The Diamond Dogs was a Swedish rock band founded in Katrineholm during the early 1990s, by vocalist Sören 'Sulo' Karlsson and guitarist Anders 'Boba' Lindström. Since then they've released 12 albums and 3 EPs!
And now they boyz from Sweden have released album 13 "Slap Band Blue Rendezvous" with no less than 24 songs across the double album! This band don't believe in doing things small!
We caught up with them to get the dirt...
Tell us about Diamond Dogs.. how would you describe your sound?
I think we pretty much are stuck in the British early 70’s rock n roll, an outstanding era that included the pub rock scene but also the glam rock boom.
Who’s in the band? Has it changed over the years?
Yes, it changed a lot. Me and keyboardist Honk are the only originals from 1992, and guitarist Lars Karlsson has been with us since 2006.
When did you get together?
We started in a small town south of Stockholm. It was me and Honk together with Anders “Boba” Lindström (later in Hellacopters) who formed the band.
We moved to Stockholm when we secured our first record deal and that’s how it all started. Our first single “Blue eyes shouldn’t be cryin’” ended up on MTV and we were trying to play good old rock n roll I in the heyday of the grunge movement which wasn’t the easiest way to go, but hey, we’re still here!
Your first demo was in 1991, produced by Max Martin. How did that come about?
It was a guy from a small record label who introduced me to Martin (Sandberg as his name was back then). I had some musicians with me to that basement studio in Stockholm where Martin had his first studio but in the end me and Martin did most of the overdubs ourselves. It was a great feeling working with him and I believe that demo was the first one I was really satisfied with. He’s extremely talented and sings brilliant harmonies as he later proved on hits with Britney Spears etc.
In 2008 when we recorded my solo album “Hear me out” I called Martin and he came to the studio for the vocal harmonies. He was already a big name and had just written Kelly Clarksons new single.
Did this help when it came to recording your debut album “Honked” in 1994?
Yes, I got the deal from the 10 demos I recorded with Max, but we re-recorded everything for the “Honked” album. I believe the actual demo is somewhere and someday it would be nice to revisit it.
In 2019, you released “Recall Rock n Roll and the Magic Soul”. How do you think you have evolved as a band since then?
Without knowing that it was bad timing to reform the band in 2019 cos of the corona was waiting around the corner, it eventually made us even hungrier, and with this new double we are ready getting out on the road, showing the world that good time rock n roll bands still exist.
Your new album “Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous” is out now. Wanna tell us about it?
Early on we decided to go back to our old producer Tomas Skogsberg (Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Entombed etc) for the first time in 14 years (since the album “Up the rock”). Then the pandemic happened and I got more time to write songs so after sending Tomas about 38 songs we started to talk about making a double. Tomas Skogsberg who’s a big fan of The Beatles always wanted to do his own “White album” and now he had the songs, the band, and the time to do it.
It’s 24 songs?!
Yes it’s probably a commercial suicide these days but it’s also a stand.
Streaming has devalued music so we thought it was time to kick back, and a double album is more of a piece of art than just 10 songs on a cd or a playlist.. You really need to put maximum effort into the whole process to make a double album that stands out.
Any live dates planned?
At the moment we got a Spanish tour coming up, and later Germany and the UK. Probably a couple of Scandinavian dates this summer.
How do you feel the music industry has changed since you’ve been going?
Well, it’s less music and much more industry nowadays. The urge of performing your own songs on stage is more or less a dying breed. All the tv Idol shows and the one song artists has depleted the business and a typical AnR person in 2022 are more in it for the streams than the actual love of music.
Do you have any advice for a new band just starting out?
Find your own way and stick to it. Don’t listen to what the media thinks is the next big thing. If you’re able to put up a good show it’s worth more than all the streams in the world.
Anything you’d like to say to your fans out there?
If you’re looking for a rock n roll band that will satisfy your needs like the old heroes from the 70’s used to do, Diamond Dogs is for you. Some people even claim we are the last real rock n roll band, always delivering what we promise.Thank you! Sulo
LINKS
https://www.facebook.com/everylittlecrack
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Hi and thanks for your input!