Pet the preacher-the banjo

Pet the preacher is a new really promising hard rock band. They are from Denmark but they play hard rock with a southern feel (I mean southern as New-Orleans is southern), wih soul, groove and a bluesy roots sound. They release their first full lenght record on vinyl with Kozmik artifactz, it's called The banjo. The ten songs tells the story of the downfall and redemption of a musician (or at least thats what I understood). some songs are quiet, some songs are rockers, but the quality is on a high through all the record. Good songwriting, good musicianship, great vocals, a very cool record. if you're into heavy and rocking music you have to check this new band.

HERE is a video they did for one of the song of their EP. and HERE is "the devil's door" from their new record The banjo.

Their singer and guitarist Christian Hede Madsen agreed to answer to my questions about his band. (Thanks you Christian!). You can read it below : 

-can you present the band and its evolution up to now ?

We are a danish trio called Pet The Preacher and we play rockNroll music. We were fromed in late 2010, and after finding our feet, Jacob Bredahl produced our first release, Meet The Creature(2011), as well as our debut album, The Banjo(2012, Bilocation Records). We are going back in july to record another EP as well.

We wanna be the best playing band out there, in the best meaning of the term, so we try to evolve with every song and every performance.

It´s all about the music.

-to me your sound goes back to the roots of hard rock with a kind of bluesy feeling, do you agree? How would you describe your music?

I totally agree. I think that blues is the thing that really holds us together. That groovy-vibe that Son House, Bukka White and the other delta-musicians stood for. They played dangerous music in a living and passionate way, and I think we wanna do the same, though the sound and structures are different.

We are very inspired by  bands like CLUTCH as well as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, newer bands like DOWN, Mastodon, Baroness, The Raconteurs, Graveyard, Rival Sons and everyone else who plays heavy, groovy music from the heart. I think I will describe our sound as: "heavy, progressive blues!" . If it makes any sense at all!?

-how did you get into this kind of music? And do you play or have played in other bands?

The style developed out of nothing. The three of us sounds like Pet The Preacher when we play. It is our differences that gives it that groove.

I tend to be the "heavy" dude, playing with nasty gain, screaming my lungs out and being all over the place. Torben, the bass-player is a truly great player, who often takes the role of another guitarist, playing harmonies and intricate bass-lines. He can fill out where I mess up. Christian, the drummer, knows a great riff when he hears one and lays down one the best half-time beats I have heard. He has got the balls and makes sure it never gets too Sweet or too boring.

Though he has a thing for small percussion-instruments too.

-The banjo is a concept album in that the lyrics are about the evolution of a man and tells its story, can you tell us more about this story and why did you choose this approach for The banjo?

I write all the lyrics and I was very keen on writing a concept album as our first record. I thought it would make a good statement and also show that we are not a mindless-whisky-drinking-Mötley Crüe-tribute band. We are here to stay and to change things.

The theme came step by step. I thought that a concept of a man deep down in a personal hell and his ascendancy too another place, not a heaven, but a natural place to stay and be happy, is very relevant. I am very aware of "direction" in life. Where are we going? And why? Why wait to be happy, when we control it ourselves? I think it is one of the biggest challenges in our modern world: staying positive and believing life is beautiful. There is so much shit around. But  I wrote an adventure called "The Banjo", thats the short story. Everyone can make of it what they want.

-how was the album written and recorded?

The music was written, the three of us together. Every riff and idea is tried out. Musically, we are a very democratic band. Everybody should feel comfortable about their parts, before we move on. That can change later in the process, but to start with we are happy haha.

I, or Torben, usually come with a riff or 5 and we take it from there. Then I put lyrics to it. Pretty simple. We are a rock-band, not scientists.

Regarding the recording process, we went to DEAD RAT STUDIO in Åbyhøj, Jacob Bredahl´s studio. That is a kick-ass place and we feel very at home there.

We record without a click-track and all together in the same room. Even the solos are recorded live this time. Then we put a rhythm guitar and vocals on top.

Jacob Bredahl is a really good friend and an amazing producer. He loves the sound of "human beings", meaning that it has to be dangerous and edgy, which really suits our sound and approach in the band. A mistake is only a mistake untill you hear it the 10th. time. Then it becomes an integral part of the song.

There is a reason we return in july for the 3rd. time. I can recommend DEAD RAT STUDIO to everyone who has balls and dare to be challenged.

-I guess you are or will be touring to promote the record? What else is planned for the rest of 2012?

 Yeah we have some great plans for the future, very soon we will present some new dates for 2012, as well as a European Tour with some really good friends.

We wanna play as much as possible, we are indeed a live-band. But keep and eye on our twitter, facebook and other stuff for a tour update, and come dance.

That will be truly appreciated.

-with which band would you dream to play?

Everyone who plays from the heart. World-tour with Black Sabbath or Mastodon would be cool though... But we love so many bands, that everyone has something to bring to the table. Just call us!

-how is the scene in Denmark? Which band would you recommend?

 The scene is flourishing. There are a lot of great bands coming out, in a lot of different genres.

I think we are leaning a little bit towards the metal-scene, because people seem to relate to us very well there. Though they consider us a soft blues-band I guess. There are so many to reccomend, but some that I know got their shit together and their heart in the right place( dont mind the genre):

By The Patient, RISING, HelHorse, Specktors, Hexis, The Kandidate, Scarred By Beauty, Dance With Dirt, Stream City, Stoneword, Solbrud but again there is so many new bands and even more established acts. It is easy to get inspired. This is just the start.

-something to add?

Thank you so much for noticing us and giving us your time. We really appreciate it. Please buy our record on vinyl, www.kozmik-artifactz.com, and spread the word.

Peace