TURBONEGRO @ Øya Festival 2008!

As if the gig itself wasn't enough!

We can now reveal that the exclusive "Turbonegro Performing Apocalypse Dudes" event at the sold out Øyafestivalen in Oslo tomorrow night (August 7th) will feature several prominent guests including....

True Apocalypse Dude Nick Oliveri and...

Punk Rock Legend Keith Morris (of Black Flag & Circle Jerks)....!

If you are lucky enough to have tickets, you're gonna have THE most awesome night! ENJOY!

Here is the Festival Website

4:34 PM - 5 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

GREETINGS FROM RADIUMHOSPITALET

Hello,

I'm now two months into treatment and doing ok, so I thought the time was right to give you guys an update on what's going on with me. Recent tests at the hospital show that things are going my way and I can expect to be completely cured in the fall.
In March I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease, which is a "lucky" version of lymphoma cancer (90% percent get healed, according to Wikipedia and other and more reliable health information sources). Since then I've been undergoing chemotherapy every 14th day. That has kept me out of business for a while now, not being able to tour, but things have gone a lot better than feared. Last week they found out that my cure has so far been successful and my chances are as good as it gets.

Receiving the news that I had cancer, but not knowing which type and how bad, was of course a rough one. The situation soon changed to the better once I learned what it really was and I headed into therapy.  When staying alive is all you care about, then things really can only go upward. I don't have that much experience with health institutions (maybe except from the occasional meeting with Dr.Rock while on tour…) but I must say that the way I've been taking care of by the people at Radiumhospitalet, has just been fantastic.
I expected the treatment to be a bit hellish, but it's actually not that bad. Ironically, I was the first one I knew of to be "googling for wigs", as we're singing in Hell Toupee. But fortunately for a rocking cat like meself, I haven't lost my hair (yet). It also looks like I won't be allowed into the handicapped area, rolling in on a wheelchair, at this summer's stadium concerts in Oslo. Seriously, the treatment doesn't wear me out. I'm basically able to carry on as normal, just staying at home and taking it a little easy.
The last two months I've rediscovered my record collection, been through 3 seasons of The Wire, getting to spend more valuable time with Marie (10 months) and probably been playing more guitar than I have in last ten years. I was very happy to do a couple of shows in Norway earlier this month. As I wrote earlier, it sucked to cancel the tours, especially the Coachella festival in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Palm Springs, which we've  wanted to play for years. Now I'm all set to play the festivals this summer and deliver the goods.
Not long ago, Tom and me sat down to write some new shit. (Now we finally have the chance to take use of the old turbo working album-title "TUMOURS" with certain credibility).  One of the new songs, entitled Destroy All Monsters, was recorded this weekend. It's our first recording to feature our new drummer Tomas Dahl. The song is a dark, almost industrial-sounding mid tempo rocker, with a great chorus, if you ask us. It's going to be used on the soundtrack for the Age of Conan online game. Even though I'm better than the average Joe at swinging my axe, I'm not too crazy about Conan. Hank, on the other hand, loves that stuff.

The amount of support and love from fans, friends and family has been overwhelming and very touching. I'm very thankful for it, cause it warms and really helps you getting through stuff like this with an uplifted head. Thanks a lot to everybody for the encouragement!

See you soon and take care!

5:22 AM - 144 Comments - 157 Kudos - Add Comment

April US dates cancelled

It is with great further regret that we will now have to cancel our trip to the US in April to play the west coast shows, most regrettably ’The Coachella Festival’.

A huge apology to the US fans and to the promoters, I’m sure that all will understand that this decision wasn’t taken lightly, but it is the right decision for Euroboy. He is in good shape, all considered, but his treatment makes it impossible for him be away for long periods of time and certainly not to be taking long haul flights.

We are keeping the European shows from May 2nd forward in place, as this schedule works within the boundaries of his treatment.  It’s a delicate situation we find ourselves in, our first priority is Euroboy’s health, we’ll look at everything else when we know that he is well.

