Slomosa: The Best Time Every Time

We’ve been huge fans of Norwegian tundra rockers Slomosa since first hearing the masterpiece that is ‘In My Mind’s Desert’. For us, it’s the standout track amongst the abundance of riches that make up their 2020 self-titled debut album.

Showcasing the band’s knack for catchy songwriting, the track builds to a masterful hammer on guitar riff that's both a rewarding payoff and an emotional release.

Infused with influences from stoner rock, grunge and prog, the track and the album that sired it have lost none of their appeal with the passing of time. They still deliver.

Bringing things right up to date, latest single ‘Battling Guns’ is another belter from these Bergen-based riff meisters. As well as calling to mind Queens of the Stone Age's excellent 'Go With The Flow', it has a killer outro riff that you need to hear.

Serving up what they’ve dubbed tundra rock, a unique and satisfying Scandinavian twist on Californian desert rock, Slomosa is guitarist and singer Benjamin Berdous, guitarist Tor Erik Bye, bassist Marie Moe, and drummer Jard Hole.

First formed in 2017, their lineup was cemented in 2020, just days before Norway’s Covid lockdown put the country on pause. The band has more than made up for lost time in the years since, pursuing an outrageously relentless schedule of tours and festival appearances.

To be honest, when we contacted Slomosa for an interview we kind of expected they’d be too busy to speak to us. Happily, we were wrong.

Singer and guitarist Ben, and bassist Marie, generously took time out from prepping for their first ever US tour, kicking off next month, to chat with us about the band, how it came to be, the Norwegian rock scene, and more.

For badass riffs, the coolest tundra rock, and rats in Swansea, read on!

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Hey, Slomosa. Please introduce us to the band.

MARIE – We have Benjamin on vocals and guitar and songwriting.  And then it’s Yard, who's the drummer. Then it’s Thor Erik on the guitars, and me on the bass.

Describe Slomosa’s sound for anyone who hasn't heard you before.

BEN – Okay, the sound of Slomosa is heavy tundra rock. That’s what we call the genre. It’s a Norwegian spin on desert rock. That’s why we coined the term, and pretty early in the band’s career.

MARIE – Heavy, heavy rock with punk attitude. 

How did the band start?

BEN – Well, me and Anders [Rørlien], who was the previous guitarist in Slomosa,  started the band. We’d grown up together and played in bands when we were teenagers. Later, we were sharing an apartment here in town for, like, six years.

One day, we decided to dig out the riffs we had and, you know, maybe play something. We started jamming in our living room. After a while, we kinda figured, let’s start a band. We decided to take it out of our living room and into a band room.

We played our first show in, maybe, early 2017. I never exactly remember. We didn’t play that well, but the reception was good. I think people could hear what we were trying to do.

What happened next?

BEN – We were ambitious in our songwriting, but we didn’t have ambitions for anything to happen. We recorded an album, but it took a long time because it wasn't a a big project in our lives at that time; it was just something to do.

We got a little bit surprised, overwhelmed, by the reception the first single got. And then the second single. And then the third. When the album came out, we were taken aback by the response. It was so positive.

When and how did Marie join the band?

BEN – In the meantime, two of the band had moved to Oslo to pursue their master's degrees. They moved away and quit the band as well. But, you must understand, we were a band that had played just a couple of shows. It wasn’t like a big thing.

Then we had to get Marie in. She was the only one I thought of. I didn’t know her personally, but I knew she was a really good bass player.

MARIE – I was in a band for like 13 years. In 2019 we kind of quit. It was maybe known to people that I was available. Ben just called me one day and asked would I like to join Slomosa. I think ‘Horses’ was already out. I’d heard it and was interested.

I hadn’t really played that kind of music before – my previous band was more of a pop punk band – but I think I said yes at once. I got sent the rest of the songs and the first rehearsal went really well.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Do you remember your first Slomosa gig with this lineup?

MARIE – Yes, it was in Voss, where Tor Erik is from. It was in a cellar with lots of crazy people. I remember the response was very good. I wasn't used to that kind of response, that kind of energy. That gig was the weekend before, maybe three days before, Covid hit.

What was the Covid response in Norway? Did you have lockdown too?

BEN – There was a total lockdown at the start. Pretty strict. Not as liberal as Sweden’s measures, but later we could play seated concerts. We did that quite a lot, actually. I think we did fifteen Covid gigs.

We played only one or two standing gigs before Covid, then all seated gigs. And only in Norway, of course. We could not travel to other countries. But I think it was important that we could still play gigs during Covid. It kept us going. We were a pretty new band; we hadn’t played together that long.

What’s the dynamic in the band now? Who’s the organiser? Who’s the diva?

MARIE – I think Tor Erik is definitely the organiser. Yeah, he is always on top of everything when we go to shows. So that's for sure. Who’s the diva? Uh, I think it’s you, Ben.

BEN – Is it me?

MARIE – Yeah, always disappearing when we're loading. We have to ask, like ten times a day, where is Ben? Always off somewhere.

