Audrey Horne | Interview with Toschie
For more than 12 years now, Norwegian quintet Audrey Horne has been synonymous with pure and infectious heavy rock and their new effort, the aptly titled “Pure Heavy”, doesn’t deviate one inch from such route. The 11-track recording is, per usual, an addictive and highly energetic heavy rock affair that surely won’t disappoint long-time fans, so we caught up with lead singer Toschie to find out what pure heavy is.
Let’s jump straight into your fifth full-length record “Pure Heavy”, which was released some weeks ago via Napalm Records. Do you still get excited when you release a new album or it’s just like “Look everyone, here’s a new record from Audrey Horne…”
“Oh, we still get very much excited. After a long period of writing and arranging the music, and then going into studio to record it, we are still just as childishly excited to get feedback on our work. Even though we primarily write music for ourselves, it is after all other people who are going to buy the album and come to our shows to listen to the songs. So the more pleased our audience is with the album, the better it is of course. We are still a long way from being superficial on this topic.”
I think “Pure Heavy” is really impressive, you’ve kept the catchiness and the live vibe displayed in your previous effort “Youngblood”, yet I sense that this time the sound production is a bit more clean and refined. And it works really well. Would you say this is the record the band is most pleased with?
“Every band will always say that their latest record is their best of course, and so do we, but I sincerely mean that. What we set out to do this time is exactly what you have pointed out. We wanted to keep the live vibe from Youngblood, but at the same time refine the sound and “produce-it” a bit more. We did a bit more overdubs, some more samples, like trains, church bells etc… and we also finished each song more or less before we started on a new one, in order to give each song the sound it deserved. I think it worked out well, so now we only have to outdo ourselves next time…puuh!”
What was the recording process like for “Pure Heavy” as opposed to “Youngblood”? Did you have all of the writing done beforehand, or some of it was done in the studio?
“We wrote all the songs together, starting just after we had released Youngblood, and had them all finished by the time we entered studio. We did some minor changes in studio, but in general they were all finished. Since we track all songs live we have to know how to play them as good as possible. The only song that was not written for this album is “Diamond”, which was written originally for the Le Fol album. We dug it out from oblivion and re-wrote the lyrics as we felt the album needed a short “berating point”.”
Are there any tracks from the new record that you are particularly stoked to start playing live?
“Yes. We have done some gigs in Norway already, and our live favourites so far are “Wolf in my heart” and “Holy Roller”, but in general we are looking forward to play the entire album in the future.”
You guys will be touring Europe soon with Pet The Preacher and 77, are you looking forward to this?
“Definitely. I think it is a very good package. All 3 bands are full on rock and roll bands and highly energetic, so I guess people will have one hell of a good night out. We have polished our live show, and judging by the shows we have done so far here in Norway, the audience seems to really enjoy it. We seem to be enjoying playing live more and more, and the spirit within the band has never been better, and I think this reflects on the audience too, so the tour will hopefully be pure magic.”
For anyone who hasn’t been to an Audrey Horne show, how could you describe it?
“It is a full on, no bullshit show. High energy and very entertaining. We try to build it up like the classic bands did. Bread and circuses you know. We are not preaching, just making sure that both we and the crowd leave with a feeling that we had a bloody good time, and that we made some new friends.”
What are some of your most memorable tours and who have you been fortunate enough to meet and play with?
“We have opened up for AC/DC, Motley Crue, The Cult and many other great bands. On festivals we have shared stage with most of our favourite bands, so in that sense we are extremely blessed. As far as tours go, I really could not pick out one, they have all been great, and each better than the previous one, so hopefully this next one will top everything we have done before.”
The band has been together for about 12 years now. Did you ever think when you got started that you’d still be making music together all this time later?
“I don’t know. I guess I hoped so, but we never thought we would take the band to the point where we are today, both commercially and artistically. We are as good as we ever hoped to be, and as happy as we ever hoped to be at this point, so I just consider us to be blessed in that way.”
If you could go back on your careers at this point, would you change anything?
