More than likely, you already know a few basic things about The Hives. They're the latest hit band to come out of Sweden since ABBA and Ace of Base...except The Hives are much better. You rocked out to their hit single "Hate to Say I Told You So" in 2002. They often make appearances in pimped-out matching suits that leave you with quite the impression.

As fun as all those things may be, what lies further beneath the surface is even more enticing. You get your first true taste of The Hives with stage names like Nicholaus Arson (guitar), Howlin' Pelle "HP" Almquist (vocals), Vigilante Carlstroem (guitar), Dr. Matt Destruction (bass) and Chris Dangerous (drums). You can bet that chaos is this band's theory. Their recipe for world domination starts with a whirlwind of musical diversity.

"I don’t think we have anything that we’re ashamed of musically," guitarist Nicholaus Arson said of the band's eclectic tastes when he talked to ACED. "We listen to it all... the punk stuff and the modern music...the hip-hop. We just listen to everything."

"We’ve always been kinda open... Not too many people know that we had a period a couple of years ago that we would listen to ... Martina McBride."

The Hives' not-so-secret admiration of Martina McBride set aside, the band feels that they've come a long way because of the variety of sounds that influence them. After all, it's what keeps their music fresh from one release to the next, even if it means breaking down genres and possibly losing fans.

"I mean, to certain people we did everything right on the first record and haven’t done anything good since," said Arson. "For some people, they don’t like the first and second record but they love the third and the fourth, so it’s all pretty much in the eyes of the beholder. It’s just weird, but then it’s supposed to be different."

After planning their first three albums out years in advance ("We were going to quit after the records we had decided on when we were like 15 or something"), The Hives recently released their fourth studio album, The Black and White album. It's the color schema represented on the album's cover art, the band's website, and oftentimes in their snazzy outfits.

"I think it’s like a fresh start in a way," Arson said of the new album. "We made three records that were kind of according to plan and that was all we were going to do. And then we just felt like we had more to offer. There was nothing that was good enough to make us feel like we wanted to retire."

So what are the elements The Hives used to complete their latest sound?

"We wanted it to be somewhat schizophrenic so at least you have to have one or the other. There’s two personalities on the record. It’s the traditional Hives kinda broke-out style, then it’s the Hives going off on an exponential tour of the world."

"We have, as well as our own ideas, we have this guy called Randy Fitzsimmons, who’s like a sixth member, and he comes up with a lot of the themes or the concepts for the records... so it’s either we take one of his and turn it into something or we combine our ideas with his and they can come from anywhere, really."

While the UK's National Music Express (NME) Magazine revealed the name Randy Fitzsimmons is actually one of Nicholaus Arson's official pseudonyms, The Hives insist Fitzsimmons is a real songwriter. Arson has said he only registered the pseudonym in order to protect the privacy of the actual Randy Fitzsimmons. Either way, Randy Fitzsimmons helped The Hives create a kick-ass fourth album.

"I kinda feel the same about this record as I felt about the Veni Vidi Vicious one," said Arson. "It could be a really good record, but you’re not sure whether people are going to find out or not."

The music from The Black and White album is such a great accomplishment for Arson and his bandmates, he couldn't decide which song off the record was his favorite. "I really like ‘Try It Again’. I really like ‘Square One Here I Come’, which is like regular rock, and I really like ‘T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S’, a swell song, and I like ‘Puppet On a String’, there’s just loads of them."

While asking Arson to pick a favorite song he had a part in creating may be like asking parents to pick their favorite child, he could easily pick out "Tick, Tick, Boom" as The Black and White album song that was most difficult to write.

"It was just one of those songs where you have a really good part and you know initially that you have a really good part and you're suppose to put it all together. Those are usually the hardest ones 'cause nothing feels like it measures up to what you thought it would," Arson explained. "If you had a chorus, the chorus would be worse than the verse even if the verse was great to begin with. Nothing could ever measure up to be as good as what you have in mind."

The complications that come up while trying to create a great song have weighed on Arson's mind so much, he's come up with an example to describe it to fans who may not understand his troubles. "You find the biggest diamond and then you don’t really know what to do with it. Either you cut it up into smaller pieces or you want to keep it as big and great as possible but then it’s all about how you refine it pretty much."

Since the record's release, the band has been touring themselves senseless on two different types of stages. In between full-out concerts on their massive arena rock tour, the band has scheduled smaller club gigs. "We only started playing the arena shows in '05 and we’re playing to a new audience pretty much, and we didn’t know what to expect," Arson said of their successful arena tours. "We get to play to people who never heard us before and it’s kinda of a joy 'cause we come out to play and people don’t really know what to expect and it’s... We’re just winning hearts."

However, the band's heart still resides with the club shows meant to please their most die-hard fans. These are the fans that go to their shows to rock out relentlessly to The Hives' music in a club with barely enough room to breathe, even if there's no opening or following act.

"The smaller intimate shows are something we’ve always loved doing. It’s something like a small group, kinda like where rock and roll was intended to be played, I think. You know, 50 drunk people in the room, a small crowded room, and then you play until you drop dead pretty much."

The Hives will be finishing up their current North American tour in mid-March. "After this tour we’re going home for six days and then we go on a European tour, and then we go home for two months 'cause our bass player's having a baby (well, he isn't having the baby). Then after that we go out on another American tour, another European tour, the summer festivals, European and American festivals, and then after that we probably do Japan, Australia, South America... We’re mostly just going to tour for a year and a half."

Music lovers aren't just learning about The Hives in the midst of their epic touring schedule. The Hives have also learned a bit about themselves and why they've stayed cool while touring through the years. "When we started touring, we were a bunch of 17 and 18 year-olds going out on tour. It’s pretty much like we do nowadays to keep healthy or fit, like cutting down on the beer and booze."

They've also had the chance to learn the ins and outs of international audiences through the fans' reaction to their music. For instance, they see a big difference between audiences in Europe, America, and Japan.

"In continental Europe, people are drunk in there and kinda the UK as well. The crowd is like a big blob, like an amoeba that is constantly moving whether you are playing or not. People are slightly more sober in America, but in Japan, they are in control. They go nuts when you are playing the song but when there’s no playing the song they just stand still and listen, which is kinda weird."

Even with an international audience made up of dedicated fans, The Hives, like any other band, have encountered tough critics and naysayers. "It doesn’t really matter. We could have had a bad review all the time. It wouldn’t really affect me so much," said Arson, who rates his band's music as a 6 out of a possible 5.

Reading poor reviews of their music may seem disheartening, but fear not! The Hives stay level-headed about bad reviews by being critical of the critics.

"If people write a bad review then they can learn something from that. We give them a grade from 1 to 5 and we write some pointers as to what they should think about when they review our next record."

In fact, Arson sees some bad reviews they've received on their North American tour as a compliment. "There is stuff in America that I think is complete crap that is popular. You know there are people out there who love really bad music and if they like our record I don’t know what to do with that, but if they hate our records, that is good!"

Well, there's an ironic statement for ya!

You can find out more about The Hives at www.hives.nu.

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April   |2008-02-20 22:37:24 The Hives...Fall is just something that grownups invented!!!! Thatis what I think of now when I think of them. [smiley=laugh] Reply 0   0

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."