Swedish rockers Crazy Lixx release their latest album through Frontiers Records on 7th November. The self-titled album is the fourth release from Crazy Lixx and their third on the Frontiers label. The band includes Danny Rexon on vocals, Andy Zata and Edd Liam on guitars, Joel Cirera on drums and Jens Sjoholm on bass. Ahead of the release of the album I spoke to Danny via Skype to ask him a few questions.
This interview was broadcast on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 31st October along with three tracks from the new album. The Show is now available from our MixCloud site - http://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interviews-with-vega-and-crazy-lixx-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-31st-oct-2014/
The interview has been transcribed and is posted below.
NI ROCKS – Hi Danny, thanks for taking some time to talk to Rock Radio NI.
Crazy Lixx release their fourth album on 7th November. Why has the decision been taken now to release a self-titled album?
DANNY – The plan from the start wasn’t to release a self-titled album. We had some ideas but nothing felt really good. In the end we felt it was time for a self-titled album because the sound was like a combination of all the other albums that we’d done before. We kinda felt that this would be a good time to do a self titled album that really shows off what Crazy Lixx are all about.
NI ROCKS – You produced the album along with Andy the guitarist. Who else was involved in the recording of the album and where was it recorded?
DANNY – It was actually recorded in 4 or 5 different studios. We also did a lot of stuff on our own. For example the solos were recorded at Andy’s place and the lead vocals in my home studio. So there was a lot of people involved and a lot of studios. But when it came to the production it was me and Andy as you said. We then just left the tracks for Chris Laney who had produced our first two albums and this time he did the mixing.
NI ROCKS – I noticed the name of another Frontiers artist in the credits as well. Tave from Adrenaline Rush provides backing vocals on a couple of tracks. How did you get involved with her.
DANNY – I don’t know her, but I’ve met her once or twice. I really like her voice and I heard about her being signed to Frontiers. We knew that for this album we wanted to get some different voices into the backing vocals because you can sing something 50 times but with the same voice it doesn’t get much bigger just because you sing it more. We also involved Matt Leven who has done backing vocals on lots of albums and lead vocals of course. Combining that with my voice and also Andy and Edd who are doing backing vocals we got that bigger sound.
With Tave, I needed a female voice for the track “Girls of the 80s” and we hadn’t had that before. So I contacted her and she was really happy to do it. I liked the result very much, so I asked her to do one more song. I knew she was busy with her own stuff, but she also laid down vocals for “I Missed The Mark” which is the track after “Girls of the 80s”.
(Check out the recent NI Rocks interview with Adrenaline Rush lead singer Tave Wanning - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/1664-ni-rocks-interview-with-tave-wanning-from-adrenaline-rush.html )
NI ROCKS – You mentioned earlier that the album brought together the best of the previous albums. How would you compare this album to your previous releases through Frontiers?
DANNY – Production-wise it’s more like the first album we released through Frontiers which was “New Religion”. That was something that we tried to do because on the previous album “Riot Avenue” we did the exact opposite and tried to scale everything down and tried to get that raw, kinda older production. We learnt a lot from that, it was the first album we produced ourselves. We then combined all that stuff from “Riot Avenue” and “New Religion” into the new album. But I think it’s more like the first one “New Religion” than the previous one “Riot Avenue”.
NI ROCKS – Included on the new album is a re-recording of a track from your first album “Loud Minority” called “Heroes Are Forever”. What led you re-record that track?
DANNY – That was the first single we released back in 2007 and ever since we released it we’ve been playing it live at almost every show we done. It was also our first hit song, the one that people recognised, but since the first album is out of print it’s hard to get these days and it’s not available digitally either. We realised that new fans didn’t recognise it as often and we wanted to justify keeping playing it live. We figured why not re-record it and do it with everything we’ve learnt production wise. I think it will be appreciated. I do realise of course that some people will prefer the original. Personally, I’m like that with some re-recordings . But it’s mainly for the new fans that sadly don’t have the opportunity to get the old version.
NI ROCKS – The first single and video from the album was “Hell Raising Women”. Was that your choice and which track would you like to release next?
DANNY – We had a couple of tracks that we considered. We figured a track like “Hell Raising Women” would be kinda easy and be a good introduction to the band. It didn’t involve a lot of different locations and stuff like that. We actually shot the video in just one day. That and the fact that it’s the opening track on the album and it’s quite short, so its suitable for a single. What we’re discussing right now is doing a video for “Call to Action” which has a quick chorus that sticks in peoples heads, so I can imagine that will be the next single.
