Danish band finds a better home
By Cameron Collins
The Nekromantix are a psychobilly trio hailing from Denmark, Copenhagen. They have been one of the most influential psychobilly bands throughout Europe and with their first U.S. release, Return of the Loving Dead, on Hellcat Records, they are likely to be just as widely acclaimed here in the States.
Psychobilly is a mixture between rockabilly and punk, usually entailing dark images and themes. Some of the other influential psychobilly bands include the Meteors, Batmobile and the Guana Batz. Unlike punk rock, it is non-political and is more about having fun and playing music.
The Nekromantix are Kim Nekroman on vocals and Stand Up-Coffin Bass, Peter Sandorff on guitar and Christian Sandorff on drums. I was able to catch up with the band on the first date of the Punks vs. Psychos Tour in Chico, California.
The Santa Clara: When did you arrive in the states?
Kim Nekroman: Sunday. We've been hanging out in San Francisco, getting our gear together, just hanging around.
TSC: How do you like the crowds here in the States versus those back home?
KN: It's cool, it's very different. So many young kids. In Europe they are all old farts and psychobillys, kind of narrow minded, but here all the young kids are pretty open minded which is really cool.
Peter Sandorff: Have you ever seen 200 pounds of German flab fly onto the stage?
TSC: The record that came out today is your sixth album. How does it compare to other Nekromantix albums?
KN: It's the best so far, but it's still the Nekromatix. It took us six years to get to the studio, but we wrote it in a week or two.
PS: Yeah, it took us a week or two to get the stuff together.
Christian Sandorff: Lazy bastards.
TSC: The way a lot of people here in the States have heard about the Nekromantix was from the Tiger Army records, where Nick 13 thanks the band. How do you like touring with Tiger Army?
KN: This is the first show, so it's pretty cool. We talked about it two years ago when we toured the States.
PS: Last time we were here we played one gig with [Tiger Army], and that was a great show because they are known here more widely than we are and get a larger audience.
KN: How many people live in [Chico]?
TSC: I don't know, the school probably has around 30,000 students. I really have no clue.
PS: Check this out man ... In a 30,000 person town in Denmark we would pull a crowd of about five or something, so this is good.
TSC: What are some of your musical influences?
KN: We listen to everything. Anything from Dolly Parton to Motorhead. We have pretty broad minds. We are three individuals with different backgrounds so anything that rocks.
PS: We like good tunes as well. It doesn't necessarily have to be rock and roll. Rock and roll, in my opinion, gets boring if it's the same two chords all the time and the same way of playing the guitar.
TSC: Is being on Hellcat different from the previous labels you've been on?
KN: Our previous labels have been very small and independent. They spent no money at all on promotions. We never saw any money at all. [Hellcat is] the best.
PS: We've been hanging out with Lars [Frederiksen of Rancid] from the label the last two days in San Francisco. He has taken excellent care of us. It's like, "You wanna borrow a guitar? Here's my best guitar."
KN: He should have been on this tour [with his solo project, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards] but unfortunately he threw out his back. We owe everything to Tim Armstrong, Rancid and Tiger Army.
PS: Those guys are great. They came up with the idea for the tour and set everything up