Reel Big Fish (24/10/2012)
The 59th Sound recently spoke with Johnny Christianson, the trumpeter of Reel Big Fish, about their impending Australian tour with fellow ska powerhouses Goldfinger and Zebrahead.
Hi, how are you going?
Hey Ally, how are ya? This is Johnny Christianson.
Hi, nice to talk to you. How’s your day been so far?
It’s been…. Well…If you were where I’m at and seeing how much it’s snowing right now.
Oh really?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m really jealous of your climate at this moment.
Yeah, you must be jealous, because I’m sitting outside in the sun as we do this, just to rub it in a little bit more.
It’s probably, 25 degrees [Fahrenheit] outside and snowing.
Not good. Not good at all! Now just to get it off with the very first question; you guys are set to tour very soon with fellow ska crews Zebrahead and Goldfinger.
Yeah!
This is a big, big thing for Australian fans, we’re all really excited. What do you guys have in store for us?
Oh, it will be hours and hours of hilarity and rock music. And possibly a couple of funny, funny jokes for you. There will be lots of sweating. And dancing. Because that’s what happens when you come to our shows.
That’s a good combination to have.
Maybe getting other people’s sweat on you? It’s really gross, but you’ll still have a good time.
Well that’s the whole experience of a mosh pit. You haven’t been in a proper mosh until you’ve shared sweat with a stranger.
Or blood! Fortunately our crowd is not the blood type.
Haha! Well that brings up my next question. I actually have been in one of your mosh pits before and they’re pretty full on. The energy is really electric. And with three of the most explosive punk and ska bands in the one tour, how do you expect your fans to react in the mosh pit? Or even survive it?
Yeah, you may not survive. Unfortunately, we may have to have ambulances waiting outside to carry you to hospital. And you may die. We will have oxygen ready for you. Also we will have salted crackers ready for you and vegemite in case anybody has got low blood sugar! Just in case.
Well that’s good! Have you tried vegemite yourself?
Unfortunately so, yes.
It is an acquired taste…..
Oh yes, definitely. Exactly. That’s a good way to put it.
Now 2012 marks the 21st year of you guys being a band, how do you think the message behind your music has changed since then, if at all?
I don’t think it really has. I think we’re still dealing with all the same problems that every one deals with; relationship problems with…. Well, you know, that’s the biggest thing which we go through; is daily interactions with other human beings that’s really, really difficult. And… and, you know, saying F-you to the world because we’re out there trying to do something really important. Not only to us, but to fans all over the world. It’s really special when somebody comes up to you and says ‘Your music got me through this really difficult time in my life’ or ‘I picked up a trumpet because of you’.
We had two Australian fans at the show last night and this brother and sister, and the brother had some kind of congenital heart defect and so this sister was crying and stuff and wanted all of us to come out and sign stuff for him and take pictures and they were both sweet. And how amazing is that we get to do that for someone.
We are the luckiest guys in the world.
Awww. That’s a sweet sentiment.
Haha!
[This is the awkward part where trusty technology glitched, so neither of us could hear each other. What an age we live in.]
Oh, I’m sorry, say that again!
No, no. I thought you were saying something!
Oh no. I was just getting a little choked up.
Aww, touching moment!
Yeah, I was getting teary eyed. I apologise.
Well there you go; I can cross ‘Made the trumpet player from Reel big Fish cry’ off my bucket list.
Hahah! It happens pretty easily lately.
Now I know with one of your previous albums, We’re Not Happy ‘Til You’re Not Happy, Aaron said a lot of inspiration for that came from tension within the band and the harsh reality of the music industry. Do you know what it was that inspired your newest album Candy Coated Fury?
Maybe part of it is relationship problems, part of it is…. It’s still kind of the same thing because we’re always kind of fighting for our place in the world. [Fighting] to be able to still do this, to be able to tour and bring a little happiness to everyone. We’re still fighting it out and saying F-You to everybody that doesn’t like our music or doesn’t get what we do and just try to be the best entertainers we can. And I think this record is one of my favourites or IS my favourite. The songs on it are just phenomenal and I love playing them and I can’t wait to go down there and play some for you guys.
That’s fantastic. And trust me, Australian fans are happy that you guys are still fighting the good fight to get out there and be heard.
Oh good! Good! I can’t wait to get down there and have some adult beverages with those Australian fans.
Adult beverages are the best kind of beverages!
Exactly! They’re the only kind of beverages.
In that case, you guys are well known for your hit Beer, is that the only drink that if you meet a fan he’ll be like ‘Oh, I’ll buy you a beer’ because it’s the only drink that comes to mind?
