As their wacky, almost cartoon-like video gradually takes over the MTV airwaves and sales of the infectious, ska-based first single, "Here In Your Bedroom," points them toward stardom; the four friends in Goldfinger are too busy enjoying the ride to pay much attention to any changes success may have inflicted on their lifestyle.
"Well, actually," said drummer "Dangerous" Darrin Pfeiffer recently, "we have noticed a few more people showing up and making a bit more noise at our shows lately... and Charlie (guitarist Charlie Paulson) blew, like, $300 gambling in Reno last night, which would've really hurt us a few months back."
"We're still not playing huge venues, yet. And we're really comfortable with that." he adds, "I'd like to stay at this level for as long as possible. It's more personal and much more intimate. I want people who come and see us to say, 'Yeah, man, I could smell the drummer's breath,'" Pfeiffer laughs, "'and the singer dripped sweat all over me!' "
"I imagine that if the record really takes off," he says hopefully, "ya' know, if it goes completely crazy and starts selling millions and millions of copies, we won't have much choice but to play large shows. But, I really enjoy interacting with our fans. I'm hoping that we can stay at this level for just a little while longer."
Named after the James Bond movie (all four members are Bond fanatics) and formed nearly two years ago by fellow shoe salesmen John Feldmann (vocals/guitar) and Simon Williams (bass) after they stole Pfeiffer away from his job at a local Starbucks and added Paulson (an old friend of Feldmann's) on guitar; the group's rise from basement, to label deal (with Santa Monica-based indie, Mojo Records), to EP (the six-song Richter), to MTV Buzz Bin has been a textbook example of the classic "rock 'n' roll dream" in action.
"I can still remember the rush I got the first time I heard the single on the radio," recalls Pfeiffer of the song taken from the group's self-titled, full-length CD on Mojo. "I was laying in bed at, like, 10 a.m. one day when John called me on the phone, completely freaked, yelling, 'Turn on K-ROQ! Turn on K-ROQ!' Man!" reflects the drummer in wonder, "what a total buzz it is to hear yourself on the radio."
"It's now kind of reached the point, however, where I'm glued to the radio after our song ends," Pfeiffer laughs, "I really look forward to hearing what they (radio DJ's) say about us after they play the record, as opposed to hearing them play the song itself."
"Generally," he says with pride, "what's been said about us has been real positive. Although we do, occasionally, get ... uhm, accused of sounding like Green Day, which is fine with me. I really love Green Day. I think they're a great band."
"When we write a Goldfinger song," continues Pfeiffer, "we don't sit down and try to sound like anybody. John comes up with most of the lyrics, the band tweaks the tune a little bit, and, well, there it is."
"It's really hard to pin a particular label on the music we do," he chuckles. "You could say we're punk, rock, pop or even ska. It's real hard to... you can't really ... it's just one big ... FUN. We're a fun band."
"It's much more than just a job for us," Pfeiffer laughs. "We love doing what we do ... and why not? We get to go completely fuckin' crazy every night. We just wanna play," he adds emphatically. "That's pretty much all we've ever really wanted to do ... play shows in front of kids and go completely crazy."
