Online Exclusive Interview: Chuck Ragan

For the better part of the 1990s and the early 2000s, Chuck Ragan was one of the gruff-voiced, impassioned and intense frontmen for Hot Water Music, one of the greatest bands to ever come out of the punk rock mecca of Gainesville, Florida. When the band went on hiatus in 2005, Ragan ducked out of the spotlight, but the touring bug bit him again, and he started up a folk and country inspired solo project. Between a 7” series released by No Idea Records, a live album and studio album released by SideOneDummy, a collaborative album with Austin Lucas, a slew of 7”s and a whole lot of touring, Chuck has become even more prolific than he was in his days with Hot Water Music. I recently got the chance to speak with Ragan about his past, his present and his future.



SLUG:  In other interviews I’ve read and heard, you talk about how your wife encouraged you to start your solo acoustic product, but I’ve never really heard about what drew you to this kind of music in the first place. Obviously there was an interest before Hot Water Music broke up because you played in Rumbleseat for a while, but could you talk about how you first became interested in this kind of music?
Chuck: I think back to a lot of the music I heard growing up in my household and where I came from. I was born and raised in the southeast and I grew up in a somewhat conservative good ol’ southern Baptist household, so I grew up hearing a lot of gospel and bluegrass and some country. My mother’s side of the family is all Cajun folk, so on that side of the family we heard a lot of Creole music, sitting around and watching my grandma and grandpa singing Cajun songs and playing the accordion and tambourine. I think a lot of that has really been instilled in me since I was a baby. One of my all time favorite bands is Creedence Clearwater Revival. I’ve always enjoyed playing acoustic guitar. Even when I got older and started listening to bands like Bad Brains and The Germs and Minor Threat, I still listened to CCR along the way. It kinda made me feel the same way as all the punk rock music I was listening to. Even through Hot Water Music, the majority of the first songs we ever wrote were written acoustic. That wasn’t necessarily by choice, because we lived in an apartment complex where we really couldn’t plug in, so a lot of the times we were just sitting around on the porches, playing acoustic guitar. I think part of it is that it all feels natural to  me, and the other part of it is the independence of it all. There’s really not a whole lot to hide behind when you’re standing up there with an acoustic guitar. You’re really cutting yourself open. It’s intimidating and it’s scary, which I think is what drives a lot of people to do it, because if you’re able to get up and go for it and pull it off, it feels good.

SLUG: Why do you think fans of Hot Water Music and fans of punk rock in general are attracted to you and people like Tim Barry and Austin Lucas and all of these other punk-gone-folk artists that are so prominent?
Chuck: For one, I think it’s amazing that people have been so receptive, and that I’ve gotta see first and foremost. I certainly feel blessed that people have been so supportive. I think that this kind of music isn’t really anything that different from what we’ve been doing, we’re just doing it a bit more full-on right now because people are noticing it a little bit and it’s being supported a little bit more. Ideally, it’s not any different than any of the other stuff I’ve ever done. As far as writing goes, it’s not any different for me. Ethically, lyrically it’s all for the same cause and the same idea. The only thing different is it isn’t all distorted and it doesn’t have the massive drums and the whole rock and roll aspect. Other than that, it feels the same.

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