In February of this year, pop punk legends The Queers played two shows at Township on Valentine’s Day. Due to bad weather, the band arrived late and our interview was understandably postponed. Over the next couple months, we corresponded with singer/guitarist Joe Queer before ultimately connecting for a phone interview. Once we caught up with Joe, we talked about The Queers’ decision to play their album Love Songs for the Retarded in its entirety at the Township shows. We discussed that record in greater detail, and did the same for their classic Don’t Back Down album. We also spoke about the band’s relationship with Asian Man Records, the formation of a possible new band featuring Joe, Ben Weasel and Richie Ramone, The Queers’ plans to re-record a pair of their old records, and much more.
Bill – Tell me about the decision to play Love Songs for the Retarded at your recent Chicago shows.
Joe – We just decided that since it’s been 20 years, let’s do a few Love Songs… shows. We’ve done them here and there and they’ve actually gone over quite well, to do them in the album order. We played L.A. on Saturday with The Dickies and it was the first time on these Love Songs… shows where we didn’t play the songs in order. We played all the songs, but we jumped around. That was a bigger show and The Dickies were headlining. The album on stage doesn’t flow that well, but if we play our regular set and throw the songs in, it works really well. So, we kind of did that but everybody was really cool. It was fun.
Bill – With the record being over 20 years old, what are some of the first things that come to mind when you look back and think about the writing and recording of that album?
Joe – At that point I owned my restaurant in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Hugh and B-Face worked for me. Basically, we would just get together on Sundays and rehearse in my bar and get shitfaced because the restaurant was closed. At that point, we just wanted to make one album that I would put out myself. It was pretty much the tunes on Love Songs… and that was it. It was really fun, our friends would come down and our roommates, so it was just like a big party at rehearsal. We had no illusions about like, “Oh, this would make a great album.” We had just met Ben Weasel at that point and the whole Lookout and Green Day thing was taking off. By the time we got the album out I knew it was great album. I thought it was anyway. That’s how it kind of came about, but it was a weird set of circumstances.
Bill – What songs are still some of your favorites from that record?
Joe – I like most of them. We tried to cut out a lot of them from our set, but as soon as we don’t play “Ursula…” or “I Hate Everything” or “Granola-Head,” people complain. “Fuck the World” is another one. We play quite a few of them normally anyway. I don’t know if I have a favorite song. “Ursula…” is probably the best known or “Fuck the World.” “Debra Jean” and “Hi Mom, It’s Me!” are also ones that we play live. “Monster Zero” and “Night of the Livid Queers” too, so we play a lot of them. I don’t know if I have a favorite song, but it’s one of my favorite albums that we’ve made.
Bill – Given that Don’t Back Down is almost 20 years old, do you foresee doing something special for its anniversary?
Joe – I haven’t even thought about that. Possibly, we’ve been talking more and more about doing a pop tour. We tried to do it there a few years ago, but it just degenerated into playing most of our regular set. I’d like to get smaller amplifiers, get a keyboard player and some really good vocalists and start to do a bunch of stuff off Don’t Back Down and other poppy stuff. And stay away from the “Hi Mom, It’s Me!” and “This Place Sucks” kind of stuff, and do more like “I Always Knew” or “I Can’t Stay Mad at You” off Munki Brain. I love that stuff, but live as soon as we play one poppy tune everybody starts yawning. They want to hear fast, fast, fast, you know? I’m not exactly sure what, but we’ll do something cool for the Don’t Back Down thing.
Bill – What was it like when Rolling Stone did a feature on Don’t Back Down?
