The Dropkick Murphys latest tour made it's stop in Toronto on March 11, 2001. Hot on the heals of the release of their newest record "Sing Loud, Sing Proud" we caught up with singer, AL BARR, to talk about the new album, touring, and working class ethics among other things.
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DDT: Tiffany [zine dork] , DDE: Elya [zine dork], AL: Al Barr [dkm singer], SCTR: Scooter [merch man]
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DDT: Just for the record, state your name and what you do.
AL: My name is Al Barr and I am the singer, lead singer, of the Dropkick Murphys.
DDT: The tour has just started, but how does it feel to be on the road again?
AL: It's great. I mean, we did a week of acoustic like record store shows to promote the record, when the record came out. It's been amazing. This is our third show, tonight's already sold out and the last two nights were sold out as well, so we're really psyched. I mean it's a really good bill, you know I mean, Swingin' Utters, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, Reach the Sky. I attribute it to that.
DDT: So what keeps you focused on tour?
AL: Nothing. There is really nothing. You know at some point during the day you'll probably be on stage performing, but you got to kind of create your own focuses on tour because its really easy to just fall behind. Like with laundry and just hygiene and taking care of yourself and eating well.
[Scooter walks in]
AL: This is Scooter, ladies.
SCTR: Babes.
DD: Hey Scooter.
AL: Scooter is our merchandise king.
SCTR: Engineer.
AL: And also our heavy hitter. When we need anything taken care of he does it for us. You better put that in your interview.
SCTR: Yeah, print that.
DDT: We will. So do you bring anything to keep you occupied on the long rides?
AL: Pictures of my wife and my dog, my cell phone, CDs and a bottle of ether so I can pour it on my pillow and sleep forever…no that's not true! You try to minimize what you bring because you end up acquiring so much especially on a two month tour like we're going right now. Just like your bare toiletries, very important, tooth brush, soap, using soap is also key…
DDE: Deodorant.
AL: Deodorant, exactly. I got to make a break for that eventually. Mouth wash, mouth wash is a commodity. However, Scope is just not, Listerine is where you want to go. Scope is just not tough. Listerine makes your mouth burn.
SCTR: [holding a bottle of Scope] Hey I only had two dollars all right.
AL: I don't want to hear the excuses!
DDT: So 'Sing Loud, Sing Proud' is the name of your new CD, describe it and what it means to you.
AL: The band always had a repetoire with our audience in terms of
sing alongs, so this record it just kind of made sense to title it you know
'Sing Loud, Sing Proud'. The title's just kind of self explanatory. No matter
how you sound, no matter how bad you sound or how good you sound sing loud,
sing proud! You know it was funny, we did the acoustic tour and there were
a couple of nights where we did 'Amazing Grace' acoustically with the bagpipes
and we just had the crowd singing along with Kenny. And in New York there
was this one girl in the front row who was like opera woman. She just like
started singing and we were like, 'Oh my god', it was wild. It was like sing
loud, sing proud you know. God I was like 'can you come on the road with
us, we could use a back up singer'.
DDT: So how did you hook up with Shane MacGowan, and how was that experience for you?
AL: Well, it was a wild experience. I mean, it was an amazing experience to obviously just have someone like Shane MacGowan on your record. We've been trying to get in touch with him for a while and he's a hard man to find. They run a real lose ship over there at the MacGowan camp, but we got a hold of him when he was playing a pub on Boston that friends if Ken's own. Kenny called 'em up and said, 'we played with you at the swa festival. You probably don't remember', he remember the name and he remembered the band and he didn't remember almost getting into a fight with Kenny, that's good. And he said, 'bring the booze and meet me in New York City and I'll sing a little bit'. And that's what he did. It was awesome, we were very fortunate to have him on the record.
DDT: Yeah, that must have been amazing. So how do you feel your playing style has evolved over the years…well singing in your case?
AL: I find its easier for me to sing the longer tours we do because the vocals are like a muscle, you know. In term of evolvement I don't know, I mean...evolve…I kind of see like that man map of the monkey to the ape to the man. And if I think of us like that it's like, 'jeeze were we ever that bad?', but maybe we were. I guess you just build a repore with your band mates and you play a lot of shows and stuff.
