June 6th, 2013 
Derek Scancarelli 
“I’m still inspired, I’m still a part of this band, I still wake up every day and want to make music. I’m very thankful for that and very proud of it.”
It’s hard to conjure a much cooler scenario than seeing a band from Los Angeles, who are called The Bronx play on a boat in the Hudson River on a beautiful night in New York City.
That being said, I had a pretty enjoyable Tuesday night. The icing on the cake was being able to sit down with Matt Caughthran of The Bronx just before the show. Fresh from Pier 83, you can read the exclusive interview below where Caughthran and I discuss the band (and its alter ego’s) career, their newest record, and even male strippers chainsawing raw meat.
As far as the concert goes, The Bronx exhibited another relentless performance as madness broke out on the upper level of the Circle Line cruise ship. One fan mentioned the damages done to the ceiling at a previous Lagwagon boat show, and I’m afraid this event left it in no better shape.
Security struggled to keep the combination of the crowd’s energy and sea-legs from sending a tidal wave of people into the band’s set-up. After blowing through two microphones, the band kept powering along their set. Vocalist Matt Caughthran could be seen climbing railings and flipping from the low ceiling’s only vantage point or rummaging through the crowd of fans toward the back of the deck.
“I am Poseidon!” shouted Caughthran as he floated through the tangled mess of limbs and wires. The band performed songs from their newest album, The Bronx (IV), as well as the classics.
“New York City. People have been asking us for 10 years why we are named The Bronx, this is the reason right here.”
Here is what Matt Caughthran, the self-proclaimed Greek “God of the Sea,” had to say before the insanity ensued:
UTG Exclusive: Matt, The Bronx
The new album, The Bronx (IV) came out in February. How has the response been to the album?
Good man, I think people are into it. I don’t usually spend too much time looking up record reviews or stuff like that. I usually just judge it by the shows, people singing along or if people are moving, that sort of thing. People seem to be into it, so it’s cool. I think some people wanted us to write a little bit harder of a record, but it just wasn’t in the cards this time around. It’s just not something we wanted to do, but for the most part I think everyone digs it.
Why did you decide to do bi-coastal release shows?
It just sounded awesome and fun. We just wanted to do something different and get out to New York and play shows instead of just doing the hometown one record release show. We wanted to play the Bowery Electric for a long time so it was something that was really cool for us.
Who had the crazier shows, Los Angeles or New York City?
LA was crazier. You know what was crazy too? We kinda did a London one, it was a little later but the first London show was fucking insane. But yeah, LA was a little crazier than New York. But, New York, the second night was a fucking madhouse. They are all good, man–the record release shows are those special shows, they only happen once a record cycle.
How was tour with Bad Religion?
It was great, man. Those guys are all amazing people. We’ve done a tour with them before. I love that band, I grew up on that band–they were a huge band for me. Anytime you get to tour with a band you respect and love and it’s a two way street–they don’t treat you like assholes, they respect your band, they respect you as people, it’s really cool. They’ve got a great crew, a great group of people and watching them play every night was something that I never got sick of.
You guys were also just in Australia, how was that?
Insane. Australia has always been awesome for us. They’ve got such a good history of punk music, rock n’ roll music. There are a lot of similarities too between California and Australia; a similar type of state of mind and atmosphere so we’ve always felt at home there. Tours there are always really great.
Matt Caughthran of The Bronx
How did the concept for Mariachi El Bronx initially come up?
After we did The Bronx (III), we kind of hit a wall with Bronx. We didn’t really know where we wanted to go and we didn’t expect that to happen. When you start a punk band, you don’t expect to hit a creative wall but that’s what happens sometimes when you run the gambit of being a professional musician or trying to exist solely as a musician. We had a major label record, independent label record, our own label. By the time the third record came out, we were all just a little spent. We ended up experimenting and it just didn’t work. We were all just a little bit bummed, a little bit broke. It just kinda turned into this, “What the fuck are we gonna do?” We didn’t want to turn into one of those bands that just keep putting out the same shit, because repetition is the nature of the business.
