Episode 033: Flogging Molly
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The first time I saw Flogging Molly was on a Monday night at Molly Malone's in Los Angeles sometime in mid 1997. I was living in LA for a short stint, helping MovieMaker magazine get its office up and running after working with them in Seattle. That night, I went to see a friend of a friend of a friend's band. They were, I have to admit, unremarkable, but toward the end of their show, the tiny, narrow Molly Malone's pub started to fill up. It was a Monday night, in a weird section along Fairfax and the club was starting to get packed. My friend Brian wanted to leave, but I said, "No way...something good is coming up..."
And, of course, what came was a lot better than good.
Flogging Molly took the stage, blasting their way through the material that was documented on Alive Behind the Green Door CD (1997) and recorded at Molly Malone’s…and blowing me away. Moving back to Seattle, I saw them a bunch of times over the years, including Seattle shows at the Crocodile Café, Bumbershoot, and, most memorably, at a street fair in the Fremont section of Seattle where they thrashed their way through a set in broad daylight to your standard mix of Seattle parents and kids, hippies, punk rockers, and college kids…all tapping their legs trying to keep up with the beat or dancing in the street. That show, I think, is pretty representative of the diversity of their audience today. Subsequent years took them on the Warped Tour and plenty of club tours, playing to millions of fans along the way.
Flogging Molly is Dennis Casey (electric guitar, backing vocals), Matt Hensley (accordion, concertina), Dave King (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, bodhran, spoons), Nathen Maxwell (bass, backing vocals), Bridget Regan (fiddle, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, backing vocals), Robert Schmidt (mandolin, banjo, bazouki, mandola, backing vocals), and George Schwindt (drums, percussion).
The band takes punk rock and marries it to elements of traditional Irish music, fronted by Dave King’s thick brogue and a group of musicians with wildly diverse influences. A quote from King says it all: "If it didn't have mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and whistle, it would be punk rock and if it didn't have guitar, bass, and drums, it would be traditional Irish music. Flogging Molly has both."
Since 2000, they’ve released four CDs on SideOneDummy Records, including Swagger (2000), Drunken Lullabies (2002), Within a Mile of Home (2004), and their latest, Whiskey on a Sunday, a CD/DVD release with the CD including new songs, acoustic versions of earlier releases, and live performances.
The DVD includes a two-hour documentary about the band, one of the better ones I've seen about living life as a musician, tracing each players path to playing music and joining the band, and life on the road for seven distinct personalities. The film also gives viewers a new perspective about the band members, their life traveling through time and space, the balancing act they walk between making music they love for an independent record label, and building a loyal audience around the world.
Filmmaker Jim Dziura shot the film over two years time in seven countries and it's an enlightening document of a band making a living and building a following without selling their souls to make a dream come true. I was taken by how open and revealing the band members are and, as a result, it ends up being a far more intimate and sweet film.
I caught up with the band during the SideOneDummy college tour this past fall, which took them to the student union at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Thanks to the concert committee for helping make the interview happen...and yes, that is the drama club rehearsing in the background during the interview…left in for a little authenticity and…because they were really pretty loud.
I met with George Schwindt, drummer and percussionist for Flogging Molly to discuss:
* the reason the band decided to turn the cameras on themselves
* how Flogging Molly handles some of their own business management to keep them all touring and making new music
* and what some of the pros and cons are of spending so much time on touring circuit.
And before we get to the interview, a huge thank you to Rail Jon Rogut, who helped repair the digital audio file that was this interview. Somehow the wav file had a digital breakdown and he helped bring it back to life so I could actually finish this episode. Thank you, Rail.
Flogging Molly music featured in the interview includes:
1) Within a Mile of Home (Within a Mile of Home) (in preview)
2) Laura (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
3) What's Left of the Flag (live) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
4) Tomorrow Comes a Day Too Soon (acoustic) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
5) Swagger (live) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
6) Factory Girls (with Lucinda Williams) (Within a Mile of Home)
7) The Light of a Fading Star (Within a Mile of Home)
8) Drunken Lullabies (acoustic) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
9) The Likes of You Again (acoustic) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
10) Another Bag of Bricks (acoustic) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
11) Black Friday Rules (live) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
12) The Wanderlust (acoustic) (Whiskey on a Sunday CD/DVD)
If you like Flogging Molly, check out Well-Rounded Radio's interviews with Josh Lederman y Los Diablos and Piebald.
George recommends Zox, Bedouin Soundclash, Yossou N’Dour, Natasha Atlas, Transglobal Underground, and Gogol Bordello.
Well-Rounded Radio recommends Stuart Flanagan's blog and radio show, The Signal.
