Flogging Molly talks Joey Ramone vs. Joe Strummer and the beauty of the Irish coast

I've heard someone just thank you for everybody watching for the nice set here. I imagine you may have played a smart home concert before. Is this your first one? This is very definitely our first one. I mean, even being in the living room, I wonder if like out of all the different venues you've played, locations you've played What was the smallest one you've ever played? You're in it. [LAUGH] We've done several, if we're being honest, right. We spawned from a stage smaller then this in a little room, my mom's stage. That's where the name of the band came from, right? Yeah. About as big as that couch, [UNKNOWN]. I think one of the memories can which You just have to stand off the stage cuz we couldn't fit everyone on the stage. [LAUGH] And were you guys just like rotating for [UNKNOWN] or something? Yay, step up every now and then was just mental but, it's all we had to do. [LAUGH] And what was it like to go first jump from going from such a small club to playing? Now you guys play this bigger [UNKNOWN] and you play big auditoriums. What's that like now for you guys? I think it's bringing the small room to the arenas, bringing that atmosphere, you know. It doesn't matter if it's 100,000 people or ten people, you know. You bring that energy to the, because we always play just the way we do anyway, so bringing that energy into a big room has never really been a problem for us. Yeah, so, I mean, it feels like a small venue every venue we play, you know. That's the way it should be. Do you ever get freaked out being able to see people's faces close up versus not? Sometimes like when preforming you can see the audience versus having the veil of darkness between you and the audience. Well, me personally, even if we're playing outside on a sunny day in a festival say These glasses, they turn into sunglasses, but I take them off and I wear another pair of glasses that don't turn into sunglasses, cause I love to see people's faces. I react from people's energy, and if I have sunglasses on... [BLANK_AUDIO] Doesn't cut it for me, you know? Do you guys agree? Do you guys all like seeing people's faces? Yeah, playing in these massive festivals the people can be maybe 50 yards away from you, but it's great to, yeah, see their faces because beyond that it's just kind of a blur. So obviously, in your song, Float, there's a great line, don't sink the boat that you built to keep afloat. And I'm wondering for, you guys have been going on for almost 20 years now, 21 years, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What keeps you guys afloat, how have you not sunk your boat? Water? [LAUGH] No colored water. [LAUGH] Colored fizzy water. Black colored water or that? [LAUGH] Yeah colored water, black water. But nah I mean I think we all respect each other's space on the road. When you're in a bus for as long as we are. Everybody kind of has their own little spot that they like to go to. No matter if it's in a venue or- And we all respect each other's space and, plus, we all get along really well. Which kind of is, I mean if we didn't get on, it wouldn't- You wouldn't have seen these many years anyway, so I think we're all pretty adept at giving people the space they need to keep real. Well, and I think the music is the glue that holds it all together, and loving that starts with songs Steve's written. But the funny thing is if you really look at it, we're from all different places in the world, we're all different ages, we're all different backgrounds. But yeah, we We all get along. So it literally is the music that ties you together. I think so, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So one of the things that first drew me to your music, obviously, was the mix of traditional Irish music and rock with a little punk twist. nd I'm wondering as you've gone over the years, and your albums especially, how has technology changed the way you've produced your music, or distrubute your music, over that time? Well, technology, I mean in the studio, it's always a handy tool to have. Me, personally, [COUGH] I'm the most untechnological person, I can't even say it- [LAUGH] On the planet. [LAUGH] My dad might give you a run. I mean, if it wasn't for my wife I wouldn't have an iPhone, because I wouldn't have to work the thing. I'm really, I mean, I'm so, yeah, I'm really bad with that. But musically, music is a different thing with technology, I prefer analog, I like that whole tape sound and that energy in that. And I think, we're actually talking about our next album maybe doing it that way again You know, going back to, cuz we have the players that we don't really need technology to dry it out. [UNKNOWN] if you know what I'm saying. The rhythm section we have it's like, when we record the drums, we record a bass guitar and electric guitar as well. So you know what I mean, we have the energy going. So we don't wanna mess with that anymore. So, I don't know, we'll see. Technologyin the studio is an incredible thing. Personally, I'm not into auto tuning, and all that type of stuff. And, well, we don't do that. We record live. In the studio. We all get together and we play