So I’m sure you’ve heard that there was a campaign over christmas to get Rage Against The Machine to number one, and beat the X Factor, which worked, so what do you think about talent shows like American Idol and The X Factor, and what would you think if a campaign happened for you guys?
John: I don’t know.
Dan: I think we’re too old
John: If we had talent, that was a long time ago. Now it’s just stubeness. I’ve honestly never watched an episode of any of those shows.
Dan: It’d be flattering though.
John: Yeah, it would be flattering, and I’m sure it would do good for our career. We fucked it up at the beginning somehow. We were naked or something.
Ah yes, the first naked Christmas single.
John: Yeah, but they’d remember it though!
So it’s been a while since you split from your record label, and you were ecstatic when that happened. You still finding that fantastic, with your new given freedom?
John: Yeah, definitely. We just kind of do what we want now. We just go in and record when we can afford. Luckily the T-shirt guy’s also our sound tech and recording engineer. So, it works out. When we’re on the road we can do vocal edits, and when we’re at home we can actually record live stuff. We have a distribution label group group called Rock Ridges, and it’s a nice relationship. It’s all the good things about the record industry used to be, without any of the hangups.
So on that note, have you got a new album in the works, or just touring?
John: Kind of...
Dan: There is some stuff in the works. We can’t tell you about it, but there is something in the pipes.
John: That’s for sure.
Dan: It’s like just above the small intestine. Not in the large one yet.
John: Like a musical enema.
Do you think Ska will come back to it’s previous popularity? What do you think about the future of Ska, and what it’s going to be?
Dan: It’d be cool if it did. I mean, bands like us are lucky I guess, because we can keep going when it isn’t at it’s peak of commercial success as a genre, but we rode that last wave in on radio and stuff like that, and that was a big help at like the ‘middle’ of our career. And now we’re just kinda just treading water waiting for that next thing, but you never know, it could be 20 years until that.
John: Music’s like the fashion industry, it’s cyclical.
Dan: Let me think of what it is now. It’s, like, a really bright coloured hoodies. The white, the turquoise, the pink. I mean, all that stuff was around when we were in high school. It’s super, super, bright, ugly colours, all “Oh my gosh!”.
John: You wait for the ‘Bugle Boy’ thing to come back, you know with the paisley rolled up trousers.
Dan: I’ve already started with the rolled up jeans.
John: So, it’s not a matter of whether if it’s going to happen [Ska coming back to popularity], just when it happens.
You guys are famous for your live shows. What’s your secret to getting people to come back?
Dan: Uh, we don’t really have one. We try to play really good every show.
John: You make it an entertaining experience. Not just a rendition of the product we’re trying to pitch at the time, you know. We put songs from all the records in there, and try and stay on our toes. It’s definitely more than just music, and you really hit the nail on the head there. It’s entertainment. You really are entertained at the show, and I’ve been on both ends of that. I’ve been in the band, and before I was in the band, and I’d watch the show...
Dan: He was in prison
Watching it all on a really small TV.
John: Yeah, both ends. But it really is fantastic, and it’s a joy to watch the show. I mean, have a good time.
We were talking about this before coming into the interview about our favourite albums, and one of our favourite albums of all time is Our Live Album is Better than Your Live Album. On that note, are there any bands you’d really like to tour with that you haven’t already, or maybe would like to again?
John: It’d be fun to tour with No Doubt.
Dan: Or Led Zeppelin.
John: I’m a big fan of The Rolling Stones, you know.
Dan: We’re always out there you know, so, you know where to find us.
I actually went to the same school that Mick Jagger did. Sure I could give him a call for you.
Dan: Good! Alright. Excellent.
John: That’d be perfect. Done. Next tour.
So any pre-gig rituals?
Dan: No we’re pretty calm before the show. Saving all the energy I guess. Probably a bit of drinking. Nothing organised.
John: Yeah. Sometimes, like when we do home town shows, there’s a lot of people in the dressing rooms, and that kinda freaks me out, because I kind of like that peace and quiet before the show.
Dan: I’m scared of wolves, so...
John: And yeah, at the home shows we have wolves in the dressing rooms, so Dan’s a little freaked out.
So how long does it take generally to get an album done? Who writes most of the songs? How’s that work?
Dan: Aaron writes most of the songs. We usually get together for a rehearsal process, and jam out all the parts, stuff like that. Uh, recording usually happens in between tours. So, we’re always recording, whether it’s an original record, or something for various master-minded projects down the road. We just set away the time. Johnny and I do horns, so that’s usually in the latter half of the recording process. By the time we get in there, the songs pretty much how it sounds at the end.
John: I think Fame, Fortune and Fornication was recorded in three weeks. I think that’s [in reference to Dan’s last statement] how it worked. We had this time allotted, and Aaron burnt the midnight oil, and we all got in and got it done.
