Being in a pioneering Celtic punk band for 23 years says a lot about the passion and mettle behind founding member and lead vocalist Paul McKenzie of The Real McKenzies.
Not only does he love making the music, he truly thrives on the interaction he’s able to experience with people and audiences around the world.
McKenzie, along with Mark “Bone” Boland (guitar, vocals), Mario Nieva (guitar, vocals), Troy Zak (bass, vocals), Jesse Pinner (drums) and Aspy Luison (bagpipes) will bring their newest material from new album Rats in the Burlap to Wild Bill’s on March 9.
“It’s a beautiful night, pitch-black, a beautiful moon and stars and we’re heading to a gig in Los Angeles … and the promoter said, ‘Can you please refrain from using profanity, because there’s a lot of children around?’ It was the first time we ever played a mosh pit with preschoolers, it was preschoolers and prepubescent kids in the mosh-pit, 200 Celtic youth,” McKenzie said.
“So instead of relying on profanity, I had to rely on wit and that’s where Rats in the Burlap came from – ‘Ah, you wee kids are worming around like rats in the burlap!’ and it kind of stuck in everyone’s head, but it was a really good gig.”
McKenzie, who has called Vancouver home for decades and still carries a Scottish burr in his voice, says he learned the importance of family from his grandfather in Scotland.
I was raised by my grandfather … and I would start to be bad about May, so I would have to go spend summer with my granddad,” McKenzie said. “We got along great, he taught me all about sailing and all these different things that my brothers never had the opportunity to have – and as a matter of fact, music as well.”
Those important traditions of family and music never left him, and have obviously served he and the band well since they have been under the banner of Fat Wreck Chords, the punk music label owned by Mike “Fat Mike” Burkett of NOFX fame, one of the most respected independent labels in the business.
McKenzie’s punk family helped produce the new album with Burkett producing and appearing on it, along with producer Josh Garcia and former McKenzie bassist Joe Reposo, who now plays with SoCal punk band Lagwagon.
“The thing is, I’m not standing there saying, ‘I want complete and total control,’ there’s a lot of people that are like that and I’m not saying that’s good or bad. If that works for them then that’s fine, but we’re not like that, we really are a band – not only a band, but a family,” McKenzie said.
Strong friendship is a lynchpin for punk musicians since they’ve always had to wear the outcast moniker with pride while singing about issues the majority don’t want to hear or discuss.
“It really transcends on stage too in terms of there’s some very serious issues we’re dealing with,” said McKenzie. “For example, the song “Who’d a Thought” is promoting political awareness because we are going through a transition stage right now, not only here in Canada but around the world,” McKenzie said.
“If you hang around long enough, we all have that common thread, and instead of trying to upstage one another, and I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m out to help.”
After 20 years of playing and touring, McKenzie says it comes down to just knowing right from wrong.
“We have a reputation, and that reputation has perpetuated itself, so we don’t even have to do anything anymore, but then when people actually meet us it’s a different story,” McKenzie said.
“If I see someone who’s late (for a show), and we’ve been late before, instead of standing there and wanting to make you look bad, I’m going to help and load the gear and give a helping hand – there’s little things that can make the machine run a lot smoother instead of being the cog that won’t spin.”
The current tour for Rats in the Burlap will take The Real McKenzies on a whirlwind three- month adventure across North America and Europe.
“We have differences in environment and political structures, but underneath, all of the people are pretty much the same,” McKenzie said. “When I’m over in Europe people say, ‘Oh, you’re going to tour the U.S. isn’t it dangerous over there?’ and I say to them, ‘You’re just like them, we have the same interests.’
“In retrospect, with people all over the world who are interested in our kind of music we all have the same interests, and like I say there are social and environmental differences, but that’s about it. The bottom line is everyone’s about the same – we all love to drink beer and we all love music.
“Especially now in the political environment with the new world order, they’re trying to stomp out people like us who have an opinion and to see all of this guise as warmongering ignorance.
“It seems to me there are people way up at the top that don’t give a rat’s ass about us and we’re the majority and we should stay that way.”
Author Chris Walters knows how many great stories can come out of a punk rock career spanning over two decades; which is why he’s releasing a biography this spring on the band entitled Under the Kilt: The McKenzies EXPOSED!
“He approached me and I really appreciate him for doing it because it’s a big job and I give him full kudos for everything. But what I can say is he is out to protect himself from possible litigation because there are so many men that we’ve broken or that I’ve broken over the years that he had to tread very carefully,” said McKenzie said toward past band members mentioned in the book.
“In that respect, he’s not telling everything … so the book is great, but for an in-depth, salacious account, you’re going to have to wait for mine.”