NI ROCKS – Crazy Lixx released a track called “Sympathy” back in March as a digital single. Why was it decided to release a track that wasn’t going to be on the new album?
DANNY - Well, it was one of numerous experiments that we did between albums when we were looking to find a studio to record in, a way to produce it ourselves and get the sound we wanted. That song actually came out quite good but we just left it lying on a shelf for about or something. It was actually recorded in the Fall after “Riot Avenue”, in 2012. We felt that it was a long time between releases and we wanted to give the fans something, so we figured why not release this song. We didn’t feel like it would do on the new album because honestly we felt that the material for the new album was better than that song. I know some people like very much and I’m glad we released it, and we’ve also played it live a couple of times. So, it was an in-between single so to speak.
NI ROCKS – The band have already been confirmed for the Hard Rock Hell AOR Festival in March. Are there any more tours planned prior to that?
DANNY – Prior to that, it’s not likely that we’ll do anything. We’re actually going on a bit of a break after the album release which may seem a bit strange, but around Christmas time and during December and January it’s quite hard to arrange touring. And also I’m getting my second kid at the start of December so I’m going to take some time off from the band and be with my family, then we’ll get back into business in February or March next year.
NI ROCKS – What would you hope to have achieved with the band by the end of 2015? Anywhere you’d particularly like to play for example?
DANNY – Well you know we’ve mainly moved around Europe and we’ve been in South America, but of course we’d like to get to North America at some stage and maybe Japan or Australia. That would be fun. As I said we’ve done a lot of southern Europe and it’s always good to go there, but it’d be a big step to play in some other continents as well, so I’m hoping for that.
NI ROCKS – I’ve interviewed quite a few Swedes recently and asked the same question. Why do you think there is such a strong rock music scene in Sweden? There are so many great bands coming out of that country.
DANNY – Yeah, I’ve had that question before and it’s quite hard to answer. The scene in Sweden is quite hard and I think that’s part of the explanation also. There’s a lot of competition, so playing live in Sweden is hard. I can imagine that the amount of bands and the competition is what makes the few surviving bands that get past the line good enough for playing abroad and gaining fans in other countries.
NI ROCKS – Another couple of questions that I always like to ask.
Can you remember the first album you bought and first gig you went to?
DANNY – That depends on what you mean by album. I started buying cassettes and those were often mix tapes or pirated cassettes, but I think that the first original must have been “Slave to the Grind” by Skid Row on cassette and the first CD was “A Real Live One” by Iron Maiden.
The first was actually not far from my home town and it was Bad Religion. The funny thing is that Green Day were the support band for Bad Religion. Today it would be the reverse, but that was back near the start when they’d just released the “Dookie” album. I still listen a lot to Bad Religion and I’ve seen them once or twice since then, but that is the first concert memory for me.
NI ROCKS - If we were to borrow your iPod or whatever and hit shuffle what 5 artists might we find?
DANNY – Well you’d find a lot of Kiss and a lot of Iron Maiden. You’d probably find some Alice Cooper, Scorpions and Whitesnake. It depends on the mood but generally it’s 80s hard rock and often the big bands, but I do have some favourites amongst smaller bands. There’s a German band called Victory that’s a very underrated band, especially around their late 80s and early 90s period.
NI ROCKS – That was leads nicely onto my next question. Is there a band you’ve been listening to recently that you’d recommend to the listeners at Rock Radio NI?
DANNY – Yeah, that would be it. They’re not a new or upcoming band or anything, but Victory. They’re a German band and have ranged from traditional heavy metal to hair metal in the late 80s and early 90s. I think its great, not so much the newer albums but the older stuff.
NI ROCKS – Thanks for taking the time to talk to Rock Radio NI. Best of luck with the new record and best wishes for the new addition to the family next month.
For more info on Crazy Lixx check out their website -http://www.crazylixx.com/
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Playlist for Friday NI Rocks Show 31st October (Uploaded 29th Oct)
http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/hosts/ni-rocks-friday-rock-show.html
SCREAMING EAGLES – Vampire
VEGA – Stereo Messiah
Interview with Nick Workman
VEGA – 10 X Bigger Than Love
Interview with Nick Workman
VEGA – Gonna Need Some Love Tonight
WHITESNAKE – Child of Babylon
CRAZY LIXX – Hell Raising Women
Interview with Danny Rexon
CRAZY LIXX – Heroes Are Forever
Interview with Danny Rexon
CRAZY LIXX – Call To Action
SONS OF SIN – Whore of Babylon
SISTER SIN – Chaos Royale