Joe – That was pretty cool. We were really cranking, everything was just going up and up and up. I really knew that album was good. We’d done Love Songs… and that was great we thought. Beat Off and Move Back Home had a few good songs on each, but as albums we were like, “God, we could do so much better.” Then with Don’t Back Down, I was really, really confident on that album, I was really psyched. It was fun, you know? It was really cool. I never had any illusions that we were going to be the next Green Day, not with a band called The Queers. The Rolling Stone thing was cool, but it was more impressive to other people that care about that stuff, more than the band. We were just like, “Whatever, this is great; we get to play to 200 kids in Mankato, Minnesota on a Tuesday night.” That was success to us. We don’t care about Rolling Stone, that won’t get us laid. So that was it, we had no illusions about making it in the biz or anything like that. Having said that, it’s pretty cool and it’s so funny that you mention it because I just found a copy of that Rolling Stone in my home studio. I was showing my wife, so it was pretty cool. We were excited though, don’t get me wrong.
Bill – In recent years The Queers have re-issued old albums, as well as released new ones with Asian Man Records. What do you like best about working with Mike Park and his label?
Joe – Mike, to me, was right on par with how Lookout was when we were first there for Love Songs… right through Don’t Back Down. It’s great, Mike is one of the best guys that I’ve met in music, and Larry Livermore is too, both of them. I have nothing but admiration for those guys because it’s a hard thing to run a label. Mike is just so behind the bands that he’ll do anything to help us. If we want to put out our album on a label in Spain he’s like, “Go for it. I just want to do the U.S. release.” He’s always behind us 110%. It’s just how a label should be run. We could probably get on a bigger label, but you know what, I’m staying right where I am. I am happy with Mike, he’s great.
Bill – Pop punk has definitely experienced a revival in recent years. Who are some of the newer bands that have gotten your attention?
Joe – Our favorite, the band, we all really like Masked Intruder. They’re just kids who grew up on Screeching Weasel and The Queers and stuff. Very nice guys, down-to-earth, no attitudes and they write great songs. They got some really killer hooks. They’re my favorite I think as far as bands that came after the Lookout years. The Riptides were always one of my favorites too and The Manges. Whenever people ask me about this I can never think of the bands on the spot. At 3:00 AM I’ll wake up to take a leak and I’ll say, “Why didn’t I say so-and-so?” So I apologize about that, but I can never remember.
Bill – Ben Weasel is still very much a polarizing figure in the punk rock community. What’s your relationship like with Ben these days and do you think you guys will be collaborating on any musical projects in the near future?
Joe – Oh yeah, we’re pretty tight. We’ve been playing here and there, shows with Screeching Weasel. We just played together about a month ago in San Antonio. We keep in touch. Mainly it’s through email lately because I’ve been so busy and he’s been so busy. Or we’ll text or something, but no, we’re pretty tight. We hooked up with Richie Ramone, who’s starting to play again. He played with us at the Screeching Weasel show in L.A. last year. Richie approached me and Ben about doing a band with us and we’re praying that we can all get in the same room sometime. Me and Ben want to write the songs and do this project with Richie drumming, Ben on vocals, me on guitar and probably Dangerous Dave, our bass player, on bass. I met Richie a million times in the old days, but he doesn’t really remember me. It’s so funny because we did the show, it was packed with like over 1,000 kids, and I hadn’t seen Richie in 15 years. He comes in with his wife, sits down and grabs a beer, and it was just like he’d been our best friend for 20 years. It was so comfortable and super cool. We just played last weekend in Santa Ana, California with The Dickies. Richie’s new band was going to open that show, but he got kidney stones last week, so we were so bummed out that he couldn’t make the show. It sucked because it was a big show, but anyway Richie’s out playing and he’s part of our gang now. It’s been really fun to see him play again.
Bill – What were some of the highlights from the shows at Township back in February?
Joe – One of the best things was when Dan Vapid was playing guitar and I could just grab the mic and sing. Probably the high note of the whole thing for me was during the first set when I was singing “Daydreaming.” I was really psyched on that. Everybody was into it and singing along and I was really psyched over that song because we never play it. Being in Chicago quite frankly is like being home for me. We have so many friends and it’s just such a good vibe for The Queers. I mean most of the crowd I knew. It was great and I had a really good time. It’s so fun for me to walk through the crowd. Everybody knows me and I know them, and high-fiving, it’s just so fun.
