Good Riddance – Capricorn One – Full Album Stream / Interview

admin September 23, 2010 2

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By Johnathan Marshall

The stage at Gilman has an interesting way about it. If you’ve never been: The stage is relatively low to the ground, so it really does add to the personal experience of watching a band perform. It’s an interesting touch to an already historical room, although if it’s a full house at 924 Gilman St and you’re right up front it can get a little weird. Standing up against the stage it would hit me just above my knees, with the crowd at my back heaving in perfectly timed waves of force I’d find myself half bending over in this awkward, defensive “I don’t want my knee caps to snap off” kind of stance. Yet, every single time Good Riddance came into town you would find me front and fucking center, no excuses. I know I wasn’t alone either, even though it’s been a little over 3 years since Good Riddance played their final show the ripples from the stones they cast can still be seen flowing through bands around the world. Recently FAT released a collection of B-Sides from the band called: Capricorn One, some songs that never made it out to the light of day, and some that had been featured on compilations or 7″ releases. It was a refreshing look back at a band that really had made an interesting history for themselves, the insert has lyrics for each track and explanations for the songs written by Russ himself. Maybe it was just all the reading re-activating my Good Riddance interest, or the fact that a collection of “B-Sides” sounded better to me than most of what bands are calling an accomplished, finished product these days. Whatever the reason may be, we decided here at AMP that this collection was something everyone would be better off paying attention to. I had the opportunity to recently speak with Russ and Luke about the band, the Capricorn One release, and what they’re up to now.

Note:In the interview, when Russ and Luke mention songs included on the release, we’ve made the song titles bold and colored them orange for quick reference in our player.

So, on the Capricorn One album not only did it include lyrics to the tracks, but also liner notes that you’d written. How was it re-living some of these tracks?
Russ: It was definitely interesting to put myself back into the head space I was in when these songs came about. It truly seems like another life. This collection of songs is largely incongruent as many of them were written and recorded years apart from each other as opposed to our albums which were released sequentially. My goal was to give this collection some context and a sense of continuity.

I know sometimes tastes change at different spots at life. When you listened to this release did you kind of re-evaluate any of the tracks? Were there any that maybe stood out to you more than they had in the past?
Luke: The song that seems the most out of place is “What We Have”. I think this song represents GR making an attempt to appeal to East Coast hardcore kids. Listening to it and reflecting…the song seems out of context and forced…though I suppose at the time it was written we were playing a lot of shows with bands like Ensign and Sick of it All…so I’m sure they influenced the songwriting. I know it was a song that just felt uncomfortable to play.
Russ: I still enjoy “Lame Duck Arsenal” today and I think it’s an accurate representation of what we were about musically. I was surprised how much I still think it rocks. I would agree with Luke that “What We Have” probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. It doesn’t really sound like us although we did make a habit of pushing the boundaries of our sound throughout the band’s history.

Often times musicians have those songs… The songs everyone else was completely stoked on but you. For whatever reason some part of it just rubs you wrong, and that’s just how itgoes. When you release a collection of B-Sides I’m sure the probability of that happening gets a bit higher. Do any of the tracks on the Capricorn One release fall into this category?
Luke: We didn’t play any of the songs on Capricorn One enough to really leave me feeling like any of them were songs that people were “completely stoked on”. The few songs from Capricorn One that did make it onto our set list were relatively short lived and unnoticed by most at the time because they were only released on 7-inchs.
Russ: I would agree with Luke that “What We Have” probably should have died on the practice room floor. I’m not sure why we recorded “Flawed,” can’t remember exactly what went down but usually it would come down to a vote on this stuff so I’ll assume that the majority of the band wanted to record it. “What We Have” I’m not proud to say I’m pretty sure I shoved down their throats.

I think one of the appeals of Good Riddance was the fact that you could confront such a wide array of emotions when jumping into an album. In the previously mentioned liner notes I’d noticed as I read them that whenever any of the love songs come up, you approach the explanation in way that almost apologizes for the songs. Although I think that some of them were often times among the really solid showings. Is there any specific reason you hold this outlook toward those songs?
Russ: I always got the feeling that the “love” songs I wrote were tolerated by the other guys but never really embraced. They are personal to me and I get it that the others weren’t invested in the lyrics the way I was and that some might have seen it as a soft departure from the more hard-hitting material we were doing at the time. Also, we caught a little bit of heat from our more hard-edged fans about going that route (relationship songs).

[To Luke] What were your thoughts on the songs you’d recorded like “Always” and, “Remember When,” When you listen to them now, has your outlook changed?
Luke: I have always had mixed feelings. Individually I do like most of the songs we recorded…but as a whole I always struggled with the fact that our songs were too stylistically broad. I did tend to resist songs that had more of a pop edge…as I have always tended to prefer a more aggressive/dark edge to my punk/metal. I also feel Russ’s lyrical strength lies in his ability to convincingly express political dissent…but we all experience love and heartbreak in life…so the lyrics in songs like “Always” and “Remember When” have their place.

