Marky Ramone – An Xperience Interview

Marky Ramone – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

Photo Courtesy of Chipster PR

RRX: So how’s today treating you?

Marky Ramone: All right. I’m in my place in Italy, a little different than New York, but yeah, it’s okay, having a good time here.

RRX: Oh, excellent. We’re very excited that you’re coming to kinda our neck of the woods, to the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, on December 6th for the Holiday Blitzkrieg. What are we to expect from a Holiday Blitzkrieg?

MR: Well, 36 classic Ramones songs, a lot of energy, and a lot of fun. Like last year … I’ve been doing this for about five years already, but I included the Bearsville Theater last year, and it went really well, so I wanted to do it again. It’s gonna be a jolly good time.

RRX: It definitely will be. One of my fondest Ramones memories was back in 1996 in Albany, New York. I was working for a radio station called The Edge back then, and I’m just driving home from my shift, and I see something going on in Lincoln Park. So I get out of my car and as I’m approaching the park, I’m like … oh it’s a Ramones cover band, but when I got closer to the stage I realized it actually was the Ramones. I was like … how did I not catch wind of this? But that was amazing to surprisingly walk up on you guys.

MR: That was probably one of the last shows we did, if it was 1996. It might have been the end of ’95.

RRX: Well, Google says it was ’96.

MR: Okay, well then, we probably stopped a couple of months later.

RRX: Yeah, it wasn’t too much longer after that, so I’m really thankful that I have that experience and those memories.

MR: Oh, thank you.

RRX: I know a while back you had your very own “Brooklyn’s Own Pasta Sauce.” That’s not a thing anymore, or do you just make it at home for yourself now?

MR: No, it was just like a pop-up thing. I mainly did it because my grandfather was a chef at the Copacabana and the 21 Club in New York, and I used to watch him cook. Then somebody approached me and asked me if I would make my own sauce, which I did, and I gave part of it away to charity; that was the best part of it. We made … I don’t know, I guess a few hundred thousand bottles and sold out. What happened was I had to employ so many people, and I didn’t really know how to deal with that side of the business. I didn’t wanna get into that because I knew that it could end up being a headache or some kind of hassle. So I said, Let me just stick to the music. And that was it. Yeah, I had a food truck that went all around and made meatball heroes with the sauce and pasta. But it was really out of my league because I didn’t have the experience to take it that far.

RRX: Oh yeah, that’s quite the undertaking, but now that you’re over there in Italy, have you ever broken out your Brooklyn’s Owns Pasta Sauce over there?

MR: I tried that once, and the bottles broke, went all over my clothes, went all over everything, and I learned my lesson, you know? Transporting glass like that is not a good idea.

RRX: Well, that makes sense. Obviously, you’ve got the Sirius XM radio show … that’s how I got started in all this, I’ve been a DJ since way back when. But when I played music, I wasn’t necessarily playing music from my peers, which is a little bit different for you because when you’re playing songs from many of those bands, they are your friends and musical peers whom you’ve created actual memories with. What is it that you enjoy most about being a DJ?

MR: I like playing the songs that I like. Mainly punk songs, what I consider punk, one-hit wonders from the ‘60s and the ‘70s. A lot of these bands from England and the States really weren’t played when they came out because a lot of the radio was playing disco and stadium rock, and they really didn’t give it an equal chance. So, now that I have the two stations, I can play whatever I want, that’s in the contract. I play bands that I feel deserve more attention than they did when they came out, you know?

RRX: Yeah, that makes sense. It’s definitely one of the greatest radio programs out there, especially for punk rock fans like myself.

MR: Thank you.

RRX: It’s kind of like a breath of fresh air because regular terrestrial radio had never really given punk rock the love that it deserved.

MR: I know, but I think there are a few reasons for that. I think it’s the term punk, and I think it was also the way the English punk bands physically wore certain paraphernalia that was negativity in the United States. So, a lot of DJs were turned off by that,; I think that could be the reason. Again, a lot of stations were programmed to play the disco and stadium rock music that was being pushed by the record companies at the time.

RRX: Well, it certainly was risky for radio, I imagine.

MR: Oh yeah.

RRX: But I’m glad the music was made, and you know what? If it did become mainstream, it probably would have been less punk anyway.

MR: Yeah, but now it’s more mainstream than ever. If something goes mainstream and it’s good, why not? If something goes mainstream and it’s mediocre, then that’s not good, you know? But better late than never.

RRX: Exactly. Well, just curious, I mean … with all of your years in the music business and all of your memories, are there any that stick out that make you think this was all worthwhile?

MR: Oh, let me see … let me toot my horn here. I guess … the Hall of Fame, the Grammy Award, being on The Simpsons, doing Rock and Roll High School, and being produced by Phil Spector. I did 1700 shows with the Ramones, and it continues. But the main thing is the fans, they come and enjoy it, and I see it on their faces and in reality that’s what matters to me.

RRX: Definitely glad that I got you on the line today. It’s been an honor, being a punk rock fan my entire life

MR: Thank You

RRX: If there was anything that you could say to fans to encourage them to tune into your show and come out to your shows, what would you say to them?

MR: Well, if you are a Sirius XM subscriber, listen to my station, it’s four times a month. Then there’s the other station, where it’s 24/7; all my shows that I’ve done in the last 20 years thrown together. If you can’t get enough of what I do each week, then you can go to that station. You just gotta type in my name on the Sirius XM app, Marky Ramone, and it’ll give you all the information. It’s as much punk as you can get!

RRX: That it definitely is. I appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you at the Bearsville Theater, December 6th. Any last words of wisdom that you’d like to put out there to the world?

MR: Yeah, “Hey ho, let’s go!”

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