With their unique blend of punk and Irish influence, not to mention their thought provoking lyrics and high energy live shows, over 14 years Flogging Molly has made a name for themselves. The band hits Edmonton October 8th at Rexall Place and Calgary at the Saddledome October 9th opening for Rise Against.

The band – Dave King, wife Bridget Regan, Dennis Casey, Matthew Hensley, Nathen Maxwell, Robert Schmidt and George Schwindt – are touring behind Speed of Darkness, their 5th studio album. King, who is the primary songwriter for the group, lives part time in Detroit, and the state of the world today was a heavy influence on the new album.

"When you walk on the streets of Detroit you can’t help but notice the abandoned buildings, something like 80% of the buildings downtown are abandoned," explained bassist Nathen Maxwell.  "Anyone who lives in the States, every time you turn on the TV you are constantly being bombarded with how shitty everything is. Most of us have friends and family who are out of work and hitting hard times. It is hard to escape it and a songwriter writes about what is going on inside of you, which is affected by what is going on around you. I have met people that are grateful we are singing about it. At the same time it is important to be said that it isn’t all woe is me look at how bad the situation is. It is really an album of hope and solution. Let’s stick together, maybe we can’t rely on our governments to help us so let’s get together and move forward."

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine caught up with Maxwell on the phone in Moncton, a few days prior to them joining Rise Against on the road. It is a great opportunity to reconnect with long time fans and make some new ones while touring arenas, he says.

"We are really looking forward to it, we have known Rise Against for 10 years and they are friends of ours, we respect them. Flogging Molly is the type of band that doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to support other bigger bands. We have done it a couple of times with The Foo Fighters and Green Day and both of them were great, we are looking forward to a similar experience. We were just with Rise Against in Budapest and hanging out backstage with them - it feels right, like a family. I am looking for a real good time. Also we usually play a 2 hour set every night, with them it is a 40 minute set so it should be a cakewalk in front of a big crowd."

It does pose a challenge, how to present the definitive Flogging Molly experience in such a short time frame.

"We have so many songs with 5 studio albums out that we love, it can be difficult to pick a set to play. We aren’t a jam band playing a different set completely every night. We will find a set that works and tweak it here and there to make for a powerful experience. It is a work of art in itself, making a set list and that is usually left up to Dave as well. He takes a lot of pride in the way the set flows and is very particular about it. We have had a lot of experience through warped tour of short sets so it is nothing new to us. It should be a pretty high impact, high energy 45 minute set and a lot of fun."

You might look at bands like Flogging Molly, Rise Against, Foo Fighters and Green Day and see a common thread of "music with a message" whether political or otherwise. Maxwell sees things a little differently.

"If you look at all three bands you will see three great rock bands who have been doing it for a long time and been soundtracks for a lot of our lives. I’ve been listening to Green Day for going on 20 years now. Is there a theme to how we all write songs? I don’t think so, we all have our politically motivated songs or social commentary songs but overall it is just great bands and we are thrilled to share the stage with them. Over the years we have genuinely developed friendships with these guys. Sitting backstage with Tre Cool from Green Day or Pat Smear from Foo Fighters it is still a thrill. They are normal guys but they have had a lot of success and hopefully that rubs off on you."

Music is a powerful tool. Rise Against has supported the It Gets Better Project, with their  anti-bullying song Make It Stop (September’s Children).

"Music saved my life, it is my church. You can’t underestimate the power of music. On our last record we did a video dedicated to those with post traumatic stress disorder. This is not a new story, it has been going on forever but a lot of people are coming back from war and having a hard time dealing with it all, so at the end of the video we had a message with a hotline reaching out to them. Everyone is trying to do the best they can. Even just putting on an old Bob Marley or Otis Redding record it soothes the soul and takes you out of the situation you are in. Music can take you away from your situation long enough that maybe you have a different point of view when you get back to your own reality. I don’t think musicians are preachers, we don’t have all the answers but we are just like every other human being – alive, aware, and have the right to speak our opinions through our music. In my life music connected to me when politics didn’t, when religion didn’t. The power is true."