LWL Interview: Street Dogs
From Episode #11

INTERVIEWED BY SEAN HUCK

Sean Huck: Street Dogs 2002! Welcome, glad you guys could be here. First off, how did the band come together?

Mike McColgan: Rob.

Rob Guidotti: Me? Um, hooked up with Jeff [Erna]…gave him a tape of some songs to come into the studio and play, and he liked ‘em, and we started jammin’ and the next thing you know Mike started coming down [saying] “Hey, I like these songs too!” and then we just started writing songs…so basically, [it all started] in his basement!

Sean: Really?

Mike: Jeff was the catalyst!

Jeff Erna: Yeah, I was playing with Mike a little bit…

Sean: When did you guys get started?

Jeff: Probably last year…

Rob: February 2000.

Jeff: [To Rob] No, this year!

Sean: So it’s been almost a year.

Rob: Yeah. [To Jeff] 2002!

Mike: I’m not good with numbers…I’m not good with anything! [laughs]

Sean: Except singing!

Mike: That’s subject to debate too!

Sean: Singing and firefighting! Alright, so everybody has prior experience – Jeff you and Mike come from the Dropkick Murphys, Michelle you play in the Dents and you’ve been with the Real Kids, and Rob you’ve been around a couple different bands.

Rob: Yeah, I played with Boston bands here and there. Last band was a metal band, Every Second. Decent band.

Sean: Now does everybody’s cumulative experience lend itself to the Street Dogs, or is it a whole new ballgame?

Mike: I think maybe a little bit of both…there’ll be moments in the songs when any listener might here elements of Dropkicks, you might hear Real Kids in there, you might even hear a little heavy metal in there too, you know what I mean? I guess it’s all up to the listener and how they interpret it. Some people will say it sounds like this, some people will say it sounds new, and it’s all up to the listener. To me personally, it’s new, you know what I mean? I want it to be new I want it to be something different, I want it to be rock. So, I hope that answers the question, hope I sounded slightly intelligent! [laughs]

Sean: Now do you guys consider yourselves a punk band?

Mike: I do. The ethos of all the lyrics is about working class things. It’s about work, it’s about love and life, and struggles and where you’re from and what you believe in. I’d say it’s punk, it’s rock, I wouldn’t want to confine it either…

Jeff: We wouldn’t want to narrow it down to that.

Mike: There’s elements of hard rock in there, there’s elements of punk in there…Rob, I know he likes Rose Tattoo, I know he likes AC/DC…you’ll hear that in there, too!

Sean: So you’re not limiting yourself to one particular sound.

Mike: Absolutely not!

Rob: I think we’re a rock band influenced by punk rock.

Michelle Paulhus: I was just gonna say that!

Sean: Now, your songwriting process – how do you come up with the material that you eventually put out?

Rob: A couple of ways…

Jeff: There’s two ways that we do it.

Rob: It starts with a riff, take it from there…there could be songs that sit around for a month without lyrics, and we’ll just keep doing it. Or it’ll come in a matter of seconds, and the song will write itself from beginning practice to the end.

Jeff: It develops in the rehearsal place.

Rob: Some songs Mike has totally written, has melodies, comes in and says, “Here, here’s this,” he’ll sing it and I’ll just match his voice. I’ll have a song totally written…that’s how it started. We’re always up for new ideas!

Sean: So there’s no one particular person?

Mike: Uh-uh, no way!

Rob: I mean, it started [with] me & Mike just because the band’s 10 months old, and Michelle just joined the band a few months ago, and she’s just starting to throw in input, “Why don’t we do this, why don’t we do that?” So it’s definitely a whole band collaboration where songwriting goes.

Mike: Why would you want to limit yourself? I wouldn’t want to be in a band where it’s like: “Ok, it’s all on your shoulders!” Maybe some people are comfortable with that. I couldn’t identify with that, there’s no way I’d be comfortable with that. If Rob’s got something good, Michelle’s got something good, even if the big, husky burly guy behind the kit has something good [laughter]. If you don’t want to put any ideas out, you want to have everything in, it just makes the band better, that’s my interpretation.

Rob: We all listen to everybody’s ideas. We’ll play it one way, “Well let’s try it this way, we’ll try it that way,” when it feels right, it’s right. Some songs take two months to write, some don’t.

Sean: Now you guys just signed with Crosscheck Records, how did that deal come about?

Rob: That was Wade Kincaid….

Mike: Wade Kincaid is our obligatory whipping boy slash manager [laughs]

Sean: Slash therapist, slash…

Wade: [off camera] Slash babysitter!

Mike: We say “jump,” he says “how high?” If we say we want the Partridge Bus, he goes and gets the Partridge Bus!

Rob: You need a place to plug in your battery, he’ll find a way to get it. [One camera died during this interview]

Mike: If I say “Hey, I need a five spot,” he gives it to me. He’s hanging on by a thread right now, but we love him.

Rob: But he was the link, he was absolutely the link…

Mike: He calls a lot too, talks for a long time on the phone…[burst of laughter] You gotta tell him to take a breath every now and then. But we love him…

Sean: So you guys are going in the studio, getting ready to record a new album…when do you think you’ll have it out and what songs do you think you’ll put on it?

Rob: I think June, it’s gonna be. And as many songs as we can get on there! All the songs that are on the demo, all the songs that we’re playing tonight, except for “Dirty Sea”, it’s kind of up in the air, I don’t know what we’re doing with that – it’s a cover.

Sean: A Swingin’ Utters cover?

Mike: From the “Sounds Wrong” EP?

Sean: Don’t know if I’ve heard it…

Mike: Look it up at your local record store! Fat Wreck Chords actually got ahold of some of their back catalog and took it over, and they reissued the “Sounds Wrong” EP and “The Streets of San Francisco”. Good stuff, look it up!

Sean: Will do. So any particular favorite songs you guys have?

Rob: We could probably answer that individually. What’s your favorite song, Michelle?

Michelle: “Savin Hill”. It’s a new one. I like that one.

Rob: I’m gonna go with “Savin Hill”, I kinda like that. It’s brand new, it’s pretty good…

Michelle: It’s rockin’!

Jeff: I’m gonna go with “Last Call”, it’s a brand new one. [raucous laughter from band] I like the new songs!

Mike: The ones that we haven’t even worked on yet! He always wants to have a controversial answer or point of view…I’d have to say “Locked & Loaded” is my favorite song, because it’s full of enthusiasm, aggression, confrontation, and readiness – it’s just a great song, I love it.

Sean: Now see, that’s funny, cause I was thinking either “Justifiable Fisticuffs” or “Cut Down on the 12th” cause they’re both really strong anthem type songs.

Jeff: Those are good too!

Rob: They’re all good!

Michelle: That would have been the easy answer, though, to say “Fisticuffs”. I think everybody loves “Fisticuffs”. They know those songs more, people sing along to those.

Rob: The east coast likes “Justifiable”, the west coast seems to like “Locked & Loaded”.

Mike: And in Japan they really love… [laughter]

Rob: We’re still waiting on the European feedback, we’re not sure what they like!

Sean: You’re big in Helsinki! Now Mike, obviously you come from one of the most popular bands in punk rock. Do you feel like that reputation precedes you?

Mike: I don’t shy away from that – I’m proud of my time in the Murphys. But I’m particularly proud of the way they’ve conducted themselves when I left. There were all sorts of rumors and stuff that I heard about me and Kenny being on bad terms and that it was a less than amicable departure and all that stuff. Nothing could be less from the truth. Me and Kenny hang out, we go to hockey games. Al was the perfect, perfect replacement. Al has been in the business of street rock/punk rock/rock & roll since he was knee-high to a polar bear, and I think that he’s done a great job. I think the band has moved on on their own terms the way that they always wanted to, and that’s why they’re one of the most popular punk rock bands in the world – is the way they’ve conducted themselves. They’ve been good to their fans, the music speaks for itself, it’s really good. I’m not gonna be like, “Oh, I don’t want to talk about that,” I’m proud of my time in that band. But I’m more proud of how they’ve continued to conduct themselves and they do it on their own terms, and they sing about what they know! They don’t put on any airs, they don’t put on any accents, you just get basic street rock, with a little Irish flavor thrown in. Yeah, I’m definitely proud of my time in the band, no doubt about that.

Sean: Now do you feel like because you come from the Dropkick Murphys a lot of people are gonna have that expectation, that Street Dogs will be another Dropkick Murphys?

Mike: Yeah, I suppose some people will be looking for that, particularly fans of the DKM, but I know obviously from being in this band and having been in it since the start that it’s not gonna be DKM, it’s something different. It’s a rock & roll band that has punk influence in it, and it’s different. But you can’t control how people are gonna perceive things, and what their interpretation of things is gonna be, people have free will, they can do whatever they wanna do, and I accept that. But at the same time, from my own perspective, it’s a different thing. And that’s not me pushing off the past and being angry about it, but it is different, it’s a different band, it’s a different time.

Sean: So you basically want people to form their own opinions about the band?

