SLAPSHOT :: INTERVIEWS - Jack Kelly, Steve Risteen and Mark McKay [1987]

Jack Kelly: No, it's not about politics. It is in a way political, but more personal politics - whatever strikes me about certain individuals at a certain time - that's what I write songs about. Like there are people in Kenmore Square who ask me to go buy drinks for them or something like that, then I write a song about how it makes me angry. And if certain people do something else, like lie to me or something, if I get an inspiration I'll write a song about that.

Question: Do you write all the songs?

Jack Kelly: I write all the lyrics, and all the songs but two.

Question: How many songs have you got?

Jack Kelly: Altogether now, we've got about 23...

Question: How long have you been together for?

Steve Risteen: Since about late September of 1985.

Question: How many times have you played?

Jack Kelly: We've played a total of about 6 or 7 shows.

Question: Did you get a good reception?

Jack Kelly: Oh yeah, all of our shows have been good except one - our third show in Boston. We'd just played two shows in a row, and people had seen us enough and had their fill...

Question: Have you ever played outside of Boston?

Jack Kelly: Oh yeah - we played in Connecticut, Albany New York, and our first show was in Provenance. We were supposed to do a four show tour, but that got closed down, because of our now out-of-the-band bass player, Jonathan.

Question: How do you finance it all? Steve told me that that you fork out 400 dollars a month for practice space - have you had any of that back?

Steve Risteen: 200 dollars a month - it's actually 400 dollars, but we share with another band, so it's only 200...

Jack Kelly: It actually all comes out of our pockets. It's been all cash input so far - we all have our jobs, we work during the week - this is just a fun hobby to do.

Steve Risteen: We would like to make enough so we could pay for our expenses and our practice base - if people want to pay us as much as they're paying Gang Green, yeah sure...

Jack Kelly: Yeah, we'd be self supporting - I wouldn't have to shell out my own money for food.

Question: Are Slapshot here to stay?

Jack Kelly: Who knows?

Mark McKay: It's been going good so far - I tend to think we'll be together for a long time - We haven't had any major upheavals in the band except for the bass player, but that was just something that happened.

Jack Kelly: He didn't ask to be chucked out of the band, but his actions showed us that he didn't want to do it, so we're doing it for him.

Question: Is this LP the first thing you've done?

Jack Kelly: This is our first record. We were originally going to do a two, maybe three song 7", then we found a deal on this recording - we decided, let's record 7, 7 or 8 - and do a regular 12".

Question: Are you pleased with the way it's come out?

Mark McKay: Well, certainly after you listen to it, you notice thing that you would want to change. But it's a good representation of how we were at that time.

Jack Kelly: It would probably never be as perfect as we want it, but it's as good as we feel we can get it, so...

Mark McKay: At two o'clock in the morning!

Jack Kelly: Actually six in the morning.

Mark McKay: Yeah, late night recording sessions!

Jack Kelly: The special deal was, for 225 dollars, we got 8 hours recording time - what was all night long, 12 till 8 in the morning, so we did what 3 times - two in one two day period. It was exhausting, but it worked out, and it sounds real good.

Question: So how much did it cost altogether to do?

Jack Kelly: Twelve hundred dollars.

Question: How many did you press?

Steve Risteen: We did a thousand first off...

Jack Kelly: 1500 first pressing...

Steve Risteen: Yeah, 1500...

Jack Kelly: As soon as this one's sold, and I think it almost is...

Mark McKay: Yeah, it is...

Jack Kelly: ... we're going to do a second pressing.

Question: How many do you expect to sell altogether?

Jack Kelly: I hope to sell in the long run, about 7000 - that would be a good number for our first record, you know, new band and all that.

Mark McKay: It's certainly a good number for a local band...

Jack Kelly: It is hits and clicks, that would be great, but 7000 would be fine.

Question: The bits I've heard seem to be slow, compared to the usual Boston stuff - is there any specific reason for slowing down?

Steve Risteen: Well, that's why I said "Addiction" was a bad representative, because that's, like, one of the slowest songs on the record. There's one other song about that speed, and all the other stuff's faster.

Jack Kelly: But there's nothing thrash - rat-tat-tat drumming - we don't get into that, mainly because it's been done a thousand times...

Steve Risteen: Like Crippled Youth. For 14 year old kids, it's fun to do, but you know we're all about to be 20, or over our 20s...

