Albums of Purgatory interview Pedestrians of Blue's Torfinn Sirnes

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, what's the band up to right now?

Torfinn Sirnes: First of all we're putting together the live band. We actually had our first rehearsals last week and it sounds really promising. Then there's the writing and demoing of new songs and we're still doing promotion of our demo Circles of Butterflies.

AoP: How would you describe the Pedestrians of Blue sound?

TS: It has been described as a mix of Queensrÿche, Toto and Metallica. It's a dark blend of traditional hardrock and AOR with progressive elements.

AoP: How did you get involved with the band?

TS: We (Johannes and Torfinn) started this band about a year ago. After messing around with different ideas we came up with the concept of  Pedestrians of Blue. Torfinn had a clear vision of how it should sound, and with this in mind we wrote, recorded and produced the demo Circles of
Butterflies.

AoP: Are you involved in any other projects and if you so, how do they differ to PoB?

TS: We are both doing occasional gigs with different projects, but this is our main priority. Johannes is also a part of Orange Crush which is a more contemporary pop orientated band. They have done an EP called Songs for Ophelia which is available on their website: www.orangecrushmusic.com.  I'm messing up Deep Purple classics in a local cover band.

AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

TS: We did our first gig with this project last spring at a local "Battle of the Bands" anniversary-show. We did a few covers and one original song. It
went really well and made us realize that playing live with this band was something we had to continue doing.

AoP: What sort of reaction have you been getting from fans and press since the release of Circles of Butterflies?

TS: It's been great! The reviews have been ranging from "great" to "fantastic"! Everyone we have presented it to seems to like it. (T: Even my mother digs it! ;)

AoP: What are your favourite Pedestrians of Blue tracks?

TS: We have put a lot of work into all the tracks, so for us it's hard to pick one that stands out. We leave it up to the listeners to decide.

AoP: What are your favourite all time songs?

TS: It's almost impossible to pick just a few favourites really, but here's some songs that have inspired us over the years:
Torfinn: Whitesnake - Sailing Ships, Dream Theater - Take the Time, Kip Winger - Endless Circles
Johs: Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart, Toto - Goodbye Girl, A-ha - I've Been Losing You
If you'd asked us tomorrow the answers would probably be tot(o)ally different...

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

TS: Johs: For me it was A-ha's "Hunting High and Low". I just loved the keyboard part on Take on Me.
     Torfinn: I think it was "The Final Countdown" by Europe.

AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?

TS: After a loud discussion over a cop of coffee and pack of Marlboro's we came up with this line up: Jorn Lande (v.), John Petrucci (g.), Reb Beach (g.), Jordan Rudess (k.), Mike Porcaro (b.) and Rod Morgenstein (d.).

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

TS: There are a lot of cool new metal bands around but we still feel that many of them are missing the melodic aspect. We hope that there will be a change soon and that more people will learn to enjoy complex heavy metal songs with good melodies.

AoP: Which other bands in the scene really stand out for you at the moment?

TS: Dream Theater is pretty amazing. They sound fresh on every new album they release.

AoP: Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?

TS: Yeah, actually we do... When we recorded the vocals on Circles of Butterflies we took all our gear out of the studio and moved it into an old house which some relatives let us borrow for a few days. This house is located deep in a forest and miles away from people. It was in the middle of the winter and it was freezing cold, so we didn´t get the heat up to a normal temperature until the day we had to leave. Anyway, we were in the middle of recording the second night when suddenly the lights went out. We couldn´t see a damn thing and Johannes tried to find his way out to the kitchen to get a flash light when he bumped his head into the door frame to pass out for a few minutes. Later on he was still feeling dizzy when we did the vocals on "Where the Rain Falls", so we thought it would be cool to somehow include the episode in the mix. After messing around with a few filters we came up with the Cher thing on the verses of that song. The funny thing is that the same vocal effects have turned out to be a controversial thing amongst the reviewers of the demo, but it probably never would have happened without this little incident...

AoP: and finally, what do you see in the future for Pedestrians of Blue?

TS: We are focused on writing our first album. We hope to get signed or we will probably release it ourselves. The first album will sound great and have amazing songs. We hope that we will be able to build a small following by playing live and keep promoting the band.