Danko Jones feels that rock has gone underground and people have to learn to be OK with that
Danko Jones feels that rock has gone underground and people have to learn to be OK with that
Danko Jones was recently interviewed by Sleaze Roxx writer Ruben Mosqueda for KNAC with the former’s band about to release the new studio album A Rock Supreme on April 26th.
In terms of whether rock is dying off, Danko Jones opined (with slight edits): “I don’t think that it’s dead or dying, it’s just going underground. I truly feel that it will go underground like jazz music has done. To paraphrase Spinal Tap’s manager,”It’s audience is becoming more selective”! [laughs] Rock ‘n’ roll music is underground now. It was ‘top of the heap’ for decades but time marches on, you can’t be ‘top dog’ forever. Genres like, EMD, pop music, indie rock music have crept up on rock ‘n’ roll, it’s not even in the top 5 or 10 genres of music anymore. I think in the future rock ‘n’ roll will take its place alongside jazz, where its audience will find it if it wants to. I don’t think it’s going to be consumed massively, like it has been in the past and I think we have to learn to be okay with that. I personally am, I love underground music, I feel that the music that I play has joined its ranks. I’m not sad by this new distinction, I’m quite satisfied with it.”
Mosqueda suggested that Danko Jones was indicating that the playing fields had levelled to which the singer replied: “I wouldn’t go that far, because there’s a huge leap between let’s say The Foo Fighters and everybody else. [laughs] There’s not a band that remotely follows The Foo Fighters to the B-Level. There isn’t a band that’s one tier below The Foo Fighters, then that band and that band, it’s just The Foo Fighters! [laughs] The gap is just so wide, that there’s not really anything there to make anyone else a ‘real’ contender. It’s not a sad thing, I think it’s a good thing, it’s just that we need everyone on board with this. People are clinging and hanging on for dear life, but I think that has to do with ‘rock ‘n’ roll arrogance’. It was ‘top dog’ for so long that people didn’t see all the other genres quietly sneaking up on it.”
You can read the rest of the interview with Danko Jones at KNAC‘s website.