Interview with TrollfesT: ‘The whole concept of the album is based on the flamingo overlord trying to take over the world’

Oslo-based Balkan metal band TrollfesT have released four boisterous and infectious singles from their upcoming ninth album Flamingo Overlord, which tells the tale of a power-hungry flamingo overlord. The album will be released on 27 May 2022.

They humorously – and accurately – describe themselves as ‘more flamboyant than Elton John, as intense as Slipknot, cooler than Limp Bizkit and boasting dance tunes that would make even ABBA proud’, which gives an indication as to just what a hotpot of sound they have created.

The band comprises Jostein “Trollmannen” Austvik (vocals), John Espen Sagstad “Mr.Seidel” (guitar), Fabio Jiru “Grimdrap Glutenfri Fleskeng” (guitar), Eirik Renton “TrollBANK” (vocals & bouzouki), Kai Renton “Fjernkontrollet” (synth, accordion), Dag Stiberg “DrekkaDag” (saxophone), Øyvind Erik Strønen Johannesen “Lodd Bolt” (bass, vocals) and Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow “Kjellkje” (drums, vocals).

Founded by Austvik and Seidel in 2003, they have had a few different line ups over the years, although Seidel initially studied sound technology with the band’s first bass player and drummer. The name – which means “troll party” – was one of two final options, the other of which was The Devil’s Dangleberries. ‘It’s nice, the idea of a “troll party”,’ Austvik said. ‘The other name didn’t go to waste. In 2012, we played the Infernal festival (a metal festival in Oslo), where we brought in friends to play. Normally, we’re seven people onstage but on this occasion, we were 12, with two acoustic guitars, two bouzoukies and an extra percussion player. We called the acoustic guys that night The Devil’s Dangleberries!’

‘We try to mix it up, it makes it a lot of fun for us’

The teaser tracks for the new album included ‘Flamingo Libre’, ‘Piña Colada’ and ‘Twenty Miles An Hour’ and the artwork showing a maniacal flamingo sets the tone for the stories within: ‘Each song tells a different tale from the same story, so there is one story from the beginning to the end of the record,’ Austvik said. ‘The whole concept of the album is based on the flamingo overlord trying to take over the world (laughs). ”Flamingo Libre’ is about the mind controlling substances he gives everyone to make them more pliable. A lot of our ideas come when we’re touring, having some beers and entertaining ourselves. This album is no exception to that rule. We try to mix it up, it makes it a lot of fun for us. Hopefully, some of the joy and enthusiasm we feel will be contagious for people listening to our songs.’

TrollfesT had the album title ‘Flamingo Overlord’ in their mind early on in the album process, although Austvik doesn’t remember how they came up with it: ‘Each song tells a separate story, I find that a little bit fitting. I imagine dictators are unpredictable; one minute they’re eating the cake, the next minute they start murdering people for farting too loudly (laughs). The schizophrenia of the album mirrors the dictator’s mood.’

‘Flamingo Libre’ is a reference to the drink the flamingo overlord is peddling and opens with someone slurping a straw before the psychedelic flamingo party kicks off, accompanied by some serious shredding, a saxophone, organs and a catchy steampunk chorus. It’s as brilliant and raucous as it sounds.

As it kicks off: ‘Hey! You wanna drink? Give me a wink but don’t puke in the sink. I’ll give you something that is powerful. Something dirty and magical. Something frozen and tropical. I’ll show you something called Flamingo Libre.’

‘The only thing we all agree on is that Balkan metal is great’

They have honed a unique sound over the years, mashing up metal with pop, Balkan folk music, accordions and the saxophone, creating songs that are energetic, frenetic and joyous to listen to: ‘That’s sort of what we’re trying to go for, to make our music eclectic and experimental,’ Austvik said. ‘Most of us are big fans of Mr. Bungle (a Californian experimental rock band from the 80’s). They released three albums in the 90’s and early 2000’s, it’s very experimental stuff. They have lots of different genres in one song. We all have fairly different tastes in music which definitely colours our sound a lot. The only thing we all agree on is that Balkan metal is great (laughs) and black metal is also great! We don’t have anyone with Balkan roots in the band but we love Balkan folk music, the unusual chords and rhythms that they use. Some of my favourite artists are Jordi Savall, Tool, Igorrr, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Diablo Swing Orchestra, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Farmers Market.’

‘Flamingo Libre’ also marks a new first for the band: it is the first time that Jiru has sung lead vocals: ‘I usually write most of the lyrics but for ‘Flamingo Libre’ our guitar player did the main vocals. It’s the first time he sang with us but he also sings in another metal band here, Fleshmeadow, they’re more death metal.’

