Canadian rockers Danko Jones were making their way across the world touring and promoting their excellent album We Sweat Blood (released Jan 2004 - Bad Taste Records) when I managed to interrupt their hectic schedule....
******************************************************************************
BRIT: You're in Australia at the moment, how are you finding it?
DANKO: Just got back actually. I'm still a bit jet lagged but it was well worth the trip. We went during their "Fall" season but being from Canada it was still quite warm. The audiences were great! Any place that yields Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, and Nick Cave is well worth checking out.
BRIT: You have an extremely gruelling tour schedule this summer including venue and outdoor festival gigs. Which do you prefer and which country is your favourite to play?
DANKO: Not gruelling enough! I like it all but playing outdoors in the rain does suck. While the clubs are more intimate and can get more intense, outdoor shows have way more people and that's intense too. They kind of balance each other out.
As far as favourite places? I like playing wherever there is a stage, anywhere in the world. Being onstage is the most comfortable place in the world for me other than my bedroom. But if I have to choose it would probably be; Sweden, Holland, Japan, Spain and Germany.
BRIT: Touring so often you must be on top of one another a lot - touring and travelling - do you ever fall out?
DANKO: Do you mean sleeping in bunks on tour buses? Not really. I always take the bottom bunk. It's easier to get in, more headroom and the noise of the bus down there puts me to sleep faster.
BRIT: A lot of your songs are showing yourself as a bit of a laydeee lover, is this the real Danko Jones too?
DANKO: Every song in Rock and Roll sung by guys is about girls, whether it's a girl you see that you think is hot, or a girl you're going out with and you're in love, or a girl you were going out with and she dumped you -every Outkast song, every Sam Cooke song, every Kiss song. As far as me personally, I've only had compliments in that department, but I'm not one to brag.
BRIT: Quoting one of your songs, do you still think that if you want know how to play the blues then you have to get yourself a woman?
DANKO: YES and YES! Richard Pryor once said that in order to become a man you must get your heartbroken. I believe this to be true. After I got over a couple of heartbreaks I saw life through new eyes. For men, it's one of life's rituals. I can read people a whole lot better now too. But I can't speak for women. I only know of things through a guy's point of view.
BRIT: Are all your lyrics derived from personal experiences?
DANKO: Most definitely yes!!! We have a song called "Love Is Unkind" and I wrote those lyrics while I was going through a break up with someone about 5 years ago. We have a song called "Heartbreak's A Blessing" and that too was written during another break up. We have a song incidentally called "Suicide Woman" which is about an old girlfriend of mine. It was only
after we had recorded that song that I found out about the Suicide Girls. But I think you guys are a lot nicer.
BRIT: Kerrang! voted 'Dance' single of the week, how did that recognition make you feel?
DANKO: I love it. It's kind of full circle for me. When I was getting into music I used to buy import copies of Kerrang magazine back in Toronto and now I get a kick that we're in it. But after that I try not to think about shit like that too much. It's better to keep your head down and your nose to the grindstone.
BRIT: You rate word of mouth above advertising, and I have to admit it was how I came across you, in a world so saturated by advertising and market research why do you place such importance on personal recommendations?
DANKO: You would trust your friend who tells you to go check something out over an anonymous corporate ad, at least I would. And these days how many "Alternative" Major Label bands, who buy the right trucker hat, wear the right jeans and wear the right Band t-shirts are there? TOO MANY. A closer look at these bands usually yields NO BACK CATALOGUE, no history. These are bands created in an executive board room not in some garage. You never hear the term "Paid Our Dues" because no one does anymore.
Download these fucking bands to death. Or get us to open for them and then we'll see if they can follow that.
BRIT: What's on your stereo at the moment?
DANKO: C. Aarme - S/T, Hyprocrisy - The Arrival, Dimension Zero - Silent Night Fever, Blonde Redhead - Misery Is A Butterfly, Ron Sexsmith - Cobblestone Runway, Nevermore - Enemies Of Reality, Death Angel The Art Of Dying, Kataklysm - Serenity In Fire, Brant Bjork - Keep Your Cool
BRIT: When did you decide you wanted to be a rock star?
DANKO: I don't consider myself a musician or a rock star. I consider myself a performer and I've wanted to perform in front of people in a rock band since I was 6 years old when I joined the Kiss Army.
BRIT: In typical SG fashion name 5 things you couldn't live without
DANKO: Music and Sex. You can keep the other three.
BRIT: And finally what do you think of the Suicide Girls?
DANKO: Like I mentioned earlier I only heard of you after we released our 2002 album, "Born A Lion" with a song called "Suicide Woman". But the site is fantastic and I was able to oogle at some Suicide Girls at SXSW this year, and of course the Probot video with Lemmy and Wino. I think Suicide Girls are hot.
You can check out Danko Jones on their homepage or the website for the radio show Danko does out of Stockholm, Sweden on 95.3 FM - It's called THE MAGICAL WORLD OF ROCK WITH DANKO JONES and all the old shows have been archived and available for all to hear at: www.themagicalworldofrock.com
**************************************
Laters gaters.glad you enjoyed the set
xb
******************************************************************************
BRIT: You're in Australia at the moment, how are you finding it?