On which note, the fantastic performer, and a gentleman, Aaron Barrett enters singing “Time has come. Pay the rent.”
John: See, I walked into that.
Aaron: Set ‘em up and I knock ‘em down.
Talking about the albums, what are your favourite Reel Big Fish albums?
Dan: The Greatest hits?
John: Yeah, I like Our Live Album is Better than Your Live Album.
And with the albums, you’ve put out a huge amount of covers songs over the years, why do you love doing cover songs so much?
John: Why not! There are so many awesome songs that we would love to play. It’s great, when you go on stage and play a song, that you have never played before, and already everyone’s singing along! Fabulous. It’s like an instant hit!
Dan: And we have to keep ourselves challenged, and always have repertoire.
Aaron: I think we do a lot more original songs, so that question’s bullshit! Hundreds of original songs and like only twenty covers. SUCK ON THAT!
So do you think there’s definitely a trend in Ska music for doing cover songs?
Dan: Maybe...
John: Not a huge amount more than maybe other genres. I don’t think...thinking about it.
Best thing about Blighty in one word?
Aaron: BIRDS!!
John: Just to go back to the covers question real quick, I mean that’s how people usually learn to play, by playing other people’s songs. It’s kind of a natural thing to do.
Aaron: You still talking about covers?
John: I just went back to it.
Aaron: Tell them the best thing about England.
John: The best thing about England ....I had something to say damn it!
Aaron: In a word, everything [Best thing about England]
John: The crowds are awesome! The people, we love people. That’s just how we are.
I know a lot of my friend are coming to see you tonight, and the wave of hysteria that passes over people at your gigs.
John: We’re they giddy? Giddy like a, like a school girl?
Aaron: I’ve seen school girls at gigs, and they’re never giddy. So that saying is BULLSHIT!
Dan: Told you Johnny was the only nice one.
Aaron: Just talking loudly so [our camera] can hear me fucking god damn-it! The recording thing...
Any last words?
Dan: That you don’t forget what this is right here [touches his heart]
John: Come to the shows!
Aaron: We’re bringing a new live DVD out. It’s called Live In Concert!.
John: And don’t forget our latest album, Fame, Fortune and Fornication.
Aaron: Come and see us play. Thank you for a long, happy career. Thank you for supporting us. Come to the shows. It’s almost 9 years now, this month.
John: 9 year anniversary of coming to the UK.
Aaron: And you’ve treated us very well, and we’re very grateful. Ok I’m done being serious.
Dan: And let’s stop all the earthquakes man! We need to band together as mot just, err, show fashion enthusiasts, but also as human being to help stop the earthquakes.
John: People are dying out there. We need to get a t-shirt that says, “Put a stop to Plate Tectonics”.
Aaron: That sounds like a nerd-shirt!
Thank you very much guys. You’ve been wonderful.
Dan: Thanks for letting us record into your little tie-fighter thing.
A Reel Big Fish gig is chaos. The band storm onto the stage to the Superman theme, covered in brightly coloured clashing clothes. Their lead, Aaron Barrett, takes the centre in his ska-uniform and the band starts belting out their particular brand of jumpy, toe-tapping fast music. The crowd roars into life, and the band members jump around the stage. And they don’t ever miss a note.
Reel Big Fish have been doing this for a while and they are sharp. Complicated songs are made to look positively easy, as the band works in perfect unison. John Christianson and Dan Regan pal around at the side, providing the horn section and a mini-show in their own right. Derek Gibbs stands quietly at the back, next to Ryland Steen on the drums, the challenging rhythm section holding the group together. Scott Klopfenstein keeps to the right, constantly switching between trumpet, guitar and vocals. He banters with the fired up Barrett, leading at the front and playing the audience as much as he plays his guitar.
The songs come thick and fast, the band belting through set-pieces that have become famous: Ska cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, sung by the incredibly versatile Scott? Check. A lovely lady bought on stage to help on vocals for the hilarious “She has a girlfriend now”? Check, thanks to the lovely Laila Khan from Sonic Boom Six. The genre-busting epic that is “Suburban Rhythm”? Check, in both metal, and country versions.
Each member is given their own chance to shine as expected, although a shout has to go to Ryland for his epic show-stopping drum solo. It’s all what you expect from a Reel Big Fish gig. In our interview, Johnny states that the key to their success as a live band is that it’s not just a gig: Its entertainment. In this way band definitely succeed, they never put in less than 100%. They may not top the charts, or light up the mainstream, but Reel Big Fish put on a hell of a show. It’s what keeps the fans coming back, and converts new fans over.
They may not be especially surprising, but you’ll always get your money’s worth, guaranteed. And I’ve you’ve never seen Reel Big Fish, I would advise you to go the next chance you get – If it doesn’t make you want to dance around like an idiot, you may just be dead.