‘It’s about what the rest of the world is doing when the dictator ramps up his stuff’

‘Piña Colada’ tells a very different kind of tale and is essentially the flip side of the story in ‘Flamingo Libre’ told across a metallic, reggae track: ‘It’s about what the rest of the world is doing when the dictator ramps up his stuff (laughs),’ Austvik said. ‘The dictator has been perfecting the lies he serves people and the rest of the world is oblivious to his machinations. It’s a parallel with today’s society and some democratic institutions fading away. It feels that the world has become less interested in the institutions that keep society going. I feel most institutions have been made into play things for corrupt and spineless politicians who have made politics so unreliable, bureaucratic and boring that no-one can bother keeping up with it and, as a result, the greedy sociopaths gets to dismantle and destroy everything for their own short-term profit – institutions like education, health care, welfare, unions and our financial system.’

However, the accompanying video is more light hearted, capturing the feeling that your best friend is partying on a tropical island but you are stuck at the same old local bar in the middle of winter not being given the drink you want. As Austvik puts it: ‘Friends are important, that is why we have made a video to remind everyone how horribly wrong things can go when you are alone. Also, don’t be a picky fuzzmaker and pester your bartender!’

As the intro to the song goes: ‘I don’t want a beer. I don’t want a whiskey. I don’t want tequila (I’m drinking piña colada all day). I don’t want campari. I don’t want sangria. I don’t want prosecco (I’m drinking piña colada all night).’

Mr. TrollBANK, their former drummer but now bouzouki player, continues to write songs for the band: ‘He’s still our main music writer,’ Austvik said. ‘He’ll send me demo tapes and I’ll listen. Sometimes, I’ll write lyrics based on the associations I get when I listen to the music but recently, like with this album, we’ve been getting into the idea of a concept album.’

Changing each album up sonically is what makes them tick. In their previous album, Norwegian Fairytales (2019), they sing in Norwegian and the tracks, although still essentially metal, have a greater folk influence: ‘We’re really fond of trying out new things, of trying new musical combinations,’ he said. ‘We already have AC/DC making the same album over and over again with the same chords (laughs), we don’t need to do that. I love AC/DC though, they were my first musical love. But we don’t necessarily need a lot of bands doing the same thing. We actively try to avoid repeating ourselves. It makes it much more interesting as a musician, it doesn’t stagnate.’

‘It kept me occupied for most of the show, I couldn’t stop looking at them’

Such is the exuberance of their live shows that they attract an equally ebullient crowd, according to Austvik: ‘We did a festival in France where we had two guys head banging up the front and they each had a huge leek in their hand, whipping around with the leeks in the air (laughs). It kept me occupied for most of the show, I couldn’t stop looking at them. I never did find out what they were for!’

Another track on the upcoming album, ‘Twenty Miles An Hour’, is about the dictator’s journey to the top. The title is something of a misnomer because it is anything but slow – it actually picks up the pace as it goes along – with a groovy, funk flavoured sound, featuring both rap and shredding. The full length album closes with the mysterious ‘Bob Venke’, telling the unlikely story of the mighty flamingo overlord’s quest for world domination.

‘It hints at the political party the flamingo overlord joins to find his way into the halls of power,’ Austvik said. ‘There’s a line in the chorus “There’s a party going on, there’s a party going strong” and I liked the double meaning in that.’

As the song goes: ‘Form a party with political aims (hon!), steal and hoard the financial gains (hon!). On the backs of our workers, we ride, twenty miles an hour on the wrong side.’

We chat a few days before this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, so I ask him if TrollfesT could imagine writing a song for it and it turns that they were actually invited to perform their ‘Dance Like A Pink Flamingo’ track from the upcoming album at the Eurovision qualifier Melodi Grand Prix earlier this year. ‘We didn’t get selected to represent Norway but we came eleventh out of a few hundred submissions,’ he said, sounding genuinely delighted. ‘I don’t think we would have gotten 12 points from any country but I think we would have gotten 8-10 points from several countries (laughs). It was a lot of fun for us to be part of that. We got some lovely costumes out of it and a music video. Have you seen our Spotify picture? That photo of all of us in pink dresses was taken from that night. We played metal music so most people would not like it, and just to shoot ourselves completely in the foot, we dressed in pink so most of the few people who do like metal music would not like it either (laughs). They’ll be our tour costumes for the next year!’

If he could hear one of their songs from ‘Flamingo Overlord’ on a movie, he picks a blockbuster: ‘I’ll say Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. They’re so popular, they’d make us a lot of money! You know, I’d love to hear one of our songs in Deadpool, that’d be very cool. I like the whole fucking around with everything, breaking down the fourth wall (which means that the character Deadpool can interact with the audience and acknowledge the fact that he exists in a fictional universe). It’s obvious that they had a lot of fun making the film. It’s lovely when you can feel that joy. I’ll give them ‘Dance Like A Pink Flamingo’!’

(Top photo from left to right: Kjellkje, Fabio, Lodd Bolt, Trollmannen, Fjernkontrollet, Drekkadag and Mr. Seidel. Photo credit: NRK)