Guts of The Ice - An Exploration of "Puck" Rock/Hockey-core #20: Dropkick Murphys Drummer Matt Kelly (The Witzard Interview)
Not entirely unlike Wrestle/Wrassle Rap or Basketball Rap, there's, apparently, a whole sub-genre of hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore—oftentimes, referred to as "Puck" Rock or Hockey-core. Yes, I've been a die-hard fan of Punk/Hardcore for 15+ years and I, too, only first heard about Puck Rock within the last few weeks. Although, once I started diggin' around, I discovered about 10-15 bands at the forefront; this was, then, gradually narrowed down to 10 "front-line" bands, which will be chronicled here over the course of coming weeks. The "top-scoring" bands we selected include: Crippled Youth, SLAPSHOT, The Hanson Brothers/Nomeansno, Two Man Advantage, The Boils, D.O.A. THE ZAMBONIS, Pansy Division, The Hextalls, and THE RAMOMS' "Gritty Is A Punk" flexi-disc. We sent out a short 6-question interview form to all of the aforementioned bands, received some back, heard a few choice words, and still have yet to hear from a few more. We'll be running those interviews, as well as features, profiles, etc. in the coming weeks. EDITOR'S NOTE: be warned, while I'm a casual hockey fan, I DO NOT claim to be an "expert" on the sport, nor will I EVER claim to know "everything" about hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore. Now, let's just try to have some fun and learn more about the sub-genre together!
So, those of you who know me personally will know that my wife and I welcomed our first-born, Peter Joseph Horowitz, into the world 10 days ago on Sunday, July 5, 2020 at approximately 5:31am after about 20 hours of labor. He's an incredible little boy, but, as expected, he's taking up the majority of our time lately... so, I'm imagining I'll be posting features a little less regularly than usual here on The Witzard. However, with that said, I've been sitting on this latest installment of Guts of The Ice for a few weeks now. Long-time Dropkick Murphys drummer, hockey fanatic, and fellow father Matt Kelly is our latest interview subject in this ongoing Puck Rock/Hockey-core series. Kelly been in the band since 1997 upon original Dropkick drummer Jeff Erna's departure and has played on every recording since their 1998 Hellcat Records debut, Do or Die. Matt Kelly, along with current members Al Barr, Ken Casey, and James Lynch, played across Dropkick Murphys' 2003 Hellcat album, Blackout. It showcased rink-rousing classic, "Time to Go," which has been The Boston Bruins' theme song/anthem ever since. Thus starting a 17-year and still ongoing relationship between Dropkick Murphys & The Bruins. We spoke with Matt Kelly about all things Bruins, Puck Rock/Hockey-core, hockey-related, and much, much more down below.
Sincerely,
Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz
Puck Rock/Hardcore Purveyor
01. How did you guys initially get hooked up with The Boston Bruins? What made them choose "Time to Go" from Blackout as their theme song?
Matt Kelly: Hey, how's it going? Pretty sure they approached us when Ken [Casey] and I were season ticket holders (Ken still is...) this was back in '02 or so. Since Ken knows everybody in town, I presume that he got talking with somebody from The Bruins and this idea was put into action. Wicked vague answer, I know, haha.
02. "Time to Go" was issued on promotional CD for The Bruins, as well as Fat City Presents: One for The Ages! 7-inch with The Vandals! What's the story behind both of these releases?
Kelly: We were on Hellcat/Epitaph and, of course, there was a close link with The Vandals—Joe Escalante was the entertainment lawyer for Epitaph Records, at the time. Both bands have a love for hockey, so we figured why not? Fat City, a magazine covering the Ska & Punk scenes, approached us for a "themed" 7-inch. The Bruins, as discussed above, were put into headlocks by us to make our "Time to Go" single happen!
03. What made Dropkick Murphys decide to include "Nutty (Bruins Theme)" on 2002's "Live On St. Patrick's Day? It's a rendition of B. Bumblebee & The Stringers' "Nut Rocker" co-written by Kim Fowley (The Runaways' manager,) correct?
Kelly: Well, back in the "olden days," when there were Channels 2 (Public,) 4, 5, 7, 38, and 56 on TV, The Bruins were always on WSBK TV-38. The intro music was the song, "Nutty" and it, being part of Boston history, just seemed like a cool little ditty to throw down. I remember hearing that as a little one and then, "stay tuned for Dana Hersey and The Movie Loft directly following The Boston Bruins broadcast..." or something like that. The version of "Nutty" we went off was a cross between The Stringers' version and Emerson Lake & Palmer's rendition. Here's a glorious reference of the actual inspiration.
