IPOD
RADIO
Flogging Molly
By Erin Broadley
Mar 7, 2008
The first time Flogging Molly toured Japan, the band made a complete mess. Tucked inside the hotel bar with pals the Casualties and a group of Japanese punks -- done up to the nines in liberty spikes and leather jackets -- the band was getting rowdy in true form, shouting, "Kampai! Kampai!" and shattering more than a few beer glasses in the process.
"It's one of my favorite stories," Flogging Molly bassist Nathen Maxwell laughs. "And this just would not happen in the States... We’re just getting loaded and started smashing our beer glasses together, not wanting to break them, just cheers-ing too hard and they shattered and broke. Anywhere [else] you'd pretty much get kicked out or worse… But in Japan, no worries, they brought us more beers but this time they just brought 'em to us in metal. That was the solution. It was like, 'No problem. If they want another drink then no problem. We’ll just clean this up and serve it in something they can't smash.' I love Japan. It’s a beautiful culture. They know how to treat people well there."
This wasn't the first time Flogging Molly celebrated too hard, and definitely not the last. Since its formation in Los Angeles in 1997, the seven-piece Irish-American band has always played by its own rules. Nathen Maxwell was just a 17-year-old fan himself when he snuck into L.A. pub Molly Malone's and stumbled upon an early version of the band, only to be asked by singer Dave King to join the lineup soon after.
Flogging Molly has since released four studio albums (2000's Swagger, 2002's Drunken Lullabies, 2004's Within a Mile of Home, 2008's Float) and built a legion of loyal fans across the globe who never tire of the band's unique blend of old world and new world rebellion.
With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, Flogging Molly started its merry-making early with the release of the band's latest album, Float, out March 4th on SideOneDummy Records, and is currently touring in support.
SuicideGirls caught up with Nathen Maxwell on the phone after a few afternoon whiskeys to chat about the new album, faking Irish accents, and what life is like playing bass in Flogging Molly -- a band that, though rooted in traditional Irish music, is really anything but.
Erin Broadley: So, you recorded Float in Ireland. Is this the first album you actually recorded over there?
Nathen Maxwell: Yeah, it is. None of us live in L.A. anymore. Two of our members actually live in Ireland, our singer and fiddle player. Traditionally, we always would go to our singer’s garage -- we converted his garage when he lived in Hollywood to a rehearsal space -- and for years that’s how we created music. Then when he moved to Ireland it just kind of seemed natural, like, “Shit, we always went to Dave’s before, let’s go to Dave’s again.” Not only did we record the album there, we actually wrote the album there. We went there for three different sessions, all lived in a little village, wrote music all day and drank all night. It was a pretty magical experience.
EB:
I imagine it’d be hard to tear yourself away from that.
NM:
Yeah, it was pretty rad.
EB:
Well, one of the initial releases I got about Float says that this album will undoubtedly find the widest audience acceptance of any Flogging Molly album. Why so?
NM:
Ah, well that’s someone’s opinion, I guess, and it’s a good opinion! I hope it’s true. Being a musician, being in a band and just being alive, it’s constant evolution and I hope that as you evolve you get better, [laughs] you know? That’s the same with our music. I really think that as we progress as a band and as songwriters, that our music progresses and gets better. I figure the better the music is; the more people will be into it.
EB:
Let’s hope so! I know [accordion player] Matt Hensley briefly quit the band before this album but then returned. How did that affect you?
NM:
I’ll tell ya, he’s one of my best friends on the whole planet. I was heartbroken. But I understood and had way too much respect for him to question his judgment or decision. I just supported him 100 percent. But it tore me up and it was really hard… not having him there for the first two writing sessions while we were in Ireland, just not having my brother, it was just rough. But also part of going through that, it’s a growing process. Hopefully it’s just made us a little bit stronger.
