WIG WAM

"...here we are, like blood brothers, having the time of our lives."
(Interview with Glam, November 2005)  

First of all, congratulations for your recent record HARD TO BE A ROCK’N ROLLER. For me personally it is worth 10 points - the maximum here at www.medazzarock.ch something I really don’t do often! What it’s like to release an album so many people gonna love it?
What can I say….Waaoooow !!!! It’s just awesome that someone loves what we do, and to experience people opening their hearts and legs for us throughout Europe is nothing but Wig Wamtistic *S* After all, we remember where and when we wrote those songs, and to see it reach out there. Just sooooooooo cool. The Norwegian record industry that once told us to SOD OFF has now become huge fans and whish they signed us ha ha

The band was found back in 2001 - a short period from the beginning to the top. Are you guys still down to earth?
No !!! We’re not down to earth at all. Hardly ever this year ! I’ve been running around in these platform boots for quite a while now *S* But as soon as the platform are off we’re pretty much the same 4 guys doing those normal thing like having a good fart and cracking jokes, you know. We never appreciated ”high and mighty” attitudes. So if one of us should develop that kind of attitude, I guess the other 3 would soon put him in the right place straight ahead.

As I did read, you guys played in other bands before. Please tell us something about…
We’ve all played in a number of bands throughout the 80s and the 90’s. Teeny used to be the axeman of Dream Police and also worked with Ole Evenrude for many years, writing lots of his songs too. Flash had a Heavy Metal  band called ARTCH, that really made a name for themselves even outside of Norway. Sporty was the drummer in one of Swedens biggest poprock acts in the late 80’s, Sha-Boom. He even toured with Sweet, played with Alien and lots of other acts. Me, I did this solo thing in the late 90’s, musicals, TV-shows and numerous Hard Rock band projects in the 80’s and 90’s.

Did you know each other before becoming WIG WAM?
Yes we did ! Sporty and Teeny worked together in Ole Evenrudes band as well as other projects. Me an Flash used to do a Rock’n Roll show together, where I even shared mic with Masterplan vocalist Jorn Lande in one of our lineups. I also remember my band supporting ARTCH in the early 80’s, and me and Flash didn’t get along too well. I thought he was a prick back then. But we soon became the best of friends. Flash and Teeny even had a band together in the late 90’s. So I guess we’ve all been aware of each others musicianship, wanting to do something like Wig Wam. And here we are, like blood brothers, having the time of our lives.

Once you guys told a story of becoming WIG WAM back in 1970 in a New York. Okay, I love your sense of humor, but to be honest… look at yourself, you really don’t look like a fifty year old musician :) What’s the reason behind this strange and un-realistic story?
So I reckon you don’t believe that shit ha ha. To begin with we thought, hey, let’s put our past behind us. Let’s not promote this band as the former Dream Police, Artch, Sha-Boom, G-sten and so on band. So we came up with this idea to put an Larger Than Life/Tragic comedy act  together ha ha. I mean, people in Norway actually bought it. So we would put out ads saying "THE ROCK LEGENDS WIG WAM...” We held international pressconferences in our hometown, red carpets, stretch limos and the whole Hollywood shit with fictive journalists and bodyguards. People got so curious, and every show was packed. Who are these guys ? Are they really from USA ? They are Rock Legends, right ? It gave us something to build the whole thing from. It was mostly me putting this shit together. The other guys would go: ARE WE DOING WHAT ? They were more familiar to the world of musicianship. Me, I had been in the showproduction erea, producing musical theatre and stuff. So I hired limos, nurses to escorte us to the stage and made one or two stories. I also used to sam every journalist with all kinds of shit in the Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame style.
But hey: Being from Bronzk, the polish quarter of N.Y ain’t that bad *S* And I appreciate your opinion on our age. We keep pretty fit for being 70.  

You covered KISS, MEL C. and other artists. What makes a song from another artist ”perfekt” for WIG WAM?
It depends on the motive for doing that particular song. For us I TURN TO YOU  felt like a great song that we thought would fit perfectly. I hate the original version, but love the melodylines. Regarding I WAS MADE FOR LOVING YOU, that was a song we already did in our live shows. So we thought it was the prefect choice for a KISS Tribute Album.  But we prefer doing our own tunes though.

By the way… still wrote some stuff for the next album? If so, what can we expect?
We will do an album in the same spirit as HARD TO BE A ROCK’N’ ROLLER ! We just take it a step further. So you can expect the same style, but better songs, better production, better vocals, better guitarwork….. I mean, IN MY DREAMS were supposed to be on the next record, but since it won the norwegian Eurovision final we thought it was a better idea to add it to HARD, since it hadn’t yet been released anywhere else. I’m working on a song right now called ”Men In Tights” he he
I think the serious stuff will get a little deeper, and the more tongue-in-cheek song will get a little bit more hilarious so to speek.

Any plans to add again a cover-version?
Nopes ! I don’t think there will be room for a cover version. There’s too many songs to pick from already. And still we haven’t started the actual recording.

