The SUiCiDE BOMBERS released their brand new mini-album, The SEX TAPES, on February the 28th, with a concert at Gamla – Oslo, Norway. MER had a nice chat with founder and front man “The Sleaze Fuhrer”, Chris Damien Doll!
Some readers will remember you from Trashcan Darlings that was leaning towards punk. Your debut album with SUiCiDE BOMBERS “CRiMiNAL RECORD” was released in 2012 and was obviously a hard rock release. Why this change?
I’ve always loved hard rock and written many hard rock songs. We did several of those with Trashcan Darlings too, but when the time came to get a new band together I wanted to dive more into that style of music. It’s just a natural progression, I suppose. I also wanted this band to have a more unified musical direction and that’s what Lazy, T-Bone and C wanted as well, so it all fit like clockwork.
You played guitar with TD, in SUiCiDE BOMBERS you are also the vocalist. Did you ever consider bringing in a vocalist, or did you always want to be a singer?
I never had any desire to be a singer, so in the beginning everything was more or less open. For a brief moment we considered bringing someone in, but when we started playing it worked so well with me singing, that we decided to go with that. Everyone also felt confident that I could pull off the front man duties live and we didn’t wanna gamble on someone else and maybe have to wait for him to learn the ropes. We haven’t looked back since.
You are more experienced now than you were with TD. What have you learned to make everything smoother with SB?
We all come with bigger networks and more connections than what we had when we started our first bands, which is always good. We also have more experience in general, which helps with everything from studio work to concerts and… well, pretty much everything, but when it comes down to it any band is about the chemistry and dedication of the people in that particular band. What you create is being created together.
I have learnt a lot from all the bands I have been in, so have the other guys, but every band is a whole new animal.
The SUiCiDE BOMBERS is the hardest working band I have ever been in. Most of the guys are busy on a weekly, often daily, basis working on projects besides rehearsals and concerts. That’s very cool. Almost anything goes in this band, which enables us to be innovative and do a lot of rock’n’roll firsts.
You have been in the business for a long time. Not being a major act, how would you say the changes in the music industry has affected you.
Money is a lot tighter now for sure, both for music sales and the live circuit. In the past you used to be able to invest the money you made into new projects and every time you’d have more to invest to make bigger and better products. Now it’s becoming increasingly difficult to even make break-even, so when you make money and when you lose money is a lot less predictable. I would say that is the biggest change.
CRiMiNAL RECORD was a solid release. Did it turn out the way you wanted? It a jungle out there, did it get the attention you hoped for?
We set out to make a classic debut album with CRiMiNAL RECORD and I think we achieved that. It turned out great and for me it’s probably the one record I have been involved with that I have listened to the most after it was pressed. We got 7/10 for it in Classic Rock and 8,5/10 in Metal Hammer Norway and lots of other great reviews both online and in magazines, so judging from that, and the fan-feedback, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people out there agree that we did make a classic debut.
These days you are releasing the mini-album “The SEX TAPES”. Why did you record a mini album (containing 6 tracks) and not a full album this time? Are all the tracks brand new?
The SEX TAPES is actually a 1-track download-only single that grew into its own release.
We had a few songs we’d been working on and when the middle part of BLADERUNNER (TOKYO NiGHTS) fell into place, we were so happy with it that we thought about releasing it as a download single, to get something new out there. Then we got an offer to contribute a song to the new Backstreet Girls tribute album and all of a sudden we had 2 tracks… When the second round of songwriting for the next full length album started, we realized that we had too many great songs for just one album, so we thought “Why make the fans wait ’till all these new songs are done and THEN release a full length album, when we have these 6 songs that are ready to go now.” So that’s why The SEX TAPES is a mini album, but the next release will definitely be a full-length again.
4 of the tracks are brand new and were written in the time between CRiMiNAL RECORD and The SEX TAPES. 1 of the songs I’ve had for a while. The Backstreet Girls cover is from their latest album Death Before Compromise… so, even if we didn’t write it, that’s also a new one.
Musically, what are the differences between the albums?
You tell me! In all honesty I don’t think there’s that much of a difference. We never aimed for that either. All these tracks would fit very nicely on CRiMiAL RECORD too. The songs are new and they are great, but it’s still very much a SUiCiDE BOMBERS release, just the way we like it.
The title of the album is obviously connected to your band image. There are voiced intros between the tracks. Is this some sort of a concept album?
The SEX TAPES is the soundtrack to the best movie never made. A glossy and immaculate rock’n’roll dream time action movie. However it is not a concept album in that lame sense where the lyrics go: Little boy to the queen of the desert:”Oh holy queen upon thee I grace.” Queen Of The Desert to the little boy:”Little boy you must go on a quest to slay the dragon in the castle behind the elevator door to the left of the fire extinguisher”… That kinda shit we are not about at all, but if you close your eyes, listen to the complete work as a whole and add a bit of imagination you will get a sense of the movie. It’s all about the feeling and as far as we know, something like this hasn’t been done in rock’n’roll before.
