A Q&A with Peel

Cross-gen rock from Norway…

What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
Pim: Our new single is called ‘Love Phobia’. It actually means different things to us as our songs often do. And will do to all people that let the song into their existence. A song is a kind of spiritual catalysator, a multidimensional entity whose origin is an idea from the dawn of all time. And depending on from which angle you view it will decide how you contemplate and communicate with its content. And like all the songs I write, or am so lucky to channel, it is personal to me and it means something, it travels with something in its heart, it has a purpose.

What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
Both the writing and the recording process were surprisingly and suspiciously easy. The theme for the lyrics – what I wanted to communicate was clear to me, so that part was easy. But it was frustrating and painful to tap into those emotions and gain that insight in order to deliver vocally. Musically it is a fun song to play with lots of energy, cool melodies and vocal harmonies. The guitar part with the main riff is stupid in a clever way, and it demands a powerful deliverance. So, that part of the process was of the inspirational and fun kind. The hardest part has so far been promoting, getting the song out and heard… There is so much “noise” in our realities; real life and in the filtered bullsh*t world of ones and zeroes, so much screaming for attention, so many “pick me, like me, love me, see me, pity me,” so many releases, so it is really, really hard to scream loud enough to get heard, or to stick out in a world where everyone has something to promote.

Who produced the release – what did they bring to it?
The band produced it alongside our brother in arms Bjørn Are Rognlid. As for now, it is a clear advantage for us to produce our own material. It hasn’t always been like that and likely it won’t always be like that, but at this time it’s a good and necessary thing for this group of people to do it. We know what we want to communicate sonically as a band almost intuitively. And we complement each other.

What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
If our music and our lyrics can raise the level of emotions; trigger a memory, enhance an experience, reduce pain or an unpleasant feeling, make someone feel good about the world or about themselves, help someone through, think differently about something/anything, be a friend in loneliness, throw away frustration, get some aggression out of the system…feel something.

How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
It starts with a hunt on or a chase after ideas. Sometimes they appear without an obvious reason. If they (the ideas) are hiding and not easily caught, I use some homemade techniques to lure them out. I can tap into core emotions in my soul (whatever that is) – that’s an abstract way to trigger ideas. Or I can scan my brain for specific memories or experiences that then will give me some sort of emotion which often will spawn ideas.

What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
There are not so much bands/artists as it is an era that has influenced this project. I’ve listened to a lot of 90’s stuff and early 00’s. The honesty and fervour in the deliverance in grunge music is very appealing to me. The soundscape used in pop music in the late 90’s early 00’s is also something I quite like. I’m talking about influences and not a blueprint of the mentioned eras.

What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
We would like to tour where people would like to come and see us, where there is a need or a space for our music and our lyrics to fill. No standout venues, I know that one is supposed to say one of the classic venues, but that is just materials piled and stacked according to a drawing to make a building. It is what that pile of material is filled with or stores that matters to us. An empty Hammersmith Odeon, Marquee, Madison Square Garden, O2 Arena, etc. are nothing without the people inside.

If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
That’s really difficult because there is a versatility in our catalogue that makes it almost impossible to pick one song to sum us up and by that give a fair entrance into our musical universe. If I say ‘Natalie Somewhere’ or ‘Breathe’ or ‘Comes Down…OK’ I think the listener automatically will place us in a kind of “radio-friendly” rock bag. The disappointment will be severe when they hear a riff-driven rock song like our new single ‘Love Phobia’, or the darker songs like ‘Die in June’ or dark pop songs like ‘Second Man on the Moon’, ‘(We are) The Wheel’ or the more dreamy stuff as ‘Zena’s Song’ or ‘Same Sky’, or Beatlesque stuff such as ‘Neverending’ or ‘Hearts Underground’.

What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
To keep making what we think is good, real and necessary music. And all that leads out from that ambition is either welcomed or ignored. That’s choices we will make when they need to be made.

Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Thank you and goodnight!

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