okay guys in the new episode of Denim and Leather podcast uh we have uh for me a legend from Norway uh coming Austen
nilson from Wigwam hello yeah man I I used to listen to
that first album hard to be a rock and roller was the album right yeah yeah yeah it's still hard to be a rock roll
it's getting hard and harder everything day 2005 or 2006 it was released 2005 actually 2004 but it was
re-released in 2005 man I first relased hard to be a rock and roller and then it
was re-released called uh hard to be a rock and roller in Kev oh yeah the live
right yeah I I listened to that album a lot man back in like 20 years ago yeah a
lot 20 years ago and and we have the 20th anniversary of that that album this year yeah you you're doing something
special are we releasing yeah we're going to do a small tour called you know 20 years of come on come on come
on yeah and of course we're going to use some segments from the album uh long
medal or something that you you're not used to hear from us these days so we do
songs like carile and you know M all mine crazy things you know the the old
songs you maybe going to uh you maybe going to re-release it like a CD or a vinyl maybe I hope so actually right now
we're talking about releasing an a compilation album called monumentals kind of a best of album with
you know the new song Human fire and got some other new songs on it and uh a
brand new version of in my dreams oh okay okay more more now produced right
or H uh I I I mean new new production of the song yeah yeah yeah yeah a new new
recording actually yeah yeah okay uh we we got a lot fast into the into the
future I wanted to ask you first about your your Beginnings because I know a lot about The Wigwam biography but I
don't know your biography how you started with music uh oh for me
personally yeah personally well I I got started you know in 1985 that was my
first first uh time on stage my first show with my old band called tomorrow
was a band from starburg we were friends and we were writing on our own music and
uh you know kind of a Sellar band and we had this first show and we did a lot of
shows in ' 85 ' 86 87 and then um then
in ' 88 I I quit the band and and uh and joined another band from hon the
neighbor city called uh heads and tails we released My First Single called A
Million Miles Away and we went on tour and uh then I started doing more like
musical Productions and started to work for Norwegian broadcasting and stuff
like that and then and I obviously also had a couple of bands uh alongside that
career and in the late '90s I decided to to uh go solo so I did my first EUR song
contest 1998 with kind of a poppish song uh ended up number three and I was
actually uh um offered a a contract with the label
back then then I then I um politely
rejected because they wanted me to be kind of a pop artist you know too smooth pop music for my taste back then and
they wanted it in Norwegian language and um I was a fan so uh so I actually
um recorded my first soul album uh and it was sponsored by a friend of
mine uh doing kind of you know a shopping Sho shopping center service
thing he had lots of money so he decided to to um sponsor me and I went in a
studio and with my all my songs and recorded my first solo album called gustan because
back then I thought Augustin was very
boring was better and then you know I um I actually to I actually decided to um
quit thinking about releasing original music for a while because it you know it was pretty hard I was very old back then
20 years old was considered very old in this business if he weren't a rock star
already so I started to make different you know kind of tribute shows and stuff like that did a Credence show with a
friend of mine Yan grook from Aunt Mary and I had an eagle show with yor Londa
and um Paul fla from Midnight choir couple of other guys yeah and um and I
started a band called The Wigwam which was kind of an 80s party Band and uh I
had a lot of fun you know during night time nighttime uh you know uh you know coming
up with different the crazy ideas for for the gimmicks and stuff you know us
being originally from the US and uh uh you know immigrated to Norway taking
names and because you know the the drugs almost killed us and and and big artists
had stolen our songs like bonji stole you know so we took took the original songs
back and we we did them live the way they were supposed to sound like you
know what you know what that that kind of gimmick uh I think that kind of gimmick was seen by Steel Panther and by
fuzzy and they both yeah we you know for our first concert in my my hometown we
had this you know stretch limo taking us there and we
had you know lifeguards and we had an auction for our old you know made
costumes from back in the days stuff like it was all a gimmick but then later
