Wednesday 27 January 2016

Interview with Jimi from HONEYMOON DISEASE

When I first received today's guest debut album – Transcendence – late last year I wasn't expecting much. I heard from my friends in the know that I should really check them out. The PR Sheet that came with the album didn't speak volumes to me either. So I relented and pressed play on my MP3 Player.

About two hours later I was about to start my 3rd listen. Holy crap, Honeymoon Disease infected me with their high octane riffs blended with Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Blues based Stoner vibes. The band have just came back from a well received European Tour. The album has also been acclaimed by fans and critics alike. You can read our review here.

I was asked to interview the band and I wanted to find out more about them especially why they chose their crazy name. I'm happy to say Jimi (Drums) from Honeymoon Disease is here to save the day....




Hi Jimi. How are things with you today.

It’s great thanks! A lot is going on in the Honeymoon headquarters. Booking shows for 2016 and we have also started writing some new killer material.

So why did you choose the name The Honeymoon Disease for your band. As its' not the most appealing terms out there.

Haha, no it isn’t. For us Honeymoon Disease is like a crazy ass honeymoon that never ends. It’s starting out as pretty beautiful, fun and romantic, but after a while it just turns into a painful and itchy horror story. But you can’t stop diggin’ it. Just like our music. The guitarist Jenna got the name from some weird soap opera show a long way back.

How did the band get together. Did you all know each other before forming the band.


Not really. The two guitarists Jenna and Acid played together before in a band called Thrill Worriers. They started Honeymoon Disease with our former bassist Admiral in 2014. Together they recorded the first single “Fast Love”. At that point they didn’t have a steady member on drums and just before the release of the 7” vinyl I (Jimi) moved to Gothenburg and met the girls at a concert.

They asked me to join and after one jam I stepped in as the drummer and we started to play live. Admiral then decided to leave the band last summer, after the recordings of our debut album, and shortly after Nick joined as the new bassist.



How would you describe your music.

Some say we’re the rock’n’roll Abba, haha. It’s groovy hard rock with well-trimmed guitar riffs and a lot of 70’s feeling. We have no problems of calling it retro but I believe we also have a modern touch into it as well.

Your new album – Transcendence – is superb. Full of great tunes that really get you in the mood. What can people expect from the record.

Thank you man! Like I said we want to find a good mix of old and new, a retro feeling with a modern sound. The album has everything from speedy tunes that kicks you in the balls to more mellow and groovy ones. You get in the mood, but not just one mood. It’s a journey of feelings and it can be dangerous to listen to it while in traffic, haha.

Was it an easy or hard album to write and record for.

The pre-production was a really stressful period for us. We were such a new band and really wanted to play live as much as possible but we also needed to record the album. So we worked with the songs together with our producers Ola Erfjord and Nicke Andersson (Imperial State Electric, The Hellacopters) in the same time that we were a lot on the road. It was an interesting process and even though it was stressful we got the opportunity to try the material for an audience. Two of the tracks on the record are actually mostly written in the studio, risky but really fun. The result became exactly as we wanted it.



The album is being released via Napalm Records Music. How did you hook up with Napalm. Did you have any other label offers to release the album.

We had some offers but Napalm Records showed and gave us a lot of support directly from the beginning. Even though we just had one single out, they believed in us and saw the potential. We feel really fortunate to have the chance to work with them.

I worked with Napalm before with my previous band Mamont. So it was pretty natural I guess, that they had an eye on my next project.

How hard is it being a band in today's world. What are the most difficult aspects in being in a band.

I think it has always been hard to be a band on this planet. Today it’s of course easier to reach out to a wider audience which is great. But it’s harder to provide yourself on the music I guess. That’s the most difficult part, to make it work without money, haha. You come to a point when you put in so much time and hard work but in the same time you need to have a boring job as well. It’s hard to find the balance and it takes a lot of energy. But if you’re creative you’ll manage which is pretty fun in the same time.

What is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it a group collective or down to one individual.

Jenna and Acid often starts writing a riff from a feeling they have, sometimes a whole idea of a song. Then we jam it out and build up the arrangements altogether. All of us have the same musical roots but in the same time we have a lot of different references. For example I come from the stoner scene and Acid more from the thrash world. It’s always fun to mix this stuff during the writing process.



You've just finished your European Tour. How did that go and how did the audience treat you.

We had a blast! It was so much fun! We released the debut album under the tour so we were a little bit unsure if people would know who we were. But the response was amazing!

We toured with Swedish Avatarium and The Vintage Caravan from Iceland. It couldn't have been a better tour package! Super nice people and a great mix of speedy rock'n'roll, blues and heavy rock.

Will you be touring again in 2016.

Hell yes! Right now we're planning a lot of stuff. Scandinavian dates of course and also some summer festivals and hopefully we'll play Spain and Portugal later this spring. An bigger European tour is also in the making.

Before you go, do you have anything to say to your fans.

Watch Out! Because the disease is coming for you! Haha, we can't wait to drive out on the roads and meet you people. If you like the record and haven't seen us live, then you should really come out and hang out with us! Looking forward to rise our beer bottles together soon! Cheers!

Words by Steve Howe and Jimi


Thanks to Andy at Napalm PR for arranging the interview. Thanks to Jimi for taking the time out to talking to me. Transcendence is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Napalm Records now.

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