Interview:	YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS
Title:	Warmly foray

These well-dressed Swedish costume enthusiasts fulfill the legacy of the historic privateers of the 17th century so elaborately and lovingly with musical life that it is rare.

The multiheaded instrumental and multifaceted vocalizing formation celebrates its Pirate Folk so enthusiastically and entertainingly that it simply makes good mood.

That the Swedish firebunch is much more sincere, more genuine and more conspicuous than the majority of the guild, is illustrated yet alone by all the splendid band portraits. The current third album of Ye Banished Privateers continues the course of the two predecessors „Songs And Curses“ and „The Legend Of Libertalia“ in a very lively, bubbling waterway.

And the gloriously colorful and extremely playful songs on „First Night Back In Port“ are, in fact, even more varied than the fluttering sounds of a skull & crossbones-flag in the wildest hurricane on the high seas!

Therefore Ye Banished Privateers could make a very good name in the scene so far. After all, the thematically high-spirited brew of Irish and Scandinavian Folk also exhilarates in a pleasantly casually manner.

What drives you mainly to be a pirate in Ye Banished Privateers?

Black Pyte (ocean drum/windpipes/lead vocals): „Pirates is a western culture archetype or trope that we can´t seem to get enough of. They actually became mythical even in their own time. I think it's the lure of the underdog and the dream of an independent life. A small ragtag band from the underclass of the day that really made a big mark in history. Pirates at the turn of the 17th and 18th century were supposedly numbered around 3.000-5.000 individuals and they managed to put the five great powers of the world in almost a complete blockade for a few years. It's not so much about the big treasure – it’s about freedom and community, making your own rules and beating the odds (and yes - about drinking rum in the morning of course).“


Freebird (violin/viola/lead vocals): „I think we found so much of ourselves in the pirates, their view of life, love, politics, to seize the day. There’s always more to learn about them, and as we do, we learn more about ourselves and our history.“


Magda (guitar/vocals): „Experiencing awesome and weird stuff I would never in any other way, every tour is a big adventure! All this together with people I really like spending time (a lot of time) with, I love my crew. Also singing my heart out in a way I don’t get close to in other music styles, I mean every expression has it’s qualities and being a rough pirate is one of mine. It’s so liberating to make all these... sounds, that wouldn’t pass for great singing in many other contexts - but right here it can be genius.“

Silent Jim (mandoline / lead vocals): „I have always found myself at jobs or hobbies where giving other people a positive experience is a key component. Sadly enough, these types of occupations are traditionally also extremely underpaid, whether it’s service related or entertainment, which more or less brings me to share the authentic pirate ideology: We are all human beings and we all deserve to live our life free and happily in a way of our own choice and not under the chains of the upper class. Ever since my own teenage fanboy years, spending every awake hour listening to or thinking about all the great heavy metal enriching my life, I have felt the urge to return that experience onto the world I grew up in. Every single “thank you”, big smile, banging head, dancing feet and singing along with our songs reminds me of that teenage me, and is exactly why I love to do what I do, and how extremely privileged I and to be a part of this band and sharing so much happiness to so many people.“

The costumes are awesome, I love it, looks very authentic!

Surely not easy, to design, create and tailoring all these clothes!?

Black Pyte: „Thank you! Some of us do put a lot of effort into the visual part of the band and consider it a important part of the whole. The costumes is a mix between flea market finds, clothes we make from scratch and a few pieces from operas and theatre outlets. We tend to avoid stock designed ”renaissance fair” and ”pirate clothes” to get our art design as original as possible. The rough conditions of our tours and the nature of our shows take a heavy toll on the costumes and I believe in endless patching and few washes to make it look really worn in. Have a look at for example Silent Jim’s shirt – it’s been around since he joined the band and it's more patches than original garment. Authenticity wise i have to say it’s also a mix. I study a lot of 17th and 18th century paintings and copperplates and read nerdy re-enactor forums and I am really picky with some details. Other parts are quite over the top boarding to fantasy (but always with that little anchor in historical reality). We tend to go for the elaborate and baroque (mixed with a lot of dirt) rather than the plain sailor's ”slops” that would be the more historically accurate alternative.“

What do you prefer personally: older movies with the unforgotten Errol Flynn f.e. out of the 50s/60s - or new(er) trend stuff like „Pirates Of The Caribbean“?

