Going Out In Style

"Murphys pizza, we've got all the toppings, what do you want?”

It takes your correspondent a few seconds to realise that this isn't a wrong number but the fine Irish wit of Mr Kelly. It's going to be one of those interviews.“What can I say?” laughs Kelly. “There's always room for the classics.”

Getting down to business, Kelly is quick to point out that Australia has been very good to the Dropkick Murphys, although he does concede that the tyranny of distance makes playing our fair shores a challenge.

“No wonder they sent all the Irish horse thieves to Australia – it takes so long to get there – and back in the day they must have been sure that they'd never see those people again,” he says. “Playing Australia means planning ahead in a lot of ways. For example we try not to drink too much on the plane because we know the jetlag by itself is a killer. We don't want to get there and have to drag ourselves out on stage and play a bad show. I know some people might find that odd considering everyone knows that we like a drink. But when it comes down to it we treat our shows and our fans very seriously – we never want to let anyone down.”

The fact that the Dropkick Murphys keep getting asked back to Australia suggests they haven't let anyone down yet. While their early tours took them to tiny inner-city pubs and small yet devoted audiences, each successive jaunt has seen the Irish punkers play to larger and larger crowds. This time around the boys are playing some fairly large headlining shows around the country as well as fronting a massive audience at the world famous Bluesfest in Byron Bay. Do the Dropkicks revel in large festival audiences, or do they prefer the relative intimacy of their own gigs?

“There are pros and cons to both obviously, but I think overall I prefer to play our own gigs because you have a lot more freedom to design a set-list – when you're headlining you get a much larger chunk of time to do your thing. And of course the vibe is always great because it's your fans – they know every word to all the songs and that gives us more energy to put on the best show possible.

“That said, I do like festivals because every show is unique. I love playing outdoors and I love playing with bands that we wouldn't usually find ourselves sharing a stage with. So many people have become Murphys fans because they checked us out at a festival – these people might not even be punk rock fans and wouldn't go to, say, a hardcore bill, but at a festival all bets are off and the people there tend to go outside their musical comfort zone. We played the No Sleep Til festival a couple of years ago and I know a lot of the fans who were there to see the likes of Megadeth also checked us out. Bluesfest is going to be amazing because you'll have an even wider cross-section of people. I mean the line-up is amazing – Robert Plant, Paul Simon, Iggy Pop, Status Quo – the list goes on and on. We're honoured to be sharing a stage with these legends and hopefully their fans will come and check us out as well.”

As for the new Dropkick Murphys LP, Kelly is understandably excited. Titled Signed And Sealed In Blood, the album offers little in the way of wacky left-field excursions but plenty in the way of anthemic Celtic-tinged punk rock. If you've never heard the Dropkick Murphys before imagine the Cockney Rejects getting into a bar fight with The Pogues while The Chieftains and The Clash served the combatants whisky – and that's what this album sounds like.

“I know it sounds like what I'm supposed to say because we have a new record, but I really proud of Signed And Sealed In Blood,” Kelly enthuses. “Everything was just so easy – the songs came together well, and we recorded them quickly. We're already doing six or so songs off the album and getting a great response. There's nothing fancy there: it's fast-paced, it's got big choruses. It's a straight-up kick-you-in-the-balls Dropkick Murphys record.”

Intrinsic to the Dropkick Murphys' charm is the group's strongly felt sense of Irish identity, fostered no doubt by their hometown of Boston. But while Boston remains important to the Irish Diaspora, the shamrock is no longer as dominant in the city as it once was. Kelly says that Boston's demographics are changing but is open about the impact of this change on the Irish community.

“It's funny actually, my neighbourhood in South Boston, which is the so called Irish neighbourhood, now has as many people with a Baltic background as it does people of Irish heritage – so things definitely are changing. As to whether that impacts the community I don't think it's significant. There are still people coming over from Ireland to live here – and the community here has kept a strong sense of history and self-identity. Boston is seen as a bastion of the Irish in America and I can't see that changing anytime soon.”

And how are the Dropkick Murphys received in Ireland itself?

“You'd think we'd be old hat in Ireland but we get a great reception every time we go there,” laughs Kelly. “We don't consider ourselves Irish – we're Americans of Irish heritage, but of course there is a kinship with audiences in Ireland, and cities like Liverpool that have a large Irish population. I'll never forget the first time we played Ireland – it was a bar in Dublin called Slattery's that was an old Thin Lizzy hangout – the gig was insane and we were so honoured to get such a great reception from Irish fans.”

And have the band every found themselves embroiled in any of the political disputes that have afflicted the Irish community? In particular did the band's decision to cover The Fields Of Athenrey, considered by some to be a Nationalist anthem, cause them any trouble when playing the old country?

“We haven't had any problems at all,” Kelly reflects. “I think it's because we don't take a stance on political issues in Ireland at all. There are a lot of Americans of Irish heritage who do shoot their mouths off you know – but as far as we're concerned it's none of our business. We're here to play music – not to take sides in someone else's political dispute.”

Dropkick Murphys will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 30 March - Bluesfest, Byron Bay NSW
Sunday 31 March - Panthers, Newcastle NSW
Monday 1 April - Big Top, Luna Park, Sydney NSW
Tuesday 2 April - Festival Hall, Melbourne VIC
Wednesday 3 April - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide SA