Jimmy Christmas is back from his musical hiatus. The former frontman for The D4 has created a new beast called Luger Boa and is ready to put his slightly manic energy back on the stage. He chats to JULE SCHERER of NZPA about his new project and upcoming tours.

Wellington, July 28 NZPA - Jimmy Christmas clearly believes in what he does.

When he describes his new project he uses words like "exiting, powerful, sexy and delicious".

The band is called Luger Boa and they recorded their debut album Mutate or Die last year. They just released a third single, have already played The Big Day Out and Homegrown and supported bands like Shihad and Kings of Leon.

Now they are hungry for more.

Christmas fronted garage-rock wizz-kids The D4 for eight years, selling more than 100,000 albums worldwide and playing major festivals in the UK, Europe and Japan.

After The D4 decided to take an indefinite break in 2006, Christmas took his time to get back to doing all the things he was missing in his life.

But after a while rock 'n' roll took over again.

"Essentially it started with myself and the workings of my feverish mind," the Auckland-based musician said.

"Working tucked away in my little cabin gave me the chance to focus and a real strong idea of what I was trying to project."

Then he pulled some good friends in -- one of them Shihad's bass player Karl Kippenberger -- and brought Luger Boa to life.

Mutate or Die was recorded at "several secret locations", produced by Hunters and Collectors' Barry Palmer in Australia and mastered and remixed by Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac/The Killers) in Los Angeles.

Luger Boa's sound is more melodic and beat-driven than The D4's garage-rock. The songs are catchier, laced with glam and '70s rock influences, but still bristle with Christmas' intensive energy.

"The writing process -- that was myself chipping away and then working with different people -- was quite different from working with The D4," Christmas said.

"The relationships between writers are unique, as was working with Dion (Palmer of The D4).

"I don't have any regrets not being in The D4 anymore. It was a natural decision to leave it where we did.

"We're all really proud of that band and we made the decision to stop there because we were on top of our game and not for any other reason," he said.

"It was a period of my life and this is a new period of my life and it feels equally natural."

Since the band's break-up Christmas may have lost his sideburns and the wild hair, but not his passion for performing live.

"The D4 were well known for an explosive live-show and I continue that tradition, because that's how I do it. I don't do anything less than putting 150 percent into it.

"Luger Boa as a stage personality was initially just myself and now it is the whole band," he said. "It is an opportunity to extend your personality and really push.

"I've always been a fan of a show. And I think now more than ever the onus is on a live band to really perform and Luger Boa is ready to do so and we want things to be larger than life," Christmas said.

The current line-up of Luger Boa compromises guitarists Ryan Thomas (Sommerset) and Sam Lockley, bassist Simon Nicholls (City Newton Bombers) and a "mysterious youngster from the south" on the drums.

"The band is really tight now and I wanted it to become its own monster, its own beast," Christmas said.

Luger Boa found themselves good company with which to hit the road in the coming months.

First the band will open for legendary rockers Head Like a Hole in September, and one month later they are part of The Rock's nationwide Legal Tender Tour with Shihad, The Living End and Airbourne.

Although his band is in both line-ups as the new kid on the block, Christmas is sure the audience won't treat them that way.

"People know, we're really heavy hitters," he said.

Christmas likes keeping busy and is already working on new material.

"I want to have a record done by the end of the year.

"I find the writing process really enjoyable, particularly on this last record. It was a lot of fun, so I very much want to get back into that.

"But I also like to continue to tour. We are NZ-bound for the next couple of months, we're looking at Australia in September and we're working up some things in Japan.

"Touring is great fun and a great way to see the world," he said.

Tour dates: HEAD LIKE A HOLE & LUGER BOA

Sept 3, Invercargill, Saints & Sinners; Sept 4, Dunedin, Sammys; Sept 5, Christchurch, Bedford; Sept 10, Hamilton, Altitude; Sept 11, Auckland, Powerstation; Sept 12, Wellington, James Cabaret THE ROCK LEGAL TENDER TOUR with Shihad / Living End / Airbourne

Oct 1, Dunedin, The Edgar Centre; Oct 2, Christchurch Town Hall; Oct 5, Napier, Pettigrew Green Arena; Oct 7, Auckland, Logan Campbell Centre; Oct 9, Hamilton, Waikato Stadium; Oct 10, New Plymouth, TSB Bank Arena; Oct 11, Wellington Town Hall

Photo inquires: jane@jtlpr.co.nz, 09 357 6688

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