- Gabriele Filippi
- Mar 2021
- 13 min
- 1128 views
On the occasion of the release of their single “Morning star,” we retrace the journey made to date by this high voltage rock band.
And in view of their upcoming EP, let’s find out more Electric High juices with a new interview.
They started from the most vehement peaks. From the louder crests. With the most biting and feverish outbursts. Then as their releases took place, things gradually got even further intriguing. Dark. Distorted. From the upside-down, we could say, or from the other side, one would think.
Song after song, the pyretic excitement arising from the most spasmodic first songs expanded into something more intimate, deepening the musical delivery, guiding us towards more sad abysses.
In this epidermal shift, organic as well as pervasive, the work adorned by the Electric High act now finds a sort of plateau on which to spread the intrinsic roots of the creative vision of this captivating moniker.
And it is precisely in this way that the descending scale with which “Morning Start,” the single signed by Electric High released at the end of January 2021, opens, ferries us with phlegm Charonesque in a mysterious musical Shadowscape.
The thrill aroused by the sabbatical assonances is the fitting preamble, not to a chilling cold curled upon of its own sterile mortality, but rather to a lustful fire ready to make us palpitate.
To illuminate the gloomy darkness of this infernal cave, that rising star takes the field, which craves struggles. And as the black fire of the abyss we have slipped into thickens its fumigations and tries to instill its gangrenous fumes, that star invigorates its survival instinct.
It not only rises, but as it expands, it pulls out its fingernails showing its shaggy five-pointed shape, and strengthens its being by invigorating the warm-white fire within.
Thus, in an anaerobic post-apocalyptic scenario where nothing can live or breathe anymore, where living beings become empty shells that dangle and wander scattered without purpose or goal, the phosphoric light of a new star sanctions the rising of a new morning.
Although it cannot trace a new path, that morning establishes how existence is still a reason to design a way to get out of this sort of obscurantist Middle Ages, which may not fiscally touch the flesh, but certainly wounds hearts, souls, and minds.
Given the scope of the song, for how it lends itself to being made attributable to the sadness of the historical period we are experiencing, the auditory material that Electric High offers represents an encyclopedic tome; something that we could define as almost “biblical.”
Nonetheless, it argues, feeds, and expresses that atavistic and ancestral need that belongs to us: to survive. But since we are sentient beings, the survival instinct inherent in modern man needs an argumentative accompaniment that is also philosophical: to survive for a purpose.
And here a myriad of subjective rivulets start to stream, scarifying the skin of a modern society to which we belong, revealing convictions, substance, religiosity, affections that yesterday, as today, as tomorrow we have stuck and will continue to attribute to the points of that five-star shimmering tips of white light, sometimes a dirty white.
“Morning Star” is not afraid to delve into the turmoil of modern society. And to probe its many facets, it exploits the visual element through not one but 5 music videos, each conceived and vectorized by the personal vision of each member of the band.
From mysticism to iconography, from the pentacle to the banner, from the mellifluous pendulum to the ticking of the clock that marks the passing of time, from the desolating vastness of empty deserts to tree roots grown with ancestral knots under millenary starry skies. The five music videos accompanying the single indirectly suggest how we are still children of the Enlightenment era. But this does not prevent us from unleashing wars aimed at overthrowing symbols and obelisks believed to belong to stocks that are not part of our backyard, to the point of waging wicked crusades shouting: I will tear down your star and burn it with the purifying fire of mine.
A displaced image that sees us walking on a tightrope stands in the background, while dogmas and superimposed values numb and ”pollute” our perception of a reality that seems fiction for how wicked it is. But in reality, it is a harsh truth, naked, raw, and bitter.
The latest work penned by Electric High amazes for the multi-layering readability and relatability brought by the message offered. The track is a genuine firstborn of the Rock genre, drenched in a hard-dark style, and the fact that each member of the band wanted to deliver his own personal vision of “Morning Star” corroborates the grand scheme.
It is no mystery, for those behind the pages of this blog Electric High represents a great act. Being something special we have covered all their releases to date. Not least we have selected them for an episode of Bullet Question With.
