Lars' Statement from Spin

"It's not like punk is some past-tense thing that we're reflecting on. It's not something that happened twenty years ago. It's something that's happening now."A quote from Lars Frederikesn in the Spin "25 Years of Punk" issue. The articles are not bad, if you can find them in the several thousand pages of advertisements. Click READ MORE to check out Lars' full comment.Source: Spin

Lars Frederiksen:
We're blue-collar kids from working-class families, and punk rock is as natural to us as tying your shoes. It's what we are. It's every thread of fabric of what we are… What else am I gonna fucking do?! I've got tattoos all over my body. This is what I've dedicated my life to. I don't wanna be some 9-to-5, punch-the-clock machine, where I have to go the factory and check in and check out and go home to some dreary life. That's not for me.

It's not like punk is some past-tense thing that we're reflecting on. It's not something that happened twenty years ago. It's something that's happening now.

The one good thing about Rancid is that we never signed to a major label. We've stayed indie our whole career. We've been on Epitaph, now we're on Hellcat. One of the most gratifying things is how kids come up to us all the time and they say, "Man, we didn't sign to no fucking major label because of you guys. We saw you guys do it independently. We have no fucking managers, we split everything four ways no matter who does what." They tell us that they want to blueprint their bands like us, because we've shown that you don't need some fucking big major label who you're gonna end up taking it in the ass from, eventually, to make music… That's the thing about punk rock. It gave me an out, emotionally. I've been in jail, I've been a heroin addict, everything under the sun. I got tattoos on my fucking face. Where I fit in most, where I always felt most comfortable, was with punk rock. That's the place where I found a true way to express myself. It's where I found my family.