Rebel 51 |
Well, I did not get a lot of information about the band. Can you tell me in a few words the OUTLASTED story ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Sure, I’ll take you through the evolution of the band. Me and keyboard player Odd-Børge HANSEN have been making music together for a long time and around 2005 we started getting more serious about song-writing. We kind of educated ourselves about how to make great AOR-songs by studying the classics trying to figure out what make a great song.
We auditioned several singers over the years until we met Glenn WIKRAN in 2013, and in him we found a singer that suited our writing style. By then we had recorded most of the debut album Into The Night and we finished it with Glenn laying down his vocal tracks and background vocals.
After that we recruited a drummer and a bass player who has later been replaced by Andreas JENTOFT on drums and Lasse INGEBRIGTSEN on bass.
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Rebel 51 |
Can you present us each musician of the band ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
We have a great rhythm section in Andreas and Lasse. They are both seasoned professionals with a lot of live experience. Glenn has an amazing voice as I’m sure most people agree upon, and he’s a really good guitar player too. Odd-Børge is a great keyboard player who brings a lot to the sound of the band. He’s the glue that keeps it all together. I’m wearing several hats as the guitarist, songwriter, engineer and producer.
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Rebel 51 |
What is your musical education and what band(s) or guitarist(s) push you to involve in rock music ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
I have a sound engineering degree and just enough musical education to understand basic music theory and have a vocabulary. Beside this I’m very much self-taught when it comes to guitar playing and song writing. I’m all about AOR and classic rock so that’s where I come from. My passion is song writing and production, but guitar is the instrument I chose because I wanted to be Paul STANLEY when I was young! Haha!
There are so many great guitar players that I admire, but if I have to choose, my short list would be in no particular order : Kee MARCELLO – the work he did on EUROPE’s Prisoner In Paradise and Out Of This World is, well, out of this world! I also love John NORUM’s guitar playing and Torstein FLAKNE from STAGE DOLLS. Then you have Richie SAMBORA and John SYKES – great players! I also have to mention Tim PIERCE and Mike SLAMER.
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Rebel 51 |
I read most of the compositions are your creation Terje. Can you explain the process of recording with your musicians ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Correct, I initiate most of the songs. Every writer approach this differently, but it always starts with a great chorus for me. Without a great chorus there is nothing to build on in my opinion! I usually have the chorus and maybe the verse figured out and I’ll play the idea for Odd-Børge (keys). We then bounce of each other until we have all the parts and structure of the song.
I often have the song title, lyrics for either the chorus or the verse and then Glenn will add he’s final touches. With that said, Glenn has written some of the lyrics on the new album by himself and I have also written some of songs purely on my own.
Then we demo the song either by programming the drums or recording them with real drums. After the basic demo is done we upload it to Dropbox and let it sit there until we pick the songs to record properly. We have written about 13-14 songs for each album, so there’s still some songs in the vault that did not make the albums. Maybe they will be bonus tracks later on or appear on future releases. Who knows?!
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Rebel 51 |
Was it hard to be guitarist, producer and engineer for Waiting For Daybreak without losing what you have in mind for the compositions and for the sound ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Yes and no! Haha! I loved engineering and producing the record, but it was a lot of work to handle on my own! Ronny WIKMARK did an amazing job mixing the album, and he’s our (not so) secret weapon. We wrote the songs, recorded and produced the album, but without him it wouldn’t be the same.
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Rebel 51 |
I am really stuck by the compositions because it reminds me great band in AOR style, like JOURNEY, FOREIGNER and other great bands from the 80’s. Have you been inspired from the beginning by these bands for you music ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Wow, you have good ears! Yes, all of us love Classic Rock and the bands you mention have written the soundtracks to our lives. But at the same time we’re trying to bring something new to the table, both when it comes to song writing and production.
