– Yorck Segatz for Psychorizon –
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats teaming up with Sweden’s finest Spiders: Definitely one of the most exciting tour packages throughout the past year! The gig at club Luxor in Cologne, was just the right opportunity to discuss the latest development and future prospects with Spiders’ guitarslinger John Hoyles. The subjects range from jailhouse rock to hidden merchandise treasures… So read for yourself!
Hi John! Since it’s just you for the Interview, we have to skip the cross-introduction, so could you introduce yourself?
My name is John Hoyles and I play guitar in Spiders! We’re on tour now with Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats for about a month.
How’s that going for you?
It’s going great, a lot of people are coming to see the shows.
How did you organize the tour? Did you come up with that package?
No, their booking agent asked us if we wanted to tour with them. So we jumped at the idea. It fits very well!
During this year’s summer period, you did quite a lot of festival appearances and some headlining gigs on your own.
Yes, I think in may we were on tour for week or so, then we did loads of festivals mainly in Sweden. There are a lot of festivals coming up there lately.
Do you recognize an increase in popularity?
Yeah, all the time! It’s building up more and more, also since we’ve released our new EP “Why Don’t You”. People start to recognize us.
Did you write the songs especially for this release or were they unused material from the last album?
No, we wrote them especially for the EP. I had the idea for quite a long time. It has two of our own songs on it and one ABBA-cover.
That’s quite Swedish! You also released a video for one of the tracks.
Yes, for the title track. It’s a live performance from a former prison actually. It’s closed down since a few years and they turned it into a youth centre.
In January 2016, you will embark on a US Tour with Graveyard. How did that come together?
Basically, Ann-Sophie (Hoyles, John’s wife and singer/2nd guitar player in Spiders) and me were sitting in a pub when we heard that Graveyard would go on a US tour. I just told Ann-Sophie that I was going to send Axel (Sjöberg, Graveyard drummer, former drummer for Spiders) a text if they would take us along. The next day their manager phoned us and now we’re on the tour!
Wow, that’s easy!
Yes! Sometimes it’s helpful to know the right people. Especially when you’re not a bigger band.
What’s the most important thing/device in your suitcase on tour?
Tough question… Apart from my stage clothes I’d say my toothbrush! And fresh underwear. You don’t get to shower often, so you have to try and keep up appearances…
The band has been around for quite a while now. What has changed for you since the beginning?
Well, we’re making some money now, but we still have to work when we are at home. Fortunately, we have bosses that let us take time off from work in order to go on tour. It’s our dream to do this full-time, we’ll see in the future…
Do you still own your very first instrument?
I gave it to my brother, now my mother keeps it in the attic. It’s still there, but damaged, so you can’t play it anymore. I had quite a few guitars since then.
When I took a look at your merch booth, I noticed some different styles regarding the artwork. Who comes up with the ideas a how do you choose the artists?
It’s difficult, because one wants to have shirts that one likes oneself, but at the same time you have to sell. It has taken us some time to figure out the style that suits us. We’re big fans of Alan Forbes and this guy called David Paul Seymour, he’s very talented, too. We used to have some designs in the past where we were like “This is great!”, but it hasn’t sold anything…
So you have some precious left overs at home?
Yes, we have some at our rehearsal space. Maybe we’ll bring that on tour some day in the future…
A main topic with your last Interview for Psychorizon was of course the situation of female fronted bands. The interview took place in 2012. Has anything changed since then?
I think in Sweden it’s becoming bigger and bigger with women playing in rock bands. I.e. Heavy Tiger and Tiger Bell… But it’s still difficult and harder to break for a band if it’s female fronted.
I thought it was the other way round, because women attract more attention,
That’s what I thought as well!
I have one last question for you: If the band could star in a movie, what kind of movie would that be? Would you be the good guys or the villains?
Hm… I like war films and history… So it would be us playing the good guys in one of these!
Thanks a lot for taking the time!
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