MEM Interview with Carmen Gray
Iris-Jasmin met Carmen Gray's singer Nicklas in Helsinki on August 11, 2007.
MEM: How was your summer?
Nicklas: How has it gone...fast or...though it hasn't gone yet. *laughs* Summer came back. Just fine, thanks. Just gigging, though there has been more but its enough. We entered the studio to produce a new single. Everything is good and we got good news
from
MEM: So, will you go to
Nicklas: Oh, I don't know, hopefully ;) *winkwink*
MEM: How are you going into autumn?
Nicklas: Relaxed J Luckily winter comes soon. *smiles*
MEM: Will you start working on your new album this month?
Nicklas: Now we are only doing the single. We will propably start doing that album next month. We just have to get the single ready... actually it is ready but it just needs to be mixed first. There's good stuff coming ;)!!
MEM: Will there be any changes in your music genre?
Nicklas: Well... changes, it goes to a better way, of course. It 's been a year since The Portrait Of Carmen Gray, so we have learned something from that time and it will become "more professional shit".
MEM: Why do you guys want to play rock in particular?
Nicklas: Why? Those are the big questions of life. *laughs* In the beginning we didn't sit down and keep any "voting session" like: "Who wants to play finnishpop? Ou, O.J wants but no one else does, how about rock? Here's three people who want..." *laugh* No, not like that. I have always been interested in rock and I have always sung it. When i was a teenager I had some kind of thing going on, I tried my limits like heavy screaming and everything. It just wasn't my thing, it just comes naturally.
MEM: Does any other band member have other band projects?
Nicklas: Not as far as I know. Hopefullly not *laughs* O.J had, he played in Godsplague, but now he plays completely in CG.
MEM: Do you spend time together with the other band members or do you all live your own lives?
Nicklas: It depends... we are together but now I live in the city centre, so I have to be separated from the boys. They're hanging together in Kannelmäki. I try to be as much as possible with the boys. They're my best friends.
MEM: What do fans mean to you?
Nicklas: Well... what do they mean.. they mean to me, of course, very much. Without them it wouldn't be such fun to do this, I would do it, but certainly it wouldn't be as much fun as it is now. *smiles*
MEM: How do you feel about that idea that you are a celebrity?
Nicklas: o.o I haven't thought about that yet, I don't see myself as a celebrity. Not at all! If I go somewhere and someone asks, am I some kind of celebrity, I answer no, I'm just Nicklas. I sing in a band called Carmen Gray but that's it. I don't think that anyone keeps him/herself as a celebrity, or maybe Leppilampi *laughing* I really don't know, I haven't got there yet. *smiles*
MEM: Can you go into the city without fans who follow you and scream?
Nicklas: Yes, of course I can *smiles* There are times when you see those lovely fans, then i stop and talk to them.
MEM: What does a rocker's spare time look like?
Nicklas: Well.. a rocker's spare time is... it depends where you are when you have spare time. I don't have much free time, hardly none at all. That free time what I have might be, that I go to the shower and being online on the computer. I have always something, sometimes it pisses me off. There isn't that kind of free time that I could lie on my couch and watch television. Not at all..
MEM: Who is your role model and why?
Nicklas: I have many role models. Musically it is of course Axl Rose and also in attitude level my brother. As a person it is my mother. There's many of them.There isn't just one that should imitate. *laughs and smiles*
MEM: Have you always been musical?
Nicklas: Yes, I have always been. My brother threw a guitar into my arms when I was four years old. I have always been surrounded by guitars and other instruments which I played. My brother showed me, how Guns 'n' Roses' Patience goes, I was so enthusiastic learning c, g, a, d and like that. Singing came when I tried to imitate Axl and my hair grew at the same time.
MEM: Why did you change your style from the beginning style to as it is now?
Nicklas: I'm not aware of it, I don't look at old pictures like "Oh, I looked like that, now I have to change that hat to another!" *laughs* It just comes, I dress up clothes where I feel good and look good. I look like I feel.
MEM: What fascinates you in your stetson?
Nicklas: It's goddamn fine! *laughs* Why do you wear your beautiful necklace? What facinates you in it? *smiles* It's just so fine, it fits well on my head, it's comfortable and protects well from rain! *both laugh*
MEM: Do you like books or comics more?
Nicklas: Comics. I read everything, if they're good. For example Donald Duck is of course the best! And Viivi & Wagner is also very good. *smiles*
MEM: If you have to choose, which one of the characters you would be in Donald Duck?
Nicklas: Jaa-a.. maybe I would be Super-Duck.. That would be really cool! *laughs*
MEM: What is your bad habit?
Nicklas: Bad habit? Jaa-a... I don't have any bad habits anymore. I quit smoking half a year ago, which is wonderful! *smiles* Hmm... chocolate eating is likely worst. I love chocolate! Especially Marabou's original and nut. *drools*
MEM: If someone would sneak to your wardobe and open it, what would he/she find?
Nicklas: Cockroaches!! *laughing* Just kidding! Terrible mess and with good luck he/she could find something what I have worn sometimes. It shouldn't be dirty but it could be messy *laughs* I am a very clean person. *smiles*
MEM: And the last question, what do you wish for the future?
Nicklas: I hope that I and people around me are happy. *smiles*
MEM: Thank you for this interview. It was very fun to do this with you! *smiles*
Nicklas: Thank you very much too!
Interview: Iris-Jasmin Merikivi
