Interview With Jon Weiner Of The Dopamines

Critical Mass: Thanks for taking the time to talk with Critical Mass, Jon. The band's been on the road lately, and are heading back out to the East coast in August. How many tours has the band done so far?

Jon Weiner: Shit, I've never taken the time to count, but well over a dozen by now. Not as many as some bands, but more than most! Our most recent one with Less Than Jake was pretty rad.

CM: Any plans for a cross country, or possibly overseas tour?

JW: We did a really long cross country tour 3-4 years ago, and we did Europe almost two years ago. I would love to do both of those tours again, while also including the UK. We loved playing in Canada, too. However, as of right now we have no plans to do any extensive touring. Jobs, real life, wives etc have been catching up with us. It's more or less always been a struggle financially for us to get out on the road. We're playing Hawaii in July, pretty crazy excited for that.

CM: Can you give us a little history on the band? How did you guy's get started?

JW: We turn 5 this year! we started in 2006. We wanted to start a party Ramones style band. Jon Lewis was in a band called the Black Tie Bombers that had more or less just ended, and it ended up getting serious and turning into the Dopamines. We were all in a bunch of bands together. This one just kinda stuck I guess. The songs got slightly more serious and we layed down a full length with Matt Yonker. Michael (drummer) ended up joining the band afterwards.

CM: What are some of the bands musical influences?

JW: We were super influenced by current pop-punk when we started. Ergs, Copyrights, TBR. I think as we've "matured" as a band there are a lot more influences that we have pulled from all over the place. In my head I always wanted to be the perfect hybrid of Pinhead Gunpowder and Dillinger Four, probably the two most important punk bands to me. We just recorded a Guided By Voices song. I dunno, we're all over the place. We've all got different tastes. I like the Stones, Jon Lewis likes the Beatles. Shit like that.

CM: Outside of your home town of Cincinnati what are some of your favorite cities to play?

JW: Chicago is probably our second home. We have so many friends there and the shows are always amazing. We also love playing in Baltimore, Minneapolis, and NYC. Belgium was the most fun show we had in Europe. Kids were crazy. Montreal and Toronto were also some of the cooler shows we've ever played. People are still stoked about punk in Canada.

CM: The bands last album "Expect The Worst" came out in July of last year. Is there a new album in the works?

JW: We just recorded 12 songs. It may or may not end up being a full length. Probably just an EP and some 7" stuff. I'm really excited about the songs though. I also think it's the best sounding (production wise) stuff we've ever done. 

CM: You guy's are playing Insubordination Fest again this year. What's is like to play with so many amazing bands? 

JW: That's always the most fun weekend of the year for us. It's more or less with all of our friends. We always have too much fun.

CM: Besides Insub Fest and the shows in August, are there any other big plans for the rest of 2011?

JW: We're playing Best Friends Day in Richmond, Indianapolis July 9th for a big breast cancer benefit, Hawaii in July, and the Fest in October. As of right now nothing big is confirmed, but we are throwing around some cool ideas.

CM: Is there a website that you guy's would like to plug? Where fans can get tour dates, news and merch?

JW: www.thedopamines.net That has our shows, news, and a store!

CM: Thanks again for talking with Critical Mass, Jon. I'm looking forward to seeing you in Chicago again. Thanks again man.

JW: Thank you!