“Well, we might have given some of our financial decisions a thought or two more, he he. Other than that, no. Everything has led us to the point where we are today."
More info at: www.audreyhornemusic.com
Photos by: Oystein Haara’
Let’s jump straight into your fifth full-length record “Pure Heavy”, which was released some weeks ago via Napalm Records. Do you still get excited when you release a new album or it’s just like “Look everyone, here’s a new record from Audrey Horne…”
“Oh, we still get very much excited. After a long period of writing and arranging the music, and then going into studio to record it, we are still just as childishly excited to get feedback on our work. Even though we primarily write music for ourselves, it is after all other people who are going to buy the album and come to our shows to listen to the songs. So the more pleased our audience is with the album, the better it is of course. We are still a long way from being superficial on this topic.”
I think “Pure Heavy” is really impressive, you’ve kept the catchiness and the live vibe displayed in your previous effort “Youngblood”, yet I sense that this time the sound production is a bit more clean and refined. And it works really well. Would you say this is the record the band is most pleased with?
“Every band will always say that their latest record is their best of course, and so do we, but I sincerely mean that. What we set out to do this time is exactly what you have pointed out. We wanted to keep the live vibe from Youngblood, but at the same time refine the sound and “produce-it” a bit more. We did a bit more overdubs, some more samples, like trains, church bells etc… and we also finished each song more or less before we started on a new one, in order to give each song the sound it deserved. I think it worked out well, so now we only have to outdo ourselves next time…puuh!”
What was the recording process like for “Pure Heavy” as opposed to “Youngblood”? Did you have all of the writing done beforehand, or some of it was done in the studio?
“We wrote all the songs together, starting just after we had released Youngblood, and had them all finished by the time we entered studio. We did some minor changes in studio, but in general they were all finished. Since we track all songs live we have to know how to play them as good as possible. The only song that was not written for this album is “Diamond”, which was written originally for the Le Fol album. We dug it out from oblivion and re-wrote the lyrics as we felt the album needed a short “berating point”.”
Are there any tracks from the new record that you are particularly stoked to start playing live?
“Yes. We have done some gigs in Norway already, and our live favourites so far are “Wolf in my heart” and “Holy Roller”, but in general we are looking forward to play the entire album in the future.”
You guys will be touring Europe soon with Pet The Preacher and 77, are you looking forward to this?
“Definitely. I think it is a very good package. All 3 bands are full on rock and roll bands and highly energetic, so I guess people will have one hell of a good night out. We have polished our live show, and judging by the shows we have done so far here in Norway, the audience seems to really enjoy it. We seem to be enjoying playing live more and more, and the spirit within the band has never been better, and I think this reflects on the audience too, so the tour will hopefully be pure magic.”
For anyone who hasn’t been to an Audrey Horne show, how could you describe it?“It is a full on, no bullshit show. High energy and very entertaining. We try to build it up like the classic bands did. Bread and circuses you know. We are not preaching, just making sure that both we and the crowd leave with a feeling that we had a bloody good time, and that we made some new friends.”
What are some of your most memorable tours and who have you been fortunate enough to meet and play with?
“We have opened up for AC/DC, Motley Crue, The Cult and many other great bands. On festivals we have shared stage with most of our favourite bands, so in that sense we are extremely blessed. As far as tours go, I really could not pick out one, they have all been great, and each better than the previous one, so hopefully this next one will top everything we have done before.”
The band has been together for about 12 years now. Did you ever think when you got started that you’d still be making music together all this time later?
“I don’t know. I guess I hoped so, but we never thought we would take the band to the point where we are today, both commercially and artistically. We are as good as we ever hoped to be, and as happy as we ever hoped to be at this point, so I just consider us to be blessed in that way.”
If you could go back on your careers at this point, would you change anything?
“Well, we might have given some of our financial decisions a thought or two more, he he. Other than that, no. Everything has led us to the point where we are today."
More info at: www.audreyhornemusic.com
Photos by: Oystein Haara’
0 Comments: