Dan O'Mahony interview, round 2

As the title of this post clearly states, here's another very recent interview that I did with '80s and '90s hardcore jack-of-all-trades Dan O'Mahony. This year and month is my 20th anniversary of "allegiance" so to speak (VERY so to speak) to the mighty Mr. O and oddly enough (or maybe not), he's just as much of a hero to me now as he was when I was 19. Enjoy the interview. - Jake

Photo taken by Dan Rawe

As you know, now that I've heard Both Hands Broken, I've made no secret of the fact that the 1994 practice tape recording posted on here is now my favorite Dan O recording and naturally, I have a few questions about BHB, so I'll begin with those. First of all, what is the "track listing" of that practice tape?

If memory serves me right, the track listing would be as follows:

Partner (a song about acknowledging one's own masochism in continuing codependent relationships)

Ressurection Song (represents a period of rebuilding that hinged upon emotional distance and self preservation)

I.B. Priestly (anti-Catholic diatribe)

Independent (a reflection on the implications of making a living off of one's art)

Safe Sex (a resentful wailing at an ex who would continually make a sexual but not an emotional exchange)

Man In Hand (bi-curious anthem)

Race Car (instrumental)

You mentioned in your BHB write-up on here that there were two different BHB lineups and that the overall sound of the band was drastically different with both. What were some of the differences and why do you think there were such drastic differences?

Right off the bat, the second line up played it's entire set tuned to drop D. The musicians of the later line up were more of a hard drinking, hard rocking bunch (not as goofy as that sounds) and it was clearly evident.


What are some of your favorite BHB songs and why?

Not to appear pretentious but for some reason, that first set works for me as a cohesive unit, like a book report on a very specific and difficult period, so it's hard to choose. I like the central riff in Man in Hand, I love the lyrics to Partner, I'm fond of the vocal melodies in I.B. Priestly. As far as the second line up, we had a tune called Twister that I loved which was about truly committing yourself to things.


Compare and contrast the '90s punk/hardcore scenes in both Northern and Southern California.

For me, the Bay Area was more in sync with my politics and, in particular, it's embracing of what's come to be known as queercore was amazing to me. Though I've never been in a same sex relationship, the blatant homophobia of the Southern California scene always made me ashamed. That said, I had great friends and witnessed amazing bands in both ends of the state. I moved up north to write and to explore a personal relationship initially but for the rest of my life, I will treasure the Bay Area's impact on my political perspective.


Is it surprising at all to you that so many of the songs on the 411 - This Isn't Me album are even more relevant now than they were when you wrote 'em almost 20 years ago?

It's surprising to me now but in a perhaps obnoxious admission of past arrogance... back then, I probably would've predicted it. I was young and prone to limited foresight. Not so much in terms of sound, but in terms of content, it is 411 that makes me ponder music again from time to time.


Discuss the unreleased 411 - Living In Sin EP. Any possibility of that seeing the light of day at some point?

The Living In Sin EP was supposed to be a 5 song follow up to our album, the completed material showed some real variety and covered some nice, challenging subjects... abortion, a musician's right to earn a living vs. allowing the profit motive to pollute the process, mainstream media's influence on individual sense of identity, etc. Judging by my recent friendly but discouraging online communications with Kevin, I'd say that there's no chance that it ever sees the light of day.


Let's discuss Speak 714 for a bit. Except for you, there were two completely different band lineups on the two records that you put out. What was the songwriting process like with each lineup?

Joe Foster has a signature sound that really clicks with my voice and vocal style on that record, I consider it a bit of a perfect storm. We're friends but he has a values system a tad different than my own and our dynamic is one that I can only handle in small doses. Small doses aren't a part of touring and recording really. The second record (The Scum Also Rises) is lacking that intangible OC thing in the sound/songwriting except in the case of Stand and Diminish, which was written musically by Chris Lisk, an OC guy. It sounds like locals-only crap but it's there on the recording for all to hear.


Why did you decide to include the dialogue from the movies Rebel Without A Cause and Apocalypse Now on the Knee Deep In Guilt record?

I'd always wanted to try that and those two bits of dialogue seemed intensely appropriate for a person of some controversy returning to the creative fold when he was "older".


Your early '00s band John Henry Holiday recorded and released a 4 song EP (Know The Ropes on Livewire Records) but never played any shows. Why?

Don't know... honestly.


I understand that Carry Nation bassist Big Frank Harrison has recently unearthed a Carry Nation documentary. Discuss this documentary and is it going to be uploaded to the web and posted somewhere for everyone to see at some point?

That documentary was a school project helmed by our friend Mario Reza, I haven't seen it in years and would love a copy. I've got to believe that Frank will post it somewhere and at some point.


I'm a HUGE fan of spoken word recordings. Being as how you've recently returned to the spoken word circuit (so to speak), do you have any plans to make a spoken word record at some point? Why or why not?

I'm still getting my sea legs with spoken word in the 2010's, maybe I'd feel record ready in a year or so. The show this past Friday night went quite a ways towards confirming my desire to focus my creativity primarily on the word (both written and spoken) as opposed to music. It's my intention to brand/imprint these promotions as an ongoing series under some sort of a cohesive banner that might eventually involve online and print publishing as well as the live stuff.


In the 9 months since your first interview on here, you have fallen victim to the social networking trifecta that is Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. What do you think it is about those sites that has so many middle-aged men like you and me so hooked (and on ALL 3 to boot)?

I don't really go on Myspace anymore, though I prefer it's visuals. The whole social networking phenomena is a product of technology that I've come to see as impossible to ignore. It's practicality in terms of event promotion is perhaps it's most exciting aspect to me. In the case of Twitter, I limit my efforts to the purely political and employ it as a public writing exercise.

In a closing note, I'd like to thank you for the voice as always. Over the course of the last year, it seems to me that the online community has immersed itself in a wave of hardcore retrospectives that I initially viewed with limited enthusiasm. Truth be told, it is the chance to run head first down memory lane in forums such as this that has ended up being one of the primary motivators in getting me up off my ass... so, I owe you!

Take care one and all.

Dan O'Mahony