Audrey Horne
Audrey Horne have just released their new album Youngblood - there first record in nearly three years.
We caught up with Toschie to chat about the new record and what lies ahead.
- You have just released your new album Youngblood so what can fans expect from this new album?
They can expect an album that has all the quality that you would expect from us, but this album has a lot more energy, and the songs are way more rocking that we have been before.
It is an album more in the lines of classic hard rock, and reflects Audrey Horne more as how we are as a live band.
- This is your first album since Audrey Horne back in 2010 so what have you guys been up to in that time? And what made you ready to go back into the studio?
Well, we have been touring and playing live, but for the last 1 - 1/2 years we have been focusing a lot on writing new material, and regrouping as a band, we have gone from a 6 piece to a 5 piece, (we no longer have a keyboard player live).
We have changed label, from Indie recordings to Napalm records, and we have focused a lot on creating a new package to present us as a band.
We went back into studio this time because, as a result of this, we felt we were ready to deliver a proper good album, that had a lot of what we felt had been missing in our previous albums.
- Youngblood is a very different sounding album to the previous record - more rock and not as heavy - so was this a natural development in your sound or did it happen naturally?
Very natural, what we did different in the writing process this time, was that we wrote everything live in our rehearsal studio, as opposed to earlier where Thomas and Ice Dale wrote by them self, and then I wrote all melody lines.
This way we got a more rocking material, with way more energy. And by doing it this way, the songs naturally ended up sounding as they do.
- The album saw you work with Norwegian producer, The Magnet so how did that collaboration come about?
He is a very famous artist in Norway, and we have known him for years. I have been wanting to work with him for years, he produced some songs for my former band "Sylvia Wane", (yeah, I only play in bands with female name), so I knew how it was to work with him.
Everyone in the band are huge fans of his music and his sound, even though it is a miles away from ours, but as long as someone has a great understanding of music and sound in general, we only saw that as an advantage.
- How did you find working with him and what did he bring to this album?
It was amazing. We decided to record it as live as possible, and with as few overdubs as possible, in order to keep the live energy in the songs, and Magnet, being a performing artist, understood this.
He also contributed quite a lot on the arrangements on the songs, he listened a lot to us during per-rehearsals and came with lots of vital input.
Having said that his sound as an artist is very different from ours, he still grew up listening to the same stuff we did, so he understood where we wanted to go as a band.
- How have you found the response so far in your native Norway as well as here in the UK?
The response has been exciting and overwhelming. We have received so many good reviews, and been voted album of the month in many great magazines, so you'll hear no complaints from us.
- This is your fourth album so how does this record compare to the rest of your back catalogue in terms of sound? And how do you feel you have developed as both musicians and songwriters over the four records?
It is like I said, it is more energetic and way more rocking, but I guess it has a lot of the usual Audrey Horne tricks.
I guess we have, over the years, become more aware of our own identity, and are less compromising in what we do, and how we do it.
We also know each other better these days, and so we work more productive together.
- Youngblood is released on Napalm Records so what led to hook up with this label? Were there other options open to you?
They got in touch with us, and made it clear that they really wanted to work with us, which is a good starting point for us, and even though we had several other options on the table, Napalm felt very right for us, and also gave us the best deal.
- And how have you found working with label during the time that you have been with them?
So far we are very happy with them, they allow us to do things our way, and have an amazing promotional set-up.
- The band celebrated the tenth anniversary of its formation last year so how would you sum up your first decade? What is your standout moment of those ten years? And what else do you feel you have left to achieve?
It has been 10 good years, we have released some great albums, that we are very proud of, we have travelled around, met a lot of great people, experienced things we only would dream of when we started playing music.
So we feel very blessed, and proud of what we have achieved over these years, so it is hard to choose a stand out moment, though opening up for AC/DC in front of 40,000 people did not feel too bad.
I guess we still have more good moments like these to achieve. We don't need to become #1, we just want to have a good time, make good albums and leave a mark in the history of music, and that is not a small ambition.
- The band was named after a character from TV series Twin Peaks so whose idea was that?
The other guys liked my former bands name, "Sylvia Wane", so we decided to come up with a female name, and our keyboard player at that time, Herbrand Larsen, was heavy into Twin Peaks at the moment, so it became Audrey Horne, cause she was the most interesting girl in that show, and we felt it suited us as a band.
- Are we going to be seeing you hit the role in the UK some time this year?
Yeah, off course. We are doing a show in London on the 27th of February, before we head out do a tour with Long Distance Calling, but sadly we will not be doing the UK part of that tour, so we are putting up a UK tour of our own, hopefully late April.
- You have an ever growing fan base so for any of them reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Yeah, check out our new album "Youngblood", and look out for tour dates in the UK.
We would love to hang out with you guys when we come over there, oh..and keep spreading the gospel of Audrey Horne.
- Finally want is next for you for the rest of 2013?
Touring, a bunch of festivals, and to write new songs. No rest for the wicked you know.
Audrey Horne - Youngblood is out now.