After teasing their audience with a remix EP and 5 singles since their debut album ‘Making The World Great Again’ in 2021, Piston Damp released their new album ‘Mastermind Vol 1: No Points For Trying’ today. We had some questions in store, and the band quickly answered them!

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)

Side-Line: What’s the main difference between the previous album and this one?

Piston Damp: Well… Most the songs on MTWGA were old songs. Only ‘To My Knees’ and ‘The Day Of Departure’ are older than 3 years. 

We’re a little older, and we’ve experienced some great stuff the last few years, playing gigs around Europe. We’ve grown more confident in the genre and we have a clearer message, and the vision of Piston Damp is clearer too. 

S-L: The title hints for a series – will there be a ‘Mastermind Vol 2’, 3 etc?

PD: Sure. Hahaha. 🙂 Yes, you can expect at least one more volume. 

S-L: A little side-track to the single ‘To my knees’; earlier Vince Clarke have been mentioned as an inspiration, but when listening to the “B-side” ‘Come to me’ it sounds like a track The Human League would envy. Who or what are your inspirations in general?

PD: Our inspirations are pretty main stream synth pop. Erasure, DM, The Human League, A-ha and so on.

Come To Me was written at a time when Construction Time Again was played a lot. 

S-L: Any tracks you would like to highlight or elaborate on?

PD: The album has death, departure, separation and loss as a hovering theme. We’re in our 40’s, and we’ve experienced some losses the past decade that has been quite devastating – especially Jonas. And since he writes the lyrics, this is quite obvious.

The first and last song is about death in near family. While ‘Downfall’ and ‘Now You Know’ is about a childhood friend of Jonas who passed away last year. 

S-L: Any upcoming plans or gigs?

PD: Yes! 2025 is looking really good for us. Come and see us at these dates:
01/03 – Gothenburg, Sweden
26/04 – Thallwis, Germany
03/05 – Glenghuset, Sarpsborg, Norway w/The Lund Commission
24/05 – Lucy-Fairs Garden, Ditmarchen, Germany
05/07 – Eastside Festival, Germany
16/08 – Manchester, UK

Album info

All songs by Jonas Groth
All song arranged, recorded and produced by Piston Damp
To My Knees – co-produced by Stephan L. Groth
All songs mixed by Magne Johansen, Piston Damp and Stephan L. Groth

Emilie Aurora Groth – additional vocal harmonies on ‘Downfall’
Stephan L. Groth – vocoder recording on ‘To My Knees’ and ‘Down, Pt. 3’
Truls Kristian Nygaard – additional lead vocal on ‘Sacrifice’
Kaja F. Pettersen – cello on ‘Blue Fields’
Ted Skogmann – additional percussion on ‘To My Knees’

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Piston Damp is a Norwegian-Danish synthpop duo formed by Jonas Groth and Truls Sønsterud. Jonas Groth is the brother of Stephan Groth, the frontman of Apoptygma Berzerk, and has been heavily involved in the music scene for over two decades. Piston Damp started as a side project while Apoptygma Berzerk was on tour, but it remained largely dormant until 2020, when the duo decided to relaunch the project.

Their music blends elements of classic synthpop with strong melodies and emotionally charged lyrics. Their debut album, Making the World Great Again (2021), includes standout singles like “Runaway” and “Something In Me”. The duo is praised for its catchy hooks, reminiscent of bands like Mesh, and their modern take on electronic music.

Piston Damp has released several singles, including remixes by electronic artists such as Pegboard Nerds and Technomancer. Their music often incorporates media samples, giving it a unique tone that resonates with synthpop fans.

And now they are ready to present their second album “Mastermind Vol 1 – No Points For Trying” in 4 different versions via emmobiz Records.

• Piston Damp “Mastermind Vol 1 – No Points For Trying” LP Box (Red splatter vinyl – 77 copies)
• Piston Damp “Mastermind Vol 1 – No Points For Trying” LP Box (Black vinyl – 222 copies)
• Piston Damp “Mastermind Vol 1 – No Points For Trying” DCD Set ltd. (77 copies): special limited DCD Edition with T-Shirt incl. Bonus CD with Remixes first time on CD
• Piston Damp “Mastermind Vol 1 – No Points For Trying” CD

The bonus CD holds the following tracks:

1. Something In Me – Single Version
2. Loose Ends – Single Version
3. Don’t – Single Version
4. Runaway – Single Version
5. Something In Me – Technomancer Remix
6. Testimony – Sebastian Komor Remix
7. Noget I Mig

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

side-line.com

Piston Damp and Ray Noir, two acts that hadn’t played in Oslo before, booked the final day of August for an evening of electro-metal/goth and synthpop tunes at the club Revolver. Then a surprise dropped the day before the show, announcing that Apop (Stephan Groth’s solo version of Apoptygma Berzerk) would kick off the evening with a set of analogue-modular music!

