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 garage rock band formed in Fagersta in 1993. After gaining success in Sweden throughout the 1990s, they rose to worldwide prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. The band's line-upconsisting of H ...

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

Career

Arson and his brother

Per Per or PER may refer to: Places * Peru (IOC country code) * Pér, a village in Hungary * Perthshire (Chapman code), historic county in Scotland Science and technology * Physics education research * Packed Encoding Rules, in computing, an ASN.1 wi ...

(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 garage rock band formed in Fagersta in 1993. After gaining success in Sweden throughout the 1990s, they rose to worldwide prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. The band's line-upconsisting of Howl ...

(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, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

that Randy Fitzsimmons is a registered

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

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.

Musical equipment

Nicholaus uses almost exclusively Fender

Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...

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

Danelectro Danelectro is a brand of musical instruments and accessories that was 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 com ...

in the Hate to Say I Told You So 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 Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive j ...

and Dr. Matt Destruction, Arson uses white

Hiwatt Hiwatt (stylized in all caps) 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 "B ...

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 relea ...

'' (2000) *''

Tyrannosaurus Hives ''Tyrannosaurus Hives'' is the third studio album by Swedish rock band the Hives, released on 19 July 2004 through Polydor Records internationally and Interscope Records in the United States. As of 2006 the album has sold 176,000 copies in Unit ...

'' (2004) *''

The Black and White Album ''The Black and White Album'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish rock band the Hives, released on 8 October 2007 through A&M/Octone and Polydor Records. The Hives recorded 20 to 30 songs (including seven recorded with producers the Neptune ...

'' (2007) *''

Lex Hives ''Lex Hives'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish rock band the Hives, released on 1 June 2012 through Disques Hives, Universal Music, and Columbia Records. It was self-produced by the Hives and mixed by Andrew Scheps, with two additional trac ...

'' (2012) *''

The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons ''The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish rock band The Hives, released on 11 August 2023 through the band's Disques Hives label. The album marks the first studio release in over 11 years, since 2012's ''Lex Hives'', ...

'' (2023)

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 Säter Municipality Swedish rock guitarists Swedish male songwriters The Hives members Musicians from Dalarna County