Make Do and Mend Singer on the Death of Bin Laden and the Rock Star Life

For James Carroll, frontman for punk rockers Make Do and Mend, the assassination of Osama bin Laden was both a significant moment in history as well as a complicated issue to process.

The band found out about the success of the mission to kill bin Laden after playing a gig in Birmingham, Alabama. Like most of us, the band members watched the news unfold on television. "We're not a political band by any means," Carroll tells Noisecreep. "We all have very personal opinions and we all have a very personal take on world events, but it's not something that we'd ever really preach or place on someone else."

"Of course it's a good thing that someone who has hurt a lot of people and who is not necessarily the nicest guy in the world can't do that anymore. Watching on TV [the] people gathering en masse, waving their American flags is sort of like... just chanting 'USA!' -- well, they probably aren't even exactly sure why [they're doing it]," Carroll says, slowly. "It's a little bit tough to watch, considering as even-keeled, even-headed Americans, we like to think we have a pretty firm grasp on what is going on and a pretty firm grasp of what is right and what is wrong, so to see other Americans sort of making it a spectacle of themselves... as a result of something that shouldn't necessarily be celebrated..." Here Carroll trails off, trying to gather his thoughts on an issue that clearly brings up a lot of conflicting ideas.

Not everything is so complicated, of course. Make Do and Mend create a mix of punk and straight-ahead rock that easily crosses genres and age boundaries. The band is currently touring behind their new album 'End Measured Mile.'

"It's been really great, playing to a lot of people each night and a young crowd which we're not used to. That's a cool thing -- a nice thing -- to be able to play for people we wouldn't usually play for, and do our best and win them over as well as possible."

Carroll says Make Do and Mend are definitely a band for 20-somethings, but are excited to expand their horizons to all age demographics. Plus, as time marches on, he feels the band is finally hitting a stride when it comes to touring. While the band members continue to juggle regular jobs, tours are becoming more frequent, and life more hectic. While it is chaos to juggle a regular job and now constant touring, Carroll says he wouldn't have it any other way. Of course, some of the rock star life he could do without.

"I personally am a very shy, very reserved person," reveals Carroll. "When it comes to videos and pictures, I'm not all about it. I feel like I don't belong anywhere within a 30 mile radius of a camera. Those sorts of things are not my cup of tea, but they come with the territory."