Your name:
My name is
Divine - Mike Divine and the band name is Violent Divine. We often get the
question how we picked the band name and what we mean by it. I think one of the
toughest things about being in a band is to come up with a name that isn't too
corny - even though some people have that opinion about Violent Divine, but
that's ok. Just as long as they don't ignore us ;) The story behind the name is
a bit weird however. We found an online blog written by a British, er, escort professional, named Violet Divine. That band name was however already
taken by some rap act, if I remember correctly. So after a few pints we decided
to go with Violent Divine. Of course it's also a great name since we can
include it in lyrics, referring to Divine things or Violent things and have a
bit of play with words. Interestingly, some people take offense by that, while
others see the humour.
Where are you
from?
We're from a
small Swedish town called Norrköping... well most of us that is. Oscar is from
somewhere up north in the great outdoors. Somewhere.
Name of band:
Violent
Divine.
Who else is in
your band?
Besides me, who
do the vocal parts, it's S.J Divine doing all things guitars, Oscar Divine is
responsible for the bass and Simon Divine is banging the drums and
whatnot.
How would you
describe yourselves?
As a band we try
to put all of our energy into the songs and the live performance. It's supposed
to leave you gasping for air. As individuals, well I guess we are all insane in
four different ways. I am the manic primadonna (but also a nice guy), S.J is
the angry guitarist who will stop at nothing to release his bottled up energy,
like training some weird form of karate or riding his dirt bike, Oscar is the
secretive weirdo of the band. It's like you never know what's on his mind or
what will come out of his mouth next. Strangely enough, for a basist, he's the
band's ladies-man. Simon has some not yet discovered three letter diagnose. I
guess that's why he's behind the drums, doing sports, being a hard working
student of things normal people can't possibly understand.
Who are your
main influences musically?
We have lots of
individual musical influences. For me personally I pick up stuff from the 70s
glam era, 70's punk, 80's glam, 80s British New wave of Heavy Metal as well as
modern rock like Mudvayne, Five Finger Death Punch. But I also love Manic
Street Preachers, Radiohead, Garbage and loads of indie/alternative stuff. I
know S.J and Simon are into progressive stuff like Dream Theatre and Oscar is
the thrash-freak, constantly namedropping bands I never heard of.
What do you hope
to achieve in music?
Well that's a
tough question. Of course we'd love to be able to be on stage as much as
possible, release new music when we want to. Luckily the DIY-way to do things
makes it all so much easier, at least in my opinion. You no longer have to sit
on your ass and wait for a label to do absolutely nothing. OK, I admit a star on
Hollywood Boulevard wouldn't hurt, or maybe a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall Of
Fame, but that'll have to wait I guess ;)
What has been
the highlight of your career so far, and why?
I can think of
three highlights actually. Doing gigs in the UK with brothers in arms New
Generation Superstars, the Roko Naktys Festival in Lithuania was a blast both
times we played there, and of course the Mama Trash Fest in Helsinki, Finland, is always great. That's like doing a show for the family.
And what’s the
moment you want to forget?
I (don't)
remember a show in Lahti, Finland. I accidentally had too much of some Finnish
liquer and just simply couldn't perform at all. Luckily there was only two
people in the crowd. Unfortunately I met these two guys on the boat ferry back
to Sweden and they carefully explained to me how much I sucked. They were
right. The numer of people in the crowd isn't important. I give 100% plus for
any size of audience.
If you had to
pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
Personally I'd
pick Blackheart because it's a great mix of heavy guitar riffs, a great melody
and catchy chorus - and the lyrics are dark enough.
Where can we listen
to it?
Where can we
find out more about your music?
Official
website: http://www.violentdivine.se
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/violentdivine
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/violentdivine
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/violentdivine
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/violentdivine
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/violentdivine
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/violentdivine
Tumblr: http://violentdivine.tumblr.com
WordPress: http://violentdivine.wordpress.com
Musicclout: http://www.musicclout.com/violentdivine
Instagram: http://instagram.com/violentdivine
Ourstage: http://www.ourstage.com/violentdivine
Anything else
you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
Well, we hope to
be able to come and do a gig in a town near all of you who like Violent Divine.
We will release
our fourth album Violent Divine Hyperactivity Disorder in 2014.
We're on a
Divine mission to do so!
