The Damned Things: We Got a Situation Here
26-Sep-2011
Words: Brian Fischer-Giffin
Latest release: Ironiclast (Universal)
Website: www.thedamnedthings.com
The word "supergroup" gets bandied about almost every time some bunch of reasonable notable musicians get together for so much as a jam, but when those musicians are drawn from metal gods Anthrax, metalcore heroes Every Time I Die and one of the biggest rock acts of the last decade in the shape of Fall Out Boy, it seems appropriate. What may be less obvious is how well such a combination would work, but as they proved with last year's 70s-rock inspired Ironiclast, the disparate mix has proven to be a winner. The band -- featuring Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano of Anthrax, Every Time I Die's Keith Buckley and Josh Newton and Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy -- is about to wind down as two thirds of the line-up go back to their day jobs, but not before they tour Australia with Counter Revolution, as guitarist Trohman explains.
Q: We almost didn't get to see you here.
A: I know man. I was fuckin' bummed out. It felt like we were cursed to a degree. You know, we were supposed to play... it's funny because before Australia we were originally supposed to go play Loudpark in Japan. Obviously Japan got hit really really hard with the earthquake and they shortened the Loudpark festival down to one day and we got bumped off of it. We were like, ok, whatever, that's a valid reason. But we get to play Australia, and Soundwave gets fucking cancelled and we're like, Jesus fuckin' Christ! Are you serious? So we did try to plan just a tour, because the promoters still wanted us to tour there and they were still going to pay us the same, and then, bless their hearts, they put on Counter Revolution.
Q: It's been a big year for you guys. You also did the Jagermeister tour last year, which must have been a lot of fun.
A: Yeah, that was really cool. And then we went on tour with Volbeat and we did some cool European tours and then we did a headliner with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. There's been a lot of tours this year.It's been a lot of fun and the reception to the band has been surprising... positively, so it's been good. You always expect the worst and hope for the best, and so far it's been really rad. So it's been a real pleasure doing this band.
Q: When you say surprising, I guess it is a surprising mix of bands, perhaps some that people wouldn't think should be altogether.
A: Totally. I think as is gets so well said, it sounds better than it would look on paper. I get it. It looks pretty fuckin' strange on paper. It's a weird mixture of dudes. But it's hard for people to imagine guys in certain bands... people seem to believe that, I don't know, the singer from Coldplay only listens to Coldplay, or something like... well that's probably a shitty example. But guys from a certain genre, like guys from metal bands only listen to metal, guys in punk bands only listen to punk. That's not really true. Ever. It's never true. Also I think the weirdest part of the mixture was me and Andy being in the band. Some people know our background, and some people do not know our background at all, but they hear the record and it makes a little more sense to them.
Q: So how did you get to meet up with Scott in the first place?
A: He was introduced to me through a mutual friend, and I was... not reluctant to go, apprehensive. Because I think it's like a really bad idea to meet people who've influenced you or who you've admired because you risk having your idea of them shattered. It's like, I really admire that person but what if I meet them and they're a real dick and make me feel like a dick and I can never listen to their record again? I live in the West Village in New York and there are definitely some big movie stars around and once in a while you'll seem some real movie stars around. But you never say "Hi" to them, because it's really retarded. People say to me, "Did you say 'hi' to this guy?" and I'm like, "Why? What the fuck would you get out of it?" It's retarded. Like, wha t if they're a dick to you and you can't watch their movies ever again? It's stupid. So that's kinda the attitude I had about meeting Scott. In fact, I didn't want to! But I just thought, fuck it, I'm gonna go... my friend's gonna be there... I'll eat the food. I'm a respectful guy. I'm not one who freaks out about meeting anybody, so if worse comes to worst, I'll just be a fly on the wall. And we got there, and Scott and I hit it off great. It was awesome. And we got along very well and I could see past the Scotty from Anthrax to see just Scott, an awesome dude. So we started talking about music and favourite albums and stuff, and I was kinda drunk enough to bring up what I'd been working on on my own, and he was drunk enough to say he was interested. And, I guess, not that drunk... he was actually interested! We got together a couple of days later and jammed and I played him all this stuff, and he was so into it and I was so into it that we just kept working at it.
Q: It's been a busy year for Scott then. He's just finally got this Anthrax album together and he's become a dad and there's all this roadwork you've been doing. You're just a bunch of busy guys.
