The Hives are a Swedish rock band formed in 1989 that gained mainstream success in the 2000s with their album "Veni Vidi Vicious". Known for their high energy live shows, they are considered one of the best bands to see live. Their influences include The Kinks, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, and The Who. In interviews, the band members have an attitude of confidence in their musical abilities and enjoy touring extensively to perform for audiences.

1. The Hives
Background and Research

2. About
• The Hives are a Swedish rock band
who first gained attention in the
2000s.
• Their Mainstream success came from
the album ‘Veni Vidi Vicious,
especially because of the song ‘Hate
to say I told you so’
• The Hives’ are known for their high
energy live performances and have
been acclaimed by critics as one of the
best bands to see live.
• The Hives are also well known for
wearing various matching black and
white suits when they perform.

3. Origins
• The Band was originally formed in
1989 under a different name with
a different sound, yet they
changed it to The Hives in 1993
under the guidance of Randy
Fitzsimmons. Randy Fitzsimmons is
allegedly the manager and writes a
few songs. The band released their
demo in 1994 and the next year
were signed by a Swedish
punk/rock record label called
Burning Heart. In 1997 they
released their first album and
started touring.

4. Influences
• The Hives jokingly listed their biggest influences on their website as: The
Pyramids, The colossus of Rhodos, Mount Everest, Australia and Jupiter.
• Their real influences are:
The Kinks
The Ramones
The Rolling Stones
The Sex
Pistols
The Who

5. The Hives in Interviews
• In one interview of The Hives, they respond to criticism about how some
of their music is quite simple, they replied by saying ‘The simpler it is, the
louder you can play it’
• Also in interviews they have been known to have an ‘attitude problem.’
Their response to this is ‘A lot of people think we are really good, why
wouldn’t we? We have been able to decide what type of music we play, so
we decided to play music we think is good. Why would we then, when
someone asks us if we are good, say no?’
• When asked: Why do you always wear black and white? They said:
‘It makes our instruments sound better and it looks cool. We like that it
makes us look like we belong together. Cause we do. Also, listen to the
Johnny Cash song Man in Black and add white, cause everything is not all
bad, all the time Johnny.’
• Why do you tour so much?
Because we love performing for you people. Love it! Plus we feel we have
so much to give. And you to give us.

6. Record Label
• The Hives have had a few record labels, the first
being ‘Burning Heart.’ Burning Heart was an
independent record label formed in 1993 based
in Sweden. Burning Heart has a close affiliation
with Epitaph Records who own the right to
distribute burning hearts output in North
America.
• The latest album ‘Lex Hives’ was released under
The Hives own record label ‘Disque Hives’