More than three months have passed since we’ve met dePresno at PULS Open Air, but this time we had slightly more time than two minutes and actually managed to catch the Norwegian for a full interview. Read below for all the information on his latest single, his opinion on Sex and the City and travel advice.
Last time we met we were talking about your new EP being released soon. Are you satisfied with the reactions you’ve got so far?
I am! I was expecting more like “fuck you, don’t make this kind of music” but I haven’t had any of that. So that’s quite nice, actually. I am very very happy.
What’s your favourite tune on the new EP?
It has to be Mr. Big. Just because it’s very unlike me in a way, but at the same time it’s very me. I love comedy and music, and this song is just absolutely fun.
Talking about Mr. Big, how much influence did Sex and the City have on the creation of that song?
I would say, a hundred percent. If they sued me I would probably have to just give them the song. (laughs) My girlfriend kind of forced me to watch it, at least the first season and then I kind of liked it. I was a bit embarrassed to say, but it’s a really good show! The constant rebound, this complicated relationship between Carrie and Mr. Big, was just really fascinating to me. How they hated each other and loved each other and couldn’t really let go…it’s something of which I think everybody can more or less relate to in a way. So that’s where the song started.
Since we are talking about SatC, we have to ask the obvious question. Who do you think you resemble most?
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that a couple of times (laughs) and I just don’t know! I think I’m kind of a mixture…actually I think I’m an Aidan.
That’s not too bad!
Ah well, “not too bad”…what about you then? What’s your answer?
Well, I’ve actually done a test, so I can officially say I’m quite the Samantha. (Sandra)
Oh, there’s a test?? I didn’t know there was a test. I should have done that. How about you?
I’m more of a mixture between Carrie and Charlotte. (Tanja)
A mixture, yeah. That’s a good answer. Should’ve gone with that. (laughs)
If you could choose one artist to cover one of your songs, which one would it be and who would you pick?
It would be Jack Garratt covering…any song, really. I think every song would be great, I mean, I love Jack Garratt, he’s like, fucking amazing. I would pick ‘Souvenir’ though. Maybe he could do like an up-tempo version of that, that would be sick.
Since it’s really gloomy and cold at the moment, which album or song would you recommend to listen to in order to lift the mood?
I would pick ‘Oh, look what the sun did’ by Josh Rouse and the Long Vacations. It’s a super simple song about, yeah, ‘oh look what the sun did, it made the sky turn blue’. I put it on every summer and it makes me super happy. He’s a really good singer-songwriter from the US, but he lives in Spain with his family. He’s not very well-known, but he’s amazing. I actually flew to Spain – I made a holiday out of it, but still – I flew to Spain just to see him live.
Is there anyone you would like to go on tour with?
Astrid S, maybe? That’d be sick.
What has been your biggest challenge as a musician so far?
I don’t really know. There’s been nothing super challenging so far. I mean, there’s always obstacles, stuff you have to overcome and stuff that’s hard, but I think it’s been really quite a smooth sailing for me. Of course there’s always a challenge making fans and making good music, and I’ve had some writing sessions with people that have just been terrible. I felt like they hated me. But you know, I think if you try to just make every situation positive and do the best about it, I think you’ll overcome any challenge waiting for you. That’s a very cliché answer, but I’ll stand by it.
What has been your most beautiful moment as a musician so far?
That’s a hard one as well. There’s so many good ones! I kind of gained a new favourite city last year, which is Utrecht in the Netherlands. It’s like Amsterdam, but without the hookers and weed. It’s so beautiful, not too big and they have this huge concert hall which is like seven stories, it’s really big, and they have huge concerts there. It’s basically still kind of Amsterdam, cause you can get there by train really fast. We played there supporting Aurora about a year ago and the crowd was completely silent when we played ‘Souvenir’. Usually there’s one douchebag in the back talking about some stupid thing, but it was extremely silent and there was just something so magical about that. That was really nice, and the city was really nice as well. We went to TripAdvisor to see what you could do in Utrecht, and the number one thing to do was to go to a place where you get french fries. I’m not that kind of person, I don’t love french fries, I’d rather not have some, but it was number one on TripAdvisor, so we didn’t have a choice, really. (laughs) So we went there and it was like the best fucking thing I’ve ever had. If you’re ever in Utrecht, you should do that.
Is there a venue or a festival you would really like to play one day?
I think Lollapalooza. I would love to play every city there is, just do a Lollapalooza tour, play nothing else. I’m playing a kind of Christmas concert in a church in Bergen, where I come from, later this year, and I think that’s gonna be really nice as well. Playing in a church is always kind of magical.
Thanks to dePresno for the fun interview! (And if you would still like to do that test, here you go.)
