Preview by Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

When asked what it means to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of “Good Intentions,” Glen Phillips’ wryly answered, “At this point, it's always the anniversary of something; we’ve been around for so long (laughs). Just pick a point and draw a line and you'll hit something.”

It’s not that the Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman isn’t grateful; it’s just that this milestone is “bizarre and wonderful, that we're still doing this for all we've been through together – for all the changes in the music business, for all the changes in us as individuals.

“The last few years, we all kind of came together with a renewed energy. It's been fun, and we've all been trying to up our game in a way that we hadn't for a while. And so, there's a freshness to it that I think we're all really appreciating.”

There’s also a freshness to “Good Intentions.”

In announcing the band’s 2025 tour, bassist Dean Dinning said, “As a joke, we tried playing it with a bluegrass feel and prominent mandolin part. It came alive in a way that felt really exciting. … The audience response was incredible and has been that way pretty much every night we do it.”

Phillips explained, “It was just messing around; and it was like, ‘Oh, that's actually kind of cool (laughs). Let’s go with it!’ ”

He said, “We had been doing it live. We had done a little breakdown. We used to do some of that – and we were kind of inspired when we were out with Barenaked Ladies, by their acoustic breakdown in the middle of the show. So, we kind of stole that element. Not that they invented it, but it's a thing we hadn't done in a while. It was fun to break things down and play them in a different way, and kind of move away from the rock intensity for a minute.”

Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Good Intentions” (Image courtesy of Think Press public relations)

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Ironically, it was a move toward rock intensity that initially led Toad to leave “Good Intentions” off their 1991 album, “fear.”

“We thought it was too pop,” Phillips said. “I mean, we put out the two albums that we recorded independently before we signed with Columbia. They rereleased ‘Bread and Circus’ and ‘Pale.’ And then we, from there, did our first studio record, and we really thought of ourselves as an indie band.

“We almost left ‘All I Want’ off the record, because it was too pop and bright. And we did leave ‘Good Intentions’ off the record for the same reason: It sounded too pop for us. And we're like, ‘Yeah, it doesn't fit the album.’

“It had been sitting around, and when we were with Sony, they we're doing soundtracks all the time. And so, they were doing the soundtrack for ‘Friends,’ and asked if we had any songs in the hopper. We were on tour. I don't think had time to record something new. We’re like, ‘ “Good Intentions”?’ So, threw it on the ‘Friends’ album, and it did surprisingly well.

“But by that point, too, we'd already ruined our indie cred by having a hit with ‘All I Want’ (laughs). So, you know, it wasn't such a thing.

“But I mean, the ’90s, everybody was so image-conscious, and really concerned with their cred, you know? It was a thing then, right, for bands to not play their single, or kind of pretend they weren't on a major label. And it was just a particular ’90s anomaly. Bands from Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Counting Crows – all kind of did a similar thing, of kind of trying to disengage from their popularity. We fell victim to that, as well.

“I think bands, these days, have no issue with being popular (laughs)!”

“Good Intentions” would help the “Friends” soundtrack go multi-Platinum, and the band’s “In Light Syrup” album turn Gold.

With the song inscribed in fans’ hearts – and at the top of the list of in-demand hits at Toad shows – Phillips acknowledged the challenge in reimagining the single.

“We’re also aware that there is a memory aspect to it. And hearing a song you're familiar with, in a shape you're familiar with, is a funnel into some really deep memories. And especially the people who were listening to us when they were going to college,” he said.

“The thing about listening to a song is it can take you back to your worst breakup, your hardest year, where you were, like, living on ramen and trying to figure out your life. And it lets you look back at that with kind of an objectivity and a compassion for yourself. Where instead of going, ‘Man, that sucked,’ it's like, ‘Wow, that was a really hard time. We really learned a lot. We got through’ (laughs). You know?

“We understand that part of our job is that; and part of our job is to pull things into the new; and that there's always a balance in that. So, some things are pretty different from the original; some things we’re trying to be true to it, and that shifts from year to year. And we're still writing songs; so, there's always that balance of newer material with familiar material – and just trying to kind of thread that needle to take people on a journey that they feel good about when they leave.”

The new “Good Intentions” will be part of a larger revision of songs on an album set for release later this year.

Toad the Wet Sprocket (Photo credit: Josh Daubin // courtesy of Think Press public relations)

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Toad the Wet Sprocket will headline an Aug. 15 concert at Artpark, with support from Sixpence None the Richer and KT Tunstall – an odd pairing, perhaps, but one Phillips said audiences will enjoy.

“I mean, there's always both a business and creative process to it, right? You first got to see who's wanting to go out in the summer (laughs). And then, sort between the acts that you think would be appropriate, the acts who wouldn't. I mean, it's all music we really like. It's all people we like and respect,” he said.

“It's always a combination of factors, and trying to do something that you think is going to both please the audience, but also maybe push their edges a little, or introduce them to something new.

“You know, in the Venn diagram of audience, you want a percentage that hasn't heard the other acts and is excited to get exposed; and you want people who are like, ‘Oh, that's a bargain. Three things I already really want to see.’

“Hopefully, we're achieving a little bit of both of those.”

Catch Toad the Wet Sprocket, Sixpence None the Richer and KT Tunstall at Artpark. Tickets are online at www.artpark.net.

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