8 Balled!
Jeff Warren VS. the Backyard Babies
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"With my shaky legs and a messed up heart
My plans didn't work out that smart"*

 I don’t know what to say. No doubt you’re beside yourself, as excited as a Canadian kid at a porn party, believing that once and for all this site – the site you have trusted for all your sleaze rock news, the site you have devoted all of your useless, battery-licking minutes to – is finally delivering the goods. Hot damn! A Backyard Babies interview. Trust me; I can feel your trembling anticipation, for I too once trembled. Truth be told, I’ve been hunting this rare geological interview specimen since the day I began writing about choking riffs, dangerous women, and underground habits, and I don’t think I’ve ever been as passionate about anything gonzo rock related as I was about talking to the Backyard Babies.

But again, I reiterate: I don’t know what to say. Because vehemence and idolizing aside, this thing has fallen flat on its face. And it’s a shame, truly, for this was a golden opportunity to bring one of the world’s sleaziest rock bands to the world’s sleaziest rock fans on the world’s sleaziest rock site. But circumstance ain’t happenstance and in rock you gotta roll, with whatever comes swinging your way. So, I got my interview, but it was going to have to be over email. Fine, so be it. I loathe email interviews, and rarely participate in them, but if this was the only way I could get an interview then I was going to have to betray my rock gonzo ethics (!?) just this once. It’s the Backyard Babies, after all, Sweden’s ultimate greasy export. They’re the reason most of us are here, you can count on that.

Ah, forget it. You already know all about them. And if you don’t, you somehow managed to stumble upon the wrong site. So we’ll skip the history lesson and get right at it. Here’s my email interview with Backyard Babies’ vocalist/guitarist Nicke Borg, who took some time to respond to my questions while out on tour. Here’s the diesel, friends. And I promise you that I won’t rest until I get another, proper interview, and bring you the mother fuckin’ power. ____________________________________________________________________________________

So just what the hell happened between you and Hardcore Superstar, anyway?

Nothing, really. I met them this summer when Silver (HCSS guitarist) joined us for guest vocals on Friends.*

Speaking of fights, who's the toughest Backyard Baby and what's the meanest thing he's ever done?

We’re lovers, not fighters, and fucking a band mate’s girlfriend.

Despite all the good music coming out of your country, Sweden has to have some dirty little secrets. What's the worst thing about Sweden's music scene that no one knows about?

Yngwie (ha ha).
Hyperbole aside, just how fucking good are you guys, anyway? Don't be modest; this is rock n' roll after all.

We are one of the best rock bands around, but even when we’re bad we’re damn good. That’s what separates us from the rest.

Word amongst me and my peers is that Total 13 is one of the greatest sleaze rock records of all time. Your thoughts?

Of course I love the album, but it also has to do a lot with that it came out at the time it did.

You formed in 1989. What have you seen go down since then and where do you fit in to the whole equation?

We’re just a bridge to help people not forget about good-time-sexy-dangerous-rock n’ roll. If there’s a mission, it’s to pass it on to the next generation, which I think we succeed at a bit already. But also to show the world that there are no rules in rock and you shouldn’t look that much back. BYB has always tried our own way sin combination with what we love.

What was everyone in the band doing before the Backyard Babies and how embarrassing was it?

School I guess, but I dropped out and worked a bit at a laundry to pay my rent.

What's the most prophetic thing you've ever sung about and did it in fact come true?

Everything was true or did actually come true. On the other hand, I’m not singing about goblins and wizards either.

What Backyard Babies song are you most proud of?

Year By Year, but I can’t really say. I love everything we do.

 

What Backyard Babies song are you most ashamed of?

None.

We've finally moved beyond the age where we're comparing the sleaziest bands on the planet to Hanoi Rocks, Dogs D'Amour, and the New York Dolls. Now we're comparing them to the Backyard Babies. Are you ok with that?

Honoured.

Is it true that everybody hates you when you love rock n' roll?

Que? I got the feeling they love you.**

Now that you've finally made it on to Sleazegrinder.com, what's next?

US tour/release, UK tour/release, one more trip to Japan, and then start writing a new album.

 - FIN -

*I must be the only guy to remember seeing something written about the two bands coming to blows. But Nicke certainly glossed over it and I couldn’t find anything on the Internet. Oh well.

-Jeff Warren
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*Sleazegrinder note: Jeff loves the Backyard Babies way more then the rest of us. Hence the slightly hysterical pitch of his intro. He seems to have taken Nicke's lack of fire-belching personally. I tried to tell 'im that Swedes are very rarely mouthy, even when they're big time rock n roll stars. It's what keeps them out of wars. Anyway, "Bombed (Outta My Mind)" , from their Total 13 record, is pretty close to the greatest rock n' roll song ever written, and for that, we salute the Babies. Even if they've sounded like Def Leppard for the past 7 years.

**Hah! Not in this town, Baby.
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