Present yourself to the readers
Hey! im Andy Hekkandi, the singer of Trench Dogs. we hope you enjoyed the album!
What’s the story for YEAR OF THE DOG ?
After letting go of our original bass player, Trench Dogs becoming only a 3 piece. Despite this setback i wanted to re-build the band bigger and better. We Found new members, became 5 and started working hard on a full length high quality rock n roll album. we named it “year of the dog” because it was released in the asian calander year “the dog”. I was actually in Japan ringing in the new year which made the name even more special to me.
Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?
In the beginning when we set out to create an album i took on the task of writing songs and pitching them to the boys… usually a 3 chord mess which they would flesh out and turn into something really cool. Once the new members joined we added more flavour to those songs and even started writing some material together as a band. “Bad Luck Berlin” is a great example of this! i'm excited to see what the second album will be like and what our collaborative writing skills can do!
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
I wrote most of the lyrics on the album with some songs being co-written by Martin (drummer). I’m very proud of the fact that we don’t bullshit with our music, so many bands in this genre are just writing trash lyrics that mean nothing. We keep ours honest, poetic and rely on the good old fashioned art of storytelling.
Why the name TRENCH DOGS ?
It means nothing haha! it is kind of in reference to the dogs that fought in in the trenches of both world wars but mostly it just sounds cool.
The original band name we had was Zoom Dogs.
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
my personal music tastes ? Anything with some depth and substance. ranging from psychobilly to folk… but i can just name some bands! Hanoi Rocks, the Dogs damour, Cheap Trick, The Jacobites, The pogues, The Cramps, David Bowie, Tom Waits, David Allan Coe… music that to me has a soul… the weirder the better!
What's your best live memory ? And why ?
I remember one gig where Mattias (Lead guitar) broke his strap and two guitar strings at once. somehow he managed to stretch the strings out without breking them, liften them over his head and used them as a strap! he finished the show.
In studio, what was the atmosphere for the album YEAR OF THE DOG ?...etc.…
Well it was communal living, we were in a studio on the other side of the country living in close quarters. We spent an entire week together locked inside a giant studio and it was strange. I dont know if it was the booze, the long hours, the lack of sleep but time moved very slowly... We didnt know if it was day or night half the time! I spent the week indoors just drinking Sake, eating beetroot salad and singing. Can't wait to do it again!
How does it work for the design of the CD ?
Our very own Howard “Spides” Chapman (rhythm guitar) created all of the album art and arranged it. It looks wicked on the LP cover, and sounds even better!
How was the shooting of the clip THE GIN BEAT ? and why this choice ?
The Gin Beat is definitely one of the best tracks on the album, its frantic and crazy but has a cool kinda surfy vibe to it as well… it was the obvious choice for the first Video! Spides directed it and like most of the things we do we did it in one burst! we shot it ourselves in an empty warehouse in just one afternoon! so much fun.
What are your projects ?
we have multiple gigs lined up in germany, england, wales, sweden and a whole lot more dates and countries soon! it's gonna be really fun to play the rock festivals next year too! I will be also playing more solo acoustic shows here and there, i have one lined up in the Faroe Islands and within the year i want to return to play again in japan!
What do you expect from the future ?
Oh i dont expect much from the future but i hope we can keep playing and make another album! so far things are going really really well! the album is selling amazingly and we are starting to be taken more seriously.
I really hope to take Trench Dogs outside of europe one day, maybe play some shows in America, Japan and Australia. we’ll see!
What's your motto ?
I can't speak for the rest of the band but i always live by the rule that “try not make your saturday night your wednesday morning” otherwise you’re getting way too fucked up.
Website to remember
The Album is out now on all streaming and download platforms !
Were on facebook and instagram ! from there you can link to our webshop where physical copies are available.
What would you like to say to the readers ?
Hey! someone book us on that Belgian Sleaze Festival, lets do this!
Thanks for the upkeep
Hugues B.
