Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies was recently interviewed by Full Metal Jackie, where he talked about the making of 13, the latest album by the legendary crossover/hardcore punk band. Asked if the 13 songs that wound up on the album went through changes, Mike replied:

“When it came all down to it, it probably did, because we were close to 160 songs, but there were a lot of changes in the studio right up until the very end. I think if it hadn’t been so long, we probably would still be recording right now, but we actually kind of enjoyed that process. Putting records out isn’t very fun, but recording is fun.”

Then he added, “I think one of the things is the way music is now and doing your own thing. It used to be you put out a record and you went on tour for a year or so, you got back, took a little time off and then you went in the studio and recorded 15 or 20 songs and you picked them and put it out. I don’t think that is necessarily the way things are anymore, and the fact that things don’t sell or anything like that. Then it gets to the point like, “Why are we putting out something and kind of defend it, in a sense, because all of our records always get attacked when it’s something we love.” Ten years ago, we got our own studio and we have that ability where it’s not like, “Okay, we got three or four weeks, we have to get everything done and then that’s it.” You’re able to go into the studio anytime and write, and when you do that, you’re not sitting there going, “How’s this song going to fit in on a Suicidal record?” You just record and you do what you like and you have a lot of fun. I think it was at the end when it started getting to so many years where we were like, “We need to kind of get this done.”"

You can read the rest of the interview here.

13 was released last March. It is their first studio album with all-new material since 2000′s Free Your Soul and Save My Mind, and is said to be the first of the three albums they completed back in November 2011.

Full Metal Jackie recently conducted an interview with Glenn Danzig (The Misfits, Samhain and Danzig), who talks about a “Legacy” TV special, the long-awaited covers album and the possibility of new music. Asked about his influences and the covers album, which was announced almost exactly a year ago, Glenn replied:

“Elvis, of course, I heard when I was a kid and Sabbath when I was a young teenager, but the ZZ Top song is a song I heard later on because it’s a song that no one would ever think I would cover, because it’s not one of their earlier songs. It’s a song I always liked and thought that they didn’t do a good job with. I mean, it’s terrible to say that but… it’s a really good song and so I wanted to cover it and give it the respect it deserved. Maybe they didn’t think about it the way I did, maybe when they were doing it they had a certain thing in mind. My idea of covers is that you should never cover a song and do it exactly like the artist because everyone’s always going to compare it to the way the original artists did it and they’re just going to go, “Oh, I like the original better.” I wanted to make it my own and take it in a different direction, maybe a different direction they didn’t really think of at the time or would never think of, because I have a much different background than they do. There’s a ton of other cool covers on there. I did a lot of covers people wouldn’t think I would do, like “Biker” soundtrack theme song that I made crazy. There’s a Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra cover on there and I had Cherie Currie come down and sing the Nancy Sinatra part. She’s really cool and has a great voice and it was just awesome and I wanted to keep that cool, older, ’70s vibe because the Misfits came on the tail end of the ’70s and I wanted to keep that vibe. The managers and lots of other people suggested the new alternative girls and I was, like, “That’s not what I want and here’s who I’m thinking of” and they were like “What?” and it’s fantastic; she did such a great job.”

Glenn was also asked if the Danzig band has been working on new material, which will be their first since 2010′s Deth Red Sabaoth, he replied, “Actually, Tommy and I just cut a new track the other day. It was a song I had written for somebody else, and I just decided I would do it on my own, and that came out really heavy. I think at the end of this run, me, Tommy and Johnny are going to go in and cut some other songs.”

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness recently spoke to KROQ DJ Stryker about the band’s appearance at this year’s Coachella, where he met actor Danny DeVito. In the interview, Mike confirms that the band is taking the rest of this year off to focus on the writing of their next album, and that he’s writing a book called Story of My Life, which is supposed to be out early next year. On Social D’s appearance at Coachella and their next album, he states:

“Obviously someone approached someone, and yeah, it was a great idea. Technically, we’re off this year writing, but it’s an hour and half from home, and I was able to weasel a vacation out of it. I’ve been in Palm Springs all week, bro, getting my desert on.”

On his new book, Mike states, “It talks a lot about being ill-equipped to be a parent, and having to figure it out along the way.  (The book) starts at the beginning, but there are things in the book I hope will make people think. It’s been a pain in the ass. I would never want to do it again. You have to go back and revisit painful periods in your life. It’s funny that everything has been aligning itself in my personal life along with the writing of this book to where it’s like more is being revealed, and it’s not all good. It’s not all bad, but I hadn’t anticipated that. It’s not like writing songs. It’s been much more in-depth and personal.”

The new Social Distortion album, which is likely due for release next year, will be the follow-up to their 2011 Epitaph debut Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.