Silent Jim: „Personally, I would have to say "Pirates Of The Caribbean". Possibly mainly because I never grew up watching the older classics. I am deeply fond of the mysterious and atmospheric worlds of the modern fantasy pirates, for obvious reasons being much visually richer than the old originals. They’re full of dark magic and ridiculously overdone outfits and characters. Sadly, though, they also tend to bring a way too heavy focus on action rather than on the great stories they already have to tell. As much as I will always love to dig deep into a well written drama or documentary though, I have for the most of my time thought of TV as something that should be disconnected from the real world to be worth my time. Fantasy, science fiction, ghost stories and horror has always had a special place in my TV-heart and this is how I prefer my pirate soup.“

Black Pyte: „Yeah – the modern idea of how pirates looked, talked and acted is so heavily influenced by the big screen that it is impossible to get around it. I would say that the (maybe questionable) honor of being the main inspiration of the modern idea of pirate should go to Robert Newton rather than to Errol Flynn. He invented the ‚yaaaarrr‘ and his exaggerated west county accent has been the basis of how we imagine pirates spoke ever since. He did numerous pirate movies and of course died out of heavy drinking. Pirates of the Caribbean is of course the big revival for pirates and most probably the reason we get to travel around and drink free beer. The downside is that Pirates of the Caribbean kind of brain wiped humanity of every previous bit of knowledge about pirates. Everyone shouts Jack Sparrow after me – like a way more obvious guy like Blackbeard never existed. What I may be missing in both the older movies and Pirates of the Caribbean is a bit of the social reality of the time. It’s all drenched in bright coloured adventure. Pirates lead short brutish lives. A pirate like Blackbeard is considered to have had a long and very successful career where he took around 300 ships. He sailed as a pirate for about two years... I think that the Tv-series Black Sails did a lot right. They kind of brought the pirates out of Disney mode and took the time to tell political stories without the constant swinging from the mast fencing scenes of most pirate fiction. But if you want the real deal why not settle for a book? Have a look at William Dampier's "A New Voyage Round the World" from 1697 – there you have one of the few first hand accounts of an actual pirate!“

How deep do you know about how was Pirate life in fact? Most people do know the topic only from cinema and novels.


Black Pyte: „There has actually been quite a vivid research into the golden age of piracy during the last few decades. Some of us has read a lot about the actual reality of the pirates. It’s kind of fascinating accomplishment to go against the vast might of the great powers of the day with only a small group of people. The researcher Marcus Rediker compares the great ships with multiple cannon decks with the atom bombs of the day. The problem is that these atom bombs is handled by an oppressed underclass who are slowly starting to understand their potential power. The cool thing is that pirates were more than glorified bank robbers. In many instances they voted for captains, routes and every big decision on the ship. No one had better food or sleeping quarters then anyone else and they had among their few rules a health insurance system. All of this is more or less the total opposite of how things worked on a regular ship of the day, that rather was a brutish class society in miniature.“


Magda: „Well, when I got in the band I didn't know a thing about pirates, and now I know a lot of things. This is mostly because we get small lectures from Pete now and then, like the one you just got, whether we want it or not. One year he gave us all literature about piracy for christmas! I love it though, it's a really interesting part of history - I mean of course I love it, the band is like the biggest part of my life.“

What facets fascinate you most in the pirate thing?


