pH = "hogfeldt"
J = Jenny (Lead Guitar)
V = Vera (Singer)
S = Sara (Guitar)
pH: Weīll start it of with one of those tiresome standard question
S: Youīve been a band for how long?
J: Weīve been a band since `91... It was me, Mia and Jenny on bas...
pH: You mustīve been quite young back then?
J: Yes... we were 20...
V: Nooooo...
J: No, not even 19... more like 18 or something. And then when Vera joined us in `94 we got our first "real" lineup... it took a while, we didnīt have a singer `til then... but, we already had our own songs so we just went ahead... We had our first gig september -94, Vera joined us in april... Before that we had another guitarist, but she quit about six months before Vera joined us... But we felt that we needed one more guitarist and Sara was a friend of us that had the same kinda taste in music... She actually drove us to our first gigs...
S: I started my career as a chauffeur... just like... whatīs his name... Bon Scott!!!
J: So... since `94 weīve had the same lineup, `cept for Mia... she quit last summer..
pH: How come?
J: She had to... She needed a break... I donīt know if sheīs interested in joining again... weīll see... right then she just didnīt feel like it anymore...
pH: Yeah... I guess it can get to much sometimes...
J: Exactly... if youīre not that wellknown, the harder youīll have to work...
pH: You guys got the release of your first fullength album coming up. You got any releasedate yet?
V: Noooo... hehehe...
J: The mix ainīt done yet... but Iīll guess itīll be out early next year... february, maybe... itīs not like itīs any idea releasing it in december... our goal is...
V: Our goal is february...
J: And we do hope it wonīt be pushed up further... itīs kinda finished... the only thing left is the mixing...
pH: Itīll be released on what label?
J: Itīs Alex... Alex from Entombed, heīs just started a new label... he has recorded an album with us and one with a band called Wrecks... but itīs a little timeconsuming finding the right distributor and so on...
pH: Yeah, that was my next question, Distribution, both in Scandinavia and internationally?
J: Itīs not a done deal yet... but they got something cooking... `bout the international distro, I guess weīll have to take one thing at a time...
pH: Yeah, I guess itīll be available from the usual places like Meteorcity and Underdogma anyways... but I guess that as a band youīll want it available at more places than that?
J: Yes... Thereīs not that big a market for this kinda music in Sweden... or... itīs big considering the size of our population... But, I guess thereīs a bigger market in countries like Germany and England...
pH: Yeah, thereīs a lot of bands in Sweden... but thereīs just a few recordcompanies interested in releasing this kinda music... most bands are signed to foreign companies...
J: The swedish recordsales within the genre are mostly based on the bands... the bands buy each others albums...
pH: But thatīs a pretty big base... hehe...
J: Yeah, but... on the other hand you gotta sell a little more than... 1000 albums... itīs gotta be more... available... but Iīm shure everything is gonna work out fine...
pH: Thereīs been a couple of interesting "names" somehow involved in either production, mixing or mastering of your earlier releases... like Fred Estby, David Catching, Brant Bjork, Chips Kiesby and so on... Who are doing the producing on the new album, You guys or somebody else?
J: No itīs Alex... so I guess this is the first time weīve worked with a producer for "real"... Heīs been involved all the way from rehearsing... so heīs been kicking our asses a bit to get us to work a little more... we have done so much more with this album than anything weīve done before, donīt get me wrong all of the early stuff are plenty cool too, lotsa cool people... but itīs all been done in a hurry, we havenīt had as much time as we might have wanted... All the guys weīve worked with have done a great job... itīs been plenty fun and I would love to work with all of `em again... but maybe have a little more time on our hands... itīs always fun to get some "outsiders" view... like with Alex... But all those "names" have really been worthy of their "names"...
V: Hehehe... Theyīve been worthy of working with us...
pH: How much control over the production do you guys want?
J: Alex have had a lot of control on the outcome...but, the main thing is that you want the same end result... he have had plenty of great ideas... sometimes he have had ideas we donīt like, and then we end up arguing about it... and then we argue `til we reach an agreement... thereīs always someone givinī in at the end... and sometimes youīll have to think about it for a while...
V: But thatīs what has been so fun with this album... weīve had a lot of more time... had a chance to try out stuff during rehearsals... especially when it comes to the vocals...
J: Yeah... we havenīt had time to try out stuff like that before... itīs been fun... at the moment anyway... since itīs our first fullength... this album have become som damned much better, just because of all time we have had to try out stuff... I mean, the songs were already written...
V: Weīve used up all your tape... hehe...
pH: Donīt worry... I got another 60 minute tape...
J: But itīs a tough one... people messinī around with our songs...
pH: Misdemeanor are one of many Swedish bands in this so called Stoner Rock genre... I know most people donīt like that name... whatīs your stand?
J: No one had heard that term when we started out... these bands were not that big back then...
pH: Yeah, I listened to bands like Kyuss long before I heard that term...
J: Yeah, we all like `em a lot... Weīve sounded like this from the get go... and all of a sudden there was a name for it, but I guess it doesnīt really matter... it just means that this kinda music has gotten so popular itīs gotta be categorized... and thatīs nice... but in our case... Stoner Rock makes it sound like... we are smoking pot... but in Sweden itīs more like Alcohol Rock...
S: But weīre not that spaced out...
J: No psychedelic jamsessions...
V: We are more Rock than Stoner...
pH: Thereīs a lot of bands in this "extended family"... and a lot of `em arenīt really Stoner Rock...
J: I read an article in an american magazine the other day... it mentioned Backyard Babies and Hellacopters being part of the new stoner rock wave... it doesnīt really matter to me, I feel as much... but, in the states they were mentioned at the same time as bands like Queens of the Stone Age...
pH: Thereīs a lot of people in the community that are thinking that Queens of the Stone Age are sellouts nowadays...
