Chris Schifflett has pulled off the unimaginable in the ever-so-fickle land of rocking and rolling. He plays guitar in the world’s biggest stadium rock band the Foo Fighters, gets to enjoy relative anonymity playing small club shows with his band Jackson United and has all the indie cred one could possibly muster, as a founding member of Me First and The Gimme Gimmes (simultaneously disproving the notion that cover bands are merely the refuge of balding men in their mid-forties with a penchant for denim shirts and underage lasses).
So how the hell does he do it all? “It’s tricky,” he admits laughing. “The older I get and the more kids I have the harder it gets…I generally wait till the kids go to bed and then go out to the garage to get started on music.”
It seems these days Chris is balancing stay-at-home Dad with rock star like a pro. Although he admits that his partner, who just gave birth to their third son seven weeks ago (coinciding with the beginning of the Foo Fighters world tour), would strongly disagree. On suggestion that she may be more at ease if he hangs up the guitar strings and hands the baton of rock onto his three boys, he reveals that these plans are well underway. “Oh yeah, when they are in high school they are going to be the new Hanson, and I’m going to be like their Svengali manager.”
The Schifflets do Mmm Bop? I can’t wait. Jackson United have just released Harmony and Dissidence, the first we have heard from the band since their 2004 debut Western Ballads. Schifflett is taking the chance to flash the albums’ wares whilst in Oz with the Foo Fighters by playing smaller club shows. And as it turns out, he is quite apprehensive about getting back to basics.
“I’m definitely more nervous about the Jackson United shows; that’s for sure. It’s so much more nerve-racking to play little clubs, as you’re open to being pulled from the stage and beaten.”
More risk of being spat on at the club shows hey? “Exactly…it’s the opposite ends of playing live music. We’ll play the Jackson United shows and my ego will take a beating and then the next night I’ll go and play the Foos show and be like, ‘alright!’”
The album straddles both Californian punk (think Fat Wreck Chords’ heyday) and UK punk; Chris’ affection for The Clash audibly shining through. He brought his two worlds together on this record by placing Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins behind the drums for most of the tracks on Harmony and Dissidence, allowing him to get in touch with his inner frontman.
“It was great from my point of view ‘cause I was the boss…finally! I was like, motherfuckers…now you’re gonna listen to me!”
Speaking of arrogant rock stars, in my research for the interview I noticed that Jackson United had included Oasis in their top eight friends on MySpace, and just have to inquire what this is all about?
“I love Oasis,” he admits, laughing. “We [Foo Fighters] actually were in Perth when we played a rock tour with them, and I remember having a wild night after that show and somehow winding up in Liam’s hotel room watching Manchester City on TV and smoking a joint.”
I laugh at the idea of the Foo Fighters and Oasis getting stoned together; as Chris goes on to reveal that the friendship has been well and truly cemented since. “After that we opened for them in Wales…it was the guitar player – Gem’s – birthday so we stayed around for a while. And somehow whenever I am around those people I just have been the most fucked-up guy in the whole place. I think they think I’m just this fall-down wasted fuck-up.”
I advise him that given that The Foo Fighters were just labeled ‘The Last Great American rock Band’ by Rolling Stone, that is probably not the case. “It’s probably just our publicist writing that. Nah, I think I know what they mean by that, and that is just a really dressed-up way of saying it. There aren’t too many bands who occupy that landscape of a straight-forward, no-frills, blue collar rock band, and I think that’s what we do.”
What is the secret to their longevity? “I think that the beauty of the Foo Fighters is that Dave has never been one to go with the trend at the time. We didn’t do an electronic [album]; we never tried to look like The Strokes. I think it has stayed true to itself over the years.”
And thank god for that. So, are The Foo Fighters going to be the Rolling Stones of our generation?
“Well private school is expensive in California, so I guess so. It‘s better than working at Starbucks..”
To hear the new Jackson United album on FL head here.
