ida, marius, ørjan & t.o. triosphere

Interview by: Mary Evans

Date: 18 March 2011

Venue: Wulfun Hall, Wolverhampton, UK

Photos by: Triosphere / AFM

I: Very well thank you!

We were supposed to do this interview before the show, but as I’ve seen the show now and have seen the crowd reaction, what was it like for you to be receiving such a reaction on only your second UK show?

I: That was pretty awesome! It was really cool. I’ve always been a little curious about how England responds to our kind of music and since we’ve only had one gig before we weren’t sure how it was going to be. It was really cool and the crowd was responding to what we wanted and it was a good atmosphere and it was great.

M: I think it was really good! I didn’t know what to expect, since we haven’t really played here before and also I never worry about shows but today the other bands said, ‘What do you think about playing in the UK?’. I said ‘It’ll be great’… and they said ‘but you have to think about the fact that they invented heavy metal! And then we come here to play ‘their’ music!?’. I was like ‘hmm you have a point there!”

Nothing like a bit of pressure then!

M: Yeah, we stepped up our game today!

I think you did, the crowd reaction isn’t something you often see for a second support act. Normally everyone is still warming up, but they were all really into it, so it was good to see! The synchronised hair swishing was impressive!

I: It’s a little stage choreography which makes the experience that little bit more!

You’ve been out for a week or so now touring Europe with Sonata Arctica and Labyrinth. I know that you were saying that Madrid was extra special, but how has the tour been as a whole so far?

I: I would actually say extra special almost as a whole as well. This is the biggest tour we’ve been on so far and it’s really well organised and everything is running so smoothly. The crowds have just been fantastic. Actually I can’t describe it any other way. It has been such a big experience to go out on stage and meet the crowd every night. We are telling ourselves every day ‘remember this’, this is not something you necessarily get to experience.

M: This is definitely the most professional tour we’ve done and the other bands are really nice, everyone is getting along, which is a must for a tour…

Well that makes such a difference doesn’t it if you’re all getting on!

M: They’re all really cool guys!

So, I know what to expect from a Triosphere show this tour, but what can people expect to see (If I’m quick enough to type this up tomorrow!)?

I: They can definitely expect a band that’s giving absolutely everything we’ve got to convince people that we are a force to be reckoned with! We have a very deep respect for the audience and for the work that we are supposed to do on stage, so high energy, high quality and a passion for what we do!

It must be difficult to choose a set list for such a short show, how do you go about doing that? I know I was talking to you Marius and you were saying maybe three from each album but how do you pick which ones?

M: It was difficult this time, it really was. When you only have one album out then it is quite easy because you always have songs that work better live than others, but now that we have two albums it was a challenge and we wanted to play as many songs from the new album as possible, but at the same time we have some songs that we have to play like Trinity and Sunriser, those have to be in the set. It was difficult but we just tried to put together a set list that had the right dynamics, high energy but also with a certain dynamic range so it isn't like full high octane all the time, but it was difficult to choose how many new and how many old songs but we tried a few different arrangements but this is the one that worked.

In the previous interview we did with you Idayou mentioned that one of your Top 5 albums was that of Crimson Glory (Transcendence)… you also mentioned that you’d hopefully catch one of their shows in the near future…. How does it feel now to be going out on tour WITH them later in the year?

© Triosphere / AFM I: That is quite crazy! That’s really crazy. I remember when they were first booked for the Norwegian festival Karmøygeddon and I was like ‘I'm gonna have to go there, oh my God!’ and then we got some signals that they were doing a tour and it was very possible that we’d be going with them and I was… for me it is huge! I’m kind of lacking all the words today! I’m looking just as much forward to seeing them live as playing myself. I think anyone can try to figure it out how it would be if you would get word that you are going to tour with one of your greatest inspirations.

Your latest album, The Road Less Travelled, has been out for nearly a year now and you’ve done a fair amount of touring to support it, with quite a bit to come… are there any immediate plans for a new album or is that on the backburner at the moment?

M: I am not able to write when we tour, it just doesn’t work for me. We are doing the tour now, and the Crimson tour, then the summer comes and then we have Wacken Open Air and a few other festivals. I have written some stuff before we started touring that we will start doing demos of in the summer and then I will spend all fall and winter writing the new stuff. It will be a while before a new album for sure, but we’ll start working on it.

Like you’ve said you’ll be playing some festivals this year, what is it like to have been asked to go to Wacken?

M: It’s huge, it is just amazing.

It’s like everyone’s dream isn’t it!

M: And also, there’s a lot of bands that go to contests and ‘metal battles’ in order to try to get a space there and you play on a little stage, but the guy that does all the booking for Wacken came to see us in Germany when we played with Arch Enemy and he emailed us and wanted us to play, so it’s just huge!

Ø: It says it all when you see your band logo with Ozzy Osbourne on the poster! Is this really happening!?

Have any plans to play any festivals in the UK this year?