Oh! I wish it was that way! I so wish it was that way! No, when we go into bars it’s ‘Let me buy you a shot!’ So what winds up happening is you have ten people who want to buy you a shot instead of ten people that want to buy you beers and so you wind up getting sick!! So it’s dangerous. Shots are dangerous!
Maybe you should write a song write a song about that. Shots Are Dangerous and then segue into Beer. Maybe. That’s just an idea.
Exactly. We’ll give that a shot for you, Ally.
Now, speaking of Candy Coated Fury, you do have a cover of When In Rome’s The Promise on there and it seems to be a bit of a departure from traditional Reel Big Fish offerings. How do you choose which songs to cover and why do you pick them?
You know, sometimes its Aaron hears something in a grocery store or something pops into his head. When we [the horns] were in recording for CCF and Aaron just came in and started playing that tune and we worked it out and it turned out so awesome! And it was just something that popped into his head and he went ‘Wow, this would make a great ska reggae tune’. And I agree. Once we put the horns on it, it was just so cool. Because I love that tune to begin with the way it was and I think our version is just so much better now!
Yeah! Well I saw you guys at Soundwave in Melbourne a couple of years ago and you kept saying how you were the masters of every genre and kept playing Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Have you ever thought of tackling a really heavy metal song and turning it into a ska song?
We could, we could. I guess the cover songs are getting less now because we have so many songs that we can play. It’s never out of the realm of possibility….. Maybe we’ll do an all Megadeth set next time.
Haha! I would like to see that! Now that’s all the questions I had for today, except for one last one. I opened up my Facebook to suggestions and the main one people wanted to know was: Why do they rock so hard?
Because we can’t help it. I mean, it’s in our blood, it’s in our bones, rock is what we do. I mean how lucky are we to be able to go out and entertain people every night of our lives. You just can’t help but do it.
It’s in your nature in your DNA. Rock N Roll is in your blood!
Absolutely. We are very luck guys.
Fantastic. Well thank you so much for being a delight today!
It’s my pleasure and I look forward to seeing you at the show.
Oh definitely! And again, I’m sorry that I made you cry!
HAHA! I’m sure you will the next time I see you.
I’ll buy you a shot and see how you react.
ARGH! You can buy me a beer!!
Reel Big Fish will be touring Australia this year with Goldfinger and Zebrahead in late November/ early December.
Ally Mooney
Hi, how are you going?
Hey Ally, how are ya? This is Johnny Christianson.
Hi, nice to talk to you. How’s your day been so far?
It’s been…. Well…If you were where I’m at and seeing how much it’s snowing right now.
Oh really?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m really jealous of your climate at this moment.
Yeah, you must be jealous, because I’m sitting outside in the sun as we do this, just to rub it in a little bit more.
It’s probably, 25 degrees [Fahrenheit] outside and snowing.
Not good. Not good at all! Now just to get it off with the very first question; you guys are set to tour very soon with fellow ska crews Zebrahead and Goldfinger.
Yeah!
This is a big, big thing for Australian fans, we’re all really excited. What do you guys have in store for us?
Oh, it will be hours and hours of hilarity and rock music. And possibly a couple of funny, funny jokes for you. There will be lots of sweating. And dancing. Because that’s what happens when you come to our shows.
That’s a good combination to have.
Maybe getting other people’s sweat on you? It’s really gross, but you’ll still have a good time.
Well that’s the whole experience of a mosh pit. You haven’t been in a proper mosh until you’ve shared sweat with a stranger.
Or blood! Fortunately our crowd is not the blood type.
Haha! Well that brings up my next question. I actually have been in one of your mosh pits before and they’re pretty full on. The energy is really electric. And with three of the most explosive punk and ska bands in the one tour, how do you expect your fans to react in the mosh pit? Or even survive it?
Yeah, you may not survive. Unfortunately, we may have to have ambulances waiting outside to carry you to hospital. And you may die. We will have oxygen ready for you. Also we will have salted crackers ready for you and vegemite in case anybody has got low blood sugar! Just in case.
Well that’s good! Have you tried vegemite yourself?
Unfortunately so, yes.
It is an acquired taste…..
Oh yes, definitely. Exactly. That’s a good way to put it.
Now 2012 marks the 21st year of you guys being a band, how do you think the message behind your music has changed since then, if at all?
