He curtly confirms it’s not something anyone can comprehend. The answer to his question seems obvious. Valenzuela’s response, tinged with annoyance, comes in the form of another question: “You can’t fathom what it would be like going on tour after that?” How did the band move on after Hopkins’ death? No one wants to remember what they did at work, even when their occupation has brought joy to so many. Valenzuela’s answers usually begin with some variation of the following phrases: “I guess,” “I don’t know,” and “That was a long time ago.” He makes songwriting and touring sound like nothing more than a job. He says he doesn’t sit around listening to his records thinking about the past. Asking him to think back on the events surrounding an album recorded two decades ago feels like pulling teeth. While members of other bands touring the ’90s nostalgia circuit seem eager to reminisce, Jesse Valenzuela, guitarist and one of the Gin Blossoms’ founding members, seems audibly frustrated as he attempts to recall how the sessions for the album began. (The title is meant to capture the bittersweet feeling of the Gin Blossoms’ success regrettably coinciding with Hopkins’ death.) The album, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, came along four long years after the release of their successful major-label debut, which included touring in support of New Miserable Experience for over a year.
The spirit of Hopkins, who struggled with depression and alcoholism for several years, followed the Gin Blossoms as they began work on their follow-up, Congratulations I’m Sorry. I mean, he and I were in cahoots about which singles to release. “That we were releasing songs without his permission and shit. “There was so much bad information that got out there,” he said. That said, Robin Wilson, the Gin Blossoms’ lead singer, told Rolling Stone in 2012 that the supposed feud with Hopkins was the biggest misconception about the Tempe band. When the singles “Found Out About You” and “Hey Jealousy” started climbing the charts, Hopkins’ nightmare unfolded before his eyes. He didn’t want the band to find success off his songs. He was fired from the band at their label’s request after recording for what would be the band’s 1992 breakthrough album, New Miserable Experience, completed in Memphis. Before Doug Hopkins tragically committed suicide in 1993, he would often tell his friends that the Gin Blossoms were ripping him off.
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