The Transplants

After releasing their sophomore album, Haunted Cities in 2005, Transplants disappeared from the scene as the various members focused on their encyclopedic list of other musical projects. Now, on the eve of the release of their new album, In a Warzone, “Skinhead” Rob sat down to talk a little bit about the new music and their first North American tour in almost a decade.

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Dustin: Let’s start off talking about the tour. After a long break the Transplants are back and you are coming up here to Canada and doing a bunch of dates in the US as well.

Rob: I can’t wait; it’s been a long time since we did a tour. A long fucking time. Since 2005. We are all looking forward to getting back out there and doing what we do. Especially up there in Canada. The festival we are doing [RockFest], there are so many fucking bands, from Alice Cooper to Bad Brains to Discharge to fucking Dropkick Murphys. It’s crazy, there are so many great bands playing that fest. We don’t really have those kinds of fests here in the States, so it’s nice to be a part of something like that. Literally every time I look at the lineup I see someone I didn’t notice before. I’m lucky because Rancid is playing one day and Transplants the next so I get to go check out both days, which is cool.

Dustin: It’s great to hear a musician talking from the perspective of a fan. It seems like a lot of musicians in the industry get burned out on music after playing and touring so much.

Rob: I am going to a show tonight. Chromosome from Australia is playing here in LA, so I’m going to check that out. I hear what you are saying; a lot of people in a lot of bands get burned out on going to shows. On one hand I get it, depending on if they are in the spotlight, I imagine it could get old getting harassed every time you go somewhere, but on the other hand I’m sure they miss going to shows sometimes and just getting to have fun.

Dustin: It’s been a long time. Obviously fans are excited to see some new stuff from the Transplants. How did that come about, did things finally align between all of your various projects?

Rob: Kind of. The main reason, I guess it’s kind of fucked, but the main reason we decided to do another record came after the plane crash that Travis was in. He was in the hospital a long time and I would go stay with him. One day I went home to change clothes and come back, when I got back he told me Tim had been there. He asked me “what do you think about doing another album?” I couldn’t say no to that, here’s my best friend, my brother laying in a hospital bed with crazy burns all over his body and he’s talking about wanting to play music again. Of course, I’m always motivated by Travis. The drive and desire he has to make music and create. A lot of people don’t have that, especially after all of the stuff he’s been through. He is definitely motivation for me. That’s how we got back into it. We decided let’s do it. We went into Travis’ studio. That’s where we recorded almost the entire album. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I had a great time writing and recording the album. I think that I speak for the rest of the band too. It was great. Even though there was so much time that had passed from 2005, it was like no time had been lost. We got back in there and everything clicked like it used to. Everyone’s creativity and drive were there. No egos, no shit like that. It was like no time had ever passed.

Dustin: That’s definitely what you want to hear.

Rob: Yeah, that’s not what you hear from a lot of bands. They’re gone for X amount of years, then come back and try to make an album and it doesn’t work. That wasn’t us. I’m not trying to say we are some great fucking band, just that we were fortunate enough to come back and still have that chemistry and enjoy making music.

Dustin: Do you think part of that is the fact that Tim’s main gig is Rancid, Travis has Blink 182… like this is an outlet for them to escape their everyday job?

Rob: I think that is true for sure. But they were busy with those bands before Transplants, so it’s not like any of this is a surprise or news to anyone in the band. We know how it goes. Transplants make different music than Rancid and Blink, so I think Tim and Trav enjoy it for that aspect where they can create different stuff than their other bands. I think it’s a good thing for everyone. I mean, why not? Why not make a different type of music? Why not experiment? There are so many talented people out there in music who only stick with one kind of music. I think they kind of pigeonhole themselves. They are too afraid to step outside of the box and create something different. They are afraid of what the public might think or what other bands might think. Who cares? If you want to fucking make a certain type of music, make it. You shouldn’t make music with thoughts of who’s going to like it? That’s a weird formula to make music. To me, you make music because you want to. Not what anyone else fucking wants, it’s what you want. You can say whatever the fuck you want. Don’t do it with what everyone else wants in mind.

