Good Charlotte front man Joel Madden's drinking problem nearly destroyed the multi million-selling band.

The punk-rock ensemble - including Joel's twin Benji, guitarist Billy Martin, bassist Paul Thomas and drummer Chris Wilson - feared their new album 'The Chronicles of Life and Death' would never be completed after Joel's downward battle with the bottle.

Joel says, "I thought I'd destroy it all for sure. I destroy everything. When I'm drinking I like to hurt myself in anyway possible."

"I went out one night and got wasted beyond wasted. I didn't remember anything about the night and woke up thinking, 'Holy s**t, what happened last night?'"

"I had to stop, I was getting out of control. I had a problem. It is hard, but I'm better off without it."

"I'm not going to let everybody else suffer because I can't control myself."

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Are we even gonna make it through the front door? The plan is to take Good Charlotte's Benji and Joel Madden -- the 23-year-old twins behind the hit "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" -- out for a taste of the real high life at one of New York's ritziest restaurants. Now that we're in front of Lutèce, this no longer seems like such a hot idea. After all, the scruffy brothers are a walking faux pas, with Benji sporting enough tattoo ink to print the Sunday New York Times. Will some snooty maître d' take one look and toss us into "zee street"?

Well...no. "Hello, how are you?" asks the hostess with a warm smile and not a moment's hesitation. She leads us to a prime table. "Bon appétit!" Benji is relieved. "They're really nice," he says. "I've noticed that when you go to a really nice restaurant, they're nicer than when you go to, like, a sort-of nice restaurant."

We turn to the menu. "I don't know what a lot of this is," Joel says. "Hey, what does caviar taste like?" Benji furrows his brow. "This is the most expensive restaurant I've ever been in," he says. "And I've been to some places, too." Benji opts for the smoked sea bass with whipped potato, caviar, and baby mache salad. Joel picks the wild mushroom "cappuccino" and the roasted lobster with foie gras, coral fava beans, and chervil foam.

Orders placed, the twins tell Good Charlotte's story. Benji and Joel started the group as Rancid-worshiping teens in Waldorf, Md. (near D.C.), shortly after their father walked out on the family. "It was the hardest of times," says Benji, "but our band got us through. It was what we dreamed about." Luck and hard work led to a deal with Epic, but their self-titled 2000 debut didn't really take off.

"Lifestyles" has changed all that. Their new CD, "The Young and the Hopeless," recently debuted in Billboard's top 10, and they've built a following of young fans (and screaming girls). So how to avoid becoming the celebrity jerks they lampoon on "Lifestyles"? "It's simple," says Joel, rummaging through the breadbasket. "By keeping it real." At Lutèce? How? "I don't know. Say please and thank you?"

When the check comes ($287.95, not including tip), talk turns to the chow. "The lobster was good, but I haven't touched the stuff around it," Joel says. "It's all kind of weird. I mean, the people here were nice. Thank you for bringing us here. But I'd rather have a plate of spaghetti or something."