EB:
Maybe it’s one of those things where you have to step away in order to come back…
NM:
Yeah, he needed to gain perspective. I think that happens in a lot of people’s lives; you’re going into something full-force for so long and just lose perspective about what really matters in life, you know? For him, he was just really having a hard time. I mean, we’re out there hard core. We’re away from our kids -- that’s probably the greatest tribulation of what we do and it was just getting to Matt and he thought, “Fuck it, I can’t do this anymore. I need to be home with my boy.” And he tried it out and he came to the conclusion that Flogging Molly is not just something he could walk away from. It’s him. It’s the big essence of who he is as a person. It’s not just a job. It’s not a hobby. It’s our life. So he had that realization but the whole way through, we’re very good friends [so we were] communicating. I just kept reminding him like, “Look dude, I don’t care what you think, you’re still on the fence.” I started hearing it in his voice, this possibility, that hope. Because to me, I really believe in chemistry and I believe the sum is greater than the individual parts. Flogging Molly is Flogging Molly. There’s seven of us.
EB:
I was very excited to hear he came back and a lot of your other fans were as well, not to mention you guys.
NM:
All around it’s just a feel good situation. It felt so great to end 2007 as a full family, together. With a new album under our belt we’re starting 2008 strong. I’m super motivated.
EB:
Before this album, the last thing you released was the Complete Control Sessions EP, and also the documentary DVD Whiskey on a Sunday which followed you guys on the road, into the studio… What was that experience like? It’s very much a definitive portrait of the band.
NM:
I think the credit for that should really be placed on Jim Dziura who did the film and lived with us for those years and was there on the road, in the studio, at our houses… I really think it’s a testimony to his talent as a videographer because he made me feel so comfortable. By a couple months into it, having Jim there with his camera was really no different than having Matt there with his concertina and Dennis with his acoustic guitar.
EB:
The camera was Jim’s instrument.
NM:
Yeah, it was his instrument and he was part of the crew. We’d just be walking down the street together and he be there with us as a bro and he just happened to have his camera. We’d go to the pub, we’d order a drink, and he’d order a drink. We’d be hanging out and he was just so talented you wouldn’t even notice the filming was happening. Jim was smart about it and he did a good job.
EB:
One thing that comes out in the documentary is that you were a fan that snuck in to see the band when you were 17 and then later were asked to join.
NM:
Yeah [laughs]. For the rest of my life I'll be enjoying the aftermath of that experience. It was then -- and it still is -- wonderful.
EB:
Where did you sneak in to see them? Molly Malone’s?
NM:
Yeah, Molly Malone’s. 1996 is when I played my first gig with them. It’s a pretty rad feeling. I really just wanted to be part of something that was great. I was looking. Even though I was really young, I was involved with several bands and I really wanted to be around people that were more motivated than I was. I was tired of being the most driving force in a group.
EB:
What was your original impression of the band?
NM:
Well, the original impression… it was really exciting. I thought they were just cool. They were unique. At the time, I knew nothing of Irish music other than the Pogues. The Pogues were what the punks were listening to. But as far as traditional Irish music -- never mind Thin Lizzy and U2 and all that -- the Pogues were really my only reference point to what Flogging Molly and Dave King was doing. What really struck me was the passion and the songs, first and foremost. Dave’s lyrics… even when I was going to see them he was already playing a lot of the songs that we still play almost every night. Ask a Flogging Molly fan how it feels to listen to the music and I’ll give you the same answer: it felt like the real thing.
EB:
Dave has talked before about being a kid brought up on traditional Irish music and how he ran away from it and rebelled with rock and roll. How was it for you growing up? Was music a rebellion?
NM:
No, no. I can’t say that music ever was a rebellion as far as… Well, the music that I love and the music that I pull from is rebel music, so let me take that back. Yes, it’s rebellion but it’s not rebellion in a typical sense of rebelling against my parents or my peers or anything like that -- because my parents were both into great music. I grew up wit Bob Marley records, my dad got me my first Clash album and turned me on to the Dead Kennedys. It was just the rebellion against an oppressive system, against inequality and against all kinds of things that piss an individual off. That rebellion is very much still necessary and alive today. The best and healthiest way for me to express that so I don’t hurt myself or other people, is through music [laughs].
EB:
Barring any on stage injuries, of course, or collisions with amplifiers [laughs].
