(Original on dagbladet.no)
After being on the road with Kaizers three years in a row, recording a solo record is almost like a vacation for Janove Ottesen.- My solo project is meant as a break and a challenge. I believe it will be good for me to finally get to do this, says Janove Ottesen.
Dagbladet meets a fresh and happy 28-year-old who offers coffee in paper cups at the swimming pool under the town bridge in Stavanger. Normally, Janove sings in the norwegian success band Kaizers Orchestra, but now he is ready with his first solo album.
- The thing is that it is me who is the songwriter in Kaizers Orchestra, and in the course of a year I produce many more songs than we need in the band. Now I would like to use some of this surplus material and make a very nice record, he says.
Must let it out
Janove is not in sorrow that his solo project will be on the band's expense. All work with the solo record will happen in the course of a period in which Kaizers Orchestra takes some time off, and all in the band back him up completely.- None of these songs could be played by Kaizers, so it is important for me to let it out in another way. Also, there are several others in our band who have side projects. This is only healthy for the band that everybody has a little variety, Janove thinks.
Ottesen's solo project differs a lot from the music we normally expect from Kaizers Orchestra.
The record "Francis' Lonely Nights" that will be in record stores on September 27, is a quiet affair, sung in English, that takes inspiration from both pop, country, blues and bluegrass.
- It is really hard to write lyrics in Norwegian, especially when the content is somehow rooted in reality. In Kaizers Orchestra, everything is fiction, whereas I started from everyday life here and spiced that up a little. The real live isn't enough, you know, he says and laughs.
Like a vacation
After Kaizers Orchestra hit hard with the debut album "Ompa til du dør" in 2001, life has been hectic for the gang. The last three years they used exclusively to tour with the band both in Norway and Europe.Now, two albums and 180000 sold records later, they finally take a break, but Janove doesn't take time off because of that.
- To be honest, I looked upn recording this solo project as a vacation for me. I had already done the work, making the songs, in advance, and this time we will only tour for a fortnight with the solo project, not three years like I am used to with Kaizers, he says and smiles.
Not perfect
Whereas Kaizers Orchestra's music is meant for live performance, Janove has now made a record that is first of all supposed to be radio friendly and nice to listen to at home. To reach this record formula, he has taken a bunch of young musicians to the studio with him that had earlier played with everyone from Morten Abel to The Real ones. But he is not afraid that he has stepped into a trap there (?).- First we practiced with the band until the song was perfect, then we ruffled and lumbered it a little bit, so that it should get even better. To keep the nerve and the energy in the songs, we also recorded most parts of the songs live in the studio.
New record
It is becoming a new trend in Norway that the front figure of a successful band goes solo in a quiet period of the band. Earlier this year, Siver Høyen of Madrugada was successful with his first solo record. The same holds for Knut Schreiner of Turbonegro, who revived his side project Euroboys. Janove Ottesen is suprisingly little nervous to be on his own.- Well, I have already been successful with Kaizers, so it's not so risky for me what people think about the project. Apart from that, I have a long-term plan. I would like to make several solo records, but next time I hope there will be more time to tour also, says Janove.
Even if these are calm times for Kaizers Orchestra, the band doesn't lie idle. Recently they recorded a demo with new songs that will come out on the next record. The band plans to go to the studio in February 2005, and the next Kaizers record will probably be out next fall.
- At the moment, we are without record company, and even though we have several prospects, we won't decide until fall. So that's why it is a little unsure when the next record comes out, but I can promise that it will contain much more humour than the one before, he reveals.