Dustin: That is exactly how I feel about it. If you consider music an art form, then the idea of overthinking it doesn’t make sense to me.

Rob: People gave us shit since the beginning because we would incorporate hip hop, punk rock, drum & bass… all kinds of shit in our music. We never gave a shit if people liked it. To this day, we never worry about it. “Oh, it’s not punk because of this or that.” Who cares? There’s always going to be the punk rock police to say what is punk and what’s not. I don’t know how punk rock that is. 

Dustin: Even hipsters in this scene. On that note though, the title track “In A Warzone” has a more punk rock sound than some of your previous work. Is that indicative of the album direction as a whole?

Rob: This time we decided to make a hard, straight up punk record. There are a couple guests on there and they happen to all be rappers. But for the most part, it’s a punk album. We wanted to create an album that we could pull off live without any samples or DJ or anything like that. Just have the band. Strip it down, no loops or any of that shit. Just us playing punk rock again. I think that is the type of music that we are best at playing, punk rock.

Dustin: It’s hard going off of the single song I have heard from the album, but it seems like it is a lot more serious lyrically than past songs like “Tall Cans in the Air” or “DJ DJ,” which evoked more of a party atmosphere. Is that something consciously in the lyrics?

Rob: Definitely. I guess I was in a different place or train of thought back then. To be honest, sometimes I cringe when I hear old lyrics. I can’t change the past. I can learn from it and move on. Maybe it took me a little while, but I’ve come to realize that there’s more important shit in the world than just getting loaded all the time. There are things that matter. It is better to sing about topics that affect people in a more positive way, than” hey let’s just get shitfaced”. I still party and have a good time, but for the most part, not so much on the party side of town. Maybe I’m just getting older. I think when you are in a punk rock band, especially if you are a singer, you should take that opportunity. Not to preach to people, but you are given a platform to speak your mind. Why not speak about things that actually matter, instead of how many beers you can drink? I’m not by any means saying I’m Nobel Peace Prize worthy, but I’d rather talk about war and the destruction of the earth and crooked fucking cops and politicians. Stuff that can actually make an impact on people’s lives.

Dustin: I think they call that maturity. It’s a good thing. You see some of these rock and rollers from the 80s who never made it to that level. It gets sad after a point.

Rob: Yeah, I don’t want to be that guy!

Dustin: Do you have your set list built for the tour yet?

Rob: Basically. I think we have an hour to play this tour. We are trying to fit in as many songs as we can. For the hour sets, it’s usually 20 songs. We try to get as much as we can in there, try not to bullshit too much with the crowd. It’s been a long time since we’ve played and who knows when we are going to get back, so try to give the fans as much as we can in the time we have. We’ve been known to switch it up with the covers in the past. This time we have a couple solid ones. It’s always weird; sometimes we do songs that no one in the crowd has ever heard, so it’s kind of funny. They don’t always go over well, but we are playing them because we like them.

Dustin: So no Freebird?

Rob: No, however Skynyrd fucking rules.

Dustin: That is surprising. Have you played any shows with Rancid yet?

Rob: The first day of the tour is June 11 in Detroit, Michigan. It’s right away. We are all looking forward to playing together again. To me, that’s my favorite place to be, onstage with my friends. If not there, then I want to be in the studio with them making music.

Dustin: Who are the openers on the tour? 

Rob: Crown of Thornz is opening most of the east coast dates. I’ve known Ezec for a long time; he’s a good friend of mine from way way back. On the west coast The Interrupters are opening for us. They are an awesome ska band. Kevin who plays in that band is also playing bass for us. He’s actually doing triple duty; there are a few songs that Rancid has piano and organ that he plays with them. He’s going to be one busy dude.

Dustin: So he is someone you don’t want to come down with the flu on this tour?

Rob: Fuck, let’s hope not! Thank you for the time and support.