Kjetil F. Wevling – Razorbats – Uber Rock Exclusive Interview + Win CDs and T-shirts
Written by Dom Daley
Sunday, 07 February 2016 04:00
Uber Rock prides itself on bringing you the best new bands from around the globe, bands that we think you should be listening to, and the latest in that line of bands hails from Norway in the shape of Razorbats. With their stunning debut album (‘Camp Rock’) in the bag and the press starting to pick up on the band we thought we’d head into the camp rock and get the scoop on our new favourite band. Guitarist Kjetil gives us the inside track on all things Razorbats.
Hi Kjetil so let’s start with who’s who in Razorbats?
Razorbats is singer Even Berg, me, guitarist Kjetil F. Wevling, bassist Stig Sætevik and drummer Knut S. S. Wettre. We’ve all been in a bunch of bands before in such different genres as grindcore, pop-punk, garage rock and synth pop. Both the bassist and I have toured internationally with other bands before.
When and where was the band formed, and where did the name come from?
After my last band broke up I started looking for guys to start a new band. At that time I was asked to write and record a song for an American football team in Norway. I asked Even, who was my brother in-law at the time, if he wanted to sing it, because I sound like a deranged housewife on helium. He totally blew me away and I knew I wanted to start a band with him. The song we did actually ended up as the song ‘The Boys’ on the ‘Bring It On’ EP. We recruited the drummer from his old garage rock band Sonic Bandits and started rehearsing. There were several bassists and lead guitar players before with got Stig on bass and a guy called Erland on lead guitar. Together we recorded the ‘Bring It On’ EP that came out in 2014. After a while we had to let Erland go and we just continued with me as the only guitar player. This happened when we were about to record ‘Camp Rock’. We thought about getting another guy in, but we all love Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and The Who and realised that there are so many awesome bands with just one guitarist. And we all get more room in the van and less people to argue with! (Laughing) Stig came up with the name Razorbats. I think it’s the weapon of The Green Goblin or something like that. Sounds cool though!
‘Camp Rock’ is a fairly eclectic collection of influences who or what are your main influences?
We didn’t have a plan for what kind of band we were going to be and just started jamming and writing. We talked a lot about music, what we like and what we don’t like, and we all love 70s hard rock, punk and ‘80s alternative rock. To begin with we were more or less a punk band, but we somehow drifted into classic hard rock territory. Not sure how that happened, but I know me and Stig had been in punk bands before and were tired of it and wanted to do something different. The turning point was probably the song ‘Getaway’, which ended up on the album. It was a jam that evolved from a riff I was playing when I was warming up. We all let loose and just went with it. We all loved how it turned out and the next song we wrote was ‘Kids Of The 70s’. We produced the ‘Bring It On’ EP ourselves and we were not all that happy with the sound on it. So we wanted to find a producer that would understand the direction we wanted to go. I knew of Kai Christoffersen from the work he had done with a band called Orango and their records always sounded so cool. We talked a bit and he also loves the drum sound on Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ album, so there was no doubt in my mind he was our guy. (Laughing)
So, songwriting – is there one main writer within or are ideas worked on as a unit? You were recently in the studio does this mean we can expect new music fairly soon? Can we expect more of the same or how do you see the sound of the band changing?
We mix it up a bit. I wrote the majority of the songs on ‘Camp Rock’, but Even and Stig also write. On some of them I have made the music and Even the words and melody, on others Stig has made the music and Even the lyrics. There are also a few jams that have turned in to songs where Even or I have written the words and Even makes songs that we arrange together. Kai also has a say in things as the producer and comes up with some great ideas. It’s more fun that way. No one wants be in a band with a Kim Jong-un-ish dickhead calling the shots. Or Axl Rose! Can’t wait to see the drama and chaos that reunion will create. (Laughing)
We have just finished recording three new songs with Kai and they sound awesome! Can’t wait for you to hear them! We got asked to make a song for an American movie that will be out in the fall, so we decided to record a couple extra tracks for a 7″ at the same time. They are in the same style as ‘Camp Rock’, just slightly better! (Laughing) It was a joy to be in the studio this time. You can really hear that we have been touring a lot and the arrogance of a rock band full of confidence really comes through on the new songs.
