JR Ewing is a band from Norway with a bunch of dudes who sport mustaches. Most likely, they wear speedos when they go swimming too. Besides that, they are a pretty damn swell band. The sound is rather heavy· hardcore punk at it’s very finest. Following this interview is a tour journal for JR Ewing’s European tour this last summer. Seeing as how English isn’t really these guy’s primary language, the thing might get kind of hard to follow here and there, but you’ll get the picture. We’ve left the journal un-edited or spellchecked to keep it “real”. Enjoy.
Interview by Aaron North
Buddyhead: Tell everybody the TV show whose character you named your band after.
Erlend: It’s from “Dallas”.
Buddyhead: Tell us why you named your band after a TV character, silly Euro’s.
Erlend: Mainly because a couple of us really liked the series, and at the time the band was nothing serious and all and we didn’t really care what kind of name we had. We just wanted to have a name people could remember, and something that wasn’t too pretentious. Band names are a pain in the ass. Also, we chose the name so dumb Americans could ask us about it.
Buddyhead: Who is everybody in your band, what do they play, and how old are they?
Erlend: I’m Erlend, I play guitar and I’m 21 years old. Petter plays bass and is 22 years old. Martin plays guitar too, and is 24 years old. Kenneth is 24 too, and he plays drums. And then you have…
Andy: Me. According to Erlend, I’m the primadonna in the band, personally I think it’s the other way around. Anyway, I do the vocals and always end up in the studio doing weird noises. I’m 23.
Buddyhead: Why did you start your band?
Erlend: I guess we’ve said it a million times before, but the band was made in order to do something “new” here in Norway. I wouldn’t say what we were doing at the time was new globally, but the scene in Norway was plagued by either bad jocky old school hardcore, where you weren’t cool unless you wore Nike-shoes and track-pants, or played flame-rock and looked like Turbonegro. We wanted something intense and energetic, something that sounded like the bands we loved at the time, and through having those ideas we felt free to evolve in any direction we pleased. Our sound has definitely changed through our history as a band, but all the way I believe you can hear it’s still JR Ewing.
Buddyhead: How does one get into punk rock growing up in Norway anyway?
Erlend: In my case I got interested through my beloved brother, who listened to bands like Bad Brains, Fugazi, Sonic Youth and Neurosis when I was moon-walking over the floor with a hat on and a white glove. After a while some of the bands he liked started to grow on me, and my first “punk-show” ever was Fugazi, which was mind blowing. But most of the credit why punk rock lives and breeds in Norway, has to be given to a person called Tor Andre Knudsen, who does a store/distro called Tiger. He’s been going for at least 10 years, and I had probably been a moron had it not been for him doing this.
Buddyhead: Norway… yeah. Do you guys know Turbonegro or what?
Erlend: Personally I guess I know one of them. We live in Oslo though, so they’re not such a big deal for us.
Andy: I know Chris Summers and Happy Tom. I think Turbonegro (at least with the Ass Cobra record) were one of the best punk bands around and very few could and can match up with on all terms. I was totally blown away when I saw them live for the first time some years ago.
Buddyhead: How is the band different now than it was when you started?
Erlend: Actually I think our 1st 7″ wasn’t that bad. It had 4 songs on it that were all pretty ok, though we don’t play any of them live anymore. But as far as being a debut 7″, it’s all right. Then we recorded 4 songs for a split 7″ and a comp, and these songs suck ass. Totally taking a wrong turn on that one. But hey, we can admit to it. Also, Andy was sick when we recorded it, so it sounds awful in just about every way. After that we took some time to write songs, and in 2000 we released the “Calling In Dead” lp/cd on Coalition Records. I’m still very proud of this record, and our style changed on this one too, to more of a rockish approach, but still pretty heavy. This summer we released a new 10″/cd called “The Perfect Drama”, and before recording it we changed two members (drummer and bass-player). The sound on this one is more stripped down and raw compared to earlier stuff. Less distortion and more direct, so to speak. I like the songs a lot, but it partly suffers from being recorded in just 3 days. But like I said, I love playing those songs live. We’re now working on new songs, and it’s taking a more melodic direction, as far as you can call it melodic, and on this next full length we’re not gonna make any mistakes. The new songs are by far the best we’ve made, but you’ll have to wait to hear ‘em.
Andy: Different line-up, we’re older, and know how to play our instruments now.
Buddyhead: Explain the band’s sound as it is presently.
Erlend: That’s hard to say. More driving, direct, melodic and energetic maybe. Some might say it’s catchier.
Andy: Yeah, it’s catchier and more melodic but we haven’t gone Bon Jovi. Some songs are slower while some are much faster, and some are more mellow while some are much harder. As for me, the stuff that I write definitely has a Thurston Moore thing going on rather than Ian MacKaye. (bad comparison, I know)
Buddyhead: Describe if you can the experience of seeing JR Ewing perform live.
