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Could you tell us a
little about the recording of
your first album?
We did a five days recording
session together. A lot of the
songs of the album were exactly
one day old when we recorded them.
That was the funniest and best
session that I ever did so far.
We did a lot of very spontanic
things that are now banned on our
album. For example the sounds of
the smooth sliding hawaiian style
guitar on «Down In Hell».
Fredrik Rosén, the guitarist,
came up to me and said: «Hey, I
think that guitar might sound
great with that melody.» That
was a few minutes before we
recorded it. And now I would say
this was exactly the only way to
record that song. The last song
we recorded late at night was «Burn
Out Boogie». And I aint lying,
that was the biggest blast I´ve
ever heard: we were all drunk (in
fact I was even to drunk to play
any more sensefull notes. So I
put my guitar away and just
danced around), the sound
engineer too, he came into the
recording room, clapping hands
and shouting with us, the band
played like mad. After the final
chord we didn´t have to check
the tape to know it was perfect.
And I still think so. It may be
recorded in a studio but if you
listen you´ll feel the
athmosphere of a 100% live
recording. To answer your
question: that session was very
special for us and we knew we´d
have to play that live on stage.Who
are your major influences?
You cannot really tell this or
that artist is our main influence.
There are so many of them.
Wynonie Harris, Big Jay Mc Neely
or Eddy Cleanhead Vinson and many
more come to my mind. It´s
easier to say WHAT are our main
influences. It´s the rhythm and
blues music of the early fifties
with a lot of swing on one hand
and very solid and danceable
rhythm on the other.Are you comin’
from the rockabilly scene or are
some of the members from
differents blues and rhythm and
blues bands? Most of us are
coming from the Rock´n´Roll
scene listening to jive music for
years (the shocking trouth is:
for 20 years in some cases). But
there are others. For example our
trumpet player Arne Adolf von
Roepenack ( Don´t get no wrong
ideas out of his name! That cat
is straight). He doesn´t know
the difference between the Bo
Diddley and Pat Boone, but he
knows every litlle note Chet
Baker played in his life. If you
look at our sax players you can
see best how different the
musical backgrounds are: Saxman
No. 1 used to play in an army big
band, while saxman No. 2 used to
play confused freejazz «concerts»
with poetrists talking completly
nonsense. Sounds funny but in the
Hot-Club all these different
styles and characters get along
perfect.
Have
you been touring all over Europe?
As we started the band only 1
year ago we still have got a lot
countries to go where we haven´t
been yet. So far we´ve only
played in Germany, Netherlands
and England. This year there will
be quite busy with gigs in
France, Scandinavia, Italy,
England, Switzerland, Germany and
hopefully some more countries.Have
you ever been to the States? The
big number of musicians in our
band (up to 11) makes touring
more fun because you really feel
like in a club with so many
different (sometimes crazy)
characters,but it also makes it
more comlicated and of course
very expencive. So it´s not so
easy to make a trip overseas. For
example a promoter from Japan
wanted to book us for a Gig in
Tokyo. A great offer, shure! But
if you think about the costs of a
flight, and then think about the
costs of 10 flights... Anyway we
hope to go to the states soon,
but are still waiting for the
right moment.
Do
you think it’s possible for
a swing movement to grow bigger
in Europe just as it was in
States some years ago.
OK here´s my personal opinion: I
think it will propably grow
bigger. But I don´t think it
will ever rise to such figures as
in the US. I think the people in
the States have got a completely
different background. Swing music
is part of their culture. Whether
it was «in» or «out», it has
always been there. I think in
Europe it takes an extremly big
«dreamer» to fall for that kind
of style, because it is so far
away from every days life. But
anyway it´s great to see that
more and more people are enjoying
the music and the dancing. We
will see what´s gonna come.
Tell
me about your future projects.
Arne (the trumpet) also joins a
very good big band. We wanna do a
recording session with them in
the near future.It´s a lot of
work to make the arrangements for
such a big band. As some of the
all time greatest R&B songs
like «Good Morning Judge»
originally used to be hillbilly
songs, I had the idea to record a
big band version of another great
hillbilly boogie song:»Rocking
and Rolling With Grandmaw».
Nobody can imagine that. But I
think it could be great. We will
find out.
Is
your last album selling good?
On our shows we are selling more
records than we expected. Both LP´s
and CD´s. But I don´t really
know how the album sells in the
shops. Our record company knows
more about that than we do.
Do
you know other band like yours in
Germany?
There are of course some swing
playing big bands. Some of them
are great some of them are
terrible. But they are all doing
something different from what we
are doing.
What
do you think of the actual rock’n’roll
scene? The Rhythm Riot?
The Rock´n´Roll scene is funny.
Every time it seems to be dying
it comes to new live. I think it
will outlive all of us. It´s
great to have a local venue where
you can see live shows. And you
should do everything to keep it
alive. But beeing «in the scene»
for me is a lot about travelling.
It´s always fun to go all around
the world, to little dancing
cellars aswell as to big
fetivals, to meet all the
different people with their
differemt styles from extravagant
and elegant to primitive and wild.
Sounds stupid but in the rocking
scene, Europe was united decades
before the politics catched up.
Touring with the band or on a
private trip I am always restless
and always looking for most
exiting place to be. Once a year
it defenetly is in Camber Sands:
the Rhythm Riot! This is where it´s
at. All the hipsters from all
around the world gather, doing
nothing but dance three days. The
DJ´s and the bands play the
blackest and wildest Rhythm and
Blues and the swingingest Swing
you can imagine. The gigantic
wooden dancefloor is hopping with
the rhythm. And then a few days
later Camber is the one most
boring placees in the world again.
And you´ve got to move on and
find the next «place to be».
You´ve got to keep moving. And
that´s what we like.
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