A couple of quick facts the reader must know:
Bengt aka 'Bingo'. Albums credited as 'bass player': 'Hot Cars...', 'Never Is Forever', 'Ass Cobra'. So, by and large 'Bingo' was the bass player for turbonegro. Although H-Tom held title of bass player when the group was formed and most notably on the 'A. Dudes' record.
TJUSA: For the record, when did you join Turbonegro?
B.A.C.: I'm not really sure, as things like dates, years etc. are not things I really can't recollect. But it was just before the Vaya con Satan release. The poster for my first ever show with Turbo was the Vaya cover, and we had to put up a lot of posters as gangs of elderly Christian fundamentalists were ripping them down as soon as they were up on the walls. As my copies of Vaya were stolen by some stupid Sid Vicious look-alike I can't look it up, but my inner self tells me it's autumn -91.
TJUSA: What were the early days of Turbonegroism like?
B.A.C.: Funny as shit! Because of our black, tight fitting turbo-uniforms the PC-punks thought we were fascists; because of Vaya and other songs we were satanists; because of our general behavior we were sexists. Funny to see the same people a few years down the line stomping along to " I got Erection"
Harry was a great frontman in a confrontational kind of way. He used to get a buzz from taking magic mushrooms and beat up the audience. And usually getting away with it unscathed. One time in this small coastal town he gave me and Ronnie Scum, who was security officer for Turbo in the early days, some of his mushrooms, and leaned back as we tore the place apart. Needless to say, we never played there again. Neither did Ronnie retain his position as security.
Tensions within the band were and always were, very high. I think it was all part of the creative process. Especially me and Happy-Tom has always had a love/hate relationship since we met each other at the tender age of thirteen. When we played in Akutt Innleggelse, he used to punish me by forcing me to stand outside his house in minus 20 degrees Celsius (don't know what it is in Fahrenheit).
TJUSA: I understand that Scandinavian countries support bands with revenue; did this apply to Turbo or is this news to you?
B.A.C.: I have no recollection of this, and I invoke the Fifth Amendment. No, seriously, the government has these funds for various cultural activities, an inheritance from our socialist past, where the spreading of Kultur to the masses was an important issue. We therefore received a grant for touring Europe. Unfortunately, the stupid neohippie, secretly in love with our masculine Scandinavian ways, who released the Helta Skelta album, hadn't booked any shows. To cover our asses we had to get receipts for expenses. We therefore hung around the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany for a week, getting receipts from various bars and male brothels. And it worked! We delivered a ledger with the receipts, and the fund controllers OK'ed it.
TJUSA: Have you, for the most part, stuck with the bass as your main instrument?
B.A.C.: In fact I started out as a drummer, which makes sense, as drummers generally are psychopaths. But my brother beat me into giving him my drumkit, so I picked up guitar instead. With Akutt my contribution was a thin, teenage whining. After some time with "notorious low-quality drugmetal trio" Black & Decker I picked up the bass, as we couldn't find a bass player who could play fast enough. Tom was the first drummer of this outfit. So from around age eighteen I stuck to the bass. And I guess it was my eminent playing that led to me being asked to join Turbo.
TJUSA: Who were you most influenced by as a bass player?
B.A.C.: For the most part the more or less unknown bass players of various early 80's OI! And streetpunk bands. But as Slayer is one of my all-time heroes, you can hear the influence from Tom Araya, especially in songs like Nadsat.
TJUSA: I notice that people seem to over look the fact that the bass lines were a big part of the 'Deathpunk' sound; particularly on 'Never...' and the 'Ass Cobra' releases. Do you feel that this is true or am I just an overly frequency-dependent fan?
B.A.C.: No, you're absolutely right. A lot of work from both Tom and me went into the bass lines, as they were important for the overall sound.
TJUSA: What was the typical song writing process like for Turbonegro?
B.A.C.: It differed from song to song. I'm not revealing any secrets if I tell you Tom was the creative genius in the band. But we all, specially me and Hanky though, contributed to the lyrics, which very often were written in a sort of brainstorm fashion. And I contributed some hooks and bridges, especially in the earlier stuff.
TJUSA: You wrote 'Suburban Princes Death Song' correct? Is it autobiographical?
B.A.C.: No, it's prophetical, like Grunge Whore was.
TJUSA: Were the Turbo recording sessions always a good time or were there times that weren't so easy going?
B.A.C.: As already mentioned, tensions usually were high; so also in the studio. Usually we were pissed and stoned, and sessions could end in what British gentlemen call fisticuffs. At the same time it was fucking great, because we were creating masterpieces and knowing it.
TJUSA: Is there an album/song in the Turbo collection that you favor?
B.A.C.: Album: Ass Cobra! No question about it, though Apocalypse Dudes is still growing on me
TJUSA: If the walls of the Turbo rehearsal room could talk, what could they tell us? And who would they most incriminate?
B.A.C.: It would not be a song and dance story. I take the fifth on the last question.
TJUSA: Who's idea was it to wear the 'afro's' and 'faces'?
B.A.C.: I think it was Paul and Tom together. The Black & White minstrels appealed to us all. The joke got kind of stale kind of quick, tho'
TJUSA: Which represents the better part of the real Turbo-attitude, the 'Denim' or the 'Afro's'?
B.A.C.: Definitely Denim!
TJUSA: I read somewhere that the reason you left was "...didn't like the direction Turbo was developing to musically - "less Slayer, more rock'n'roll". Is this true?
B.A.C.: That is just a small part of a very complex situation. But I didn't like the material we were working on after Ass. None of it made it on to Apocalypse, either.
TJUSA: Did you leave on good terms with the others?
B.A.C.: No, not really. We had reached a point where Tom and me couldn't be in the same room together. When we played in France a week after the Namblin tour, I refused to sit in the same car as Tom, and went by plane and train to get to the gig. So the deal was to play three more gigs before Paul went abroad and then put Turbo on ice.
After awhile Thomas called me and asked if it was all right if he took over the bass. I was only happy to comply. In the alternative universe I inhabited at the time, Turbonegroes were NOT welcome.
My swan song with Turbo was the release-party for Ass Cobra, months after I quit. I remember sitting in this alternative student's bar, clad in denim, smoking big Havana cigars, while asses and twats were getting wet in pure admiration of our bulging masculinity. Later, in the men's room, I OD'd on a mixture of alcohol, downers and heroin.
TJUSA: Now the question that's on everybody's mind. What have you been doing since your days with TRBNGR?
B.A.C.: Short version: Divorce, drugs and time. All part of the Curse of Turbo Negro.
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