SLAPSHOT :: INTERVIEWS - Jack Kelly [1999]

Jack Kelly: When I came back from that tour I thought maybe this is finished, maybe I don't want to do it anymore. I just had other things to do, until I got a call from Dave from Right Direction he got the whole tour started. I might probably never done it again, unless somebody called me.

Question: You wanted to call it quits?

Jack Kelly: Not quits, but quits for now.

Question: Are you going to tour the US?

Jack Kelly: We'll never tour the US. It's a horrible experience we did it a few times and you get treated poorly. The clubs are usually idiot, the kids who come to the show are stupid. Europe is better, not great, but you get some cheese and salami and some bread, of course when you play in Holland you get Chocomel which is the best thing about Holland!

Question: So you do eat meat?

Jack Kelly: Definitely, all the time as much as I can get. I don't smoke or drink or do drugs, that's the original Straight Edge.

Question: I heard there's going to be a tribute album.

Jack Kelly: I don't really know a lot about it, I had heard the first people talking about it and then I went to a website and saw it written somewhere; there's going to be a Slapshot tribute album: these are the bands that are on it and these are the songs they're playing. I know Blood For Blood have a song, Dropkick Murphys have a song, and they're trying to get The Bosstones. It would be really cool you know. The publishing is great. I probably get some money from this band after all these years.

Question: Getting a tribute album is pretty cool, do you feel like a rock star now?

Jack Kelly: Well it's an honor, I never think of Slapshot being that great. I know how the kids grew up listening to us but then you hear the name legend next to the name.

Jack Kelly: The first time I got sort of an idea we played in Leipzig with a band called The Warriors from England. That were like older guys and when we were backstage before the show they wanted a picture with us. Then you get the first clue that maybe all these years in the band people see you as someone who made an impact somehow. Some places I don't like to leave the bus or hang around the club anymore because you get kids constantly asking: Can I get a picture? Will you sign my t-shirt? That's all really cool, but when it doesn't stop...

Jack Kelly: I just want to come over, do some shows have fun and see some friends.

Question: You want it to be like in the early years again?

Jack Kelly: Yeah! I'm a bit more recognizable than I was a few years ago. I would walk down the street and people recognize me.

Question: Are you planning to release new stuff?

Jack Kelly: No, were not planning on it. Were going into the studio to do a best of album and rerecord all the old recordings, because some songs have changed over the years. That way you don't get the same old material. Were going to play them the way they should be, the way we intended them to be, but just sounding better than the original recordings. We didn't have much money back then so the recordings are pretty horrible, I think. That's kind of typical for a lot of bands, now we know we probably can go to the same studio that we did "16 Valve Hate" in and "Old Tyme Hardcore". It was a great studio.

Jack Kelly: But you know while were in there we might come up with a couple of songs, and record them for a single or something. The only thing that I've written lately are Stars And Stripes songs [a side project], so there's more chance for new stuff from Stars And Stripes than from Slapshot.

Question: Can I conclude that this is the final tour for Slapshot?

Jack Kelly: I wouldn't conclude anything, I always get a bit tired of bands playing their last show. They say "This our final show, be there". I was at CBGB's where Agnostic Front did their final show. That was 8 years ago. You know what I mean, come on!

Jack Kelly: If I say it's a final show, it's going to be a final show! And I don't necessarily believe that I feel that way. Maybe If someone calls me up in 2 years from now and asks if I want to come over. I might want to, you know, I might want to come over and do some shows. So I don't want say anything about a final show, cause maybe I change my mind.

Jack Kelly: I don't want people to think that I'm a hypocrite or I'm after the money, cause it's got nothing to do with money. I just want to come over here and have a vacation.

Jack Kelly: I bought a Gazelle bicycle for my wife. You can't get the classic Dutch setup back in the States. I bought some stuff in London, some shoes. Some stuff in Amsterdam this morning. So, that's mainly why I did the tour. To have some fun, see some friends and, play some shows.

Jack Kelly: This is what I have to do to go to Europe for free!

Question: Did you ever do a show at CBGB's, and how did you feel about it?

Jack Kelly: Yes, a long time ago. I think in 1988 or 1987. It was a good show, but we weren't necessarily welcome. I've made no secret of my hatred for New York. Not necessarily the people in that city, but the scene in the city. Back then it wasn't so violent, it was just these dumb little...

Jack Kelly: Youth Of Today and Gorilla Biscuits had just started, and Bold. We were supposed to play at that show. Cro-Mags had played first because it was one of their first shows. And then we were supposed to go on just before Youth Of Today but Bold tried to screw around with the lineup, they thought they should go on third rather than us. So they deliberately showed up 2 hours late, so that we have to play and then they get to play.