[To Russ] Any fan that’s gone through a booklet from a Good Riddance album should know pretty well you’ve written a solid amount of Good Riddance songs not only lyrically but musically. On some albums it seemed to come up more than on others. What was the writing process usually like for GR? Can you remember any songs that almost sent you to the Looney bin?
Russ: I would write most of the songs at home with my Les Paul, come up with lyrics etc. Then we would set up dates dedicated to rehearsals where I would show the guys my songs (for “My Republic” I actually recorded more or less complete demos using Garageband and emailed them to Luke & Chuck) and, if they liked them, I would teach them the songs and then we would start hashing it out. Often they would come up with ideas or changes and sometimes I was amenable to them and other times I was more insistent that nothing be changed. This process was difficult when Dave Wagenschutz was drumming for us because I don’t think he had ever played with anyone who had designs on telling him what to play. We butted heads and it wasn’t always pretty but we eventually got it done and Dave and I are still friends so all’s well that ends well I suppose. Luke would consistently come in with songs and many of those have ended up being among our most popular. For these I would ask him if he had any vocal ideas and then I would start trying to come up with lyrics and melody. There were times when this was pretty seamless (“Heresy, Hypocrisy & Revenge,””Fertile Fields”) and times when I was truly stuck (“Flawed,””All Mine”).

You must have been asked this question a few times, so I appreciate your patience in advance, but I’m sure there’s a few readers who are curious. What exactly happened that brought about the end of GoodRiddance? Do you think there would ever be a possibility of the band doing anything in the future?
Luke: Several things brought GR to an end. Most significantly time together, circumstance and personality differences had created a lack of respect, collaboration and communication between the band members…gradually taking the fun out of being in the band. I believe that most of us felt this and new that the resulting music was starting to reflect this…so we cut the head off the dragon before it got the best of us. Better to take the “quit while your ahead” approach. Also…some of us developed new interests, career paths, musical relationships that shifted us away from GR being our primary focus in life. I personally wanted to explore different interests and have started a family…not to mention touring was taking a toll on me physically. (see 3 bulging discs). In addition…the music industry went through a major shift…kind of leaving our band out in the cold in favor of glam/emo punk…aka…bands who spent more time on hair, makeup and costumes than writing good music. I would be into playing shows in the future in a limited capacity…as I miss rocking out…but seems like there may be too much baggage for that to realistically happen.
Russ: I think that our band was incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunities we had. I think we had grown apart enough as people (goals, values, politics etc) after over a decade of constant work that it was becoming harder for us to agree on anything. For me, the idea that we were united at some level about the songs we were performing and the often political ideals in the lyrics was very important. Once we all began to diverge in our various directions I started feeling like it was time to call it a day. Also, as Luke mentioned, music had begun to change and shift as it is wont to do and our specific brand of material was no longer as cool or marketable as it had once been. We weren’t able to tour as much as before to keep up our fan base and, when “My Republic” more or less flopped I think that was the final sign. We decided to walk away on our terms and I’m stoked that we got to play those final shows for our fans. I have absolutely no desire to play as Good Riddance again. It’s done. I have a personal hang up with bands who break up and then get back together so I guess it’s just my own trip. I wouldn’t see the point in it.

How do you feel about the trends in what’s going on with music today?
Russ: I think it’s cool that available technology has given bands and artists the ability to reach more listeners. I think the downside of this is that there are entirely too many bands. I think that stores like Hot Topic and traveling circuses like the Warped Tour are conspiring to change the face of “alternative” music. Some people enjoy the new look-me not so much.
Luke: The digital systems that have been developed to share and distribute music are undoubtedly amazing and allow artists creative new ways to express themselves beyond just their recorded music. I do also find it encouraging that musicians can get their music out there without having to be affiliated with a record label. The downside is that there is now so much shitty music out there that it is a bit of a turn off. I guess the value in a label is that they can ideally weed out the shitty bands…but most labels these days seem to put out punk bands that are the most marketable because of a look…rather than their music…so up and coming punk bands see this and put more effort into developing an image than punk bands of past generations did. It is very similar to what happened to heavy metal in the mid 80’s with the introduction of glam metal. Currently I still find myself simply listening to the punk and metal records that I grew up with. Every now and then I discover some new, innovative and meaningful music that I like…but it typically isn’t what is considered punk. I have also been discovering a lot of old music that I never paid attention to when I was younger.

The industry as a whole seems to have taken a pretty big hit although it seems some have found interesting ways to pump exciting life back into the process. What are some things going on that have got your attention lately?
Russ: Several of my peers have begun solo careers which I think is cool and interesting. I am preparing to throw my hat into the ring as well.
Luke: Musicians have to do so much more self promotion these days. I’ve noticed that bands/artists seem to do a lot of short video promos showing more candid sides of what they do and who they are…I like this.

What are you guys up to now musically? How can we take a listen to any projects you may be working on recently, or have worked on?
Russ: I am still doing Only Crime and we have released two albums on FAT. I am currently working on a solo album and hope to start playing out in the near future.
Luke: I continue to casually write/record songs under the moniker “Outlie”. I have 2 split 7-inches coming out this year. One is an acoustic split with British singer/songwriter Mike Scott which will be released in Europe on Fond of Life Records at the end of the year. The second is a split with a band from the San Diego area named Skipjack which is being put out by the lead singer of the band. Chuck (GR bass player) and I have been working on a few tunes together also and hope to eventually pull a full band together.

Click here to check out Russ Rankin’s Blog / Website
Click here to read Russ’s most recent Column with AMP Magazine
Click here to check out OUTLIE on myspace
Click here to check out ONLY CRIME on myspace