Halmstad
goes heavy! Yeah, apart from that guy who plays in Roxette, Halmstad
isn't really that known for harder rocking bands. VII
GATES are about to change all that, though. Having released
a splendid first album called Fire, Walk With Me,
which combines the greatest parts of the 80’s with more
great parts of the 80’s, the band is more than ready and
set to slay. Guitarist and founder JJ Rockford and drummer Mick
van Slowfoot were more than happy to answer some questions, and
turned out to be some really funny dudes in the process. Read,
or be forever hell bent for leather!
Alex:
Which are the seven gates?
JJ: No clue, actually! I'll leave that open to interpretation.
There may come future interpretations from us sometime. Mick likes
to think and write about stuff. Read his column on drumming on
the website! And Criss's head has been home to many strange thoughts,
even though he is less eager to write them down. Otherwise, I'd
say it's good with names that have double meanings. I can imagine
bands like W.A.S.P. have got some good promotion out of that.
Or Kiss, Knights In Satan's Service, and whatever... :-)
Alex:
Who started the band, and how did that happen?
JJ: It was probably me who started it, together with
a guy called David Angsviks. I had recently moved to Halmstad
to study, and was looking for a band to play in. Since there apparently
were no bands, I had to start one from scratch. David and I rehearsed
alone with a drum machine for a while, before we met Mick (van
Slowfoot). Things clicked immediately, and he in turn knew a singer
(Criss Blackburn) and a guitarist whose name was Niklas. Before
we knew it we had a complete lineup. After that members have come
and gone. David, for example, passed away in a car accident after
only a couple of months. It seems that we have a way of wearing
bass players out, since that's the instrument where most members
have been switched out. We're on our fourth bass player by now.
Alex:
How did you come up with your artist names?
JJ: I don't really know. It just happened, like with
the band name... The reason, anyway, was to make things easier
for people in other countries. For example, I suspect that it
wouldn't be that easy for a Greek to differentiate between Arvidsson,
Andersson, Andreasson and whatever our names are. I think Mick
adopted the moniker 'Slowfoot' since he feels he can't really
keep up when guy like Daniel Erlandsson (Arch Enemy) kicks away,
but at the same time, it might have had something to do with his
Indian heritage, or whatever he was mumbling about...
Mick: Well... Not many people are able to keep
up with Daniel. But if one is allowed to gloat for a while, "Mick"
comes from my first really orgasmic drum experience... Mick Tucker
(Sweet), Strung Up, but at that time I didn't realize that this
was the kind of music I'd be playing along with in a couple of
years!!!
Alex:
The music smells of the 80's and of modern times. Who are the
idols?
JJ: Kind of ironic, because my idols are pretty much
bands from the 70:s (or earlier), e.g. Queen, Rainbow, Judas Priest,
The Who, Deep Purple, Beatles, Sweet and some more. But of course
also some 'newer' ones, like Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe,
Accept, Hanoi Rocks, Queensrÿche, Helloween and Savatage.
If you look at the other band member's idols you'll also find
Genesis, Anthrax, Sex Pistols, Charles Mingus, Singergy, The Doors,
Warlord, ELO, Skid Row, Gamma Ray and a bunch of others. Very
mixed, in other words.
Mick: I think the feeling behind every song is
important, where every song can have its own source of inspiration...
But sources I imagine can be heard in the drums are Sweet, Savatage,
Rush, etc. Personally, I've been listening to Mick Tucker since
1975, even though I wasn't playing then... then of course Neil
Peart (Rush) has had a lot of influence on the drumming, even
if it can't be heard in VII GATES! There is actually
another band I seldom name... dunno why, but it's the Southern
rockers Blackfoot... they're so damn tight!
Alex:
How did you get all these celebrities to make guest appearances?
JJ: With the exception of Chris Amott, who is a friend,
we just mailed them and asked. We actually received positive answers
from a lot more people than are present on the album, but we kind
of sensed that we would be doing enough name-dropping as it were.
An extremely pleasant experience otherwise; everyone was really
nice.
Alex:
Who is Criss's favorite singer? Halford, Hansen?
JJ: *drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-long drum roll-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraMM*
Rob Halford! That's the idol over everyone else. Not that surprising,
heh? I also believe he is very fond of Bruce Dickinson, David
Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Geoff Tate and Jon Bon Jovi.
Alex:
How big are the chances of festival slots at the moment? What
would be interesting?
