You're just about to release 'Sorry For Partyin', which will be your tenth studio album. Do you guys still get nervous about fan and critic reactions to new material? Or do you feel you've pretty much got the Bowling For Soup formula nailed now?We have never worried about any of that. We just do what we do. It is the same formula, but with better writing and improved skills... well, and nicer studios, and actual hotel rooms when we sleep, instead of the studio floor... ha... we have our niche. So excited to finally get this out there!
Are there any surprises on the new album? Or is it more of the sexual innuendos, word-play and good-time anthems we've come to love?
We will never change! This album is fun, cover to cover, and it rarely slows down! I feel like fans old and new will think this is Bowling For Soup's best album yet, and I promise I am not just saying that to try and convince them, you or myself. We have people around us that have been on our team for ten years or more that hear this record and shit themselves - not literally! That would just be strange...
Your hometown crops up in quite a few of your songs ('Ohio (Come Back To Texas)'and 'My Hometown' to name two) and you're planning to film a documentary about Wichita Falls. Is it fair to say you still feel a connection to your hometown?
Of course! So many memories there; just glad I don't ever HAVE to visit! Unless I choose to... ha... it really isn't that bad... well, maybe it is...
What can we expect from the documentary, and why did you decide to film it, rather than doing the traditional 'Bowling For Soup: The Story So Far' documentary?
You know, it was just a thought that turned into a reality. The trick is finding time to do it. We will though - I am excited about it! I think fans would be interested to see the places we worked, lived and went to school. At least I would love to see that about some of the bands I like!
If you weren't in Bowling For Soup, what would you be doing?
Gosh, I don't know! Probably act or do comedy. If that didn't work, I guess I would talk my wife into getting a big time job and play Mr. Mom.
Bowling For Soup seem to like their bonus tracks. Were you guys really drunk during the hidden tracks on 'A Hangover You Don't Deserve'? And can we expect any hidden extras on 'Sorry For Partyin'?
Haha, we were on part of it! The whole thing took an hour to make... three twenty minute passes. We had started drinking an hour or two before and were POUNDING the whole session. By the last twenty minutes, it was insanity! There is indeed a hidden track, but I think it is actually listed as a track in the UK. That shit gets complicated these days.
You founded the 'Get Happy' tour package with Army of Freshmen in 2006. What was the inspiration behind that? And can expect another Get Happy UK tour in the near future?
It started at a lunch with one of the guys from Army of Freshman and the inspiration was our song 'Get Happy' as well as our carefree show. I don't expect to do it again. I feel like we did it big and should try and do something bigger! We consistently try and top ourselves. This is no exception!
Is it true that Bowling For Soup never go onstage with a set list? And if so, why? And has this ever gone spectacularly wrong and lead to major onstage embarrassment?
We have never used a set list. It started out of laziness, and just became part of our whole "we are just hanging out with friends and playing music vibe." We like our shows to be loose and different every time! We have friends in bands that even rehearse what they say between songs. Gosh, I bet they get bored by show three! It is always fun to throw the audience, as well as the rest of the band, a curveball every once in a while...
And yes, I have started into a song I have already played a few times. It confuses the shit out of everyone!
You guys always seem to go down a storm at Download - even when you performed at the 'metal day' below Black Sabbath in 2005. HIM came on a little while after you to a terrible crowd reaction, and yet his band sounds far more like Black Sabbath than Bowling For Soup do! What's the secret to charming a metaller-than-thou crowd?
We are real. We don't try and act like we are something we aren't, even in those situations - not that HIM do! - I just think people see us as genuine and not put on. We are having more fun than they are and I think they wanna join in!
You recently played some very special fifteenth anniversary shows in Texas and Fort Worth. I read you were planning on playing one song off every album that you'd never played live before. Did you manage it? After fifteen years there can't be many songs you haven't played?
We did! It was incredible, especially for us! To play fifteen year old songs into three month old songs is quite an excursus... it was a great milestone for us!
Bowling For Soup have only undergone one line-up change during their fifteen years - what's the secret to avoid running into 'musical differences'?
Everyone needs to understand their role in the group. And honesty and communication go a LONG way. We are still best friends and I feel very lucky for that!
Does tour fatigue ever set in? You've reportedly played over 3,000 shows to date!
I think it is more... let's just say I am not twenty-five anymore!
You always seem to tour with bands who have a similar 'good-times' vibe to you (Bloodhound Gang, Army of Freshmen, Wheatus). Does this filter through to the offstage tour antics?
At times. Some bands like to hang out, and some bands don't. We have a new rule: if you don't hang out with us and have fun, we shun you!
Bowling For Soup took a year off while writing 'Sorry For Partyin'. What were you doing with yourselves during that time?
I was busy as shit writing and doing improv comedy, as well as being a dad, which was my favourite part! Erik moved him and his wife to South Carolina. Gary got his real estate license, and Chris took up bar tending so he could drink for free!
Bowling For Soup's albums have always had one or two 'serious' songs, but when you released 'When We Die' as a single, some people seemed to view it as a 'change of direction.' Do you ever feel pigeonholed as a 'silly' band?
Not really... we are fun guys! We will always be a 'silly band' because that is who we are, but in all silly people, there is real life. There is a LITTLE less of that on this record. Not on purpose, I think I was just happier while writing it!
You're bringing the 'Party In Your Pants' tour to the UK in October. What can ticket-holders expect?
I hope it is the best they've ever seen Bowling For Soup! And we are stoked to bring the Leftovers and MC Lars - both on my label, 'Crappy Records' - and of course Zebrahead NEVER fail to rock! I am so excited! I wish the shows were tomorrow!
And, finally, what does the next twelve months hold for Bowling For Soup?
Insane amount of travel, beer, handshaking, hangovers, slap fights with band and crew, funny movies, and a boob shot every now and then!
'Sorry For Partyin' was released in the UK on October 12th on Jive Records.