Question: So are all Boston bands slowing down now then?

Jack Kelly: Not really...

Steve Risteen: Yeah they are - Gang Green are slowing down, the fastest band in the world... The FU's have slowed down...

Jack Kelly: Not their complete songs - as a whole they're slowing down...

Steve Risteen: As a whole they're slowing down.

Jack Kelly: I still don't see newer bands slowing down at all.

Steve Risteen: Wrecking Crew...

Jack Kelly: They're wicked fast!

Steve Risteen: SS Decontrol - c'mon - I mean, Gang Green, "Snob" - that stuff was a lot faster than the stuff they're playing now.

Jack Kelly: I understand what you're saying, Steve, but I just, like, well, maybe bands in Boston yes, but bands on the whole, the more popular bands around are still in that like, triple speed, let's thrash-it-out thing - like Negative FX, my first band - we did that, then I just well, I just started writing slower stuff. Natural progression - you start listening to other things.

Question: What other bands were you in?

Jack Kelly: I was in Negative FX 1981 - 1982 - then from late 1982 - no, actually early 1983, I had knee surgery, then after that, I was in another band, Last Rights, that was around for a while, but didn't do anything, and now I'm in this one.

Question: So you don't like fast stuff anymore - you don't listen to it?

Jack Kelly: Well, no, it doesn't do anything for me - that kind of thrash just doesn't hit me anymore.

Question: So how does it feel seeing the Negative FX LP in the shops now?

Jack Kelly: It's fun - you know, I was in that band, it's fun to listen to - you know - like "Ha-ha - that's what we used to do".

Question: How come it came out so late, after you'd split?

Steve Risteen: The tape got stolen or something...

Jack Kelly: Well, no, that's not actually true. We were going to do it a long time ago - we were originally going to just record that first time and leave it as a radio tape, and record again for the record, because we just did it 8 track, and we wanted to record 16 track. Then I hurt my knee, and things never really got back together - so in the end, four years later, this record comes out.

Question: So where are the other members of Negative FX now?

Jack Kelly: They're still around town - they're still friends of mine, they're still friends of mine, they're not doing anything at the moment.

Question: Err... I can't think of a question right now... Ask yourself one.

Question: Ask yourself a question and answer it.

Steve Risteen: Err, let me see... What actually is Slapshot about?

Mark McKay: Nothing and something... Like Choke said, it's kind of a hobby for us, but err...

Jack Kelly: What about, OK, come on - how about "violence on stage"!

Steve Risteen: Yeah, a violent attitude!

Question: Why do you carry a hockey stick on stage?

Steve Risteen: Here we go - back to the story of Negative FX...

Jack Kelly: The "Instrument Of Destruction" - Ha-ha! Well, the original story is, after I hurt my knee, and Negative FX got back together, it wasn't really strong enough yet to do a lot of stuff. I mean, the stuff I used to do with Negative FX was people used to stage dive, you know, pig pile on top of me and everything, and that was fun in it's day. But after having knee surgery, I couldn't do that anymore - so what I started doing was, well - mike stands come in two parts, and I used to unscrew the bottom half, and take the top part off. Then I would hold the mike in one hand and the bottom half of the stand in the other, and sing, swinging the stand around. And if people came near me, I would give them a whack across the head, so that's how it started. I kept doing that in Last Rights, and in this band it seemed a reasonable thing, now that we're a "hockey band", I forgot the mike stand, and now I just carry a hockey stick - a blatant...

Mark McKay: Gimmick!

Jack Kelly: A blatant thing to just, you know... people when they see it, think, "Oh my God, what is he doing with that thing on stage?"

Question: Do you actually hit people with it? Is it a really violent show that you do?

Mark McKay: I don't think anybody's got hit really badly...

Steve Risteen: Yes... people have got hit...

Jack Kelly: Yes... people have got hit, some intentionally, some not...

Mark McKay: Oh well...

Steve Risteen: My guitar's gotten hit...

Jack Kelly: Yeah, and Jonathan, our ex bass player - he got hit on the head at out last show. Actually, members of the band have got hit more than the people! I know of a couple of people who've been stage diving or something, and I've them a two hand whack across the leg or back or something - it's really not that bad - I don't whack people in the head or anything...

Question: So, why are you a hockey band?

