Kathryn Beck interviews Scando-rockers Lorraine, now complete with a new human drummer…
drunken, suicidal, black-box drummer | rebels out of plaice | wanted by the streets
Drunken, suicidal, black-box drummer
Take a handful of Depeche Mode, stir in a pinch of The Prodigy and add a sprinkle of Placebo and you probably still won’t have a clue what Norwegian dance/pop/electro/indie trio Lorraine sound like. Hailing from the land of A-Ha, Royksopp and erm, Christian from a1, Lorraine may not be a band that you’ve heard of but you should definitely start taking notice.

Lorraine have done an impressive 140 gigs around the UK since February last year including a support slot with the coolest geeks on the planet, The Young Knives, but at the end of the day, they’re just looking forward to going home. “We’ve been gigging mostly four or five nights a week”, explains lead singer Ole, “we’ve had no time at home at all; we’ve just been on the road. We haven’t been home in such a long time and to tell you the truth, I really miss it.”
“We’re also going home to rebuild the old studio we made the album”, adds keyboardist Paal, “and get back to that feeling we had before we left home. We’re also going to write a few new tracks… it’s time for us to put new songs out.” What better time to do so now that they’ve employed an actual drummer? “We don’t have the black box anymore, we brought in a human”, explains Ole. “He drank too much so we had to get him out… he’d jump from aeroplanes, which really isn’t good when you’re flying from Norway. He was a really scary guy.”

Rebels out of plaice
Perhaps the little black box that used to pump beats for Lorraine picked up his rock and roll ways from some of the band’s own musical influences, especially Ole’s. “I was very into Guns & Roses and Metallica and things like that”, he explains, “until I was a teenager and I started listening to more grunge; Nirvana and Soundgarden and things like that. It wasn’t until I was 18 that I started to like pop music.” Paal was also far from demure in his musical taste; “I was only listening to The Prodigy. I discovered them when I was 10 years old and I started to listen to them in ’92 when they released the album Experience.” Ole was however; quick to dismiss the idea that they were teenage rebels. “I don’t even know what it is. What does it take to be a teenage rebel these days? Get arrested? Drink a lot? Have seven different girls pregnant at the same time?”
“I only had five” explains Paal, confirming that these guys couldn’t possibly have been rebels at all. Such a notion was confirmed on asking the guys if they could take me anywhere in Norway for the day, where would it be. “I’d take you to Bergen”, says Ole, “I’d show you what matters to me. Not what’s beautiful and the tourist attractions. I’d show you a place where there’s a small cinema and a great little bar and loads of little rehearsal rooms. It’s just nice to sit there by the sea, have a couple of pints… lots of pints! Then we’d walk around the fish market and have a couple of fish sandwiches and then walk back to my favourite pub.” With an offer like that in mind, who was I to say that I’m a vegetarian?

Wanted by the streets
Despite the obvious love for their hometown, Germany would seem to be the perfect place in terms of fans, the atmosphere and the general feeling of belonging. “You’re really wanted there”, explains Ole, “not by the people, or the crowds or something, but the streets. You can feel it beneath your feet; it’s like that every time we’ve been there, no matter how many people are in the crowd.”
Bearing in mind how difficult it is for acts from Europe to break the UK and US markets, it’s hard not to admire the devoted way that Lorraine have spent so much time hard at work in the UK. “A thing for a lot of Norwegian artists is that they can’t break it elsewhere. We’re signed to the biggest label in Norway. EMI, Sony, they have nothing on the label Waterfall that we’re working with. There’s a lot being said in the press about why it’s like that.”

After Lorraine’s debut single ‘I Feel It’ hitting the UK top 30 singles chart in April ‘06, things are looking promising for the band who’ve already had considerable success with their debut album in Japan and are set for release of the album Heaven in the UK during early ’07. “We’ve already released the Heaven EP,” explains Ole, “it was a very fun thing to do and you feel as though you’ve shared something, especially with the ‘Heaven’ track which was very different to what we were trying to achieve.”

With so much promise and potential at their finger-tips, it looks as though good things may well be underway for the Scandinavian trio. They may not be destined for Radio1 and NME glory, but Lorraine are something different and a little more interesting in a world where music is starting to repeat itself.