Interview | Crazy Lixx - HeadBangers Lifestyle

Interview | Crazy Lixx

Dead Serious

May 15, 2019 by Liselotte `Lilo' Hegt - More about our team

If you are a fan of 80s and early 90s [stadium] rock, hair and melodic metal, Swedish outfit Crazy Lixx will be at your service. Their music offers huge choruses, memorable hooks, flashy guitar work and a true feel good vibe, that take you straight back to that colourful. Crazy Lixx is now one of the bands that’s in the lead of the 80s hard rock revival, gaining more and more fans. Recently their brand new 6th studio album `Forever Wild’ saw the light of day, which is a true enjoyable album with a great production, offering you a VIP pass for the right party that never seems to end. And once you joined this party you’d never want to leave. HeadBangers LifeStyle’s Liselotte `Lilo’ Hegt got in touch with singer Danny Rexon for more insight.

Danny Rexon

With what intention did you and the other guys make the new CD `Forever Wild’?
,,We started out I think a year after the last album `Ruff Justice’ [2017] was released and since we usually take quite a while to get an album done, we felt it was time to start. With the success of `Ruff Justice’ our record company wanted to have another album out before two years has passed since the last album was released. That is something we have been aiming for to do since the band started out. I usually prefer to have an album out every other year so it was just time basically.’’

How will `Forever Wild’ stand out in the large selection of new releases you think?
,,I think that `Forever Wild’ has a clear retro vibe to it and of course there are other bands that have that as well but in the grand scheme of things I think that most of the rock and metal that’s released today has a very different sound when it comes to the production and the overall vibe to it and we try to keep it quite retro 80s when it comes to the production, and also the song writing. So I think that is the main thing that will stand out among other releases.’’

Would you notice and listen to `Forever Wild’, or any other album of Crazy Lixx, if you weren’t in the band yourself?
,,Well that depends. I notice some new bands, but I mostly listen to stuff from the 80s and 90s still. Chances are I wouldn’t hear of it of course but I think that if someone recommended me an album and said that it sounded the way I imagine `Forever Wild’ sounding, I am sure I would check it out. I am aware of other modern bands that try to play this style, I’m just mostly not interested in modern bands that play modern rock or metal usually.’’

What makes Crazy Lixx a good ambassador for 80s hair, glam and sleaze rock in today’s music scene?
,,Well, I think that we’ve done it for quite a while now. `Forever Wild’ is our 6^th studio album out. The band started in 2002 but we weren’t very active in the first years, so I would say we’ve been around about 15 years now. We have some experience from it and I do think that we’ve risen to the top in this genre among the new bands because we work relentless to get better and to try to emulate the sound but in a new and modern way of course with new songs. We’ve never been about gimmicks or trying to make a spoof out of it all and we don’t do it as an ironic thing, we really mean this. For those who are actually fans of this music in the 80s, I think that we’re a good ambassador for this today as well.’’

Do you feel people have been underestimating Crazy Lixx over the years and the 80s inspired rock in general?
,,I would say so because for me the 80s and early 90s that’s definitely the pinnacle of rock music and I do understand that many people think that it was like a commercial era with a lot of sell-out bands and that is true as well. There’s a lot of very bad music and that’s what happens when you have a genre that becomes very popular and very appreciated, there is always gonna be those record companies and bands etc. that just want to capitalize on the success and those are typically not about maybe the quality as much as the quick bucks. Naturally there were a lot of bands in that time that were mediocre and just wanted to live of the fact that this music was popular. But let’s not forget all the really, really great bands from that time, which I think for those that are still around, they haven’t done better stuff than they did back then and I wouldn’t say that many bands come up to that quality ever since actually. So I think that the genre in itself has been underestimated. When it comes to us I do realize that we had a long starting run when we weren’t very good. I actually think that just recently we’ve become good enough to play live on the bigger stages. When I look back at what we did ten years ago I don’t think that it sounds particularly well when we played live. But I hope that with this new album people will recognize us as one of the bigger bands in this kind of revival hair metal scene.’’

