Earlier this year, CJ Ramone released his latest solo full-length via Fat Wreck Chords, called The Holy Spell. He recently played Chop Shop in support of the record and we met up with him before the show. We talked about the album’s writing and recording process, including how several of its songs were written in the studio. We also discussed the passing of his close friend Steve Soto, (Adolescents, Agent Orange) and CJ’s decision to write a song that celebrates Steve’s life. Additionally, he recalled his time in the Ramones and talked about his most memorable show as a member of the legendary band. We also conversed about CJ’s Australian tour that just got underway, his plans for the future and more.

Bill – Your latest album was produced by Paul Miner, who you’ve worked with in the past. What was it like collaborating with him again or what was different about this session?

CJ – That’s the reason why I went back to work with Paul, because we work so well together. The first time around, on American Beauty, we got to be pretty good friends. Also, with Steve Soto, (co-founder of the Adolescents and Agent Orange) having passed, I felt like it just made the idea of working with Paul even better. Paul and I had both worked with Steve on multiple projects and each of us had learned so much from Steve that it was pretty much guaranteed Steve’s influence wouldn’t be completely gone from the record. We also had Dan Root on the record, who worked with Steve for years in the Adolescents. Paul’s really an exceptional producer and engineer. He’s fast, which is a thing that I really like best. When you’re working on an idea and you have to keep interrupting the process for a multitude of reasons, you tend to lose stuff. With Paul, we really just go from one idea to the next and he’s really good at repairing things quickly without me even knowing that he’s doing it. He’s probably, as far as working in the studio, he’s really been my favorite to work with.

Bill – That’s great. With your last album being released in 2017, were most of these songs written just before you went in to record?

CJ – Yeah, I have this strange thing where I usually spend the time in between records recording little riffs on my phone or writing out lyrics as I collect ideas. Then as I get closer to recording, I start putting the ideas together and forming songs. I’ve found that the further I get from my last record, the less I like the ideas that I come up with in between records. I end up in this weird position where it’s three weeks before I’m supposed to be in the studio recording and I’m writing songs. It’s a little unnerving, but the good thing I think is the added pressure really serves to get my creative juices flowing. My last two records, I wrote both of them within two weeks of recording. This one was a bit different because of the initial 13 songs that I wrote, I substituted four of them for songs that I actually wrote in the studio, including “Hands of Mine,” which seems to be a favorite. That one and “Rock On” have been the two songs that I’ve gotten the most positive response on.

Bill – Very cool. What inspired the record’s title?

CJ – Music just never lost its magic for me. I love music. I love making it, I love performing, I love writing it, I love listening to it. My guys will tell you, I’m very bipolar when it comes to my musical tastes. I’ll get in the van in morning and put on piano concertos, and by the afternoon we’re listening to Lydia Loveless or Metallica or The Black Crowes or The Clash. I mean, I really listen to everything. I’ve always had a love affair with music in general. I’ve never really been a genre fan and that’s kind of what the title reflects, my love of music. And with the word “holy,” I come from a Catholic background, so some of the language I’m sure sounds religious. It’s not a very popular thing these days, but it really was to describe kind of my relationship with music and to music.

Bill – You touched on Steve earlier and obviously the song “Rock On” is a tribute to him. At what point did you know that you wanted to write that song and how did it come together?

CJ – Because I’ve had a song celebrating somebody’s life on every record pretty much, I think all three of them, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do a Steve Soto song. When I talked to the guys about it, I said “I just can’t write another sad song about a friend who’s gone.” And just that little sentence gave birth to the entire song, just that one little idea. It was one of those songs that kind of wrote itself. The lyrics came out and it all just came together as the great songs always do. I’m really glad I wrote it. Steve’s mom and dad really were affected by the song. They heard it and Steve’s dad came out to a show. He said, “My wife listens to that song constantly and we’re so happy that you wrote a song to celebrate Steve’s life.” And that was of course the intention. It wasn’t mourning his death; it was celebrating his life. It’s a much more positive way to deal with losing someone close to you.