12:06 PM - 28 Comments - 22 Kudos - Add Comment

Message From The Main Axe Man

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to say a few words about how sorry I am about the whole situation. First of all, I’m doing alright now, staying at home with my family and feeling ok, but I’ll be going trough treatment in the near future. I was really looking forward to going on this tour and kicking ass night after night in true, classic Turbonegro style, together with two other great bands. I’m sure we’d all have had a real cool tilme. Now my life has suddendly almost turned upside down and I won’t be able to tour or perform for a while. I can still play guitar of course, so I’ll work on some new "hot licks" and maybe write a couple of new songs (some top-of-the-mountain emotional power ballads that is, no just kidding!).
Recently there’s been changes in the line up for the first time in 10 years. I don’t want you to see what’s going on now as another step in that direction. My heart is still pounding for the mighty Turbonegro and its fantastic Jugend, very much too. In the last month we’d been rehearsing and doing some one- off shows in Norway and Switzerland, where we blasted through some new songs and and some old ones that we haven’t played for ages. I hope to be back on stage and deliver again later in the year. I think the band in 2008 fucking rocks. I miss Rune and Chris of course, but we’re all still good friends; they visited me and showed great support yesterday. But I have to say it’s very, very nice to have my old mate and super drummer Tomas Dahl as part of the engine. I know you’re gonna like it too, next time we come by to rip your dorf.
So, I hope to see you all again soon and have a rad rock’n’roll night together. Thanks for your kind words on the message boards, I really appreciate it.
I love you.

Knut

5:32 AM - 75 Comments - 69 Kudos - Add Comment

Volcom Tour Cancelled

Dear All

Due to serious illness with Euroboy, Turbonegro will be unable to perform on the forthcoming European Volcom tour.

We will work on rescheduling the dates to some point later in the year.

Euroboy has asked that we relay to you that he is very sorry that he’s unable to do the dates, and looks forward to seeing everyone later in the year, when he is well again.

We’ll do our very best to keep everyone updated as to how he is doing, but would ask that his privacy is respected at this time.

Turbonegro

10:57 AM - 30 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Chris Summers asked to resign from Turbonegro

It is with our deepest regrets to inform you that after his 6 month hiatus due to a damaged foot, personal priorities and a focus on other projects, we have been forced to ask drummer Chris Summers to resign from Turbonegro.

Those of you who have seen the band during the last 60 shows have already been introduced to our new drummer, Tomas Dahl. 

Tomas - a drummer from the age of 6 - is also known as Caddy, a veritable one-man songwriting and recording machine of international reknown ("the son of Paul Stanley and Brian Wilson", according to a review of one of his two full-length albums) with two radio hits to his name and to quote Nick Oliveri (who scoped him out with intense interest nightly during our tour with Mondo Generator) "one of the best rock'n'roll drummers I have ever seen".  

The powerhouse that is Tomas has been part of the Turbo family ever since he at the tender age of 18 played drums on The Vikings' original recording of "Good Head" (Knut and Tom actually wrote the song about him; "sweeping floors at the mill all day", Tomas had recently dropped out of school to work as a janitor and driver at a local grain storage), contributing with backing vocals and vocal production on both Scandinavian Leather, Party Animals (during which an astonished producer Steve McDonald re-christened him "The Magic Truckdriver") and Retox. For a  sample of Tomas go to myspace.com/caddymusic

We wish Chris all the best in the future, and look forward to shifting gears into a new Deathpunk Era with Tomas behind the wheel!

Sincerely, 
Turbonegro

7:01 AM - 60 Comments - 26 Kudos - Add Comment

West Coast Headline Gigs Info

Turbonegro Kickstart The Big Earthquake

Both as the final seismic instalment to drop the North American west coast into the ocean and in celebration of said drop, Turbonegro will be playing their music very loud and thumpy along the San Andreas fault line in April. The quaky quintet will end their run at the brand new beaches of Coachella. Such are the wages of sin. Skål!
Happy Tom

Mon 21^st April – El Corazon, Seattle, WA

On Sale: Sat 2^nd Feb – www.ticketswest.com
Venue website - www.elcorazonseattle.com

