The Hives are back in full force. They have a new DVD called Tussles in Brussels. I got a chance to talk with Hives frontman Pelle Almqvist about everything thats happening in the honeycombs.
Buy The Hives - Tussles in Brussels
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whats going on today?
Pelle Almqvist: Mostly doing interviews actually. Im going to get some Christmas shopping in.
DRE: Whatre you getting?
PA: I dont know really.
DRE: Howd you get the nickname Howlin'?
PA: First from being a hyperactive kid and then when we formed the band, we all liked blues music and took first names from a band that used to be called Mississippi Mass Destruction. We were confused. We didnt know there was a difference between punk and blues or whatever it was.
DRE: What was the inspiration for Tyrannosaurus Hives?
PA: The album is a continuation of what we do. All the albums are different but its important for us that it still sounds like The Hives because we feel were obligated to our sound. We should keep that going because not a lot of people have a proper band sound. But then the name Tyrannosaurus Hives came along just because we were talking about it in rehearsals saying about it was going to be a massive album and it was going to crush things like a Tyrannosaurus. So we figured Tyrannosaurus Hives sounds really good.
DRE: [laughs] In the last couple of years The Hives had all this buzz, did you guys feel that at all?
PA: We did feel it, but it felt a little more gradual to us. We played to 200 people, then we played to 400 people. So it built from there, it didnt feel like a sudden boom and it was there. But we definitely noticed it, we do have television.
DRE: [laughs] Right. Did it feel real?
PA: We never thought that the kind of thing we did would be that popular. We just thought that we were fighting the good fight for the little man. But when we actually got popular it all made sense because we could relate to the good parts of life that were popular.
DRE: The Tussles in Brussels DVD just came out as well. How was putting that together because its not just a normal music DVD? Its a real film.
PA: Most music DVDs are so fucking boring. We watched a lot of them when we were putting this together to see what others had done. Everybody just does the same band documentary thing. We decided that was boring, so whatever we did would have to be as far away from that as possible. Thats why we made a movie which is not a documentary at all. Its a film about the story of the band told through the eyes of a reporter. It does, of course, tie in with a concert. You have what happens before the concert, then the concert and then you have what happens after the concert.
DRE: How was it working with Little Steven [he narrated the movie]?
PA: It was fun. We basically sent him the text and he read it. Weve known him for a while, actually. Hes a friend of the band.
DRE: Hes a big fan of the garage rock.
PA: Yeah. We met him around the time when he was starting his radio show. When we were on tour, him and Bruce Springsteen looked us up. Then we got to go to their show and meet them. It was fun.
DRE: Is he scary at all?
PA: No, hes a sweetheart. Hes much scarier on The Sopranos than in real life
DRE: Where are you guys going on this next tour?
PA: Were going to tour Malaysia and Uruguay and everywhere.
DRE: You guys are big in Malaysia then?
PA: I have no idea. Thats why weve got to go there, to find out. We dont know until we try it.
DRE: Why do you guys always wear the suits?
PA: Because it actually makes you sound better. People dont think so, but we can prove it acoustically. There are a lot of studies weve done that it actually makes us sound better. Plus it looks great.
DRE: What do you sound like without the suits?
PA: The same, but weve got a little bit less treble. Its all about frequencies. It works the right frequencies and makes us sound the way we want to sound.
DRE: How did you figure that out?
PA: It came after the fact. We decided to wear black and white suits because it represented the band, in that, we keep it simple and we boil it down to the base ingredients, the important stuff. If you take all the unnecessary shit out and you just have the bare essentials there, thats what the black and white represents.
So first it just looked good then we noticed that it sounded a little bit better. Now we cant do it without them.
DRE: I read you used to teach music.
PA: Yeah, but most of the job was just getting kids to sit down and shut up. I dont know if they learned that much. But they got to hit drums and stuff so they seemed happy about that.
DRE: Did you teach them about the suits?
PA: They didnt get that far. First you learn how to play the drums and then you learn what suit sounds the best. You got to start with the basics and then move on.
DRE: You ought to work with Dan the Automator, he says it is very important to be handsome.
PA: Yeah, it is. I know what hes talking about.
DRE: Whats the writing process with The Hives?
PA: We dont do it while were on tour. We do it after a tour and it takes a while. But recording is usually really quick. Later well add over-dubs, but the actual recording doesnt take more than three or four weeks.
DRE: Did you guys always work that fast?
PA: We used to work even faster because we had to. When we only had money for two weeks in the studio. I think thats good though. We dont need to spend years and years in the studio.
DRE: I read that you wanted Joaquin Phoenix to play you in The Hives movie.
PA: If he can play Johnny Cash, he can play me.
DRE: Did you see Walk the Line yet?
PA: No, so I dont even know if he did manage to play Johnny Cash.
DRE: He did a good job, dont worry.
What do you know about SuicideGirls?
PA: It is site with punk girls on it. I met a bunch of them this summer. They were doing something at a festival or something in Italy. They seemed like nice girls.
DRE: Are those the kind of girls you are into?
PA: My girls are not with tattoos or anything.
DRE: Its no suits, Ill tell you that much.
PA: No, they dont have suits. Then again, they dont have the pressure to sound their best either.
DRE: That sounds like a slam.
PA: Not at all. They dont play music or anything do they?
DRE: No, they dont. They dance.
PA: Exactly. They have music playing so their thing is to look their best. We do it differently. We wear suits, they dont.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy The Hives - Tussles in Brussels
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whats going on today?
