Band Together

The rock landscape is littered with the remains of bands that have imploded under the pressures that come with commercial success.

So what has kept alt-rock group Garbage from going into the dumpster during a grueling 20-month run of 300 shows supporting last year’s platinum-selling “Version 2.0” album?

It could be as simple as good vibrations.

“We write together, play [songs] together, make decisions together . . . and we go out to clubs or dinner together,” drummer Butch Vig said. “There is a chemistry between us that I’ve never experienced in any other band. . . . At the end of the day, all we really have to rely on is each other.”

The one relied on most heavily by Vig and guitar and synthesizer players Steve Marker and Dennis Erikson is Garbage’s charismatic singer, Shirley Manson.

“We wouldn’t have the kind of success we’ve had if Shirley wasn’t in this band--plain and simple,” he said. “No matter what we throw behind her, be it synthesizers and loops or an acoustic piano and guitar, she has such a strong personality and versatile vocal style that she can hold her own. She draws the listener in, and I can’t tell you how much freedom that gives the rest of the band.”

Additionally, Vig said, the members’ awareness that someday they will go separate ways also strangely helps keep the band intact.

“We realize that Garbage isn’t going to last forever,” Vig said, “so we try not to take anything for granted.”

The current MTV Campus Invasion Tour that Garbage is headlining ends tonight with a sold-out concert at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.

*

When Vig was reached by phone near Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, he said that he, Manson, Marker and Erikson would soon be going--together--to see “The World Is Not Enough,” the new James Bond movie for which Garbage performed the theme song.

Being part of a James Bond movie is a dream come true for Garbage, which formed five years ago in Madison, Wis., only a year before scoring a surprise hit with its debut album, “Garbage.” It has sold over 4 million copies in the U.S., according to SoundScan.

“We’re all huge cinema freaks,” said Vig, who attended film school before joining the band. “We love the 007 movies and actually talked about doing a theme song as one of our dreams. David Arnold, who composed this one’s score [including the theme song], knows Shirley and is a big Garbage fan. So he approached the producers about having us record this particular theme song.”

Recording it was a new experience for a band that has reached a mainstream audience while continuing with its often unsettling sonic experiments.

“It was the first time we ever recorded with a 60-piece orchestra,” Vig said. “The theme song wound up very melodramatic and bittersweet with sweeping dynamics. It’s even operatic in points. I think it really fits this picture, which is darker than some of the previous Bond movies.”

That tone is in keeping with Garbage’s own music, which has retained its alternative-minded following with such electronic-driven soundscapes as “Medication” and “Temptation Waits” while radio-friendly singles including “Number One Crush,” “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains” have pulled in the masses.

In concert, Garbage also is known to keep fans guessing, but that’s just a byproduct of a more selfish goal.

“We retool songs and constantly change our set list just to keep things interesting for ourselves, really,” said Vig, who also has produced albums for other bands such as Smashing Pumpkins.

Although the end of a long tour might seem the natural time for its members to take a break, Vig said they’re already starting to plan their third album. And as usual, the musical slate is pretty much clean.

“Because we love classic pop songwriting, the songs will have hooks,” Vig said. “But beyond that, we want it to be different, something sonically wide-open where we’re free to veer off on tangents. We’ll see what develops.”

* The MTV Campus Invasion Tour featuring Garbage and Lit is tonight at the Bren Events Center, West Peltason Drive and Mesa Road, UC Irvine. 8 p.m. Sold out. (949) 824-5000. In addition to the concert, the tour features a free interactive daytime festival, held in the Bren center’s parking lot, where visitors can check out new fashion, music and video games and audition for the new season of MTV’s “The Real World” series. Two tickets to the concert will be raffled off during the festival. Noon-5 p.m. Information: (949) 824-5547 or https://www.mtv.com.