BY DAVID DeROCCO

As a young man from Exeter, Ontario, Paul De Lisle used to attend hockey school in St. Catharines with his cousins, where he likely dished out a few hits and smashed a few mouths during daily instructional scrimmages on the ice. However, his most successful hits continue to be delivered on bigger stage: touring the world with San Jose-based pop rockers, Smash Mouth.

Formed in 1994, Smash Mouth rose to fame in the late 90s with hits like “Walkin’ On The Sun,” “All Star,” and their cover of “I’m A Believer,” which was part of the Shrek soundtrack. In 2018, they released an acoustic version of their double-platinum 1999 debut, Fush Yu Mang, to great acclaim. With original guitarist Greg Camp’s recent return, Smash Mouth has spent 2018 on an endless tour, one that brings them to Fallsview Casino’s Avalon Ballroom October 25^th. De Lisle took time to chat with GoBeWeekly about the band, coming back to Canada and why having gone through more drummers than Spinal Tap is actually a good thing.

GOBE: You were born in Exeter and were the son of an air force pilot. Were there no aspirations to follow in dad’s footsteps rather than this noble career as a musician.

PAUL: I flew planes for a little bit. It just wasn’t for me. They say it’s hours of boredom mixed with moments of sheer terror. I couldn’t handle the boredom.

GOBE: Well your career has been soaring in other ways.

PAUL: Yes, and there have been times when I’ve been flying (laughing)

GOBE: I asked my daughter what question she would ask Smash Mouth and she said ‘ask them if they know how popular Smash Mouth music is because of Shrek memes. Do you monitor your social media presence.

PAUL: Oh yea, Shrek’s everything. That was a great experience. I’m not a big social media guy. I’m still trying to learn how to work my computer. I’m not against it or anything. I don’t even have Facebook.

GOBE: It’s been nearly 25 years since you helped found the band. What’s been the greatest reward for you personally being part of this collective for so long.

PAUL: Well, looking back, it’s sort of right now. The fact that we’re still here. This has been a great year for us. A big reason is Greg returning in January. We just literally have been on tour since then. We’re weekend warriors and it’s every weekend, a lot of times three or four shows and we’ll only be home for a few days before we’re back out again. The fact we’ve had such longevity. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be her talking to you 25 years ago.

GOBE: Did you dream that big when you were a young musician starting out with Smash Mouth.

PAUL: I wasn’t that young. It took us two or three years of struggling before we got a record deal. For me, I was a little bit competitive. I had this station wagon and I always had my bass and bass amp in the car so I was ready. I was like a door to door bass salesman. What I believed in most was Greg’s songs, and I was right. His songs were so exceptional.

GOBE: The strength of the songs are always what sustains a band. And you had some immediate success with those songs. The first album goes double platinum, the second goes triple platinum. Was that a gift or a curse in terms of pressure to match that success each time.

PAUL: At the time it was so shocking to me. I had a lot of failed bands. I just never thought that that could happen. It was literally like pinching yourself, mostly disbelief. And trying to adjust to a whole different life, a whirlwind looking back on it.

GOBE: Do you remember the feeling you got the first time you heard the band on the radio. And where were you?

PAUL: That’s always awesome because it just seems so weird. The radio’s saying your name and you’re like, why is that on there. It’s really a strange feeling. The first time I ever heard us was actually the “Walking On The Sun” video on the MTV show 120 Minutes. Seeing that was really strange. It freaked me out. Then we went on tour, and the Internet wasn’t a factor, we didn’t even have cell phones. We didn’t really know how well the song was doing and moving up the charts. We could just tell by the audience reaction. It happened really fast for us. It was kind of unbelievable.

GOBE: You talk about video and numbers. The video for “All Star” has over 170 million views. That’s just a number that’s hard to comprehend.

PAUL: What’s hard to comprehend is that song’s staying power and longevity. If feels like it’s just as big a hit now as it was in 1999.

GOBE: I wanted to ask you as the bass player. You’ve had twice as many drummers as Spinal Tap. Has that been a challenge to you as a bass player breaking in new rhythm sections all the time.

PAUL: (Laughing) Actually it’s been great. Since Kevin our original guy departed, it dawned on me. If your band gets famous, it doesn’t matter how good you are, you can get the best drummer you want. All of a sudden, people actually want this gig? We can get that guy? I have to admit, I’ve been able to play with the best rock drummers in the world. Randy Cooke, he’s a Canadian national treasure. Jason Sutter, Mitch Marines, Michael Urbano. These are world class players. I barely have to play anymore. I can just relax into their perfect rhythm.

GOBE: For you, what’s been the big lesson for you, spending your career on the roller coaster of writing, recording, touring, record label ups and downs. Is there something that perhaps you were naïve about in the early days that you have since learned from.

PAUL: Yeah, my two divorces (laughing). Otherwise it’s been great. I can laugh about it.

GOBE: These days, how do you approach the business aspect of being in a band at this stage in its history.

PAUL: It’s just so much fun. We’re writing, recording. Just the normal operation of the band. There’s always something to do and it’s still always exciting and fun. I just feel lucky that I’ve been able to do this for so long. And I still get nervous before I play so I can keep doing it.

GOBE: What inspired the idea of the acoustic re-release of Fush Yu Mang.

PAUL That was our managers idea. He thought it would be a great way to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of our first record Fush Yu Mang. And it turned out really cool and it was really fun to make too. They wanted to slow it down and do it like a campout.

GOBE: Are you pulling any of the acoustic versions out in concert.

PAUL: Not yet. Greg and I have talked about doing that. I think it’s a great idea too. We might do that in Niagara.

GOBE: For fans who’ve never seen the band live,

PAUL: Usually the response we get is, you guys rock harder than we expected. We’re a rock band. I like the way our records are made, they’re really well made. But it’s more of a rock show. We’re a real rock band. It’s a little bit louder than people expect. And Steve’s pretty good at getting the crowd up on its feet.