Silent Jim: „With the historical real pirates in mind, there were so many different reasons behind different individuals choosing of this life, where I could only relate to some. Personally I draw much of my inspiration and interest from their strength to break free and go their own way, the romantic notion of freedom at sea and the attitude of not taking any shit from someone thinking they have the right to own your arse.“


Freebird: „I find what’s the most interesting for me is that the fundamental nature of pirate life is revealed as democratic, egalitarian, economically socialistic yet rebellious and anarchical. These are all political views I share with them and still fight for 300 years later, with my violin and our music as my weapon. The thing is they had to invent these ideas in a time when democratic systems did not even exist, people were divided by their gender, color of their skin or by inheritance. They dared to dream of the land Libertalia, and by playing this music I dare to do so to.“

What do you want to report mainly about the upcoming album „First Night Back In Port“, beside your debut on the label respectively the fact sheet of Napalm Records?

Black Pyte: „We have tried to group the songs into a couple of different chapters and let that reflect onto the soundscape and the overall feel of the record. It´s songs and stories are sung and told in the fictitious Cooper’s Inn, Jamaica colony around the year 1715.“

Silent Jim: „The recording of this album involved more musicians than any other recording in the history of our band and is to us personally quite the symbol of the equality and chaos we keep working to develop within our chaotic crew. Any single one of the ca 30 crewmembers, not exclusive for musicians only, who wished to take part of the recording were encouraged to do their part with more or less no fucks given about how much harder and chaotic that would make the recording process. Every single one of us is important to the band in their own way and it’s important to us to be able to project this outwards in any way we can.“

Such a huge line-up is surely unique in the Rock/Metal genre, how has it developed to nearly 30 members?

Monkey Boy (percussions): „Through bad taste, lousy judgement and a strong will to survive. Besides that, through a great network of inspiring and inspired musicians and artist both in Sweden and abroad, willing to sign the chart and fill in the gaps for one tour or for life.“

Freebird: „It’s also a way to adjust as we get more famous, to make it possible for bandmembers to have children or maybe another job on the side but still say yes to play on all these great festivals, we take turn, we’re a music collective.“

Will we see even more members in the future of the band?


Silent Jim: „It’s hard to sail a big crew over a stormy sea without a few falling overboard every now and then. There’s also the risk of random plague or scurvy. It’s more likely than not that new faces will keep showing up, along with old ones falling short.“

Mr Bellows (accordion/vocals): „Yes, definitely. We don’t want to grow just for the sake of growing, but there will always be positions in the band that needs to be filled from time to time, meaning we will have to shanghai new members for the journey.“

How difficult is it, to keep up all the members and their contributions etc.?

Mr. Bellows: „Well, everyone contribute to the best of their ability. We decided long ago that we are in this for the long run, meaning that in order to survive as a group, the band cannot always come first. Those in the band that have the time and energy to take the lead do so, and those that hardly have time to show up for a single rehearsal or gig are allowed to go slow. But with that said, we do spend a lot of time bringing old crew members up to date with the current arrangements and new songs.“

So many men and women under one band name - do respectively did members fall in love within Ye Banished Privateers?

Silent Jim: „It would seem more or less inevitable, wouldn’t it? Luckily Ye Banished Privateers are immune to animalistic emotions. Or not. ;) From the top of my head two stable couples come to mind, whereas one now share a big family and decided to take a break from piracy with focus on their own adventures. The other one would include myself, who just recently moved to Germany together with one of the hardest working pirates in our crew. And let’s not mention what love can be found at the bottom of a bottle of rum. I’ll leave it to the rest of the band to share their own stories.“

Freebird: „There’s a euphoria on stage that kinda results in me falling in love with at least one of the bandmembers each concert. But it usually disappears as soon as we’re all snoring next to each other in the back of a trunk and then waking up hungover with black muck all over our faces and a breath of the kraken.“

Therefore: is the line-up situation stable?