NM:
[Laughs] Oh yeah, you know, I’ve had my share of falling off the stage.
EB:
Well, with seven people in the band, how do you guys keep it together?
NM:
You got to give each other space. Some of us are tour bros, you know, where every day we can hang. But we don’t all have the same personality. None of us really come from the same place. So you gotta learn how to respect other people’s space. If someone’s in a fucked up mood, you learn to not take it personally and just realize that they’re suffering, and try to just apply a little more love for that person. Flogging Molly has been on the verge of crumbling several times but there’s something here that’s bigger than all of us that we focus on and keeps us together.
EB:
I read that back when Flogging Molly first started booking shows there was a lot of confusion as to how to describe yourself to promoters and that someone at a music convention referred to you as a “bar band”. Have there been any other kind of public misconceptions that you guys have needed to distance yourself from over the years?
NM:
I don’t know. I don’t really think of music in terms of compartmentalizing it. My mind doesn’t really work that way. It just seems really boring. People have come up with all sorts of terms for our music. Aggro-Celt and Jig-Punk and all that [laughs] and I like it! I’m kind of honored that we’re kind of the forerunners of a genre to some people, along with the Dropkick Murphys and a few other bands. Its kind of an honor but the honest truth is it doesn’t really mean anything to me because I don’t consider myself in a box and in a genre, or really even associated with a certain scene. It’s not my thing at all. [Laughs] Bar band works… I’ll take bar band! Let’s be honest, we started off playing bars! Doesn’t bother me! [Laughs] I probably wouldn’t like the term “cock-rock” band. That would probably bum me out.
EB:
I think that would bum anyone out [laughs]. Getting back to Float, we talked about how you recorded it in Ireland but there was a point a few years back when the band had yet to play Ireland. I was reading that before your first gig you guys were all really nervous because in some sense there are these purists when it comes to Irish traditional music. It reminded me of talking to Eugene Hutz who said Gogol Bordello runs into the same problems with purists, like the band is either too gypsy or not gypsy enough.
NM:
Right, right.
EB:
Has Flogging Molly experienced that as well?
NM:
Eugene’s from the Ukraine, you know, and he very much understands that culture and that culture is a big part of who he is. It’s very much the same for Dave our singer -- he’s born and raised in Dublin, he’s very much a Dubliner, that’s his culture and that’s something that means a lot to him. So I can totally relate and understand Dave having those feelings… Or Eugene having those feelings. But I’d be lying if I said that I did. I remember the first gig in Ireland, we played a pub in Dublin and I just approached it like I do every gig. It's like, I'm up here to rock the fuck out and move people. So I don’t think about that.
EB:
No hecklers in the audience yelling at you to go home?
NM:
Yeah, I guess I don’t have that cultural pressure. I’m a mutt from South L.A. I’ve got Irish blood in me and I’m as proud of that as my Mexican blood and my Polish blood. I love all the cultures. I never was raised with a certain culture. My parents didn’t instill in me, “This is your ancestry, be proud” but just, “You’re a human being, be proud.”
EB:
Has there ever been any moments where people expect everyone in the band to have Irish accents? [Laughs]
NM:
Oh yeah, for sure. What used to happen a lot is that people would hear an Irish accent, like I would be talking to someone and they’d say, “Where are you from?” And I’d say, “L.A.” And they’d say, “Well how come you have an Irish accent?” [Laughs] I’d be sitting there right next to a friend of mine and we’d just start laughing like, “Are you fucking joking me? I don’t have an Irish accent.” But people will have their preconceived notion of who you are and they’re gonna roll with it no matter what you say or do. You can’t really trip on that, you know? Just let 'em go with it. What’s fun too, and this happens actually more frequently these days, is I’ll be talking to people and they’ll find out I'm in Flogging Molly and they’ll put on a real thick Irish accent [laughs].
EB:
Really? [Laughs]
NM:
And I know an Irish accent when I hear one [laughs] and it’s like, “Okay, so where you from? Denver?” [Laughs]
EB:
They’re just really getting into the vibe, I guess.
