THE HELLACOPTERS

THE HELLACOPTERS - Stockholm Signing Session Scheduled For Friday



THE HELLACOPTERS have scheduled a signing session on Friday, April 18th at 4 PM at Sound Pollution in Stockholm, Sweden.

The band's new single, 'In The Sign Of The Octopus', was released on March 19th.

The single (artwork pictured) is available on 7" vinyl and CD edtions, and includes the following tracks: 'In The Sign Of The Octopus' and 'Acid Reign' (exclusive track).

http://www.tv4.se/1.283438?videoId=1.351183

http://www.tv4.se/1.283438?videoId=1.351534

et toutes les explications sur cet album :


Sweden's THE HELLACOPTERS — the band fronted by former ENTOMBED drummer Nicke Andersson (on guitar/vocals) — has issued the following statement:

"If you haven't noticed yet, our new album, 'Head Off', is comprised of songs we didn't write ourselves. But before you scream, 'Oh no, a cover album!,' let's just clear a few things up.

"The idea for this record dates back about two years. We thought it'd be great to record an album of more or less contemporary songs that are too good to be left unheard. We know that the state of rock 'n' roll have seen better days but the fact is that there are shitloads of great bands with equally great songs out there. Guess you just have to dig a little. Songs that could and SHOULD be on the charts all over the world. But as you all know, the world is far from a perfect place. We're not saying that by recording these songs we'll put them on any charts or anything but maybe, just maybe, a few more people will get to know these gems and their origins.

"Anyway, we selected about 50 tunes that we think kick ass and eventually and carefully narrowed 'em down to about 20. We wound up chosing the songs that sounded like they were written for us — by us even — and ended up with an album that's one hundred percent THE HELLACOPTERS. In other words, it's not a case of 'Hey, we don't have any songs — let's just record a bunch of covers and get it over with.'

"The decision to break up the band was obviously made after we recorded and mixed the album. That decision has nothing to do with the 'concept' of 'Head Off'. It just happened to be our last studio album and we hope you'll like it.

"Why the secrecy? Well, by not announcing that we're releasing a 'cover album,' rather than just a new album – which is how we see it – we're trying to avoid any preconceived ideas people might get about it. We basically want people to listen to the album for what it really is: our new album. Period."

"Head Off" track listing (including name of original artist):

01. Electrocute (DEMONS)
02. Midnight Angels (THE PEEPSHOWS)
03. (I'm) Watching You (THE HUMPERS)
04. No Salvation (THE TURPENTINES)
05. In The Sign Of The Octopus (THE ROBOTS)
06. Veronica Lake (NEW BOMB TURKS)
07. Another Turn (THE MAHARAJAS)
08. I Just Don't Know About Girls (ASTEROID B-612)
09. Rescue (DEAD MOON)
10. Throttle Bottom (GAZA STRIPPERS)
11. Making Up For Lost Time (THE BELLRAYS)
12. Darling Darling (THE ROYAL CREAM)
13. Straight Until Morning (POWDER MONKEYS)
14. Acid Reign (THE YES-MEN)

"Head Off" last week entered the Swedish national chart at position No. 4. The album was released in Sweden on April 18 via Wild Kingdom on CD, LP and a limited CD/vinyl deluxe combo version. The CD was once again produced by Chips Kiesby (THE NOMADS, SATOR, THE TURPENTINES) and mixed by Henryk Lipp.

European festival appearances will follow during the summer, and a final headlining run will take place in the fall.

