VOLBEAT Drummer Jon Larsen On Gigantour 2012 – “It Was A Real Challenge For Us Every Night We Stepped Out There”

John Parks at Legendary Rock Interviews recently caught up with VOLBEAT drummer Jon Larsen. An excerpt from the interview is available below:LRI: I recently went to the Gigantour that you were a part of to go see MEGADETH and MOTÖRHEAD and walked away totally a totally converted impressed Volbeat fan. Is that the ultimate goal or something you hear a lot of?

Larsen: “Yeah, we do actually! Of course it’s always really nice to hear, especially on such a high profile tour as that was. That whole run was definitely a very special experience for us because we were out there with these bands that totally have their own big fanbase. It was a real challenge for us every night we stepped out there. We really hoped a lot of people would like us and it seems like they did so we’re really making some headway.”

LRI: You’ve said before that you never really even imagined being able to make a living playing music. Were you guys surprised by the initial success of the debut album, The Strength/The Sound/The Songs?

Larsen: “We all were surprised because everyone kept talking about us being a new breed or a new hybrid or talking about how we were doing some kind of music that had never been done before. We never understood why anyone hadn’t done this before and we just knew we liked what we were doing. We thought it was kind of funny that everyone was surprised by it and then that people seemed to like it like we like it. People would really be like ‘What is this? Is this punk or metal or rock and roll?’ Whatever it was we really had fun playing it and were as surprised as anyone when we got the attention for it.

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Volbeat is gearing up for a North American tour with ICED EARTH and HELLYEAH supporting. Confirmed dates are as follows:

June
18 – Toronto, ON – Kool Haus
19 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
21 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
22 – Huntington, NY – Paramount Theatre
23 – Clifton Park, NY – Northern Lights
26 – Saint Paul, MN – Myth
27 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
29 – Weyburn SK – Crescent Point Place
30 – Gibbons, AB – Boonstock 2012

July
2 – Billings, MT – Shrine Auditorium
3 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
5 – Kennewick, WA – Toyota Ice Arena
6 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
7 – Reno, NV – Knitting Factory
8 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
10 – Anaheim, CA – The Grove
11 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
12 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
13 – Magna, UT – The Great Salt Air
15 – Colorado Springs, CO – City Auditorium
23 – Norva Theatre – Norfolk, VA
24 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live