Erlend: Mustaches, wax, blood, broken strings, spit, intensity?
Andy: Martin falling over the monitor, Ken hitting his own lip with the drumsticks, Pete occupying most of the stage with his posing and smiling, Erlend’s loud guitars while he’s combing his Fonzie-due and myself being all over the place.
Buddyhead: Are you a political band?
Andy: No, as a collective we’re not but some of us as individuals yes. To state that JR Ewing is an openly political band or have a certain political agenda would be wrong. We’re all political in the sense that we’re socially and politically aware. Some of us care more or are more active than the others, though. However, a lot of my lyrics have a somewhat political stance based on my frustration towards let’s say the situation Tibet versus China. But again, it would be wrong for the band JR Ewing if I were to speak up on all my personal issues and views on the world we live in.
Buddyhead: So, reading your tour diary, there isn’t one mention of you guys tapping mad Euro gash. What’s up with that?
Erlend: Who knows, maybe we get the wrong kind of girls coming to our shows? I can’t believe I didn’t hear any wild stories about you guys (The Icarus Line) getting lots of love while in the UK either. Maybe we should start playing our cards right down in Europe. Gash is no problem in Norway though.
Andy: Some things are best left unsaid, some might get offended.
Buddyhead: Tell us about the drugs you do.
Erlend: Martin’s done just about everything, but the rest of us stick to smoking dollar-bills and weed. Except it’s harder to find weed here in Norway than in the states, but we get that brown shit nobody knows what is. Tastes ok anyway.
Andy: I do the usual shit like filling up my lungs until eyes turn red, sniffing Christmas through airchannels, and filling up blue veins with orgasms.
Erlend: Hmm…
Buddyhead: Do you guys have jobs? What are they?
Erlend: I keep myself busy working a boring job, doing booking of bands, writing for a music-magazine and do some design. The band keeps me on top of things, though.
Andy: I work full time at an insurance company. I have to, to afford living the way I do and to save up money for touring and shit.
Erlend: He’s the mailman, I might add.
Buddyhead: Why is JR Ewing a good band? Or if you aren’t, why are you not?
Erlend: Would you interview a shitty band? I think not. I can only have thoughts on why people tend to like us, and I think it’s because we don’t try to fool anyone or pretend to be a certain style or look. We just make the music we would like to listen to, work hard on it and try to progress all the time. We really couldn’t give a flying fuck whether or not certain people like it or dislike it.
Andy: JR Ewing is a complex mix of weirdos, but most of all really honest people, and I think that shines through in the music and lyrics.
Buddyhead: What is it like being in a “hardcore punk” band from your country? Are there lots of good bands from there or do most of them suck?
Erlend: I don’t even know if we consider ourselves hardcore or punk rock. I hate genres. What’s cool about playing shows here in Norway is that we get a diverse crowd, and not just one kind of people. Of course there’s a lot of hardcore and punk kids at the shows, but Norway’s small, so a lot of other people that listen to all sorts of music come too, and I think that’s awesome. From what I’ve experienced, the crowds in the rest of Europe and the states are more cliquey and that can be ok too, but the more the merrier, you know? There are some really interesting bands from Norway, and I’m not just talking about punk-bands here. You have cool acts like Jaga Jazzist, a 10-piece electronica/jazz/rock-band that’s really good. My brother does something called Single Unit, which is pretty amazing, and I don’t say that just because he’s my brother. Other good bands are Fairfuck, Team Spirit, Amulet, Next Life, Jazzkammer, Cato Salsa Experience, Kaospilot, Skarnspage etc. Enough promo for now.
Andy: My turn. There are a lot of new bands coming out like The Spectacle, Catena Collapse, The Slingshot Idol, so things are looking slightly different than not too long ago. Actually in general, I find most bands boring nowadays. When I think of it, I haven’t seen a band that I actually enjoyed or seemed seemingly inspiring since last November.
Buddyhead: Are chicks from your country bomb?
Erlend: Hell yes.
Andy: Yeah seriously, we’re talking about Scandinavians here.
Buddyhead: Blackie Lawless or Black Flag?
Erlend: Black Flag.
Andy: What a question, Black Flag of course. But don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for Iron Maiden and good heavy metal. Blackie Lawless just sucks a smelly wimpy dick.
Buddyhead: Which member of the band has the most embarrassing musical taste that the rest of you constantly try to hide from the outside world?
Erlend: That’s a brilliant question, and I guess that happens in every band. In our case that would be Kenneth, as he basically has no interest in our style of music, he just likes a lot of major label rock, and some really cheesy metal. He just likes to play drums in JR Ewing.