Mark McKay: It was kind of funny at first, you know, Slapshot, it was sort of something that would be on people's minds - a group called Slapshot - we challenge people to hockey games, you know, it was kind of funny at the beginning, but it's worn off now.

Jack Kelly: People took it to seriously.

Steve Risteen: Yeah, much too seriously - we've had challenges from all over the country...

Jack Kelly: It was just something to have fun at, you know - I mean, I've been playing hockey since high school, I've played hockey for a long time, but it was never a serious thing.

Mark McKay: It worked though - it kept the name of people's minds, people really thought about us.

Question: What's your association with Mike Gitter of "xXx" fanzine? Is he your manager?

Jack Kelly: No, he's a friend of ours.

Mark McKay: He likes the band, he gets us shows, and err...

Jack Kelly: He's been a friend of ours for a long time - well, not so much a friend of mine - I just met him about a year, two years ago. But he likes us, and that's about it really - he helps us out a lot. We didn't ask him to do anything for us, but I guess he enjoys getting us shows, things like that.

Question: Have you ever thought of coming to Europe?

Mark McKay: Yeah, that'd be awesome!

Jack Kelly: I'd like to, sure. I've never been over there. I've heard all stories about Europe - you want to see what the scenes are like over there. I think Europe would like us a lot - hopefully! I don't think we're typically American or European in style.

Mark McKay: If we've been called anything, we've been called an Oi band, similar to English Oi bands - I've heard a lot of connections to that. I might see a little connection there, but I don't think it's really a good label for us, I think we're different.

Jack Kelly: Yeah, we're definitely American.

Question: Would you call yourself a Hardcore band?

Jack Kelly: Well, yeah, maybe. That's the crowd we play to, and those are our fans, and so yeah, I suppose we are a Hardcore band.

Mark McKay: People can sometimes confuse that label. You know, if you think of Hardcore, you think of bands like Negative FX - that was a Hardcore band. If you think we're a Hardcore band, you might think we're like that, but we're not.

Jack Kelly: "Hardcore" evoked all these images of what you're supposed to be - triple mohawks and all that, bleached hair, etc. Me, personally, I've been through that phase a long time ago, and that dies, and so...

Steve Risteen: I never went through it, and I'm very proud of that!

Jack Kelly: Mark is still in it! [Laughter] The main thing about Slapshot is, we do what we want, and if people don't like it, they don't have to like it. People must like us for what we are. If they like the music, that's great - if they like what we do on stage, but don't like the music, then that's good too. Or if they love the music, but hate us personally, which is usually how it goes, [Laughter] then OK, let it be. You know, do what we want, and if people don't like it, we're not going to change to suit anybody's taste. Fortunately for us, people do like us, a select few anyway. I'm not playing to the masses - I'm not looking for top 40, or even a major FM success, whatever. If that happens, great. If what we do gets us fame and fortune, it's not our fault [Laughter] - it's the other morons who listen to us who are totally fucked in the head. [Laughter] But we're not personally out to do anything with Slapshot, just, if it happens, it happens.

Question: Have you a big following in Boston?

Steve Risteen: I don't know, we haven't played Boston in such a long time! We're getting bugged a lot to play again, so... But we think we're pretty well hated after our last shows, because we played to much.

Mark McKay: But Boston doesn't really have a band to look to - we're the only ones - with the underground scene. All the bands around are kind of old, and have lost touch with the kids. I think we just fit the bill.

Steve Risteen: If there's anybody we want to please, it's Boston... we want to just bring Boston...

All: Back On The Map!

Jack Kelly: Yeah, that's basically why we play, well it's basically why I did it.

Steve Risteen: Our scene sucks.

Jack Kelly: Nothing for two years. All the old bands that were great suddenly fell out of our favor, started playing other stuff. None of these kids have anything to follow - no bands to look up to. And the bands that they do look up to have the wrong attitude. Like Gang Green - they're the biggest band on this town right now, but what do they say to the kids who are listening to the music? Drink, get drunk, and all that stuff, and we're not into that. I'd rather see them into drinking cokes, you know, have a good time, and see what they see - if they look at Gang Green there's just going to be a whole bunch more assholes in this world, and I don't want to see that. What we're about is living clean, and don't let anyone mess around with you. You know, like Staw Dogs - they're not really representative of the Boston scene we once knew. What I wanted to do was give the kids something they can look up to, and a band that they can respect.

