The Nomads interview: "I think the garage thing is doomed"

When innovation becomes classic does it selfdestroy its own reason of existance? Of course not as The Nomads may prove with their newest album. 80S neo-garage may sound to younger generations as classic as that of the 60s but with bands like The Nomads it seems to be a lot more consistant and have an equally big influence on younger generations. With these thoughts in mind we 'interrogated' Nick Vahlberg about how they worked all these years and how they will work in the future.

After more than 30 years your new album is hailed by many as one of your best so far. Did you expect that?
We worked very hard on the "Solna" album for several years, it seemed pointless to put out a 'pretty good' record after such a long period of silence, we felt that it was important to do our utmost to create something that was up to the standards of our very best work, like "Outburst" (1985) or "Sonically Speaking" (1991). It's very nice now to see that people seem to think that we succeeded in doing that!

Are you now fully back into action? Shall we expect a full touring schedule and steady releases every couple of years or so?
No, we're getting older and we have steady jobs and families these days. We have no plans to quit, but we'll be very selective when it comes to touring. And we'll record new material whenever we feel like it, we're planning for the recording of a new 4 track EP right now.

If you had to choose one song to show to someone who are The Nomads today, which one would it be? Same question if you had to choose one to characterize your whole discography.
Hmm, maybe "Hangman's Walk" from the last album...that's pretty typical of how we sound...and how we've always sounded.

When you started you were a part of the garage revival scene. Now you have become the garage 'old school' and there are new bands for the second or maybe even third wave of garage revival. How does this make you feel?
Well, it's great to see that there are bands that keep the tradition going. It's not like we invented it, but it's very cool to see that some younger kids are still interested...

Can you imagine meeting your younger selves today? What do you think they would think of you, what would they say?
They'd probably be very proud -and surprised- that we've kept on doing this so long!

Swedish bands have followed your example and openly credit you as a major influence. Do you feel that without The Nomads there might not have been such a tradition in Sweden?
Sweden has had a long tradition of great rock 'n' roll bands, which would have made a difference even if we would never have existed. Some of the very greatest that still are pretty much unknown outside of Sweden are Namelosers (Malmö 60s), Problem (Malmö 70s) and Stoodes (Stockholm 70s).

You have released as a single a Blue Oyster Cult cover even naming your band Screaming Dizbusters. Was B.O.C. Really such a big influence? I don’t think it shows much in your music.
Don't get me started on the Blue Öyster Cult! Their first three albums are some of my all-time-favourites and I could definitely show you some examples of very obvious BOC influences...

Nowadays, when the music industry seems to be revolving around songs more than albums, do you think that the garage scene has the perfect opportunity to become even more known?
To be honest, in a larger scheme I think the garage thing is doomed...most kids don't seem to care about rock 'n' roll anymore...but as an underground phenomen it will probably continue to exist.

You have covered some songs in your career. Which would you say is the most successful (I don’t mean commercially) and which song you always wanted to cover but could never get it as good as you wanted to?
(The Way) You Touch My Hand by the New York group The Revelons was a cover that surprised a lot of people, because it was a 'new' song at the time (we recorded it in '83, and the original came out as a 7" single on ORK Records in '78 or so). It became a small 'hit' in NYC because of that and people still seem to dig it a lot. One song that we wanted to cover but never really managed to get right is "I Can't Make A Friend" by the Vagrants.

Which is the best live band you have ever played with? (The Fleshtones are beyond competition – chose another one!)
We've been lucky enough to have been able to play together with a lot of our own heroes...the Ramones, Iggy, Johnny Thunders, Alex Chilton, Roky Erickson, the Pretty Things etc etc...but I'd say that the greatest band, that I can think of right now (except for the Fleshtones!), that we've played with is the Reigning Sound! We did a
smoking show together in Moss, Norway in 2003...