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Interviewing a
person with a heavy New England accent isn't easy. And
conducting the interview during sound check is even more difficult.
Nonetheless, what follows is the information I got from Spicy
McHaggis, the bagpipe-playing, kilt-wearing member of the
Dropkick Murphys.
m-r.c-
How long have you been with the band?
SM-
Me? If I recall correctly, two years, but that could be severely
wrong. Ummm... yeah, I think two years.
m-r.c-
Where are you from?
SM-
I'm actually from Cape Cod. It's about an hour from Boston.
m-r.c-
But its a Boston-based band?
SM-
Yeah. All the rest of the guys are from Boston or near Boston.
m-r.c-
What's your latest album?
SM-
Sing Loud, Sing Proud...[it came out] not too long ago. I think
6 months, maybe a little bit more.
m-r.c-
Do you have any favorite songs from that?
SM-
Favorite songs... ummm...
m-r.c-
Or maybe top three?
SM-
Top three? Oh Jesus...uh, I'll give you two.. The Legend Of Fin
MacCumhail (sp)... and Caps and Bottles, even though that was on
a previous album.
m-r.c-
How long has the band been together?
SM-
I think its coming up on six years now.
m-r.c-
Until when are you touring?
SM-
Well, this - the American leg of it - is done on the third of
November, but then we go to Japan until the eleventh.
m-r.c-
How do you like playing over there? Is the crowd different?
SM-
It's good. They're a lot more, uh, respectful. Like kinda weird
because you think they don't like you because after the song, as
soon as everybody starts talking, they stop clapping and they
sit there and listen because they wanna hear you. So they're not
clapping, so you're kinda like <shrugs> "Oh geez..."
m-r.c-
Do you have any favorite places to tour? States or countries in
particular?
SM-
Hmmm... well, New England, of course, and the British Isles are
always a good time because we have friends there that we don't
often get to see.
m-r.c-
What are some of your influences as a band?
SM-
The Clash, The Pogues... its all over the place really; a lot -
like Rose Tattoo, AC/DC... everywhere.
A lot of the old hardcore bands.
m-r.c-
Are there any new bands out there that you think have potenetial?
SM-
Umm... I haven't really heard many new bands coming out. You
know, "new" new. But Kings of Nothing are a good new
band, and Lost City Angels.
m-r.c-
What other bands do you like touring with?
SM-
Bouncing Souls, Flogging Molly... they're definitely funny guys.
m-r.c-
So you play bagpipes, right? Do you play any other
instruments?
SM-
I play tin whistle, a little bit of banjo. I decided to pick
that up.
m-r.c-
Who writes most of your songs?
SM-
On the whole, they're mostly written by Matt (drums), Ken
(guitar/vocals), and Al (vocals). When someone presents a song,
we kinda work on it as a whole group.
m-r.c-
Starting a band, you guys are kinda different. I mean, you're in
the punk scene, but you also have your own sound. How did you
come about putting stuff together?
SM-
Like I said, I've only been in the band for a couple of years
now. It just kinda started out that the guys who originally
started the band, they wanted to play what they thought would be
good music, and originally when they started playing, they
didn't have bagpipes, or a tin whistle or anything, but they had
their own degrees. So eventually, they got to the point where
they could afford to have all these other guys in the band. And
that's really what they were looking to do because they wanted
to have all that on stage, but they just previously couldn't.
m-r.c-
Okay, and I have this weird section that I throw in. Do you have
any stories...
DM- Stories???
<laughs>
m-r.c-
...from the road, that I can print? Funny stories?
SM-
Funny stories. Well, the first time I ever did anything with the
band was in Germany for the, uh, what's it called - Holidays in
the Sun. And it was really the first time I had ever, you know,
spent more than a few hours with the guys and we had a little
hotel-type thing. And the last night, I ended up going out to a
bar - Sacred Heart - with some English guys. They were roadies
for one of the bands. And they absolutely would not let me leave
because they kept forcing drinks down my throat. I didn't get
out of the place til about 10 in the morning <laughs> so,
uh, and I thought the flight was at 3 (p.m.), but it wasn't, but
it turns out we had to be at the airport by 11 (a.m.). So I left
the bar at ten, I got REALLY lost, I didn't get back to the
hotel til 10:45, and they were all just waiting outside for me,
looking at me like I was the biggest jerk in the world.
m-r.c-
Kinda like, "we're gonna like this guy."
SM-
<laughs> Yeah... so I think that kinda set the tone...
that was the first impression I made. I have to keep outdoing
myself now.
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