A: Yeah, well we're all pretty busy dudes. I just think, like, essentially you have to be. Especially when you're a musician. There's no like, taking a break. You think about the guys who are taking a break. They're like... Robert Plant. Who doesn't even take a break either to a degree. There's guys in all these seminal bands who are able to take a real break. I am in my late 20s. If I was taking a break, it would be fucking retarded. Scott keeps himself busy all the time. I don't really get how he does it, but he does it. I think having a kid is probably going to make him have to take it a little easier, which I don't think he'll have a problem with. Every one, Keith, Josh, Rob, Andy, everyone's busy. We're all working on other stuff as well as Damned Things and I just think that if you're a working musician, that's just the way it goes.
Q: And of course Josh and Keith are going to be busy because they're touring here with Every Time I Die as well.
A: Josh and Keith have to stay in Australia through us being there, they're just going to go right back out on tour. Those guys are doing double duty. It was almost like when we were doing Soundwave Revolution, they were going to be playing two shows every day. That would have been crazier.
Q: What happens to the band after Counter Revolution?
A: Well as you know, Every Time I Die is putting out a new record, Anthrax is like two steps away from it. I think in some places it may have already been released. So they're all going to be really busy. The Damned Things will be... it's funny because I'll be in two bands that are on hiatus. We'll be on ice for a bit, but it'll pick up again when Anthrax and Every Time I Die slow down again. But it's cool because we'll be on the same record cycle, so it'll be pretty powerful for us to pick it up and get into it again. We're very much planning on it anyway. We want to get in and make another record and keep doing it. But... I keep bringing up one example that comes to mind: A Perfect Circle exists in between TOOL and other bands. That's a band that can exist only in between other bands, but they exist as a real band. So I'd like to think that's what we are and what we will do. I don't like making promises I can't keep and I also like to work pretty hard and I don't like to half-ass things and I don't want to just do this one band as a one-record thing. I want to do something that people will enjoy. If people didn't like it, it would be just like, whatever, be fully ignored, it would just be easier to walk away because nobody would know you're walking away. But it would be harder to walk away from this and never do it again. Because people sort of expect something else, it seems like.
Q: It must be a real release for you too to be able to go out there and do something totally different from what you've been doing before.
A: Oh it's a total release for me. It's incredible. It's also given me this want to do more and more, so that when the Damned Things are on break I want to do another band. Doing bands and making records has made me realise that, like, back in the 60s and 70s it was so much more common to just like do bands and put out records all the time. It's like, to be in the one band for a long time is amazing and it's excellent to be able to do that, but it's even better to go out and do another one and it makes you want to go out and do more and get better at creating new stuff. And that's fuckin' rad!
source
Words: Brian Fischer-Giffin
Latest release: Ironiclast (Universal)
Website: www.thedamnedthings.com
The word "supergroup" gets bandied about almost every time some bunch of reasonable notable musicians get together for so much as a jam, but when those musicians are drawn from metal gods Anthrax, metalcore heroes Every Time I Die and one of the biggest rock acts of the last decade in the shape of Fall Out Boy, it seems appropriate. What may be less obvious is how well such a combination would work, but as they proved with last year's 70s-rock inspired Ironiclast, the disparate mix has proven to be a winner. The band -- featuring Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano of Anthrax, Every Time I Die's Keith Buckley and Josh Newton and Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy -- is about to wind down as two thirds of the line-up go back to their day jobs, but not before they tour Australia with Counter Revolution, as guitarist Trohman explains.
Q: We almost didn't get to see you here.
A: I know man. I was fuckin' bummed out. It felt like we were cursed to a degree. You know, we were supposed to play... it's funny because before Australia we were originally supposed to go play Loudpark in Japan. Obviously Japan got hit really really hard with the earthquake and they shortened the Loudpark festival down to one day and we got bumped off of it. We were like, ok, whatever, that's a valid reason. But we get to play Australia, and Soundwave gets fucking cancelled and we're like, Jesus fuckin' Christ! Are you serious? So we did try to plan just a tour, because the promoters still wanted us to tour there and they were still going to pay us the same, and then, bless their hearts, they put on Counter Revolution.
Q: It's been a big year for you guys. You also did the Jagermeister tour last year, which must have been a lot of fun.
A: Yeah, that was really cool. And then we went on tour with Volbeat and we did some cool European tours and then we did a headliner with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. There's been a lot of tours this year.It's been a lot of fun and the reception to the band has been surprising... positively, so it's been good. You always expect the worst and hope for the best, and so far it's been really rad. So it's been a real pleasure doing this band.
Q: When you say surprising, I guess it is a surprising mix of bands, perhaps some that people wouldn't think should be altogether.
