We covered the latest album Black Soul Choir by Wolves Like Us about a month ago – read our review here. We caught up with singer/guitarist Larsh to find out a bit more.
Who are you and what do you do?
‘Sup, buddy? I’m Larsh, I sing and play the guitar.
Where did the band’s name come from?
Our drummer Jonas came up with it, I really don’t know what his thoughts were about it. For me it’s a nice metaphor for being in a group of people trying to accomplish the same goal, namely making tolerable music.
How did you get started?
Jonas and I worked at the same venue, our bands at the time were either breaking up or were on hiatus, so we decided to get together and jam. Fun times ensued. Four years later, we are still doing it.
What have you got going on at the moment?
We have just released our 2nd LP Black Soul Choir, and we are playing Norway at the moment to promote it. We are also going to mainland Europe in April.
Best experience in the business?
Meeting Bruce Springsteen. Nice guy too. Also playing in front of 3000 people at Groezrock. Good times.
Why should Soundscape readers care?
Why care about anything really? I’m not interested in making disinterested people like my band. If you don’t like it, I couldn’t care less. We do this for ourselves. And free booze.
Tell our readers an interesting fact about yourself?
I’m a pathological liar.
What’s your writing and recording process?
Very diverse. Some songs are made on the spot in 5 minutes, others take years of demoing and trial and error. Recording? I’m what you may call “technically challenged” so I basically show up, plug in and play. I leave the other stuff to the Gandalf wizards that operate the shiny blinking stuff that say “Ohms” and “Watts”. I have no idea.
What inspires you?
Everything and nothing. Books, films, my kid. My woman. Getting old. Listening to The Afghan Whigs. Reading. Living in dirty old Oslo.
Who are your role models/idols?
Greg Dulli. Charles Bukowski. People who take life by the balls, and make great art about it.
Hardest thing about the current business?
Getting heard through the utter magnitude of static noise produced by too many bands that try to copy someone else. I`m old and bitter as you might have already guessed. That, and money. As in, there is none of it.
What are your future plans?
My plan is to keep this up as long as we still make music that I feel is good. After that I`m going to get my black belt in Jiu Jitsu.
