INTERVJU - Peter Steele och Johnny Kelly - TYPE O NEGATIVE

De tunga gothrockarna i dystra TYPE O NEGATIVE är tillbaka och albumaktuella med plattan ”DEAD AGAIN”. Deras första platta sedan 2003 bjuder som alltid på tung musik och är lite av en återgång till tidigare verk. (se separat recension) Läs mer om nya plattan, texterna, Peters drogproblem och mycket mer… Jag träffar herrarna från Brooklyn en eftermiddag på Playgrounds kontor och de visar sig inte alls vara så dystra som man kan tro.. Peter Steele har dagen till ära införskaffat en romersk hjälm som han stolt skuttar omkring med på kontoret.. I sinom tid tar han av den och detta är en del av vad vi pratade om.. It’s been quite a while since we have seen you live, when can we expect to do this? Johnny: -We’re heading over here to Europe and Scandinavia in late May! I’m not certain where we’re gonna be but looks like we’ll be hitting a bunch of festivals with gigs in between. It’s all being planned right now. I have seen a Malmö date so far... The new album has been a long time in the making, tell us why? J: - We were traveling through space! Haha.. Peter: - Last album was released in June 2003, after that we did a couple of tours and at the same time we were switching record labels. Which is not a good thing to do for a band while writing songs. So we didn’t sign with Roadrunner records again, they were not giving us any tour support or anything else. So we kind of fell off the face of the earth for awhile. At the same time we were working on the “Sympathy For The Devil” DVD. That took a lot of time. In the meantime I was writing songs for this forthcoming album. After we finished the DVD we finally went into the studio and started to rehearse for the album and that brings us to March 19th... (release date for new album) The cover of the album is of Russian mystic Rasputin, tell us why? P: - Me being the songwriter and art coordinator for the band I thought the visual would go with the title “DEAD AGAIN”. And being Slavic and having quite a bit in common with Rasputin: he was an alcoholic, a drug addict, a womanizer, he had a big penis..It’s also the whole blood thing, he could cure the Romanov prince of hemophilia just by looking at the kid..And the communists couldn’t kill him, just like they could not kill me. And he looks like a TYPE O NEGATIVE member! But a very good looking one haha. There is a song on the album called “Halloween in Heaven”, the lyrics deal with dead rockstars... Elaborate.. P: - It actually has a very somber meaning. Dimebag Darrell was a very close friend and it kind of inspired me to write that song because I know that Dimebag is in a much better place right now and I’m sure he’s out there with Bonham, Entwhistle and Lennon and all the other famous dead rockn’roll musicians. I miss him very much, we all miss him very much, I’m still in shock about what happened.. I left his name off the list of the deceased, I didn’t want people to think that I was exploiting his death..It is one of my favorite songs, hopefully we will be playing that live. We’ll also play “Dead Again”, “Profits Of Doom”as well..We have the videos lined up to do once we get back to New York.. The song “Dead Again” touches on drugabuse. Peter how is your drug situation today? P: -Well, I’m not a 100 %, since alcohol is a liquid drug...I was pretty lost in the cocaine thing for a couple of years..I’m not gonna say I’m an angel or fully recovered, at times I do find myself indulging..When I wake up the next day, or next week, however long the binge lasts, I feel this great sense of shame. I feel like I’ve killed part of myself, so hence “Dead Again”. There is an old saying it’s better to learn from the mistakes of others than from your own... So I hope I can give something to the fans by saying: If you haven’t tried drugs—DON’T. Run away, it’s only gonna get worse..I was 35 years old when I started using cocaine and how fucking stupid is that? I am ashamed of myself...Over the course of 10 years I’ve been up and down, it’s hurt me, it’s hurt my friends and family and it’s hurting the band, my reputation.. Fortunately I feel like I have a second chance..and maybe I can make amends by saying to the fans, don’t try it! What is the story behind the song “Hail and Farewell To Britain”? P: -It has nothing to do with England..It is a metaphor..What happened is, on most Type O albums we’ve had little soundscapes between songs and one of the sounds I had come up with was having British fighter pilots during World War I being shot down and going down together....and it kind of turned into a song! So as they are being shot down over Germany, they are saying Hail and Farewell to Britain.. I have nothing against England whatsoever or Germany or Poland or Iceland or fuckin Queens NY.. It also gives journalists another question to ask: what do you mean by that? And the answer is I don’t fuckin know... The tourlife... now that most of you have families etc.. do you still have the drive to go out on the road? Is it still