Yet as this band progresses on its path, we feel we have only scratched on the surface the density of its delivery.
Hence we got back to the band for a new interview. Well, maybe more a chatty talk. Anyway, here we go to share what they tell us. So, scroll down to find out more, and keep on reading to discover what happened!
Read more on Electric High
Electric High // Sleeping With The Enemy
Norwegian rock band Electric High is back with “Sleeping With The Enemy,” brand-new electrifying 4th single – now accompanied by an official video – delivering a shocking full-set made to vibrate in your speakers.
Electric High // Waiting With A Gun
Electric High rise the stakes, releasing their gritty and grooving third single ‘Waiting With A Gun’.
Electric High // Reproducing Man
Norwegian band Electric High strikes back with the new electrifying single Reproducing Man.
Electric High // Harder To Justify
A source of pure rock energy. Electric High showcase radical authenticity and uniqueness with their debut single Harder To Justify.
Bullet Questions With ELECTRIC HIGH // on .: Nova Music blog
Eager to learn more about Electric High? Are you yearning to discover fan factors, curiosities, or secrets about their view, their music, and their creative edge?
Then check out Bullet Questions With Electric High – our video interview, available on the Nova Music blog YouTube channel.
As a new Q&A format we recently launched, Bullet Question With aims to offer a nice and interesting glimpse of some remarkable acts, which we selected among those covered by our blog.
Check this link for more, and be sure to subscribe to our channel, to not miss the next episodes.
Interviewing: ELECTRIC HIGH
After the frontmen PV Staff and Olav Iversen, the two lead singers seen in Bullet Questions With Electric High, our host Gabriele Filippi hooked up one again with Electric High. This time the string section answers: guitarist Marius Mørch and bassist Einride Torvik.
Gabriele Filippi: Hi Marius and Einride. Welcome back! Not long ago we hooked up for an episode of Bullet Questions With. Now here we are again for a new chat! Promised, this time I will try to be a little less “frivolous” … maybe?
Einride Torvik: Thanks a lot for that! We’ll do our best to make that happen!
Marius Mørch: Our pleasure (laughs)
GF: Your first work, “Harder to Justify,” came out about a year ago. More precisely it was January 2020. But let’s start from the very beginning. What led you to plug together in this project?
ET: It all started with PV calling me at 13 PM, totally wasted, asking me if I was awake. It turned out that he was stuck in Alta (about as far north as you can get in Norway and still be in the middle of nowhere). He had been drinking all through the night and I quote him “Ein, I finally know what to do! We’ll start this new band, and believe me, we’ll rule the world.”
I’ve been playing with PV in various band constellations since 1989 and there’s no one else I rather be drinking with, so I said YES, let’s go with it!
MM: The way I remember it, PV, one of our two lead singers, had an idea of a rock band with two lead singers.
When Ein (Einride, Ed.) asked me to check out two songs for a new project, I think all of today’s members were involved with the project. After hearing the riff-heavy track “Harder to Justify,” I immediately thought: Wow there’s some really good songwriting goin’ on here!
ET: Yep, that’s true. PV knew who he wanted, Olav and TB were already in, and he knew what type of guitar player we needed and gave me the task to find him. I remembered this film artist and great musician who has been working as an art handler until he got fed up with the whole art scene and I knew that this was our man, we just had to convince him. See, he’s an artist but still the steadiest of us all 🙂 We needed him.
MM: And from then on we had a few drinking sessions with the whole bunch, and started playing and drinking or the other way around 😉
You know, we practiced in this cold, smelly and awful cellar – called “the reactor” – with the occasional rat running by our feet. And just above us there was a nice little Pub, so the choice was pretty easy that first year. We would rather go upstairs to the Pub, than practice. But still, we managed to get our first 4 singles made in that dump, as well as getting the band going. So there you have it, the humble beginnings of the band.
ET: By the way, the Cellar was actually named “The Nuclear Reactor ”, and was owned by a Christian organization called IOGT, which works with drug prevention. We actually landed the band name at that pub, doing a survey there one night, showing the rest of the guests a shortlist of band names, and it took some time for me to accept my number one suggestion “Delfia High” didn’t win.
