With an average age of only twenty-one years old, Sweden’s Vains of Jenna have accomplished a lot in short time. They have toured the United States and Europe, are signed by Bam Magera of Jackass fame, and have released their debut album Lit Up/Let Down on Bam’s label, Filthy Note Music.

At first glance, they were nothing but every rock’n’roll cliché put together in one package. Young, skinny boys with bleached blonde hair in tight pants with instruments in their hands, singing about girls and sex. “She’s a love machine/Doin’ her rattlesnake dance with her sex appeal/Your little honey is the talk of the town”? I mean, has anyone written lyrics like that since 1992? Sure, they were young and Swedish and obviously all about sex and rock’n’roll. But could they possibly have any substance?

I’m happy to report that my skepticism was proven totally and completely wrong. I’ve seen my share of bands over the years, writing and working in the industry. And quite honestly, it’s been a while since I saw a band, especially a new band, with the stage presence of Vains of Jenna. They were playing in the basement of Knitting Factory, not exactly a sizable venue, but they had the intensity, the moves, and the style of a much, much more seasoned band playing amphitheatres. I had liked most of the album, but the songs came off much better live. If you’ve been waiting for an old school rock’n’roll band with a touch of glam, sleaze, punk a la Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls, D Generation, early Guns’N’Roses/L.A Guns/Faster Pussycat, then this is it. If you think I’m making them sound like some dated, tribute-like act, forget it! I won’t exactly say they’re the future of rock’n’roll, but I sure hope to see a lot more of them. What we have here is a lot of potential for brilliance, and you never know where these guys will end up.

The band is:

Lizzy Devine (Vocals)
Nicki Kin (Guitar)
JP White (Bass)
Jacki Stone (Drum)

[editor’s note: this interview was originally conducted in October 2006. Please consult the band’s website for updated tour info.]

LD: No, we were here last year for the first time for a week and played at the Whiskey. We came back after that and stayed here the whole summer. We went back to Sweden for a couple of months, but now we’re back again for at least a year.

SK: Who came up with the name?

LD: It was JP, our bass player. One night he was drunk, then he woke up and had this name in his head. It could be something with Jenna Jameson or some girl he probably had sexual intercourse with named Jenna. It’s a cool name. It’s supposed to be spelled “veins” but we spell it “vains” ‘cause we have to confuse people and make people ask about us.

SK: Give me a little bit of band history.

LD: JP and I used to be in a band 4-5 years ago. Then he quit the band to move to Norway.

NK: And me and Jacki, we were in a band and were friends for many years.

JS: Nearly ten years.

LD: Last year, JP called me again and wanted to start a band. So we started recording and stuff, but we didn’t have a drummer or a guitar player. So we asked JP’s brother Jacki to be the drummer.

JS: Yeah, he’s my brother.

LD: We had a different guitar player for the first few weeks, but he sucked. And when I saw Nicki play, I was like, “yeah.” I knew that guy had to be in our band. So we asked him to try out, he did, and magic!

SK: How did you hook up with Bam Margera?

LD: This summer, we met him at the House of Blues. We were at a screening for Super Group, the VH1 reality show. Mark Weiss, a famous rock photographer, was there and he said Bam was there. So he called Bam over and we met him. But he was so drunk that night, so he forgot about us the next day. Two days later, Nicki got a tattoo and Bam happened to be driving by the tattoo shop and saw us walking in. So he came and talked to us, came to a show after that, and liked what he saw. He signed us like two weeks after that.

LD: We got a lot of new fans through him. We’re a Swedish band trying to make it here.

NK: Kids listen to Bam.

LD: He’s a famous guy, he likes it, so more people check us out.

SK: I hear you guys have relocated to California. Why? A lot of Swedish bands stay in Sweden and do fine.

LD: ‘Cause every other Swedish band does that. So we didn’t wanna be like every other Swedish band.

JS: If you make it in Sweden, you’re only famous in Europe. If you make it big in the U.S, you’re big everywhere.

LD: It’s so easy to be big in Sweden and Europe. We could’ve become much bigger than what we are here now. But we wanted the challenge. And we didn’t wanna be like every other band. Every band in Sweden, they’re so fucking envious of us because we’re here.

LD: We play rock’n’roll.

SK: Isn’t the heyday of sleaze rock long gone? Do you think you guys have something new that you can bring to the table?

LD: I think we’re one of the few bands where every member is good-looking. No, seriously.

NK: ‘Cause rock’n’roll needs to be rocked.

LD: Yeah, we do rock’n’roll like anybody did in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s. We’re not trying to change it. We’re trying to have fun and make people who like rock’n’roll happy.

SK: Are you afraid of being categorized a “sleaze rock band” or even a “hair metal band” like I’ve seen somewhere?

LD: If people like to call us that, that’s fine. We got hair! And I wear makeup.

NK: We wouldn’t call ourselves a glam band.

LD: If people call us glam or whatever in a positive way, that’s cool. But if they’re trying to put us down, they can suck my fucking dick.

SK: Who’s your target audience?

LD: Anyone and everyone. People of all ages like rock’n’roll. We’re getting some younger audiences now, and that’s great ‘cause they’ll probably buy more T-shirts than older people, so we can make some money. Girls as well. Girls are fun to meet!

SK: How would you describe your sound?

LD: It’s rock’n’roll with a punk edge.

LD: No, it doesn’t bother me.

JS: Not at all!

LD: They got a record deal before us and got “famous” before us, and that’s cool. We can help each other out to conquer the world!

SK: What do you imagine yourself doing in ten years?

LD: Hopefully the same thing as now, touring, playing music.

SK: Who do you truly admire in the business?

LD: The Stones and Aerosmith.

NK: Especially the Stones for being out there so long, always touring and putting out new albums.