Q: what can you tell me about your own intro and beginnings in music? Main influences? Where you grew up and any very early bands?
Glenn: I started playing a push button Magnus chord organ when I was 6. I played all the lame songs in the book that came with the organ. I knew there had to be better music somewhere! When I was 12, I played in a wedding band every weekend till I was 16. Because I was 5’10” tall, all the restaurant owners thought I was 18 (the legal drinking age at the time) so they’d feed me drinks. Hey, I was thirsty ! My parents drove me to and from every gig. Nobody ever seemed to care I didn’t drive! Maybe they were into the cocktails too and just didn’t notice. In Jr high, I remember playing "Rock & Roll Hootchie Coo" really poorly and the girls thought we were Led Zep. I was hooked !
Jim: The Beatles. I was young, but remember watching The Ed Sullivan Show the 1st time they were on. The vibe and excitement coming out of the TV was just too much!! My parents traded in an accordion my sister had for a Harmony Electric solid body and a small Gretsch amplifier. We both shared it for a while, but she gave up and it became mine. The very first song I taught myself to play was “All My Loving”. I haven’t thought about it for so long, it seems funny now! My first “real” band was called “The Atomic Revolution” when I was in 7th grade. We actually played a few gigs like church picnics and 7th grade dances. I was also in a group in high school with the bizarre name of “Dead Weasel”!

Q: What kinds of music did you grow up on? Can you give me a few favorite bands,guitarists, songwriters, singers, etc... ??
Glenn: I listened to a lot of things, mostly The Eagles, Genesis, Elton John, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. What a mix! Hard to believe I write like I do listening to these bands.
Jim: Maybe it was a Jersey thing, but my gang listened to EVERYTHING! We leaned towards the “heavy” stuff like Zep, Purple, Sabbath, and progressive like Tull, Yes, Styx, Kansas, Pink Floyd but we also listened to all the other stuff Glenn did. There was even an Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Marshall Tucker phase. Really anything and everything had it’s day. As a guitar player, I of course, listened to all the “guitar gods” of the day.

Q: Could you give me a 'Top 10' list of favorite all-time albums?
Glenn: (In no particular order):
1. Kansas-Song For America
2. Kansas-Masque
3. Genesis-Trick Of The Tail
4. Elton John-Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. Yes-Fragile
6. ELP-Brain Salad Surgery
7. Alan Parsons Project- I Robot
8. MeatLoaf-Bat Out Of Hell
9. Steely Dan-Asia
10. Deep Purple-Machine Head
Jim: (In no order)

1)Deep Purple :Made In Japan
2)Journey - Frontiers
3)Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
4)Beatles - Sgt Pepper
5)Led Zep - I 6)Led Zep- II
7)Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
8)Def Leppard - Hysteria
9)Uriah Heep - Demons & Wizards
10) Utopia - Road To Utopia

Q: Were you involved with any recording bands prior to NORWAY? Any bands of notoriety?
Glenn: No. I did, however work with a few original bands but nothing ever came of the projects.
Jim: Nothing of notoriety, just like now !! I was close a few times, but no cigar. I remember once getting a call from the head of A&R at Geffen. She was telling me that they had been considering the band and decided to pass, but she thought we were really good and wanted to let me know personally. I was so stunned I don’t think I spoke 2 words!!

