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Have you played with
other bands before?
Pete (lead
vocals/ guitar/ harmonica/raygun):
I’ve played in a lot of
other bands both in England and
Holland – but mainly as a
drummer, and mainly in rock/punk/pop
bands. I switched to rhythm
guitar / vocals with the Jumpcats
about 5 years ago.
Carsten (drums/washboard/vocals):
I have played with
a lot of different bands/musicians
through the years until I joined
The Jumpcats in 2001. But this is
my first rockabilly band.
Søren (doghouse
slapbass/vocals):
I was one the
founding fathers of the
rockabilly band Who Slapped John?
which later on evolved into The
Jumpcats.
How long have you been
playing music?
Pete:
Since I was knee-high to a
grasshopper!
Carsten: I
started out learning to play the
snare drum in the schools
marching band when I was 9 years
old.
Søren: Since
I was a kid. In the beginning
imitating The Beatles together
with my kid brother playing on
homemade guitars. Later on it got
more serious.
How did you get started?
Pete:
My mum had a classical guitar
which I plinked around on from an
early age, and I had an older
friend who played drums, so that
also attracted me. In the end I
inherited his drum-kit, so that
meant I had to be in a band, so I
roped in a couple of my mates to
learn guitar & bass. They
were terrible. Eventually formed
a band at school which played
quite a lot locally.
Carsten: At
12 I started a band with some
classmates inspired by The
Beatles and other British bands
of the time.
A couple of years after we were a
well known band in the local area.
Søren: I
was raised on classical music,
started on a cello as a kid. Got
into a local orchestra but it
never really caught my
imagination much. So eventually I
quit playing cello and –
after a long break – got
myself a bass guitar, and an
upright bass too. That really got
me going again.
So you grew up in a
musical family?
Pete:
As I said my mum had a guitar,
and she was fairly musical,
though not in a big way. My dad
was completely non-musical
combined with a complete lack of
any sense of rhythm! So make of
that what you will! I was given
piano lessons as a child, so I
guess the musical part was always
there.
Carsten: Not
particularly. But my parents had
a lot of records and I grew up
listening to the radio a lot.
Søren: My
dad and his side of the family
are quite musical. My dad was a
bass player in his younger days.
He got me into playing cello. Not
exactly a rock´n´roll
instrument, but it does give you
a lot of basics that are useful
on a double bass. Do
you remember the first record you
bought and/or when you first
‘Woahh, that’s what I
want to do’?
Pete: I
actually inherited a lot of
original 60’s singles by e.g.
the Beatles, Stones, Small Faces
etc., and I remember that
inspiring me to play in a band.
The first record I can remember
drumming along to though was
‘Ruby, don’t take your
love to town’. Still like
that song! The first record I
bought was ‘Fireball’
by Deep Purple – not very
rockabilly at all, but with a
brilliant drum start!
Carsten: I
don’t really remember the
first record I bought - but I’m
sure it was a Beatles 45. I do
remember my first big kick though.
My brother is 6 years older than
me and he had a record player and
a bunch of Elvis singles. I used
to sneak into his room when he
was out and play them to pieces.
I totally freaked out to “Little
sister/ His latest flame”.
Today they are still favourites
of mine.
Søren: My
first record ever was “Remembering
- the greatest hits of Bob Wills”.
I´d heard some old Bob Wills
tunes on the radio one late night.
I thought they were great (and I
still do). The next day I went
straight to the record shop and
got the record. I just had to own
it even though I didn´t even
have a record player.
Let's talk about your
influences?
Pete: I
haven’t really got any
single person I try and emulate
– but of course if you sing
an Elvis number it’s
tempting to try and sound like
him; I guess he’s still got
to be number one vocally. The guy
just had an incredible voice, he
could do anything with it, and a
terrific range. But I also
admired Gene Vincent. I once read
that in the studio he had to sing
in a different room than the rest
of the band because he sang too
quietly, but he put a ton of
feeling and expression in his
vocals.
Carsten: I
have been influenced by a lot of
drummers. It all depends on what
kind of music I have been playing.
But Gene Krupa knocked me out
when I was a kid – and guys
like Jim Keltner always make me
wanna stop playing the drums.
According to rockabilly in
general Johnny Burnette and Carl
Perkins are the greatest –
and on the contemporary scene I
think guys like Darrel Higham and
Wayne Hancock are really really
good!
Søren: I´ve
been listening to truckloads of
rhythm´n´blues, early
rockabilly and 1950´s rock´n´roll.
But I can´t deny the influence
of classical music (!) and jazz
as well. My interest in
rockabilly music was very much
catapulted by the records from
the 1980´s of Robert Gordon and
The Stray Cats.
Do
you remember the first show you
played?
Pete: I
remember my first paid public
performance as a drummer –
it was with a jazz band that came
to play at my school, their
drummer didn’t turn up, so I
sat in for them. I got five
pounds for that – which at
the time to me seemed like a
fortune – for drumming!
Incredible! My first gig with the
Jumpcats I think was at a private
function in a hotel – very
un-rockabilly!
Carsten: My
very first gig was at a school
dance when the band (I believe
they were called The Fops!) was
taking a break.
First public gig was as a support
act to Danish teen idol Peter
Belli at a local dance hall.
