In a matter of days New Jersey punk stalwarts The Bouncing Souls will be bringing the party back to New Zealand for two shows. We caught up with frontman Greg Attonito over email ahead of the shows to talk touring, lyric writing and his mid-set Lord of The Rings moment...
You've been here a few times now, has there been any memorable moments playing in New Zealand?
I had a Lord of the Rings moment in NZ which I was pretty stoked about.. Someone handed me a ring on stage in the middle of our set. It was pretty out of the ordinary and I instantly thought of Lord of the Rings!! It may be dorky but I’m the first to admit I am a Lord of the Rings fan and NZ plays an amazing part in that movie.
Are you looking forward to doing anything in particular while you are here?
I have no particular plan this time. I plan on enjoying the weather and strolling around Wellington a bit. NZ is definitely a place that will stick with me of all the places I’ve been in the world. I never imagined having an opportunity to see it so I feel so fortunate to have been there at all!
What is it like getting back home to New Jersey after finishing a tour?
Well, I haven’t lived in NJ for a long time. I come home to the mountains of Idaho now and before living here I lived in LA for about 8 years. Its pretty hard to describe how much coming home to the mountains here impacts me. Everything is so clear and quiet. Its a perfect place to clear my mind and feel truly relaxed.
I’ve always been interested in the vastly different spaces bands find to write and practice in. What is your practice space back home like?
The practice space the BS have been using for a while now is in the basement of our manager Kate’s house in Asbury Park, NJ. Pete has transformed it into an amazing recording studio and has done some great recordings over the past few years. Its got a great vibe and he keeps improving on it.
How would you describe The Bouncing Souls’ sound to someone who hasn’t heard your band before?
If I have to describe us in a few short words.. How about this: We sound like the Ramones and feel like the Psychedelic Furs.
You released ninth studio album Comet last year, are you happy with how it has come out?
Yes! I think it may be the most clear and happy we all felt about any of our studio records EVER! We found a great combination of factors that worked I think. We came into the studio with songs that were really finished and ready to go and Bill Stevenson and the Blasting Room added their magic to it. We are all really happy with it.
What things in life effect how you write your music and lyrics most often?
Everything and anything might end up as subject matter for a song but they usually have the same themes. Here are a few examples: Songs about a relationship with someone you love or someone you want to love are re-occuring. Songs that express thoughts and feelings about the events of life around us and how we feel about them. Songs about how awesome we feel about ourselves and life itself, or songs about how we would like to be a better version of ourselves and make our own lives more fantastic. If you take 100 random songs and break them down I bet most of them are going to involve the same few themes. That would be a good experiment I think.
And finally, can you tell us a little about a particular stand out show in the history of Bouncing Souls?
Over this past holiday season we did four shows at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. It was the 6th annual Home for the Holidays party. Every year we try to do a new musical theme and this year we did celebrity set lists. CM Punk the WWE professional wrestler wrote a set list for one of the nights and was at the show on stage while we played it. The set was great and it was a blast to have him up there enjoying it with us. That was a recent show that sticks out for me.
---------------The Bouncing Souls play Auckland this Sunday (3rd Feb) and Wellington on Monday (4th Feb) - click here for show info and to grab tickets.
