INTERVIEW
DROPKICK MURPHYS
by Taron Cochrane, November 2006

Hi, nice to meet you. How's it going?

Matt Kelly: Pretty well, thank you. Sipping some coffee and still hurting from four plates-full of celebratory victuals on Thanksgiving. 

Can you give us a brief history of the Dropkick Murphys?

Band started in '96; old drummer couldn't/wasn't interested in touring as he has a good job;  with his blessing I joined in '97; old singer left in '98; Al(the obvious choice) joined a couple months thereafter in '98; James joined on rhythm guitar in 2000; old lead guitarist left in 2000; Marc joined shortly thereafter; Spicy joined in 2000; Ryan Foltz joined in 2001; Spicy left in 2002; Scruffy joined in '02; Foltz left in 2003; Tim joined almost immediately thereafter.... And here we are.  Aside from that it's been shitty little bars to giant stadiums and everywhere in between.  To fill in the gaps, may I present for your tittilation, edification, and enjoyment, our biography (taken from our website):

  Dropkick Murphys formed in 1996 in Boston, MA. The band was originally just a bunch of friends looking to play music for fun. We started playing in the basement of a friend's barbershop and our goal was to blend the musical influences we had grown up with (Punk Rock, Irish Folk, Rock, and Hardcore) into one loud, raucous, chaotic, and often out of tune mix that we could call our own.
  To our surprise people seemed to liked it and we began to record music and tour constantly. To date we have released over ten singles, two EP CD, and four Full Length albums and have had the good fortune of being able to play across a large portion of the world. We are truly grateful to the many friends and bands that have helped us out and supported us along the way in the US, Canada, Europe, U.K. Ireland, Scandinavia, and Australia as well as the many countries we look forward to playing in the next century.
  The bands' main goal is to play music that creates an all for one, one for all environment where everyone is encouraged to participate, sing along, and hopefully have a good time. In the true spirit of punk rock we view the band and the audience as one in the same; in other words our stage and our microphone are yours.
  In addition to hopefully bringing people together for a good time, we hope to share some of our experiences and beliefs in working class solidarity, friendship, loyalty and self- improvement as a means to bettering society (i.e. You can preach till you're blue in the face but if you're lying in the gutter no one's gonna listen. If you pick yourself up by the bootstraps and live your life to the best of your ability you may set an example that others will follow).

With every album, tour, etc. the bands' fan base gets larger & larger. What do you think it is about the Murphys that fans just can't get enough?

I'm not sure, but we're sure lucky as hell to have such fervent supporters out there. It's amazing when someone shows us a recent Dropkick tattoo they've forever scourged their body with, or you see some of the same people following the band year after year, loyally returning to see us drag our carcasses out on stage and be their fun monkeys for an hour and a half.  It's a real honour to have that kind of backing and dedication from our supporters.  I think maybe it helps that we try to give 1,000% every night and play as hard and to the best of our abilities.  I mean, on any given night you look up there and James is playing so hard he looks like it's going to kill him, and Marc doesn't stay still for a second, looking like he'll sprout wings and fly into the audience guitar and all at any second.  The crowd in turn gives us all their energy, between singing along, falling on top of each other, etc.--- maybe it's some sort of reciprocal, symbiotic relationship the two parties have mustered over the years.  Also, we play a different set practically every night, so you never know what you're going to hear(or see). 
  What irks me about 99% of bands is that they play the same set and say the same bullshit between those same songs night after night on tour.  We don't want it to be some sort of  "cabaret" act, so we're so anal retentive with our gigs that we review the set list from the last time we played ____ City, and make sure we play a set that's very dissimilar to it, just so people get a different show from the last time we came through.

You currently have the song, "Shipping Up to Boston" featured in the Martin Scorcese film, 'The Departed'. Has this exposure contributed to a wider audience? How does the band feel about it all?

I think it's too early to tell.  We've only toured the UK since it came out, and it was just released when we were over there.  I suppose we'll see the effects next time we tour the States.  The thing is, too, there's a difference between people who buy the CD's and people who attend our gigs.  For me it's a no-brainer: if I like a band, you can bet for damned sure that when they're in town I'm going to see them!  Some people(for whatever reason) are content with listening to a band and never witnessing them live... weird. 

The band is absolutely honored that we were invited to be involved in a movie by such a prolific director as Martin Scorsese.  Adding to that, we made a video for the tune "Shipping..." and we were told that "Marty"(as Mr. Scorsese refers to himself) loved the band, and would let us use whatever footage from the movie we wanted IN the video.  We were incredibly surprised and of course psyched as hell. 
It's nice that being from Boston, we were asked to have a song in such a "Boston" movie.  I really think it's the best of the recent Hub-centric crime movies, and a hell of a lot more realistic that such far-fetched, 'unBostonly' stuff as "Boondock Saints", and is up there with "Mystic River" for being a possible modern classic.

