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PIRATE LOVE – Vienna – ARENA - 08.10.2009
by: Elena Tarasz (http://www.myspace.com/burnmewitch)
“We are not a Garage Punk band!”
David Al Dajani, singer of the Norwegian band PIRATE LOVE expresses his averseness to subculture categorization and prefers his band to be referred to a mainstream thought of Rock’n’Roll or rather: Bathroom Rock’n’Roll, as recent recordings took place at this place of shiny cleanliness. Indeed, a total opposite of their dirty rough live performances including ultra-short hot pants, blonde dishevelled wigs and hypnotic voodoo dance...
Pirate Love is compared to bands such as The Sonics or The Stooges. Is there any music that you’re really into from your contemporaries?
I’m always looking for good bands, especially on Myspace. There’s this Canadian band that played in Oslo about two weeks before we left for our tour which is called Demon’s Claws. I really like them. And there’s a band from the USA called LiveFastDie. They sound like “Raw Power” by The Stooges. They’ve got a killer humour, too. I mean they have country songs about taking ecstasy and stuff. It’s kinda fresh. I also likeKings Khan & The BBQ Show and a band from Norway that is called Serena Maneesh – they’re coming up with a new record now. Actually I’m singing on two songs and I’m having something like a duet with Emile (Nikolaisen, vocals & guitar). It sounds like Primal Scream vs. My Bloody Valentine, a bit punky…the album’s gonna be totally awesome.
Your band was formed in 2003 and your first long player “Black Vodoun Space Blues" was released 5 years later. Compared to many other similar sounding bands it took quite a long time until your debut has been released. Do you think it’s tougher to gain ground as a band in Norway than for instance in Great Britain?
In Norway there aren’t any bands like us. There’s more Shoegaze inspired rock like Serena Maneesh. So we got pretty much attention by the media, ‘cos of our unique sound. But everyone was like “this is the newTurbonegro” and stuff. But that’s bullshit, because that just shows how narrow-minded that country is when it comes to Rock’n’Roll culture. I mean you have one band to compare. We have nothing to do withTurbonegro. I mean I saw them in 2002 and that was really good and I like their early stuff, but that’s all.
Could you imagine to emigrate from Norway in the future?
Urm, I like Berlin a lot. I met a girl on the last tour and I kinda fell in love, so I visited her in May, but it didn’t work out. I mean I don’t wanna leave Oslo. It’s really small, have you been there? But there’re so many good clubs and the standards concerning music are pretty high. I’m actually djing in Oslo. I have my own club with Raymond (bass). We play lot’ of different stuff. Oslo is getting pretty good at the moment, ‘cos there’re lot’s of exciting artists, bands and Dj’s. And I wanna be a part of that – of making things better in Oslo, you know. I don’t wanna sit around complaining all the time like “Oslo is a shitty town”.I just wanna make it to become good and living there is really inspiring.
Why not trying a new location for your next recordings? You could go to Berlin and try your luck over there and see how things are going…
Yeah. But we’re having our own studio, you know. But yeah… I think Berlin. would be nice. There’s such a chilled atmosphere compared to Oslo. I mean in Oslo the clubs close at 3a.m. so you can’t really do much later on. Also we have never worked with producers before, because Milton (von Krogh, guitars) writes most of the stuff. He’s got a pretty clear mind when it comes to deciding what musically the band should be like. He’s been like the producer, but it would be interesting to work with someone else. Maybe Jean Claude Vannier (composer/ arranger).
The critics gave you pretty rave reviews by writing things like you saved the Norwegian music scene. Would you agree with those statements? How would you describe the rest of the Norwegian scene?
We didn't save Rock’n’Roll, we just brought the brilliance of simplicity back to it. I mean in Norway there’s us and Black Metal. We don’t wanna save Rock’n’Roll.
You guys are pretty flashily-dressed, so how do people react when they see you walking down the streets in Oslo?
Well, I'm not too flashily dressed apart from when I'm on stage. But some of the other guys in the band are really into the esthetiques of the 60s, which I think is really cool. They dress way better than me! When I was 17/ 18, around that age, I used to be dressed like a crazy motherfucker. I wore syringes filled up with water and ketchup and put them on my jacket and just walked down the streets of Oslo, totally straight to see how people react and they were like “what the fuck are you doing?!” But I quit that [laughs]. But it's all about expressing your personality. And most young people in Oslo are pretty hip, so I don't think we stand out too much in everyday life.
Where’s your dark look and sound coming from? Do you relate that more to what happened growing up or more from outside influences like art, film and music?
Personally, I get inspired by situations and people that surround me, or rather how I perceive them. I tend to work in character when writing my lyrics down on paper, without being too self conscious - it's just the way I work. ‘Cos when I go on stage I turn into a completely different person, I transform. It's almost like a psychic metamorphosis. I scream and dance and pull my dick out, metaphorically speaking. At ease I'm usually the guy with the hood on trying to avoid people, so it's kinda weird.
But I believe our performance, including my own, is taken to a new, eerier and darker level when we're on stage.
The more sinister aspects of the individual are free to bloom in all its glory, which feels really good, almost like a catharsis. The concept of our music and our message manifests in a new way when we play live so to speak.
Musically we're inspired by a lot of psychedelic music. But not so much stereotypical pseudo-flower power stuff. It's more about venturing into the unknown and being able to discover something new and wonderful. For instance West African music during the 60s/70s. We just get inspired by a vast and highly eclectic free flow of music which we then transmute into
our own exotic blend of Rock’n’Roll music.
Films are also inspiring. We're really into Kenneth Anger who made a lot of highly interesting
avant-garde pieces during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Jean Luc Goddard, Fassbinder and Kubrick are also popular amongst us.
Our next stuff, though, is gonna be very different from what we've released so far. We're just taking things further. We've got a new 7" coming out soon which will perhaps pinpoint the listener to where our heads are at the moment. I recorded the vocals in Milton's bathroom and it's called "Space Doubt".
On Myspace I came across a profile called “Vodoun Club”. Your guitar player Milton seems to be involved. Is that a musical side project or some kind of club night?
It’s a club concept night. He and our photographer in Oslo called Ingrid Pop are djing and they’re playing lot’s of 60s French Pop. It’s not a famous club night, but it’s well known by the people from the scene. Me and Raymond have also a club night at the same venue. In English it’d be called “fuckdream”.
Since your album release you got around a lot. Do you like being on tour?
I love it. We've been on tour now for almost 4 weeks, but I wish we could go on. It's really fun to play and it's cool to be able to develop as you go along. I'm convinced we're a unique and pretty strange band, with all the different individuals and influences and all. And the crowds have been awesome. Well, most of the time… And I wanna mention another thing: We're not a Garage Punk band. We're a fresh, contemporary Rock’n’Roll group - like all good Rock’n’Roll bands should be! We don't give a shit about it, really. It's just so annoying to be categorized too deep into a subculture we don't really feel part of. It's much more challenging and much more fun to play to people who've never heard us before than to play exclusively to a bunch of old geezers in Ramones T-shirts. ....
What about your definition “Black Punk”, then?
That definition is just short for “Black Vodoun Space Blues”. We just came up with the words, ‘cos they captured the psycho-exotic sound and feel of the music so well. The same goes for our EP “Death Surf Negro Spirituals”.
From now on “Bathroom Rock’n’Roll” would match perfectly, I suppose…
Yeah, Bathroom Rock’n’Roll!
In what mental condition should someone be in while listening to your record for the first time?
Urm, it should be in the morning when the sun rises and one should have a drink …vodka and some LSD. Wait an hour and just put on the record and freak out.....
10:18 PM
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