What are the band’s plans for 2016?
Festivals and recording a new album. We’re gonna take a couple of months now and just focus on writing songs for a new album. In May we start the summer gigs with a trip to Sweden before we play some festivals in Norway. In September we’ll start recording the follow-up to ‘Camp Rock’ with Kai here in Oslo. We’re also thinking about a trip to England and Italy if we have time for it.
What’s the scene like in Norway right now? Is there much support for a rock and roll band there?
Nah… Not really. The Norwegian equivalent to SXSW just announced their 2016 program and there is only one rock band. They got asked why that was and they claimed that there are no good rock bands in Norway. That is of course nonsense. Our album ‘Camp Rock’ has received rave reviews all over Europe and America and there are also other Norwegian rock bands that get more attention outside our home country and tour the world, so that is simply bullshit. They don’t have any metal bands either, and metal is Norway’s number 1 music export. I think they just don’t like rock and metal. The business in general is a lot like that here, so bands like us have to go abroad. Rock and metal has a good grassroots following here, so there are some places to play.
And going back to ‘Camp Rock’ whose idea was the striking cover art?
That was my idea. The photo was taken by legendary Norwegian rock photographer Morten Andersen. In the rock community he’s most known for his work with Turbonegro and Gluecifer. I saw the picture in one of his books and there was something about the look in the kid’s eyes that caught my attention. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I started getting all nostalgic and thinking about being a teenager who has just discovered rock and roll, and having it change your life. And of course it’s all those amazing patches with all the great hard rock band of the late 70s and early 80s. It just fit our music and attitude so well. Morten took the picture in 1983 at gig by the band Riff Raff that later morphed into Norwegian boogie rock legends Backstreet Girls. A fun fact is that the kid in the picture in now married to the backing vocalist on the album.
Even sports a pretty fierce moustache, is it a much maligned facial addition in rock music? Hipsters have full beards but the ‘tash is underused. Is it a fashion statement or a homage to Magnum PI?
Even is aiming to be a worldwide anti-hipster icon that will put all fixed gear bike manufacturers out of business and shut down thousands of shitty microbreweries. (Laughing) Maybe it’s a sex-thing? I don’t know, but he wears it well and the girls love it. It would be awesome if he would grow it to look like Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap. We could sell Razorbats moustaches at gigs!
If I was to play your music to someone who has never heard of you what should I play them and how should I describe your sound?
You should buy a bunch of beers, warm up with some KISS, Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks, Cheap Trick and Turbonegro. When you’re blasted and bit tired of listening to songs you’ve heard a thousand times before, you put on ‘Camp Rock’ and party like it’s 1979. If I were to choose just one song then I think ‘Kids Of The 70s’ is the one that sums up Razorbats the best. Great guitar riff, lots of positive energy and a big singalong chorus. It’s always a bit difficult to describe your own music, since you’re too close to, but I think we sound like a mix of The Sweet, The Hellacopters and Hanoi Rocks with a dash of Buzzcocks.
Going back to the excellent ‘Camp Rock’ once again how long did it take to record, and was it an easy process? It sounds really vibrant and live was this how it was done? Would you do anything differently looking back? There is a lot of energy in the music you must be delighted how it was captured on tape.
It took about 10 to 12 days I think and it was not all smooth sailing. We had to let Erland go just a couple of weeks before we started recording, so that was a bit of a mess. The songs were mostly written for two guitars, so we had to figure out how to make the songs work in the studio. And it is never much fun to fire someone from the band. We recorded the drums first with all of us playing and Even singing along with Knut, so that we would get the vibe right. It’s difficult for the drummer to find the tempo and groove with just a guitar playing along with him, so I’m sure that contributes to the “live-feeling” on the album. After the drums were done we recorded the other instruments properly and did way too many vocal harmonies! (Laughing) We were very happy with the energy and the sound of the album. Looking back on it now I wouldn’t change a thing. It sounds to me like a well-produced garage band eager to spread the gospel of anthemic rock and roll, and that’s aces in my book!
