Interview with VOLBEAT bass player Kaspar Boye Larsen – English version – part 1

On 7th November the so called Elvis Metalband VOLBEAT was playing with BARONESS und DANKO JONES in the Festhalle / Frankfurt. It was a great gig. Before the concert, Kaspar Boye Larsen, the very sympathetic bass player of VOLBEAT was talking to Lydia and Michael from the METALOGY.de team after bringing his two little children in Denmark to bed per Smartphone. He was telling about the tour, the new album, the songwriting, his Family, his experiences on the W:O:A and the further plans with VOLBEAT and his other bands. Read here part one of the three parts of the English version of the interview.

Hi thank you for your time in advance. How is the tour going so far?

Kaspar: It’s goin’ pretty well. Very well. We tried some new songs in the setlist. We have been touring since the end of July. First through the USA, then England, Spain and Italy, Prague, Berlin and so on. We have our new little bigger production here in Germany. I think it’s going really well. We play a longer set of almost two hours. So we’re going to play a lot more songs. We try all sorts of new songs that we haven’t played before.

Are you going to play older songs that you don’t play that often?

Volbeat © Polwin-Plass_Festhalle_FFM_499

Kaspar: Not that many. We have a couple of old songs with us, but I’m not sure what the set will look like tonight. We definitely play old songs too, but the focus is on the new album. That just came out.

How’s Michael’s voice doing?

Kaspar: Michael is fine again. His voice sounds awesome. He had some problems at the beginning of the tour when we just got back from the US tour. The weather was bad and we had a 10 day break. And when it started, it was a too much for him. The extension from 1 hour per show to 1 hour 45 minutes was simply too much for his voice. Then he really lost his voice. Then he was not allowed to speak at all. That was really bad. But now everything is fine again and it sounds great.

Your album „Rewind, Replay, Rebound“ has been out since August. What was the feedback from the fans so far?

Kaspar: The feedback from the fans was really, really good. We also got some very good reviews. When we played the new songs live for the first time, it was as if the audience knew them. Especially the song “Last Day Under The Sun” runs great. People are already singing along with it. And the other new songs that we tried out were also working well. Of course there is always someone who doesn’t like it. They just want what the band did 15 years ago. But we can’t just repeat ourselves.

It is your first album with Volbeat. What was the difference to what you did before with other bands?

Kaspar: The difference for myself is very Big. I have a background of way more aggressive music that is more based on riffs. Now it’s about chords and playing baselines. That was something completely different for me. I used to play punk and hardcore. But I’ve worked with Rob a lot. I tried all sorts of baselines and he helped me a lot to get focused on what was best for the songs.

Have you been involved in the songwriting?

Lydia und Kaspar von Volbeat

Kaspar: Yes, some of the songs were almost finished when Michael brought them to the rehearsal room. Other songs needed a lot more work. I was involved in the arrangement of the songs.

How important is in general the message of the songs to you?

Kaspar: Well, Michael writes all the lyrics. And some of them are very personal to him. They are based on personal experiences, justice and love. Others are more based on characters. I know that the lyrics mean a lot to him. He is the writer.

You’ve also played at the Wacken Open Air in 2017. You had just joined the band a year earlier. How was it for you?

Kaspar: It was great. I had already played in Wacken with my previous band. 2001, I think. On a smaller stage, of course. So I’ve been there before. It’s a great thing for a band like us to play in Wacken. That was awesome. You go there yourself as a listener without playing. But there is something mythical about playing in Wacken. It is simply the greatest. The first big show I played with the band – I mean, the first real show in Europe – was at Rock am Ring. I can’t even remember how it was, because I was pretty nervous. The bands I played with before were smaller underground bands. I played in front of 200 to 300 people. And suddenly you play in front of 80.000 people. That was crazy.

Are there any plans for you to play in Wacken next year?

Kaspar: I don’t know yet. To be honest, I really don’t know yet.

The W: O: A is known for the fact that all people there are very friendly and peaceful. How did you perceive that?

Kaspar: Unfortunately that was only a show and not a tour in Wacken. So we flew in, played the show, hung around with LG (Lars Göran Petrov) from Entombed and then we went back. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go out and take a closer look at the festival. But I know the festival. It’s great. Of course not so much if it rains all the time. I was there a few times when it poured all days. But when the sun is shining, it’s just great.

Have you ever been there without playing?

Kaspar: Yes, I was there once as a guest. In 2004, I think.

Like Metalheads in general, Wacken is a strong community. Do you think that Wacken could be a role model for society in this regard?

Michael und Kaspar von Volbeat

Kaspar: Yes, I think so. If people behaved online like they did in Wacken, it would be amazing. In Wacken you have all styles. Extreme underground death metal or grindcore and then Volbeat. We are not so extreme. And you have everything in between. Wacken is one of the few festivals that has that. And it is huge. How many people are there now?

75,000 paying people plus workers, bands, press, locals etc.

Kaspar: It has grown a lot in the last 10 years. When I first played there, it was really not that big. But that’s great because it shows the huge potential for metal. And people come there from all over the world.

What are the next plans for Volbeat?

Kaspar: We are now touring until December 1st. Then we need a break. And in April we will start again. I think we’re going to the United States, but I’m not sure about that right now. Our tour schedule definitely starts in April and in summer we play at festivals. So we have big plans. In the meantime we collect small sections for songs. Then they continue to merge. So we will definitely start writing new songs next year.

Do you still have another job?

Kaspar: No, I stopped doing it. I was working with older people. I was driving around, brought them medicine, changed their bandages and things like that. I did that until four years ago.

Do you miss that?

Kaspar: No, I prefer to make music. Maybe people miss me. And I also liked the job because it would be what I would do if I wouldn’t make music. And if the band should stops – which I don’t hope – I will do it again. But I am very lucky that I can live from music alone.

Are you now completely focused on Volbeat or do you have other activities in progress?

Kaspar: Oh, I have so many ideas and I have so many things going on. I want to play all kinds of music. I currently run a cross-d-beat punk band called PARASIGHT. Parasight like the entombed song. Then I have a hardcore band with black metal influences ANTI RITUAL. We’ll do some new stuff next year. So I’m going to use the break from Volbeat to make more music. That’s what I do. I just can’t stop. I can’t lie around lazily at home and do nothing.

Read the second part of the english version of the three-part interview series here on Metalogy tomorrow.

Here you can also see our PHOTO ROUTE and our follow-up report from the VOLBEAT gig in the Frankfurt Festhalle.

PHOTO RANGE and short review: VOLBEAT, Baroness and Danko Jones in the Frankfurt Festhalle

https://metalogy.de/fotostrecke-und-kurzer-nachbericht-volbeat-baronesse-und-danko-jones-in-der-frankfurter-festhalle/