Q and A: Danko Jones

By BRENDAN CRABB

YOU have to respect Danko Jones’ efficiency – every two years or so, the Canadians knock out another slab of no-frills, pretension-free and hook-laden hard rock.
There’s few surprises, but 11th album Electric Sounds delivers on that front again. From punchy opener “Guess Who’s Back” with its Gene Simmons-sized tongue-in-cheek, the trio’s latest offering incorporates several cuts you won’t be able to shift from your cerebral cortex.

The album also features guest spots from Tyler Stewart (Barenaked Ladies), Damian Abraham (Fucked Up) and Daniel Dekay (Canadian thrash metal legends Exciter).
Hot Metal hopped on a Zoom call with main-man Danko Jones to discuss their latest offering.
Hot Metal: You live in Toronto, while JC (John Calabrese, bass) is now based in Finland, and Rich (Knox, drums) resides in another province in Canada. How did that change the dynamic when writing this album?
Danko Jones: “The last album, (2021’s) Power Trio. was what informed us that we could actually do this apart from one another. Because we had to; during the pandemic, we wrote, I’d say three-quarters of the album apart
from one another. If not more than that, maybe 80 per cent of it. And it showed that we can not only write a record, write songs but we can actually write a really good album, because I thought Power Trio was one of our best efforts. It got a number one hit on German radio with “I Want Out”, so we did pretty good, despite it being released in the middle of a pandemic. So they realised they don’t have to live in Toronto. So they moved, and I stayed, and from beginning to end of this new album, the writing, the recording even, we did it separately.”
HM: Does that infuse a whole different energy into the songs? Or as long as it’s the three of you collaborating in some form it will sound like Danko Jones?
DJ: “Yeah, I mean, there’s a little bit of that, and a little bit of the separation. Doing it this way kind of trims the fat. We only send files to each other once we ourselves have vetted it at home for… It could be hours of playing at home, and we send them the best morsels, the best ideas to each other. Whereas before playing in a rehearsal room for hours on end would yield the same amount but we would spend two-and-a-half hours jamming on this one thing that didn’t yield a thing. So it kind of trims the fat, and we can just send off the best stuff we’ve got to each other. And we don’t have to put the other person through hours of jamming and playing.”
HM: There does seem to be a greater sense of urgency to parts of this album, and it’s a little faster too. Does that stem from this different method of working?
DJ: “No, it’s just how the songs came out. That’s something to look at once you’re finished, and you take a step back and see what you’ve got kind of thing. But we’re just trying to write the best songs. Every album, when we start, we just try to write the best songs we can. And if those best songs happen to be
faster than the previous effort, so be it. There’s a little bit of everything on all of our albums; like there’s some mid-tempo stuff and a kind of heavier song here and a song, a tip to the hat to the Misfits here and more of a hearkening back to our garage-punk days here. So there’s a little bit of everything on every
album.”
HM: Is there a sense that a new album wouldn’t feel complete if it didn’t contain those clear nods to influences like the Misfits or Thin Lizzy?
DJ: “There’s been a few albums… Say, the last couple of albums like (2019’s) A Rock Supreme and Power Trio, we didn’t really have a Misfits type song. I think the last one was on (2017’s) Wild Cat. And so this one, yeah, we’ve got a couple. ‘Eye For An Eye’ is kind of a nod to the Misfits. It comes in every so often. There’s a few kind of touchstone bands where we use as inspiration and influence and of course, the Misfits are one. Thin Lizzy’s another, AC/DC is another. ZZ Top, Motörhead, the Ramones. Those are the bands that we derive inspiration from when writing a record.”