So we decided to do something different–it started out as an idea to step away from The Bronx and keep the brain going. It was Joby’s idea to try writing a Mariachi song. He called me on the way to the studio and said he wanted to try writing a song Mariachi style, called “My Brother The Gun.” He thought it was a cool line. We just fucked around and started from there. It was really fun and inspiring to dive into something different. It was easier for me, singing-wise. Those guys were teaching themselves different rhythm patterns and strumming patterns and all the rules of Mariachi music. They were taking video lessons on Youtube and shit like that. It became this thing that we jumped into. We loved it.
Did you ever think it would be such a success? It’s not typical to transcend genres like you have…
Absolutely. I knew once the record was done that it was really good, but I thought that about all the Bronx records. You’re supposed to think that way about what you do, you know? But, I didn’t think that people outside of the band were gonna be into it. We thought it was something really cool that we’re gonna have until the day we die and we’re really proud of. I didn’t really expect for it to take off the way it did. It’s amazing.
At what point while you were doing Mariachi did you guys decide, “Ok, it’s time to go back and do another Bronx album?”
We thought about doing it after the first [Mariachi] El Bronx record but it just didn’t feel right. We had so many songs still written, there was so much inspiration and energy still focused in that area we just decided to keep going and write another record. Once that was done though we knew for the next record it was time to go back to The Bronx. Bronx played a lot that whole time we were putting out El Bronx records, even just playing those songs again and again and not having anything new it really motivated us to get back in and plug in loud and just write another record. Going into IV we were right where we wanted to be; hungry, inspired, motivated, and psyched to make a record. It ended up working out perfectly.
You guys have done Rocks Off! boat shows in the past…what keeps bringing you back?
Yeah, we’ve done a couple of ’em. We’ve done an El Bronx one and a couple of Bronx ones. This is like the coolest thing in the world because you get a cruise around New York, sunset, night-time, see all the beautiful buildings, and hang out on a boat and play music. Some bands want to be back in the basement or miss playing house shows–there’s a certain part of that, but this is just way better. One, there’s a pretty decent PA, and two, the idea of just bumping around on a boat and playing songs that aren’t necessarily boat music…it just feels great. The atmosphere is pretty untouchable. These are some of the coolest shows we’ve ever played.
Things got a little cramped during the set.
Have you ever played on any other random forms of transportation? Airplane?
Nothing like this. We were actually thinking about playing on an airplane. When Bronx IV came out we were trying to figure what we could do for contest winners, we were trying to figure out if we could get gear on a plane and play a show on a plane. Logistically, we didn’t get too far. You play festivals, you play clubs, arenas, everything is special and everything is cool but there is just something about these shows that stands out from the rest. Even just 10 years as a band, the first time we did this show, we have a photo of ourselves in front of the Statue of Liberty and it’s one of my favorite photos.
The Bronx formed in 2002 right? How does it feel lasting as a band for over a decade?
It feels good. In the big picture, is that a long time? No. But for us it is, and I’m very proud of it. It hasn’t just been us sitting on our asses and saying we’ve been a band for 10 years–we’ve worked our asses off. We’ve worked really hard to get to where we’re at and we’re stoked. We’re not burnt out or jaded or just fucking saying the same old bullshit over and over again. I’m still inspired, I’m still a part of this band, I still wake up every day and want to make music. I’m very thankful for that and very proud of it.
The view of you guys wearing cowboy hats with naked firemen dancing around you will be burned into my mind forever. Who came up with that idea for the “Youth Wasted” video?
We’ve been fucking around with male strippers for a long time now. It’s something that we’ve all in the band wanted to do, we’ve just never had the right timing or the right song. We were just never able to take it from thought to action until the “Youth Wasted” video. It was one of those things that was just a “dream realized,” as hilarious as that sounds. But yeah, there’s nothing funnier than male strippers. It’s funny, people freaked out over that video, fans were yelling at us, that we’ve sold out or they’re grossed out because we’re doing gay stuff–it was fucking pretty funny. Never in a million years did I think anyone would take that seriously. It’s pretty funny.
