Smash Mouth's Leader: Bono, Adam `Super Cool'

Steve Harwell can't stop coughing. In a telephone interview from his San Diego hotel room last week, the good-natured lead singer for Smash Mouth is having little success fighting off the flu in time for the band's performance that evening. On the road since midsummer, he is finally showing the effects of the band's touring schedule.

"Yeah, it's rough, dude (cough, cough)," says Harwell. "We've been out for almost five months (cough), no time off (cough). I guess that's why I'm sick. . . . (cough)."

Catching a flu bug is about the only bad thing that's happened to Harwell and his bandmates - guitarist Greg Camp, bassist Paul DeLisle, drummer Kevin Coleman - in the past six months. Smash Mouth's first release - "Fush Yu Mang," a high-energy mixture of everything from punk and thrash to ska and funk - has sold 500,000 copies. Their hit single, the retro-sounding "Walkin' on the Sun," has been in the top 10 on Billboard's modern-rock charts for weeks. If all that wasn't enough, mega-rockers U2 asked them to open several dates of its U.S. tour, including tomorrow's concert at the Kingdome.

"Oh, yeah, dude, we're having a blast," says Harwell. "It has been going excellent. We've met a lot of people, had a lot of fun and played with great bands. It's kind of like a crash course in rock 'n' roll. Plus, our songs are really going over with our audience."

A year ago, Smash Mouth was just another unsigned band that was having a great night if it drew 600 people to a show. Opening for U2, the band has been playing in front of tens of thousands. About 40,000 fans are expected for tomorrow's performance. Despite U2's superstar status, Harwell says its members have treated Smash Mouth as equals.

"It's great. I've kicked it with Bono and Adam (Clayton Jr.) and they were both just super cool," says Harwell. "You wouldn't believe how nice they are. I've never seen a headlining band treat an opening band the way they do."

Smash Mouth has also just finished a video for their pumped-up, thrashing cover of War's "Why Can't We Be Friends," the second single to be released. The band expects the single to do well, but it will be hard to match the success of "Walkin' on the Sun."

"They're gonna play "Walkin' " til the wheels fall off, which is great for us," says Harwell. "We don't get sick of playing it because that's what most of the kids have come to hear. At our shows with U2, when that comes on it's like playing a U2 song. The fans go pretty crazy. It's pretty cool."

The load doesn't lighten any time soon for the upstart rockers. After a month off in January, Smash Mouth heads back on the road for a six-week U.S. tour with Third Eye Blind. That is followed by a European tour, and then it's back in the studio to record songs for their next release.

"Yeah, it's a bit tough, dude," says Harwell. "But at least we'll get a solid month off. I'll be able to recharge then."

(Cough).