THE HELLACOPTERS was the featured musical guest on the "Nyhetsmorgon" program on Sweden's TV4's on March 20. Watch the band's performance at TV4.se

video
http://nrkp3.no/konserter/?klipp=382861

THE HELLACOPTERS – “It’s Just Three Chords And It Doesn’t Mean Shit In The Long-Run… But It’s Important”



By David Perri

Whether you’re a rock ‘n’ roll supporter or detractor (and if you’re reading this, you’re most probably the former), there’s no denying that rock has been a genuine cultural phenomenon for the last 50 years, a force that has been propelled to the mainstream and back, all the while possessing the souls of those lucky enough to be enraptured in its grasp. That said, rock at the mainstream level has its pitfalls: trend-following/overly corporate labels, fair-weather fans and, without a doubt, the CD format. OK, so maybe that dig at the CD is a bit excessive, but there’s a whole faction of rock fans who worship at the altar of vinyl, the ultimate harbinger of purity and sonic warmth. It’s this subsection of individuals – the true fanatics – that encapsulates the true essence of rock, and these are the people who fill the sweaty clubs on Monday nights, the fans who hit the independent record stores on the romantic quest for vinyl, and those who, when it all comes down to it, live and breathe rock ‘n’ roll. Rock isn’t a mere lifestyle: it’s life itself.

All of this is relevant in the context of The Hellacopters because the band was seemingly formed to harness the energy, vigour and life-force described in the above paragraph. All five members of The Hellacopters (six if you count ex-guitarist/Backyard Babies mainman Dregen) are devotees of the select rock-as-life faction and, over the course of The Hellacopters’ 14-year existence, this group from Stockholm has crafted some of the most vital rock records of its generation, albums that will hopefully be remembered as such years from now when we’re all but mere ashes and dust.

Why all the nostalgic sentiment, you ask? Simple: The Hellacopters, after a summer festival run and a September club tour, are breaking up. It’s hard to believe that October will come and The Hellacopters will be no more, but it’s a reality that the rock ‘n’ roll faithful are staring directly at. The members of The Hellacopters believe it’s the right decision and they’re obviously the best judges of when this whole experience should end. But for the listener, The Hellacopters’ departure is a bitter conclusion to one of rock’s great sagas.

From the furious beginnings of the Killing Allan 7” and the subsequent perfect duo of full-length debut Supershitty To The Max and its follow-up Payin’ The Dues, The Hellacopters entered the infamous Sunlight Studios with Tomas Skogsberg and Fred “Sonic” Estby (also of Dismember fame) and began their rock narrative on a gloriously loud and fuming note. As the band progressed through to Grande Rock and into the Gold-selling (in Sweden) but still sublime High Visibility, The Hellacopters expanded into soul and blues influences while still harbouring the energy of old but allowing the self-discovery process to infiltrate the band’s creations. And then there’s By The Grace Of God, probably The Hellacopters’ crowning achievement. By The Grace Of God is a testament to rock ‘n’ roll done impeccably right: the record is well-written, brimming with energy and, most importantly, full of life, a product of its five individual creators who live the rock and respect the rock unquestionably. Though By The Grace Of God ventured nowhere near the “sonic as fuck” (the band’s own expression) loudness of Supershitty To The Max or Payin’ The Dues, By The Grace Of God is an effort that deserves a place in the highest rock canon, but is probably better off for not being accepted by the masses. The fair-weathers probably wouldn’t understand its depth. 2005 brought The Hellacopters’ only mis-step, Rock And Roll Is Dead, an album that had its moments but, generally, failed to deliver on By The Grace Of God’s promise. Latest (and final) record Head Off has remedied that situation mightily, finally acting on the excellence By The Grace Of God offered. There’s only one catch: Head Off is a covers record.

Yes, you read that right: the final Hellacopters album – a striking record that does the band’s legacy justice – is comprised of songs by other people. But as album highlights ‘In The Sign Of The Octopus’ (The Robots), ‘Midnight Angels’ (The Peepshows), ‘Throttle Bottom’ (Gaza Strippers), ‘I’m Watching You’ (The Humpers) and ‘Rescue’ (Dead Moon) attest, The Hellacopters have made these songs their own, and if the band hadn’t told us these were covers we’d never know it.