First gig with The Jumpcats was
at a small pub in Copenhagen. We
were all the time told to turn
down the volume.
Søren: One
of my first performances was in
music school doing a solo piece
on cello. I did alright. But when
I heard the school´s big band I
thought, yes! Being with a band
like that would be really fun!
Did you have any studio
experience prior to the recording
of your album?
Pete: I’d
been in the studio many times
before as a drummer, and we’d
done a couple a demos with the
Jumpcats before that. But I guess
it was our first ‘real
studio CD’.
Carsten: I
have recorded with Danish bands
Route 66, Le Garage and The
Heartbeats before recording with
The Jumpcats (4 track demo in
2002 and the album which we
started on in 2005).
Was it done live in the
studio?
Pete:
The basic rhythm tracks were
played live, but unfortunately it
wasn’t done as live as I
would have liked – we did
quite a lot of overdubbing and a
lot more twiddling of buttons
than I think they would have done
in the 50’s!
Carsten: Yes,
we would have liked it to have
more of a live feeling to it but
it was difficult because we
recorded it over quite a long
period.
Søren: I
agree.
What is the most
memorable gigs you played?
Pete: I
can remember a wedding we played
many years ago – but that
was memorable for the wrong
reasons! I think they regretted
hiring a rockabilly band in the
end – all we got was
requests for Danish rock bands or
Sweet Home Alabama, stuff like
that! And nobody danced! So we
ended up just rockin’ away
to ourselves in the corner!
But we did a great gig recently
up in Uddevalla in Sweden
together with a Swedish band, and
that went really well. It was a
huge old 50’s dancehall type
place – and the audience
really came to boogie!
Carsten: I
believe the first gigs ever as a
kid were quite mind blowing. With
the Jumpcats it will have to be
the so called “Punk and
Billy Bash” shows in
Copenhagen. Great fun!
Søren: That
was definitely fun! I also
remember an improvised acoustic
gig we did one fine evening in
the streets of Copenhagen some
years ago during the Copenhagen
Jazz Festival. From the first
note we played, people just
started dancing like crazy, young
and old alike!
When can we expect a new
release?
Pete:
We’ve just started working
on a bunch of new stuff recently
– so it won’t be for a
little while. We have kicked
around the idea of doing a little
‘mini-disc’ of some of
our favourite live songs, but I
guess you’ll just have to
keep your ear to the ground on
that one!
Carsten: Yes
we are a quite slow moving band.
How about your future
plans? Some gigs, festivals?
Pete:
You’ll have to ask Carsten
about that one….!!!
Carsten: None
in particular. We are gigging
regularly in Denmark. Hopefully
we can do one or two festivals in
2007. Anybody interested? Give us
a call!
What do you think about
the rockbilly scene today in
Denmark?
Pete:
It’s fairly small -
certainly compared with our
neighbours Sweden which has a
much bigger rockabilly scene. I
think you can count the Danish
"traditional"
rockabilly bands on one hand -
but the scene is growing.
Søren: New
bands are coming up all with
their own approach to the music.
And of course there have been
quite a few successful
psychobilly bands coming from
Denmark over the years.
Pete:
But you know – Denmark’s
a small country and the scene is
a bit conservative in general
which makes it hard for bands
playing "niche" music.That's
partly why we had to go abroad to
get a decent record company to
put out the CD.
Carsten: There
is a growing scene in Europe
– great! Lots of good bands
around. Especially Swedish and
Finnish - but also from the rest
of Europe. Marc Fennech (
southern and rockin magazine) and
the rest of the guys from the
Empire label – as well as
enthusiasts like your self are
doing a great job promoting new
bands from all over Europe.
I like it that western swing and
hillbilly is becoming popular
again. There is a bit too much
straight Teddy Boy around –
a bit boring in the long run I
think.
In USA there is a vast number of
great bands – and of course
there will always be.
What are your favourite
bands?
Pete: I
listen to mostly old 50’s
stuff – that’s where I
really get my inspiration, so I’m
not very up-to-date with
contemporary rockabilly bands
outside Denmark, although I am
aware that there are a lot of
brilliant rockabilly bands out
there. We like Daryl Higham from
England and I think the Daryl
Haywood Combo from Finland have
an excellent authentic sound.
Basically anyone called Daryl is
OK with us!
Carsten: I
like the old stuff of course.
Also I listen to a lot of pre
rockabilly Honky tonk and
Hillbilly music. And naturally
Johnny Burnette again and again
and again.
Søren: Oh
yeah!
Carsten: On
today’s scene I like Wayne
Hancock, Lisa and her Kin, Big
Sandy, The Go Getters from
Sweden, Darryl Haywood Combo from
Finland and our Danish friends
Wild Wax Combo.
Søren: Don´t
forget Hillbilly Hellcats and The
Paladins!
A last word?
Pete:
Aside from the bands, I think
that’s it’s great there
are so many enthusiastic mags and
sites dedicated to rockabilly
– to make certain rockabilly
will never die!
Carsten: I
agree. Should be fun to check out
the French scene some day.
Pete:
Mais oui!
The
Jumpcats on the web : www.jumpcats.dk/ or www.myspace.comthejumpcats
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