Having recently released their third full-length ‘Misanthropical House, the band is garnering some serious attention outside their hometown for the aforementioned album, as well as gearing up for a strong 2018 filled with lots of touring behind the new music. We recently talked with drummer Magne Vannebo about this new effort, what their plans are for 2018, and why the hell they’re talking about haemorrhoids.
Let’s jump straight into your third full-length record ‘Misanthropical House’. It was released last month via Fysisk Format and it seems to be getting really good reactions from both the press and fans. You had been working on this record for like three years I guess. How does it feel to have it out and be able to share it with the fans?
It's a bit of an overstatement to say we've been working on this record for three years, even though that's when our last album was released. Some of the songs we've been working on for a while, but the majority was not even finished when we started recording. That's been the case on the previous two albums as well. We usually have the basic riffs and structures, but a lot of lyrics at least are not even planned when we start recording the music. But we're very happy with the result!
Were there any issues throughout the recording process?
It was a bit nerve-wrecking to work with a different producer, even though we've known Anders for a long time. I think it was his first time mixing and producing an entire record, but everything fell into place in the end. The album title was also a stroke of luck as none of us had heard the term Tropical House before we were in the mastering process and Ruben asked for the album title. I said "Misanthropical" and he blurted out "HOUSE?!"
I think it’s really impressive, you’ve kept that dirty rock vibe of previous effort ‘Hadeland Hardcore’, but I sense maybe a little more punk rawness this time. In your opinion, how does the new album carry on, or differ from ‘Hadeland Hardcore’?
We're not exactly the best musicians around, so this is as good as it gets I think. Everyone's been pushed to the limit of our abilities and maybe that gives a rawness or an edge to the record. For my part I've never played this kind of d-beat drums before, and I think the same goes for the strings. There are maybe more "hardcore" songs this time than was the case with the album actually titled Hadeland Hardcore... For the first time we've included a "ballad" which is a new thing for us. And for the first time we actually recorded more songs than we needed to complete the album, so watch out for some 7"s in the near future!
The first single Vik Bak Meg Satan (Get Behind Me Satan) is not as many would think the first time they hear it about the illegal drug Cocaine, but on the contrary about the legal drug Sheriproct, a rectal cream to combat haemorrhoids.
Some song titles are simply hilarious and they seem to be a tongue in cheek look at some of your experiences. Can you share some insights on the themes and subjects touched on ‘Misanthropical House’?
The first single Vik Bak Meg Satan (Get Behind Me Satan) is not as many would think the first time they hear it about the illegal drug Cocaine, but on the contrary about the legal drug Sheriproct, a rectal cream to combat haemorrhoids. A problem many of us face as we're getting older and live a not so healthy lifestyle. The second single West Coast Exile is about our guitarist Eirik's forced move to Bergen, the city we love to hate, to attend art school.
GBZ are described as Hadeland Hardcore in the band’s official Facebook page, so how does your home town of Hadeland influence your overall sound?
It's a very small community of villages in the middle of the dark forest an hour car ride north of Oslo. Lots of farmers on the verge of being labelled hillbillies. We haven't lived there in many years, except for guitarist Kim who've actually moved back there, but I think our sound is representative of Hadeland, comprised of the bands we listened to and played in or with when we were younger.
What’s the one newer band from Hadeland you’d recommend for everyone to go check out now?
I'm a bit out of touch with the "Hadeland scene", if there still is one, at the moment. But some exiting young bands in Oslo nowadays is Golden Core who'll actually be joining us for two shows next week, a drum/bass doom-ish duo. And Hayeminol which are the kids of some friends of ours featuring the rising star Ånon Bakkjen.
With the new album out now, what’s next for The Good the Bad and the Zugly? I know there’s already some festival appearances confirmed.
We're doing a small release tour of the biggest cities in Norway starting next week. That'll be a lot of fun. Only one festival confirmed for the summer as of now, but then again it's a major one; Hellfest in France. Still hoping for a few more festivals to come and we'll be doing some touring in the fall. Some more Norwegian shows and hopefully some in the rest of Scandinavia and also Germany/England and the rest of Europe if we get the chance. And who knows, maybe we even have another album in us before we call it quits...?
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