Hardcore Superstar - We always feel like we don’t belong here...we are the outsiders...

Following the release of their already hugely successful new album ‘You Can’t Kill My Rock N Roll’, we caught up with Hardcore Superstar to talk about beer, the inspiration for ‘Electric Rider’, eating pancakes, being outsiders, and why ‘Baboon’ is called ‘Baboon’.

Tjena Hardcore Superstar! Thanks for joining us today Adde. With every Hardcore Superstar album you release, it seems to blow the previous one away, ‘You Can’t Kill My Rock ‘N Roll’ seems to be no exception to this rule. Do you reflect on your previous material or have a certain process you go through with each record to make it better than the last?

HCSS (Adde) - Well..it’s always like a reaction against the last album we make, we always like to do something fresh, we don’t really want to repeat ourselves...for us it’s very important to stay creative and have fun with it, very important, a lot like bands like Queen who always developed their sound, we want to be a band like that.

What was the main influence behind this new record?

Adde - It was actually to try something new and go full circle with songwriting, explore new styles, see where we can go and maybe we got caught up a little bit in the Arena rock genre (laughs). We’ve never really done that before..slowed the songs down a bit and made them more arena rock, so that’s what we kind of did.

What would you say your main musical influences are at the moment?

Adde - Arena rock and Stadium rock. Listening to a lot of live albums ya know, by Kiss, by Queen….obviously Slade...and I’m sure you can hear all these bands in our new songs because our new album should be looked up on as a soundtrack to Hardcore Superstars lives ya know, you will hear a lot of influences from us and from where we grew up, we want you to hear that...it makes us proud of what we came from.

Hardcore Superstar seem to be unstoppable and you just keep releasing great record after great record, how do you keep doing this? We know Swedish beer is some of the best in the world but you must have another secret to great song writing other than Falcon and Norrlands Guld.

Adde - Hahaha YES BEER!!! Beer can be a great influence but you need a little bit more than beer and I think that if you make the same album over and over again you’re gonna run out of idea’s at the end of the day.

A lot of bands seem to do that, they wanna release the same album over and over again. We’ve never been afraid to explore different styles and for me ya know...rock is rock and good music is good music, it’s like...even though I love pancakes, I don’t wanna eat pancakes everyday, every week ya know, I wanna change my diet sometimes and eat something different...it doesn’t mean that I’m not into rock but some people they just eat pancakes all the time and I don’t get it, how about changing up the diet.

Good music is good music to me, I don’t care about genres and a lot of people are very sensitive about this and I don’t understand ya know, why can’t you like thrash metal and sleaze metal...what’s the big difference they both came from the streets, they both came from hard rock and punk rock...what’s the problem ya know!

You’re records always seem to be a story from start to finish and there’s a great deal of musical diversity between the 5 tracks you’ve released so far from the new album. Is this something you’re conscious of as a band to ensure the record doesn’t sound the same all the way through?

Adde - Yes! We want to explore all styles and we write a lot of songs for every album...and over a period of two years sometimes, so, there will be a lot of angles and genres and stuff to cover ya know.

You may or may not be aware of this but when ‘Electric Rider’ was released it instantly became a huge anthem for HCSS fans and people just really connected with this song on a very personal level. Can you tell us what the song is about and why you think HCSS fans went crazy for this track?

Adde - I think it’s kind of a….hmm...almost like a typical Hardcore Superstar song...it has like a main riff and we like riffs….it has a huge chorus and the story telling...it’s almost like this “Villain”....like in a Marvel Cartoon, like a villain on a liquid mission, almost like the Deadpool character if you’ve seen the movie, that’s how we like to think about it.

Why is Baboon called Baboon?

Adde - Well...we listen to that song “Who Put the bomp in the bomp shh bomp...who put the ram in the ramalama ding dong” and we just thought that lyric was so funny so we wanted to make something equally stupid ya know...and ‘Baboon’ is the answer to that..just having fun with it ya know, music should be fun sometimes (Laughs).

‘Electric Rider’ became an anthem for your fans, then you released ‘AD/HD’ which sounds like an anthem for yourself and the lyrics sound very personal, can you tell us a bit more about where these lyrics come from and what they mean to you?

Adde - They are personal and we always feel like we don’t belong here...we always felt like kind of outsiders, like we were outsiders and...I’ve always liked lyrics myself where you can kind of hear a personal voice ya know, in the lyrics. I’m not so much into lyrics that are about war and that stuff...I like personal lyrics, I don’t like made up stories so much...I’m more like a Bon Scott guy or a Lemmy guy, or a Phil lynott guy...keep it simple and tell a great story.

Did you have any idea ‘Electric Rider’ was going to be such a big song for your fans?

Adde - We never know that, we never know when a song is great, we obviously like all the songs we put out...you can never know..it’s always like a big gamble to be honest.

The 5 singles you released before the album came out had already been streamed over 2 million times on Spotify alone, is this an achievement for you guys knowing how many people have hit that play button on your songs?

Adde - REALLY! Yes of course! I’m flattered….I want people to listen to our songs, we wanna be a band of our time and obviously we want people to listen to them and connect with the songs.

How does it feel to play the new songs live and what kind of reaction have you been getting from the crowd?

Adde - The reaction is great from the new songs. I remember when we released ‘Above The Law’, that song...it felt like forever for the people to appreciate it live and we would go off stage and tell each other like...it’s gonna come around...it’s gonna be a hit and I remember being out on tour with Buck Cherry and we played that song and nobody reacted to the song and we were so disappointed!

