The Smoking Popes used to rule. Matt Skiba and Pete Wentz have even talked about how much they rule. Then they broke up and stopped ruling so much. Now they’re back together and ruling again. Racket’s very own Jonathan had a chance to yack it up with lead singer Josh.
Racket: Well, fellow Racketeer Matt and I were discussing the origin of your band’s name. He feels that the name stems from a euphemism for oral sex, while I believe that “smoking popes” has to deal with gang violence and the Catholic Church. Comment.
Josh: Well, your theory is closer to the truth. The actual origin of the band name is as follows: My older brother Matt, who is also the bass player in the band, suggested that we call ourselves The popes because he heard there was a street gang in Chicago called the Popes. I agreed that it was a cool name, but thought it might be a bad idea to steal the name of a gang outright. I thought it might bring up some problems with the gang itself, so I suggested that we take the name and flesh it out a little bit. The “something popes. ”Then we went through the process of picking the first word, which took a few weeks and a lot of list making and running things by some people. Then we settled on “smoking.” Then, the story we came up with later was that we named ourselves after the Pope Of Greenwich Village, inspired by Mickey Rourke’s character in the movie, who smoked a lot and looked damned cool doing it. But that was an afterthought, really.
R: I see. Looking back on your past, have you ever had it bad, had it bad, had it bad, were you ever hot for teacher?
J: I’ve had a few attractive teachers over the years. I sort of had a crush on my third grade teacher.
R: Gross. Why did the Smoking Popes get back together, money or the chicks?
J: Those are my two options?
R: No, I just don’t see any other reason to be in a band. If it’s something else, let’s hear it.
J: We got back together because we thought it would be fun to get back together and and couldn’t see any reason not to.
R: I suppose that’s a good reason. What and where is your favorite value meal?
J: Well, I’m not really a value meal guy because I don’t eat fries, therefore the value meal is never the best option for me. If I had to eat fast food, I would probably go to Wendy’s and get the Asian Chicken Salad.
R: The ones with the little orange slices? Those kick ass. Has there ever been a question you were dying to be asked?
J: Nope. Some of my favorite interviews were the ones where we didn’t talk about the band, we just talked about movies.
R: You’re in luck; I didn’t want to ask any other questions about the band. Do you know how many udders a cow has?
J: I don’t know, I’ve never milked a cow.
R: Let me enlighten you. It’s a common misconception that a cow has four udders, but this is simply not true. A cow has one udder and four teats.
J: OK.
R: Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
J: Thanks, man.
R: Fruit Loops or Fruity Pebbles?
J: I was a big fan of Fruity Pebbles before they added the grape pebbles.
R: Those blue ones were pretty sweet, though.
J: When I was a kid, it was probably my favorite cereal, I was really upset when they tampered with it and added grape. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
R: Do you know that movie Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson?
J: I never saw it.
R: That doesn’t matter; it has nothing to do with the next question. What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?
J: I was a big fan of Looney Tunes. You can’t top Bugs Bunny. Still stands up. That Animaniacs show was pretty good, too, though.
R: All right, I’m done if you are.
J: It’s been good talking to you.
-Jonathan Yost