Wild Evil Entertainment Department (W.E.E.D)

By Kristian

Wild Evil Entertainment Department, W.E.E.D among friends, have released their first album. Their explosive musical style is bound to take Denmark, and Europe by storm. They've played gigs in Denmark and the UK, and their performance both on and off stage is well worth the visit. So I sat down with the guys from W.E.E.D for a talk about their history, and future.

LC: Tell us about the history of the band. Where did you guys meet? Were you in previous bands?

W: We've played for about two years now. Einar and Asger was in an early line-up and went looking for some dedicated guys, when the old band split up. Rasmus used to play in Strömning and Gomp 88, Mads claims that he - years ago -' rehearsed once with the old band - but no one remembers. Lars knew Mads so he dropped by with his bass one night. Pretty wasted...and right after we had tried another bassplayer, who had just got one-point-something million DKK in insurrance money and were willing to throw some of it into the band. But we went for Lars and there hasn't been any money in the band ever since...

LC: I hear a lot of different influences in your music, who are your major influences?

W: Well, no one in particular. We listen to everything from Cash and
Clash to blues, Velvet Underground...whatever you've got? We're pretty open minded and there's quite a few record collectors in the band.

LC: The singing and lyrics sound mostly punk influenced. But the songs vary a lot in style - from straight punk over garage and retro 60's to a kind of lo-fi sound. Is there one specific style that's is more W.E.E.D. than others? Or do you like to shop around for the "right" sound for a song?

W: Most of the songs are written on acoustic guitars, and then we all come with our different approach and try to put some energy, soul or whatever into it and see what happens and where it takes us. We all like to experiment...

LC: Quite a few of the lyrics have a political theme, more or less obvious in some cases. Do you consider yourselves to be political band, or do you just need to vent sometimes?

W: That really depends on who you ask! We're not religious, we're just
suspicious...and that goes for politics as well. It shouldn't be about preaching but reaching people.

LC: Lets talk about your band name: Wild Evil Entertainment Department.
First - Wild Entertainment: is that the purpose of the band, to entertain wildly - or do you have another (less fun) reason for writing music?

W: You could get the "peace-love-and-pitbull-version" of how everything is turned into entertainment today. Just watch the news...But the truth is that people always used to say: "oh your band is called Weed! So do you guys smoke a lot or what?" Someone just came up with a standard reply: it stands for wild evil entertainment dumbass! The last part was later changed, but the name pretty much covers what sometimes happens on and off the stage on a good night. Sure, we like to entertain...

LC: What about the Evil part, are you guys really Evil? Or just wannabe
henchmen?

W: Wouldn't it be nice if you could wake up every morning and throw a rope around the neck of people you don't like? No, we are very easy-going guys...

LC: You've just played a lot of gigs in England and Scotland, how does
it feel playing abroad compared to playing in Denmark or Iceland?

W: It's just a totally different music culture. You see both teenagers and old men and women in the crowd on a Tuesday night, and they really go for it - if they like the music. There's so many bands around, and you actually see A&R people and lawyers show up looking for new acts to work with or just some easy money! There's a lot of talk and you shouldn't believe half of what you're promised before you get it on paper. Small bands like us don't get paid much at the venues, but the beers are cheap and it's been a good lesson for us to do both the "toilet-circuit" and some of the bigger venues. We'll probably go back again in February...

LC: If you had to chose between recording records in a studio, and playing live - which would you choose?

W: We're very much a live band.

LC: Having played quite a few gigs, what is the best/worst/funniest/weirdest moment you've had playing?

W: The Garage in London top the list of good gigs. The worst? 80-100
people paying to get in - just to sit at the bar next door and ask the
soundman if he could play some disco! The weirdest? Playing in front of
a crowd of A&R-people with their little notebooks. The most stupid/funny? Asger almost knocking himself out and breaking a thumb and a tooth on stage - and Einar just sitting on top of him playing guitar like nothing happened.

LC: Your debut album has received a lot of positive feedback, congratulations. How would you describe the process of creating your first album as W.E.E.D., and why?

W: It was a bit chaotic and stressfull at times. Some came directly from Court and just wanted to sit and a have a few beers and relax. Some had been waiting for hours and wanted to get going. When we began to play someone dropped a beer into a 50.000 DKK microphone...and ahmm...that was about it for the first day. So the whole album basically had to be recorded the day after and we had to dump a couple of songs that simply didn't work.

LC: Do you plan on making more albums, or is it early rock'n'roll retirement after this?

W: We have just started to record some new songs. So hopefully we'll end up with a second album.

LC: If you could have ten minutes alone in a dark room, with a historical musician. Who would it be?

W: We had a nice talk with T-Model Ford the last time he played at Loppen. The man is like a living legend to us. So instead of any kinky stuff, we'd rather sit and listen to all his sad, funny and scary stories. A totally dark room might even give us the chance to take a sip of his whisky without the old man noticing...

LC: Do you have anything to add?

W: Thanks - and come see the show at Studenterhuset, Cph., Friday 17th
with Ghost Rocket, The Deadbeats (S) and Submission (S).