SCAB: I heard you are preparing new record while you are touring.
Spicy: Yeah, we’re working on a few songs right now while we’re on tour. Because it seems to be where the insanity runs high, so it makes the songs atmosphere.
SCAB: Can you give us the name of one…
Spicy: Well one of them is called "Epic"!
SCAB:Epic? Is it gonna be some Celtic influenced.
Spicy: Yes, very..,
SCAB: I waned to ask you: you seem like the greatest Celtic man in the band. Are you an Irish or the Scottish?
Spicy: Irish.
SCAB: How important is that for you?
Spicy: Very Important. I mean – my great-grandma came over on the boat. And my grandma and I spent a lot of time together, and I grew up in Celtic community and it’s been very important to all of us. Because that’s one of the big things that feels the band as well.
SCAB: I wouldn’t call that one a nationalism. How do you call it?
Spicy: Err…ethnicity?
Ken: Culture, you know. In some places in America Irish culture and the diversity is still very strong, where’s other places it’s not. 
SCAB: Did you know that the Celts were living in the northern part of Serbia, Vojvodina?
Ken: I’ll call Met, our drummer. Met, we need your expertise!
Met: Really? Also the Celts came from Turkey originally, right? Some were living in Italy, some in Spain, there were some in Nothern France, the shorer France, Scotland, Ireland…
SCAB: The other important thing within the Murphys except the Irish background is that you are all blue colar working class people. Some might say that you are posing that stuff. How really are you working class? Are there miners in Boston (ha ha)?
Ken: The song ‘bout miners in the traditional American song. I’m not a miner, but…My father died when I was seven and I was pretty much raised by my grandfather who was a stronger union man as it could be. So being raised in a family like that…
SCAB: You sing about union. Is that the ordinary union because a lot of them (especially in America) is corrupted?
Ken: From when I get of high school to when I joined this band I was a member of a Labourist local 14-21 Demolition .Building wreckers on the cover of Do Or Die. That picture is from the 60s. My father in law is also the president of that union and it’s when he was working there.
SCAB: Did you have any other jobs? You probably don’t have now.
Spicy: Not now, but I used to be a carpenter and remover. Those were mine two big jobs.
SCAB: You were also leading some soccer gang?
Spicy: I love soccer. Those are New England Revolutions. Major league soccer just set up maybe three or four years ago in America and we have a crew there called XXX crew and we just go there and drink a lot in the parking lot.
SCAB: Do you know anything about European soccer.
Spicy: I just stick with American soccer.
SCAB: You’ve probably been asked this question for thousand times, but what actually happened to first singer. Why did he quit the band?
Ken: We weren’t like necessarily touring musicians for life and all of the sudden we went from, like, one day having our jobs to, like, we’re on tour. And some of us were more into the punk scene than others. Mike wasn’t the punk rocker, he was just “I can’t get 100% of my effort”. And the rumor that was around is that he left to be a fireman but actually, four years later, he just got off the fire department. He’s also not married…he just quit. Every time you have a band and it’s gotta be comparences when you switch singers. I like Mike and I like Al. It’s just that Al believe in what he’s doing so it’s more inspirational to me.
SCAB: 3rd album is more Irish flavored. What did your folks think when you were playing just punk and now when you are covering old traditional songs and stuff like that?
Ken: They definitely like those songs better then the punk songs. And this album being more of a diverse album, it seems like everybody’s families and friends has been able to kinda…well, even my mother actually likes the band, likes the CD. First two CDs she didn’t like. Now our parents come to the show. Spicy’s grandmother comes to a show.
SCAB: Is she slamming in the pit?
Spicy: No, she’s very good friend with Lars Frederiksen now.
SCAB: Really? What it looks like to have a grandma in the audience.
Spicy: It’s a little bit scary. I’m a little bit worried. But it’s all right. There’s plenty of people to watch out for her.
Ken: Al’s grandmother was at the show recently and she set on the stage clapping the whole time.
SCAB: Is Al older then you?
Ken: Al is 33. He’s the old man in the band. He’s got me by a year.
SCAB: I don’t see Al around, so I’ll ask you. What happened to Bruisers? Did they split up?
Ken: I would say that as a real band, they split up. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they  do a reunion, in  Boston at least.
SCAB: You wouldn’t mind that.
Ken: No. This band takes up so much time and no one could ever really have time do…And Al did it for 15 years he’s 100% in it, to do it on a touring basis. But I think that reunion in Boston would be cool.