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange. Photos by Halvor Bodin, Tarjei Krogh and Jan Ronald Stange)

We had to get more info and reactions from all involved, so the week after was spent interviewing by Messenger and e-mail, starting with Apop.

Side-Line: Tell us how this gig came about, seemed a bit surprising for most since your participation was announced just the day before? 

Stephan Groth: Ray Noir and Piston Damp were going to be playing a show in Oslo on August 30, so I asked if I could play support since I have not played live in Oslo for a long time. It was already a sold out show, so I just tagged along. We all had great fun, and it felt good to show the Oslo crowd a side of APOPTYGMA BERZERK that they have not experienced before. 

 This is the 3rd time I have played live under the name “APOP”. It’s been just me alone on stage, improvising and tweaking modular synths and FX in the style of “Exit Popularity Contest”.

S-L: Is there any improvisation live, or all planned beforehand?

 STP: Oh yes, lots of improvisation. I have planned beforehand what songs to play, and for how long. 

Then I have preprogrammed 3 sequencers who are controlling the modular rig, so I arrange and mix the first half of the show live. 

The other half of the performance I play a few APOPTYGMA BERZERK songs with vocals. This last part is less improvised.

S-L: As mentioned you’ve done some of these sets before, will there be more in the future?

STP: I’m having a lot of fun doing this, and it seems people are enjoying it as well. It is also a great way to test out new material and new ideas. It is quite different from what I have done earlier in my career, and therefore also very refreshing and exciting for both the audience and myself. The first time I played this kind of concert was in Jönköping, supporting Swedish synth pop legends PAGE.
Will there be more of this in the future? I hope so 🙂

The prize for being most energetic went to the second act of the night, Ray Noir, who filled the club with beats as he used every inch of the stage – and some of the floor interacting with the audience too!

S-L: First time with a live show in Norway – what’s your impression?

Ray Noir: Heyy! Thank u so much for coming 🙏🏽 It was an awesome night. Playing a hometown show for the first time was nothing but amazing! Really cool to see so many beautiful faces there, and being supported by one of my all time favourite bands Apoptygma Berzerk was nothing but surreal. And doing this co-headline show with Piston Damp was a dream.

S-L: Anything else brewing with more releases or gigs?

RN: I’ve finished some new tracks, hopefully there will be one more release before the end of the year, there’s also some London shows planned before the year is over.

Piston Damp, the duo Jonas Groth and Truls Sønsterud, were the final act, making people dance and really enjoy their set. Top notch vocals and synth, and their surprising cover of The Cure’s “The Walk” was the show’s icing on the cake. Release that track ASAP!

S-L: First time in Oslo, how was the gig for you?

Piston Damp: Our first gig in Oslo was really cool. Super small – and sold out – venue, but awesome nonetheless. When we announced it from the stage, someone yelled out: “About time!!!”, which was hilarious although quite flattering.

Jonas has known Ray Noir since he was a very young guy behind the counter at Body Map in Arcaden, Oslo. Great guy, and so much fun to be with.

And for the third time, we’ve been able to bring along Stephan with his plip-plop-instrumentals, which we adore. Having him there adds a dimension to the evening.

S-L:  More releases or gigs planned?

PD: We most definitely have releases coming in the near future. We’re working on the follow up album to Making The World Great Again, which is exciting since we are no longer inventing Piston Damp. We are now developing Piston Damp. It’s really amazing to discover how alike we are. We really don’t seem like we would be able to get along style-wise, but we really do. Every single time.

We have about twenty songs in the can now. Now we’re trying to figure out how to sort them. Which goes where?

We are old-timers who love a good album with strong songs, singles with unforgettable b-sides and extended remixes, and live versions of songs, which give the songs more feet to stand on.

Watch out for our upcoming album. It’s going to be a great volume. Hint hint…

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Sub Culture press release) “Hard To Love You”, the fourth single from the upcoming Piston Damp album, is out today on streaming platforms. The sophomore album is due later this autumn.

“Hard To Love You” takes us back to the early 80’s with analogue synths, modular f/x and beautiful vocal harmonies, and Piston Damp’s love for Vince Clarke’s early songwriting really comes to fruition here. 

