Last year, Flogging Molly released their fifth album, Speed of Darkness, which reached number nine on the Billboard charts and number three on the independent charts in the US. The band have embraced a darker, less effusive feel for this record, written in the basement of King’s house in Detroit which he shares with his wife and bandmate Bridget Regan. “The whole band were down there,” King reminisces. “We hung out in the basement coming up with stuff. We’ve always worked like that. Every song we’ve ever recorded we’ve always written together. That’s very important. But it was at a bad time in the US, just as a lot of bad stuff was starting to happen. Everywhere you went you’d come across empty houses and people out of work – it was really sad. But even when you get very sad situations they can also be full of hope.”
It was this sense of light and dark, hope and despair, which coloured Speed of Darkness. “We never sit down as a band and say, ‘This is what the songs are going to sound like’, because the songs have a life of their own, you know?” says King. “I think any band worth its salt should feel like it’s growing, like everything else. In between sessions I’d walk the dog around the neighbourhood and it was really sad to see so many houses abandoned – four, five, six on every block. Now when we walk that same stretch they’re pretty much all full, which is great. Things do change. As long as we change with them, I think that’s really important. I haven’t been back to Ireland for six or seven months now so I’m not as in tune with what’s going on there, but Bridget and I are headed back for Christmas so I guess we’ll see.”
Quizzed about the impact of the recent US Presidential elections, King is skeptical of the real impact. “It’s weird. What I don’t understand about the way the American system works is that in Ireland and England the Prime Minister of the day has control of the Parliament. In America you can have a Democrat President and a Republican controlled Congress. There’s no real progress because all they seem to do is fight and bicker and nothing seems to get done.”
Having been duly warned by a diligent music journalist about the state of politics in our home girt by sea, King is heading out with Flogging Molly to play Soundwave Festival in 2013. “We love playing festivals. Ever since we started playing in Europe we’ve enjoyed being a part of them, watching them, knowing what’s going on. It’s also a great way to build a tour. Australia for example is such a big country. It’s a great way of getting out there to many, many people. And the atmosphere at festivals like Soundwave is always great.
“We’ve never got to play with Metallica before,” states King, who has his own metal credentials having spent years playing in a band with Motorhead’s ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke. “But we always get to meet a lot of great people at festival shows. It’s always nice to do a tour like the Warped Tour for example. You get to hang out with a lot of old friends. We’ve been so lucky playing with Green Day and so many great bands over the years.”
And what’s next for Dave King? “Bridge and I are going back to Ireland for Christmas. My mother turned 90 years of age this year so we’ve got to back and take care of family now.” The story goes that King’s mother called him inside once when he was a child to watch David Bowie perform Starman on television, which was to be a major musical influence. “She loves her music, she got me involved in music initially. It’s hard though because she can’t really hear anymore. She has no idea that we’re in a band called Flogging Molly and can’t really make sense of what we’re doing. Our house in Ireland is down in the country though, so Bridge and I will bring her down there to hang out for Christmas and drink whisky.”
BY JOSH FERGEUS