Bill – What are some of your favorite memories from playing shows in Chicago?
Joe – Yeah, the first time we played Chicago me and B-Face took the train out and Roger, our drummer, flew. We played with Screeching Weasel in Elmhurst at McGregor’s. That was one that always stuck out because back in New Hampshire where we were from, we only played to 75 people if we were lucky, maybe 100. Then we went out to Chicago and we really loved Screeching Weasel. Then we played and it was so much fun, and then they played and it was just incredible. That one sticks out. Selling out the Metro with Chixdiggit and The Nobodys, that was one that sticks out too. Those were pretty good shows. I remember playing that show and thinking we really did good that night. We had great shows over at The Fireside. There’s just so many. Beat Kitchen, we played there once and it was great. There’s just been so many Chicago shows. Reggie’s, I really love playing Reggie’s, so that’s been fun. I hate to say that one is better than the other, but those stick out. Metro for sure and McGregor’s, those ones I’ll never forget.
Bill – What do you still enjoy most about playing live?
Joe – I think now, I mean I love playing the shows. I’ve been able to do it for a job for 20 years. I sold that restaurant; we did one tour with Screeching Weasel and one with Rancid, and then I sold my restaurant and said, “I’m going down this bend in the river to see what music’s all about.” To me now, it’s cool and I can make a living off it and all that stuff, but mainly what gets me out of bed in the morning is getting to travel and see my friends all around the world and make new friends. I know kids from Moscow to Seoul, South Korea to Tokyo to Boise and it’s just such an incredible thing that I can go to Rome or Milan or Barcelona and I have friends wherever I go. I never went to college, I just read a lot of books, and I’ve really grown up through punk rock and meeting people. I feel blessed that I’ve been able to make so many friends. Yeah, there are a few jerks, but I have friends all over the place and I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything, you know what I mean? That’s the thing that I really place value in now.
Bill – Are there plans to release a new Queers album anytime soon?
Joe – The next thing we’re doing is we are re-recording Beyond the Valley… and Punk Rock Confidential. We’re actually re-recording them, not re-releasing them, because we don’t have the rights to those recordings. Hopeless does. They haven’t paid us in about 16 years for either album. Judging on what our old Lookout catalog sold when it was on Lookout and then on Asian Man, all our albums, Don’t Back Down, Love Songs…, Move Back Home, all that stuff sells consistently for us. Then when I talk to Hopeless, they’re like “No, no, no. We had shipped 20,000, we returned 4,000 and it’s never sold a penny more. You still owe us $5,000.” We know it’s full of shit, but I got a lawyer that’s hitting the books and I got to do some accounting. Finally I just talked to Blag from The Dwarves, and what he did with Sub Pop, because he was in a fight with Sub Pop, he was just like “Fuck them.” He redid the albums and re-released them on another label. I talked to Mike Park and Mike’s like “Let’s do it.” We’re going to make a DVD of Punk Rock Confidential and we’ve got all sorts of different people coming in. I’m going to have The Dickies and Lisa Marr is going to come in. Richie Ramone is going to sing on it, I’m going to get Ben to sing a part, and we’re going to film it for a DVD and record it all in one weekend. And make it fun and put it out on Asian Man so we can start pushing those albums, because I refuse to push anything that’ll put more of my money… I see Punk Rock Confidential when I’m in friggin’ Madrid and it’s like I never make a penny off that. It kills me. So, we’re going to do those two albums next in the fall and then about a year from now we’re going to do a new Queers, a poppy Queers album. In between I’d like to get this thing going with Ben and Richie, but I can see I’m going to have to quarterback that one. Richie is busy as hell and Ben is busy as hell and he’s got the three kids. It’s like, “Okay, let me try to organize this.” Hopefully we’ll make it happen. And again, more than like just putting out great music, it would just be fun to hang out with those guys, so that’s kind of the impetus behind that, but we’ll see.
