Born out of the hard-core/punk scene in Boston, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones came together as a bunch of friends looking for something to do. The Bosstones started as kids who "hung out together and grew up together. We had similar interests, yet it completely started by accident. The Bosstones were really friends saying 'What do you want to do? I don't know. What do you want to do? Let's try music." The music they created has been titled as ska, even though what they really do has no title at all. "We have set it up to where there are no musical boundaries and there's nothing we can't do, musically. We have a lot more freedom," unlike many bands that exist today. "The only thing to expect from us is to not expect anything at all."

The ska style of music goes back to "Jamaica in the 60's." The culture of ska follows along the lines and feelings of what 'America' means, to where one does not care about the color of the skin, but the creed of what's inside. The Bosstones share that same feeling. "Besides the fact that [ska] has decent energy, I think the unity message was the most important part of it to us. We are heavily influenced by ska and we have an amazing respect for it. We also have that same respect & influence for a lot of other types of music. But I think that the unity & energy of ska is something that we directly take from it. The unity appeals to me." The band consists of all ethnic backgrounds, and takes into it the music from all parts of the world. Ska is not the only type, for "if we were strictly ska, we would probably be one of the worst [ska bands]."

The hard-core sound of The Bosstones envelops lyrics that talk of both good and bad times, yet steer away from hatred and killing. These lyrics even incorporate anti-violence, which seems to becoming a trend of late. The feeling of the hard-core sound, however, is not meant to encourage the feeling of going out and killing someone. "I don't think that music can really be violent," says Dickey. "Not a musical piece. It can have energy and be intense, but I don't think it can 'hurt.' I want high energy! I don't want things to be easy on people." The thoughts and feelings of violence are a turn-off to Dickey and the others. "I'm certainly not a fan of violence. That's the lowest thing. Violence is primitive. There are other ways to confront. There are other ways to handle issues. There are other ways to deal with things. I like to think that The Bosstones are smarter than that." The lives of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have become a little more simplified than before. "We tour, tour, tour, tour, tour, spend a little time making a record, tour, tour, tour." They have juts finished that little-time-record-thing to create their second Mercury release, Question The Answers, which includes the songs "Kinder Words," and "Pictures To Prove It." Dickey's feelings about the album is quite simple. "I love it. The more you listen to it, the more you love it. That's the way it is for me & Joe (bassist), and we made the thing!" The title of the album comes from the thought of "I answered your questions, now you question my answers." The album contains the feel of many different styles, just as the band likes to play many different types of music.

But is there some kind of blessing that allows these guys to be able to entertain the world with the music that they have chosen to create? Dickey feels that they are blessed, and that "there are a lot of people our age who have miserable 9-to-5-jobs, that envy our ability to be able to tour, to be able to travel, to be able to hang out with your best friends and come to the world's largest cities, and have a party set-up for you, and all you have to do is go in there and rock the place. There is also the ability to have creative outlets for you to record and make music and do something you really love. It is a blessing. If it went on for 10 minutes, it would have been the best 10 minutes of my life. I am doing exactly what I want to do. It's not what I planned on doing, or whatever I thought was able to do. I certainly didn't think I had any kind of talent for it, and I still question that, but no one is saying 'The Emperor Has No Clothes,' so I'll run around naked some more!"

Of course, this band is far from running around naked. Sharp-dressed is the feeling. So is plaid, which happened to be as accidental as the initial start. "The plaid thing came from Scotland," says Dickey. "It's something we did to initially amuse each other. We were playing empty rooms, so we started coming to shows, and trying to amuse each other. Then one day, I showed up dressed like a retarded used car salesman, and everyone got a kick out of it. The plaid thing means more to us now than when we originally started. We consider our type of music and the way we play very plaid. All different colors, shooting from different directions, with different lines and different thicknesses."

"The coats do hide the guts!" adds Joe. "The guts!" Replies Dickey. "I thank God we came up with it, because originally we were thinking about wearing real tight pants and long hair. But now all of us are balding, and our guts wouldn't look too good in spandex. So, big suits! The suits just get a little bigger, and plaids make us look smaller!"

If there is anything that sparks funky thoughts, the voice of Dickey Barrett tops the list. Dickey admits that he knows nothing about singing, yet he never feels pain, and has no idea where the sound comes from. He admits that he doesn't know anything about what he is doing. " I don't know what I am doing. If I knew what I was doing, my singing wouldn't sound this way. I am inventing this. This is uncharted territory. This is a whole new frontier that we are on." As is the whole idea of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.