The Kid is alright: Jens Kemgren's passage from blues metal to sleaze.
May 2007 - Though not yet widely known on this side of the pond, Jens Kemgren (better known these days as simply "The Kid") has been rocking away in his native Sweden for over a decade. His 70s inspired power trio VULTURE CAVALRY oozed forth power and melody like nobody's business, but due to internal conflicts and lack of label support the band folded after only four years. Undeterred, Jens soon sound himself taking over the lead vocal slot in the glam rocking band DANGER, proving that the transition from 70s rock to 80s sleaze can be done seamlessly. In addition, he has a side project set aside by the name of THE PRINCE OF PISTOLEERS, which has served as a fresh outlet for his love of 70s rock. So after diving head first into the deep end of his work and getting a good feel for the waters, it was time to arm myself with some questions and give The Kid a holler.
The first obvious question should be this: how does someone make this sort of transition? "Maybe it sounds weird, but one side of me just loves the 60s and 70s music because of the bluesy feeling and kinda natural sound with progressive rhythms," said Jens. "The other side of me is more 'crazy and twisted' and very much 80s rock. I think a show is the most important thing when you as a fan pay for a live concert. It's got to be colorful and something to remember even for those people who don't know music that well or play an instrument. I always loved the big hair, sleazy outfits and simple riffage…. just like TWISTED SISTER and MOTLEY CRUE."
After inquiring about his musical firsts, there were certainly no surprises. "My first album was TWISTED SISTER's 'Stay Hungry' in 1984, I think I listened to that one ten times a day...and it still rocks! Such an album never dies," explained The Kid. "My first guitar was a Gibson Les Paul (one of their cheaper models). I bought it from a friend for about $400. I really loved that one; it made me enjoy music and guitar playing even more."
Growing up in Karlshamn in southern Sweden, his love for music would continue to be nurtured until that defining moment when he knew what he'd be doing for the rest of his life. "In 1994 I saw Zakk Wylde with PRIDE & GLORY at the local Summer Festival (nowadays known as Sweden Rock Festival). I was blown away for many years (still am, ha-ha) cause of their performance and the cool power trio CONSTELLATION. After that I always dreamed of a great power trio with myself on vocals and guitar. I wanted it to be really good so I needed some time to put myself into the world of song/music writing, but also to learn playing guitar and singing at the same time," recalls Kemgren.
"A few bands and some years later a new music store opened in my hometown, I wasn't late to visit and the guy who owned it put me in touch with Palle [Flensby, who would become the bassist for VULTURE CAVALRY]. Shortly after that we found a drummer called Christian Stenbäck, he joined the new trio for a while…. but later got replaced by Jimmy Lexe." When it came to the name VULTURE CAVALRY, "I guess it just sounded cool at the time. I would never use such a name today, ha-ha!"
The band, which drew influences from such acts as BLACK CAT BONE, PRIDE & GLORY, CAPTAIN BEYOND, CACTUS and ELECTRIC BOYS, would record two demos, "Gone in the Morning" and "Looks Like Invisible" before landing a deal with a small record label called Soundport AB in 2003 to record their full-length debut, "Blackwing". This deal, however, would prove to be more of a curse than a blessing. As Jens explained, "We worked really hard in the studio getting every song together in the way we wanted. When all that was written in the contract was done, including one single, one album, one video and all that, the label didn't have any money to promote VC, which many people would say is the most important thing to do in a project like that.. The company had no sense whatsoever when it came to business, ha-ha! I got really pissed off and never really spoke to them again."
It's a shame, because under different circumstances "Blackwing" could have been widely successful. Zakk Wylde would be proud of the grit of Jens' voice and the loose southern twang and expert leads of his guitar, and the melody within both the music and vocals would make Jerry Cantrell jealous. As Jens previously alluded to, VC were a proud power trio, and it shows on the record; very, very rarely is more than one guitar heard at once. The severely infectious harmonic chorus of the title track can easily be stuck in the listener's head for days, and simpler rockers like "Beats Me" and "Living Loud" work nicely alongside more complex and experimental tracks like "Gravity Greetings" with its nearly jazz sounding intro and its country picking riffing. Above all, this is a heavy record, and more than once it brings to mind the groovier work of SACRED REICH in their "Independent" days. "Blackwing" was even good enough to receive the dubious honor of being an Essential Disc on this site, alongside many of rock's most revered staples.
That same year, following the disappointing experience of "Blackwing" and realizing that the project wasn't going to go as far as they wanted it to, the band laid down one last demo titled "White Demos" before calling it quits. "I guess we were just pissed off and I felt that my dream of a power-trio was broken at the moment. It was never meant as a full-length," explained Jens. With regards to the band members, "We've got very different personalities and different goals in life. With my experience I guess every member has to match to make a band successful. You all have to pull the same direction and don't give up. We don't maintain any contact, but sometimes I run into Jimmy when I visit my hometown, but that's all. Oh… I also wrote a mail to Palle when I finished the VULTURE CAVALRY MySpace page a few weeks ago."