Tues 22^nd April – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC

On sale: Sat 2^nd Feb - www.ticketmaster.ca

Venue website - HERE

Weds 23^rd April – Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR

On Sale: Sat 2^nd Feb – www.ticketswest.com

Venue website – www.hawthornetheater.com

Thurs 24^th April – Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA

On Sale: Sun 3^rd Feb - www.tickets.com OR www.gamhtickets.com

Venue website – www.musichallsf.com

Sat 26^th April – Coachella Festival, Indio, CA

Festival website and ticket info - www.coachella.com

6:10 AM - 27 Comments - 29 Kudos - Add Comment

TURB INTO AMERICA - PART II

New York, New York! We played at a very corporate venue named after Nokia, the Finn who invented the cell phone and Nightwish, SMACK DAB in the middle of Times Square and hey you know what the best part was that they showed moving images of us on a huge screen right there on Broadway!!! First junior college, then psychiatry and now Broadway!!! This deathpunk thing has been very good to us. We are joined by the great sounding powertrio Year Long Disaster, very cool dudes with a great vibe. The sweet people at The Motor City had a great after-show party for us, thanks Angie! Donald Trump's daughter whatshername showed up, I like a lot. Like father like daughter: her dad has a toupèe, she has the breast version of a toupèe HAHAHA (not a mattress of hair on her tits but fake tits).

Then it was off to Washington DC, to play at the Black Cat, Dave Grohl's suave rock dive. The heat keeps following us (not as hepcat lingo "the heat"; i.e. cops, but actual heat). This would be our first show without Rune, as he had to fuck off back to Norway for three days to attend a business seminar at work. Pål pranced as only he knows how to do across to stage left and played guitar for the entire set, it sounded great, we almost sounded like a proper band HAHAHA. Hank told the crowd that Rune had died in his bunk on the bus that night from "a lethal cocktail of vomit and cancer", and that his last words were "tell...them (the audience)...to buy...more shirts..." and something about how he wanted the good-looking girls there that night to come backstage and suck our cocks after the show. Some people didn't get it and actually started crying! Knut was the man of the moment and saved the day by reminding them that "Hey, come on you guys, he was really OLD anyways!" We are Norwegian NIHILISTS, never forget that, please. It was classic. Ian MacKaye was nowhere in sight, as usual. WHY? Neither was his brother Alec. Does anybody remember that Faith/Void split-12"? That was the SHIT, people.

Day off in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We sleep like motherfuckers. I have to go to the hospital for bronchitis, thanks to the AC on the bus. Thanks ALOT, mr. technology.

The next day we play at a funny place the looks like a chicken shack. It was moist and Southern in a sexy, tarantino-esque way, which suits us just fine. I could bring up the Blues Brothers-at-the-c&w joint-with-the-chicken-wired-stage analogy here but I choose not too. The Appalachians eat it up! Southern hospitality + Northern hostility equals YUMMY YUMMY. Oh, I shall never forget, I promise. Good times.

Atlanta, Georgia is one sweet town! We play at The Dome just across the highway from the yuppie mall, a bunch of fights break out in the crowd and our buddies in Mastodon show up for good times, after that we go to the Turbojugend party at the discoteque next door and pose for a bunch of pictures w/ beer in exchange for beer. We drive into the Southern night gobbling local peanuts.

We hit New Orleans like a Katrina of denim and brew! Nick "rides with us" in our bus and we get up in the morning to watch miles and miles of destroyed city, it's insane and spooky, it looks like Godzilla went there for spring break (SPRING BREAK FOREVER DUDE!) with the other destructo monsters in his frat. Some environmentally conscious and very wise person pissed in a Gatorade bottle and put it in the fridge of the bus, and as we are staring at the destruction rolling by I take a big sip and instantly start puking, so there I am, cruising through George Romero's cityscape, vomiting. Nick shakes his head at the sheer horror of it all. "Why did my eyes have to see this?" he says, as he tears out his eyeballs, throws them on the floor and starts stomping all over them before he shoves them back into his skull, bad bad eyeballs, they had that coming to them. To compensate for this we go to the empty Hustler club on Bourbon Street where we take turns at the pole. We play a fun show at a intensely cool ancient voodoo-ish vaudeville place. After the show we take turns raping this stupid Norwegian artist woman who stumbled drunk around on stage and nearly ruined it for everyone, while we listen to gang rape music (Limp Bizkit and Maroon Five), pretty hot stuff. WE WISH. Just kidding, relax, you party POOPERS.