Steve Risteen: And a band they can have a blast to...

Jack Kelly: You know, like, they go and see a band play - like, fuck, a physical band that means business - and we do mean business - and if they see us and say, yeah - Straight Edge - we're not going to smoke or drink - these guys are saying it cool. And that's what we want to do - say it to the kids, it's cool to do whatever you want to do, regardless of that anyone else say - that's basically our philosophy.

Mark McKay: There isn't really a heck of a lot around Boston. I feel bad, because there used to be so much - man, there was a show every week - bands from across the country would come here, and the Boston bands themselves were all really big.

Steve Risteen: There was only one club before, The Channel.

Mark McKay: Well, that's where the biggest shows were, but there was a lot of variety, because you'd get, like, 3 different bands every week.

Jack Kelly: The Workshop Gallery East and The Channel were doing things - alternative spaces where you could go, and there was no drinking, none of that stuff.

Mark McKay: But now you get this place The Paradise - "We're not going to do Hardcore shows anymore". The Channel - "We're not going to do Hardcore shows anymore".

Steve Risteen: The Channel's nice - they let you do Hardcore shows, you just can't do anything! Just clap your fingers and get drunk on alcohol...

Mark McKay: The Rat is the closest thing we have to anything, and that isn't much...

Question: Where do you play in Boston?

Steve Risteen: The Rat, three times - that's it.

Jack Kelly: Yeah, the first show was all organized, whatever. The second show - I got a call at 8.30 in the morning, from Mike Gitter, saying like, the headlining band had cancelled out, and he said "Would you play? - bail me out of a tough situation." - so I said all right, you're a friend of ours, we'll play.

Mark McKay: We got slagged a lot for that too, because we headlined over a couple of bands that had been around for a while - it wasn't our fault.

Question: Which bands did you headline over?

Jack Kelly: The Freeze, Cancerous Growth, and Psycho, and a lot of people had a lot of resentment about that. We were only together for a few months, we'd only played 2 shows before this one, and we were headlining. It's a response we get in a lot of towns - no respect - we can't get any. We come to a club and we get the cold shoulder - people say, like, "who do you think you guys are?"...

Mark McKay: But after they hear us, like that situation in Albany, when everyone was real cold, then we went on, and everybody was real friendly afterwards.

Jack Kelly: If you show people you're serious about what you do, and if you're physical, and you give it to them, they're gonna react to it. We went out here and showed them - we knocked them over their asses - and we got respect - we had to earn it, but I expect that wherever we're going to go. Now the record's out, I think things might change, mainly because people will want us to come more...

Question: How long have you been playing your instruments?

Steve Risteen: Well, I've actually been playing my guitar - it doesn't sound it - but I've been playing guitar now for six years.

Mark McKay: I picked up my drums about 6 months before Slapshot started...

Jack Kelly: And he barely practiced with them.

Mark McKay: Yeah - I was briefly in a band with Steven before Slapshot started...

Jack Kelly: It's called a natural ability...

Mark McKay: Ha-ha - yeah, natural ability...

Steve Risteen: Mine's called a lot of hard work...

Mark McKay: I don't get a chance to practice a lot, because like Choke said, we all have our jobs...

Question: What kind of jobs have you got?

Mark McKay: I work for an oil company - I deliver fuel oil to people's houses.

Jack Kelly: I'm a bookkeeper for a chain of movie theaters in the New York area, based in Boston, but our theaters are mostly in the New York state area.

Mark McKay: Jon was a banker, and Jordan is a school kid...

Jack Kelly: Yeah, he's the youth in the band - he's only sixteen years old.

Question: How old are you?

Mark McKay: We got all the age groups covered!

Jack Kelly: We got a couple of generation of youngsters in this band - I didn't realize, that's, what, 7 years difference between me and Jordan.

Mark McKay: And Jordan's better on bass than you...

Jack Kelly: Well, I don't know. I play bass, guitar, and a little drums too.

Mark McKay: A very little drums I might add!

Jack Kelly: Hey, I play drums real good up here. [Points to head] - I play everything real good up here! The bands I've been in, I've played different instruments. I bought my own guitar for a while, that's how I write songs now. Actually, I wrote my best songs in my head first. Every song I've written on guitar has turned out to be not as good as the once I've written up in my head.