11. septmeber 2009

Interview with Kim Rozz Frost from Midnight Cowboys

Calle: The band was established in 2006. How did you guys meet? 

 

Kim: The band has been around for a couple of years since 2005/2006 and in the beginning of this year they were looking for a drummer and a friend of mine who plays in Innocent Rosie knows the guys in the band and I had been without a band for almost a year, so he told me to call up these guys because the music is just up my alley and they wanted a little bit more drums then the usual sleaze band. I wrote them in January and went to drink a few beers and play with them and everything just clicked right away.

 

Calle: Do you know why they chose the name Midnight Cowboys for the band?

 

Kim: I actually don’t know, but the story has something to do with cats and boots in the middle of the night.

 

Calle: Did you know that the slang word for a homosexual male prostitute wearing cowboy clothes is Midnight Cowboy?

 

Kim: I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s not a coincidence.

 

 

Kim: I have always been into music since I was very little, but I didn’t start playing until I was sixteen. I have always been into music and especially drums and bass. I like the punch and the power in it and it’s the foundation in every song. The singing and the guitar is what usually get the most room in a live situation and on the CD’s and it’s usually the people who gets the most attention. I have always found drums more interesting and I started to play drums in school and I found it really hard but I wanted to learn it, so I just learned it. When I as sixteen a friend needed a drummer in a band and I bought a drum kit from a guy that was probably on drugs because he didn’t look to good and the drums didn’t look to good and I bought for about 500 kr. And here I am six years later and I can play drums. 

 

Calle: Who are your biggest influences?  

 

Kim: Music vice it has got to be the bands I listen to the most. And I listen a lot to Static X, Rob Zombie, Social Distortion, The Bones and apart from that I listen a lot to death metal music like Death, Arise, The Crown and Susperia from Norway and At The Gates of course. Drummer vice there’s either Jamie Borger (Talisman, Swedish Erotica + more) or Bobby Jerzombek who is currently playing in Sebastian Bach’s band. Or Raymond Herrera from Fear Factory. My musical taste is so wide and I can keep on naming bands I love. I listen to everything from Johnny Cash and John Mayer to grind core like Pig Destroyer or death metal bands like Death and Fear Factory. I like music as long as there are real instruments in it and someone has actually put a thought behind it. 

 

Calle: Name 3 “older” bands and 3 “newer” bands you can recommend? 

 

Kim:

 

Social Distortion of course, Blackfoot - they started the whole southern rock thing along with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet and Misfits.

 

Static X, The Bones and Susperia. The drummer in Susperia founded Dimmu Borgir and he as played in Dead Man’s Child. He is also a pretty big influence for me as well.

 

Calle: You just released your new EP ”Taste Of Oblivion”. How has the response from the critics and the fans been? 

 

Kim: It has actually been pretty good. We have found some good contacts in labels and stuff, but nothing is final. The recordings are almost a year old and we are going to record new songs in a couple of weeks. And we are going to send them to labels, promoters and managers. So the response has been pretty good. We have been on a Classic Rock CD and to me that’s huge. It’s one of the biggest rock magazines in the world.

 

 

Kim: No not many, but Classic Rock probably gave us more than the two Glamnation CD’s we have been on. We are supposed to be reviewed in Classic Rock and there’s talk of an interview as well. But nothing is confirmed yet. Many other major rock magazines have also contacted us, but since nothing is final I better not say more.

 

Calle: How is the writing process in the band?

 

Kim: Everyone comes in with ideas and since there’ are a lot of guitar in the songs either Makke or Cat comes up with the main riff. Or it’s based on a melody by Alvin. So we have the basics and everyone put it together into a final song.

 

Calle: Where do you find the inspiration for the songs? 

 

Kim: I don’t know. Since we all love music it’s just the joy of writing music. More or less it’s about getting together, drinking some beers and talking.

 

Calle: What about the lyrics?

 

Kim: The lyrics are mainly Alvin. It’s not like he’s a dictator, so if something doesn’t match, we usually make it happen together.

 

Calle: Midnight Cowboys are based in Sweden. There seems to be a lot of Swedish rock bands emerging at the moment. How will you describe the music scene there?   

 

Kim: The rock scene in Sweden is really big. There are a lot of bands, which actually makes it hard to go out and play. I’m up for playing wherever and whenever regardless if there’s only four people or 400 people. But if you don’t have any money it’s hard to go to the other side of Sweden to play because it’s going to cost you money going there and being there.

 

Calle: You have played with bands like Hardcore Superstar, Mustasch, Babylon Bombs, Gemini Five and Maryslim. What other bands would you like to play with or open for?

 

Kim: Of course it would be great to play with a really big band, but that’s probably not going to happen the first couple of years. But it would be great to play with Backyard Babies because they are not too big and we play the same style of music. Maybe Sister Sin and I actually used to live with Liv (the singer in Sister Sin). They are currently touring is The US and they are a really good live band. Live is a really good friend of mine and I would love to go on tour with them. Personally it would be great to play with Misfits or The Bones or Social Distortion. 

 

 

Kim: We give it all, so they can expect a kick ass show. We might not have the best amps, the best drum kit or the best place, but we’ll pass out after the gig from exhaustion. And the gig will be a party.

 

Calle: What’s the most fun experience you have had at a Midnight Cowboys concert?

