“He really did a good job of honing the best parts about each of us and just putting it together as one thing,” says The Interrupters guitarist Kevin Bivona. The lineup is completed by Kevin’s twin brothers Justin and Jesse (on bass and drums respectively) and front woman Aimee Allen. Bivona’s musical interaction with Armstrong dates back to 2005 when he was hired as a touring keyboardist for the Rancid man’s rap-rock outfit the Transplants. More recently, he and the twins contributed to Armstrong’s Tim Timebomb and Friends project.
“The guy makes so much music,” Bivona explains, “so any project he had after the Transplants I’d be like ‘hey, if you need me, call me’ and we ended up working really well together.” In addition to his production and co-writing input, Armstrong sings the opening verse on the album’s lead single Family. By now, The Interrupters consider him a close friend, but their admiration hasn’t subsided.
“There’s always an awe,” says Allen. “Sometimes I’m like ‘man he’s just my buddy,’” adds Bivona, “and then when I really think about it I’m like ‘Holy shit, this is Tim Armstrong.’ That never goes away. I have so much respect for the guy.”
So what is it that attracted the Californian punk-rock stalwart to The Interrupters? The band’s debut recordfaithfully recaptures elements of UK two-tone and the US punk resurgence of the ‘90s. It’s a refreshingly no-nonsense outing: rowdy and tough, but not in your face. There’s also a socially aware lyrical bent, which is of particular importance for the band.
“We all write the lyrics together,” Allen explains. “We did definitely really believe in talking about family and friends and loyalty. We all have different ideas politically, but we all obviously hate oppression and tyranny and believe in unifying and coming together.”
Something shared by those two aforementioned genre movements – whose influence is manifest on The Interrupters – is that they were driven by underground fearlessness, yet weren’t afraid to seek out a big audience. Both two-tone and ‘90s punk made a widespread impact courtesy of quality, accessible songwriting.
Similarly, The Interrupters don’t seem destined to dwell in obscurity for too long. “We set out for writing good songs,” Allen says. “We want people to be able to sing along. If you can’t sing along then I personally feel like we failed. The sort of music I like to listen to, it’s just catchy. That’s what we strive for.”
Prior to The Interrupters, Allen released a string of solo records. The most recent, 2009’s A Little Happiness, inhabited the realm of acoustic pop rock. However, she says that fronting a rowdy punk band is where she feels most comfortable. “I’ve always been boisterous and loud. I’ve always been a fan of two tone and punk. I’ve been in punk bands. So The Interrupters is like kind of coming back home for me.
“Kevin and I were working on my solo record and it was like, ‘If we brought the twins into this and we started working on these songs together as a band that would be a dream come true.’ And then it happened and it’s absolutely everything I’ve ever wanted.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
