Maria Andersson – vocals, guitars
Jennie Asplund – guitar, vocals, percussion
Johana Asplund – bass, vocals
Josephine Forsman – drummer, vocals, piano
Even though the four Scandinavian musicians in Sahara Hotnights have been together for ten years making records, touring with various cover darlings on NME, and playing huge festivals like Reading in the U.K., the gals are just getting warming up to take on the U.S. with a full country tour to promote “Jennie Bomb”, a title dedication to their own guitarist and vocalist, Jennie Asplund. Given their success in other lands, Maria Andersson, the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist doesn’t see this as something that will help them gain notoriety in America, “I don’t know if the U.S. cares about what’s popular in England or Europe. I know England is a country that other countries look at to see what’s hip. I don’t think it’s like that much anymore…I don’t think that England has come out with that many good bands,” she says, laughing.
Aside from the dedication, the title of “Jennie Bomb”, their second full-length release, fits like a leather glove with the finger tips sliced off, exploding with powerful punk rock chords and lyrics brimming with harsh passion, “If you write the song in a different state of mind, like you’re pissed off,” Maria says, referring to tracks such as “Alright Alright/Here’s My Fist Where’s The Fight?”, “then that’s what comes out. On “Only The Fake Survive”, it’s an ironic title. It’s about where only those with money survive, whether it be a manufactured band, or a company…it’s a cynical view of the way things work.”
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Although it would be easy to throw the four gals in with other rock divas like the Donnas, Joan Jet, and Elastica, these female musicians strive to have their own identity, “It’s always boring to put yourself in a certain category and compare yourself to someone famous.”
Speaking of running the lemming path, the whole “rock is back” thing is really tired, simply because it never really left. Now it’s just in the popularity circuit when it comes to mainstream media, whether it’s the cover of Rolling Stone or a Toyota car commercial. Given Sahara Hotnight’s immense talent for ripping out invigorating rock riffs, forceful vocals and provocative guitar hooks, the next step would be to stick them in with this rock trend. Maria feels these trends are unavoidable when, “magazines and record labels want to make money. Of course, it’s both good and bad. There’s a part of me that wants some rock music to be kept underground, but if there’s a good band, you want them to get the exposure they deserve.
There’s always a fad. Its just most people don’t see through that. They don’t see that people just want to make a dime. We’ve seen some good rock bands come out, but I bet we’re gonna see a million bad clones coming out in the next few years,” she exasperates.
The closest example of this was every A&R rep following Sub Pop around in the early ’90s to see what they should sign next, or when Calvin Klein was imitating lumberjack wear for $150 a pop, “It’s embarrassing when people are out there getting into this hype and being something they really don’t want to be. It’s almost better to not even know anything about it.”
The name Sahara Hotnights actually came about when Josephine was at the horse track, and chose the steed by its name as her sure bet to win. So far this formula, along with the power and heat to back it, is working. They’re already off to the races with tour success here in the U.S., including sold out shows in Los Angeles and Seattle. And this success may mean they’ll be back again to take on a larger audience in the Spring. Just don’t expect to be able to see them again in the quaint environment of Lions Lair, like tonight, where the foursome will definitely burn down the house.