 

Kim: I haven’t been in the band so long, but I know of a story. One time they were playing with Babylon Bombs and they were supposed to play at this new rock bar, but as it turns out it’s a pizza place. So they ask where the scene is and the owner points to the corner, where people are sitting eating pizza, and says we’ll move the tables. Another time we went to play at the opening of a new biker club in a small town in Sweden and when we get there there are about thirty police cars stopping everyone going in and checking every car, every motorcycle and writes down the names of every person going in and where they are sitting in the car and everything. Hell it was just a party and then again there were some Red and White’s and some Hells Angels. Also United MC from Copenhagen where there. But apart from someone passing out in the woods nothing happened. 

Calle: How would you describe each member of the band in only three words?

Kim:

Alvin: He’s the negotiator in the band. He’s calm, but he doesn’t get pushed around. So he’s calm, negotiates and he speaks his mind.

Cat: There are a couple of things you probably shouldn’t say about him, but he likes to drink and he definitely doesn’t care what everyone else thins of him. Regardless if he gets his ass kicked or not. It’s a hard question, but if I have to use three words I would say slow, creative and persistent.

Makke: Well spoken, he likes to offend people and really really friendly.

UK Sinister: Flimsy kind of guy you know, he’s not all there if you know what I mean.

Kim: They would probably say I’m very anal when it comes to language, probably a bit whiney and also polite.

Calle: If you could put together your dream band, who would be in it (not including the guys from Midnight Cowboys)?

Kim: Marcel Jacob on bass (he recently passed away and he used to play in Talisman and with Yngwie Malmsteen), Zakk Wylde on guitar, Tommy Aldrigde on drums and Eric Martin from Mr Big on vocals. 

Calle: Where do you see Midnight Cowboys in 10 years? 

 

Kim: Either passed out in the gutter or touring in the US. We have a lot of plans, a lot of contacts and we have a lot going on at the moment. And I’m hoping that at least one of these things will turn out something great for us.

 

 

Calle: What was the first CD/LP you ever purchased? 

 

Kim: The first I actually bought with my own money was probably “The Battle Of Los Angeles” by Rage Against The Machine. No it was actually the very first Rage Against The Machine album.

 

Calle: What was the latest CD you bought?

 

Kim: It was “Wolf Chasing Wolf” by Silver. They are a Norwegian punk rock band.  

 

Calle: What do you do when you’re not playing music?  

 

Kim: I’m always listening to music if I’m not watching a movie. I also like watching nature programs on Animal Planet and BBC. Besides that I also like partying, hanging out with my friends, travelling and meeting people.

 

Calle: What about a ”normal” day job. What do you do for a living?

 

Kim: I work as a technician for Apple.

 

 

Kim: Beer!!! Or Redbull with Jägermeister. And I found out yesterday that Redbull is illegal in this country (Denmark).

 

Calle: Did you play in other bands before Midnight Cowboys? 

 

Kim: I used to play in a band called LoveGuns and I have also played in a band called Neurose And The Atomic Moonshine. LoveGuns is in the same alley as Midnight Cowboys and Neurose And The Atomic Moonshine is more of a death/horrorbilly/southern thing. If you mix Entombed with Zombie then you’re pretty close.

 

Calle: If you could name one song you wish you had written what song would that be and why would you chose that song?

 

Kim: It’s another hard question. Since it’s hard to pick just one song I’ll just pick a random song. I really wish I had written “To Many Miles” by The Bones. It still sounds like The Bones but at the same time it sounds like something that could be on the next Social Distortion album.

 

Calle: What’s your personal favourite record of all time?

 

Kim: ….(thinks a lot)…. You actually think I could just pick out one record?

 

Calle: Okay then name three records?

 

Kim: Maybe it’s Mustasch at Peace & Love festival in 2004 or 2005. They played in a really small place. It was inside a small pub and there were only aloud to be 150 people in there, but there were at least the double. We stood in the second row and the singer is out of his mind and he starts going down and kiss this girls hand, then her cheek and this girl has her boyfriend standing next to her. Then all of a sudden he’s making out with her and her boyfriend is just standing there smiling and clapping his hands. That concert made quite an impression on me.

Calle: What was the most disappointing concert you have been to? 

 

Kim: The most disappointing is either KISS at the stadium in Stockholm last year or every WASP gig I have been to. I have been to four WASP gigs and they have all been great gigs but they have never played “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)”. And I have been to very bad gigs like Poison at Sweden Rock festival last year. They just sucked from the first song to the last note of the final song. But well I don’t really like Poison at all, so it wasn’t a disappointment.

Calle: If I say Denmark, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?

Kim: Grasspop festival in Belgium 2007.

Calle: I said Denmark?

Kim: …(laughs)….We went in a bus from Kalmar (Sweden) and that’s when I met Alex for the first time. I was in the back of the bus sleeping and he comes on in Denmark and he came straight from the pub at like five in the morning. He has one backpack, one sleeping back ad one plastic back with beer. The only seat that was available was the middle seat in the back of the bus where I was sitting. Alex sits down and I’m pretty easily awaken and sees this new guy sitting next to me and he ask me if I want a beer. I say of course and we drink the beer and have been friends ever since. Besides that I think about good-looking girls, cheap beer and for some reason boring guys. I don’t know why, but it seems like every guy in Copenhagen or Denmark in general is like a boring farmer. They have to loosen up, please!!!

Kim: The first thing is – record your shit and get people to listen to it. Whatever it takes, Give them cd’s, give them flyers, give them t-shirts, give them pins or give the a blow job. If no one listens to your music no one will know who you are.

Calle: Do you have any last words for the fans?

Kim: If there are any (laughs) ....If you see me I’ll by you a beer!!! Come and greet me and I’ll by you a beer.