Young Guitar [Jap - in English]
From the Japanese Young Guitar magazine, October 2006 issue. by Jun Kawai
People would think of WIG WAM from Norway as a comic band because of their showy costumes and stage names. But their music are melodic HR full of good melodies, quite a favorite type of Japanese rock fans. The high quality of their music makes me think they're not just an average band, I got to know Teeny(G, his real name is Trond Holter) used to play for DREAM POLICE, and other members played for bands like ARTCH, they're a band with players with good skills. Wig Wamaniacs (fans) have been increasing in Norway and other European countries, we expect them to be popular in Japan as well. 80's style shows - that's how WIG WAM started
YOUNG GUITAR (YG): Would you let us know how WIG WAM started?
Teeny: About 2000, I started a melodic rock band to play at a local club every Friday. Next year we decided to play at another club, which idea is "a party in 80's style" (laugh). We started wearing costumes like this to do a gig there. At first we played cover songs... Well, an idea flashed into my mind, then we played our own songs. That's how WIG WAM started.
YG: Why do you use stage names, each of you has got a career though?
Teeny: We felt difference between what we did before and what we do in WIG WAM. We didn't want audience to expect us to play what we played in our previous bands. And those stage names have a sense of humor...
YG: And how did you get a contract and release debut album?
Teeny: We participated music contests in Norway and Scandinavia to let people know us, and we had an audition, got a contract with GLOBAL MUSIC. Then we recorded the 1st album "667..." at my home studio and released it in 2004. But the label didn't work properly for us, so we left.
YG: The 1st album is called "HTBARR...in Tokyo!" with bonus tracks in Japan, the 1st track "In My Dreams" was a big hit in Europe, wasn't it?
Teeny: It was extremely a hit in Norway and also in Europe later on. After doing well in Sweden and Finland, import copies of the album were sold well in countries like Greece for example. After making a demo track of this track, I put a tape (CD-R?) in Sporty's letter box, he called me that night and said "Who put a hit tune in my letter box?" (laugh)
YG: You told "80's style", your music has that element as well. That kind of music has an influence on you?
Teeny: Yes, I have an elder sister and I started listening to LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH thanks to her when I was a kid. Then I liked Alice Cooper and QUEEN. When I was a teenager, I listened to THIN LIZZY, VAN HALEN, then DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE, BON JOVI and so on. Other members like VAN HALEN and BON JOVI as well. Each of us has a different taste, Glam and Flash really love KISS, and Sporty listens to punk music.
YG: How do you compose WIG WAM tracks?
Teeny: Usually I work at my own studio and compose, other guys give ideas. We work for arrangement together. The important thing to compose a track is...that we compose a track which people want to listen again when they listen to it once. So catchy chorus are very important. Music is the most important. I care a lot about music before lyrics. Don't you think you'll never want to listen to music which is a crap even when it has wonderful lyrics? But the opposite is possible.
YG: There is an instrumental track called "The Drop", How did it get on the album?
Teeny: I teach my students to play guitar at home, as a matter of fact, I composed this track for them to practice (laugh). When other guys of the band came to my studio, I played this song for them, they really loved it. Then it's on the album.
YG: "Erection" reminds me of VAN HALEN's "Eruption" ("VAN HALEN" 1978), it shows your skills as a guitar player.
Teeny: Eddie Van Halen is a really amazing guitar player. I put this track as a tribute to him on the album. So the title "Erection" sounds similar to "Eruption"! Think of a track as a producer
YG: How does the band get improved when you compare WIG WAMANIA to the 1st album?
Teeny: I think we become much better because we've been playing at a lot of gigs and we got a budget enough to pay for another equipments. And we had money to have an engineer, so I could concentrate on my work as a producer. The 2nd album is advanced in many ways compared to the 1st one.
YG: Both rhythm and solo guitars are exciting and you get them developed so well. I thought you'd think melodies of vocals are much important compared to guitar skills?
Teeny: I'm a producer as well, I don't always think of music as a guitar player. I have to think of music as a producer objectively. A very melodic track doesn't need guitars like "Erection". A track like "Rock My Ride" welcomes bombastic plays! Tracks will let you know what you should do. I never play guitar solos just for my ego.
