In May, veteran Chicago punks The Methadones surprised everyone with a new 7″, Love on Layaway, their first new music in, like forever. TGEFM’s Jeff Sorley and Jason Zero (but mostly Jason Zero) got in touch with Dan Schafer (vocals, guitar), Mike Soucy (drums), and Simon Lamb (guitar) for a Roll of the Dice. We rolled a FIVE.
1) The Methadones just released some new music, which has been met with much rejoicing. But… why now?
Dan: We were asked to play a show a while back and the idea of new material came out of that. I had some songs I thought I would suggest for The Methadones and we liked the results. We’re still in that stage now.
Mike: Methadones just can’t stay down! We had so much fun playing those first few shows, especially Punk Rock Raduno. The response from the audience was so amazing so we started talking about doing more shows. Then Dan sent us about 30 demos of new material! They sounded great so Simon and I started playing them at rehearsal. We started tracking drums and guitars and they sounded like old school Methadones. Tough but poppy. It’s hard to be in the same room to play these days, so it’s taking a little more time to put things together. But we have a bunch more stuff ready to go. It just feels right.
2) With Dan and Pete no longer in the Chicago area, how has distance affected songwriting, practice, and the like?
Simon: Mike and I practice weekly. Either going over the set or working on new songs that Dan sends us demos of. It would be great if we were all in the same place, but that’s not the case and we make it work.
Mike: Like Simon said, we play weekly so we’re totally dialed in. It’s affected things mostly with the time we’re able to devote to working things out. When Simon and I tracked these new songs, Dan and Pete weren’t there. We would record the songs and immediately send them to them.
Dan. We’d then play another, wait for his notes, and then re-track if necessary. Luckily we pretty much nailed them, so we didn’t need to do much extra work. I kind of like the surprise of hearing the recording with vocals and bass only after they’re finished. I’m usually there in the studio hearing those parts as they’re laid down, now I’m just hoping for the best, and so far so good!
3) Has the rise of punk rock festivals worldwide changed the bands approach to doing live shows?
Dan: Maybe a little. It’s easier to play because at our age and stage in our lives, one location like Riot Fest or The Fest in Gainesville, where people travel from all over the world. That said, we play when we think it’ll be fun and eventful.
Simon: We recently played the Stardumb Records 25th anniversary weekend in Rotterdam. Like Dan said, if the experience is going to be different or fun it’s well worth doing.
Mike: It’s definitely easier for us to play less frequent, larger shows. And I think many bands feel the same since festivals are so prevalent. Touring isn’t something we can really do right now, so bigger shows are best. I wish we could add a couple of shows before and after things like Stardumb and Punk Rock Raduno so we can spread the love even further!
4) Are there plans for a full length release?
Mike: We’re taking things one step at a time right now. We’d like to keep doing singles, but we’ll be in our 70s before we release all of them! If we can find the time to work on 10-12 songs at once, maybe we’ll do a full length.
5) Does the presence of streaming platforms have any impact in how you plan to release new music? For example, will there be any specific focus on singles as opposed to albums?
Dan: I would like to try releasing a bunch of singles and making it into a full length at the end. It would be nice to focus on two songs at a time. I haven’t had a conversation with the label about it though.
Mike: Streaming makes it easy to release things when they’re ready, full length or not. I prefer longer format releases because we can get a little more creative with packaging, vinyl color, etc. Singles are a bit harder, but for streaming those work just fine.
Love on Layaway is out now video Red Scare Industries. You can find it on physical, digital, and streaming at this link page. The band will be throwing a record release party in Chicago at the Cobra Lounge on 30 Aug 2025.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Not easy to track down the ‘Dones! NICE WORK.
Yeah??? Well guess what!!!!! Here at That’s Good Enough For Me, we’ll show you Minor Threat, Talking Heads and The Methadones !!!