Crash! are an indie/punk/rock band from Ostfold, Halden in Norway. The band comprise of Vegar Neeb - vocals, Remo G. Munkeboe - guitar, Daniel Pedersen - guitar, Frode Neeb - bass, Stig Buckholm - drums. Crash! say of themselves on their official websites: "Crash! Is it punk? Rock? Pop?.................. Who cares? You probably already have your own opinion about the band and their music style if you’re reading this. It’s up to you to put them in a box. It really doesn’t matter as long as you like it and they enjoy writing those catchy songs." You may recognise them from last years Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix when they came a respectable third behind Guri and Jannicke Abrahamsen. The boys actually gained more jury votes than thw winner and runner up but lost in the televoting. Well Crash! are back in MGP 2008 with their new song 'Get Up' writen by Trond Holter, who also composed 'Wannabe'. The Schlager Systems speak exclusively to Guitarist Remo!SS: Firstly, thanks you for giving us here at The Schlager Systems an interview. Could you describe the Crash! sound to our readers in the UK who may not have heard you before?
Remo: Thx for letting us get the opportunity to introduce us for the UK music scene.Hmm, the Crash! sound… It’s kind of a poppy sound, but still a “dirty” rock sound on the new songs on the album.
SS: How did you guys get together to form the band?
Remo: I called Vegar (the singer) on his cell, and asked if he wanted to join and sing in a band I was forming. I had never talked with Vegar before, but I knew he was an awesome singer. He was thrilled to start a pop/punk/rock band. We formed the band (then called Already Taken). Already Taken changed name to Crash! least year when we decided to compete in melody grand prix.SS: We loved Wannabe! What was it like performing Wannabe in MGP 2007?
Remo: Thank you. Wannabe is a great pop/rock song, and it gets stuck on your mind as soon as you hear it. That’s a good thing. It’s awesome to perform a song that people love and sing along to. To stand in front of 5.000 people and 1.000.000 watching you on TV is a dream coming trough. And we can’t wait to do it again this year.
SS: Did the exposure in MGP 2007 make you household names in Norway or were you guys famous before?
Remo: We had a good reputation before mgp too. We did a 5 days Scandinavian tour and released a 6 tracks EP called: is this the end? We were more known in other counties then Norway back then, all thanks to myspace… BUT we exposure for real in Norway after we did the melody grand prix. We hope to go all the way to the top this year, and show the whole world what we can do.
SS: Why did you guys decide that you would put another song into MGP 2008? Was it coming so close to winning in 2007?
Remo: No it wasn’t. Trond Holter from WigWam was asked by MGP if he wanted to write another song to the 2008 Mgp. He said yes and wanted Crash! to perform the song. Crash! had been working 1 ½ year with Trond on our new album, so it’s a great time to release the album when MGP is coming up. Mgp 2007 opened up many new opportunities for us in the music industry in Norway, and we couldn’t get any better promotion for free. So we decided to say yes and compete in 2008.
SS: How important is the internet to bands like Crash! in gaining worldwide exposure?Remo: Crash! started out as a D.I.Y (do it yourself) band, spending all night and day on myspace and other web communities on internet to promote our band. I can’t count how many nights I felt asleep in front of my computer promoting my band, but it’s all worth it.Sites like youtube, myspace, facebook and purevolume + many many many more are a HUGE plus to band who wants to get their name our to people worldwide.
SS: What's the best thing about being in Crash!?
Remo:To play music and see that other people enjoy the songs we write. Tour around with my friends and meet new people in the music industry. We love to play live, and we are definitely a live band. We got a high energy on stage, and we just love to get the people in the crowd smiling. Our mission is to make them forget about their problems (if they have any) and make sure they have a good time at our shows. And Crash! does that. That’s the way I feel.
SS: Is it your mission to bring rock back to Eurovision?
Remo: Ha-ha, I wouldn’t say that. Our song (Get Up) is a good rock song with a power pop chorus that people sing along to at once, just like wannabe. But to bring rock back? I don’t think anyone can bring back rock more then Wig Wam and Lordi did. Am I right?
SS: Are you a fan of eurovision?
Remo: You know what; I have never watched an MGP program in my life before I took a part of it in 2007. But that’s just me. I know Vegar watch it. I was actually going to watch this year, but now we are competing.
SS: Have you ever been over to our native Scotland?
Remo: Nope, we haven’t. Never as a band. I know Frode (bass) have been over there on vacation drinking some beer and whiskey. I hope Crash! get the opportunity to do that in 2008.
SS: Do you have a message for your UK fans?
Remo: We would like to thank everyone who shows a little bit of interest in our band and like our music. Buy our cd`s if you like Crash! and spread the word about Crash! to all of your friends. Please send us messages if you feel like it. We try our best to write back everyone who like out band.Ohhh….. Don’t forget to check out our new single “Get Up” January 7th. It will be out on our myspace page. www.myspace.com/crashofficialThanks Remo
The Schlager Systems
