Rob caught up with Peter Bolving from The haunted after their show supporting Slayer at the academy in Birmingham for a brief ten minute chat.

Hello and thank you for taking time out to do this interview

First of all can you give us a brief history of the band such as how you formed and came up with the name The Haunted?
(Peter Dolving) Brief band history? Fuck you! There's the internet go look it up on the there, No disrespect or anything!

Who would you say your main musical influences are?
Slayer and Metallica!

You are currently touring the UK supporting Slayer, how have the shows been going so far and what are Slayer like to tour with?
The shows have been going really well, we started a few days ago, its looking as were heading into a really nice tour, it feels like we have a good mindset and the audience is responding in a good way.

What are your favourite and least favourite things about coming to the UK?
Fried Mars bars! I'm very double towards the UK, I love playing here and its gotten better in some ways, this is the only place in Europe where you can go into a pub and you go to take a piss and someone has managed to piss everywhere and shit on toilet seat and then puke on top of it! Its very English or British, I don't know why that is! This place has gone through some amazing changes though, They changed the carpet that was new in 1962 and it got changed around 1996, I really really appreciate that. Were finding European toilets that function properly! Now they gotta get rid of the fucking the liberals and conservatives, and bring Labour back in, but not this fake New Labour, I mean the real Labour! Its not gonna happen though! I love Great Britain but there's so many things that I don't understand about this place!

You seem to be touring on and off with Slayer for the next couple of months, I am guessing you have a pretty good friendship with the band?
Yeah, there easy going, were easy going, everyone does what they do and thats where its at!

You have recently released a live album CD/DVD pack called ‘Road Kill’, now I understand that this has been in the works for some time now, are you happy with the finished product and what is featured on it about from the live show?
No, listen here, it turned out really good, but its not a record that I've been involved in much with that, I think its great and really cool, but for the last 6 months I've been writing, that's where my head has been at. Everyone has to do there part, there's five of us and we do everything within the band, were punk rock in many ways in how we do things.

Your last studio album was ‘Versus’ which was released back in 2008, are you happy with the overall response you got from the album from your fans and the press?
This is gonna sound again,weird, personally its got to a point where I don't fucking care any more, I care about the music we make and the live performances we do and with all due respect, the thing with the media, press etc, in many ways its a game and politics, and I don't waste my energy on it, its for record company's and media, its for them, they can do it and I don't care, I have wood to chop, kids to raise, songs to write, that's what I do!

I understand you are currently working on new material, is this for a new album? And how are you progressing so far?
Its fucking sweet, its kick ass!

MySpace seems to be a big tool in the music industry these days with artists communicating with their fans over it and some even ditching their own website and having just a MySpace site, what are your opinions on MySpace as a tool in the music industry?
I don't consider it a music industry any more, I don't, the music industry is very split up in many sectors, were not concerned with any other part than the life sector, that's what we are as a band, a live entertaining band, that's what we do, fans know that, fans keeping coming out, keep growing more and more, bigger crowds are coming in and were doing it without kissing anyone's ass.

Where would you like to see yourself this time next year?
Hopefully, preparing to pack every single day of the fucking summer, festivals, tour tour tour tour the world, that's how I see it and how its gonna happen, that's what we do, we work! We had some issues the last year, we had an agent that pissed us off, and we had work some other details out, that's been worked out, and now were back on track, were only doing 200 shows on this record and were going to up that. Its a question of work pride, work ethic, and basic survival, How does a band that wants to do this, but doesn't want to do all the ass kissing involved? Well you have to fucking work harder than everyone else, and that's sweet, and people will know that your doing it for the right reasons, and in the and that's what matters

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and a Giraffe which one would you be and why?
Oh that's easy, I'd be a fucking a Giraffe! DO you know how big there vertebra is in there necks? There fucking amazing, they can kick so hard that they can knock an Elephant or a Rhinoceros out! I Know this because my daughter is really into animals and she told me this!

Thanks for your time, do you have an message for your fans reading this?
Thank you! For years of support, helping us out, and letting other people hear our music, coming out to shows, for the response were getting, letters, little messages on whatever forum on the internet, for criticism, for being real fans, Thank you!

Interview by Robert Lawrence