The new songs..the response is AMAZING and we just got back from Finland where we played AD/HD, ‘Electric Rider’ and we played ‘Bring The House Down’ ‘Have Mercy’, ‘Goodbye’ and ‘You Can’t Kill My Rock N Roll’...we played those songs live and the reaction was just...goosebumps!

The video for ‘AD/HD’ also seems to show people struggling with having to hide their darker side, or a side they feel they need to hide away from the world, this seems to be symbolised by you (Jocke) being covered in a dark liquid, can you tell us more about this and what it represents?

Adde - You’re right, everybody has their own skeleton in the closet ya know, hopefully it’s not something that will make you evil. I think people are aloud to have their little secrets as long as you don’t hurt anyone or being mean, you can do what the fuck you want, but yeah the video is very much about who you really are ya know.

Is there an overall message the band are trying to get across with the new record?

Adde - Yes! There is a message and it’s live life and don’t be a fucking hater...live life and be happy, what makes you feel good, surround yourself with those things ya know...if you like rock and roll, listen to a lot of rock and roll, if you like to have a Brewski or two...have a Brewski or five ya know..just enjoy life you only get one.

You recently did some gigs in Australia for the first time since 2008, how did this happen and do you have a good following out there?

Adde - Australia is probably one of my favourite counties at the moment, I just love the atmosphere and yeah love it. We wanna go there even though it’s on the other side of the planet we really really loved being there.

From what we see in your music videos, and live videos, the band seem to have built a great friendship with each other, do you spend time together when you’re not on tour or recording?

Adde - Yeah we do, we’ve been friends since we were children ya know except for Vic, but he’s one of the brothers now and I think we really really like each other, that’s why we’re still together. It’s hard to make music with someone you don’t like, obviously..and really since 1994 when we started to play together we only had two guys, two guitar plays, the first one, ‘Fida’ and then ‘Thomas’ so only two guys have come and gone and that’s not a lot in 25 years.

You have some of the most loyal and dedicated fans of any band around at the moment, what does that mean to you as a band and as individuals?

Adde - It means a lot to us and we live for our music...we really really live for making people happy and we have a lot of friends that we really really like and have become personal friends with so that obviously means a lot, it makes us feel safe and at home where ever we are.

A lot of artists feel like being on tour is their home or comfort zone, where do you guys feel most at home?

Adde - I have to say that if you’re not cut out for the road you should not become a musician because it’s gonna be very hard for you to spend so much time on the road if you’re not into it… so yeah you gotta be in love with being out on tour, but also, you really need to get home, go home and charge the batteries because too much touring can drive you nuts because of all the alcohol and all the rock and roll lifestyle so...it’s almost like going to rehab every time you go home after a long tour and you need that otherwise you burn out...FAST.

Can you pick a favourtie track from the new album and say why it’s your favourtie?

Adde - I have to go with ‘Electric Rider’ because I think Electric Rider...I’m soft when it comes to riffs, main riffs, guitar riffs...I love that and I really like the main riff for electric rider and the huge chorus. I also like my sanctuary for the same reasons and the last song ‘Goodbye’, I think we really did something new in the Hardcore Superstar style there….something really new.

Can you talk about where the title of this record came from? Is it literally you guys telling people “You can’t kill my rock and roll”?

Adde - Yes! You can’t kill our Rock our roll..it’s like, a lot of people in the business tell us that rock is dead and this and that, we don’t really agree...there’s a lot of festivals out there like Waken, Sweden Rock, Download, Hellfest, Grasspop...a lot of rock festivals...those festivals...when you go to those you see that people are happy and the festivals all sell out...people are there for rock and roll...rock and roll is ALWAYS gonna be like a black sheep of the pop music family and it will go up and down...I don’t think it’s dead at all and that’s our response to that whole bullshit that rock is dead..not at all, and as long as there are new great bands coming up all the time...you can’t kill rock and roll...impossible!

Can you describe the new record in ten words or less?

Adde - Pure motherfucking happiness

You headlined Sweden Rock Festival this year on the Wednesday, that must have been quite an experience?

Adde - Yeah it was quite an experience we loved it. Sweden rock is always gonna be something special for us obviously because it’s from our home country and Sweden rock has a magically vibe, it’s very hard to explain if you haven’t been there, I’ve experienced the same with Download festival in England, Hellfest in France, Bang Your Head in Germany...a good festival has a magic aura over it.

A lot of people feel that rock and roll is slowly dying, but with bands like HCSS, Backyard Babies, Mustasch, Crazy Lixx, Bullet, and other Swedish bands releasing such great music, what would you say to this?

Adde - I say it’s bullshit…..and like you say, as long as we keep releasing music that is good, how can rock and roll be dead?! Trends are gonna come and go but ya know what, rock is not a trend, it’s always gonna be alive on a small scale or on a large scale and it’s always gonna be here. During the time I’ve been a rocker, I’ve been trendy and not trendy probably 3 times by now, it goes up and down ya know..you just keep on doing what you love...that’s what’s important. I don’t care about it being so big and trendy, fuck that, I just love doing it!

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?

Adde - YES! I hope you check out the new album because it was designed to make people happy, it was designed to make people go home after a weeks work, ya know, they’ve been there all week and it’s Friday, their on their way home, they wanna take a shower have a Brewski, go out and see their friends...what’s the soundtrack to all that? I think it’s our new album and I hope you like it..stay hard!

Thanks so much Adde!

BYE!