The Bulletmonks deliver kick ass rock'n'roll

Hello from Texas how's it going?
Howdy! It's running great at the moment. Great feeling, great vibes and alot of new experiences every day! AND, this is the very first Bulletmonks interview in the US of A, so it's very exciting and an interview I probably won't forget!

First give the readers out a little history of the bullet monks.
Okay, here goes! Our drummer and I played in the same band since we were about 17 or something and in 2004 we scrapped that band and started The Bulletmonks with my brother  Dan and another bassplayer, who we had to get rid off along the way. After we got together we hired a little bit of room in an old factory building where we made our headquarters, which was a great thing for us seeing we could play music day and night without getting into too much trouble.. We still rehearse there today - its a cool place!We recorded our first demo in 2004 and made ourselves a name as a live band, touring all over the place ever since. So after a few years of touring, our local fanbase grew and we realized that it was time to take the next step, because every single one of us bleeds and breathes rock 'n' roll and we knew we wanted to do this professionally and take no prisoners to make it! Nürnberg is a tough place for a band like us, because you only have a very small music scene and a big gap between the small clubs and the big clubs. The scene here in the city is quite strange because many people complain that it is such a boring city but then again, in the underground there were always very great places and music. We saved about every buck we could, sold anything we didn't need to rock and chose Chris Beyerlein for our debut album, as he is Nürnbergs most talented producer in our opinion. We recorded this album about 13 months ago and now finally with a record deal in place and such great fans, we hope that we can do this for a long long time!

From what I read from your bio the band is not native Germans right?
Oh well, three of us were born here, but my brother and I grew up in Melbourne, Australia, seeing we moved there with our parents when we were still very young and spent alot of time there - in an age that shapes you as a person. Dogg, our drummer is half french (doesn't speak a word of it though) and our bass player, Spreace was born in LA! His dad was an american soldier who was stationed near Nürnberg, so thats how we ran into one another. In the end, this is the reason I for myself don't really feel like a german. There's so many places in the world that are really great so I guess we feel like mix of all our roots.

I got your CD it's put some of so called American rock band to shame.
Oh thanks alot, that was definately NOT our intention, but of course it makes me proud to hear that from you!
In the end rock is what it's all about and we are just 4 guys who are having a great time and wan't to play as much and as good as we can!

How long you guys been around?
For about five years now, although it was a bit of a journey until we finally found the sound that we all dig! Seeing we are all friends or brothers we had a very very great vibe from the first day on and wanted to explore what we can achieve when writing music instead of rushing things! In the end it turned out that we can do so many different things in this band, its great!

Based on my own opinion I haven't heard good rock in quite some time but this CD makes me want to get a bottle of jack and rock out.
Yeah! And thats the kind of vibe we love! You know, it is very important for us to keep the pressure up, when writing songs. I really appreciate what you are saying so thank you! I belive that the fact that the four of us really enjoy this Rock "n" Roll lifestyle contributes to the sound we got in the end. We decided quite early not to use the tempting possibilities like Pro Tools or these things to write our songs. I know so many bands that copy and paste their songs together, every one of the bandmembers cooking their own dish and shoving them all in the same oven without rehearsals. We love playing together, something I believe has got lost somehow these days. Of course everyone comes up with his own ideas most of the time, but we play them, jam and explore all these ideas together, as a band, and that is the only true recipe for honest rock music I think.. All of the greats didn't have all the digital gizmos, so we want to do it the oldschool way!

What are band main influences? Seem the mix a little Southern rock with a pinch of Lizzy, Nugent, to me just dirty whiskey soaked rock.
Yeah, that is definately a very important selection there already. We all dig old bands in particular! You know, wether we listen to old blues records or Slayer, everythings possible in this band as we believe in the often mentioned opinion that there is only good music and bad music. My only criteria is that it has to rock and kick ass! We really dig Ted Nugent as a musician and my brother Dan and I are also great Zakk Wylde fans, especially of the Pride and Glory record! That is my favorite work Zakk's ever done! Of course we love Led Zeppelin - Robert Plant is a great inspiration for me, as he probably is for countless other singers. This question is very tough to be honest, as I change the CDs in my car on a daily basis for example. Yesterday I listened to Mr. Bungle all day, untill it drove me nuts! On other days I like smooth rock n roll! I guess our influences are so many, it would take me ages to list them... The last 5 records I listened to, was Mr. Bungles Disco Volante, Pride & Glory, Nashville Pussys Get Some, Physical Graffity from Led Zep and a great live bootleg from Jimmy Page and Robert Plant '98 ... Who knows what I'm gonna listen to tomorrow.



When the band planning on bring your brand of rock to these american shores?
To be honest? As soon as in any ways possible! We have been waiting and dreaming of touring America every since we started a band. Over here in Europe most of the bands dream of their first US tour, and seeing we finally made it to get ourselves a deal signed we are of course trying to get everything done to set up a tour or support shows and festivals. I am very sure we will have news on that very soon, so please stay tuned! Believe me. We are working as fast as we can on that one!

What are your tracks from this release and why these song stand out to u the most?
Mhhh.. Tough one. At the moment I'm much into Lifestyle Junie, which is a song which may sound like a lovesong at first, which it is, but it's not about a woman. It's about my love for rock! This is a topic which suits our situation at the moment!  The other one is My World's A Show.. A song about being dishonest and fucking with loyality and all these sort of things. Unfortunately these situations repeat them selves way to often. No Gain Just Pain is probably THE killer track on the album, I simply never grow tired of playing it for our fans! My highlight is Hang On Lord though. It's got so many twists and turns! I also probably love it because Dan came up with the idea, so I still discover new things in it every time we play it.

The band is playing some major festivals in Europe soon?
We are working on that. There are quite a few ones interested that I'm not allowed to talk to yet though.. I hope we'll be playing some major festivals in the states soon!

I would like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview any word for the american rockers.
Thank you all for your interest in our debut record! The four of us want to wish you all the best, and promise to deliver you your live dose of kick ass rock'n'roll ASAP! We hope to meet our american fans as soon as we can! Thanks for the interview, I hope we meet on the road to share some of that whiskey you were talking about! Darn, whiskey would be a good idea now...

So my rocking amigos on the other side of the pond! Have a good time and STAY ROCK 'N' ROLL!
Tyler Voxx