The Hives - London, UK, Spring 2002
By: Toby L
Oh dear. And it started so well. However, when we came up to the question on how The Hives rated this interview out of 10, things took a nasty turn...
'Probably around 3,' sneers a folded-arms Chris Dangerous, The Hives' drummer, who offers his response in the most deadpan of deliveries.
Oh God. Wait a second, singer Howlin' Pelle is going to give his verdict: maybe there's still hope...
He pauses and considers what to say. 'About a 5... It just needs more: like lights, smoke, and mirrors...'
Suddenly, smiles emerge on some of the other band-members. Luckily, they were just kidding. 'Don't worry,' Pelle smirks. 'You're doing a good job.'
And thank goodness for that too: we'd gone to quite some effort for today's encounter with Swedish's freshest musical export for years. Aside from ourselves walking in wearing suits for the half-hour chat - in order to pay homage to the slick style of the band - we also decided to bring back an old feature of this site: The Envelope of Doom.
The Hives have been profiled countless times in the last few months, which has led to their top-ten UK album, 'Your New Favourite Band', reaching gold-status and continually rising sales-figures. Therefore, a new angle was needed in order to stand out from all the other monotonous press-duties they have to fulfil; thus, the format decided upon for the RockFeedBack interview was to offer them serious questions from The Envelope of Formality - and then horrendously silly teasers lurking from the aforementioned E of D.
When we arrive into the sold out venue they're to play tonight - London's Astoria - we find guitarist Nicholaus Arson - brother of frontman Pelle - struggling with bags. 'Oh, could you take that please,' he asks, kicking over a light and blue football. Fumbling to grab it, we then march up the tiny stairways backstage of the auditorium and spend the next two minutes actually trying to reach the top - the location of the dressing-room. Out of breath and slightly flustered, on sitting down on the remarkably welcoming settees, The Hives kick out their associated techies and crew, allowing the ceremony to get underway.
First, though, there's the small matter of which questions to ask first: the sensible ones, or the ridiculous. It's chosen from random that it'll be... The ridiculous. Let battle commence.
If someone wanted to be a Hives groupie, what qualities would they need to possess?
The band appears seemingly shocked. Howlin' Pelle answers for the rest of the group. 'They'd need to be one of our girlfriends!' However, he isn't completely finished. '... Or need to be able to fly...'
Fly? What: via their own wings?
'No,' the lead-singer responds affirmatively. 'Just by themselves.'
As if the madness couldn't increase, Arson agrees. 'Yeah, the wings might get in the way...'
'Groupies have been around, I guess,' answers back Pelle, thinking deeply. 'Well - they've been around as much as the 35-year old record-collectors have!'
Well, with such things to face, rock 'n' roll must be a challenging lifestyle to live through...
'Not really,' rationalises Pelle, before going on, 'You just say yes or simply say no...'
Something that's been associated with the group is the name Randy Fitzsimmons. Allegedly, this man has written their songs, chosen the band's line-up and has worked 'closely' with them. Such allegations have allowed people to question the authenticity of The Hives.
Pelle sighs. 'We can't say that much, because we're not allowed to talk about Randy Fitzsimmons. The only thing we can say is that he was around at the beginning and helped us... He also suggested that it should be these five people that are in the band... And that's it.'
Hmm, mysterious. Well, despite the fact that he claims this is all they can say, we decided to go further...
Is he still a close friend?
Pelle provides an instantaneous 'Yep.'
And he's a real person?
Pelle provides another instantaneous 'Yep.'
What does he look like?
'I can't say,' he returns, slightly agitated. 'But it's not like you've seen him on TV... But - you never know - you might have...'
Conspiracy theories aside, the group have been predicted for a prolonged period at the top of their field by the press, and the radio and TV-stations of the UK have supported them tirelessly over the last few months. But, for those that haven't heard the quintet's music yet...
What do people need to expect from The Hives?
'It's just rock music,' Pelle simplifies. 'But really, really good rock music, and that's the difference between us and others out there.' His lips bend to form a confident curve. 'Usually, most rock bands can be really good for a set amount of time... And then they go bad... Like apples!
'We do offer excitement... But there are other exciting bands around... Of course, it helps that there are other bands that are sort of similar to us, but, I mean, it (the band's success) probably would have happened eventually anyway. It just didn't take us as much time as we expected it to.'
Wait a second - you're a band that has been formed since 1993, and you're saying that you didn't expect success so quickly?!
'Not really... Most good bands people don't notice 'til they're gone.'
Fair point. What examples can you give of such acts that inspired you?
'Suicide,' points out Nicholaus, fresh from an injection of energy, following the consistent munching of a rather meaty kebab.
'The Sonics as well,' contributes Mr. Howlin'. 'They were pretty popular, but just locally. There are millions of other examples, though.'
What with such a surge in notoriety for yourselves, though, do you sometimes miss the challenge of working so hard for fame?
'We still play small places,' mentions Chris Dangerous. 'We just do them for fun now.'
'Yeah,' confirms Pelle. 'Since we've become more popular, we can just ask a 100-seater club if we can play, they'll say yes, and we play; it's not that difficult anymore!
'It gets harder (to do this), though. One side of it is that there are a lot of people that want to see the band, and it's kind of mean to them to just play to hundred people; then, ticket-prices become ridiculous, because people sell them on the black-market. So, it's more fair to play bigger places, but it's probably more fun to play small places.'
This said, how do you feel about your impending appearance at London's massive Brixton Academy?
Pelle looks ahead, visibly almost daunted. 'It's going to be the biggest place we've ever headlined, though not the biggest show.'
