Charlotte’s progress

You’ve just been told that your band’s sold 750,000 albums in a week. Do you: A). Go on a drink/drugs/nymph bender that results in at least one of your number requiring hospitalisation; B). Drop by the real estate office and see what they’ve got for ten mill in Beverly Hills; or C). Give your mum a call and then grab an early night?

It pains me as a fully paid-up Motörheadbanger to report that Joel Madden recently went for the Alexander Graham Bell and Horlicks option.

"Being on a tour bus or on a plane or in a hotel room, you’re kind of insulated from what’s going on in the real world," reflects the Good Charlotte lead singer. "This Thursday seems exactly the same as last Thursday, except we’re in London rather than the States. Nobody knocked on my door this morning and said, ‘Here, have this suitcase full of money.’ It’ll probably sink in next September or something when we get to go home for a few weeks."

And spend some quality time with your bank account?

"I’ve got to admit I don’t look at the prices on menus anymore," he laughs.

For those of you who don’t know your Sum 41s from your Blink 182s, I’d better explain that Joel and his identical twin brother Benji are at the helm of the biggest skate-punk sensation to come out of America in, oooh, three months.

"There are so many great bands around at the moment, ’specially ones that are waiting to happen," Madden acknowledges. "We’re the guys who’ve lucked out and gone top 10, but it could easily have been The Used, Messed, The Movielife or Autopilot Off instead. What we’ve come to realise is that this business is all a roll of the dice. Come the next record, people mightn’t want to know us any more."

Reared on a healthy diet of The Cure, Clash and Beastie Boys, Joel and Benji decided six years ago that they wanted to be more than spectators, and set about learning how to play. While they can’t claim poverty as motivation, the brothers had the twin prods of their father walking out on them when they were 16, and serious abuse from the jocks at school.

"I hate that Columbine happened but I completely understand why it did," he rues. "Kids get singled out in school and just ruined. For no other reason than they look different or aren’t into sports. I was told on countless occasions that I’d never make it or amount to anything, which makes this all the sweeter."

The abuse wasn’t just verbal, though.

"I had my fair share of fights and guns pulled on me, which was no big deal. I mean, it should be a big deal but everybody nowadays has a gun. There are certain parts of Washington DC and Baltimore, which are both near to us, where a row’s guaranteed to end in a shooting. It’s great being over here and not having that tension."

Good Charlotte’s The Young & The Hopeless album isn’t out here until next week, but they’ve already made an incursion into the Irish singles chart with ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous’. Played off the air by MTV – the twins have their own All Things Rock slot on the channel in the States – it suggests that Good Charlotte might still have a career when the current fad for all things pierced and tattooed passes.

"Our first gig was playing to 20 people in a friend’s basement, and if needs be we’ll do that again. We had no money, no transportation, no friends in the music industry to open doors for us. That was cool, though. Going on tour with bands like Rancid, NOFX and New Found Glory was a bigger deal to us than doing …Letterman. No offence, Dave!

"As for what you’re saying about fashion, the thing that people always pick up on is a good song. Keep writing ’em and you’ll be around for a while."

Legend has it that Benji sent record companies a letter early on saying, "We’re Good Charlotte and if you sign us now it will be a lot cheaper than if you wait!"

"It’s true," Joel chuckles. "We were totally naïve, which was good ‘cause it never occurred to us that we wouldn’t be signed or sell lots of records. Our attitude was, ‘If we work hard enough and refuse to give in, it’ll happen.’ And it has."

Given their Premiership status, Mick McCarthy’s successor will be interested to learn that their mum’s family are from Limerick.

"We had a day off the last time we were in London, so we flew over to Dublin and had a look round," Joel reveals. "My first impressions? Loved it! I could live there. Getting to play in Ireland is a really big deal for us."

I suspect the 800 people who manage to get a ticket for their Temple Bar Music Centre show on January 25 will be saying the same thing