Project Description
Interview with
DANKO JONES
by Brittany Long
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Hailed as one of Soundwave’s best keep secrets. Danko Jones have grown in strength with every new album and breathless round-the-world trek. While touring with everyone from Volbeat to Guns N’ Roses, Danko and his comrades have earned a formidable reputation as one of the few modern hard rock bands that truly unite the tribes, bringing punk rockers and metal purists together through sheer force of personality and amp-wrecking oomph.
Armed with a new album ‘A Rock Supreme’, another non-stop blitzkrieg of irresistible, energy-packed anthems. Sharper than ever after yet more years on the road. So you can expect to hear tracks from it and fan favourites such ‘’Had Enough’’, ‘’We’re Crazy’’, ‘’Code of the Road’’, ‘’First Date’’ and the blistering ‘’Full Of Regret’’
A Danko Jones show is more than that, it is a live masterclass, a pure rock experience and one filled with anthemic tracks and a stage show that will remain etched in your memory for a long time to come. Now Danko Jones is set to delight fans ahead of his return down under to perform his first Australian headline tour in 15 years.
‘’Soundwave 2013’s best kept secret and arguably the standout set of the afternoon by far: a three piece that sounds like there’s five of them and is as tight as a duck’s backside.’’ – 100% ROCK
‘’Danko Jones was in charge of the entire room. Charisma just explodes out of this guy and he had everyone in the palm of his hand straight up.’’ – HEAVY MAG
‘’His vocal delivery would make even James Hetfield piss his pants then recoil in terror at the indiscretion. He’s not all grunt though, delivering some soulful lines’’ – THE AU REVIEW
‘’Danko Jones has made a name for themselves over the years as a must-see band’’ – BLABBERMOUTH
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Hi Danko, it’s Brittany from Amnplify. How are you?
Hi, good how are you?
Good Thankyou. So where do I find you this morning?
I’m in Toronto
Beautiful. Canada is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit, especially Niagara Falls.
Yeah I know it well.
So this is your first time back in Australia since Soundwave in 2013, how are you feeling about coming back on tour?
Excited to come back and kind of play our own shows, I hope everybody in Australia who digs rock will come out to the show and hopefully they will be good shows, enough to have us come back again, and make it a regular thing.
So that’s something you’d like is to have regular shows in Australia?
Oh that’s what I’ve been wanting for, since Australia was on the table back in ‘03.
Wow, that sounds absolutely amazing! I’ll be honest I’d never really heard of your music until this interview. I’ve had about a day to go through your album and you’ve got me hooked.
Oh great, I hope more people get hooked.
So let’s chat about the new album ‘A Rock Supreme’ can we talk about the inspiration behind it?
Sure. I mean inspiration it’s pretty much it’s a rock-record, so there’s no real inspiration, we just want to make a good rock record all the time. This is our ninth studio album so ninth ‘kick at the can’ so to speak so we just want to make the songs sound real cool, that’s all.
Amazing. So this album follows on from Wild Cat is that right?
Yeah, that was the last record.
So how does it differ from Wild Cat?
Well Wild Cat, I’m very proud of and got really great reviews as well as did the one previous to that, Fire Music. The difference between Wild Cat and this one was we did Wild Cat in our hometown of Toronto, with Eric Ratz producing, who’s a great producer. This one, A Rock Supreme, we did outside of Vancouver with Garth Richardson. Who is a producer we’ve wanted to work with for quite awhile now. We heard he wanted to work with us for quite a while and finally our schedules lined up and we were able to work together. Garth is known, probably best known for the first Rage Against The Machine record. But he’s done everyone from Biffy Clyro to Rise Against, the Melvins to The Jesus Lizard. He’s done so many great albums. Pretty much any band he’s one or two degrees away from it. So it was great to work with someone like Garth and we came out with a great record I think.
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In spirit of your song I’m In A Band what does it mean to you to be in a band? Is it a childhood dream? What was the point where you decided that this was something you could make a career?
Yeah it’s a childhood fantasy kind of, of course. Like I think a lot of kids my age growing up wished they could be in a band or be on a hockey team if you were from Canada, or a baseball team or something. So it was a foolish kind of thing to take seriously. But you know, I got into music just as a hobby and thought it was fun to be in a band and play, but never thought for once it could be a fulltime career. Then made this band and suddenly it just kind of took over our lives, and that was 23 years ago.
Wow! Well you’ve been in the band longer than I’ve been alive haha. I’ll be 20 in October.