At this point, second-guitarist Vigilante recalls the band's largest performances, with an air of conviction. 'The biggest were in Germany...'
Ah - who were those with?
The man with the best moustache in modern music, bassist Dr. Matt Destruction, speaks. 'It was Limp Bizkit, or whatever! They were on the same bill... Someone's got to go to these festivals and play some good music; give them some alternative!'
Alternative indeed; since the emergence of The Hives, their Swedish record-company Burning Heart has featured a rise in significance. Label-mates such as The International Noise Conspiracy have also been getting rave reviews and a spotlight cast on them that was once unavailable.
How would you describe the Swedish scene?
'The music-scene in Sweden is just a music-scene, as such,' responds Pelle annoyingly vaguely. 'Since there are very few people living in Sweden for such a big music-scene, it means that all the same music-styles are incorporated in the same scene... We get like reggae bands hanging out with punk bands; it's not as if there's a reggae scene or a punk scene: there's just not enough people for that.'
Howlin' Pelle ponders for a second. 'But punk-rock with guitar-solos is very Swedish!'
Does much of the influence derive from America or Britain?
Immediately, without time existing for any signs of a misunderstanding, 'It's not British! It's mostly American...' He stops. Then starts. 'For at least our band!'
'The music sounds way more British than the stuff the British are doing,' laughs Arson. 'Sweden has always had really good copycat songwriters; it doesn't matter if it's of British or American music.'
'People are very aware in Sweden,' explains Pelle. 'If a band breaks it in Britain or America, they'll know about it... Swedish people are pretty hip.'
This is true, but how long can these men remain en vogue? The Hives may have unleashed numerous single and EP releases, plus the albums 'Barely Legal' - before The Strokes incidentally penned a song of the same name - and 'Veni Vidi Vicious', but, what next?
Have you started working on new material?
'We're gonna start, seriously, when we get home,' states Pelle officially. 'Not recording at first, but just playing with the five of us in the room: we like that.'
Do you feel any pressure to follow up to your last LP's?
'The pressure really comes from us,' reveals Pelle openly. 'We don't care if it doesn't do as well commercially as the last record, but we really want it to be a good record... People buying it just comes naturally.'
'If it doesn't turn out to be a good record, then we just won't release it,' utters Nicholaus, painting the picture of what would occur if there was a negative outcome.
However, Dr. Destruction rules out such an allegation. 'It's gonna turn out as a good record, but if people like it or not, that's up to them.'
Are you considering a new scope on your sound for the record?
'Yeah, disco,' jokes Pelle.
There is a suggestion from someone across the room of 'Abba-metal'.
'I'm not sure about the idea of Abba-metal,' the singer grins.
People see the Brits as a serious race that eats fish and chips - are we wrong in the British idea of Swedish people being style-conscious sex addicts?
'No,' confirms Pelle, before correcting himself. 'Actually, we're alcoholic, suicidal sex-addicts... that enjoy riding reindeers in the midnight sun...'
OK then...
What's the best thing about being in a band together?
Staring at us aggressively as if there's no other reply, Dangerous snarls, 'Playing!'
'Yeah,' calculates Howlin' Pelle. 'Playing music with four of my favourite guys.'
Do you all get on well as a band then?
'Yeah,' Pelle proceeds. 'Sometimes, we don't get on well, but you can't spend 300 days with each other a year and get along all the time. There's never been anything serious.'
Chris follows, bizarrely, 'Yeah, but we wrestle a lot...'
'Yeah,' backs up Pelle. 'You can tell too much if someone's been in a fist-fight, but not if they've had a good wrestle.'
Clearly, the tendency to invent truths rather than disclose the real ones is becoming too strong by this point. Let's sum up their musical-mission first and let them sound-check for tonight's performance.
What do you want to do on this planet?
Not thrown at all by the question, the unnerving drummer proves his worth as an uncompromising hedonist. 'Have as much fun as possible.'
'Being in a band is about as much fun as I can have at this point,' shrugs Pelle.
To finish, then - ten years from now - where do you think you'll be?
Chris can't hide his harsh humour. 'We'll become really non-popular again!'
However, the closing-comments are rewarded to Pelle, unsurprisingly: the man that's successfully steered this interview for his colleagues. 'I don't know... Maybe the band will have quit then, but I'm not sure... We'd be tired at playing the same thing every night... We'll have to get really athletic if we want to keep doing it - like Iggy Pop: if it works for him...'
Yeah, why not? Why can't this group go on to become the next five Iggy Pop's: forever in the limelight at summer festivals across the world, and delivering riotous live performances. It's a pleasant thought for the meantime.
Back up ten years to now again, though, and we're departing. As the photos are taken - for which the group insist they wear the T-shirts that proclaim their names - it becomes apparent that, although we ask for informal images, the boys are natural showmen, delivering comical poses and creating charisma at the flutter of a pair of eyelids.
However, being called showmen has seen them face criticism, people saying that it's not real or raw. Nonsense. You don't get rawer than the hardcore garage-rock of 'AKA IDIOT', insane riffs of 'Main Offender', or thrilling instrumentals such as 'The Stomp'. And - to those still confused over their relevance if a certain Mr. Fitzsimmons does write their work - remember this: it takes as much talent to write a great song as it does to perform it so exquisitely.
The way things are heading, The Hives may become so big that they're beyond this world: space might as well be the place next on their list for locations to conquer...
But, not yet - they're only half-way through conquering Earth first. So, sorry ET, but - for the meantime - your loss is our gain.
Artists in this article: The Hives