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Volume 1 is done!
(Photo: Duperman, Øyvind and Janove playing beer flute on "En for orgelet og en for meg" – just one of many bright musical ideas you'll get to hear when Volume 1 of the Violeta trilogy is released early next year!)
After a ten-day mixing session in Duper Studio, Janove and Geir Kaizer were able to pack their suitcases and leave Skuteviken carrying a finished master tape of "Violeta, Violeta – Volume 1".
- It feels great! says Janove. – Now we'll be taking a summer break, happily aware that we've done exactly what we set out to do this winter and spring!
- Tell us a bit about the mixing process.
- Firstly, we're very happy with the material and the work that the band has put down during the recording process. We've done things the Kaizer way, of course, and worked quickly and intensely, recorded the material live and picked the good takes. On the way we haven't dwelled on the songs, but rather trusted in the drive and gut feeling we had and gone on to record the next track. Therefore, having a closer listen to the tracks during the mixing process could potentially have provided some unpleasant surprises. But we're very happy with the material. That might sound like a cliché, but personally I firmly believe that this is the best studio album so far in our career. Of course, others will be making up their own minds regarding that matter, but as for me, I think we've outdone ourselves on the Volume 1 album!
- Splendid! But tell us a little bit more about the mixing of the album. Both Jørgen Træen and Yngve Sætre have been brought into the process, haven't they?
- Yeah, first they each mixed a set of songs on their own, and then the other was brought in to offer opinions and suggestions, and finally we made adjustments until all involved parties were satisfied. It was a win-win solution, you might say, and by the end we were all more or less in complete agreement on the final editions of the tracks. Actually, we've all been walking around with a big ol' smile on our faces these past two weeks!
- So, for those out there who might be wondering, what are your plans for the coming months, exactly? You guys do seem to have a lot of irons in the fire ...
- Yeah, we do understand if people get a little confused, and it probably doesn't help that the newspapers write different things from one time to the next. Anyway, here is what will happen: The first single will be out at the end of August, so people won't have to wait that long to hear some new Kaizer material! The second single will be out around the time of the release of Volume 1, which is late January or early February 2011. Then we'll be touring a lot until Volume 2 is released , which will be either late 2011 or early 2012, and then we'll be touring even more until Volume 3 is released at the end of 2012, and then finally we will be touring throughout the summer of 2013. After that we don't really know what we'll be doing, but it does seem rather likely that we'll be taking some time off, he-he.
Duper inside report!
After 12 days in Duper Studio in Bergen, Kaizers Orchestra have now recorded 90 % of all the tracks on volume one of the planned trilogy. Both the band and the Duper producers are pleased with the way things are progressing. We spoke to chief ideologist Janove "The Jackal" Kaizer for an inside report.
- Our objective is to make an album that no other band in the world be able to make. We want to change and develop, but stay something completely unique. Our intent is to renew Kaizers Orchestra and expand our musical horizon in all directions. That's what we're doing now, and personally I think these songs make for some splendid album material. I´m obliged to say that of course, being Kaizers Orchestras biggest fan in the world and all, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
- You're in Duper Studio, with both Dupermen, Jørgen Træen and Yngve Sætre, in the producer chairs. The ideal conditions for Kaizers Orchestra, wouldn't you say?
- Well, we haven't worked with very many others during our career, but it's great to have Jørgen and Yngve on board. They both have an intimate knowledge of our music, as well as our strengths and weaknesses as a band. We feel that they're the best qualified people to take part in the continued development of our music, and that is a great source of confidence.
- Lyrics-wise, this trilogy that you're making will have a certain theme running through it. What's it like to be thinking up and developing a concept again?
- We'll be introducing a whole new conceptual and textual universe, and I really like that. An entirely new repertoire has opened up to me, and I've had a lot of fun exploring and writing lyrics from this new universe.
- Are you at liberty to tell us a bit more about the songs and their titles?
- We have a dance floor tune called "Tumor i ditt hjerte", a beautiful Kaizer pop song called "Drøm videre, Violeta" and a drone song entitled "Svarte katter og flosshatter", to mention a few. The songs are very dissimilar and represent quite different ambiences. One song is nothing like the next... This time around, all kinds of weird references are being mentioned, from Bowie, Beatles, Serge Gainsbourg, The Clash, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Beyoncé, Violent Femmes to Dr Dre, as well as the usual suspects Tom Waits, Radiohead and Beck. But most of all, it's Kaizers Orchestra.
