"Rock ‘n Roll is one of the best drugs”

Suiciderock: Who had the idea to found Hanoi Rocks, and why did you start again?
Conny: It is Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy who are the original members and put the band together again. They hadn’t worked together for a long time but get together again and really enjoyed it. As they wrote songs again, they were thinking of calling it something else, but with them in the band and playing together it sounds like Hanoi Rocks. I don’t think they had much choice. That’s how all started again, but it was not planned. None of them had thought of putting the band together again. Often it is just because of the second money or just the drummer is the original member, but for them I think it was a good thing.

Suiciderock: What’s the difference between the past and today, as much as you can say?
Conny: Obviously I wasn’t in the Band from the beginning, but I was touring with them. that’s how I met Andy and Michael about 20 years ago in Finland. I was touring with them and I think its pretty much the same now. I mean the original line-up had a very good chemistry and they were right for the time. It's the same thing now, it looks good, we're playing very good together, it's good for now. Actually these are two different things, but with Andy and Michael as original members we have this red line going through everything, so it still sounds like Hanoi Rocks, or better a modern version of it.

Suiciderock: Do you have any contact to the old band members?
Conny: Gyp Casino and I are very close friends. He's like a brother to me. I haven’t met Nasty since then. I was hoping he would come to the Tavastia Gig in Finland, but he didn’t . Sam and I emailed because I got married some time ago and he told me some places in Palma to go to. He’s ok.

Suiciderock: Did you expect such a great success for Hanoi Rocks again?
Conny: I don’t know. All you can do is go by your feeling. But yeah....I think I was expecting something like this. But we’re only getting started.

Suiciderock: Can you tell us a bit more about the latest album?
Conny: Yeah I think it’s a good album. It sounds like Hanoi Rocks but it has a different take on it. It doesn’t sound like any of the other albums. it’s different. I guess Michael had a great influence on it. I play on a few tracks, but I just came towards the end of the album . it’s not like we worked on the songs much together. The album was basically finished when I joined.

Suiciderock: During the long time you are on tour now, you have seen so many different countries and you got to know many different cultures. Is there anything that impressed you most? Any cities you like most?
Conny: Oh I can’t even remember were I was yesterday.

Suiciderock: Today you are in Munich.
Conny: Thank you. I try to keep that in mind. No, I am kidding. I am not sure. We had a pretty good time everywhere. I liked Spain. Pamplona was good. We also thought the Berlin show was great. And yesterday was very good even if it was a very small place in Hamburg. We almost thought we couldn’t make it because it was too small. But it turned out really good, lots of fun.

Suiciderock: How do you spend your free time while being on tour?
Conny: Ähm...is this for kids?
Suiciderock: Come on, be honest...
Conny: Ok, I'll tell you the truth. We chill out, hanging around in the bus, having a good time, nothing incredible. It's not much to do on the bus. We are all pretty quite now compared to the young days. Of course everything is relative, it depends.

Suiciderock: Do you have any rituals before going on stage?
Conny: I guess everyone has their own, but I don’t wanna get into that.

Suiciderock: What can people expect from a Hanoi Rocks show?
Conny: Good music, entertainment, lots of sweat, hangover....hopefully.

Suiciderock: What was your most beautiful experience while your time with Hanoi Rocks?
Conny: I can’t say that. It's to much. Every time we play a gig, and it feels good, the moment on stage is great. It’s not one moment in particular.

Suiciderock: Would you say you have achieved everything in your live you ever wanted or is there something left?
Conny: There's a lot left. You're always moving on. You do one thing, reach it and then go to another direction. It’s like with music. At the moment we are listening to 70s disco and Reggae, and Andy bought some Argentinean Tango. If you’re got tired of listening to something you’re listening to something else. If you got tired of one town you move on to the next. That's the same with dreams.

Suiciderock: If you could start all over again, would you change anything?
Conny: I would probably do some things differently, but nothing major. What happens, happens for a reason. One thing leads to another. Changes might not make things better.

Suiciderock: What's the Scandinavian rock scene like at the moment?
Conny: It’s pretty good. There are lot of good rock bands from whole Scandinavia, like some Norwegian bands and of course all the Swedish bands. I am from Sweden. Also Bands from Finland like HIM and what’s the other band? The Rasmus? They are very successful. It doesn’t mean I like all of it. I think a lot of it has been done before. If I see them I think they sound like someone I've seen 15 years ago. Unfortunately it's kind of boring.

Suiciderock: How long do you intend to rock on as Hanoi Rocks?
Conny: Hopefully forever, I don’t know. As long as it's fun we will do it.

Suiciderock: Which advice would you give a young band who just started?
Conny: Do something else if you wanna make money! Seriously, if you wanna play and have enough love for music and your instrument you should do it But I don’t think people should do it just for the second money, it’s too much of a gamble. But if you love what you do, it's all that counts. it’s not the goal, it’s the way to the goal that matters.

Suiciderock: What are your future plans?
Conny: We'll be touring a lot this year. Japan, America, and play European Festivals this summer, and then back to America hopefully later. Making a new album. This album that has been done will come out in April I think

Suiciderock: Groupies, pain or pleasure?
Conny: That’s a hard question. You can’t judge everyone. I can relate to groupies in a sense ...if I would be a young girl and would be into rock music, going to gigs and hang out with the band afterwards and people might like each other and something happens....does that make you a groupie? Of course there are some people who are typical groupies and want to get... you know. I don’t like that. I can’t see the point in doing that. I'm not interested. I got a wife and two kids. I am just talking in general. It’s probably more interesting hanging out with a rock band after a show then dating a carpenter. I don’t know. So I can see why young girls might wanna do that.

Suiciderock: Is Rock´n´Roll the perfect drug for you?
Conny: It’s one of the best, yes.