Wer glaubt im Corona-Wahn gänzlich auf gute (Live)-Musik verzichten zu müssen, der irrt. Selbstverständlich gibt es Einschränkungen und vieles kann nur digital geschehen, dass aber auch diese Konzepte mit viel Kreativität umgesetzt werden können, beweist nun die schwedische Alternative-Rock-Band The Hives. Im Interview mit unseren Redakteuren Kevin und Jacky berichtet Nicholaus Arson, Gitarrist der Garagen-Rocker, über ihre anstehende The World Wide Web World Tour. Dabei erfahren wir, wieso das Tourleben für die Musiker so unverzichtbar ist, und dass man sich bereits während der Tour auf unveröffentlichtes Material freuen darf.
Frontstage Magazine: Hello guys, we hope you had a good start into the new year. How did you celebrate?
Nicholaus: Hello! More or less just celebrated that last year was over really. Had pizza and drinks outside safely with the correct amount of people I was allowed to meet, and then watched some fireworks. made it feel special enough.
Frontstage Magazine: 2021 still presents us with many bigger and smaller challenges. How do you deal with the situatio.n and how do you currently spend your time as a band or privately?
Nicholaus: Right now we are preparing for our grand scheme for 2021 – The World Wide Web World Tour! The first ever proper digital live tour. That takes up a lot of our time these days. It’s a new thing for us so there’s a lot of things to think about and finalize.
We are also working on new music. We have two almost-finished albums ready to record and one more in the making.
Frontstage Magazine: Sounds exciting! So it does not stay calm around you with your digital world tour. It will take place at the end of the month and is going to be a real tour with different settings for different cities (Berlin, Sydney, Sao Paulo etc.). How did you come up with this crazy concept and what can we look forward to?
Nicholaus: Yeah. The idea came from us not being able to tour and really really really wanting to do so. Touring is so deeply etched into our band DNA that we can’t really live without it. We like touring better than one-off shows. Touring is what bands do and are supposed to do. We are really looking forward to the challenge of fighting time the way we have to when putting the shows on in decent Showtimes in each time zone. Sleep deprivation is a big part of touring so you really want to cram that in there too. At least make your body feel like it’s touring.
Frontstage Magazine: Despite all efforts, it will never be able to replace a true live show with real screaming and dancing fans. Still, these hours will be the best of the days. How does it make you feel to know that you can take your fans into the music world for a short while?
Nicholaus: Nothing but hunky dory, grade-A awesome!
Frontstage Magazine: Are you able to let go and forget the world around you as well? Is it a strange feeling afterwards to be confronted with the earthly problems and Corona again?
Nicholaus: We will treat this totally like normal shows. You know. Create that saturday night atmosphere where viruses and other worldly problems don’t exist at all. Be happy that it starts not sad that it ends. If there’s a hangover after these shoes we’re totally fine with that. It’s supposed to hurt after.
Frontstage Magazine: We can imagine. Are you excited about your gigs? Do you feel the same as like normal ones?
Nicholaus: Yes yes very excited! And nah! This is way more nerve-racking. The hives feed off of applause. Here we will have to sort that in different ways. We will work with what we have though. It’ll all be awesome!
Frontstage Magazine: For sure! Can we expect new material on the tour, especially with the albums in the making? After all, it has been a few years since you published the last album and if there was one thing last year was enough of, it was time.
Nicholaus: There will be unreleased songs played yes!
Frontstage Magazine: Nice. Do you sometimes have doubts about these new things and how do you deal with them? Do you take on an attitude of expectation yourself and thus build up pressure?
Nicholaus: Well, we are always the first ones to ask ourselves those kinds of questions. Like:
- (Arson) Any new stuff coming out Nick?
- (Also Arson) Well yeah let me see what we have here and what’s good enough to put on a record.
So yeah, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We really like our old records in case you hadn’t noticed so new stuff always has to measure up to those previous releases. It’s not easy but when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Frontstage Magazine: But you don’t need to do that. On the other hand, what is your secret to still having fun playing music together despite all adversities?
Nicholaus: Here’s a secret I can actually share. Make sure your band plays music that is fun to play. I’ve seen too many artists and bands play music and look like they’re not having fun. Playing music that is no fun to play will no doubt give you that look.
Frontstage Magazine: Good point. Our last question is always a bit out of line. What would you sing about if nobody would listen to you anymore?
Nicholaus: I was going to say the blues but that probably will never happen. Too laid back. It’ll always be 110% Arena garage rock dressed like Liberaces from the sticks.
Frontstage Magazine: Thank you so much for your time. We wish you all the best for your world tour! Stay healthy.
Nicholaus: Same to you. It was good to see you!
Fotocredit: Göran-Broberg und Official Tour Banner