it started to become more and more real and now after our comeback you know
we're like Aug August Danielson burn Johnson John halter and
Einstein Anderson instead of you know Glamis B and Flash even though people
still call us that you know the old names you're Glam
so I remember it was it was much easier with a me and GS back then riding Glam
instead of August what what what what I say what I
said uh was uh still Panther you know still Panther yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
they they are doing the same gimmick uh 10 years after you you know we we did the same thing you know we were kissing
the girls in the front row and we all only only did songs about having a good
time and we we weren't as as uh uh crazy as steel P
Panther lyric wise though we didn't have songs like Asian
Hooker but we had a we had a cool instrumental song called the erection
though uh okay tell me again uh uh how did I mean the the the record was first
recorded 2004 and with the song from that record you went to the Eurovision right yeah yeah yeah crazy things so uh
so how was your Eurovision experience back then you know the thing was we released
the album for first you know we had um um one of our friends was a guy called
wiie even Roode and he he was a big time producer back then and we wanted if he
wanted to produce us and he thought you know the kind of musical style that we
had back then you know it was P you know it was over with yeah uh nobody wanted
to touch fanss like us back then in the record business so he had an idea why
don't you guys do heavy metal versions of boy band songs like I did it my way
and stuff like that yeah me Oops I did it again and stuff like
that so we we we tried it out we went into a studio and recorded a bunch of you know boy band girl band songs our
style and one of them one of those songs became so so cool that we actually
decided to use it for the album I Turn to You yeah it's a great great recover that probably the first song we recorded
man awesome cover I love it yeah but then you know we we needed to you know to Rite our own material so we decided
we let's just make an album and Tron is a great producer and back then he didn't
have a studio we couldn't afford going to an ex Ben studio so we we we
we recorded the first album on a cracked Cubase in his living room and I remember
I did all the vocal takes in his bedroom you know yeah
yeah yeah but spell from last night he and his
wife but it's the original recording of the of the album that is the recording yeah yeah but then you know we sent the
crazy things to Norwegian broadcasting and they invited us invited us for an
audition and we did the song and they really wanted us uh you know as one of the participants and we decided hell why
not uh and it was good because back then you know nobody except for the South
part of Norway where we had a big following we even played concerts where we had kind
of suite and and slate as support acts back then wow back here yeah and we were
the headline so um we thought this is a nice way for the rest of the country to to get to know us and we presented a
story the one that I told you about coming from Bronk with the set the Polish quarter of Brooklyn and stuff like that and uh you know some
journalists actually believed us we we spoke with an accent you
know and we did the song and you know that year we had a great following and so many wiwa Maniacs coming to the
Eurovision s s contest Final in Norway and uh we had a great tour released our
album 667 the neighbor of the neighbor of the yeah yep and uh later retitled
hard to be a rock and roller changed a little bit and then we were invited
again we we we came in third third in Eurovision final in Norway 2004 and we
were invited again to do whatever we wanted and in 2005 we won and we
re-released the album called heart to be a rock and roller in K with a brand new song In My Dreams yeah but in my dreams
was uh was 2005 was on Eurovision right yeah but 2004 we we were came in number
three in the Norwegian final with crazy things but 2005 every every everyone in
Europe knew you already because of that song so did did it affect your uh touring
your European career uh the 2005 final yeah oh
definitely you know just from um just from going uh public with being a part
of the Eurovision song contest Norwegian final uh our management booked a tour
about 70 80 gigs you know W and after winning it was tripled which meant and
even you know the feast with tripled so yeah which meant that sometimes we had
to play three gigs a day you know because we couldn't afford you
know saying no to all those good gigs of course and you had uh European tours or
worldwide tours uh actually mainly in Europe mostly in Norway of course in
Norway we were huge we we you know sold out and we we had you know uh new
