Interview w/ Mick Greenwood of The Self Proclaimed Rockstars!

Hey everyone!

Rounding out the 4th of July week with an all new interview with a former Artist Spotlight artist that will get you primed and excited for the weekend! Today we check in with Mick Greenwood, guitarist of the local Wakefield, MA based band The Self Proclaimed Rockstars. These guys have been heavily featured here on the blog besides the aforementioned Artist Spotlight post from last year, I've given a very favorable review of their last album Postcards From Purgatory and I conducted a hilarious, in-depth interview that showed what friendly, down to earth people they were as well. Today, we check in with Mick to see what him and the rest of the band have been up to since then and why you should definitely check them out in concert. Here is the transcript from that interview:

- First off, how have you been Mick and what have you and the band been up to since the last time I interviewed you?
   I am pretty great, man! I got rid of my shitty job and we've started touring more and have nearly completed our next record. Life is good.

- For those who may have forgotten, describe a little about the band (i,e, where you're from, how you got started)?

  Everyone in SPR grew up in the same home town. We knew each other as musicians, but we weren't really friends. We left town after high school and pursued music on our own (except for Johnny and I, we've been together since the start). In 2009, we found ourselves all broke and back home. The "old" SPR broke up and left Johnny and I holding the bag on about a dozen shows, so we called up the guys we knew (Rjan, James and Steve) to help us "die with dignity". Turns out it worked out for all of us, we got along really well, loved playing together and started the whole project over again. Pretty thrilled with how it all has worked out.

- How much of a emotional release is it for you to perform live, what does it feel like?

  Oh man, it's the free-est I think I've ever felt. One of the great things about this band is I really feel like we're the same on-stage as we are off-stage. But, on-stage, we don't have to give a fuck about how that's going over. That's our stage, that's our corner of the world for X-amount of minutes. It's home. Your identity is in there, you know? I know I'm not the best guitar player in the world (hell, I'm not even the best one in my own band), but I am damn sure a rock n roll guitarist and it feels great to just...you know...be yourself in your little spot in the world.

- How does music compare to any other kind of job you've had previously?

   It's funny, the other day I totaled up all of the jobs I've had in my life and the number was THIRTY. That's insane. And the only jobs that could even move the needle on the "satisfaction" meter were manual labor jobs. Digging holes can sometimes be like making music - someone puts something in your hands and you go create with it. I take that attitude into the recording studio with me because some of those takes can be fairly brutal - capturing the right tones and playing with the right amount of attitude and feel. Powering through it can sometimes be like removing a 3-foot rock from a 2-foot hole. 

- Tell me a little bit about the new album you're working on now and what does it sound like?

   The new album is going to be called "Apparatchik". It's an aggressive, harmonically complex and dynamic alternative rock record. We experimented with some unorthodox chord sequences and melodies that allow each instrument to contribute to the dialogue that creates the message of the song. This includes the vocals. Johnny's voice has so much power and poise that he delivers fairly abstract lyrics that end up embellishing (rather than articulating) the message of the song. They're songs you can 'feel' without having to grab a fucking lyric sheet or some self-congratulatory internet interview.

- Why do you think people should come out to see you guys in concert?

   Because, as I mentioned before, we're the same guys on-stage that we are off-stage. There's no point in not being those guys. Image is pointless. We're really entertaining fucks to sit at a table with and we're really entertaining fucks to watch on stage. What that means is that, when you see us, you'll see an honest show. No makeup, no characters, no restrictions, no limits. I see too many of my peers that have just imprisoned themselves in their own images and I just feel sorry for them. Lighten up, have some fun, it's fucking rock n roll. Where's your sense of humor?

- Who is your favorite member of the band and why?  

  Dirty trick - I'm our manager. I can't answer this question, so I'm going to tell you what I love about each of them.

Steve - I've known Steve the longest. He's the happiest drummer you'll ever see. He smiles so wide you can see him from the back row. I really feed off of Steve during our show because I think we're both the most excited to be playing live music. It's also hilarious to contrast that boundless joy with the fact that, off-stage, he has complained about every new idea and ultimately agreed to all of them as well. I have endless patience for Steve. I am going to regret putting that in print.

James - James has that Phil Lesh vibe of "When James is on, the band is on" - he's always great, but when he's ON he makes us all that much better. Off-stage he is always the first to agree to play a show, go on the road or go along with one of my crazy schemes. He's the most go-with-the-flow member of the band, because he always has his shit locked down. Oh...and he's the funnest to tour with. I didn't think I would be that stereotypical rock n roll tour guy who goes nuts on the road. Then James dove naked into a motel pool and I thought, "yeah, that's how it's gonna be". We grew up watching James play in bands, so he knows best, right? Fucking crazy.

Johnny - I've been playing with Johnny for seven years and he never stops surprising me. Not because I underestimate him, I really do hold the kid in pretty high regard (he runs marathons without training!). But no, he just keeps getting better and better and better. At everything. He hits notes that floor me, he grabs crowds that seemingly can't be had and he finds energy where no one else can. And he's put up with me for seven years - that's amazing.

Rjan (prounounced "Ryan"...this is me humoring him) - I know no one like him and that makes me feel lucky for me, and sad for humanity. Rjan is one of the greatest and most unique guitar players I've ever met and I'm offending no one by saying he's the best musician in the band. He pushes everyone to be better without ever copping an ego about it. He has the best work ethic and "bullshit detector" of anyone I've ever met and he is so passionate about it that you never feel like, for even a second, that you're not the luckiest person in the world to be playing music. He won't allow it. I've never met anyone who outworked me in a band before him, and I'm not even in his league.

- If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only take one album to listen to the entire time you're there, which one would you pick?

This is one of those questions I'm going to answer and then hate my answer to like a week later. I was thinking of "London Calling" or "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" but I think I'm going to go with "Bossanova" by The Pixies. I figure somewhere between "Crackity Jones" and "Gouge Away" I'd descend into a very peaceful and distracting madness that would make the whole experience a lot more interesting. I'm pretty sure that's how Tom Hanks got into character, right?

- When do you expect the new album to come out and do you have any shows lined up for the summer?

   Next up we have Johnny D's Saturday, July 7th with Southern Lust Club and then August 3rd we're hitting The Middle East Upstairs with The Susan Constant and The Rationales. The new album will be out in the last couple months of this year.

- Lastly, what's your favorite thing about being in this band?

   I keep harping on it, but the honesty. We've known each other a long time and we're too familiar to put up with fake BS in a very fake industry. Every member of this band keeps the other members humble. It really helps you find yourself and your voice. Oh, and speaking of honesty, my name is a stage name (I try to put that in every interview). It's not an image, though, it was a survival tactic at my former day job to keep from getting fired. I take an appropriate level of shit from these guys for that on a daily basis...and THAT may be my favorite part about being in this band.

 

Thanks once again to Mick Greenwood of The Self Proclaimed Rockstars for taking time out of his ever so busy schedule to conduct this interview! Like he said, the band will be playing tomorrow night at Johnny D's in Somerville with The Southern Lust Club. The show gets underway at 10pm and SPR heads on the stage at 11:15pm. Tickets are $12.00 and they will be available at the door, so take a break from the heat and have the guys of SPR cool you off with some rocking tunes that will carry you through the night!