NM:
Yeah, and once again, for me when someone does that it’s like an honor. Somehow you’re giving them spirit and inspiring them to be goofy and Irish. The Irish culture is a great culture. It’s a working class culture. It’s a culture of people who have been oppressed and really done great things through adversity. And the Irish people these days are, I mean we have a song on the new album called “(No more) Paddy's Lament” and it’s basically Dave’s homage to the fact that, “Hey, let’s not cry about the old days anymore because we’re doing pretty fucking good.” So there’s a lot well-deserved pride in the Irish culture. It’s a beautiful culture and beautiful people. And the thing about it is, the Irish have suffered some of the worst tribulations of any culture. Irish were sent to the Caribbean as slaves, as well as Africans. So that goes across the board with other cultures -- people oppress other people. It’s a sick part of -- I wouldn’t say civilization -- but humanity and so that chord relates to people. If you’re Irish and you’re really passionate about your Irish heritage, that’s an obvious thing. But it’s the same if you’re from any place that has been oppressed… [even] from Detroit… a working class autoworker… you can relate to the struggle.
EB:
How do you guys strike the balance between old and new world sounds in your music? It has all these traditional elements but it’s also totally on the pulse of what’s going on today…
NM:
I think it just comes naturally. I really don’t see us as preconceiving our sound. You have seven individuals from seven different backgrounds and we come together under a focus of Dave’s songs and he has a talent to write songs that you can just sink your teeth into and your soul into and all of us just kind of do our thing. Obviously the main point, the crux, is Dave and his songs. And then we just kind of fall into place and do our thing and I think because of the fact that we’re all coming from different places and our music collections are very diverse and different from each other, and our tastes are different, I think it creates a fresh new sound, even though Dave himself is reading Yeats and is being inspired by the Irish past and culture and literature. It’s as important as modern events and modern culture and what’s happening right now. I think with that combination, it just creates what I consider really unique music.
EB:
Well, being such a touring band, you guys interact with your audience a lot and really have an opportunity to build a loyal fan base and connect with them. In another interview you talked about how, what you want is for people to leave your shows feeling uplifted and have a positive release. Do you get that sense when you get to meet fans after a show?
NM:
Yeah, I really do. I can’t say how moved I am and how blessed I’ve been to be part of something… I can tell you I’ve had conversations with people that have said, “Your music has directly helped me through the loss of my son.”
EB:
Wow.
NM:
Or, “My wife is going through chemo and dying of cancer and we put on your albums together and it brings us peace.” That is… uh… I get a little choked up even thinking about it. You know? The reward is unbelievable… but that’s what the world needs right now. There’s so much conflict and so much confusion, for people to just unplug from the fucking grid and the fucking matrix and the fucking news channels and all this propaganda bullshit and lies that we’re forced with everyday, and just be real, be amongst other human beings from different walks of life, listen to music, dancing, celebrating, sweating, drinking, fighting, fucking -- whatever they have to do, but just real. It’s human connection. And of course I’d prefer them dancing and makin’ love to fighting but [laughs] I think the world needs that release. If you want to play music strictly for yourself, I respect that. I guess I don’t really relate to that because for me, music and art is something to be shared. Maybe it doesn’t even exist unless someone else experiences it, you know?
EB:
It’s kind of a communal thing.
NM:
Yeah, exactly! Communal, that’s perfect. Once again, I’m sure that there are people out there that it makes perfect sense for them to play on their own and that brings them a self-peace and I totally respect that. But for me, music has always brought me out of the darkness. It’s always been such a big part of my life. So when I decided that I was going to dedicate my life to music, that’s what I wanted to dedicate my life to. What music has done for me is what I want to do for other people. I can say completely that our fans that love Flogging Molly and have supported us, they are crucial to my life and how it is now. I wouldn’t be able to support my family doing what I love if it wasn’t for these great fans. And not only that, but throughout the years many of these great fans have become close friends of mine and have enhanced my life through their life and turned me on to things and turned me on to music and ideas and movies and books so its very much reciprocated. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
For more information and tour dates go to www.floggingmolly.com
The first time Flogging Molly toured Japan, the band made a complete mess. Tucked inside the hotel bar with pals the Casualties and a group of Japanese punks -- done up to the nines in liberty spikes and leather jackets -- the band was getting rowdy in true form, shouting, "Kampai! Kampai!" and shattering more than a few beer glasses in the process.