records for the attendance and stuff like that yeah sometimes 15,000 20,000
you know big the parks and stuff and and in Europe uh we we were we were
supporting Alice Cooper in Sweden and we went on tour with goart in Germany and we did a lot of of course a
lot of festivals and played in Iceland yeah Sweden uh all around
England go g while Steve Lee was still alive right yeah yeah yeah yeah we um I
have um I have a good uh good story about those guys when we went on tour with them um we we really got along well
and I remember sitting in in Steve's Carol with Steve and their manager and
um we were having this uh endof the tour party and we were talking about you know
maybe them joining us on our Norwegian tour and stuff like that and when our
drummer came in and said you know we need to go now because they had smoked a
little and they weren't used to that because gothard's crew they had some plants and stuff you
know they had tried a little and they were like the phras his faces were green
you know so I had to bring him to a taxi and you know but first first we had to say goodbye to goard and the whole crew
and they were lining up you know the you know the the kit some people you know
crew you know the Ries the band thank you thank you it was nice you know very polite they were were waiting us goodby
taxi was driving 10 m and then it stopped and the drummer just you know jumped out of the
car and that that was the that was that was the last thing this all so
El what a great goodbye you know it was it was like you were the stars
not them of the of the of the tour that crazy awesome man uh you uh
after releasing and after Eurovision of course uh You released some more albums
right after that we released a new new album called wigu Mania 2006 yeah with
the going to get you someday that's the first single a single down with actually released during the world ski jump world
cup uh where I actually jumped 120 m in the big you know uh jump uh thing in
Oslo you did or was it me or was it someone else at least it's a Glam on the
back and I was on the on this on the sport news that day and going to get you
someday and we went on tour again and um and uh had a great time and then when we
got back from that tour which lasted most of
2006 we went to Japan for the first time for the first tour and we did the
soldout tour in you know Tokyo
Nya and we decided to um we decided to release uh live in Tokyo yeah that year
and after that we had toward so much because you know the tours started you know way back in 2002 2003 he was
massive even before people knew us that well yeah and um with this thing going
we yeah we were kind of getting a bit tired of each other and you know the
guys told me they really wanted a break I think they really wanted a break from
me I'm a workaholic so they wanted to to uh have a have a break and they didn't
want us to um have any plans for when we were getting back together and I I tried to
convince them to actually set a date for when we were going back to get again
because let's face it this was my daytime job two of the guys had had
daytime jobs but the guitar player Tron and me for us this was our daytime job
so you were leaving from that yeah yeah so for me it was like my boss told me
you know from now on you're out of work uh and I don't know when I'm going to give you more work
I'll I'll call you one day what happens yeah for someone like me you you'll find
something else to do and I I uh had my own I produced my own Queen show back
then and uh and it was just supposed to be kind kind of for some weeks but uh
then suddenly it was 2008 and I I was playing you know five shows a week not
five really we had five days a week double shows yeah it was a tribute show
tribute show for Queen not not putting on the mustache or anything I had a Freddy Mercury mask yeah I wore on stage
and I took I pulled it away and it was me and me I tried to uh tried to do the
queen shows um my way and try to find something for me to relate to IND the
lyrics and stuff yeah and we made and May kind of a special kind of treat shows show because it was kind of a
cross between a regular Rock and Roll concert a musical and C Sol we had
dancers choirs and a big production and when the guys wanted
to to start working on Wigwam again I told him you know hate to say you know I
have a at least a year a book now yeah yeah yeah yeah so now we have to wait I
tried to tell you so yeah uh yeah so you didn't stop working with
music I mean you never stopped that musicals yeah no no no I mean with the
with music you're music it's been my only job ever since yeah yeah so uh back then you know
I did a musical witch witch Norwegian musical uh and I did chess and also
Spectrum I was the Arbiter and I did my solo stuff I re
relased my first soul album retitled wolf and Butterfly added a couple of new
