Rancid

Photo by Carey Haider (I love his design work too!)

Return Of The Punk Guys

East Bay punks RANCID deliver uncompromising, unwavering anthems about the working-class, survival, letting go of the things in life you can’t control and holding dear the things that really matter—family, friends and of course, music—on their first studio album in six years. BIANCA talks to brothers-in-arms TIM ARMSTRONG and LARS FREDERIKSEN.

It’s a Monday afternoon and Armstrong and Frederiksen are in high spirits sitting in the Epitaph Records office in Los Angeles, California. The natural synergy between the duo is incredibly apparent as they bounce off each other’s thoughts throughout the conversation. “When you come from nothing you kind of realise that there’s this whole big world out there and you just enjoy it for what it is,” says a somewhat philosophical Frederiksen, “You enjoy your friends and your family, things like that.” A self-proclaimed ‘brotherhood that can’t be broken’ Rancid has endured enough trials and tribulations in the band’s eighteen year history that would have disbanded a lesser group years ago—marriage breakups, the passing of loved ones, the departure of long-time drummer Brett Reed in 2006, a stint on a major label, serious health issues: Frederiksen with back issues and Freeman diagnosed with cancer, later dismissed as abnormal tissue growth—all which have only made the Rancid family unit tighter and stronger.

Latest album Let the Dominoes Fall, the follow-up to 2003 released Indestructible, is in true Rancid-style not only a demonstration of their ability to write catchy tunes but also a collection of stories—stories of the people; the people in their day-to-day lives, the people they’ve met in their travels. “We always root for the underdog, always!” exclaims Armstrong, “We can’t help it. We always come from that perspective.” Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman grew up together in Albany after meeting while playing Little League Baseball and guitarist Frederiksen in Campbell, both working-class cities of California. “A lot of the songs actually have to do with what’s going on in America right now,” continues Armstrong, “The middle-class are getting hit pretty hard you know—the whole downturn thing—this is our take on that. That’s what we know; being lower-middle-class working families, we never forget that.”

Latest edition to the band ranks, drummer Branden Steineckert (formerly of The Used) also had a similar upbringing which Frederiksen sights as a reason for Steineckert gelling well with the group from the out-set. “Branden has been in this band for almost three years now,” informs Frederiksen, “We’ve done so much extensive touring with him. His whole demeanour fits our whole demeanour. It’s so natural now.” Armstrong adds, “He’s just got this good vibe. He’s the best kid. When Travis Baker (drummer for Blink-182/+44/The Transplants) got hurt and I went to visit him in the hospital he was like, ‘Tim man I am so happy that you have Branden in your band! There couldn’t be a better drummer than him for you guys.’ He loves Branden. Everyone loves Branden!”

The writing process and initial demoing for the 19-track album was done in Steineckert’s home studio Unknown Studios in Utah. “We took a week out of October, November and December 2007 to do a lot of the demoing,” tells Frederiksen, “We started actually recording the record in 2008. We did some touring and then actually came back into the studio between tours because we had some new song ideas, five or six of those ended up actually making the record. The way we wrote it is that we kind of had this little table that we’d gather around with our ideas and acoustic guitars—that’s the way every Rancid song is written on acoustic guitars—so we can hear what’s going on with it and we can understand it. We put a lot of effort, time and passion and love into the thing. We created an environment where nothing that you stay is stupid. You can say anything, spit out anything, it’s the creative process—you don’t edit in the creative process. You just put everything out there, the kitchen sink and all and you just see what happens.”

Next, at the suggestion of long-time friend and Rancid producer Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion/Epitaph Records), the band took their work in progress to Skywalker Sound—a sound editing, sound effects and music recording facility owned by award-winning motion picture director George Lucas—on the outskirts of the band’s beloved stomping ground the Bay Area. Frederiksen tells of the band’s desire to keep things close to home to be near family—Frederiksen and Freeman both fathers. It was the first time the group recorded in the area since the 1995 released platinum selling album …And Out Come The Wolves. “It’s beautiful up there it’s like 50,000 acres,” Armstrong says of Skywalker. “You can ride bikes everywhere to go get food. During the day it’s all bustling, there are a lot of people going to work, a lot of film post-production is done there. Iron Man was fully done when we were there. A lot of music goes through there for sound and mixing. During the weekends it’d be like… have you ever seen the Shining?” he asks meaning the Stanley Kubrick film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. “That’s what it was like for real! Just like The Shining on the weekends!” he laughs.

Armstrong also talks fondly of the end of the recording work day sessions the foursome had during the three week stretch at Skywalker. “My favourite thing was the four of us would just hang out in this beautiful studio with acoustic guitars and we’d just bang on them and come up with new ideas and songs. I love that so much. That was so fun for me. That was like a treat at the end of the day. You work hard all day recording and then you get to hang out at the end of the day up in the woods up there it was just amazing; a highlight big time.”

Summing up the crux of the album Frederiksen offers, “I think just being able to walk on two legs on this earth and breathe air is a pretty good thing to do, this record kind of sums it up like ‘Let the dominoes fall’. For us the way everything unfolds is not in our control. You just have to tap it out, live life and enjoy it and hopefully you remember to smell the flowers on the way.”

For insight into the making of the Let The Dominoes Fall check out Rancid webisodes: www.myspace.com/rancid and to show support for a long overdue Rancid Australian tour join: http://groups.myspace.com/rancidtouraustralia