HUMBUCKER
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ROCKNATION ISSUE 21
Interview by Tom Mathers
Rocknation: Hello Humbucker and welcome to Rocknation. Your band’s
“R.O.C.K.S” CD was mixed and mastered in the USA by legendary producer
Beau Hill of Warrant, Ratt, Winger, Alice Cooper fame. What worldwide press
reviews stand out the most about the last “R.O.C.K.S” CD?
Humbucker: Hello and thanks for having us! We got allot of positive feedback
from the “R.O.C.K.S” album. As a matter of fact, we were taken by a surprise
by that. We thought we had a good album going but the reviews have really
been over the top. Hearing people claim that it was one of the best albums of
the year is just awesome and it really helped us decide to do another one. In
the beginning, “R.O.C.K.S” was made for ourselves. We just wanted a cool
album to listen to for the rest of our lives but the incredible feedback made us
decide to do a second one and we are very glad we did, cause we think the new
album is a big improvement when it comes to production and development for
the band. We used Beau on the first one and one thing is for certain: The was
no way we were going to go down on the quality so he was the obvious choice
once again. Reading that “Norwegian rock just found another way to roll” as
UK Webmagazine Über Röck concluded with was big. Also Classic Rock Magazine who claimed that it was “Big Norwegian rock from big Norwegian rockers”
was awesome. Really, the reviews we had from “R.O.C.K.S” made us gasp for
air more than one time I can tell you! :-)
Rocknation: Perris Records distributed your “R.O.C.K.S” CD with great success and will be distributing the new “King Of The World” CD. Please tell us
about all the great fan response the band received all over the world.
Humbucker: Perris did a great job with “R.O.C.K.S” and we`re happy to be
involved with the company this time around too! The response from around
the world has been amazing and it looks like people really like the stuff we`re
making... Let`s face it, we don`t bring anything new to the table, it`s all been
done before so that`s not the point either. We just take the best from our influences and make it into our own thing. I think people have allot of memories
from the eighties, which was a one-of-a-kind-decade for allot of us. Hearing the
sound from that time once again and in a updated quality-mode seem to attract
allot of people. It`s all about having a good time and who won`t have that??:-)
Humbucker is now being broad casted on radios all around the world and that
is just an amazing thing for us. We really appreciate the effort DJ`s and writers
have put into the band world wide. We think we benefit from the fact that we
don`t do things like most bands do. We don`t record and produce it ourselves
at home, but we use the finest people and facilities we can get in every operation and the end result really stands out from most of the bands. I think it`s
easy to recognize Humbucker when you hear it and as we are raised on potatoes and hard work, we think that when you expect people to pay for something, it should damn well be the best you can possibly do! And is the best you
can do recording it at home? No Sir!
Rocknation: Please tell us about your new CD “King Of The World” about the
writing and recording process.
Humbucker: We wrote the songs for this album during 2012 and 2013. We
started with recording the bass and drums at Juke Joint Studios in Notodden.
Norway with acclaimed engineer Njal Frode Lie before we moved the operation
up north to Trondheim. We wanted to try a new environment this time so I contacted a friend of mine in Trondheim-Norway named Hallgeir Rustan. He`s one
of the most decorated producers in Norway these days and I went to school
with him in the mid eighties so I knew him well. Since then he formed the
Stargate company and soon joined forces with two other guys and when those
guys, Mikkel SE and Tor Erik Hermansen, wanted to go to the States and try
their luck there, Hallgeir stayed in Trondheim and is doing his thing from here.
It`s two different companies now but they still share the same name... Hallgeir
has worked with everyone from Elton John to Cher and has produced over 40
top 10 hits in the UK and has produced albums that has sold over 25 million
copies all together so he knows his stuff. Being able to work with him was a
dream come true and we had a great time in the studio. We recorded guitars,
lead and background vocals there and specially on the song “Harder Being
Me” Hallgeir really used his skills, arranging the song beautifully and creating a ballad that almost can give you a Zeppelinisque feeling with Sitar and
orchestra arrangements. Producing the album with a guy like Hallgeir made it
all very easy for me to get what I had in mind this time. It worked out great and
we decided to use a more classic sound this time specially on the guitars to
give it a more authentic classic rock feel. I think it turned out great! And with
Hill doing the mix and mastering, it`s good for me to know that it`s the best we
could possibly have done!!
Rocknation: Your new song “Dirty Nelly” is featured on the Perris Records
sampler. Thousands of this CD Sampler will be sent out to 100 CD stores in the
USA. How does that feel to know that die hard rockers will be exposed to your
band since legendary bands like Helix, Babylon A.D. and current and former
members of Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Dangerous Toys, Dirty Looks, Wasp,
Vince Neil, Slash’s Snakepit, Skid Row, Warrant, Ratt, Foreigner, LA Guns,
Adler’s Appetite, Ted Nugent, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Scorpions and Quiet
Riot will be featured on the CD.
Humbucker: It`s truly an honour for us to be included on this CD with this
legendary acts! We think i F2f