Oh wow, oh wow. That’s amazing.
So, I’ve heard that you put on one of the best live shows. What can fans expect from your tour?
You know I don’t know, I just play the shows, it’s for everyone else to decide. I’ve heard it’s a really really great show, people seem to come back to watch it, that’s what’s kept us out on the road for so long. So yeah, it’s a hard question to answer. I get asked that a lot and I don’t know what to answer because I’ve never actually seen a show. What anyone can expect are definitely the songs, and how they’re presented I don’t know, we’ll definitely be excited to present them.
Amazing! I love that, shrouded in mystery, that fans don’t know what they’ll get but they just know it will be good
Yeah well, it’s just hard to describe because I don’t know, I always feel that question is best for someone else to answer who saw the show. I played the show and someone else saw it you know. But I think our track record and our road record speaks for itself that we’re always on the road, so people always want us out there.
Yeah definitely. Well like I mentioned before it’s the first time I’ve heard of you and when I heard you were coming to Australia I was excited to take up the opportunity to interview you.
Oh great.
So how have you gone about picking a setlist for the tour, is it a combination of old and new or? Have you invited fans to suggest what they’d like to hear?
Well I don’t make up the setlist, JC our bass player he does the setlist. But it’s hard after nine studio albums and three compilation records, that’s 12 albums of original material and you have to kind of play, and you know you only have so much time so you have to choose songs that brought people there, so the singles to a certain extent. Some beat cuts for people who’ve seen you maybe more than twice, and of course songs that please you to play. So it’s really kind of, gets to be a tight rope to walk after so many records. If we were a band with two records out it would be a much easier setlist to come up with.
Yeah absolutely. That’s a tonne of hours of music and content to cover, my goodness.
Yeah.
So, this is probably like choosing your favourite child but do you have a favourite song that you personally like to play?
Uh I’ve got a few. I mean off this record I do like playing I’m In A Band and Burn In Hell, and you know over the years there’s been a few. I like playing Invisible, and I like playing, ooh there’s a song we don’t play that much anymore, Woogie Boogie, in fact i don’t think we play it at all anymore. There’s a few.
Awesome! Sounds like it’s time to bring Woogie Boogie back.
Sure, it did make the record and then, yeah it’s a long story but it’s one of my favourite songs.
So what was it like touring with Guns’ n ‘Roses? Obviously that would’ve been like a pinch yourself moment?
Yeah, we did it for a year, they took us to ten countries and, it was a great year you know. We played everywhere, they took us to Russia, we toured all across our home country of Canada, they took us to Romania, to Ireland, Norway and Finland, it was crazy. So it was a lot of fun.
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Amazing. What an incredible experience! What’s your favourite tour memory that you can recount. Obviously there would be many but do you have one in particular that sticks in your mind?
Of all time or just from that Guns’ n’ Roses tour?
Of all time.
Well I think singing with Lenny in Motorhead and almost like 20 times over the years was definitely a highlight for me, I got to sing Killed By Death with them. Oh gosh, I know over a dozen times and less than 20 times. That was always a fun thing, I sang Patience with Guns’n’Roses one night and I sang Night Train with Guns’n’Roses another night.
Amazing! So tell me about your favourite fan experience. Is there an experience you’ve had with a fan, either before a show or I’m not aware whether you guys do a meet and greet?
Our meet and greets are if you see us then there’s your meet and greet. I mean we don’t really charge for meet and greets or do any VIP things. We’re just like ‘if you see us say hi’ and if you want us to sign anything we will. But in terms of, I don’t know there hasn’t been any. For the most part everyone is pretty cool and chill, and when they’re not it’s only because they’re a little excited and that’s understandable. But I can’t think off the top of my head.
That’s alright, no problem. So, are there any major obstacles you’ve had to overcome to be in this band?
Sure, but I mean, I don’t wanna dangle that as a reason, as some sort of sob story. I mean it’s so obvious some times to me at least. But I kind of get embarrassed by talking about it, only because it seems like I’m trying to gain sympathy, like whatever. Everybody’s got hardships, everybody, ours is just public, kind of more public than most.
I can appreciate that. Like I’m a concert photographer and I’m also in a wheelchair. But I never ever wanted that to be the reason behind me getting to photograph shows or anything. Like I wanted it to be because my work was good enough. Like yes it makes things a hell of a lot harder, but I refuse to let it stop me from doing what I love. The pits are often tiny and I spend a lot of time shooting from the barrier platforms where the wheelchair won’t fit at all, but I just do what I have to do to keep doing what I love.