Black Pyte: „Well, our mandolin player fell in love with a cool german girl who later joined our crew. She does all the bands heavy lifting now and somehow managed to get some good old german ”ordnung” into our chaotic lot. For this she is even forgiven for kidnaping said mandolin player and marooning him in southern Germany, now turning him into her stable boy and wine farmer.“

Mr Bellows: „Well, we haven’t had a stable line-up since 2014, when we marooned the idea of being a band with a fixed number of the same musicians. For every show we bring a different line-up, even though we do have a somewhat stable core of key figures in the band. Sometimes life gets in the way, for one reason and another, and then people have taken a break from the band, but when they are ready to come back, they are welcome aboard again. For that reason, with one exception, we haven’t really had anyone saying “I quit”. And the one who did quit is actually discussing a comeback, haha.“

Please be so kind and describe your development within the last few years in these very special band as a personality, character and musician!


Mr Bellows: „Well, if I’m going to be so bold and try to speak for everybody in this band, the general development has been that those of us who weren’t much of musicians to begin with, in the early days relied heavily on our ability to act and kick ass on stage. These people have now really come a long way as instrumentalists and singers. Then there’s the part of the crew that joined as great musicians to begin with. I think for many of them it took some time to get acclimated, develop their own personal pirate character and really let loose on stage. As a whole, the band has evolved immensely, as actors, musicians and as a tightly knit crew that can really bring a professional yet spontaneous live show that works on the big stages as well as unplugged in the taverns.“




How big is the rehearsal room (-hall) of the bunch at all?


Meat Stick Nick (bass): It is quite small, actually. At a normal rehearsal we’re usually 10 to 15 members at the same time. We have started to have a live stream at every rehearsal. We have a lot of members living in other cities/countries, so through the stream they can catch up with the rest of us.“

Silent Jim: „It can be hard to find a balance between the band, work and your family. In a band of this size, you don’t have to be at every rehearsal, there is always someone that can cover for you. Of course, the goal is to be at most of the rehearsals.“

Magda: „The most important thing about our rehearsal room is not the size of it, it’s the fact that we rehearse every Monday at the same time. No matter how many privateers has showed up, 7 o clock sharp we play "Welcome to Tortuga". Sometimes with only percussion and a guitar, sometimes with full strength.“


How can one imagine a rehearsal of the complete heap?


Meat Stick Nick: „It has happened, on few occasions. I think the latest time was before the latest release concert. I think we were 25 people, or so. Everyone one was warm and sweaty, but it was funny. You have to stay sharp and try to focus. No small talk between the songs.“

Are you able to play in small clubs at all?


Quinton Taljenblock (viola pomposa): „Yes we are and it is always a sweaty pleasure! You might think that bringing expensive fragile wooden instruments to such a crowded place would be hazardous. But to be honest the real danger is when we play on big stages where Blackpowder Pete got space to pick up speed before he rams straight into you.“

Silent Jim: „Indeed, the risk of running out of air is usually bigger than running out of space. With big determination comes great people packing superpowers and staying conscious has at occasions been moved down to second priority!“

Monkey Boy: „Yes, we love close and personal gigs where we can smell the audience and have them blend their beautiful voices with ours. Its an amazing feeling when the boundaries between band and audience starts to dissolve. Another upside of having them close is that I can hand them my drumsticks to get hands free for drinking beer.“

When the big-headed-formation goes touring, how big is the effort to keep everything together on the road? How is it to imagine?


Mr Bellows: „Well, it can be pretty goddamn chaotic! Always counting heads at each stop, and most of us can’t count to more than ten, so as soon as we are a bigger crew than that, it all goes out of hand.Just imagine 12 people whining about making pit stops, first for beer, and then because they need a bathroom break.“

Fingers (stage hand/ merchant/ jack of all trades): „Usually it goes really well. For all our trips we try to have one or Two who is in charge, who fix plane tickets, connections and sleeping arrangements. Since we are so many going every time, around ten to twelve pirates per trip we try to find as cheap tickets we can to hold down the costs. This usually ends up with us running through airports in a hurry. Imagine waiting in line at the airport and seeing twelve pirates running by in a hurry. When we finally reach our destination everyone fixes their own things And on scheduled time mostly everyone is ready on stage. As one of the members that drinks less often, I usually drive back and forth when needed to and at the end of the night trying to get all the mostly drunk pirates in to a minivan is a real test of patience.“

„The Legend Of Libertalia“ came out in 2014, how do you see and feel these album 3 years later?

