The Explosion
Carrying the Torch
2008-01-23
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Some die-hard, first generation punk rockers will forever spew that grating refrain: “The revolution is over!” And in a lot of ways, they are right. I mean, barking quasi-political lyrics over sloppy three-chord rock music, while concurrently flushing your convictions down the toilet along with a night’s worth of beer isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. We all know that. Luckily, there are glimmers of hope in this oft-discarded genre (of real punk rock anyway), and we’re treated to a second, or third generation who aptly portray that all-too-important aspect of urgency and fun. Since 1998, Boston, MA’s own The Explosion have been doing just that, and though they have moved onto major-label status, ditching super-indie Jade Tree in favor of Virgin Records, their following, and their future, have never been brighter. Backstage at Sacramento’s Vans Warped Tour stop, Damien Genuardi dished the dirt on fans and punk rock art.
Live, you have a lot of interaction with your audience, messing with the crowd, has that ever backfired on you? Has anyone ever taken offense to Matt’s [Hock, vocals] outbursts?
For him, it’s kind of half tongue-in-cheek, we kind of chuckle about it afterwards. We were playing on the Social Distortion tour and this guy was yelling stuff at us, and he had his psychobilly haircut, and really wanted to see Tiger Army. We’re up there for a half-hour, and we’d been out for two months and we were playing every day and all we get is that half-hour. This guy started telling us to get the fuck off the stage, so I just went over to him and spit in his face. Then Dave [Walsh, guitar] threw a beer on him and it got a little out of hand. Maybe I went a little too far, maybe that guy went a little too far, too. I mean, he was disrespecting the one thing that I’ve sacrificed so much of my life for. It was weird, I think he actually ended up getting thrown out, and I actually felt bad. I didn’t think he should have to miss the show, he should just expect to get something in return when he talks trash.
So, do you guys try to add an element of humor to your music?
I think a lot of our songs do have meaning and there’s a political edge to a lot of them. I’ve seen some bands that are political, and when you go see them, it’s like “This is what’s wrong! This is what you gotta do!” and you can’t really hit your audience over the head like that. You’ve gotta have fun and if you’re having fun and moving around on stage, then the kids watching will feel some of that, too. It’s always good to balance it out.
Is that something that The Explosion is necessarily concerned about; relating a message to your audience?
I think the message is something you absorb more when you take [the album] home. It’s important that when you get a record, and this is a disadvantage to downloading, but we put a lot of thought into the lyrics and into the artwork, and I feel like you should spend time with the artwork and relate it to the songs, and maybe relate to it personally as well. That’s all we can really hope for.
Live, you have a lot of interaction with your audience, messing with the crowd, has that ever backfired on you? Has anyone ever taken offense to Matt’s [Hock, vocals] outbursts?
For him, it’s kind of half tongue-in-cheek, we kind of chuckle about it afterwards. We were playing on the Social Distortion tour and this guy was yelling stuff at us, and he had his psychobilly haircut, and really wanted to see Tiger Army. We’re up there for a half-hour, and we’d been out for two months and we were playing every day and all we get is that half-hour. This guy started telling us to get the fuck off the stage, so I just went over to him and spit in his face. Then Dave [Walsh, guitar] threw a beer on him and it got a little out of hand. Maybe I went a little too far, maybe that guy went a little too far, too. I mean, he was disrespecting the one thing that I’ve sacrificed so much of my life for. It was weird, I think he actually ended up getting thrown out, and I actually felt bad. I didn’t think he should have to miss the show, he should just expect to get something in return when he talks trash.
So, do you guys try to add an element of humor to your music?
I think a lot of our songs do have meaning and there’s a political edge to a lot of them. I’ve seen some bands that are political, and when you go see them, it’s like “This is what’s wrong! This is what you gotta do!” and you can’t really hit your audience over the head like that. You’ve gotta have fun and if you’re having fun and moving around on stage, then the kids watching will feel some of that, too. It’s always good to balance it out.
Is that something that The Explosion is necessarily concerned about; relating a message to your audience?
I think the message is something you absorb more when you take [the album] home. It’s important that when you get a record, and this is a disadvantage to downloading, but we put a lot of thought into the lyrics and into the artwork, and I feel like you should spend time with the artwork and relate it to the songs, and maybe relate to it personally as well. That’s all we can really hope for.
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