Interview with The Ducky Boys at Great Scott. Allston, MA
By Jim Slimedog
The Ducky Boys are a legendary Boston punk band that recently became active again with the release of a great new 17- song CD, “Chasing The Ghost,” and a few gigs including a sold out two night engagement at Great Scott in Allston, MA. The following interview took place with Slimedog outside on the patio of the club on the second night. Starting with Mark Lind (songwriter/vocals/bassist) and joining in later Doug Sullivan (guitars/vocals) the band is rounded out with Jay Messina (drums).
Slimedog- So how come now is the time for The Ducky Boys to exist again?
Mark- We did the record in 2006, Doug left the band shortly after. We played with a couple of guys as a four piece and they were great but I got burned out and decided to put it on ice for awhile. So, eventually Doug came around again and said, “If were just gonna do it locally, I’ll do it.” We played a couple of more shows, and the draws- we did really well. But then I just had the feeling we shouldn’t do it again for awhile, we need to let the people miss us, I suppose. And I also didn’t want to keep playing out without new music- I hate that. That’s why I’m always doing new things. Also, Doug and Jay started families. We talked about doing a new record but it was almost like with High School buddies where you say, “We’ll get together, sometime,” and it never happens. But I had some studio time booked and I just threw out the idea, “Hey, you guys want to go into a studio and record a seven-inch?’ And they all said, “Yeah.” We thought it would just be five songs. Earlier that day I confirmed that with them, my girlfriend shows up later, and I’m like, “Oh, I got some exciting news to tell ya, we’re gonna do a new record.” And she’s like, “I got some news, too.”
Slimedog- Very exciting but not as good, not good news. (I had heard the story)
Mark- She tells me, “We’re breaking up!” So, immediately in the next two months before we recorded the amount of songs just expanded, it blew up. The songs ended up being right and we decided they were gonna be released and people have received it really well, so therefore, we play.
Slimedog- What do you think about the term “Street Punk.”
Mark- Street Punk, was a 90’s revision of the term “Oi.” When people backed off of the term Oi, they started calling it Street.
Slimedog- It refers to working class punks, maybe?
Mark- Yeah, it was after the whole Geraldo Rivera show when he got hit with a chair, white power Nazis. So Oi became a bad word. The Bruisers had a t-shirt that said, “Street Rock’NRoll” and we were big fans of The Bruisers so if people lumped us in with them we were psyched. So now we’re happy with the term Rock or Rock’N’Roll.
Slimedog- That was a roundabout way of me asking what your style is?
Mark- There’s so much in the pot of what we do. There is aggression in the music like with The Anti-Heroes; but we like The Replacements and we like Bruce Springsteen, Rancid.
Slimedog- I mention The Replacements in my review of your CD.
Mark- Oh, definitely. I was late to the party in discovering them but they’re a big reason we got back together in 2003.
Slimedog- I saw them at The Rat.
Mark- I hate you.
Slimedog- (Laughter) People are pretty impressed with that. How do you think the new CD differs from the previous one?
Mark- On the previous one I was very content with my life at that point. I was fifty pounds more than I am now, that’s how content I was. So, since that was the case I started looking out and a lot of songs on the record are taking a bigger picture of the world. Now, at this moment, I’m very happy, but in 2011 when this record was written and recorded, I was in a state of complete disarray. And that looking out attitude became more introspective, not looking past my nose.
Slimedog- I’m smiling because I’m thinking about the song on the new record, “I Lied.” That’s kind of a mean song. (In the song it tells a girl, “When I told you I loved you, I lied.”)
Mark- Yeah, intentionally by design. That’s an old song.
Slimedog- That’s not referring to your last breakup?
Mark- No, it was written after a breakup but not this one.
Slimedog- Oh, oh. I hope you told her.
Mark- I actually did.
Slimedog- It’s really not bad. I mean if you think about what the lyrics are saying it’s not as harsh as it is. It’s really being more honest than harsh. But at first glance I could see….
(Fire engines and ambulances go off down the street and the conversation is halted for a moment)
Slimedog- I think when you say, “When I told you I love you, I lied,” it means more that’s how I felt at the time but I didn’t blatantly lie at the time. But looking back at it I wasn’t being honest with myself really.
Mark- Yeah, I lied to myself maybe.
Slimedog- I know the record is on your new label. Any plans you have?
Mark- We have lots of plans for that. (Doug enters the area) Doug, do you wanna jump in here? Want to jump into this interview?
Slimedog- Hi, I’m Slimedog from Channel 7 News, this is gonna be on at 11. (Laughter)
Mark (to Doug)- We got started because I didn’t know where you were. We just started talking about the label.
Slimedog (to Doug)- Just to let you know, he was saying really horrible things about you, like an unnatural attraction to animals and that will not go in the interview.
Doug- Thanks, I appreciate that.
Slimedog- “Cause I don’t believe any of that stuff. (Note: no slander of Doug or farm animals occurred in this interview. This is simply the product of a deranged mind).
Doug- So when we were recording this record and thought about who to push it on, the more we talked about it the more sense it made to put it out on our own. At this point our name has some equity, people know about the band. And the social media, the internet, it’s easy to get thew word out there. And after this record put out music that we believe in. That’s already happening, we’re gonna put out a Brian McPherson record in April.
Mark- We actually have more potential plans than money so we’re asking people to not illegally download our music. We’re being honest about our being in debt. We might do some kick-starter stuff to get some bands we like into the studio.
Doug- Ultimately we’re running the whole thing like a collective. We never made money when we were signed to a label. Sell 10,000 copies of a record and make nothing. Once costs are recouped we want 75 percent to go to the artist and 25 percent to the label so hopefully, we can keep putting out music.
Slimedog- So who drinks the most in the band?
Doug- Rich?
Mark- Not me.
Doug- We don’t drink a lot. Mark, he gave it up awhile ago.
Mark- I had to give it up because I drank too much.
Slimedog- Lots of mentions of whiskey on that new record of yours? (He states acquisitively, as he believes drinking too much is an impossibility).
Mark- Both old songs. And when you sing a song you can reflect back on a time when, in fact, a shot of whiskey did come and take me away and bring relief.
Doug- Or like, maybe last week you wished you had one.
Slimedog- Who’s most likely to become a serial killer?
Both- Jay!
Slimedog- And why Jay?
Doug- He’s a creep at times.
Mark- If I saw him on the news for any variety of crime I would be like, “I know this guy,” and that’s it.
Doug- He told me today- He’s a creep!
Be sure to check out The Ducky Boys band profile and their CD review.
