Throwback Thursday
It is Throwback Thursday time. I thought I would re-post the one band interview I have done for my blog (haven't done any more since I am a massive introvert). It is with the Danish post-punk band The Foreign Resort. It has been almost five years since I did this interview. Here is the link to the original post [https://thetwincitiesunderground.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-interview-with-foreign-resort.html]
Now here is a real treat for my blog readers...my first interview. This past week I had the immense pleasure to chat with the Danish post-punk band The Foreign Resort. If you haven't heard of the band before, you know now. The Danish quartet is about to tour Holland, the US, and Denmark. Here in the US, the band will be touring with Chicago post-punk band The Bellwether Syndicate. Although this is my first time interviewing a band, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to help promote their 11/9 show at Ground Zero (Minneapolis, MN).
TCU: For those in America who might not be familiar with The Foreign Resort, how did you and your bandmates meet?
TFR: Henrik, Morten and I know each other from way back. We played in death metal bands from two different cities and played a couple of shows together. We stayed in touch and years later when we all moved to Copenhagen we got together one by one as The Foreign Resort. Rehearsed a lot and released our first album "Offshore" in 2009 (2010 in USA).
TCU: Does anyone in the band have formal training in music or did all of you just taught yourselves?
TFR: I went to drum school for a while but guitar was self taught. Henrik went to classical guitar school but quit because he preferred AC/DC's guitar sound (hence all the noise).Morten went from death metal drumming across jazz to the drummer he is today. Patrick has been training licks and was a big fan of Jeff Beck's fast playing. At the same time he is very inspired by Peter Hook.
TCU: How is the creative songwriting process is handled in the band? Is there one primary songwriter and the rest contributes to the arrangements of the music? Or does everyone contribute to both lyrics and arrangements?
TFR: Usually I come up with demos recorded on the computer at home. Some are more finished than others. Orange Glow is from a jam whereas Take a Walk is exactly like the demo. Usually every member contributes to the style of the song. Henrik and I have a different style of playing and Morten adds a more lively groove to the beat, which changes the songs' expression. So all in all a collective process.
TFR: Oh, and I write the lyrics with some co-writing from Morten here and there.
TCU: I have been really enjoying your music lately. I definitely can hear your musical influences shine through naturally without trying. Is this the sound you guys had in mind when you started The Foreign Resort?
TFR: The original idea was to be a noisy as well as a 80s melodic band but it took us a while to get where we felt comfortable and confident. Our debut was intended more noisy and it wasn't until after going through several delay, reverb, fuzz and chorus pedals that we ended up with the guitar sound on our 2011-EP. At the same time we simplified our expression to make our sound more spacious while under somewhat control. It gets out of hand at times with fuzz and feedback but that's what we like too.
TCU: You recently released a new single called Dead End Roads from your next album. When can fans expect a new album from the band?
TFR: We're aiming at March 2014.
TCU: In the meantime you are just about ready to go tour the US with Chicago band The Bellwether Syndicate. Will you be showing off any new material you are working on?
TFR: If you refer to the new album, definitely! We will play 4 or 5 songs. We have new material in the works past the Fryer-recordings but it is not ready for a show yet. I think our sound goes very well with that of Bellwether Syndicate. We met them at a night club when we played in Chicago last year. About six months ago Faith and I got back in touch and started planning the tour. We are really excited to be going on tour with them in cities we haven't played before. Its always good to meet new good people and see new places! One of the touring benefits.
TCU: Have you toured the US before?
TFR: Yes. This will be our 8th US tour. Not covering the entire US every time so instead we play for 17 days straight, sometimes two shows a day, covering as much ground as we can. At SXSW we would play up to four shows in one day, but we feel that when we set the locomotive, that is a US tour, in motion, we need to get as much of it as possible. This time we have two days off in 17 days and both those days are reserved for video shoot in LA. So not really any days off, but we love it!
