Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? Nitrogods

How was the band formed? 4 Years ago when I had left Primal Fear. I founded it with our drummer Klaus whom I´ve know since my time in Primal Fear.

Can you tell about your band? It´s a simple, blues based heavy Rock´n Roll threepiece with an attitude. We like to keep things real and raw.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? We are a german band. Klaus and Oimel are from Stuttgart . I am from Hannover. Klaus Sperling plays drums, Oimel Larcher sings and plays bass and I sing and play guitar.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? We wanted to get away from the typical german metal sound and focus on handmade Rock´n Roll. Hoped we were gonna get a record deal and be on tour.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? It´s a mix of our favourite bands. We love Motörhead, Status Quo, Rose Tattoo, Ac/DC and ZZ Top.

Where was your first gig? In a little bar called Rainbow in a small southern town in Germany.

Where was the latest gig? In Bochum / Zeche, Germany supporting Grave Digger.

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? We all do.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? Everything´s good with the band. Nitrogods are a Hard Rock/Rock´n Roll band. I guess  press and most people would call it metal.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? It´s our favorite music. We all have different influences, but this is the sound we all like.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We only write our own stuff. Sometimes we throw in a cover at a live show.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Too many to list. Apart from Nitrogods I played in some bands called Thunderhead, Primal Fear and Sinner. Klaus played in Primal Fear, Sinner and Freedom Call, too.

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes. Nitrogods have 4 official video clips called Black car driving man, At least I´m drunk, Zombietrain and Rats & Rumours. 

How old are you?/What got you started in music? I´m 48. Started out in `78 listening to Kiss.

At what age did you start playing? At 14.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? I had my first band and show at the age of 17.

What year was the band started? Nitrogods or my very first band? Nitrogods started in 2011. My very first band did an album in 1984.

Best/worst gig you've played? Worst was Thunderhead 1990 at Rockfabrik Kehl with an attendance of 16 people and a truckload full of production. Best were with Nitrogods in 2012 at summer night Open Air in Germany and with Primal Fear at Prog Power Atlanta in 2007. Or was it 2008? Don´t know.

What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? We´ll be playing a row of club shows in spring and some summer festivals with Nitrogods.

Where have you played from then till now? You mean places or countries?  I´ll go with countries, cause I can´t remember every place I played.
That´s Germany, USA, England, Japan, Brasil, Argentina, Colombia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Romania, East Germany, Poland Chec Rep., , Mexico, Turky, Greece and many more.

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? The Eagles.

Is it always the same songs live? No, we change the setlist frequently.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? We had a couple of good shows during our last tour with Grave Digger.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Supporting Grave Digger for 2 months has been our longest tour so far.

How big crowds do you usually play for? Depends if we played there before. In a town we played before we draw about 200 people.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? Do club shows and festivals and write the next album.

Where do you usually play? In clubs and on festivals. 

How do you get psyched up for a gig? I´m psyched enough. Don´t have to psyche up.

What are your goals with your music? Have a proper record deal, be on tour and put out an album every 1 ½ years.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? As a teenager.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? I rarely find inspiration in new stuff. My record collection consists of 70´s and 80´s rock plus some Punk, Blues and Rockabilly stuff.

What are your sources of inspiration? Anything that surprises me. It´s not necessarily about a new style, it´s more about the way it´s played.

What's the first step when making a new song? Mostly the riff.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Bad for musicians. But that´s the way it is. Ain´t a thing you or I can do about it. 

What would be your dreams for the band? Being pretty old for this business that would be: Stay healthy and have a good time as long as possible.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Speaking only for myself it´s 70´s Hard Rock, Rockabilly, Blues and some old school Punk. Oddities like the early Police stuff included.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? Getting seriously ill or loosing somebody in the family.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then?

I hate stuff being thrown at me. Luckily I haven´t been hit seriously yet. But I´ve seen severe injuries on people getting hit by a beer bottle or other stuff.

I also dislike being spit on like they do in England. 

What songs and what years were they released? Probably most Led Zeppelin, early Kiss, AC/DC, early Motörhead, early Status Quo and ZZ Top songs. Plus out of the genre songs like “Message in a bottle “ by The Police or “Stray Cat Strut” by Stray Cats. I also like some Clash.

Have you been part of any other projects? Too many to list. But nothing you really might´ve heard of.

Have you been in any other bands? Viva, Thunderhead, Primal Fear, Sinner. To mention the probably most known ones.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I do music workshops with problem kids. (called Nitrogods......just kidding.

What would you do if there was no music? I would be a pretty bored and depressed old man watching soccer and arguing with my wife.

How important are your fans? Well, it´s really them that make it all happen. So they´re very important people.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? I´m still flattered when somebody gets my band logo tattooed on their necks and stuff.

How often do you rehearse? We rehearse mostly before taking a new album on tour or before important shows being recorded.

Where do you rehearse? We have 2 rehearsal rooms and backlines. One in Stuttgart and one in Hannover.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? One of my favorites from the 1^st album is Whiskey Wonderland. Another is the title track of the 2^nd album Rats & Rumours.

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Like I said above: The Eagles

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? The fun and pride of doing it. 

Do you have any webpages? www.nitrogods.de

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Not really. It´s up to everyone to make something of it. Everybody´s got their own priorities and attitudes about why and how music should be played.

Describe your show, visually and musically It´s Hi Energy Rock´n Roll without swords, dragons, trolls, hairspray, spandex, elfs, playback acting or any other bullshit.

How do you view the music industry of today?
There have been major changes due to the downloading. Nobody except the big dogs really makes much money off of this. Including the record companies. It´s a cruel world out there.

What advice would you like to give other bands? Do what you think you gotta do.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Destroying yourself before others do it:)

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Anybody who says playing clubs is so much better than the big stages is full of shit.

Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? If you love loud, raw and dirty Rock´n Roll music, you will most probably like us.

What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? I really haven´t had any bad times with Nitrogods so far. Either we haven´t been together long enough or it´s just a great band.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? No rituals.

Do you have anything to add? Hope we´ll be in Sweden soon. I love Sweden Rock. It´s my favorite summer festival.
It´s better than Wacken and anything else I´ve been on. Probably due to the odd line ups and the great location they have.