Affable Hellacopters founder, vocalist and guitar player Nicke Andersson (also of Death Breath, The Solution and ex-Entombed) spoke to BW&BK backstage at the Where The Action Is festival (named after a Hellacopters track) in Stockholm about the group’s decision to record a covers album, and he also offered insight into the band’s 14-year spectrum of greatness. If Head Off really is The Hellacopters’ last gasp (and all signs indicate it is), then the group will have left on an appropriately life-affirming high note, much in the same way the debut record announced its arrival with a life-affirming burst of energy.

BW&BK: Some people were a bit surprised that Head Off, the last Hellacopters album, is a covers record. Why did you decide to end the band with a covers LP?

Nicke Andersson: “I had the idea for the covers album almost two years ago, and that was long before we made the decision for the band to split up. So it has nothing to do with us ending as a band. It was just an idea I had. I think there’s so many good songs out there by small bands that not a lot of people get to hear about. I’m not saying we’re going to change that, but maybe if 10 more people or 100 more people will get to appreciate the fact that there’s always good underground bands then we’ll be happy. The songs on Head Off are all songs that we like so much, and they’re by bands that we feel somehow connected to musically. More than half of those bands we’re friends with. But that wasn’t the first criteria to be on the album, the criteria was the songs themselves. But we realised that all the bands we think are good we somehow made friends with, which isn’t so strange because we feel like we’re colleagues. Also, every time we’ve gone on tour, since the beginning, we’ve always tried to pick bands we like and therefore we became friends with them. So that’s why we’re friends with the bands we covered, with a few exceptions. Like The Humpers, we don’t know The Humpers. But that song in particular (‘I’m Watching You’) was a huge inspiration for The Hellacopters. When we started out, there were a lot of American bands that influenced us and inspired us to start the band. Bands like the New Bomb Turks, The Humpers, The Devil Dogs and Nine Pound Hammer. There was an underground scene with good garage rock, or whatever you want to call it. And that made us realise that there was good rock ‘n’ roll that wasn’t hair metal. That kind of goes back to me being in a death metal band, because I guess for a lot of people getting into extreme metal was a reaction to what happened in the ‘80s. I think everyone more or less grew up with Iron Maiden, Saxon, KISS and Thin Lizzy, but then metal turned kind of ugly during the ‘80s. But I have to admit I was the owner of the first two Motley Crue records, and I really loved them (laughs).”

BW&BK: Those are the two good ones, so it’s ok (laughs).

NA: “I don’t even know if they’re good (laughs). When listening back to them I enjoy them, but I don’t know if it’s purely for nostalgic reasons. Those albums are kind of tacky. It’s metal, though. It’s more metal than rock ‘n’ roll. They may have had some New York Dolls-inspired image, but when I listen to it I hear metal. It has more in common with Accept than it does with AC/DC. That’s how I feel, anyway. For me, being in a death metal band was a reaction to hair metal and wimpy music. Then I discovered stuff during the early ‘90s, even when I was into death metal. I discovered some of the early Sub Pop bands. I grew up with KISS, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones before I got into metal. And realising that there was a good underground rock scene with Sub Pop before it became grunge was cool. I liked the early Soundgarden stuff and Fluid and also the first Nirvana album. Me and Uffe (Cederlund) from Entombed listened to that stuff a lot at the same time we were listening to death metal. And then we found bands like the New Bomb Turks and it gave you hope that there could be good rock ‘n’ roll again.”

BW&BK: What’s interesting about Head Off is the first time you hear the album you don’t even realise the songs are covers. You guys really managed to make those songs your own. They sound like Hellacopters tracks. Was the band consciously trying to do that?

NA: “Yeah, that’s what we’ve been trying to do with all the covers we’ve done. When we started the band, we did covers of Motorhead, KISS and the New York Dolls. But we realised that we couldn’t improve on those songs, because they were already perfect. We realised it’s better to take a song that’s not necessarily close to us musically and cover it. Like we did quite a few soul covers and they sound like any Hellacopters song. And that’s kind of what we wanted to do with these covers, except that they’re more musically close to us. But the fact that nobody’s heard them made it good to record them.”

