Congrats on ‘Where the Lost Wander’! Loving the sound of the album. What was the process of making it like as a six-piece group?
Kunstgress: “Thank you! It can be chaotic at times having six members in the band, but we benefit a lot from getting six times the ideas, engagement, and passion. We mostly vote on every decision like a Swiss democracy, with the occasional anarchist uprising.”
“Since we didn’t have access to a studio or the time to meet for every recording, the music itself was recorded on different laptops, mostly in our bedrooms, before we tied it all together during mixing.”
You released your first single ‘Freedom’ on Spotify in April. What was it like entering the music industry this year?
Kunstgress: “It was great to finally have something to show for all the hours we put into our music! Although the music industry tends to put us at the mercy of the algorithms of streaming services and social media, we focus on doing the things we find fun and not worrying too much about the rest.”
Do you have any specific artists that inspire your music?
Kunstgress: “Being a six-piece band where everyone has their own favorites, the list would be too long for one article and would range from death metal to mumble rap. But some of the artists that have inspired us in our own genre include Idles, Greta Van Fleet, Fontaines D.C., and High Fade.”
The vocals on the album are absolutely amazing! A specific highlight for me. Do you plan to play the songs from ‘Where the Lost Wander’ live at gigs/shows?
Kunstgress: “That’s great to hear! We are blessed with both a male and female vocalist, which gives the record a great variety of styles and allows for some nice harmonizations.”
“Most of the songs have been performed live once or twice before on smaller stages, but the 6th of September we have a big release concert for the album planned in our home town of Oslo. We have a few more gigs lined up for the year, and we’re always ready to share our songs with a good crowd. We look forward to focusing on performing rather than recording for a little while now, as we never get a bigger high than after a killer performance.”
When did you collectively decide you wanted to make music together?
Kunstgress: “We’re mostly friends from university and started out playing cover songs for fun but quickly moved on to writing our own material. After jamming and tweaking the songs for over a year, the natural next step was to get them recorded.”
What type of audience do you think will be drawn to the sound of ‘Where the Lost Wander’?
Kunstgress: “Anyone who likes rock, whether it’s indie, alternative, or classic rock’n’roll, should give us a listen. Since we’re a six-member band with different musical tastes and songwriters, we sometimes struggle with fitting our music into a specific genre. In the end, we just play what we like ourselves. Hopefully, it resonates with other rock lovers.”
What advice would you give to those working on their debut album?
Kunstgress: “Learn from our mistakes and take your time—make sure you’re happy with your songs before recording them. From there, it’s important to keep trying and be creative when some things don’t work out. Quite a few of our favorite moments on the album came from redoing things and last-minute ideas. Lastly, practice as much as you can. The better you can play, the better the album will sound.”
You can listen to Kunstgress’s new album Where the lost wander released this Friday, here: