BACKYARD BABIES INTERVIEW
Backyard Babies is a Rock and Roll band bassed in Stockholm, Sweden. The Backyard Babies has four members, Nicke Borg on lead vocals and guitar, Dregen on lead guitar and vocals, Johan Blomquist on bass and Peder Carlsson on drums. Over the years they have released seven studio albums and won two Swedish Grammy Awards. They have toured relentlessly and have completed a tour with AC/DC among many other bands.
Twinmusix got to speak to Dregen from Backyard Babies about their upcoming tour and more.
TM - Hi this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix, Thank You for having this interview with us today. How are you?
D- Good, Thank You. How are you?
TM - I am good, Thanks. So What can fans expect from your Australian tour?
D - It is great to come back and play, it has been 16 years since we played last. We last played in 2003, I don't know why we haven't been back, we have played in Japan every year since 97. We are super excited to be back and fans can expect a high energy rock and roll show.
TM - That is cool, I have always wanted to go to Japan. Is there anything you are excited about doing in Australia?
D - I always treat a gig as a gig, I do in any country. I think I'm going to pack my bag and try and do some tourist stuff as well. As a Swedish person, we don't really get to go to the beach, so when I am off stage I might find myself on a surfboard or something.
TM - What is your favourite festival you have played?
D - Hellfest is a great festival.
TM - What was it like playing Hellfest?
D - We have played Hellfest two or three times. We played on the War Zone stage. It is always a spectacular thing. Hellfest is like some amusement park it is really cool.
TM - It is always a great festival.
TM - You recently brought out your new album "silver and gold" how have fans responded to it?
D - I can only compare it to the album 4 by 4 but it's a more Backyard Baby sounding album. There is always a lot of work with albums. The problem with the recording Studios is equipment blowing up and stuff catching fire. This album was easy to write and record, I don't know if we were lucky this time or after 30 years we learnt how to do it. There were good vibes all the way through.
TM - What was your writing and recording process?
D - We are pretty old school, we have a rehearsal place and we meet up and jam together as a 4 piece. We write together, I have written a lot of lyrics on this album it is a bit different from before.
TM - How did you come up with your album cover for Silver and Gold?
D - That was me, I have always been a big fan of Punk and since we have been together for 30 years I thought we should wrap the punk scene in gold to celebrate it. Backyard Babies have always had a big connection with underground music but we are not afraid of the bigger music.
TM - If you could have any bands play one of your songs which band would it be which song would it be and would it be in your style or their Style?
D - It will be cool to hear Bob Dylan do minus Celsius.
TM - If you could collaborate with any artists who would it be and why?
D - AC/DC. We opened for AC/DC in Europe in 2001, we did about 38 shows together.
TM - That is Awesome. Can you tell us a story from that?
D - The first show the AC/DC Crew covered all the monitors with bags. We said "what are you doing?" and they said "All the AC/DC fans don't like the support bands and they normally throw up bottles of beer on stage". There was never one bottle of beer thrown up on stage, so I think it was a good combo.
TM - What is your favourite memory watching a different band performing live?
D - Once I saw the Ramones play in a really small club in the middle of Sweden. I can't really say many details but it changed my whole life.
TM - That is cool, what a awesome show to see in a small venue.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
D - last time we were there in 2003 and now we are here this year so you do the maths on the next time we will be in Australia. Come and check us out now.
TM - Thank You for this interview today. We can't wait to see you when you are in Australia.
