Millencolin Interview
What happened with Larzon breaking his arm?
Nikola: We did a matinee sort of show in Denver and later we went to the NOFX show at Ogden Theater in Denver. Backstage he fell on a steep stairway, he slipped and in someway he fell and broke his arm.
What is the meaning behind "No Cigar"?
Nikola: Yeah. It's about feeling that you don't fit in in certain situations with certain people, but that it's ok, and not really caring that you are different.
How do you compile a set list?
Nikola: We always try to play a mix of songs from the albums even though we play more songs from the newer ones. We think that the new album is better than the last one. A lot of bands only play songs off of the new album, but we know our fans are into our first and second album.
Who came up with the idea for the "Kemp" video?
Nikola: Actually, this friend of ours who used to work for Burning Heart and was the lead singer in Voice of A Generation left BH to work for a company that creates tv show intro's. He actually got the idea for that and The Hives "Main Offender." He got a Grammy for "Main Offender" in Sweden. He's a fan from early on. He had the idea, and we thought it was good, so we went with it.
You are going to have a Van's shoe. What is it going to look like?
Nikola: It will be out in about June. It is basically the old school Van's style in dark blue with a Millencolin logo on the heel and on the back. It's pretty simple. It's not going to be something totally different from a Van's shoe.
You are going to be on Ozzfest U.K. How did that work out?
Nikola: From what I heard, this year it was supposed to be more punk oriented. I guess that's where we come in. I'm not that familiar with the festival. There are like 30 festivals that are interested in having us on their bill. We had the idea to do the Reading Festival, and we are doing pretty well in Britain, but we won't be touring at the time, so we thought we should do a British festival and Ozzfest was the only option for us.
What was it like hearing you had gone gold in Australia?
Nikola: It was a good thing. For a band that has been together for ten years, its an achievement. It feels like we have reached a certain level of success. Hopefully it won't be the last gold record we get.
How would you say this album is different musically from previous albums?
Nikola: It's easier to tell the difference between Pennybridge Pioneers and Home From Home together with the first three ones. I think the two newest albums have a lot in common The biggest difference I think is between For Monkeys and Pennybridge Pioneers I think. With the first three albums, we worked with the same producer, in the same studio. After For Monkeys we took a break and we took more time to focus on the songwriting process and the recording of the songs. We chose to work with Brett (of Epitaph) in West Beach and the new album we did sort of the same thing. We went into a new studio with a new producer. The similarities are there. In music, it's more rock n roll references and maybe fewer punk references. It's a natural progression of our music as a band. It feels good. We always try to progress with every album we record. We try to make it interesting. Progression is very important for us as a band.
What are you going to do after this tour?
Nikola: We'll go home for about ten days and then the European tour starts. On the European tour the drummer from No Fun At All will join us. I guess he's practicing right now. We're touring with the Donots and Anti Flag.
|
