Swedish
rockers The Bones are relatively unknowns on British soil, so
meeting the band (singer/guitarist Beef, singer/guitarist Boner,
bassist/singer Andi and drummer Spooky) prior to their appearance at
City Invasion in Bolton
it was a chance
to see exactly what they are all about and how their plans for
UK
domination willunfold. After
brief introductions, with the majority of the conversation centered
around not wanting to know how half the band got their names, we
moved onto the topic of the band’s sound.
The Bones
You’ve
been going for nearly 12 years now. For those that are unfamiliar
with the band, what do you sound like?
Boner:
That’s tricky. What do you think we sound like?
You are
maybe more rock and not so much punk as some of the bands that are
playing today.
Boner: We
grew up.
Beef:
Yeah, we learned how to play.
You are
probably somewhere between the rock of bands like The Hellacopters
and similar to Michael Monroe’s Demolition 23.
Boner:
OK.
Not
being evicted from the van I took this as being a good, rough
explanation and moved on… What kind of audience do you generally get
at your shows, is it punks, rockers or a mix?
Beef: We
have a big mix of everything, we have skinheads showing up and girls
showing up…mostly human beings are coming.
You
released your fourth album Burnout Boulevard
last year, how has it been going, is this your first trip to the
UK
since then?
Beef:
Yeah, we have not been here since, what, two years ago, something
like that, two years sounds about right.
Boner:
Think so.
Beef:
Yeah, it’s been good,
Boner:
We’re happy with it.
Beef:
It’s good to be here so we hope to get some press here now, so we
can come back soon and drink your beer.
You
played Plymouth
yesterday. Did the show go well?
All:
Yeah, that was cool.
That was
with Agnostic Front, did you have to win the audience over?
Beef: I
think we had a bunch of people coming for us so that was good.
Their was a bunch of people with Bones T-shirts so that was a
surprise.
Boner:
We didn’t expect that.
Beef: So
it’s all good, they didn’t throw anything at us, so I guess they
liked it.
What
bands influenced you when you started the band? Were you all into
similar things?
Boner: I
do not know the answer to that question, I was not in the band when
they started.
Andi: We
have some similar references, like you know, Motorhead or Elvis.
Beef:
AC/DC and stuff like that.
Andi:
Barry Manilow
Boner:
Uriah Heep, Meatloaf.
Beef:
Yeah that’s good, to eat.
On your
website, you had a photo of you performing with an Elvis
impersonator.
Andi:
Yeah, yeah
Beef:
Our 10th anniversary party.
Andi: So
we bought out Paul Stanley and Elvis Presley and some friends of
ours.
And
you're releasing a live DVD later this year?
Beef: We
are going to, we have a lot of old stuff, you know, the history. We
always film everything and we are going to put that together in,
like, a history thing, like bonus material. Then we are going to
record a DVD live in Berlin
in October.
Is that because you
have a bigger fan base in Germany?
Beef:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah it is cool for us in Europe, in the
mainland, you know, like Germany,
Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic all those countries, really
good for us. We started out touring them many years ago so it came
natural since we had a German label and everything, we were mostly
promoted there.
Talking
of Germany , you're at Wacken this year - for the first time?
Beef:
Yeah
So have you any idea
what to expect?
Beef: A
lot of corpse paint, I guess.
Boner:
Some more hard rocking and metal.
Andi:
We’ve done it all before, we’ve been squeezed in between five or six
hardcore bands like, we’re used to being the odd ones out. It seems
to work you know, people get tired of hearing the same music from
band to band and then we come and it’s something else. I think we
will fit in between Saxon and Iron Maiden, I don’t know.
Beef:
And we will only play Manowar covers.
Andi:
That would be unexpected.
Spooky:
Don’t say anything from now, they will write it down.
Can I
quote you on that.
Spooky:
There will be people expecting us to do Manowar covers.
You
actually did do a covers EP though, with guest musicians, what was
the reason behind that?
Beef:
We’ve been touring with so many different bands, all over, you know,
and almost every tour we end up on stage together with those bands
doing some, like, Ramones songs or whatever. People have been
bugging us for years ‘oh you’ve got to release that song’. So we
were ‘OK, let’s do it’, and we invited the guys that we were on tour
with to join the recordings, and it took a really long time to
finish it, so that’s the story behind that one. There will be a
volume two, but we don’t know when or where…or what songs. Someday
it will be, that’s the funny thing, because we know so many bands
from all over the world, it’s kind of fun to end up on stage doing
some. It’s kind of easy to get everyone to play a Ramones song,
everyone get together and do a fun version and the crowd will go
apeshit for it, that’s funny.
People do
seem to like cover versions, there's even a Misfit tribute band here
tonight.
Beef:
Yeah I saw something, I suspected it was something like that, called
the Bitchfits or something like that.
The name
gives it away.
Beef:
Yeah exactly.
Given
that you're from Sweden
the majority of rock fans probably think of the heavier bands like
In Flames or Soilwork when they think of that country, but there's
also bands like The Hellacopters and Backyard Babies as well, so is
there much of a hard rock scene there?
Beef:
Actually no, not really. More Swedes outside of Sweden.
Boner:
Swedish bands tend to seek their fortune elsewhere than in Sweden
because the clubs are closing down and all that stuff.
Is that
generally or just rock?
Boner: I
think that is generally.
Spooky:
Swedish bands are bigger outside Sweden.
Andi:
There’s not enough money in the rock scene. So it’s more like radio
and pop.
So are
you aiming to become that bit bigger now in the UK?
Beef:
Hopefully, that depends on…
Andi:
We’re planning on worldwide domination, that’s all.
Beef:
Yeah.
Andi:
Nothing much, that’s all we ask for. More tours and all day
drinking.
And
sitting in a van.
Andi:
Watching people.
Beef:
Yeah, in the gutter.
There
does appear to be a lot of people outside the venue at the moment.
Spooky:
It’s fucking warmer outside than inside.
Andi: So
that’s why we’re here.
Beef:
Promote it a little bit more, see what’s coming up, we get a lot of
e-mails from the UK so that’s cool, I hope they find their way
here. We will see what happens after this, we are doing three shows
now, London tomorrow.
Running
out of questions now, so is there anything else you would like to
add?
Andi:
Can I help you?
Go on,
yeah, what questions would you like to ask yourselves?
Andi:
Which year did you guys start and how do you come to name yourselves
your names, the name The Bones and your stage names?
Beef:
You didn’t ask the normal questions.
OK, why
the stage names?
Boner:
No comment.
Beef:
Ask our parents.
Andi:
Alcohol. It all derived from alcohol.
Let's be
a bit boring than, how long have you got on stage tonight?
Beef: I
think we have 40 minutes.
Andi:
Until people start throwing things at us, sharp objects.
If
they’re blunt you stay on, but if they’re sharp you leave?
Boner:
When the dog leaves, then we go.
Beef: I
think we have 40 minutes. So that will be like two songs…
Andi:
Two hundred songs.
Beef:
…the Pink Floyd version, I think, something like that.
Andi:
Spooky is also now doing his famous drum solo that lasts for 45
minutes. He can do a lot more but we really hate drum solos.
Spooky:
It’s 46.
Are you
catching anyone else tonight?
Beef: We
are going to watch Deadline and the bands before us, because we want
to get to the hotel as soon as we have played.
Andi: We
have a chess game to finish.
With
responses like that you have to laugh but, given the tone of the
rest of the interview I guess we'll never know if they were joking
or actually being serious......
Anyway
you can check The Bones out for yourself by visiting their website @
www.bonesrocknroll.com
JDarren Brushneen
