LIAR THIEF BANDIT - MIKE JACOBSON

💿 Hi, it's a pleasure for us to have on Hardrockheavymetal MIKE JACOBSON of LIAR THIEF BANDIT! Welcome!

Hey hey, Mike here! Thank you, pleasure's all mine!

💿 Can you introduce us the current line-up of the band?

Absolutely! It's me, Mike Jacobson, on guitar/vocals, Niklas Dahre on bass/backup vocals and William Grube on drums.

💿 On May 14th was out your new album DEADLIGHTS, positive received on our pages. Can you tell us somethin' about its composition process and style?

Indeed, we really enjoyed reading the review on your page. The songs that ended up on Deadlights were written in between tours in 2019.

I usually write most of a song on my own and bring the idea down to the rehearsal room and show it to the guys.

Then we work on the arrangement together and decide how the latter part of the song is going develop as well as how it's going to end.

That's basically it, musically. I write the vocal melodies and the lyrics at the same time as I write the song initially.

The style of the music is heavily inspired by 70s classic rock and the garage rock revival of the late 90s.

Sometimes the other guys' influences are blended in with mine when we finalize a song and it could turn into something slightly different than my original idea, which is always fun.

Those influences could include modern rock, punk, stoner rock and even indie pop at times.

The lyrics are usually about turning bad experiences in life into something positive or some sort of social commentary.

In either way, it comes from the heart.

💿 In your early times which artists influenced you the most?

The Hellacopters, Kiss, Thin Lizzy, Turbonegro, Foo Fighters to name a few.

💿 Where does the band name come from?

It is taken from the song "Take It" by the Norwegian band Gluecifer where a line in the chorus goes "I'm like a liar, like a thief and a bandit".

💿 DEADLIGHTS is out on THE SIGN RECORDS..Can you tell us somethin' about relationships with them?

We've admired the releases from The Sign Records for a long time.

We started our journey together in 2019, when we partnered up with Grande Royale for a European tour and decided to make a split 7-inch single for the occasion.

Grande Royale were already signed to The Sign Records so we proposed for this collaboration to be released on their label as well.

They accepted and about a year later when we had finished recording Deadlights we approached them again about a long-term relationship – and here we are!

We are very happy with how everything turned out, they work hard for and with their bands with

all the right intentions.

💿 Here at HARDROCKHEAVYMETAL we are strong defender of classic format. Love for vintage or isn't there a future outside digital?

There is definitely a future for physically printed music.

The worldis just a little more complex place nowadays, where especially the vinyl record has made a comeback in a subculture way.

No one knows how it's going to develop but I strongly believe that there is something about vinyl records beyond nostalgia that will keep the music lovers interested.

The warm sound, the graphic cover art on a larger printed canvas and the displaying possibilities that comes with it.

I think vinyl is here to stay, the big question is just how popular it can actually become in this modern day and age.

💿 In absence of live music many bands provides streaming concerts..You

agree or disagree? What's your opinion about?

Streaming concerts is a great way to reach your audience in these strange times, absolutely. We did a livestream last year and chances are we will do another one before the pandemic is completely gone.

We don't believe in overdoing it though, I think that people can grow tired and uninspired of it after a while. To keep it selective is key.

💿 Great cover for DEADLIGHTS. Can you tell us somethin' about?

Niklas, our bass player, turned me onto a guitar podcast out of beautiful West Seattle in the US where two guys sit down every week to talk about a certain guitar – the feel, looks and history around it.

One of the hosts is a photographer in his spare time and last summer he went to the Joshua Tree desert in California and took these pictures in the middle of the night.

He posted them online and we really liked how they looked so we asked him if we could use them for

the cover art for our new album – and he agreed!

We have used his photos for all of the graphic design for the album including all of the digital singles.

💿 Thank you so much for your time! See you soon on Hardrockheavymetal!

Thank you for having me!

Liar Thief Bandit

Palmer Turner Overdrive

The Sign Records