Jack Kelly: That's about as far the New York scene goes. But I know Jimmy from Murphy's Law, Roger and a lot of those guys for years and years. I don't necessarily like the music that they play, I'm not into that kind of Metal Hardcore. The Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front started that whole Metal Hardcore thing. Right now almost every band sounds the same. Everybody's listening to New York Hardcore bands, and everybody sounds like a New York Hardcore band. If you're not going to do something on your own, you're just copying what everybody else does: Then What's the point of doing it?! There's million bands out there making good money playing the same music; Biohazard, Cro-Mags, Madball... the list goes on and on! Of all the bands that are exactly the same even the bands in Europe, sound just like them. What's the point, do something original. I don't listen to Hardcore. If I'd do, it would listen to bands like Minor Threat and Bad Brains from 1982. Because everything else sounds the same from 1987. And I think that one of reasons were still around is because nobody sounds like us. Maybe nobody wants to copy us, or maybe nobody can't!

Question: You were punched by one of the guys from Madball?

Jack Kelly: My mother hits harder than Madball.

Question: What was the problem?

Jack Kelly: He had heard that they had heard that I was saying all kinds of stuff about them and D.M.S., which is their little crew. Most of it's true, I hate them, they're dickheads. I've known Matt and Willy for a long time. But Freddy is just a dumb little asshole, and Hoya is just a fat prick. He's just a pussy, he had 2 other guys with him when he hit me. He pulled me aside like he wanted to talk to me. The whole story got screwed around as if he asked me questions and wouldn't to him about it. He didn't even give me a chance because he had nothing to say. If he had asked me, if he wanted to sit down and talk about stuff I would have told him. I would have told him that D.M.S. is stupid and full of shit!

Jack Kelly: Here's the situation: I had guys 2 behind me and Hoya in front of me.

Jack Kelly: He said "Yo Motherfucker" and then he hit me! I said is that all, is that it?!

Jack Kelly: I turned around and walked away, I mean what was I going to do in a room that was closed. It was just me. It's just typical, that kind of gang. It's usually the weakest people that get in gangs.

Jack Kelly: They can't deal personally one on one, and they haven't got the brains to talk normal with somebody. I get used to it. I've been called fascist, I've been called gay, I've been called every word of the goddamn book in the years. I run to fascist to now when the rumor was that I was homosexual. Let everybody say what they want, because if I start talking back to it they start saying more and more. I don't give a shit what everybody says.

Question: Do you have a job back in the US?

Jack Kelly: Yes, I work for Vidal Sassoon. I'm sort of a hairdresser.

Question: "16 Valve Hate" was released on Lost & Found Records. I heard they accused you guys of ripping of your fans. What's the problem with Lost & Found Records?

Jack Kelly: When we did that album on Lost & Found Records we paid for the recordings. Chris, our bass player he handles our business. In the US we released our record on Taang! Records and suddenly Lost & Found Records came to us and said: We didn't give permission, bla bla bla. If you want to talk about ripping off, Lost & Found Records has got a long long history of ripping off bands. They never pay anybody. I know "16 Valve Hate" sold a lot of records and I never saw one single dime from Lost & Found Records. They also bring bootleg copies out, that's illegal. We were two times by his office and two times he wasn't there.

Question: You are from Boston. How is the scene in Boston?

Jack Kelly: It's a lot bigger now. Obviously the Dropkick Murphys have brought in hundreds and hundreds of new kids like a different scene. The scene nowadays is more Oi and Street Punk.

Jack Kelly: The past few years belongs to the Ska audience, The Bosstones followers. But a lot of those kids now are Dropkick Murphys fans. Also Blood For Blood is pretty decent.

Question: What kind of music do you listen?

Jack Kelly: Drum & Bass. I met a few DJs like Goldie andEd Rush & Optical.

Question: Do you know Rotterdam Gabber?

Jack Kelly: Yeah I heard it, but I don't like that Digital Hardcore.

Question: What do like about Holland specific, except for the Chocomel?

Jack Kelly: It's pretty cool, I am not so amused by people in the States. People in Holland are nice and easy-going. The most Americans think about smoking joints when I mention Amsterdam. It's such a small part of Amsterdam. When you walk over a bridge you see all those British and American people, get fucked up, cause for trouble and piss on the town. It's really a beautiful area town. Just a part of Amsterdam is so fucked up, but when you look at the rest, it's really amazing. We had yesterday only an hour to spend in Amsterdam. I got my baby some wooden shoes [ja, ja klompen]. She can't walk right now, she's only four months old, but it looks pretty cute.

Question: You did some gigs with Dutch bands, did you like them?

Jack Kelly: We played yesterday in Sneek with $400 Suits, they are pretty cool. Right Direction of course, we owe the tour from them. I like them. They like to provoke, that's why people think bad about them. I was that for years, not anymore.

Question: Is that the reason why you stopped using the name Choke?

Jack Kelly: No, all the band members call me Choke. At my job I'm Jack, because that's my name. It's funny when somebody calls me on the phone to my job and they ask for Choke. They haven't got an idea who Choke is. They know I'm in a band.

Question: Where did the name Choke come from?

Jack Kelly: It's just a stupid old story. It was when I was Punk Rock, I was 17.

Question: On "16 Valve Hate" you did a The Smiths cover. Why did you choose to do that song?

Jack Kelly: We first tried to do another The Smiths song. I can't remember the name. But it sounded horrible. And when we were working on "16 Valve Hate", I thought let's try another one. I heard this one on the radio and thought yes we can try this one...