The Grateful Dead have reached Trondheim, Norway! Find out just how sextet The South are spreading their love of the Dead all over Scandinavia.
- See more from The South:
Who is playin' in the band?
Alexander Pettersen - Vocals, guitar
Terje Uv - guitar, steelguitar
Stein Spjelkavik - Guitar, Keys, vocals
Sander Olsen - Keys
Pål Brekkås - Bass, vocals
Stian Lundberg - Drums, vocals
Tell us a little bit about your musical backgrounds and how you formed.
Alex: Well I guess it started with me, alone, after breaking up my previous band and wanting to make a new start back in 2007. I started recording stuff on my own, but some of it just didn't feel or sound right, so I had to start looking around for people that I wanted to play with. Terje and Stian played in a band that I had roadie'd a little for, and I liked what they did so I asked them to join. Sander, I had played with in my previous band, and Pål I had worked with on several different projects. And finally we found Stein as well, a singer/guitarist in his own band(we poached him). I guess we all have backgrounds in different kinds of rock, with blues and country (and even some pop) thrown in there somewhere.
Photo Credit: Marthe Vannebo
How does a band from Norway get into the Grateful Dead?
Alex: Coincidence on Our part, I guess. I think it was such a revelation for me when I finally clicked with the Dead, that it sort of pointed a new direction for the songwriting and the playing for this band. Also I think that the Dead is a kind of band that transcends the Wwhole geographical thing. And: if you're into good music, you're into good music. No matter where it comes from!
What made you pick "Scarlet Begonias" for your Dead Covers Project performance?
Alex: It kind of felt natural you know. It felt like something that we'd do good, and at the same time put our own spin on it. Then when we were shooting some promo videos, I suggested to the guys that we record a cover as well (with THE DEAD COVERS PROJECT in the back of my mind of course). Sure enough, we played through it 4 or 5 times and the 6th time we played it is the one you see and hear in the video. We've played "Scarlet Begonias" at quite a few live shows recently, and it's a little different every time. The extra cool thing now is that it kind of morphs into "Jessica" by Allman Brothers, which takes it in a whole new direction.
What can we expect from The South for the rest of 2014?
Actually we've just released a new album. On May 2nd we released our fourth album on Universal Music here in Norway. It's called "...The Further Out You Get" and it's sort of a follow-up to our 2013-album "The Further Inside You Go..."
So we're doing festivals to promote the album this summer, then we're doing a club tour of Norway in the fall. After that we're just not sure yet. We've talked of crossing the Atlantic of course, and doing a tour of the Jam Circuit. And we hope it might be in our not-so-distant future.(Getting our records released in America is also a priority)
Photo Credit: Marthe Vannebo
The South - The Further Out You Get
, The South's Grateful Dead
First exposure to the Dead/first show:
I don't think any of us were old enough to really be aware of the Dead when they were still playing, so it's all kind of second hand information to us.
Terje: Workingmans Dead
Pål: I saw a documentary on the Dead some 20 years ago. Don`t remember much from it, but I do remember being fascinated by the way the Dead