MM: (Laughs)
GF: There is always a certain electrostatic charge in your music, hovering latently in the air. Sometimes it works with accumulations, sometimes it thunders with lightning discharges. Aren’t you afraid to play with high voltage?
MM: First, we were afraid of that. So we all got electrocuted, as shown in the “Reproducing Man” video. We just had to earn the name of the band!
ET: Speak for yourself man! 🙂 I grew up in the countryside with a father who had his own power plant, and he taught me how to piss on the power fence for the cows. My father-in-law also has his own power plant. In addition to that, you have to keep in mind that we are from the west coast of Norway, high mountains and clouds always surround us, electricity is in our bones, there’s always trouble in sight, even when the sun is shining.
MM: (Laughs) Sounds like you’re the main guy in that Mortal (Torden) movie 😉
ET: Well my name meaning is actually Thor with the Hammer 🙂
GF: After the “mess” told in the video for “Harder To Justify” came “Reproducing Man.” Then COVID and the various lockdowns have brought many artists to their knees while you have moved on and come out with new music. How did you cope with this heavy and unexpected challenge, and how difficult and demanding was it to continue fueling your booming rise?
ET: Harder to justify is still our most expensive video, and that’s not because of the production costs. We did the video at Landmark in Bergen Kunsthall while the neighboring museum had a huge Edvard Munch show on. Bergen Kunsthall shares the same back entrance, and we somehow managed to trigger the museum’s fire alarm with all the smoke. The police and fire brigade were not happy when I tried to explain that everything was totally fine: wasted, in leather pants, make up and cowboy hat with flashing glasses on. (Laughs)
“Reproducing Man” was shot at Hoggorm, a hipster pizza & wine venue where personalities as Datarock and Gahl frequently showed up. Hoggorm is not a live venue, and we thought it was a splendid idea to do the video for Reproducing Man there, and later in March do the release/ debut concert. The concert was set to be on the 22nd of March. We had some issues with providing enough electricity there and also getting a bit worried about how many guests we could host due to strict rules in Norway. With a hotel as the nearest neighbor, we kind of started thinking this could be as the video shoot for Harder To Justify. Then Norway shut down.
MM: We had to cancel some gigs, so that was a bummer. But we still met up for band practice and worked as usual. We went into the Studio, made our latest two singles in that session. I ended up getting the virus in the end and had to get isolated for a week. Hopefully we see some better times ahead!
ET: We also did our first pay-to-play concert as an opening act for the great band Magic Touch. Check them out. Even though it was fantastic playing live, it was a bit awkward when the crowd had to be seated in a very strict manner. Corona rules. We also did some streaming events, which was good practice for coming TV shows 🙂
But corona could never take away the Viking’s right to drink, and as we really enjoy the opportunity to meet up and have a good time, new song ideas kept flowing in, and we really had a lot of great fun making new fantastic stuff. So looking forward to sharing it with you all.
GF: We like to resemble your music as some sort of Rock synthesis: towering pinnacles, driving bridges, layering, and granulometric additions, all chiseled with conscious finesse. How do you manage to find this precious balance between visceral vibrancy and musical cunning?
MM: Is it a question … or memories of an acid trip or something … 😉
ET: (Laughs) I would just say, it’s all about wine and age. De Luca, Corvina, and our age. The wine we drink benefits our life experience and age.
GF: “Harder To Justify” was the cannon shot to get out of the pile. “Reproducing Man” emphasizes your histrionic verve, which amuses and engages. Then contrary to what might have been expected, instead of continuing to climb the slope of the striking touch, “Waiting With a Gun” arrived. The delivery got somewhat cleaner? We could say more than dried, laid bare. Perhaps to convey and address the message in an even sharper way?
MM: I’ve never thought of “Waiting..” as having a cleaner sound… maybe the drum intro. It’s a more heavy track I would say, with a more muddy guitar sound. And it probably got more angry lyrics than some of the others. It’s a different direction than the earlier numbers I know and it shows that Electric High is a quite diverse kind of rockband. We all listen to very different kinds of music and it all comes out in our sound I guess. There’s even Saxophone on that track, btw.
