TURBONEGRO'S HAPPY TOM:
"DEATHPUNK MADE A
MAN OUT OF ME"
Ahhh, the summer of '99: beach...chicks...rock n roll...and Turbonegro. "Apocalypse Dudes" was the soundtrack to my summer and that of a ton of other underground nosebleeds here in Australia and around the world, the album that for a brief period united the global underground.
Turbonegro, the filth and sleaze, DeathPunk Rock 'n' Roll Kings of Europe!!! For 10 years Turbonegro blazed a stunning studio and live trail that eventually ended in drug rehabs, psychiatric hospitals, and religious redemption.
During that decade, the TurboYouth released a sackfull of quality DeathPunk that could shine any Beast!! finally releasing Apocalypse Dudes on the cusp of their own 'self destructo a-rockalypse busto', an album so good TWO record labels released it simultaneously!!
Turboneger kicked off 1988, Thomas Seltzer (bass), Pal"'Pot" Bottger Kjaernes (keyboards) and Rune Gronn (guitar) were there from beginning to end, Thomas released their first 7-inch, "Route Zero", and first 12-inch "Turboliod" on his own Straightjacket Records label. Straightjacket eventually had 10 releases.
The early 90's saw the band's first US release on Sympathy for the Record Industry and their album "Hot Cars and Spent Contraceptives" was unleashed. During the mid 90's, Hank Von Helvete joined and the band released the "Grunge Whore" 10-inch and the "Never Is Forever" CD album. In quick succession, the band released the "Ass Cobra" album in Europe on Boomba and in the US on Sympathy and also a 7-inch version of "Prince of The Rodeo". The decade was drawing to a close with the release of the important and brilliant Apocalypse Dudes.
Then it turned sour. Halfway through a 16-date tour of Europe, the band broke up in a psychiatric ward in Italy. Later they did some farewell shows in Oslo.Here, we get into the Heart and Anus of Turbonegro, what made em tick, how bad did they smell, how much pussy and cock did they get on the road, and the inside story on the brilliant and triumphant Apocalypse Dudes. I caught up with bass player Happy Tom as Turbonegro prepared to reunite for the European festivals. Let's Deathpunk baby!!
Q Who was the most sleazy member of Turbonegro on the road and what did they get up to?
They got their member up. Depends on how you define sleaze. Hank or Euroboy are both worthy contenders.Q Did you guys get more cock or pussy on the road? Tell us some lurid on the road sex stories!
There was very little cock, actually, maybe because we never got to Australia?Q Doing so much rock n roll adventuring, what were some of the bizarre situations or people you came across?
Jack Kerouac's daughter, the guy who wrote the ultimate James Dean biography, Beck's mother and so forth are all great turbo fans.
Q You guys are/were a VERY influential band. I was talking to a kid that said you guys meant as much to him as the Beatles did to his parents. How bout that, huh?
That feels good. Behind all the layers of denim and filth there are SLIGHT traces of a TINY interest in music.Q At the end of the last Europe tour with Nashville Pussy, it seemed to us here in Australia that you guys were in bad shape. Is everyone recovering OK from the last couple of years of Turbonegro? Are you recovered enough to do damage again? Who's in what bands now?
Hank is living close to his grandparents in the Lofoten islands, on methadone, he has a small band project with some local kids called Alcoholocaust. The Labor Party are trying to recruit him as their candidate for mayor up there. If that happens, it will be total Colonel Kurtz with his own tribe in the wilderness.
Knut and Chris are in the Euro Boys, Rune is their manager, Pål is in Auckland, New Zealand. I´m in the Oslo Motherfuckers.
Q What memories stand out as highlights for you from some of the wild Turbonegro gigs?
What made us a good live band was that we didn´t really give a fuck. Most other bands will huddle up before a show like football players. Fuck that motivational shit and "Tonight we´re gonna give it 110 percent man!" We would always just promise ourselves that we would give NO MORE that 70 percent every night. And that works really well.Q Any Australian bands that take your fancy?
The REALLY, REALLY, EARLY Midnight Oil stuff. Just kidding.
Q What was it like getting those first international releases on Sympathy and other labels in the early days? Did you get ripped off at all?
No never ripped off, that was very cool getting the early releases. And having two labels release "Apocalypse Dudes" in America, an album so good two labels released it. Everybody wanted it, so they had to collaborate.Q How has the scene for Rock N Roll changed in Europe over the last 10 years?
It's gotten trendier, It used to be that rock 'n' roll was for people who had lost part of their earlobe in meth-deals gone bad, etc, now it's more of a self-actualization trip for upper middle class dipshits looking for something "real" and "authentic". It's kinda like "Should I go to Bali and play the didgeridoo or should I go on tour with my rawk band?" YAWN.
Q Some of the coolest Rock 'n' Roll bands over the last 10 years have come out of Europe, how the heck did it happen?
Synergy.Q Is playing in a Rock 'n' Roll band satisfying or just plain dumb?
Depends on how much money you make doing it.
Q What inspired you personally to play death punk rock rather than commercial power ballads?
Musical ineptitude, basically. I'm a big power ballad fan, rather listen to them than to lo-fi rock.
Q Any new bands we should be looking out for?
Amulet from Oslo, the best hardcore band the world has seen for a decade.
Q "Apocalypse Dudes" was a much more glam style of death punk than "Ass Cobra". what happened to get you guys going a bit more 70's-ish?
We didn't want to make an Ass Cobra Vol.II, so the natural thing was to go beyond our hardcore/punk influences.Q How much impact did Euro boy have within the band when he joined?
A huge impact. The Kid is a genius.
Q Is there any chance of Turbonegro reforming at all?
Nope. Unless we get an enormous amount of money, that is.Q It can be very hard to get a band going and keeping it together, is it worth it at the end, what do you get out of playing?
Money, jealous enemies, parties. I like.
Q Are there any unreleased Turbonegro songs from the Apocalypse Dudes sessions that are unreleased that maybe will be released?
Nope. We never wrote weak songs, so there are no outtakes.Turbonegro continue to inspire and reach new fans, Apocalypse Dudes is a classic album that could stand along side any 9 million selling album. The band has reformed for European festival dates. Let's hope Turbonegro will keep playing and maybe record a new album. Fuck, that would be cool.
