Former Wet Sprocket frontman finds solo success
By CHRIS HANSEN ORF
Get Out

Glen Phillips is still getting used to not playing with a band.

As the leader of Toad the Wet Sprocket, a group that found great success with their gorgeous, easygoing pop tunes in the post-grunge mid- 1990s, Phillips often found himself embroiled in the kind of problems a democratic band can experience.

He likes what he's doing now better.

“It's been great,” Phillips says of his solo career and playing with like-minded musicians. “In (Toad The Wet Sprocket), we did some wonderful things. There are wonderful musical things that can happen with a band, but with any band there are the tortuous interpersonal relationships, and it's stuff you just get used to.

‘‘Everybody I'm working with now has been a pleasure — happy to be there, offering more than they need to — I've found myself being conditioned by a band where it's, ‘Oh, I can't make a suggestion.’

“Now, I can say to (former Elvis Costello and the Attractions drummer) Pete Thomas — the best drummer anywhere — you go, ‘I was hearing it more half-time instead of cut-time, is that OK? I'm really sorry.’ ”

Phillips laughs. “And he says, ‘Oh, sure,’ and just nails it.”

Phillips, who will play Thursday at the Marquee Theatre, is on tour to promote his new album, “Winter Pays For Spring,” a record that combines Toad the Wet Sprocket's lilting beauty with the songwriter's heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics. The record is a prime example of Phillips’ ability, practiced since he was the 14-year-old leader of his former band, to take a melancholy lyric and wrap it in an upbeat package musically.

“I wrote most of (the new album) when I was really depressed,” Phillips laughs. “It's middle-aged emo, maybe? How do I take care of my kids, how do I keep my marriage together? It's what I've always done — my inclination tends toward the depressive, and joy is something that has to be worked at to be attained.”

For a singer-songwriter who for two decades has seen hit singles, top-selling albums, record label problems and a band breakup, Phillips is enjoying the ride this time around.

“I keep having peak experiences,” Phillips says. “I keep thinking it can't be any better, and it still keeps getting better.”