Greg Norton joins us in the studio to talk about a brand-new record from three-piece punk-rock band UltraBomb.

Here in the Twin Cities, Norton is certainly well known for a long legacy of making-music in Minnesota and beyond. But this week, we’re talking about what's going on in the present, specifically, Norton’s work in UltraBomb, and their brand-new record, Dying To Smile. Use the audio player above to listen to the interview, and read a transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Edited for time and clarity.

Jill Riley: I have Greg Norton in the studio. Greg, how are you?

Greg Norton: I am fantastic, and so happy to be back in the studio with you. It's been a while.

Jill Riley: It's been a long time. The last time that I saw you was probably about five years ago. And it was that show at the Palace Theatre. It was Bob Mould. And then you were playing with Porcupine at the time. 

Greg Norton: Yes, I was.

Jill Riley: Oh, and that was a lot of fun.

Greg Norton: That was a great show. Yeah.

Jill Riley: Yeah. But it wasn't long after that you were kind of cooking up something new. And then I had heard from you about this new band UltraBomb. So for anyone who is not familiar with the band, talk about the band and how you came together because you're kind of, it's not like everybody is in Minneapolis or everybody's in Minnesota. It's really this international...

Greg Norton: I'm the only one here. 

Jill Riley: Yeah.

Greg Norton: We are an international punk rock trio. So basically, after things kind of wrapped up with Porcupine, and then there was COVID, and all of this stuff, and then out of the blue, Finny McConnell, who lives in Toronto, Canada, reached out and said, "Hey, it doesn't look like you're playing any music right now. I've got this crazy idea. Do you want to start a band with this guy named Jamie Oliver, he drums with the U.K. Subs and Jamie lives in London, England." And I was like, "OK, why not?"

Jill Riley: Sure.

Greg Norton: So the original concept that Finny came up with was let's just get together for laughs, we'll play some Hüsker covers, some Mahones covers, maybe throw in some U.K. Subs. And so we came up with the name. And you know, we were just kind of getting together on FaceTime and stuff like that. And in September of '21, Finny was in Berlin, and he's like, "Hey, I've got studio time booked, and Jamie just happens to be over here." And then I got to thinking, "You know, I've never been to Berlin."

Jill Riley: OK!

Greg Norton: "...I've never actually even met these guys in person." So I bought a plane ticket, flew to Berlin just to see if this was actually going to be something real. And that first day, we wrote four songs. The next day, we wrote six, and Finny looked at my lyrics on the third day and put the whole thing together and then sang the whole record on the fourth day, and that's how Time to Burn was created. And we were like, "What the hell just happened here?"

Jill Riley: Because that's a whirlwind!

Greg Norton: That is, yeah, it was one of those things where all of us just felt like we'd been playing together forever and we had been great friends forever. And we were like, "We just recorded a punk rock classic." And of course, then I had a prostate cancer diagnosis. So we played one show two years ago with at Hook and Ladder, and five days after that, I had my prostate out. And I'm in good health now. I'm feeling great.

Jill Riley: OK, I was just going to say how are you doing? Because you look great.

Greg Norton: Yeah, thanks.

Jill Riley: Yeah.

Greg Norton: Last December, we went to England and toured with the Barstool Preachers who had opened for us on our tour last year. And while we were there, we booked another four days in a studio and we recorded another record in four days. It's called Dying To Smile. And now it's out! It's it's a thing. It's like, we got it recorded and got it released. And we're on a great label out of Missouri called DC-Jam.

Jill Riley: Which, by the way, you can't see this on the radio, but Greg just flashed me the tattoo. It's so great that you've been inspired to tattoo it on your bicep there.

Greg Norton: Right. Well, I was in Vegas for for Punk Rock Bowling with Darron Hemann who is, he's the label. And he's like, "I tell you what, you get a DC-Jam tattoo, and I'll get an UltraBomb tattoo," which we all got UltraBomb tattoos on our last tour that we just got done with in April, we toured with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. The other band on that bill was Dicky Barrett's new band, The Defiant. From the three bands, everybody in each individual component from each of those bands, basically, you could write another, you know, a volume two of Our Band Could Be Your Life. So, I'm just really happy with the way it came out, and hopefully people have been listening to the single coming up, leading up to now that the album's out, I'm so excited. 

