THE CRUEL INTENTIONS : Interview With Hairbandheaven.rocks
Former Vains of Jenna singer Lizzy DeVine has hooked up with fellow Swedes Mats Wernerson and Robin Nilsson and Norwegian rock monster Kristian Nygaard Solhaug to form The Cruel Intentions. As you'd expect, they have more swagger than a dozen penguins bloated on krill. (Classic Rock Magazine)
Hairbandheaven.rocks talked with Lizzy Devine and Mats Wernerson of the Creul Intentions about the bands upcoming debut album, influences, touring plans and more.
HBH: For those people out there who may not know about the band (yet) can you tell us a little bit about The Cruel Intentions?
LIZZY: We are a 4 piece by rock n roll band out of Scandinavia. We’ve been playing together for a few years now and finally decided to record our debut album.If you’re a fan of sleazy rock n roll you will love our band.
HBH: What can fans expect from the bands debut album “No Sign of Relief”?
LIZZY: 35 minutes of non stop action.Dirty rock songs with big hooks and catchy melodies.A fun album to listen to in your car, when you drink or when you have trouble sleeping. It works well at dinner parties as well.
HBH: The song ‘Jawbreaker’ is a killer little sleazy rock n roll track. I must confess that I may be responsible for a few hundred or so of those plays on Spotify. Can you talk a little bit about the inspiration for “Jawbreaker’?
LIZZY: Well, most of the time when we write music we come up with the music first. Then we write the melodies.Then somehow I need to ink down some lyrics for that. And a lot of times the first thing that pop up in my head I use for the lyrics. With this song the first line in the song “too many people blocking every little move that I make, I need to terminate” came to me. So from that we created a pissed off song about either wanting to beat the shit out of somebody or fighting your own demons. It’s up to the listener to decide.
HBH: The single “Borderline Crazy” was released in 2015 and since racked up over half a million plays on Spotify. Are you a fan of music streaming services or do you just find it to be a necessary evil in todays world of music?
LIZZY: I love that music is available to everyone these days.You write music because you want people to hear it not to become rich.
HBH: Following up on the last question a bit. The band’s new release will also be out on vinyl and in cd format. What do think of the resurgence of vinyl, and where can people buy the new album that will be most beneficial to the band?
Lizzy: I used to collect records when I was a kid so I really love vinyls. So personally it’s awesome that people started to buy, listen and collect again. They’re beautiful and they sound great. The best way to make us, the band happy is to come to one of our live shows and buy the album there! Or in the stores, iTunes or at our record label. Here's a link to buy No Sign of Relief CD/LP or bundles with tshirt:
THE CRUEL INTENTIONS – Indie Recordings Shop
Official webshop for the Norwegian label Indie Recordings
HBH: Having listened to the entire album, in my opinion it’s one of ( if not the best) sleaze metal records in years. If this album had been released in the 80’s theres no doubt the band would be all over MTV and radio, selling tons of records. So my question is, how do you define the success of an album in 2018?
MATS: Wow! Thanks a lot for the kind words. I think many define success in likes, views and streams these days. I keep track of our views and streaming and compare to other bands in the genre but it's not 100% correct. I mean some bands buy likes/followers on Facebook to look successful but it doesn't add up to the streaming on Spotify for example. We have sold our debut album to Japan, Austraila, USA and all over in Europe and that for me is success.
HBH: Growing up what bands or artist inspired you to want to become a musician?
MATS: Gotta say Iron Maiden! Can't remember much growing up but I do remember Eddie and Bruce Dickinson's hair and spandex Haha. Mind blown. Later on hearing Skidrow's first album made me wanna play Rock n Roll and become a musician.
HBH: Give us your top five albums of all-time?
MATS: Oh that's a hard one. I'll give you my 5 albums which have had the biggest impact on me.
1. Guns n Roses, Appetite for destruction 2. Shotgun Messiah, Second coming 3. Mötley Crüe, Too fast for love 4. Hanoi Rocks, Street Poetry 5. SKIDROW, s/t
HBH: What touring plans does the band have lined up in support of “No Sign of Relief”?
MATS; We are going to Hamburg on Thursday(20/9) to be a part of Indie Recordings showcase gig at Reeperbahn Music Festival. Then it's Helsinki, Finland together with Shiraz Lane on the 27th of October. We got some stuff going on but I'm not allowed to talk about yet!
HBH: Is there anything else you would like to add?
MATS: Buy our debut album! Stream it, download it and play it loud. Buy other bands albums, go see rock bands play live shows and support the rock n roll scene.