BW&BK: I went and checked out some of the originals based on the links you posted at The Hellacopters’ website. The originals are great songs. ‘In The Sign Of The Octopus’ is especially strong.

NA: “We didn’t change it a lot. It’s just that we play it and it sounds like The Hellacopters. We were extremely faithful to that version. When I heard that song for the first time I was like, ‘This should be a hit. This should be on American FM radio.’ It’s such a good song. But I don’t know how many records they sold in Sweden… 55 records or something? (laughs) It’s ridiculous how good they are, but that’s how it is. If you don’t have dedicated underground followers, no one is going to know you. All the words in ‘In The Sign Of The Octopus’ were all words I had never heard before (laughs). I didn’t even know how to pronounce them. I was trying to say them like the vocalist did. The song is all about conspiracies… he says words like ‘rosicrucians’ and ‘merovingians’. It’s kind of interesting that the song is catchy, because it has so many strange words (laughs).”

BW&BK: Another one of your great songs -- and I think this is one of your crowning achievements in any of your bands – is ‘Toys And Flavors’. That riff has so much soul in it. What are your thoughts on that song?

NA: “I don’t know. I don’t really think of any song we do or any song I write. One thing that’s interesting with that song in particular is that it’s from High Visibility, and that’s the first album we did with a producer. Chips (K.), who produced it, heard the demos and he heard that song and he was like, ‘Naa. It’s not so good, let’s not record it.’ And I had to fight for it. I knew it was a good song, or at least I thought it was a good song. It was called something else back then and I convinced him to try it out. I didn’t have any lyrics, I just had scratch nonsense words for it and he actually helped me with the lyrics. I don’t know if that’s the reason he changed his mind (laughs). And it ended up the first single from High Visibility, and in Sweden it’s probably our only hit single. It was our only single that charted. So… he was wrong (laughs). He’s never going to hear the end of that (laughs).”

BW&BK: When you think back to the early days, what are your thoughts on the first two records (Supershitty To The Max and Payin’ The Dues)? There’s a big difference between those two and the latter-day catalogue, what are your thoughts on that shift?

NA: “I know it’s a big difference, there’s definitely a difference. It happened over a lot of years, though. There isn’t a jump between each album, the albums are things in a progression. But, I mean, the first album is an album that could have only been made those two days we recorded it. It’s a reflection or document of those two days, and that’s how we sounded back then. And it struck a chord, in Sweden anyway. Basically what we did was that we took what we thought was good from New Bomb Turks and The Devil Dogs and The Humpers and so on. We really liked their energy. There was also a little KISS in there, maybe. That’s what we wanted to do. It turned out the way it did and it sounds like shit, but in a good way. Hence the title, Supershitty To The Max. It’s a pretty rough album to play on maximum volume. It’s like, what’s going on here? ‘(Gotta Get Some Action) Now!’ was inspired by The Humpers song, ‘I’m Watching You’. It’s the main inspiration for ‘(Gotta Get Some Action) Now!’. ‘I’m Watching You’ has that guitar lead and the same kind of chord patterns. To me, the two songs are pretty much the same, but I don’t know how it is if an outside person compares them. So I guess that’s our tribute to The Humpers (laughs). But, y’know, we managed to make it our own, which is the point. We didn’t really think, and that’s why it is what it is. We didn’t think too much about it and we didn’t think too much about getting certain sounds. Knowing me, I probably had a totally different idea of how I wanted it to sound. That’s how it always is. I have everything in my head and it turns out another way. But it always turns out like The Hellacopters. It took me a few years to get comfortable with that. I always aim high, sonically at least. I don’t think the other guys know what I’m thinking about, but it always turns out to sound like The Hellacopters which is good. I like all our albums, but the first one is special because it’s the first one. And it should be like that. And I have another favourite, By The Grace Of God. I think it’s where everything clicked or whatever.”