With their own unmistakable touch and sound mixed in, this makes for a nostalgic summer outing fit for a day on the beach or late night radio listening.

Piston Damp have played an impressive amount of gigs in Germany, Sweden and Norway in the past 3 years, and their live escapade will continue in August with their first ever gig in Oslo on the 31^st at Revolver, sharing the stage with Ray Noir. More info and tickets here.

“Hard To Love You” is written by Jonas Groth who’s also providing the vocals, and the synthesizers and modulars are by Truls Sønsterud. On this single, Stephan Groth, the brother of Jonas and known from Apoptygma Berzerk, has stepped in as co-producer. The single was mixed by Magne Johansen, and mastered by Ole-Espen Kristiansen. In addition to the instrumental and extended versions of “Hard To Love You”, you’ll get a live version of “Something In Me” included on the single.

Check out their bio and photos at www.pistondamp.com while listening to the tracks here:

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Piston Damp press release) Out today is the brand new single from Piston Damp, a synthpop duo from Norway consisting of Jonas Groth (known as keyboarder in Apoptygma Berzerk and as being Stephan Groth’s little brother) and his friend since childhood, Truls Sønsterud.

Since their debut album, ‘Making The World Great Again’ in 2021, they have released a string of singles, with ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘All The Edges I Can Fall’, leading up to ‘I’m Losing You (A New Tale)’ released November 17th 2023.

The single contains three tracks; a single version and an Extended Remix of the song, and ‘The Day Of Departure (Black Sky Version)’ as a bonus track.

It is still catchy synthpop, this time more up-beat and chorus driven, and with a sound and a beat that is sure to be a winner in their booked and upcoming live gigs in Sweden and Germany, of which there are many!

Live dates Piston Damp

• November 17, 2023: Helsingborg, Sweden
• March 16, 2024: E-Only Festival, Germany
• April 27, 2024: Jönköping, Sweden
• May 4, 2024: Sarpsborg, Norway
• July 19, 2024: Chemnitz, Germany

Listen to the tracks right here!

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)

December 16th 2022 sees the return of Piston Damp with not just one single, but TWO singles!!!

This is what happens when creativity takes hold and goes into overdrive. Truls Sønsterud and Jonas Groth have been on fire since the great reception of their debut album, ‘Making The World Great Again’, and the three consecutive singles, ‘Something In Me’, ‘Loose Ends’ and ‘Runaway’, as well as the ‘Making The World Great Again E.P.’ that was the final chapter in the MTWGA story.

After playing gigs and festivals in Norway, Sweden and Germany in 2022, we will also see them return to both Sweden and Germany for gigs and festivals in 2023, including a gig in Helsingborg, Sweden together with Octolab and Train To Spain on March 4th., as well as a performance at the E-Only Festival in Leipzig, Germany on the 17th. February. More live dates TBC!

Their two new singles, ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘All the edges I can fall’ are as diverse and catchy as you would expect from these guys, and they are both exploring the darker and deeper vaults of electronic music, as well as the higher mountain tops of catchy sing-a-long synthpop.
An intricate and well thought through production, carefully mixed by Magne Johansen and skillfully mastered by Ole-Espen Kristiansen, makes the songs eligible for both the dancefloor and for your party playlist.

Without a doubt, these singles will become fan favorites, and the guys are really looking forward to performing them live on the coming gigs.
Both singles are written by Jonas Groth and are topped with his skillful vocals and vocal production, and the instrumentation, drum programming and f/x from Truls Sønsterud are all worked through in a way that makes you understand that not a single sound is there by chance. Additional vocals on «Sacrifice» from Truls Kristian Nygaard, known from Norwegian electro-pop sensation SWEEP.

The singles also comes with an extended remix made by the band themselves, further leaning into the old 80’s tradition of the 12″ Extended Mixes that we all loved and adored.‍

Both singles released digitally on December 16th 2022 through Sub Culture Records on all platforms and streaming services, including Bandcamp.

Listen here!

Other sources:

“Sacrifice” – Spotify
“Sacrifice” – Deezer
“Sacrifice” – Apple Music

“All The Edges I Can Fall” – Spotify
“All The Edges I Can Fall” – Deezer
“All The Edges I Can Fall” – Apple Music

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Techomancer press release. Photos: Tarjei Krogh) Out now is the new album from the Norwegian synthwave act Technomancer a.k.a. Alexandria “Alyxx” Digre (she/her). She debuted with the album ‘System Failure’ in 2013, and now, almost 10 years later, the second album ‘Hyperfuel’ is finally being released!

