Truckfighters come back in Athens for a show at the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2025 and we are super-excited, waiting eagerly for a show of great stoner rock, sweat and a lot of fuzz! Some days before the big event, Myth of Rock came in contact with Dango and Ozo from Truckfighters, who politely gave their nice answers to our questions. Continue reading please!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
My first encounter with Truckfighters was your last-year show in Athens, Greece, at AN Club. It was an explosive gig! What do you remember from this live show?
Dango: I remember it was very crowded, very hot, very intense and very very fuzzy. At least one amp broke down, (or was it two?). It was a great night despite that technical problems. We were told after also the PA system had issues with all the fuzz and volume but I hope that did not make the experience less good for all the fans who showed up. We had very fun on stage. That was the first show in Athens for like 10 years!
Truckfighters have been carrying the fuzz rock/stoner rock banner for years. What do you think has kept your sound so fresh and relevant in the stoner rock scene?
Dango: Good question, I think it’s because we don’t follow any trends or try to be in any specific way. We have our thing that we do and luckily that is very wide musically if you take the time to listen closely to us. It is much more than a wall of fuzz. Many songs are dynamic , we are not afraid to play soft! Also we have both short songs, at least a few and long songs. And very long songs. So it’s easy to remain fresh when we can do whatever as long as we do it the Truckfighters way.
In your opinion, which are the trademarks of the Truckfighters sound?
Dango: On record we have a very thick heavy production with a lot of fuzz and power but it is still a very detailed soundscape. Live it’s a little bit more primitive with just one guitar and here it’s more about the dynamics, the energy, the vibe in the room and of course the fuzzzzzzzz.
Your albums all have a distinct energy but also show evolution. How would you describe the progression of your sound from album to album?
Ozo: I think we moved away a bit from traditional stoner towards more rock, hardrock oriented and then we also added more and more progressive elements, but nothing is by purpose, we do the music we like at the time, if it happens to be a bit progressive or more straight forward it doesn’t matter. We’re not following any trends, just write music that we like at that point.
What are some of your main musical influences outside the obvious stoner rock and desert rock inspirations?
Ozo: I listen to so much music, I consume music everyday almost. Some weeks it can be Acoustic Americana and the next day Mesuggah. I’’m very broad in that sense, I think the key is that it has to have some kind on “nerve”, played by real musicians and not too much “Synth” or programmed stuff, then it tend to be boring and unpersonal very quickly.
Where do your lyrics refer to?
Ozo: Usually stuff that happens in life OR something you read about that affects you a lot. It doesn’t always have to be lyrics with a lot of depth, it is ok to write lyrics that also is about happiness, believe it or not 😛
Your live performances are incredibly high-energy. What’s the secret to keeping up that intensity night after night?
Dango: No drugs, proper food, sleep and I think also a bit of pure crazyness that we keep hidden when we aren’t on stage has a role in there. The god of rocknroll uses us to give people fuzz salvation ;)Ozo: I agree on the above, for me personally as a singer I discovered being in real good shape and condition really helps being on the road.
What’s the craziest or most memorable show you’ve ever played?
Ozo: We got many, playing in the Desert where it all began with the stonerscene was a great moment for us, also playing our first bigger show, Stoned from the Undeerground was amazing at that time. But also more recent gigs like Hellfest, Sonicsphere, Wacken been great, great experiences.
Are there any plans for a new album, and if so, can you give us a glimpse of what to expect? What does the future hold for Truckfighters?
For the first time in ages we can answer yes to this question. WE HAVE A NEW ALBUM coming likely early next year. Can you believe it?
The future will probably be similar to the present. We are doing what we love and we are in a position where we don’t have to tour all the time, which is lucky cause there was a point when we started to loose the fun and vibe that’s when we went on to what would be a quite short hiatus in 2018. That came from various reasons but we had toured so much for many years before this. Now we try to play less and enjoy it fully.
How is a Truckfighters song usually composed?
Ozo: Me and Dango sit down with a guitar + bass and playes whatever comes to our mind, we try to record very rough and quickly and decide turns and so on, just to get the idea down. Our memories are not like it used to be so therefor we just need to put it on “tape” and then re-record it proberly later on
Name your three all-time favorite Truckfighters songs.
“Calm Before the Storm”, “Mastodont” and it’s hard not to still be in love with “Desert Cruiser”, maybe not because it’s one of the absolute favourite song-wise BUT the response we get from the crowd is overwhelming and insane so it’s a sheer joy to play it.
If you had to describe Truckfighters in three words, what would they be?
Energy, Depth, joy.
Which is the relationship between Ozo and Dango (the core of Truckfighters)?
Dango: We try to avoid each other when we aren’t on tour 😉 haha. We own and run the label Fuzzorama records together and been playing together since 2001 so I think we know each other very well, maybe too well! We are business partners and connect very good musically but it’s not that we hang out regularly when we are home and have free time. It happens though.
Ozo: Well I try to invite Dango to hangout sometimes but he always declines so …
I was always curious to learn how you baptized the band “Truckfighters”.
Dango: The name came through a flea market, even before there was a band or songs!
Talk about divine intervention 😉
What’s a non-musical passion or hobby that each of you has?
Dango: I guess nowadays it’s fixing on our house with my fiancé. The kids and the house take up a lof of time! (which is in many ways fantastic).
Ozo: I run and own a coffee roastery (Cozo Coffee) so that takes up a bit of my time and I also love the nature, just being outdoors doing stuff, hiking, running etc. Ohh and I do have four kids, so filling my time is not a hard task haha 😛
If you could tour with any band, past or present, who would it be and why?
Dango: Nirvana beacuse that was the first band I got into for real and Nevermind was the first album I bought with my own money I had saved as a 11 year old kid.
Ozo: I could live with that, I like so many bands so hard to choose, but If we get one chance in our lives I can agree on Nirvana 😛
You are going to take part in the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Athens. How do you feel about that? What should we expect from you?
Dango: We are fairly predictable so about the same as the answer to the first question. 🙂