fun? J: -For me, I still very much enjoy touring! I did some tours with Danzig during our breaks, so it’s not something I’m unfamiliar with. But for me it’s always been something I’ve always wanted to do! Now that I’ve become older..and I have a daughter now, even though it’s very tough to be away from her, it’s still something that’s very much a part of me..While I’m out on the road I’m not gonna be miserable and depressed cos I’m not home you know.. It’s still a part of my lifes experience and I wanna get the most out of it while I’m there! Just like when I’m home, I wanna be with my daughter and be with her as much as I can and be a part of that experience..It’s just about getting the most out of it wherever you are..Touring has always been a fun thing, it’s always interesting. You never know what you’re gonna walk into next, and I mean not just the performance but also the rest of the day. It’s like rolling the dice, what’s gonna happen today? As long as it doesn’t get repetitive and mundane..but I love playing. Every day that I’m playing there is that contentment for me.. P: - Most of the other bands we tour with as well are fun..We’re on their bus, they’re on ours hanging out. .45 years old acting like 15 years old haha. Being in a rockband, for me, means I can be a kid for the rest of my life..I don’t have to grow up.. J: - We did our first shows a couple of weeks ago in California, the first ones we’ve done in 3 years. And we picked up right where we left off! It was fun, we all had a great time, laughing..and the fans got to see the band again and they were really excited. It was a win-win situation and good times for all. We were talking and saying that we had forgot how much fun it is to play in Type O Negative! We reconnected on that level and now we can’t wait to go on the road! Peter, you have given given the impression of being a depressed and gloomy person... Are you really like that in private? What makes you happy? P: -Food? Actually I’ve always been a very depressed person, but that’s only one side of me, you know.. It makes me feel better when I can express my depression, my anger, my frustration through music..Sonic therapy. What makes me happy...is really making the people I care about happy. That’s true happiness..So Type O Negative is just one of Peter Steele’s many faces, cos everyone has many faces.. But on a sidenote, I believe that this forthcoming album “Dead Again” is probably the most positive Type O album.. It’s not as melancholic, like fuck life, kill yourself etc. J: - After “Life Is Killing Me” it can only go up...every record creates a mood and atmosphere. When you’re at the bottom the only way to go is up.. This record, most of it seems to me is a straightup rock record. Stuff that we grew up on and is a positive influence on us.. A few drinks in us and we’re still screaming Black Sabbath songs ya know, at the top of our lungs! And that kind of feeling got on to this record.. There was talk about a complete coveralbum...what’s the story? P: I had many, many ideas, but it’s really up to SPV (rec company). It could be a cover album, a Type O album..but the future of this band really depends on the fans reaction to this album.. I know that it’s taken 3,5 years, and if this album sucks...which I’m not saying it doesn’t..it sucks less than the others haha, then I think that would have been the last nail in the coffin for this band. After waiting 3,5 years and putting out a product that didn’t satisfy the fans, it would have been thanks, good bye... Where do you see yourselves and Type O Negative in 10 years? J: -I’m leaving it completely open, I’m not making any plans. I have a feeling we’re still gonna be a band 10 years from now.. P: If you had asked me 10 years ago I would never have thought I’d be sitting here probably...not that I did not want to be here...But to have a band last 17 years.. J: -There are only a few bands that really managed to tough it out, you know.. The way I look at it is, it’s family! You can not talk to somebody for a month or two or whatever and then just go back.. You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family..and that’s what Type O is.. even if you wanted to leave you couldn’t.. We still feel there is a lot to be accomplished! A lot of goals that we have, as a band, things that we wanna do that we haven’t done.. P: - There are also territories where we haven’t been yet...Australia, South America, Japan, southern Europe..I’m looking forward to that.. J: - I think there is still a lot to do... there is still gas left in the tank, creatively etc.. I think this album came out a lot better than we all expected...Bottom line: we busted our asses off, and if we can work that hard at this stage in the game that says a lot about us as people and as a band.. P: -And our next album is going to be a disco album---called Saturday Night Seizure haha And by that we thank the really amusing and friendly guys of Type O Negative for their time. And don’t miss them on tour later this spring!