It’s been a while since we last had a chat with the excellent guys from Nekrogoblikon, so ahead of their excellent show in Manchester (our review of the night can be read here) we sat down in a pub with guitarist Goldberg, keyboardist Raptor and drummer Bready to talk touring, dream lineups, and what ended up with singer Scorpion needing stitches in the back of his head!
So last time we caught up with you guys was nearly two years ago, at the Kerrang Tour in 2014. What’s been happening in the land of Nekrogoblikon since then?
Goldberg: A lot of stuff! We got back from that and then started writing our new record that came out way too long afterwards – it took a long time to finish the record because we did some light touring in the US in the midst of it. Anyway, we put it out last Summer in June and this is probably the most touring we’ve ever done. We just want to get the album out there, basically!
Have you seen any more of the UK this time round or have you just been stuck in the van again?
Bready: Yeah, it’s kinda like that again!
(everyone laughs)
Raptor: We’ve partied, and we get around…
Goldberg: Yeah, we went across the street to do some proper sight-seeing…! I think we’re doing the same amount of dates on this tour as the Kerrang tour, or maybe even a few less, but it’s cool because we’re not playing the O2 Academies – we’re playing all these smaller venues and I think it gives us a better feel for a typical show is all about over here, and what the middle-of-the-week shows are like because we can see what the local scene is all about.
So how would you say your shows on this tour differ to the bigger ones of the Kerrang tour?
Goldberg: Well, we get the validation of everyone being there for us, which is always good.
Bready: A longer set so we get double the length of the Kerrang tour!
Raptor: Yeah, it’s definitely more relaxed as a headliner. Obviously there’s the longer set, but if you’re opening up you’re on that time limit so you’ve just got to get on with it, but now it’s more relaxed.
Goldberg: Yeah, we’ve got a schedule…we’re late all the time but generally people have to deal with it!
Raptor: It’s because stupid shit always happens to us!
(everyone laughs)
Goldberg: Yeah. So…two days ago on the tour van that we rented, the sun roof – which I guess is a bit of a misnomer here…
Bready: A cloud roof?
Goldberg: Or a rain roof!
Raptor: A ceiling window.
Goldberg: Well, whatever it was – we were having trouble with it, and at one point it was so windy that it just said “fuck it, I’m done” and flew off!
Bready: We were driving back from Scotland and it was so windy so it just flew back and the hinge just shattered.
Goldberg: There was an explosion of glass too at the same time. Before it took off, it was like “well, here’s a parting gift” and there was a shower of glass onto us. So that happened, and we had to ghetto-rig this thing just to keep the rain out! And then last night our mighty frontman Scorpion, in an act of drunken heroism, attempted to rectify the situation by getting on top of the van, but he fell off the van, cracked his skull and has seven stitches in the back of his head. It looks really gnarly and it looks really metal – it’s like super craggly and badass! But it also really sucks. (laughs)
Raptor: That all happened in the space of 24 hours, too. From sun roof, to stitches!
Goldberg: Hopefully that’s the end of the whole saga now though.
Raptor: Yeah, maybe tonight we’ll just go to bed.
Goldberg: Yeah, we’ll go to bed and make sure nobody tries to be a hero!
So what’s there instead of the ‘sun’ roof now?
Raptor: Well first, we got this chicken sign…it felt like it was big enough to cover the hole and it kind of worked, it kind of didn’t.
Goldberg: And layers and layers of duct tape. It was the final roll they had at the fuel station we stopped at and we used all of it but it wasn’t enough! Our driver went to a hardware store and got planks of wood and all this stuff to put over it but it’s still not quite doing it. We can’t slam the door too hard otherwise the thing might fall off!
Bready: We’ve got this wood up there and there’s this seal round it to prevent the water from coming in but it never gets a chance to dry because it keeps raining so it just continues to drip through! But we’re getting closer to a solution.
Well hopefully you’ll make it to the end of the tour…!
Raptor: Well the plan right now is to swap the van out. We’ll have more storage space and it’s going to be fixed here by tomorrow.
Goldberg: And then that van will have a whole new set of problems so more hilarity will inevitably ensue.
Raptor: We’re getting a new van because there’s no way this thing will last!
So how many days have you got left?
Goldberg: This is day three, so…
Raptor: Hopefully we’ve got all the shit out of the way early!
Goldberg: Our final UK date is on February 7 in Milton Keynes.
Bready: Actually…!
Goldberg: Well, that’s not true. Our final UK date for a little while is that, then we go over to mainland Europe and hit a few countries there, then we come back and we’re doing Guilford on the 19th. That’s the last show but we don’t fly back until the 23rd so we’re not exactly sure what to do in the meantime.
