NEW YEAR INTERVIEW: Wig Wam – Åge Sten Nilsen and Bernt Jansen

AUSTRALIAN TOUR JANUARY 2023

My first experience of the mighty Wig Wam, who formed in Halden Norway in 2001, was way back in 2007 when a friend played me ‘Wig Wamania’. But it wasn’t until the second year of the Rockpit in 2010 that I got to tell the world about them when they put out ‘Non Stop Rock N Roll’ which still might just be my favourite record by them. Sadly, after the wonderful ‘Wall Street’ in 2012 the band went on hiatus for a while before bursting back onto the scene just in 2021 with the aptly titled ‘Never Say Die’.

It’s not all been plain sailing though, and even after a glorious comeback record it looked like the writing was on the wall (read on to find out the full story) before some crazy dude in the States made the opening track to 2010’s ‘Do Ya Wanna Taste It’ the theme music to the DC Series ‘Peacemaker.’ At that point the world changed again. So if you want to find out if Åge and Bernt do the ‘Peacemaker’ dance when no one is looking read on… and remember people “Rock is the new schläger”.

 

Mark: Hi Bernt. Greetings from Australia!

Bernt: Greetings from Norway as well! (laughs)

Åge: Hello!

Bernt: It’s snowing outside!

Mark: That would be wonderful down here. There will be no snow in Australia in January!

Bernt: (laughs)

Åge: (laughs)

Mark: I’ve been looking forward to this interview for a while now, despite reviewing all of your releases since 2010 this is the first time we have spoken. We started the website back in 2009 but I already owned Wig Wam records by then.

Bernt: Oh really.

Åge: Wow.

Mark: I loved the last album ‘Never Say Die’ it was a great record to mark the comeback. You’d lost nothing of what I loved about the band over the break but seem to have gained a bit of ‘Queen’ in the sound

Åge: (laughs) that’s cool. I love to hear that.

Mark: You’re finally getting to come down and see us in Australia. We’ve had a few people from your part of the World recently down here. We’ve had a lot of Swedish Rock and Roll and now we get to see some Norwegian Rock and Roll.

Åge: I saw you had H.E.A.T. and Eclipse went down well.

Mark: And we have Crashdiet on the way and Hardcore Superstar were over recently. But everyone out there should come down and see Wig Wam who for me were really where this resurgence in Scandinavian Hard Rock began. I’m guessing supplying the theme song to  Peacemaker and the prominence of the band in that TV series might have just changed things for you?

Åge: Are you kidding me? (laughs) Oh man! It made a major difference. We had our comeback in was it 2021 Bernt?

Bernt: 2020.

Åge: That’s right.

Mark: And then the album ‘Never Say Die’ came the year after.

Åge: It was hard releasing that album as we had no gigs and it was hard to make any events to promote it. We couldn’t even get into Radio stations here in Norway as they couldn’t have guests because of Covid, so at the last minute we arranged for a last minute live stream on TV. We managed to get this big theatre but there were no people there because of Covid there were just sound people around, so we just got up and did our thing you know and had a press conference and stuff. But that was all we could do to promote it. And one year later this Peacemaker thing happens just when our Norwegian booking agency is about to drop us from their lists! (laughs)

Mark: Oh wow! That’s crazy!

Åge: They told us five days before premiere – that’s how much they believed in Peacemaker man! (laughs)

Mark: Have you both tried the dance?

Bernt: (laughs) No.

Åge: (laughs) No. We’ve been asked several times by the label. They wanted us to make this video of us dancing and we sat them down and told them “Look we’re musicians we like to play Rock and Roll” (laughs) We’re not into that dancing thing! I do my moves on stage but that’s it.

Mark: I tried it a couple of times and gave up, it’s pretty hard. I loved the soundtrack to that show and what I liked most was that it showcased not just vintage bands but also bands that are still around too. The scene is still there – we had D-A-D here a few months ago and they sold out – people still love the music.

Åge: Awesome – they’re a great band.

 

 

Mark: Before we get into the new stuff let’s look back at the band’s history – it’s 21 years for the band this year.

Bernt: That’s right!

Åge: And we don’t look one year older! (laughs)

Bernt: (laughs)

Mark: You look exactly the same as you did on ‘667.. The Neighbour of the Beast.The hair might be a but greyer but that’s the same for us all after the last few years we’ve had. I’m hoping that we are going to get to revisit that record plus get to hear some of the new stuff as well?

