After they have delivered a fabulous album last year The Rumjacks will be touring through Europe a lot this year. Time to drown ourselves in the Celtic Punkscene with Johnny of The Rumjacks.

Hi, guys how are you doing?
“Doing really well! Just starting off the European summer at the moment. Began the year with some UK shows and doing some acoustic songs…bit of down time, now gearing up for a busy 2019 from now on.”

‘Scene’

Since we’re not familiar with the folk-punk scene down under,can you tell us how it is over there?
“The ‘scene’ is not that strong unfortunately. Of course there are bands out there doing it, but live music in general in Australia is quite hard, let alone a style like folk punk. A lot of great venues are shutting down (or have been shut down) and making it harder for bands to play live and grow as a band.”

Being in all kinds of countries, do you think the style is different in other countries?
“Of course. The more we travel and the more we play you can see the difference in bands, venues and crowds. It’s too hard to compare anywhere to somewhere else but the European crowds are super accepting and a lot of the support bands we play with are absolute class! A lot of great bands out there and we are lucky to be able to share the stage with a lot of them.”

Looking at your agenda, it looks like you’re in Europe whole summer, is this true. Are you looking for more dates.
“At the moment we are still adding even more shows to the existing Euro dates. Trying to find a balance between the festivals we are playing and getting some good club shows in between those dates also. I would say as of August, that will be us on tour for the rest of the year.”
What are you doing in between the gigs?
“Gotta work hard! I guess there isn’t really looking like any ‘in-between time’ through out the summer but if we can I think we are trying to catch up with some friends and relax and recharge before more shows. If not that, there is always something to work on in The Rumjacks world.”

Saints Preserve Us

It’s a while back, but October last year you released ‘Saints Preserve Us’, an album rated with the maximum score at Folk-metal.nl. And for me personally it belongs in the top 5 of the best albums of last year. How was it received in other media?
“I think the album was received quite well as far as we could see. It was album number 4 for us so I think it was nice to show we aren’t getting lazy with what we do. Work hard, write the best music possible and back it up. Don’t be a gimmick and always do better than before. A lot of online fan sites and music media pages gave it the number one spot for 2018 which was awesome to see! We are proud of this album and I am glad it was received the way it was.”

The Rumjacks Songs

Where do you get the ideas for the lyrics from?
“That would be one for Frankie. All lyrics are penned by him. If you look at some of the lyrics, Frankie’s writing is amazing in my opinion. Wild, fun stories to heartbreakers and bold statements. Maybe that’s why is so accessible to fans…? Not sure. Either way fans seem to find it easy to relate to the lyrics or just be able to put some of the songs on and just sit back and have fun with the music. I think that is lost some times so if fans are doing that to our music, then that is awesome!”

How does the songwriting go in The Rumjacks?
“Definitely starts with Frankie. He might have an idea, few hooks or a line or too, or a full song sitting there ready to go…just depends. Frankie will shoot these ideas across to the other members and will start workshopping any ideas and see where we go from there.”

Since you recorded a set of acoustic re-versions of your songs, can we expect an album with these songs?
“You can and it’s already available! Well, at this stage it’s available digitally for purchase but we keep getting requests for a physical release so you never know….”

Is there anything else you like to share with our readers?
“Massive thanks for all the support and see you at the bar at an upcoming show!!!!”

By: Michel