melodylane

MELODY LANE: Can you tell us where the name TRENCH DOGS comes from? Who's the founder of the band and where are you from?
Andy Hekkandi: I moved from Australia to Sweden with the soul purpose of starting a band! The name Trench Dogs came from the stories of all the dogs who fought and carried messages in the trenches in WW1 and 2.  Also we are all huge fans of the Dogs D'amour so anything with "Dogs" would have sufficed haha

MELODY LANE: Which (bands) are/have been your main musical inspirations?
Andy Hekkandi: Well i can only speak on my behalf, between us we have a wide range of influences. I've always loved vocalists who sound a little strange, i guess because i sound a little strange myself. As a kid Singers like Taime Downe and (early) Tom Petty resonated with me a lot perhaps because they sounded like me... like the voice in my head!  i love music that is a little bit off, the perfection lies in the imperfections! lately ive been listening to a lot of The Waterboys and The Chesterfield Kings, amazing bands!

MELODY LANE: The line up of the band is the same from the beginning or have you had changes. The members in tour will be the same that played in the studio?
Andy Hekkandi: Oh boy we definitely cycled through members for a while but i feel like we've landed on a really solid group of Lads! We will be going into production on our first full length album in February, i'm super fucking psyched to be going into the studio with these guys. Even the most weird sounding singer is going to sound great with such a talented band backing them!

MELODY LANE: List 3 songs, from the TRENCH DOGS discography (including new RELEASES), that can define the sound of the band … 3 songs that can help our readers to knowTRENCH DOGS at the best.
Andy Hekkandi: I'm much more exited to push some tracks from the upcoming album! keep an ear out for "Forgotten Melodies," "Montenegro," and "Rattlin' Bones", this album is going to be a whole lot bigger, better produced and better written than anything we've released previously. i can't wait to share this with everyone, were gonna make the best rock n roll album of the decade... i hope. Haha

MELODY LANE: Tell us something about the creative process of your music. Is there a main composer or we can talk about a team work? The songs come from ideas of a single member and then the band works on these ideas in the studio jamming togheter, or your songs are written in the studio and all the members compose togheter?
Andy Hekkandi: It's so difficult to pin down the creative process, it seems almost random. we can spend hours in the studio trying to hammer a square peg through a round hole but then again someone can come up with gold while just sitting on the toilet. Although for me, i do my best writing sitting in-front of the laptop with a few drinks. I used to only write music on trains and planes but ive tried to bring the process home. Unfortunately these days i find it impossible to write while i'm sober, i think that's a problem.

MELODY LANE: What are going to be the differences between your first EP and the new music that you are writing? After time, are you totally satisfied with your choices about sound and the writing of your first Ep “Fashionably Late”? 
Andy Hekkandi:  haha! Fashionably Late has a whole crazy back story to it, producing that EP was a shit storm! We had problem after problem, It's amazing that we managed to get it to sound half-decent. I'm so glad to be leaving that DIY production shit behind haha. There's some cool songs on there though, i love playing "Thunder in the badlands" live and people seem to really like "Ode to Ashes." I hope one day we might re-record it to capture the dynamics a little better!  The writing for the new album is a lot smarter and bigger but the style and overall sound hasn't changed!

MELODY LANE: Will you tour in Europe in the next future? Will you play here in Italy in the next months? Have you ever played here in Italy? So…Touring plans?
Andy Hekkandi:  Oh man once this album comes out, we're going to hit it hard! i would like to start with a Scandinavian Tour and some dates in the UK.  'Ive heard that Italy is an amazing place to play this kind of music! it's definitely on our list of places to play! 

MELODY LANE: Could you tell us two bands, from the actual scene, you’d like to tour with?... And why these bands?
Andy Hekkandi: We are quite good friends with the Cruel Intentions guys and really hope to get to work with them in the future, those guys are kicking ass... i'm not ashamed of a little coat tail riding haha! We were lucky enough to play on the same bill as Crashdiet at the last Rest In Sleaze festival but i would love to play support for Sister outside of Sweden some time. Those guys are so talented and have worked so hard, living proof that consistency is key!

MELODY LANE: What has been your biggest achievement to date and what do you want to achieve in the near future? 
Andy Hekkandi: I think our greatest achievement so far has been spending so much time together as a band and not killing each other. These guys are my only friends. I will be playing some solo acoustic shows in Japan in December, i'm really looking forward to that. Trying out some of the album material and drinking a lot of Nihonshu, also to be playing Support to the Naruzy Suicide band (ex. Lipstick killers) in Nagoya is such an honor!

MELODY LANE: In the end…A message from you to all MELODY LANE readers.
Andy Hekkandi: if i could say anything to your readers id like to say.... If you like a band, let them know. somehow. Because nothing feels better than hearing that someone gets pleasure out of the art you create!! Also... buy this fucking album when it comes out. haha