Leprous reflect on early studio sessions

Leprous guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke says the band’s reluctance to throw away material cultivated their progressive sound.

The Norwegian outfit are the latest artist to appear on FreqsTV’s Into The Machine series, with Suhrke and drummer Baard Kolstad in the spotlight on the latest episode.

Suhrke says: “We learned to play music at the same time as we were evolving as a band and it took many years before it was something you would listen to.

“On the latest two or three albums we’ve become a lot more aware of trying to find the best way to compose music.

“When you start out, you’re making guitar riffs and you’ll never throw them away. To begin with, when you made something, you had to keep it and try to make something out of it.”

He continues: “That made us end up with a lot of songs that are pretty strangely built. Since you’re playing progressive music, that’s cool.”

The band are about to head out on tour in support of their latest album The Congregation – and Kolstad says playing to prog fans is a special experience as they pay close attention to what the band are doing on stage.

He says: “99% are really listening – they’re checking out what’s going on and personally I really like that.”

Suhrke adds: “You know that they’re listening and really paying attention to the details – and since we spend a lot of time on those details, that’s the really rewarding thing about the prog fans.”

Leprous 2016 tour dates

Jan 26: Tokyo Club Quattro, Japan
Jan 29: Sydney The Factory Floor, Australia
Jan 30: Perth Amplifier Bar, Australia
Feb 05: Brisbane The Brightside, Australia
Mar 23: Tel Aviv Theatron Tmuna, Israel
Mar 31: Berlin Musik & Frieden, Germany
Apr 01: Hertogenbosch W2, Netherlands
Apr 03: Hoofddorp Podium Duycker, Netherlands
Apr 05: Hamburg Logo, Germany
Apr 06: Essen Turock, Germany
Apr 07: Pratteln Z7, Switzerland
Apr 08: Strasbourg La Laiterie, France
Apr 09: Durbuy Rock Festival, Belgium
Apr 28: Kopervik Karmoygeddon Festival, Norway
Jun 23: Halden Tons Of Rock Festival, Norway

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