Mix that with a less metal sound of Guns N Roses and have that vibe of a strong, gritty, bad ass rock that was about something real. That's where I was coming from. Bo is much more into the punk stuff. He introduced me to the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, and The Dead Boys, who are a punk band out of Cleveland that I love. So Bo brought a lot of that punk feel. Alex was in a punk band that sounded like the Dead Kennedys when he first started playing music in high school, but he's also into classic blues. He kind of meshed that together and it sounds like New York Dolls. We have a situation where you have three different writers that come from different backgrounds that meet in the middle to push and pull each others ideas.
DDR: We see bands that are doing that now where they mix genres to produce a new sound. Do you think that is the new frontier of music, mixing genres?
SS: That's an interesting question. I think more people are trying more experimental stuff. My personal opinion is when anyone puts 'core' at the end of describing their band like metal-core or scream-core, I immediately shut off and stop listening. It's something that everyone's trying to find. That new sound. Aerosmith in the 70's had it and they migrated away from it. Whether they matured out of it and got older, got richer, or for whatever reason. Guns N Roses fizzled out before they really hit their stride after Appetite for Destruction. I also believe in writing about experiences that are real and that you have lived through.
DDR: That's true. Most people can tell if you have written from experience rather than had someone hand you lyrics and asked you to put music to it, especially when performing live. It's in the energy you put off with that song and how you carry it.
SS: That's a good point and I have actually brought it up a few times in interviews. It's the dynamic that we have on stage. I think it adds to the experience. We have been told that we look like we have a lot of inside jokes on stage and honestly it's just because we will look at each other while performing a certain song and we all know the ridiculous situation behind it. These are stories of things that actually happened in our lives. Like '151', that was probably the root cause of creating and taking shape of the rest of the songs on this album. When we wrote '151', we were not really even a band at that point. We were out partying and we were drinking 151 because it was cheap and easy and we could get one bottle and everyone got smashed. We were mixing it with Dr. Pepper at the time, which tasted awful, but we called it jet fuel. It was this hard,dark thing that tasted like sludge and it would mess you up. We thought we were tough drinking it, well, we MUST have thought we were tough because at some point in the night, 'Night Train' came on and we started playing around singing different lyrics to 'Night Train'. We thought we were hilarious and everyone around us thought we were hilarious and I'm sure it was augmented by what we were getting ourselves into that night, but it kept coming up with people asking for the 151 song. After a while, we starting working out on the guitar where it sounded pretty damn close and then we would have friends of ours shout it out at shows because they were at the parties before the shows and they knew what was going on. Eventually we figured we should make it its own song. So we mashed it around so it didn't sound like a Weird Al Yankovic version of 'Night Train'.
DDR: (laughing) Another song I wanted to talk to you about was 'Welcome to Boston'. That song has enjoyed success as well and being played at sporting events, correct?
SS: Yes, the New England Patriots have played it religiously every game and I actually sang the National Anthem at one of the games last year. There is something really cool about hearing your song play while you are in the stands with thousands of people.
DDR: After doing this for awhile and hearing people react and get into your music, how does that make you feel?
SS: Having your song echoing through a stadium and thinking this is something WE did and hearing people cheer for it, or even when we opened up the tour with Pretty Reckless and Adelitas Way, they were singing the songs back to us. I don't think that is something you ever really get used to. It's just like WOW, how the hell did I get myself into this situation? Another thing that has helped this band, and we have gone to great lengths, is removing people that do not fit this mold. All of us are ex-atheletes of team sports and we understood that the quarterback carries his gear the same way an offensive lineman does. You don't put yourself above anyone else and we are able to confront each other with criticism. We all had coaches yelling at us when we were young and most of the time it wasn't what you were doing right, it was more of what you were doing wrong. I am actually more comfortable hearing what we can improve on than hearing everyone say Oh my God it's so great and things like that. I don't want to be surrounded by yes men who will tell me how great it is, and nothing bad. I know there's bad stuff out there(laughing). I hear my voice on the album and I'm happy with it, but I always picture someone that I've put up on a pedestal like Robert Plant or Steven Tyler and thinking that they could kill that note so much better. It's good to be happy with what you have done, but think of ways to improve and be better next time. You can look a the successful people out there, regardless of what it is, and you see that they are successful because they don't let anyone work harder than they do. I always impress that on the guys in the band and there is a level of respect and trust and I think that's why we work so well together.
DDR: As I understand, your debut album was comprised of music that you guys have been playing for awhile. Can you tell me why you chose to record those songs instead of new material?