Monkey Boy: „This album has some of our most frequently played songs and some of my personal favourites. We got the first print copy of it at a big german pirate festival and that event represented a big leap for us as a band.“

Why did you change the record label? More, better etc. possibilities in the marketing respectively live situation?

Silent Jim: „Actually, they came to us with an offer we couldn't refuse. Long negotiations have taken place to ensure all involved in our music will be happy with the new arrangements. To us, this means much greater possibilities of promotion worldwide, connections for better touring and a long list of very experienced people to advice us in our future development. I believe I am one of many in our crew who feel it’s also making those teenage rock star dreams suddenly seem very real. This has given me a huge boost in motivational energy to put into the hard work we’re already doing every day to bring this band forward.“

Magda: „My experience is that when you’re open and have a “yes saying”-attitude in life, interesting stuff will happen. So my feeling before signing was, let’s try this and see what it will bring. Like, I want to see how far we can take this band, and at some point you’re going to need bigger muscles even though we work really hard ourselves.“

How do you feel now, after having finished these new, salty collection of often animating songs finally ?

Mr Bellows: „‚Finally‘ is really the right word for it! Many of these songs has been with us since the release of "The Legend Of Libertalia", and one or two of them actually go all the way back to our first year as a band. But they just wasn’t quite ripe at the time, so we have had to dodge the question on when to record this or that song for a very long time now. With the release of "First Night Back In Port", we will suddenly be working on a clean sheet, so in a way it almost feels like we are starting a new band in terms of the song material.“

Monkey Boy: „I truly love the sound and I can´t wait to get the reaction from our fans. They know most of the songs well from live gigs but the studio versions surely add something extra.“

What is the most important thing for you guys on the new release of Ye Banished Privateers?

Monkey Boy: „I´m hoping for a sea of dancing tricorns in the audience and bottles on stage. Not only when we celebrate the release of "First Night Back In Port", but for the rest of 2017. I also wish for new pirates to find us and join this community of caring, sharing and partying people.“

Silent Jim: „I’m singing on this album! It’s been over ten long and cold years since I last did this.“

The collection of your soulful mix (half balladesque/half stormy musicianship) is highly charismatic, touching emotional and full of originality and diverse variety … fits very productive to all the songs itself. Please report about the most relevant/interesting things about it!

Mr Bellows: „We had a vision from the start that we wanted songs that were easy to understand and remember, and that told the unsung stories about the men and women that history has many times neglected. Our music is simple in that way. We are not afraid of repeating the same melody over and over, but our stories can be quite complex with a lot of research made for many of the songs. In a way, most of our songs are also connected to a larger story, that spans over nearly 200 years of the band’s fictional history. They are like pieces in a puzzle. If you put all the pieces together, you will really reach a deeper insight about the mythos we have created around Ye Banished Privateers.“

Who wrote the lion’s share of the new songs?

Mr Bellows: „Historically, I have written the original rough drafts for most of the songs, be that alone or in collaboration with others. "First Night Back In Port" is no exception I guess. But in the process where we are now, the songwriting has really exploded with people bringing new ideas to every rehearsal. So without a doubt, our fourth album will be more diverse in terms of the original perspectives and sources of inspiration for the songs.“

How long was the work in total for the material?