Originally from the Northern town of Mo I Rana, Norway, Alyxx moved to Sarpsborg in 2014 and had already started working on the album at that point. Realizing that the next album had to be of much higher quality than the debut album, Alyxx started working on honing her production skills, getting plenty of practice on her side projects Zone Tripper and Laboratory 5, as well as doing numerous remixes for bands/artists such as Die Krupps, Nitzer Ebb, Anne Clark, Naked Lunch, Attrition, Robert Marlow (RIP), Apoptygma Berzerk and several others.

After ‘System Failure’, a departure from the former sound was set almost immediately. The sleek futurepop style was cast aside in favour of a heavier influence from the 80’s, with The Sisters Of Mercy providing a strong influence on the new sound. Together with Zone Tripper, Technomancer adopted very much an early synthwave sound which since then has become a signature sound for Alyxx’ productions as a whole. The new album relies heavily on sampled guitars and drum machines to give a much heavier retrowave feeling, which should please fans of synthwave acts such as Dance With The Dead and Scandroid.

The album has been co-produced by Stephan L. Groth (Apoptygma Berzerk) and his brother Jonas Groth (Piston Damp, Apoptygma Berzerk) who both have also provided guest vocals on the album. Frequent collaborator Per Aksel Lundgreen (Angst Pop, Cronos Titan, Chinese Detectives, Shatoo) has also been involved.

Ole-Espen Kristiansen (OK Minus, Elec This!) has mastered the album and also mixed a couple tracks. Ole-Espen has also done mastering and live mixing for Apoptygma Berzerk and Piston Damp.

Wanting to know more about this release, we contacted Alyxx to have some questions answered.

S-L: You’ve gone from furutepop to synthwave – what’s the next step in your evolution?

Alexandria Digre: Well, I really don’t know. I’ve been listening to harder stuff lately. I especially loved REIN’s album, ‘Reincarnated’ and really loved that kind of old school EBM sound making a comeback. I also finally got around to listening to some Nitzer Ebb stuff, especially their legendary ‘That Total Age’ album. Some of my recent demos have been more in the vein of that, combined with some influences from Empirion.

I also saw Sierra in Gothenburg this summer and really loved the harder synthwave sound she had going. I’m definitely still in the synthwave scene and been listening to a lot of stuff there lately, so that might still be an influence going forward. I don’t think the next album will take a decade to make so I also doubt it will be as much of a new direction. But we will see, it all depends on where my writing takes me.

Right now I have some ideas for a new album but nothing solid, as I rarely do in the early stages. I actually wrote a few futurepop/techno tracks at the start of making ‘Hyperfuel’ that ended up not really fitting in, but I might use some of that for the next album if I can find a new sound they would fit in. But so far I’ve been wanting to draw more on early 90s EBM influences like Front Line Assembly and that early EBM sound.

S-L: How has the feedbacks on the album been so far?

AD: Well, even as the singles came out, it was usually positive. But as for the album, it really seems people are loving it. Everyone I’ve sent it to has enjoyed it and hasn’t really had much bad to say about it. Which is both flattering and a bit concerning. I really hope someone really goes into depth on the album at some point. I love praise and knowing people are connecting with the music, but I also love to know where I can improve going forward. After all, ‘Hyperfuel’ wouldn’t be the album it is without the criticism I got from ‘System Failure’.

S-L: You got some covers here – tell us more about how they came to life!

AD: ‘Puppets’ came to life as I was invited to contribute to a Depeche Mode tribute project. I made the original version on my own in my studio and on a journey with Stephan (Apoptygma Berzerk) I played it for him and Per Aksel (Angst Pop) and Stephan really loved what he heard. He not only advised me to release the cover myself, but also allow him to do it together with me. I was floored by the fact Stephan straight up asked to work with me on something, so naturally I agreed.

He spent a few days in his studio recording some additional synth riffs on his Korg MS-20 and recording the vocals, which we then added to the mix. We then spent a while in my studio producing the track with Per Aksel.

So yeah, very glad I didn’t just release it as a tribute album track. It ended up becoming a lot more than that, and I have so many good memories with ‘Puppets’. Only downside is I doubt I could perform it live without Stephan. It wouldn’t feel right, haha!

‘Ecstasy’ was a song I’ve wanted to cover for a long time. I’ve been a fan of Black Lab since I heard their cover of the Transformers Theme from their ‘Technologie’ EP, where ‘Ecstasy’ was also featured. I immediately connected with the song and it has always been my favourite Black Lab track.

‘Ecstasy’ was actually always intended to be on the album. I think it was on the first demo I brought Per Aksel right after I had moved to Sarpsborg. On the demo version, I did all the vocals myself, but I always wanted someone with me on it. Per Aksel suggested Stian Joneid as a candidate, and we also considered Dag Brandth (Shatoo) to do it with me. Honestly, Dag might have been perfect for it, but due to circumstances that never worked out, so I ended up choosing Jonas Groth (Piston Damp) since I was recording my final vocals in his studio for the song and he’s the best singer I know.

Jonas’ vocals really helped bring the song to another level and I am so happy we got to work together on it. Him and Truls Sønsterud did an amazing Piston Damp remix of it by the way that you can find on the single.

‘The Outsider’ was a song I originally did for a Psyche tribute album, ‘Unforgotten Rhymes’. It was also the second music video I did after moving to Sarpsborg, with Per Aksel directing and shooting it. It sort of became the first single from the album actually, featuring the signature sound I would be going for. It’s always been a song I connected with on a personal level, so having it on the album felt natural to me.

S-L: What’s next up for you?

AD: Working on a new Zone Tripper album and some other side projects. Lab5 has been dormant for a while and I am itching to get some of our material out there. Also working on a synthwave project called Neo Hyperdrive together with Hexebyte and Max Static from Lab5. There will also be a 2CD Deluxe Edition of Hyperfuel that will also be available on my Bandcamp. I’ll announce a release date for that later on.

The album was released digitally worldwide on November 4^th 2022, with a Deluxe Edition also available on 2xCD via Sector Industrial (www.sector-industrial.com) and digitally exclusive via the Technomancer Bandcamp, which includes 5 additional tracks and remixes by Machinista, Echo Image, Piston Damp, Substaat and Christian Espeland of Code 64. Release date for the Deluxe Edition will be revealed later.

Get it at Bandcamp along with more of the discography, or have a listen at Spotify!

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange) The Danish/Norwegian duo Piston Damp, consisting of Jonas Groth and Truls Sønsterud, released their debut album ‘Making The World Great Again’ today, June 10th. The band was formed in 2000, but remained a hobby project for 20 years until Jonas wrote the song ‘Something in me‘ in 2020, Read more about that and their other singles, ‘Loose Ends‘ and ‘Runaway‘, in our previous articles on Piston Damp.

Now it’s finally album release, and we got some words from the band in between their launch party and the actual release.

Side-Line:  How has the reception of the album been so far?
Jonas Groth: It’s actually been quite overwhelming. We’ve worked hard on this album, and we are definitely happy, but I’m not sure that we expected this reaction. Everything from reviews to interviews, and from social media comments to posts all over the web – everything has been extremely positive.
Truls Sønsterud: We definitely have to catch our breath from time to time and try to cope with everything that is happening everywhere right now. We are really focused on working hard on the promo, but we also manage to enjoy the fact that people actually really like what we have done so far.

 S-L:  The title is obviously a pun of the MAGA slogan we’ve all seen the last 5-6 years – a hope for things getting back to normal again, or something else?
JG: It’s a pun, yes, but the expression is more than 80 years old, and has been used in various settings since WWII. For me, the title (which came before the song) is about trying to calm down a world that has totally lost its groove and rhythm after the Internet came about. With most of the lyrics on the album I’m trying to encourage people to take a stand against the brutal reality of the distance that the so-called “social” media has created. It’s a fact that there has never been more loneliness and social anxiety than there is now, and in my opinion the internet is the main reason for it.

S-L: Happy with the launch party June 5^th? I saw most of it, seemed like a good vibe going on there! 🙂
JG: We had a blast. We still don’t have a record company or a management behind us, so this is all us and our best friends and closest family having fun together. Truls and I have been friends for 25 years and never really had an argument, so this is just great fun.
TS: Yeah, we really enjoyed that. Like Jonas says, we know each other very well, so we make each other good, and we pull the same end of the rope. That helps a lot when we’re planning and going through with these kinds of things in a good way.

S-L: The vinyl release already postponed – someone mentioned December at the launch party?
JG: The vinyl release comes late because there’s a 5–6-month delivery on vinyl now. And we’re doing a double LP which also doesn’t make the process go any faster. If we could have had them at the same time, we would. We expect them to arrive for Christmas.

