Interview With Dogpound Shane Wheeler: What bands inspired you to start a band in the first place?
Calle: Well, we wanted to start a band that played melodic hard rock but with a heavier touch. Heavy, but still very melodic with a lot of guitars and noise. A mix between the best from the 60's up to date.
Hea: Some of the bands that inspired us are Galactic Cowboys, King's X and Freak Kitchen. But we certainly have a whole bunch of other different influences too.
SW: Do you plan on going on a world tour, or something in the near future?
Calle: Nothing like that is planned at the moment. But we will hopefully do some gigs in europe later this year. Right now we concentrate on writing new songs, promoting our website and trying to get a GOOD record deal.
SW: How do you get your song lyric ideas? What goes through your mind as your write your songs?
Calle: Well, most of our music comes from guitarist Micke, but he is in Denmark at the moment recording an album as a studio musician, and what goes through his mind....nobody knows!! Some of the songs comes from me and Micke just jammin' for hours and hours. I just beat the shit out of my drums and Micke plays whatever comes to mind, and sometime we just look at each other when we know that what we just played is something that could turn into a new Dogpound song. Then we record it on a little cassett recorder and give the tapes to Hea and then he writes the lyrics.
He can tell you more about the lyrics part.....
Hea: Yes, as Calle said I get a tape with the new material. And I basically listen to it over and over till I get that certain feeling about the song(s). Then I sit down and it all just come to me...Both lyrics and melodies. And when I'm satisfied with my part of the work we try the song(s) out the next time we rehearse. Usually it works out (better than) great!
SW: In the near future, do you see yourselves [Dogpound] headlining a popular tour, like OZZfest, Summer Sanitarium or Tatoo The Earth?
Calle: Yeah, if we had Alex Van Halen on keyboards! Since we at the moment don't have a record deal and are as famous as Black Sabbath was back in 1968, I don't think so. But if Ozzy called us up and asked us to join his fest...we would be there!!
Hea: Hell, yes!
SW: Where did you, and your band members meet for the first time?
Calle: We studied music together in 1999/2000 in a little town called Munkfors outside Karlstad were we live now. Micke and Figge had been playing together for years, and Micke and Hea had knew each other since childhood.
Micke wanted to form a band with Hea and Figge... but didn't have a drummer that he felt would fit in... til' he met me! Dogpound became the best of friends in a second. We were four souls that melted into a big one and we knew this was ment to be. I love them like brothers and couldn't
imaging life without them.
Hea: Actually, prior to Dogpound Micke, Figge and I had a cover band. We used to play covers of bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Cream, AC/DC, Kiss and so forth. The kind of songs that the bar-goers here in Sweden like to listen to. But in the end I guess we grew bored on
playing other peoples music. Then, in the summer of '99, we (Micke, Figge and I) decided to try to get admitted to this newly started music shool in Munkfors. We all made it
(obviously!) and we met out excellent drummer, Calle! So, in the winter time of '99 the idea of Dogpound finally came up.
SW: With all of this mp3 sharing going on about the Internet, do you agree
to stop mp3 sharing, or do you think it should continue?
Calle: I think it's great! It's easier to find new bands and to promote your own. I don't think that it's a problem that people download mp3's from the internet.I mean, if you find some songs with a band and really like them you want the album! This could be a band that you'd never heard od before and maybe never would have found out about if it hadn't been for the mp3's. So for smaller/new bands I think it's awesome! I don't think it should a problem to bands who have so much money that they couldn't spend it in three lifetimes and then they sue their fans (and Napster)....I have many things to say about THAT
BAND, but I don't think you would be able to print them here
Hea: Yes, I agree with Calle to a certain extent. Mp3's for promo use and for finding new bands are simply awsome. And for already established bands, I think it's O.K. if someone
who haven’t heard them downloads one or two mp3's to get an opinion of the band. It's like Calle said: If you hear something you like you buy the album! But I think
that no matter how much money someone have, they still deserve to get paid for their work, right?
SW: On a final question, are you releasing any new albums or video's in the
close future?
Calle: Well, hopefully there will be an album in the near future but it won't be our new album (it will be new of course) it will be our album. The album after that will be our NEW album....Get it?? Figge might do an instruction video called "How to brush your nose" (That's a Dogpound joke...)
Hea: As soon as we get a record deal we'll be pushing for our first album. Hopefully we
won't have to wait that much longer.
SW: Thanks for your time.
Calle: It's been a pleasure!! Peace!!!
Hea: Nice talking to you! |