Andy: Yeah, Ken has a horrible taste in music. Martin isn’t far away though. He is into some Goa trance. The two of us live in the same apartment so I have to live with that shit. I don’t know how many times I’ve threatened to throw those records out the window.
Buddyhead: Are there any other good bands out there people should pay attention to?
Erlend: Some of the bands I just mentioned could be worth checking out. Team Spirit is really good snotty punk rock with a good attitude. As for globally, I guess you guys cover a lot of the good stuff, but my fave’s lately have been the new Fugazi, everything by New Order, and lots of other stuff. You can never get enough of Drive Like Jehu, and you’re a total retard if you don’t check out their stuff. There’s a lot of good records that just came out, but I won’t list them all.
Andy: Of course, but there are even more bands to steer away from.
Buddyhead: What have you been listening to, reading, or watching lately?
Erlend: I just made myself a minidisc with 150 minutes of New Order, that’s been rolling for the last week. I was supposed to go see them in London 2 weeks ago, but couldn’t afford the plane-ticket, so I try to compensate it with listening a lot to them now. Haven’t read much lately, but I’ve been watching porn. Tonight I’ll chill out and watch a Norwegian movie called “Detektor”.
Andy: At the moment I’ve just started reading a book called “The Fundamentals Of Play”. I don’t really know what it’s about. It says on the back; ” A marvel? A thrillingly intelligent, witty and tragic look at love and class? Hilariously authentic”. I got it from my sister, so I guess she thought of me according to the description. When it comes to music I rarely listen to the styles that we play. More in the lines of Bauhaus, My Bloody Valentine, The Birthday Party, Boards Of Canada, but my heart lies within older music like The Byrds, The Creation, The Monkees and stuff like that. I recently discovered country though, like George Jones. He has one of the best song titles ever; “If Drinking Won’t Kill Me, A Woman Will”! I have to steal that one.
Buddyhead: Do you guys wear speedos when you go swimming?
Erlend: You can’t get them here anymore. I hear they sell well near the Buddyhead headquarters though.
Andy: I wear spandex when I go kick boxing.
Buddyhead: Do you believe in “punk rock”?
Erlend: I believe some of it.
Andy: No, because the term has been so washed out and I don’t even know what punk rock is anymore. At the moment (in Oslo) it’s really hip to wear tight pants and leather jackets with Ramones patches on and it just gets stupid when 95% of these geezers only bring these clothes out when Saturday comes around, you know. And when you ask them about Ramones, they think it’s the new collection from fucking Levis. On the other hand, I still have faith in punk rock. I mean, that’s what we do. When we tour, we play squats pretty often, sell records and shirts fairly cheap, eat bad overcooked vegan stew, and sleep in weird places. For various stupid reasons, and poor jealousy I guess, we’ve been accused of “selling out”, but we’ve always worked with the band completely on our own terms, paid shit loads of money, and spent an enormous amount of energy and time to get things in the works… And thanks to people somehow connected to punk, whether it’s in Japan, Poland, Germany or the States, we have become what we are today. So for that reason, I still have faith in punk.
Buddyhead: Do you hate Americans?
Andy: No of course not, but I hate dumb inbred Americans who go around saying “god bless us Americans” – the people of the world and let’s bomb the afghan people to hell. But oh, make sure we’ll get all their precious hash first. (Actually, a guy said that on TV.)
Erlend: Only the ones who talk too much. I have some good friends over there though, and like it there.
Buddyhead: When are you guys gonna make it to the states?
Erlend: Our plans are as follows; first we’re recording 3 songs for a split with the US band This Machine Kills, and a really cool compilation from Flashburn Records. This recording will take place within a month. Then we’re going to continue making lots of songs, so we can go into the studio early next year to record a full length for a yet-to-be-decided label. When that’s out, we plan to tour the states, Europe for a short period (2/3 weeks), and if time and money allows, maybe Japan. We want to go all over the place, but we all have jobs and school so we would have to plan this thoroughly.
Andy: Yeah.
Buddyhead: Do you play hockey?
Erlend: No, but Kenneth did. I play soccer sometimes, because we Euro’s actually know how to do that.
Andy: Hockey’s for nerds.
Buddyhead: Fuck you, Hockey is bomb. Any important/funny/sad/impressing stories left for our readers?
Erlend: Usually a couple every weekend, but they’re all gone by the time Monday arrives.
Andy: Read my zine.
Buddyhead: Say something sexy in your native tongue.
Erlend: “Kos med pattan.”
Andy: “Neimen, hva gjšr en sŒ sšt, pen og hyggelig jente her alene? Vil du vŠre med hjem til meg og slikke litt pŒ mandelstangen min?” No seriously, here’s another one: “Sšt sekstini”.
Buddyhead: Suckin dicks?
Erlend: Bomb.
Andy: Suckin chicks.