Mike: Yeah, absolutely, because you know, I just get up there and sing. The three members beside me are the blood, sweat and tears of the outfit. That’s the easy part! Maybe people in the band will differ from my opinion, but for me, it’s not that difficult. I just like to get up there and let loose and sing and everything. I mean, I can’t do it without Michelle, Rob and Jeff. It’s a band, it isn’t me – it’s not me, that’s crazy!

Sean: To pick on you for one more question, pretty much our understanding is you left the Dropkick Murphys to pursue being a firefighter. Was that experience what you thought it was going to be?

Mike: Moreso. Because when you go on the fire job, you grow up, you see the movies, you watch “Backdraft”….I have family members who were on the job and stuff, and you have all these notions of how it is and what it’s going to be like…when you actually go into it, some of your notions about it pan out, but when people say it’s a brotherhood and it’s like a second home, second family, all that stuff’s true. It’s a wonderful job, it’s my first priority in life, it’ll always be my first priority in life. I couldn’t be happier. It surpassed my expectations, it’s a great job. I look forward to going to work; I love to go to work. Some days when I’m off, I wish I was at work. How many people do you know that think like that? NOBODY!

Sean: So why did you decide to come out of Punk Rock Retirement and hook up another band?

Mike: To be really honest with you, once you get it in your blood (this is my own personal opinion), it’s in there. When Jeff picks up the phone and says, “You wanna jam for a while?” and we jam and it feels good, and Rob jumps on board, we start jamming and we form up a band, Michelle jumps on board, we have a band, we have songs, we’re gonna make a record – it’s a good thing. I think my career in the fire department and the band can co-exist, I really do. I like to perform, and it’s just good – once it’s in your blood you can’t get it out.

Sean: So it pretty much meets every part of what you’re looking for, the firefighter thing, the band, it gives you everything you want?

Mike: Yeah. I don’t want to sound cliché or like Johnny Dogooder, but I don’t ever want to whore the reputation of the job, and I don’t want to use my past experience in the DKM to be like, “Oh we can do this…” It’s not a scheme, I’m just doing it for the love of performing. I respect my job and everything, so….

Sean: So what level do you guys feel like you want to take the band to? Do you want to be national, international, local?

Mike: We don’t get to decide that! The people will decide that. This is again my little opinion, all’s it’s gonna get you is two bucks and a cup of coffee, but….Labels can do all the PR and promo, and you can go out and hit the road as often as you want and everything…it’s the people out there who are ultimately going to decide that.

Rob: I just want to go to a party at the Playboy Mansion! [laughter] It’s pretty much from there that I’ll decide what’s going on next…

Sean: So I should send them this tape?

Rob: Oh definitely! They’d love that…

Michelle: I, however, have completely different aspirations. I’ll skip the Playboy Mansion.

Rob: Michelle, what would be your [goal]?

Michelle: I’d like to play Australia. That would be like...I’d be set! Wishing we could take it to Sydney…

Sean: Any particular reason for Australia?

Michelle: I was there for a while and I always want to go back. And I would love to play a show there. That would be the perfect reason to go back.

Mike: Melbourne here we come!

Rob: Let’s see, Australia…Playboy Mansion…ehhh….[laughter]

Michelle: We’ll have to do both!

Sean: Any other upcoming shows or tours or anything you’d like to make folks aware of?

Rob: The first, right, is the next show?

Jeff: February First.

Rob: Where is that, where are we playing?

Michelle: The Midway.

Rob: And there’s a possible show on January 5 with the Toilet Boys. We’re waiting on Mike to see if he has off work.

Michelle: The show at the Midway is with the Deterrents – which is Jason Kendall from the Crowns, the Amazing Royal Crowns – it’s his new band.

Sean: Are there any particular bands that you guys feel like you would love to play with?

Rob: I’d like to play with Social D, Foo Fighters. I think that’d be a good mix, Street Dogs and Foo Fighters! I think that’d be a good tour. So Dave, if you’re out there…

Mike: I’d play with the Foo Fighters, I’d play with Social D, I’d play with Stiff Little Fingers, I’d play with the Swingin’ Utters…I just wanna play.

Jeff: Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys…

Michelle: I’d like to play with Keith Richards…I’ll take it a step further!

Mike: O-town! J-Lo on MTV!!

Rob: But tonight we’re playing with Sugar Hill!

Sean: Sugar Hill?

Michelle: Sugar Hill gang is playing next door.

Mike: We might do an impromptu gig with the New Kids. We’re gonna do an interview with 93.7 afterwards...

Sean: Alright! Well that’s pretty much all the questions I had. Thanks for your time, guys!