Hey, are you familiar with the man and the rock band named Danko Jones? No. Well, you're going to thank me later after this video. Let's go.
Now, before we get into the Q A article. With Danko Jones from the latest issue of Classic Rock Magazine, a couple of fun facts.
Danko Jones was formed by the frontman and guitar player Danko Jones in Toronto, Canada, 1996. To this day, the lineup has remained consistent, which shows the strong bond between the three guys. Top three most recommended albums number one electric Sounds featuring good time, Get High, just straight up party music instantly puts you in a good mood. You can't go wrong with that album number two wildcat. Featuring my little RnR. And you are my woman. You Are My Raw has a great thin Lizzy feel and album number three fire Music featuring ring, one of the greatest punk songs ever called The Twisting Knife. Go check out the twisting knife.
Fun fact number three Danko Jones used to drink milk during his shows and spilling it all over his equipment. He stopped that because after a while, it started smelling like vomit.
Hey, thank you so much for joining the It's One Louder podcast for myself, PJ. Pat. Share with the world my passion for rock hard rock heavy metal by reading articles from magazines about our favorite rock stars. So here we go.
Reading glasses on.
Okay, we mean business. Let's do it.
Q A with Danko Jones, the Danko Jones frontman, on not going to festivals, not going out, not getting any awards, and putting in the ear guitar hours.
Interview by Polly Glass.
Since forming in 1996, toronto's Danko Jones have thrived on volume and on the visceral energy of being in rooms together. When the pandemic forced them to make their previous album Power trio entirely remotely, it paved the way for a new creative mode.
I heard Blue Jean Denim Jumpsuit, which was the first song we wrote apart from each other, it blew me away. The titular frontman says, one of our favorite songs we've ever written. It had a groove, a bounce, everything in my head that I wanted to hear. Their new album Electric Sounds a Fury Fistful of Motorhead meets Misfits Punk and roll made in the same way. Save a few jam sessions. Last summer, caught up with Jones and Budapest as the band hit the European festival circuit.
Do you remember the first festival you went to as a punter? I don't really go to them. Only one I ever did was the first Lolapalooza in Toronto with Jane's Addiction, sushi and the Banshees and Butthole surfers and body count. I admire everyone at festivals, and I'm happy that everyone attends, but I'm not made for that. I'm really tight ass in a nice way of putting it. They are quite a specific environment, to be fair. Danko says, well, my nickname at home is The Great Indoorsman, if that tells you anything. I think a lot of musicians are. The fact that I perform the way I do was due to a lot of hours spent at home in my room, listening to music, wanting to be on stage and playing ear guitar.
I heard that to get that good at something, you have to spend 10,000 hours on it. And I'm like, I got that doubled with the ear guitar. Sounds. Opens with the lyric, guess who's back? Me, motherfucker. Who are you singing that to?
He says a lot of different groups. I mean, we live in an age of social media where anyone's going to lob over their uninformed opinion to anybody and everybody. I myself out there, I've been subjected to a lot of comments. So that group. A lot of people who like our music already. That group. People who don't like our music. I'm standing my ground when it comes to certain things, and I'm not leaving and no one's scaring me away. A good attitude to have, I'd say. Good time is a catchy. Feel good highlight. Besides rock and roll, what makes a good time for you these days? Barbecuing, it really sounds like a shitty answer, but it's a truthful answer. I'm pretty one track minded. My head is always into music and rock and roll and collecting records and trying to find new bands. Pretty much nothing outside of that really interests me. Yeah, you know what? I feel the exact same way, actually.
I think a lot of us rock fans do. Right? We search for this stuff. We seek it. We need it to thrive, to live. I'm telling you, rockers, we're a different breed. You and i,
I really appreciate the community that we've built here. Thanks so much for reaching out to me. It really means a lot. Let's just keep on rocking one louder.
Back to the article. The accompanying video, there's a karaoke theme. Do you have a go to karaoke number candle in the wind. I'll do ebony and ivory if they've got that in the rotation. But usually it's Kendall in the wind. released a TikTok video in which you pointed out that Danko Jones have been around for 27 years and never won a music award.
says, We've been around for 27 years, and we've never won a music award, but we still make records to tour and promote it.
It's kind of a little poke at music awards in general. They always get it wrong. The right bands are always ignored and behind the scenes. From what I've observed, it's really just a big ad for big labels to push their newest product. Having said that, if we ever win one, I'll get up on stage and thank everybody.
I just want to pause here and just have my two cent here. In regards to rock and Roll Hall of fame, I know it's pretty polarizing. Some people are all for it. Some people hate it. Even, like, bands that get nominated, a lot of them don't even show up the band members.
just wanted to know what your thoughts are. Do you think it's cool that they start inducting rap, hip hop acts, pop acts into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame? I don't know about that. You know what mean? Like, don't they have their own hall of fame? Doesn't rap or hip hop have their own thing?
in my opinion, the reason why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame started inducting these quote unquote non rock acts into the hall of fame is because they're looking for popularity. They're looking for what's hot, what's hip at the time, so they can be relevant. That's why they started inducting.