TCU: Do you have any favorite cities that you like to visit here in the US?
TFR: That's gonna take some discussion. A lot of favorites ;).
TCU: LOL! Well about is there any cities on this upcoming tour that you haven't visited before?
TFR: Regarding favorite cities, it depends whether we are talking about playing a show or the feel of a city. They are numerous and we keep getting fascinated by skylines.
It will be our first time in Minneapolis and in the state of Minnesota!
There are a lot of new cities on this tour: Denver, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, not to forget St. Louis, which Morten is very happy about! Being the home town of Miles Davis got him very excited!
TCU: I think you will like Minneapolis a lot with the skylines. LOL! Since you have toured the states quite a bit, you must be used to the food that America has to offer (some of it not being so great, much less considered "food"...hahaha). Do you ever miss your favorite foods in Denmark while in the US?
TFR: We looking forward to see the city! We all love American food! We're aware it is not super healthy but we eat burgers almost every day of a tour. They are just better in the States.
All that said, at times I do miss my ryebread with our weird meat spread and sausages to put on. Smørrebrød, as we call it.
TCU: I think if there was one food that the US does the best, it has to be burgers. I have heard of Smorrebrod. Probably from watching Bizarre Foods on The Travel Channel. lol.
When on tour, do you guys get any time to get in a little sightseeing?
TFR: We try to see as much of every city we play in. We went on the architectural boat ride in Chicago, up to the top of Rockefeller Plaza and walked across the Hoover Dam, but I never saw the Statue of Liberty up close and never went to Disneyland.
And we ran the steps of Rocky in Philadelphia :).
TCU: Minneapolis has some interesting museums if you guys are into that sort of stuff. There is also that big old tourist trap which I call the Mall of America out in Bloomington. Has an amusement park inside.
Finally, one last question. What can audiences expect from The Foreign Resort live?
TFR: In short: a blast! We have a lot of energy on stage and love to play. It is funny how small shows sometimes feel way better. The intimate atmosphere and the interaction with the audience is cool. Large settings is a different story but nothing beats a big applause after you finish a song.
TCU: I can hardly wait. After listening to your music for the last few weeks, I am excited to see the band perform live. Thank you so much for taking your time out of band rehearsals to chat with me.
TFR: Thanks so much!
Looking forward to meet you next week!
You can check out their music on bandcamp: https://theforeignresort.bandcamp.com/
TCU: For those in America who might not be familiar with The Foreign Resort, how did you and your bandmates meet?
TFR: Henrik, Morten and I know each other from way back. We played in death metal bands from two different cities and played a couple of shows together. We stayed in touch and years later when we all moved to Copenhagen we got together one by one as The Foreign Resort. Rehearsed a lot and released our first album "Offshore" in 2009 (2010 in USA).
TCU: Does anyone in the band have formal training in music or did all of you just taught yourselves?
TFR: I went to drum school for a while but guitar was self taught. Henrik went to classical guitar school but quit because he preferred AC/DC's guitar sound (hence all the noise).Morten went from death metal drumming across jazz to the drummer he is today. Patrick has been training licks and was a big fan of Jeff Beck's fast playing. At the same time he is very inspired by Peter Hook.
TCU: How is the creative songwriting process is handled in the band? Is there one primary songwriter and the rest contributes to the arrangements of the music? Or does everyone contribute to both lyrics and arrangements?
TFR: Usually I come up with demos recorded on the computer at home. Some are more finished than others. Orange Glow is from a jam whereas Take a Walk is exactly like the demo. Usually every member contributes to the style of the song. Henrik and I have a different style of playing and Morten adds a more lively groove to the beat, which changes the songs' expression. So all in all a collective process.
TFR: Oh, and I write the lyrics with some co-writing from Morten here and there.
TCU: I have been really enjoying your music lately. I definitely can hear your musical influences shine through naturally without trying. Is this the sound you guys had in mind when you started The Foreign Resort?