"It's one of my favorite stories," Flogging Molly bassist Nathen Maxwell laughs. "And this just would not happen in the States... We’re just getting loaded and started smashing our beer glasses together, not wanting to break them, just cheers-ing too hard and they shattered and broke. Anywhere [else] you'd pretty much get kicked out or worse… But in Japan, no worries, they brought us more beers but this time they just brought 'em to us in metal. That was the solution. It was like, 'No problem. If they want another drink then no problem. We’ll just clean this up and serve it in something they can't smash.' I love Japan. It’s a beautiful culture. They know how to treat people well there."
This wasn't the first time Flogging Molly celebrated too hard, and definitely not the last. Since its formation in Los Angeles in 1997, the seven-piece Irish-American band has always played by its own rules. Nathen Maxwell was just a 17-year-old fan himself when he snuck into L.A. pub Molly Malone's and stumbled upon an early version of the band, only to be asked by singer Dave King to join the lineup soon after.
Flogging Molly has since released four studio albums (2000's Swagger, 2002's Drunken Lullabies, 2004's Within a Mile of Home, 2008's Float) and built a legion of loyal fans across the globe who never tire of the band's unique blend of old world and new world rebellion.
With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, Flogging Molly started its merry-making early with the release of the band's latest album, Float, out March 4th on SideOneDummy Records, and is currently touring in support.
SuicideGirls caught up with Nathen Maxwell on the phone after a few afternoon whiskeys to chat about the new album, faking Irish accents, and what life is like playing bass in Flogging Molly -- a band that, though rooted in traditional Irish music, is really anything but.
Erin Broadley: So, you recorded Float in Ireland. Is this the first album you actually recorded over there?
Nathen Maxwell: Yeah, it is. None of us live in L.A. anymore. Two of our members actually live in Ireland, our singer and fiddle player. Traditionally, we always would go to our singer’s garage -- we converted his garage when he lived in Hollywood to a rehearsal space -- and for years that’s how we created music. Then when he moved to Ireland it just kind of seemed natural, like, “Shit, we always went to Dave’s before, let’s go to Dave’s again.” Not only did we record the album there, we actually wrote the album there. We went there for three different sessions, all lived in a little village, wrote music all day and drank all night. It was a pretty magical experience.
EB:
I imagine it’d be hard to tear yourself away from that.
NM:
Yeah, it was pretty rad.
EB:
Well, one of the initial releases I got about Float says that this album will undoubtedly find the widest audience acceptance of any Flogging Molly album. Why so?
NM:
Ah, well that’s someone’s opinion, I guess, and it’s a good opinion! I hope it’s true. Being a musician, being in a band and just being alive, it’s constant evolution and I hope that as you evolve you get better, [laughs] you know? That’s the same with our music. I really think that as we progress as a band and as songwriters, that our music progresses and gets better. I figure the better the music is; the more people will be into it.
EB:
Let’s hope so! I know [accordion player] Matt Hensley briefly quit the band before this album but then returned. How did that affect you?
NM:
I’ll tell ya, he’s one of my best friends on the whole planet. I was heartbroken. But I understood and had way too much respect for him to question his judgment or decision. I just supported him 100 percent. But it tore me up and it was really hard… not having him there for the first two writing sessions while we were in Ireland, just not having my brother, it was just rough. But also part of going through that, it’s a growing process. Hopefully it’s just made us a little bit stronger.
