Dropkick Murphys

Tue 18th Oct, 2011 in Features

The evergreen Dropkick Murphys have released seven studio albums in 15 years but will return to Australia later this month to tour one of their more unique records. Throughout their careers the ensemble of seven punks from Boston in the US has promoted a common thread in their lyrics and music. The band’s songs are predominantly about social causes and strengthening ties between friends and families, but they would never call any of their first six releases concept albums. This year’s Going Out In Style is different though. It is a concept album about the life of a fictional character who represents someone in each of the band members’ lives.

Singer and guitarist James Lynch told FasterLouder about finding something new in the studio as well as their friend the legendary boxer Micky Ward and punch-ups at their gigs.

The Dropkick Murphys’ new record is a concept album, written about a character named Cornelius Larken. Can you tell us a bit about him?
My grandfather was actually Cornelius Lynch and a handful of the stories came from him. He was a Korean War veteran. He came over from Ireland and fought for the US before he was even a citizen; he got wounded, got a purple heart in Korea. The character was a composite of my grandfather and [singer and bassist] Ken [Casey’s] grandfather and a few family stories. We started writing the album and we saw a common thread start to emerge and at this point in time, with as many albums as we have, if you find something unique amongst the familiar stuff, you hang on to it and try to make something interesting and that’s where it came from.

Would you say this was your first concept album?
Yeah, absolutely. There’s always a pretty common thread to everything we do but it was the first time that we tried that.

That common thread throughout your career is probably best described as music with a social conscience. Do you think music is better if it has something to say about society or can it still be good if it’s about girls and parties?
I think anything you can tap your toe to is just fine. It’s amazing if it means something and you can affect someone and it’s amazing if you just shake your ass to it.

So what has driven Dropkick Murphys to write music that talks about social issues and working-class problems like fair rights for workers and loyalty between friends and family?
I think, we’re just regular guys in an extraordinary situation and we sing about normal problems and every-day stuff and anyone can latch on to it. We’re not rock stars we’re every-day guys with normal problems and I think that is the biggest appeal of the band.

Can you tell us about the band’s charity organisation called the Claddagh Fund?
The band has always been involved with as many charities as we possibly can and it’s hard to know at the end of the day where the money is going and everything, so it was kind of a way to focus our energies in that respect and make sure everything was going where we wanted it to. It was just another opportunity to be more hands on with everything that is going on with the band and it has been a lot of fun and a nice thing to do. We focus mainly on veterans and alcohol and drug rehabilitation and children, but where it is doesn’t necessarily matter.

Do you think enough people in positions of celebrity do philanthropy work?
I wouldn’t say it’s anyone’s responsibility to do anything but any time you’re up in front of group of people and you have a chance to influence them one way or another, it can’t heart to try and do some good.

You guys say on your website that you want to create an atmosphere where people can come and have fun and that the stage and microphone are everyone’s: you have been known to let your audiences up on stage, has that ever backfired.
No, it’s something that’s controlled chaos at the end of the day. Everyone is there for the same reason. No one’s there to start any trouble. We create that vibe and we get it right back you know we invite people up knowing that they have enough respect for us to be cool about it.

Like you said, the shows are known for being controlled chaos, so what’s it like in the recording studio? Does that chaos transfer?
To even attempt to capture something like that on tape in the studio, we’ve got to get a little loose but there’s no way we could possibly squeeze that amount of energy out in the studio. We try but I don’t think we have got there yet.