Swedish band Hellfueled was among the first bands to enter the stage at this year's edition at Sweden Rock Festival. I and Michael met up with Jocke Lundgren and Andy Alkman backstage to hear about the festival, the new album and what other things that is up with Hellfueled. These were two great guys that were in a cheerful and much talkative mood and there was quite some laughter's during this interview. We recorded the interview and now I have tried to narrow it down to give the essentials of what was being said while we sat down outside the restaurant tent in the backstage area. - Thomas

Download entire interview in mp3 format (in swedish - 14 minutes, 1,65 Mb)

What's up with Hellfueled?

- Michael: Where is Hellfueled right now?
- Jocke: We have recorded our new album and are still doing shows on our first release.
Hellfueled has also recently been doing some gigs along with another Swedish band Mustasch (also playing at Sweden Rock Festival, see the review) in the Swedish towns of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö and those dates had been working out really great for the band. But for now they are waiting for the release of the new album and have plans on doing a video as well as an upcoming tour and the other stuff that goes with an album release.

Born To Rock

- Thomas: What can be expected of your new album. Will it be in the same vein as your first or will you be taking any wider turns?
- Andy: Metal, is the five letters for this one; it is a sick amount of metal.
- Jocke: We have pushed the metal button on the drums.
Jocke further lets us now that this album comes with a bombastic eighties sound and an up to date sound in today's technology, or something like it, he used a lot of words in Swedish to describe and I hope I got it right. The guys says that they have taking a step forward as a band and that they feel very pleased with their new album. It will be heavier, more melodic and will contain more refrains. As with Volume One they didn't really know what they wanted and went straight along for the full throttle and now we will find an album that has more nuances instead. The new album will be called Born To Rock and it looks like the title track will come as the first single from the album, an album that also will have a more fat sound as well as it will be heavier. If you like the first you will like this one, something that they said several times and listening to how passionate they seem to be about Born To Rock I have no troubles believing the guys.
- Andy- We never set out to create anything new, I grew up with this music and it is what I love. Why should we play with distorted accordions only to create a new genre?

The guys talked much and very dearly about the drums and how they will sound on Born To Rock and that the heavy button is surely used with them this time. They were not completely satisfied with how the drums sounded on Volume One and felt that they drowned in sound but now it is: "Bob Rock drums on steroids", Andy said, "the best drum sound you have ever heard".

Who Is Ozzy?

To not touch the subject of the bands likenesses with Ozzy when talking for them for the first time did not seem to be an alternative. When I asked if they was tired of being compared to Ozzy they responded that they don't really don't care about people regarding Hellfueled as Ozzy replicas but instead only laugh them off. They are happy with the crowd of followers they have and that they like them, that is what's important. We also discuss that there is a bunch of vocalists sounding like Dickinson and Halford and how that never cause any reaction, but Ozzy is more of a taboo and then it is an outrage to sound the same. "Our music is ours and we never intended to be a new Ozzy", they said and declared that vocal similarities are just the way how it is. They noticed it while recording the first album but producer Fredrik Nordstrom told Andy to just let go and sing the way that is his way. "We'll have to see if Zakk Wylde (Ozzy's guitar player who's significant sound also can somewhat be heard in Hellfueled) walks up and gives me a punch in the face said Jocke, but I have heard of that he has heard Hellfueled and actually thought it was cool" (Zakk Wylde and his band Black Label Society also played at Sweden Rock Festival, see review…)
- Jocke: The vocals comes close to Ozzy but to avoid that, Andy must sing with a lower register. This is simply the way how he sound and that's it, there's nothing more to it. And as they said: "if our music hadn't been good, there wouldn't have been over 5000 people watching our concert earlier today."

Sweden Rock Festival

Unfortunately I missed their concert myself but asked how the guys thought it went.
- Jocke: It was totally insane, it was beyond all of our expectation, to se over 5000 people standing in front of the stage it was insane.
They told us that they have been at the festival many years and watched all the bands that has played and to now play themselves at the festival, that was a great feeling. We also discussed which other bands that they was going to try and catch while they were at the festival and Andy said that usually you plan to see all of these bands but when you're done you only got to see so many of them, but Motörhead and Mötley Crüe for sure. And to have a booze on Mikkey Dee's behalf making him pay back for the time hanging around in their dressing room drinking booze when they were opening for Europe.

And Now What?

Furthermore, they told us that Hellfueled will go on a European tour after the album is released in the fall, and that they are trying to get on as a special guest to a bigger, more established band. They feel that they are not established enough themselves to go out on their own tour. "Of course we can go on a tour on club gigs and that has its fun but if you get the chance to reach out to more people as a special guest, it is foolish not to take it."

The Final Question

To round this of we shot the "Odd interview question", something that we at Metal Covenant sometime do as a last interview question, at Andy and Jocke.
- Michael: What is the one question that you never have got during an interview in your musical career, but you wish you had, and what would the answer to it be…?
- Andy, after a brief consultation with Jocke: Andy and Jocke, how do you do to look so young and handsome and being so well trained even when you eat so much junk food as you do?
And the answer to the question(well, they are in a hardrock band so what could you expect): "Drink a lot of alcohol."

Related links:
come.to/hellfueled