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A new album coming out soon - that raises a lot of questions of course!
konzertjunkie.de got to talk to Don Fist at Zeche Bochum, Nov. 22, 2006. Skambankt's bass player took the time to answer all the questions and reveal what we all wanted to know about the new album, the upcoming tour and what else we can expect from Skambankt in the near future. Thanks a lot for the interview!
konzertjunkie.de: Do you have some information about the new album?
Don Fist: It's gonna be out the 29th of January, both in Norway and Denmark. Maybe it will also be out in Sweden, but that will be later then, and we don't know yet. The title will be Eliksir. We had the vote on that at the concert in Stavanger, and we had discussed it beforehand too. I was feeling strongly about Eliksir as well, we just needed the confirmation.
konzertjunkie.de: Is the album completely done by now?
Don Fist: Yeah, everything is done, we just need to finish off the cover properly. We're gonna do some minor adjustments and then send it for pressing. It's eleven songs, plus an intro.
konzertjunkie.de: Did you have any guests on the album?
Don Fist: Yes! Do you know Christer Knutsen? He's on the piano and organ, and we have a choir this time. "The Angry Sailors" is their name, and that's also Christer and a few others: our sound engineer Petter, Geir Zahl, Gunnar from The Goo Men, Thomas Innstø and Jens Christian Andreassen. Of course the guy that played the intro, he's a guest as well. I don't think there's anyone else, but that's quite a few.
konzertjunkie.de: Do you have some more information about the new songs?
Don Fist: The album is more personal, and more about self-experienced things. And it's quite different, it's not as raw as the first album. It's about people we met and people we've been thinking about, situations that meant something for us or just things that engage us, like there is one song that is about - do you know American Idol? It's sort of a caraokee contest, where the best singer wins and gets an album. So, in Norway there is a show called Idol, and one of the songs is about that.
konzertjunkie.de: So it's less "revolutionary" lyrics, but more real this time?
Don Fist: Yes, it's more realistic. I mean, we meant what we said the last time, but this is just different. So it's a step further for us, because we can't sing the same lyrics over and over again. We had to do something new, and this is what we wanted to do. It was easier for us too, it was better for us to write the lyrics this time.
konzertjunkie.de: You said the lyrics are different this time, how about the style?
Don Fist: There is a lot more variation this time. It's still rock, hard rock, but not everything. So the album is wider - the expression is wider.
konzertjunkie.de: Can you tell something about the songs?
Don Fist: I think you know Nok et offer, from the EP, that's one song. It's a new version. We thought it was so good so we wanted to use it, because not so many bought the EP.
And then there's Dynasti, we played that one in Stavanger, and Stormkast, that's actually a song about living your life on television, what you know and what you get. All the information you have about reality you get through the television, you don't experience life yourself, and the song is about that.
Then Tyster, and Ordets Gud, which means "God of the words", that's about when you argue with someone. Maybe a few hours later you think about, oh, damn, I should have said that and I should have said that. So it's about the feeling you get about next time - "I'm gonna say this and this and this" - but of course there won't be a next time, but you think about it.
And then it's Eliksir, you've heard that one in Stavanger as well, and Siste stikk, a fast and short song.
Fritt fall, a dark song about losing yourself in a way.
Then Idyllillusjonen, that's the one about Idol, and the last one is Bak låste dører.
And there is another one, it's the first song we recorded for the album, it's called Angst. We already played it on the last tour.
konzertjunkie.de: You talked about a song called "Malin" one time?
Don Fist: Yeah, but that's not gonna be on. The song was too soft. It was a kind of harassing with a girl called Malin. Or, we called the girl Malin, we didn't know her name. It's a girl we met. And we didn't like her, and we made a song about it. Maybe we will released it at some point in time, but we don't know yet, it's too early to say.
konzertjunkie.de: You said there is an intro for the album. Is this the stuff with the "klokkespill"? What is this about?
Don Fist: Yes, it is. The cityhall in Oslo has many clocks, so we used those to play a theme from one of the songs. It worked out alright, I think it's very good. We had several hours to do it - the player had to learn to play it first, because we couldn't play it. And it turned out the way we wanted it, really great. It's a good intro for the album.
konzertjunkie.de: Will you be able to play all songs live as well?
Don Fist: We don't know! Because we haven't tried. We only tried the songs we played in Stavanger, so we don't know yet. We have to rehearse and play them together. We have only played them in the studio, so I can't tell. I think most of them can be played live, maybe one or two cannot. But that's a matter of arranging it for live playing and we can do things differently. I think we can play them. At least for the release party, I think we can play everything. And then we have to see.
konzertjunkie.de: How's the cover gonna look like?
Don Fist: It's a new logo! We wanted something new, we can't look the same all the time. But we're gonna use the old logo as well, we're still gonna have the t-shirts - the old one is a good logo. This one is different, it's kind of the same idea with a new twist to it. So you can still see it's Skambankt, but we wanted to do something new - a new logo for the new album. And this is also gonna be the cover of the new album.
konzertjunkie.de: So again, there will be graphics in the cover instead of photos?