M: I really want to play Bloodstock! I would really, really love to play there.

I: Yeah!!

They have quite a diverse line up… they have W.A.S.P., Immortal and Motörhead this year!

So, Ida, thanks to AFM I’ve been reading your ‘essential female touring kit’!! It seems as if you’re wholly at home on tour with the boys?

I: Yes!

Looking at this lot, I do question why!

(Everyone laughs...)

You’ve been together for a very long time, so does that play a part in the ‘family feeling’?

I: I think we talked a little about that before… because we’ve spent, well on tour you always spend a lot of hours together, but also we’ve been driving in Norway backwards and forwards and just driving to one gig can take quite a few hours. We spend insane amounts of hours just packed in a car but we just really seem to get along…

And how do you guys feel about touring with Ida?

Ø: Like five minutes after we take off... (makes snoring noise!)

(Everyone laughs again…)

Ø: Its like it, I don’t know if you want to hear it Ida, you’re like one of the guys! I don’t know if we’d do more guy stuff if there was a guy in the band… I don't know!

I: He’s been playing with me for thirteen years, or something, so he doesn’t know anything else.

I think it’s interesting to get that other perspective though…

M: It has some big advantages as well. Being four guys on the road is very different from being three guys and a girl. I’ve been in a band that toured, before I started this band, and it is very different!

I read that you feel ‘separated from your pack’ if you get given your own dressing room you feel lost, to a point…

I: (laughs) Yes!! I actually do. I like their company, you know, it has happened a few times that the promoter has booked me in a single room and they are in another room together… and it is like ‘I don’t want to be here, all by myself!’

So do you find yourself wandering to go and find them?

I: Yeah, I don’t like to being on my own, I like to be where they are! It’s more like a little sister syndrome probably!

So, you’re studying law at the moment aren’t you? Do you find it difficult to fit in your study with touring that you’ve been doing?

I: Well, yes! I find a way, somehow, but of course from time to time it is really challenging a lot of the time. It demands a lot of focus, just as much focus as the band. Especially on this tour has been quite challenging but I’m getting into the rhythm of how to do it, so it is all about having to put your mind to it and figuring out how to organise it!

What about the rest of you guys, how does it fit in with work and things like that? I know Ørjan we were talking that you have to work extra to get more time off as you’ve used all your holidays, but that would be worth it at the point you’re at?

M: I think so yeah! We all work extra before we go and then when we come back but when you do shows like this you forget about the work that you’ve done.

Back to you Ida, because I thought I was only interviewing you… how long do you have with your studies?

I: Let’s see, it’s the 18th March today, so I have less than two months.

Oh wow, that must be really nice!

I: Yeah but a little terrifying, as I’ve been a student the whole time I’ve been in the band. It is a little terrifying also because it’s going to be a change in how all this works but I’m determined to make it work. I’m really looking forward to starting work with this.

I believe you, Ørjan, were the artist for the latest album?

Ø: Yes.

Is that something you do all the time, art, you do websites as well don’t you? Are you like the little creative creative bod of the band?

Ø: Yeah I did that. I guess so, in the visual way.

So what hidden talents does the have?

M: Ørjan is really good at photography also and not just web design but all types of design. T.O. is a really good beer drinker! (laughs) For hidden talents hmmm…

Ø: There is a really good mix of talents that brings a lot to the band. We fill different roles, we have a car mechanic, a web design person / cover design, we have a composer, lyric writing, managing, administration, emails, phone calls…

I: Stressing, nagging!!! (laughs)

Ø: Taking decisions, everyone has an important part in the puzzle! Those talents are important!

M: And Ørjan is a really good joke teller! That’s actually important talent in a band.…

I: That’s invaluable in long rides!

Besides T.O. everyone has been in the band since the beginning, although he joined quite early on didn't he?

I: He has only missed 5 of the 100 shows we’ve done!

Ø: He’s still the new guy!

T: I’ll always be (laughs)

What do you think has been the key to the stability of the band… you look at a lot of bands today who go through numerious? To be able to stick together for so long, there has to be a key to it What is that?

M: There is a key and that is how different we are as people. If we had four guys like Ørjan we’d still be in the rehearsal place, never having played a single show! If you had four people like me we would have broken up a long time ago, even though the band might have had a good potential. If you had four Ida’s then…

I: We’d all be lost somewhere! (laughs)

M: Yeah, we’d be all lost somewhere! And then if you had four like T.O. you’d have probably had a really great band that had never played any shows as well. We have two people that are really mellow and I would say stable, and then we have two that are really great at making things happen but maybe not as stable!

(Everyone laughs...)

M: We even each other out!

I: Absolutely, we manage to even it out!

M: Yes!

I: I have one but it’s not our fans. You go on…

M: It was actually quite early on, we hadn’t played a lot of shows and one guy came backstage and he had a pin or button (badge)…

I: Oh my God!!

