SCATTERED HAMLET INTERVIEW:

Scattered Hamlet is:

Adam Joad - Vocals, Harmonica, Guitar
Jake Delling Le Bas - Drums
Richard Erwin - Bass, Vocals
Adam Newell - Lead Guitar, Vocals     

Buy music here:

BOOTLEG METAL: So let’s get things started with the name. Who came up with the name and what’s behind it?

SCATTERED HAMLET: It’s the title of a chapter of a civil war book I was reading. It’s a term for small communities, rural or mountain communities – little places called hamlets. So I named the band that. It fits the band, but at the same time, most people don’t get it. So, in hindsight, I probably should have done something more obvious. (Laughs). People are like ‘Is that a Shakespeare reference?’ No, not at all. It is what it is.  There are better band names and there are far worse ones. BOOTLEG METAL: Yeah man, what I would have expected but very cool none the less.

BOOTLEG METAL:  Where is the band from?

SCATTERED HAMLET:We tour out of Southwestern PA on the PA/West Virginia border. We all were in Southern California and met there at one point. None of us currently live in the same state.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is this the original line up and how did you guys find yourselves in the same band ?

SCATTERED HAMLET: There really isn’t an “original lineup” for the band. Ari M, current Otep guitarist and myself hatched the concept for this band in his studio in Iowa. Once we had the original concept and demos for the band I went back to Southern California to find the right group of guys. Clay Davies produced the early SH stuff after Ari and I hatched the scheme and both full lengths were produced by Jason Donaghy, Jake Rodenhouse and Scattered Hamlet. We’ve had the same core lineup for a while. Of course Jake had a terrible accident in the fall so that changed things. We also sometimes use extra musicians. Sometimes we go three guitars, we’ve used a hype man, and we’ve used a piano player too. It just depends on how we want to set up the show.

BOOTLEG METAL: How long has (the band) been around and how long after your first rehearsal was it before the first show?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We’ve been road warriors for quite a few years just out there doing our thing. We really didn’t follow the typical “hash out songs” rehearsal set up and then do the local scene. The tunes were crafted in a studio set up, we got some folks together - played a few local shows and then started touring almost right away. There was some buzz around the band and we all had been involved in the industry before so it wasn’t like starting from scratch.

BOOTLEG METAL: Does everyone contribute to the writing process or does someone generally write the lyrics and/or music?

SCATTERED HAMLET: There’s no set writing process. Typically I write all the lyrics and I do the bulk of the music too. The guys contributed a lot of great ideas to Swamp Rebel Machine though that we worked from. Good songs are good songs, we get them how we can.

BOOTLEG METAL: What are your songs about? Fact?  Fiction? Personal experiences?

SCATTERED HAMLET: The songs are almost all about personal experiences on some level. It’s not straight storytelling but usually a mix of personal experience, observations and sometimes some Appalachian folk lore. It really just depends on the song.

BOOTLEG METAL: What genre do you feel (the band) fit’s in the best and what influenced your writing to get you there?

SCATTERED HAMLET: There’s a lot of emphasis on genre and I’m not sure why. We sometimes get lumped into the metal scene and I don’t think that’s very accurate. The band basically is somewhere between Motorhead and Skynyrd. So hard southern rock maybe? Honky Tonk Metal? I’m not sure.

BOOTLEG METAL: What was your latest gig? 

SCATTERED HAMLET: We’re on tour right now. We just finished up a stretch of Warped Tour dates and we just did Rockfest in Wisconsin.  BOOTLEG METAL: Very nice.

BOOTLEG METAL: Where have you played live this year?

SCATTERED HAMLET:  All over the country.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there a favorite cover that always finds it’s way on your set list and is there a story behind it?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We usually do a new cover for each tour. Currently we have a video for Twisted Sister’s “Stay Hungry” We’re touring on as a tribute to our drummer. I don’t really want to rehash the whole story, it’s not easy to talk about. There’s a lot of information out there on it online if people want to know. Anyway, Dee give us his approval and blessing on that cover and we’ve been playing it this entire tour. SH Adam Newell is also filling in on some dates as Dee’s guitar player in Europe this August. BOOTLEG METAL: Yeah man, very cool.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there a past show that stands out from the rest?

