TAS Interviews: Casiokids

Whimsical synth-pop funksters Casiokids might sing in Norwegian, but that doesn't prevent their groove-driven debut album, Topp stemning på lokal bar, out this week on Polyvinyl, from being one of the most uplifting records to drop this year. The Alternate Side caught up with Casiokids' singer Ketil Kinden Endresen via email and got the inside scoop on their choice to eschew English lyrics, the group's penchant for puppetry and pineapple shakers, plus what it's like to do a 12-date tour of kindergartens.

The Bergen-based band, which has toured with Hot Chip and labelmates of Montreal, originally released the songs on Topp stemning på lokal bar as double A-side singles on the Moshi Moshi label in the UK. All tracks have been re-mastered for the Polyvinyl release which also features a bonus disc of new material, remixes and covers. They're kindly offering a free download of the diskJokke remix of their song "Ev Vill Hest (A Wild Horse)" right here.

Casiokids - Endresen, guitarist Fredrik Øgreid Vogsborg, keyboardist Omar Johnsen and bassist Kjetil Aabø - will be traveling Norway, the UK and other European cities this summer, but they'll be back in the States this August:

TAS: We caught one of your fantastic performances at SXSW and we were fascinated by the prominent placement of the band's pineapple shaker. Are Casiokids fond of pineapples? Is there a pineapple backstory here that we're missing?

Ketil Kinden Endresen: On tour we steal a lot. Well, small, unimportant, cheap things. Still, it's stealing. On the other hand people steal from us, and whenever we have some exciting props on stage with us people just grab it. I remember once a guy at Audio in Brighton stole our backdrop whilst we were rigging down (!) and hit the road. I can't tell you how many pineapple shakers have been nicked from stage during wild shows over these last couple of years.

Jokke, our drummer, jumped out in the audience during our last song in Edinburgh last autumn to try and resteal/de-stealify as a girl had stolen all of our small plastic animals off stage telling us, "you're so rich anyway! You can just buy new plastic animals!" She got away with them as Jokke had to run back on stage again for the final chorus. By the way she could not be further from the truth. I've caught Omar munching on that pineapple shaker one early cold morning in a youth hostel in Belgium when all we had to eat for days was softly cooked left-over gaffa tape bits scraped off other bands' flight cases.

TAS: Your good friends, the band of Montreal, have been tremendously supportive of you. When did you meet each other? How have they buoyed your band?

Ketil: Whenever we meet of Montreal, it's like a family reunion. We love that happy troupe! We got to know them after supporting them during their European tour in January 2009. After that they put us in touch with what is now our US label, Polyvinyl.

TAS: You have a very charming new video for "Finn Bikkjen." Whose concept was the video (and who does your choreography?

Ketil: The video was done by the extremely talented English director Greg Taylor, and we were not involved directly in the making of it. The song is quite a hard one to translate because it has a childish and funny twist to itself which is hard to put right in English. Basically, the idea behind the song is a small boy losing track of his best friend, his dog, and then realizing, when he finds him again, how much he loves him.

TAS: Were you always attracted to electronic or synth music? What was the music (or radio) like in Norway when you were growing up? Early influences?

Ketil: My first Casio was a white and blue one I bought in Spain on holiday. I loved that Casio! My first instrument, and the love for it has ever since stuck with me ever since. I think that this meeting with the Casio had a very big impact on my taste for synth music. For me, the radio has never been particularly important for my music taste. When I was younger, I listened a lot to what my father and elder brother listened to. Also, I read a lot of music magazines, my favorites at the time being Q and Beat.

TAS: What is it about dance music that you feel is so invigorating and creative for you and the band?

Ketil: Fredrik and I used to play in a more post-rock kind of band. What we liked with Casiokids was that the effect the danceable music had on people was more direct.

TAS: Unlike many of your fellow Norwegian musicians, Casiokids doesn't bend to English lyrics. Was there any trepidation that by doing so you'd limit the band's scope? Or has it simply worked in your favor?

Ketil: In the beginning we actually decided not to sing, and only used human voices sampled from audio books and interviews we did ourselves. As we experimented more with vocal harmonies in the studio, we decided to follow the idea of making something as true to our everyday lives and personal experiences as possible; hence, using the Norwegian language. I truly believe one of our main goals as artists and musicians has been to create something unique and original. The Norwegian language was, for us, a natural part to achieve just that.

TAS: Your song "Fot I Hose" is a perfect dance track. What makes a perfect dance song for you?

Ketil: The perfect dance song is difficult to choose, but one of the songs I never get tired of is "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order. One of my favorite songs of all time.

TAS: How do you write music together? Do you prefer playing live or are you all happier in a studio?

Ketil: When we work in the studio, Omar, Ketil, Kjetil and Fredrik are involved, bringing our very different tastes into the mix. Sometimes one of us does the whole song and sometimes we make it in the studio, together. When we have a good song ready I look forward to playing it live, and when I have a good idea I look forward to recording it, so that changes back and forth all the time. I'm the main lyricist. Check out casiokids.com for translations.

TAS: You're signed to the great UK label Moshi Moshi, an indie label that really understands how to break new artists like Kate Nash, Florence and the Machine, James Yuill, Slow Club and more. How did they find you?

