Jive talkin’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2003 (8338 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHAT’S good for Britney and Backstreet doesn’t necessarily work for a harder-edged pop band.

That’s what Goldfinger found out during a brief tour of duty with record company Jive.

Two years ago, the slightly punkish, vaguely ska-influenced L.A. rock band was looking for a new record label. So when Jive — a company renowned for its roster of bubblegum singers and boy bands — offered up financial muscle and marketing expertise, the Californians signed on the dotted line.

“We thought it was going to be great. They had a lot of money, a lot of big bands and were excited about getting into the new genre of rock,” recalls drummer Darrin Pfeiffer, whose Goldfinger plays Le Rendez-Vous tomorrow night.

“They promised us the stars, and we, like dumbheads, believed it. The touring cycle started, the record came out and then… they just gave us the runaround.”

The record in question was Open Your Eyes, Goldfinger’s fourth full-length album. It was released early last summer and did OK, despite getting — according to the band — little help from Jive.

A legal loophole allowed the quartet to slip out of its contract. Now, original members Pfeiffer and singer John Feldmann are starting a label of their own — and trying to get back in touch with fans who got interested in Goldfinger during the Here In Your Bedroom phase and stuck with the band after the ska-punk bubble burst in the late ’90s.

“We survived by not being a ska band. We don’t have a horn section and we don’t wear suits. There hasn’t even been one ska song on our last two records — maybe a couple of reggae numbers, but that’s it,” Pfeiffer says.

“We’ve always considered ourselves a rock band, first and foremost. We’ve never really changed. We write the same two-and-a-half-minute, little power-pop songs with four chords.

“It’s a winning formula, not just for Goldfinger or punk-pop or whatever you want to call it, but for any music.”

That desire to stick to its original musical vision led to the departure of two of Goldfinger’s core members over the last five years.

Original bassist Simon Williams quit in 1998, while guitarist Charlie Paulson — who wanted the band to sound heavier — left in 2001.

The other major change saw the band take on a Canadian aspect, as Pfeiffer moved from L.A. to Toronto. The drummer has married the Canadian publicist who worked with Goldfinger during its days with Universal Music.

“We want to raise a kid and buy a house and I definitely don’t want to do that in L.A.,” says Pfeiffer, who was born in Buffalo.

“I want to buy a house and raise kids in Canada so they can appreciate the same things I did when I was growing up, like the changing seasons and hockey.”

Pfeiffer, who is on his way to becoming a Canadian citizen, should have his new record label up and running in time to put out a new Goldfinger album in early 2004.

In the meantime, you can see the band play live in Winnipeg for the first time in five years: Tickets for tomorrow’s show are $25.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca