Swedish rock outfit Truckfighters return to Australia this week next month for nine shows to follow up their Cherryrock13 appearance across QLD, NSW, SA and VIC.
With five EPs and four albums under their belt including their latest ‘Universe‘, they’ve been dubbed “The best band that’s ever existed” by Josh Homme.
The accolades flow in from all corners for their live show, “Playing shows is the greatest thing you can do in a band. You can play people the music that you made, and see that exchange of energy. The energy is the key, it’s a give and take thing with the crowd. We get excited by the people there, the songs, the volume and the power and so we go a bit crazy. We don’t allow things to get boring, we keep things new and exciting live. Every night when we play, we want the show to be crazy.”
This week we caught up with the guys to answer our Hotseat questions.
They start in Brisbane on Wednesday night. Tickets are available for most shows and a second Cherry Bar show has been added after the first sold out.
THE BASICS
Name : Enzo / Dango / Ozo
Band : TRUCKFIGHTERS
Job In Band : Drummer / guitar player / bass + vox dude
Website Address : www.truckfighters.com
HOME
Hometown : Örebro
Hometown is best known for : The Mushroom ( a legendary water tower)
Best venue in your hometown : Contan
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : Danko Jones in the early days, when he still was cool.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : Release party for gravity x in 2005.
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? Ozo and a guy called AWE recorded some songs on a cassette demo to practice sound engineering. I (Dango) heard it and thought it sounded so good that we needed to start the band for real. It was just for fun on a very experimental level initially.
How long has the band been going? Since 2001.
Any particular story behind the name? Ha ha, actually the name came before the band started. The cassette demo mentioned above needed a cover. Ozo found a cool looking book on a flea market called Truckfighters – Nightmare in Mexico. The book cover was stolen to put on the demo tape and the name became Truckfighters 
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… The album Universe. Yes, Universe is the latest release… Don’t really know what to tell you except it’s a super awesome album of course 😉 It took us nearly 5 years to finish this album, so we’ve worked really hard on this one. I think it’s a natural evolution of the band and our sound. I think this is by far the best album we’ve done, cause it got so many ingredients and it’s some very complex and progressive stuff on the album, but not without loosing focus on good groove and nice melodies.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? It was super cool to open up Quebec City Festival last summer for Soundgarden, as they are one of the bands we listened to since we were young. Also the fact that about 10.000 people were watching makes it stand out. I also remember the support tours for Fu Manchu in Europe 2007. At that time it was huge for us.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? Dango: Nirvana – Nevermind, I had tried to play bass a little bit before I heard this album but when I did I realized I was a crazy guitar hero in my soul. Ozo – I would say Deep Purple – In rock really shook me, it’s an amazing album, so dynamic. After the discover of that album I kind of dug into everything Blackmore did, all Deep purple albums and then of course also the Rainbow albums.
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Dango: Nirvana, TOOL, Soundgarden would be the main ones over the years. Could also Pearl Jam, Kyuss, (early) QOTSA and Dinosaur Jr. I grew my music vibe in the 90’s that’s kind of obvious isn’t it 😉 Ozo – I would say my early influences where the 70’s but I slowly turned into the grunge music when that arrived and slowly when new type of music arrived late 90, early 00 I soaked that up as well. I try to keep an open mind and enjoy all kind of music as long as it has some good vibe to it and are done by musicians and music lovers. I do not fancy the electronic stuff.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? Enzo: The Deed was my first real band. We played “kick your ass” rock. Very early hives with some influences of Tom Waits and Iggy Pop. Epic band! Dango: We had a punk rock project called Swedish Farmers a short while in school when I was like 13. It was fun. Had another project called Low flush district we played more grungy style but with kind of a “talk” singing style, ha ha. For many many years I found it hard to find the right people to play with that wanted to play the same kind of music I liked with a similar ambition and skill level. Ozo – My first band ever was when I only played guitar for a couple of months, me and some friends at school got together in the basement in our school to play some heavy metal covers of Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies and more.. I didn’t fancy that music that much but it was a great experience for me playing with those dudes, as they where so much better than me.
Most prized music related item you own? Enzo: I only own really cheap crap. Dango: My first Rickenbacker 481 guitar, it is an amazing instrument. Ozo – I really do love my first real bass, my Gibson the Grabber from the 70’s, a beautiful instrument that I still use from time to time, even on our albums.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Enzo: The usual, hang out with friends and do weird but really cool stuff. Dango: eah just doing nothing hanging with my family. Ozo – I do love being in the nature, I try to go cross country skiing every winter up in those cabins far away from civilization, that is so awesome! And it’s a great contrast to what I work with.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Enzo: The easy living, new faces and play the drums every night. Dango: The adrenaline rush. Ozo – Be on stage, that’s all that matters to me.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… Enzo: All the heavy lifting and nights with no sleep. And of course sound check. Dango: The time away from my loved ones (though I love our fans but not in the same way). Ozo – I hate the travel and sitting in a car / mini bus, drives me crazy.