There’s a lot of this ”good mood and having fun” attitude on HARD TO BE A ROCK N ROLLER. Do you think the music scene have lost this attitude within the last few years?
I think musicans tend to forget about the circus of it. It gets too serious sometimes. And in times like these with terror attack and all kinds of crisis people need to think of happier things.

By the way… do you like THE DARKNESS?
I really love their THING CALLED LOVE, but the rest of their record disappointed me. Hopefully their next record will be better. But I’m thankfull to Darkness for opening the doors to Rock’n’ Roll and spandex again.  

When I first saw WIG WAM on an album cover I thought ”Okay, I love L.A. Hair rock, but these guys look like they can’t play…” and while listening to the album I had to say ”Whow… I never thought this guys can play that good and write such great melodies”. Aren’t you guys scared of being put in a corner named ”Look cheesy, so they can’t play?”
We don’t pay too much attention to that. Every night we prove those opinions wrong by simply kicking ass and showing our audience how it should be done.  What does a ”good” musican look like anyway ? 

Good Question - I guess I don't want to answer that one *laugh*. After listening to HARD TO BE A ROCK N ROLLER it’s no secret that WIG WAM love the L.A. Glam Rock stuff from the 80ies. Any favourite artists from that aera?
We love all kinds of stuff: Rammstein, Guns ’n’ Roses, Kiss, Moetley Crue, Van Halen, Alice Cooper etc.

Warrant kicked Jani, Moetley Cruee only do Farewell Tours without a new album, Poison are doin’ something without being realized by anyone and KISS still stry to keep their name high for old die-hard fans only. Looks like it was time for a band like WIG WAM to take the world...?
We think so too !!! LET’S GO OUT AND MAKE A SPECTACLE !!!!

Specially for a band like WIG WAM it would be great to get big in the USA, I guess… Is the album also released in the States?
We take one step at a time. We’re gonna be around for maaaaaaaaaaaaaaany years. I think Germany, Switzerland and Austria is as tempting as the Us of A actually.

HARD TO BE A ROCK N ROLLER was released in Norway in 2004 with the title ”667... The Neighbour Of The Beast”. A really cool album title. Why you guys changed the name of the album for the european release?
Oh, we changed the name even here in Norway since we changed record label. Since we owned the rights for that record we and our new label VME wanted a fresh start. So we decided on HARD TO BE A ROCK ’n’ ROLLER.

NO MORE LIVING LIES got a refrain that reminds me extremely of IT’S MY LIFE from BON JOVI. Aren’t you scared of getting trouble because of that?
Not at all ! I see your point, but you know, every song has a brother or a sister. It’s a problem when you try to clone one of them in the creation. We try to keep away from the cloning part.

HARD TO BE A ROCK N ROLLER got it all. Catchy up-tempo songs, ballads, instrumentals, cover-versions and a live-version. Best thing would be to end your career now, because WIG WAM wrote the PERFECT album :-) How you guys try to top that with the next album?
I’m very honoured by your opinion ! THANXXX ! But we know the potential inside of this band, and know that we can deliver a stronger album. Even though we’re satisfied with HARD in every way. There’s just so much great things going on right now in the writing process. I can’t wait ’till you hear those new songs. They’re exploding in my head !!!!!

As I mentioned above, I ”found” many bands from the Hair-Rock-Aera on your album ”Hard To Be A Rock’n Roller”. What about a short game? I name you all the bands I found in your music and you tell us what comes to your mind.  
MOETLEY CRUE
The craziest mother fuckers to ever walk on this planet. A singer with an attitude, but with one of the crappiest voices around. One of the best drummers in the world, the most boring guitar player in the world and ofcourse MR.Rock’n’Roll, Sixx. Great shows and some really great songs ! Love that band !  
DEF LEPPARD
Pyromania really hit it off for me. What a production it used to be. I love good old Leppard before they turned into a boy band.  
GOTTHARD
I just received their Lip Service album. And I was very surprised. It’s really my kind of music. I’m really looking forward to seing them on tour  
BON JOVI
They’re just fantastic ! Nowadays they can be a little boring though. But they still know how to do it. Great songs ! I whish Sambora could do some leadvocals as well. He’s a much better live vocalist than Mr.Charming.  
GORKI PARK
I remember them, and especially one song. I thought they were pretty cool...and a little funny at the times. 
NUNO BETTENCOURT
Hmmmm…The guy from Extreme…? No ?  
LILIAN AXE
Haven’t heard this ! Sorry !  
WHITESNAKE
Hey ! What a band this used to be ! Coverdale used to be one of my fav singers. I prefer the bluesy Whitesnake before they got into MTV moods. But they really kicked some ass in both settings.

So we reached the end of this interview. Thank you very much for taking time and I wish you guys a sucessful 2005/2006 – I’m sure you’ll have :-) I’m looking forward to the next album from you guys!

Interview by Ralph, Medazzarock (November 2005)
www.medazzarock.ch