by LORRAINE CARPENTER

“You want it? You got it! Let’s do it! Kill the DJ!” That’s the girlish chant at the centre of “Kill the DJ,” the new single by Norwegian trio Ralph Myerz & the Jack Herren Band. If you’ve heard either of their albums—2003’s A Special Album, with its chillout hit “Nikita,” or 2005’s Your New Best Friends—you’d be forgiven for thinking the show would be tame. But one glimpse of Thomas Lönnheim, Erlend Sellevold and Tarjei Ström, who wouldn’t look out of place on the Warped Tour or in Steve-O’s entourage, indicates that there’s rock afoot, and the band’s new material makes it official.

“When we first came out, we were really popular in all the right magazines, and our music was used in the chillout compilations, but at the same time, we were doing live shows and becoming more and more of a rock band,” says Ström, who grew up on Kiss and Mötley Crüe. “When we came home from the tours, we’d just wanna relax in the studio and play mellow music, and then we’d escape from the studio to play rock again. This is the first time we really nailed the two, and that spread some fear among the Web designers and people listening to Ralph Myerz in coffee shops. So, just to give them a sense of more panic, we thought ‘Kill the DJ’ was a good expression to mark the departure from our old environment, so to speak.”

The new EP and upcoming album, which won’t be available in North America until next year (get your fix at MySpace or iTunes), mark the beginning of Ralph Myerz’ relationship with Virgin Records. But because the trio have already proven themselves, becoming what Ström calls “a well-oiled machine,” the major label trusts them enough to take a hands-off approach.

“The only difference is that we can do more of our ideas as far as videos and artwork and promotion go,” says Ström. “So it’s just the same stupid three guys with a bit more money.”

Some of that money is going towards a parody of a big-budget rock or hip hop music video, complete with a mansion, a pool and a big budget. But Ralph Myerz, named after boob-movie director Russ Meyer and his cameraman, continue to concentrate on the live show, a spectacle that Europeans regularly cross borders to witness.

“The live expression is something that you can’t download,” says Ström. “You can’t get that feeling anywhere else but at the concerts. We really take pride in doing good shows.”

That was clear to anyone who attended their hilarious Jazz Festival show in 2003, featuring physical feats to match their rockin’ beats—mainly drumstick handiwork and mildly moronic acrobatics. Prior to that tour, the band had just retired their pyrotechnics in the wake of the Great White fire in the U.S. But don’t worry, there will be light.

“On the last tour, we almost had to stop at the first date ’cause we found out that all the light was gonna take the power off the stage. We have a bigger crew for the lights than the sound now. It’s becoming like Spinal Tap.”

With Mightykat at Club Soda on Thursday,
June 29, midnight, $20.50

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