Feeling their Pain; The Big Interview; Personal experience on the tragedy of drug abuse suffered by family and friends jolts Dropkick Murphys' social conscience and serves as the inspiration for new album.
Byline: With JAMES WARDBetween the bars of celtic punk and Boston blues, the Dropkick Murphys are tackling a crisis that is silently sweeping America and beyond.
In the last three years the band have found themselves attending no less than 30 funerals of family and friends, sometimes performing, other times just paying their respects.
The common thread in this morbid motif is the killer itself - opiates.
Overdoses of the drug are now the leading cause of death in Americans under-50 - a shocking statistic that has devastated communities like the Murphy's hometown of Boston.
On their ninth studio album 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory, the Dropkick Murphy's delve deep into their personal experiences to weave a cautionary tale fueled by the same stomping Celtic punk we've come to know and love.
Bassist Ken Casey told the Beat: "In the last ten years I'd say it's just become a crisis. It starts with the millennials, the younger generations, they get put on these extremely hardcore pain meds when they've hurt themselves doing sports, or in some accident.
"The doctors put them on these extremely hardcore pain meds and there's no discussion ever on the fact that after about two weeks of taking these things constantly, they get addicted. Once they get off of it, there's no discussion of what to prepare for.
"When a kid is going through what he doesn't realise is his withdrawals, he just feels terrible, there's that window of the poison opportunity if you will, where someone says 'Well a bag of dope will do the same thing as that pill. It costs a lot less and it's a lot easier to get.'" Part of the problem is the willingness of doctors to prescribe pain meds with a habitforming effect, hitting patients with severe withdrawals when their treatment is complete.
Ken's own family have been hit by the scourge, which in-part inspired the writing of their latest record.
He said: "Myself, our family was affected by this in the form of my brother-in-law. He died by exactly that.
"Unbeknownst to the family, 12 years prior to being with my sister, he had been addicted to heroin. He had gotten off of it, but never went through a detox programme so he didn't haven't any defence against, I guess, when it came back.
"He went for double-knee surgery, and was on pain meds. He got addicted again to the opioids and ended up on heroin.
"We figured out that he had fallen back, it had only been about a month since he had been on it, but sure enough what killed him was the fact that it had been cut with this fentanyl.
"As I was saying before 53,000 Americans died from opioid abuse, and that's heroin and oxycontin and all the other shit that's out there."
Heroin cut with Fentanyl is a growing problem worldwide - something Gardai have warned about on these shores - and makes the drug almost 1,000 times deadlier.
After attending almost 30 wakes and funerals over three years, Ken knew sitting back and doing nothing wasn't going to be an option for the Dropkick Murphys.
He said: "Things are slowly starting to change in this country. But the bottom line is you have this huge addiction problem and the opioids, once the doctors aren't writing prescriptions for you anymore, they only course for somebody who has been addicted to this drug is to go on the street.
"That's like a fast track to the grave, especially if you don't know what you're doing. In the sense that you don't know how much it's going to take to kill you. Once it's cut with fentanyl, that's just a couple of grains of salt worth and you're dead."
He adds: "It certainly isn't the inspiration we're looking for in terms of productivity. But I think it's something that needs to be addressed.
'I'm a three and I "I think more artists and bands are starting to address it in their music and at their shows. People just need aware, need to have conversations.
"I'm a father of three worry safety. They're all ree children and I orry for their fety.
That's not to say it's all doom and gloom on 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory. True to form, it's a fistpumping, belter of a record.
Over 20 years into their career, the whiskey-whiskeyslugging slugging brought sing alongs that brought hem worldwide fame on Shipping Up To Boston show no signs of slowing down.
Ken said: "I think every artist always feels like their most recenrecord is their best. I think it's a cliche, but I feel like looking back on the last three records that we've done with Ted Hutt (producer/Flogging Molly), this is my favourite one.
We've "I feel like it's a little bit of a return from the older stuff. We'vbeen a band for 21 years, this is our ninth studio album, I think it's just cool that this wasn't something that we had to really force out.
"There was so much inspiration and we thought of so much to say. I feel like we're still relevant."
Still relevant and still rocking, the Dropkick Murphy's play their biggest Irish show to date at the Iveagh Gardens this Sunday.
In true punk style, the Murphy's are not keen to suck up to their Irish roots - but they are looking forward to a hell of a show in Dublin.
Ken said: "I remember the first time we played Dublin in '99, I remember the first few interviews I did, the interviewers were a little apprehensive. They didn't really know what to make American punk band.
"We're an American punk band man, we're all Yanks. We're not trying to claim some false heritage. A lot of the members have Irish heritage, but we grew up in America, it would be disingenuous for us to pretend to be something we're not.
"Playing Ireland is always awesome, because the fans are incredible. I always say 300 Irish fans are worth 3,000 anywhere else in terms of excitement levels.
"But we're an American band.
It's always great to play Ireland, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a homecoming."
'I'm a father of three children and I worry for their safety.' ther ldren rry ety.' y
CAPTION(S):
LOCAL GUYS: Dropkick Murphys take part in Boston's St Patrick's Day celebrations
A TIGHT UNIT: Dropkick Murphys
POINT TO MAKE: The band's lead singer Al Barr performing in France on July 8, and (below) Ken Casey in full voice
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
| Geographic Code: | 1U1MA |
| Date: | Jul 14, 2017 |
| Words: | 1096 |
| Previous Article: | On The Pulse. |
| Next Article: | Tourist killed by jet engine on the beach; Blast blows thrill-seeker off fence at airport. |
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