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What
are your influences? Who where you listening to when you grew up?
Nico: I think I speak for the whole band when I say that we all like the
melodic heavy rock thing from the 70 s and the 80 s. Oh, there are so
many. Personally I grew up on Kiss, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron
Maiden, Saxon, Dio, Rainbow, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy you know the classics
of this world. I still like that shit very much. Those bands are the real
to me, you know.
You did a cover of Billy Idol's 'Dancing With Myself',
why did you chose to include it on your album?
Post; ergh?! I don´t really know, we didn´t really discuss
it, it just kind of ended up that way! we should probably drink less in
the studio!
And
what about the cover of 'Long Live Rock N Roll', could you tell us about
this song?
Nico: Long live rock n roll is just a classic heavy rock tune. Ritchie
Blackmore, amazing guitar player. Ronnie James Dio, my all time favorite
singer. The way he reaches those high notes and STILL keeps that rich
tone in his voice is unbelievable. The guy is over 60 now and he still
kicks ass on singers half his age.
Do
you play covers on stage?
Nico: Yeah of course! It is fun playing the music from bands you like.
That is the way we all started back in the day, playing cool stuff by
your favorite bands. One thing to remember is we are just music fans ourselves,
nothing fancy there.
Where
did you get the idea of showing a she-angel shooting herself on the cover
of you album?
Post; Once again I was drunk, and apparently I made a terrible looking
drawing of it, and since we already had a song called broken halo, it
all kind of clicked....luckily, my friend Jacob is a fucking god when
it comes to drawing, so he made the cover rock!
Don't
you think this is a little shocking?
Post; Not really, but my mom hates it! The message to me is that nobody
is perfect, and there´s no shame in fucking up...even for angels!
Where
does the name Star Rats come from?
Post; Our bass player Kass came up with it....it doesn´t mean anything...I
guess he must have been drunk or something (...we drink a lot).
Do
you know in which countries your album is distributed?
Nico: Most European countries, but our label is a very small one so it
is difficult to say exactly where. It is out in the US and some south
American countries also. At the moment we are negotiating with a label
in the far east so hopefully it will be out there as well pretty soon.
Post,
your guitar playing is pretty impressive, and your sound is excellent.
Could you tell us about your influences?
Post; Thanks dude! you´re making me blush! When I was an annoying
little kid, I was really into Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum, Kee Marcello,
Zakk Wylde, John Petrucci, Gary Moore, and of course Steve Vai. I still
love all of them, but theese days I listen to tons of different shit,
I really think Matthew Bellamy from Muse is fucking brilliant! I´m
also a huge fan of Mattias IA Eklundh, who by the way is a very nice guy,
and the late great Dimebag Darell (r.i.p)...I hope the guy that shot him
will fucking burn in hell for that shit!
Also,
I know many guitarists will read this interview. Could you tell us about
the gear you use?
Post; I play Schecter c-1 guitars, and sometimes an old Ibanez RG 470.
My amp is a Laney like the one Mattias IA Eklundh plays, but I can´t
recall what it´s called. It was actually Mattias who introduced
me to it at a show where I played support for Freak Kitchen, and I was
blown away...this amp has GAIN! In the stomp-box department, I have a
Dunlop wah, an Ibanez delay, and some kind of compressor, I can´t
recall who made. I use the drive from the amp instead of a distortion
pedal, because I think i makes the sound more raw, and less controlled....oh
yeah, and I also have a lot of toy-lazerguns, and a dildo! That´s
it! Keep it simple, and LOUD AS HELL!
Is
the song 'Wait For Me Valhalla' connected with your Danish culture? Are
you fans of Scandinavian folklore?
Nico: Yes to some extent I am. I am of course aware of the whole Viking
culture and the myth surrounding it. Those stories are cool stories about
life and death, love and hate, peace and war, wrong or right. Like most
religions are. When you look at relegion as educational stories it is
vallid. When people try to bash other people on the head with it, it´s
ridicules and in worst cases dangerous. Look around the world today we
are still struggling with those issues. The Vikings did not compromise
and were very primitive and down to earth people. I like both things.
Sometimes things can get to fuckin´complicated and blah, blah blah,
and then I long for the days when a sword were a sword.
Are
you going to tour in order to promote this album? If so, do you know where?
Nico: Hopefully!!! But no plans set in stone at the moment, but we´ll
let you know.
What
do you think of the following bands?
Nico:
Mercyful Fate: Classic and original.
Pretty
Maids: Cool. They have never strayed much from their path. Respect!
D-A-D:
Super-fuckin´-cool. Very Danish, but at the same time international.
Mike Tramp:
A fighter who had a dream, went for it, and became a rockstar.
Dizzy
Miss Lizzy: Great song writer, their guitar player Tim Christensen
Sort Sol:
Perhaps the most underrated band in Europe. They started out as a punk
band called Sots. If you want raw power seek out their debut, Minutes
to go
Do
you listen to current bands? What are the bands that you dig nowadays?
Nico: I like heavy music with punk influences. Social Distortion, Rancid,
Amen. Does Motley Crue count for a current band??? When they play Sweden
rock 2005 I am certainly going to be there. Nikki sixx is the duke of
coolness and Tommy Lee is the master skinsman
Are
you close to the Swedish sleaze rock scene? Do you know bands like Babylon
Bombs, Gemini 5, Crucified Barbara, Maryslim, …?
Post; I´ve heard of Gemini 5, but other than that, I don´t
know much about it. We have played in Sweden in a place called Fat Club,
where Gemini 5 have also played.
What
do you think of the Internet? Not the download thing, just the information
tool, do you think it's better than magazines? Is it a better media to
get known?
Post; I don´t know if it´s better than magazines, but it shure
is a great way of getting noticed. Many of the Rock mags are hard to come
by, and way too expensive, so I think it kicks ass that you can just link
up and rock out!
Nico,
I saw pictures of you on your internet site, are you tryin' to impersonate
Glenn Danzig (physically speaking)?
Nico: No, but I would like to kick his ass…..oh sorry, somebody already
did that.
You
opened for Alice Cooper. Did you have the chance to meet him? Tell us
about it
Nico: No not Alice, but the rest of his band. I think Post did thrash
the dressing room with their guitar player.
What
do you sincerely think of Skid Row without Sebastian?
Nico: Sincerely I think that they are still cool, and their singer –
fuck I forgot his name – is a good singer, BUT Sebastian is the king!!!
Post,
you've got quite an impressive tattoo. Where did you get it? In Denmark?
Post; thanks! Yeah, Thomas Lock from Switchblade is a good friend of mine,
and he is also a tattoo artist. I gave him an old Washburn N2 guitar,
and in return, he did the ink on my arm.
What
does it represent? Did you draw it yourself?
Post; No, I didn´t draw it, and it doesn´t represent anything
other than Rock´n´Roll...oh yeah, and my mom hates that too!
Post,
are you really a fan of 'Buffy, the vampire slayer'?
Post; Hell yeah!...Ain´t nothing wrong with a hot chick kicking
vampire ass, while wearing tight clothes. I even got a cat named after
her!
One
last word for the readers:
Nico: Hopefully we will come to French soon and kick your fuckin´
ass!!! And then I would like to say watch out for Maladaptive a French
band consisting of my 3 French brothers Fred, Max and PE , formerly of
Heavenly. Take care and buy me a beer the next time I am in France.
Alright,
thank you very much!
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