Bokassa: So Long, Lockdown!

Arguably one of the most intriguing ascents to prominence in metal over the last few years, Norwegian ‘stoner-punk’ trio BOKASSA in 2018 found themselves plucked from their homeland and thrust onto a global stage thanks to a chance discovery by a metal legend. A few years on from both that and the accompanying release of their stunning sophomore album Crimson Riders though, and the band arguably find themselves having had the momentum from that somewhat dashed by the onset of a global pandemic, but nonetheless ready to hit back with their newest album, Molotov Rocktail. We spoke to frontman/guitarist Jørn Kaarstad to get the lowdown on what’s been going on in their world during the age of lockdown.

“Yeah, yeah, it feels a really long time”, Jørn says of the time that’s now passed since the band blew up some three years ago, “And also, to be fair, we recorded Crimson Riders in 2018. Like, in June 2018. So, you know, when Crimson Riders was released, it was already old to us, you know? So yeah, we’re just really excited for this album. And it was originally I think, at least, like, at least an idea that was it was going to be released last year. But you know, that didn’t happen. And then we thought September 2021. Yeah, things have got to be back to normal around then.”

Of course, the ‘breakthrough’ moment for BOKASSA came in just about the biggest fashion possible, with the aforementioned discovery by METALLICA legend Lars Ulrich of the band’s debut album Divide & Conquer, and his subsequently dubbing them “my new favourite band” on his Beats 1 radio show at the time, leading to the Norwegian collective later being invited out to support the thrash titans on their WorldWired stadium tour. With that in the rear-view mirror, we put the question to Jørn whether that experience affected how BOKASSA approached this newest release.

“Erm, no, I don’t think we’ve thought about that. I think we were more like kind of okay, now the METALLICA thing is over, we can just focus on this because you know, we’ve already peaked”, he cheerfully quips. “We’re never gonna play for that many people [again] anyways, and I think we’re a better band after playing that many gigs in 2019. So when we went into studio, it was kind of like, some songs were like basically, also, I just kind of just show them the demos. And it was kind of like, boom, boom, done, you know? So yeah, I felt we were a better band after playing that much. So no we didn’t feel any any pressure at all, because we thought, you know, okay, we had a lot of attention when we were with METALLICA but when that’s over, you know, then people forget you so now we’re kind of back to square one anyway. So we can do what we want!”

To the existing BOKASSA fan, what may also be noticeable across Molotov Rocktail is how the band seem to have somehow ramped up the catchiness of their songs while retaining just as much of the heaviness as you heard on Crimson Riders. “It’s really cool that you say that because that was my intention,” Jørn says when we posit that to him. “And because that was kind of like, you know, we have we have our setlists, and a lot of it is quite hard. And we have some catchy [songs], but a lot of it’s quite hard. And I was just like, for example, thinking about ALKALINE TRIO, which is a band that I love. They always have like these great singalong choruses, and I will always imagine it must be so cool to just play them and have people singing along. So, as myself, I love a catchy song. So I was kind of thinking like, don’t be afraid to be catchy this time around.”

Perhaps because of being cooped up inside for this long, our chat with Jørn really continues to come alive when talk turns to the now very real prospect of imminent touring, with the band due to hit the UK and Europe alongside FLORENCE BLACK in the coming months, COVID-permitting. “It’s really exciting – this tour, as with a lot of bands [things] have been, like, changed and changed because it was supposed to happen in I think, early 2020,” he explains. “But, you know, it’s just been blah blah blah, change, change, change. And we hadn’t gone public with the tour until we announced it now, so it was really cool. But now I’m quite certain that it will happen as well, because I know there still is some cases but with people getting vaccinated, it seems that places are opening up, so we’re extremely excited to play again. We can’t wait to play in the UK and if you’ve heard the new songs on record and you think ‘oh, this sounds cool’, I will guarantee you they sound even better live,” he then declares, before quipping out of absolutely nowhere, “we’re also looking forward to British meal deals again; greatest invention ever!”

A comical way to end an interview? Sure, but then that’s almost exactly what we should have expected from the leader of a band as humour-laced as BOKASSA. Here’s hoping the band will in fact get to continue to explore that love when their tour finally rolls around to the UK in October.

Molotov Rocktail is out now via Napalm Records.

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