The band will perform a free outdoor concert in downtown Springfield on Thursday night.
The SmithereensWhen a band stays together for more than three decades, it's a tribute to the respect the members show for both one another and the music.
Or so says Pat Dinizio, singer-songwriter for The Smithereens, who will play the Stearns Square CityBlock concert on Thursday night. With the exception of a changing of the guard on bass is 2006 (when Severo Jomacion replaced original bassist Mike Mesaros) the core group of DiNizio, Dennis Diken and Jim Babjak have been together since the band's start in 1980.
The music at the free outdoor concert begins at 6:15 p.m. with The Smithereens scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m.
DiNizio took a few moments away from the band's current tour to talk about its latest album, its distinctive sound, and its longevity.
Why the long gap between your last two original albums ("The Smithereens 2011" and 1999's "God Dave the Smithereens")? What made you put one out last year?
The honest answer is we couldn't get anyone to put out an original album by us. Our Beatles tribute, "Meet the Smithereens," put us on the New York Times Arts and Leisure cover in 2007. And we did a live album and a Christmas album. Then our record label wanted us to do a tribute to the 40th anniversary of "Tommy" by The Who, but we all had had it with tribute albums. So when I told the label we weren't interested, they said "What will it take to get you to do it?" So we said bankroll a new original album and they did.
I read that you recorded a lot of the latest album in your home. What was that like?
It was great for me because I was able to work with our producer Don Dixon all day with guitars and vocals, and then the guys showed up at 6:30. I was able to take a nap or watch a baseball game.It was a luxury to record an album with outlawing my home. Most of it was recorded right in my living room.
Are there any plans for a new record in the works?
Yes we're going to start process over again. Twelve years between records is too long.but we have a determination to do things right and not just cater to trends or flavor of the week.
The band has a very distinctive sound, which is neither dated or gimmicky. Is this something you aimed for originally, and do you strive to keep it today?
It's a combination of both. We were fortunate to have a unique sound the first time we got together. We didn't want to change for sake of changing. It's a desire to want to maintain that original sound of band because that's the sound we enjoy. Some people go see gave bands they haven't seen in along time and they walk away disappointed. I'm glad to report that our fans are are glad we still sound mostly the same. So maintaining it is by design. Consistency and dependably mean a lot to us. There is too little of that in the world today.
Three of you, you, Dennis, and Jim have been together since the beginning of the band. What's the secret of that kind of bond and longevity?
Jimmy, Dennis, and Mike, our original bassist, had grown up togther so there were relationships there and any difficulties in relationships had been worked through. There has always been a lot of mutual respect and we all had a lot in common, pop music, TV shows, and a shared sense of the absurd, which is helpful on the road. I don't think we have ever had a real argument. There a lot of selflessness involved.But if it ended tomorrow, we could say we accomplished all we set out to be and we are grateful to all wonderful people who have supported us.