What are your names?
Eline, Gøril and Lill
What is the band’s name?
I SEE RIVERS
What is your genre of music?
Float Pop
Give us a little bio about you as a band.
Although the three of us are from Norway, we met in Liverpool while studying. We formed the band quite quickly after getting to know each other and we’ve played together for about 5 years now. After four years in Liverpool we moved to the West coast of Wales two years ago after falling in love with the beautiful seaside while recording our very first EP in StudiOwz in 2016.
What made you go into music?
The reason for going into music is different for all three of us, but in a way, it’s kind of happened by chance. We’ve all come from different musical backgrounds and I SEE RIVERS formed using all our influences to make us who we are today.
Are you a signed?
We’re independent, baby!
Your set to release your new single ‘Collide’, tell us more about the single.
‘Collide’ is the second single from our upcoming album (which will be out Spring 2020) and we’re so excited for people to hear it! It’s still I SEE RIVERS, but with a more modern and electronic vibe than we’ve explored before. ‘Collide’ is out August 30th!
Listen to Collide below
What is the meaning behind the single?
In short, the themes of ‘Collide’ are of conflict and reconciliation in the setting of a relationship.
Describe the track in two words.
Float Trap
What was the writing process like?/
‘Collide’ was written by Gøril, and then the three of us and Toby Couling arranged and produced it in our home in Wales before we went in the studio. In the past we’ve written most of our songs together, but for this album we’ve focused on writing separately before bringing the songs to the band. This has been really exciting as I think our individual personalities shines through more than in the past.
What was the recording process like?
We love being in the studio and it’s always been very important to us to include our team in the recording process, so when we went to record ‘Collide’ in the beautiful StudiOwz, we also brought Owain Jenkins (who owns the studio) as our engineer, Alec Brits, Emilie Krogh and Toby Couling. The whole process was very creative and fun, but at the same time quite challenging as we were very aware of not over-producing this track.
Will we have a music video for the track?
Yes, we shot a music video in Norway a few weeks back. We’re very excited about this video as we got to work with some amazing people (Eirik Dreyer Sellevoll, Elisabeth Oterholt Peersen, Martin Bremnes), and see some really cool places in Oslo while filming it.
What can we expect from your debut album?
As we’re still writing and recording the album, it’s a bit difficult to say what you might expect from it as a whole as we are still in the process ourselves, but I think the two singles we have released so far is a good indication of what route we’re going down.
Do you have any shows coming up?
As we’re still writing and recording the album, we won’t be playing much until next year, BUT keep an eye out on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/iseerivers) for any updates!
What else can we expect in 2019?
We will continue to release more material throughout the Autumn and Winter, so watch out for that as well as our newest music video!
Do you have any collaborations coming up with any upcoming artists? We might, but we’ll have to keep that under wraps for a little while longer…
Would you be up for collaborations if other musicians wanted one with you? and who would they have to contact?
We LOVE working with other people, so we’d definitely be up for collaborating with other musicians! We’re pretty engulfed in the whole writing process right now, but it might be wise to contact our manager who’s email you can find through our Facebook page.
Do you play any instruments?
We do! When we play live, Gøril plays electric guitar and a sampling pad, Eline plays keys, and Lill plays percussion, in addition to us all singing as well. Although we normally stick to these roles in the studio as well, it usually happens that we switch around playing the different instruments.
Who are your influences?
Individually, our musical influences are quite different. However, we’re all very inspired by Sufjan Stevens, Frank Ocean and Fleet Foxes, to mention a few.
How do you get inspiration to write songs?
Again, that varies for all of us, but generally speaking, I think most of our songs are semi-biographical with hints of fairy tales and fiction.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
In five years’, we see ourselves still writing and making music together. Perhaps working on another album. Perhaps we’ve just gotten off our “WORLD DOMINATION TOUR” (or something less Disney-villain-like). Perhaps we’re laying on a beach in Italy, eating gelato.
When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
Knitting! We love knitting so much that we made our own merch! If you every come to an I SEE RIVERS show you can buy your very own hand-knitted beanie.
What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more into the music scene?
Again, it varies between the three of us, but I do remember that when we first started out playing together in Liverpool we listened to a lot of Fleet Foxes, and I remember the three of us sitting on the floor of our rehearsal space, talking about and dissecting their harmonies – trying to understand what they were actually doing. So, both ‘Fleet Foxes’ and ‘Helplessness Blues’ have been instrumental in how we started experimenting with vocal harmonies.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
Our producer and really good friend Toby Couling gave us a really good advice before our first ever studio session. He told us to look at our recordings as snapshots of where we are in that particular moment of our lives, both spiritually and physically. Thinking like this has enabled us throughout and especially as we’re working on the album.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry and just as an artist?
Stick with it! There’s probably going to be loads of things in your life that might “suffer” under this choice (like your financial situation), but it’s also going to be amazing – you just need to give it time for it to get there. Nothing happens overnight and most things in life takes a little bit of compromise.
Where in your hometown is a must go to visit? If you’re in Oslo (where Lill is from), there’s this really bizarre and beautiful park called ‘Vigelandsparken’ which is full of amazing sculptures by Norwegian Gustav Vigeland that you should check out. If you decide to go North-West of Oslo to Jostedalen (where Eline is from), a must-see is the Jostedalsbreen – continental Europe’s largest glacier! Because of the climate changes and horribleness that’s happening at the moment, I would suggest prioritising this as it’s slowly, but surely, getting smaller and smaller. If you’re an adventurous spirit and choose to go even further North (which you should) to Hammerfest (where Gøril is from) you should first and foremost revel in the fact that you’re in Norway’s Northernmost city! If you’re there in the winter, get over the fact that you won’t see the sun and enjoy the beautiful Northern lights, go out fishing in the ocean and hike the beautiful mountainside!
Your coming off tour;
1/ Where do you go first? 2/ Who do you see first? 3/What do you eat first?
We’ve learned that there’s definitely a lot of truth in “post-tour-blues” so it’s key to have made plans BEFORE actually coming off tour. We sometimes go home to Norway to see our family and friends, if not we immediately seek out our beautiful tribe in Wales. After weeks without a home-cooked meal, there’s nothing like Eline’s lasagne when we finally come home.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
To drink water, eat something, budget in enough time to mentally prepare, writing a set list and not to forget to have FUN and interact with our crowd! You’d think it would be easy, but we always double and triple check that we actually brought our instruments. This has been rigidly followed after Lill managed to forget her cymbals in Wales for a show in Paris…
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
