The Hives

The Hives

CATCH 'EM QUICK!

The Hives Scratch the Charts with Irresistible Garage Punk
Just as Americans are rediscovering the joy of raw, barebones rock 'n' roll via the White Stripes and the Strokes, stylish Swedish quintet the Hives are winning their share of fans with their snarling garage punk. The Hives' latest album, the indie-released Veni Vidi Vicious, was just picked up by Warner Bros., and the stark video for "Hate to Say I Told You So" has been getting play on MTV. Their image is complete, from their crisp black-and-white suits and sassy-cute frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist to their pat story about being discovered by a music svengali named Randy Fitzsimmons, who allegedly writes all the songs. Barnes & Noble.com's pop music editor, Lydia Vanderloo, checked in with guitarist Vigilante Carlstroem -- on break from a sound check in Detroit -- to try to sort fact from fiction.

Barnes & Noble.com: How's it been in America this time around?

Vigilante Carlstroem: It's been really good. I think every show's been sold out except for one.

B&N.com: How long have you guys been together?

VC: For almost 10 years. For the first year we didn't play any shows, not until we sounded the way we wanted to. But we released this record in 1997 or 1998, and since then we've been touring.

B&N.com: Have you always worn the suits and ties since the beginning.

VC: Yep.

B&N.com: Was it just part of the way you wanted your band to be seen?

VC: It looked good. At that time, the whole grunge scene was pretty big, to dress down. So we decided to be punk rock and wear suits. But the main reason is that it looks good.

B&N.com: Are they always black and white?

VC: Yeah, always black and white.

B&N.com: Veni Vidi Vicious came out last year but has just been reissued by Warner Bros. It seems like there's a buzz where people are lumping you in with the Strokes and the White Stripes, two American bands that are actually selling a lot of records even though they have a very basic, more underground type sound. Do you think it's fair to lump you guys in with them?

VC: I don't mind. I like those bands. A lot of bands sound the same, but it's easier to compare us to those two bands than to a lot of other stuff that's popular right now. We probably have the same influences as them, though we came up with different conclusions.

B&N.com: Do you write he songs collaboratively or does one person write them?

VC: Uh...it's kind of strange the way it happens, but this guy called Randy Fitzsimmons pretty much writes all the songs.... He doesn't necessarily write them all, but he comes up with the ideas, the title of the song or whatever.

B&N.com: So you don't write any of them.

VC: Not really. Well, we put them together. I can't tell you that much. It's pretty much a secret.

B&N.com: Did you always have a garage-y sound from the beginning?

VC: Kind of. We did an EP before our first record. We didn't know how we'd want it to sound, but it didn't turn out exactly the way we wanted it to, so we had to think it through once more. When we released our first full-length album, Barely Legal, we got the whole picture together. It's been about punk rock or garage rock the whole time.

B&N.com: When you were growing up listening to music, were you exposed to a lot of garage rock?

VC: Not garage rock in the beginning. In the beginning in Sweden, we listened mostly to Swedish punk with Swedish lyrics and all that. From that we discovered the classic bands like Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks. Then, from American and English punk rock [we discovered] '60s garage and soul music and '50s rockabilly or whatever. Now it's just about good songs.

B&N.com: It seems like over the years, the garage sound has blossomed in certain geographic locations. I'm thinking of the Pacific Northwest, Detroit, or Australia.

VC: It has ups and downs. In Sweden, we had a garage boom for a while, back in the '80s. But now it's pop again.

B&N.com: What kind of stuff are you listening to right now?

VC: There's a really good band called the Reigning Sound. They actually played the first week on our tour. They're from Memphis, Tennessee, and they're probably my favorite band right now.

B&N.com: What are some of your favorite garage bands of yore?

VC: Probably the Sonics.

B&N.com: What about some of the Australian garage bands -- Lime Spiders or Eastern Dark?

VC: My favorite Australian band is probably Radio Birdman.

B&N.com: I guess it all comes from them. They had a great combination of garage and a little surf and a punk attitude.

VC: Yeah, they're good. I still listen to them.

B&N.com: What do you play on the road, on the tour bus?

VC: Well, we never get to spend time playing music on the tour bus. We try to sleep. We listen to all sorts of music. Like I said before, it's good songs more than good bands. A band can have just one good song and the rest is just crap.

B&N.com: Do you guys do a lot of cover songs?

VC: Not really. We've done two or three over the years. We did one Saints cover, and there's a song on our first album called "Black Jack," and I don't know exactly what band recorded it in the first place, but it's a good song.

B&N.com: Do you do covers live?

VC: Not that much. Maybe once a month.

B&N.com: Do you think that growing up in a small town influenced the kind of music you play or wanting to play music in the first place?

VC: Yeah, maybe because you probably have more time to practice than you did if you lived in a big town. If you live in a big town, there's a lot of activity. If you live in a small town, you can maybe play hockey. Sports -- that's pretty much all there is to do. Or play music or watch girls.

B&N.com: Or maybe both.

VC: Yeah, both!

June 13, 2002