Exclusive: Wig Wam's Glam speaks out

This afternoon, Wig Wam make their debut on the British rock scene. The 2005 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Norway are playing at the Fire Fest 3 Festival at Nottingham's RockCity. Lead singer, Glam, has been in London for the past three weeks rehearsing for his guest appearance in Chess the Musical. On Thursday night, he took time out to talk exclusively to esctoday.com and sign some prizes for our Wigwamania competition!

A lot has happened in the brief 18 months since Wig Wam and esctoday.com first crossed paths. Wig Wam have gone on to international success following their Eurovision Song Contest appearance in Kyiv. Their albums have charted across Scandinavia, Germany, East Europe and now in Japan! On a rainy autumn night in London, esctoday.com's Barry Viniker was invited down to meet Glam in a London rock bar where he was meeting and greeting some of the band's UK fans.

Lead singer, Glam, is one of the most interesting, informative and fun characters ever to talk to esctoday.com. We went down to a Rock Bar in London on Thursday night to find him in typical glam dress... a bright purple bandana, spandex black and white stripped all-in-one outfit and platform shoes.

Wig Wam were one of the most popular and most publicised participants in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Hotly tipped by many to win the event, the band succeeded in qualifying Norway directly to the 2006 final. Since then, the band have developed an international following, toured Europe and are now looking beyond. Today, esctoday.com caught up with lead vocalist, Glam and sat down to discuss the band, the success and much much more...  
A lot of people, especially NKR expected a Norwegian win in Kyiv. How did you feel after the contest?
"You know, we really really had a great time in Kyiv. We put our mark on the Eurovision Song Contest for being the first band to do what we did, to bring real Glam-rock into the competition. I think it's a great thing that Lordi fulfilled what we started. The Lordi guys even thanked us for that!

It was so nice to see that we had started something, not only from an egotistic view but to make Eurovision Song Contest a little bit more spectacular, to broaden the way for other music styles to get into it. I think that it will help to maintain the interest in the competition. For Lordi to win, it was a shock to people but it really made the Eurovision more interesting".

What's been going on with Wig Wam since Kyiv?
"After Kyiv, we went straight back on tour and in 2005 we mainly toured, something like 178-180 concerts in the year. There was lots of promotion and stuff. It was a really crazy year.

After we finished the tour, we did a tour mainly in Norway, but we went to Sweden with Alice Cooper, we went to Germany with Gotthard. We went to Romania before Kyiv of course and to Iceland, Finland and Denmark mainly for promotion, and back to Sweden again. It was an amazing year. We only took the days of Christmas off. On the 3rd of January, we went back into the studio to the rehearsal rooms and prepared for what was to be WigWamania, which was to be the next record.

We thought 'why let it wait' because we wanted to prove to our fans and to people in general that we were't just dependant on what happened in Kyiv and the massive promotion that we got from In my dreams. So we got back in the rehearsal room, we spent two days playing songs to each other, jamming on songs. On the third day, we started off in the Studio. And On the 7th or 17th of March, the album was out in Norway. It was all very quick".

Tell us about the albums, you had Hard to be a rock n' roller in Kyiv, the new one, Hard to be a rock'n roller... in Toyko and Wigwamania.
"Of course, we also have Wigwamania out in Japan now, and it's doing really well. The record company is preparing for the release of our DVD there too because I think it was in November in 2005, we released a DVD in Norway that went Gold straight away. It contains a huge concert that we did in front of 10,000 people in Norway with a symphony orchestra. It was called Wig Wam in Symphony".

We also added some bonus videos and a documentary made by NRK, the Norweigan broadcasting company, from Kyiv. It shows our way from the Norwegian final through the semi final and final in Kyiv. Then there's another documentary that we made with another documentary that we made with a diferent production crew also containing people from NRK. That was about all the touring and the craziness that we lived through in 2005. It was great, it was a great year.

This year has also been crazy. It's been great to go out on tour again, but this time we're standing on our own two feet. Coming to the UK at last to do Fire Fest this weekend. It's very exciting".

Let's talk about Fire Fest. Your first UK Concert
"Yes. Although that was supposed to be in Plymouth"!

Of course, Plymouth! Are you going to get down to Plymouth? You promised on UK television from Kyiv that you would!
"I have promised the people of Plymouth that we owe them a visit. I would love to go to Plymouth but we had a tour going on in the UK but it didn't happen. If it had happened, it would have been half a year ago and Plymouth was on the tour.

