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Deathstars - one thing is sure: it's impossible to pass Swedish industrial/gothic metal pioneers when considering the dark metal/rock music scene. The band, founded in 2000 and debuted with the Synthetic Generation album in 2002, is, simply put, one of a kind. Deathstars is adrenaline, bombast, darkness, sex and glam! The band's fans had to wait for almost nine years for a new album, and finally, the long-awaited comeback album, Everything Destroys You, came out in May 2023. Swedish "deathglam" kings and genre innovators returned with a vengeance, and last autumn, the band embarked on the European tour - Everything Destroys Europe, together with Priest and Liv Sin. Although the band was absent from the stage for quite some time, this absence was not at all evident in its performance, and the fans certainly got what they came for and more. On 27 November, the tour stopped in Ljubljana, Slovenia (the gig report is HERE), and we just had to seize the opportunity to meet up with Deathstars' crazy bassist/back vocalist Jonas "Skinny Disco" Kangur and drummer Marcus "Nitro" Johansson. We had a fun time during the interview, and you, dear readers, can have fun reading it.
Interview with: Jonas "Skinny Disco" Kangur & Marcus "Nitro" Johansson
Conducted by: Tomaz, Jerneja
Edited by: Jerneja
Tomaz: Hello, Skinny and Nitro! Deathstars is after many years back on a tour, so how does it feel?
Skinny Disco: Well, this is the reward for all the work we put into the new album. This is it; it's what we really want to do, and this is why we do it. When you come out on tour, it's like, "Yes, Finally!" We can do a show and meet all the people we longed to meet. The process of making an album is so stressful. Of course, it's creative, but it's also a lot of work, and our process is very long. So, to get on the road again feels just like some kind of a release. Finally, we can meet all these lovely people. It feels absolutely great.
Jerneja: It's been nine years since your previous album, The Perfect Cult...
Skinny Disco: Yeah, you are right. And I'm thinking the next album will be done in 16 years, haha. You know, there are multiple reasons. After the last album, we were touring the whole world. Our last show was in Graz (Austria), and our bus exploded. All our merchandise went up in flames, and we lost so much money. We came home practically bankrupt, and then we had to go to Mexico, where we had to cancel many shows for various reasons. After that, we went to Australia to do a festival tour. The festival company went bankrupt, and we never got paid, and then we went to the USA. The bus driver liked to smoke a lot of weed, and so we crushed on a highway. It ended up cancelling the shows and losing even more money. So, it was a year of a total mess. We, for once, were trying to make things right, and when we came back, it was like, "I don't want to see you guys anymore. It's nothing personal but we need to stay away". The energy wasn't any good after all that. It took us one and a half years, and then I got a phone call from Whiplasher that he started working on some new songs. He asked if I wanted to listen, and I was ok with that. Let's do it. But then, as I said, our process is very long. To write a Deathstars album takes a long time. It's a lot of arrangements and a lot of work. Then there was Covid, and it just pushed it. During that time, we managed to write the album. We had a second chance, in a way. We made it, but it took us even longer because of that. In the end, we have the album, and it feels so good. You know, "This is the album, it feels great, we hope that you'll enjoy it, and now we can finally go on tour".
Tomaz: How would you compare the two albums?
Skinny Disco: They are so different. The Perfect Cult is more of an "introvert" album, while Everything Destroys You is more of a "party" one. It's an outgoing Deathstars again. We found the old energy again! Don't get me wrong, I like The Perfect Cult - I think it's a great album - but it's not that much "in your face".
Jerneja: Do you mean lyrically?
Skinny Disco: The Perfect Cult is darker. But still, all of our songs are about the same or similar subject. It's about the fight that you're battling with yourself. It's about the demons that you fight...
Jerneja: And about the midnight party...
Skinny Disco: Haha, yeah, that one is pretty straightforward. It's about a party you shouldn't go to but end up there anyway. Like every day on this tour, haha.
Tomaz: How much are the songs connected? Is there any concept?
Skinny Disco: Yes and no. It's mostly about how everything destroys you - about the things you do to harm yourself. It's very personal. Whiplasher's lyrics are always very personal, but then again, they are layers of everything that destroy you. You can see it in social media, in the world, with the wars going on, and I think it's an appropriate title for an album and for the song itself. As well it fits perfectly the time that we are living right now. It's a reflection of that as well.
Jerneja: I checked tonight's Deathstars playlist, and there are only four songs from the new album, even though the tour is titled Everything Destroys Europe.
