BOKASSA became „Lars Ulrich’s new favorite band“ in 2019 and were thus given the opportunity to present themselves to a wider audience as the opening act for Metallica. The Norwegian stoner rockers are now releasing their third album „Molotov Rocktail“ and prove that they don’t need celebrity support at all. Singer and guitarist Jørn Kaarstad talks to us about the making of the album during Covid, necessary musical developments, and the strange feeling of living in current times.
Hello, thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us! How are you doing these days?
Hey! Doing good! Ready to play live again and can’t wait to do that!
Before we get into your brand new album: In 2019 you were support band for Metallica on their tour. How did it feel for a (then) rather small, unknown band to come on tour at the personal invitation of a member of arguably the world’s greatest metal band, and how was it for you?
It was as surrealistic and fantastic as it sounds. It was an experience that we never in a million years thought we would experience and the memories of that tour are something we will always cherish.
I guess the tour gave you a big popularity boost. To what extent were you able to benefit from it, or did the Covid pandemic with all its restrictions that soon followed slow you down?
That tour definitely made people check out our band, which was great for us. We were going to do a big festival summer in 2020 which of course never happened, but hopefully a lot of those festivals will be moved to 2022, like for example Wacken, which we hope we are still a part of. I think every band in the world got slowed down because of the pandemic and we are all in the same boat, and you can’t really do anything about it.
Your third album „Molotov Rocktail“ is now about to be released. How does it feel to have a new album waiting in the wings after the last year and a half, which has been tough especially for artists? And how satisfied are you with it now, a few weeks/months after production?
The fact that we are now ready to release “Molotov Rocktail” is a big relief to us. At a certain point it didn’t look like anything was getting better, so the fact that we now can release it is great. We are very satisfied with the album and rate it as our absolute best record. We have also been in a situation that since the record has been finished for quite a while, we have listened to it for a year, and are still not sick of it. So that’s a good sign!
The production still fell into the time of the pandemic. What was different for you during the recording, and did the circumstances limit you?
Not much different in the studio, as the songs were already written before the lockdown. I would rather say that the fact that we didn’t have any shows because everything got cancelled made it a better recording process as we didn’t have to rush things. ’Cause we knew that we were going to have to wait to release it anyway. So it was a fun process. To be able to go into the studio while everything was in lockdown and actually being able to record and have fun was great.
In what ways do you think BOKASSA have developed since the debut album „Divide & Conquer“, and what have you done different or better this time?
It’s important to me to not make the exact same album every time. And I feel that on “Molotov Rocktail” you can really hear the development of the band. Weve already made a “Walker Texas Danger” and a “Crocsodile Dundee” so I don´t see a reason why we would try to replicate that stuff, since it’s already out there. A lot of people make the same record over and over again, and it works for them. But I like to try different stuff. And this time around I finally got the vibraslap, the cheerleader choir, the western acoustic guitars, the rock piano, and a lot of stuff that I’ve always thought were cool on a record. I also think the songwriting is evolved on „Molotov“ to include more melody and interesting parts.
In fact, your first two albums were rather in-your-face rock, very heavy, aggressive, and wild, whereas your new album (while still maintaining said trademarks) introduces more melodic, catchy, and diverse elements (the vocals, the guitars, the wind instruments, the female choirs …). So it was rather something you planned early on for the album than just the “natural run of things” in the making of the album?
It is a natural evolution of the songwriting, I think. When you’ve done two albums that are fairly similar you want to try something else. While I do think that the core of the songs still sound exactly like BOKASSA I feel that we’ve always blended a lot of genres in our music. This time around we just did it even more. And it became a better record because of it.
For the third time, there’s an instrumental intro and a longer, epic track at the end of the album. Has that turned out to be your recipe for success? How much system and how much coincidence are behind such recurring patterns?
That has always been the plan. It is like a trilogy, if you will. I always think of the music as a whole record, with a clear plan of how it should flow. That’s why we have the intro and the epic closer. That being said, this is the last time we will do an intro and long epic track at the end.
„The Last Shredi“ on „Crimson Riders“, now „Too Old For This Sith“ on „Molotov Rocktail“. Are there some Star Wars nerds behind Bokassa?
