Dogpound drummer Tuka checks in to discuss the recent release of the band's hot second album, through Lion Music.
Hi guys, great to talk to you. The new album A Night In The Gutter is out and sees you stepping things up with an even better album than the debut. How long went into writing and recording this album? Tuka: Hi, great to talk to you to! Micke is like a song writing machine, so he's always producing great songs. So it's hard to say how long the song writing process took. But the recording took about 8 months! We are not the fastest band in the world. When we do things we don't do it well but we do it slow.
You guys are from Sweden - for those reading that are unfamiliar – tell us a little about your history. Tuka: Well, Sweden has a very long history. We have a king & a queen & ice bears walking around in the streets. No, just kidding! I guess you wanted the bands history. We started out in 1999. We recorder two songs mailed it to 20 record labels. Within a week 17 of them had called us back! We continued to record songs and in the summer of 2000 we got a deal with a label called Shark Records. But the guy to runs it is a prick and things got complicated so we told him to eat dirt. After that we got signed to Z Records. Smart! Everyone knows Mark is an asshole. But we didn't care. We just wanted to make a record. But after a year of nothing but empty promises we got tired of things and moved on. We recorded some new songs & when Lasse Mattsson at Lion Music heard them he just went nuts! He gave us a good deal that we just couldn't say no to.
The debut album was titled The Hellbum - where did such a descriptive name come from?!
Tuka: When we recorded the album everything that could go wrong went wrong. People that were supposed to do things didn't, things broke down, we had no time, we had a break in the studio, I was sick, it was extremely hot and so on. So we just played a bit with the two words Hell & Album. Just to describe the situation we had when we recorded the album, The Hellbum.
You won some strong support for that release - were you happy with the response? Tuka: Nothing to complain about. Everyone seemed to love the Hellbum. Now let's hope that A Night In The Gutter will get the same great response.
And how about reviews for the new A Night In The Gutter album? Tuka: The ones I've seen are great. And they should be, 'cause A.N.I.T.G.
is a damn good album! Better than all the shitty bands you can see on MTV, Nickelback, P.O.D, Linkin Park, etc.
I agree mate, I agree! The new album contains some hard rocking, but very melodic tunes. Tell us about the approach you took to writing this album? Tuka: We wanted this album to be better than Hellbum, but without changing the direction. A follow up, not a new style. So we used the same idea that we had right from the start, we wanted to mix heavy music with nice melodies.
Tracks like 5 Seconds and Not By Chance and also In Another Lifetime see you guys getting into some great anthemic choruses. Was that a more predetermined goal, or something that just evolved? Tuka: It just happened, when we work a lot in the studio, trying out all kinds of ideas, trying to make the most of every song.
What are the band's musical influences? The vocals have been compared to that of Journey, yet the approach of the music is far heavier and more European.... Tuka: We listen to everything. We love the music from the 70's & 80's but also love heavier stuff from the 90's. We listen to everything from pop to death metal. I feel that sometimes a band with great melodies can get a bit boring and to slick & a heavy band can get to angry and usually the vocalist is screaming and not singing. I think that can be quite boring. That's why we wanted to mix the best from the melodic bands with be best from the heaver bands.
For those unfamiliar with the band - give us your best sales pitch -who is going to dig this CD and why? Tuka: If you want high quality melodic hard rock with great vocals, a heavy solid ground & smoking guitar solos buy this album!
Are there many opportunities for you guys to play live in your native land? Tuka: We get requests to do gigs and tour all the time. But at the moment there is not possible for us to do it. Maybe sometime in the future we will hit the road.
What kind of activities do you have planned to promote the new album (besides interviews such as this!) Tuka: That's it basically.
Sweden seems to be a true hotspot of hard rock bands and talent. Why do you think? Tuka: I haven't thought about it. There are a lot of great bands from Sweden that play music that is'nt hard rock. All kinds of music, Maybe it's the hard rock that gets the biggest attention international I don't know. I think that we have The Kommunala Musikskolan to thank a lot for that. Kommunala Musikskolan is a music school that every kid can attend to in their spare time if they want to. It's not expensive and you can play what ever instrument you like. It's a great thing to be able to learn how play when your a kid. I think that's why we have so many musicians in Sweden. If you start with music early you will develop your ability to make good melodies.
Of those, are there any you hang out with regularity in Sweden? Tuka: Some hard rockers? Well, some....I have friends in Vomitory, Hypocrisy, Pain, God Among Insects, some guys from Candlemass & Dark Funeral and a lot of bands that are'nt hard rock, like Infinite Mass, Nick Borgen & stuff like that. And Freak Kitchen of course! Great band!!!! Can't come up with more names, I guess I forgot a lot.
Tell us about the tribute albums you have participated in - what songs and why those? Tuka: We did "Led Clones" for the We Want Moore album together with Peter Tägtgren (Pain, Hypocrisy). We really liked the song and thought it would be a good song to do with Peter because the original was a duet featuring Gary Moore and Ozzy. And we thought that the song was a song that would fit Dogpound well. We got a lot of airplay with that song. We also did "Mary Long" for the Blackmore's Castle II. That song was also recorded in the Abyss Studio.
What is next for the band in the coming year ahead? Tuka: We are writing new songs. I think there is like 15 new ones ready to be heard. I promise it won't take two years before the next album will be released!
What are you all listening to currently (as far as CDs)? Tuka: Within the last year or so I only listen to AC/DC! I always do so. I listen to a band for months and then I get sold at some other band and listen to that band for some time. But I have been having a really long AC/DC period now. Over a year.... I guess I'm a freak!
And is there anything you would like to add? Tuka: Buy the album. If you like Dogpound and want to hear a third album, go out there and buy both The Hellbum & A Night In The Gutter!
