“When we first started, we weren’t very serious. We’re still not serious, actually. We’re serious about the songs and the music, but as far as getting up on stage and acting hammed… well, it’s a massive production,” admits Admiral Nobeard, guitarist and frontman for the thrashy pirate metal trio Swashbuckle after zigzagging around his point.

Okay, so maybe rum, randiness and little high seas hijinx are a given when you dress like Captain Cook and play alongside an inflatable ship to a crowd more eager to raise their hooks than horns and scream “Arrr!” Admittedly, no one could belay that kind of charm.

But no matter the nautical nonsense, the musicians from just off the New Jersey shoreline are entertaining, to say the least, and their performance skills – both musically and charismatically – are off the plank.

We got on deck with the animated pirate during PaganFest’s Calgary visit. Well, aft’ our dear Admiral crashed Blackguard’s set, laying siege to the stage, pillaging vocalist Paul Ablaze’s microphone, and screaming indecipherable sea shanties before disappearing into the briny depths of backstage.

After finding my new bucko next to a really noisy refrigerator, we got to yaying about their self-described thrashterpiece “Back At The Noose,” set for North American release June 24 on Nuclear Blast Records – a very new development for the band – and naying about Somali pirates. And something about scurvy…

Ahoy, welcome to the wild west. Is this new territory for you?

Aye.

How different are the prairies than your usual coastal conquests?

Well, I mean, there’s not much water to sail through.

We got the Bow River. Some of the best fly fishing in the world.

[Odd pause followed by much eyebrow twitching]

But you do play music, so tell me what it is about pirating that goes so hand in hook with metal?

You sail the seven seas, you sit there, you fight sea beasts, you sit there, you fight each other, you stab things. That’s pretty metal. That and, you know, our swords are metal. That and grog. Grog is great. High five.

[We high five to grog]

Here at Pitch Black, we’ve always been fans of Medieval pirates and Renaissance-era pirates, but we’re not so big on these Somali pirates that have been tormenting other sea folk of late.

Smelly, or Somali?

Somali.

I thought you said smelly pirates!

Ah, no, smelly pirates are okay. Well, not really, but compared to…

Somali pirates, you see, they’re being a problem. There is no pirate code for them. To them, they’re just like, “Hey, let’s take over a boat.” You see, the thing is, what we’d do with the Somali pirates is we’d welcome them with open arms into our fold. And then we’d sprung them through and steal their shit and then we’d sell it back to the U.S. Actually no, we’d give it back. In exchange for grog and wenches.

Sounds like a fair trade. Do you guys have a code all your own?

Our pirate code would be bro down whenever and wherever. That’s how it goes. It’s been like that since we got together. It’s a brotherly thing, hence the “bro.” I mean, we fire [drummer] Captain Crashride on a daily basis, but he always ends up sticking around because he’s got nowhere else to go, so we just keep it metal, you know, fun times.

I know that you and guitarist Commodore Redrum were in a band together before, so how’d the Captain get on board?

We found Captain Crashride through a neutral non-piranical friend, and he’s a shitty pirate, but he’s a really good drummer so we keep him around.

What types of nautical nonsense inspires you most?

Drinking. What’s inside my head. That refrigerator noise [as we're interrupted by the most abrasive fridge you've ever heard]. Just the general lifestyle that we have: just a bunch of fun-loving dudes who love fun. But we don’t love dudes.

The new album is pretty thrashy. What metal bands were you listening to when you were first learning guitar?

I was hooked on Megadeth, Testament, Tankard: the classic ’80s thrash. I love all that. And then the crossover scene I got into pretty well: D.R.I., Crumbsucker. We’ve all always had a big punk background, being from New Jersey. A strong punk/hardcore influence, as well as all the shit we used to listen to – that we’re still listening to – that’s influenced us, and, of course, just us being idiots.

How much would you say the band’s sound has changed since “Crewed by the Damned” was released by Bald Freak Music in ’05?

Surprisingly, a very, very huge amount. It’s still fast, it’s still aggressive, it’s still thrash, but we spent more time actually writing the songs, coming up with awesome riffs and silly shenanigans. More work went into it. And just the whole production scale got better.

How did you improve your craft?

It’s been a natural progression. We all studied our instruments since we were wee lads. I’ve been playing as long as I can remember, and in bands for years and years. And we’ve always had that pirate spirit in us and now it’s finally coming about.

Can you pick a song off the new album and tell us how you made it into the treasure it is on CD?

