Interview by: Kalli Isborne
Live Shots by: Adrian Hextall and Robert Sutton
except where credited.
In a world where music legends are claiming ‘Rock is Dead’ and the music buying population are being force fed manufactured TV show wannabes, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR stand defiant with the most hard hitting album of their career —
“You Can’t Kill My Rock ‘N Roll”
“You Can’t Kill My Rock ‘N Roll” isn’t just a statement of confrontation and rebellion, it’s a celebration of everything we love, the music, the lifestyle, this is our religion, it’s our choice, and it’s everything we believe in”
Adde, Vic, Martin, Jocke
MGM: I have listened to the new album, having not heard much from yourselves before, and I must say I quite like it, but what do you think of the new album, honestly?
Adde: The latest album is always a reaction to the last one you make, so we are very proud of it, otherwise we wouldn’t release it, and its way more hopeful than the last album, as that is quite dark in some songs, and this quite hopeful. More like a Friday after work mood.
MGM: So, a ready to go down the pub and hit the beers album?
Adde: Oh yes, it was designed exactly for this purpose (as Adde takes a swig of beer)
MGM: And Vic what about you?
Vic: I’m very proud of it. The writing process has been a blast and creating the songs, and producing the album in the most amazing creative environment we have been in for the past two years has meant the album has come out exactly as we wanted.
MGM: You have already said that your previous album was a lot darker than this one, what influenced that?
Adde: People saw us as a positive band, and did wonder what happened with that album, had we turned into Goth rockers. It’s always important to follow where your heart takes you and sometimes you can’t control that, and sometimes you have to make the music just to get it out of your system. That doesn’t mean I don’t like that album, I love that album (Vic agrees) but it represents other things. I wouldn’t put that album on when I am in a good mood, I would sit and listen to it quietly with headphones. This album I would put on and blast at a party, loud and to make the neighbors go ‘Whoooowww!’ Sometimes you just want to sit there with headphones on and listen to Pink Floyd on your own and sometimes you want to blast Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy at full volume.
MGM: So what’s next?
Vic: We are touring, we are all over the place, where ever the tour takes us, but we are looking forward to touring the UK. (I believe this is the stock answer whenever they get asked this)
MGM: And during your career, you have been a support act for other bands and have had other bands supporting you. Who have you most enjoyed supporting, and which up bands that have supported you should we keep an eye on?
Vic: We have supported a lot of big rock bands, childhood heroes, bands like Kiss, AC/DC, Def Leppard, we’ve done a lot.
Adde: the most enjoyable for me is supporting your childhood heroes, so for me supporting AC/DC and supporting Kiss, that was such a huge deal for me. It almost felt like I can quit the business now, as I am super happy with the result. We met the guys as well, which is a super bonus, It’s amazing how almost all the rock stars are really nice guys. As long as you don’t try and have a conversation with them 5 minutes before they are due on stage, they are a bit stressed at that point, they are really nice guys.
Avatar, they are a great a band. Another fine act from Sweden, The Last Band, yeap, that is their name, I’m hoping for some success for those guys as well.
Vic: They are working hard, great songs, are a great live act, they just need to work hard.
MGM: What’s the most embarrassing thing to happen on tour?
Adde: if we fuck up something on stage, that is embarrassing, I can start one song and they think its another song. That’s quite embarrassing as you have to stop. It happens.
Vic: when the lead singer goes ‘and Vic Zino on guitar’ and the guitar is Dead! 5000 people and I was like ‘how are you doing guys? Are you alright?’
Adde: It happens every now and then when we fall off the stage. I remember when we played somewhere, and we were about to thank the audience and I took a step up on the PA system and kept walking sideways and ‘wooooaaahhh’ that’s the end of me. I just fell to the ground. Luckily there were no serious injuries. No need for a Dave Grohl style throne. I was just begging for breath for a little while.
Vic: I was there at that show, I thought it was a stunt. He came back on and completed the show.
Adde: I can’t imagine the pain he was going through.
MGM: who is the most annoying person on the tour bus, and who is the most friendly?
Adde: You can answer that.
Vic: He is extremely annoying, you can see it when you first wake up.
Adde: When I go into Oasis mode, and I jump into a bunk.
Vic: A bunk on a tour bus is a sacred place, you don’t go into someone else’s bunk, but no rules apply when he is like that. At one point there were four people in the bunk, in a space big enough for one and a half people, all singing Oasis. So, yeah, he is the most annoying person on tour. Martin the Bass player is the most relaxed.
