Nirvana and grunge may have killed off the 80s metal scene, but it didn’t snuff out the flame of influence that it had on many generations to follow. The Swedish rockers Crazy Lixx aren’ t the least bit shy about their musical influences as their sound is a throwback to the aquanet rock of the 80s, yet still managing to sound modern and fresh. The band’s been crafting their sound for over a decade now and their latest self-titled album seems to have struck a musical nerve with listeners around the globe. I recently sat down with lead singer and founder Danny Rexon who schooled me on all things Crazy Lixx.
Hey Danny! Man, I have to tell you that upon first listen to your new album, I was immediately taken back to a time when the hair was big, the makeup was in abundance and spandex was everywhere and that was just the guys. Who are some of the bands who influenced your sound?
Danny Rexon: You’re totally right about that! We like to say that we’re an 80’s sounding heavy metal band and we’re influenced by a wide range of rock bands from those days. To name a few: KISS (the unmasked era in particular), Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Guns n’ Roses, Skid Row and Alice Cooper.
As a music nerd, I love finding out about a band’s name. Is there a story behind yours or is it something just sounded cool?
There is quite a strange story behind it. It was like this, when I was a kid I got my first “music instrument” for Christmas; a Japanese, electrical, plastic toy guitar that played cool metal riffs when you pressed its buttons. I actually used that guitar on my first stage performance, when I was around 10, lip syncing to Metallica in front of my school class. Many years later, when I founded Crazy Lixx, I thought about the guitar that I had lost a long time ago, but I remembered the name of it wrong. I recalled it as Crazy Lixx, but when I found it on the internet years later, I saw that it was actually called Hot Lixx. So, maybe if I remembered my first guitar correctly the band would have been called Hot Lixx instead.
What made you decide to start this band?
Back in 2002, I decided that the direction of the band I was currently in (as a bass player) was wrong. I wanted to play the stuff that my heroes from when I was a kid used to do, the kind of 80’s heavy metal that I loved.
I am new to the Crazy Lixx family and didn’t realize that you’ve been at this for over a decade and have released four albums. Have you been to the U.S. yet to perform? Any U.S . plans in the near future?
We haven’t been in the U.S., but we’d love to come over and play. We just haven’t found a serious promoter over there that wants to hook us up. So, no real plans as of now, but we do have a lot of fans in the US and it’s always been a dream of mine to tour in America.
So, I was doing some stalking on-line to see what fans were saying about you and the new album. I came across several comments about this album being a return to the sound that got them hooked on you to begin with. How far did you stray from that sound on the last album Riot Avenue? Was that album a learning experience of sorts?
We strayed a bit, but mostly when it came to the sound and production, not so much the musical style. As I said before, we take our influences from many different bands from the era and on Riot Avenue, we chose to take more of the rawer aspects of them. We did learn a lot from doing it that way though, especially since it was the first album that we produced ourselves instead of hiring an external producer.
What about your song writing process? Is there a principal songwriter? Do you lock yourself in a room until a song is created or does it just happen when it happens?
Andy (Zata) and I write 99% of the material and most often we write entire songs by ourselves and then get together to work through arrangements or lyrics. Since we don’t have a tight deadline, we usually let the stuff get written when it wants to instead of rushing anything. We also write songs continuously and not only when it’s time to do a new album.
What made you decide to go back and re-record your first single “Heroes Are Forever” and include it on the new album?
It ‘s a song that was released as our first single back in 2007 and that was also featured on our first, now out of print, album. Since then, we’ve played it live on almost every show we’ve done and to justify playing it, we felt we had to give our new fans a fair chance of hearing the song, which in its old version is kind of hard to get by. So, we re-recorded it for the new album and I think it really shows how we’ve evolved as musicians since the first recording.
What made you decide to want to be a singer in a band?
I actually started out as the rhythm guitarist in Crazy Lixx and I was never meant to do the lead vocals, but when the time came to record our first demo we still hadn’t found a good singer. We decided I should sing on the demo and we’d use that to look for a vocalist. Everybody in the band was really happy with the result though and we decided I would ditch the guitar and become the lead vocalist instead. Also, the lead vocalist is always the coolest person in the band and I thought that suited me well.
We touched on your influences earlier, but what were three albums that influenced/changed you after you heard them?
Right from the top of my head, I would say Crazy Nights by KISS, New Jersey by Bon Jovi and Trash by Alice Cooper.
What does 2015 hold in store for you guys? Are there big plans or tours that you want to mention?
We’re in the planning stage right now, so I can’t tell you too much. There’s going to be some summer festivals around Europe for sure though.
Speaking of your live show, do you have any pre-show rituals?
Usually, we just take it easy and try not to think too much about the show. I sing a bit before to warm up my voice and try to drink a lot of fluid. Then, we sacrifice a small animal to our lord Belial and paint our faces with its fresh, warm blood while chanting evil verses from ancient scrolls that we always carry with us; that kind of stuff.
It sounds like fans are definitely in for a treat if you ever sell any meet and greet packages! Speaking of those fans, do you have any closing words for them?
If you book us, we will come.
Crazy Lixx – Hell Raising Women (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
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