Ambar Ramirez Carmen Macri
Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri
Since forming in 1986, the Goo Goo Dolls have been churning out Billboard-charting hits, releasing fan-favorite albums and selling out stadiums around the world. The band’s name may have come from a random True Detective toy ad they saw once upon a time, but their commitment to heartfelt, alt-rock anthems with pop appeal has always been anything but accidental.
It was the release of “Iris” that changed everything — an emotional powerhouse of a ballad that still stops people in their tracks. Even if you don’t know the band, you know that song.
Over the years, the Goo Goo Dolls have quietly but undeniably cemented their place in the American songbook. They’ve built a cross-generational fanbase and, against all the odds of the ever-changing music industry, managed to stay both relevant and resonant. And in 2025, they’re still doing what they do best, touring the country and packing out venues. The Summer Anthem Tour 2025 kicks off July 13, making stops at iconic venues nationwide, including the St. Augustine Amphitheatre on July 23.
We got the chance to talk with original band member, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac. And honestly, it felt like the closest to heaven we’ll ever be.
Folio: So you’ve been in this band for decades. What do you miss most about the early chaos that can’t be recreated now?
Robby: I’ll be honest with you. I miss the anonymity of those times. I think we didn’t really have to worry about much. There wasn’t any internet, there were no camera phones, you know. When I was 20 years old and having an amazingly good time just discovering things for the first time and going from playing, like, empty little clubs to playing half-empty little clubs to playing a handful of little clubs to playing bigger clubs. I think the excitement of that time is the thing I miss the most. The wonderment, you know, the anonymity of the whole thing.
Folio: When you think about the version of yourself who first started this band, what would he say if he saw you now, and would he believe it?
Robby: I don’t think I would’ve imagined that something that we would do would be appealing on any level to more than just a small group of people. It was amazing to me as everything was sort of turning in the mid-’90s, and alternative music was getting a little bit more mainstream at the same time, we were coincidentally learning a lot about ourselves as songwriters and a lot about our abilities, and maybe some hidden talents that were in our group that we really didn’t even understand. We’re fortunate enough over the years to meet a bunch of people who were able to draw that out of us and show us that we could kind of do things that were a little bit more musical, a little bit more well-thought-out. It all kind of came together in a really, really, positive way for us.
Folio: The Goo Goo Dolls cross generations. It is a household name, really. Everyone knows who you are.
Robby: We’re going into our third generation now. It’s funny. Like, you’re seeing moms, their kids and their grandkids coming to the show now. I don’t know; it’s great to see. We’ve been pretty lucky now on social media. We’ve benefited an awful lot from musical influencers and other influencers sort of using us, our music, in some of their posts and recognizing some of our songs, which is opening us to a whole new generation of kids. And like a lot of kids were in the car seats, too, when their parents were listening to our music. So they’re sort of familiar with that already.
Folio: Being that you guys are entering this third generation, and you guys have your show coming up at the St. Augustine Amphitheater, you live a pretty public life but also still stay pretty private. And there are some things that people are curious about. Do you have any soundcheck rituals or personal superstitions that have followed you around from club shows to stadiums?
Robby: We just kind of try to make sure everything’s working. That’s a task in itself every day as you move from place to place. Pre-show, John [Rzeznik, lead vocalist and guitarist] has a pretty heavy ritual he does with a vocal coach that he works with, so he spends 40 minutes staying backstage with his coach and chatting and gossiping. We just try to kind of let the chaos of the day go away. The most chaotic point of our day is that we do a meet and greet before the show every day, and sometimes it’s 120 people, and this is like an hour before he has to play. So when that’s all finished with, that’s the time where you really get to kind of sequester yourself and wash the day away so you can go out and do a great show for everybody. You really have to find a moment where you can sort of find peace so you can collect yourself, go out and do your best. So I guess that’s the pre-show ritual. I think it’s just sort of putting ourselves in that place so we can go out and do what we gotta do.
Folio: What is the strangest object or gift a fan has ever given you? And did you keep it?
Robby: Yeah, we’ve gotten a few people who have given us ashes of loved ones. That’s been pretty wild.
Folio: That’s wild, I wouldn’t expect that. Maybe something like, giving you their bra or something like that…
Robby: It’s not all that common but not that unusual.
Folio: So, you’ve also got your own indie label and have done voice work. What’s one project outside of the Goo Goo Dolls that you feel best captures who you are when no one’s watching?
Robby: My wife and I work with the Japanese band called Shonen Knife. They’ve been around longer than my band has, 40-some years, but they’re still playing 350-person clubs. My wife tours with them, and we release their records, and it allows me to do all that stuff that I used to love to do when I was a kid. It allows me to exercise all these things that I love. And then it makes what I do with the Goo Goo Dolls all the better, you know, because all these other little itches that I had to get scratched. And then I’m able to come back to this and have it be awesome. So I guess I’m a small, Japanese female punk rocker.
Folio: Is there a song in your discography that secretly drives you nuts, but fans love? And now you’ve just learned to kind of surrender to it?
Robby: Wow, that’s a great question. No, not really. I mean, there are some songs that I like playing more than others, but I don’t think there’s really any that I don’t like to play or that I’ve just had to resign myself to playing or anything like that. You gotta understand, if somebody likes a song, it’s pretty great. Sometimes I hear a song from the record, and it doesn’t even sound like the same song to me. Like I’ll be sitting in a restaurant and my wife goes, “You guys are on the radio,” and I’ll be like, “What?” And honest to God, I’ll be like, “What song is that?’ Like? I don’t even know because it sounds so different to me because we’ve been playing some of these songs for 30 years, and they’ve sort of taken on a life of their own a little bit.
Folio: All right, so you just don’t make bad music then.
Robby: Oh, we make tons of it. It just doesn’t end up on the records.
Folio: So you have no songs you play that haunt you, but do you have any saved?
Robby: Have you ever heard of her first few records? They’re punk rock records that teenagers made. So listen to some of the lyrics, and then ask me if any of the songs are embarrassing.
Folio: Well, within the same breath as the songs, do you have any stage outfits that haunt you from back in the day?
Robby: Yeah. My wife says I used to dress like a rodeo clown. She’s pretty much controlled my wardrobe since then, so, 25 years or so. I’m all good now, a lot of black t-shirts. No more rodeo clown.
Folio: We’re going to dig a little deeper and try to find a photo of you looking like a rodeo clown now.
Robby: Ha ha ha. We used to wear plaid shorts and oversized t-shirts. I had bangs, thought it was punk.
Folio: It was the moment.
Robby: That’s what I thought, too. But, it was decoded as a rodeo clown.
Folio: If you and John were action figures, what accessories would you come with?
Robby: I would come with a teapot, and John would come with a telephone.
Folio: Can you elaborate a little bit more on the teapot?
Robby: I pretty much can’t do anything without having a teapot around.
Folio: Which Goo Goo Dolls song do you think will still make sense to aliens 300 years from now?
Robby: Gotta be “Iris.” “Iris” makes sense to most people.
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