Maybe you can do a spot of sight-seeing since you’ve missed out the last few times!
Goldberg: Yeah, maybe a bit of sightseeing and we’re thinking it would also be cool to randomly find somewhere to do a house show!
Raptor: We basically just need someone with a PA.
That would be pretty crazy. Speaking on a more broader sense, what’s been the best show you’ve played?
Bready: Download was pretty good.
Goldberg: Yeah, Download, Heavy Montreal were good – the big festival shows. And then the Brixton date of the Kerrang tour was amazing.
Raptor: Glasgow, the other night, was insane!
Goldberg: Glasgow was great! It was one of the craziest audiences we’ve ever had. It was sold out and absolutely packed. There was a barrier in front of us and by the end I was pretty sure the barrier was gonna crush us!
Raptor: It was madness – the stage shrunk to about half its size!
Bready: There was a designated stage area but it wasn’t elevated so by the end of the night everything had just been pushed into us. Everything was falling over – or being knocked over – and it was incredible. The crowd just went all-out.
Raptor: To be honest, all our shows have been pretty good – our last few tours have all been great. They seem to get better and better every time.
Goldberg: Definitely. As we tour more and more, we can think less and can really enjoy the performance aspect of it all.
What about a dream show? If you could play on any show lineup, who would you choose to play with?
Bready: I guess it would be cool to play with someone like Metallica but I think we’d just get ignored because you’re not that band so I don’t know what it would be like to tour with them.
Goldberg: In that case we could do a headline tour and take seventeen bands with us that nobody’s ever heard of, and make us seem really amazing and popular by comparison.
Raptor: It would be sweet to do a Mastodon tour.
Bready: Or Children Of Bodom.
Goldberg: Yeah, Children Of Bodom would be a great tour. But I think my top dream tour, in all honesty, would be Faith No More or System Of A Down. Final answer – System Of A Down! Also Deftones.
What about a tour with Finntroll or TrollfesT? It could be goblins versus trolls!
Bready: Yeah, everyone always brings that up! And it would probably be good.
Goldberg: We’re just waiting for them to hit us up…! We know it’s coming up…one day.
Raptor: It’s in the stars.
Goldberg: I don’t think Finntroll understands us. We were on a cruise ship with them and we played the same 70000 Tonnes Of Metal festival so we have played together. They’ve known we’ve existed for a long time because when our first album Goblin Island came out, we kinda harassed them online. We had a song called Goblins Are Better Than Trolls and they thought it was funny and kinda talked back a bit, but I don’t think they really understand us as people or understand what we’re trying to do with our music at all, so…
Maybe you’d be a better fit with TrollfesT as they’re a bit more ‘out there’?
Goldberg: TrollfesT is cool! To be honest I’ve actually been thinking for the past couple of days about why didn’t we invite them to be on this tour!
They’ve never actually done a full UK tour.
Goldberg: Well, all the more reason for us to tour together then. Maybe next time!
When you become a mega-famous band and can have anything, what will you demand on your rider?
Goldberg: Five replacement sunroofs.
(everyone laughs)
Only five?
Raptor: If we get them at every show, I think it’ll be enough!
Goldberg: To be honest, I’d just want more alcohol than we currently have, and better quality.
Raptor: What do people get on riders aside from booze and food?
Bready: I heard someone wanted only green M&Ms or something.
Goldberg: A kiddie pool filled with various candies. And a rented dog that we can just pet – but it has to be a different dog each night, so we’ll have to specify.
Bready: A petting zoo in general.
Goldberg: Or a masseuse so we can get massages!
Raptor: Yeah, that’s the best answer so far.
Goldberg: They had that at Heavy Montreal – there was a tent we could just go in and get a massage. You weren’t allowed to go in there if you were within an hour of performing.
Bready: Yeah, they wouldn’t let you because you’d be too relaxed!
Goldberg: So yeah. A backstage massage – that’s the dream!
Sounds great! And my last question – what’s in store for Nekrogoblikon for 2016?
Goldberg: A lot more touring. I’d love to come back here at some point but there’s no official plans.
A lot of bands tour in the latter half of the year – that may be worth looking into!
Goldberg: Yeah, I’d be down for that – maybe in September. October we can’t, as we have a full US tour over the whole month. It’s a pretty exciting lineup but I can’t say what it is yet! It’s pretty cool, we’re finally touring with a band that it makes sense for us to tour with as we quite often tour with all these oddball bands! I’m confident that a lot of people will be excited about this one. But I’d love to be back in the UK at some point too.
Bready: Summer we haven’t got anything planned, so we’ll see what happens.
Goldberg: That might work! But aside from that we’re gonna be touring the US a lot. And in between touring we’ll be working on new music as well.