This is a heart-to-heart thing because the way that Plymouth was supporting us was great. We had their local radio station calling us up and I was so surprised. So, the first thing I told the guys was that if we get to the UK, we'll come to Plymouth. There's something special going on there. I don't know if the people of Plymouth are aware of it, but the people of Plymouth are aware of it, but I have a Spandex costume in grey and red, and it has a huge badge saying Plymouth on it. I wear it for some of our concerts! I just want to say 'Hello Plymouth, we love you and we are coming to get you one day"!

Talking about Fire Fest, how did you get the gig in the UK. There are loads of Eurovision fans and Glam Rock fans in the UK that have been dying to see you, what took you so long?
"I think it started with a reporter coming to Norway to see us live on three different occasions. She saw what Wig Wam is all about and told her editor about it at Fireworks. They ran a story about us, and they're one of the companies behind Fire Fest. I think they saw us and wanted us to be there. We're really thankful for that. It's great to be here".  

Talking of Lordi, have you met up with them since Athens?
"Oh yeah, several times. The first time of course was in Greece, we were on tour there at the same time they went over for the Eurovision Song Contest. I actually got in touch with the guys, through the road manager. We wanted to do something together but we were occupied with the tour and the were busy trying to pass through the semifinal. We managed to hook up with them at the Grand Party after Eurovision. We had a great time, it was a real blast, they're great. It was great seeing the guys win.

I feel sorry for them a little because they can't take the party out to the full because they have to wear the masks. I really admire the way that they are professional they keep wearing the masks to keep the magic there for the fans. They do the exact same thing that Kiss did, which I love Kiss for. People are more used to seeing Wig Wam without the make-up, we try to make our act more for the show and the official parts of Wig Wam. We couldn't deal with the stuff they have because we don't look so different to when we're on stage.

Actually, I have to tell you a very funny story from Greece because the next day, the Sunday, we were flying home. The people at the Greek airport were congratulating us. We were like, what? and they were saying 'Congratulations, Eurovision, well done'. So we were saying 'thank you, Eurovision, yes'. But they must have thought hmm, 4 guys looking very rock and roll, we must be Lordi. So we had troubles, we had loads of people coming up to us when they saw, we had to sign autographs, then we were rushed through for free because everybody thought we were Lordi. We were treated like kings! We never told anyone we were Lordi, we signed autographs as ourselves, but the English tabloids tried to capitalise on it, they found us at a cafeteria at the airport.

They asked us if they could have some photos without the costumes, and the guys told them 'of course, why not?'. Me, I knew they thought we were Lordi, so I said 'No! No ******* way, you're not taking a picture of us without the costumes'. They said that the drummer said they could, could you just take off the sunglasses?' I said 'no, the sunglasses stay on. You can have your picture without the costumes if the sunglasses stay on'. The guy thought he was the luckiest guy on Earth. He was jumping up and down believing he'd really got a shot of something spectacular. He though he'd have his photo on the front of every magazine showing that the Lordi guys really look like. It was very funny!"  

You said earlier that Lordi fulfilled the dream you started. What about Wig Wam? Will you come back to Eurovision?
"We have discussed it! At some time in history, I'm sure we'll get back to Eurovision, to say 'rock n roll' again to the fans and to deliver something even more spectacular. Obviously, people will always remember us for doing it and it was a blast being a part of the competition even though we're not what people class as a typical Eurovision Band.

At the same time, we really enjoyed the whole competition, not for the competitive side but for the circus of it all. There are so many things going on, so many great people come along. Yeah, we'd really love to do it again."

I have to ask you, talking about the circus of Eurovision, would you comment on the erm... unconfirmed reports that you disrespected the curfew that your management put on the band, climbing out of the bedroom window, down the drainpipe and coming back to the Eurovision parties every night?
[long pause] "I did" [laughs] "They really wanted me to keep a low profile, but I knew there was a huge party going on at the Euroclub, so I went back there and I had a blast. I hooked up with the crazy Belarusians, they were great. You, Ines, Angelica Agurbash- the diva queen from Belarus. I enjoyed coming to say hi to them. They had the biggest bottles, they really knew how to throw a party!".

Not a lot of people actually know this, but you tried to get to Eurovision before. You were in the Norwegian final in 1998 too!
"Yes, I did it as a solo artist. I had been with a band called Scoop which wasn't going anywhere because we started on an album in the studio and we made a deal with a producer. That made us split up because of the diversity in the music. So, I got this offer from there to start recording my own stuff. I was presenting it to record companies in Norway. There was this guy from AOR label, it's actually a Dutch label, he really fell in love with my music and wanted his company to release it. At the same time, he'd written a song for Melodi Grand Prix and needed a singer. Whilst we were discussing my music, he wanted me to sing the song. I thought it was a really cute pop songand enjoyed singing it. So I thought 'what the hell?'. I worked on it with him and presented it as the first thing from me in as a solo artist.

