SMASH MOUTH

Sun,” had something to do with Carson Daly. Can you explain that connection?

player, Camp: Paul and I De were Lisle, in the a band bass before Smash Mouth, and I wrote the song “Walkin’ on the Sun” for that band. They passed on it, so it sat in a shoe box on a cassette tape until our drummer pulled it out.

We recorded the song, and Carson Daly was working at a little radio station, KOME in San Jose. He started playing the song as his pick of the day, which happened right when people were getting off work, so they were listening to an unsigned band on the radio.

Shortly after that, Carson moved to Los Angeles and started working at worldfamous KROQ, and he brought that song with him. They put it into rotation on KROQ, and the next week, we had a record deal.

Q: Let’s talk about “All Star.” It was originally kind of an anthem for misfits, but it’s become something so famous that basically everyone in America has

a feeling about it one way or the other. Did you know you had something special on your hands when you were writing it?

predicted Camp: Nobody how crazy would it would ever have get, especially nearly 20 years later. It’s like it’s gaining momentum in a way. It was the right song, right time, right place. The lyrics and the vibe of the song were on modern rock stations and crossed over to pop in just all kinds of different ways. Anyone could walk away with that song and apply it to their own lives, and I think that’s sort of why it keeps on giving.

Q: Moving forward, what are the band’s plans outside of touring?

Camp: We have sort of the beginnings of an album, not sure if it’s going to be a full-length or if we’re going to release two EPs back to back. We’re kind of really loving all of the songs that are coming out of us right now, so we want to make sure they all get an equal opportunity to be heard as opposed to putting out a record where people just like one song.

Q: Who’s in the crowd at a Smash Mouth show in 2018?

Camp: When the band first came out, we had a fan base so everywhere we went there were people singing the words to all of our songs.

Now people definitely focus more on just the hits, the songs that they know, and the age variance is just incredible. You’ll see little kids who are still watching “Shrek” along with their parents, who watched “Shrek” when it came out.

There are all these kids, too, you know, 18, 19, 20 years old. These kids are on social media and YouTube where all you see are memes of Smash Mouth and “All Star.” It’s so wide open. So to answer your question, the crowds vary from kids in strollers to grayhaired people and everything inbetween.