I don’t think it really has. I think we’re still dealing with all the same problems that every one deals with; relationship problems with…. Well, you know, that’s the biggest thing which we go through; is daily interactions with other human beings that’s really, really difficult. And… and, you know, saying F-you to the world because we’re out there trying to do something really important. Not only to us, but to fans all over the world. It’s really special when somebody comes up to you and says ‘Your music got me through this really difficult time in my life’ or ‘I picked up a trumpet because of you’.
We had two Australian fans at the show last night and this brother and sister, and the brother had some kind of congenital heart defect and so this sister was crying and stuff and wanted all of us to come out and sign stuff for him and take pictures and they were both sweet. And how amazing is that we get to do that for someone.
We are the luckiest guys in the world.
Awww. That’s a sweet sentiment.
Haha!
[This is the awkward part where trusty technology glitched, so neither of us could hear each other. What an age we live in.]
Oh, I’m sorry, say that again!
No, no. I thought you were saying something!
Oh no. I was just getting a little choked up.
Aww, touching moment!
Yeah, I was getting teary eyed. I apologise.
Well there you go; I can cross ‘Made the trumpet player from Reel big Fish cry’ off my bucket list.
Hahah! It happens pretty easily lately.
Now I know with one of your previous albums, We’re Not Happy ‘Til You’re Not Happy, Aaron said a lot of inspiration for that came from tension within the band and the harsh reality of the music industry. Do you know what it was that inspired your newest album Candy Coated Fury?
Maybe part of it is relationship problems, part of it is…. It’s still kind of the same thing because we’re always kind of fighting for our place in the world. [Fighting] to be able to still do this, to be able to tour and bring a little happiness to everyone. We’re still fighting it out and saying F-You to everybody that doesn’t like our music or doesn’t get what we do and just try to be the best entertainers we can. And I think this record is one of my favourites or IS my favourite. The songs on it are just phenomenal and I love playing them and I can’t wait to go down there and play some for you guys.
That’s fantastic. And trust me, Australian fans are happy that you guys are still fighting the good fight to get out there and be heard.
Oh good! Good! I can’t wait to get down there and have some adult beverages with those Australian fans.
Adult beverages are the best kind of beverages!
Exactly! They’re the only kind of beverages.
In that case, you guys are well known for your hit Beer, is that the only drink that if you meet a fan he’ll be like ‘Oh, I’ll buy you a beer’ because it’s the only drink that comes to mind?
Oh! I wish it was that way! I so wish it was that way! No, when we go into bars it’s ‘Let me buy you a shot!’ So what winds up happening is you have ten people who want to buy you a shot instead of ten people that want to buy you beers and so you wind up getting sick!! So it’s dangerous. Shots are dangerous!
Maybe you should write a song write a song about that. Shots Are Dangerous and then segue into Beer. Maybe. That’s just an idea.
Exactly. We’ll give that a shot for you, Ally.
Now, speaking of Candy Coated Fury, you do have a cover of When In Rome’s The Promise on there and it seems to be a bit of a departure from traditional Reel Big Fish offerings. How do you choose which songs to cover and why do you pick them?
You know, sometimes its Aaron hears something in a grocery store or something pops into his head. When we [the horns] were in recording for CCF and Aaron just came in and started playing that tune and we worked it out and it turned out so awesome! And it was just something that popped into his head and he went ‘Wow, this would make a great ska reggae tune’. And I agree. Once we put the horns on it, it was just so cool. Because I love that tune to begin with the way it was and I think our version is just so much better now!
Yeah! Well I saw you guys at Soundwave in Melbourne a couple of years ago and you kept saying how you were the masters of every genre and kept playing Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Have you ever thought of tackling a really heavy metal song and turning it into a ska song?
We could, we could. I guess the cover songs are getting less now because we have so many songs that we can play. It’s never out of the realm of possibility….. Maybe we’ll do an all Megadeth set next time.
Haha! I would like to see that! Now that’s all the questions I had for today, except for one last one. I opened up my Facebook to suggestions and the main one people wanted to know was: Why do they rock so hard?
Because we can’t help it. I mean, it’s in our blood, it’s in our bones, rock is what we do. I mean how lucky are we to be able to go out and entertain people every night of our lives. You just can’t help but do it.
It’s in your nature in your DNA. Rock N Roll is in your blood!
Absolutely. We are very luck guys.
Fantastic. Well thank you so much for being a delight today!
It’s my pleasure and I look forward to seeing you at the show.
Oh definitely! And again, I’m sorry that I made you cry!
HAHA! I’m sure you will the next time I see you.
I’ll buy you a shot and see how you react.
ARGH! You can buy me a beer!!
Reel Big Fish will be touring Australia this year with Goldfinger and Zebrahead in late November/ early December.
Ally Mooney