Heres my interview with Todd & Karen
How'd you get started in music?
Growing up in Norway and Ireland, we had two different starting points. Øyvind (aka Todd) started playing horns in the local brass band and had a couple of ad hoc bands, before starting the Norwegian language folk pop band Sugar Plum Fairies and releasing an album that got some attention and radio play back in 2005. Ina (aka Karen) is a classically trained violinist and pianist at the Cork School of Music, Ireland. Apart from that she enjoys playing the ukulele, something the band will be utilizing more on future recordings.
Who are your inspirations or influences?
Our influences are pretty varied. As anyone listening to our music would probably agree, The Beatles loom large. We're both total Beatles nuts, and our songs often go in a Britpop direction, whether we'd like to or not. We're also very inspired by quirky comedy. Queen is a fantastic inspiration. More recent bands like Blur, Oasis, Suede, Pulp and The Divine Comedy are all huge inspirations as well. Neil Hannon's wonderful mix of quirky lyrics and beautiful, haunting melodies is quite sublime.
What advice would you offer aspiring performers?
Follow your own vibe. Do your thing. Don't try to streamline it too much. Don't be too preoccupied with fitting into a specific genre. With the streaming age upon us, it doesn't matter if one song flops. It's like we're back in the 50s again that way. The single is king. The next one might be the one that makes you. So you have time to find your style. You can experiment.
How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?
Having grown up in Norway and Ireland respectively, we probably have our countries very rich traditional music heritage in our backbone. Coupled with an obsession for Britpop, it creates quite a remarkable sound, we think. We plan to include some traditional Norwegian fiddle on one of our upcoming songs.
Any new gigs or albums in the future?
The immediate plan is to go back to the studio in early February. We are going to cut two new tracks with our super producer Sigve Høghaug. They are quite different. One is a country rock stomper called "L12", and another is a jolly, poppy, 60s vibe Britpop tune entitled "Blackpool Lights". We're also working with our good friend Paul Bernard - Norway's hardest working indie musician, whose output is immense...he's working on an exciting remix for us. We hope that happens in the summer. And then hopefully we'll end the year with a couple of new singles. All our songs - in a bit of Bowie inspired whimsy - are set in this fictional universe of ours, called Beardsley Boulevard. There might be a compilation album after this initial run of singles, set in that world.
Special thanks to them for this interview & I wish them lots of luck in their music. So until then I'll catch you on The Flipside! stay awesome & rock n roll!
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