Speaking of hot, the next day the heat in Dallas makes our brains melt, so we just know that it's gonna be another great night in our favorite state Texas! Tomas Dahl The Substitute Drummer turns 30, so we all have a fancy-ass dinner across the street from the club at a swanky gourmet place, mmmmm...tastes good. Some of you already know Tomas from his drumming in The Vikings with Knut and me back in 95 ("Good Head" was written for and about him!), he has also done backing vocals on our last three albums and recently went to Japan with his very own very great powerpop quartet Caddy, in which he sings and plays guitar. Tomas is a songwriting genius and an instrumentalist of vast prowess who single-handedly saved our tour with his powerful and classically elegant drumming after Chris injured his ankle, THANKS TOMAS! I would recommend ANYONE with the faintest interest in great music to check out the Caddy record asafuckingp.

Austin is – as ALWAYS – a sweet stop on the way westward and oboy is Emo's a great venue or WHAT! TJ Austin is out in full force, we have ribs at Stubb's and my cousin Kim who I haven't seen since I was a little kid shows up from Corpus Christi with her daughter Samantha and Samantha's boyfriend Ryan, we top off the night with a few mellow seltzer beers at a hipster bar down the street where the TJ are celebrating, SKÅL.

We have a day off in El Paso, an extremely unhappening town. We sleep and walk across the bridge to Mexico to buy Viagra (not that we need it HOHOHO) and end up at a bar where Hank entertains the locals with dancing and heartfelt ballads about his heroes "los narcotraficantes", it's pretty fucking rad. Tomas IS a Ghostbuster and interviews the staff at our hotel about The Little Boy; a lot of people spend the night on the couch in the lobby after waking up after half an hour of slumbering with a little boy ghost next to them in bed. Wouldn't it be a much better world if NAMBLA could molest the little ghost boys instead of the living ones, ONE MIGHT PONDER. Consider it a suggestion from "downstairs".

Across the desert to Phoenix to play an all-ages show, we don't hate the kids anymore. Next door is Alice Cooper's restaurant, which turns out to be a big-screen tv sports bar full of real estate agents and anti-abortion dads who jerk off to pornography full of women who have aborted. Hey mister casual friday: if you're so against abortion stop acting like you should have BEEN ONE YOURSELF. Let me abort you. I write a poem about Phoenix, called "Oh, Phoenix":

Oh, Phoenix
That's Corinthian for "penis"
From ashes rise
...hotter than hell

Oh, Scottsdale
Where the clerks of Ceasar go to die
Because the dry air keeps them alive yet one more day
...blood clouds the pool

SKÅL!

San Diego, California! We are HOME! Vestal send a limo to take us to their office. We stop at Volcom and bankrupt them, as usual, then we turn back to the venue, stopping only for a classy meal at a restaurant that belongs to a Denny. The limo sputters to a stop on the shoulder of the freeway and the driver (who looks like Stevie Nicks approximately 1986) turns around and says "At this point, my advice would be...TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE CAR!" We do as advised as smoke bellows out of the engine, standing by the road like retarded monkeys stranded in nowhere. The sheer drama of it all, it's too much. The little glamour we are afforded is taken away from us so suddenly, it makes you think about life and how fragile it is. We are not unlike the feather-like turd set adrift in the winds of a violent storm. Should write a song about it.

Off to Los Angeles to play at a festival downtown by the court building, several of our famous friends show up but the highlight is of course meeting Don Bolles, who looks just like he looked 28 years ago. Now that's LA for you. A lot of people in this town bleach their anuses (ani?); they aryanize their assholes, so to speak. I go to the Turbojugend Rad Dudes party in Pasadena, very sweet (free beer).

