Im Interview mit Aktiv Dödshjelp!

Hello Aktiv Dödshjelp, hello Stephan Lyngved, thank you very much for taking the time for this interview.

Festivalstalker: Hello Aktiv Dödshjelp! Your album “The Nasty Piece” has been out for a few days now. How does it feel for you? What feedback have you received so far?

Stephan Lyngved: It feels fucking great to finally have this album out. We hammered it out in a relatively short space of time, and the recording process was intense and a lot of fun. We also got to work with producer Bendik Toming, which is something we’d wanted to do for ages.

The fans are loving it, and they’ve shown us a ton of love. We’ve finally hit the road, too, which has been incredible. People know the lyrics and sing along. So yeah, we’re extremely happy with how the album release has gone so far.

Festivalstalker: You’ve been around for just under 20 years, and yet “The Nasty Piece” is only your second album. How come?

Stephan Lyngved: We’re a bunch of best friends who had a lot going on in our own lives. The band was always there in the background as this thing we kept saying we should really go all in on someday. But life happened, and the timing was never right for everyone at once. So we went a very long time without actually recording much music. We were basically just a live band, having a blast playing underground shows and the odd festival here and there.

Then, after COVID, we had a moment where we said: “Either we give this a proper shot, or we call it quits.” We decided to go for it, and it’s been one hell of a ride.

Of course, we wish we’d released a whole lot more albums by now. But here we are.

Review: Aktiv Dödshjelp – The Nasty Piece

Festivalstalker: On “The Nasty Piece” there are a few references to German places like Berghain and the Reeperbahn. Do you have a special connection to Germany or specifically to the places mentioned?

Stephan Lyngved: Absolutely!!! One of the first people to take notice of us, believe in what we were doing and want to work with us was Jens Gallmeyer from Germany’s Loud Media. He’s been brilliant and has helped us get our music out there in Germany. He’s also arranged several gigs and festival appearances for us. So our first proper tour was actually in Germany.

Hamburg is one of our favourite cities to play. Germany, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig… the whole country brings back a lot of great memories for us.

Festivalstalker: “Hun som sitter fast” is an absolute banger. How did you come up with the idea for this song?

Stephan Lyngved: The original idea came from Mattis Mandt, who has a habit of coming up with these absolutely killer riffs. As for the lyrics, it’s about that woman — an ex-girlfriend, an old flame — who you know is no good for you. But she’s so beautiful, cool and irresistible that you just can’t let it go. So she gets stuck in your head.

Festivalstalker: Who is “Zara Arson”?

Stephan Lyngved: „Zara Arson“ is a tribute to our pyro guy, Gustaf. He loves flames and explosions, and he makes our shows both hotter and a hell of a lot cooler.

Festivalstalker: The band Turbonegro is mentioned several times in your press release. What significance and influence does Turbonegro have for you?

Stephan Lyngved: Everyone in the band grew up loving Turbonegro. When you’re from Oslo, love rock music and grew up in the ’90s, it’s pretty much unavoidable. In a way, Turbo inspired us to start a band in the first place. I think *Apocalypse Dudes* was the first thing we learned to play together when we were about 15.

So yes, we’re massive fans, and they’ve been a huge influence on us — musically, of course, but also in terms of their humour and self-deprecating attitude.

Festivalstalker: Is there a song on the album that means a lot to you, or one where you were surprised yourselves by how it turned out?

Stephan Lyngved: I’d probably go with “Øyesmelter”. I’d been carrying that one around for a long time and had big dreams about just how hard and brutal it should sound. Things rarely turn out exactly the way you imagine them, but this one somehow ended up being exactly as good as I’d hoped. So it’s a personal favourite.

Festivalstalker: If you had to describe your album in three words, what would they be – and why exactly those?

Stephan Lyngved: The. Nasty. Piece.

It’s only our second album, so we’re not quite ready to make our masterpiece yet. We’ll have to settle for nasty for now.

Festivalstalker: How much self-deprecating humour is there in “The Nasty Piece”?

Stephan Lyngved: Loads!

Festivalstalker: In your opinion, which other band has had a significant impact on music history?

Stephan Lyngved: Oh, that’s a massive question… The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Kvelertak, Turbonegro and Queens of the Stone Age and Motörhead. And Dio. And Kiss. And Mötley Crüe, obviously. Rammstein, of course. And you can’t forget Van Halen. Kyuss. Valient Thorr and The Sword, obviously. Eagles of Death Metal. Megadeth. Wolfmother.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few.