They are rock and roll bad boys, they make great music, do great live shows, say what they want and do what they will. They are serious about their music and hilariously funny and irrelevant about everything else. They gave up everything for this dream they are pursuing and they live by their motto, "Death or glory" They are Frost vocals, Holocolm ks.,guitar, Coatez bass, Sweeny guitar and Blanco drums. When I asked for an interview I made the mistake of starting my e-mail with "Hey Bangkok 5" First they set me straight so let me set everyone straight right now. It is "The Bangkok Five" Then they said they were down for the interview. In between shows while they were touring Nik Frost answered my questions about this amazingly talented band and their music.

MUEN: How did you all get together? How long have you been together?

BANGKOK FIVE: I started the band a couple years ago with the Drummer off of the Rated R, Queens of the Stone Age record, Nicky Lucero. We were playing with this guy from that whole scene, a guitar player. We brought in Coatez (Now in the band) and did a recording with Chris Goss (Just did the new QOTSA record) up at Rancho De La Luna (Desert Sessions) which got us signed to BMG Europe. We went up there and did some stuff, played some rad shows, had a good time. Nicky and the original guitarist had gotten over it and we brought in some other guys. We became a five piece. We brought in this cool, Silverlake dude we found through our buddy Dave Catching (Eagles Of Death Metal). We found a guitar player and drummer (Sweeney and Blanco) two assassins who were in the head space we needed for world domination. Blanco had been in many hardcore bands and had the juice we needed to make the whole thing seriously energetic. Sweeney had the sexy, fluid guitar chops the band needed to take it to the next level. We toured incessantly across America kicking ass with everyone from Buckcherry to The Cult, to doing Europe with Papa Roach promoting our Universal Records American release.

MUEN: Who composes the music? Who writes the lyrics?

BANGKOK FIVE: We compose the music as a band. People bring in ideas and we make them into songs. I generally write most of the words however if someone has ideas I relate to, I will take them and make them into something I can emotionally get behind.

MUEN: How would you describe your music?

BANGKOK FIVE: We call our shit: Dumb music for smart people, Electric Soul, whatever.

MUEN: Who or what would you say was and is a major musical influence on where you are at now and where you want to go?

BANGKOK FIVE: We are influenced by The Stooges, Michael Jackson, James Brown, Refused, QOTSA, Peaches, The Chemical Bros., 50's Doo Wop, MC5, EODM.

MUEN: Frost, you were a DJ, so when did you realize that you didn't want to just play music, but wanted to create and perform it?

BANGKOK FIVE: I always sang and always performed, but more in the electronic music world. DJing is a natural side effect of making electronic music. What happened was, things came around to rock again and all I would spin was rock. I was like: "I'm a rock singer ultimately so I might as well start a band..."

MUEN: Is it true that all of you gave up pretty much everything to keep this band going, recording, and touring?

BANGKOK FIVE: We gave up everything: Homes, relationships, jobs, cars... It's not easy and if I could describe the amount of disdain I have for the shit bags that think this is easy, or something they could handle, I'd be a little more at ease about how angry I get sometimes. We are in the worst business there is, at the hardest time in its history and we are doing something noble. We are contributing to the joy of people's lives. If you hate music, or are indifferent to it, you are most likely either dead or dying. Artists are here for a reason. Music is made for others, as well as for the people gifted with the talent to make it. The persons responsible for making music act as conductors between what we feel: the intangible, and what we see/hear: the semi-tangible.

MUEN: I have seen and read your bulletins asking your fans to open up their homes for you guys as your touring the country here. Do you get a big response from your fans and do you really stay with them?

BANGKOK FIVE: We do stay with fans and punk rock style support systems. Sometimes, it can get real hairy��.we've heard horror stories from other bands and are super aware of the fact that, although we want to trust people, we are walking into someone else's world. We are in their space, and while we know how to defend ourselves, we are walking into the unknown. They are prepared for us, but we may not be prepared for what they've prepared.

MUEN: Is it hard to keep that energy up that anyone who has seen The Bangkok Five perform live can feel from way in the back of the venue, even across the street, (it is amazing) night after night, city after city?

BANGKOK FIVE: We play with a lot of talent-less, self serving, crap bands, and put up with it, cause every now and then we get to play with a band that teaches us something about what we do, or actually manages to enlighten us, pick us up and challenge us to move to a new level. Put us in another zone for 30 minutes. Then, when we finally get on stage, they have given us something to prove. On our current tour, I am playing with bad asses like Gene (Bullets and Octane), and Scott (Unwritten Law). These guys make me work extra hard to destroy every time I step on stage. That shit helps ignite my performance. As a band, remember that the five of us live 23.5 hours a day just for the 30 minute set we are creating every night. When you look at it that way, it's hard to suck. It hurts to suck ������So they never do, they just never do.

Interview by RL Segarra