You are the “Fuhrer”, would you still say that writing SB’s music is a band effort?
We are always trying out different models for songwriting and we’ll see what comes of that in the future, but most of the songs, so far, have been written by me. We all deconstruct and put them back together again at rehearsals, to make sure each song reaches its full potential. That’s usually arrangement pieces, breakdowns and details. Then of course everyone adds their own personal style of playing and the end result is the explosive sound of the SUiCiDE BOMBERS.
Did your new bass player, C Slim, have much impact on the album?
C Slim was very much there all through the process. He is an accomplished songwriter himself, so he’s able to connect with the songs quickly and has good insight into the Thunder Mechanics of writing. He is very much a part of the finished arrangements on all the songs for this release. We recorded The SEX TAPES at his Pinehead’s Audio Saloon studio, so he was there for all of that too. C is a great guy and a dedicated pro. We love him!
You have a very professional approach when it comes to your promo pictures, videos, etc. You must be spending a lot of time (and probably money) on this?
Thanks! Well, like I said, this is the hardest working band I’ve ever been in and it’s a joy to turn on the computer or pick up the phone and hear what kinda debauchery the other guys have been up to. They all feel the same way too! We are lucky enough to have Sex Gunslinger Lazy Leather in the band. He is the high frequency designer of the technicolored revolution, so anything that’s designed is pretty much on him. The guy is working 24/7-11 for all this stuff and he’s brilliant!
We also have my buddy Dave Derglin who does all the voice overs and my good friend Maria Maxwell who produces the intros, commercials and any other supersonic dream we can come up with. She also mixed the mini-album and did a stellar job at that.
It’s important to take advantage of the arenas you have and get your band out there. YouTube is a good platform and as well as music videos, we are doing our SUiCiDE NETWORK films as a way to communicate with our fans. We also record audio commercials for our concerts that we send to the clubs we are playing in advance, so they can playlist them and help the staff with the promotion work. At The SEX TAPES release party we took it one step further and played pre-recorded audio commercials for our merchandise over the PA in between some songs. Like I said; almost anything goes with this band, the sky is the limit, if we can dream it we’ll make it happen and that’s a perfect atmosphere for rock’n’roll innovations like these.
Your first album was released on vinyl. Is that that plan for “The SEX TAPES” as well?
We haven’t really discussed it yet, but at some point I think it will happen. Vinyl sales are increasing every year, but we’d like them to increase a little bit more before we do The SEX TAPES on vinyl.
You did a video shoot during your release gig on Oslo. Is that footage for another music video or a full live concert?
We filmed the show with seven cameras and recorded the audio straight to a studio program so it can be properly mixed afterwards. We haven’t heard the audio or seen the footage yet, so not sure how it turned out, but the show was great and we enjoyed every second of it.
We haven’t decided on what to do with it yet. In the past we’ve all been in bands who didn’t professionally documented enough of the good stuff, so with this band we wanted to do that and make it great. I seriously doubt we’ll release a concert DVD, but I think a song or two might end up on youtube later this year and then maybe a lot more on some kinda DVD release in the future. Don’t hold me to it though, we haven’t seen the footage and not talked much about this yet so I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.
Where would you recommend that people go to check out your music?
Our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/suicidebombersmusic is a good place to start. It has music videos and album teasers. We’re also available on Spotify, WiMP and other streaming services, or you can buy a CD or vinyl from all stores in Norway, from cdon.com if you live in Europe and directly from the band at post AT thesuicidebombers DOT com if you live in the rest of the world or want a signed copy.
You won’t be disappointed!
What has been the highlight with SB this far?
The highlights are smacking us in the face on a daily basis. All the way from selling out our very first show, to the great reviews we got for CRiMiNAL RECORD to the way all the work we have put into this release, the videos and everything is working out exactly as planned, to playing to our biggest headline crowd yet at our SEX TAPES release party. We can’t wait to bring this show on the road!
You’re always up for a good time. Apart from that, do you have a goal for how far you can take SB?
SUiCiDE BOMBERS can definitely go all the way! With the quality of the songs, the performances and dedication of everyone involved, there is no reason why this band shouldn’t go as far as possible.
Any last word for the Metal Express Radio readers and listeners?
Yeah, watch out for my very own guest DJ show here on MER, to be aired later this spring and hope to see all you guys on the road!
…over & motherfucking out!
SUiCiDE BOMBERS – The SEX TAPES Tour 2015
28th Feb – Gamla, Oslo – Norway
6 March – Chevy’s (Fredagsliven), Stavanger – Norway
27 March – Sport & Live Scenen, Hamar – Norway
28 March – Oak Metal Club, Fosser – Norway
1 April – Pub Anchor Club Asylum, Stockholm – Sweden
3 April – Music City Club, Praha – Czech Republic
4 April – Klub Kantýna, Prague zkušebny praha – Czech Republic
5 April – Wild At Heart, Berlin – Germany
11 April – Yes Yes Pub, Årnes – Norway
24 April – Vårt Hjem, Steinkjer – Norway
25 April – Good Omens, Trondheim – Norway
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