BW&BK: Do you feel it’s the top moment for The Hellacopters?

NA: “Since we made the decision to break up, you can sort of look back. And doing that, I feel that if Rock And Roll Is Dead had had the same sound and production as By The Grace Of God, it would have been a much better album. By The Grace Of God isn’t perfect, but it’s where song-wise… it’s kind of a big-sounding album, without sounding like the first album. The first album sounds big in a totally different way. I’m not saying the albums after are shit, but maybe By The Grace Of God is just a little better.”

BW&BK: There’s a lot of confidence on both Supershitty To The Max and By The Grace Of God. Did you guys feel confident while putting them together?

NA: “No. When I go through a bad period, like a lot of people I tend to suppress it. I mean, after the bad period you put it away and forget about the experience. And like six months ago I talked to the engineer, Stefan (Boman), who did By The Grace Of God and told him that I really liked it, looking back. And I think that’s our best album. And he said he still couldn’t listen to it without feeling really, really bad. That whole recording, apparently, was so frustrating for everyone involved. I mean, I don’t even really remember it. We worked our asses off and had tons of bad luck in the studio. Chips, who produced it, got his first grey hairs recording that album (laughs). It was a frustrating time, and apparently at the time I told Boba (Anders “Boba” Lindstrom, Hellacopters piano player) that I wanted to quit after By The Grace Of God. I told him that we weren’t going to get any better than By The Grace Of God. But I don’t remember saying that, he could be full of shit (laughs). At the same time, we recorded it and worked 24 hours a day in shifts, just to be done with it. Then we had this new mixer guy, Michael Ilbert, who was going to mix it and we had no idea what he was going to bring to it. He worked for a whole day and then we came in and listened to the song ‘By The Grace Of God’ and we were floored. It was, again, nothing like what I had in mind. But I was amazed. And I thought that if he was going to do the same good job with next song, I wouldn’t have to listen to it. It would be fine. That was the reward, I guess. That’s what probably made me forget about the hard times in the studio. But Stefan apparently did not forget (laughs). He says he can’t listen to it and that it just brings back too many bad memories. I just remember us recording it in the countryside in a nice studio. It was May and the sun was shining, that’s all I remember. I know I threw a fit at one point because I was trying to get some feedback and it didn’t work – I was trying to get the right feedback for five hours (laughs). It was maximum volume. You just get really into it when you work with music. At the end of the day I know it’s just rock ‘n’ roll, but I really like it. It’s really important.”

BW&BK: I think a lot of people feel the same way.

NA: “I know it’s just three chords and it doesn’t mean shit in the long-run, but it’s important.”

BW&BK: There’s definitely that select group of people who realise how important rock is and I think a lot of them listen to The Hellacopters. That said, why is the band breaking up at this point? Is the decision reversible?

NA: “It’s not reversible, unfortunately.”

BW&BK: The band is on the top of its game. Why is it ending?

NA: “Well, I don’t even know if we’re on the top of our game or not. I strongly feel that we’re a good band. We’re five individuals in the band, but I don’t want to destroy my personal illusion of The Hellacopters, whatever that is. And I don’t want to start recording crappy albums and just go on just for the routine of it. After so many years, you become this guy in this band and that can’t be it. There has be something more to motivate you to do your absolute best. So far, so good. But I feel, personally, I’m not going to be that way in five years. So I’d rather this band end on a really good note instead. We’re still friends, and we’re still going to do this last festival tour and then the last club tour, and that’s what I want to remember. So it’s probably a good thing we didn’t end after By The Grace Of God (laughs). If we had broken up then, I wouldn’t have even remembered the recording of it. For any band there’s negative and positive stuff, but in November it’ll be 14 years of The Hellacopters. That’s a really long time for any band, and a good question to any band at that point would be, why are you still together? I mean, you get different answers. A lot of people say it’s still fun, but is it? In the beginning, it was 50% for the party and 50% for the music. And lately it’s been 100% for the music, and that means the times when you’re not playing or writing are kind of a drag. You get older and you get comfortable, there’s no denying that. It’s easy for the Stones to say it’s still fun because they have private jets and whatever. But we still do van tours in North America. We do pretty good in Europe so we can go out in a bus here, but we’re cramped up in the small space with the same people over and over and over again. And it’s hard. I mean, I might be wrong. But I strongly feel we should quit. And I’m glad I quit Entombed when I did. I don’t regret any of that. It was perfect. I think what I did with Entombed in those years is all I could knock out. I didn’t have anything more to give.”

