On its latest release, Blackout, the populist punk band Dropkick Murphys engages in an unlikely collaboration with the ultimate populist, folk legend Woody Guthrie. Given Guthrie's 1942 "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight," Ken Casey, producer, bass player and singer for the Dropkick Murphys, says the band approached coming up with the music with some trepidation:
"We usually write the lyrics and write around that. With the Woody stuff, though, it's a bit intimidating. Do you do it true to the form you think he would have done it? Or, do you do what we do with 'Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight' and kind of turn it upside down," says Casey. "Woody's daughter, who is in charge of the archives, she's real cool in letting you know it's open to any interpretation you want to give it. So, we didn't feel any pressure to do it a certain way."
In the end, Dropkick Murphys wrote a righteous punk melody. Not that the band can't pull off a traditional sound, too, and to prove it, the slightly skewed folk song "World Full of Hate" follows immediately upon the punked-up Guthrie. Of course, nothing less is to be expected from one of the few punk bands to incorporate bagpipes into its sound. But according to Casey, despite numerous lineup changes, the basic punk sound of the band has altered little since forming in 1995.
"You know you try to do better. But we always are building on the same foundation, with maybe slight changes," says Casey. "This band takes its cues from basic, '70s, UK punk."
Of course, it is delivered with a distinctly Boston accent. Last week, Dropkick Murphys released their first DVD, On the Road With The Dropkick Murphys. For financial and artistic reasons, the band took on the project with a DIY attitude.
"Most of it was shot by us, or by a friend who worked for us," says Casey. "We're not a major-label band that has a video crew following us around. I think if that were the case, it would be boring. Every time someone comes near us with a camera, we freeze up."
"The thing I would say to any band that is going to shoot a DVD over the course of many years is be sure to label your tapes. We used to just throw the tapes in a cardboard box, and trying to organize five or six years worth of footage was a nightmare," says Casey. "We made a pact that we would put stuff on it that doesn't necessarily show us in the best light. We didn't want to edit the stuff out that someone might find embarrassing. So, that now when we watch the finished project, we are wondering what the hell we were thinking. But I think it is cool for people who want to see what the band is really like, what it's like backstage, and what we do with our free time."
Among Casey's adventures on the road are a few wild times on earlier tour stops to Las Vegas. "They all involve me losing money at the roulette table. The last time we were there was with the Sex Pistols. That wasn't that fun. I lost a lot of money that day."