Bill – That’s really special. I’m not sure quite how to transition from that, but I wanted to ask do you have a favorite song off the record?

CJ – “Hands of Mine” is probably my favorite. Each record I’ve included a song that’s been kind of in that vein. On the last record, we had “Pony” and we had “Tommy’s Gone” on there. I’ve always kind of kept songs on there that didn’t necessarily match up stylistically with the rest of the record, but I have a lot of songs written like that. What I do is I just pick the best of them and I put them on the record. “Hands of Mine” is kind of an odd one in that I wrote it in the studio. I was watching Paul Miner’s children and I already had the guitar riff down and a little bit of an arrangement for it. I was watching his children playing on the table and watching the way they pick things up and how they handle a pencil or a crayon, or played with their toys. I was watching their hands as they were doing it and I thought it would be a neat idea to kind of tell the story of my life through my hands. Again, it was one of those songs where I wrote the lyrics in probably about 20 minutes. I sat down and wrote it out that quickly.

Bill – Tell me about your recent decision to no longer tour.

CJ – I had said about five years ago, even as far back as 2012, my plan was always to retire by 2020. This year marked 30 years that I’ve been touring out a van. I’m pretty much playing the same size clubs, the smaller rooms and my fanbase has stayed about the same size. I sell about the same amount of records every record. This was my plan all along. There are other things I want to do, other things I want to try. I’m still young enough that I can do that. It’s not that I don’t like it anymore or that I’m tired of it. I’m still going to write, I’m still going to record, I’m still going to play shows. I’m just not going to get in a van and tour anymore.

Bill – That makes sense. In terms of your time with the Ramones, which of the three albums that you played on is your favorite?

CJ – (Laughs). I mean, my least favorite Ramones album of all-time that I was on is Loco Live. I think it’s like the worst album they ever put out. But of the three, I’d probably say that Mondo Bizarro is the best.

Bill – That was the first one you were on…

CJ – Yeah, the very first studio record I was on.

Bill – Any particular reason why?

CJ – I just feel like the songs were really good on that record. You know, ¡Adios Amigos!, I felt like there was a lot of throwaway material on that record. Acid Eaters should have been an EP, so Mando Bizarro, realistically, is the best album they did while I was there.

Bill – That’s fair. When you look back on the Ramones, what are some of your favorite memories?

CJ – The obvious things are my first show or the last show when I got to play with Lemmy, (Motörhead) and Dee Dee on the stage that night. Realistically, my best memories are more personal moments that I had with Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy and Marky. It’s really more the personal stuff. If I had to pick one moment in my career, like my favorite moment, it would be the last show. Playing onstage with Lemmy and Dee Dee that night with the Ramones, that was probably the high-water mark for me.

Bill – That sounds incredible. What are you looking forward to most about your upcoming Australian tour?

CJ – Getting to see my friends in Australia one last time. I’ve got some friends over there that I only get to see of course when I’m on tour. I love Australia. It’s an unbelievably beautiful country and the people are really wild. Realistically, a lot of announcing the last tour and everything else is I know that some of these places I won’t ever get back to. So, I’m trying catch up with all the people I met over the years and got to be friends with. I want to make sure I get a chance to say “goodbye and thanks for the memories” and all that good stuff.

Bill – In terms of the future, what are some of things you still want to do in regards to music?

CJ – I just want to keep writing and recording. I feel like just now, I’m getting really good at writing. I feel like I’m really starting to hit a sweet spot. I’ve been able to open up a lot more with my lyrics and I really like my lyrics a lot now. It really helps me put some things to rest in my head that I can’t really put to rest any other way. So, it’s therapeutic for me also. Music will never lose that magic for me. I’ll just keep writing and recording until I have nothing left to say or I’m dead, one or the other, (laughs).