Don Fist: Right, there's drawings on the cover, of all of us. It's the same style, just updated.
konzertjunkie.de: Tyster will be the first single?
Don Fist: Yeah. It's not out as a single, but the radio has it, and the Norwegian radio will play it from today or tomorrow, I think. The guy that's in charge of the music really liked it, so he's gonna play that song, and I hope they will play the video of the song as well.
konzertjunkie.de: Do you have a video?
Don Fist: We're gonna do a video when we get home, in December. That's gonna be a really cool video. We have a script for it already: We're gonna fight in it, against one of the best boxers in Norway.
konzertjunkie.de: Why did you choose Tyster as first single?
Don Fist: We didn't choose that, the radio did. I'm not surprised though, because it's the most "radio song". But of course we would like Dynasti to be the first song. I believe that's the best song.
konzertjunkie.de: How do you come up with new songs?
Don Fist: It's Ted that has the idea for a new song, and then he plays it for me and I tell him what I think. And if I think it's a good song, we make the lyrics for it together and then - like this time, we did it differently, because we went to a cheap studio in Stavanger and played the songs there and recorded it. And then we could work with the songs while we were making them - recording it and then say "ok, this doesn't work". And when we get home we can re-record with the computer, so we can edit songs. We can remove a chorus or make it twice as long and see what works best. So we did that on a few songs and made them the way we wanted it, and then we went to a real studio and played it as it should be.
konzertjunkie.de: Do you record "live" then?
Don Fist: Sometimes we do that. Well, we do it on all songs, we play drum and bass and usually Ted's guitar first, and then you put on more guitars and the vocals afterwards. But we play together at first to get the right feel to the song - we can't play drums alone. That would be kinda hard.
konzertjunkie.de: Working on the album probably takes a lot of time - how can you arrange that with your jobs and other bands, like Kaizers?
Don Fist: We take time. For me, this is the most important thing I do, so I use my vacation or ask my employer "can I go?" - And he says yes, because he likes rock music too, so that's good. It can be a problem of course, but you make time.
konzertjunkie.de: So it doesn't slow you down?
Don Fist: That hasn't been a problem, because we always find the time. And we plan ahead most of the time, so we plan that say, in May, we're gonna do this and this and that and we're gonna work through that, and then you have time to plan it. If you can't do it, you know it some time in advance, and then you can make it work somehow.
konzertjunkie.de: Did you have some kind of plan for the album?
Don Fist: No, we didn't have a plan. We just make songs. And if a song is good enough, we put it on the album. And the lyrics just came as they were. We didn't think of a theme this time as much. We tried to make good lyrics, and hopefully there's some good lyrics, but we don't know.
konzertjunkie.de: You made them, you should know!
Don Fist: Yeah, but I can't judge my own lyrics. I think it's good, because it means something for me - but for other people, I don't know. I can't tell.
konzertjunkie.de: So you first have the music and put the lyrics on top?
Don Fist: Yeah. You have the music and the melody and then you start making lyrics for it. I've never tried doing it the other way. I think that would be impossible to first have the lyric and then start to make a song out of that. I think people do that, but it would be very strange for me. Because the music is the important thing for us, and you gotta have lyrics, so then we make lyrics. But basically it's the music, so we make the music first.
konzertjunkie.de: But you're also gonna stick to lyrics in Norwegian?
Don Fist: Yes. I'd rather write good lyrics in Norwegian than try to write good lyrics in English. And I don't know - I think my English is quite good, but it still ain't good enough to write good lyrics. And I think there's so many bands writing in English, and people don't care about the lyrics then, because it's English, and it sounds English. And - whatever you like, that's good for them, and it's an easy way out. But it's better to try to do something you know how to do and try to do it good.
konzertjunkie.de: And it's something special.
Don Fist: Yeah. Or well, it shouldn't be special, because we sing in the language we know, as all other bands do. I mean, the English bands sing in English, because they are born in England and speak English. We're born in Norway, so it's natural to sing in Norwegian. As I think many German bands also sing in German. So it feels a bit weird to sing in English - although everybody else does it.
And we have no ambitions about getting big in England. We're never gonna do that, we're not gonna try, so why sing in English? We're not making it for English people.
konzertjunkie.de: So what's your general attitude towards the album? Last time you said it's all just for fun, is it more serious now?
Don Fist: Yeah. We're really proud of this album. Because it is the best we've ever done! So I have some expectations for the sales, but nothing concrete, I can't say "I expect to sell this and this", but I think we're gonna be a better live band and draw bigger crowds and we're gonna play in bigger places now, so that's a step up. I think the album will sell more, but still, there's no big master plan like "in 2008 we're gonna be there", it's not like that. So we're just gonna play and see how far it's gonna go. But this album, we worked really hard on it, we used a lot of time on it, so the process was more serious this time. It's not about wanting to be successful, of course we want that, but it's more like wanting it to be good.
konzertjunkie.de: And wanting people to see it.
