STAY FROSTY

Anyone near an MTV playlist at the turn of the Willennium knows Mark McGrath’s curriculum vitae: four frothy alterna-pop megahits with Sugar Ray, a constant presence in the tabloids, a hosting gig on Extra, and a stint as the unofficial ambassador of frosted tips. But the whole time, deep inside that sleeveless bohunk flexing on the cover of Spin beat the heart of a true nerd.

“Hey, can I access the old editions of CREEM?” interjects McGrath, completely unprompted, around a half hour into our conversation. “I can’t imagine. [Doing] a deep dive from, like, ’72 to ’84? You’d never see me again.”