Backyard Babies moving to the front

Dregen of Backyard Babies
	CLIPS FROM "TOTAL 13"
"Highlights" [185k MPEG-3] or [255k WAV] "Made Me Madman" [225k MPEG-3] or [305k WAV] "U.F.O. Romeo" [150k MPEG-3] or [205k WAV] (Courtesy Scooch Pooch Records)
	MORE FROM SxSW
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March 22, 2000
Web posted at: 4:51 p.m. EST (2151 GMT)

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Dregen, the lead guitarist and back-up singer for the neo-punk outfit the Backyard Babies, has a way of describing his band's energetic, in-your-face performances:

"Sex ain't nothing compared to that," Dregen said shortly after the show at the Red-Eyed Fly during the South by Southwest music conference here. "In a way it's taking control, but it's also being a part of something bigger.

"It's a harmless drug, in a way," he said. "A lot of times, I don't remember the show at all, because you get into some kind of a trance."

Few in the Austin crowd are likely to make the same claim. The Backyard Babies rammed song after song down the audience's collective throat in a kind of power glam-punk display for which the band is becoming known.

From Mohawks to beer bellies

Along with Dregen, the Stockholm, Sweden, foursome is composed of lead vocalist/guitarist Nicke Borg, bassist Johan Blomquist and drummer Peder Carlsson. While it has a larger presence in Europe and Japan, word on the band is spreading since it began touring the United States on February 25.

"Total 13," the band's latest album from Scooch Pooch Records, is furthering the foursome's fame. The LP contains songs like "Made Me Madman," "UFO Romeo," "Let's Go to Hell," and "Bombed" -- each a guitar-driven scorcher.

The sound is finding a wide-ranging audience, Dregen said.

"It's not like you've got to have a pair of black leather pants" to appreciate the band's sound, he said. "There's kids with Mohawks out there. But there's skateboard kids in baggy pants, the older guys with beer bellies and old washed-out 'motorhead' T-shirts -- and the girls as well.

"A couple of years ago, it was 99 percent guys. The girls are coming back again." » Next: 'Aural therapy' from Departure Lounge

Music! Film! Interactive! SXSW 2000 brings it together
March 14, 2000

Scooch Pooch Records

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