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 Sweden's Crazy Lixx are the latest Scandinavian band to break out onto the world scene with the release of their debut album 'Loud Minority' back in November.
With a stripped down, more rock orientated approach compared to the more punky sound of many of their peers, Crazy Lixx have produced a superb album, and one that has made people stop and take note.
With that in mind, Komodo Rock caught up with bassist Luke Rivano to find out more about the band and where they're heading, and in fact where they've already been!
Komodo Rock: Can you give us a little background on the band, how did you get
together?
Luke Rivano: The Idea for Crazy Lixx came to
Danny (Rexon, vocals) in 2002, when he started getting fed up with
metal being synonymous with either dragon slaying power metal or some
variety of cookie monster vocals. Him and Vic (Zino, guitars) got
together and started writing some songs and soon realised it was worth
following through. With their old band just breaking up they saw the
opportunity to snatch Joey (Ciréra) for the drum-slot.
Then over the first two years or so, they went through a number of
different bass and rhythm guitarists, most notably Max Flamer (bass)
and Krizzy Fields (Pretty Wild, guitar) After some turbulence in
2004/05 It was decided that Krizzy and Max could no longer stay in the
band. So the search for a new bass player began, and the second
guitar-slot was ditched all together. In the summer of 2005 Luke was
recruited from Danny’s side project, and the final line up was formed.
KR: The name's interesting, how did it come about?
LR: It’s taken from a toy guitar Danny had as a
kid, one of those plastic things with buttons instead of frets.
Actually it was called Hot Lixx, but when Danny named the band his
memory kinda failed him…
KR: Your debut album 'Loud Minority' has recently been released on Swedemetal Records. Are you pleased with how it's turned out?
LR: We’re more than pleased! The sound turned out
fantastic and the songs, witch we felt were pretty awesome before,
really took that final step when Chris (Laney, producer) started
gutting them and sorting out all those final details.
The final result is simply something we didn’t know we had in us. Is awesome!
KR: Could you take us through some of your favourite tracks on the album?
LR: Heck they’re all favourites, but to mention a few:
Hell or High Water
Partly because of it’s position on the album. I mean it’s a great song,
but as an opener it’s just a big fucking kick in the gut!
Want It
Well this is a no-brainer, the chorus on this one is just to strong, drop what you’re doing and sing along!
Make Ends Meet
It’s the heartbreaking lyrics that really lift this song, and Danny
sings them so passionately. When we heard the first takes in the studio
we were
convinced we had a new singer. It’s a completely new sound for him and it suits him so well!
Boneyard
Well let’s be honest, as a bass player I don’t get many shots at
showing off. But aside from that, the level of raw energy on this track
just surpasses anything else on the album. Where “Hell or High Water”
was a kick in the gut, this is a punch in the face!
Luke Rivano in the studio during the recording of Loud Minority
The Gamble
I’m a sucker for ballads and this one is no exception. The lonely
acoustic guitars make it sound naked and vulnerable, and the lyrics
will be familiar to anyone who’s ever had their heart broken. Also it
rounds the whole album off in a beautiful way.
KR: Do Or Die is the only track to make it onto the final album from the earlier EP. What was the reasoning behind that?
LR: Well that’s not entirely accurate, Do or Die
is from the second demo. Both Death Row and Love On The Run are on the
first demo.
The thing is when we set of to do the album, about a month or two prior
to going in the studio, we felt we had a pretty good track list of ten
to twelve tracks. When we showed it to Laney he said “That’s great, now
write ten to twelve songs that are all better than these…”
We thought wtf!? That’s impossible! But he whipped us into doing it and
when we were finished we had a really good selection to pick from. And
together with Laney we picked out the 12 strongest tracks and recorded
them. From these we picked out what we felt was a balanced selection,
not only based on the quality of each song, but also considering the
overall balance of the album.
KR: The album has done particularly well in Sweden for you, landing
inside the top 20 on the Swedish Rock charts. Did that surprise you?
LR: A bit, yes. We did feel confident that it was
good enough, but we were a bit worried that it might not reach out
there, making a good album won’t help you if no one hears about it…
Turn’s out people do hear about it, and are buying the thing! We’re
more than pleased with that.
KR: You've cut a video for 'Want It' off of the album, can you tell us
a bit more about the ideas behind the clip, and how you recorded it?
LR: Well we didn’t really have a budget for a video, what we did have
was a load of footage and a friend who works with video. (Hampus
Linder) He helped us with some additional studio footage of Danny. And
then he edited the whole thing.
We wanted to show the everyday life of a hard working rock band… It’s a
feelgood video, but it also shows the endless hours in the minibus, on
boats and on planes. We didn’t want to make a glamorous video
portraying us as something we’re not. This is how we live…
KR: Can we expect more videos to come?
LR: We hope so…
KR: 'Want It' was the second single off the album, Heroes Are Forever
coming out before it. Can we expect more singles off of the album?
LR: Once again, we hope so…
KR: Sweden, and Scandinavia as a whole, has become a hot bed for glam
and sleaze bands over the last few years. What is it do you think
that's making it possible for bands like yourselves, Hardcore
Superstar, Crashdiet and Vains of Jenna for example, to be successful?
LR: For some reason there seems to be a lot of musical talent in
Sweden. We’re a small population and new great bands are constantly
emerging. I have to say I have no Idea why this is, maybe we have
nothing better to do?
KR: Do you find being easily contactable by your fans, for example
through myspace has helped you build a following outside of Sweden?
 R:
Myspace has been invaluable as it provides anyone with a tool to
contact the whole world. Just a few years ago this would have meant
thousands and thousands in advertising and promoting, now anyone can do
it for free. We probably would never reach outside of Sweden without it!
KR: You've been nominated for a Swedish Metal Award. How does it feel
to have got the nomination, and do you think you can win the award?
LR: It’s an honour, people tend to go on about
how awards and reviews don’t mean anything, and maybe they don’t for
big established bands. But for us it means acknowledgement. Someone is
telling the world that this is for real, not just a bunch of posers in
a garage. For us that kind of approval means the world! As for winning
we’ll see. We’re up against some heavyweight names, there’s no denying
it, but we’re still hopeful.
KR: Do you have any touring plans on the horizon? Any chance we'll be seeing you hitting the UK any time soon?
LR: Well there’s no plans at the moment. Sadly it’s really hard to tour
outside of Sweden without a heavy loss, and at the moment we just can’t
afford it. You never know when an opportunity comes along tho…
KR: What has been the highest point of your career to date?
LR: Releasing the album! It really felt like a
big step up that ladder. Now we have a proper release and we have to be
reckoned with, we’re no longer a demo band. We have a proper release
and it sells. The relief of that is just immense!
KR: And the lowest?
LR: Well before my joining, there was a gig with only two people
attending. The time a fistfight broke out between two ex members should
also be some kind of marker.
KR: As a musician, what has inspired you the most?
LR: Wow big question!
I guess we’re all constantly listening to the music we love and drawing
from it, both from new bands and from classics. Sometimes you can’t
just listen to a song and go “cool”. If you want to learn something
from it you need to ask “why is this to cool? What makes me like it?”
Another big source of inspiration is the prospect of a future doing
only this. We all have jobs on the side, but this is our sole career
ambition.
KR: Can you give us any important links to Crazy Lixx related websites please?
www.crazylixx.com
www.myspace.com/crazylixxmusic
KR: A big thank you for taking the time to talk with us.
LR: No sweat. It’s either that or a shrink, and shrinks cost money!
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