Speaking of Boston, do you think it has been a major factor in the sound of The Murphys? What do you think the Dropkick Murphys would sound like if you all hailed from, let's say, Reno, Nevada?

Absolutely.  Aside from the obvious cultural aspects, there is such a wealth of musical history from the area(not saying Reno doesn't, I love SEVEN SECONDS!) that it's hard for it NOT to be a factor.  I mean without the rock and roll stuff like the J Geils Band, (early)Aerosmith, old garage bands such as the Remains and Barbarians, and then the punk and hardcore stuff like the Outlets, Dogmatics, Lyres, DMZ, Slapshot, F.U.'s, Gangreen, Jerry's Kids, etc., we would most certainly not sound the way we do.  Even aside from the "fiddly-dee" Irish sound we incorporate, the above bands' and others' collective influence definitely shaped our sound. 
If we were FROM Reno, NV what would we sound like?  Jeeeezus, nothing like we do now... even the name, "Dropkick Murphy", is part of local Boston folklore.  Believe me, we're intrinsically linked to this city whether we like it or not...

The latest album, "The Warrior's Code" is amazing. Which album can you honestly say is your proudest achievement? Why?

Thank you very much.  I can't speak for the rest of the band, and let me preface this by agreeing with what you're probably thinking, that everyone talks up their latest album and says that it's their best, blah, blah.  I personally really am the most happy with "Warrior's Code" out of all our records.  Every single other album we've ever done has parts that make me cringe-- and it's 99.9999% due to my own ineptness.  Every other album has bits and pieces I'll hear and go, "Shit, I should've done this!" or "Damn, I sped that part up and it's so obvious!", et cetera.  On the new album I was very happy with all the sounds we got, the mix, the energy, and the songwriting.  It was also the first album that I wasn't embarrassed with the drumming on.  The thing is, we're DEFINITELY a "live band", and that's the forum you want to see us in.  Now, I'm not saying our past albums aren't good or I don't like them; I just think the newest one was the most natural-sounding and a (small)glimpse at what we sound like live.  It's a nice cross-section of all our "facets"....Damn, I can sound cheesy sometimes...

Can you recommend some bands/albums to us that have heavily-influenced you?

Since I'd much rather talk about other bands than my own, I will with pleasure recommend some bands/influences:  AC/DC: "Powerage", "High Voltage", and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"; RAMONES: "Rocket To Russia", "Road To Ruin", "s/t", "Leave Home"; the POGUES: "Red Roses For Me", "Rum, Sodomy & the Lash", "If I Should Fall From Grace With God"; STIFF LITTLE FINGERS: "Inflammable Material", " 'Hanx ", "Gotta Get Away", "Go For It"; THE WHO: "The Who Sing My Generation", "Who's Next", and "Live At Leeds"(extended w/"Heaven & Hell", "Tattoo", etc.); THE CLASH: "s/t", "London Calling", "Give 'Em Enough Rope"; CHUCK BERRY: "The Great Twenty-Eight"; THE DICTATORS: "Go Girl Crazy" and "Blood Brothers"; SLAPSHOT: "Back On The Map" and "Step On It", COCK SPARRER: "Shock Troops" and "Running Riot In '84"; THE F.U.'s: "My America" and "Do We Really Want To Hurt You?"; JERRY'S KIDS: "Is This My World" and "Kill, Kill, Kill"; also singles and albums by these bands: LA PESTE, COCKNEY REJECTS, THE BUSiNESS, IRON CROSS, THE WOLFE TONES, THE CLANCY BROTHERS, THE KINGSTON TRIO, GENERATION X, MIDDLE CLASS, THE JAM, THE MACC LADS, JOHNNY THUNDERS, THE SAINTS, THE DAMNED, THE SEX PISTOLS, THE NEW YORK DOLLS, THE DOGMATICS, THE REAL KIDS, THE REPLACEMENTS, CONDEMNED 84, DEAD BOYS, ROSE TATTOO, RADIO BIRDMAN, THE UNDERTONES, THIN LIZZY, BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, THE BRUISERS, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

Any future plans for the band? Anything up your sleeves you'd like to share?

We're touring Europe with our very good friends from Belfast, N. Ireland, RUNNING RIOT come this January.  After that, it's some US dates, our annual St. Patrick's Day week of insanity, some possible Australian and Japanese dates, and we're trying to sort something out for South America. 
If I shared with you what was up our sleeves, it would no longer be up our sleeves, now would it???

One more question, if the Dropkick Murphy's could be summed up in one word, that word would be...?

ENERGY!

Thanks-a-million for the interview! Great job, any last words?

Thank you, it was my pleasure. Sorry for the short/long answers...too much coffee!!!!! Last words, not my own: "The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, and loyalty to the government when it deserves it." -Mark Twain



Links:

http://www.dropkickmurphys.com

http://www.myspace.com/dropkickmurphys