YG: I thought you composed a guitar solo for "Rock My Ride" for example completely before recording, you always compose a solo and start recording?
Teeny: I get it improvised a lot as well. If I mistake, it would bring an intersting melody. Sometimes I have melodies in my head as you told. Actually I prepared for the solo of "Rock My Ride" a bit before recording. I didn't like Take 1 and deleted it, and I got good melodies when I listened to the song again.
YG: Which guitar play of yours is your favorite from both of the albums?
Teeny: Well, "The Riddle" from the 2nd album maybe? From the start the melodies get hooked well, I like the middle which is soft and melodic. You can let listeners listen to the soul even though you don't play 1,000 notes a second!
YG: What is your main guitar and effecter these days?
Teeny: Main guitars are Ibanez and I play 2 guitars mainly. I changed rear pickups to Duncan Custom for 1 of them. The amp is HD147 of Line 6. I use effecters of chorus and phaser. The phaser is what Eddie Van Halen used (Phase 90 of MXR) in early time. I play Duesenberg for recording. I played it for "Slave To Your Love" of the 2nd album for example.
YG: Btw, how did you start playing guitar?
Teeny: I got my 1st guitar at the age of 10. I couldn't play it well, I took a lesson for about 10 days, practiced songs for campfires and mastered it little by little. I bought an old guitar from my cousin and played listening to records at first.
YG: When did you start your career as professional, which band/album did you play for?
Teeny: I played for Ole Evenrude, a pop star in Norway at the age of 15. He is 3 year elder than me. That was the 1st time I played for. I kept working together with people who I got to know when I worked for Ole, I definitely wanted to work for my own music, I started DREAM POLICE in 1989. When I played for BANCOCK SUXX, we played as a support band for HANOI ROCKS. But nothing special happened as a band after all... So I worked for pop artists to get paid.
YG: DREAM POLICE released 2 albums in Japan as well, but soon broke up. You think WIG WAM will be very popular in Japan?
Teeny: I hope so! As a matter of fact we're working to make our Japan tour happen. I really want to get to Japan to show our wonderful gigs to the audience there!
Thanks a lot to Miho Ohtsuki for the translation into English.
People would think of WIG WAM from Norway as a comic band because of their showy costumes and stage names. But their music are melodic HR full of good melodies, quite a favorite type of Japanese rock fans. The high quality of their music makes me think they're not just an average band, I got to know Teeny(G, his real name is Trond Holter) used to play for DREAM POLICE, and other members played for bands like ARTCH, they're a band with players with good skills. Wig Wamaniacs (fans) have been increasing in Norway and other European countries, we expect them to be popular in Japan as well. 80's style shows - that's how WIG WAM started
YOUNG GUITAR (YG): Would you let us know how WIG WAM started?
Teeny: About 2000, I started a melodic rock band to play at a local club every Friday. Next year we decided to play at another club, which idea is "a party in 80's style" (laugh). We started wearing costumes like this to do a gig there. At first we played cover songs... Well, an idea flashed into my mind, then we played our own songs. That's how WIG WAM started.
YG: Why do you use stage names, each of you has got a career though?
Teeny: We felt difference between what we did before and what we do in WIG WAM. We didn't want audience to expect us to play what we played in our previous bands. And those stage names have a sense of humor...
YG: And how did you get a contract and release debut album?
Teeny: We participated music contests in Norway and Scandinavia to let people know us, and we had an audition, got a contract with GLOBAL MUSIC. Then we recorded the 1st album "667..." at my home studio and released it in 2004. But the label didn't work properly for us, so we left.
YG: The 1st album is called "HTBARR...in Tokyo!" with bonus tracks in Japan, the 1st track "In My Dreams" was a big hit in Europe, wasn't it?
Teeny: It was extremely a hit in Norway and also in Europe later on. After doing well in Sweden and Finland, import copies of the album were sold well in countries like Greece for example. After making a demo track of this track, I put a tape (CD-R?) in Sporty's letter box, he called me that night and said "Who put a hit tune in my letter box?" (laugh)
YG: You told "80's style", your music has that element as well. That kind of music has an influence on you?
