Royksopp

Röyksopp is an electronic music duo from Tromsø, Norway. The members' names are Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge.

Svein

 * "What first caused you to think to yourself, man, this is a great fucking job?" "When me, Han Solo and RoboCop had our first gig on top of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in front of 6 billion people. I was in the middle of my guitar solo when Wolverine shouted to me from behind his drum kit, “Man, this is a great fucking job!”


 * "I think someone should make a pair of jeans made of banana peel; that’s what I’m thinking. Instead of washing them, you just throw them away and they will decompose. Ideally, it shouldn’t be lots of banana peels – you should be able to make it in one piece so it’s one big seamless thing. They would be yellow, which is the colour of the insane"


 * "You see, it's part of the process you go through: the longer the hair and the beard, the more Beaujolais you drink. It's stage three of the seven stages of songwriting."


 * "I feel so unattractively enthusiastic about the new album".
 * On the Junior release at Pete Tong's Friday night show on BBC Radio 1 9th of January 2009.


 * "People have certain expectations of how a festival concert will be, with a vocalist, bassist, drummer and two guitarists. When the singer screams "Woaaaaaaaa", the audience must respond "YEAAAA". When we play live, we try not to be too clever and "arty". There shall be an element of party in what we do."

Torbjørn

 * "Seriously, who was supposed to add the pressure? The record buying public? I don't think so. The critics? We're not afraid of them. Our mindset, even on Melody A.M., has always been to do our own thing."
 * On making the album The Understanding.


 * "Röyksopp is more than a band. It's also a transport system."
 * On being confronted with Röyksopp's ability to take people to a state of mind.


 * "Where would your ideal place be to listen to one of your own songs?". "I think, in a blimp. Over Antarctica".


 * "I get angry when I have to read...Like if you put a DVD into a DVD player, and you actually have to read, that thingy, where it has the copyright control. And if that's on for like half a minute and there's no button that you can press that gets you through it. That fills me with double rage."


 * "I had this bow and arrow that my uncle had given me, and I found a knife and sharpened the arrows. It was a deadly weapon. And I killed birds, I killed a lot of polar bears. I went on a killing spree for days, killing every animal I could see in Northern Norway."
 * Making a sick joke in a BBC interview. This actually made PETA criticize him in public, unaware that polar bears does not habit in continental Norway.


 * "The most annoying [pop star]? Well, that's gotta be 50 Cent. Why? I mean, because of the story that goes with him. This story, the story that sold him to a lot of newspapers. I just imagine a reader who's like 50 years old and who's really not into hip-hop... "But this guy, he's been shot 7 times then he must be good", and that story is just so crap so I instantly had a dislike of the whole package."


 * "When you do interviews it's not like you're a politician that people are going to say "Ahh, he didn't really answer the question". If you're an artist it's good to just not answer the question sometimes."


 * "What's next for you? We are going to start a farm where we trying to make nothing grow. that's really difficult. That's gonna be a heavy work.

Together

 * On asked by KCRW about things that influence their creative process:
 * Torbjørn: To be very dull, I would have to say scenery and nature and the world itself. Growing up in Tromsø, as we did, we had a lot of space and a lot of scenery. And without being too New Age about the whole thing, I’m just noting that that is in us, and definitely colouring whatever we do. Svein: I think people and humour also has to be thrown into the bowl. Torbjørn: Well, not so much humour.


 * On their album The Understanding:
 * Svein: Yes, there is meaning, but we believe there's room for your own interpretation. Listen to the album and see if you can come up with your own. Torbjørn: It's like a classical painting like the Mona Lisa. When you tell people what they should look for, they only look at that thing.


 * On being asked about their favourite album in Röyksopp's discography:
 * Torbjørn: That would be like comparing my children, not that I have any. Svein: It's like trying to compare two testicles. One is not better than the other. Both are vital to the Röyksopp anatomy.


 * "Tromsø is a city with crime and dope, and with the nature right beside. You can sit by the sea, eat ecstasy, surf on the internet and eat seagull eggs. We have a half-naive love relation to the midnight sun and the nature in Northern Norway. Old people aren't the only ones who can claim that."

Said about Röyksopp

 * "Röyksopp's album Melody A.M. is one of the best records ever made"
 * Chris Martin of Coldplay to NRK.


 * "This is the one that puts them firmly and officially up there in the top tier of the dance-music crossover-album crowd, up with the Daft Punks and, umm, Basement Jaxxes. Really: Good for them."
 * Review of the album The Understanding in Pitchfork.


 * "This is genius – it is no wonder they are laughing."
 * Review of the album Junior in The Sun


 * "Apparently the original title of this striking debut was For Kids and Elderly People, and you can hear why: cornerstone hit Eple is likely to beguile any age."
 * The Guardian chose Melody A.M. amongst the 1000 albums you must hear before you die.


