Interview: Josh Caterer (Smoking Popes)

Unequivocally awesome rockers the Smoking Popes will be at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip this Friday, July 22 opening for Alkaline Trio.

Last week, I talked with Smoking Popes frontman Josh Caterer about touring with the Trio, past shows with Goo Goo Dolls, the concept of their new album, and more.

Emily: I just saw your cover of Ask on the AV Club. That was really cool.

Josh: Yeah, I’m really happy with how that turned out.

How did that come about?

We were invited to do it. Josh Modell is the guy who asked us and he is somebody that we’ve known for a while and he’s a fan. We were happy to do it. I had actually gotten on stage with the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir in the past and done a cover of that song so when they asked me to do this for AV Club they actually suggested that song. The song had to be summer themed, it had to have some reference or connection to summer. They said “why don’t you do that Smiths song?” “It says ‘warm summer days indoors,’ aren’t you a Smith’s fan?” So I was like “yeah” and I immediately thought of Scotland Yard Gospel Choir so I called up Elia and asked him if he could put something together, a little string section. And we asked our friend Jenny Choi to join us. It turned out really nice I thought. I’m hoping that if Morrissey sees it, he’ll be pleased.

You guys toured with him back in the day right?

Yes. It was great. It was interesting. Even though I’ve had several years to get used to this, I still kind of can’t believe that he actually likes my band.

He’s somebody you grew up as a fan of right?

Oh yeah, it’s sort of surreal. When I was a teenager I would spend hours, literally hours, just listening to The Smiths in my room, Louder Than Bombs over and over looking up at this Smiths poster on the wall. So he was just sort of an icon, like a larger than life type of personality. And then when we eventually heard that he liked our band, I was like “nah.” He lives on a different planet. They don’t have The Smoking Popes on the planet that he lives on. And then to get invited to tour with him was just a mind blowing thing. It was pretty cool. I still have people coming up to me in all the cities where we played with Morrissey saying that that’s when they first discovered the Smoking Popes so it was incredibly helpful for us to go on tour with him.

How has touring for This Is Only a Test been? How has the reception been for those new songs live?

It’s been very good. We’re trying not to overwhelm people with new material. We’ll just play a few of the new songs and sprinkle them throughout the set. The new songs have been very well received. People seem genuinely excited about it. We’re excited about it. It was a lot of fun making this record and we’re pumped.

How did you come up with the overall concept for the new record?

Well, it occurred to me that I had never written from an explicitly teenage point of view even when I was a teenager because I was always listening to stuff like Frank Sinatra and Mel Tormé and trying to incorporate that kind of classic sophistication into my lyrics and trying to pretend like I was more sophisticated than I actually was. So I never really just wrote about being a teenager and I thought it would be funny now if I started to do that when I was in my 30s.

It occurred to me just as a novelty idea and I was about to dismiss the whole concept but then all these individual song ideas starting popping up. And I was like “oh that might actually work.” Once I kind of embraced that, this wave of inspiration hit me and I had all these song concepts going before I even had time to write all of them. I wrote a song a day for the first five days after I got the idea, which I never do. It usually takes me weeks to complete a song because I’ll keep rewriting the lyrics all the time. The music comes quickly but I sort of obsess over the lyrics. But I made this commitment with this record just to finish a song a day. Whatever I have at the end of the day, that’s it, because the next day I’m starting fresh with a new song. And I wanted there to be that sense of immediacy with the songs to give them some energy. And I think it worked. I’m happy with it.

So it wasn’t hard to get yourself back in that mindset of what it was like being in high school?

No it was great. I loved writing from that point of view. It sort of energized the whole thing. Also, I wasn’t painting myself into a corner with needing everything to be strictly autobiographical. I decided to create a character who was sort of a composite teenager who was similar to the kid that I was when I was in high school but was a little more, I don’t know. Not limited to my own experience.

Kind of an idealized version?

Yeah. So he could do some stuff that I never did and get away with some things. More of a muse than a strict autobiography.

How has it been working with Neil Hennessey? Were you a fan of his from his work in the Lawrence Arms and all the other bands he’s been a part of?

Yeah we’ve been friends with him for years and our bands have played together. It was a real natural fit for him to join the band, so it’s been great. I think he’s a perfect drummer for us. We found our drummer.

How has the tour with Alkaline Trio been going?

It’s been going incredible. The shows have been super fun so far. It seems to be a really good combination because our styles are pretty similar and their audience is very receptive to us. I think a lot of them have at least heard of us before because there is kind of a connection between our two bands. They seem to be open to us when we walk out on stage. And then there is just a lot of love between the two bands because we’ve known each other for so long. I mean, we played together back when we were starting out and nobody knew who the Alkaline Trio was. And so we’ve kept in contact all these years and there is just a really good vibe on this tour.

You guys are coming out to Vegas on Friday. Have you played in Vegas before?

Yeah the Popes have played in Vegas a few times. We played in Vegas, I can’t remember the year but we were on tour with The Goo Goo Dolls.

How was that?

It was an interesting tour.

Was it Goo Goo Dolls after they got big or when they were still doing Replacements style stuff?

This was right in that transitional period in between. While we were on tour with them, they took a day off to make the video for Name which was the song that really broke them as far as launching the second phase of their career where they were more of an acoustic adult contemporary type rock band. But when we were on tour with them, that first phase of their career was sort of winding down and the shows were not well-attended. The guys in the band didn’t seem to be getting along. We thought that they were going to break up. We weren’t even sure if they were going to finish the tour. But then about a month after that tour ended, we started hearing Name on the radio constantly and their whole career took off after that. We were like “good for you guys, I wish we could have waited to tour with you for about a month, we could have ridden that wave with you a little bit.” Anyway, we were glad to see new life breathed into their career.

But, when we were touring with them, the bill was You Am I, which is that Australian band. They were opening and then we were in the middle and the Goo Goo Dolls were headlining. It was fun to meet You Am I and to see them play every night. We were continually inspired by their performances. They’re an incredible live band. If you ever get the chance to see them, I highly recommend it.

So yeah, we played Vegas with them. The only thing I remember about the show really was that it was incredibly hot. It hurt to go outside so we were just cowering in our little air conditioned van most of the time until right when it was time for us to play.

What do you like to do in Vegas? Did you do any of the fun touristy things when you were out here last? Anything you’re looking forward to doing this time?

We try to resist the temptation to gamble away all of our tour earnings.

Yeah, I’ve heard of a few bands doing that. I never hear it going the other way. I never hear bands say they doubled their tour earnings here.

No, that doesn’t seem to happen does it? I don’t think we’re going to try to be the first band to make that come true. We’ll probably cower in the van with the air conditioning on, that’s what we’ll do for fun when we’re in Vegas.

Any albums or bands that you’re really into right now?

Personally, I can’t stop listening to The Secret Sisters album.

I haven’t heard that one yet, what do they sound like?

They are kind of a traditional country duo produced by T-Bone Burnett and they do mostly covers of like old George Jones songs and old Buck Owens songs and stuff like that but it’s really well made and they’re great singers. I love that kind of music. I’ve been listening to it nonstop.

Anything else you’d like to add?

We’re looking forward to being there in Vegas and rocking out with the Trio. It’s going to be a good time.

Thanks Josh! You can pick up the Smoking Popes’ latest album, This is Only a Test, right now on Asian Man Records, and catch the band live on Friday, July 22 at the Hard Rock Café with Alkaline Trio, Dead Country, and Dave Hause!

Interview by Emily Matview
Transcribed by Ashleigh Thompson