Danko Jones – Danko Jones – Interview Exclusive
Written by Attila Timár
Thursday, 15 September 2011 05:00
We have admired Canadian rockers Danko Jones here at URHQ for a very long time now. Ever since the three piece first forced their infectious brand of heavy rock on us during their hugely successful support slot on Backyard Babies ‘Making Enemies Is Good’ tour, we’ve welcomed each new album and subsequent tour by the band with the same sort of feverish excitement that only a long distant lovercall can produce.
Look, if you’re already confused by this introduction, then you really do need to get a little Danko Jones in your lives brothers and sisters, as over the last decade or so they, as in mainstays Danko Jones guitar/vocals, John Calabrese bass and a whole host of drummers (the most recent being Atom Willard) have released six trail blazing studio albums of rip roaring powerhouse rock ‘n’ roll, that draws on influences from places you really do want a great band to go.
This melting pot of creativity is largely due to the trio’s charismatic frontman Danko Jones, who as well as being a mountain of self-belief is also an ardent music fan. So much so that he recorded a spoken word album entitled ‘The Magical World of Rock With Danko Jones’ back in 2004 and still continues to collect rare vinyl like very many of us at URHQ.
Attila Timár caught up with the band’s frontman a few weeks ago, to find out exactly what is up in the Danko Camp right now, and in turn somehow forgot to tell the man some of us at URHQ actually think he should have been the new frontman of Thin Lizzy. Anyway I digress; there is still a nice twist in this theory somewhere in this tow…sorry, interview you just need to find it. Over to you Attila.
Danko thanks for taking the time out to speak with us, your last two records, ‘Never Too Loud’ and ‘Below the Belt’ were probably more classic rock than kick-ass rock’n’roll. What were the influences that drove you into this direction?
Really? ‘Never Too Loud’ might’ve been classic rock influenced but you think ‘Below The Belt’ was too? You can’t hear the total Misfits influence on ‘Below The Belt’? A song like ‘I Wanna Break Up With You’ is totally influenced by Zeke and The Dwarves. I don’t call any of those bands “classic rock”.
OK, then what can we expect from the next Danko Jones release – sound-wise, producer-wise, and so on?
Well, every album we make is Hard Rock. That’s how we describe our band and those are the albums we make. Not sure who will produce or where we’ll do it. It’s too early to say.
You seem to be pretty hot in Europe these days, but what is the status of Danko Jones currently in the US?
Well, our song ‘I Think Bad Thoughts’ just peaked at #32 on the Active Rock charts on American radio. Our song ‘Full Of Regret’ peaked at #34 earlier too. We definitely need to tour the States more though.
Who do you think are the leading forces of rock ‘n’ roll music today? Apart from Danko Jones, of course (laughs).
There are a lot of great rock ‘n’ roll bands out there today. When it comes to newer bands I love listening to Broken Teeth, Supagroup, Drunk Horse, The Shoes, Middle Class Rut, Bullet, The Nightwatchers, Biblical, Brant Bjork, Firebird, Mojobone, Mark Sultan, Hot Leg, and The Biters.
You have played with several huge acts like The Rolling Stones and Guns n’ Roses over recent years. Who else would you like to play with that you have not had the chance up to now?
AC/DC, Metallica, Kiss….those bands come to mind first
All right, time for a little game. You are given a huge budget to organize your own one-day festival – it can be called ‘Never Too Loud’ or whatever you want. Here’s your chance to put together your dream bill – who would you invite?
Probably The Doomriders, Brant Bjork & The Bros, The Biters, Death Angel, ZZ Top, Metallica, Lightning Bolt, The Melvins and The New Bomb Turks.
I have just spoken with one of your heroes, Rudolf Schenker, who revealed that they are working on a jukebox musical and a possible movie (similarly to ABBA’s Mamma Mia). If you were offered a role in the movie, would you take that? If yes, which Scorpions classics would you love to sing most?
Oh I’d do it in a second, and I’d sing ‘Blackout’..
As a passionate vinyl collector, which are the rarest, most prized possessions in your collection?
Hmmmm…Well some records have more sentimental value than actual monetary value like my copy of Danzig’s debut record and my personally autographed copy of ZZ-Top’s ‘Tejas’.. I’ve got a bunch of Metallica picture discs that value personally but who wants it really? I have ‘A Reverse Willie Horton’ by the Blues Explosion, which is pretty rare. ‘Cookie Puss’ by The Beastie Boys. But most of my rare records are comedy records by various people.
And which records are you still searching for?
Good question. I need to find a mint copy of White Zombie’s ‘God Of Thunder’ E.P. Steel Pole Bathtub’s ‘Butterfly Love’, Joe Preston’s ‘Melvins’ E.P., ‘Crazy Horses’ by The Osmonds. Those are the ones that come to mind plus about 6 Richard Pryor records that I need to complete the whole set. There are probably another 50 albums on the list that I can’t remember right now.
You are offered a million dollars for one single gig. You can play whatever you want, there is just one condition: you have to refrain from your usual rantings in between songs. (laughs). You are allowed to say only some stereotypical bullshit like: “Hello, Cleveland, you are the best”, but no impromptu spoken words performance, please, because if you start any of that, you won’t get the money. Would you accept this offer?
In a fucking second. I think our songs are bangin’ with or without my ranting.
Okay time for a quickfire set of questions…which do you prefer?
Playing festivals or playing clubs?
I love playing both.
Skin flicks or striptease bars?
Skin flicks.
By the way, you contributed ‘Starlicker’ to a film with the very title ‘Skin Flick’, so let me ask you: have you ever thought about taking on a more prominent role in a similar production that would allow you to stick out and get noticed more? (laughing).
Nope.
OK, then let’s see some fellow Canadians: Rush or Voivod?
Voivod, but I LOVE Rush.
Early I Mother Earth or early Moist?
Early I Mother Earth.
Sebastian Bach or James LaBrie?
Sebastian Bach.
Which 5 records do you need to have on your iPod all the time?
‘Chinatown’ by Thin Lizzy, ‘Overkill’ by Motorhead, ‘The Argument’ by Fugazi, ‘2001’ by Dr. Dre and ‘Apocalypse Dudes’ by Turbonegro. This changes every week, by the way.
What is the main difference between Danko Jones, the person of 1996 and 2011?
Well, I have much more life experience. A little more wiser.
And, finally, what is the meaning of life?
I have no idea but I do gravitate to music a lot.
All of us at URHQ would just like to thank Danko for taking the time to speak with us. We really are huge fans of the band, and if you still haven’t heard them check out their website http://www.dankojones.com/ or the video below… because this band fucking RAWKS!!!!!
Photo kudos (for Danko Jones group shots) Dean Karr