BW&BK: Speaking of Entombed, the band is credited with creating the Stockholm Death Metal sound, and you as the leader of that band were a big reason that Sunlight Studios/Stockholm Death sound exists. What are your thoughts on that, especially given how influential that scene became?

NA: “It’s weird for me to take any credit, but at the same time if I try to put myself on the outside I was a very driven little kid. I always was very determined, I guess. In a lot of cases I was the one who traded cassettes and demos and forced music upon people the most. Not that the people I did that to minded, but I think I was really focused on something. I didn’t really know what the plan was or anything, but I was so into that kind of music. If you’re into any kind of underground music, I think you have to be really dedicated to keep up with it. Because it’s not like you get pats on the back for it.”

BW&BK: That’s right.

NA: “Being into underground music is for yourself. It’s not a show-off thing. In a way maybe it is, because you’ll say you have 100 more cassettes than the other guy, but that’s just within a really small circle of people. It’s funny when people when talk about the Swedish sound or whatever, because we were really inspired by American music. And also Canadian bands, like Slaughter (note: the group from Toronto, not the glam band!) and Obliveon… Obliveon’s second demo is still one of the top demos of the late ‘80s. Also, bands like Devastation from Chicago. Not the album Devastation, the band (laughs). They weren’t bad. Bands like Death too, especially with the first album.”

BW&BK: I’ve read that you guys were all really into Repulsion.

NA: “Oh yeah, Repulsion was a huge inspiration. And also Master. And Death Strike. That’s what we wanted to do. To me, it’s kind of surprising because if you listen to our early Entombed stuff, it’s a mix of those bands. But I don’t think we were good enough copy-cats, so it just turned into our own sound. And if you listen to Slaughter’s Strappado album, you’ll hear that the guitar sound is a bit similar. There’s that crunchy mid kind of distortion. That’s what we wanted to do, we wanted it to be crunchy. To me it’s kind of funny we created a style, when I think we took what was there. But I guess that’s how you create a style. And Autopsy obviously was a big influence. They were just one year before us, but in the underground you can also be inspired by contemporary bands. Then you had Venom, Celtic Frost and Slayer. Without those three bands, there would be no death metal. There would be no Possessed, which is also a big influence. They kind of landed in between thrash and death metal.”

BW&BK: People still look to Left Hand Path for inspiration.

NA: “Well, it’s a pretty good album (laughs). It worked. I’m really proud of it. We were really young, too. But again, it’s the same thing as when we started The Hellacopters, there are some similarities. We just didn’t give a shit what other people thought, we just did it. We played the music we liked and, like we were talking about before, I probably had a totally different kind of vision of how Left Hand Path would sound. And together with Tomas (Skogsberg), we created that sound. He’s very much responsible for that sound. It’s a combination, I think. It was a good combination. But there’s stuff on that album I hate. The drum sound is awful, for example. The snare sounds ok, but the toms are fucking D Drums. They’re not real toms. And they’re not real on the second album either. It was the third album where I finally got to use a real kit. D Drums were all the studio had, and they said it was simpler that way. So I just said ok, even though I wasn’t sure that was the best way to go (laughs). The first two Dismember albums are D Drums, too. I don’t want to ruin anything for you (laughs), but that’s how it was.”