Interview TRUCKFIGHTERS – Mr Ozo talks “V”

The memory of « Universe » still strong in my mind, I rejoiced when TRUCKFIGHTERS announced a new record. And despite everything, listening to “V”, the duo’s fifth record, left me speechless. How does a band stay that creative and challenges the expectations of its audience, seemingly always on the road as well as managing one of the best label of the current stoner scene?

It’s in order to get answer to that question and all the others that I took the opportunity to talk with Ozo, bass player and singer of the band.

Excerpts, check the podcast for the full interview.

“This album we recorded a lot of the stuff from our homes just ideas and so on, and then we reamped a few things in the studio later on. So a lot of the stuff is just recorded via my macbook and a simple soundcard.”

Gus : Actually it’s been working out pretty well for you because I was very surprised that “Live In London” which is a fantastic live album was the very first one you ever did. Given the intensity and the tremendous reputation of your live shows, how come it didn’t happen sooner?

Ozo : I think maybe we were a little bit too lazy on the road, to actually bring, or hire or get a multitrack and organize all that because we always wanted to record a live album and also record a DVD at the same time so maybe we had too high ambitions so the years passed and we never did it until “Live In London”. But I don’t know, it seems like it was a really good gig to record because it was almost sold out and there was I think almost 1000 people there so it was really cool to record at this show.

Gus : Do you write a lot on the road or do you write just on some periods of time?

Ozo : We don’t write anything on the road actually. We tried a few times, but we don’t really find the… We need to be in a special state when we write music, just relax and concentrate on creating music. It’s hard for us when we’re supposed to play the same night so we usually just record everything at home. This album we recorded a lot of the stuff from our homes just ideas and so on, and then we reamped a few things in the studio later on. So a lot of the stuff is just recorded via my macbook and a simple soundcard. And the same goes for Dango, so we don’t record anything in a fancy studio.

“And we never take shortcuts, we never settle with something that we’re not satisfied with and maybe we’re mentally ill or something I don’t know. Maybe we have some combinations in our brains or something, because I can’t explain it, we want to do the stuff we do until we’re satisfied.”

Gus : Do you still produce and mix everything by yourself?

Ozo : Yeah, this time Dango mixed most of the album and we produced it together. So yeah, we tried a few, three of four mixers on “Universe” like really expensive super producer/mixer guys but we didn’t think they did what we… We expected a lot more. We thought it was going to sound like you fall off the chair or something but it was not good enough, so for this record we just didn’t even try to do it with someone else, we did it ourselves.

Gus : Is it something that you personally enjoy, challenging expectations of people when they put in a new album by TRUCKFIGHTERS?

Ozo : I don’t really care to be honest. I do care about having fans that really like our music but when I sit in the studio or at home or whatever, creating music, the only thing I think about then is “Is this good? Do I like this, do I like paying this” And the outside world, what many people think is irrelevant at that point. But we are blessed and we are really thankful that people actually like it. But it doesn’t matter, when we create music. We want to create music because we love it and we do it because we think it’s fun, and that’s the main goal for us.

Gus : The bands that you sign on Fuzzorama, all sound very different. Fuzzorama Records is not a label that specializes in one specific sound, and I think that it connects to what you said before, about you trying new stuff always searching for new sounds. How do you choose the bands you are going to sign on the label?

Ozo : Actually Fuzzorama might seem to be like a stoner label, but I’m not that into super simple stoner. I think it’s a little bit boring. Of course I like KYUSS and FU MANCHU but a lot of the other bands that came after those bands were doing the same riffs over and over again and just playing slow or whatever. And I want to be challenged a little bit from the music as well and I want to be surprised by the music and you can be surprised in different ways. And I don’t want Fuzzorama to sign two bands that are doing the same thing so I think we hear some soul in the music that is hard to find these days. A lot of bands do music that they think other people will like instead of doing the music they like. Because then you can hear in the music that it’s true and honest so that’s hard to describe. Maybe it’s just a personal taste I guess.

Full interview to be found in the podcast.