Post by karro on Mar 30, 2005 20:31:58 GMT -5
Kidding! That was too easy 
but there you go:
from:http://www.mancpunkscene.co.uk/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=846
MILLENCOLIN Interview
Written by Alex
Sunday, 20 March 2005
I spoke with MILLENCOLIN singer/bassist Nikola Sarcevic on the band's tourbus before their support slot with Good Charlotte at THE APOLLO. Here's what he had to say.
Alex: Home from Home was a lot less of a “skate-punk” style album than the other releases, and it showed a greater range of influences. Does the new album go in a similar direction, and who are the big musical influences on the band these days?
Nikola: The new album is sort of a mix between Home from Home and Pennybridge Pioneers. We have a few songs that are really skate-punkish. Inspiration for the album? It’s hard to say…we just write songs whilst listening to a lot of different bands. I guess it’s everything from Bad Religion to Afghan Wigs and Jimmy Eat World.
A: Is there anything you’ve been listening to recently which has had a different influence on your music?
N: I’m always looking for great albums, and usually I find the really good albums, and usually I find the really good albums are from the 60s. So personally I’m listening to a lot of pop-rock music from the 60s, whereas Mathias, who’s the other main songwriter in the band, he’s more into new stuff…harder music, distorted guitars...
A: Metal?
N: I guess he likes a bit of metal, but it’s more just guitar based modern rock music. It’s hard to pick direct influences. We have a few songs where we tried to sound like Bad Religion! They’re still our heroes.
A: Do you still enjoy playing the old songs at shows as much as the new stuff?
N: It’s a different feeling, but I enjoy both. Old songs are a lot easier to play because you’ve played them like 800 times. Like “Mr. Clean” off the first album, we’ve played that at every show since the day we wrote it. With the new songs you have to be quite focused playing them. But they can give you an extra…..I don’t really get the goose bumps playing old songs, but with new songs we just wrote, sometimes I can get the goose bumps.
A: Yeah, so you’re more inspired to play the newer songs.
N: Yeah, but they’re harder to play!
A: Is there going to be a few old songs thrown in the mix today or is it going to be mainly new stuff? I take it you’ve got a shorter set as it’s a support slot?
N: We only just got the information that our set is only 30 minutes long just now; we thought we would be playing 45. We rehearsed a few days ago and had 14 songs and now we’re going to take off 4 songs. Usually we tried to have a mix of all the albums, but there won’t be any songs off For Monkeys because the set is too short. So yeah it will be a mix of new stuff from Kingwood and stuff from most of the other albums.
A: Where did the name Kingwood come from? It sounds a bit like a tire manufacturer.
N: It’s taken from the well known stereo, Kenwood. I bought a Kenwood back in ’95 and that’s my stereo where all the music I listen to has been played. It’s like a hymn to all the bands that we like…<br>
A: Like a legacy of the music that you’ve listened to?
N: Yeah, all our inspiration. That’s the story.
A: I read that you don’t play shows in Sweden a lot. Why is that?
N: We did used to play a lot there, like 10 years ago. Before we started touring in other countries we played only in Sweden, and played 100 shows a year for the first couple of years. But once we got a chance to play abroad Sweden became just like any other country. It’s kind of a small country so for the last album we played 4 or 5 shows there, which for a Swedish band is not……I mean I guess it just shows that we’re not dependant on Sweden as a market, and we have a lot of ground to cover with every album. We love playing in Sweden and on the new album I think we have at least 5 shows already booked. It’s going to be great because it’s completely different to play Sweden from any other country. It’s your home court, and it’s inspiring.
After a brief intermission where both Nikola and I had to grab tissues from the packet I had to hand because of our collective colds, we continued the interview.
A: I got into Millencolin myself through the song “No Cigar” on the game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skateboarder 2, and so did many of my friends. Do you think your fanbase increased significantly from the game?