DANKO: Just got back actually. I'm still a bit jet lagged but it was well worth the trip. We went during their "Fall" season but being from Canada it was still quite warm. The audiences were great! Any place that yields Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, and Nick Cave is well worth checking out.
BRIT: You have an extremely gruelling tour schedule this summer including venue and outdoor festival gigs. Which do you prefer and which country is your favourite to play?
DANKO: Not gruelling enough! I like it all but playing outdoors in the rain does suck. While the clubs are more intimate and can get more intense, outdoor shows have way more people and that's intense too. They kind of balance each other out.
As far as favourite places? I like playing wherever there is a stage, anywhere in the world. Being onstage is the most comfortable place in the world for me other than my bedroom. But if I have to choose it would probably be; Sweden, Holland, Japan, Spain and Germany.
BRIT: Touring so often you must be on top of one another a lot - touring and travelling - do you ever fall out?
DANKO: Do you mean sleeping in bunks on tour buses? Not really. I always take the bottom bunk. It's easier to get in, more headroom and the noise of the bus down there puts me to sleep faster.
BRIT: A lot of your songs are showing yourself as a bit of a laydeee lover, is this the real Danko Jones too?
DANKO: Every song in Rock and Roll sung by guys is about girls, whether it's a girl you see that you think is hot, or a girl you're going out with and you're in love, or a girl you were going out with and she dumped you -every Outkast song, every Sam Cooke song, every Kiss song. As far as me personally, I've only had compliments in that department, but I'm not one to brag.
BRIT: Quoting one of your songs, do you still think that if you want know how to play the blues then you have to get yourself a woman?
DANKO: YES and YES! Richard Pryor once said that in order to become a man you must get your heartbroken. I believe this to be true. After I got over a couple of heartbreaks I saw life through new eyes. For men, it's one of life's rituals. I can read people a whole lot better now too. But I can't speak for women. I only know of things through a guy's point of view.
BRIT: Are all your lyrics derived from personal experiences?
DANKO: Most definitely yes!!! We have a song called "Love Is Unkind" and I wrote those lyrics while I was going through a break up with someone about 5 years ago. We have a song called "Heartbreak's A Blessing" and that too was written during another break up. We have a song incidentally called "Suicide Woman" which is about an old girlfriend of mine. It was only
after we had recorded that song that I found out about the Suicide Girls. But I think you guys are a lot nicer.
BRIT: Kerrang! voted 'Dance' single of the week, how did that recognition make you feel?
DANKO: I love it. It's kind of full circle for me. When I was getting into music I used to buy import copies of Kerrang magazine back in Toronto and now I get a kick that we're in it. But after that I try not to think about shit like that too much. It's better to keep your head down and your nose to the grindstone.
BRIT: You rate word of mouth above advertising, and I have to admit it was how I came across you, in a world so saturated by advertising and market research why do you place such importance on personal recommendations?
DANKO: You would trust your friend who tells you to go check something out over an anonymous corporate ad, at least I would. And these days how many "Alternative" Major Label bands, who buy the right trucker hat, wear the right jeans and wear the right Band t-shirts are there? TOO MANY. A closer look at these bands usually yields NO BACK CATALOGUE, no history. These are bands created in an executive board room not in some garage. You never hear the term "Paid Our Dues" because no one does anymore.
Download these fucking bands to death. Or get us to open for them and then we'll see if they can follow that.
BRIT: What's on your stereo at the moment?
DANKO: C. Aarme - S/T, Hyprocrisy - The Arrival, Dimension Zero - Silent Night Fever, Blonde Redhead - Misery Is A Butterfly, Ron Sexsmith - Cobblestone Runway, Nevermore - Enemies Of Reality, Death Angel The Art Of Dying, Kataklysm - Serenity In Fire, Brant Bjork - Keep Your Cool
BRIT: When did you decide you wanted to be a rock star?
DANKO: I don't consider myself a musician or a rock star. I consider myself a performer and I've wanted to perform in front of people in a rock band since I was 6 years old when I joined the Kiss Army.
BRIT: In typical SG fashion name 5 things you couldn't live without
DANKO: Music and Sex. You can keep the other three.
BRIT: And finally what do you think of the Suicide Girls?
DANKO: Like I mentioned earlier I only heard of you after we released our 2002 album, "Born A Lion" with a song called "Suicide Woman". But the site is fantastic and I was able to oogle at some Suicide Girls at SXSW this year, and of course the Probot video with Lemmy and Wino. I think Suicide Girls are hot.
You can check out Danko Jones on their homepage or the website for the radio show Danko does out of Stockholm, Sweden on 95.3 FM - It's called THE MAGICAL WORLD OF ROCK WITH DANKO JONES and all the old shows have been archived and available for all to hear at: www.themagicalworldofrock.com
**************************************
Laters gaters.glad you enjoyed the set
xb
you seriously can do no wrong.