Rene Mikkelsen Krackerjack
Interview May 2008

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Hardrock Haven: For those who aren’t familiar with Krackerjack, can you give us a brief bio and tell us what your music is all about, especially why you guys say your music is the “next generation of Classic Rock?”

Rene: We started out 10 years ago. I had played with drummer Jeppe Christensen in a blues rock band called Painted Horse prior to that. We were very young and naive at the time I guess – I had just turned 20 and Jeppe was 18. We hooked up with keyboard player Claus Greve and bassist Thomas Kortholm and Krackerjack was a reality. Early on we were very bluesy actually, relying on long jams, and it took us some years to find out exactly what we wanted. We had grown up listening to Deep Purple and Whitesnake, and eventually we decided to tone down the jamming and concentrate on pure, melodic hard rock. We also went through some personel changes – Jeppe and Claus have been in and out of the band a number of times – and even had a two year hiatus between 2001 and 2003, but the line up that came after that, with Allan on vocals, proved to be working very well. We did our debut album Good Thing Goin’ in 2005 and the year after we sent out Call Of The Wild – The Early Years with recordings done by the original line-up back in ’99. As for our “slogan”, I just think it sounds cool. And it’s true, you know. We ARE the next generation of classic rock.

HRH: Your new CD, Rock On!, is one of my favorites of the year so far. How has the album been doing with other critics, and is it creating as many new fans as you’d hoped for when recording the CD?

Rene: It’s been very well received around the world and practically ignored in Denmark. There’s something about the Danish music press that I really detest. They are a bunch of arrogant snobs in my opinion. But yeah, we’ve sold more CDs outside of Denmark, so it’s looking like new fans are popping up all over. We hope to be able to tour outside of Denmark, but it’s hard. We don’t have management or know of any booking agents, so we’re just gonna have to try as well as we can to do it ourselves.

HRH: Why’d you go with the title of “Rock On!,” and who’s idea was it to show an elderly gentleman rocking out on the cover?

Rene: “Rock On!” is the name of a song that’s been in our setlist since 2004 and it seemed like a good classic rock title. And also it spurred the idea of having an old man dressed as a hard rocker on the cover. I don’t remember who came up with the idea, so I guess we’re all to blame.

HRH: Tell me a little bit about why the band wrote “Blame It On the Little Man.” I know who it’s about, but, why did the band write that ode to American President W?

Rene: I came up with this Zeppelin/Gov’t Mule kind of riff and I’ve been wanting to express my feelings about Bush through a song. The words came very natural, and I’m proud of the line “War starts with A W”. It’s also a way to let Americans know how Europeans see him.

HRH: Is Krackerjack a political band by nature, or, is Bush just such an enigma that you had to write a song about him?

Rene: I’m a firm believer that politics and music don’t mix. Music is entertainment and politics are, well, politics. Some people do it ok, but I try to steer away from it, and just write good rock songs. But as I said, the words just came out and in no time I had written a political song.

HRH: One thing that makes your sound unique is that you have a keyboardist in Claus Greve, but he actually isn’t playing keys like the band Europe utilizes. It’s a classic organ sound, and I think one of the reasons why Krackerjack does own a classic rock vibe.

Rene: True. I’ve actually been wanting to bring more keyboards into some of the songs, but I always get outvoted. Claus used the synth a bit on the song “Back Together” and it really suits the song. It gives a harder edge with Hammond on even the poppier songs, so I guess we can get away with more pop songs that way. We like to have one foot in the ’70s and one foot in the ’80s and I think we manage it quite well.

HRH: One of the reasons Rock On! clicked with me is because of your awesome singer, Allen Pedersen. I went back and listened to “Why Did You Love Me” and it’s easy to hear his growth in just a short period of time. So how would you compare the material on Rock On! to your prior release Good Thing Goin’?

Rene: Most of the songs on Good Thing Goin’ were written for another band called Shady Grove, which included me and our bassist Rasmus and former drummer Lars. We existed during Krackerjack’s hiatus and even made a demo of some of the songs with me singing. Shady Grove disbanded when Krackerjack reformed in the Summer of ’03 and the songs went on to become Krackerjack songs. I love the songs on GTG, but I think it lacks a bit in the production. This was actually Allan’s first real venture into a studio, so he was a bit nervous and it might show. I think you can hear a slight growth in the songwriting on “Rock On!” and I’m more pleased with that album. I consider myself and songwriter first and musician second, actually.

HRH: So how does the songwriting process work in the band?

Rene: I’ve been – and probably still am – the main supplier of songs, but lately we’ve been doing more collective stuff. When I bring in a song, I just quickly run through changes and explains my thoughts on the melody and then we just try it out. I’m not a “you play this and you play that” kind of guy. We’re all responsible for the arrangements. And it all ends up sounding like Krackerjack. We’re already writing songs for the next album and we have three or four killer songs in the making. Some of it is a bit more heavy, so there’s definitely something to look forward to.

HRH: Have you guys shot a video for any singles off the new CD, or, are their plans to?

Rene: We’ve talked about it, but no immediate plans. I’d much rather film a whole concert for DVD at some point.

HRH: As a guitarist, who was the one musician you heard and thought “That’s what I wanna do?” And are their any new guitarists you pay attention to today?

Rene: I always say that Ritchie Blackmore taught me how to play and for many years I played only a Strat and was very, very Blackmore. I changed to Les Paul in 2001. I’m also into blues players like SRV and Rory Gallagher, but in later years I’m very influenced by Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule. He’s so versatile and plays with so much soul, it’s incredible. And he can jam for ages without getting boring. My song “Waiting For Tomorrow” from the new album is very Mule, and my solo is a homage to Warren.

HRH: What does the band’s tour plans look like for the upcoming summer? Any festival dates planned?

Rene: No so much planned yet. Only one festival in Denmark. Claus recently became a father and Allan and his girlfriend are expecting a child in September, so Summer activities are kept to a minimum. Hopefully we’ll get some gigs in Denmark in the Fall, and we’re trying to make contact with bookers outside of Denmark. Fingers crossed for a US tour in 2009!

HRH: Is there anything I left out that you’d like to leave with all of our Hardrock Haven faithful?

Rene: Well, of course I recommend to those who haven’t done so yet to check out our new album Rock On! and keep visiting our www.krackerjack.dk Web site. And if anyone wants to help us get over to the US, you’re more than welcome.