EB:
Maybe it’s one of those things where you have to step away in order to come back…
NM:
Yeah, he needed to gain perspective. I think that happens in a lot of people’s lives; you’re going into something full-force for so long and just lose perspective about what really matters in life, you know? For him, he was just really having a hard time. I mean, we’re out there hard core. We’re away from our kids -- that’s probably the greatest tribulation of what we do and it was just getting to Matt and he thought, “Fuck it, I can’t do this anymore. I need to be home with my boy.” And he tried it out and he came to the conclusion that Flogging Molly is not just something he could walk away from. It’s him. It’s the big essence of who he is as a person. It’s not just a job. It’s not a hobby. It’s our life. So he had that realization but the whole way through, we’re very good friends [so we were] communicating. I just kept reminding him like, “Look dude, I don’t care what you think, you’re still on the fence.” I started hearing it in his voice, this possibility, that hope. Because to me, I really believe in chemistry and I believe the sum is greater than the individual parts. Flogging Molly is Flogging Molly. There’s seven of us.
EB:
I was very excited to hear he came back and a lot of your other fans were as well, not to mention you guys.
NM:
All around it’s just a feel good situation. It felt so great to end 2007 as a full family, together. With a new album under our belt we’re starting 2008 strong. I’m super motivated.
EB:
Before this album, the last thing you released was the Complete Control Sessions EP, and also the documentary DVD Whiskey on a Sunday which followed you guys on the road, into the studio… What was that experience like? It’s very much a definitive portrait of the band.
NM:
I think the credit for that should really be placed on Jim Dziura who did the film and lived with us for those years and was there on the road, in the studio, at our houses… I really think it’s a testimony to his talent as a videographer because he made me feel so comfortable. By a couple months into it, having Jim there with his camera was really no different than having Matt there with his concertina and Dennis with his acoustic guitar.
EB:
The camera was Jim’s instrument.
NM:
Yeah, it was his instrument and he was part of the crew. We’d just be walking down the street together and he be there with us as a bro and he just happened to have his camera. We’d go to the pub, we’d order a drink, and he’d order a drink. We’d be hanging out and he was just so talented you wouldn’t even notice the filming was happening. Jim was smart about it and he did a good job.
EB:
One thing that comes out in the documentary is that you were a fan that snuck in to see the band when you were 17 and then later were asked to join.
NM:
Yeah [laughs]. For the rest of my life I'll be enjoying the aftermath of that experience. It was then -- and it still is -- wonderful.
EB:
Where did you sneak in to see them? Molly Malone’s?
NM:
Yeah, Molly Malone’s. 1996 is when I played my first gig with them. It’s a pretty rad feeling. I really just wanted to be part of something that was great. I was looking. Even though I was really young, I was involved with several bands and I really wanted to be around people that were more motivated than I was. I was tired of being the most driving force in a group.
EB:
What was your original impression of the band?
NM:
Well, the original impression… it was really exciting. I thought they were just cool. They were unique. At the time, I knew nothing of Irish music other than the Pogues. The Pogues were what the punks were listening to. But as far as traditional Irish music -- never mind Thin Lizzy and U2 and all that -- the Pogues were really my only reference point to what Flogging Molly and Dave King was doing. What really struck me was the passion and the songs, first and foremost. Dave’s lyrics… even when I was going to see them he was already playing a lot of the songs that we still play almost every night. Ask a Flogging Molly fan how it feels to listen to the music and I’ll give you the same answer: it felt like the real thing.
EB:
Dave has talked before about being a kid brought up on traditional Irish music and how he ran away from it and rebelled with rock and roll. How was it for you growing up? Was music a rebellion?
NM:
No, no. I can’t say that music ever was a rebellion as far as… Well, the music that I love and the music that I pull from is rebel music, so let me take that back. Yes, it’s rebellion but it’s not rebellion in a typical sense of rebelling against my parents or my peers or anything like that -- because my parents were both into great music. I grew up wit Bob Marley records, my dad got me my first Clash album and turned me on to the Dead Kennedys. It was just the rebellion against an oppressive system, against inequality and against all kinds of things that piss an individual off. That rebellion is very much still necessary and alive today. The best and healthiest way for me to express that so I don’t hurt myself or other people, is through music [laughs].
EB:
Barring any on stage injuries, of course, or collisions with amplifiers [laughs].
NM:
[Laughs] Oh yeah, you know, I’ve had my share of falling off the stage.
