Hohoho, der Bedroomdisco Adventskalender hat sich am Schlitten des dänischen Weihnachtsmanns bedient. Der trug nämlich, lange schon bevor seine eigentliche Mission startete, die Kunde von einer tollen Band aus Kopenhagen mit sich. Turboweekend nennt sich das dreiköpfige Gespann. Entsteht hier in Deutschland vielleicht ein Fragezeichen im Gesicht und denkt ein verwirrtes Etwas beim Namen Turboweekend eher an ein Saufwochenende mit Kumpels als an eine Band, so sind Turboweekend in Dänemark dagegen sehr bekannt. 2007 waren sie mit ihrem überaus erfolgreichen Debütalbum “Night Shift” als Best Act Dänermarks nominiert. 2009 veröffentlichten sie ihr zweites Album “Ghost Of A Chance”. Es ist ein düsteres, aber nicht minder tanzbares Werk; mit eindringlich-kraftvollem Gesang über 80s Synthisounds und klaren Basslines. Prädikat: Unbedingt anhören!
Im Bedroomdisco Interview plaudert Turboweekend Frontmann Silas Bjerregaard über die Anfänge als Foo Fighters Coverband, nennt BAAHH als Einfluss für seine Musik und freut sich über Origami! 🙂 Viel Spaß beim Lesen! Und danach bitte freuen: Denn es gibt es noch einen exklusiven Remix von Turboweekend zum Downloaden.Huiiiiii!
1.) Band facts
– Name: Turboweekend
– Band members + nicknames:
Drums: Martin Petersen
Bass: Morten Køie
Lead Vocals and som keys: Silas Bjerregaard
Keys and Backing vocals (Live): Anders Møller
– Founding year: 2006 or 1996 depending on perspective.
– Residence: Kopenhagen
– Current album: Ghost Of A Chance
2.) Questionnaire:
– What is the story behind your band name?
We had started playing together again in the after a hiatus of a year, and the new band was all about playing late shows in night clubs, in between dj’s. That was what we wanted to do at the time, that was the challenge. And then we also wanted a name that could sound both Danish and English, so it seemed natural to pronounce everywhere.
– How did you guys meet and become a band?
We’ve always been a band. Almost. Morten and Martin have known each other since Kindergarden, and I joined the class in 4th grade. We made our first band in 1996 playing covers of Foo Fighters and Nirvana, but also very quickly our own material. We renamed the band in the beginning of the Naughties, and at this point the music was more funky and jazz/souly with horns and rhodes. That band stopped around 2004-5, and then we started Turboweekend in 2006.
– How did it come that you were on tour with Who Made Who?
We know Who Made Who from Copenhagen night life, and have played with them once or twice back home, so when the album was released in Germany it felt natural to contact them and ask if we could support. They have been working very hard to build up a reputation in Germany, and we knew that their audience would be the kind that we would love to tap into.
– Which influences do you have when producing your music?
Bahh…
– You play with drum, bass and synthesizer. Was it clear for you that you wil not use a guitar? Why?
As I said before we’ve played in other bands with guitar. Both rock and jazz/funk (even acoustic singer/songswriter style). Turboweekend was based on what the three of us could do without involving any other people, and none of us are very good at playing the guitar. It’s really that simple. We have guitars in the studio and there is some guitar on the tracks, but it’s mostly as a sound effect, or to beef up a synthsound. In the beginning I (Silas) played most of the synth roles, while singing, and small parts where on back-track. In January 2009 Anders joined the band on stage, and has taken over almost all of the keyboard and synth parts, and even evolving and making new stuff. He’s originally a bass player, and we’re the first band he plays keyboards with, but his learning potential in this field is amazing. His new fetishes are MAX for live (where you basically program you own synths and plugins) and then building analougue modular synths from scratch!
– What is the story behind your new album name “Ghost Of A Chance”?
Not all, but most of the songs are about love that isn’t really there. Love that either once was, or that might be. Like a ghost of the past or the future. The title also plays on the idiom “Not a ghost of a chance”, which means “no chance at all”. We just removed the “Not” – But if you know the idiom, then it’s still there in your head.
– The sound of your new album somehow contains the idea of a 80s revival.
