With you and Descendents coming out with a new album. PRT: Yeah, the new one feels has the same energy like in the good old days. I think the energy you feel in the new record has a lot to do with that. When we have been getting together for shows or song writing for the past few years, we have been having a lot of fun because we aren’t in a grind of touring anymore. Me, Pete and Bryan have been busy with creating other projects, which has provided fuel for the Souls fire. Greg: George joining the band was a big shift that coincided with a lot of things in our personal lives. We had played together before, so he was already part of the family. We just called George as soon as we needed a drummer. You’re probably quite lucky you found someone like George to replace Michael. PRT: Well, a good drummer is the most important backbone for a band. He’s super capable, so he was able to write with us even if he wasn’t there. Now, George has a studio and he’s technologically a sound guy. We had this round robin e-mail with riffs and demos going around.

George lives in Florida, Greg was in Idaho, and Pete and me were together. So we would write for three days, fuck off for a while, have another three days …īrian: We wrote parts of the record remotely. We had about three days at a time to write songs, since I don’t live in Jersey. George: Also, the process was more focused. If the Bouncing Souls are dry eyes, George is Visine. It brought a whole new energy in the room.īrian: It refreshed the whole thing. PRT: This has been, however, the first time to do it with a new drummer in a really, really long time? By the time we get to song 13, we’ll be in a sweet place where we can just keep writing great stuff. It works better for us.īrian: When you start writing songs, after you haven’t for a while, it becomes a momentum-thing. We’ll keep making records, no matter what. I like listening to a full-length thing, experiencing it as a thought-out concept.īrian: Don’t worry. PRT: Does “making records” actually still matter? It sometimes seems that it’s easier to make singles and put out as many things as possible. If you take a close look at the discographies of some great musicians, every single one them has some average or bad work at the bottom of their pile of great stuff. but that’s part of being an artist and a creator. Sometimes its doesn’t turn out that awesome. Or better yet: experiment with what’s happening in the moment when we are writing new music. All we can do is explore who we are in the moment. But we can’t and don’t want to ever make them again. They know you by your early recordings and compare you to them. Greg: I understand why people are critical. PRT: What did or do you think of that criticism? We all have transitional times, difficult times, happy times and disconnected times so I think the records are telling those stories. Our albums are like snapshots of those different times. Greg: We all go through stages in our lives. Pete: Probably us being back to doing what we do best, going back to basics and writing songs from the heart. Is there a reason behind it and what changed for this record? This one, however, feels about as punk as 1999’s ‘Hopeless Romantic’. PRT: ‘Ghosts under the Boardwalk’ and ‘Comet’ both were labeled as “more mellow”. It was a bunch of songs that we wrote as singles. PRT: Which is your least favorite, the one that makes you think “we should’ve done things differently”? Pete: It was cool, interesting, but it’s hard to admit which are your least favorite ones. PRT: How do you feel about going in-depth about older work. Pete: I just had to rank all of our records for a different magazine, and have a long conversation about them. It definitely deserves to be in the top 4. George: I would put ‘Anchors Aweigh’ in there as well. And ‘Simplicity’, because it’s a return to the old Bouncing Souls style.īrian: I think Pete said it all. ‘Maniacal Laughter’ is old and it has all these old cool songs of ours. Pete: I’d say: ‘… Summer Vacation’, it’s just an awesome kickass perfect record. We can’t stop being stoked about that one. Two: ‘Hopeless Romantic’ simply because it has very good Songs. but okay …One: ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’ because it’s a well rounded rock record. Which ones are your three favorites, and can you say “why” in three to five words? PRT: As of this month, Bouncing Souls have put out 10 albums, dating back to 1994. We sat down with the Souls for a lengthy talk about ‘Simplicity’ and the death of emo. Seriously, Descendents and Bouncing Souls both released proof that they are still very much on top of their game.

Listen, it’s going to be a tough pickle this year to decide on the ‘punk rock record of the year’.

Recordit kickass.to