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At Your Convenience
Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's something else but
recently there's been a huge amount of "sunshine" music invading the
airwaves. All laid-back, mellow and summery, it's perfect for days in
the park, at the beach, or monging out in your little brother's
recently annexed paddling pool.
The Kings Of Convenience are two friends from
Norway who, after trying to set up a "proper" band, found it was more
convenient to play as a duo, hence the name. We met up with Erland, the
slightly strange ginger-haired one. He's actually got brown hair but
chooses to die it ginger. See, told ya…
So, how did you get together?
Eirik and I started playing guitar at the same time and went to the
same lessons at school. We were 16, which compared to some people now
is quite old, so I suppose it shows you can learn anything anytime.
From there it was natural for us to hang out. He knew a few people and
I knew some other musicians and we started a band called Skog (er,
which means forest in Norwegian by the way). Anyway, the band floated
apart after a while, going to college and getting jobs but Eirik and I
would play our guitars together whenever we could. We sent our demos to
people we knew in England and then got a record deal through that.
What's the music scene like in Norway?
It's a very small scene - quite isolated. It's very hard to get a
record deal there, so it was natural for us to go through England to
get our music out. England's quite a small country but it's got a big
music scene. People here might not realise but they get to hear a lot
of different music.
There are other successful bands around at the moment that have a
similar sound. Do you think it's helped to be out at the same time as
Badly Drawn Boy and Alfie?
No. I think we'd have been more successful if they hadn't. We'd have
made a bigger splash y'know? Our music is timeless so I think it would
have been successful anyway.
Your music's described as "different". Do you think coming from Norway,
people give you more of a chance? If you were from Derby would they
just think you were weird and not bother?
Yeah maybe. Like with Air when they came out, people took more notice
because it was seen that this sound was coming from a different place.
How have you done back home?
Because we're on an English record label, people have given us their
attention. It's like "local boys do good", because we started doing
well over here, the album's gone gold in Norway. A local band playing a
gig in London sounds big, even if it's not that huge.
You're supporting 80s band A-Ha in front of 30,000 people. So you're
bricking it then yeah?
Um, yeah. A-Ha are the biggest band ever in Norway. They're still
going, and still doing really well there. They're playing a huge gig
and have asked us to support them. It's just us and them so I dunno how
it's going to be. Crazy probably!
What was the first record you ever bought?
Hunting High And Low by A-Ha. Haha, the circle is coming round! It was
on tape 'cause there weren't any CDs then. It's a bit weird to think of
that now!
And the first gig?
Once again, A-Ha was the first gig I wanted to go to but I didn't go
and was disappointed. Umm… I can't remember the first gig I went to,
maybe I've forgotten because it was so embarrassing.
What kind of music do you listen to?
I got a free CD with NME recently and there was a Strokes song on it
which was really cool. I've liked what I've heard from them.
What's up next?
Well, we're going to be doing some more shows,
playing festivals and stuff, then we'll probably go in to the recording
studio and try and record some more songs. Pretty average for a band
I'm afraid!
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