Flogging Molly enjoys community of fans

If you love Flogging Molly, you do so unreservedly. They’re one of those bands that inspires and thrives on rabid fandom – just go to one of their shows and you’ll know what I mean – and they’re as known for their rollicking, freewheeling live shows as their rock ’n’ roll spin on traditional Irish music.

The band, which stops in Spokane on Saturday night, has been touring frequently but hasn’t released an album since 2011’s “Speed of Darkness.” Guitarist Dennis Casey says they’ve got new material in the works.

“We haven’t played any of the new stuff live, but we’ve been practicing it,” he said during a recent phone interview. “We’ve got five new songs, but for whatever reason we’re not doing them live.

“I wish we were, though,” he added with a laugh.

So far, the process of putting together a new record is, Casey said, vastly different than it has been in the past. Instead of rehearsing the songs over and over before committing them to tape, the members of Flogging Molly have been meeting every few months to work through new tunes while in the recording studio.

“We just have to cut out the time and get together, because nobody lives in the same state anymore,” Casey said. “What we do is pick a place – it’s usually in Detroit, where (lead singer) Dave (King) lives, but sometimes it’s in Ireland. … We’re going into a recording studio right off the bat. We’re not sitting in a room and rehearsing songs and then going into the studio. It’s been a fruitful experience. We’re working faster than we have before.”

Much like their fans have developed a community, the members of Flogging Molly have bonded like family over the years. Casey describes their musical communication as if it’s ESP: “You don’t always have to verbalize your thoughts, your ideas; it’s more of a chemistry,” he said.

“After doing it for so long, you kind of learn what you’re about and what you bring to the band. I’m not going to inject a black metal riff into a Flogging Molly song. You kind of become who you are. You’re pretty defined by a musician after 15 years.”

But Flogging Molly isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon: As the band gets older, they continue to amass new fans.

“I see a lot of younger people, a lot of older people,” Casey said of the audiences he sees at live shows. “People sit down to watch the show, some people stand up, some people pour beer over each other and run into each other. There’s something for everybody. I think that’s one of the special things about our band: You can be 70 and sit in the balcony, and they’re still beautiful songs.”

What comes through in the music – and perhaps what appeals to their most diehard devotees – are the working class roots that inspired the band in the first place: They’re not playing music because they have to, but because they’ve worked so hard to get to where they are.

“I was a house painter for many years, and all I wanted to do was quit my job painting and play music,” Casey said. “When that happened, that was one of the greatest points of my life – not to get too dramatic about it, but it really was. I was 35 when I joined the band, so it wasn’t like I worked for a year and then got this opportunity.

“But I never imagined the scope of it. I hope I’m talking to you 15 years from now and it’s even bigger.”