live. You guys all play at the same time as opposed to individually? Absolutely, yeah, we do that. Going back to the analog, is it only the sound? Or is it also the fact that you have this little window for a take and that you might mess up, and it kind of puts more of a performance pressure? Absolutely, yeah, I think I love that kind of pressure. You guys have Been everywhere, played different size venues, small venues, what haven't you done yet that you guys don't want to do as a band? Well, this torrence in a couple of days, and then with a day off. Off and we go to South America. We do a tour of South America. That's gonna be exciting. Is this your first time in South America? Doing a tour of South America, yeah. We've been to Brazil before. But playing places like Bogata, which is two mile high elevation, that's gonna be fun. [LAUGH] [UNKNOWN] Denver. I was just watching a program where The one and only Anthony Bourdain and it was in Bogota. And he had altitude sickness. [LAUGH] Wow. Like really bad so it's like we'll see how that goes you know? Get to watch do the boiling water test right that's the other thing you do? Yeah we all no we all have our shots we got our shots and hopefully we're okay. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] So the last thing I wanna do is a little thing called Pick One. I'll give you two things. You can pick one of them. And we'll see what happens. So first one is accordion or concertina? Which one will you pick? Neither. As you point to the guy. [LAUGH] They can both go. They can chase the banjo into the trash can, right? [LAUGH] I would say the accordion. I mean, you're forcing my hand. Okay, I'll go with another. We'll get another answer, fiddle or violin? It would have to be fiddle. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I grew up in the South so we say fiddle, too. Yeah, fiddle, for sure. The west coast of Ireland or the west coast of the US? [BLANK_AUDIO] I've only got one answer for that. I mean, I've lived on the West Coast of the United States long, long time, but I live on the East Coast of Ireland. And when I drive to the West Coast of Ireland, I don't know whether it's because it's the edge of Europe. I don't know what it is. But when you get to the West Coast of Ireland the light is just completely different and it's just The most beautiful, beautiful place. I mean, it's magical. I love it. It's magical! It's magical. [LAUGH] A couple more of these. So we'll get some tech stuff. So Facebok or Twitter? Neither. Neither? That's a good answer. What about, you said iPhone earlier, but iPhone or Android for you? Either of you. You guys use iPhone or Android? You should tell us, you're the tech guy. Well, you read my stuff maybe, no, I'm kidding. But what are you, are you guys rocking a smartphone or- I think we're all- I got an iPhone. iPhone, yeah? iPhone, yeah. I've thought of going to the other side, though, I guess I gotta read your blog and figure it out. Yeah, this is a pixel, so. Okay. I don't know the difference, by the way, so Yeah, there's not much of a difference anymore, which is why I think people are switching off. But I would feel kind of ashamed wasting this time talking about [UNKNOWN] [LAUGH] [LAUGH] After all the albums I've bought, the tickets I bought for you guys. So this is gonna be a little tough one. Joe Strummer or Joey Ramone? That's not fair. That's really unfair. Pick one's not a fair game, I'm gonna be honest. I'm gonna pick Joey Ramone. Do we all get to pick one? Yeah, you can pick one, yeah, yeah, yeah. I pick Joey Ramone. I pick, [BLANK_AUDIO] Both again. Yeah, I mean this is a really deep. [LAUGH] Yeah, this is a tough one. You go first. I mean, the very first punk show I ever went to was the Ramones when I was like 15 years old and so I kind of want to say. But also I sat and had a cigarette with Joe Strummer and we talked about how much he loved accordians. So I'm gonna go with Strummer. [LAUGH] Well that comes down to drinking again. I remember when I first moved to London I used to drink at a pub called the Prince of Wales and Joe Strummer would come in, and so I've had a couple of pints with Joe. And then we were doing a show, we were on the Warped Tour one year, and we got a phone call to say that on our day off, is there any way we could fly to Las Vegas and play with Joe Strummer? So we went and played with Joe, and it was one of the last shows he ever did. Yeah, so on that level, I would have to say Joe. Yeah, that's a beautiful story. Is there anything else you'd like to share with me or your fans before we wrap up here? Well, to our fans, I mean I mean, it's like thanks for the 20 odd years of mayhem that you have caused. It's amazing every night that we play just the warmth and the passion of the crowd. It really helps. It really does. Do you guys envision you ever having like a Rolling Stones type thing where you're playing in your 60s or 70s? That's not that far off. We're almost there. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] So we'll see you a couple. [LAUGH] Well, hey guys, thank you so much for coming. [UNKNOWN] Thanks so much Patrick. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGH] [BLANK_AUDIO]