TFR: The original idea was to be a noisy as well as a 80s melodic band but it took us a while to get where we felt comfortable and confident. Our debut was intended more noisy and it wasn't until after going through several delay, reverb, fuzz and chorus pedals that we ended up with the guitar sound on our 2011-EP. At the same time we simplified our expression to make our sound more spacious while under somewhat control. It gets out of hand at times with fuzz and feedback but that's what we like too.
TCU: You recently released a new single called Dead End Roads from your next album. When can fans expect a new album from the band?
TFR: We're aiming at March 2014.
TCU: In the meantime you are just about ready to go tour the US with Chicago band The Bellwether Syndicate. Will you be showing off any new material you are working on?
TFR: If you refer to the new album, definitely! We will play 4 or 5 songs. We have new material in the works past the Fryer-recordings but it is not ready for a show yet. I think our sound goes very well with that of Bellwether Syndicate. We met them at a night club when we played in Chicago last year. About six months ago Faith and I got back in touch and started planning the tour. We are really excited to be going on tour with them in cities we haven't played before. Its always good to meet new good people and see new places! One of the touring benefits.
TCU: Have you toured the US before?
TFR: Yes. This will be our 8th US tour. Not covering the entire US every time so instead we play for 17 days straight, sometimes two shows a day, covering as much ground as we can. At SXSW we would play up to four shows in one day, but we feel that when we set the locomotive, that is a US tour, in motion, we need to get as much of it as possible. This time we have two days off in 17 days and both those days are reserved for video shoot in LA. So not really any days off, but we love it!
TCU: Do you have any favorite cities that you like to visit here in the US?
TFR: That's gonna take some discussion. A lot of favorites ;).
TCU: LOL! Well about is there any cities on this upcoming tour that you haven't visited before?
TFR: Regarding favorite cities, it depends whether we are talking about playing a show or the feel of a city. They are numerous and we keep getting fascinated by skylines.
It will be our first time in Minneapolis and in the state of Minnesota!
There are a lot of new cities on this tour: Denver, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, not to forget St. Louis, which Morten is very happy about! Being the home town of Miles Davis got him very excited!
TCU: I think you will like Minneapolis a lot with the skylines. LOL! Since you have toured the states quite a bit, you must be used to the food that America has to offer (some of it not being so great, much less considered "food"...hahaha). Do you ever miss your favorite foods in Denmark while in the US?
TFR: We looking forward to see the city! We all love American food! We're aware it is not super healthy but we eat burgers almost every day of a tour. They are just better in the States.
All that said, at times I do miss my ryebread with our weird meat spread and sausages to put on. Smørrebrød, as we call it.
TCU: I think if there was one food that the US does the best, it has to be burgers. I have heard of Smorrebrod. Probably from watching Bizarre Foods on The Travel Channel. lol.
When on tour, do you guys get any time to get in a little sightseeing?
TFR: We try to see as much of every city we play in. We went on the architectural boat ride in Chicago, up to the top of Rockefeller Plaza and walked across the Hoover Dam, but I never saw the Statue of Liberty up close and never went to Disneyland.
And we ran the steps of Rocky in Philadelphia :).
TCU: Minneapolis has some interesting museums if you guys are into that sort of stuff. There is also that big old tourist trap which I call the Mall of America out in Bloomington. Has an amusement park inside.
Finally, one last question. What can audiences expect from The Foreign Resort live?
TFR: In short: a blast! We have a lot of energy on stage and love to play. It is funny how small shows sometimes feel way better. The intimate atmosphere and the interaction with the audience is cool. Large settings is a different story but nothing beats a big applause after you finish a song.
TCU: I can hardly wait. After listening to your music for the last few weeks, I am excited to see the band perform live. Thank you so much for taking your time out of band rehearsals to chat with me.
TFR: Thanks so much!
Looking forward to meet you next week!
You can check out their music on bandcamp: https://theforeignresort.bandcamp.com/
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