04. While doing research for this very feature, we noticed The NHL Network ran an exclusive preview/premiere of "Paying My Way" from Dropkick's 2017 effort, 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory. How did this collaboration end up coming about?
Kelly: Basically, through our continued, but occasional, relationship with the team. Although, we'd been addressing it and seeing it with friends and family, the "dirty little secret" of opioid addiction and deaths were finally being addressed by the powers that be. The song, "Paying My Way," was a sort of shout-out to those suffering battling addiction and those on their road to recovery. Opioids and opioid addiction were (and still are) a huge problem...
05. During our previous Guts of The Ice interview with The Boils' Greg "Boil" Boyle & Eric Endrikat, Greg explained, "...when we had our meeting with The Flyers, we were allowed to leave to call our lawyer, which we didn't have, so I just called Matt [Kelly] from DKM for advice." Do you recall said phone call and if so, what did you tell Greg?
Kelly: Hahahaha, oh, man, I DO remember that call!!!! We're still great friends with Greg & The Endrikat Brothers and their bands, THUNDER & GLORY and Legion 76. I speak with Greg, Eric, and Chris regularly. Now, let's see... damn, my addled brain-box is yielding me very few actual details from that phone call!!! Wow, getting old sucks... let me see... I know I gave them ideas for a ridiculous list of "demands," like the old "green M&M's" rider thing and unlimited tube meats and Yuengling in their Wells Fargo Center Luxury Box. They kept asking me if I had any idea when the next time The Flyers would hoist Lord Stanley's Silverware and I told them, "if The Flyers dared win again, then, the next year would be our year!" hahaha.
06. Aside from your own band's music, what other hockey-themed groups, releases, singles, etc. would you recommend, as well?
Kelly: I know there are a lot of Pop Punk bands from The West Coast, who are hockey-themed, but that musical style really isn't my cuppa joe. One slightly hockey-themed/referenced jam that I dig is "Carte Blanche for Chaos" by the legendary Anti-Heros. Excellent song from a GREAT album, American Pie. This was in very heavy rotation during early Dropkicks van days. Also, though, I never in my life thought I'd love a Techno song (*vomits*) "Kernkraft 400" is The Bruins' goal song... gets my heart pumping every time, even only due to association and no love for typical garbage Techno music. I remember being at party of my wife's work friends during the Post-season (Bruins were in it, yeah) and they had some cruddy Dance music on and on comes "Kernkraft 400" and I just think to myself, "alright! Now, THIS is a good jam!"
Aside from that, there were some pretty decent Hardcore bands, like 5 Minute Major, etc. Of course, right here in Boston, since 1985, we have the mighty SLAPSHOT. I first saw a review of them in RIP Magazine in 1987-88 (not sure) and it showed Choke [Jack Kelly] in a flannel shirt on-stage at The Rathskeller. He was giving the mic to a couple punters to sing along, brandishing half a hockey stick in his other hand. The stick was in the process of coming down on their heads! As an 11-12-year-old kid, I thought, "yup, I already know this band rules!'" Hockey is my favorite sport, bar none, but hockey lyrics and aesthetics don't make or break a band for me. I don't know of many Hockeycore/Puck Rock bands out there that I'm goo-goo-ga-ga over; plus, it doesn't help that I'm kind of a music do*che/snob.
07. So, speaking of SLAPSHOT, how did 1999 comp. Boston Drops The Gloves: A Tribute to SLAPSHOT on Dropkick Murphys' now-defunct Flat Records initially come together? How involved was SLAPSHOT and their then-label, TKO Records, to help coordinate said Hardcore/Oi! comp.'s release?
Kelly: Well, TKO & Flat had a thing going for a while; TKO would manufacture and distribute Flat releases. I don't know, SLAPSHOT was a very big deal in BHC [Boston Hardcore], a "super-group," and a full-on touring band, so all we young kids looked up to them and, of course, loved the music. They were so intrinsically Bostonian, they, basically, represented Boston Straight-Edge Hardcore: fast, violent, Power-chord Rock with a dose of Oi! and early US Hardcore Punk. Dangerous and confrontational, like a lot of kids from these neighborhoods.
We had been covering "I've Had Enough" and a bunch of other Street Punk, Oi!, and Hardcore bands covered SLAPPY songs—so, the band [was] sort of a unifying factor between the various newer bands from different, but concentric, circles. I believe that old Dropkicks associate Mark Vieira came up with the idea for this compilation. Until then, it hadn't been done. It just seemed obvious that this album HAD to be made. That era was a whole lot of fun, man. Anyways, thanks a lot for the interview! I hope my frail attempts at humor translate over The World Wide Web... and let-s get that NHL Post-season cranking! Can't wait! LET'S GO, BRUINS!!!!!!