's live show as "bad ass."\n"They are awesome live," she says. "They are probably the best band I've ever seen live."\nBTE tries to get its fans involved in the show with out-of-the-ordinary stage antics. For about a year and a half now, BTE has invited a fan up on the stage to play on "This Time of Year." The only requirement is that the fan actually know how to play the song.\nGriffin says the band plans to give this opportunity to a fan at the Axis show, but the band is considering something new for later tours. One idea the band members have thrown around is having a battle between an onstage DJ and the group.\n"We're going to have this dueling banjos of sorts," Griffin says.\nKen Nickos, general manager of Axis, says he expects a capacity crowd for the show. The cost of admission is a toy that will go towards Toys for Tots.\nAlso on the agenda for BTE is finding a new label. Since escaping from the fledgling Beyond Music, Griffin says the music industry has once again turned its eyes towards the band.\n"People are kind of thinking of Better Than Ezra as a sleeping giant," he says.\nBoth major and indie labels have courted the trio, Griffin says. He says the industry still sees BTE as viable.\n"None of us ever wanted to be a bar band," he says. "We all have higher aspirations and goals and standards of living we like to maintain"