Continued…
Hardrock Haven: Music acts of today can be divided into ‘proper’ bands and side projects. Is Ammunition more of a project, or a regular band? Do you plan to continue after the album’s released?
Age Sten Nilsen: Ammunition is a band. And we’ll keep building this band and make it grow. Expect many releases from this band in the future – we have finally found a playground that works, thrills and make us all excited. And that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
Hardrock Haven: There’s a certain supergroup quality to Ammunition. What do you think about it?
Age Sten Nilsen: I really don’t see this band as a “supergroup” (laughs). The motivation behind this band’s line-up was to bring good friends and great players together… musicians I appreciated not only music-wise, but also as good friends and fun people to be around. Playing in a band should be fun, and a sense of brotherhood. I really missed that experience in my former band, so I thought it was about time to experience it. And here we are…! I have a feeling that we’ll do an interview 10 years from now… about the same band.
Hardrock Haven: I certainly hope so! Now let’s move on to the topic of your debut album – Shanghaied. Are you satisfied with the sound and songwriting on the album?
Age Sten Nilsen: I couldn’t have asked for more. The songwriting was easy and so much fun. And Erik has provided the best sound possible as the album’s producer. I have not only found a new best friend, I have also found a man machine… his work ethics is unbelievable. He simply won’t leave the studio until every tiny detail is perfect. I have never ever worked with a better producer and nicer person in my whole life. And I can’t wait to create new material with Erik, I tell you.
Hardrock Haven: How do you think Shanghaied is different from the albums you recorded previously? Do you see it as a kind of evolution, a step forward?
Age Sten Nilsen: Definitely!… And that’s what mutual respect can do as well as the ability to listen to each other, for the purpose of making it better.
Hardrock Haven: What do you think are the highlights of Shanghaied?
Age Sten Nilsen: Man, that’s a tough one. But “Silverback” is one for sure. I simply love that tune. But in my opinion so are “Take Out The Enemy (Hallelujah),” “Road To Babylon” and “Tie Me Down” too… Christ… they’re all our babies, and I love them all to bits!
Hardrock Haven: Why Shanghaied? Why did this particular song title give the name to the entire album?
Age Sten Nilsen: At first the song “Shanghaied” gave me an idea for the cover art. And then it occured to me that I’d been shanghaied by my former band several times … it just made perfect sense.
Hardrock Haven: The album’s cohesive yet there are some different flavors to particular songs music-wise. What’s inspired you in terms of music and lyrics while working on the album?
Age Sten Nilsen: Erik and I would talk for hours about our common inspirations and music that we loved. From making songs pin-pointed for a Wig Wam release, I guess we just were hungry for creative freedom. No rules. No limits. Just let the music flow. Even though we had some shared visions about what we wanted this album to sound like. Lyric-wise I finally weren’t hung up on any conceptual limits either. I could simply write from my heart what I felt the song expressed in the first place.
Hardrock Haven: Shanghaied was mixed by Grammy award-winning mastering engineer Brad Blackwood. How did you hook up with him? Did any of you work with him before, maybe with some other projects?
Age Sten Nilsen: It was our manager Eivind Brydøy’s suggestion really. He had been working with Brad before, and advised us to use him. And he did a great job.
Hardrock Haven: What do you think about the results of Brad’s work and would you like to collaborate with Brad in the future?
Age Sten Nilsen: He’s one of the best, so there’s no question about it really. The album sounds excellent and I would surely trust him for the next one too.
Hardrock Haven: 2014 was also a year when Ammunition debuted onstage. Which do you think was the most important gig you played last year and why?
Age Sten Nilsen: Every gig is important, my friend. And they all had different purposes. The first gig was a private corporation gig, which gave us a chance to just connect live without having too much pressure… to simply go out there and enjoy playing together, you know. The summer shows that we did made us tight, and gave us the possibility to get tight and socially connected. We all brought our families, friends and kids, and played the same venue, going through songs we all grew up with that inspired us in the first place. The gig we did with Sweet and Slade was probably the toughest one, since I just came in from Jan Groth’s funeral and Erik had just lost his father. That gig made us connect even stronger. The show must go on, you know… I think the best gig we’ve done so far was the release concert in Stockholm though. We are really about to make this band a real monster on stage.
Hardrock Haven: Talking about The Show Must Go On and the fact of Queen songs being included in Ammunition’s concert set list, you seem to be an avid Queen fan. How much of an influence was Freddie Mercury towards you, and what are your other major influences?
Age Sten Nilsen: We included Queen songs, some Zeppelin tunes and some Wig Wam classics in our very first concerts, since we didn’t want to expose too much of our own material before the album was released. Queen is a major influence, but so is Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Sweet, Guns… But having a successful Queen show running in Norway for over 7 years, a lot of people over here expect me to at least do a couple of Queen classics. So why not. But I guess after a while, when people have connected to our original material, that’s what we will focus on.
Hardrock Haven: Being so busy with Ammunition, how do you find time for your other projects? Apart from Nordic Beast and The Show Must Go On, is there anything else you’re working on at the moment?
Age Sten Nilsen: You know, Nordic Beast doesn’t play that often. I mean, hey, Motörhead and Europe are still both very busy! (laughs) And the songs that we play are old familiar tunes. The Show Must Go On have been running for over 7 years, so the songs are stuck in my brain. But of course, if the Ammunition schedule gets very busy, it will be harder to find time for other projects. But then again, Erik and Robban’s band Eclipse will do some gigs, and while they’re busy I will keep myself busy doing other things. Actually Tony Carey (former Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow) and I are talking about performing together at some point, doing Rainbow classics from the first two albums. Tony is such a great guy and an amazing player. So I guess that could be an experience worth doing. I think we’ll even bring in Richie Blackmore’s son too.
Hardrock Haven: What are the band’s plans for 2015? Any particular concert dates we should keep on our radars?
Age Sten Nilsen: After the release of Shanghaied our main goal is to get the live act rolling, you know. And hopefully we’ll be able to keep ourselves busy on the road. And we will start focusing on writing new material for the next album while Shanghaied still is fresh. July 17th we’ll do Väsby Rock Festival with MSG, Magnum and many more cool bands, so that could be especially worth checking out.
Hardrock Haven: Anything you’d like to add in the end?
Age Sten Nilsen: Thank you for having me, and I hope your readers enjoy Shanghaied. On January the 23rd, our official website www.ammunition.no will be launched, so pop in and check our live date route. Hopefully we’ll bring some ammunition to your neighborhood!
Visit the band online: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ammunition/1404489566506923 – http://www.agestennilsen.com/