Q: Yourselves formed the band, and take care of all songwriting and producing. What can you tell me about your original idea and/or plans when you first formed the band,and how you work together? [ie songwriting process....]
Glenn: To shorten the story, when Jim and I started writing together, we had a bass player in the band who kept us on the heavy side of things. All of us had come from either heavy metal bands or cover bands. Jim and I finally realized where our strengths were in songwriting and followed that direction, which has become Norway. Jim and I have a very disciplined process. We are very good at weeding our what isn’t good. We can easily say to each other, no, and that’s that, unless someone really wants to defend an idea. After being together for so long, we rarely get insulted and almost always agree on where we’re going and how the songs should come together.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about each of the other guys, as far as favorite players, singers, comparisons they've drawn?
Glenn Pierson : Performing since his early teens. Glenn appeared with many bands during the 80’s as part of the vibrant New Jersey club scene, the most popular being "MAX" who played covers of everything from Van Halen to Starship to Judas Priest. Some of his influences are Kansas, Styx, Toto, Chicago, Alan Parsons, Elton John, Billy Joel and Steely Dan. In addition to being one of rocks premier vocalists, Glenn is also an accomplished keyboardist and composer who shares main songwriting duties with guitarist Jim Santos.
Jim Santos : Playing guitar since age 10. Jim is a self-taught musician. In addition to guitar, he taught himself bass, drums and keyboards. Writing both music and lyrics, Jim co-writes all of the bands songs with longtime partner Glenn Pierson. Jim also does all the synth programming and sequencing. Jim, like Glenn, was also a product of the busy New Jersey club scene, performing 5 nights a week with a number of groups. His musical influences run from Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Todd Rundgren and Eric Clapton to Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Deep Purple and Bon Jovi.
Slattery :Journeyman club player. Joe has played with Ken Dubman (Prophet), Ray Gillan (Badlands) and Ted Poley (Danger,Danger) among others, before joining Norway. Not content with just playing bass, Joe has matured into a fine songwriter, co-writing three songs for the new "Arrival" album.
Ty Brasington : Ty is the quiet one, with the explosive talent. He is a fantastic drummer, with influences ranging from Led Zep, Journey and Rush to Spyro Gyro and Weather Report, who can play virtually any style of music. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Marty attended Berklee and also plays guitar, bass and keyboards.

Q: Why the name 'Norway' ?
*
*

Q: Why is it you guys went to the UK to record and sign with Frontiers? Do you feel theindustry in the US has been neglecting melodic [aor/HR bands during this time? I presume much of your market / fanbase is in Europe !?? [Any comments on the industry/market differences from Europe to North America?]
Glenn: It’s very difficult here to get any label attention in the US unless 1) you tour constantly and have a following, or 2) you sell a shitload of CD's on your own (so the record company doesn’t have to spend any money to get you going). The Euro market has two things going for it 1) fans who are open-minded and want to hear good rock, and 2) labels willing to spend enough money to get you going and get your name our there. In our case, our first release , "Night Dreams", was released on our own label and was self-promoted by us on the Internet. That’s how Frontiers got wind of us. One thing that has been hard to get used to is Jim and I are big promoters ! We believe in hyping an album to SELL it . The hardest thing to deal with, for me, is the labels seem to only promote the CD in the first few weeks of it's release and then it goes as it will. Not having that control is difficult as I see many things the labels could do to get more our of their releases and they definitely could be selling more albums.

Q: How was the response to 'Night Dreams' ? Any big breaks, chart placings, radio play, etc.. ??
Glenn: Night Dreams was a door opener in a big way. Though we didn’t receive much airplay, we got a ton of press that put us on the AOR map. We expected we’d get known and that it would take some time to get the name out. Instead, it sold like a rocket and we “arrived” ! Great press (thank you everyone), album sales and our web site took off all at once. I must say, however, Jim and I did plan for this. Many bands don’t take the necessary steps to achieve success and when it comes, they’re behind the ball. We were ready and we’re hoping the third album will really put us into everyone’s collections and get us some air play as that is what will move the band forward very quickly.

Q: How long was the making of 'Arrival'? How did you approach this differently or any new strategies, ideas, etc... ?
Glenn: Arrival was recorded over a three week period in Manchester, England. We finished up some loose ends back in the US , totaling about another 2 weeks of time. The next record will be recorded in the US and we will travel back to England to mix. There was not enough time to do all we needed to do in three weeks. It’s just too rushed and its very draining. I believe we’ll make a more interesting record by doing it here without the time constraints of just a few weeks. Many of the textures of Night Dreams did not come out on Arrival. Jim and I have definite ideas of how our records should sound. Since we didn’t mix Arrival, I know you’ll hear a much different sounding CD when Jim and I are there to focus on the little things that we believe make our songs different that other bands.

Q: How has response been to Arrival so far? Any tracks that have received radioplay, etc.. ??
Glenn: Radio Pioneer in Germany has had us in rotation and we’ve been featured on some stations in the US but again, we’re not in rotation often enough to get peoples attention. Arrival has gotten great reviews. I’m glad that people still want to hear melodies , harmonies and lyrics. It is definitely our strength.