ET: Many thanks, I actually appreciate what you are saying, and I think it’s true. The expression is cleaner here, and it’s needed for this song, it had to be this focused and angry in a way, but we promise, there will be a lot of heading back to the roots materials with a lovely mix of all the music each of us strong individuals really believe in.
GF: And with “Sleeping with the Enemy” you have sealed your alternative view. Great iconography imbued with meanings. Moreover, the song is no exception. In about 40 seconds it seems to have taken you the whole ride. So is there a message coming from an “other side”?
ET: Yeah! Many thanks. Don’t gamble with love!
GF: The journey we have drawn so far looks like a roller coaster at first glance. However, as your tracks follow one another we realize that after the feverish trembling you feel before getting on the carousel, we are left with all the time and space to admire a spectacular and vast panorama from the top of a Ferries Wheel. Far from being delusional, can it be a distillation of that bittersweet nectar given to us every single day? A little poison, a little vaccine?
ET: Oh yes, it’s like that Queens Of The Stone Age tune, “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer.” Listen to the lyrics: this is what to be expected from our end. In fact, we already got the perfect hit to give you all when this pandemic is over. We’re just a bit short on financials to get all ideas out as soon as they deserve.
GF: And with “Sleeping with the Enemy” you have sealed your alternative view. Just look at the artwork – that knife “hidden” behind, captures more than what’s on the back, while the Electric High moniker is carved as a tattoo on the skin. Great iconography imbued with meanings. Morevoer the song is no exception. In about 40 seconds it seems to have taken you the whole ride, but she’s ready to backstab you. So is there a message coming from an “other side”?
ET: Yeah! Many thanks. Don’t gamble with love!
GF: So here we are at Morning Star, your latest single. Does this dark five-pointed white star represent some kind of restless stillness that precedes the storm?
ET: We actually made 5 videos for this one, as in one each. It’s funny how the result shows the individual personalities of each of us. They’re released on youtube now, just watch them and see. There is so much darkness within all of us human beings. Even though Morning Star might be the nearest to a “ballad” we have done so far, it contains so much true felt aggression towards the world around us as it is now. But, look out for our next release, Go Easy! That one shows a truly different side of us again!
GF: Your journey has just begun, starting just over a year ago. “Only” 5 singles released. Yet we feel we have barely scratched the surface. So where do you see yourself in a few years from now?
MM: Well I think there’s a lot of potential in this band and think it will progress more and more. What I love about being in this band is the dedication put into it. Great guys and great music basically. We’ve all been around the block a few times and know what it takes to make a good rock band. Hopefully, we’ll have a couple of records out over the next few years, as well as getting to play some gigs again.
ET: Yeah, this is (as most things) really individual thoughts about among us. We got it all covered, from filling large venues to still be able to meet up and drink together. What is for sure though is that we got so much more to show you all. We already got enough material for album #2 and 3. It is to live and let die.
GF: Let’s tighten the window of time. Any anticipation on what you have in store after the EP?
MM: By the time the e.p comes out, we’ll be entering the studio with some killer new material! So we’re all really excited about that. That’s our main focus right now. You can also expect to see a video for the “Go easy on my heart” single! Which is my favorite EH track so far.
ET: Keep on enjoying it! I’m personally thrilled to be able to work with these fine people and musical geniuses! Can’t wait to hammer 6 smoking hot new hits to the Electric Highs.
GF: A motto or a good omen for tomorrow to share with our readers?
MM: There’s nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out.
ET: Stop watching TV-series and the tabloid news, terminate your Facebook account and you’ll be a less depressed human being.
- .: Nova MUSIC blog // March 2021
Listen now to "Morning Star," the latest Interview by Electric High, available in streaming on all major digital platforms. You can find your favorite one via electrichigh.hearnow.com/morning-star
To know more about this electrifying Rock band, find and follow Electric High all over the web by checking the links below:
<\span>You can also discover "Morning Star" and Electric High music by listening to our playlist NOVA ERA, a weekly rotation featuring an eclectic selection of artists covered by the Nova MUSIC blog.
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