With a new album, Still Stuck In Your Throat, and an ongoing world tour, Fishbone are stronger than ever.  Their upbeat fusion of ska, punk, metal, and funk revolutionized modern music and they will be preaching their gospel on three very special dates in Florida.  Be sure to check them out if you’ve never witnessed the raw energy that has made them known as one of the best live bands of all time.  Founding member and bassist, John Norwood Fisher, took some time to share with us what they’ve been up to.

REAX:  How long has the current lineup been together functioning as a band?
John Norwood Fisher:  It’s been about three or four years, I think.  The guys playing with us are from the same streets that we grew up in so we speak the same language.  It’s a diverse group of guys and we work well together.  At the core of it all we can access that original Fishbone intention no matter how esoteric that may be.

REAX:  What does the set list look like for the upcoming tour, a mix of old and new?
JNF:  It may be a little long sometimes, but we give you a bit of both.  We change what we do every night.  We’re constantly adding songs to the repertoire.  If you come to a show and you don’t hear songs from one particular album it’s just cause it was an oversight. We try to play about ninety percent of the new record and then have oldies from the first record on up scattered through the set.  We don’t demand from ourselves that we play something from every album every night we play.  We come with a vibe for the evening that gives people the full Fishbone experience.  People who have never seen the band before and maybe just picked up the new record will get a dose of history and those people who have been with us for the entire ride will get to relate to the new material.  They can judge it right next to their favorite old Fishbone song.  We might not get all the favorites, but we’re going to play something that touched you as a teenager.

REAX:  Fishbone is known as one of the best live bands in the world... is it hard keeping up the high energy level?
JNF:  At this point, it’s really a natural occurrence.  Angelo is one hundred percent authentic with what he’s doing.  Thank goodness he’s mostly an upbeat person because if he wasn’t feeling good then you might feel that in the show cause we’re honest.  We understand that if we’re having a bad day, then it’s not the audience’s fault… but you know.  If you saw four or five shows in a row, you’d say, “them motherfuckers was different every night.”  It’s fun to bring it that honestly.  Depending on the evening… if there’s a spark in the air then we will extend that jam and take it to a place where we don’t even know where we’re going.

REAX:  Are you looking forward to your headlining stint on the Warped Tour?  
JNF:  Absolutely man, I love being a part of that party.  We did the entire tour in 1997 and we played the 10th anniversary wrap party in Boston.  It’s the best rock star barbeque since Lollapalooza.  We’re only playing the west coast dates though, not the entire thing this time.

REAX:  How do you expect the younger generation of punk rock fans to react to you, being that most so-called punk acts are pretty close to boy bands?
JNF:  You know what…yeah exactly man.  With some of them, it’ll go right over their heads.  Bands like Flipper and the Butthole Surfers would never have a chance in front of these kids.  Maybe they can conceptually play some of that old school punk rock, but it’s turned into the thing that it was built to combat.  But, some of them will see it for what it is; the real shit… the raw shit.  Some of the kids are looking to be woken up to that.  A portion of these new punk bands are just like hair bands from the 80’s.  It sounds like someone took the Backstreet Boys and fused them with a way watered down version of The Dickies.

REAX:  What do you think it would take to get these kids away from their boy bands?
JNF:  Well, I would of thought it would have taken a war.