DDT: Well, you've been in the scene for a while now. So, how did you first get into punk rock?
AL: I've been…you were 2 years…no, no you weren't even…I've been singing in band for 18 years so 2 years before you were born I was singing in bands already. So, yes I have been in the scene for a little while. I'd probably say fell down some stairs, but that's not true. I mean like 8th grade I was listening to a bunch of the classic rock you know Stones, Zepplin, Hendrix and you know I heard The Clash one time. I think a friend of mine or something played 'London Calling' for me and I went out and bought the record and started getting into the Ramones and you know the kind of rock and roll punk stuff. Then I started…I met a guy who got me into the hardcore stuff, you know Bad Brains, Fear, Wasted Youth and Circle Jerk and all the like LA punk and 80's punk. So I was like 14 years old when I first heard my first punk rock, I was just a little kid. But in any even that's how it happened.
DDT: All right. So how do you feel punk has changed from when you first got into it to what it is today?
AL: Hmm…good question. It's not even a matter of how it's changed,
it's just completely different. Because when I was a kid you couldn't go
to the mall and get 'punk' clothes. I'm not in any was putting it down for
what it has become. I'm just saying that it was like where there was no
availability in terms of clothing stores and record stores didn't carry punk.
You had to really seek out and trade with people over the mail. It just wasn't
like it is today. In its inception punk was always supposed to be a small
thing. It wasn't supposed to be selling millions of records. I'm not saying
that I'm against what it's become, I'm just making note of what it was and
what it is now. You know, I mean when I was a kid, 20 kids at a show was
a great turn out, you know what I mean. Hall show, 20 kids, wow it was great.
I saw GBH the first time with 20 kids, it was a great show, I got kicked
in the face. It think that, if you want to call it punk or whatever, you
have these bands under the monarchy of punk selling millions of records,
which is good for them, but it was never supposed to be for the masses. It
was never supposed to be a cog that fit in the wheel that is the music industry.
It was never supposed to be like that. I was always supposed to be grossing
out the music industry in its inception. So I just think what it started
off being and what it is now, is completely different. So, it ain't the same,
but that's okay cause things change.
DDT: How do you think it'll be in the future? Worse than it is now or better?
AL: You know it seems to be growing. I think what's happening now is, for lack of better way to describe it, you have like a cross the board people listening to punk music that also listen to hip hop music that also listen to…you know what I mean
DDT: Yeah, all that dance and shi..
AL: Yeah, dance music. It's like 'I like this, l like that' a real eclectic taste. But when I was growing up it was like squares go in the square box, circles go in the circle box,
DDT: Yeah, exactly.
AL: So, it was really segregated musically and taste wise. It was
even so much as like, in the 80's the hardcore kinds didn't party down with
the punk kids, because it was like the punk kids wore the spikes and the
mohawks and stuff. And the hardcore kids shaved their heads and wore the
Chuck Taylors, you know were pretty much starightedge, you know they didn't
fuck with the booze and stuff. So it was different and now its like…it's
not even…there's actually more cults now than ever. You got the vegan
starightedge, the emo. You got all the different cults, but it still seems
to be that a lot of these people say oh I'm emo, or I'm this I'm that, and
still listen to so many different kinds of music. When I was growing up I
only listened to punk, it was a fascist kind of thing. And I don't mean it
in a political way, I mean it in a way of like, 'you don't listen to…fuck
those guys' if they weren't going 1234 than it wasn't fast enough. If you
could understand what the guy was saying than get it the hell off the stereo
quick, you know what I mean, it was too melodic. Well, that was just me being
a kid.
DDT: The band seems to have a lot of ties to the working class themes and lyrics. How has growing up as a working class individual affected you and shaped your views, band, music and life?
AL: Well, it's shaped us in terms as its really given us an appreciation for where we've come to, because we started out…I never, ever. Before I started singing for the Murphys I had a band for 10 years before that, 17 line-up changes, some of the guys died, some of the guys…you know. I went though a lot with this band. I was in a couple of bands before that as well and to me it…I don't know…it's hard to say. Say the questions again. I'm having a real problem concentrating today, I really apologize.
