9+1 Q&A with Bravo Papa

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

Øystein and Kjetil grew up in the same town and listened to a lot of the same music. Both wanted to become professional musicians (rock stars), and made a song together called ‘Tonight’, that got at least one radio play. They started a band together, played a few gigs and released six songs on an EP. A few years after the band split, Kjetil met Mads and Alexander through psychology studies, and we formed Bravo Papa in 2009.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

‘Photographic Memoirs’ is our fifth LP, and the one we are most satisfied with. The more we play together and understand each other musically, the better our songs become. The pandemic probably contributed to it taking 4,5 years to make though.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

We have similar and different influences. The Smiths, The Cure, Nick Cave, The Strokes, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Beach House, Yo La Tengo to name a few. Non-music-wise: Sigmund Freud, David Lynch.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

Our music is created by four individuals who are inspired by different bands and genres, and the songs are the result of us jamming together, creating whatever comes naturally. We’re not trying to sound like anything specific. We think that creates variation in our music, and make it stand out. We always thought the broad indie rock genre was what described us best, but now we understand that music bloggers consider us to be ‘post punk’.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Album: The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
Movie: Mulholland Drive
Book: The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud)

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Recording an album is often a long and difficult process, and we have different experiences with that. Our first album is the only one we recorded in a studio with a producer. Since then we’ve wanted to have full control over the process, and have had to learn all steps of recording and mixing ourselves. That can of course be frustrating, but the feeling of mastery you get when you understand something new is huge, and listening to a finished product you’ve been working with for years is of course also very special. We recorded our second album in a cabin with nice food and morning meditation – that was a great experience. When it comes to playing live, the 45 – 60 minutes can be a real adrenaline kick, and few things in life can compete with this feeling when everything goes well and you get a good connection with the audience.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

A member of the audience passed out on our second gig and had to be carried out of the crowd. It was really unexpected. The person immediately made a full recovery.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

Maybe ‘Good Night No Love’, as it was not what you would expect the opening track on our second album to be after hearing the first one. It’s a lot heavier and darker than our other stuff, and we still haven’t made anything else resembling it. We’ve played it live many times and it’s always a joy.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the concert we were supposed to play in December in Oslo to celebrate the release of ‘Photographic Memoirs’. But hopefully it will not be long before we play live again. Our plan is to write more songs and record something new soon enough. Kjetil is already recording a solo record that will probably be out early next year.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

Q: What would you ask yourself?

A: We wish we could answer that, and hopefully we’ll someday get the opportunity.

Photo Credits: Stian S. Evensen (main), Hogne Skogesal (2nd one)

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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