Releasing their debut album today, Cold Water Burning Skin, meet the Norwegian band making real music for really good times.
(FROM LEFT CLOCKWISE) Sophie is wearing SCOTCH AND SODA jacket, STANCE t-shirt, BAUM UMD FERGARTEN skirt, PALLADIUM shoes, CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY bag. Ola is wearing
SCOTCH AND SODA shirt, DICKIES jumpsuit, CHAMPION shoes, CAT hat. Edward is wearing BIANCA SANDERSON trousers, ALEX MULLINS jumper. Thea is wearing NORMA KAMALI jumpsuit, JAKKE fur, PALLADIUM shoes, Lyder is wearing NORMA KAMALI jacket, VANS t-shirt, LEE pants, LEE shoes. Jorgen is wearing LEE shorts, DICKIES shirt, CONVERSE shoes, G-SHOCK watch, BURLINGTON socks. Andreas is wearing ALEX MULLINS trousers, ELLESSE Liam shoes, SCOTCH AND SODA jumper.
(FROM LEFT CLOCKWISE) Sophie is wearing SCOTCH AND SODA jacket, STANCE t-shirt, BAUM UMD FERGARTEN skirt, PALLADIUM shoes, CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY bag. Ola is wearing
It’s not often you come across an eight-piece band. But Norweigan group Fieh like to keep things interesting. Combining elements of jazz, soul, funk and more, Fieh are committed to creating an experimental, entirely unique sound that defies genre or trends – in their words, “real” music.
Made up of Ola Øverby (drums), Lyder Øvreås Røed (horn), Andreas Rukan (bass), Jørgen Kasbo (guitar), Edvard Synnes (keys), Sofie Tollefsbøl (vocals), Solveig Wang (vocals, clarinet, moog synthesizer) and Thea Lien (vocals and – we hear – legendary dance moves), the band often dress in colour co-ordinated outfits on stage, where all eight of them bring their own tastes and talents together to put on a show like you’ve never seen before.
Their debut album Cold Water Burning Skin is out today, and with the band embarking on a tour of Norway, Sweden and Denmark the following month, we caught up with lead singer Sofie to find out more about how Fieh came together, where they draw inspiration and what we can expect from the forthcoming record.
(FROM LEFT CLOCKWISE) Sophie is wearing SCOTCH AND SODA jacket, STANCE t-shirt, BAUM UMD FERGARTEN skirt, PALLADIUM shoes, CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY bag. Ola is wearing
Hi Sofie! What’s the story behind Fieh forming?
Ola and Andreas had another band back in the day, and I joined their rehearsals to do backing vocals at a concert. We ended up playing two or three of my songs and the response from the audience was great. I think we all remember that concert with a lot of joy, because I think we understood in that moment that this was going to be a thing.
Would you put your sound in a genre?
I don’t think our music belongs in any genre, really. Lyder once said: “Soul music with a modern twist” – because a guy working with our visas at the American Embassy asked, so then you kind of have to answer… In my eyes, our sound has elements from soul, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, funk and rock.
Can you tell us about your latest track “Samurai / When The Summer Is Through”?
A Norwegian student radio described it in a cool way that I really liked, something like: “A song jumping between funky groove in the verses, and a chorus with an atmosphere that reminds you of doom. Just with horns and keys.” Funk and doom – I like that.
I love that it’s music video draws from the sword fight in Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Why did that scene inspire you?
Some situations in real life can be like that sword fight – I happened to have one going on at the time.
What can we expect from your debut album, Cold Water Burning Skin?
It was important to us to make a whole album with its own sound. I think that is one of the great things about albums – how you can listen to it and feel it has its own atmosphere. I think we succeeded quite well on that.s
The band has such a strong aesthetic visually. What inspires the colour co-ordinated styling?
I think from quite early on, we knew that being eight people is actually potentially quite interesting aesthetically on stage, and we wanted to have fun with styling and to make our styling a part of the show.
What do you stand for in the music industry in 2019?
Good, real music and really good times!