A: Totally. I think as is gets so well said, it sounds better than it would look on paper. I get it. It looks pretty fuckin' strange on paper. It's a weird mixture of dudes. But it's hard for people to imagine guys in certain bands... people seem to believe that, I don't know, the singer from Coldplay only listens to Coldplay, or something like... well that's probably a shitty example. But guys from a certain genre, like guys from metal bands only listen to metal, guys in punk bands only listen to punk. That's not really true. Ever. It's never true. Also I think the weirdest part of the mixture was me and Andy being in the band. Some people know our background, and some people do not know our background at all, but they hear the record and it makes a little more sense to them.
Q: So how did you get to meet up with Scott in the first place?
A: He was introduced to me through a mutual friend, and I was... not reluctant to go, apprehensive. Because I think it's like a really bad idea to meet people who've influenced you or who you've admired because you risk having your idea of them shattered. It's like, I really admire that person but what if I meet them and they're a real dick and make me feel like a dick and I can never listen to their record again? I live in the West Village in New York and there are definitely some big movie stars around and once in a while you'll seem some real movie stars around. But you never say "Hi" to them, because it's really retarded. People say to me, "Did you say 'hi' to this guy?" and I'm like, "Why? What the fuck would you get out of it?" It's retarded. Like, wha t if they're a dick to you and you can't watch their movies ever again? It's stupid. So that's kinda the attitude I had about meeting Scott. In fact, I didn't want to! But I just thought, fuck it, I'm gonna go... my friend's gonna be there... I'll eat the food. I'm a respectful guy. I'm not one who freaks out about meeting anybody, so if worse comes to worst, I'll just be a fly on the wall. And we got there, and Scott and I hit it off great. It was awesome. And we got along very well and I could see past the Scotty from Anthrax to see just Scott, an awesome dude. So we started talking about music and favourite albums and stuff, and I was kinda drunk enough to bring up what I'd been working on on my own, and he was drunk enough to say he was interested. And, I guess, not that drunk... he was actually interested! We got together a couple of days later and jammed and I played him all this stuff, and he was so into it and I was so into it that we just kept working at it.
Q: It's been a busy year for Scott then. He's just finally got this Anthrax album together and he's become a dad and there's all this roadwork you've been doing. You're just a bunch of busy guys.
A: Yeah, well we're all pretty busy dudes. I just think, like, essentially you have to be. Especially when you're a musician. There's no like, taking a break. You think about the guys who are taking a break. They're like... Robert Plant. Who doesn't even take a break either to a degree. There's guys in all these seminal bands who are able to take a real break. I am in my late 20s. If I was taking a break, it would be fucking retarded. Scott keeps himself busy all the time. I don't really get how he does it, but he does it. I think having a kid is probably going to make him have to take it a little easier, which I don't think he'll have a problem with. Every one, Keith, Josh, Rob, Andy, everyone's busy. We're all working on other stuff as well as Damned Things and I just think that if you're a working musician, that's just the way it goes.
Q: And of course Josh and Keith are going to be busy because they're touring here with Every Time I Die as well.
A: Josh and Keith have to stay in Australia through us being there, they're just going to go right back out on tour. Those guys are doing double duty. It was almost like when we were doing Soundwave Revolution, they were going to be playing two shows every day. That would have been crazier.
Q: What happens to the band after Counter Revolution?
A: Well as you know, Every Time I Die is putting out a new record, Anthrax is like two steps away from it. I think in some places it may have already been released. So they're all going to be really busy. The Damned Things will be... it's funny because I'll be in two bands that are on hiatus. We'll be on ice for a bit, but it'll pick up again when Anthrax and Every Time I Die slow down again. But it's cool because we'll be on the same record cycle, so it'll be pretty powerful for us to pick it up and get into it again. We're very much planning on it anyway. We want to get in and make another record and keep doing it. But... I keep bringing up one example that comes to mind: A Perfect Circle exists in between TOOL and other bands. That's a band that can exist only in between other bands, but they exist as a real band. So I'd like to think that's what we are and what we will do. I don't like making promises I can't keep and I also like to work pretty hard and I don't like to half-ass things and I don't want to just do this one band as a one-record thing. I want to do something that people will enjoy. If people didn't like it, it would be just like, whatever, be fully ignored, it would just be easier to walk away because nobody would know you're walking away. But it would be harder to walk away from this and never do it again. Because people sort of expect something else, it seems like.
Q: It must be a real release for you too to be able to go out there and do something totally different from what you've been doing before.
A: Oh it's a total release for me. It's incredible. It's also given me this want to do more and more, so that when the Damned Things are on break I want to do another band. Doing bands and making records has made me realise that, like, back in the 60s and 70s it was so much more common to just like do bands and put out records all the time. It's like, to be in the one band for a long time is amazing and it's excellent to be able to do that, but it's even better to go out and do another one and it makes you want to go out and do more and get better at creating new stuff. And that's fuckin' rad!
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