It’s been a strange year—and not without a lot of excitement (and maybe a dash of drama)—for Cincinnati punk band The Dopamines. From the leaving of founding member Jon Weiner to the release of 80/20, their first record in seven years, guitarist Josh Goldman (Rad Girlfriend Records) walks us through the band’s eventful year and how they’ve managed to become stronger because of it.
Back during the summer, The Dopamines shocked fans with the announcement that Weiner was leaving the band to follow Jesus as The Dopamines are a “false identity,” he said during a concert video that was shared to the group’s Instagram. Weiner’s departure has been a complicated thing for the band, says Goldman.
“It’s hard to talk about Jon leaving because there are a lot of strong feelings involved. No one in the band wants to say or focus on anything negative right now because honestly, things this last year have been going great. But I don’t think any of us want to give bullshit, sanitized answers when it comes to this situation,” he says, adding that the band dynamic hasn’t been negatively affected, “We’ve gotten an incredible amount of things done since Jon W. told us he was leaving last summer. The dynamic between Jon Lewis, Michael and myself hasn’t changed at all and the decision making process has become a lot smoother.”
Goldman describes the band as always being diplomatic to a fault, so much so that it may have prevented them from accomplishing things in the past. “Now, I realize that some of that diplomacy was kind of passive-aggressive. Jon Lewis and I talk about everything. He recently told me that a lot of our relationship is just us being completely honest with each other and it’s exhausting. But for me, that’s a lot better than someone not returning a phone call or text message.”
When it comes to the new record 80/20, the band’s first record in seven years, Goldman didn’t have any fears or hesitancies when it came to recording it, saying he was more nervous for the last release Tales of Interest (2017) since it was first with the band—having joined officially in 2013. “This time around everything just felt fun and natural. We were prepared and everything was very enjoyable in terms of recording and getting this out into the world,” he says.
The Dopamines also marked a momentous occasion while recording 80/20, enlisting the help of legendary audio engineer Chris Dugan. The band joined the ranks of bands like Green Day, Iggy Pop, Smash Mouth and others to have worked with the highly talented engineer. Goldman is thankful for the inspiring experience, saying that “He is very good at what he does and it’s easy to trust someone like that. We knew the record was in great hands and that it was going to be the best sounding thing The Dopamines had ever done.”
When asked if there’s any musicians we should be keeping on our radar, Goldman speaks highly of The Kilograms (featuring ex-members of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Bouncing Souls), The Raging Nathans and newcomers Roach Squad, describing the latter as a new Leatherface related band coming out soon via Rad Girlfriend Records.
As for 2025, Goldman’s main goal for The Dopamines is to continue doing his part to keep the band going strong for years to come.
80/20 is out now and you can order it from Rad Girlfriend Records. Follow The Dopamines on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photo by @noflashnomasters on Instagram
