Joe Gittleman on life after the Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Boston Globe

13-03-2025

Things came together quickly for the core members of the new group — Gittleman on bass, as he'd been for the Bosstones, singer-guitarist Sammy Kay, and drummer Michael McDermott, who has played with the Bouncing Souls and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Ahead of the upcoming release of
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'It's been a pretty whirlwind creative time,' said Gittleman from his office on the campus of Vermont State University in Montpelier, where he teaches classes about the music business. 'We're enjoying the process of becoming a band.'
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As one of the main drivers of the Bosstones, the rowdy third-wave ska band that helped revive the Jamaican style in the 1990s, it was Gittleman who was pitted against
'I think the Bosstones was a really lucky and wonderful thing, and that's how I choose to remember it,' he said. 'Dick's got things that are important to him, and we both made our decisions accordingly.'
While making the record that would turn out to be the Bosstones' last, 2021's 'When God Was Great,' Gittleman and Barrett were at odds over the vaccine mandates.
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'There was no blame or anger about that,' Gittleman said. But Barrett's activism 'was going to impact all of us, ultimately.
'I can't speak for any other Bosstones, but I can certainly say for me, I'm happy where I'm at now, where I'm heading.'
Gittleman first met Sammy Kay a decade or so ago on the ska scene, when the latter was helping to manage a like-minded band, the Pietasters. As a songwriter, the gruff-voiced Kay thought he wanted to be the next Bob Dylan, 'but then realized the world didn't need another Bob Dylan,' Gittleman said with a gap-toothed smile.
Kay, who grew up in New Jersey and now makes his home near Cincinnati, has done some hard living.
'He's up front about his mental health struggles and addiction,' Gittleman said. 'I'll say that for him, because he says that himself.'
But they bonded over a shared commitment to songwriting, and their mutual love of the Clash.
'In Sammy, I found someone who is similarly obsessed on the songwriting side,' Gittleman said. 'Not everyone is.
'He's a very sweet, caring person who really is in music because he likes connecting with people.'
Kay, who is about 20 years younger than Gittleman, brings an energy that fuels the older musician. They just returned from a West Coast tour with another Boston-based ska band, Big D and the Kids Table.
'We win rooms over,' Gittleman said. 'We can hop in front of people who've never heard of us and make the most of every experience. We're up there rippin'.'
'Beliefs & Thieves' features a few explicit ska songs ('Ya Ya,' 'Lorelei'). But it also has songs that don't quite fit the mold of Gittleman's previous band. 'Battles,' for instance, is a straight-ahead melodic punk song, while 'Old Dog' is bathed in a dreamy echo that borders on shoegaze.
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The album was mixed by Paul Kolderie, the recording engineer who cofounded Boston's Fort Apache Studios and has worked on albums by the Pixies, Radiohead, and the Bosstones, among many others.
'At this point, he's probably my longest collaborative relationship,' said Gittleman. Kolderie 'didn't know Sammy from a hole in the wall,' he noted, yet he recognized the power of his voice and pushed it up in the mix.
Kay 'plays music with a heavy hand,' Gittleman said. 'He adds color to everything. He's not a passive participant to music. Perhaps that's what made me go, 'I want to keep working in this direction.''
The Kilograms (the name was chosen as a mashup of Kay's and Gittleman's initials) are restoring a sense of fulfillment to the time Gittleman spends onstage, he said. How exactly does he define that? After a moment, he answered.
'Love on stage, in the room, honestly. The idea that we're moving together, hoping to accomplish something creatively.
'And maybe do some good along the way.'
THE KILOGRAMS
Opening for Dropkick Murphys, with the Menzingers. March 14, 7 p.m. $42.50-$79.50. MGM Music Hall at Fenway. 2 Lansdowne St., Boston.
James Sullivan can be reached at
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