Skinny Disco: You wanted more? The thing is that it's hard to put together a set. We have to promote our new songs, but on the other hand, we have a lot of old songs people expect us to play live. We try to find a level of a little bit of everything. Before the tour started, we rehearsed over 30 songs, but in the end, people seemed happy with the balance of the set, so we didn't change it. Nobody has complained so far. Of course, some people say, "I wish you had played that song...".
Nitro: It's always hard to make everyone happy. You try your best to put together something for everyone, and yeah, of course, someone always misses something.
Tomaz: One of my all-time favourite Deatstars songs is "Via The End", but you never play it live. How so?
Skinny Disco: You're right; we never play it live. It's a beautiful song. We could try to play it live, but it's a very personal song. I think that it would take so much to do it. I don't know, maybe one day we will do it.
Tomaz: Regarding the compositional and recording process and other things around that, was the new album done the same way as your previous albums?
Skinny Disco: Not really. It happened in different phases. The main thing that happened on this album is that Nightmare and Whiplasher worked more closely together than in the past. Nightmare wrote the whole song, and Whiplasher put the lyrics and vocals on it. This time, it was like: "Oh, I have this idea. What do you think?". Then Whiplasher saw where the singing and lyrics were going. Where it will take us, and it's more musical this way. Nightmare had to listen to what Whiplasher was writing in a way that it should be. It's harder with this kind of music because it's so much, it's so big, with all of the orchestration and everything. I think this time, it was a nice dynamic between them.
Tomaz: In the early 2000s, there weren't many bands doing a combination of industrial metal and gothic metal. You were one of the first...
Skinny Disco: In the early days, we always had to, kind of, excuse ourselves. We never had any inspiration from bands like Marilyn Manson or Rammstein because, back then, none of us had ever listened to them. We were listening only to really extreme metal bands. That was it. The sound of Deathstars was a sound that came out almost out of nowhere. These days, since we've been around for so long, it's so nice that you don't have to answer those questions anymore. It's just that Deathstars is Deathstars. It's our sound, and I'm very thankful for that because we love what we do, and it is what we are supposed to do. Seeing those dedicated fans showing up, dressed up like they are from our old videos and stuff like that - it means so much. It still feels right after all these years.
Tomaz: In 2011, you released the compilation album, The Greatest Hits On Earth, which contained two new songs, "Metal" and "Death Is Wasted On The Dead". Was it meant to inform your fans that you were still alive?
Skinny Disco: Haha, yeah, sort of. It was actually released because we were going on tour with Rammstein and were not allowed to bring that many items to sell as merchandise. We wanted to bring something that meant that was it - Deathstars and people would get everything on one album. At that time, we just recorded two new songs and decided to put them there. It was a way of trying to promote the band, of course, within such a big crowd. You had to do it, in a way.
Jerneja: Who came up with the name Deathstars? Is this somehow connected with Hollywood stars or something?
Skinny Disco: Everything is smart, when it comes to names, song titles, or anything. It's always Whiplasher behind it. His brain works constantly. It comes from many sides. You can have child stars, porn stars, superstars, and since they came from thrash and death metal with previous bands, which are not so open-minded; you shouldn't really fuck-up too much with the genres since you need to be true, and all that, and he said that we would be Deathstars. You know, making a little bit of fun with it.
Jerneja: And there's no astronomy or Star Wars involved?
Skinny Disco: Oh, no, no Star Wars or anything like that, but yeah, it's a pun, in a way.
Tomaz: Deathstars has quite a stable line-up, except for the drummer...
Skinny Disco: Now we have a very stable line-up.
Tomaz: So, how does it feel for you, Nitro, to be a member of Deathstars, and how does it feel for Deathstars to have a new drummer?
Skinny Disco: Should we answer this in separate rooms, haha...
Nitro: Haha - seriously - and like I told these guys, it felt like a perfect fit, like a family, straight away. With the music and the people, it felt just great from the very beginning. It feels like I belong here. That's my feeling.
Skinny Disco: Of course, I loved all the drummers we had before, but with Marcus (Nitro), we are the only two grown-ups in the band, hahaha. Don't tell the others, haha. Sometimes, we only watch each other and think, "Yes, the others..." because we are always on time for everything and are the only guys sorting things out. It's so good to have him among us, and then he's playing fucking amazing. These days, it's like I don't worry about him; he's going to be there, playing tight and having fun every day, and yeah, he's the loveliest guy.
