With a political message that is as relevant as ever, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, have reemerged and released a new album A New Morning, A Changing Weather. The new album has a tighter rhythm sound with a more soulful injection but still retains the Rock&Roll message that was so prevalent on their Epitaph/Burning Heart debut Survival Sickness. With the events of September 11 so fresh in our minds, T(I)NC released an album and started a tour in America. I recently had a chance to speak with Lars at The Roxy in Hollywood and talk about recent events, the distant past, present and what lies in the future for T(I)NC.
Michael Moriatis: The Title of T(I)NC’s new album “A New Morning Changing Weather”, has it taken on any new significance to you since Sept 11?
Lars: Not really, because Sept 11 was a turning point in modern contemporary history so to speak. But I mean still the power structures in society exist and the way people are treated are still the same, the way people are slaved to work and how people have to have 3 jobs to live and support their kids. All that shit is still there the exact same way as it was before Sept 11. So, I don’t think the significance of the album has changed, because there is still discontent with the way people are treated.
I was thinking that after September 11 a lot of things would change, but it seems like three months later nothing has really changed. Do you agree?
Lars: Yes
What is a typical day for the band when you are not touring?
Lars: When we are home we try to relax and see friends. Just hang out. If there are any protests going on we try to attend those. When we are home we try to organize as much as possible locally while trying to relax.
Do you like going to shows and seeing other bands play?
Lars: Totally, if anything is going on we are always there.
Myself personally, I don’t agree with your politics but I really enjoy your music. Am I the type of person you want as a fan?
Lars: We really don’t have a type of person that we want listening to our music. We want to play music for everyone. That’s why we started this band because we wanted to expand on the street core punk we were playing. We wanted to challenge ourselves to do something different from that and sort of to put our musical talent to good use as to rehashing punk rock all the time. We just want to play in front of anyone that will just listen.
I had read that when recording Survival Sickness that the group was listening to a lot of Rolling Stones. What was on the record player when recording A New Morning?
Lars: A lot of different sounds. The rhythm section is a lot tighter and was influenced on soul and funk. I had been listening to a lot of 80’s pop and new wave and I think you can hear a lot of that in there. We did not want to do another album that was easily tagged like Survival Sickness was, just pure Rock&Roll. We wanted more Melody
I have heard nothing but praise for the new album. Have you heard any negative reviews for it?
Lars: We don’t really get along with critics in Sweden and Scandinavia. They don’t really like us that much. The critics just want to pan us. People here in the States really like us. It is good to get the bad reviews to keep us down to earth.
How did it come about that your very first tour was in China?
Lars: A friend from our hometown moved to China and started a record label with this Swedish guy and he wanted to make a record with us. We told him we would do it, jokingly, if he got us a tour in China. He was quiet for a few seconds and then said sure. Next thing we knew we were on our way.
Were you afraid of getting arrested?
Lars: Very much so. We had to smuggle all of our instruments and records. It worked out pretty good. It was one occasion where the language barrier helped us. Even if the cops found our records they wouldn’t know what they meant.
Would you ever want to go back and tour?
Lars: I don’t think we could in the same way since our name has gotten bigger.
I have seen Dennis on stage and notice he has moves like James Brown. Does he influence him?
Lars: (Laughingly) He steals all kind of moves.
What can we expect in the future for T(I)NC?
Lars: We just want to tour as much as possible and put our more records to get our message across.