EB:
Well, with seven people in the band, how do you guys keep it together?
NM:
You got to give each other space. Some of us are tour bros, you know, where every day we can hang. But we don’t all have the same personality. None of us really come from the same place. So you gotta learn how to respect other people’s space. If someone’s in a fucked up mood, you learn to not take it personally and just realize that they’re suffering, and try to just apply a little more love for that person. Flogging Molly has been on the verge of crumbling several times but there’s something here that’s bigger than all of us that we focus on and keeps us together.
EB:
I read that back when Flogging Molly first started booking shows there was a lot of confusion as to how to describe yourself to promoters and that someone at a music convention referred to you as a “bar band”. Have there been any other kind of public misconceptions that you guys have needed to distance yourself from over the years?
NM:
I don’t know. I don’t really think of music in terms of compartmentalizing it. My mind doesn’t really work that way. It just seems really boring. People have come up with all sorts of terms for our music. Aggro-Celt and Jig-Punk and all that [laughs] and I like it! I’m kind of honored that we’re kind of the forerunners of a genre to some people, along with the Dropkick Murphys and a few other bands. Its kind of an honor but the honest truth is it doesn’t really mean anything to me because I don’t consider myself in a box and in a genre, or really even associated with a certain scene. It’s not my thing at all. [Laughs] Bar band works… I’ll take bar band! Let’s be honest, we started off playing bars! Doesn’t bother me! [Laughs] I probably wouldn’t like the term “cock-rock” band. That would probably bum me out.
EB:
I think that would bum anyone out [laughs]. Getting back to Float, we talked about how you recorded it in Ireland but there was a point a few years back when the band had yet to play Ireland. I was reading that before your first gig you guys were all really nervous because in some sense there are these purists when it comes to Irish traditional music. It reminded me of talking to Eugene Hutz who said Gogol Bordello runs into the same problems with purists, like the band is either too gypsy or not gypsy enough.
NM:
Right, right.
EB:
Has Flogging Molly experienced that as well?
NM:
Eugene’s from the Ukraine, you know, and he very much understands that culture and that culture is a big part of who he is. It’s very much the same for Dave our singer -- he’s born and raised in Dublin, he’s very much a Dubliner, that’s his culture and that’s something that means a lot to him. So I can totally relate and understand Dave having those feelings… Or Eugene having those feelings. But I’d be lying if I said that I did. I remember the first gig in Ireland, we played a pub in Dublin and I just approached it like I do every gig. It's like, I'm up here to rock the fuck out and move people. So I don’t think about that.
EB:
No hecklers in the audience yelling at you to go home?
NM:
Yeah, I guess I don’t have that cultural pressure. I’m a mutt from South L.A. I’ve got Irish blood in me and I’m as proud of that as my Mexican blood and my Polish blood. I love all the cultures. I never was raised with a certain culture. My parents didn’t instill in me, “This is your ancestry, be proud” but just, “You’re a human being, be proud.”
EB:
Has there ever been any moments where people expect everyone in the band to have Irish accents? [Laughs]
NM:
Oh yeah, for sure. What used to happen a lot is that people would hear an Irish accent, like I would be talking to someone and they’d say, “Where are you from?” And I’d say, “L.A.” And they’d say, “Well how come you have an Irish accent?” [Laughs] I’d be sitting there right next to a friend of mine and we’d just start laughing like, “Are you fucking joking me? I don’t have an Irish accent.” But people will have their preconceived notion of who you are and they’re gonna roll with it no matter what you say or do. You can’t really trip on that, you know? Just let 'em go with it. What’s fun too, and this happens actually more frequently these days, is I’ll be talking to people and they’ll find out I'm in Flogging Molly and they’ll put on a real thick Irish accent [laughs].
EB:
Really? [Laughs]
NM:
And I know an Irish accent when I hear one [laughs] and it’s like, “Okay, so where you from? Denver?” [Laughs]
EB:
They’re just really getting into the vibe, I guess.