Pelle Almqvist: Mostly doing interviews actually. Im going to get some Christmas shopping in.
DRE: Whatre you getting?
PA: I dont know really.
DRE: Howd you get the nickname Howlin'?
PA: First from being a hyperactive kid and then when we formed the band, we all liked blues music and took first names from a band that used to be called Mississippi Mass Destruction. We were confused. We didnt know there was a difference between punk and blues or whatever it was.
DRE: What was the inspiration for Tyrannosaurus Hives?
PA: The album is a continuation of what we do. All the albums are different but its important for us that it still sounds like The Hives because we feel were obligated to our sound. We should keep that going because not a lot of people have a proper band sound. But then the name Tyrannosaurus Hives came along just because we were talking about it in rehearsals saying about it was going to be a massive album and it was going to crush things like a Tyrannosaurus. So we figured Tyrannosaurus Hives sounds really good.
DRE: [laughs] In the last couple of years The Hives had all this buzz, did you guys feel that at all?
PA: We did feel it, but it felt a little more gradual to us. We played to 200 people, then we played to 400 people. So it built from there, it didnt feel like a sudden boom and it was there. But we definitely noticed it, we do have television.
DRE: [laughs] Right. Did it feel real?
PA: We never thought that the kind of thing we did would be that popular. We just thought that we were fighting the good fight for the little man. But when we actually got popular it all made sense because we could relate to the good parts of life that were popular.
DRE: The Tussles in Brussels DVD just came out as well. How was putting that together because its not just a normal music DVD? Its a real film.
PA: Most music DVDs are so fucking boring. We watched a lot of them when we were putting this together to see what others had done. Everybody just does the same band documentary thing. We decided that was boring, so whatever we did would have to be as far away from that as possible. Thats why we made a movie which is not a documentary at all. Its a film about the story of the band told through the eyes of a reporter. It does, of course, tie in with a concert. You have what happens before the concert, then the concert and then you have what happens after the concert.
DRE: How was it working with Little Steven [he narrated the movie]?
PA: It was fun. We basically sent him the text and he read it. Weve known him for a while, actually. Hes a friend of the band.
DRE: Hes a big fan of the garage rock.
PA: Yeah. We met him around the time when he was starting his radio show. When we were on tour, him and Bruce Springsteen looked us up. Then we got to go to their show and meet them. It was fun.
DRE: Is he scary at all?
PA: No, hes a sweetheart. Hes much scarier on The Sopranos than in real life
DRE: Where are you guys going on this next tour?
PA: Were going to tour Malaysia and Uruguay and everywhere.
DRE: You guys are big in Malaysia then?
PA: I have no idea. Thats why weve got to go there, to find out. We dont know until we try it.
DRE: Why do you guys always wear the suits?
PA: Because it actually makes you sound better. People dont think so, but we can prove it acoustically. There are a lot of studies weve done that it actually makes us sound better. Plus it looks great.
DRE: What do you sound like without the suits?
PA: The same, but weve got a little bit less treble. Its all about frequencies. It works the right frequencies and makes us sound the way we want to sound.
DRE: How did you figure that out?
PA: It came after the fact. We decided to wear black and white suits because it represented the band, in that, we keep it simple and we boil it down to the base ingredients, the important stuff. If you take all the unnecessary shit out and you just have the bare essentials there, thats what the black and white represents.
So first it just looked good then we noticed that it sounded a little bit better. Now we cant do it without them.
DRE: I read you used to teach music.
PA: Yeah, but most of the job was just getting kids to sit down and shut up. I dont know if they learned that much. But they got to hit drums and stuff so they seemed happy about that.
DRE: Did you teach them about the suits?
PA: They didnt get that far. First you learn how to play the drums and then you learn what suit sounds the best. You got to start with the basics and then move on.
DRE: You ought to work with Dan the Automator, he says it is very important to be handsome.
PA: Yeah, it is. I know what hes talking about.
DRE: Whats the writing process with The Hives?
PA: We dont do it while were on tour. We do it after a tour and it takes a while. But recording is usually really quick. Later well add over-dubs, but the actual recording doesnt take more than three or four weeks.
DRE: Did you guys always work that fast?
PA: We used to work even faster because we had to. When we only had money for two weeks in the studio. I think thats good though. We dont need to spend years and years in the studio.
DRE: I read that you wanted Joaquin Phoenix to play you in The Hives movie.
PA: If he can play Johnny Cash, he can play me.
DRE: Did you see Walk the Line yet?
PA: No, so I dont even know if he did manage to play Johnny Cash.
DRE: He did a good job, dont worry.
What do you know about SuicideGirls?
PA: It is site with punk girls on it. I met a bunch of them this summer. They were doing something at a festival or something in Italy. They seemed like nice girls.
DRE: Are those the kind of girls you are into?
PA: My girls are not with tattoos or anything.
DRE: Its no suits, Ill tell you that much.
PA: No, they dont have suits. Then again, they dont have the pressure to sound their best either.
DRE: That sounds like a slam.
PA: Not at all. They dont play music or anything do they?
DRE: No, they dont. They dance.
PA: Exactly. They have music playing so their thing is to look their best. We do it differently. We wear suits, they dont.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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DRE: What do you sound like without the suits?
Pelle: The same, but weve got a little bit less treble. Its all about frequencies. It works the right frequencies and makes us sound the way we want to sound.
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