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By Lennat Mak The boys of Good Charlotte count their lucky stars everyday. Ten years ago, the Maryland quintet was still trying hard to make it big in the world of pop-punk. As people like to say, if you want it badly and is willing to work hard enough to make your dreams come true, they eventually will. Shortly after the release of their debut album Good Charlotte, twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden scored a gig as VJs on the MTV rock show All Things Rock that helped the band to spread the word further. And their sweet reward came when their second album The Young & the Hopeless spawned massive hits like "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "The Anthem," "Girls & Boys," and made them one of the biggest rock bands in the world, with more than 5 million records sold worldwide. Now, Joel (vocals), Benji (guitars), Billy Martin (guitars), Paul Thomas (bass), and Chris Wilson (drums) are now both rich and famous, a phrase that the press finds delight in, when describing the band. But that doesn't mean they have forgotten their roots and where they come from. In fact, they are working even harder to keep their dreams alive, as evident on their new album The Chronicles Of Life And Death. While still rooted in their pop-punk genre, the band has experimented with different styles (dance-y pop) and elements (orchestration) in their music. Clearly, this is a band that seeks to evolve and let the music speaks for itself more than anything else. Music aside, Good Charlotte has also taken time out specially to attend the MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok, Thailand on February 3, 2005. MTVAsia.com's Lennat Mak made a speedy phone call to Joel and found out how Good Charlotte is a band of hope, why the band and Joel aspire to be the Outkast and P. Diddy of pop-punk, and of course, those marriage and baby rumors with Hilary Duff... *** You guys are here for the MTV Asia Aid. Any particular reasons that made you sign up? We just want to do what we can do. We are actually pretty honored that they are going to have us. We are excited to be coming to Asia and we are excited about seeing Thailand and be part of something that's so cool. Just the fact that we can do anything is really cool for us. It just feels good to be involved in something like that. Is this your first time in Asia? We've gone to Japan, but we've never been to anywhere like Thailand. This is our first time. We just excited to see what it's about 'coz we don't know anything about it. We are excited to eat Thai food. We love Thai food! I read that you guys are vegetarian? Benji is partially vegetarian, Billy's vegetarian for one. I eat meat! Your new album is titled The Chronicles of Life and Death. Considering what's happening in Asia with the tsunami disaster, do you feel that your record has more of a relevance to the times? Yeah, I think the Asian community, on the whole, can find some hope, hopefully. We want to make records that have a lot of hope. And I hope that they can find some hope. There's a song on our record called "We Believe." It's speaking directly about things, like what just happened with the tsunamis, and believing in something bigger, believing in people coming together. Like we all believe in the same thing, whether we are from different places, having different beliefs about different things, it doesn't really matter. In the end, we are all human beings and we care about each other. There's a lot we can do together. If we focus on doing it together, people can make a difference. And I think it's proven for the tsunamis -- there's a lot of people coming together and try to help. It just shows the good of people and the good of human nature. It's really good. As much as people like to look at the world as this dark place, there's still a lot good. Your songs tend to speak to suicidal fans in a positive way. Is it the band's aim to encourage them to live their lives to the fullest? Yeah, we want the kids to experience life and not just to give up! It's hard being young sometimes. There's a lot that the kids go through growing up. But it's always better when you get through that. There's light at the end of the tunnel, you know? And we want to encourage our fans to enjoy their lives and live it to the fullest and experience it. With the bad comes good and with the good comes bad. (I hope) they can see that we all went through hard times but we are happy now. We are in a band and hopefully we can encourage the fans to stick it out and really see what life's all about. There's a lot waiting for them. There are two different versions titled "Life" and "Death" for the new album. Do you know which is selling better than the other? I don't know which one is selling more than the other. We just wanted to make something special for our fans that they would find out on their own. But then, the record label kinda marketed it as part of the record, which is fine. It's isn't really like a major deal. We just did it and we wanted to do it unnoticed so fans can find out on their own like "Oh! I have a different record than you do!" And the label kinda turned it into a big deal. But you know, that's what happens, I guess, with labels. Next >>

ADVERTISEMENT In this Feature [Page 1] "There's a lot of people coming together and try to help. It just shows the good of people and the good of human nature. It's really good. As much as people like to look at the world as this dark place, there's a lot good." [Page 2] "I like a girl who's different from anyone else. Supportive of me, be a good friend and just to get me. When it comes to that, I'm kinda hard to get. I'm just weird when it comes to relationships."

