{"id":2401519,"date":"2026-05-04T14:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2401519"},"modified":"2026-05-04T14:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:26:24","slug":"mike-ness-of-social-distortion-speaks-about-upcoming-new-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/mike-ness-of-social-distortion-speaks-about-upcoming-new-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Ness of Social Distortion speaks about upcoming new music"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Author Benedetta Baldin<\/strong> – 4.5.2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Mike Ness of punk rock icons Social Distortion <\/a><\/b>discussed the band\u2019s eagerly anticipated eighth album, \u201cBorn To Kill,\u201d in a recent interview with Paul Cashmere of Noise11, as per Blabbermouth<\/a>. \u201cBorn To Kill\u201d is Social Distortion\u2019<\/b>s eighth album, the first in 15 years and the first since Ness\u2019s successful cancer treatment, and it will be released on May 8 via Epitaph. Lucinda Williams and Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers<\/b>) participate on the album, which Ness co-produced with seasoned producer Dave Sardy. Shepard Fairey and Ness created the album\u2019s artwork. Mike responded as follows when asked why Social Distortion <\/b>should release a new album at this time.<\/p>\n

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Well, I wish I had a good answer for you. Fifteen years ago we were touring heavily. A lot of real-life stuff started to happen. My older son got into some trouble with drugs and alcohol. I still had to tour and deal with that. I don\u2019t know, honestly, though. I mean, I could name all these things that have happened \u2014 COVID and cancer and family stuff \u2014 but I don\u2019t feel I could have made this record fifteen years ago. I wasn\u2019t in a headspace [to make an album]. So, it is what it is. All I knew is when it came time to make this record, I knew I couldn\u2019t deliver a sleeper.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When asked the age of some of the songs on this album, Ness responded as follows. <\/p>\n

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I can tell you there\u2019s two [songs] that are left over from the [1996]\u00a0\u2018White Light, [White Heat, White Trash]\u2019\u00a0demos \u2014\u00a0\u2018No Way Out\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0\u2018Don\u2019t Keep Me Hanging On\u2019 were both songs that I couldn\u2019t finish in time to record [for] the\u00a0\u2018White Light\u2019 album. And like many ideas, they just get kind of shoved in a corner, and they didn\u2019t make the record. It wasn\u2019t because they weren\u2019t good enough; it\u2019s just we didn\u2019t have the time to finish them all. And the same thing when it came time to pick these eleven songs. I had over 40 songs to go through and 40 ideas, and we had to spend a couple of months just kind of arranging \u2019em and playing them and seeing which ones kind of [worked best]. And it was a very tough decision, because you\u2019re, like\u2026 I guess we can just look at it, like, \u2018This will go on the next record for sure.\u2019 So you just to make a decision.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mike made this statement on \u201chow finished off\u201d and \u201cin shape to be released\u201d the remaining thirty songs that weren\u2019t on \u201cBorn To Kill.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, we plan to shock everybody and put out another studio album in a timely manner. [Laughs]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When asked if he believed that Social Distortion <\/b>fulfilled his ambition to set a career record, Mike responded as follows.<\/p>\n

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I think so. I was kind of using\u00a0\u2018White Light\u2019\u00a0as a kind of compass of some sort. But that was in the \u201990s, and I was working with a producer that\u2026 I just don\u2019t personally \u2014 I don\u2019t like how he made me sing the songs. He made me sing them\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0at \u201915\u2019, where it\u2019s almost like it wasn\u2019t really singing anymore. I thought they were beautiful songs, and if I would\u2019ve been more aware, like I am now, I would\u2019ve sang them\u2026 Because for me, I\u2019ve noticed that when I sing a song of mine, or someone else\u2019s, the attitude comes out when it\u2019s supposed to. It doesn\u2019t have to just be slamming the whole time. I feel like you lose something. That\u2019s my own critique on myself. But I\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0think that this\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0a better record than\u00a0\u2018White Light\u2019, yes.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Upcoming shows:<\/p>\n