Yeah exactly. I don’t really like putting that kind of stuff on display because I’m here for the music.
I understand. So, what does rock’n’roll mean to you?
Well beyond the music, it just means music. Beyond it I think people have a tendency to attach a lot more to the music, a lifestyle choice, a way of looking, a way of living etcetera etc. But I think the knob of rock’n’roll is just freedom to do whatever you want. It’s something that I think punk rock took to remind rock’n’roll what it was originally intended to be, and then I think punk rock in itself became kind of a uniform. But the essence of rock’n’roll and punk rock is basically the freedom to do, and be whatever you want. So when I hear people say, ‘oh you guys don’t have any tattoos, how, you call yourself a rock band?’ or ‘you don’t drink, you call yourself a rocker’. That to me, tells me I mean when I hear someone say that to me, immediately I realise this is a person who follows a rulebook, and that’s kind of un-rock’n’roll to me. That’s kind of my loose definition of rock’n’roll.
Well yeah, it’s a common misconception as soon as people hear the word ‘rock’n’roll’ we immediately jump to the whole ‘sex, drugs and rock’n’roll’ kind of thing.
Well I don’t mind any of that, like you can definitely do it. Like I’m pro-cannabis, pro-sex, pro-rock’n’roll, but you don’t have to force anyone to do something they don’t want to do, or to look a certain way. Because I don’t have any tattoos and a lot of people in rock bands do, somehow some people think that i’m less of a rocker, and again that’s like someone who follows a rulebook.
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Yeah absolutely. Tell me about the writing process is it something that the three of you take part in together? Whose ideas tend to come into fruition in the music?
Well we all write together, JC is good at arranging the ideas, I’ll come in with guitar riffs usually start something, sometimes a drum part will kind of ignite a riff or an idea. But usually it’s a guitar riff and we just start from there and proceed.
Fantastic! Well with 12 successful albums you’re obviously doing something right!
Yeah I mean by this time if we don’t know how to write an album then I don’t think we should be in a band.
Absolutely! So how would you describe your sound? Obviously I understand it’s something that’s very subjective but?
Honestly I just call it hard rock music, it’s as simple as that. I don’t know how either bands describe it, but I think the longer the description, the more pretentious the person.
Wow, yeah I understand that. So, if you could play with anyone onstage, dead or alive, who would you choose?
Haha, dead or alive. God there’s a few. Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy, Cliff Burton from Metallica, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. Yeah that would be it.
Wicked! Is there a favourite country that you like to tour in? I’m assuming you would’ve nearly been around the world by now?
Yeah, I mean, we started in Europe. When we got to Europe our starting point was Sweden and our record label was Swedish, our booking agency was Swedish. We spent a lot of time in Sweden. So, over the years Sweden’s become a second home for me, we spend a lot of time there. Germany as well, Germany rock’n’roll lives and it’s a great place to play and be in a rock band there. So we’ve had some good experiences in those two countries.
Beautiful! Do you have a favourite food you always look for on tour, or do you like to experience the culture and the different food of each country everywhere you go?
Yeah I do, I do. That’s probably about as much tourism as I partake in, I don’t really go and see the sights or anything. When it comes to food I’ll try something that’s particular to the country. In Sweden there’s a soup called mi fruktsoppa, it’s kind of a dessert but it’s a soup, a berry soup. It’s good to have, it coats my throat, so as a singer it’s nice to have after a show.
That sounds intriguing but delicious. So after this tour concludes, what’s next for Danko Jones?
Ah we go to Sweden Rock, we play Sweden Rock and then we play a whole bunch of festivals in Europe. All over Europe till August.
Wow! That sounds exciting! So DO you have a final message for your fans, obviously I can imagine you’re excited to come back to Australia and see them again?
Well I can’t wait to get back to Australia, that’s probably my message. I mean I don’t know how great a message that is, I’m really bad at answering that question.
Well Thankyou so much for chatting with me today, it’s been an absolute pleasure.
Thankyou.
I look forward to hopefully seeing you in Melbourne.
Awesome I’ll see you in Melbourne.
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DANKO JONES
AUSTRALIAN HEADLINE TOUR 2019
Thursday May 30th – Melbourne-Stay Gold
Friday May 31st – Brisbane- Crowbar
Saturday June 1st – Sydney- Crowbar
Sunday June 2nd – Adelaide – Enigma Bar
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Tickets On sale now from HERE
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