From the outside looking in, Nicke Borg has a certain look about him. There’s something of an intimidating air about him but as Backyard Babies’ tour manager Stefan leads me through the labyrinth which is the backstage area of the O2 ABC, it becomes almost immediately apparent that nothing could be further from the truth. Sitting on a staircase is one of the most relaxed and friendly people I’ve ever had the pleasure to interview. As he drinks from a red plastic cup, we discuss the current tour with Black Star Riders and Gun, the enduring lineup of the band and their recent live release.
Welcome back to Glasgow! The band have just joined for the remainder of the Black Star Riders tour. How was last night?
It was great; this is a great tour for us. Weāre friends with the band and we were looking for a UK tour and they offered us this which we accepted immediately. Black Star Riders, with their history and the band they are today, they have a bit of a different audience than we do. You always want to expand as a band. Thereās not that many tours that are fit for us as a band to jump on or as an opener but this is great. From what I saw yesterday, I think possibly eighty per cent had never seen us before. You donāt get the response onstage but thatās not the whole idea because the idea is to play in front of new people.
The band recently released the Live at Cirkus DVD. What was it about that show that made you want to record it?
Many reasons; weād played at one of our favourite venues in Stockholm. We had a team who offered us the chance to record the show and weāre from a generation that are fans of live videos. When I grew up, I got the Iron Maiden Live After Death cassette and I watched it over and over again. That specific show was so well-packed and recorded with sound and everything ā that got me hooked on heavy metal. A lot of people these days donāt even own a DVD player anymore and computers donāt come with a DVD input anymore. Itās kind of the last chance to release a DVD or a Blu-Ray; in a few years we wonāt even see this type of stuff anymore ā I think. So we thought it was a good opportunity to give something to the fans and surprisingly, itās selling ā whatever the numbers are ā but selling good. It reached number one after one week in the DVD charts in Sweden.
Itās been a couple of years since the last album. Can we expect some new material in the near-future?
Yes and no. We actually talked about it today. The plan is to write and demo into the summer. We then have a bit of a break with festivals and Dregan [Backyard Babiesā guitarist] has some Hellacopters gigs and weāll continue in the Autumn. Iāve no idea when but definitely new material ā album or not an album; new songs by the end of this year and an album early next year.
The bandās line-up hasnāt changed in almost thirty years. What would you say is the reason for that?
I donāt know, weāre kind of stupid to hang out with each other for so long. Itās a unique thing; we understood a couple of years ago that it was really unique because we never thought about it for twenty years. Then we reached twenty-five years and now coming up to thirty years; as a band, thatās a long time. When we reached twenty, we started to realise a lot of people were paying respect to the fact it was the same members since ā89. I think Rolling Stone magazine ā or whoever it was ā made a list of recording artists who had the same line-up for over twenty years and we were on that list. And we were high on that list! It was like U2 and bands like that who had never really changed their line-up. We canāt really play with anyone else; weāve tried! This is us, weāre doomed!
When Backyard Babies took a break, you worked on a solo project. Would you ever revisit that in the future?
Definitely! It was a project Iād started as an outlet for whatever type of music that doesnāt fit with Backyard Babies; Iām constantly writing songs and Iām in some kind of studio situation all the time. I love the process of writing songs, thatās what I get the best kick out of ā the writing sessions and process. There wasnāt a plan behind the project except writing, recording and getting songs out and do a few gigs. Iāll do a few gigs this spring as well: acoustic gigs with one of my guitars. Itās more like a singer-songwriter, country, Americana thing. Sometimes it gets a lot of attention because itās different, sometimes it doesnāt. Itās more for funā¦but it gives me a lot. And it gives a lot back because when I write songs for my solo project or for other artists, Iām inspired to write songs for Backyard Babies. Itās a give and take thing.
Do you have a standard vocal warm-up routine?
Yeah, I drink this [showing me red plastic cup]. Itās honey and hot water. I learned from Mike Ness who told me to skip everything like tea, coffee, alcohol… except this. Just boiling water and a lot of honey. Itās really good for your voice. The last few years Iāve started using in-ears which is better because you donāt have to push your voice when youāre having bad sound. We did a tour with Buckcherry and Josh [Todd, vocalist], he had a warm-up routine, Iām not joking, for an hour and a half before every show. He had this piano thing on a speaker that heās sing with; thatās a lot of warm-up.
What advice would you give to yourself when the band was in its early days?
We did what youāre supposed to; you go your own way, learn from your mistakes, donāt care what people try to tell you and donāt take no for an answer ā all that stuff. At the end of the nineties, we made a lot of money, most of it was gone within weeks on parties and drugs and limos ā stuff like that. That was stupid in a way but on the other hand, thereās something to talk about today, something to write books about. I run my own radio show in Stockholm and all these stupid things that you do when youāre young, starting out in a band, itās a great story to today and Iām getting paid to tell them! [laughs]
What else has the band got planned for the rest of the year?
Just gigs here and there, Dreganās got a bit of the Hellacopters reunion thing and mostly continue when weāve got some time off, weāre going to try to be in the studio writing and recording. If we have more time off, maybe weāll do some other stuff. Itās not going to be a whole tour until we have some new material out; just festivals and a few gigs here and there. This UK round is the last full tour weāll be doing.