Nervous Nellie are a rock band out of Stockholm, Sweden, and their influences include Sonic Youth, The Pixies and Neil Young. With a new online EP coming out, and tour dates cropping up over Europe and the States, I got the chance to ask lead vocalist/guitarist Henrik, drummer Andy and guitarist/vocalist Magnus some questions. Read on to find out about their EP, America, and what they'd do with a genie in a lamp!

I'm sorry, it had to be asked. How did you get your band name?

Henrik- Not too exciting actually, a friend of ours was looking through this weird american dictionary, he thought it sounded funny so we took it. When we found out what it meant the name was even better, not that it fits our description as a band really but still.

What has the band been up to recently?

Andy- We toured the Baltics a few weeks ago and will be going back in the end of May to do Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Belarus. It'll be great. And of course we've spent a lot of time in the rehearsal space working on new songs. Good ones by the way! :)

How did you get signed to Honkyjonx Records?

Henrik - Honkyjonx is a new swedish label that we've been a part of starting up from scratch. The idea of a label focusing first and foremost on touring and playing live is great since that's what we love to do! Luckily when we revealed our music they decided to continue working with us, this time as a band firstly though. Things are going better than we could imagine so we're happy!

You're releasing your debut EP online. Why aren't you releasing it in the usual format and what advantages do you think there are in releasing it online?

Henrik- Really two reasons, first of all the internet is our future and we wanted to dive right in! The amount of people you can reach by sowing little seeds here and there on the web is out of this world, also we're just in awe of technology in general. I'd like to be a robot some day. Secondly being that our label has limited financial possibilities a traditional release would have killed us. In all honestly our record sales on this ep would never cover the marketing costs, by giving the ep away for free we still have money for touring and travelling.

How did you come to be playing some dates on the VANS Warped Tour?

Henrik- Actually we went against everything we stand for and entered a kind of battle of the bands. It's a worldwide thing run by Emergenza in Europe, we won the whole thing and Ernie Ball offered us slots on the Warped Tour! It's actually quite surreal when you think of it, especially when all the other bands were so good!

Have you been to America before?

Magnus: Well Jess, I think all of us have... I know for sure that I and Henrik have, ´cause we were both born in Chicago and somewhat raised there... And both of us have been back several times since then... and aint it a FIIIIIIIINE place!? As long as you have some luck getting through customs...

How is life in Sweden different to life in the various places you visit while on tour?

Andy- They drink more vodka in Latvia... No seriously, I guess peoples attitude is more friendly if you take the Baltic countries for instance. Maybe they're more open minded? They definitely dance more (and better) than the Swedes, that's for sure.
Henrik- For some reason it's always better away from home in my opinion, travelling and meeting cool people is the best. Difference is good.

What kind of music were you brought up on?

Andy- I think we all had different influences. Everything from Sonic Youth, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr to Wham, Samhallets Botten, the Beatles obviously. And then also that band with the blond Seattle guy screaming from the top of his lungs, I believe he lost his head...What's his name again?

What kind of music are into at the moment?

Andy- All kinds of music as usual: Jeff Buckley, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Screaming Trees. Also Swedish bands like Silverbullit, the Hairspray Queens. And of course Nervous Nellie...
Henrik- That's like the hardest question there is...Sonic Youth always works for me, I'm also a little curious about this new band I heard the other day...Snow Patrol I think?
Magnus:I´m somewhat of a Zeppelin-freak actually.

How do you start writing songs? Do you find it a difficult process or does it come naturally?

Henrik- Personally I think song writing is hard because you can't really control it. Usually I'll just sit down with an acoustic guitar and my porta studio and try stuff out, I've come to find that if nothing happens within 10 minutes the idea was probably crap. From there we claw our way into the song together as a band and make it good!

Time for a random question...if you had a genie in a lamp, what would you do?

Magnus: I´ll tell you what I´d do: "Two chicks at the same time" and if I that genie was kind enough to give me three wishes, I´d also claim credit for songs like "Stairway to heaven" and undo Bonham's death so that the Zepp could live on...

What have the band got planned for the rest of 2004?

Henrik- First we'll be touring in Europe like Andy said, after that we'll be playing some shows in Sweden before we set off on the Vans Warped Tour. After the Warped tour we set out on a club tour that will end in NYC in the beginning of august. After that we'll start recording demos for our debut album that hopefully will be out by the beginning of 2005. Maybe we'll record another ep in between? Not a bad idea actually...

Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add or promote?

Henrik- First of all, THANKS so much for talking to us! And last but not least...Manne says hello! Oh yeah, make sure you get a copy of our ep for free at www.nervousnellie.com!

Thanks a lot to the guys for answering my questions, and as Henrik says, you can find out more about them at their site, www.nervousnellie.com.