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HE MIGHTY Y MIGHEX
OSUE
Your
show at
Berkeley
Square was
quite a riot, a
lot of skins
Completely.
What's up with the skin
ke
by rok
From the ashes of the
scene, where bands like SSD, DYS
early Bostonian hardcore
Mighty Bosstones have emerged to keep the
and Negative FX began. The Mighty
legacy alive. Melding ska, metal and punk. The
Bosstones push it over the
edge
every time they play.
head element, Dick?
They love us. I'm just glad
they're there. I think if I could
just hug a Nazi skinhead they'd
be alright. They just need love that
they're not getting at home, and that's
what we're trying to give them, and I think
maybe we could change them.
What's it like now that you're a big rock star
when you started out as a little kid?
It's the exact same.
Your first band, Impact Unit, was colossal.
A lot of people don't know this, but there
were only six Impact Unit shows. They were
extravaganzas, though. Hey, did you hear what
happened to Sam, the original bassist?
What happened?
Ted's reopened, and the first night someone
whipped a bottle across the room, hit Sam, and
that took his eye out. It's fifty/fifty whether he'll
be able to see or not.
So after Impact Unit, it was The Cheapskates,
and that was just a drinking ska band?
That's when we first went into the laborato-
ry and saw we could make this Frankenstein
monster we now call skacore.
Once you get a little skankin' booty out there,
you never know what might happen.
Well, once you get them dancing, then that
just doesn't seem enough now you want them
to knock heads so you throw in the slash.
Has the pit changed much in all those years?
I think it has, Jake. Back in '82, '83, we
didn't mosh and we didn't thrash, we slammed.
And anybody in the way felt the wrath.
And God bless them, but God keep them.
Haven't you had problems with club owners?
It's not usually the club owners, it's usually the
bouncer staff, football players who aren't hav-
ing a good time there because it's their job, and
they're certainly not into the music, they would
rather hear a little John Cougar on their car
stereo, and then down a few beers and crush a
few skulls. Then a lot of places are really good.
At the outdoors show in San Francisco, I didn't
think those bouncers were out of line.
That was at EMB, the skate spot of the world.
Exactly, I didn't think that they were too mad.
Anybody that reaches over and grabs some-
body and tries to pull him towards him so that
he could then throw him back to where he was
at is just a little fucked. People get hurt when
bouncers get overzealous. I want the kids to be
able to do what they want, within the limits of
hurting other people at the show.
How is it with so many people in the band?
It's equal, we all contribute. There's eight of
us in the van and there's eight of us on stage
in the plaid suits, and then in the van at the
end of the night, there's still eight of us.
A lot skaters go to your shows and you, your
self, have been known to ride.
Well, Jake, you gave me my first board.
Well, I know I did.
I was never really good. I couldn't skate vert
because of that of' Gang Green knee injury.
I remember it: Boo yal And your eyes were
white as a ghost, and you said, "I don't think
I'm going to make it, brah.
Remember how I used to tape up my knee
before every show?
Yeah, and then you'd, pound your fist against
the ground and go. "Doing all right."
I'll make it.
Has a lot changed in Boston?
I don't know. I remember at one time it was
the best scene in the world. I still think there's
great bands and great music and a lot of great
kids that hang out at the shows, but at one
time, back in the day, it was the best scene in
the world. Is it like that? I don't think so.
Do you think people ever know that some of
your songs are covers of old punk tunes?
The one that they don't really know, the one
that I get asked the most about is "Lights
Out" by the Angry Samoans. People scramble
to find where they can get that. Back From
Samoa is jumping in sales right now. And there's
a lot of kids that really think they're into hard-
core and they're like, "Oh, who's SSD?"
Any last words to the thrashers out there?)
We're doing a pretty aggressive, pretty cool
thing, I hope that people like it. And if they
don't, I'm going to do it anyway.
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