Mighty Mighty Bosstones

• SP: The last time I saw you guys was last winter, what have you guys done since then?
• Joe: We finished our record.
• SP: You hadn't recorded it before that?
• Joe: We had, it just wasn't mixed yet. Also we've been playing shows, touring.
• SP: Tour anywhere interesting?
• Joe: Well, we up to Canada. Last time we were in Seattle we were on our way up to Canada. We played Victoria and.. uhh..
• SP: Alberta?
• Joe: No.
• SP: Vancouver?
• Joe: Yeah!
• SP: Do you plan to go to Europe in the near future?
• Joe: Probably sometime in the fall. We haven't been there in a long time.
• SP: Do you ever do Asia?
• Joe: We've been to Japan.
• (Tim enters)
• SP: Is the current tour just starting or midway through?
• Joe: About midway through.
• Tim: We did south, Florida, Texas.
• Joe: Up the California coast and tomorrow we are playing Boise Idaho.
• Tim: That's a first. Oh wait we were in Boise once.
• Joe: We were?
• Tim: Yeah, on Lollapalooza and we were having all those bus troubles and we spent like a whole day there without any air conditioning.
• Joe: With that guy John.
• Tim: There was that creak right behind the place.
• SP: Did you have a lot of problems during the Lollapalooza tour?
• Tim: We had problems with the bus.
• SP: Oh. How does that work? Does everyone take separate vehicles or do they all throw it in one big thing?
• Tim: The Bosstones?
• SP: No, Lollapalooza.
• Tim: Everybody takes there own stuff. Most bands have vans, a few have a bus. One person with a plane.
• SP: They just flew to the next gig.
• Tim: Exactly.
• SP: Did you enjoy playing Lollapalooza?
• Tim: Sure, we enjoy playing every concert.
• Joe: I'll play a bar mitzvah if the money is right.
• Tim: We've played BBQs and concert halls. We've played sheds and proms.
• SP: When someone asks for a prom, how much money are you looking for?
• Tim: If you gotta ask, you can't afford it. We have a lot of overhead, we don't make a whole lot of money.
• SP: How many people are in the band?
• Joe: There are 8 in the band.
• SP: And a rodey or two?
• Joe: About 5 and they are full time.
• SP: How did you hook up with the Pietasters?
• Tim: I think Dicky saw them down in Providence.
• SP: Is this your second tour with them, or has it been a constant tour?
• Tim: We've played some other shows with them. New York and DC.
• SP: You get along with them pretty well?
• Tim: Yeah, there good guys and a good band. They draw a crowd.
• SP: Another bands you have been touring with?
• Tim: H2O is one we did one with. We toured out here with Cherry Poppin' Daddies.
• SP: Are the shows a lot bigger than they were a year ago? Or have they been steady?
• Joe: We play bigger in some cities, and some cities stay the same. We get a lot of people coming in out of curiosity.
• Tim: We could play bigger venues, but it was our choice to play smaller venues. There have been a couple places on the tour where we played 2 nights in smaller venues.
• SP: Last time you played here in Seattle, you played at RCKNDY, but you are playing the big stuff at Moore Theater and we have to go through TicketMaster to get tickets.
• Tim: Seattle is a city... well, it is our forth show here and we have been to San Diego like 8 times before we ever came here. It is just late in our touring. Its a good town and we're still growing here.
• SP: Most bands just skip Seattle.
• Tim: Well, when you are from Boston and you do a thousand mile tour, you just want to stop in San Francisco and you hear that Seattle is 1000 miles away, your just like screw it.
• SP: Its irritating because most bands play like 8 shows in California and never come this far.
• Tim: Well, you have a good music scene here anyway.
• SP: Uhhhh.
• Tim: Well, most of those bands aren't "Seattle" bands, they are touring bands.
• SP: Yeah, they play Seattle for about $30.
• Joe: Do you have any good ska bands?
• SP: Yeah, we have Engine 54 and Easy Big Fella which just signed to Moon. If it weren't for touring, we'd have about 4 bands playing here, total.
• Joe: Well, you have good fans.
• SP: But we have about 4 all ages venues. We're a touring town. It picks up in summer.
• SP: What do you do when you aren't playing music?
• Tim: Being in the band takes up most of my time. I like to do a little fishing now and then.
• SP: Do you ever go fishing when you are on tour, if you have an extra day or two?
• Tim: Yeah, when we were on Lollapalooza, we stopped at a few lakes that had been stocked.
• Joe: I golf. Not a lot though.
• SP: Its a little bit expensive.
• Joe: It isn't any more expensive than most other recreations.
• Tim: Except for fishing.
• SP: Do any of you have full commitments like marriage or kids?
• Joe: Some of the band has girlfriends.
• SP: Do they get disturbed when they are on tour all the time.
• Joe: Well, it is tough on a relationship.
• SP: Were any of you on Love Line the other night?
• Tim: On MTV?
• SP: No the radio.
• Tim: No, we were in the studio working on a Clash tribute album. It was actually only Dicky and Steve from the Pietasters on the show.
• SP: Which do you prefer? TV or radio?
• Tim: TV, it is more natural. You don't have all those cameras in your face. On that show you can't get a word in edgewise. Those two guys are great at what they do and they provide a service to young people. A lot of those questions are really dumb though. A lot of kids watch just cause of the bands, they learn from the guys and believe cause the band says so.
• Joe: It is sort of like the ARA, Anti-Racist Action group. Just to come to a Bosstones show and see this booth and sign there names down on a list and just to say that "I'm anti-racist." They have the negative stuff surrounding them all the time and we just are just there backing them up saying that it is cool.
• SP: How old are all of you guys now?
• Joe: 29.
• Tim: 33.
• SP: When you were 18, 19, what were you guys doing?
• Joe: I was in the Bosstones.
• SP: How long have you been around?
• Joe: About 12 years.
• Tim: We were into punk rock, hardcore.
• SP: Well, I know that the Toasters we in existence back in 1983, 85.
• Tim: Well, we were on a comp in 1985.
• SP: What comp?
• Tim: Mash It Up.
• SP: You can still get that through Moon Records.
• Joe: Boston, at the time had a really great hardcore scene like Washington DC and LA did. Lots of young kids, DYI. You could have 5 local hardcore bands play and have like 1500 kids show up at 10 bucks a pop. It was at a church hall that some kid had rented out. The Bosstones were really into that scene and were friends with all those people. It was the same kinda attitude.
• SP: Are there any favorite Boston bands out there that you recommend? The Allstonians?
• Joe: The Allstonians go out of there way to kind of create a rivalry with us, but I bet half the Bosstones don't even know they exist.
• SP: Are you into Skavoovie?
• Joe: Well, I'm not real into the Boston scene because I'm not around much When I am in town I go to check out bands. I usually go to see ska bands from other place. There are great bands out there, Hepcat, the Pietasters. A lot of New York bands, Mephiskapheles.. uhhh..yeah there good.. the Scofflaws. That's the really heavy horn one right?
• Tim: Yeah.
• Joe: The Stubborn All-Stars.
• SP: Skinnerbox just released a new disc.
• Joe: Yeah! Those are the really good ones that are out there.
• SP: Well, I want to thank you both for your time, and have a great show.

With that, our interview ended and the Bosstones proceeded to have a great set. So if you ever have a chance, catch these guys when they come to town, if not, check out their albums, they have a bunch.