SCATTERED HAMLET: All the shows this tour have been really great. We’ve been having some issues with the brakes on our Sprinter so we had to cancel 2 dates. That sucks but we’re set to be in Ohio tomorrow.

BOOTLEG METAL: So what’s in the works for (the band)?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We’re finishing this tour up and then headed to Sturgis. We’ll be playing the Buffalo Chip mainstage with Kid Rock and Lita Ford this year so that’s pretty badass. We’re looking forward to that.

BOOTLEG METAL: What are your thoughts on your local music scene?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We’re not really part of any local music scene. SH really didn’t come out of a scene like that. When I was young in Southwestern PA there was a really cool underground punk scene. That’s where I learned how to be in a band and the DIY work ethic we still use today. We meet a lot of really cool local bands on the road and that’s always refreshing. Some of these folks I’ve made life long friends with and we’ve even used some of them on stage with SH for fill ins etc. There’s quite a few I’d like to take on tour as well if we get in a position where we can help them. On the other end of the spectrum, we also meet a lot of jabroni local bands who leave after their set, don’t promote the show, bring out their 3 girlfriends only, play shitty music and scare away any audience members on the fence about sticking around and who do zero work but still ask us for help or take them on tour... those situations suck and I’m sure those kind of people are around in every industry. If you don’t even watch our set, don’t hit me up on social media the next day asking for me to do something for you.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there a recent album/EP release you’d like to tell us about and where can we get it?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We just released the single for “Stay Hungry.” It’s available for downloading and streaming just about everywhere. You can get hard copies of our albums from STORE for people in the U.S. and if you’re overseas go to CD Baby and they do international shipping.

BOOTLEG METAL: Do you have merchandise for sale?

SCATTERED HAMLET: It’s a must for bands in this day and age. So yeah, you can get everything here: S.H. STORE

BOOTLEG METAL: Where can you be found online?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We have an official website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.... just Google Scattered Hamlet, you can find everything you need to know about. Probably even some stuff you didn’t want to know ha ha.

BOOTLEG METAL: As far as videos, sites, merch, ect. Are you guys more of a DIY band or do you hire out?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We’re punk rockers at heart so we try to do as much as we can ourselves. There’s a reason people are professionals though so we do hire out the stuff we can’t do ourselves on the quality level we want.

BOOTLEG METAL: Do you have or are you looking for a label/manager?

SCATTERED HAMLET: SH is managed by 10 and 8 Management, we are booked by Artery Global and we released Swamp Rebel Machine under Buck Moon Productions. We haven’t selected a label for the new album to be released under yet. We always like to work with new folks who have new ideas. If your idea is to turn us into generic hillbilly radio rock then we don’t want to work with you.

BOOTLEG METAL: One question I like to ask. What song (if any) by another artist do you wish you wrote?

SCATTERED HAMLET: I wished I wrote “Mr. Devil and the Black Widow Women” by Beitthemeans. Josh rips on slide and it’s a great song writer. I also wish I wrote Zepplin’s “Over The HIlls and Far Away.”

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there another artist or band that is totally not your genre that you listen to?

SCATTERED HAMLET: About 90% of the music I listen to is not from our genre. I listen to a lot of classic rock, 80’s pop, classic R&B, outlaw country and even some 90’s prime country. I’m huge fans of Mike Ness’s work in Social Distortion and Bruce Springsteen is incredible.

BOOTLEG METAL: If you could pick, past or present, would there be a dream collaborator (artist/producer) you would like to work with?

SCATTERED HAMLET: I’d love to work with Rick Rubin or Mutt Lange if I could pick a producer. Writing collaborations are trickier. There’s plenty of folks I’d like to try to write with but let’s be honest, some of the collaborations with two great artists end up being less than stellar. Have you ever heard Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder? Two legends came up with that mess.

BOOTLEG METAL: Any Spinal Tap moments you can share?

SCATTERED HAMLET: Our stage show is kind of like hillbilly spinal tap every night. You never know what’s going to happen. BOOTLEG METAL: (laughs) Fair enough. Such is life.

Bootleg Metal: I see you guys hit the Rocklahoma stage on two well deserved occasions. Must’ve been some added pressure. Anything you’d like to share?

SCATTERED HAMLET: Rocklahoma was cool both times we played it. I like festivals like that. I don’t really consider that pressure. It’s what we do, I don’t have stage fright or anything like that. I became an entertainer to entertain, so big stages give me the chance to entertain more people. That’s the goal, it’s humbling and killer, that doesn’t give me anxiety though. Put me on an LA freeway in rush hour, that gives me anxiety.

Bootleg Metal: I checked out a bunch of songs but I’ll stay with the most current. So Stonewall Jackson. Kinda like a slow moving truck just barreling over anything in it’s path. Great, great song. Any story behind the song itself and/or the video?

SCATTERED HAMLET: Thank you, yeah that songs is a about crossing the Mason Dixon line by Blacksville, West Virginia. There was a “haunted” cemetery legend out there where we used to hide and try to duck the law. There was an old trailer out there on the WV side where we used to get our weed and stuff. When I go back there all those memories coming flooding back to me. Some of those things and people are still there, some aren’t anymore. That’s the “chasing ghosts” part of the song.  BOOTLEG METAL: F*ck that (laughs), anything haunted  aint for me but great tune.

BOOTLEG METAL: Sorry to hear about your drummer. I hope he’s doing better.  I thought it was a great offering to a fallen brother doing Stay Hungry. Awesome job on that one. How was filming that video with all that’s behind it?

SCATTERED HAMLET: We appreciate that. I haven’t heard our brother Jake’s voice since September before his accident. His brother shot the video and his best friend Jay produced the song. It was a very emotional experience. Some days I’m ok and other days I’m messed up about it. Today honestly it’s been bothering me and I really don’t want to talk about it right now.

BOOTLEG METAL: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us and answering the questions. Is there anything you’d like to add?

SCATTERED HAMLET: Thank you, we appreciate you wanting to get know us better and helping us get the word out there. We’re all in this together and anytime someone wants to talk with us its humbling.

CHUGGER INTERVIEW:

Chugger is:

David Dahl - Vocals
Robert Bjärmyr - Lead guitars
Robin Lagerborg - Rhythm guitars
Eric Skjuttorp - Drums              

Buy music here:                 

BOOTLEG METAL: So let’s get things started with the name. Who came up with the name and what’s behind it?

CHUGGER: Hey, Robert from Chugger here!
The name was my suggestion and after a quick discussion internally we settled for it. The name comes from the chugging sound of a distorted guitar; which coincidentally also describes the sound of an unstoppable freight train running down the tracks, and the very definition of the word itself; a muffled explosive sound. We wanted a name that suit the music and describes what you can expect from us; a whole lot of guitars chugging!

BOOTLEG METAL:  Where is the band from?

CHUGGER: We're based in Gothenburg, Sweden, but our members are hailing from all over the nation. As magnificent as our city is, it's also a quite small city in the eyes of the world, which usually means that any musician is part of several projects, bands and groups. But, of course, only the best of the best across the nation are Chugger material.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is this the original line up and how did you guys find yourselves in the same band ?

CHUGGER: The short version is that I, Robert, grew tired of people simply expecting great things to happen effortlessly by the hands of someone else and waiting for "the big break" to magically occur, so I quit all my bands and projects at the time to create my own beast. A creation of my own, heavy hitting and ready to hit the big stages across the world. Turns out that was a bit more difficult than I anticipated, since there's ten lazy people on every dedicated one. Therefore, we swapped a lot of members during the first years, mostly due to people just tagging along for the ride instead of pushing forward as a group. But there's always a silver lining, which in this case was that the music was strong and the will of those who endured the first setbacks lead Chugger on a path across Europe to perform our groove death metal for hungry and dedicated fans. The line-up we have today is rock solid, musically, artistically and dedication wise. Expect great things from Chugger in the future!