How did you approach the recording process did you have a set number of songs going in there and stick to a plan or was there much changes when you hit the studio? Kai Christofferson did a fantastic job on the production side of the record. How important was it to get the balance right between sounding retro and just using your influences?
We had a day of pre-production with Kai before we started recording and changed some bits and pieces, but not much. The core of the songs were pretty much ready when we demoed them. His contribution was mostly in the studio with getting a fantastic overall sound to the album and with brilliant details. He had a lot of great ideas for different guitar parts, harmonies and making the songs breath. Bands tend to play too much and not let enough air into the arrangements of their songs. I can get a little bit too cheesy if I’m let loose, so a couple of times he kept me from going all ‘We Built This City’ on the songs. (Laughing) We didn’t think about sounding retro or anything like that at all when we were recording the album. As far as we were concerned we chose a producer that had made records we liked the sound of and let him do his thing. Of course we had preferences and ideas to the sound, so it’s not like we were his puppets or anything like that. But if you do a good job finding the right producer, it’s pretty stupid not to let him do his job. I know a lot band don’t think like that, but we thought it would be a waste of money to pay a producer and use him as an engineer. I play a 1974 Gibson SG and Stig plays a 1976 Rickenbacker. For amps I use ‘70s Marshall Plexi clones and stuff like that. So it’s not that strange if it sounds 70s retro! I think it’s mostly a question of taste and getting on tape the sound you have in your head.
Okay to finish this off give us a flavour of what your listening to right now. Put your iPod or computer (however you listen to music) on shuffle and tell us honestly the next five songs that play, and no cheating to be cool (Laughing)
I share Spotify account with my wife and kids, so I’ll chose the last five songs by the last five artists I listened to instead. Hope that’s alright?
David Bowie – ‘1984’ (from ‘David Live’)
Blue Oyster Cult – ‘Celestial The Queen’ (from ‘Spectres’)
The Bouncing Souls – ‘Sounds of the City ‘(from ‘The Gold Record’)
Van Halen – ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love’ (from ‘Van Halen’)
and Cheap Trick – ‘California Man’ (from ‘Heaven Tonight’)
Live photographs courtesy of Yngvar Sorensen
https://www.facebook.com/Razorbats-145901422286906/
WIN RAZORBATS GOODIES
Thanks to Kjetil from Razorbats we have as first prize in this competition either 1.) A Large sized T-shirt plus a CD of ‘Camp Rock’ or 2.) A X Large T-shirt plus a CD Of Camp Rock, plus we also have as a runners up prize a CD of ‘Camp Rock’.
So THREE prizes in all.
All you have to do is send your name and address and preferred shirt size (we only have Large and X Large so please don’t ask for anything else) to [email protected] in an email headed ‘RAZORBATS Comp’ telling us the answer to the following question, and please don’t forget to tell us your name and address (honestly people do forget to do this).
The logo of which legendary human pyramid forming band is featured on the front cover of ‘Camp Rock’?
Yup it really is that simple…. Entries must reach us before midnight on Sunday 28th February 2016 (UK Time), and you will get one piece of merch (either a T Shirt and CD or a CD) if you are one of our lucky winners chosen at random by the URHQ droids. Usual Uber Rock terms and conditions apply, and three lucky winners each get one piece of swag. Winners will be sent their booty directly once the results are announced. So don’t forget your name and address right! Good luck!!
Before we sign off here if you don’t like messing around with competitions you can also order ‘Camp Rock’ on vinyl via the following links http://www.shopturbojugend.com/Razorbats__Camp_Rock_/p1370513_14470021.aspx and http://www.glunkrecords.bigcartel.com/products
