Exclusive: Good Riddance to reunite; frontman Russ Rankin talks about the band's plans

Santa Cruz, California punk legends GOOD RIDDANCE will be reuniting this year, Altpress.com can exclusively confirm. The band was originally together from 1986-2007, releasing seven full-lengths via Fat Wreck Chords. No new music is expected from the band at this point, but frontman Russ Rankin hasn't completely ruled it out (as you'll read below). The group is expected to announce new shows very soon.

AP caught up with Rankin to discuss Good Riddance's reasons for reuniting, what their plans are and what they hope to accomplish in this second run.

Interview: Bryne Yancey

How much had you all kept in touch over the past five years? When did the reunion talks among the band begin to get serious?
Various members have stayed in touch over the last several years. Chuck and I did some Creep Division shows and occasionally I've played solo shows with his other band(s). Luke and Sean have remained in contact and have played music together as well. We have been approached dozens of times to reform and play and we never paid much attention until recently. We just miss playing a lot of the songs and we feel like we have the collective availability for the first time in a while to actually be able to do this.

Good Riddance's final show in 2007 was recorded and released as a live album, Remain in Memory: The Final Show; looking back, did you think that was definitively the end of the band or was there something in the back of your head that made you leave the door open to revisiting it, if only slightly?
The others might answer differently but I was definitely done at that time. I have never considered doing this until very recently. Playing shows could be cool though I don't think we have any designs on trying to make a go of it again as far as recording new material or doing a ton of touring. With what everyone has going on in their lives I doubt we could do any more than what we have planned at the moment. We'll have to wait and see how this goes.

GR has always been a political/activist band and 2012 is an election year. Did you feel a need to get back out there and spread the band's message given the current political climate in America?
I always feel that way personally. I was convinced that the band's potency as any kind of social or political instrument had run its course although if anyone can become interested in what's going on through listening to us or coming to a show, I am all for it as I always have been. We will be doing all we can to support various groups or political organizations as we have in the past and a great deal of that will be available at our shows or on our website.

How many shows are planned, and where? Is anything specific nailed down yet?
This is still being determined. As we confirm dates they will be available on our website and Facebook page.

What are the chances GR will make new music in the future?
Like I mentioned earlier, I don't anticipate that happening but I couldn't unequivocally say we won't. We have over eight albums worth of stuff to go through which in itself is a bit daunting.

Is there anything you hope to accomplish as a band that maybe you didn't during your initial run?
I hope we can reach some people who might have missed us before but who got into our recorded material later on. I also hope we can continue to foster an atmosphere where people are comfortable questioning their surroundings and the political machinatons we find ourselves oddly bound to. We hope to continue promoting animal rights and a more fair and just world.

What sort of sets can fans expect as these upcoming shows? Will they span the band's entire career or be more focused on a certain era?
We will be playing material from just about every release we did on Fat and will be including our most popular songs. I doubt we’ll play much of the more obscure 7-inch or compilation tracks but I wouldn't rule anything out for sure. alt