Artist : Swingin' Utters Interviewed By : Jay Pitts Date : January 30, 2003 Site : www.swinginutters.com

BJP : I know that you guys love the Clash. How do you guys feel about the loss of Joe Strummer this year?
DK : He was an obvious inspiration to us and countless others. I'm personally just really shocked. . . I don't think anybody saw it coming, he seemed like a healthy guy, and I don't think he was ever that hard into drugs or anything. . . and it's just fucking depressing.

BJP : How is the new guitar player, Chuck Worthy, meshing in the band?
DK : He's a good guy, and it's all going well. . . we're still teaching him songs, etc. he's got a hell of a lot of songs to learn, but all is well so far.

BJP : How do you feel about the new record?
DK : I think it's by far the best stuff we've done, by a long shot. . . mostly because the performances were better than they've ever been--all of the instrumentation was done well, and Johnny sounds better than he ever has. . . It just sounds passionate to me, and I think we've been missing that "live" sort of feeling for a long time, so I'm really thrilled about it.

BJP : Who was the producer on the new record?
DK : Blag (from the Dwarves) and Bradley Cook.

BJP : What are your expectations for 2003?
DK : Touring, hopefully lots more than we've done in the last few years.

BJP : When not in the studio or on the road, what do you do with your free time?
DK : I'm a butcher. Long hours, 13 hour days for 5 days a week and it fucking sucks. . . I'm really over the whole retail thing, I'm just not social/personable enough to wait on people all day without it driving me crazy. I also have a wife and two kids, and a house I'm doing lots of work to, so my life is "very full" right now.

BJP : What's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you guys on the road?
DK : Just a lot of drunk stories, vans breaking down, I don't know, funny and crazy band stories just all sort of sound the same, don't they? We've had bad luck with vans in the dead of winter, and we all drink a lot. Make up your own story, it'd probably not be too far from the truth.

BJP : I get so disgusted when I go out & see kids wearing nice preppy clothes & a CBGB shirt & have no idea what that place is or a band T-shirt that I know they have never heard, all because they are selling them at Hot Topic in malls everywhere. How would you react if you saw a person wearing a Swingin' Utters T-shirt knowing that they have never heard your band or even a fan of your music? Kind of like seeing Justin Timberlake on TV wearing an MC5 shirt knowing he's not a fan.
DK : I think it's different when it's your band who's shirt they're wearing. I'd just think it was cool. I understand what you're saying of course, but for me, personally, it'd just be cool. I guess we don't have that problem, I mean our fans know what's up. . . we're not popular enough to have that problem.

BJP : How is the new record different from the previous Swingin' Utters releases?
DK : It's more urgent sounding. . . It's got diverse shit on it, but not just the "accordion song" or "country song" or whatever. . we strayed even more. . . and the hard stuff is way harder than anything we've ever done before. . .

BJP : What is your favorite Beer & why?
DK : I like beer. . . so hard to choose one. I like Beck’s the most, I guess. and Bass. . . and Guinness. . . and Harp. . . and Sierra. . . and Anchor. . . but I drink Budweiser the most, cuz it's cheap and I actually don't think it sucks too much. I like beer cuz it tastes good and it numbs the pain...woe is me. . .