Rob Caggiano – Volbeat

Volbeat has been one of my absolute favourite bands since 2009. In 2013, ex-Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano replaced then lead guitarist Thomas Bredahl. With the change Volbeat evolved even further, taking their sound to a completely new level. Earlier this month the band released their sixth studio album Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie (check out my review of the album here). The band is definitely much more successful in both the US and Europe compared to over here for the time being. This might be about to change though. I phoned up Rob on Friday afternoon, and it definitely sounds like the band can’t wait to come back here to try and conquer Australia once and for all! 

Currently Volbeat are in the middle of a run of European festival shows. Rob is preparing for a Volbeat homecoming show in Odense on Friday night when we start our conversation. Obviously, Rob isn’t from Denmark at all, but the rest of Volbeat are about as Danish as you can get. What’s it like being in an all-Danish band, playing in Denmark? 

“Every time we play in Denmark it’s a pretty big deal. <laughs> So, I’m sure tonight will be a great show, I’m really looking forward to it. Obviously, like you said, it’s a hometown show for the rest of the guys, so it’s always a bit special.”

As I mentioned earlier, Volbeat are many levels bigger overseas. They’re continuously selling out arenas in Europe and heading on massive US tours. To date, they’ve only been to Australia once, playing Soundwave in 2014. I asked Rob how he would introduce the band to a person who’s never heard of Volbeat before, in five words or less.

“Oh, five words or less <laughs>… Damn. Good. Rock ‘n’ roll! <laughs> Volbeat is just a mix of all the different sounds and styles that we grew up on and that we love, it’s basically what it is.”

Last year, founding member, Anders Kjølholm (bass) left the band. He’s widely known in the Volbeat community for being immensely entertaining to watch live and his interactions with the crowd were always second to none. We never heard much about what happened between the two parties, so I just felt that I had to ask Rob about the incident, though not expecting him to be able to say much. 

“To be honest I don’t know much about what happened <laughs>. It’s hard for me to comment as I’m new in the band, those guys have had a relationship for many, many years. But I think it was a mutual parting of ways, yeah, it’s just kind of the way it worked out.”

Anders’ replacement, Kaspar Boye Larsen, have toured with Volbeat way back in the day. Now being a permanent member, I wanted to know how he’s settled into the band and also a random fact about him.

“He’s great! There haven’t been any hiccups at all. He’s just kind of been doing his thing and it’s working really well. Seem like the fans are digging him too, he’s a great bass player and great guy, we all get along. Right now the vibe is really good! Random fact about him… He’s a vegetarian!” <laughs>

Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie was released a couple of weeks ago. I felt that the band had probably had enough of questions about the lyrical themes and music of the album, and since people now can find out about those things on their own, I decided to not ask any questions like that. I did however ask Rob about the bonus track Slaytan, which is essentially a one minute instrumental. It made me curious because the track is very different from the rest of the album.

“That tune, it was, it started out as this riff idea. We were playing it live at one point. When it came down to working on the album and the rehearsal room just working on new ideas, that song, we tried really hard to turn it into a full length track, but it never felt right, it just never turned out the way we wanted it to.”

In my opinion the new album feels more commercial than Volbeat’s ever been in the past. There are some glimpses of the heavy stuff the band has released in the past, but overall the songs are more positive and lighter, I guess you could say. 

“I mean, some people have been saying that, but there are some cool, heavy stuff on the record as well. I think there’s a really good balance, overall it’s a really good collection of tunes, the melodic stuff is really catchy. I think there’s definitely a good spirit to the album, from top to bottom. You know, bands evolve, music shouldn’t be static. Volbeat is evolving, who knows, the next album might be death metal, we have no idea!” <laughs>

Rob Caggiano have made a huge impact on Volbeat’s sound since arriving in 2013, not just with his guitar playing, but also as a producer. Having been in a huge band such as Anthrax for so long, I was curious about if he felt that he’s taught Volbeat, a much newer band on the big stage, some tools of the trade along the way. 

“I don’t know, that’s an interesting question. You know, I’d like to think that they did and I’ve learned from them as well. That’s the beauty of being in the music business and making records. I’ve worked with a lot of different people over the years as a producer and an artist and I’ve learned from every one of those experiences, that’s what keeps it exciting and fresh for me. So hopefully they can say the same thing!”

The weirdest moments of my live music career are the following: in December 2013 I saw them perform for a completely packed arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. Two months later, I watched them played in front of maybe 300 people at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney. I asked Rob if they were nervous before their shows over here. 

“No, not at all, I’ve been to Australia many times over the years, it’s one of my favourite places in the world. I love it, and the Australian fans really appreciate rock ‘n’ roll, for me it’s always been a great experience going to Australia and I was really looking forward to doing that with Volbeat, a band that’s never been there before. We did Soundwave and a couple shows in-between. I remember that Sydney show vividly, I thought it was a great show and we definitely created some excitement and buzz. We’re really looking forward to coming back down there. The size of the venue, before that I guess it had been a while before we played a show that small, you know.”

Is your return to Australia on the cards already? 

“It’s definitely going to happen. There’s no doubt about it, it’s just a matter of when. It hasn’t been booked yet, but it’s going to happen!”

What was your experience like the first time with Volbeat? 

“The shows were great, Soundwave for a while now have been one of my favourite festivals, I’m really bummed that it’s not happening anymore. Those shows were awesome. As you said, not a lot people knew who we were, but they definitely knew who we were after! We can’t wait to come back down there and take it to the next level!”

We were rapidly running out of time, and I wanted to know what Rob’s latest “holy fuck!” moment was!

<laughs> “I guess that would have to be last night, I met one of my favourite guitar players for many years, Andy Larocque of King Diamond. I met him last night at this local barbeque restaurant here in Copenhagen. King Diamond’s playing the Copenhell festival tomorrow so we’re all in town. And yeah, it was cool. We’ve corresponded on email a few times over the years but we never officially met, so we did that last night!”

I actually looked at your schedule and I think it’s a shame that King Diamond are playing Copenhagen when you’re not because I would want to see you perform Room 24 live with the King.

“Yeah, it’s something we want to do as well, I think it’ll happen at some point eventually. We’ll see! It would be cool.”

Thanks for your time Rob, any last words before you go?

“It was great talking to you, we’ll definitely be down there and thank you so much for your support!”

Related Posts

• 

  HJELVIK – Welcome to Hel
• 

  AC/DC – Power Up
• 

  Depravity – Grand Malevolence
• 

  Pioneering Aussie metal drummer Matt ‘Skitz’ announces 2021 national tour.