Niklas Almqvist (born 26 January 1977), better known by his stage name Nicholaus Arson, is the lead guitarist and backup vocalist of the Swedish garage rock band

The Hives The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album ''Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". T ...

, of which his brother Howlin' Pelle is the lead singer.

Career

Arson and his brother

Per Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math ...

(Howlin' Pelle, lead singer) formed the band in 1993, and, according to a biography about the band, attracted the attention of promoter/manager/songwriter

Randy Fitzsimmons The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album ''Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". T ...

(possibly a fictional character), who propelled the band to fame. It was revealed in

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

that Randy Fitzsimmons is a registered

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

belonging to Arson. This has led many to believe that Randy Fitzsimmons is in fact a myth, and that it is Arson who writes the songs. Arson and the rest of the band deny this and insist on the existence of Randy Fitzsimmons as the band's songwriter. Arson, as with the rest of The Hives, is known for his onstage antics. In particular, his beady eye stares, spitting, blowing on his finger tips, flicking his guitar picks into the crowd and wild animation in playing the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Musical equipment

Nicholaus uses almost exclusively Fender

Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...

, Esquire or Telecaster Deluxe style guitars (though he is seen playing a

Danelectro Danelectro is a brand of musical instruments and accessories, founded in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1947. The company is known primarily for its string instruments that employed unique designs and manufacturing processes. The Danelectro company was ...

in the

Hate to Say I Told You So "Hate to Say I Told You So" is the first single from Swedish rock band the Hives' second studio album, '' Veni Vidi Vicious''. It was first released as a single on 4 December 2000 and was later re-released in several countries in 2002. It is i ...

video). He also plays "The Arsonette" a custom built guitar by Sundberg Guitars, with tone chambers and a Firebird style midsection to give it a short, dead tone with little to no sustain. His guitars often reflect the outfits of the band with different combos of black and white finishes and pickguards. Along with

Vigilante Carlstroem Mikael Karlsson (born 30 October 1978), better known by his stage name Vigilante Carlstroem, is the rhythm guitarist of the critically acclaimed Swedish garage rock band The Hives. Biography Vigilante started playing guitar at the age of ten and ...

and

Dr. Matt Destruction Dr. Matt Destruction (born Mattias Bernwall; 18 March 1978 in Fagersta), is a Swedish musician and songwriter. He is the former bassist of garage rock band The Hives. Career The Hives were formed in 1993 and rose to prominence in the early 20 ...

, Arson uses white

Hiwatt Hiwatt is a British company that manufactures amplifiers for electric guitars and electric basses. Starting in the late 1960s, together with Marshall and Vox, Hiwatt contributed to the sonic image popularly termed "British sound". History O ...

amplifiers. Although he doesn't rely on effects, he uses an Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, a Boss AW-3 auto wah, a Boss DD-3 digital delay and a Prunes & Custard Harmonic Generator-Intermodulator for certain songs or sounds.

Discography

*'' Barely Legal'' (1997) *''

Veni Vidi Vicious ''Veni Vidi Vicious'' is the second studio album by Swedish rock band the Hives. The album was released on 10 April 2000 through Burning Heart and Epitaph. It was later re-released on 30 April 2002 through Sire and Gearhead. The Japanese releas ...

'' (2000) *''

Tyrannosaurus Hives ''Tyrannosaurus Hives'' is the third full-length album by the Hives, released on 20 July 2004. It is their first album since ''Veni Vidi Vicious'' from 2000, and also their first original release on a major label. If the front cover of the albu ...

'' (2004) *''

The Black and White Album ''The Black and White Album'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish rock band The Hives. The track listing for ''The Black and White Album'' was confirmed on the band's German website on 13 September 2007, and later through ''NME''. The Hives ...

'' (2007) *''

Lex Hives ''Lex Hives'' is the fifth full-length album by Swedish Rock music, rock band The Hives. The album was released on 1 June 2012 in Sweden, and internationally from 4 June 2012. ''Lex Hives'' was self-produced by The Hives and Audio mixing (recorde ...

'' (2012)

References

External links

Official Hives website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almqvist, Niklas 1977 births A&M Records artists Epitaph Records artists Interscope Records artists Living people People from Västmanland Swedish rock guitarists Swedish songwriters The Hives members