Nitro: We are the backbone of the band, the rhythm section, and we have to be like this, or everything fucks up. It's important, being like that.
Jerneja: Have you played before with other bands?
Nitro: Oh yeah, I played with many bands. I've always played in bands, and that's what I want to do, and that's what I'm doing.
Jerneja: And which are your other bands?
Skinny Disco: I have one other band called The Heard. It's me and four girls. Do you know the band, Crucified Barbara? Well, that band doesn't exist anymore, so The Heard is the old members of Crucified Barbara and I. OK, to be exact, there are three girls from Crucified Barbara and one other singer.
Tomaz: You were a guest musician on some songs by different bands/projects...
Skinny Disco: I love doing everything. I love all kinds of music and, you know, I love to do different stuff. I even released country songs. I played banjo, pedal steel guitar, many different acoustic instruments, and so on.
Tomaz: But how do you decide if you will or not join as a guest musician when somebody invites you? There must be some criteria...
Skinny Disco: If it's good and I feel something from it, or if there's someone I respect, then I'll go for it. It's fun, and you should never say no to such things. If you say no, or that it sucks, it could be bad for you.
Tomaz: What can the audience expect from Deathstars at a concert?
Skinny Disco: A rock'n'roll show! It's full of craziness. I don't know what will happen, and every night is different. It's a freak show, in a way, but not forced in any way. You get so much energy and never know where you will end up. It's so much fun. During Covid and all this time that we haven't been touring, I was thinking that it's maybe just nice to stay at home. You know, I have a family, it's pretty, I have everything I need in this respect in life. Back in the day, I was like, "I need to go on tour or I'll go insane", but then I came over that and found other interests, like motorcycles and stuff like that. Now that we are on tour again, I think it was a good decision not to quit music - it's what I like to do.
Tomaz: Most of the time, Deathstars is a tour headliner, except when touring with Rammstein, Cradle Of Filth or Korn. But, if you had to choose one band you would like to tour with - and you haven't yet, which would it be?
Skinny Disco: Well, this is very personal and just for me. I like the artist Skin a lot, and we were trying to make a tour together before Covid happened and everything, but then she grew so big. Back then, she was supposed to be a support act, but now that she's so big, we could be her support. I think that her stage presence and the songs are amazing. But you know, on this tour, we have the Priest guys every night, and I'm like, "oh yeah, I love this song". Before this tour, I've listened so much to them, and when I hear my favourite songs, I'm so very excited. I often go to them, asking if they could play this or that song, and sometimes they fill it into the set. It's lovely to tour with bands that you really like.
Nitro: Even if it's a different genre, it really works because it's dark music, and we play dark music as well, and they are as wild as us. That works, and the chemistry between people is important when touring with them. There are 20 people on the bus, and it has to work. After one day, it already felt like we had known each other for 20 years, seriously. That is super important.
Tomaz: You have released so many good tracks, but which one out of your discography means the most to you?
Skinny Disco: Hmm, it changes so often. From the first album, it must be "The Rape Of Virtue". It's one of the coolest rock songs I've ever heard, and I would love to play it live sometime. The song that really captures Deathstars, in all, I guess, is "Tongues". You can feel the relief in the crowd when we play it, and everybody goes grooving. It's a song that we probably couldn't be without. Of course, songs like "Blitzkrieg" or "Cyanide" will always be people's favourites. For me, it changes so often. On this new album, maybe the songs are not such strong live material, but I like them and can listen to them on and on. You know, usually, you grow tired of the songs when you record an album, that process of listening to the songs so many times.
Jerneja: Will you play some festivals this summer?
Skinny Disco: We told our booker we would like to play as many festivals as possible. Just give us, give us, and he says, "That it's hard". Whatever, we don't care; we just want to play. So, yes, hopefully. We have some festivals booked already, like M'era Luna in Germany, but it's not enough - we want to play.
Tomaz: Thank you very much for the interview! Is there anything you would like to say at the end of it?
Skinny Disco: I need to say that I'm so very grateful that even after nine years without touring, still a lot of people show up to our shows. I have no idea how it will be tonight, but this tour, so far, has been amazing. People are genuinely happy to see us, and I can't take it for granted, but it still works. They are still there, and it means so much. Even younger people are coming to the shows. Sometimes, I think that we all grow up, but it happens that the new crowd finds us as well. It means the world, you know. It is why we do it, why we play live shows.
Live photos by: Tomaz
Deathstars links: Official website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Nuclear Blast
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