Written by: Shawn Brown

Danko Jones, the band, has been mangling audiences around the world for eighteen years.

And they’ve left behind boundless hordes of panting, bloody, intensely satisfied fans.

Danko Jones, the man, is a bona fide rock & roll original who has been waving the flag for a genre jam-packed with wannabe intruders who hide behind weak riffs and lyrics ripped from Ozzy’s shredded rolling papers. The Canadian trio’s sound has always tipped their hat to the KISS AC/DC and Motörhead, without ever impersonating them along the way.

Truthfully, Danko Jones has just as much Misfits as Iron Maiden pulsating through their collective veins. This band has successfully found a way to melt punk and metal into the same brand of heavy rock & roll that undoubtedly sent them to their garages with instruments as kids. But being a genre-defying act has its pitfalls, as the divergent mix of Danko Jones has the potential to confuse fans that can’t appreciate the fusion in the music the band creates. Undaunted, Danko Jones has pressed on, melting faces with truly original records. Their brand new release Fire Music fits perfectly into their discography and represents a freshly rested band delivering yet another immensely satisfying and heavy assault.

Armed with new drummer, Rich Knox (Flash Lightning), band co-founders Danko and John “JC” Calabrese have never sounded this explosive.

In the producer’s chair for Fire Music is Juno Award recipient Eric Ratz (Billy Talent, Monster Truck, Cancer Bats) who has found a way to prod Danko Jones to reach new levels of sonic severity. “Wild Woman,” “The Twisting Knife,” “Body Bags,” “Do You Wanna Rock?”–there just isn’t a single miss on this record. Danko Jones simply seethes Rock & Roll and their head-banging eclecticism and musicianship makes Fire Music one of the very best records of 2015.

We were absolutely ecstatic that Danko himself agreed to sit down with us and discuss the new record, his band, his podcast, and his fans.

Stereo Embers: Congratulations on Fire Music!  It’s currently being played at high volume here at Stereo Embers HQ! How has your process of writing and recording changed since the early days of the band?

Danko Jones: Thank you. When we started out we didn’t really know how to play our instruments or write a song. Gradually, as time went on, we got better at our instruments, got better at writing songs and I got more confident as a singer. I learned to embrace melody and not just scream through each song.

Stereo Embers: You guys worked with Eric Ratz this time around. What specifically did he bring to the sessions for Fire Music?

DJ: We’ve worked with Eric before. He engineered some of our early recordings like “Bounce,”“Samuel Sin,” “Womanbound” and “Sex Change Shake.” Fire Music was a reunion of sorts with Eric and something that had to happen. He’s a rocker so we trusted his ideas and decisions when it came to sounds and tones. He made my guitars sound the way I’ve always wanted them to sound and he pushed me very very hard when it came to vocals.

SE: Danko Jones, as a band, has had its fair share of great drummers over the years. Fire Music is your first releases with Rick Knox behind the kit.  How did you guys hook up?

DJ: Rich came highly recommended by our friend, Nick Sewell, who plays in Biblical. We checked out Rich online and were mighty impressed. When he easily killed songs our last drummer couldn’t pull off, we knew he was our guy.

SE: You have never been shy about wearing your influences on your sleeve, and yet Danko Jones constantly succeeds in never sounding derivative. How do you conceptualize the impact of your influences on the music you make?

DJ:  Thanks for making that observation. It’s frustrating and very telling when so-called music writers simply lob over one or two bands to compare us. It tells me they have no idea of what they’re talking about and have no business writing about music. Yes, we have very large influences that we proudly wave but it’s because of the myriad of other lesser influences from other music that, I feel, make our band stand out from the derivative genre we’re in. Most bands are derivative to embarrassing degrees because it’s the only music they listen to and their musical trough doesn’t go that deep. We temper our sound by listening to a lot of music from different genres like jazz, rap, metal and anything in-between. Rock music may be seen as a constricting form of music but our personal listening is very adventurous.

SE: We here at Stereo Embers are longtime fans of your podcast (“The Official Danko Jones Podcast”). The episode with Duff Mckagan where you talked about the writing process and he shared the story of his open letter to the surviving members of Nirvana was unbelievable! How has doing the podcast added to your understanding of other artists? Are you still enjoying it?

DJ: Wow! Thanks for listening. Yeah, that was a great episode, one of my favourites. Duff is a great dude. In fact, all the Walking Papers guys are great dudes. They were total professionals and super chill to hang with when we toured together. I don’t think it’s given me any deeper understanding of others. I just like to extract cool conversations. I feel the most successful episodes have been the ones that have come closest to loose real-life hangs. I love doing it or else I’d stop.

SE: The music industry, as a business model, has completely folded in on itself. How does the current state of things contribute to your band’s ability to get its message of ROCK out there?

DJ: I don’t know if we have a message. I do think it’s gotten both harder and easier to be heard, if that makes sense. Harder in the sense that it’s kind of a wild west where the playing field has been leveled but also allowed for such trite shite to be given the same amount of attention alongside something that is truly brilliant and usually it’s the brilliant stuff that goes unheard. After almost 15 years of floundering, the music industry is still in transition. It’s hard to gauge where or how it will land. For us, we’re still doing what we do–making records and touring. If there’s been a shift, we’ve been too busy to feel it.

SE: At the beginning of the documentary, “Bring on the Mountain” you express disbelief that your band is a success and that you continue to pack shows every night. When you look out into the crowds today, do you have that same sense of awe?

DJ:  Yes. I still can’t believe people want to hear and watch our band play. I mean, I love it and bask in it but when given some introspective time to myself, I am in awe of how we’re allowed to keep doing this. I’m grateful and am very aware it’s a privilege.

SE: You have always enthusiastically waved the flag for Toronto. What does coming from that scene mean to you today?

DJ: Yes, I am proud of being from Toronto and love the era of the Toronto scene that spawned us. When I was new to the scene, I revered older Toronto bands–I respected them and I still do. People like Steve Leckie, Adam Sewell, Rob Urbinatti, James Cavalluzzo, Eric Chenaux, Ian Blurton etc. These are names of people who were killing it before I was and have my full respect. I don’t see the newer bands, even though they ape these guys, whether they know it or not, giving the same respect for the bands before them. Other than that, Toronto is a vibrant music town. I’m a big booster of it. There are amazing bands, from Biblical, Midnight Malice, Sons Of Otis, to Wrong Hole, Cancer Bats and Sloan.