Is it a long way to the top for Crazy Lixx and what keeps the engine of the band running?
,,The top isn’t necessarily the goal for us. I think when I was younger it was like all about world domination and becoming the biggest band ever, but I do realize that that’s not possible for many reasons. One of the reasons being that I’m not prepared to do everything it takes to get there. I am not at that point in my life anymore. I have a family, I have children and I am trying to balance this musician life with all the rest. So I wouldn’t be prepared to just pack my bags and leave for an enormous tour just to make it. We are not necessarily aiming for the top but what keeps my engine going at least is just the fact that I get to do this and all the appreciation that is shown from fans, all those great places that I get to visit when we are out touring. Honestly I can’t imagine not doing this. I think there would be something missing. I always write music and I always want to get it out for people to hear. I guess it is an ego thing deep within but I guess that’s a part with almost every musician or artist I would say.’’

How far will you go for success?
,,I am trying to make the band bigger of course. Each album that we do, I’m trying to make it better and to sell more albums and to play bigger tours and better festivals but I am not prepared to do everything as I said. I have a life that has to work also with my musician life, so maybe it was another thing when I was younger but right now I just had my 37^th birthday and I am at a point now where I just have to balance it with everything else I have in my life.’’

What does it take to be part of a band like Crazy Lixx?
,,You have to be dedicated and know how to play your instrument I guess. You have to have some kind of love for this kind of music, because I do think it shines through if you don’t. We wouldn’t be able to take in a member who just does it for the money and not really appreciate this. They would probably think that some of the aspects of what we are doing is a bit lame compared to what maybe is modern now. I think that the members we have now we all share this love for this era very much. Not only music but also when it comes to movies and clothes and the overall aesthetics of the 80s.’’

Is the Netflix movie `The Dirt’, the story of the ultimate kings of sleaze Mötley Crüe, something you can identify with as a band?
,,To some extent of course I can. I mean every band starts out small and naturally MC has gained so much more success than we have for numerous reasons and obvious reasons. I don’t recognize in all of the very big expansion and growth they did and also for us being a “sober band”, of course there is alcohol involved, but there is no drugs involved. All the parts about all the drug abuse that they have had, and that I think the band suffered from a lot, that’s not something that I recognize. Even though I have seen it of course as a musician because you see a lot of that stuff when you’re touring, there are other bands and fans at times, but that is something that we’ve always try to stay clear from because I really think that it ruins bands basically, you know, when that becomes the most important thing in a band member’s life. But of course with the case of MC I totally understand that some of the band members have reasons going there. Especially watching `The Dirt’, but I haven’t read the book yet. I wasn’t that very into the story of MC but I thought it was a cool movie.’’

What is the most important motto of Crazy Lixx?
,,I’m not sure we have one. I sing a lot about this kind of idea that you have to try to catch your dream and to try to break out of your daily life and just try to do something. And I truly believe in that. Every person has some kind of thing that means more than just the every day routine. I am not saying that a daily routine is bad but I think for every person they have to feel, like for at least a couple days a year, they have to break out and do something else. Try to achieve something for themselves. An example would be ,,21 ‘Til I Die’’, which is one of our most successful songs and I think it is not necessarily about being or acting like you are 21 forever. It is more that at some occasions throughout your life I think you just want to be 21 for a day. Just go to that festival, just do something crazy and just not worry about every day life. Try to remember how it was being you full and care free. So I would say yeah maybe that is a motto of Crazy Lixx; 21 till I die.

What are the plans after the release of `Forever Wild’?
,,Immediately on the release day we have a release party in our home town in Malmö and the week after we’ll starting off the festival tour in Belgium [Wildfest]. Then we have Italy and we have a bunch of summer festivals lined up out of which I think Wacken Open Air is probably the biggest one we’ll do and the biggest one we have ever done so far. I am looking forward to that. After the summer festivals are done we are going to Japan for the first time, which will be awesome as well. That’s actually my first trip to Asia ever so I am really looking forward to that. Japan has always been quite a big market for us but we haven’t been able to get there financially. Before it wasn’t doable but now we’re doing two shows in Japan in September. After that we don’t have any plans that are totally set so I can’t announce anything for now but I am guessing that we are going to do some club gigs and thinking about what next year brings. That’s the plan for now.’’
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Crazy Lixx on Facebook here
Crazy Lixx Website here
Listen to Danny Rexon Personal HBLS Hotlist here