Damaged Dolls interview

Damaged Dolls hail from Sweden and they released a highly impressive demo recently plus they finished a U.S. not too long ago. Unfortunately their vocalist left and they are currently looking for a replacement. I recently got to check in with drummer Lukas to find out more about this band.

MM-So please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your band?
Lukas- As you probably already know our singer, Holm, left the band and the music-bizz after the Us-tour. So at this moment the band is:
Linkan on leadguitar
Jake on bass (and vocals)
Lukas on drums.
We're looking for a new singer at this moment.

MM-Who are your musical influences?
Lukas- Since we all come from different backgrounds we have all kinds of influences. I personaly listen to a lot of Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Stooges. The only bands we all listen to are Motley Crue, Poison, Hanoi Rocks.

Lukas-We organized and booked the US-tour on our own and we paid the trip outta our pockets. It was a great experience and we can't wait to go back. There were so many crazy things happening on the tour I could go on forever but just hanging out at The Bow and Sunset was a good time. It was great to see TX as well since it's not one of those places you usually go as a tourist.


MM-Were the audiences here in the states any different than the audiences in Sweden?
Lukas- I think the audience was great, we received great response on most of the shows. People are more open and cheering than back home. Everybody made us feel welcome.

MM-Obviously the glam scene in Sweden has been exploding over the last few years. Why do you think there are so many 80's influenced glam bands pouring out of your country?
Lukas- I don't know really. I think it's a bit hyped up by MySpace. I mean it's not like Sweden is a glam-paradise in any way. It's an underground movement here as well and the mainstream people don't give a fuck about this kind of music at all.

MM- What is your band doing that's going to make you stand out in what I am assuming is a crowded scene?
Lukas-We're trying to have good songs, not only image. Most bands go for the "big hair-look" and a lot of make-up and all that but they don't have any songs. I hope we'll stand out thanks to the quality of our material and good live shows.


MM- How competitive is the music scene in Sweden right now? How have you managed to get to where you are?

Lukas-There are obviously lots of bands in Sweden playing all kinds of music and the venues are few. So you have to fight to get good gigs and make sure you promote the shows and do a good job once you're up there so you'll be asked back.

MM-How has this band grown since you first formed? In what aspects do you think that you still need to improve in?
Lukas-I think we need to improve in every aspect. We wanna develop all we do, you should always try to advance.

MM-Have you any interest from any record labels yet? How important is to you to get signed?
Lukas- We´ve been offered some deals and we were actually involved with a company but we had to resign because they didn't keep their promises. We're interested in collaborating with a company that is prepared to invest some in promo. Of course we would love to support ourselves on music alone and quit our day-jobs.



MM-How many original songs do you currently have? Do you play any cover songs live
Lukas- We have somewhere around 40 songs of which we usually do 10-14 live. We don't play any covers live.

MM-What do you think was so good about hard rock in the 1980's?
Lukas- Hard rock in the 80´s was fun and entertaining and that's what I think music should be all about. Keep your opinions about politics, religion, the environment and everything else out of it.

MM- What are your thoughts on today's music scene?
Lukas- It's all too serious and depressing today. And I'm sick and tired of all the Hip-Hop and so called R'nB of today. It's been all the same for the last 15 years.


MM-Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer and tell why you picked them.

Lukas-
Quiet Riot or Twisted Sister
This is a strange question but I'll say QR because of their songs on Metal Health even though TS is more fun.
Crashdiet or Vains of Jenna
I choose Vains before Crash Diet. Vains actually have some good material not just image.

Faster Pussycat or Pretty Boy Floyd
This is a tough one since none of us ever listened to any of those bands, but I'll go for Faster Pussycat just because we got to know Brent Muscat (one of the founding members of FP) in Vegas and we did a show with his new band Sin city Sinners. He and his band treated us very good and they did a great jam.


Hanoi Rocks or Motley Crue
I think we all agree on Motley. They were my first idols as a kid and I never stopped digging them. We have been Motley-fans twice as long as Hanoi-fans but we love both those bands.
Lukas
Damaged Dolls

http://www.myspace.com/damageddolls

***Thanks to Lukas for doing the interview.