What are your names?
Mayflower Madame consists of Trond F. (vocals/guitars), Ola J. K. (drums), Petter M. (bass) and Rune O. (guitars).
What is your genre of music?
Our music seems to belong to several genres: I guess you can call it a combination of dark wave, post-punk, shoegaze and psychedelia.
Give us a little bio about the band.
Trond and Rune have been playing together since they were kids, but this band was formed in Oslo in 2010-11. At first we struggled a long time to find a singer that fitted our sound. After a while our patience ran out and we booked our first gig without actually having a complete band! Trond was “forced” to handle the vocals, but luckily we found out that this was a good solution. We recorded a demo and in August 2011 we were voted “Band of the Week” on a national radio show for unsigned bands. This was a mini-breakthrough for us and gave us a lot of confidence. We played several gigs the following months and decided to release a record. Eventually, in 2013, our debut-EP Into the Haze was ready. It was released “in the quiet” (without any promotion etc.), but it still created a buzz on a bunch of esoteric music blogs. This was another boost for our confidence and we got to play a lot of cool gigs the following year (including two of the biggest festivals in Norway – Norwegian Wood and Oya Festival (the Club Night) – as well as support gigs for some of our favourite bands like Crystal Stilts and Night Beats). In 2015 we released a cassette single on the American label Custom Made Music and a digital single on the Norwegian label Ghost Town Artists and started the recording of our first full-length album – the newly released Observed in a Dream.
Are you a signed band?
Observed in a Dream is released by our own, newly established Night Cult Records in Europe and Custom Made Music in North America, but we have no commitments for the future. So it is possible that our next release will be done by another label. In other words, we are open for offers
Tell us more about the new album Observed in a Dream.
The music can be described as dark and haunting, sometimes ecstatic and noisy, but still very melodic (and we believe that it’s quite catchy as well). Lyrically it’s a tale about desire, anxiety, instability and longing – and the running order of the tracks is not coincidental: from the smouldering serenity of “Confusion Hill” through the feverish “Lovesick” and the haunting “Weightless” to the dissolvent closure of “Forever // The End of Everything”, it implies the different and fluctuating, passing states of relationships and life itself.
Tell us more about any of your new music you have planned.
Even though our debut albumObserved in a Dream has just been released, we actually finished the recording half a year ago and have already written almost enough material for album number two (which we will probably release early next year). The new songs also clearly belong to our distinctive sound, but they are a little bit more simplistic and “airy”, not as heavy and dense as most of the music on Observed in a Dream. I guess you can still discern a gothic, post-punkish vibe, but perhaps leaning even more towards psych rock.
Who are your influences?
As mentioned, we belong to several genres – dark wave, post-punk, shoegaze and psychedelia – and we try to combine diverse influences from these genres and then process them into our own, distinctive sound. Vocalist/guitarist Trond has a master’s degree in art history and we are also inspired by visual art – especially early 20th century movements like German Expressionism and Surrealism.
Will you be doing any gigs or a Tour?
We have just started the booking process, but we already know that we will be heading to the UK (London) in July and Germany (Berlin/Dresden/Leipzig) in September as well playing some one-off gigs in our home country Norway over the next couple of months. We hope that the London-gig (at The Shacklewell Arms July 29th) will evolve into a short UK-tour and we are also looking to book gigs/tours in other parts of Europe.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
We have no clue, but hopefully we are writing good music, playing cool underground clubs and reaching out to more and more people.
If you could collaborate with one UK Artist who would it be?
We would love to hear George Michael sing one of our tracks “Careless Whisper”-style. If that doesn’t work, we will try to revive Syd Barrett from the dead.
If you could collaborate with one USA Artist who would it be?
We wouldn’t mind having Iggy Pop as a backing vocalist/showman on stage.
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform in UK?
We have been to a psych festival at The Shacklewell Arms in London before, and we love that venue, so we are really excited to be playing there. Brixton Academy is probably too big, hehe, and we don’t know that much about other venues or festivals in the UK. Feel free to invite us!
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform in USA?
A tour that includes Austin Psych Fest, Cake Shop in New York and The Echo in Los Angeles would be great. Hopefully a dream that will come true.
If you could get one of your music on a TV show, which would it be?
True Detective (but please note that we are talking about season 1 here). Also we would like one of our tracks to be played during the final scene of The Walking Dead (if that series ever end). Especially if it ends with the zombies “winning”.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
We generally don’t listen to advices, hehe. Live and learn.
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Oh yes!
Hook us up here:
https://www.facebook.com/mayflowermadame/
https://www.instagram.com/mayflowermadame/ (this song account is still a bit “fresh” for us, but we will get it swinging soon!)
Buy/listen to our music here:
https://mayflowermadame.bandcamp.com/
