INTERVIEW
STREET DOGS
by Taron Cochrane, October 2006

First & foremost, nice to meet you! How are you doing?

Johnny Rioux: We are great! In the middle of the Bouncing Souls tour and the first week of our best record to date. Things really couldn't be better.

The new album, "Fading American Dream" was just released, and in my opinion, is gonna have a huge impact on your fans! What are your personal thoughts on this album?

We put so much into this record. Put everything under the microscope. Pushed with everything in us to accurately represent The Street Dogs you see play live. Everything from lyrics to riffs and drum beats were worked and reworked over and over. We also found a producer who fully understood what we were all about.

Any future plans to commemorate the release?

We did an acoustic listening party in Boston 2 weeks before release. We are hoping to do a X-mas show in Boston after this tour too. We are really trying to get a video together for "Final
Transmission". We really feel the message of that song needs to get out to as many people as possible.

For those of us who haven't had the opportunity yet to see the Street Dogs live, explain what we are in for.

We put it all out there on that stage. You get the same show if we play in front of 5 people as you would if you saw us in front of 5,000. Mike is relentless, we don't leave the stage unless we are physically beaten, sweaty, and sore. We thrive on crowd participation.

Do you think residing in Boston and being a driving force in the Boston music scene has had an effect on the sound of the Street Dogs?

We are what we know. Mike and I haven't lived in Boston for about 2 years but we still consider it home. Most of the songs we write are taken from real things we have been through. A lot of which is specific to what Boston has given us so I guess the answer is yes.

On every album, through your music, you deal with some very important issues. What do you think were some of the experiences in your lives that ended up being the "breeding ground" for these songs?

I wouldn't say there was 1 specific thing that bread the songs. But I know both Mike and I (Mike especially) have been active and vocal in politics. Mike helped the Democratic party in the past, was very active in his local in Boston, and was in the Army during Desert Storm. I would say our most impactful songs were born from these experiences.

"Fading American Dream" much like your first release, "Savin Hill" shows the band covering some great songs of the past. What songs have you covered so far? Why?

We have covered songs that generally speak to us. Songs about alcoholics (The Pilgrim, Chris Kristoferson), workers rights (Power In A Union, Billy Bragg), and the kid who gets bullied in high school (Fatty, Mung). Live in Boston we also cover The Pogues version of "Dirty Old Town", we also cover live Black Flags, "Rise Above", and have covered The Ramones "Commando".

What was your favorite song to write & record for this album? Is there one song that really hits home?

I have never been more proud to be involved in a song as I was in "Final Transmission". Listen and you will understand!

Tell us something we don't know about the Street Dogs.

Well unfortunately (or fortunately) on our new DVD we all get really exposed! But I think people should know Mike McColgan is a member of the U2 fan club, I grew up wanting to be in Duran Duran, Marcus has a soft spot for overproduced pop music, and Tobe's favorite band is Kiss.

That's it for me. Thanks for the interview! Anything you'd like to add?

Thank you all so much for the support of us and our message! We couldn't do this without you!

Links:

http://www.street-dogs.com