Casiokids Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 10th 2010 11:45PM by John Haefele
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Norwegian electro-pop quintet Casiokids are a roving party of effortless cool that happen to play mind melting, toe-tapping, vintage synth funk. Part chaos, part retro meets outer space, the kids use quirky instruments [cello, cassette-recorder, congas] and unorthodox samples [children's radio shows, cassette-books, interviews of communist activists] to craft a sonically absurd audible mash-up that leaves listeners scraping their headphones for musical resin. Add an exhilarating live show that throws in video projection and puppetry, and it's no wonder concert-goers can't stop raving about this high energy Norwegian export. Here's what Casiokid Ketil Endresen had to say about shameless self promotion, meeting a Russian monkey dressed in heart pajamas, and playing in America at this year's SXSW festival.

Describe your sound in your own words.

A Danish magazine once called us the perfect hybrid of Duran Duran, Sigur Ros, and 2Unlimited. We always try to aim for that when working in the studio. But hey, those were not our own words. So then I would probably say that we aim to do something between Whighfield and ABBA, yet fail.

How did your band form?

Casiokids started with Feddi and me having fun with edits, mash-ups and such on our computers in our hometown of Stavanger in the late 90s. We brought our sessions with us to parties, irritated our friends with copied CD-Rs and went around town humming shamelessly to our own songs. Then we put together a band in Bergen some years later with Omar and Kjetil, which turned into something slightly different -- yet with Casios involved and, I hope, some humor intact.

What are your musical influences?

Personally, I would mention Simon and Garfunkel, Radiohead, Arthur Russell, Fela Kuti, and New Order.

How did you come up with your band name?

Basically after making my first song ever using my computer in Stavanger in 1998, I thought of the most horrible name ever, Casiokids, burned the song out and wrote that on the CD-R. After a while I came to love that name though, and I truly think it suits our intentions and style as a group.

What's your biggest vice?

Too much drinking.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Ear plugs and a towel.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Imagination, although I don't feel guilty about it.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

Probably meeting the monkey Anastasia whilst on tour in Russia. I mean, that moment is just stuck in my mind and has not left yet. There's an amazing photo of this meeting at casiokids.com.

Being a band from Norway, did you ever think you would gain recognition in the US?

Well, first of all I'm flattered that you say it like we've gained recognition already. Have we? I don't think that there was ever a point where we thought of where to work or where to try being successful. It's just a combination of coincidences and luck I think, and hopefully the Americans will like our music and give us a fair chance when we come back there in March.

What are your favorite and least favorite things about America?

I love that everything is so clear, big, and easy. Least favorite is the struggle of anything related to getting work visas.

John Haefele is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.