We chat gin & tonic induced productions and a debut London gig with Lust For Youth frontman, Hannes Norrvide

Malthe Fischer, Loke Rahbek and Hannes Norrvide collectively make-up Copenhagen based trio Lust for Youth, a band whose enigmatic sound will creep its way into your subconsciousness this summer. The synth focused new album ‘International’ has just been released and is a dark brooding take on eighties synth pop, with hints of punk throughout. Currently playing in the US, we caught up with frontman Hannes for a quick Q&A ahead of their return to Europe, and their London debut.

You have a very specific sound, yet you can hear several undertones of genres on your new album; how do you get inspired? What kind of music did you grow up listening to?

I get a lot of inspiration from my friends, a lot of people around me are doing so much stuff and it’s great. I listened a lot to punk when I was growing up.

You all do various things, with regards to producing and playing instruments, how did you all end up playing together as a collective?

Me and Loke had written mail to each other and traded tapes and records, but I first met him at a noise show in Copenhagen. We hung out and listened to records and drank beers. After I moved to Copenhagen I met Malthe through my girlfriend at the time, then one day me and Loke talked about start recording something new and Malthe dropped by Lokes office and asked if we wanted to record in his studio. Then it went really fast, Malthe joined us.

How is it touring together, as part of a band, whereas before you made music as an individual under the ‘Lust for youth’ moniker? How does this affect the way you perform?

Even when it was a solo project Loke was always playing with me live. I find it still being very much the same except now we have a guitar on stage as well.

Are any of you still pursing solo projects or is Lust for Youth the focus for the foreseeable future?

Loke is doing a bunch of other projects (Croatian Amor, Damien Dubrovnik etc), Malthe is helping out with recording other bands and spends a lot of time in his studio. I’m working on some other projects when I have the time, but for the moment LFY is my main focus.

What are your favourite tracks from the new album, and why? 

For the moment I like Basorexia the most. We drank gin & tonics and someone found a stylophone, we decided to build a track around that a drum machine and this old Oscillator tone generator from the 60’s. It was just experimentation.

You have two upcoming gigs in London, have any of you played here much before?

I have never played in UK before I have visited once for a music festival. Loke have played once or twice I guess as Damien Dubrovnik.

What have you got planned for the summer, do you have any festivals planned?

I don’t know, our friend Cowboy Kasper is booking our shows. We will just do whatever he tells us.

 

Words: Siobhan Frew.