Yes! I love Star Wars and since both those songs are about a Space Pirate, I thought it was fun to include a little Star Wars homage in the titles.
There are two more songs on the new album than on the previous two. Did you just write more songs, or did you feel that your last records were too short?
I think that 30 to around 40 minutes is the perfect length of an album. So I never thought our older records were too short. But this time around I had a lot of songs going into the studio. We actually recorded 14 songs, and 11 made the album. The 3 other songs were not cut because of quality, but because we didn’t want a long album.
„Molotov Rocktail“ is generally a pretty awesome title and also fits your style perfectly. How did it come about? And were you aware that the Canadian rock and roll band The Martyr Index has an album of the same name?
I didn’t know that at all. We thought we were the first to think of it (laughs). I guess we weren’t. Another working title was “Reign Supreme”, which I think is a great album title. But there we found out that the band Dying Fetus already had that title.
Your lyrics deal, for example, with atheism or the absence of a god (“Hereticules”, “Godless” …), substance abuse and its consequences (“Code Red”) etc. How important is it for you to convey a message with your music?
I just write stories or stories with a main character. There’s not necessarily like a morale or a message to it. At least not a message like “you should do that or you shouldn’t do that”. ’Cause that would be preaching, and we just write about topics and it’s up to the listener to make up their own mind.
Already in the first track „So Long, Idiots!“ you name Freddy Krueger and the singer and guitarist of Limp Bizkit in one verse – what do they have in common? And who are the „Idiots“?
The idiots are the people. The protagonist in the song feels he’s trapped in a nightmare with all these idiots, hence the Freddy Krueger reference. I think every time you turn on the news or see what’s going on in the world it’s fairly easy to think that you just wish you could escape all the idiots. Hence the name “So Long, Idiots!”.
The song “Careless (In The Age Of Altruism)” and the accompanying video deals with a person struggling with and estranged from our current reality. What was the thought behind it when you wrote this song, and what frustrates you about modern-day society?
The song is about just being fed up with the world and trying to distance yourself from it, and just living your life in your own bubble. In some ways a related song to “So Long, Idiots!”. I think the way the world goes these days, you can’t help but being estranged from it. I think that is feeling that a lot of people are feeling these days and that’s also what the protagonist in „Careless“ feels.
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Your lyrics also deal with atheism or the absence of a god (“Hereticules”, “Godless” …), substance abuse and its consequences (“Code Red”) etc. How important is it for you to convey a message with your music?
I just write stories or stories with a main character. There’s not necessarily like a morale or a message to it. At least not a message like “you should do that or you shouldn’t do that”. ’Cause that would be preaching, and we just write about topics and it’s up to the listener to make up their own mind.
When one reads about you, the names Turbonegro and Gluecifer often come up – probably not least because you come from the same country. But which bands, which genres actually influence you the most?
Yeah, that’s classic. Everyone seem to compare bands to the country they are from, unless they are from the UK or USA. We dig both Gluecifer and Turbo. But our main influences is probably everything from Clutch, Monster Magnet and Fu Manchu to NOFX, Alkaline Trio, Lawrence Arms, Bad Religion and Cancer Bats and Every Time I Die.
You played your first show this year at Steinkjer Festivalen in June, followed by a concert at RaumaRock in August. How did it feel to be back on stage after such a long time?
It felt great! But also a bit strange. As everyone was seated and there were gates to divide people. So, it was a bit weird, but still great to actually play live again.
You will go on tour again in September – how do you feel about it? Are you just excited to tour again or do you have mixed feelings as Covid continues to be an issue and will likely be with us for a while?
We are very excited to tour again. I think Covid will be with us in a form or another in the future, so I guess we just have to make it work so that people can still attend concerts and be safe.
Please let us conclude with a short brainstorming – what do you think of first when reading the following terms:
Climate: Should be taken seriously
Kyuss: Great riffs
Pegasus: Great as an album cover (laughs)
Weezer – Raditude: Underrated album
Scotch or Bourbon: Smoked scotch
Your current favorite album: The Lawrence Arms – Skeleton Coast
Bokassa in five years: Hopefully touring without corona restrictions!
Again, thank you very much for your time!
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