Fast forwarding to the present, Jens recounted how he became involved in DANGER. "Actually I met those guys at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2006. I was told they were looking for a new singer so I contacted them. DANGER was formed in 2004 by Rob Paris [guitarist] and the name is taken from a really good MOTLEY CRUE track on the album 'Shout at the Devil'."
Now known as The Kid, Jens' transition from 70s power trio rocker to 80s hair rocker was complete. So how different is the experience of being in both of these kinds of bands?
As The Kid put it, "The difference is kinda big although it's both rock 'n roll. Playing the 70s power trio style is cool cause of the groovy sound and bluesy feeling. You can improvise more and play longer guitar solos! The DANGER glam/sleaze style which we call 'New Wave of Swedish Sleaze' is more colorful, direct to the people, melodic and funnier to look at as an audience. But it's also funnier to drink beer and party to. Chicks love it!"
To date, DANGER has two 2-song singles available, namely "Playin' the Game" released in 2006 and "Spread Your Legz" released in 2007. In addition, they've been feverishly touring their home country, winning over fans everywhere they go. "We have really great contacts in Sweden… maybe we're one of the biggest Swedish glam/sleaze bands right now," said The Kid. "We don't have a record deal yet, but we're aiming for a major one and something tells us that we really can make it, because of our hard work and creativity when it comes to studio work, songwriting and promotion. We also have some bigger contacts in the States, where similar bands and famous heroes from the past have got an eye on us."
Listening to the work of DANGER thus far, outstanding effort has been made to capture the sound of the hair metal era, from the production to the deep snare to the songwriting. The Kid has discarded his gruff VULTURE CAVALRY vocal style in favor of a more fun-loving metal style that sounds like a genetic mish-mash of Vince Neil and HAMMERFALL frontman Joacim Cans (even though, as he puts it, the higher register does put more strain on his vocal cords). That's why it shouldn't be much of a surprise when the track "Playin' the Game" comes galloping in sounding an awful lot like "Live Wire". The opening riff of "Burning Love", the second track on the "Playin' the Game" single, is very reminiscent of "Angel Dust" by VENOM, showing that these guys are drawing influence from many sources from metal's golden era. The newest 2-song single, which features the shameless rockers "Spread Your Legz" and "Rock 'n Roll", sees the band getting more and more in tune with the hard partying attitude of the era, along with more experimentation from The Kid with increased falsetto. As the lyrics to "Rock 'n Roll" attest, it's all about glamour and sleaze!
So how does it all come together? As The Kid puts it, "I write the lyrics but also some music. I think it is a cool mix when Rob, me and J.J. [Glitter, the band's second guitarist] put our ideas together. It always turns out to be something good and fun. Sometimes it even turns out to be a song, ha-ha!" When it comes to staying true to the style, he said, "Of course it's some work when it comes to the superficial parts, like hairspray, make-up, clothes, smoke and pyro. But every one of us loves that style and we're always 100% true and serious about it. And the music always comes from our heart." And when it comes to grunge and the constant struggle to revive the notions of glamour and sleaze that the genre killed, The Kid's answer is short, sweet and to the point. "Kurt Cobain killed it all. Then he killed himself. I guess people want some show and happiness back in their lives."
And if that struggle wasn't enough to keep The Kid busy, there's also his side project THE PRINCE OF PISTOLEERS, which released a 2-song demo in 2006. It's another power trio, only this time he apparently didn't know the bassist or drummer until two hours before the demo was recorded! As one might expect, for those already familiar with VULTURE CAVALRY, this demo could very easily be seen as a continuation of his former band. "Hmmm …yeah, I guess so. But it's more straight forward and easier to understand," responds The Kid. "It took me a few days to put together and record. It probably will appear with different musicians every time a new release shows up. It was a fun thing to do, but I don't have much time to work on it at the moment. THE PRINCE OF PISTOLEERS is a project coming up when you least expecting it. Maybe I'll write some new songs soon. DANGER is what I do right now."
So what's next for each of his current projects, and when are we going to see full-length albums by them? As The Kid explains, "One of our main goals in DANGER is to record a full-length album, but there's no time to hesitate. If we're worth a great label it will come to us, and I know there's a lot of talk about DANGER, so let's just hope it will happen soon. THE PRINCE OF PISTOLEERS maybe will come back someday. The important thing is that you never really know when!"
In the meantime, The Kid is certainly keeping himself busy, and if anyone has the resolve to return fun and sleaze to rock music, it's him. So off he goes to continue his mission, but not before leaving us with some words of wisdom that we'd all be well advised to take to heart: "If you have a dream and a vision, hold on to it… and keep that smile in shape!"
Bonus! Rare full-length MP3s and The Kid's band pages!
From VULTURE CAVALRY's "Blackwing": A Quest to Get Through
From VULTURE CAVALRY's "White Demos": Make a Stand
OFFICIAL SITES: myspace.com/vulturecavalry , myspace.com/bestdanger , myspace.com/theprinceofpistoleers
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