HM: But it all coalesces into a distinctive sound. There are bands within rock music who borrow heavily from their influences, with great commercial rewards. Danko Jones doesn’t hide its sources of inspiration, but the end result still sounds fresh and unlike other bands out there.
DJ: “Yeah, it can’t not sound like us. I’m only going to sound like, my voice can only sound like me. My guitar playing is limited. So I can’t go on too many tangents. So within my limitations, it kind of binds us or bounds us to this sound. And that’s a good thing, because with the millions and millions of bands that are around and have been around, the hardest thing is to carve out a signature sound. And I think we’ve done that because people will always come up to me, and they go, “yeah, you know, I heard the song on the radio, and it sounded like you guys”. Well, you can’t say that if you don’t have a signature sound, you know?”
HM: There seemed to be songs on the previous LP that were a lyrical departure for the band, even bordering on political. Was social commentary something you wanted to explore on this album?
DJ: “There are songs on that album, that kind of were (political), but they weren’t overtly political. At the same time, like you can interpret it any way you want. I find if you if you come out overtly political in a song or a lyric, and you address a current situation, you lock that song in time, and our whole thing is to write timeless music. (On the new album) there wasn’t a particular stance or deliberate attempt to try and convey a message, a political or a social message. So I’m not coming from any stance, we’re just trying to write a bunch of
good tunes. ‘Electric Sounds’, the title track, it can mean a whole bunch of things, but it also doesn’t mean anything at all. It just could just mean that I really just intended to just rock out to it (laughs).”
HM: So maybe I’m over-thinking it by asking that question?
DJ: “Yeah, maybe (laughs). I mean, a lot of people ask me questions like that. And maybe it’s because on platforms like Twitter, I’ve taken a kind of a stance on certain issues. Which I’m saying now, I’ve like kind of taken a step back from, because I just don’t have the energy to deal with trolls, and bots really. You’re talking to space is what you’re doing; you’re talking to air, emptiness, when you do that. So I don’t need to expend my energy doing that. But I understand doing that on those platforms has caused people to maybe give my lyrics like a third glance over just to make sure. So I get it. But most of
the time, the songs are just about rocking out and forgetting those problems.”
HM: And that’s something that’s really brought to the fore when you perform live, when this fast-talking, larger-than-life demeanour appears. Is that something you’ve always been able to compartmentalise? You can be that guy who’s full of swagger on-stage, and then as soon as you leave the stage you aren’t any more?
DJ: “Yeah, pretty much. It’s a seamless change, because my environment changes. When you’re on-stage, and you’ve got people staring at you, waiting for you to play, your chemistry, your body chemistry changes. It’s just a natural reaction. And that’s my reaction. When I’m off-stage, I’m not going to scream at
you. I can’t scream at you, talking to you right now; you’re gonna hang up. It’s just the way it is. It’s great talking to you. But I’m also not as excited as when we are about to play some rock music that we wrote in front of a crowd (laughs). It’s a different sensation entirely. So it’s not a different person. And I think (some) people don’t get it. But at the same time, I don’t care if they do or not, because I’m just gonna do what comes naturally to me. So I’m not faking it. I just can’t live just faking it or putting on a persona. Like, that’s really me. I really want to just go, ‘let’s fucking rock out’ (laughs). I like saying that shit.
HM: Has that type of on-stage delivery ever been met with hostility by certain crowds, especially in the early days?
DJ: “We’ve gone on tours where we are the opening band, and the audience of the headlining band doesn’t really know our band, doesn’t know where I’m coming from. And let’s be honest, isn’t sophisticated enough to know that this is fucking show business, and reacted the way they reacted. But not in the early
days; the early days we were like more of a garage-punk band. And being in the garage-punk scene, there’s an emphasis on … put on a performance. And so if there’s any forum to get accepted, it’s in that scene as people are more receptive to it. But then you do what we did, which is make a 90-degree turn towards kind of more mainstream rock, or classic rock or hard rock, I should say. You get an audience that may not know, may not be initially well-versed in our band, where we’re coming from and the aspect of performance. Especially around the time that we made a transition towards kind of more mainstream audiences. The ‘rock music’ at the time was this like, real woe is me, super earnest, super serious rock music that sounded like 10th (generation)
watered down Nirvana ballads, like 10th level grunge… 10 levels removed. So of course, the audience would not get a band like us where, after some guy’s played his ballads about being depressed, then we come out going, ‘is everybody ready to have a good time?’ (laughs) It just doesn’t make the same
connection.”
HM: The band are road dogs – will Australia be part of the touring cycle for the new record?
DJ: “Yeah, I hope so. We had a great few shows when we went last time to Australia and we want to follow it up. The pandemic kind of stopped everything, and I’m pretty sure if there was no pandemic we would have been to Australia by now. But we’re picking up where we left off. And hopefully, there has been talk of us returning. Me doing this interview with you is a good indicator that it’s pointed in that direction.”
HM: A few questions left before we wrap up. You’ve long been open about your KISS fandom. They have set December as their last ever show – how are you feeling about their impending retirement?
DJ: “Oh, yeah, I think it’s time. I think the point has been made (laughs).”
HM: Do you envision yourself on-stage at 74 years of age like Gene Simmons?
DJ: “Well, you know what, if this new album we’ve got blows up? Yes (laughs).”
HM: (Laughs) Any famous last words?
DJ: “Check out Electric Sounds, it’s our 11th album. We’re very proud of it and very impatient for everyone to hear it.”
Image: Daniel Berbig