Good Charlotte guitarist Billy Martin said he likes Michael Jackson.
"I've got every Michael Jackson album, and I still listen to them," Martin said during a telephone interview from — of all places — Charlotte, N.C. "He is one of my major musical influences.
"But I was also impacted by Nirvana. I was in high school when that band hit it big, and it did something to me. I wanted to play guitar. Then I got into Helmut, Korn and the Deftones."
Good Charlotte — Martin, bassist Paul Thomas, guitarist/vocalist Benji Madden, vocalist Joel Madden and new drummer Chris Wilson (who hails from Salt Lake City) — is currently on the Civic Tour, with New Found Glory and MXPX. The show will land in the E Center next weekend.
"We have been wanting to do this with New Found Glory for quite awhile," Martin said. "We've known those guys for quite some time and called them up to see if they wanted to tour together. They jumped on it, and we worked everything out."
When twin brothers Joel and Benji decided to form Good Charlotte, there wasn't anything more important than playing music, said Martin. "That's what it was all about when I joined the band. And that idea still stands. We're a band that makes music that we like to make."
Still, the music is a mix of many different styles. "I told you what I like, but the other guys are different," Martin said. "Ben likes punk. Joel listens to stuff like the Cure. And Chris likes the grunge stuff. We put all that into our songs, and it comes out as our own style."
The Good Charlotte sound is evident on the band's most recent album, "The Young and the Hopeless," which was released late last year. The album is the follow-up to the band's self-titled debut, released in 2000. "When we recorded that first album, we were all so young," Martin said. "I was 18. In fact, I missed the last two months of my senior year to make the album. Ben and Joel were maybe 20, or something like that. We went into the studio with no expectations.
"The sessions for 'Young and the Hopeless' were different. We had more of a vibe going in. We knew a little more about the way albums are recorded and how each of us plays. There was an energy there."
The main focus on "Young and the Hopeless" was getting the band's current sound down on CD. "We wanted to capture our live sound. We hired Eric Valentine to produce the album, and he told us that he wanted to capture the live Good Charlotte sound, which was exactly what we wanted to do."
Throughout the sessions, Good Charlotte didn't use any digital recording devises — no computers and no studio tricks, Martin said. "We strictly used analog tape. It helped make the album sound organic. And that's important when you're playing for yourself and your fans."
If you go
What: The Civic Tour: Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, MxPx
Where: The E Center
When: 6:30 p.m., Saturday
How much: $24
Phone: 467-8499 or 1-800-888-8499
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com