In our latest interview, we asked the drummer of Cold Night For Alligators, an up-and-coming Danish alternative metal band affiliated with Arising Empire, about their new songs, their upcoming album due out in March and much more! If you want to know more about the story of Cold Night For Alligators and Nikolaj Lauszus, be sure to join us!
Interviewee:
COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS Nikolaj Lauszus (drums) CNFA's current line-up: Kristoffer Jessen (guitar) Roar Jakobsen (guitar) Nikolaj Lauszus (drums) Johan Pedersen (vocals)
First of all, thank you for accepting our interview! How would you describe yourselves in a few words? (W.)
Nikolaj: We’re an alternative metal band from Denmark – we try to write catchy, groovy and explorative heavy music without too many boundaries and constraints. I’m Nikolaj and I’m the drummer.
Where does the name of the band come from? What is the story behind it? Who was the mastermind of the idea? (T.)
Nikolaj: It’s mostly lost in the mist of the early days of the band. The band’s first bass player came up with the name and left the band shortly after – so we don’t really even know ourselves, which I guess is a little awkward, but funny enough. We still like it because you don’t really know what to expect from a band with that name.
What do you like most about making music? What motivates you every day as a musician?
Nikolaj: For me, it’s definitely creating stuff and playing it live for people. The live shows are the final reward for all the hard work, but they don’t really pay off if you’re not satisfied with the creative output. There’s a looot of not that interesting effort which goes into running a band, even of our size, so it’s good to have that common catharsis of finally being able to play our new stuff live after 2 years of almost complete concert hiatus.
Which bands inspire you as a band?
Nikolaj: Very hard to say – we have a very broad set of influences and don’t agree on a lot of music, but I think that’s also something that contributes a lot to an interesting collaboration. A few bands I think we all enjoy are Tesseract, Sleep Token and Vola.
What genre is closest to your heart besides progressive metal?
Nikolaj: Very hard to say – I don’t really care about genres. I’m mostly a metalhead, but enjoy quite a wide range of music. I grew up listening to a lot of thrash metal and The Haunted‘s probably my favourite band of all time. I do appreciate a good pop tune and some ambient music as well – I’m very picky with individual artists, but not at all with genres.
What are your favourite bands?
Nikolaj: Lately I’ve been enjoying Halsey, Zeal and Ardor and Dark Funeral, so it’s an ecclectic mix. I’ve also probably put on Meshuggah at least 3 times a week for some years now and still haven’t grown tired of them.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind about The Hindsight Notes? In what way do you see it unique?
Nikolaj: It’s the product of an enormous amount of work and it’s hard to be objective. It’s more cohesive, well-written and personal than what we’ve put out before. It’s also softer and with less “metal” parts, but I think the dynamics makes the heavier part punch even harder.
For you, what is the most personal song you have ever released and why?
Nikolaj: “Behind Curtains” is my favourite song we’ve ever done. I fell in love with the synths and the subtle complexities in the arrangements early on. The lyrics also really resonated with me – it’s about feeling unmoored and being unsure of your place in the world. I was going through a turbulent time in my personal life when we wrote this album and this song hit me really hard, even though I didn’t write the lyrics.
Your song Behind Curtains has a very special music video. Can you tell us more about it? Where did the idea for the video come from? What exactly do we witness?
Nikolaj: I think you’d have to ask Costin Chioreanu who did the video, haha. He basically got the lyrics and a few liner notes from our singer – I think they really resonated with him and he absolutely nailed it. He’s an awesome artist and I’d love to work with him. The general theme of the song, as I said before, is about feeling lost and unsure of where you’re going. It mirrored some very real things that were going on our singer’s life at the time, but I think it’s something most people can relate to in some form. So that’s sort of reflects what you can see the characters in the video go through.
What was the first event that made you pick up an instrument?
Nikolaj: I played the piano from a quite early age, but when I was 9, I joined an after-school youth club that had a music room with a drum kit – after that drums pretty much dominated everything, since I realized they were loud and fun, which they remain to this day!
What themes will we experience when we listen to the songs of The Hindsight Notes?
Nikolaj: It’s an album about us growing up, becoming adults and taking responsibility for how we encounter challenges and our own faults as people. Very metal, I know!
Apart from your current role in the band, which position would you like to try out?
Nikolaj: I play a little bass and would love to have the opportunity to play it in a band setting sometime. Other than that it would be cool to be a singer – all of the attention and none of the gear.
Are there any countries or specific venues that are on your bucket list for live performances?
Nikolaj: We’ve played there a bunch of times, but the UK has a special place in our hearts and we look forward to go back. I’m a huge history nerd and very fascinated with Russian history at the moment, so playing there would be cool!
What do you find most challenging about what you are doing?
Nikolaj: Creating good music while honoring the other commitments we have to running the band and being regular-ass grown-ups with jobs and responsibilities.
What would you say to yourselves from 10 years ago?
Nikolaj: It’s OK to suck, but try not to and be honest with yourself when you do.
Finally: Which band would you most like to tour with?
Nikolaj: Tool would be unreal. I think Tesseract would be a great fit as well, we’ve played with them before and all enjoy their music.
Thank you for your answers!
If you’re interested in Cold Night For Alligators and don’t want to miss their forthcoming album The Hindsight Notes, then you can follow their work by visiting the links below.
COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnfaband
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnfaband/
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2iFIkdC4XNYlTdFSnaYPo4
by: Wolfy & Traidusk
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