Released in late-2014, Hang is Lagwagon’s eighth studio album and the first in nine years. “We’re very proud of the record. I feel in many ways that it’s the best work we’ve ever done,” Cape says. “I suppose it’s kind of political, which is not something we’ve done in the past, but I decided it was time to write a record like that.”
It was Cape’s friends who initially encouraged him to include political themes in his songs. “We’d be out at the pub having drinks and I would go on some rant about something, and then for years they’d say, ‘You should write about that,’ and I’d say, ‘Oh no, I don’t write about that kind of thing. Fuck that concept. I write about death and disloyalty, and all these really depressing things’,” he laughs. “I never wrote political, angry songs like other punk bands have done. So the idea was just to write a conclusive piece about my views, like things I’ve observed about the world around me that my daughter has to grow up in, and my admission of how angry it makes me.
“Most importantly though, it just felt so good to make a record. We hadn’t made a record in a long, long time – and there was something about the collaborative way this record was made that was different to other ones we’ve recorded in the past.”
Hang is the first Lagwagon release to feature bass player Joe Raposo, who joined in 2010, and it’s the most collaborative album the band’s ever made. “I suddenly realised that I have this amazingly seasoned band behind me that really wanted to make a record, and it would be criminal after all these years not to involve them,” Cape says. “I know now that it’s much better when you’re able to work with other people and get their points of view. So we spent about six months developing all that material, and a lot of it was little pieces and parts of songs that were written by other guys in the band. And it worked perfectly.”
The record was preceded by a particularly dark period in Cape’s life, which began with the breakdown of a relationship with a lifelong friend, and the tragic death of his brother-in-punk, No Use For A Name’s Tony Sly. The track One More Song was inspired Sly’s death.
“It’s the eight ball of the record – it’s the odd man out,” Cape says. “It’s the only song that’s a tribute and the only song that comes from that grieving process. Tony was just such an important person to me and to my band. We all knew him well and it just made sense to do it with Lagwagon. It’s part of life, you know? It can fit into any theme – loss and mourning is part of life.
While Cape valued the increased collaboration, he’s still working on his solo project, and released his third LP, Stitch Puppy, in September. The album title and cover art were inspired by a handmade doll his daughter gave him. “My wife’s been making dolls for years and my daughter’s quite an artist too,” he says. “They made that doll for me when I was going through that pretty hard time as a sort of mourning doll. At some point I thought it was a good muse and I like the idea of it being on the album cover, especially because my daughter made it. Then later I ended up sort of embodying the doll – I shaved my head and painted myself green because the doll is bald and green. Thankfully now my hair’s starting to grow back.”
BY NATALIE ROGERS