Mr. Bellows: „That’s a really difficult question to answer. If we take away the songwriting and countless hours of rehearsing these songs for a long time, the recording process itself was 3 full days in the studio, and three more to fill in a few gaps. First, we needed to go back into the studio for a few hours to make some changes to one of the songs we weren’t quite happy with. Then we also managed to bribe our way into our city opera house with a portable studio, to lay down authentic 18th century harpsichord on all tracks. And finally, we decided that our latest song "Annabel" really deserved a spot on the album, so Quinton set up a temporary recording studio in an orchestral hall, where we shot that song. Then mixing the album has taken well over 200 hours, and many, many late nights of producer work.“

What have been the hardest respectively most difficult passages of the songwriting-process? Please tell about some difficulties and pleasures in the development of your new songs!

Mr Bellows: „Well, whenever we are having trouble with our songs, it’s usually when melody and lyrics don’t really match. On their own, they can be great, but when sung and played together in the rehearsal room, once the song stops everyone looks silently at the floor, not knowing what to say or do next. Then you know you have a problem. These songs tend to disappear in one way or another, until the right melody or lyrics come along to deliver them. Another issue can be if the song is actually really good, but it just doesn’t feel like the right sound for our band. That was the case with We Are Ye Banished Privateers. That song actually caused somewhat of a conflict within the band, as a lot of our members thought it was too much metal, and that singing about ourselves was really corny. We agreed to not play it unless performing on a metal festival. So, in 2014 we premiered the song at Wacken Open Air and it was a big hit, and now it’s part of our main routine.“

The songwriting process itself, what is to tell about in general? Any changes to the past?


Mr Bellows: „For me, the melody usually comes first. I like to play around with different instruments in order to break out of old patterns. On a lucky day, inspiration is flowing and I can stumble upon a melody line that I really like. Then I try to put a little bit of lyrics to that melody, usually whatever pops up first in my head when I play it, just so that I know what subject or story I am composing a song to. When that is done, I try to expand that first piece of melody into different parts like a chorus and a verse, before I start doing research on the story itself. If all goes well, I have a rough draft finished in a couple of hours, or a few days. Then it is time to present it to the band, and that’s where the songs really come to life. In the rehearsal room, everyone contributes according to his or her inspiration, adding their own musical expression to the mix.“

It's surely not easy to handle the composition process within 30 members?

Mr Bellows: „I guess it’s both a challenge and a real asset. Sometimes, our visions collide, and a lot of good ideas stacked upon each make us miss the target. But most of the times, as long as we can stay focused, we can really help each other out by adding individual inspiration and crazy ideas to the mix.“

Which noteworthy (small) differences to the previous album(s) are waiting now for the curious listeners?


Silent Jim: „This album includes many more musicians than the previous two and we recorded most of it together during live sessions in the studio. This may be new to any one out there simply comparing album to album, but to anyone who ever attended to our shows over the past few years, this lively and sweaty atmosphere will all seem very familiar. We have even included some of the fan crowds joining us during our touring. These things together bring lots of extra energy and authenticity to the sound.“

The new music is extremely smooth, but appears fully genuine … what kind of emotions dominate these songs?

Mr Bellows: „I would say that songs like "Ringaroo At Coopers Inn", "First Night Back In Port", "Cooper’s Rum" and "A Night At The Schwarzer Kater“ are songs that deal with the care-free, irresponsible emotions, that make you want to head to the nearest tavern and just drink and make love like there is no tomorrow (even though "A Night At The Schwarzer Kater" is actually a song that deals with the feelings you have when “tomorrow”, to your big disappointment, comes barging through the door). These stories then have their opposites in songs like "Annabel", "I Dream Of You" and "For A Fragile Moment’s Ease", that are really dark and tragic tales of death, treachery and lost love. "A Declaration Of Independence" and "Eastindiamen" are the angry ones. They are basically critiquing an unjust mercantile, colonial system that fed of the lower classes and divided wealth and power to a few select families and houses. "Skippy Aye Yo" is a simple and silly shanty about our crew, but also a bitter song about being an outcast scorned as an enemy to the entire civilized world. "Mermaid’s Kiss" is a love song with a twist and „Bosun's Verses", "All The Way To Galway", "We Are Ye Banished Privateers" and "Devil’s Bellows" are more like drunken ramblings, exaggerations and outright lies that tell a bit of the history of this band.“

Which special visions are raising in your mind while performing these new material?