Jill Riley: OK. Yeah, congratulations. Well, yes, so stick around because we're going to play the song coming out of our chat here. And I am chatting with Greg Norton, best known around these parts as one of the trio of Hüsker Dü, but bring it up to the present, which we are at, the present, UltraBomb, with this new record which is out now. And in your experience, what was that feeling of really finding your tribe musically, because it kind of seems like you've found that again.

Greg Norton: I absolutely have. You know, Finny wrote a song a long time ago called "Punk Rock Saved My Life." I feel like punk rock has saved my life a couple of times now. So, you know, it's just meeting people that are like minded and open minded and kind and considerate, you know, and in punk, you you lift each other up. Barstool Preachers have a great line, "Never looked down on anyone unless you're giving them a hand up." And that's it. If somebody stumbles and falls in the pit, everybody stops and picks them up. I've met so many great friends in this last year since UltraBomb finally got out on the road. And now that's all I want to do is travel and go to festivals and tour with the band and keep meeting like-minded people.

Jill Riley: Yeah, well, I'm talking with Greg Norton of UltraBomb with a new album out. Now, Greg, you know, in your time with Hüsker Dü, I'd never really like known you to write lyrics. But what does it feel like to write lyrics now for this band?

Greg Norton: I've been writing lyrics for forever, but, you know, the Hüsker dynamic was obviously a very different one, especially as it evolved through the nine years that the band was together, and I'm happy to say I was the third best songwriter in Hüsker Dü! But, you know, it was tough with Bob [Mould] being so prolific, and the stuff that Grant [Hart] wrote was just always amazing. So it was hard for me to bring music forward in that environment. And with UltraBomb, Finny, you know, he comes up with some guitar riffs, and then we'll put it into an arrangement. And it's like, "OK, that's a song," we'll play it a couple of times. And it's after the fact is when the lyrics get paired to what we've recorded. There's usually some sort of melody in my head as I'm putting it together. But it's not the music that it ends up being matched up with. This is worked out so well. And I couldn't be happier about it.

Jill Riley: Yeah, because it feels like there's really this kind of true spirit of collaboration in this band.

Greg Norton: Absolutely. 

Jill Riley: Yeah. The new record is called Dying To Smile. It is out. Again, you guys just kind of coming off a tour and celebrating this new record. You're even wearing the UltraBomb T-shirt today.

Greg Norton: Representing!

Jill Riley: Exactly. I love this, because the image on this T-shirt that you're wearing is what's on the album cover. It's kind of like this image of a couple, it's like two ghosts sort of dancing together over, like, what I can see on the floor here would be kind of like their bodies.

Greg Norton: Yes.

Jill Riley: Can you talk about this album cover and who designed it and kind of the concept behind it?

Greg Norton: Well, the concept was kind of an idea that Jamie had about dying to smile. It's like here is a couple that, basically, they died to be happy together. The artist that drew this is a guy named Sebas Thériault, he is French Canadian, and he does a lot of album artwork. He did our tour poster last year. And we couldn't be happier with what he came up with. It's just perfect.

Jill Riley: Greg Norton is with me this morning. What is it like to play with this band and play with this band in the Twin Cities, in Minneapolis?

Greg Norton: I love playing with this band. The band live is, I mean, we're on fire. I mean, right now, we are convinced that we are playing the absolute best punk rock on the planet right now, and also putting out the best punk records. It does take me back to early days. I've heard Bob say like, you know, "being lucky enough to catch lightning in a bottle twice," and I certainly believe that I have done that as well. At the end of our tour, we played a show at the Hook and Ladder with the Silent Treatment and Big Salt, two really great bands. And it was a wild show. It was great. You know, and people, I have so many friends in the Twin Cities and just seeing all of them come out to support and just really loving what we're doing was a special night.

Jill Riley: It's great to see a new record from UltraBomb and again, that you're in good health. I mean, at this moment, you really have to be feeling that music is part of that medicine that got you through.

Greg Norton: Absolutely, yeah, music is my therapy.

Jill Riley: Yeah, yep.

Greg Norton: Gonna keep doing it. This is what I want to be the last chapter, and I don't want to toil away in a factory anywhere, I just want to get out and play music and love life.

Jill Riley: All right. Well the new album is called Dying To Smile. It's UltraBomb. It is out now. Greg, thanks for coming in.

Greg Norton: Yeah, thank you for having me.

Jill Riley: That's Greg Norton. This song is called "Rage Bomb." It is new music from UltraBomb, and it's on The Current.

Credits

Guest – Greg Norton
Host – Jill Riley
Producers – Derrick Stevens, Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

UltraBomb – official site