For 20 years, New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls have been a staple on the punk-rock circuit. In that time, the guys have played seven Warped Tours and logged 300,000 miles on the van they’ve dubbed the White Castle. Now, to celebrate their anniversary, they’re issuing a new single every month and have launched a cross-country tour that brings them to the Grog Shop for a two-night stand. Bassist Bryan Kienlen recently talked about the band’s longevity.
You played in a cover band that dates back to 1986. What kind of
songs did you play with that band?
Pete [Steinkopf] and I have been playing together since 10th grade.
We played covers with a different buddy of ours. We were mostly playing
parties in town. We went as far as Scranton, Pennsylvania. We played a
couple of college parties and a bar. We were 16 or 17, so we were
excited about college girls. We covered the Ramones, the Clash and U2.
We did Billy Idol, which is funny because we still play “White Wedding”
sometimes. We played punk but not real hardcore shit.
The Bouncing Souls debuted in 1989 at a Knights of Columbus Hall.
What do you remember about the show?
That was classic, just getting the money together to rent out a hall
for the night. Cops shut it down one or two songs into the set. We
rented the place for the night, so we spent the night there. We ended
up breaking a table. We had built this thing where we lined up a couple
of tables and put these sleeping bags on them. We’d run at it and slide
down across the table. We broke a table in half, and I put it in my
truck and got rid of the evidence.
You didn’t start touring full-time until 1995. What kind of day
jobs did you have before that?
Um, everything. I was a janitor for a while right out of high
school. Everything was communal. The band would pool our money to do
things. Everyone had to chip in a couple of hundred bucks from their
paycheck. We were all working this warehouse job and got a good chunk
of money at a time. You’d bust your ass doing it, and we had to put it
into the band for mailing cards and filled them out and stamped them
and sent them out. We had a whole little factory at the house.
You’ve been on the Warped Tour seven times. How many pairs of
Vans did you get out of the deal?
More than I could count, I guess. The thing is, we wear them. We
wear them into the ground. If they want to put Vans on our feet, we
sure as hell wear them. We never got free Adidas and we fucking
mentioned them in a goddamned song. It’s a stupid fucking song, “Ole,”
which we’ll never play live. The chorus is awesome, but the verses are
a little cheesy. We mention Adidas Samba, which is a great shoe. Same
with Doc Martens. We got our name after them. We always joked that they
needed to give us free stuff or sue us. Of course, none of the above
happened.
Is it true your van the White Castle was an honorary fifth
member?
For sure. It’s a living breathing thing. We just hit 300,000 miles
on her. We just replaced her engine. You feel like you’ve been through
a lot together. It’s like you’re one of the family. I’ve had that
feeling about motorcycles and my bass guitar.
You’re issuing one new song every month this year. What has the
fan response been like?
It’s been a lot of fun. It’s cool — the anticipation and
people have no idea what the next song will be like. It’s been a lot of
fun, and the response has been so positive. It’s too new of a thing to
throw at the world at large. It’s just for the hardcore fans. In a way,
it’s a sneak preview of a record as we write it. Next year, we’ll have
a full CD out for normal people to get.
The latest single “Dubs Says True” has a great celebratory
feel.
That’s our whole point. We sometimes forget that. Everyone does. But
if we can’t smell the flowers, we need to quit.
This article appears in May 6-12, 2009.