M: He decided a spontaneous piercing and stuck it right above his eye and he was bleeding like crazy! That’s the first one that comes to mind!

I: It was a button like this (points to a badge she has on her jacket), a Triosphere button, so he just took it and did that.

Ø: He is now very close friends to the band!

M: It says it all about the band!

(All laughing again...)

If you could resurrect one band from the past to come and play a show for you, who would it be and why?

I: I would probably say Rainbow because they have been a huge inspiration and it would be very, very nice to have seen Dio one last proper time. I love Rainbow, the great songwriting and a great influence.

T: I’d like to see Led Zeppelin with John Bonham, the real Led Zeppelin.

Ø: That is too difficult, I have to think about it…

I: Mayhem!?

Ø: Oh of course they are still playing, but the original Mayhem, from De Mysteriis album, I would like to see them.

M: I would have liked to see… Freddie!

Yep, ok, that’s my big one…

I: Ahhh yes… of course.

M: And as a guitar player of course, Hendrix.

Ø: Can I change it? Johnny Cash!

I: Of course!!

T: I would have liked to see Pink Floyd as well!

I: I don’t have any better acts!

You can only listen to one band again… EVER… who is it?

I: (thinking) Ohhhh…

Be careful now, you could get bored!

M: I know mine… Triosphere! Otherwise I can never go to rehearsal!

(Laughing...)

T: I think it’d be Queen or Led Zepplin…

Ok you can have two!

T: Alright!!!

I: Well, this is quite strange but I’m going to say Richie Kotzen because he always brings me in a great mood and he is insane on the guitar and singing. I think actually that would have the range of necessities.

Ø: I’m going to stick with Johnny! (laughs)

Johnny and you would have been good friends! What’s the best way to kill time on tour? We know what you do Ida… study, study, study…

I: Or sleeping!!!

M: That is a question that I don’t think we’ve found the right answer for yet on this tour.

Ø: As far as killing time, I don’t think that is needed we don’t really do that as such. Sometimes you wake up and go inside and have breakfast, move your gear, then maybe we have two or three hours before sound check, so then we take a little walk about and perhaps take some pictures and maybe go to a restaurant.

So you appreciate your surroundings…

M: Yeah. I think one of the best parts, or ways, is of course to get to know the other bands and hang out with them and make some new friends.

I: Well, they did! (laughs)

How was Wolverhampton’s night life?

Ø: We had a number of samples of Guinness!

T: We went into some strange pubs, one Irish one.

Ø: It was maybe the most Irish pub I’ve been to! It was like a concrete room, square, with everyone standing upside down and singing karaoke…

I: Standing upside down?

Ø: No, standing straight!

(Everyone islaughing...)

Ø: No, standing, I mean they weren’t sitting. No tables, everyone was standing…

(More laughing...)

We can see Ørjan had a good night last night!

Ø: ... and everybody had the hats and the Guinness and the clover.

Now this one’s for you Ida, as it’s not going to apply to these guys really… If you had to choose between only ever being able to sing again or play bass which would it be and why?

I: Luckily I’ve been asked this one before so I’ve had time to think about it and I would definitely choose to continue to play bass.

(Marius makes a face)

I: Laughs… Initially I was an instrumentalist so I think that was why I started with music, the singing came later, of course I love to sing as well, but if I had to choose I’d choose the bass.

So who out of these three would you make sing instead!

I: Uhhh… (laughs)

I’m just kidding! What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given relating to the music industry?

I: I’m trying to remember the exact way of saying it…

M: Don’t sign away your merchandise.

I: Yeah…

M: Keep the merchandise rights.

I: Absolutely. I saw something on tv a few months ago, a guy who just really put the hammer, if you can say that in English, I can’t remember what it was…

M: We got a lot of good advice from Schmier from Destruction, he helped us, he was also the one that got us on AFM. We got a lot of help from him, good advice.

Things really seem to have taken a turn for the better since you’ve gone on AFM. Obviously they’re able to put a lot more into touring etc. Do you feel that it’s easier or more difficult being more well known in Norway, is it easier to come out of Norway now that you’re on AFM to come out of Norway…

M: It’s a lot easier now. It’s also a lot easier to get tours like this when you’re on a label people know. It’s also good being on a label with bands that are the same genre.

And finally, do you have a message for your fans?

M: Don’t do spontaneous piercings…

(Everyone laughs again...)

With Triosphere buttons!

Ø: In your ear!

I: We love you all very dearly and we hope that absolutely everyone comes to absolutely every single show! No, for those who are our fans we really appreciate every single one. I always think of it that it is them who are making it possible for us.

Ø: You’re all memories and inspirations!

Until you’ve drunk too much Guinness!

Ø: There’s never too much Guinness, I don’t know what you are talking about! (laughs)

T: What was the question again!?

(All laughing...)

Do you have a message for your fans?

T: Like Ida, I hope they continue to check us out and come to the shows!

Thank you very much for your time! I hope the rest of the tour goes well.