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Rebel 51 |
I am delighted by the melodies in this album, I think they are more easy listening than in the previous album for me of course, and they keep in mind in such a hard way that I can’t rid of it. What is your secret to write such good melodies ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Thank you so much, - mission accomplished! Haha! We pride ourselves in making memorable melodies. We’re trying to make that our signature features in addition to great backing vocals. We’re not so much about fretboard gymnastics, but more about great songs! If the melody sticks in your mind we have done what we set out to do. There’s no secret to what we do, just hard work!
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Rebel 51 |
Are you conscious of the musical range of Waiting For Daybreak, musically, melodically and emotionally speaking ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
When we put together an album there’s a lot of craftmanship going on as well as the artistic and creative side of the process. This time around we tried to make and album that had several different flavours, but still sounded like OUTLASTED.
We wanted the ballads Lighthouse and After All These Years to be different from each other but still be real ballads. We also wanted the up-tempo songs like Chains Of Destiny and Jane’s Got A Lover to rock hard! We’re also very conscious about writing in different keys and the running order of the songs on the album. So yes, we’re very attentive to what makes a great album. And last but not least, our musical genre is very much about emotions both musically and lyrically!
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Rebel 51 |
My fave songs are Time Mends A Broken Heart where the keyboards work is tremendous and Chains Of Destiny, such catchy song, with rhythm, that doesn’t mean that the other compositions are less good, what do you explain it for these 2 songs in particular ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Thanks for the compliment! Time Mends A Broken Heart is kind of a mash up of the songs Someone Like You and Ghost Of Love from the debut album. We used the same approach, but it’s still very different from those songs. We tried to make the lyrics uplifting even though the music is in a minor key. With Chains Of Destiny we wanted to make an up-tempo song that kicked a**. It’s very fun to play live and the response from the crowd is very good on this one!
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Rebel 51 |
What are for you the best songs of Waiting For Daybreak ? Do you realize your melodies are fantastic and bring happiness without any doubt ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
We’re all about melodies and great choruses! It’s good to hear that you appreciate them. I honestly love every song on this album! But if I had to pick a few favourites it would be Chains Of Destiny and After All These Years. But Lighthouse, She’s The One are also on my short list.
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Rebel 51 |
I can now tell that Norway is the another country of AOR, do you already have some news from the melodic scene for your album ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Actually, the melodic rock scene in Norway is very small. Of course we have great bands like DREAM POLICE, DA VINCI, TNT, RETURN and STAGE DOLLS, but there are not many new bands around that play AOR. The only one I can think of is STONEFLOWER who will release a new album on April 24 on AOR HEAVEN. We’re gonna play a split gig with them in Oslo on April 25, 2020.
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Rebel 51 |
Like the first album, you have signed for MELODIC ROCK RECORDS in Australia and not for an European label, I think of AOR HEAVEN or FRONTIERS RECORDS, why ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
We contacted FRONTIERS when we were looking for a record deal for the debut album, but they passed. Then we spoke with Andrew over at MELODIC ROCK RECORDS and they seemed like a perfect home for us. When it was time to do a second album we wanted to continue the great partnership we have with MRR, so we never contacted any other label.
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Rebel 51 |
Have you already planned live shows to promote Waiting For Daybreak, do you have already booked some dates, what are you projects for 2020 ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
Yes, we are trying to play as many live gigs as possible, but it’s hard to make the numbers work these days. We don’t want to put ourselves in a ‘pay to play’ situation and there are not many promoters that is willing to take any risk with a new band. So we have to go the DIY-route which can be a struggle sometimes. If any one of you reading this is a promoter and want us to come play live, please feel free to contact us by e-mail at : outlastedtheband@gmail.com for booking!
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Rebel 51 |
A last question : what do you listen to at the moment ? Old or recent bands ?
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Terje FLOYLI (OUTLASTED) |
I mainly listen to recent bands. The bands I grew up with are great, but it’s time to support new bands in the melodic rock scene. I love bands like WORK OF ART, ONE DESIRE, H.E.A.T, ECLIPSE, GROUNDBREAKER, PRIDE OF LIONS, LIONVILLE. They push our kind of music forward and are great musicians!
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