The Bouncing Souls
Interviews | Feb 20th, 2009
The Bouncing Souls took time out of their busy schedule to answer a few questions with us. The Souls are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, touring extensively and releasing new material. They are releasing a new song each month on their own label Chunksaah Records and 2 of them have been available so far! Steven Bauer sent some questions to Greg, and this is how it went:
How did the Home for the Holiday shows go? I know you were not able to play at the Stone Pony.
The Pony shows were a blast even though we didn’t play the Pony. Family and friends were everywhere which made for a great time every night. Its really a huge family party.
While most bands only last a few years, you guys have reached a huge milestone. What is the number one characteristic that you attribute to the longevity of the group?
Passion
What has been your proudest moment (or moments) with the band?
There are really so many on different levels but I think the biggest has to be when someone says: “Your music saved my life.” Thats the top..ya can’t beat that. That beats playing at Wembley or at the Budokan by thousands of miles.
You guys are also taking on the huge task of releasing a song a month over 2009. What was the genesis for taking on this project?
We wanted to do something different, our contract with epitaph was up, we wanted to celebrate the 20 year anniversary all year somehow, and the ideas all fell together with releasing 12 songs throughout the year on our own label.
Are all of the songs written? How often are you going into the studio to record?
Six are done and we are going in April to finish the next 6. They are almost done. Recording the songs and releasing them this way has been a bit more fun and relaxing because the time pressure is not so intense. We have really enjoyed it.
Do you plan on putting out a collection of the songs when the year is over?
Yes. We are putting them out on four 7 inches with download cards, and a some sort of box set at the end of the year.
Tell us how you got involved with the Harvest of Hope Festival.
Our publicist heard about it and first I think..then they offered us the show. Its great to be involved in it.
Tell us about your touring plans. It looks like you have a lot going on this year, including your first trip to South America.
We are doing a mini-world tour. The places we do well in..haha. Ya we just got back from SA and it was amazing. The shows, new friends, and expanded horizons. I am also doing an acoustic tour of the northeast with Vic, from the Slackers and Shanti. They both are amazing singer and songwriters so we will be having some fun joining forces. We are going to be mixing it up by playing songs with each other too. Come on Out!
You recently unveiled an anniversary logo created by the legendary Arturo Vego. How did it all come about?
Arturo rules! We were lucky enough to get to know him pretty well while traveling together on the Warped tour. It popped up in conversation in some parking lot party on the Warped tour somewhere and snowballed. Arturo is a true RocknRoll inspiration.
As a huge Avoid One Thing fan, how did you guys pick ‘Lean On Sheena’ to record?
Ted Hutt, the producer of the Gold Record and our 12 new songs actually suggested the idea the day before we were going to track the songs. He had been working with Joe Gittleman a lot at the time so they had the idea for us to play it. It worked out great!
Do you guys have any signs of slowing down or can we count on interviewing you for your 30th anniversary?
Nope..as long as we can play guitars and sing we will ROck!!!
For more info on The Bouncing Souls, please visit their website here or their MySpace here.