songs and I did my queen show so I I had my hands full and I even got um job
hosting a TV show called singing be three series three seasons I mean and uh
and when we finally started to get back together to do non-stop rock and roll it happened again because we were about to
produce uh and and record non-stop rock and roll in
2008 late part of uh 2008 so I I had like made sure I had three months off
the road to be able to record that album but when it got very close to recording
the album uh Tron had his hands full with producing his own a Dracula concept
that he was working on so he said you know sorry but I don't have any time and we were actually supposed to tour with
Wigwam in 2009 so you know that [ __ ] up my idea for working with Wigwam live
again you know in 2009 which led me to make my own soul album I just called a
friend of mine from A1 Christan Inon saying you know now we can produce our
my next Sol album that we talked about so yeah we made that that album and I went on the Glam mition tour in 2009 and
in 2010 we released nonstop rock and roll oh okay so uh but you had a longer
longer uh dis disbanded right like uh you you did a reunion in 2019 with the
new album for for Frontiers right yeah but first first we after non-stop rock
and roll we went on new new tour um in Japan and in Europe and Norway and you
know elsewhere yeah and um then in 2012 we we made
our kind of the L album before we broke up Wall Street yeah maybe our Worst Album but
you know it has its gems yeah what why why did you stop then I think for for
like six seven years yeah actually um that was in 2013
we were doing a gig and you know I had I had had it because we we we
didn't we didn't have the same Ambitions with Wigwam and it was like it's it looked for me like the others were more
interested in working with Y Londa and stuff like that and so um nobody seemed
interested in in working with Wigwam and I thought you know why why should I work with Wigwam
if the other three guys aren't interested anymore so before one show I
told the guys you know this is probably our last gig you know I've had it did a gig and I said goodbye and we didn't
talk for six years but uh it was always the same guys right you you were always
yeah that that's a that's a great concept that's uh that's like chemistry there you know it's like I don't know
like bonji were all the time together until recently but uh or some other
bands like I don't know there's a reason why there's a reason why it works in a band you know uh The Chemistry Between the members so
so you know um for them to bring in a new singer or for for me to bring in a
different guitar player or Bass now let's face it Wigwam is the four of us
and if the four of us aren't interested in working together then I could might as well just join another band or do a
solo tour or whatever yeah wa for us so uh that's why I I uh uh I started a
brand new band called ammunition with Eric Mortenson and and I also started a new band called Nordic Beast with Micky
D and Y LA from Europe yeah and um kept myself busy I remember
ammunition you you he album with ammunition right yeah yeah yeah we released two albums and we actually came
in number two in Norwegian song contest again with the Wrecking Crew in
2017 what was was was ammunition released on fronti records or it was The Wigwam uh last album released on fronti
records both really but you know when I when I started ammunition it was
actually supposed to be a kind of a solo project but you know Eric and I we we G
so good together and uh one day told me you know should we just form a ban we
could call it Glam munition and I tell you know this sounds more like ammunition than Glam mition mat so and
so be it and um I uh I got an offer from
from Frontiers and some other record companies but I really wanted to release the the first album on my own label so I
just uh did the license deals with different companies different labels around the world which actually financed
the whole album and uh worked like hell with this album and uh when we when the time was
time had to come for a new album I was so tired I thought you know ah for the next one let's let's sign with someone
else so we signed with Frontiers and um the first album that I
did on my own label I still earned money from wa yeah it's that album Still Still
makes my my life work but the next album I haven't seen a penny for except for
the money paid for the studio oh okay and after few years after that
you you got back together with Wigwam and then uh we had a couple of
years yeah it was in 200 was 2018 teia Tron and I got back together
again I was actually um attending one of his shows with his old old band Dream
Police and uh he he had spotted me in the back even though I had grown a bear
almost like yours and I had a you know cap ponytail I didn't want anyone to
