Interviews

Turdus Musicus

Interview with Carl Christian Lein Størmer on Feb 28, 2007 by Archive Bot

In a while back, after when Turdus Musicus played a kick ass show at Kvarteret in Bergen (Norway), I thought I could have a small chat with their vokalist, Carl Christian Lein Størmer and this is what came out of it..

Stian: Whats the meaning and how did you come up with the band name?

Carl: Turdus Musicus is latin and means "the singing of the thrush", the
thrush being known for its beautiful voice (hence the bird in our
logo). The story behind it is long and complex, but we decided to
stick with it cuz we like the sound of it and the fact that it
contrasts the not-so-beautiful aggressive and chaotic elements of our
music.

Stian: Who or What's your main influences?

Carl: As a reviewer stated, our sound is cut from a diverse diamond...
There's hints of hardcore, punk, metal, post-hardcore, rock.. Judging
by the critics there's elements of great variety in our music; Helmet,
Refused, At the Drive-in, Fugazi, Machine Head, Black Flag, NOFX,
Orange 9mm. We like it fast and heavy and with a melodic drive.

Stian: What keeps the band going? is it hard nowadays to stand out from the crowd, as new bands keep pouring out?

Carl: We've been around for 8 years now, constantly growing a strong underground fan base while attracting more and more mainstream
attention in Norway. I think our main force is also our weakness, that
being our diverse sound. For example, we attract hardcore fans, but is
not considered a die hard, puristic HC-act. And we attract the
mainstream's attention, but is far too heavy to get massive airplay in
Norway. But we strongly believe that if you stay true to your
credentials, keep playing the music you love playing and deliver kick
ass shows everywhere you go, then it will take us where we wanna go.

Stian: tell us about your record company. are you able to do any additional touring
because of them?

Carl: We established Intimate Records company in 2004, and release all our material on it, with a nordic distribution deal with Bonnier Amigo Music and worldwide digital distro through Phonofiles (the new album is released on iTunes Music Store next week). In Norway, that being a small country with a limited marked for punk-bands, this is the best way to do it. We don't consider ourself a die-hard DIY band, but yeah, we Do It Ourselves cuz we like to be in control. But we are now starting to look for labels abroad as we are aiming to tour othercountries including the US later this year.

Stian: how do you feel about life on the road?

Carl: We love it. Sure, we get our message across on disc, but the true nature and explosive potential of Turdus Musicus is fulfilled on
stage... Monster Magazine, Scandinavia's leading rockzine claimed that
we were "the best Norwegian live act ever" and these days we are touring Norway, promoting our new album "ROCKCOLLAPSE". Seeing new places, meeting new people, interacting, slamdancing, getting ourmusical message across...

Stian: Are you aiming for a international breakthrough? Record deal in US/or orther. Do you have any tours/gigs outside of Norway in the near future?

Carl: Our ambition is now to bring the show abroad. We are planning our
first trip to the US this fall, and also we're aiming for Asia, both Japan and China. We got multiple ties within the international snowboard-scene, having played The Arctic Challenge several times and having music in many international snow/skate/surf-films the last few years, so we hope to make benifit of that when we hit the road. But if you like what you hear and in any way might able to help us out booking shows and promote our music where you live, please get in
touch and we'll make good shit happen!

http://www.myspace.com/turdusmusicus