Interview with Badmouth

T - Part Three of H.A.T.E

We caught a few moments with Chris LeMon from Badmouth to hear what his thoughts about their new EP “T – Part Three of H.A.T.E” are. “T – Part Three of H.A.T.E” will be released November 1st and you can pre-listen and pre-order it here!

Badmouth
Badmouth, Photo by Michael Johansson

Hi Badmouth! You’re making “T – Part Three of H.A.T.E” would you start by telling us a little bit about your music and your band?
Badmouth started 4 years ago, we released our debut album in 2008 and our second album this summer, which is produced by Chips Kiesbye. When we got the offer to do this EP we just couldn’t resist, such a cool thing to be part of, so even though we just released the album we called Chips and he was up for it … Badmouth is rock’n’roll, its about having a good time, we are having a great time and we want the crowd to smile as they see us live, its all about the love for music …

You’re usually writing your own songs, so what did you think was the hardest part of making Sofia’s songs feel like your own?
Actually nothing was hard … haha … It’s great songs! The hardest one was “To watch the bridges burn” we had a different version going first but it was just strange … haha … but then we tried the way it is now and it sounds great! So it has only been a lot of fun!

T - Part Three of H.A.T.E
T - Part Three of H.A.T.E

Which one are you most happy with and why?
I guess it depends who you ask in the band, for me personally I would say Jonestown, I think the arrangement turned out great and it is truly a great song, but I also think Bridges turned out great in a different way, to me its a radio hit! I think it’s cool that all four songs turned out so different from each other so I would say I am really happy about all four ...

Rumor has it you’re on tour with Gilby Clarke from Guns & Roses, how did that come about?
Totally true, actually sitting in the tour bus right now on our way to the last show, it’s been a great tour, 8 shows in Sweden … Well, I also work as a booking agent and I booked this tour and Gilby needed a band and it wasn’t hard for me to suggest the best band to him 😉

Chris LeMon and Vinnie Sharp from Badmouth with Gilby Clarke
Chris LeMon and Vinnie Sharp from Badmouth with Gilby Clarke

What’s your all time favorite tour memory?
There’s a lot, and some things that shouldn’t be mentioned here 😉 But right now I would say this tour, to be on a stage with Gilby Clarke is truly a dream come true!

Making rock music out of singer/songwriter tunes isn’t something bands do every day. What did you think about the experience and would you do it again?
I would love to do it again, this shows that good songs are good songs no matter which category you place them in … We actually said that if this EP becomes a hit we will have Sofia write our next album! 😉

What’s your recipe for success?
Be yourself and love what you do!

What’s in store for you this fall?
Well, the release of the EP is the next thing and we have a release party for it in Stockholm on November 4th at RoQ. As soon as we are back from the road we will start planning the next tour, the main goal is to play live as much as possible and get out the word of BADMOUTH!

Thanks for chatting with us, can you tell us your three favorite songs right now?
Thank you! Wow that’s difficult but right now I would say “Jonestown”, “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” (Badmouth) and “Tijuana Jail” (Gilby Clarke)

Interview with G.A.I.N

'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'
'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'
'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'

I met up with G.A.I.N who have recorded the second part of the H.A.T.E saga, ‘A – Part Two of H.A.T.E’. Here’s their thoughts about the project.

Hi G.A.I.N! You guys are doing “A – part two of H.A.T.E” how is the EP coming along?

It’s coming along very well. It’s all done and waiting to be released. Niklas Stålvind of Wolf produced and mixed. Mike Wead of King Diamond and bibelblack mastered. From the final result we can definitely say that it sounds kick-ass! We’re very proud of what we’ve done and we can’t wait until we can share the result with the world!



Great! Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

We’re just a couple of metalheads doing what we love. We all come from different places but our love for Metal brought us together. We all live in Stockholm and we like to go out and have a good old dirty time. It happens a little too often but that’s Metal for you!  We live by the motto, Sex, Booze and Tattoos! 



What did you think of the original songs when you first heard them and did you think it was hard to interpret them into your own style or did you get ideas straight away?

When we first heard the songs we wondered what the hell we’d gotten or self’s in to. It was a little hard to “connect” with the songs at first but after a few listening’s they grew on us and now we like them. 
We decided early not to listen to the originals that much too ensure that our versions came more from us, so that they would sound like G.A.I.N. 
Some songs we had ideas for right after the first listen but some came harder. The song that came easiest was probably “King of the Willow Tree” and one that we had to work a bit on was “Glow”.  



Which of the songs are you most pleased with and why?

Our favorites are probably King of the Willow Tree and The War. We really like the raw drive of the riffs in both songs. They are really in our own style and don’t sound like covers at all. Your way of writing really fitted well into our kind of music. They came out just like our own songs.



What’s your favorite gig memory?

Three of us remember on gig in particular. Mr Bandiit was a little too excited and played a bit fast. This resulted in that Gus had to prioritize ether singing or breathing in the last song. He chose to sing… 
He gave his last bit of energy in that song and as a result of that he ended up taking an ambulance ride to the hospital. 



Can you tell us a little bit about the recording sessions and what was most fun with being a part of this project?

We recorded everything in Viper Studios. From this experience we learned that we will never record four songs in two days again. It’s borderline impossible and we don’t recommend it. We finished all the rhythm guitars and the drums in one day and thought we were doing very well. Only lead guitar, bass and vocals left right? The lead guitar and the bass were done at about 8 o’clock the next night. The vocals took another 7-8 hours and would have taken longer if it weren’t for the excellent vocal coaching Niklas Stålvind of Wolf provided. We’re forever grateful for that.
 But on the whole it has been a lot of fun to be part of this project. We’ve learned a lot and would like to thank you for this opurtunity.



What’s next on the agenda for G.A.I.N this fall?

Get out and play. The big damn show! This fall we will focus on getting out and bring our music to the masses. We haven’t played all summer so we’re really excited about getting out there again! We’ll just have to make sure that Gus gets to breath. Do you know where we can get a portable oxygen tank?



Thanks for hanging out! We look forward to hearing the songs.

Listen and pre-order ‘A – Part Two of H.A.T.E’ here!

Presenting The Sunshine!

Worldwide release!

In the end of October 2009 I’m releasing my third album “Jonestown” in the USA and later on in Japan. To give you a preview of the songs from the album I have gathered 12 of my favorite Swedish artists who will each perform one song from the album live with me on tape. Every week a new video is released, with a new song and a new guest artist.

You may have heard his voice on the soundtrack to Gray’s Anatomy and other TV shows. But did you know that The Sunshine is in fact a Swedish band? Well indeed they are, and after a summer with too much rain, I’m happy to present some Sunshine!

This week’s guest artist: Pelle Tamleht, singer in The Sunshine.

Sofia Talvik / Pelle Tamleht – My James Dean

SONG: My James Dean (Jonestown 2008)
GUEST ARTIST: Pelle Tamleht (The Sunshine)
www.thesunshine.se

Every week until the release of my new album “Jonestown” I”m inviting a new guest artist to perform one of my songs with me. When all the live videos are released there will be a competition where you can win a box with albums from all the guest artists.

Strawberries for everyone!

Twitterers might have gotten it first, but you won’t be left without! The sugar sweet summer single “Strawberries On My Tongue” is now available for download FREE OF CHARGE for everyone. And if you’re like “what? for free? but I want to pay for good music!” you can always click the Twitter icon to tell everyone else about it. 🙂

Download it here!