Catch up with The Lionheads' Rudi Leo J. Johansen and Oistein Christoffersen and listen to singles "Exit" and "City On Fire" from their forthcoming album, Human Walk.
What brought the band together?
Rudi: Oistein and me, we started the band back in 2010. We just met randomly and we both liked the same type of music. We started off making some demos at my place and had six or seven, and then we brought together a band. We tried some different members and suddenly it was just me and Oistein left.
Oistein: Rudi was primarily a guitarist and we had different vocalists in the group at that point. So when all the other guys quit, we decided that Rudi should try singing. That's how he started singing actually, he didn't sing before that.
Rudi: We met Nicolai and Knut Magnus in late 2011, so that was when we became the full band.
Why call yourselves The Lionheads?
Rudi: It's actually from a book I read when I was around fourteen or fifteen. It was about a stormer troop with parachutes from the United States during the Second World War. I don't think we named ourselves Lions before this whole process of changing members. At the end, when it was just Oistein and me left, we changed the name to The Lionheads. The book was about just constantly trying, not giving up, so we felt that suited our situation at the point when we went from five to two band members. So we decided to name ourself The Lionheads.
How is your sound different now than it was with the previous members?
Rudi: The sound is different. I just think it's better. I think we've gotten better during the years and we've developed on our instruments and our sound. It was kind of pop rock back then too, so it's difficult to describe, but it's better.
Which artists have influenced your sound?
Rudi: We're from Norway, so a great part of my youth was a-ha. I like pop rock bands, Oasis and Radiohead.
Oistein: I listen to American bands like The Killers. I listen to many current types of music and different genres. Actually, I listen to a lot of hip hop as well! I tend to get inspiration from a lot of different genres, and I think that's quite the same for all the main members in the band.
What words would you use to describe your sound?
Rudi: It's pop/rock music. The instrument parts often tend to be a bit more on the rock side and the vocals are more pop. A lot of guitar hooks, big synth and hooky melodies.
What's the best response you've received since releasing the album in Norway?
Oistein: We started out just releasing singles and we ended up in Norway with four of the songs off the album listed on Norwegian radio. They played constantly for quite a while.
Rudi: We released the first single, "City On Fire", in Autumn 2013 and the latest single from the album we just released with the entire album in September. We almost had a year of radio play with four different singles, so that's been really good.
How would you describe the album?
Rudi: The album is called Human Walk, so it's really an album about different stories from life to death, to love to being lonely. It's a part of the wheel of life that's turning around. It's taken from different experiences and different people, so it's put together like different situations from your life, from our life.
Do you guys have a favorite track from the album?
Oistein: I remember when we made the song "Exit" - the one we just released in the US now - and we were working in the studio playing for hours a day and when I came home and I played it on my stereo, I felt really proud. That was the first song we made and recorded, so that song is quite special to me. But there's many; I think all of the songs on the album have something special. Each and every one of them is special in a way and have different qualities, so it's quite hard to choose.
Rudi: Same for me, "Exit" was special. "Human Walk" might be my favorite because the lyrics kind of sum up the whole album.
What do you want to say about your music?
Rudi: We have big dreams with our music, and releasing it in the US is a part of that dream. It's our goal to get as many as we can into our music.
Oistein: We make the kind of music that we like. In the writing process we do what we feel is best for the songs.
Rudi: We're really excited for the US release and we're looking forward to getting over to the US to play for you guys.
Oistein: Yeah, absolutely. We're coming!