N: At the time I guess we just thought it would be a cool thing to be on that game, like any other band would. But then we realised that many people were hearing about us for the first time from that game. I mean that game is one of the most popular…[pauses]
A: Skate games ever?
N: Yes and I think compared to other games it is one of the most popular. We didn’t know that at the time, we were just old skater kids and we thought it was a cool thing. I’m sure it has helped us. It was a good marketing move, even though we weren’t aware of that at the time.
A: Sweden seems to produce a lot of really good indie-rock bands. Over here recently we’ve had Molia Falls and Jettie….
N: Who’s the first band?
A: Molia Falls? And then Jettie, I think they were the “bigger” one. Have you not heard of them?
N: Ahhh….no.
A: Okay, well are you aware of a lot of emo-y indie rock bands coming out of Sweden?
N: Well…what is indie?
A: Well when I say indie rock I’m referring to quite mellow, melodic, chilled out guitar based music.
N: Well probably! There are a lot of Swedish bands playing abroad that aren’t that big in Sweden. A lot of Swedish people are playing music and many are having success.
A: Are the any Swedish bands that aren’t so well known at the moment who you could recommend?
N: I don’t know if you have heard about Moneybrother?
A: No I don’t think so. What’s that name again?
N: Moneybrother. He’s also on Burning Heart Records. He used to be in a band called Monster. He does kind of soul-ish pop-rock. He’s got soul! He’s great and he’s having big success in Sweden. He’s just put out his second album and he’s the band on everyone’s lips. He’s just started to tour outside of Sweden, going over to the States to do a few showcases. Hopefully he will have success here too.
A: As for Good Charlotte, the band you’re supporting, do you like Good Charlotte’s music?
N: I’m not that familiar. I’ve heard a few songs. Everything I know is from watching TV, and they have some really good songs. I know they are a big band who draw big crowds, and this tour is sold out, so it’s a privilege for us to be here supporting them. Maybe their fans and our fans are not the same and we can reach out to a new audience.
A: Being that both the bands are on these big tour buses, will the bands hang out much, or is that kind of interaction difficult.
N: It depends on the people. If you want to socialize and hang out, usually you do that. We usually hang out with our support bands a bit at least, say hi, and if we connect we party and have a great time, but it all depends.
A: Are there any bands you get one especially well with?
N: If you go out on a 2, 3 or 4 week tour and share a bus with a band, it’s great. I’ve never been in the same bus with an unfriendly band. It’s always a positive atmosphere between the bands. If you get mad at someone it’s usually someone in your own band. I’ve never had a fight with another band member on a bus…I don’t think! Maybe I have! There have been a lot of tours. We’ve had great tours with a lot of Swedish bands, because we speak the same language, and you know them.
A: So it’s easier to get along with them.
N: Yeah.
A: The other thing about Good Charlotte: Being that your band has been around for over a decade, and Good Charlotte have risen up very quickly without seemingly having done a great deal, do you feel funny about being the support band and not the headliner?
N: No. I mean I’m sure they worked hard to get where they are, and that’s great for them. We don’t have any of those feelings, we’re just happy to be supporting them. I’m sure they’ve been around for longer than people think, and even though they didn’t have the media attention they’ve received in the last couple of years, they were probably working hard long before that.
A: You’ve done some quite interesting music videos recently, such as your animated videos…<br>
N: Did you see the new one?
A: Yeah the new one, with the aeroplanes in, heheh. Do you have a lot of input into the videos as a band?
N: Back in the day we were full of ideas for videos. Our first video was for “Da Strike”, and we said “Let’s make a bowling video”, and then for “Move Your Car” we wrote the script on our own. But these days, on the last three albums, we’ve been more focused on choosing a good director who has good ideas. Usually how it works is that different directors and production companies listen to the song and give you ideas about what they would like to do, and then you just pick the best one. An animated video is great for us. The filming for it just took a few hours. If you make..errr….
A: A proper filmed video?
N: What do you call it….when you’re playing!
A: A live video?
N: But there’s a word for it..
[pause while we both ponder this]
;D