Tim Armstrong, Travis Baker, Rob Aston (+ touring guests: Craig Fairbaugh, Matt Freeman, Dave Carlock & Kevin Bivona) a.k.a the Transplants… what a band! So excited they’ll be releasing new music this year!

How did the concept for starting a band like the Transplants come about?

When we first started it wasn’t really a band it was just me and Tim fucking around and having a good time. We were driving around one day early 2000, like January 2000 and he played me two songs but there was no vocals on it. I really liked the music it was really different and he asked me if I could do some lyrics on it and I didn’t want to miss my opportunity so I said ‘yeah’ and to tell you the truth I was scared shitless you know dealing with Tim from Rancid and all, he’s one of my favourites of all-time. I didn’t want to miss my opportunity so I went into the studio and it was me and Tim and Lars from Rancid and Brody from The Distillers…that’s like three heavy hitters right there.

It was my first time on a microphone, I had my headphones on and I was sweating, I did a verse and it was horrible I kept trying and each time I got better. I don’t know why Tim picked me in the beginning, I don’t know if he saw something in me or what but I’m really grateful he did ‘cause I don’t know what I’d be doing now if it wasn’t for him.

Has it all be really overwhelming for you?

Oh hell yeah, ‘cause I was just the guy that worked for the bands I never actually got to be in the band. It’s really overwhelming to hear that people like a song that you’ve made; it’s crazy I love it.

How did you originally hook up with Tim?

I meet Tim through the band AFI, I use to work for them for a couple of years and I met all the Rancid guys through AFI.

You told me that you guys started doing stuff in 2000 how come it took until 2002 to actually release something?

With Tim’s schedule with Hellcat Records and Rancid he’s super busy, so whenever he got a break we’d go in there and work all we could you know. I’m glad it’s taken this long ‘cause a lot of the stuff we did back then sucked and we’d have a stupid record if we released the record back then, so I’m glad it’s taken this long; we have Travis now and everything and he really bought a lot to the table.

Is it daunting for you being in a band with Tim and Travis? Do you feel as if there’s any pressure on you?

Nah, there’s no pressure from those guys what so ever. I push myself, especially on stage ‘cause I look around and there’s Tim, Travis, Matt Freeman (Rancid), Craig from the Forgotten and they’re all very professional. I’m always pushing myself ‘cause I think I’m going to drop the ball and look real stupid. Those guys don’t pressure me at all, they don’t tell me like ‘you have to do this better’. They’re supportive of everything I do and the songs I write and stuff. It’s a family, there’s no pressure from nobody.

How did you first become involved in the punk scene?

I don’t know? I guess I really got my foot in the door with AFI because I was friends with Davey and those guys for a long time, they kind of put me out there first with touring and stuff. So I guess I owe it to them.

Do you find that sometimes now days the punk scene can be a little stagnant and is that why you guys wanted to do something different?

When we first started doing the record we didn’t set out to change anyone’s views, or change the world, or change the industry. It’s 2003 so everyone has there own definition of what punk rock is. I couldn’t give a shit less what people think about the record or if it’s punk or if it isn’t. We just wanted to make a record that was different ‘cause a lot of stuff sounds the same, we just wanted to make something completely different and we weren’t worried about if people like it or if people are going to buy it. We made a record we wanted to make and we had fun making and it’s something that we are proud of.

When you first sat down and listen to the finished product what did you think?

Man, it’s kind of crazy ‘cause I’d listen to stuff that we did in January 2000 which sounded a 1,000 times worse. It’s kind of surreal to hold a CD in your hand with your name and your face on it and your voice I don’t know how to explain it but it’s a really good feeling.

Is this album a one off thing? Can we expect more from the Transplants?

Even though Tim has Rancid and Travis has Blink and Boxcar the Transplants is still a fulltime thing and both those guys treat it like that. It may take a little longer to do everything ‘cause everyone is so busy but we’re still going to keep putting out records and we’re going to do tours in 2003 and do shows all over the world. It’s definitely not a one off project.

Will the Transplants ever get to Australia?

We better! I haven’t been there yet and I want to go real bad. Everyone wants to tour and we all want to do Australia and Europe and everywhere. We’re going to let everyone have it.

How do The Transplants songs translate to a live show?

We did our first nine shows and we couldn’t do all the piano and the organ and stuff. A lot of it’s really stripped down and more raw. I love doing it live, live is like a whole different animal. I love how it all turns out live and sounds live.

Watching people like Davey Havoc and Tim over the years while you’ve roadied for them have you picked up any pointers from them about live performances?

Everyone really does their own thing and everyone has their own style. I just do my thing; everyone’s different. I just do my best.

At a live show what type of crowd do you get?

The beauty with Transplants is we don’t really have a fan base yet. We get a lot of the kids that like Rancid, Blink and Boxcar Racer but then we get people that don’t like any of those bands as well. I think because we touch on so many different styles on the Transplants record more people are open to listening to it.

Transplants have a lot of guest vocalists on their album Davey, Brody etc Do they join you on stage sometimes?

Brody did on the last tour and Davey came out one night, Lars came for all nine shows but everyone else was doing their own thing back home.

Who’s someone that you haven’t got to work with yet that you’d like to?

Man I’d love to work with Everlast and I’d love to work with DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill.

A lot of the lyrics on the Transplants album seem to be about the darker things in life. Did you write them from personal experience?

There’s nothing fantasy on the record, it’s all real. We just wanted to make a real record. I sing about stuff like the problems that I have or that I’ve had in life through hard times, good times, bad times whatever. I’m just like everyone one else. I think that kids that listen to the record will be able to relate to me as I’m not coming from way out of left field talking about this that or the other that nobody understands. I’m just a normal person that has problems in everyday life, Tim has problems, and Travis has problems. I think a lot of the songs are dark, but that’s just life–life isn’t always a bowl of cherries.

Who did the artwork for the album? What was the concept behind it? What feel were you guys looking for with it?

Our homeboy Mr Cartoon who’s a world-renowned tattooist and our friend Scandalous who’s a world-renowned photographer did. I just knew that if I ever did a record I’d want these guys to do it just ‘cause they’re both so good at what they do. They took a picture of my car in an alley behind my apartment and Cartoon just added the gas masks in the sky and the cracks in the ceiling. I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.

In the cover it’s got written ‘ send love letters or hate letters to…’ do you expect to get many hate letters?

We can’t make everyone happy and we’re not too concerned with making everyone happy. If people want to write hate mail they can, I don’t give a shit and if people want to write in and compliment us that’s great too, it’s a real great feeling. There’s going to be haters, they can all go suck a dick.

What’s something everyone should know about the Transplants?

Man, that’s a good one! We’re not going anywhere. Everyone tries to write us off and be sceptics and say that we’re going to be gone in a couple of months, but we’re going to be around forever; we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be in everyone’s backyards and everyone’s fucking bedroom taking everyone’s belongings [laughs] so everyone’s going to have to watch out!