Anyone who knows me knows that there is nothing I enjoy more than a good rock concert with music that can melt the skin from your face. Volbeat has a reputation as one of the hardest working bands on the planet that can deliver a staggering live show that keeps fans returning night after night for more mind-melding riffs and intense energy.After listening to their album, I was surprised to find traces of rockabilly, punk, and driving hardcore metal all fused together in an interesting mix showing a range of influences and musical styles.
We caught up with Thomas Bredahl while they were making their way across the US on yet another tour, this one with more intimate venues to get up close and personal with fans who are used to seeing them only in stadiums.
Hi, Tomas. How are you guys doing? Are you in Colorado tonight?
We are good and yeah we are playing Colorado tonight and we had a day off yesterday so it seems like our batteries are recharged and we are ready to rock.
If you don't mind, I'd first like to ask you a little bit about the album which I've been listening to over and over. I got about seven songs into it and I've got to tell you that I was confounded. I thought I had you guys pegged musically and you mix it up on every single track. It makes for a very interesting listen. I was expecting more pure driving rock and heavy metal and while I certainly hear those things I also hear a LOT of rockabilly, a lot of punk. Who were some of your biggest influences musically?
Yeah, that's the thing. There are tons of bands and so many genres that we listen to collectively as a band but also as individuals so that's probably why we've got this huge cocktail of everything blended together. Me personally, I'm more of a punk guy than a metal guy. I'm really into Social Distortion, Rancid, Green Day, Bad Religion stuff like that but also a lot of rockabilly and the '50s stuff. The whole career of Johnny Cash is interesting to me, like starting out in the '50s and ending around the millenium. That's a lot of years and a huge career that goes up and down and is interesting. Every decade is interesting in its own way. Jon, our drummer, is a huge Black Flag fan. I guess it's all a matter of age because I got into the punk rock scene through Green Day and all that stuff that was happening in the '90s and Jon, being ten years older than me, was into whatever was happening in the '80s.
