Ball and Chain
Since 1978, SoCal’s Social Distortion has led the charge to keep punk rock ever-mindful of its working-class roots. One week before their first studio album in eight years, Time Bomb’s Sex, Love and Rock & Roll, hits the streets, frontman Mike Ness chatted with “TCB” from his Santa Ana home before tending to some pretour errands.
TCB: How big an influence is country music on you?
Mike Ness: It’s huge. And it’s not just country, it’s all that Americana: Dust Bowl Depression music, folk music, early jazz and blues, rockabilly, country, bluegrass. To me it’s all very honest and heartfelt and primitive music, without which obviously rock & roll wouldn’t even exist. The way they tell stories, the way they express their emotions, and the honesty is just always something I saw a connection to.
TCB: Where do you think you’d be if you hadn’t started this band?
MN: Oh, jeez. Lost. [chuckles] It’s really, you know, I think it saved my life. At times I think that the lifestyle almost killed me in the early years, but at the same time, it was also something that saved me from maybe becoming a professional criminal or something.
TCB: What keeps you coming back?
MN: It’s just still fun and exciting. I don’t know how else to describe it. I love this, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
TCB: As a resident of Orange County, what do you think of The OC?
MN: It’s kind of like, what did I think of Beverly Hills, 90210? It’s like, ‘Is this for real?’ It’s astounding. It’s breathtaking in its audacity.
TCB: So it’s not the OC you’re familiar with.
MN: No. [laughs]
Social Distortion plays the Austin Music Hall Monday, Sept. 27 with Tiger Army and the Explosion.
This article appears in September 24 • 2004.