Who do you think is cooler; Avril Lavigne or Kelly Osbourne? Or are they both equally annoying?
Johnny: Neither of them annoy me. It's hard when someone gets pushed in your face every five minutes and your like "Yeah, I don't want to see anymore of them," but they don't annoy me. They're doing their own thing.

Which do you like better; McDonalds Fries or Burger King fries?
Johnny: Fries are fries.

Beer or mixed Drinks?
Johnny: Both.

Your sound illustrates a less poppy form of punk and has more of a classical sound to it. What are some of the bands that influence your sound?
Johnny: I couldn't really nail it to one band, yeah, there's Clash in our music, there's Rancid, there's Buzzcocks, all the old stuff, but when it comes down to it, I like anyone who puts heart into their music. I really don't care how it sounds and I think that influences us. I do like a lot of that early stuff, that's what got me into this, but now I like a lot of heart and staying true to what you do. As long as that's the case, then I can listen to it.

On your website it says that when the band formed in 1998, you were longing for something new. What was it that you were longing for?
Johnny: We wanted to get out of the daily grind...of waking up early in the morning, going and answering to some guy you really don't like, or don't appreciate and you don't want to hear orders from. We wanted something new. I think all of us have always been linked to music, we love music. Music is essentially my only friend, it's the one thing that's always been there for me and always will be.

What do you think you would be doing if you weren't making music?
Johnny: Music to me doesn't necessarily have to make me money, it makes me happy. (Johnny pauses to think over the question.) I would definitely be doing something for myself. I wouldn't be answering to anybody. I mean I don't think that anyone should have to answer to anybody. I think this world has enough opportunities, you just got to grab them.

Switching now to the topic of touring, what were your feelings about being on Warped Tour?
Johnny: That was amazing. He repeats, that was amazing. Generally, I'm not a huge fan of outdoor, festival type shows just because you lose the intimacy. You lose the intimacy of being 10 feet from the person you came to see and being inside of a dark club and just having that feeling. But being on it and being a part of it was amazing for me because I got to hang out with a lot of good bands that I listen to. It was amazing just to see something like that scale run everyday. It's a tight operation. What was really cool was it was kind of like being at school again, where it was kind of like "I don't know that band, but I'm here with them for 365 days out of the year, so I might as well go say 'what's up'."

You've toured with bands like Mest, H20 and Rancid, just to name a few, so what band has been your favorite to tour with?
Johnny: Bouncing Souls because when I was 16-17 years old I found the Bouncing Souls. They opened my eyes to this fucking beautiful thing and I've connected with their lyrics ever since. Every song they've ever written has been for me and we finally got a chance to do a tour with them and I'll never forget it because I grew up with them and I've never failed to buy anything they've ever put out. And to get the chance to go out with a band that I admire that much was amazing. I'll never forget it. Bouncing Souls dude.

What is the most enjoyable part of touring?
Johnny: Seeing new places, I mean apart from playing every night, just seeing this country and see other countries. I've been to Canada and I've been to the U.S., but you never really realize how beautiful the country is until you get out there. You've got these big metropolis cities and then 50 miles on down the road, you've got these beautiful country sides. That's one of my favorite parts of it; seeing it first hand.

Can I have an example of a prank that was pulled on you guys or that you pulled on somebody else while on tour?
Johnny: Bouncing Souls: We did a warm-up show with them in New Jersey, which is their home town and it was their first show in Jersey in a while and it was a big show. Us an One Man Army were on tour with them and the night before the Jersey show we played in Pennsylvania somewhere and we went back to the hotel room and I drank a little bit too much and I passed out. I always got my keys on me (Johnny shows me his keys hanging from a belt loop on his pants) and I took them off and I set them down by me on the staircase of this hotel because I was talking on the phone and I guess I passed out. When I got up in the morning I didn't bring my keys with me. So the keys got turned into the hotel lobby. I went down to the lobby and I said "Did someone turn in some keys?" and the guy said "Yeah, but I gave them to this band, Live." (Live was also staying at the hotel that night.) But in actuality the Bouncing Souls had taken them. Later that night we played in Jersey and they went out while we wer e playing and they took our van and they moved it. So we thought our van got stolen and we are all running around like chickens with our heads cut off like, "Where's our van? Oh my God, it got stolen, this is horrible, we're in Jersey." The next thing we know, here comes our van rolling down the street and we're like "There it is!" So we start running after it, thinking someone's stealing it and it's this guy Mattie, who works for the Bouncing Souls. It was memorable.

You were talking about the beauty of the country, what would you say your favorite city or state is?
Johnny: I love New York City. I like the fact that you don't need a car. And when I hang out with my friends there, I walk down the street and they see their friends just walking and that's rare because in L.A. everything is so spread out.

What is the craziest thing you have ever seen while being on tour?

(The merchandise guy for Catch 22 walks by just as I finish asking my question and exclaims, "My fucking balls.")
Johnny: There's been so many. I guess one night when we were out on Warped Tour, we were out by the Bar-B-Que and I had my bag sitting out there with all my clothes and this is like, three days into the tour. A little ember flew from the Bar-B-Que and landed in my bag and no one even noticed it. Everyone is just standing there and next thing we know my bag is like - woosh - up in flames. I'm just sitting there looking at it and I'm like "I just started this huge tour and my clothes are on fire." It was cool because all the bands gave me merchandise.

What were some of the goals with the new album East to West? What did you hope to achieve?
Johnny: I wanted people to see that Madcap is a band, it's what we do. I wanted that to reflect through our lyrics that this is what we want to do and you can have fun doing it. It doesn't have to be hard and it doesn't have to be a rebellious kind of thing. Just do what you want to do, don't let anyone stop you and there's a lot of songs talking about having heart. Just stick with it.

Do you think you've achieved those goals?
Johnny: Yeah, sometimes you get kids that are connected to it and it makes me feel really good. My goal as a musician and an artist is to go up on stage and make sure the crowd has a good time and make sure they come back. If they can take the album home and connect with it, great. If they can take the album home and play it a lot and it makes them happy, put it on at a party, whatever, great. I just want everyone to have fun. It should be like a religious experience; going to a show or listening to a good album.

Where do you see yourselves a year from now? Doing the same thing?
Johnny: Definitely. I think nothing is going to get in our way. Just because I like doing it so much. Success means something to me, I want to be a huge band, I want to be able to play to as many people as possible.

Based on your experiences, what kind of advice could you give to someone trying to succeed, trying to get out of the daily grind, trying to be something for themselves?
Johnny: Persistence. There's times when you feel like there's no one out there helping you, but it's a bigger waste of time to let that stop you then to keep going.

By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / CEO

May 7, 2003