ILLDISPOSED Talk About Deal With ROADRUNNER, New Album

ILLDISPOSED members Bo Summer (vocals) and Jakob Batten (guitar) recently spoke to Denmark's Antenna webzine about the group's deal with Roadrunner Records and their recently issued album, "1-800 Vindication". Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Antenna: That story on how you ended up signing with Roadrunner sounds amazing. Did it really happen by coincidence?

Jakob Batten: "Yes, 100 percent. We had actually already put our signatures on a completely other contract with Crash Music. It was a good thing that I was the one who had to go to the post office and mail it, 'cause I wasn't in the mood for it. So a week came and went, and I didn't get shit done, and then there suddenly was a mail in the inbox from a talent scout, and we all switched on standby. But we didn't expect that much, but Roadrunner were ready for it and thought that the music sounded cool, and we got approved by all their European divisions. It's something, they always do. It's not enough to get approved, for instance in Germany. It needs to get all the way around in a territory."

Antenna: How long have you been working on the new material for?

Bo Summer: "About two years. On 'Kokaiinum', it was even worse. On that one, we made 'Richard Scarry' two and a half years before the album was released. 'Dark' was one of the last ones, we made for the first promo. 'Incisive Souls', which is now called 'In Search of Souls', was probably the first one we made, and that's about a year and a half ago. We may be slow, but I also think our songs have a certain durability. 'Kokaiinum' is a prime example of how it sounds, if you make everything in a hurry. I think four or five of the songs were prepared, and the four or five songs… there's one where I bark like a dog."

Jakob Batten: "It was just something we did the evening before we entered the studio. We had moved our gear out to Borsing Recordings, and then we made four or five songs there."

Bo Summer: "When we realized we had to go to his studio for the nineteenth time, we were just like, 'Fuck it.' You must have in mind that with each album we make promo recordings to be prepared when we enter the studio and also to change something in the songs, if needed. We had psyched ourselves to go and record in Feedback, and we had even booked the place, so we didn't fucking care. That was also the reason why Jan Borsing was fired as manager immediately after we had finished recording."

Antenna: What's the story behind the album title?

Bo Summer: "Vindication means that we are back contra 'Kokaiinum', 'cause with that one we were pretty fed up, and 1-800 is just one of those numbers you can call when you want a blowjob [laughs]. It is one of those American numbers. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there actually was a lawyer or a firm having such a number in the U.S."

Jakob Batten: "It means that we are ready again to go out there and give it full throttle upon the last disappointments."

The entire interview can be found in Antenna magazine #3, which is available for free download at this location.