- And how does the lead singer feel about the recording session so far?
- It's a mental relief to have put twelve songs down on tape. My head has been brimming with musical ideas lately, and that takes its toll. It's a great relief to get it out and down on tape, and see the soundscape unfold beneath the Duper sky. Otherwise, the recording has gone quite smoothly, really. We've been well prepared and very focused, even though we've been working long days. But at the same time we're not in the habit of dwelling on details. None of us have been allowed to listen to our respective solo tracks in the control room. If a song works as a whole, we leave it at that. Today we're adding strings, so I've got to scoot now!
- Very well, then. Good luck!
Kaizers working the studio!
(Photo: Duperman working his magic!)
Kaizer album recording well under way!
Kaizers Orchestra are currently in Bergen, a pearl of the Norwegian west coast, to record their new album in Duper Studio.
- Yeah, we're well under way. Besides, Duper Studio has moved to the sunny and posh side of town, so we're moving up in life. This is the kind of success we've been dreaming about since our student days! says Rune "Mink" Kaizer.
- Pray tell, what is the grand scheme for Kaizers Orchestra's album recording session this time around?
- This time we've teamed up with both Dupermen, that is, both "Duperman" himself, Jørgen Træen, AND Yngve Leidulv Sætre, the "Silver Fox". As you know, Jørgen produced our first three albums, developed our sound and is the closest we'll ever get to a "seventh Kaizer". Yngve is a grand old man in the producer biz, he has worked with most of the big Norwegian acts, and among other things he produced our latest release, Våre Demoner. In addition we have two assistants who help out with putting up mikes, re-rigging, tracking, coffee brewing, keeping things tidy and whatnot. In short, we've made sure that we have the best possible prerequisites to make the best possible album. It's a professional setup from A to Z... so if anything goes wrong now, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
- And how are you doing so far?
- Things are going well. We're sticking to the classic Kaizer recipe. We've written, arranged and rehearsed all the songs in advance, so all we have to do is put up our gear, press "Record" and count to four... except on "Femtakt filosofi" ["Five-beat philosophy"], where we count to five and let it rip.
- Are you on schedule?
- Yes, we are. We're recording one song per day. We've just finished recording the bass and rhythm section of a song called "Psycho under min hatt", a hot-tempered and extremely fast-paced tune. Playing it makes my forearms cramp up, but luckily one is a marathon runner and fairly well-trained!
Kaizers due to play Oslo Spektrum next year!
After a real blast of weekend mini tour that included four of Norway's biggest cities, Kaizers Orchestra are now ready to start focusing on the future. In March, the band will hit the studio to start recording their planned trilogy Violeta, Violeta. Volume one of this trilogy is planned for release in January/February of 2011, the second volume will be out in November 2011, and the final chapter will hit the record store shelves in November 2012. The band will tour in connection with all three releases, but the "main" tour will be slotted to March-April of 2011. This will be a full-fledged European tour that will culminate in Norway – or, to be more precise, in Oslo and the 10.000 capacity venue Oslo Spektrum.
- Next year we'll be celebrating our ten-year anniversary as a record-releasing band, and that definitely is a cause for throwing a real party, says Janove "The Jackal" Kaizer. – This has been such an amazing decade for us, so we feel that an extravagant celebration is in order, and since we enjoy a bit of extravaganza, we've booked Oslo Spektrum on April 9 next year! We've never performed there before as the single attraction, and so we thought that if that were ever to happen, this is the best opportunity we'll ever get. So we went all in and just booked the place!
- Over the past few years you've been in the habit of inviting entire audiences back to your place. Do you regard this as an opportunity to finally gather them all under one roof?
- That's precisely it! This will be a special occasion, a party where we hope to gather all Kaizer fans from far and near for a real ball... sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's not like we'll be playing only Spektrum-size venues from now on and become complete gigomaniacs, but it'll be wicked to have done it just this once. We feel that it's our turn now, and we hope that as many as possible will turn up.
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