SCAB: He seem like a real scene dedicated man. He’s a long time scener…
Ken: It’s like anything - when you hang around with your friends and you’re a kid and whether it’s a scene, and when you’re 33 and married you don’t get to spend as much time involved in the scene as you did when you were the kid.
SCAB: What’s the story behind Spicy McHaggis? What happened to the fat lady? Who wrote that song?
Spicy: Actually a police officer from Boston wrote it. I was actually in Dallas, very drunk and I was molested by big frigid lady and it just kinda get into this big thing. So now, apparently, I go after 400 pound women. We took the ball and run with it as we say in America.
SCAB: How did you end up on Conan O’Brien show?
Ken: Did they played that over here? Well, Conan O’Brien is from Boston and he’s an Irish. I don’t know how we got this offer.
Spicy: I’ve known him for a while. He's also a local man from Boston, so he heard we have a band.
SCAB: Were you more popular after that?
Ken: I think it was on TV at 3 in the morning in America. It’s usually on it in like 1, but there was this basketball championship so it pushed it late.
SCAB: We saw reprise of that on NBC Europe at about 10pm.
Ken: So it did more for us over here than it did in America then. I think it helps, but it’s not like it makes the band that was small big over night. We had great time and drink all night afterwards.
SCAB: After this third album, more media promotion and five Europe tours do you feel bigger?
Ken: Depends on country you’re in. Germany, Holland, England – those are our bigger markets. Southern Europe is still tough for us. We are touring band. Most of our fan base has been build up by touring and when you go to countries for the first time, you can’t expect to have big crowds.
SCAB: I saw you played on 8th June some beer festival in Ireland.
Ken: We played Dublin. We played Guinness beer Festival.
SCAB: In Ireland, how do the original Irish people receive your stuff?
Ken: It’s more punk thing. But basically some Irish don’t like Irish Americans cause they think of like politicians coming over to kinda milk their community and use their name. But to me it’s like as far as Irish Americans go, we never claimed to be Irish – we’re Irish American. And for most of the Irish catholics Boston has been a place where the real community is. Suppose some guy in California who’s great-great-great-great-grand parents came in just cause he’s got Irish last name, it’s like the culture really is pretty strong there. So a lot of Irish still look at people from Boston and understand why they have so much roots in Irish
SCAB: Do you have any attitude about Northern Ireland?
Ken:It’s funny because my family is from Connaught Ireland (?) which is kind like a rebel county but the thing is I’m American and I’m Catholic so you can say what you want about the British government but the American government is doing the same shit in other countries. So for an American to pass the judgement on what the British government is doing over there, sometimes is funny because the American government is doing the same thing simultaneously.
SCAB: With us maybe…
Ken: Yeah, exactly…
SCAB: Like in that SLF song “Each dollar a bullet”…
Ken: In Boston has always been a big spot for gun running.  We have a lot of friends from England and they’ll talk about it: it’s the poor working class kids, the British soldiers that are sent to die so I look at it as a government issue and government problem, not the problem of Irish and English citizens. It’s like anywhere where two people with different religious backgrounds and things. I just think that government keeps inflating problems.
SCAB: Tell us something about cooperation with Lars and Hellcat records.
Ken: Great. It’s actually Tim from Rancid that’s the guy that really owns the Hellcat. It’s great: you get big distribution, but you feel like you’re on a small label. It’s the best of both worlds. It’s one of the biggest independent labels, but you get all the benefits still feeling like you’re on the small label. It’s not like – sell records or you’re fired!

SCAB:  How do you get along with other bands on tour. Does it get boring?
Ken: That’s why we like to bring bands on tour that are friends with us.
SCAB: Where did you meet Thug Murder?
Ken: They sent us their demo tape years ago and when we went to Japan for the first time we requested that they be the opening act. I liked the demo from the minute I got it, but once I saw them live…wait till you see them live! Live is where they’re really strongest. So we signed them to our record label and got them on whole American tour, and now to Europe. We’re all good friends. Reach The Sky are a good friends from home. If you’re on tour with bands you’re friends with, it’s one big party; and if you’re on tour with bands you don’t like it sucks.
SCAB: Do you know guy from Ignite – Zoli?
Ken: Yeah, bunch of guys know Zoli. I personally just met him today. Some of the other guys know him longer and he’s been translating for us all day, and he took us to the radio station and translated, showing us around town. He’s a good guy.
SCAB: What countries did you like best from European countries?
Ken: I’d say Holland maybe. That’s where our best shows are right now. And everything’s legal.
SCAB: What are your influences? Both musical and another.
Ken: All the classic punk stuff. British punk and American punk like the Ramones, Irish folk obviously Chieftains, Dubliners, Pouges…
SCAB: What was the cooperation with Shane like?
Ken: It was great! He was shitfaced it was like dragging a bum around…it was like finding a homeless guy in a gutter and taking him into the studio.
SCAB: Did he knew what was his name, cause he sounded like – BAM!
Ken: He was bamed!
Spicy: He is very good friend of mine, we drank together.
Ken: Spicy and him are close drinking friends.
SCAB: He lives in states, in USA?
Ken: No, he lives in London, but he’s in the states quite a bit.
Spicy: He stays in my house when he’s in the states.
SCAB: How does it feel – he used to be a real rock star, and now he’s just a bum?
Spicy: He’s still a rock star. He’s not a bum, it’s just when he’s drunk it’s hard to tell a difference between him and a bum, but he’s not a bum. He’s a good guy.
SCAB: What was it like getting him in the studio? Was he cooperated or…
Spicy: Errrr….we got the drugs and the alcohol and he showed up. I won’t say it was easy, but we got him there somehow.
SCAB: What’s he doing now?
Spicy: I believe he’s on the tour now with the Popes. He’s working on a new record, but he doesn’t have a record label right now.
SCAB: Maybe you spoke him about Pogues reunion. Is there any chance they want him back?
Spicy: That would never happen!
SCAB: Since you’ve done that Slapshot tribute. How much are you into Boston hardcore, since it’s like autonomous scene?
Ken: That’s how I got into punk rock. Thru hardcore Gang Greeen, SSD, DYS and later Slapshot. In America hardcore was the working class music. More so than oi! because it came over way to more real kids in America were into hardcore.
SCAB: How did the Slapshot feel about the tribute you did?
Ken: Oh, they were involved in it. We try not to go for most popular band. I mean a lot of most popular bands are on it, but we basically said to any band in Boston scene if you wanna do a Slapshot cover, get it to us by this date and you’re on it! Regardless of a quality.
SCAB: Tell us more about Mighty Might Bosstones we might not know.
Ken: They’re always giving back to other local bands. They took us on tour when we started.
SCAB: I think they gave you a big kick forward.
Ken: They were always mentioning our name in interviews. Kinda showed us a lot of about how we should be. Cause once you get a foot in the door, help another band get up there too.
SCAB: Do you really like Reach The Sky music, or are you with the just cause they’re Bostonians .
Ken: No, we like their music too. We kid them all the time, say it’s emotional, it’s not tough enough. They’re all from the Boston HC scene and I like a lot of their music.
SCAB: I heard that M.M. Bosstones before they sign to Mercury lived in warehouses and were really hungry cause Taang didn’t gave ‘em any money. Is that true?
Ken: I don’t know if they can blame it all on Taang. Before they got on big label while they were touring they were still a very popular band, I don’t think they made much money from record sales. And there are rumors about Taang. A lot of bands claim the Taang doesn’t give them any money. But Curtis  is a friend of ours, and he’s always been good to us.
SCAB: You did split record with Business for them. How did it happened?
Ken: The Business were on vacation in Boston after a tour we decided to do a 7” to cover each other’s songs, Curtis was there and he kept talking us into doing another song, and it was very poorly planned. We put on a CD, and listen to it, figuring out right then and do a cover song,  it was like very strange moment. It was just for a good time.
SCAB: I adore Business but I think you did better job there. How do you feel about it?
Ken: Well the Business had the end of a long tour and drinking a lot, and neither of us were really taking it too seriously. The only thing I regret about that is that Taang promoted it as a great big new record, when to us it was just a nobility thing, for fun. But the Business’ new record that’s just out is excellent. It’s like the old stuff, sounds much like “…the real world”.
SCAB: OK, we don’t want to bother any longer, you should now play. And do you have any message for the end?
Ken: Thanks for your time for coming down, and hopefully we’ll get to play in your country some day soon, we look forward to play in most places we possibly can and meet a new people and make a new friends, so hopefully we’ll be there soon.
Spicy: Support "Lucky Strike" cigarettes and Canadian mixed whiskey.
SCAB: OK, we’ll do that. Now let’s see what you can do on stage.