Interview with Thomas Bredahl and Jon Larsen of Volbeat by John Jf Haag

VOLBEAT
Interview with Thomas Bredahl (Guitar) & Jon Larsen (Drums)
By John Jf Haag
Photos by Miikka Skaffari

VOLBEAT are one of the largest bands in metal right now. With their newest record, Beyond Hell Above Heaven, out they have been touring extensively, supporting bands like METALLICA and AC/DC.  On the heels of the group’s most successful year, Thomas and Jon sat down with Hails at the world renowned Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, CA to fill us in on the goods.

Where/how did you guys get your start, what did the early days look like, and where does the name VOLBEAT originate from?

Jon: We started off ten years ago. Michael had disbanded his old band and called me up and said, “Hey, I got some ideas for some songs, you want to participate?” I said, “sure.” We ended up at a rehearsal room and he played me the ideas he had. Some of it sounded kinda like old BLACK SABBATH, some like MISFITS, some like GREEN DAY and some like METALLICA. Something like that. It sounded like fun so we just started playing and eventually formed a whole band. Got a bass player, who is still with us, Anders. Had a guitar player that didn’t last long, brought another guitar player in, started playing small shows, slightly bigger shows, small festivals, (and) all of a sudden got a record contract. Did the first album, more touring. Second album, more touring, got this guy in, and that’s basically how it was.

How do you feel about the band now that you have had success worldwide and how did it feel to win the p3 award?

Jon: Oh, we hate each other. (Laughs)

Thomas: Yeah, it’s like a marriage being in a band. You love each other and you hate each other for the same reasons. But of course every once in a while you get a wakeup call. Like that p3 gold thing we won (is) actually like the third one we have won.  Which is different than other awards, because it’s not like a jury of business people deciding who they think is better or worse. It’s like the fans out there; it’s the radio listeners who spend a few dollars or a few seconds and send in text messages to vote.  It seemed like we were their favorite. That’s a huge wake up call. When you are hating each other and you’re like “fuck this is boring,” every once in a while. But, it’s the soundtrack to their lives: their good times, their bad times, hard workers, their soundtrack for everything.

Jon: You said it.

Thomas: I said it all; interview’s done! (Laughs)

Thinking back to the beginning, did you guys see yourself playing music for a living? Was it your only option at the time?

Jon: I don’t think it was ever an option. It was of course a dream; if you could say hey one day I make a living doing this. And that’s great. But again, it was never an option. Again it was some ideas around a table and ten years later here you are playing your music for a living.

You put a new album out, Beyond Hell Above Heaven, what does the title mean?

Jon: We’ll leave that up to you.

Thomas: It’s free for impression.

Growing up, how did you get to know about bands like THE MISFITS, JOHNNY CASH, and HANK WILLIAMS, etc? Were the American bands extremely popular or cult classics?

Jon: Some of them are of course. My parents played JOHNNY CASH when I was a boy. But they also played a lot of other stuff like BUGGO, ROLLING STONES, ELVIS and stuff like that. It comes with our childhood, I guess. And when you grow older you tend to find your own kind of music- which for me was the metal scene. That started out for me in the early 80’s. It was bands like JUDAS PRIEST, KISS, stuff like that. Then it was METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, OBITUARY, and all that stuff. And then one day you find other stuff- which for me was the punk scene. And of course that’s where THE MISFITS come from.

Thomas: We are talking the nineties, which for me was stuff like GREEN DAY, NIRVANA… and you turn on the TV and you see bands play, like, three chords and people jump around and all the energy that is going on. It was a revelation that three or four guys could get together in their parents’ garage and start a band and they could actually make it on to MTV and play big shows, and they seem to have a lot of fun doing that. It wasn’t how good of a guitar player you were, but more the music you play and having fun with it.