He has just landed in Stockholm with a flight from Japan and is being interviewed in Benny Andersson's studio Rixmixningsverket on Skeppsholmen in Stockholm, where the garage rockers' new album "The Hives forever forever The Hives" was recorded.
This time, the band hired Mike D from Beastie Boys to produce a few of the tracks.
If you're going to do something that sounds cool and Beastie Boys make the coolest records, then you should probably have a Beastie Boy, says Pelle Almqvist.
Born rebel
The Hives' new album is directed against all kinds of rules and regulations, with titles like "Legalize living" and "Born a rebel", something Almqvist personally identifies with.
If you're going to be a bit serious, I was probably born a rebel. I was against everything and argued about everything until I was 15 years old. It was tedious and tough for everyone in my surroundings and for myself. I think that it may also be an evolutionary advantage for society that people like me were born. But it was not fun for anyone, he says.
"The Hives forever..." also expresses an antipathy towards the culture on the internet in "Enough is enough".
I think you just need to go on social media for five minutes to understand what the song is about. Everyone is trying to misunderstand each other as much as possible - what was supposed to be this great peace project with the internet. Humans have always had an exaggerated belief that a new invention will solve everything so that we become peaceful.
"Overdogs"
In the video, Almqvist plays a boxer who knocks out the referee. The idea was to avoid the underdog narrative of rising to the top.
The thing with Hives is that we are "overdogs". I wanted to be a boxer that people don't like. I don't want to be a hero, says Almqvist.
Almqvist's theory is also that "Hives is the only band that makes an AI-free album this year".
What do you think about Spotify now hosting music created by AI?
Spotify has been open for quite some time that their ultimate goal is not to pay artists. Of course, I think it's completely worthless, says Pelle Almqvist.
According to him, Spotify is built for people who think that music is a function to solve a kind of engineering problem.
For me, music is communication. That I can listen to a Beethoven piece and feel something of what a person felt several hundred years ago. Letting an AI do that, I don't understand the point of it at all, he says.
Name: The Hives
Formed: 1993, Fagersta, Sweden
Genre: Punk rock, garage rock
Members: Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist (vocals), Nicholaus Arson (guitar), Vigilante Carlstroem (guitar), The Johan and Only (bass) - current Chris Dangerous (drums), Dr Matt Destruction (bass) - former member.
Studio albums: "Barely legal" (1997), "Veni vidi vicious" (2000), "Tyrannosaurus Hives" (2004), "The black and white album" (2007), "Lex Hives" (2012), "The death of Randy Fitzsimmons" (2023)
Current with: The latest album "The Hives forever forever The Hives" which will be released on August 29, a new world tour and a concert at Avicii Arena in Stockholm on December 6.