We’re not seeking a revival. We’re born in the 80’s and we’ve listened to a lot of music from the 80’s from David Bowie to Prince to Bob Marley to The Cure (list could go on), but we’re teenagers of the 90’s and partied to Pixies, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Prodigy, Jamiroquai, Tribe Called Quest, Aphex Twin and so many others (also the terrible ones that I won’t mention, but you know from the highschool party of your nightmare). For some reason I think people associate “unprocessed” synths with the 80’s. And sure we have some of those. We have worked with keyboards from the 70’s, 80’s and late 90’s like the Juno 60, the OSCar, and the Korg MS2000, but many times we have run them through out board effects (like Mortens effect pedals) to alter the sound and make it more organic. It could also be something in the songwriting, the kind of high energy synth/pop that was some common in the 80’s – But I think the 80’s tag hides a lot of other influence.
-What exactly fascinates you of the 80s synthie sound?
We’re not especially fascinated with the 80’s synth sound. Maybe it’s just the easiest to make J
– Which lyrical themes do you cover in your texts? Why?
My lyrics tend to focus on unfulfilled love or lust. I think perhaps because the feeling of commitment or attraction is mostly stronger when you either haven’t achieved your object of desire, or when you’ve somehow lost it. I always find it easier to describe the feeling of love, by describing the pain of not having it. That said, there are songs on the new album that talk about completely different stuff. Holiday for example is an ironic comment on the 9-5 work ethics that stops everything dead when the bell rings, and Up With The Smoke is a narrative about a mystical death and rebirth of identity, heavy with mythical images and symbols.
– After Hours is one of our favourite songs. What’s the story behind that song?
Well there are kind of two layers to the song. The first layer is just plain lust. If you’ve ever worked late and felt horny and wanted to make a booty call to the office, then you know what I mean. The second layer is about power. The power to seduce someone out of their senses and obligations. But who really has the power in this song? There is a waiting game between the person inviting and the person being invited up. That’s the darker desperate tone of the song. Who is really waiting for hours?
– How do your songs come normally into existence? Who does what or are you meeting in the studio and the songs emerge out of jamming?
We jam a lot, and then we usually record the jam with just one microphone just to get it down in a simple fast manner. When we have a couple of ideas, we start working more detailed on the best, recording bit by bit. But we have discussed before each album how to do it, and we do different things every time, to get to different results. We are starting to make new material in January, and this time we’ve booked a couple of weeks where we have no gigs and no other work to disturb, and the gear doesn’t have to leave the studio, so we can have everything hooked up all the time. I’m looking very much forward to it.
– Can you tell us something about your artwork for the new album? Who did it and what where your ideas behind?
The cover for Ghost Of A Chance was made by Hvass & Hannibal (photo by Brian Buchard). We have a long standing relationship with Hvass&Hannibal – actually Morten and Sofie live together -, and they also did the cover for our first album (Night Shift), and have done almost all our artwork (they also work with our friends from Efterklang). I think their idea was to create something with a lot of contrast in a subtle way. Cold, yet organic, mysterious, yet recognisable. I personally like how the origami-like ball in the middle is both mathematical, warm and colourful opposed to the cold, dark winter forest. And the luminous tent on the inner sleeve ties in with the Trouble Is video…
– Which are your favourite albums of 2009? Why?
Merriweather Post Pavillion (by Animal Collective), Ten Makes a Face (by When Saints Go Machine), and Machine Dreams (by Little Dragon). Haven’t heard the latest Bob Dylan yet, but it’s been getting great reviews and I’m a big Dylan fan….
-Which song makes you always dance – independent of the situation?
Lately “Down in LA” (Shazam remix) by Munk or “Show Me Love” (Laidback Luke & Steve Angelo remix) have been doing it for me. But a classic is “Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley.
-What’s on your rider?
– Food (sandwiches + a hot meal), snacks (healthy – not too much candy), beer and booze, a bathroom + towels, a small stereo of some kind for pre-show warm up, friendly and competent venue crew, beautiful audience
– Who did fill out this questionnaire?
Silas Bjerregaard
Thanks Silas from Turboweekend for answering our questions!
www.myspace.com/Turboweekend
Und jetzt wollt ihr natürlich auch was haben, jajaja, iiimmer nur am abgreifen die Bedroomdisco Leserschaft. Wir machen es euch aber auch leicht. Wir stellen euch nämlich einen exklusiven Remix von Turboweekends neuer Single “Trouble is” zur Verfügung. Zum kostenlosen und legalen Download. Eher schon cool! Viel Spaß beim Tanzen!
Turboweekend – Trouble Is ( Holtoug Remix)
Die Musikvideos von Turboweekend sind eindeutig sehenswert und gesetzt den Fall sie laufen auf MTV, so würden sie 1000000 nervige Klingeltonwerbungen wieder wett machen. Großes Kino, ehrlich!
Turboweekend – Holiday :
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzoErimzuo4