DDT: How has growing up as a working class individual affected…
AL: Oh, ya right. So basically...I just get lost in my answers sometimes. To answer your question basically we all come from a working class background. Our parents all worked, we definitely sing what we know about. You know we'll have songs about our grandfathers experiences, third uncles experiences, you know somebody in the family who had had weaknesses, write a song about that as well. It's shaped is in the terms that where we come from we've all worked to get where we are and so we all have work ethic and we continue with that. And I think that it makes us appreciate where we are, nothings ever been handed to us. No one ever came along and said, 'oh, we're going to give you a million dollars because that one song you have was really good on the radio'. I've done over 400 shows with this band and I've been in the band just going on 3 year now.
DDT: So basically your lyrics come from your life experiences and your families experiences?
AL: Yeah, definitely. Cause we play, what I like to call, honest folk punk. We're right from the heart. We don't want to…we aren't going to tackle issues that we don't know anything about. Cause you know A. its probably going to come off very boring and B. when you do that and in an interview someone's an aficionado about the subject and they're like, 'so you have a song that involves the Vietnam war and men impregnating Vietnamese women. So what do you think of that?' and you'll be like, 'uh…I didn't write it. We just saw a movie and we thought it would be a good subject'. Then you look like an idiot, a jackass.
DDT: So you find it hard to make a living being in a band?
AL: It is rough, we're still just hand to mouth. This isn't our bus, we rent this bus. You come in these towns and people see the bus and people are like, 'oh my god, these guys have made it. They're millionaires'. We go on tour and that's when we make money, but when I say make money I mean we come back and we can pay our rents, you know I can give my wife some money to pay bills and stuff. It's still very hand to mouth. We are still living week to week. The more known you get people assume 'oh, you guys are rich'. Fame and fortune, and I'm not by any means saying we're famous, but in terms of being known it doesn't mean all of a sudden you get your wallet full of money.
DDT: Yeah, it's a big stereotype.
AL: Yeah, it would be nice, but it didn't happen.
DDT: So what would you say your definition of a 'punk rock' lifestyle is?
AL: There is no definition. I think everybody make their own definition of that. I think its up to the individual. I think there should be at least one thing in the punk rock lifestyle and that would just be honesty, integrity. I think every individual has to come to their own conclusion, especially in this day and age.
DDT: You have accomplished a lot in the Dropkick Murphys, but do you have any unaccomplished goals for the band?
AL: Well, its amazing we've gotten to tour the US several times, Europe several times, we've been to Australia, we've been to Japan. You know we're really lucky. We got to go all over the world and play to people and there are actually people who show up and know our music. I think as a band we try to have goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, yearly goals, but as far as having lists we want to accomplish we've pretty much taken it one day at a time. Because it's really overwhelming sometimes. That's why I'm such an idiot and sometimes I can't even think.
DDT: Do you hope to do this for the rest of your life?
AL: Yes, I do. Not necessarily…I mean it would be great if the Dropkick Murphys would last for a long time, but I think that's a little ideal thinking to think that any band would last forever. I think that the Rolling Stones already did that, so you know they're not going to let anyone else do that. They're hogging up all the light, you know what I mean. These bands that stay together for like 50 years, it's like come on how much money do you need. 'The last years Rolling Stones tour grossed even more than the last one' [said in a mimic of them]. It's like what? The guy owns three islands, I mean give me a break. I would like to always be involved in music for sure.
DDT: In one form or another.
AL: Yeah, in one form or another. I might be on the street singing with a hat in front of my feet, but at least I'd be singing.
DDT: Do you have any advice for kids out there who would like to start a band?
AL: Don't do it! No, just realize that it's a lot of work and none of it comes easy. You have to realize that and just be tenacious and keep doing it. Follow it through.
DDT: So do you have any last words you would like to add?
AL: Just I hope people enjoy the new record and I hope they get a chance to come out and see us on the road during this tour. Thank you for the interview.
DDT: No, thank you.
AL: No problem.
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