Several song titles on Matchbox Twenty’s debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, could have summed up the record’s fateful release day: “Damn,” “Shame,” “Real World,” and “Busted.” The band awoke on Oct. 1, 1996, as 20-something rockers proudly dropping
their first album, but the revelry was short-lived.
“We were all really, really excited, then got a call from our manager saying our label had folded,” recalls frontman Rob Thomas.
“I was like, ‘Oh shit,’” adds bandmate Paul Doucette. “But oddly, I had a weird confidence we’d be fine.”
What Doucette may not have imagined was that three decades later, they would not only be fine, but preparing to kick off 30th anniversary celebrations with a one-night-only Hollywood show dedicated to YOSLY.
In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, Doucette and Thomas shared that the intimate Oct. 12 event at the Fonda Theatre will see them perform the 12-times-platinum album in its entirety. Fans can register to buy tickets during on-sales on Oct. 8 and 9.
It was a few miles from the Fonda where Thomas and Doucette (besties who formed Florida band Tabitha’s Secret with Brian “Pookie” Yale, before recruiting Kyle Cook and Adam Gaynor to become Matchbox Twenty) were so captivated by a Café Largo performer dedicating a song to “you, or someone like you” that they stopped the presses of their CD debut, originally called Woodshed Diaries, for a new title.
The name change caused a six-week delay, after which Atlantic Records imprint Lava Records imploded on the album’s scheduled drop date. It was an especially shaky period given debut single “Long Day” wasn’t performing well, and it would be months before “Push” took off (eventually landing YOSLY top 10 spots in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia).
Many more hurdles rained down in the three decades that followed — music industry changes, family demands, divorces, the pandemic, microphone mishaps, and recently, a management switch.
However, the greatest cracks emerged as Thomas’ solo career took flight following his 2005 debut …Something to Be. The chart-topping album was followed by 2009’s Cradlesong, before Matchbox reunited for 2012’s North. As 2016 neared, Thomas’ bandmates expected to reconvene for a 20th anniversary tour, however he was focused on 2015’s The Great Unknown, largely inspired by wife Marisol’s grueling health battles. Although his tour wrapped in early 2016, the band never pulled together a summer jaunt.
“The frustrating part for Kyle and myself is you start to count on those things,” says Doucette. “You’re like, ‘It’s 2013. I’ve just got to get through 2014 and 2015, then I’m going to tour. I’ve got that to look forward to.’ Then you’ve got a kid and a house, so you start organizing your life thinking this big thing’s going to happen. And it didn’t. That was breaking point.”
“We’d managed to ride the wave of Rob’s solo career for a long time,” Doucette, 54, continues. “Not to say it didn’t have its frustrations because it 1000 percent did. I remember one particularly big fight between Rob and I in Mexico City that was not fun. And we don’t ever fight about personal things — it’s always about scheduling and direction. We’d managed until 2016, then everything broke apart for a minute.”
The band learned Cook had quit the group through a social media post in which he cited communication issues, touring disagreements, and a breakdown of democracy. Thomas, 54, is quick to note Cook’s exit came while Matchbox wasn’t active and that he returned in time for their next project. Still, Thomas had his solo band learning hits like “3AM” — “in case Matchbox didn’t come back.” Cook meanwhile worked on solo music and with side act Rivers and Rust.
What fans didn’t realize is that while Cook’s departure made global headlines, behind the scenes, Thomas and Doucette were facing their own turbulence. “It was stressful because Rob and I weren’t in the best place either, so I was trying to hold things together with all my limbs,” Doucette shares. “People on the business side were taking a harder line than I wanted to with Kyle, so I was fighting things I didn’t want to fight to put it all back together.”
Cook, 51, rejoined for 2017’s A Brief History of Everything Tour, and the band found their way “Back 2 Good,” releasing 2023’s Where the Light Goes and The North B-Sides in February. The key to the revamped dynamics carrying them through the last decade? Communicating better. And for Thomas, learning to say “No.”
The Grammy-winning musician, who most recently released his sixth solo album, All Night Days, has such a penchant for agreeing to everything that he was in talks about starring in a comedic series, Rob Thomas Can’t Say No. “I mean, it’s fucking true,” quips Doucette.
The well-meaning trait has rooted many conflicts. As Thomas reflects: “I didn’t want to let people down, but I would let them down harder because instead of setting real expectations, I’d throw half promises out to everything, then [later] say, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ Paul would sit me down and say, ‘It’s not about whether you do or don’t. It’s about letting me know, so I can plan my fucking future.’ Everything became easier once we started being open and transparent.’”
Doucette has meanwhile been enlightened to Thomas’ predicaments since pursuing more film scoring, finding immense joy as a composer on Apple TV’s For All Mankind. “I’m like, ‘I’m about to start season five of a show. I can’t drop that,’” says Doucette. “I now have something to balance that’s inconvenient for everyone else. It’s given me more empathy for what Rob’s gone through.”
Fans will be rewarded by healthier band relations because what never came to fruition for their 20th will be compensated for bountifully with Matchbox’s planned festivities for their 30th. A 2027 tour will celebrate and span their entire discography, while the Fonda show (part of the venue’s own 100th anniversary celebrations) is all about going back to the start — YOSLY.
Returning to Hollywood is a full-circle moment for the Grammy-nominated group, who had initially explored a Broadway residency, but struggled finding adequate venues. They spent their early days in L.A. recording, filming videos, and frequenting hot spots like the Viper Room and Formosa Cafe. “There’s a nostalgia there, especially because we’re focusing on the first record,” says Doucette. “And nostalgia for that time we were discovering L.A. for the first time.”
It’s their first gig at the Fonda and there’s another first for Doucette — performing “Busted” as guitarist, having switched from drums to guitar following Gaynor’s 2004 exit. Thomas jokes they gladly retired performing the angst-fueled song after releasing sophomore album Mad Season. What fueled Thomas’ palpable wrath in the fiery track? “I was angry I was having to manufacture all this angst!”
In contrast, “Kody” (about the death of Thomas’ then-girlfriend’s infant nephew) will likely have fans seeking some Kleenex. Then there’s chart-toppers like “Push,” which Ken (Ryan Gosling) endlessly serenaded to Barbie (Margot Robbie) in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film. Thomas dreams of performing the song with Gosling someday. “That invite’s always open,” he offers. “But I’ve been told I’m not allowed within 150-feet of his house anymore. He’s just not that into me.”
Doucette would meanwhile love to get his new favorite, Harry Styles, to a show — still wowed by the artist’s MSG residency that he may go again.
Until then, the band, who are playing Stagecoach in April, are focused on the present. And yes, that means new recordings. “Paul and I are working on stuff,” confirms Thomas, who also has upcoming solo shows benefitting his animal rescue organization, Sidewalk Angels Foundation. “We want people to have new music and we’re finding a way where they can engage in a different way than they have traditionally.”
“Or we could just go to that [AI] place Gregg [Wattenberg] went to, put in ‘Matchbox Twenty New Record,’ then call it a day!” Thomas cracks.
“Unbelievable!” adds Doucette of the still nascent tech — the sentiment of “you, or someone like you” not lost on anyone.
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