This is our fourth interview with the BOUNCING SOULS in the past 10 something years and the one thing that has held true among all of them is that the band’s easy going, friendly nature is just as strong through the media as it is in their music. After successfully figuring out a way to stay in the punk rock news headlines throughout all of 2009 by releasing a new song each month, the band forced their way into 2010 with the summation of all those songs into a full-length titled Ghosts on the Boardwalk. For the CD enthusiast, the release comes with the bonus material of their 30 minute “20th Anniversary TV Special,” a kitschy, but entirely appropriate bit of entertainment from the band. I chatted briefly with ‘Souls bassist Bryan Kienlen in early 2010 about last year’s endeavor and what might be in store for the future. Enjoy.

Pastepunk: 2010 is the BOUNCING SOULS’ 21st Anniversary. Now that the band is of legal drinking age, how do you guys plan to go out and celebrate?

Bryan: Drinks for all my friends! All legal-like too!

Pastepunk: With the release of Ghosts On The Boardwalk, the band collects all 12 of the songs that were issued on a per month (and quarterly 7″) basis in 2009… isn’t its release in CD form kind of anti-climatic? Did you get the sense that a lot of fans were holding out for the CD? Was there a plan all along to put the songs out on a single CD?

Bryan: The plan was actually to never release a CD. All year people kept asking us “When’s the CD coming out?” So we decided to release the collection of songs as a CD, based on there being some kind of demand. As it turns out, it’s much more enjoyable to listen to the tunes in the sequence we arranged for the CD. I’m personally happy to have it as another CD, another chapter in our story.

Pastepunk: The white-elephant-in-the-room question of course is whether the one-track-per-month download model is financially viable for the band. Did the download sales meet expectations? We’re the expectations higher than what would might have happened if the full-length CD came out in the beginning of 2009? Personally, I bought the new song each month through eMusic. I was pretty stoked on the 1st (or sometimes 2nd) of the month when the new tune would show up in the “freshly ripped” section of the site.

Bryan: For sure the highlight of that idea was everyone having a new song to enjoy on the first of each month. It was like having something to look forward to on the first each new month besides bills. It didn’t translate into much money, I’m pretty sure we spent more money than we made doing that experiment, but I don’t regret it for a second, it was totally fun!

Pastepunk: How did the new songs fare in touring last year? Did you guys play new material early in the year that wasn’t set to be released until months later? Were fans familiar with the new material as quickly as they might have been with a conventional album release?

Bryan: We started playing “Gasoline” already back in ’08 and it was well-received. As we toured, the longer a song had been out the better it was known at the show, but there seem to be a few standouts just like with any other record. And like always, we play mostly all of the tunes and see how they do in a live setting. Then the best-received ones last and get the most live plays.

Pastepunk: Are you guys still feeling experimental with the prospect of the next batch of new songs? Maybe try your hand in the pay-what-you-want model?

Bryan: We haven’t yet had that conversation actually. Who knows?

Pastepunk: As an artist, does it personally bother you that so many in the technology field loudly proclaim the inevitable end of people paying for music, and that songs will just be forms of paid advertising from bands, made to support touring?

Bryan: It is what it is. We’re easy-going and will just roll with whatever happens. Who cares, we never really made any money selling records anyway. We’re happy we’ve made a living doing what we love for this long as it is. The most important thing to us is writing and performing music, challenging ourselves, improving and expanding in the creative realm.

Pastepunk: “Badass” is one of those songs that likely brings a grin to anyone who remembers when Maniacal Laughter (or even earlier material) was released. How’d that song come together? Is there still a collective fire to play the older, faster, rougher punk rock material?

Bryan: “Badass” was a totally fun song that we wrote together in like 5 minutes. It’s still fun as hell to play our silly and fast songs and to write new silly or fast songs too.

Pastepunk: Mixing it up for a final question – name three current bands that impressed you in 2009 and made you interested in what they have coming up in the future:

Bryan: Mariachi El Bronx, Star Fucking Hipsters… I don’t know I was too busy to pay much attention. Did Madball release anything in 09? I loved Infiltrate the System by those guys. I was on tour all year so I don’t know what the hell is going on!