I know your music has incorporated several elements of country music and roots rock over the years. Can you tell me a little more about this influence? How did you get into the country thing and who are the artists you look up to in that space?
I wasn’t really huge on country when I was younger, but as soon as I got into music and into a band, Darius and Greg, our drummer, were into a lot of country. When we toured that’s all we listened to. From then, I started listening to it more and I just fell in love with it. It’s got a great voice. It’s protest music and I think punk is protest music. It’s got love songs, it’s got hate songs, it’s got everything, man. It’s got good music to drink to and I think punk music is the same way – it’s good music to hang with friends and just have a good time. So yeah, all that stuff is going to come through in our music because that’s exactly who we are. That’s what we do.
How did you get into punk rock initially and what do you think it is about this style of music that has kept you in the game for so many years?
I think punk is the easiest music to play because it doesn’t have to be perfect or polished. You can bang out something on the guitar or drums or bass and sometimes mistakes sound like they’re on purpose. I kind of like that idea. It’s more spontaneous. I don’t think anyone is an amateur at punk, you know what I mean? Everyone that plays the music is worthy. They’re trying to do something and they deserve some kind of credit. That’s what I like about punk music. It’s not cocky. It’s not show-offy. It’s just honest. When we play live, I don’t want to be wearing different outfits and shit on stage (laughs). I think honesty is a good thing to have in music.
There’s a loyalty to Fat Wreck Chords among many bands that you don’t see with a lot of other labels. Tell me about your relationship with them. What has kept you with them for so long?
Fat Mike has always been really cool to us, man. He’s been super supportive. Anything that we need, we’ll get. We try not to ask for too much. We just try to be a cool band for his label. We don’t want to be a bunch of people that are running around with these super expensive bills and stuff. It just works out great because he understands that we’re trying to do that – trying to keep it cool. We’re good friends now. NOFX takes us out on tour every once in a while and they’ve been super supportive since the beginning. It’s all the bands on that label, really. They kind of like the way he works. I’m not into all the bands on Fat, but I’m sure that all the bands aren’t into us either. It’s just a label that has treated us very nicely and we really appreciate it.
What are you most looking forward to about the tour you’re on? You’re in Seattle right now, is that right?
Actually, we’re in Portland. We played Portland last night and we’re just hanging out here for the day. It’s our day off on a Friday. It’s kind of a bummer, but what are you going to do? In terms of the tour, I’m looking forward to playing the new stuff live and just seeing how the songs fly. The kids probably won’t be dancing around to a lot of the new stuff because they don’t know the songs yet. But yeah, overall I’m just trying to get a good buzz going around the new record. I get excited about that stuff. I like playing new music. Playing a lot of the same songs over the years can get tedious. You never want to share that live, but the new songs get me going and get the energy level up a little bit higher so I’m looking forward to that.
I saw that you’re playing several dates with the Dropkick Murphys in Australia towards the end of the tour. How did you get booked alongside those guys?
We’ve been friends with them since their beginning. Ken Casey always come out to our shows. He actually came out on surfing trips and went to our shows in San Diego and different places in California. Then he and Mike [McClogan, former vocalist] started the Murphys. They first started doing Swingin’ Utters covers and AFI covers, and we’ve been friends ever since. They’ve blown up and I couldn’t be more happy for them. They’re massive now. We’d like to think we’re one of the bands that have influenced them over the years and we feel good about that. As far as those shows, they threw us a bone and we appreciate it.
What do you think has helped them become so successful?
I think it’s the Irish thing. The Irish pride thing is huge in America right now. We sort of had an Irish following for a little bit, but I just don’t play up that stuff. They’re super proud of their heritage and they’re way more Irish than we are, so…(laughs). It’s cool, man, it’s just not us. I have a feeling that’s a reason they’re big. It’s music that’s easy to sing along to and it’s a lot of fun live. They put on an amazing show. It’s a pretty big spectacle. They’re worth seeing.
Can you shed some light on Spike’s departure from the band?
Yeah, it was really simple. He let us know that he couldn’t tour anymore because he got a job that he can’t really leave at the moment, so he’s sticking around his house and working, and every once in a while going out with “Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.” He actually told us that we should get another bass player and that it wasn’t going to work out. There weren’t any hard feelings or anything like that. It was definitely a mutual decision.
I’m heading to San Francisco tonight to check out your buds in Pennywise and Lagwagon. You used to live in San Francisco, right?
Yeah, that’s right. That’s actually where the Swingin’ Utters pretty much started. We started in Santa Cruz actually, but we were just playing backyard parties and small bars and then we just collectively moved to San Francisco and started playing bigger clubs and slowly got a bigger following. But yeah, that’s where we sort of got our start.
Since you mentioned having kids, I saw a documentary that Jim Lindberg put out not long ago about being a dad in the punk rock scene. What’s your take on parenthood and trying to balance that with the music scene that you come from?
I just try to raise my kids to be decent, respectful, nice people. So far, so good. They’re turning out nicely. I always thought that those things should go hand in hand with being against something that’s unjust in the world. As long as you’re honest, right? I think honesty is the best policy and I think you should stand up for what you believe in, of course. That’s what punk is all about. I just try to raise them the best I can and show them that I work hard for what I do and that they need to do that if they want to get through life.
Appreciate the time Johnny. Thanks again and good luck on the rest of the tour.
Cool, man. Thank you so much for the interview.
