The Hives’ Niklas Almqvist explains hiatus, discusses new album and touring with Arctic Monkeys
Throughout this summer, The Hives have been reminding music fans across the United Kingdom that they are one of the premier live bands on the planet. The Swedish rockers treat every show as if it’s their last and raised a high bar for the Arctic Monkeys to follow during their set of dates together, which few bands could surpass.
From witnessing the sheer magnificence of The Hives in action at Glastonbury on The Other Stage, in front of one of the biggest crowds throughout the entire weekend on the same stage, I can vouch first-hand that they are still at the top of their game. Despite performing at 1:30pm, the rock veterans poured the same energy into the set as if they were headlining The Pyramid Stage, and it’s this consistency that has served them well over the last three decades.
Unlike other years when The Hives travelled to the UK for festival season, they finally have new songs with them and aren’t solely living off past glories. While indie-disco classics such as ‘Tick Tick Boom’ and ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ are guaranteed to cause crowds to descend into mayhem, new singles ‘Countdown To Shutdown’ and ‘Bogus Operandi’ were equally treated as classic songs in their collection.
The Hives are back, and unlike other bands from their era, they’re refusing to play into the profitable nostalgia angle. They want to move forward, and everything released under their name needs to meet a certain standard, explaining their 11-year absence.
Before the new album The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons is thrust into the world on August 11th, they last released a full-length LP in 2012. To find out what The Hives have been doing during this extensive period, whether they were ever close to calling it a day, how they managed to finally complete the highly-awaited album, touring with Arctic Monkeys and much more, Far Out spoke over Zoom with guitarist Niklas Almqvist to find out the juicy details.
Q&A with Niklas Almqvist from The Hives:
Far Out: At Release Festival in Athens, Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders joined The Hives to perform the new single ‘Rigor Mortis Radio’. How did that occur, and was the moment planned heavily in advance?
Niklas: “That was fun. It’s very rare that we do something out of the normal with The Hives. You know, it’s usually just the five of us on stage. It’s only happened on rare occasions when other people are with us. It came from Matt at some after-party. He was telling Chris (drummer Chris Dangerous) that he wanted to be on the drums with us for a little bit. That happened at one of the last shows in the UK, and then we figured out how to do it. When it has to do with drums, it’s just a little more difficult with logistics. If you’re going to have a guy on to sing, then it’s easy because you give him a microphone.”
Far Out: The last few months have been hectic for The Hives, playing stadiums across the United Kingdom with Arctic Monkeys. How have you found the experience of being part of such a massive tour?
Niklas: “I’ve found it amazing. At every show, we’ve played in front of big crowds, and I’ve been very happy for Arctic Monkeys for doing so well. It’s a band that we really like, and what I’ve been thinking about the most is that I get to go and see this band that I like playing all these massive shows. I’ve seen them at almost all the shows for a month and am so happy for them.”
Far Out: Did they handpick you as special guests? If so, it’s a ballsy decision considering The Hives’ immense reputation as a live act.
Niklas: “When you’re in a big band like that, then you get to pick whoever you want to tour with, and they’ve been brave enough to ask us the question on several occasions. I think that’s what they want because that’s what I want whenever we’re supposed to pick support bands. I want them to scare the shit out of me and make me go, ‘Oh fuck, this is going to be hard.’ I know they were fans of the band when they started.”
Far Out: How does it feel to hear a band of that stature cite you as an inspiration?
Niklas: “In music, that’s the most natural thing because that’s how we grew up as well. We’d hang out around venues and look at what the bands looked like when they arrived, what sort of car they drove, how the bands carried their equipment, what they wore, and how they changed the strings on the guitars. We would be total, complete geeks and nerds about all that stuff. So it’s not surprising that other kids would be the same, and, to me, that’s what the Arctic Monkeys would be. They would be the same.”
Far Out: The Hives recently performed at Glastonbury on The Other Stage. How was that occasion?
Niklas: “It was a big crowd, but it was so weird because we got that slot very, very early in the day, and we just came there, woke up, played the show, and then left pretty quickly afterwards, so it was kind of odd. I remember looking out before the show, and it didn’t look like there were many people, but then it just filled up real fast and became pretty crowded.”
Far Out: Speaking from someone in the mammoth crowd at Glastonbury, the audience felt relatively young, considering The Hives rose to prominence at the start of the 2000s. It seems The Hives have connected with a new demographic this year. Would you agree?
Niklas: “If you put a live good live band in front of a lot of people, many will like you. And I think that’s what’s been happening with the Arctic Monkeys crowd; they’re very young. So they got a young crowd, which is great for us because you always have to get new people to the shows and attract new people. Because otherwise, if you only have people the same age as you, they will lose interest after a while, and the younger generations are more blessed with the ‘Oh my god, I’m freaking out’ energy.”
Far Out: The new songs from The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons have also played a role. Following Lex Hives in 2012, did you intend to take such a lengthy break before the next LP?
Niklas: “I don’t think you plan an 11-year hiatus, and we didn’t plan the pandemic, either, but time just moves really fast sometimes. It wasn’t like we enjoyed the hiatus, either. We hated it. We were trying to work on stuff, but it didn’t click until the end. With The Hives, we only work on songs that are supposed to be on a record and improve those songs little by little over an extended period of time.”
“It’s the same as with our career. People think we became an overnight success, but we’d been playing for seven years before we became an overnight success. Maybe there was a pivotal moment I don’t remember during the making of The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, but it felt gradual.”
Far Out: How do you feel about the record overall, and what song stands out most?
Niklas: “Everything has to be up to par with The Hives. We’ve always said that if we’re going to release a new record from The Hives, it has to be up to par with the old stuff, and I think this album is, so that’s great. I really like ‘Bogus Operandi’; that’s what I want The Hives to sound like because it’s a riff. I like when The Hives are doing good riff songs, and whenever we play fast but still fairly dynamic punk, like on ‘Trapdoor Solution’.”
Far Out: Your debut album Barely Legal was released in 1997, and over 25 years later, The Hives are still as strong as ever. What’s the secret to your longevity?
Niklas: “I think the secret to it is that you like it so much and desperately want to be doing it that you keep going no matter what. Time moves so fast. Obviously, it was a long time ago, but making the first record also doesn’t feel that long ago too. It’s all been a steady stream of sorts, and the only down period we’ve ever had was probably between these last two albums. We weren’t really playing, and there was also the pandemic. I think that’s the only dip we’ve had.”
Far Out: Finally, how do you feel about The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons finally being released into the world?
Niklas: “The nerve-racking bit to me is when you’re making the record because that’s when it’s scary, and you can fuck up. Once the record is done, recorded, mastered and even printed, it feels good. That’s when you can say, ‘Here’s the record’, and give it to someone or play it, that’s a good feeling, so this is a great feeling to know we will be touring it for two years.”
The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is released on August 11th. The Hives are set to tour the United Kingdom in 2024, visit here for more details.
