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Following up on their recent support slot to Shinning, Ritchie got a chance to catch up with Bjarne of Jack Dalton.
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to speak to DGM, we really appreciate your time.
This is quite a long tour and it is coming to an end shortly. How do you feel when you near the end of a tour like this? Happy or sad?
“When you are on the road for almost a month it feels quit good to come home for some days, but when we have been home for a week, we are raring to play more shows!”
I do have to touch upon the fact you played Paris this week and were probably one of the 1st bands to play from overseas after the horrific incident. How did you feel about it and what is the reaction of the French people to what happened?
“We were playing in Frankfurt when we heard about the attacks. The next day we had a chat about it and we all agreed that we wanted to play in Paris. We wanted to continue living our lives the way we always have. We felt if we played the show as planned, that was our one voice and opportunity to say f*** you to terrorism. But this was also an opportunity to talk to people in Paris, pay respect and give our love! Some people came to us after the show and thanked us for not cancelling and that the concert was a great way to focus on something else and to try continue living they´re lives the way they want. On the morning we got to Paris I (Bjarne) went to a drum shop to get some new snare heads and the guy in shop asked if we were touring and I replied we were playing Divan Du Monde that night. He asked if we were afraid and I We had a chat about the attacks and how we both wanted to respond to it by living our lives the way we always have. The chat ended up with he applauding me and wishing us the best of luck!”
How did your family and friends feel about you playing Paris? They were all a bit anxious, but everyone understood the reason why we needed to play the show. 4 For you what is the best and worst of touring?
“The best thing is having fun 97% of the time! When touring we go into a different mind set; the biggest concern is if the venue has a nice shower and good a wifi. I think it had been more arguing and more bad days if we had to travel the distances of this tour in a old Toyota Hiace… The worst thing is probably being away from family and friends.”
How have the Shining been as tour partners? Do you have any gossip that would surprise fans?
“Shining has been exceptional touring buddies! They are fantastic persons as well as musicians! We have some gossip that would surprise the fans, but we charge money for gossip.”
I was reading recently that Hardcore is struggling, do you feel this is the case?
“We just have to define the genre for a brief moment. Just to be clear we define our music as having roots in the Scandinavian hardcore scene. A lot of people think that we are playing “Amercian hardcore” when I mention hardcore and that is big difference between the two styles of hardcore! I actually had some high hopes for the genre when Refused made they´re touring comeback a few years ago, but I think that the thought of hearing “Shape of Punk to Come” live was the obvious reason why people were so excited…and rightly so! In another view I don´t think that the genre itself struggling, but it is up to the bands left in the genre to make great music and keep on pushing!”
You have a very different slant on hardcore and you throw a lot of different genres and ideas into the pot. Do you find this shakes things up a bit and how do the fans accept this? Do you get any negativity from the purists?
“We mostly get positive feedback from the fans, but in a few occasions we have gotten some negativity from the purists. If we don´t get any negative (as well as positive) feedback I don´t think we are pushing hard enough to give the genre some new life. I think the new record will consist of more flirting with other genres and approaches, but there will no DJ´s.”
I have to ask about your links to MacGyver? What is the attraction as some would find this very cheesy.
“It is cheesy and we just have to apologise, but it is our favourite tv show of all time!”
Past Swallows Love has been out 3 months now, how do you feel it is being accepted?
“We have gotten some great reviews for the album and probably sold 1000000 copies! We are happy with the result ourselves, but are already looking forward recording our next album!”
Where does the album title come from?
“Many of the lyrics on the album is about the life of a person close to me. He has struggled for most his life, trying to change his ways, but constantly falling back in to his destructive pattern.”
When the tour is over and you get back home what is the 1st thing you do and what is next for Jack Dalton?
“I think that everyone got straight back to work or studies the day after the last show in Manchester. We are now making songs for our next album which hopefully will be released in…”
We always like to finish up on a lighter note at DGM so here goes… You are given a time machine for one journey only. You are allowed to either go back in time to watch any band at any gig ever or go forward in time to one of your own gigs in the future…what do you chose?
“Easy! Go back in time! Due to global warming I think it would be to hot to play a concert in the future without air condition and we usually get a cold when around air conditioned rooms! ‘The Last Waltz’ by The Band is probably the one show I would pick out…or Thin Lizzy… MC5.”
Interview: Ritchie Birnie
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