Q&A: Team Me

Indie six-piece Team Me are Grammy Award-winners in their home country of Norway but frontman Uno Mølle says playing Manchester’s Deaf Institute, 18 Feb, is a big deal.  

How did your hometown of Elverum in Norway shape the album? 

While recording in Oslo we got a bit stuck and longed for a real bed and shower so we decided to bring the whole studio to Elverum, to a barn/gallery next to the house some of us rented. It felt like a fresh start, so we ended up recording the rest of the album in that barn with other bits here and there such as on the town hall grand piano and in the gym of Marius and Simen’s old school.

The double A side singles are very different – one dark, one upbeat. Which is more representative of the album?

I think the album is a good mix, although the lyrics aren’t very sunshiny and happy at all. It’s kind of like a journey that goes through a wide spectrum of emotions. But Team Me is not a happy, fun band and Blind As Night is a pretty dark and heavy album.

How did you evolve into a band and do you have equal creative input?

The start of Team Me and the Team Me of the present day are two completely different bands, in every sense. Marius and myself are the only two members left from the start. During 2012 we started to sound very different – we became a real band and each member started to find their place. So on this album we really wanted to capture that.

How do crowds at live shows differ in the UK from home?

In a sense there’s not much difference at all but for Norwegians to play in the UK is a big deal so they might be more excited, because we are.

How do you find being on tour together?

We toured To The Treetops! for almost two years then we lived together. Now we’re on the road with Blind As Night so we haven’t really had much time apart since we started this, so even if we have a break we tend to call each other up to go for a beer or coffee or whatever. You become this small family and you tend to lose contact with your other friends. In a way it’s a bit sad to think about, I guess, but at least for me my best friends are the guys in the band.

Antonia Charlesworth