I mean tupac, biggie, smalls. I get it. Like, these guys are iconic, but no stretch of the imagination are they rock. All right, I'm sorry, but the fact that you're inducting people like that public Enemy, et cetera, tea, whatever, much respect, mad love and much respect to them. I'm into those guys, but it something else. Don't call it rock and Roll Hall of fame. The more they do that, the more it just shows that it's all about what Danko Jones said. It's all about money. It's all about how they stay relevant, how they can include the big labels and all that, I mean, the fact that it took so long for deep Purple. Okay, deep Purple, one of the pioneers of heavy metal to get into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, says something. I mean, they'd rather choose all these pop acts before. Deep Purple, one of the most influential bands ever. That's my two cent. That's my little rant. What do you think about it? Leave some comments. Reach out to me on social media at Pjpatloves Rock. I'd love to continue the conversation with you there.
I digress back to the article.
the same video, you said, most musicians have ignored career advice from friends and family for so long that they're afraid to lose face
are now crossing their fingers and hoping for the best. What sparked that?
felt that at certain points before we started touring, we were a band for six years before we put out a full length album. We were putting out seven inches and EPS and they were sticking, and we were getting radio play at home.
nothing like enough to quit your job and go on a road for the rest of your life. So I was dealing with these thoughts every six to twelve months. When are you going to stop this charade and get a real job?
what a lot of these up and coming bands are thinking right now. I mean, with streaming, with the lack of revenue of streaming, I mean, there's not that much choices. I'm sure a lot of these bands starting out, even, like, when they have radio airplay, they still have their day jobs.
It's really hard to make a decent living right now with music.
so it's really interesting to see that what Danko Jones thought back then is still happening to this day and probably even worse.
you see yourself living anywhere other than Canada?
sweden is a place where a record label that we were on bad Taste Records for years and years was based. So we ended up spending a lot of time there. I know Stockholm better than any other city that we toured in, so I could probably live in Stockholm.
got Radkey, another fury, punk infused trio joining you on your UK and continental Europe dates this winter.
Danko says, I heard their first or second album and I saw who was playing it, these three brothers. And I was like, this is amazing. The guy sounded a bit like Danzig. had some misfits thing. Seems like it's going to be a fun tour and everybody's going to be cool. I've been lucky with bands like Gyuda and Meryl, sir cloudlessly, Shovel the Biters, radke, awesome opening bands that we're proud of and I'm a fan of, and I buy their records.
long been a genuine champion for new and rising bands.
do you rate at the moment? The Linda Linda's are a good one. Stiff Richards from Australia. Jivebomb Sheer. Mag LUT from Norway. They're amazing. That's off the top of my well, well, rock fans, looks like we have some homework to do and some listening to do. I have no idea who these bands are. So, hey, if Danko Jones gives his seal of approval, that's good enough for me. I'm going to check those out. I would you tell a kid wanting to start out in music today? Buy records, he says, and when you think you've bought more, buy more. Obviously, if your wallet allows even the act of buying the record, not just streaming, it is a way of connecting with the music that I think is getting lost by a lot of people. You put your hard earned money towards an album, it makes you listen to it. Absolutely. I don't know, maybe I'm old school, but I feel the exact same way.
think back then, if you bought a vinyl or even a CD back then, you would read every single word in the liner notes
just suck up everything you can about that album.
Especially pre Internet. There was very few areas or avenues that you can soak up information about your band, right? Maybe some magazines, some newspaper clippings. And really, that live show, when you went to see them, was just magical. Magical. Magical.
it's not like these days where the same band is now coming three, four times within a span of two, three years in your town now. Because that's the way bands can make money. That's the only way, actually, bands are really making money, is through merch that they sell at the shows online. The shows, they don't really make money on streaming anymore. So in case you didn't know, that's why you see Guns N'Roses Touring and Touring Incessantly. And here in Toronto, they've come, I think, about three times now within a span of, like, two years. So it's just non stop for these bands.
I mean, don't get me wrong, they're making a killing. But that's the only way they're making a killing is by touring.
right, well, that sums up that article. Short and sweet. Go check out Danko Jones. They're one of the most rockin'bands that I know.
right, maybe some of you can explain this to me. So Danko Jones, a phenomenal band, rock and band, they're here in Toronto, right? And my wife and I went to see them a couple of years ago at this really dingy club, small club not too far from here. I'd say it probably fit about maybe five to 700 people, if that. Don't get me wrong, they played a phenomenal show. It was actually an amazing show where they just rocked out the whole night and the crowd was so into it. That kind of sweaty dive bar kind of thing. That's my favorite way of checking out a band. So that's the kind of venue they can pull here. But if they go to Europe, they're playing huge festivals, they're playing so much bigger venues. I just never understood that. I don't know know the Canadian crowd doesn't get behind some of their bands because they're phenomenal. They rock out more than anyone I know. Anyways, go check them out. Go check those three albums I recommend. And you let me know in the comments what you think. Let me know if I'm, like, completely crazy out of left field or two thumbs up.