We made it to number three in Norway. It was the professional jury's number one, but the televoters weren't so keen. I finished a demo version of the album but the record company thought there was too much guitar. I released it through a smaller label, without much success. But my solo career started to grow into a band.

Let's talk about something else that's very important and something Wig Wam put a lot of time into, your charity work. Bygone zone charted at number three in Norway and you've helped break records for charity donations in Norway. Tell us about it and how you got involved.
"Firstly, when we recorded WigWamania, I had this song that I came up with in those two days I spoke about. The other guys had gone home and I was sitting there by myself doing what I do. I picked up the acoustic guitar, and the whole song just came to me. The next morning the guys came in and I said 'listen guys, something strange happened to me last night, this melody just fell into my arms, so I finished it'. It just came to me, the chorus, the lyrics, the music. I wanted it to be low key, only acoustic and maybe with some violins.

Anyway, when you record an album, the producers have to think about the whole presentation, and we already had a couple of mellow songs. We did it in a Def Leppard kind of mid-tempo style.

I always wanted the way that it was written to be heard some day. So, by accident, I was talking to a guy at BMG at a party, and he told me about the charity show. I always like to try to do something to help people through my career. We've worked for kids with cancer, the Salvation Army and lots of stuff like that where we try to earn money for them. The subject was the Forgotten Cases, forgotten projects. All the things that were publicised years ago that have simply been forgotten about. I thought 'God, I have a song called Bygone zone. So that's where it started.

I got in touch with NRK, told them that I had a song and maybe it would suit the purpose. They were thrilled because they had already put Wig Wam down to invite on the show. But, I said 'listen up, if we're gonna do a charity thing, we sure don't want to come with the costumes and make a circus thing'. I got the idea that we would change the lyrics because the song was about love and make it about losing something, because these people that we're trying to help are losing people all the time. In Norway, we take that for granted, even being loved and being alive. We changed it and everyone liked the idea. I gave away my rights to the song, royalties from radio and everything to the cause.  

What are the plans for the future? You've said that you would do Eurovision again, there's the Japanese success, we've heard rumours about a tour of Japan.
"Yes, we're planning a tour of Japan and it will happen but it's not signed yet. The first thing that we're going to do is to try to calm down a bit because we've been working and working and working. This is the first time that we've been able to have a discussion about slowing down the touring and trying to get some space to think about our next moves. I guarantee that we're planning a new record. Whether it will be in April or May, or September / October, we don't know yet. Our goal is to make it throughout Europe and Japan, so who knows"?

Moving away from the band, let's talk about you personally. Chess! There are several Eurovision connections to the show, Benny and Bjorn from Sweden are linked to it, a previous Eurovision participant for Sweden played your part before. How did that come about?
"I did a TV show as myself, not in costume, a feel-good laid back show where artists and celebrities join each other in front of two pianos as two teams and you have to try to remember songs. The Norwegian production team are part of the cast that we'll have in the show in Oslo felt that I could do it. I was a kind of joker because they'd inited five or six stage professionals from Norway to do this special edition for the English company, Nick Grace Management, they're pretty big here in England.

So, I went there with no expectation of getting a part. I did some songs and they offered me the job, so I said yes. It's been great, I've been living here for three weeks, it's a very very small period of time to create something as big as Chess because it's a huge production. It means that everybody in the ensemble is hand picked like cherries. It's all top-notch people. One guy, David, played Raul in Phantom for 3 years, another has done Les Miserables. Lindsay has done Chicago.

It was lucky because we've slowed down the tour, so I was available to get this kind of thing going. It's great experience for me too, when I arrived, no-one knew who I was, it's great to be there as myself and to push myself as much as possible. I struggle every day because it's a new thing, I did Hair in 1992 in a Norwegian production, mainly with amateur theatre actors, but this is like beyond belief. The guys are all reading music and they know the moves, so I feel like an underdog coming in with a rock n roll background. It's already sold over 20,000 tickets.

Whilst I've been here rehearsing, I go back to Norway every Friday to perform with Wig Wam at weekends, so Wig Wam is still going strong."  

Finally, it would not be right to talk to you without mentioning the recent tragic passing of Jan Werner.
"Of course. It was awful. He was a friend of mine. I met him for the first time back in 1994, and of course we've both sung for Norway at Eurovision. The last time I saw him, in February of this year actually, he was having a blast. He was having a good time. I really admire him for his amazing voice, and for sticking out. He did what he believed in. It's a terrible loss".

esctoday.com would like to thank Glam for inviting us to meet him, taking the time to talk to us and wish him and the band all the luck in the future.

Written by Barry Viniker, esctoday.com
www.esctoday.com