Q: what tracks are being 'pushed' to radio from Arrival? any personal faves?
Glenn: I like "One Night Alone" and "Can’t Live Without You".
Jim: Those are the tracks that have gotten the most play from what we know. Also top favorites in Europe and Japan are "Givin’ it All" and "Heaven In Your Arms".

Q: What plans are currently in the works as far as promoting and touring? Is there a US tour or gigs in the future as well?
Glenn: We’d love to do a tour and the label has mentioned it but we have no concrete plans as of yet.

Q: What can you tell me about Norway live? what does the live set consist of? [anycovers or strictly tracks from the 2 albums?] Have you guys landed on any major tours, be it support or as headliners ? Any Huge or most memorable gigs??
Glenn: The one thing we pride ourselves on is that we can actually play what we write. I think our live show is a surprise to most people as they think we’re a studio only band. Our show at the Gods 99 got great reviews . I never like to see a band that can’t do its own stuff or a singer that can’t sing the high notes. If you write it, be able to perform it !
Jim: I agree. But it is difficult to carry it as a 4 piece live. We are hoping to add a keyboardist and possibly another guitarist to the live band for future performances, so it can sound every bit as good as the record.

Q: What other plans are in the band's future, such as next album, any videos [dvd] ,etc... ?
Glenn: We’re currently writing for the third album. It’s what’s taking up most of our time at this point. I’m hoping that this release will give us a solid position in the fans' minds and in the market. Our web site traffic has increased , which has helped more people find our about us and get into the music ! We’re currently running a contest on the web site for lots of free and autographed stuff so check us out at > http://www.norwayrocks.com <

Q: How much do you use the internet? Is this Norway's biggest distribution way, or is the retail thing big for you guys?
Jim: The internet has been very crucial in our ability to get our 1st record self released, and to self promote ourselves worldwide. I cannot imagine having the success we’ve had without the internet. But no, the internet is not a big distribution factor for us. For sure there is activity at the big sites like Amazon, CD Now, Tower Records and others-but that is not directly related to our own distribution. That is the US label (Frontiers USA/ Majestic Rondel) getting distribution through a recognized national distributor (Sumthing). Therefore it gets listed in all the databases and is available to sell by all the huge online retailers. We of course also sell both records direct on our website, but it is not as large as what’s being sold through the retail network in Europe or Japan. Or for that matter even in the US, a retailer/distributor like NEH records, Perris or Dream Disc probably sells more copies of our records than we do online.

Q: Are any of you involved in any side projects or other recordings at present [orrecently] ?
Jim: Well like I mentioned our bassist Joe Slattery and drummer Marty Brasington have played a few dates with Ted Poley. I’m also working on a solo project as well. It’s very early on, but I’ve gotten some interest from some of the labels in Europe and hope to put it out sometime after the next NORWAY record.

Q: As for Uriah Heep [i gotta ask .. :-)) ] -- How big of a fan were you [Jim] ? Got a few favorite Heep tracks or LPs? Ever see the band live? And, what's your thoughts on Mick Box as a guitar player?
Glenn: Jim and I considered doing "The Wizard" on Arrival but did not have enough time to get it together. I’d still like to do it ! It’s such a great tune ! Hey, ya never know - there’s still time!
Jim: Yeah I have a few albums. The 1st one, Salisbury, Demons and Wizards, Magicians Birthday, Wonderworld, and a live double record (Black cover) that I can’t remember the name of. I was a pretty big fan. I had the pleasure of seeing them a long time ago on the Wonderworld tour. David Byron was one of my all time favorite singers. I’ve played quite a few Heep tunes in cover bands over the years. Easy Living, Blind Eye, Gypsy, and The Wizard. As far as Mick Box, I thought he was one of the “unsung” guitar heroes. He had a very intense technique on solos, utilizing feedback, hand vibrato and the wah-wah that was very difficult to emulate. I haven’t listened in a long time, but I recall the solo in Gypsy was about as awesome a solo as I had ever heard!! I remember playing it over and over until I wore out the freakin’ record! Like Glenn said, we’re still considering covering The Wizard on the next record. If we do perhaps Mick will come to Manchester when we mix, and lay down a guitar track or two!

Interview By Kevin J. Julie Copyright KJJ, November 2000