The Goo Goo Dolls have kept their working relationship cordial over the years by staging “slap fights” to “get the aggression out”.
Founding members Johnny Rzeznik and Robby Takac have avoided falling out by making sure they get their issues out in the open and then work it all out over a cup of coffee.
Robby told Billboard: “John and I will actually slap each other and punch each other and get the aggression out.”
Asked when it last happened, the rocker said: “About a year and a half ago … In retrospect, it’s funny … But, you know, it’s just silly. It turns into slap fights.
“We don’t want to hurt each other. We love each other.”
Robby added: “John and I shared a bedroom for years, platonically of course, but that’s where we come from. People act like a******* sometimes – I do, he does.
“Ultimately we go have a cup of coffee and we figure it out and make it happen.”
The Iris hitmakers released their new seven-track EP Summer Anthem on Friday (22.08.25) and Robby admitted they hadn’t initially planned to drop new music this year.
He explained: “All of a sudden there was a huge need from promoters to get us out there. So we were doing that and then trying to find the pockets to be able to go in and record.
“We decided that when it was time for the tour, that’s how many songs we were gonna put out, and it turned to be seven songs …
“It’s all just part of that complicated push and pull that happens in our organization. It’s an experiment. We’ve never done anything like this before, so we’ll see where it goes.”
Summer Anthem features the previously released track Nothing Lasts Forever and new single Not Goodbye (Close My Eyes), while the band kicked off a tour supporting the new release in July.
They are due to perform across the US throughout August and September and they will return to the stage for a pair of gigs in New York in November.
In the interview with Billboard, Robby admitted the band’s gigs have become more family orientated in recent years, saying: “We’ve got young kids coming out to our shows; that didn’t happen 10 years ago, I will tell you that much.
“There’s so many kids at these shows now. Oddly, a Goo Goo Dolls show has become more family-friendly than, like, a Sabrina Carpenter show …”