Don Fist: People will see it. But the main thing is to make something a good product, that's our focus, and the promotion and all that, that's up to someone else to do that, that's the record company's job. I guess we'll see how far they are gonna push it.
konzertjunkie.de: Do you plan any release/promo activities? You said something about a release concert?
Don Fist: Well, it's a bit early, because we don't know much yet. We know that we're gonna do a release concert, of course we will, everybody does that, so we're gonna do it too. Promo as well, but we don't know yet, the record company works with it. Also we're gonna start booking a tour, so that's gonna be fun.
konzertjunkie.de: Will you stick to the MySpace site now?
Don Fist: No, we're gonna make a new site. The old one was very difficult to maintain. And we also need new graphics and stuff. I'm hoping to get it done until January. And it has to be done before the album of course.
konzertjunkie.de: And the MySpace site will remain. Do you have any expectations about MySpace, do you think it helps you?
Don Fist: I have no idea. I don't think so. Maybe. It's a good place to post dates and people can listen to the songs, but I'm not sure what function it has. Now it has a function as a homepage for us, because we don't use the other one. I don't think we'll be famous through MySpace. I think you have to work really hard for that, be on MySpace all the time and send a lot of spam mail to others, and I'm not gonna do that.
konzertjunkie.de: You were on several soundtracks for films, like Uro and Tommys Inferno, this is also some kind of promotion. Do you have any influence on that?
Don Fist: They asked us to do it, and we said yes. I haven't seen Tommys Inferno yet, so I don't know what that is, but we went to see Uro, and I was quite shocked. We didn't expect our music to be party music. When there's a party going on, they listen to Skambankt. We laughed at that - it was funny. And it's promotion for us, so it's just a good thing. They decided to ask us, they called the record company and asked if it was okay to use two songs in this movie and we said yes, it's okay. And it's also good for us.
konzertjunkie.de: Do you have some plans for the tour already?
Don Fist: Yeah, we have a few dates, but it's not official yet. We're gonna go on tour in February and March. We don't know yet how long and how much. We're gonna start some time in February and go on through March I guess. How many shows depends on how many want us, I would say about 20. And it's gonna be Denmark and Norway, maybe Sweden, but I think we'll need to go on tour with a local Swedish band there, because it's a very difficult market to get into. They don't like Norwegian bands - especially singing in Norwegian. So I think that's a bit threatening, the "little brother country" comes to Sweden and sings in their own language. That can be a bit frightening.
konzertjunkie.de: And then probably festivals in summer?
Don Fist: Yeah, but that is too early to say. We're gonna play a lot of festivals, but about that, I have no idea yet. To this date, there is only one festival that is confirmed, and how many else - there's gonna be a lot, but I don't know. It's way too early.
konzertjunkie.de: I guess I know the answer to that question, but anyway: Any chance you'll come to Germany again, for a festival maybe?
Don Fist: I don't think we're gonna try. Because - I wouldn't mind playing in Germany, but we'll have to start real low, with small venues and not much payment and bad hotels, you know the deal - I don't want to do that.
konzertjunkie.de: I was more thinking about festivals, 'cause there you can really get people to listen to you.
Don Fist: The festivals will need to call us then. Maybe. It would be nice to play German festivals, but we're not thinking about it. We are focussing on Denmark and Norway, and that's gonna be a lot for us. If we play in Denmark, it's not far to drive to Hamburg - but someone needs to book us and make it possible. But the German fans can come to Denmark as well.
konzertjunkie.de: Will you have new merchandise, with the new logo?
Don Fist: We're gonna make it, yes. We're gonna make a lot of new stuff, and a better selection. We're gonna keep the old shirts, and make a new shirt with the new logo, and we'll have a few other things as well. Like underwear. We want underwear too! But not pink, we're gonna do it in red.
konzertjunkie.de: But not the jacket anymore? Everybody wants that!
Don Fist: Yeah, we were talking about that, and we're gonna do the jacket again - but with the new logo. So the people that have the old one, that's kind of exclusive. It's a memory from the first tour, and people who didn't go there can't have the jacket. So for the people who have it, I think it's a good thing.
And - maybe shoes. Actually, we're talking about shoes.
konzertjunkie.de: Shoes? Because everybody is making them themselves at the moment, or why?
Don Fist: Yeah, right. So we thought it's a good idea, and we're actually talking to Converse now about getting a deal with them to make Skambankt shoes. But we don't know yet if they are interested. Or well, they ARE interested, but we haven't come to a conclusion yet. For them it should be good advertising, because we are a rock band, and they are into that. I think they should like it, and it would be good for them. And it's good for us. It just takes a lot of space on tour, we gotta find a way to pack them.