MGM: What’s your on the tour bus playlist?
Adde: We don’t really listen to rock, we listen to stuff that doesn’t really remind us of rock. We listen to different styles, cos if you have done a rock show you really don’t want to go back to the bus and listen to exactly the same thing. You want to hear something else. I wouldn’t put on Death Angel, even though I love that album.
Vic: it depends on the mood.
MGM: So, no eighties cheese pop?
Adde: We love Foreigner, had a tour where we played Foreigner every night.
Vic: This one song, we paid for their children’s education with the royalties from that.
Adde: But we love cheesy rock, we love that stuff, Foreigner, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, but that’s not really cheesy.
Vic: Michael Bolton comes on quite a bit, and The Beegee’s.
Adde: But that’s usually before a gig.
MGM: which Music legend that is no longer with us would you have loved to play with?
Adde: I would have to say, Freddy Mercury, with that voice, and sense of songwriting, it was quite unique. It was very catchy, but also very smart. It wasn’t like anything else. He was a true genius, I would love to play with him. You can only be a genius to write something like Bohemian Rhapsody, and they really never got credit from the press, it’s just why? What’s wrong? Can’t you hear it? How good this is? Maybe it was too good. It took a couple of years for people to realise because it was so out there. I am glad to see that Queen is still doing very well and that people appreciate them everywhere. I am so looking forward to the movie.
MGM: So if there was ever a Hardcore Superstar Movie, who would play who?
Vic: We have already discussed this. Morgan Freeman would play Martin. Adde would be David Hasselhoff, Joakim would be Jackie Chan, and I would be Rowan Atkinson, Mr. Bean. We have already discussed this; the script is already written. Recording will start pretty soon, we are discussing with the actors.
Adde: David Hasselhoff is quite a character. He was there when they tore down the Berlin wall, and sung Looking for Freedom whilst wearing an American jacket. It was like having the American flag there.
Vic: Seeing the big cities when we are on tour depends on the schedule. Adde on the last tour managed to see a lot of the cities.
Adde: Yes, there is this Vinyl app which is linked to Google Earth. It’s called The Vinyl District and it shows you where the nearest vinyl stores are nearby. The last European tour I did that every day. I woke up on the bus and I would check the app, and walk there. I bought a lot of vinyl, a lot. I didn’t make any money on that tour. I bought a lot of albums.
MGM: And what do you do when you are not playing music?
Adde: Being parents, it’s an important part of our lives, raising kids, doing a proper job. It can be tough balancing touring and being a parent.
Vic: As they get older, they know that Dad is going away for a while.
Adde: It’s something we have to do.
Vic: It’s our job, it shouldn’t be a negative thing. You find you are leaving your kid for a while, but dad is going away to work.
Adde: The good thing is that we don’t do much on weekdays. We only really get booked at weekends, as a band you don’t want to book us on a Monday evening. We are not a Monday evening band, we are a Friday and Saturday band. So, we spend a lot of our time with our kids at home. A lot of people that have regular jobs, they don’t see their kids in the daytime, because they are at their job. We see our kids every day, during the daytime, which is important, because we get to see them a lot. But when we are away we are so away, and that’s the downside, but we love doing music and that the price you pay.
MGM: Are any of your children musically talented, will they be following in your footsteps?
Photo Credit: Michele Aldeghi
Vic: I have been trying to teach my one since he was four to play the guitar, but he doesn’t like it. He likes drums. For some reason he loves the drums, all he talks about is I have to go to the drum store. Twice a week and we are annoying and I have to apologize to the shop owner again, as he has to try all 25 drums again.
Adde: I have to say that this kid is very bright, he picked the right instrument at the age of four. I would put all my money on that guy, he is a bright guy.
MGM: And what activities do you like to do with your children
Vic: Whatever, we go out, and they are quite creative and they just come up with stuff, you don’t have to do a lot, you just follow them.
Adde: The day they learn to ride a bike, that was a very big day. Because this whole summer, we have had the weather to just go out and ride a bike. We can go out for hours and just bicycle around Gothenburg, and it’s a huge thing because he loves doing that. We can easily go out for a couple of hours, you just don’t think about anything else, just being there. It’s a wonderful feeling. Being outside in nature, in the woods, I love it.
http://www.hardcoresuperstar.com/
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