Åge: We are already doing lots of tracks from ‘Never Say Die’ we do the title track, ‘Hypnotized’. ‘Shadows of Eternity’,  ‘Kilimanjaro’ and ‘Call Of The Wild’. But what we are going to do in Australia is change the setlists and play different songs every night so if you see us in Sydney we will play different songs in Melbourne which is why we are doing this thing on Facebook asking which songs you want to hear at each show. If there are some songs that are more popular in Melbourne then that might be the only place where we will play them.

Mark: That’s a great concept, we’ll let everyone know about that. I hope to get toa couple of dates so I will be asking for completely different songs each night if that’s OK?

Bernt: (laughs)

Åge: Of Course!

Mark: Then I’ll get my three hours of Wig Wam!

Bernt: Yeah!

Mark: For me I love all of the records so we can’t go wrong and Åge I do have to say I’m also loving this year’s Ammunition release, and this morning I also saw a clip of you in a Queen tribute show too.

Åge: Yeah, nowadays I only do one Queen arena show a year, we quit touring it in 2017. I started it in 2007 when the guys had had enough of me you know! (laughs)

Bernt: (laughs)

Åge: They wanted a break and we didn’t know if we would get it together again. So I didn’t know what to do with my life so I started this Queen show to have something to do and it really took off so I’ve been busy with that in between tours ever since so it’s kind of like a home.

Mark: And hopefully now things will be very busy for Wig Wam. I think I discovered you way back at the same time I discovered the Poodles – those almost contemporaries of yours. Wat I loved about both bands was that obvious passion for the music I loved in the 80’s.

Åge: Yeah. great band. I’m a friend of the Kicking, the drummer. He, Micky Dee and I went to see Europe and we got so drunk there were literally no beers left, so Kicking came out with this old malt whisky and I blew 2.8 on the breath thing!

Mark: That’s time to stop!

Åge: (laughs) I haven’t drunk again since!

Mark: Because of the music of Wig Wam I know that you both must be huge fans of the Rock of the 80’s?

Bernt: Oh yeah, we actually started back in the 80’s in two separate bands  Åge and myself before we joined.

Mark: So what was it that started Wig Wam?

Åge: I had this call from Trond he wanted to put together a ‘Jam band’ just jamming in our town Halden with this drummer Øystein, who I had never met. I’d met Trond before as we used to rehearse at the same place when we were in other bands. So we put together this jam band and we had this bass player at the start who loved Bob Dylan and only wanted to play boring songs (laughs) s we knew we needed a bass player who loved more Rock and Roll! So Trond called Bernt and we got together and we had a blast, and finally – this was in 2000,2001 we were called ‘The Absolut Friday Band’ because that night in the club was the ‘Absolut Friday Night with the Absolut Friday Band’. We were jamming Van Halen songs, Motley Crue songs, Led Zeppelin songs and that was so passe back then that people who came to the club finally got to hear music from the 80’s again and the 70’s. And no one was doing that then because it was so far out in Norway. Then someone wanted to book us for this 80’s theme party going on in the same town and we thought why not? We’ll throw in some Billy Idol and Sweet songs. And three days prior to the gig I said to the guys we need to take a photo and find a name and make this a gimmick. Because back the I was mainly doing music cover shows and I had quit thinking about my career because it didn’t go anywhere. I had a Queen show and an Eagles show with Jorn Lande singing (laughs).          

Mark: I never knew that.

Åge: Yeah I produced shows like that and so I thought this might be a great show for Corporate gigs and things like that, and parties and stuff. So I asked the guys to bring whatever weird stuff they had from the 80’s and so everyone brought their stuff and we got our nicknames (Åge is Glam and Bernt Flash) and we took the photo on a camera from my day job where I was working as a caretaker. So we took the photos, made the posters ourselves and called it ‘the greatest show in the galaxy – Wig Wam’ and  from there we got very popular for those types of parties. And then we started to add our own songs without even introducing them at all as our own songs.

Mark: That’s the best way to do it! By stealth! Did the name come from the song by The Sweet?

Åge: Basically.

Bernt: We had a list of different names and back then the internet was just arriving so we printed out a list and it was great fun because there were some great names there, there were some hilarious ones. And one that was very funny that got considered was ‘Anal Drama.’

Åge: (laughing) Anal Drama! I remember that! (laughs)

Bernt; But we ended up with Wig Wam which was from the Sweet song.

Mark: I’m so glad you went with Wig Wam rather than Anal Drama – It could have caused all kinds of issues especially if there was a queue for the toilets.