BOOTLEG METAL: How long has Chugger been around and how long after your first rehearsal was it before the first show?

CHUGGER: It went quite fast, so in the first seven months of the bands existence we recorded an five song EP called Scars and did a European tour, aptly named Scars Over Europe. We had a blast and people knew when they saw us that we were here to stay! BOOTLEG METAL:  Nice…. Tour and EP in 7 months? Unheard of.

BOOTLEG METAL: Does everyone contribute to the writing process or does someone generally write the lyrics and/or music?

CHUGGER: Previously it's all been my vision and the material he brought from the early days of the band, but today its a joint effort and everyone is bringer their A-game into the mix. What we have today is something much more enticing and exciting that truly feels like the next step in metal. Sounds cheezy with extra sauce, but as a fact – whenever we're part of a line-up most bands has a sound that is known or feels very familiar, while we're sounding fresh and hungry.

BOOTLEG METAL: What are your songs about? Fact?  Fiction? Personal experiences?

CHUGGER: We usually write about the darker side of human nature, but much like Rammstein we're not flauting it and waving it around (that much) but rather take a bit more sinister and twisted approach. For instance, if we were about to write a ballad, you could rest assured it wouldn't be about love between two happy people... But mostly our lyrical  theme is revenge, hatred and hurting people in various ways. It's an outlet for people to vent frustration and so far it's been working really well for us.  BOOTLEG METAL: (laughs) I love it man. Vent we will.

BOOTLEG METAL: What genre do you feel Chugger fit’s in the best and what influenced your writing to get you there?

CHUGGER: We are probably what would come out of if Rammstein and Slipknot had a baby with Leatherface... Remember the aforementioned freight train? Like that, except that the train has a vicious sadistic killer running around and murdering people. As a long time fan of slasher movies and, in lack of a better word, fan of the bizarre and sick, I tend to get a lot of inspiration from the darker sides of humanity which of course influence the music and lyrics, but without resorting to blastbeats and other "cheap tricks", we groove our way to the slaughter house.

8. BOOTLEG METAL: I see you have 2 well earned festival spots this summer. First Gefle Metal Festival this month in Sweden and of course Wacken in August. Is this the first time you guys find yourselves on a festival tour?

CHUGGER: Yes, it is actually. While we have played on festivals before, this time the stakes are higher and the stages bigger. Gefle Metal Festival and Wacken Open Air are two heavy hitters in the industry, so we are beyond stoked to be part of the insane lineups this year. We're equal parts fan and artists on these events! 

9. BOOTLEG METAL: Where have you played live this year?

CHUGGER: We have only done a few shows this year, unfortunately but deliberatly. We are currently working on new music and took the decision to spend most of our time writing and finetuning the material for our next full-length album. But Chugger is a finely tuned groove death machine that is best experienced live, so we're always scouting for great opportunities to spread our songs about peace, love and understanding.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there a favorite cover that always finds it’s way on your set list and is there a story behind it?

CHUGGER: We have no covers on stage or record at the moment, in fact we have no covers in the rehearsal space even. Since all of us have been in previous bands we haven't really had any interest in doing covers. But since it's been a few years since, who knows what'll happen in the future... 

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there a past show that stands out from the rest?

CHUGGER: A few years ago we were doing a club show on the Spanish westcoast, in a small town called Vigo. We didn't expect much, being a Wednesday and all, and the location was not exactly city-center. But when the doors opened that night, man... People went from the door with a huge smile on their face directly to merch booth, bought a t-shirt, changed clothes, got a beer and walked up to the stage. And they kept doing that - all night - right until it was time for us to enter the stage. By the time Chugger was about to play the place was packed. It was a great feeling and the gig was awesome, people screaming the lyrics and even the girls in the audience did windmills with their hair. Much appreciated and a great evening!