Ketil: Stephen Bass heard us the first time at By:larm festival in Oslo Norway I think, and after that we've become a part of his very talented musical family. We've played with James Yuill and Slow Club in the US, Norway and UK and they're good friends of ours.

TAS: The title of your album, Topp stemning på lokal bar, loosely translates to "Great Vibe At A Local Bar." What is the genesis of that title?

Ketil: When France won against Portugal in the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup in soccer, my mom was in France in a bar that showed the game and sent me an SMS saying, "Topp stemning på lokal bar". Not that I, or my mother for that matter, are soccer fans in any way, but that sentence just stuck with me. It appealed to me so much that I knew I had to use it one day. When we had to name our album I thought that this sentence would finally come in handy as it kind of sums up some of our characteristics as a band and our music as such. If you ever visit Bergen, I would suggest you come visit us at our local bar Vamoose.

TAS: You're fans of all sorts of keyboards - are there any especially old or vintage instruments that you use?

Ketil: Well, its mostly Casios, but we have a very beautiful Korg as well.

TAS: If you could ask anyone to remix a Casiokids track, who would you ask? What song do you wish that Casiokids could officially remix?

Ketil: Oh, dream remixers would be Lindstrøm or Bjørn Torske I think. We only tend to remix songs we could somehow make into a Casiokids track, so then I would say Whigfield "Saturday night".

TAS: Bergen is a bit like the Brooklyn of Norway, given its rich expanse of musicians and bands. What are some bands you're especially fond of there?

Ketil: Bergen is small and the music scene is very inclusive and friendly. I very much like The New Wine and Velferd. Also I am a massive fan of Bjørn Torske.

TAS: Did you truly embark on a 12-date kindergarden tour? What in the world was that like? Did you love working with the kids?

Ketil: Yep, we've done hundreds of shows for kids, also in kindergartens, over the last five years. It's quite a different experience than playing for adults, but we respect the kids just as much as any other audience. Also, we've been involved in doing workshops for kids. In 2008, we did a workshop in the center of Bergen to celebrate the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. We made music that played out through a large wall of grass. The installation/workshop was built in collaboration with Bergen Art Academy, and [it was] made as a homage to Grieg for being the world’s first “sampler” seeing as he incorporated musical references to Norwegian folk music and nature sounds in his works.

What we did was sample passersby and city sounds which we then played out through speakers in the grass wall to make it seem like the music came out of the grass itself. At the Sous La Plage Festival in Paris 2007 and at Festspillene 2009 in Bergen we set up a playground for kids and made music on a musical workstation with speakers put up inside the playground. Small microphones were attached to the different toys, and a trampoline became a bass drum, looping the sound of a jumping ball turned into a funny rhythm, rattling from a helter-skelter, and became a small melody. The idea was that the kids would fool around with the different toys for themselves later to realize that they’ve actually made music whilst playing in the playground. You’ll find a lot of amazing footage on this done by photographer Sandra Jecmenica at our myspace.

TAS: There is such a joyous vibe to your live shows. Ketil, what is your most memorable gig you've ever had and why?

Ketil: Playing in a hot air balloon during the Hove festival in Norway was legendary!

TAS: You're often fond of animal costumes and puppetry in your live shows and work with a group called Digitalteateret. why was it so important to add that theatrical element to what you do? Any notable wardrobe malfunctions you can recall? How would you like to expand your live gigs? Have you ever contemplated doing even more in theatre or dance?

Ketil: When we started the band in 2004 in Bergen I was really into the music that would be categorized as "electronic music", and during that period Fredrik Saroea (from Bergen band Datarock) amongst others were really good at booking those kinds of bands to Bergen music venues. I enjoyed the music very much, but the visual part could not have been duller. I mean, most of these electronic artists were quite simply sitting still behind their laptop during their live set.

When we got enough songs with Casiokids to play live I had some meetings with Aslak Helgesen (leader of Digitalteateret) and Petri Henriksson (our designer Blank Blank) to work out how to present our music in a more exciting way, still using the sounds that we've come to love from electronic musicians and with computers on stage. I remember the first concert we did we created a little jungle in the venue Landmark in Bergen, and Petri put together a video that we had made from loads of safari films from the library in Bergen. And every gig after would have a special theme, trying to engage audiences, and also to mix the electronic element with improvised live playing. Then when Aslak came up with the idea of doing a shadow puppet theatre, live on stage, we did that for a couple of years, then we did some shows with our friend Olli doing live data visuals on a screen.

During this time we developed as a band, and after a couple of years we started to do more visually stripped-down shows without all the heavy visual imagery in addition to instruments. Now in 2010, the two live settings are for us more separated. When we do visual projects, we work closely with our collaborators to make the package focus on the visual. When we do concerts as a band, we try to add just the right amount of visual imagery and give more of ourselves on stage (some say too much, hence Omar being compared to a gospel choir member).

TAS: Will you be returning to tour the States soon? What do you enjoy about visiting New York?

Ketil: Yes, we hope to be back there very soon. I love New York, and every time we're there I love it more and more. The best city in the world.