JJ: Not that big, I'd say. I'm not that into the business
yet, but I suspect that it's a bit late to show interest now,
at least for the bigger summer festivals. Also, we're on a pretty
small label. But if the album sells ok, all we have to do is hope
that someone would like us to play somewhere. Sweden Rock Festival
would be the festival closest to my mind; they're known for being
nice to smaller bands. Also, the festival is only 200 kilometers
from Halmstad, so it wouldn't take that much work. Otherwise,
of course it'd be a blast playing such festivals as Wacken Open
Air, Bang Your Head and some festivals in Italy, Greece and Spain
the names of which have slipped my mind at the moment. Then I
guess there are a lot of smaller festivals that are not as well-known
(we have some of those here in Sweden) to people abroad, that
of course would also have been fun playing at. Does anyone have
some tips?
Alex:
Seriously, who are the babes on the backside of Fire, Walk
With Me?
JJ: You don't have to believe me, but Mick is, despite
his approx. 150 kilos, a real charm monster... It's his doings
entirely...
Mick: Ha ha ha! I don't even come close to 150
kilos! But maybe we ought to have a competition about my weight?
Where first prize would be a chance to pose with the babes...
or some other babes? I'd take care of that!
Alex:
Why are you so damn tight? Any education?
JJ: We bow and thank you for the compliment! I think
we rehearse pretty much compared to other bands nowadays. At least
two times a week, all year. I think many other bands only rehearse
in periods, before the release of an album or before a tour. But
that's only a wild guess. Don't think anyone in the band thinks
of himself as a pro, but if you know what to play, and listen
to the others, things just flow.
Mick: But I think we rehearse way too little,
at least with the complete lineup. I'd say I'm a guy who needs
the whole 'sound picture', otherwise the mojo gets lost! But that's
only my opinion, and I'm one to speak, being more or less deaf
and all... hmmm...
Alex:
Any chance of opening for Europe, now that they're reuniting?
JJ: That would have been really swell! But we haven't
asked, and (of course) none has asked us. But I don't even know
if a tour has been planned yet? The only gig this year, so far,
seems to be the one on Sweden Rock Festival.
Alex:
If you could pick any band / venue / city to play with / in, what'd
you take?
JJ: Spontaneously, I'd say Iron Maiden. Anywhere! But
of course there would have been no end to the coolness of playing
with any of our favorite bands. As far as arenas go, of course
it would have been very exciting to play one of those giant venues
like Wembley (that doesn't exist anymore?) or that arena in Rio
de Janeiro, where Queen played in front of 250.000 people. Otherwise,
after having browsed through my rich collection of Hard Rock-VHS,
I'd say the indoor venues are the most appealing.
Mick: Savatage would have been pretty fucking
cool to play with. Or jamming with Andy Scott in some smoky club...
Alex:
Could one expect a cool stage show? (I'm referring to the video
of The Saviour, where Criss toys around with an accordion!)
JJ: We don't have the resources for a giant production,
but on the other hand, we really slay on stage, and give pretty
much of ourselves away to the audience. The occasional firecracker
is bound to go off as well. But we have to be more careful about
that nowadays, because last time the automatic fire alarm went
off where we played, and the staff had to turn the fire brigade
away in the door, telling them that nothing had happened, while
we were trying to hide our home built, and probably illegal, launching
equipment away. The crackers themselves, however, had been approved.
Mick: They are legal, really, but on the other
hand, Criss is probably not the world's greatest electrician.
JJ: No, saying that would be wrong. The way he
connects wires would haunt an experienced electrician for years.
We've had some trouble with our 'bomb table' (a box with launching
devices), in that sometimes the bombs went off when they were
not supposed to. So we asked Mick's brother, who spends his life
fixing old arcade games, to look through the wiring. He opened
up the table, sat half an hour, trying to make sense of the way
the cables were connected, then just shook his head and walked
away.
Mick: Well, if nothing else, Criss would be able
to give great prog-jazz dancing lessons. He's pretty good at that!
JJ: To fully understand what Mick's saying, you'd
better check out the video we shot for The Saviour (available
on the website).
Alex:
Beer is metal. Favorite brew?
Mick: Is Koskenkorva Cranberry a beer brand? Or Bacardi
Lemon... but the occasional Stella Artois is also good. By the
way, it's pretty odd, because when I was in London in the beginning
of the nineties, everyone went on and on about the domestic brew...
hello, all I wanted was to get my hands on one tiny Stella...
but English beer worked as well. Hey, you got drunk in any case!
JJ: Lapin Kulta has a very clean taste, which
I like. But to be honest, I don't really taste the difference
of most beers, especially not after the fourth one. Favorite brew
would be one that one has had a great time getting drunk by. Tuborg
Gold maybe? I can't remember... :-) |