Why were they chain-sawing raw meat?
[laughs] We just had a couple of ideas of what they could be doing, and chain-sawing meat was one of them.
Were you guys always full-time musicians?
Well, Joby still works as a graphic designer on the side. I worked for about the first six years of the bands; odd-jobs, security and venue stuff, setting up stages, whatever. Fortunately the band started making a little bit more money and I haven’t had to go back to doing that for a couple of years. We are self-sufficient at this point in our lives. It’s a good thing.
Do you have any other hobbies besides music?
I love the ocean, man. I’m trying to get better at surfing. I started painting–still suck at that, but I’m working on it. Listening to records, going to shows, hanging out with my friends. We get to spend so much time together as a band, it’s awesome. Our lives are so intertwined at this point it’s fucking ridiculous. When you get home it’s always nice to see the friends you don’t get to hang around with every day and catch up and see your family. It’s simple stuff man, that’s all I like doing.
Some crowd participation.
This time around you were trying to trim the fat and just write a solid classic record. Do you think you guys succeeded at bringing it back to square one?
I think so. It’s a very stripped-down record. It’s very streamlined which is what we wanted to do. It’s very accurate of where we are at now, it’s a very honest record, it’s a very true record. That’s what I believe are the types of records you want to make. You want to make a record that’s a glimpse into your world–we weren’t gonna write record one again, we didn’t want to make a hardcore punk record, we just wanted to make a Ramones-style Bronx record. It was cool because it felt a lot like the first record. We have things figured out at this point in our lives as far as how the band works. It was a super-easy record to write, it was just hanging out like when the band started.
Even though the record is straight-forward and fundamental, I still think it is dynamic from song to song. Would you agree?
It’s crazy because, you’re aware of that stuff when you write the record, you want there to be a balance and a dynamic and a flow to it, but you don’t really study your records until other people study them. When we’re making it it feels great and natural, when it comes out people ask, “Well what about this song?” And I realize, fuck, maybe I was thinking that. You go back and over-analyze records to death once they’re out. It never happens when you’re doing it, it just comes out. It’s a flow thing and when you’re done you want to be happy. You can beat it to death and think about the things you should’ve done until the day you die afterwards but you think about it while it’s happening.
Are there any songs you wrote for the record that have really personal meanings to you?
Yeah, most all of them do. “Too Many Devils” is one of them. “Pilot Light,” the slow song on the record too. That’s just me and Joby that goes “I’ve been to parties like this before,” [“Life Less Ordinary”]. That one I’ve had for a really long time. It never really had a place to go. Joby and I tried that song heavy, fast, hard, we tried it sleazed out and it just didn’t feel right. It felt best stripped down and naked, so we decided, fuck it, we’ll just put it on the record like that.
What can we expect to see from The Bronx in the future?
More records, man. New El Bronx record, new Bronx record, both bands are going strong into the next coming years. Hopefully we’ll find a way to merge both bands together. I’d like to do an original soundtrack to a movie or something where both bands have original songs–I think that would be really cool, but we’ll see. That’s just an idea that relies heavily on someone writing an awesome movie that would be perfect for us. But other than that, more shows, more records.
To see more photos from The Bronx’s on the Rocks Off! Cruise, check out Derek’s photography page below.
Written and conducted by: Derek Scancarelli Follow @DerekUTG
Photography by: Derek Scancarelli, D. SKANK PHOTOGRAPHY
Comedian Jim Norton once called him a serial killer on national radio. Enjoy the internet with him on Twitter.
- Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest has reportedly passed away - March 23, 2016
- UTG PREMIERE: Robots and Monsters – “Down To Ash” (Music Video) - June 2, 2015
- REVIEW: Morals – ‘Float’ - June 1, 2015
Posted in 
Tags: 