The next day we get to play at the Henry Fonda ("Hanoi Henry"), one of our all-time favorite venues. Wee Man does a cameo as mini-me, made up to look like H.I.V. Man HAHAHAHA. It is apparent that our LA shows have turned into major social and sexual events. That's hot. We celebrate Brian O'Connor's (the yeti looking early man in Eagles Of Death Metal) birthday, he turns 78.

San Francisco opens its golden gate and is full of sailors, it's Fleet Week! We do two shows in one night at Slim's, the final one is interrupted when the barricade breaks and almost chops of the legs of some of the security dudes, whoa nelly, this is one wild-ass crowd! Jello and Blag join us for "Life Of Crime" before we drive into the night for a stopover in Bend, Oregon to rest and shoot guns with my brother. We are especially impressed by his Israeli one, the "Desert Eagle" which spews fire and vengeance LAMF. Our tour manager Dean goes on a killing spree against a beer ("lager") can in the woods.  The Brits, man, give them a gun and they start oppressing everything in sight, it never fails.

Seattle is always fun. And rainy. We spend the day sleeping, smelling the fish market and shopping for books. Our EXTREME SPORT buddy Ranquet takes us for dinner and we go shopping for sunglasses. The show is great and Eddie Spaghetti brings his awesome kid Quatro, who has turned into our mascot.

Vancouver, holy cow! Must be the prettiest city in the world. This is what people in Oslo THINK Oslo looks like, damn fools. Some guy gives us a pizza box full of pot as we get off the bus, right next to some real Royal Canadian Mounties. Shad Jak takes Tomas and me sightseeing, the better you look the more you see, as we all know. We go to PDs Hot Shop where I buy a bikini and a bicycle, you never know when you might need them. The show is very nice, at a great venue with 2.000 canadians on a bouncing (no shit) floor. Nick somehow makes it across the border and him and his boys play a great show once again.

Portland, the final show of the tour. We dedicate Fuck The World to our late great friend and mentor Pig Champion and feel the darkness throughout the city, it is magic and seriously touching. Sometime during load-out some "fan" (probably one of many junkies in this fucked-up city) sneaks back and steals Euroboy's officer's cap and my entire wardrobe, including my Jak's Team colours vest and my age old Turbojugend Follo jacket, thanks a lot.

We go to a pretty lame go-go bar and then to a cool bar with some TJ and finally to Taco Bell with Thee Slayer Hippie before we wake up the next day and as we board the plane post-ejaculation depression sets in. What a tour. WHAT A TOUR. Thanks to the crew: Jerry, Rocky, Lars, Laura and Dean, hope we get the chance to exploit you guys again very soon. Thanks to Mondo Generator and Year Long Disaster, and to Vans, Vestal and Volcom. Last but not least thanks to TJ USA and TJ Canada for bringing the noise.

Dear America, we kicked your ass, you licked our ass, let's call it even. Thank you.

10:58 AM - 40 Comments - 57 Kudos - Add Comment

EXIT REBELLION

Exit Rebellion. 

After 19 years in the service, time has come to announce that I will be retiring from Turbonegro, playing my last concert with the band Saturday Oct. 27 at Folken in Stavanger. The decision was made this Summer, realizing I hadn't had time off at all from work or touring for three years. I will continue to be involved with the band on the management side of things, as well as running Turbonegro's record label Scandinavian Leather Recordings. This will also give me time to put more effort into my day job at Universal, where I now have been given the opportunity to set up my own label.  

Leaving on a high note in the band's career, on the back of a very successful US-tour and even having a full on biography out in Norway, I would like to thank everybody we worked with through the years and made all of this possible. Special thanks to my band mates of course, for sharing the music and the best years of my life. 

And last but not least, a big hug to Turbojugends everywhere; you're the best fans in the world!

Oslo, Oct 26th 2007
Rune Rebellion

10:52 AM - 130 Comments - 120 Kudos - Add Comment

US TOUR PHOTOS

Tom perfecting his "Sorry, I'm British" look

Hank was besieged by Indians in Montreal

The prostitues of America say hello

Knut attending Eyeball Convention 07 with Nash Kato of Urge Overkill

Pål in the Motor City

7:21 AM - 27 Comments - 31 Kudos - Add Comment