Musically, there's an evident growth on Chronicles. There's a diversity of styles than your usual three-chord punk songs. What inspire you guys to make that leap? We want to challenge ourselves and we are ready on this album to kinda go a little further than where we used to be. There's still a lot of our pop-punk roots in the songs but a lot more different styles and flavors on this record -- just kinda challenging and make it more interesting for ourselves. There's a difference in this record than the last two records we made. Yeah, take "I Just Wanna Live" for instance. That's such a smooth and funky song, and such a radical change to what people think Good Charlotte is like as well. Oh, thank you! It was the first time that I kinda got into the studio on my own. I did that song alone and brought it the band. It kinda shows where my musical taste is, you know? It's very pop, very dance-y kinda song. There's a feel-good, light-heartedness to it that I like -- not too serious and it's kinda taking the whole fame thing lightly and making fun of it. I want people to laugh and feel good, when they hear the song. It's kinda like my first opportunity to really make music on my own and bring it to the band and see what they think, and they all like it. Since your musical direction is kinda different from the rest of the band, do you see yourself branching out and going solo? I don't know if I can ever do a solo thing, but I would love the opportunity to write more songs on my own and let the band add their flavor. There's a different taste I have than the band does. I have much different taste sometimes. I find myself liking more poppy music than they do. So I'll write songs like "I Just Wanna Live" and sometimes they won't really be into it. But you know, as long as they give me the freedom to do that on a record, I think I'll be happy. Any favorite pop artists that you can name? Prince. I really like Gwen Stefani. There's a lot of stuff I like. I really like Outkast a lot. Speaking of Outkast, you mentioned that they are a group that you are aiming to model Good Charlotte after. How do you see yourself being the Outkast of pop-punk? Just the growth they had over their career. With each album they grow so much. They make such good music and it's such good quality. They always set themselves apart from other hip-hop artists and they are always different. That's what I wanted to be -- pop-punk but at the same time, so different from all the other bands. I hope that we can do something for pop-punk. Hopefully, in the future, maybe we'll have our album somewhere down the line where people could just really look and go: "Wow! They did something way different!" Way like far out, you know. And there's your side projects like DC Flag and MADE Clothing. With MADE Clothing and DC Flag, I kinda wanted to create opportunity for myself. I really feel lucky to be doing what I do. I really feel lucky to have opportunities and I really want to make the most out of it. DC Flag is something that's gonna grow over time. It's gonna take time and I think we have patience. Sometimes, people don't see that far into it, but we believe in it. And I think in another five years, that's gonna be something for us to be really proud of. We are proud of it now, but I think it's gonna really grow. Same with MADE Clothing, we have been doing it for three years and it has really grown and it continues to grow. And we just continue to work harder on it. It's just dreams, you know? We are big on the dreaming –- we go for it! You sounded like a businessman there. Do you aspire to be one? Yeah! It's one of my goals! The people that I look up to are all businessmen! I'm, kinda like, striving to be... If P.Diddy is what he's to hip-hop, I would like to be that to punk music! That's massive! A good dream! I completely believe in dreaming! Dreaming really big, you know! Reading the "thank-yous" that Benji wrote on the album sleeves, it's quite apparently that Good Charlotte is really thankful of what the band has achieved and are still in awe of that the fact that your dreams have came true. Oh! We are so lucky! We feel so lucky! We are living every kid's dream. We know it, and we don't take it for granted any day! Even when I do phone interviews and when I do things, I love it! I feel like I'm so lucky to be doing what everyone dreams of. We are lucky to have our fans and we are trying to go around the world and try to get everyone to like us. We want to leave something good with everyone we meet. Do you ever look back and reminisce about the old times? Before my band has made it, I was just struggling all the time. I didn't have any money and it was really hard. I try to remember that in a way that it keeps me appreciative of what I'm doing now. But I don't think I will ever want to go back! MTV.com published your new year's resolutions. Do you really plan to get married and have babies this year? No! I was kidding! I was like, joking around! That's one of the downsides of doing what we do. You just say something in lightness and half of my new year's resolutions aren't for real. And a couple of them I was just joking around. Like making baby? It's kinda unheard of and you can't plan that, you know what I mean? You can maybe, but I'm 25 years old. I'm not planning on getting married and having a baby anytime soon. But they definitely used it against me! (Laughs) Yeah, especially you and Hilary Duff! Is the whole romance thing true? Me and Hilary know each other. We are friends. It's weird because we are not going to deny being friends. And it's kinda hard because we don't want to like, not hang out because of the press. But it's hard. I say something like that, the press automatically take it and use it against me, and say things that damage our friendship even more. It's kinda like a tough thing. But you know, it's one of those things that come with it. You gotta expect that they want something interesting to write about. So do you guys feel awkward now when you see each other? No! Because we are friends! We are good friends! We know each other really well. But it's been awkward at times because of it. But I kinda feel that I won't be a very good friend if I deny it altogether and say that I don't know her, and that we've only hung out once or twice. She's a really great person and she's a good friend. Just being curious, do you have a girlfriend right now? Erm, no. So what do you look for in a girl? I like a girl who's different from anyone else. Supportive of me, be a good friend and just to get me. When it comes to that, I'm kinda hard to get. I'm just weird when it comes to relationships. But I like a girl who's different, you know. Has her own style, has her own kinda thing going on, kinda knows her self, has confidence and kinda makes me feel good about myself and supports me. Does she need to love punk music? No, not at all! I've been around it so much that it's actually refreshing to hear something else!

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