Monkey Boy: „The range of feelings for each song is wide and since every time we perform, the lineup changes slightly, also the way different songs are performed changes. Still, happiness, solidarity and love is central for how I understand our music, even though presented as barely surviving from drowning, violent revolution and fornication with consent.“

Is it allowed to ask you about any special musical influences which led to the new songs?

Mr Bellows: „Well, I think it is safe to say that we are influenced from a ton of different artist and genres, Irish and Scandinavian traditional folk music and sea shanties, as well as 18th century chamber music being the most obvious sources of inspiration. If we are going to drop a few names I would say Tom Waits, Lushes And Tramps (a local band from our hometown Umeå that was really hot during a short time in the early nineties), Trevor Jones (you will find that the interlude to our "A Declaration Of Independence", is a tribute to his interpretation of the traditional song "The Gael", featured in the movie "The Last Of The Mohicans"), Monkey Island, The Pogues, Metallica (at least if you ask Jim) and many, many more.“

„First Night Back In Port“ speaks a lot in advance of course - but what is behind these title?


Mr Bellows: „Yes, that is the concept of the whole album, but also the title of one tracks. The song is actually a celebration of free love and mutual consent, disguised in a ton of sexual innuendo, but the concept of the whole album is the songs and stories told at the fictional tavern Cooper’s Inn, as a fleet of Pirates return from a long, harsch time at sea.“

Be so kind and bring the main lyrical content of the new tracks a bit closer! (guess it’s all around pure piracy, celebrating with gallons of rum in the harbor pubs, related outlaw topics and stereotypes …, or?)


Mr Bellows: „Actually, that is a rather good description of our first album. We started out quite stereotypical, but nowadays we have come to realize the need to challenge these stereotypes. For that reason, we rarely mention the word pirate in our lyrics, and we try to the best of our ability to keep an inclusive approach to our newer material. We try to write songs that sound traditional, but when studied closer are actually quite political in nature, and always taking the side of the underdog.“

Such slippy lyrics as in „Ringaroo At Cooper’s Inn“ are not very often to hear in Folk Metal, funny! Is this your slang in daily life, too?

Mr Bellows: „That is actually a very free translation or interpretation of the unknown Swedish gibberish phrase “Rullan går”. The major part of our material we have written and composed completely from scratch, but we do have a few covers or interpretations of existing traditional songs. "Ringaroo At Cooper’s Inn" is one of those.“

Quinton Taljenblock: „Our first longer tour was in Germany 2014. Magda was trying to lighten up the mood in the tour van by singing really dirty Swedish songs that made everyone blush. This was before we got to know each other really well, today we are a bit more hard skinned. Anyway, we started to sing these songs for kids in public at the family medieval market we were attending, I think it was in Hildesheim. We sang in Swedish so we were assuming no one understood. Then we got the idea to do the same thing in English and it all went downhill from there.“

What’s your very own personal view about the ‚real Buccaneer spirit‘ on the new album?


Mr Bellows: „To stand up to oppression and fight for your ideals. Or to quote Black Pyte from the first question you asked us: “It's not so much about the big treasure – it’s about freedom and community, making your own rules and beating the odds (and yes - about drinking rum in the morning of course).““


Silent Jim: „If you know what you want, then find a way to get it! Be it a glorious explorer of the world or a professional party animal. Don't allow others tell you what’s possible and what isn't. They may give you advice or have opinions of their own, but never control you.“

© Markus Eck, 04.06.2017

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