BEN – Maybe. Marie’s the party maker. But she has demands too. If we’re the support band, you know, she tells the main band what we’re supposed to do on tour.

The party maker and the elusive diva. Ben, you mentioned you used to write with Anders. How do you write now?

BEN – Typically, we start with my home demos. We have the best riff bank, including some that Anders or I made years ago. I make demos with the riffs we have and I present them to the band. We play the riffs, arrange the song and then the vocals come little by little. In the end, it’s a song.

It’s totally different now from how it used to be. When we started, we would be in the band room all the time, just jamming. That’s how we wrote the first album. Now we have to write a record whilst being a touring band. That’s a totally different experience.

What have been your biggest highlights so far?

MARIE – Hellfest 2022 was very special, I think because we had low expectations about how many people were going to be there for us. But they all knew the songs! It was just crazy to play that festival. I think for all of us, it was just very weird, in a good way.

BEN – For me, I think it was our first gig abroad. It was Antwerp, in Belgium, in 2021. That was pretty unbelievable, ‘cause we didn’t know if people had heard of us, or if people would come to see us. But it was a mental gig. The place was full. That was a very special moment.

You’ve achieved a lot. What’s the secret of your success?

BEN – Tricky one. It's hard to judge from the inside. As a band, we’re all pulling in the same direction, no one is getting high on crazy stuff. This may be a little bit cheesy, but we try to play every concert as if it’s our last. We give it our all.

MARIE – I totally agree. We deliver the songs with intensity, and they’re really good songs. When we’re on stage, we all want to be there and we’re enjoying it as much as the crowd. It’s a joy.

Do you have a favourite track to perform live? 

MARIE – For me it's ‘Horses’. It’s not that hard to play, not like ‘There is Nothing New Under the Sun’ which is physically very hard to play, so I need to save a little energy for that. ‘Horses’ is the last song of the set, so I can relax and just let it out.

BEN – Yeah, mine’s ‘Horses’ too. It just feels good to play that song. It’s easy to play and it just grooves.

What’s the best thing about being in a band?

MARIE – I think it's just the music and friends. It's the best thing: playing music, listening to music, drinking beer, having a good time. It's the best, being part of the pack, being a unit, being part of something bigger.

BEN – It’s all the fun things: meeting people, playing the music. It’s just nice to be in a band.

What’s the worst thing?

BEN – Getting up! Lots of times we have to get up at four or five in the morning to get flights to shows. Yeah, no sleep is the worst thing.

If you could be in any band, now or at any time, which would it be?

MARIE – No, I just want to be in Slomosa.

BEN – Slomosa in 2050.

Very specific! Please tell us about Norway’s rock scene.

BEN – It’s alive and breathing. There are a lot of rock bands and punk bands. And we have a metal scene, of course. We have some big rock bands from here, like Kvelertak.

Another band is El Caco. Their first record is amazing! The first desert rock record in Norway. Maybe beyond Norway not so many people have heard of them, but they’re rock legends.

MARIE – It’s still a niche in Norway, because we're not that many people. The rock scene isn't the biggest in the country, if you know what I mean.

You’ve played here in the UK. Do UK audiences differ from elsewhere?

BEN – It can be pretty wild in the UK. Maybe the audience is a little older than in some countries, but we always enjoy playing there. We have great fans and friends in the UK. I mean, this weekend we met Dave and Nadine who’d travelled from Birmingham to Belgium just to see us.

We had a weird concert in Swansea once. We played for 10 people and we had rats backstage. To be honest, people had warned us about how awful it would be touring in the UK, but I’ve always enjoyed every show in the UK. There’s always been such a lot of nice people there and the reception is good. People always support the band by buying merch.

You’ve achieved a lot. What advice do you have for someone starting their musical journey?

BEN – Just make something you would listen to yourself.

Sound advice. What’s next for Slomosa?

MARIE – We're going to the US for the first time in September.  That's kind of the next big thing. And then we release our second album 'Tundra Rock' on 13th of September.

We also go straight from the US tour to a European tour in October. It's going to be a lot of playing. Then it’s a Norwegian tour and, I think, UK next year.

More fun and games in Swansea. What are your dreams for the band?

BEN – I mean, if we can do headliner tours in all kinds of countries, you know, and there’s enough people listening to the music, I will probably feel like we’ve succeeded. And if we can make a living from doing this.

It’s hard to think because everything that has happened until now was totally unexpected. I would never have thought this would be happening. I’m just enjoying getting surprised. Everything just feels like a bonus. It’ll be exciting to see what happens when the new album comes out.

We can’t wait to hear it. Thanks so much for making time to speak with us; we know you guys are really busy. Any final words for your fans?

BEN – We have some badass new riffs cooking. I’m pretty impatient to get new songs out there that we can play.

MARIE – Stay tuned and come to our concerts. We promise to deliver the best time every time.

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▶︎ 'Battling Guns' by Slomosa is streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music and elsewhere.