It didn't end there either...
It was further improved when we talked to the owner over a smoke after closing. Turns out the club wasn't even open on Wednesday. Meaning the club was opened just for us and everyone in the place was there specifically to see us. It was an amazing night and we hope to come back as soon as our tour schedule allows for a visit to Spain!  BOOTLEG METAL: Spain showing the love.

BOOTLEG METAL: Any Spinal Tap moments you can share?

CHUGGER: How about the time we blew a tire on the Polish freeway doing 110km/h, or the one with broken gaffer taped toilets next to the stage, or the one where I swallowed my hair and puked in my mouth on stage so I had to swallow the vomit, or the one about Davids sunstroke in England, or the time our old drummer was insanely drunk at a polish afterparty so we sent him to the relax room, only to notice that relaxation in Polish means even more Absinthe and digeridoos... BOOTLEG METAL: (LAUGHS) Yeah any of those. CHUGGER: Luckily, all our Spinal Tap moments are recorded after our shows – never before. Fans get 120% our best, every day, every night.

BOOTLEG METAL: So what’s in the works for (the band), is there a recent album/EP release you’d like to tell us about and where can we get it?

CHUGGER: We're actually in Studio Fredman here in Gothenburg, currently recording a single and spiritual follow-up to 'Grinder'. The new track is called 'Through Suffering Reborn' and is a real treat that is pushing the envelope of Chugger further. A great piece of metal with a lyrical theme about a sick individual who believes he saves people by killing and consuming them, so keep your eyes and ears peeled on our social medias and you'll notice new stuff soon!

BOOTLEG METAL: Do you have merchandise for sale?

CHUGGER: Absolutely!  Our music and merchandise is best ordered from the band itself via our webshop, which guarantee the authenticity of the items and allows for signed items and interaction with the band, which you don't get from other vendors and shops. And our wallets will thank you as well, since all profits go to the band instead of one or more middlemen. The shop is available on our website, www.chugger.se, and of course via our facebook, www.facebook.com/chuggerband.

BOOTLEG METAL: Where can you be found online?

CHUGGER: Anywhere there's music, I guarantee you that we're there! But Spotify and YouTube are turning into de facto platforms for listening to music, so be sure to check us out there!

Official site  
Spotify
YouTube
Facebook

BOOTLEG METAL: As far as videos, sites, merch, ect. Are you guys more of a DIY band or do you hire out?

CHUGGER:  Both, actually. In today's market you have to be able to do a shitload of things besides making music, which is why we're lucky to have both computer and graphics experience “in-house”. We usually make our own artwork for our social medias and sites, but for bigger releases like albums it's often better to outsource the artwork and merch prints as that take a lot of time to produce and would interfere with the production of music and tour planing otherwise. We're musicians first, entrepreneurs second.

BOOTLEG METAL: One question I like to ask. What song (if any) by another artist do you wish you wrote?

CHUGGER: As a business man, 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica... but as a fan, I'd probably say 'Balls To The Wall' or 'Breaker' by Accept. I started my love for metal with the shrieking of Udo, the fantastic guitars by Wolf Hoffmann, thundering bass lines of Peter Baltes etc. As a side note, Wolf is one of the greatest people I've ever met. Amazing guy, humble and friendly. It's always a gamble meeting people that you look up to, will they be an asshole IRL, etc. Happy to say Mr Hoffmann exceeded my expectations and and it was a great time sitting down with him.

BOOTLEG METAL: Is there another artist or band that is totally not your genre that you listen to?

CHUGGER: I consider good music to be music made with soul and heart. In short, good music is good music. For me, the musical oddity would be Eminem. I don't listen to rap music in general, but there's a lyrical theme and underdog feeling about his music that I dig. It's not “look at my gold rings, bitch”, but rather songs about constantly grasping for air and proving yourself against a world that doesn't approve of you. In a way, there's a lot of metal lyrically in his music. 