 * “I always listen to new music. I get new CDs every week from England and America. I prefer listening to new things rather than old, and so at the moment I’m really enjoying listening to the band Röyksopp.”
 * Sir Elton John is a Röyksopp fan.


 * "There's a new Röyksopp record out which is called Senior which I'm really looking forward to hearing."
 * Sir Elton John says he's looking forward for Röyksopp's Senior album.

So Easy
Yeah it's me I wanna give you some good frequencies 170, 2.6, 2245... Yeah 3032, 400 Four hundred? Yeah. I'm coming over. Do that. Hehe. I'll be there in two seconds.
 * Hello?

Sparks
It's those tiny little sparks Daily life that makes me Forget my wounded heart
 * No matter gray or grim

It doesn't matter when It may rain or it may shine Blurry memories of us Come back from time to time

No matter gray or grim It's those tiny little sparks Daily life that makes me Forget my wounded heart

It doesn't matter when It may rain or it may shine Blurry memories of us Come back from time to time

No matter gray or grim It's those tiny little sparks Daily life that makes me Forget my sulky heart

It doesn't matter when It may rain or it may shine But you will always be here Stored inside my mind

Can I give you all my love Suck some air Tell me what I'm dreaming of Oh, whoa, oh...

Maybe within a thousand years You'll be here Maybe within a thousand tears Oh, whoa, oh...

Can I be so alone? Can I be so alone?

Oh, whoa.. La la la la...

Only This Moment
Holds us together Close to perfection Nothing else out there No one to guide us Lost in our senses Deep down inside I know our love will die
 * Only this moment

Only this moment Holds us together Lost in confusion Feelings are out there Scared of devotion Doubting intentions Deep down inside I know our love will die

Stay or forever go Play or you’ll never know What heaven decided You can't deny it’s All you’ve been waiting for

Stay or forever go Play or you’ll never know Your spirit’s divided You will decide if I’m All you’ve been waiting for

Clouds in my head have been parted with grace By the voice of an angel revealing her face And her words they make sense and I do understand Falling in love isn’t part of a plan

Forces within me mix reason with lust, but I’ll try to accept it and not make it worse 'Cause I know I might lose it by taking the chance, (But) love without pain isn’t really romance

Only this moment Holds us together Close to perfection Nothing else out there Always beside her Trusting my senses Deep down inside I know love will survive

Only this moment Holds us together Close to perfection Nothing else out there Always beside her Trusting my senses Deep down inside I know love will survive

49 Percent
One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing
 * Forty-nine percent

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

I won't try to dent your night Or stop your flight I've known our plight You know I'm right I know about your little fling How you hide your ring You senseless thing I'll cut this string The heat has simmered for a while It's not my style So versatile and with a smile At anytime, I could explode When you kissed your toad You killed your princely episode

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

Bit off more than one could bite And the taste is slight It leaves this dullish appetite About time I've finally seen the light And said goodnight For the sling is tight We'll lose this fight In a corner painted white As you fly your kite I shun the sight, i've seen the light And now i've got to say goodnight You know I'm right

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

I won't try to stop you flight Or chage your night or nothing Less than half Why won't you try To make this damage better

Math and imagery Equates cacophony Multiplies muteness A sum better disturbed For silence subtracts And shadows divide light Less than half is slight

Math and imagery Equates cacophony Multiplies muteness A sum better disturbed For silence subtracts And shadows divide light Less than half is slight

The heat has simmered for a while The heat has simmered for a while The heat has simmered for a while The heat has simmered for a while The heat has simmered for a while

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

I won't try to stop you flight Or chage your night or nothing Less than half Why won't you try To make this damage better

Forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing

Oh forty-nine percent One percent short of half And less than half Ain't really much of nothing, yeah

The heat has simmered for a while The heat has simmered for a while The heat has simmered for a while

What Else Is There?
But you couldn`t see me Too many lights out, but nowhere near here
 * It was me on that road

It was me on that road Still you couldn`t see me And then flashlights and explosions

Roads end getting nearer We cover distance, but not together

I am the storm and I am the wonder And the flashlights, nightmares And sudden explosions

I don't know what more to ask for I was given just one wish

It`s about you and the sun A morning run The story of my maker What I have and what I ache for

I`ve got a golden ear I cut and I spear But what else is there?

Roads end getting nearer We cover distance, still not together

If I am the storm, if I am the wonder Will I have flashlights, nightmares And sudden explosion?

There's no room where I can go and You`ve got secrets too

I don`t know what more to ask for I was given just one wish (Why)