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? Enzo: Bottled water. Cant have enough of it! Dango: Fruit Smoothies. Ozo – Yeah water is very important, fruit smoothies are nice too 😉
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? Enzo: The states! Growing up with American pop culture its amazing to be able to really travel around this weird country and be amazed about all the things that’s happening there. And the people are really friendly and nice! Dango: I dug our Austalian tour in 2013, feels cool be draw a crowd on the other side of the world and people are quite fun and crazy! Ozo – I must say despite the fact that it was cool to go to the states and Australia we sometimes tend to forget how super awesome the crowd is in central Europe, I still think those gigs when 400 people come to a show on a Monday really amazes me and we sometimes forget that this is a dream come true for us.. When you played so much that we did you tend to forget that, but I really appreciate that all the hard work touring in Europe is finally paying off.
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? Enzo: My first show with Truckfighters in Finland. I was really nervous and fucked up a lot. Maybe not the most fun I had but still pretty memorable. Dango: Hmm so many shows passed by, I still remember the release party of Gravity X, the place was packed nice atmosphere hot and sweaty. We decided to play more or less the whole album. People said we played so long they could be in the out, go to get a beer and a piss and get back in again several times during the set. Ha ha. Ozo – I would say playing support for Fu Manchu in London at a full O2 Academy in 2007, that was huge for us back then. BUT I would also like to say when we finally headlined the very same venue earlier this year! Goosebumps, I remember saying back in 2007, what if we could play here as a headliner one day, that would be awesome… and guess what, It WAS awesome!!!
Got a favourite song to play live? Enzo: Manhattan Project is my current favorite but I have new ones every night. Ozo – I like playing some of the new songs like The Chairman and Get lifted…
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? Enzo: We were playing a festival in the states and we were the first band on to play so we had a lot of time setting the stage up. There was a lot of people all ready standing by the stage and Dango was in the process of hanging the backdrop, stealing my drum chair while I was setting the drums right and BAM! I was on the ground and down from the podium. Ozo – Not really, it’s a little bit embarrassing when things are not working for you on stage, EVEN though it’s probably not your fault, technical issues and so on, it still feels a little bit embarrassing to let people down. You want to get the audience full value of the paid money. But I guess some of those nights will be really valuable for the true fans since they tend to be different, sometimes spaced out in long jams when someone is fixing some technical stuff on stage 😛
Any pre-show rituals? Enzo: Meditation and cigarettes Dango: Physical warm up Ozo – Relax
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? Enzo: Having enough time to do everything. For me it always feels really bad not being able to hang around as much as I would want to. But that’s not a real problem Dango: Being away from home, lack of sleep and finding proper healthy food, especially in the USA. Ozo – I don’t really see a problem anymore… For me it’s a work BUT it’s the best damn work you can have in the world, I wouldn’t trade this for anything!
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Enzo: We do parties , Deerhoof. Dango: Black by Witchrider Ozo – A song on the latest “Långfinger” album.
Last album you picked up? Enzo: Courtney Barnett, A sea of split peas Dango: Witchrider – Unmountable Stairs Ozo – Foo fighters – Wasting lights
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Angel Olsen, All albums Dango: Witchrider – Unmountable Stairs – Ozo – Långfinger.
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? Bloodnstuff, Witchrider
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? Touring Australia, in (European) spring we do a tour with Blues Pills mostly in Germany. Always things happening 😉
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Enzo: Songs for the deaf, Queens of the Stone Age. Because its the greatest rock album of modern time! Ozo – I would probably also choose QOTSA BUT the first album, killer album and still their best.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Ozo – Maybe TOOL or perhaps a band like the Black Keys, OR if these two bands would work together to cover our album that would probably be the perfect match, Tool’s precise metal combined with Black keys more fuzz driven rock.
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? Enzo: Led Zeppelin, Ozo – Would be really fun to be able to see Truckfighters one day from an audience perspective.
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? Wembley.
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Enzo: Deerhoof. I think it would be so much fun to try and keep up with the bands amazing live act and I’m pretty sure they don’t rehearse so it wouldn’t be a question of playing right or wrong witch is a concept that I love. Ozo – Would be really cool to play some bass in Foo Fighters for a while… mainly to get to hang out with and get to know Dave Grohl, he’s a true rock star.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. Bloodnstuff + Witchrider
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? Support the fuzz, buy a physical copy of your favorite album. ENJOY
TRUCKFIGHTERS
JANUARY
14th – The Brightside, Brisbane [18+]
15th – Studio Six, Sutherland [18+]
16th – The Roller Den, Erskineville [18+]
17th – Baker St, Gosford [18+]
18th – The Small Ballroom, Newcastle [18+]
21st – Ramsgate Hotel, Adelaide [18+]
23rd – Cherry Bar, Melbourne [18+] SOLD OUT
24th – Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy [18+]
25th – Cherry Bar, Melbourne [18+] * Extra Show Added *
—> Tickets available now.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
