Atlantic City Weekly

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Flogging Molly returns to AC Feb. 19.

Often some debate time is needed to determine whether a band’s sound appeals to your personal musical taste, but the Irish-instrument influence that is part of Flogging Molly tends to consume you immediately, supercharging the senses the first time you hear it.

Flogging Molly is loud, rambunctious and energetic, but its music is infectious even if your preference is more subdued. The band’s relentless touring schedule again stops at Showboat’s House of Blues on Saturday night, Feb. 17, as part of the seventh annual Green 17 Tour — born out of a countdown to St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) weekend.

Fronted and founded in 1997 by the Irish-born singer/songwriter Dave King, the Los Angeles-based band also includes King’s wife, violinist Bridget Regan, guitarist Dennis Casey, bassist Nathen Maxwell, mandolin/banjo player Bob Schmidt, accordion/concertina player Matt Hensley and percussionist George Schwindt. Its name was spun from the L.A. bar called Molly Malone’s, where the groundwork was laid for its future success.

Flogging Molly has released three live and four studio recordings, most recently Float in 2008 that was recorded in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is putting the finishing touches on an eighth CD that will likely be released in late spring. AC Weekly spoke with Casey just prior to the start of the Green 17 tour. 

Can you tell me a little about the new album coming out, and where you recorded it?

I’ll be coming out in May and we’ll be doing a pre-sale at the show [each tour stop], I believe, that will allow people to buy it and get it electronically the day that it comes out. We finished recording at the end of December, and our producer [the Grammy-award winning Ryan Hewitt] will soon be mixing it.

One of the things that has worked out in an odd way for our band is that nobody lives in the same city any more. We had been making records wherever Dave lived, in some makeshift studio. He and Brigit had been living in Ireland, so we wrote, rehearsed and recorded [Float] over there. Now they’re living in Detroit, so we decided to write, rehearse and record there, but there was a problem with the studio so we picked a place called Echo Mountain [see echomountain.net] in Asheville, North Carolina instead. Ryan had recorded there previously and said it was a good facility, and he was correct. We really had a good experience there. It’s actually an old church converted into a recording studio.

The new song “Don’t Shut ’Em Down” is on your Web site [floggingmolly.com], and there’s also a video of “Punch Drunk Grinning Soul” [from Float] on there that sends a message about post-traumatic stress disorder — what’s the significance of this?

The times we’re living in kind of inspired Dave [King] to write that song. There was a suicide in the village where Dave lived in Ireland, and that sort of kicked it all off and moved him to write the song.

So then we decided to make a video, and we thought that was ideal since Brigit’s dad [Mike Regan] is a Vietnam veteran and it’s an issue that definitely needed addressing. We wanted to say something about it and tell our fans who are soldiers, or any soldiers, that there’s help out there and please seek it out if you need it.

We definitely have a big military fan base. We play all over the world and there are military bases all over the world. There are many, many soldiers who are inspired by our music, so we thought — with the ware in Afghanistan reaching the 10-year mark and Iraq at eight years — that would be a good thing to do. There’s definitely a lot of soldiers who have seen a lot and been through a lot, and if they need help they should seek it out. As a society, I think they deserve it.

(Click here to download "Don't Shut 'Em Down" mp3 and video)

Have you personally been with Flogging Molly since its earliest origins back in 1997?

No, I’m actually the most recent member, having joined in ’99. The band’s lineup hasn’t changed since then [12 years]. When I joined the band was still just playing Molly Malone’s — we didn’t have any records out or anything of that sort. So after I joined — and I’m not trying to connect the two things there, like ‘because I joined, the band started touring and doing well.’ [laughs]. It’s been a slow process. We were still playing Molly Malone’s and doing short runs up and down the West Coast. Then things started moving along. It’s made quite an evolution, from performing mainly in Molly Malone’s and clubs in Los Angeles, to performing all over the world. [There is a month-long break after the Green 17 tour ends in mid-March, then Flogging Molly goes on the road for two more months, ending in Prague, Czech Republic].

When Flogging Molly was in A.C. in 2009 I spoke with Matt [Hensley], and he said that while he enjoys touring, the toughest part is missing a lot of his son’s growing up. What is it that you miss most?

The touring schedule has become really rigorous. I think our record is having played on three continents in a day and a half, or something insane like that. But because we’re a touring band, and especially after putting a record out, you’ve got to get out and do it.

We’re mostly known for our live shows. With the state of the music industry, I think the best way to get the word out about your new music is to go out there and play it. We’ve always done that, so I think the more fans you accumulate all over the world, the more and more you have to travel and tour. And I’m not complaining — it is actually a lot of fun.

I have three kids, so does Nathan [Maxwell], and Bob [Schmidt], so if I had to say what the hardest part about it is, that’s it — missing my wife and kids saying goodbye to them, and missing first words, first steps, sentimental things like that. But it’s part of what we do.

When you tour, do you still see fans from when you first started?