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Live Danko Jones pics
(Spring 2006) by George Dionne
Canadian natives Danko Jones have been tearing up the European rock scene
as well as their own for quite some time now. It wasn't until Danko's 2005
release We Sweat Blood (read
CD review) that the U.S. got a taste
of their brand of in-your-face, hook laden rock and roll. Ever the workaholic,
frontman
Danko Jones has
been going non-stop to make the group with his namesake a household name.
Jones' hard work and never ending devotion inspired the title of the group's
latest CD Sleep is the Enemy (read
CD review).
RIL: If I knew absolutely nothing about Danko Jones, how would you
describe the group’s music to me?
DJ: Hard rock.
RIL: That’s it, hard rock?
DJ: Yeah.
RIL: Your latest album Sleep is the Enemy has been out for quite some time
in Europe, but has just recently been released in the States. What took so
long for it to be released here?
DJ: I have no idea. The American label (Razor and Tie) wanted to push it
back, but I still have no idea why.
RIL: You have two different labels?
DJ: We have five different labels.
RIL: Do you think your music is more accepted in Europe and Canada?
DJ: It’s only a bigger demand because we have been touring there constantly,
at least the last five years. We have only been releasing records in America
within the last year when we put out We Sweat Blood. It has nothing to do
with the music. It’s just that we have been in people faces more in
Europe than the US.
RIL: The chorus on your first single “First Date” poses
the question "Do you kiss on the first date?" Let me ask you, don’t
you think that asking that is a little tame by today’s dating standards?
DJ: Yeah, sure, but we’re not even able to
say the word ass in America, so you guys get the conservative one. The
world has no problem with the word
ass, but America does, so we were told to take it out. So I wonder being
able to kiss a girl on the first date in America is a viable question? England
has no problem with it, neither does all of Europe.
RIL: The second single “Baby Hates Me” debuted on WWE’s
Wrestle Mania and has appeared several times on their programming. Are you
a big wrestling fan?
DJ: Yes I am, so it worked out pretty good. I’m an old school wrestling
fan, but I know a few of the new wrestlers. I can’t keep up because
I’m on the road too much.
RIL: Where are you currently as far as the tour goes?
DJ: I’m at home. We got home two weeks ago from a two month tour in
Europe. We’re off for two weeks, then we hit the States for two weeks,
then it’s back to Europe for June, July, and August.
RIL: You’re doing a lot of festivals in Europe, correct?
DJ: Yes.
RIL: You have done festivals before?
DJ: For the last five years.
RIL: Do you prefer the festivals or would you rather be out there touring
clubs?
DJ: Both are good for different reasons. When you’re headlining a club
tour, everyone is there to see you, so that’s cool. Most of them know
your music and stuff. On the festival end it’s pretty intense too.
There are much more people, like anywhere between five to fifty thousand
people, depending on the festival. Even though they are far away, there are
just so many of them. It makes up for the lost intimacy of a club. Backstage
if it’s a festival, if there is one of two bands that you’re
a fan of or even friends of, you can hang out, meet other bands and make
friends. I’ve been playing the festival circuit for the last five years
because of just that.
RIL: Have you approached anyone, or have you been approached by anyone to
be a part of any of the major U.S. festivals?
DJ: We played a few that were sponsored by radio stations,
but stuff like Lollapalooza we’ve never played, or never have been
approached.
RIL: John Garcia from Kyuss contributed guest vocals on “Invisible,” how
did that come about?
DJ: John’s manager is based out of Holland and John’s band Hermano
is on the same label as us over there. They made the hook up. John liked
our stuff, so we did it. I’m a huge Kyuss fan and Kyuss has gone on
to spawn so many different bands and has made such a huge impact on music
today. It’s an honor as he is one of my favorite singers of all
time. It was great to have him on the track. RIL: Why do you think Kyuss has such a cult following?
DJ: I don’t know. It’s a cult following
now, but there not around. They toured with Metallica, White Zombie,
and a lot of the big bands.
RIL: They still have a strong fan base for a band that’s not
together anymore.
DJ: They put out some good albums.
RIL: Were you in another band before Danko Jones?
DJ: I was in smaller local bands, but Danko Jones is
the only band that I’ve
been in that has done extensive touring.
RIL: Our photographer went to one of your shows in Boston when you opened
for Our Lady Peace. He really liked you, but he did say some of the crowd
was giving you a hard time?
DJ: I talked to those guys after the show. They were just two dick heads.
They were apologizing to me after the show too. I kind of flipped them the
bird and told them to go stuff it. The rest of the crowd was great. Boston
is really good to us, and we do really well in Boston.
RIL: We really don’t get that many tours. We get the big ones, but
there’s nothing beyond that. There’s a local scene, but that’s
it.
DJ: Boston’s like a major American stage. They
must have every tour going through there.
RIL: I beg to differ. So, did you make amends with those two guys after
they apologized?
DJ: I didn’t make amends. I told them to go stuff it, but they were
pretty scared when I went right up to them. They were hanging out trying
to get Our Lady Peace autographs, and I used the same exit door as the guys,
and they were in there waiting. That was it. It wasn’t a big deal at
all. It was just two guys. The problem that I had that night, which was my
mistake really, was that the rest of the crowd was totally into it and I
made the mistake of focusing on those two guys. I should have been focusing
on the rest of the crowd.
RIL: You have a radio show in Sweden called the Magical World
of Rock. Can
you tell me a little about it?
DJ: It’s broadcasted out of Stockholm on Rocket
FM 95.3 and its syndicated to Norway, Germany, and two stations in Canada.
RIL: What kind of music do you play?
DJ: I play rock and everything under that punk rock,
metal, old rock, new rock and whatever. It’s a one hour theme based
show with a different twist on rock.
RIL: Is the theme consistent or do you change the theme week to week?
DJ: Yeah, it’s a different theme every week.
RIL: Is it syndicated via radio, satellite, and internet?
DJ: It’s syndicated to four other stations. They
play it on their radio stations, but the show itself had its own website
www.themagicalworldofrock.com.
You can stream about thirty of forty of the old shows. Not every single show
is up there, but almost forty shows are.
RIL: Do you have a particular highlight from the show? Did you interview
someone that meant a lot to you special?
DJ: Yes. There has been a few interviews done that
have been pretty cool. I got to speak to David Johansen (a.k.a. Buster Poindexter)
form the New
York Dolls. I did a singers clinic with him. I do these singer’s clinics
where we talk about singing. I’ve done one with Bruce Dickinson (Iron
Maiden) and many others over the years.
RIL: How often do you do these shows?
DJ: Once a week, every Wednesday.
RIL: Do you do them from the road?
DJ: I do them wherever I am. When I’m in the studio I like to do a
few months worth. I’ve done them all the way to the end of this month.
I recorded them in February.
RIL: Are you really sleep deprived?
DJ: I have been. Before the tour I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. I
don’t usually get a full night’s sleep because there are a lot
of things to do. The album’s title does stand true a lot of the time.
RIL: What do you think keeps you going?
DJ: I just want to be able to do this band.
RIL: What’s next for Danko Jones?
DJ: We’re probably going to tour in Canada, another
short tour in America, Europe for about a month, and hopefully that will
bring us to the end of
the year.
RIL: Any DVD’s or anything like that on the horizon?
DJ: Yeah, we’ll be working on a DVD that will
hopefully be released next year.
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DANKO
JONES