Åge: (laughs)

 

 

Mark: You get here in just a few weeks now and you play Perth a couple of days after my birthday, so it’s just around the corner.

Bernt: That’s cool.

Åge: We are coming down a couple of days before the gig in Melbourne to do some promo and to see Melbourne – we’ve never been down to Australia before so why not come down and make the most of it?

Mark: Why not! You’ll love Melbourne, it’s our Rock and Roll capitol. Lot’s to do, and remind Erik from Eclipse next time you see him he owes me a Pale Ale!

Åge: I will!

Mark: You’ll all be over pretty much the same time There’s a Glam Fest event just before you play that Eclipse will be at. So all the big names will be over at the same time!

Åge: I saw that. What is the date?

Mark: I think the Melbourne Glam Fest show is Australia Day – January 26th so just a couple of days before you play.

Åge: Wow. I think I will try and catch that show. Maybe I could do a song with Eclipse?

Mark: Wow! That would be cool if the planets align! There have been some ups and downs for the band over the years and great that 2023 sees you on a high. but there have been plenty of other highlights like Eurovision which Downunder would have been many people’s first glimpse of the band. You also played on one of the first dates of the Kiss End of the Road Tour in 2010! At least I think it was the End of the Road Tour it seems like it’s been going on that long!

Bernt: Yeah (laughs)

Åge: No it was The Sonic Boom Tour! (laughs) I see what you mean! It’s a long tour! (laughs)

Mark: I’ve already asked you where the band began but let’s find out about the music you love. If you could have been a ‘fly on the wall’ for the recording of any great Rock album, what would you like to have seen being laid down in the studio?

Bernt: Personally the one I would really like to see is the very first Van Halen record. It was game changer especially for guitar players who heard all the stuff Eddie was doing at the time.

Mark: Groundbreaking and still one of the greatest records of all time!

Åge: For me it would have been ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ because none of the members or anyone who was there seem to remember anything! (laughs) I could tell them what happened and who wrote what!

Mark: I think you’d have to have been reincarnated a few times for that one, it was a pretty long and strange process!

Mark: And to close, a really easy one gentlemen! What is the meaning of life?

Åge: The meaning of life is to spread as much positive energy as you can that adds up. That’s the meaning of life.

Mark: I like it!

Bernt: The meaning of life is to give life a meaning.

Mark: Oh I like that one! I’m writing that one down! You can’t argue with that Bernt.

Åge: But you could give life a bad meaning? Like Trump or some others?

Mark: But you won’t have to worry about that when you get to the US! You’re playing the Rock Island Fest soon?

Åge: That’s right. And we have some other dates but we are still waiting on our Visas to be able to play so we may have to move some dates to April. It’s such a hard place to get permission to play but it looks like it’s working out, but we’re still waiting on those working Visas and we are supposed to play it a week’s time.

Mark: It was always hard I remember how hard it was pre Covid, but things seem to harder since Covid.

Åge: It’s always been a dream of ours to play the Whisky A Go-Go and this will be our first time in the U.S. and we get to play there and in Fresno and Virginia and the East Coast!

Mark: Hopefully the weather will be good for you in the East, it’s been crazy.

Bernt: I hope so.

Mark: And now the moment fans have been waiting for – there’s a new record coming out in 2023!

Bernt: Yes, we just finished recording the new album which will be released in February.

Åge: We’re putting some singles out. We just released ‘Out of the Dark’ and there will be another release next week called ‘High and Dry.’

Mark: It’s been an absolute pleasure to speak with you both. I’ll let you go now, Stay safe and I hope the Visas come through, We shall see you in a few short weeks. I’m so excited to see you play after hearing nothing but great reviews over the years!

Bernt: Come and say hello when we get to Perth!

Åge: We’ll have a pint!

Mark: I’ll take you up on that.

Bernt: Thanks Mark.

Åge: Bye.

 

Titans Touring is bringing WIG WAM down under for their very first tour in Australia in January 2023 . Finally the Aussies can experience all their classics and highlights from their comeback album ‘Never Say Die’ as well as the yet to be released ‘Out of the Dark’ (Released February) live on stage in Australia.

 

Taste it Down under:

January 28th – Melbourne

January 29th – Brisbane

February 1st – Perth

February 2nd – Adelaide

February 3rd – Sydney

February 4th – Hobart

Tickets will be available from titanstouring.com.au

 

 

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