I first met Jonny “Two Bags” while working at the El Rey Theater on Wilshire in Los Angeles. It was the mid-nineties after Cadillac Tramps broke up and before he joined Social Distortion. And I didn’t know much about the Tramps and Jonny didn’t talk about it either, but I knew that in SoCal they were a BIG thing.

We shared many long days at the El Rey, filled with laughs, shenanigans, and WAY too many bags of Famous Amos cookies. A tummy-aching amount of cookies. And all sorts of bands played there, from Toad The Wet Sprocket to Tracy Chapman.

I was the F.O.H. tech and Jonny did everything that a guitar player does to pay the bills: stack heavy speakers, wire the sound system, and mic up the bands. He wasn’t lazy and took to it fast.

A year or so later Jonny and I were on the 1997 Vans Warped Tour. We did two tours together before I lost contact with him. Then I heard that he joined Social Distortion. Shortly after, I filled in as their monitor engineer and got to see Jonny again.

And seeing him on stage was a treat!

Just as he nailed all the grunt work at the El Rey, he nailed his performance. After the first sold out show, in a string of sold out shows, at the Wiltern, he came off stage, as cool as always. He gave me a hug, asked if his tone was all right and his playing was good.

Yes and yes, buddy.

There is something about Punk Rock that keeps most of the musicians down to earth and it’s refreshing when your friends become successful and remain cool.

There are some people you are proud to know, proud to be associated with – even from a distance.

Jonny is one of those guys for me.

Without further ado, Mr. Two Bags…

Q: What is your favorite sandwich and who makes the best one?

J.T.B: My Sandwich: Honey wheat bread, goat cheese, and red onion with tomato spicy mustard. I make it.

Q: What is your favorite meal your mom makes?

J.T.B: That’s a rough one. Growing up my stepmom made the best burrito. Excellent Mexican food. Her name is Candi.

Q: How did you meet your best friend?

J.T.B: By nearly destroying myself.

Q: When or how did you find what you wanted to do?

J.T.B: Always wanted to do exactly what I am doing. My father was a working musician.

Q: How did you pursue it?

J.T.B: Started a band with my buddy, Gabby, from the Cadillac Tramps. We didn’t have expectations of anything, but as we grew and evolved as a band, we saw the potential and put more energy into it.

Q: Did you have a mentor/mentors in pursuing it?

J.T.B: Never did, but I wish that I had. I would be a better player.

Q: What do you dream of doing or are you doing it? If so, then what is the goal?

J.T.B: Not sure. Trying to figure out what that is in a realistic sense. Keep doing my solo gig.

Q: What would your 15 year old self say to you now?

J.T.B: Oh God. Ok. Hang in there, buddy, you have no idea what’s coming.

Q: If life were a person what would you say?

J.T.B: “Why do you have to be so Goddamn unpredictable?”

Q:  If you were in charge of the world and you have no restrictions, real or imagined, what is the one thing you would give it?

J.T.B: I would make it where humans didn’t have the capacity to make it so fucked for everything else on the planet.

Q: Has morality disintegrated to the point that we now need Yelp for people?

J.T.B: I think that for the most part, that is wrong. Yes, there are hateful, dangerous people and it seems to be getting worse, but I think there is another group of people developing a greater sense of compassion and intelligence. On one hand, yeah you got to check up on a mutha fucker, but there are many people concerned about being a better human being.

Q: How is society getting things right?

J.T.B: There is a small segment of society that is getting it right, but unless you develop compassion there is no way to develop at all.

Q:  What do people need in order to see each other as equals?

J.T.B: Compassion.

Q: Do we still need religion?

J.T.B: No.

Q: Do you have hope for the future?

J.T.B: I’m a pessimist, but there is a small amount of hope.

Q: Hot topic of the week: This is an open discussion. Could be Gay marriage or Confederate flag, Donald Trump, for example.

J.T.B: Trump. It’s mind boggling that anyone takes him seriously. That he could succeed is scary as hell.

Q: What are three things that work for you: For example, I can’t find a good razor. Because of a near unbridled need for massive profits I find that many products don’t live up their advertising. What works for you?

J.T.B: It’s all Chinese junk. They don’t even use Phillips-Head screwdrivers because they don’t want you to fix anything. It all goes to a landfill.

More thought-provoking questions:

1:  Do Americans have the right to complain about immigration?

J.T.B: There would be no America if there was no immigration. So … NO!

2: If our value system is based on scarcity, then what of a human life, now that the population is in the billions?

J.T.B: When this planet is housing that many people then lives will decrease in value. And that sucks!

3: Would life be easier if racism were accurate?

J.T.B: No, because skin color doesn’t determine people’s nature. Even if there was proof, I wouldn’t subscribe to that belief. Goodness doesn’t come from skin color. It comes from all kinds of places. There is so much that can shape a human being. You need to take a stance against that.