BOOTLEG METAL: If you could pick, past or present, would there be a dream collaborator (artist/producer) you would like to work with?

CHUGGER: For us, a dream tour would be Lamb of God, Avatar and Chugger. Three extremely solid live acts that fit really well together, but are diverse enough to gather crowds from three different directions while still bringing music that everyone appreciates. Contradictory to our lyrics and the general theme of our look, we want people to have a good time when watching or listening to Chugger. We want the listener to get all their angst, violence and hatred for the world and its inhabitants out of their system and act as an outlet for people to blow off some steam. Today's society isn't really allowing people to be the glorified animals they are, but after a concert with us, rest assured you'll go home with nothing but ecstasy and bliss in your system.

We're ready and waiting for the call, guys!

BOOTLEG METAL: I checked out a few tunes. Grinder, of course. That seems to be doing well for you guys. However, an older song, Virus stands out as well. Another great, great song in the arsenal.  I love the anticipation the intro produces. So let’s talk Grinder. I gotta tell you, it’s hard typing up questions with this beast playing in the background. Is there any backstory to how this song came about?

CHUGGER:  Thanks! We're rather fond of it as well, especially as it is the first song we released with the new and improved (and hopefully final) line-up. It's a great song, everyone really brought their absolute best to the table on this one! The song is lyrically and originally was about 'what would happen if you actually get hold of the person that caused you all this angst and grief and nobody knew about it'. Is the psycho-killer really the bad guy, or just someone branded by consequences and grief? We might see more about this story in the future...

Bootleg Metal: Now the Grinder video… just a great job. I’ll be honest, at about 20 seconds in I had to jump to the end to see who makes it out alive (laughs). I did go back and play it thru. This must’ve been a great time making this. Anything you can tell us about the making of the video?

CHUGGER:  That's more or less the exact reaction we wanted to achieve with the video, haha. We (and all other metal bands) had already done videos where the band plays and perhaps some short footage from “the movie in the song”. But this time, we cut out the bands (body)parts completely, for what in my opinion feels like a quite fresh video. The video itself was produced by René Valdes and his Greenworks Television, along with a very talented crew of makeup and gore artists. We also produced a few props on our our, Peter Jackson style. It's an homage of sorts to what we call Hillbilly Hell, depicted in fun family movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. Writing this, we are actually collecting pics and anecdotes from the recording and will post a Behind-The-Scenes from the recording of the video soon. Stay tuned! BOOTLEG METAL:  Shoot us a link when you get the behind the scenes up. Love to see it.

22. Screw it. Let’s talk Virus too. It’s a deserving song. That kick ass intro, to the punch in the gut growl. Awesome guitar work and great drumming, you guys squeezed it all in there. Any backstory to this one?

CHUGGER: Yeah, absolutely! The intro of the song is a perfect starter, for sure. This is actually a sci-fi song, as opposed to our normal genres, about human nature and its similarity to a virus in how we reproduce, consume and destroy our environment. In 'Virus', mankind is embarking on a journey to leave Earth for another planet since this one has been depleted. So in essence, mankind is the virus that spreads, unable to learn from the past and doomed to fail again and again. BOOTLEG METAL: Great concept. As always, history repeats CHUGGER: Fun fact – I had a terrible flu during the recording of the video. I did a decent job of hiding it as cameras where rolling, but I slept on the floor between takes. It was the longest recording day of my career!

BOOTLEG METAL: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us and answering the questions. Is there anything you’d like to add?
CHUGGER: It was my pleasure, thanks for your time as well – good questions!
For the readers out there; Hope you've had a good time reading this, feel free to swing by our social medias and hit the like/follow-button to get all the good stuff that's coming from us in the near future. We love you all!

Finally -
Chugger is a visceral experience best enjoyed live, be sure to swing by when the groove machine hits your town! BOOTLEG METAL: Do it people!