A Sound Salvation

Photo By Todd V. Wolfson

Goudie: Lars Ulrich's New Label Expects Them to Kill 'Em All

In last year's "Class of -- " feature, neither Johnny Goudie's band nor his label -- Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich's new Elektra imprint -- had chosen names. "Goudie" and "the Music Company" wound up the easiest and best, but the album Goudie recorded this time last year with producer Fred Maher (Luna, Matthew Sweet) was not, and ended up completely scrapped.

"Everyone spent too much time trying not to step on anyone else's toes," says Goudie of last year's expensive L.A. recording sessions. "What we wound up with was a nonconfrontational record that was all nice-sounding. Everyone agreed it had no edge."

Discarding a finished album is no easy maneuver, but Ulrich's Music Company label proved its dedication to the local rock outfit by green-lighting another round of sessions, this time in Austin with local producer Mike McCarthy (Sixteen Deluxe, El Flaco). By recording in Austin, Goudie says his band -- drummer Bill Lefler, bassist Einar, and guitarist Jimmy Messer -- felt right at home.

"This time, we just went in and tried to cut a song from beginning to end every day," explains Goudie. "This way it wasn't like one guy was working and the other three were off playing video games for three weeks. It made it very collaborative. Of course if it goes platinum, I'll say it was all me."

Joking aside, Goudie is quick to admit that radio will likely make or break his platinum dreams. With the album's slick sheen, Peep Show is clearly big and radio-ready, having more in common with Radiohead and Placebo than current alt.rock radio fare like Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock. Word has it that Ulrich and co-producer/A&R rep Dan McCarroll are already having a hard time choosing between four songs for a first single, and Elektra's radio, publicity, and marketing departments should work Peep Show like any other proper Elektra release. Bonus points: Fan Courtney Love has already hinted she'd like to take Goudie out on the road, but the group's namesake says he'll wait until his whole team is in place before committing to a tentative March release.

"If we have to wait, we have to wait," says Goudie. "The upside of not having any kind of national profile is that nobody's really waiting on us. We can wait patiently and not rush into anything. We want it to come out right more than we just want to get it out."