Last month, Dropkick Murphys released their eighth studio album, entitled Signed and Sealed in Blood. Compared to their previous full-length, which was somewhat of a concept album, this record is rowdy, upbeat and packed with sing-along anthems. It also does a fine job of retaining the band’s signature sound, while simultaneously exploring new themes. Producer Ted Hutt skillfully captured Dropkick’s energy and spirit, resulting in a cohesive work that’s sure to please fans both new and old. We recently spoke with multi-instrumentalist Jeff DaRosa and discussed the making of the new album, the record’s unique packaging concept involving fan tattoos, their upcoming U.S. tour and more.

Bill – Signed and Sealed in Blood marks the second time that you guys have worked with producer Ted Hutt. What do you like best about working with Ted?

Jeff – At this point he’s like the eighth Beatle or whatever. He really is good at working with all of us. I mean, seven different guys and seven different ideas, he’s almost like a manager. He manages all of our creative ideas, as well as our personalities, so well. I can’t imagine working with anybody else at this point. He gets everybody and really understands how we work.

Bill – In terms of how the record sounds, what aspects are you most pleased with?

Jeff – I just think it sounds way better than the last one for some reason. Maybe it’s bringing in a new engineer that tried some new tricks, I don’t know. James R. Brown engineered and he did some work with Foo Fighters’ last album, stuff like that. I think he did a great job and that was definitely a cool thing.

Bill – Your last record, Going Out in Style, was a concept album. How would you say that the new record compares to it?

Jeff – I wouldn’t really compare the new record to it. I would say that Going Out in Style kind of had more peaks and valleys, and a little bit more of some experimental ideas for The Dropkick Murphys. With this one, we just kind of went into it with the whole notion of wanting to write songs that we could play live. We wanted to do stuff that was fun and that we could enjoy playing at shows. We wanted to make songs that people could easily sing along to by the second chorus.

Bill – Tell me about the video that you guys made for the song “Rose Tattoo.”

Jeff – Like a month or so before we shot the video we had put the album artwork out and then we asked anybody that was crazy enough to get a tattoo of an album’s cover that they hadn’t heard yet. We promised that we’d put their picture in the artwork of the album and in the video, so it’s kind of a picture video of sorts. It’s just our way of crediting all of our loyal fans. I’d been bashing that idea over everyone’s head in the band for a long time, but then all of sudden I think Ken got all the credit. That’s probably how it goes, (laughs). I’d like to say that I came up with it, but I’ll have to check my email history on that one.

Bill – “Rose Tattoo” features banjo from Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons. What led to you teaming up with him?

Jeff – Well, I was at a festival in Europe and with festivals in Europe you get to play with all these bands and mingle with them. It’s a different scene than in America. We both play the same kind of banjos, Deering Banjos, and I emailed this lady at Deering and said, “Hey, I’m playing this show with Mumford & Sons. Should I say ‘hi’ for you or something like that?” She wrote back and was like, “Oh, Winston is so nice. You have to go up to him and say ‘hello.’” So I did at catering that day and he was totally nice and totally a fan of our band. Then he said that he’d love to see our set that night. We played way late, like 1:00 AM, but their whole entire band came and rocked out on the side of the stage to our set. We were just blown away by that. Then when we got home after that tour we got asked to play with them on their tour that they were doing in the States. So, we opened up for them in Maine like a week later. It was so fast. We were in the middle of recording and we asked Winston if he wanted to try and put his banjo on one of our songs. We actually recorded it in an ancient barn in Kennebunk, Maine. We brought Ted up there with a couple microphones and he did it in one day. He had a great time, we all had a great time and they were all very hospitable to us.

Bill – Do you have a favorite song from the new album?

Jeff – I really like “Don’t Tear Us Apart.” I like them all, actually. We recorded the album in such a quick manner. By the time Going Out in Style was finished I was kind of sick of the record, but we did this one so fast that I still like them all so much. “Rose Tattoo” is obviously another one that I’m really fond of.

Bill – What sort of things are you most looking forward to regarding your upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Tour?

Jeff – Well, I’m from Boston and we all are, and it’s kind of a feather in the cap to be able to say that you played The Boston Garden. I think every one of us as kids probably dreamt of playing there one day or whatever. It’s going to be great. In terms of Chicago, I’m sure it would be like if you got to play at Wrigley Field or something. It’s just a real cool thing and an honor to be able to play at such a legendary place.

Bill – Dropkick Murphys are definitely an example of a band that excels in a live setting. What is it about playing live that’s most exciting for you?

Jeff – As you know me, I love playing music and I love playing live. Just getting to see to all the people every night, going crazy and having a great time, it puts a smile on your face. I think our shows are about the whole experience. Every night is that person’s one chance to have a fuckin’ really good time. We do get a little burnt out after being on the road for a while, but every night it’s still the same in terms of everyone’s excitement. Sometimes I ask James, our guitar player, I’m like “Oh, how do you think it’s going to be tonight?” He’ll be like, “Jeff, it’s going to be fuckin’ awesome, like it is every single night.” I think everyone that comes to our shows is really out just to have a great time. James is right too. Every night is the same; awesome, idiotic craziness. It always ends in a mess, which is good.

Bill – What else does the band have planned for the rest of this year?

Jeff – Nothing about going home, that’s for sure. We’re doing a whole world tour, going all the way out to Hawaii and some Australia shows too, all the way around. I think we’re doing Coachella, that’s pretty exciting. We play a lot of the big festivals in Europe, but we never really play that many big festivals here in the States. That’s another feather in the cap I guess. We’re going to be touring a lot for the next four months. I’m really looking forward to Hawaii though. We’ve played there a couple times and it’s always been really good. There are a lot of troops out there that come and support us. The first time I went there with the band I was wondering what the show was going to be like and the majority of the crowd ended up being troops from the Midwest and stuff like that. I’m also looking forward to going out there and seeing my wife’s cousin. She’s living out there and she’s with the troops, so that’ll be fun. After that we’re just going to keep moving and do our best to see all the fans.