Two for the Road is a series in which two artists touring together chat about playing shows, life backstage, and more. In the latest installment of the series, Flogging Molly’s Dave King and Bridget Regan chat with The Interrupters’ Aimee Interrupter and Kevin Bivona about their joint tour and more.
Flogging Molly and The Interrupters kick off a co-headlining 2022 US tour on June 7th in Indianapolis, with support from Tiger Army and The Skints. The outing’s first leg runs through a July 3rd show in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with a second leg launching September 9th in Denver and wrapping up September 21st in Paso Robles, California. Tickets for the tour are available via Ticketmaster.
Along with the tour, both acts are releasing new albums this year. Flogging Molly just announced their seventh effort, Anthem, which arrives September 9th, while The Interrupters will release their fourth album, In the Wild, on August 5th.
Ahead of the co-headlining tour, Flogging Molly’s Dave King and Bridget Regan jumped on a video Zoom chat with The Interrupters’ Aimee Interrupter and Kevin Bivona for Consequence‘s “Two for the Road” series. With each pair of bandmates being a married couple, it made for a very intriguing conversation, as the four musicians discussed life on the road and at home, while also talking about their mutual love of Leonard Cohen, their favorite Warped Tour memories, and much more.
Cohen’s name came up when Aimee Interrupter expressed her admiration for Flogging Molly’s new song, “These Times Have Got Me Drinking.”
“I love your new singe, the songwriting, the pictures that are painted,” remarked Aim. “I’m a huge Leonard Cohen fan. When I was listening to the song … it’s like a punk-rock, sped-up Leonard Cohen song to me.” King and Regan then recalled the time they got to meet Cohen backstage at a show in Detroit, with calling him “the nicest man” and “absolutely gorgeous.”
The Leonard Cohen love didn’t end there, with Bivona revealing that The Interrupters often look to the late singer-songwriter for inspiration. “When we were writing our last record … if we ever had a question about whether or not it was a good lyric, I would [sing it] in a Leonard Cohen voice.”
Another big topic of conversation was the Warped Tour, with Bivona telling King and Regan that he discovered Flogging Molly in the early 2000s when he attended the traveling punk festival as a fan. Both acts then shared fond memories of the Warped Tour, and its importance for young punk bands starting out, while lamenting that it’s no longer around. “You knew that you were part of something so special,” said King, adding, “I really, really miss the Warped Tour.”
See the full “Two for the Road” conversation between Flogging Molly’s Dave King and Bridget Regan and The Interrupters’ Aimee Interrupter and Kevin Bivona in the video above, and be sure to catch both acts on their co-headlining tour. Pick up tickets here.
Trouble viewing the video above? Watch on YouTube.