Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs cozy up to ‘70s staples on Under the Covers: Volume 2

By Selena Fragassi
Published: August 4th, 2009 | 7:00am

According to Susanna Hoffs, there are quite a few moments that have come full-circle in her history with collaborator Matthew Sweet. For starters, there’s the obvious topic of cover songs. The Bangle and the ‘90s icon (now known as Sid ‘n’ Susie) are on to their second album of re-makes, Under the Covers: Volume 2 (Shout! Factory), which follows up the ‘60s-friendly Volume 1 with a collection of ‘70s favorites. Interestingly, it was Hoffs’ own cover of a Velvet Underground song that originally attracted a young Sweet.

“I did a third generation cover of the Velvet Underground covering Bob Dylan on a song called ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine,’ and Matthew heard it as a kid in high school,” says a soft-toned Hoffs during a recent phone chat. “I heard that song and knew we should work together,” says Sweet, from his home in L.A.

Rather than music, it was the movies that finally brought the two together. After meeting when both recorded songs for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack, Hoffs attended on of Sweet’s intimate live shows held in the back room of a Santa Monica guitar shop called McCabe’s. With her was a very special guest — a movie star that her director husband, Jay Roach, had just started to work with on a new comedy.

“Susanna brought Mike Myers as her guest,” says Sweet. “It was when he was just writing the script for Austin Powers and working on the characters.” The three became fast friends, even jamming together in a band called Ming Tea. “It was a great opportunity for Mike to flesh out the Austin character in his mind. We would play the parts, dressing up in wigs and using pseudonyms,” adds Hoffs. To pay them back, Myers offered them a cameo as the house band in the psychedelic scene breaks.

This experience was the precursor to the ‘60s love that Sweet and Hoffs originally bonded over for Under the Covers: Volume 1. “I always felt like ‘60s music got under my skin and motivated me to do music in the first place,” says a nostalgic Hoffs. But when the record label came calling for a Volume 2, it only made sense that they move on to the ‘70s — the coming-of-age years for 50-year-old Hoffs and 44-year-old Sweet.

“In terms of music we think of as being super cool, Sue and I tend more toward the ‘60s,” says Sweet. “But the ‘70s were an age when we started to have a lot of feelings that were reflected in music. Working on this record was like rediscovering a time when we were teenagers and really impressionable.” Adds Hoffs, “Almost to our surprise, we realized there was this insane amount of music from the ‘70s that we absolutely loved and we could appreciate how diverse and rich it was in genre.”

Indeed, Sid ‘n’ Susie cover a lot of terrain on this record, relying more on FM radio, classic rock masterpieces like Fleetwood Mac’s “Second Hand News”(featuring a guest appearance by Lindsey Buckingham), Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” and David Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes,” on the 16-track album. But for both Sweet and Hoffs, it was the mouthful of a Yes tune, “I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move/All Good People” (featuring an appearance by Steve Howe) that sets the album apart.

For Sweet, it was the track he first learned to play bass to; for Hoffs, the nearly seven-and-a-half minute song confirmed the ‘70s decision. “The Yes song was really the turning point of the record, that took it to another level,” she says. “It was exciting and challenging to record it, and I thought to myself, ‘I’m ready, I’m jumping in,’ not even knowing if it would work.”

Next up may be a Volume 3 of ‘80s covers. But with two solo careers and an upcoming Bangles album featuring Sweet, it’s anybody’s guess if it will come to fruition.

For now, the duo is about to set out on the road for a series of acoustic and intimate club shows — something that may have never happened if Sweet didn’t overcome his fear of flying that gripped him during the years of 1994 to 2000 after a series of near mayday moments.

After realizing ships just wouldn’t do, Sweet finally got back on board when asked to perform at a Brian Wilson tribute concert in 2000. “I was convinced to fly from L.A. to New York after being placed in first class with Brian and his family,” says Sweet. “I thought, ‘Well if the plane goes down, at least I’ll forever be associated with a great genius.’” Instead, it became one of those full-circle moments, as Sid ‘n’ Susie covered the genius of Wilson with “The Warmth Of the Sun” on Volume 1. It’s just another way the duo turns chance into opportunity, really using their experiences to fuel what could have been cold cover material.

“We have a way that’s a little bit different than a lot of people who cover songs,” says Sweet. “We relive those records and try to capture the way they made us feel. We’re pretty reverent to the stuff and try not to not throw away what made it good.”

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