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I, for one, had almost given up on HateSphere not so many months ago.
What had seemed a stable stalwart of Danish metal all of a sudden turned into a revolving door that band members were seeping right through.
The only constant was guitarist Peter ‘Pepe’ Hansen, founding member and driving force.
But, lo and behold, it turned out that the new crew Pepe had gathered around him was powerful on stage and the new record, ‘To the Nines’, has turned out to be a hammer – and even slightly more brutal than the material we are used to from HateSphere.
The Power of Metal.dk’s Thomas asks Pepe a few well-put questions.
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Hey, Pepe, congrats on the new, hard-hitting album! What is the new album like in your own words?
First of all, thank you! Well, I as well believe that the new songs are more brutal than our previous efforts. I guess there was a lot of frustration that we needed to get down on tape, referring to what we have been going through the last couple of years... But all in all it still sounds like HateSphere – just with a new twist ;-)
What does the title ‘To the Nines’ refer to?
As nine is the highest number there is, ‘To the Nines’ means aiming for perfection – simply giving all that you’ve got – always doing the best you can! The title refers not only to how we look at our music but also indeed on our expereinces during these last one and a half stormy years! Even though we have been going through changes, we still ‘dress to the nines’ – we still kick as much ass as before, and we still give all that we’ve got in the music! People may have felt sceptic about us, but we have indeed proved them wrong!
Which track is the strongest tune on ‘To the Nines’? My vote goes to Cloaked in Shit.
Hehe, well, I think they are all strong... we don’t go for making fillers on our albums ;-) Anyway, it’s difficult for me to choose! I will have to go for “Oceans of blood” – as this song contains all that I love about HateSphere – or “Clarity” as this song is so very different from the rest of the album, in a good way!
The instrumental track Commencing a Campaign makes me think one thing: How 80s does it get?! Am I anywhere near the truth?
Haha, yeah, it could be :) It initially ended up being very much different from what we had tried in the rehearsal room. Before entering the studio we had this idea for an instrumental intro for the song ‘The writing’s on the wall’, but as it was made just before the actual recordings, we never really got to try it out that much in the rehearsal room. So after having recorded all the rhythm guitars, I sat down with Tue and we worked on it for a couple of hours. As Tue is a guitar player himself, we ended up going crazy in guitar harmonics, haha. Seriously, we only needed this final intro/instrumental song before being done with the rhythm guitars. I played the ideas that we had to Tue, and he thought it sounded really interesting. So he wanted to try to work a bit more on the ideas with me. The song ended up being more bombastic than our original idea, but we really liked it!
Did you all contribute in equal measures to the song writing process on ‘To the Nines’, or was it a ‘Pepe-does-it-all’ thing?
The whole song-writing process was more of a joint venture this time. I still write almost all the music, but we rehearsed the whole band together the last couple of months before the recordings. Previously, I have been used to mostly rehearsing with our drummer and then a bit with the others. This time we were all together – and it was especially new to rehearse with vocals! When I had new riffs, I sat together with Jakob, our other guitar player, and then we played it some times, arranged some stuff, and then played it for the others. Then everybody contributed to the arrangements. So a more focused atmosphere! The new members haven’t had big problems in getting used to the HateSphere-vibe. Before we wrote the album we had been touring quite a bit, and I think that this helped us during the song-writing. We were used to each other, and we were focused – and on top of that we were very relaxed in each other’s presence. I think we felt some pressure in the beginning, as we knew that people would be very aware of this album – and we had a lot to prove! But when we got going it all felt very natural!
In the light of the turmoil with members leaving the band, did you ever consider pulling the plug on HateSphere?
The first three departures didn’t come as any surprise. Anders, Mikael and Heinz told us four months in advance that they were going to leave, so we had good time to find their replacements. And as we had some cool tours and some very, very cool summer festivals line up that summer there were no reason to think about stopping the band. As Jacob left the thought occurred briefly – as this really came as a surprise – but after having slept on it, I decided not to let one mans departure end this band. On top of that this band has been my life now for more than 10 years, and I couldn’t see my self stopping any time soon. As I know that this new version of the band has got extreme amounts of potential, it would be a pity to stop here.
How would you characterize the individual members of ‘the new HateSphere’? You have already toured quite a bit with the new line-up, so I guess you know each other pretty well by now.
Yes, we know each other a bit too much, haha ;-) Well, the atmosphere in the band is the best ever right now. It is more relaxed but at the same time very focused. The new guys are very dedicated, and this makes everything a lot easier – but they still know how to have a good time for sure. All the new guys are super nice people, and extremely great musicians – I guess, that is the best way to describe them. Joller and Mixen are our party crew for sure. Don’t give them too many bottles of gin – and they wont stop telling each other, how great friends they are etc. etc.! ;-) Jakob is our IT guy, always looking for a hotspot to hook up his laptop, plus he always have this itchy sensation on his ear from always being on the phone... on top of that he is the guy in the band with the best taste in music – together with me of course – as he likes 80’s hard rock just as much as me, hehe! Dennis is our old school metal head. He is happy if there is free beer, free merch and metal coming out of the speakers. I don’t have to mention how happy he was when we got a beer endorsement a few months back, right?
And it’s time for touring now, I suppose? This time also in the States, I hear?
We will tour intensively with this new album – as always. As we haven’t played the States yet and keep getting tons of great feedback from there, we are working very hard on going over there this fall. We haven’t got anything confirmed as we speak, but it will happen for sure, as we haven’t planned the last part of the year yet! First up we have our European headliner tour “Alive and dressed to the nines” tour 2009 which will be going on during April and May this year – right after the release of the album. In May we might have a very exciting tour coming up – but more on that later – and then we will play festivals here in Europe during the summer. In the fall we will play a tour in Denmark and then we will for sure – as mentioned – be going to the US!
How do you pass time on tours? Games, books, DVD’s?
A bit of each, I guess. You always spend time in your bunk watching movies, listening to music etc., but I usually do a lot of sightseeing as well. I mean, what is the point of travelling around the world, if you don’t give yourself the time to actually experience the cities in which you play? On top of that I also work out from time to time. So I spend quite a lot of time finding local gyms, where I can “pump the old iron”, haha!
Who, in your view, are the best metal bands around at the moment?
Damn, a very difficult question. I don’t listen that much to newer bands – very few are interesting to me. I feel that it is rare that a new band surprises me. Gojira must be one of the only ones really having something to offer. We have toured with them before, super great guys, and professional as hell on stage!
What is your top five album list right now?
Europe – Start from the dark
Cynic – Traced in air
Pestilence – Testimony of the ancients
Winger – IV
Cradle of Filth - Midian
Thanks a million for answering my questions! Any last rants to our readers?
Thank you as well – it was a pleasure. Thanks to the fans for supporting us these last couple of years – it really means a lot. We are back with a vengeance! So check out the new album as it is released in Denmark on March 23rd – we are looking forward to seeing you guys and girls on the road in April and May!
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More info on ‘To the Nines’ and HateSphere can be found on the band’s website, www.hatesphere.com or their www.mySpace.com/hatesphere page.
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