recognize me but he had recognized me and there was this um security guard
coming to me and say you know there's a guy backstage who really wants to to meet
you uh his name is Tron oh co okay cool I go back we had a beer and we talked
about the good days and we we started to be friendly again and be becoming
friends again and you know suddenly we we met each other having a cup of coffee
or whatever just talked about the good old days and and the [ __ ] [ __ ] that happened between us yeah and then we
started to invite the other guys and you know when we finally were friends again
I told the guys that norian broadcasting had been calling me year after year
inviting us to to be a part of their final show doing something you know and
and then finally we accepted and um we were supposed to be kind of um you know
the the break entertainment in 2009 19
or 20 was it yeah and um we accepted some some festivals as well but here
comes Corona yeah yeah which led to us not having gigs at all and we had much
more time so we start to write music together again yeah so uh that's how
that got started uh and You released the the last it was two albums
right yeah we released uh never Sav die and which was are our um comeback album
and then out of the dark yeah both awesome I mean the production much
heavier right it's much heavier yeah yeah yeah very heavy I love it uh so you
guys are still together you plan on touring oh yeah yeah we just uh came in
number four in the Norwegian your recent song contest again you know with a massive production
withit when I when I wrote you when I wrote you said uh the guys are busy with Eurovision I said what what's happening
what's happening the Norwegian final new song new single human fire new video
everything and and uh now we're planning on releasing um uh compl album called
monumentals and then uh there will be a new brand new uh studio album so uh wait
you you you won the Norwegian thing or oh no we came in number four number four
okay okay okay but but it was a nice day for rock and roll anyway awesome but that got you back on the Norwegian Hit
List yeah yeah yeah yeah and brought us back to people's attention again that you know haven't been yeah you know um
you know seeing us too much but you know we've been playing you know the Sweden rock festival tonso rock festival yeah
yeah how we're going to the Monsters of Rock Cru next week yeah you you told me
you were going to Florida for for that one right yeah yeah yeah oh man that's going to be awesome which
bands are also there oh extreme uh
tetto oh stepen Percy from rat I think man
amazing Eclipse will be there and the Pretty Maids oh amazing so
you got some you got some European company there oh yeah yeah yeah yeah and then we're going to we're doing the the
big Festival here in Hometown the tonim rcks with our Maiden in in June and we're yeah so we're a on a good run
awesome awesome awesome so uh what your what your future plans or those are the plans releasing the new Monumental and
uh new studio album yeah yeah and of course touring as much as we can and
hopefully coming to Germany now we're just talking with some with the company that's you know wants to bring us to to
Germany and Switzerland and we're doing some shows in the UK and
of course in Norway and getting back to the US and yeah awesome awesome it was a
great talk thank you for for for uh accepting my invitation uh a uh and I
wish you luck High pleasure I wish you luck in in USA in Florida there next
time we talk we're going to have a a wig onean beer oh you give a beer yep it's a
tasty beer wow man you got a you got a right now I'm drinking The Flash Edition
do do you have it around Europe we have we have our own yeah yeah yeah yeah you
have it around Norway only or Europe only Norway ah man they have to come to
Norway buy buy a cage of you know case of wian bears oh man I'd love to I'd
love to I'd love to thank you thank you for for for the interview man thank you my pleasure you
got a huge fan here and I I I want to see you live I never seen you so I I got to catch you somewhere wow wow wow you
have to come and see us in Germany or whatever maybe you can come to Greece I will I will this is this is in Greece
that's where you live no close to but where when are you play playing in Greece no we're not playing there yet oh
you will sometime okay okay where where where do you live I'm me I'm just uh I'm just uh north of Greece it's Macedonia
ah Macedonia yeah Macedonia yeah yeah it's you know the the Balan region
yeah yeah yeah yeah we we are close uh and I I wish to to see you somewhere around here you
know any festivals there yeah a lot a lot of festivals man everywhere around
the balcon yeah yeah okay keep them posted tell tell your T manager
[Laughter] man okay all right man okay thank you
see you see you