Yes! More music from one the most amazing guys on the planet :) Formed a couple of years ago, laying low for some time, DEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS members Emanuele Lapponi and Even Skår have teamed up with Arild Eriksen to release a new EP. Here’s the amazing, raw-sounding indie/punk rock result and my short interview with BOUVET, bringing you a few steps closer to their idea of being a band. Check them out and share if you feel it!
DEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS recently went on a hiatus and let these guys record a few songs. There’s a lot of melancholy, heartache and suffering, but also good mood and relaxation. Listen for yoursel, discover and scroll down for the interview.
Hey guys! Thanks for being here! What’s up? How’s winter treating you up there? Are you well?
Arild: We have a nice January. It hasn’t been so cold yet, but now it seems that winter is on the way. Then it’s is nice to spend days in the rehearsal room to practice new songs for recording at the end of the month.
Wow, very cool man! But before we really get to BOUVET’s new stuff, please let us learn a bit about your origins. How come there is a “DEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS” tag in your Bandcamp description? ;) A lot of people around here get really excited when they hear the name! What other bands have you been involved with?
Arild: Even and Emanuele played together in DEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS who you know but who now has an unclear future. BOUVET met when I moved to Oslo in 2007 to work as an architect and we have played together occasionally since then. In early 2000 , I played in a band called CRASH with members from KIDS LIKE US and JR EWING and which later changed its name to THE FIRST CUT. We gave out some records on my own label Sound Fiction, the Umeå based Premonition Records (HIM KEROSENE, INTERNATIONAL NOISE CONSPIRACY, KEVLAR) and English Firefly recordings (BEEZEWAX, GAMEFACE), toured Scandinavia and Europe a few times before we split in 2005.
Don’t want to badger you or something, but you stated that DING recently went on a hiatus. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Emanuele: There really isn’t much to say, one day the six of us were in Oslo, drank coffee, hung out, and decided to stop practicing. I think that there were different reasons for each of us. We are all still good friends.
Alright, back to BOUVET then. As mentioned, you’re not rookies, yet remained in the shadow till your first live show last year. far from seasoned veterans. What factors led to the gap between the band forming and your first gigs plus the EP’s release?
Arild: It was never intended for BOUVET to be a band that played gigs, but at one point we had a lot of good songs and the temptation became too big. Nowadays we are very productive in terms of songwriting and try to get ourselves in the studio more often. It may well be that the situation has changed permanently, but the idea is still that we want to have a good time making music we love, keep the band as a hobby and not tempt fate by planning too much.
You have recorded a few songs with Kenneth Storkås from KNUSTE RUTER. How do you feel about these tunes now when they are ready and streaming for our listening pleasure?
Emanuele: They don’t really have a lush and ‘big’ production, as we recorded them quickly and mixed them in hurry in our practice space. I actually like the lo-fi feeling in the EP, I think it has a “four minute mile”-like urgency and style. What you hear is what we hear in the practice space.
Do you have more tunes written already? What made you decide to dig these songs in particular out?
Emanuele: A bunch. We are actually about to lock ourselves in a studio for another week-end BOUVET marathon to record new tunes. We dug out those songs in particular because they were the newest we had before going to the studio. They were all nicknamed with the name of the bands that inspired them.
Which are… ? :)
Arild: SONIC YOUTH, LEATHERFACE, GET UP KIDS, CARDIGANS, PINBACK, SAMIAM.
Is there a full length on the way?
Emanuele: Nope, mostly babies and bicycle-trips to Southern Europe.
Nice! I dig bike trips :) Where’s the farthest you went cycling?
Arild: It’s Even who is the cyclist. He and Kristoffer who was the lead singer of KAOSPILOT and is behind the bike clothing brand Trasé go on frequent trips to places like the Lofoten Islands, Sicily and Gran Canaria to ride. Even glady takes a 300 kilometer trip from Oslo around Randsfjorden and back to Oslo again in one day. It takes 11 hours.
Cool. I’ve been to these places and I must say that Norway is one hell of a paradise :) Can’t wait to go back there.
Ok guys. What shows do you have lined up for the coming months? Where can we catch you live?
Arild: We have no plans for concerts to begin with. We plan to enjoy ourselves in the studio and continue to write songs. Emanuele and his girlfriend are expecting a child in March and that’s more than exciting enough for all of us.
Haha, very nice. I recently became a father to my baby girl and I know exactly what you mean. Bummer though… It’d be awesome to see you guys on the road. Do let me know if you change your mind :)
Before we say bye, please tell me… how did you gain the great inspiration from Bouvet, a French anarchist, “who unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Alexandre Millerand, the President of France”. What draws you to Gustave?
Arild: It is the collective and local that inspires me. Norway has become an increasingly individualistic and antisocial country where people are more concerned about the increase in value of their home than the lives of people around them. To create a future for everyone we need to change society into something we share and instead of centralizing we need to focus on the local and possibilities for direct involvement in integrated communities. Initially I focus on this as an architect and urban planner but also as an individual and citizen. Whether the name BOUVET comes from Gustave Bouvet or the Norwegian island in the Antarctic, I’m not sure. Most anarchists are also concerned with the collective and the local. We have that in common.
Both as an artist and a listener/attendee, what excites you the most about 2014?
Arild: As an artist what inspires me the most is that our band has found a form that we can explore more and that feels genuine and honest. As a listener I will wait and see.
Eman: One of my best friends in Italy recently started a band with people from MINNIES (who put out one of my favorite records of 2013), I LIKE YOU OK and VALUES INTACT. They are called SEMANTICS and I heard they are about to hit the studio, I am very excited about that.
Studio photo by Andreas Winje, taken at Endless Tinnitus Studio. / Drawing / artwork by Katie Holten.
