The Horrorpops

From Copenhagen to California, The Horrorpops have left a long lasting impression on anyone who’s seen them.

Armed with a new record (and another couple of years of touring to look forward to) I caught up with lead guitarist Kim Nekroman for a chat…

Interview w/ Kim Nekroman (Guitar)

of The Horrorpops

By Cameron Chambers

Thanks for your time Kim, how are

you today?

Really good thanks man.

You're enjoying some well deserved

time off from the road at the moment yeah?

Well... yes and no. We're actually

preparing and rehearsing for the upcoming tour and we've been doing

a lot of interviews also.

SoI wouldn't say that it's much of a vacation

right now.

Your last full length "Bring

cycle for that record last?

It almost lasted all the way up to...

about a year ago actually. So when we started working on our new record

and went into the studio!

This one's actually been recorded for

a while now. It's kind of weird for us because the release we wanted

wasn't quite possible. There were a lot of other bands on the label

coming out at the time we wanted and we didn't want to drown again bands

like Bad Religion.

It's been weird... it's been on hold

for a long time and now we're getting into the songs again and really

discovering themagain.

Since the release of your last album The

been some of the highlights for yourself and the rest of the band?

Obviously the... well, the fact that

we get more and more fans which gives us the opportunity to be out on

the road and do shows and tourwhich is the first... you know... when we started

out is was all about getting out there and playing shows.

Doing the albums is kind of anecessary

evil. Not that we don't like doing them because we have to make new

songs and keep it fresh... but the fact that people dig our music is

such a great thing. It's a very big compliment.

On top of that, we've toured with some

great bands, like Rancid and The Offspring. That's kind of like a

dream come true that you tour with cool bands.

Your new record "Kiss Kiss

Kill Kill" is set to drop on February 2^nd

that the longest you've ever spent working on a release?

No, not really actually, because the

actual working process wasn't that long. It was just, you know... it's

been kind of on hold because we were actually done with it a year ago.

It was actually faster to record than"Bring It On" and the song writing

was quicker too!

You can only do so much to the songs.

You can try to perfect it but there has to be a point where you let

it go and move on or you'll kill the songs. WhenI hear big bands say"oh, we've been in the studio for three

years" I'm like,"what the fuck are you doing all day"..."playing

netball"?

I'm lucky to have heard an advance

did the songs just naturally turn out that way?

It's no secret that we've always been

fans of new wave, you know, the cool 80's stuff and yeah...I guess

a lot of that came out on"Hell Yeah" but not so much on"Bring

It On". It's not like we sit down and plan and say, oh, this album

is supposed to be like this and this and this, just to satisfy the people

out there.

We just sit down and write and whatever

comes out, well... it comes out. It's the only way to do it. Straight

from the heart is the only way! If we dig it and hopefully other people

do too!

A lot of bands opt for a big name

about that decision?

I've been doing albums for many years

with my other bands, and working with other bands, andI've never quite understood the reason for

using a producer if you're able to do it yourself.

Both me andNiedermeier (drummer) are very much

into recording and we know all that stuff. Anyway, who is better than

the band themselves to decide the expression of their music? I understand

why people use a producer because it's not just the music... it's a

whole work process as well.

We didn't feel that we needed one and

the only reason you should spend a lot of money on getting a big name

producer is to get the media interested, which is a bit of a cheap trick.

The theme of the record - from the

events that inspired "Boot To Boot"?

This has been one of the few times

where Denmark

is on the big map. There's a youth house in Copenhagen and recently there's been

a lot of riots... which is kind of funny because whenI was a young kid, in that same house, my dad

took me to see boxing matches.

Later on that house was squatted by

kids and other young people who didn't have a place... and a lot of

punk rockers.

This house has been in the kids possession

for 20 years now and all of a sudden the government kind of fucked it

up and gave it away to some Christian, cult like church that convinced

them that they can save all these young kids from their crazy path in

life, blah blah blah.

It went back and forth and ended up

in all these crazy riots, but it's normally a very quiet country and

yeah, that's the inspiration for the song.

Have you had a chance to play any

how has your newer material been received by your fans?

We're not big fans of watching a band

that only plays songs that we don't know, so we kind of have been saving

them for this tour.

It wasn't until today that we actually

played any of the songs for an audience.

On a personal level, what are your

goals or expectations for the new record?

I certainly hope that people like it

and yeah... what canI say? I'm not a pessimist butI don't want to shoot too high and then get

disappointed. It will hopefully do just as well as our previous albums

and hopefully it will keep us on the road and let us tour, which is

what we want to do.

Having toured with everyone from Rancid

toThe Offspring, The Horrorpops have successfully

weirdest show or line up you've ever been a part of?

I don't know man. Kind of... when you

play in a band like this it doesn't matter who you play with because

you always feel awkward or different. Feeling different is normal for

us by now. It's not like you're playing with a particular band who sound

more like we do coz that doesn't really happen.

So... I don't know. Maybe to me the

weirdest thing was the tour with Danzig that we did recently. We're obviously

very different because of the female vocals and we have way more poppier

sounding music compared to all these macho style... which everyone knows

it's all about not wearing a shirt and showing your muscles and being

GRRRRRRRR [does his best imitation of screamed vocals, ha ha]

and very metallic.

All the bands on the line up are metal

sounding bands and then we come in and it's like, whoa, it's a whole

different thing.

It seems that people are into a variation

which is cool because personally, I don't want to see the same band all night.

I definitely don't want to see five clones of the headliner. By the

time you see the headliner you're like,"I've heard this before".

Going back to 2006 now how was your

stint on the Vans Warped Tour? Do you think the

popularity?

I'd say the Warped Tour really helps. You really

get out there and there are lots of kids checking you out who'd never

see you at a local show but it's very convenient that you're right there

in their face.

It's good exposure and by the way,

we're doing all of the Warped Tour this year too!

With the release of "Kiss Kiss

have?

We have a little more rehearsing to

do and lots of interviews too and then we go out on a 2 month tour in

the US. After that we have festival shows in Europe and then we have

the Warped

Tour right through summer.

Hopefully later this year we'll be

in Japan

and Australia

as well.

Even though you guys have been

welcome when you play in Copenhagen?

To be in honest, the last time we were

in Copenhagen

was 3 years ago. It's a very small town... I mean, Denmark only has a population of 6 million

people and Copenhagen

is only like 1 million people, so it's not a big scene.

Hopefully we'll get there early next

year or maybe later this year. It's kind of like coming home to a family

party coz it's all the people you've known forever.

That's about all we have time for Kim,

is there anything else you'd like to say?

No mate, that's it!

Thanks for your time mate and hopefully

we see you later on this year.

Thanks man!

For all things Horrorpops head to www.horrorpops.com or www.myspace.com/thehorrorpops.