NM:
Yeah, and once again, for me when someone does that it’s like an honor. Somehow you’re giving them spirit and inspiring them to be goofy and Irish. The Irish culture is a great culture. It’s a working class culture. It’s a culture of people who have been oppressed and really done great things through adversity. And the Irish people these days are, I mean we have a song on the new album called “(No more) Paddy's Lament” and it’s basically Dave’s homage to the fact that, “Hey, let’s not cry about the old days anymore because we’re doing pretty fucking good.” So there’s a lot well-deserved pride in the Irish culture. It’s a beautiful culture and beautiful people. And the thing about it is, the Irish have suffered some of the worst tribulations of any culture. Irish were sent to the Caribbean as slaves, as well as Africans. So that goes across the board with other cultures -- people oppress other people. It’s a sick part of -- I wouldn’t say civilization -- but humanity and so that chord relates to people. If you’re Irish and you’re really passionate about your Irish heritage, that’s an obvious thing. But it’s the same if you’re from any place that has been oppressed… [even] from Detroit… a working class autoworker… you can relate to the struggle.
EB:
How do you guys strike the balance between old and new world sounds in your music? It has all these traditional elements but it’s also totally on the pulse of what’s going on today…
NM:
I think it just comes naturally. I really don’t see us as preconceiving our sound. You have seven individuals from seven different backgrounds and we come together under a focus of Dave’s songs and he has a talent to write songs that you can just sink your teeth into and your soul into and all of us just kind of do our thing. Obviously the main point, the crux, is Dave and his songs. And then we just kind of fall into place and do our thing and I think because of the fact that we’re all coming from different places and our music collections are very diverse and different from each other, and our tastes are different, I think it creates a fresh new sound, even though Dave himself is reading Yeats and is being inspired by the Irish past and culture and literature. It’s as important as modern events and modern culture and what’s happening right now. I think with that combination, it just creates what I consider really unique music.
EB:
Well, being such a touring band, you guys interact with your audience a lot and really have an opportunity to build a loyal fan base and connect with them. In another interview you talked about how, what you want is for people to leave your shows feeling uplifted and have a positive release. Do you get that sense when you get to meet fans after a show?
NM:
Yeah, I really do. I can’t say how moved I am and how blessed I’ve been to be part of something… I can tell you I’ve had conversations with people that have said, “Your music has directly helped me through the loss of my son.”
EB:
Wow.
NM:
Or, “My wife is going through chemo and dying of cancer and we put on your albums together and it brings us peace.” That is… uh… I get a little choked up even thinking about it. You know? The reward is unbelievable… but that’s what the world needs right now. There’s so much conflict and so much confusion, for people to just unplug from the fucking grid and the fucking matrix and the fucking news channels and all this propaganda bullshit and lies that we’re forced with everyday, and just be real, be amongst other human beings from different walks of life, listen to music, dancing, celebrating, sweating, drinking, fighting, fucking -- whatever they have to do, but just real. It’s human connection. And of course I’d prefer them dancing and makin’ love to fighting but [laughs] I think the world needs that release. If you want to play music strictly for yourself, I respect that. I guess I don’t really relate to that because for me, music and art is something to be shared. Maybe it doesn’t even exist unless someone else experiences it, you know?
EB:
It’s kind of a communal thing.
NM:
Yeah, exactly! Communal, that’s perfect. Once again, I’m sure that there are people out there that it makes perfect sense for them to play on their own and that brings them a self-peace and I totally respect that. But for me, music has always brought me out of the darkness. It’s always been such a big part of my life. So when I decided that I was going to dedicate my life to music, that’s what I wanted to dedicate my life to. What music has done for me is what I want to do for other people. I can say completely that our fans that love Flogging Molly and have supported us, they are crucial to my life and how it is now. I wouldn’t be able to support my family doing what I love if it wasn’t for these great fans. And not only that, but throughout the years many of these great fans have become close friends of mine and have enhanced my life through their life and turned me on to things and turned me on to music and ideas and movies and books so its very much reciprocated. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
For more information and tour dates go to www.floggingmolly.com
For more information and tour dates go to www.floggingmolly.com
