Enslaved comments on visit to Norwegian Embassy in DC

Guitarist/songwriter Ivar Bjørnson offers more details on the band's visit to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. on May 27th, the day of the last show on their North American tour with Opeth in support of their Billboard-charting album, Vertebrae:

"We were very excited about visiting the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. and were heartily welcomed by Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strømmen and a large group from the Embassy staff. We were invited to talk about the band's history, our own efforts in the American music market, and in more general terms about the export of Norwegian music; Metal in particular. The staff's questions were updated and detailed; it turned out to be a very interesting and fruitful conversation. Later that night, a group of five staff members came to the concert – we know this for a fact, as shouts of 'Go Norway!' came from the VIP-section when Grutle [Kjellson, vocalist/bassist] told the audience about the visit from the Embassy. We hope we get to meet them again, and that other foreign stations take on the challenge to get as involved in Norwegian culture abroad as the Norwegians in Washington D.C."

In response to the questions posed online about why Bjørnson and Kjellson were looking skyward while at the Embassy: "They were looking up to the balcony as people came out from their offices to check out the 'death metal' guys."


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Tags:  Ivar Bjørnson, Enslaved, Vertebrae, Norway, Norwegian Embassy

admin    June 12, 2009