“We Sunk Your Battleship.” I was sitting there one day playing Battleship and I wrote the song.

How do you develop your tunes once you get an idea?

I sit at nights alone with a bottle of rum and a guitar. And then I write songs. Silly songs about shenanigans. And the [other band members] write. Then ya bring it to the band and you say “yay” or “nay.” Most of the time I say “yay.” Sometimes I say “nay.” But then again, I just like saying “yay and nay.”

Being a three piece, did you record everything simply or did you go back and re-amp?

This time we did do the re-amp thing because we wanted to get a killer guitar tone, and I think we achieved that. But yeah, we wanted to take our time on this. We wanted to make this record kill, regardless of whether or not it was going to come out on Nuclear Blast or the small, independent label we were on before Nuclear Blast, Bald Freak, who we’re still loyal to them this day. Our friend [label owner] Ron Scalzo helped us out immensely. He’s an awesome dude. He helped us out. They supported us more than just money-wise. Basically, they said we’re going to take you pirates put you in weird places. And there we were in a sex shop.

So how’d you end up with Nuclear Blast if everything was such rum and randiness with Bald Freak?

We signed with Hard Impact Management, which is run by Maurizio Iacono of Kataklysm. He approached us and was like, “Yer shit’s retarded.” And then he heard the record. He liked it and picked us up and he said, “We’re going to try and get you signed.

It all happened kinda fast after that, didn’t it?

I think January was when we started talks with them, and then we signed in February. But Bald Freak was really supportive and understood that it was the next progressive step to accomplish things.

Had you already completed “Back to the Noose” at this point?

Yeah, it was done. We were going to release it on Bald Freak, but our contract was up. And then everything started happening with Hard Impact, and then Nuclear Blast came along, so basically from about December to January is when we were finishing up with the final mix and everything. And he hooked us up with James Murphy [of Death, Testament, Obituary, etc.]. He mastered the album and I shit a brick when I heard it. I mean, James Murphy! I’ve been listening to him since I was a kid.

And now you’re following in his footsteps and doing a lot of touring. Next up is the European leg of PaganFest?

First time to Europe. It’s going to be awesome. PaganFest was offered to us before we got signed. Maurizio approached us and he was like, “We want to put you on PaganFest.” They put us on [the North American tour], the label thing happened and then everything started happening. The tour’s sponsored by Nuclear Blast. They’re the ones that got us coming over to Europe. Thank you Nuclear Blast! I don’t think we would have been on the European part if we didn’t have the backing of Nuclear Blast, because we haven’t really hit that market yet. We’ve mostly been working in the States. We’ve done tours up and down the east coast, and we’ve tried to get out to the mid-west. Hadn’t actually reached this side of the Americas until now. But now we’re here, we’re stoked. Oh, and I blew up a toilet today.

Gas station?

Yup.

You know, the bathrooms at my day job are about ½ a step above gas station bathrooms.

You haven’t been on the tour bus, have you?

No thanks.

Too many dudes.

Is that not the most uncomfortable thing about being on tour?

All the smelliness.

But not Somali-ness.

Nay.

How do you keep away the scurvy when you’re sailing down the open road?

I have been eating me fruit.

What’s your fave?

Pineapple. And oranges.

Which swashbuckler from fact or fiction are you most like?

Honestly, I don’t know. I’m like Admiral Nobeard.

You’re charting your own course?

Yes. A very blunt, bearded, asshole.

And what is your favourite tale of piracy?

I like “The Goonies.”

We’ve got our very own pirates out here in Alberta: Verbal Deception. Got any advice for some fellow buckaneers?

We are aware of them, and when we first heard of them, we sent them some messages on the interwebs like, “Yarr!” But yes, have fun, and don’t give a f**k. We’ve played with [Scotland's] Alestorm before, so it would be awesome to play with Verbal Deception here some day.

Good to here you’d like to return to our mountainy shores.

Honestly, you guys have been, like, way better – probably the best crowds we’ve gotten all tour.

Awe, you’re just saying that.

No bullshit. Nobody’s ever there for the opener. We try to make the best out of it whether there be five people or a thousand, we don’t give a f**k. But you guys came out.

Alright, well, enjoy Europe and hopefully the winds will favour us with another visit from ye.

High five.

[More high fives]

More photos of Swashbuckle’s Calgary PaganFest performance are up in The Pit Stop along with exclusive photos of Blackguard, Moonsorrow, Primordial and Korpiklaani!