A Beating Heart

Over the course of one's lifelong journey to find purpose, tough decisions must be made. For Flogging Molly's frontman, Dave King, a difficult choice was made over a decade ago to leave his friends, family and country in order to pursue a musical career in the United States. As is the case for anyone who strikes out on their own in a strange place, King faced a few setbacks at first, but eventually, his perseverance paid off. And his experiences - the highs and the lows - nurtured his growth as a musician and as a person.
Hearing Flogging Molly's recordings is quite an experience in itself. With two full-length studio albums to their credit (Swagger and Drunken Lullabies), the Los Angeles-based seven-piece infuses the relentless, driving power of punk rock with the feral melodies of traditional Irish music - complete with fiddle, tin whistle, banjo, mandolin and accordion - to create a sound pregnant with raw emotion. However, it is in the live setting that the personal nature of the music truly takes over, and the band becomes an even more potent entity, exuding an infectious, rapturous energy and a level of sincerity many acts strive for, but few attain.
The Synthesis recently caught up with Dave King after he had lunch with his wife before a show in Portland, Oregon. The passionate singer / songwriter spoke freely about his hometown of Dublin, Ireland; his life in America; and why Flogging Molly's music seems to transcend the boundaries between band and audience.

Does your wife usually join you on tour?
No, it's too chaotic; it's crazy. Because our friends are here [in Portland, OR], she came up for the weekend. She's gonna stay in Portland with our friends, and I'll leave her tomorrow [to head up to Seattle, WA].

I've noticed a lot of your songs have themes of family in them. Is it tough for you to leave your family to head out on the road?
Yeah, it is. I miss family and I miss friends, but at the same time I'm meeting a lot more friends. I'm meeting people who I would never have the opportunity to meet by doing it this way. I think it's great. I'm very lucky to be doing what I'm doing. That's for sure.

You moved to the United States over a decade ago, what were your first impressions of America?
I'd been on tour here with a band, but I didn't really get a good opportunity to see much of the country. But the one thing I did notice that the people here are very friendly and very nice. Then, I got the opportunity to move over here with a band, but when I came over, the band fell apart. Well, do I go back to Ireland, or do I stay in America and try to do something here? I decided to stay here, because, first of all, I was in California so the weather was a lot better than Ireland for a start. That's a big bonus for sure. So I started playing acoustic guitar in bars, and that's when I met the rest of the gang [Flogging Molly].

Have your impressions of the country changed now that you've been here for so long?
I like America a lot; I really do. I've always had the sense of freedom over here in the sense that I never felt I had to answer to anybody for what I did. Back in Ireland, there was always that little bit of 'oh, yeah, you're in a band, dadadada.' I never got that over here, which was very comforting to me. It made me relax a lot more. I think, also, that if I didn't move to America, I definitely would not be writing the music that I am now. I think it took me that separation from Ireland - emotionally and physically - to look back at it objectively and say a lot of the great things about Ireland and some of the negative things too. It was good that I did that.

Do you ever think about moving back?
Yes I do, to be honest with you. I miss my mother. I miss my son. I miss a lot of my friends. But everybody's like that. We all have to move away from home to grow, ya know what I mean? One of the things I like singing about is leaving home to people who have left home. I think they understand where I come from, and it sort of brings a bit of camaraderie to it. You get fondness don't ya? I get a fondness from back home. When I sing about it, I think about what I miss.

Have you been back to Ireland since you left?
Oh, yes. I went back five times last year, but there was a gap of eight years before I went back.

How did it feel when you went back for the first time in eight years?
It was really, really strange. I mean, a friend picked me up from the airport, and when we drove out of the airport compound, I didn't know where I was. There were buildings everywhere; there's a huge people explosion over there. It's a cosmopolitan city now. To me, it was Dublin town; it's Dublin city now. It's great to see a country that was striving for so long, actually be up there now. At one point it was the fastest growing place in Europe. That's good. I'm glad for the people that that's happening, ya know?

I've seen you play three times now…and I was blown away by the energy you put off in the live setting. How do you capture that energy when it comes time to record in the studio?
We record live. In the studio, we all plug in, put the sounds up and that's it. And then I'll overdub the vocals. On the last two albums, the vocals only took three hours each - I just put the tape on and sing it. There are mistakes everywhere - a mistake is nothing. You gotta get that passion in there, ya know? That's the way we do it.

One of the things that struck me about your live shows is that there seems to be such a personal connection between the band and audience. Why do you think a crowd can connect with songs that seem so intensely personal?
I think that's the thing there. The songs are intensely personal, and it's a wonderful thing. That's why I say if there's a beating heart in your chest, you'll know what we're all about. That's what I think is so great - it's a celebration of life, our music. I sing a lot about people who have passed away, and I'm singing about people who have never met the audience that we're playing to, and the audience has never met them. Those people [who have passed away] are being brought back to life by singing about them. And the crowd is singing about them. To me, that's one of the most special feelings that I've ever encountered in my life. It's something that hits me very hard when it happens. Here are these people who have never met my father singing words about him. That's what transcends - that's what's so great about music. It saved my life, basically, to be honest with you.

Why do you say that it saved your life?
It gave me hope - it gave me a lot of hope to know that my dead father, who never got out of Ireland, has people in North America singing words about him. It's amazing to me; it really is. It gives me hope that, although we're here and you don't think that you have a purpose in life, no matter what you do, no matter what it is, there is a purpose in life for you. You know what I mean? I'm very fortunate to get to do that.

Are you and the band working on new material now?
Yeah, I've quite a few new songs. Obviously, we're on the road again, and it looks like we'll be on the road till August. We have three tours of Europe planned, a lot of the festivals. It's pretty crazy.

The songs you've done in the past have covered topics like freedom, hardships and family. What kind of places are you pulling from for your new material?
It changes everyday. It all depends on how I feel. For me, I have to go back to go forward. I like to bring up a certain spirit I feel. First of all, I only write for myself. I'm not writing for anybody else. Right now, I have a few issues going on in my head, so we shall see, we shall see.

You've released two full-length studio albums on Side One Dummy. Do you have any desire to make the jump to a major label?
Not right now. I mean, the offers are there, but I don't think so. I don't…no, I'm not into that, personally. I don't want that in my life right now.

What makes Side One Dummy such a good home for Flogging Molly?
We're really good for each other, I think. We're friends, first of all. We all hang out with each other, and we help each other. And you feel that. You don't feel like you're just a commodity. I look at how they've grown since we've been on the label, and I look at us, and we've grown since we've been with them. It's a very positive feeling.

Where do you hope to take your music next?
Wherever it takes me. I mean, it takes me. I don't take it. It takes me. So, I mean, I'm just having a lot of fun right now. I'm happy with what I'm doing. First off, it's taking me back home. We're going back to Ireland to do our first show there. So that's going to be pretty interesting. It's exciting, but it's nerve wracking at the same time, so…we shall see. We shall see.

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