J: Nooo... I think itīs...
pH: Progress? theyīre kinda doing what they want...
J: Yeah, why should they do the same thing over and over again... thatīs one of the things that tend to get a bit boring in the genre today... thereīs so many bands doing stuff that youīve heard before... Iīm not saying that we are the most original band in the world... but it seems like some band has tried very hard to get a certain sound, like theyīre looking a little to hard at their influences... and thatīs boring...
pH: Yeah, I guess one shouldnīt bring along all the Kyuss albums to the studio...
J: Yeah... but there is bands that can pull it of... it all depends on the quality of the songs... but, sometimes it sounds like theyīre trying to do that song... only different... and that gets pretty boring...
S: Itīs no use... if itīs already been done... by someone doing it better...
pH: On the other hand, thereīs a lot of people who are saying that Kyuss ainīt interesting anymore... just because itīs been a couple of years... itīs like itīs alright to sound like a clone of Black Sabbath, but Kyuss thatīs a big no no...
J: A good band is a good band no matter how they sound... if they got the songs, and are doing their take on it... then I can take obviuos influences... I mean, Queens of the Stone Age have ripped of a Björk chorus on their last album... I guess they liked it and wanted it in their song... and I think thatīs up to them... as long as writing their own songs... hehe, but they didnīt do that on that song... as long as itīs good and it doesnīt feel like a rehash... I think itīs alright to "steal" a certain sound and structural ideas...
pH: But, thereīs also bands that are doing a total ripoff of bands like Kyuss...
J: A lot of bands have their own "Demon Cleaner"... you know... starting with the drums and so on... I guess thatīs not very fresh...
pH: When you mention Demon Cleaner, I come to think of the swedish scene and all the bands in it. What do you guys think of it?
J: Thereīs lots of great bands like Dozer and Norrsken... but we also like Strollers and Hives a lot...
pH: Where were we... Meteorcity released an CD-EP called "Five Wheel Drive" with you guys... I guess People Like You have the european rights for Meteorcityīs back-catalogue now... theyīve re-released a lot of the early Meteorcity stuff on vinyl... wouldnīt it be a good idea to release that EP on vinyl... 7" or 10"... to coincide with the release of the new album?
V: hehe... maybe you should take that up with them, as a customer... tell `em you want it on vinyl... it was a 10" you wanted... hehe...
pH: Yeah... a picture disc... or some colored vinyl... hehe... Letīs hope theyīre reading this... And here come a tough one... Sometimes a band in your situation gets a lot of attention just because itīs a...
J: ... girlband...
pH: Nowadays you got a guy on the drums... so I guess you canīt be called a girlband anymore... Myself, I donīt give a shit about what sex the person on stage have... as long as the music is alright...
J: Sometimes itīs been a good thing and sometimes itīs been a bad thing... but itīs plenty fun being just girls... itīs not that many all girl bands around... I bet that we have gotten lots more attention because of that fact... at least in some cases, but it wouldnīt be a lasting thing if we had sucked... if we had sucked we wouldnīt have been able to do the things weīve done... itīs easy to get attention, but itīs harder to keep it...
pH: A lot of the so called girlbands have found it quite frustrating to get more attention because of their sex, than for their music...
J: In the end it all adds up to... whether youīre good at what youīre doing... or not... I donīt think we have gotten that much attention because of that... maybe from those weīve been working with, but not from the media...
V: Hehe... We havenīt gotten any attention from the media... But itīs been fun to watch those guys " Theyīre chicks, chicks canīt play, letīs see what they can do"... itīs been fucking hilarious... since I sing, I can stand around and watch `em... when Jenny are doing one of her solos... you can see what theyīre thinking... and then... their expression changes... "the girl can play"... that makes me really happy, WOMEN CAN!!!
V: I think people are getting used to it... In the beginning we heard comments like...
J: "Girls canīt sing"... I think itīs working in our advantage with Vera on vocals... it gives us more of a characteristic sound...
V: There were some whining in the beginning... I wasnīt a guy, and I didnīt sound like Ozzy... or John Garcia...
J: You kinda have to grow into the cloths... we have found our sound... more and more, over the time... and if you know that youīre doing good at what youīre doing best... on stage too... earlier there were people coming up who said we should to things this way or that way... I donīt give a shit about what those guys think... but we donīt hear anything like that anymore, `cause weīre already doing what we should do...
pH: Any tourplans to coincide with the new album release...
V: Shure thing... Just book us...
J: We definitely have tourplans... but it all depends... it depends on when and where the albume is released... but thatīs what we want... we wanna head out on the roads... Sweden, Europe and so on...
pH: What about USA?
J: If the album gets a release there, itīs possible... but itīs all about the money... it depends on whether we get a good distributor... everything can happen... weīre hoping for the best...
pH: Now Iīm just about done... Whatīs in the future for Misdemeanor?
V: New album, new tourbus... and lots of goodlooking guys, hehe...
pH: You got anything you wanna say to the readers at StonerRock.com?
V: Visit our webpage, buy our records, buy our t-shirt...
J: Nooo... but, weīve done a great album, really... it is... but I guess weīll have to wait and see what everybody else thinks... but youīll like it... itīs great... Weīll probably have some downloadable MP3īs on our site soon... as a taster...
pH: Maybe we could use one as a "MP3 of the day" on StonerRock.com, then...
J: Yeah... we started recording the album in january, so it would be fun if people could find out what weīve been up to... hehe... and I also think that everyone of you should by the Hives album... one of the best this year...
