Who would expect that Friday the thirteenth could turn out to be such an amazing day? It had been a day of amazing music and lovely superheroes. It’s actually quite hard to describe my thoughts about this fantastic band called Young Guns, cause my thoughts are wild and all over my brain. Truth is…can’t stop thinking about them. I know that they’ll be a band I would always remember. Just when I thought that I’d know what rock stars were all about, Gustav (vocals) proved me wrong. With his modest, honest and sweet attitude he’s a true superhero to me! And that’s exactly what this interview is about.
Interview with: Gustav (vocals)
Interviewed by: Pearl
So despite of Friday the thirteenth, did you have a good day?
I have had an amazing day! The guitarist said to me today is Friday the 13th and it’s an important show to us. I’m quite superstitious so I was really nervous. The last two shows were amazing, but tonight it was busy and the crowd was really up for a good time. So we’ve had a lot of fun. At least so far Friday the 13th had been a better day than I could have possibly imagined.
Are you a superhero?
Am I a superhero? No definitely not, I’m far too lazy to be as courageous as superhero.
Have you done any good deeds today?
Today? No, I haven’t done anything bad, but I haven’t done anything great today. In my life I would like to think that I’ve done some good things.
Like?
A while ago we had a house party and a girl turned up. I don’t know who she was. Turns out she is quite young and she drank too much and became ill. And it turns out she nearly died. I didn’t know this, but her dad came round next day and thanked me cause she had like slipped into a coma and if I hadn’t given her CPR, apparently she could have been seriously ill or died. I was quite proud of that, but today we’ve done nothing courageous. I’ve just gotten up and been really tired and then played a cool show!
Would you like to be a superhero?
I would love to be a superhero!
Which one?
Spiderman, without doubt! I already knew the answer on that. He has always been my favourite. When I was a kid I had like eight costumes of him. He has this great mix of powers you know. He can kind of fly, he can swing around he’s really strong, but he can also be just a person. So definitely Spiderman!
If we would be in the year 2012 when the world goes under…
Hopefully not
As a superhero which people would you safe?
Who would I safe? Well I’d be selfish and I would firstly safe my mother and my brother cause I come from quite a small family, but we’re very close. I’m lucky that I’m very close to them and they’re very supportive. Without them I wouldn’t be anything. So they would be the first two I would save. And then I suppose logically it will be my friends.
What about your fans?
Well I find it hard to believe that we have any fans, so that’s a difficult question for me to answer. We still are a very small band, but if we have any fans I would gladly save them.
Would you save us?
I would definitely save you two; you’ll be on top of my list.
Do you feel like a superhero on stage?
Well, it’s funny cause in a good show and if things are going well, there are times when I feel different because of the adrenalin, the moment and the attention that people give to you. You do feel a little bit like a superhero, sometimes. And I think that is probably why some people find it addictive, cause it is like a rush really, an amazing feeling. So I don’t know if I feel like a superhero, but I definitely feel something different than I feel when I’m walking around as a person during the day. There is a definite difference between me on stage and me off stage. That’s for sure.
What’s the difference?
I’m offstage a lot quieter and a lot less of a show-off.
What to you is a legendary band?
Well my favourite band of all time is a band called the Police. So they are my favourite band, they are a legendary band to me. I also like The Beatles; they are obviously one of the biggest bands and best bands of all times. When I was a kid my mother was really into the Police. So the Police and the Beatles for me.
Do they influence your music?
Not so much the Beatles, but the Police definitely do. In a way they look at song writing. We may not sound that necessary much like the Police but it’s kind of in the way that they approach their song writing. Is definitely something we try to keep in consideration. They wrote like pop songs in essence like verse chorus, verse chorus, but tried to step outside the band music. I like to say that we’re a pop band, in a kind of popular sense. We just don’t necessarily have like the Britney Spears kind of vocals. Pop music is a lot more than the kind of horrible shit that you see. It’s just popular music that is written with a structured and catchy formula.
I read your lyrics and they’re really beautiful!
It’s funny cause I’m so far of being satisfied with my lyrics you know. I think that they can be an awful lot better. It’s very kind of you to say so though. And I do like the lyrics, but I like to think that I can push myself and get better all the time Do you know a band called Say Anything? They’re an American band. On the surface it’s kind of emo/indie, but his lyrics are like out of this world. Phenomenal! It’s just incredible. When I listen to something like that I just think that I should better give up. So thank you, but I would like to think that we can get a lot better.
How are you going to make your band a legend?
That’s a difficult question, I think…What I would like to be legendary for, if you would like to be legendary for anything, I would like to play small shows, in small venues and everybody has to go as crazy as they possibly can. We would like to be a big band that plays in small venues. So if I could be legendary for anything, it would be for that.
Tell me the truth, are rock stars just desperate womanizers or are they true superheroes?
Well it’s not like that. You know like everywhere else in the world rock stars are mainly guys and because of that they’re interested in girls. But I wouldn’t say that they are superheroes either. If there are superheroes, they would be people like doctors, people that really contribute. I think it’s probably unfair to say that much rock stars are just after the girls, cause there’s a lot more than that. But they’re not superheroes, they’re just somewhere in between.
http://www.myspace.com/youngguns
Another great band that night was Audrey Horne. A heavy Norwegian band, with the same name as my dear mother. Long haired mysterious Norwegians with a sound and an attitude that resembled Velvet Revolver. I'm not sure if they will ever be huge in the Netherlands, cause they're too heavy for the teenager rock-chicks and too soft for the Scandinavian metal heads. But we'll see, cause they're awesome musicians and they seem to be serious stage animals.
