Tommy Henriksen is a rock’n’roll lifer. Having started out with Doro in the late 80s, he’s amassed an impressive CV as both a featured musician and for his songwriting, mixing and production, working with everyone from Meat Loaf to Lady Gaga. Since 2011 he’s also been a member of Alice Cooper’s band and one of the core members of sorta-supergroup Hollywood Vampires.
You’d expect such hefty commitments to take up all of his free time, but Henriksen is now a man with a mission, spreading the gospel for cosmic superhero Crossbone Skully, with a band of the same name.
“Crossbone Skully is a working-class hero who’s figuring out how we can survive and make the world a better place,” he explains. “I can’t write love songs, that’s not on my mind.”
The group’s origins can be traced to soundchecks, while Henriksen was on tour with the Vampires. Jamming AC/DC tracks with drummer Glen Sobel, he was encouraged by crew members to start his own project in that same stompy rock’n’roll vein. In response, he wrote The Boom Went The Boom, the Thunderstruck-like opener to Crossbone Skully’s debut album Evil World Machine.
“I’ve based this record on my heroes – AC/DC, Queen, The Who, but also The Cars and Kraftwerk,” Henriksen says. “I don’t want to be boxed in.”
There’s also plenty of Def Leppard and even Whitesnake in Crossbone Skully’s DNA. With such a focus on 80s rock giants, naturally there was one name that came to mind when it came to finding a producer: Mutt Lange. Introduced to Lange by guitarist Tommy Denander, Henriksen is agog as he explains how Crossbone Skully managed to coax the legendary producer out of retirement.
“Mutt called and told me he thought there was something there. I started crying like a baby, it was like Jesus coming back and anointing you!” he says. “Mutt has taken these songs to a whole other level. Now I don’t mind what else happens with this record.”
Lange isn’t the only VIP to pop up on Evil World Machine. Rock stars including Nikki Sixx, Def Leppard’s Phil Collen and UFO bassist Pete Way all offered musical contributions (“Pete did two tracks right before he passed, they’re amazing,” Henriksen enthuses). Henriksen’s fellow Vampires also offered voice-over work to an accompanying animated film that has turned Crossbone Skully into a multimedia franchise.
“I wanted Johnny [Depp] to be the voice [of Crossbone Skully] originally,” Henriksen reveals. Depp’s schedule meant he couldn’t commit, but an alternative was found using an app to create a robotic voice that he could tinker with to give his creation a voice. “Now I can’t get rid of this cell phone because they don’t make that app any more!”
Evil World Machine is out now via Better Noise.