Teeny: Yes, I have an elder sister and I started listening to LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH thanks to her when I was a kid. Then I liked Alice Cooper and QUEEN. When I was a teenager, I listened to THIN LIZZY, VAN HALEN, then DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE, BON JOVI and so on. Other members like VAN HALEN and BON JOVI as well. Each of us has a different taste, Glam and Flash really love KISS, and Sporty listens to punk music.
YG: How do you compose WIG WAM tracks?
Teeny: Usually I work at my own studio and compose, other guys give ideas. We work for arrangement together. The important thing to compose a track is...that we compose a track which people want to listen again when they listen to it once. So catchy chorus are very important. Music is the most important. I care a lot about music before lyrics. Don't you think you'll never want to listen to music which is a crap even when it has wonderful lyrics? But the opposite is possible.
YG: There is an instrumental track called "The Drop", How did it get on the album?
Teeny: I teach my students to play guitar at home, as a matter of fact, I composed this track for them to practice (laugh). When other guys of the band came to my studio, I played this song for them, they really loved it. Then it's on the album.
YG: "Erection" reminds me of VAN HALEN's "Eruption" ("VAN HALEN" 1978), it shows your skills as a guitar player.
Teeny: Eddie Van Halen is a really amazing guitar player. I put this track as a tribute to him on the album. So the title "Erection" sounds similar to "Eruption"! Think of a track as a producer
YG: How does the band get improved when you compare WIG WAMANIA to the 1st album?
Teeny: I think we become much better because we've been playing at a lot of gigs and we got a budget enough to pay for another equipments. And we had money to have an engineer, so I could concentrate on my work as a producer. The 2nd album is advanced in many ways compared to the 1st one.
YG: Both rhythm and solo guitars are exciting and you get them developed so well. I thought you'd think melodies of vocals are much important compared to guitar skills?
Teeny: I'm a producer as well, I don't always think of music as a guitar player. I have to think of music as a producer objectively. A very melodic track doesn't need guitars like "Erection". A track like "Rock My Ride" welcomes bombastic plays! Tracks will let you know what you should do. I never play guitar solos just for my ego.
YG: I thought you composed a guitar solo for "Rock My Ride" for example completely before recording, you always compose a solo and start recording?
Teeny: I get it improvised a lot as well. If I mistake, it would bring an intersting melody. Sometimes I have melodies in my head as you told. Actually I prepared for the solo of "Rock My Ride" a bit before recording. I didn't like Take 1 and deleted it, and I got good melodies when I listened to the song again.
YG: Which guitar play of yours is your favorite from both of the albums?
Teeny: Well, "The Riddle" from the 2nd album maybe? From the start the melodies get hooked well, I like the middle which is soft and melodic. You can let listeners listen to the soul even though you don't play 1,000 notes a second!
YG: What is your main guitar and effecter these days?
Teeny: Main guitars are Ibanez and I play 2 guitars mainly. I changed rear pickups to Duncan Custom for 1 of them. The amp is HD147 of Line 6. I use effecters of chorus and phaser. The phaser is what Eddie Van Halen used (Phase 90 of MXR) in early time. I play Duesenberg for recording. I played it for "Slave To Your Love" of the 2nd album for example.
YG: Btw, how did you start playing guitar?
Teeny: I got my 1st guitar at the age of 10. I couldn't play it well, I took a lesson for about 10 days, practiced songs for campfires and mastered it little by little. I bought an old guitar from my cousin and played listening to records at first.
YG: When did you start your career as professional, which band/album did you play for?
Teeny: I played for Ole Evenrude, a pop star in Norway at the age of 15. He is 3 year elder than me. That was the 1st time I played for. I kept working together with people who I got to know when I worked for Ole, I definitely wanted to work for my own music, I started DREAM POLICE in 1989. When I played for BANCOCK SUXX, we played as a support band for HANOI ROCKS. But nothing special happened as a band after all... So I worked for pop artists to get paid.
YG: DREAM POLICE released 2 albums in Japan as well, but soon broke up. You think WIG WAM will be very popular in Japan?
Teeny: I hope so! As a matter of fact we're working to make our Japan tour happen. I really want to get to Japan to show our wonderful gigs to the audience there!
Thanks a lot to Miho Ohtsuki for the translation into English.