S-L: Got any live gigs or other plans for the album as the corona restrictions are gradually being lifted?
JG: We haven’t decided on anything yet. We’re still waiting for the world to wake up from its slumber, and hopefully we will be ready for whatever happens. We’d love to play live, and maybe support someone on a tour. We’re open for everything.
TS: We hope to play at least a couple of gigs this fall, but if not we will be all set for whatever comes in 2022. We are working on some new remixes that I guess you will be hearing in a not too distant future, and we have started the working on our live setup. 

Buy or listen to the album at your favorite streaming service (https://orcd.co/aamyvko)!

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Piston Damp, the project of Jonas Groth (Apoptygma Berzerk) and Truls Sønsterud (Tröll) is ready to release a debut album after their 3 singles “Something In Me”, “Loose Ends” and “Runaway” which were released the last 8 months. Their debut album “Making The World Great Again” will be out via Sub Culture Records on June 10th.

The album has been produced by the Danish/Norwegian duo themselves and mixed with their good friend Magne Johansen. It was mastered for digital platforms by Ole-Espen Kristiansen, and for CD and vinyl by Morten Lund. Stephan Groth (Apoptygma Berzerk) contributes on vocoder on one of the songs.

Piston Damp was formed in 2000, but remained a hobby project for 20 years until Jonas wrote the song “Something In Me” in 2020. This became their first single and was remixed by acts like The Anix, Pegboards and Technomancer.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

side-line.com

The Danish/Norwegian duo Piston Damp – aka Jonas Groth and Truls Sønsterud – releases their second single “Loose Ends”, three months after debuting with “Something In Me”.

The track “Loose Ends” was written when Jonas lived with his brother, Stephan back in 2001, and a demo version has been wandering around online ever since. During the holidays of 2020, the band decided to
re-record the song and make it their follow-up single to last year’s debut “Something In Me”.

The new single was recorded by Jonas and Truls, with Computorgirl (Benedicte Sveinsson) lending her voice to the up-tempo b-side “Don’t”. A remix of “Loose Ends” has been provided by Alyxx of Zone Tripper, and the b-side was remixed by Truls, aka Tröll.

Magne Johansen of MJAudio served as mixer of the single, which also includes extended remixes of both tracks, and Ole-Espen Kristiansen (Elec This!) mastered everything at STUDIO+/-.

For now, check out the first single.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

side-line.com

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Sub Culture Records press release) The Danish/Norwegian duo Piston Damp, currently residing in Sarpsborg, Norway, are releasing their debut single on October 16^th. Have a listen at the first track available at Bandcamp at the bottom here!

The duo consists of Jonas Groth and Truls Sønsterud; Jonas being the singer/songwriter/producer, with more than 20 years’ experience from both stages and studios all over the world, mostly connected to his brother, Stephan’s band, Apoptygma Berzerk. He also has
connections to various other acts like Magenta and The Anix. His production partner is Truls; musical arranger/keyboardist/songwriter, connected to various bands since the late 90’s.

Their new track ‘Something In Me’ was written and recorded this summer, with Stephan Groth serving as pre-production supervisor. It is mixed by Ole-Espen Kristiansen (Elec This!) at STUDIO+/-, and mastered by Carlos Perón (ex-YELLO), at Liquid Gold Mastering.
Something In Me also has a version called Noget I Mig with Danish lyrics, and both versions have several remixes (‘Pegboard Nerds Remix’, ‘The Anix Remix’, ‘Technomancer Remix’, ‘Extended 12”
Remix’, and more…).

Tracklist:

1. Something In Me
2. Noget I Mig
3. Another Pain (Blue Hearts Version)
4. Something In Me (Pegboard Nerds Remix)
5. Noget I Mig (Pegboard Nerds Remix)
6. Something In Me (The Anix Remix)
7. Something In Me (Technomancer Remix)
8. Something In Me (Kleinmelker Remix)
9. 9. Something In Me (Extended Remix)

All tracks written by Jonas Groth
Recorded, arranged, produced and programmed by Piston Damp at Brakka Studio, Tveter
All vocals arranged and recorded by Jonas Groth at Love Studio, Greåker
Snare drum on Another Pain by Truls Sønsterud
Tracks 1-3 and 6-9 mastered by Carlos Perón at Liquid Gold Mastering
Tracks 4 and 5 mixed and mastered by Alex “O” at PBN Headquarters, Hamar
Tracks 1-3, 7 & 9 mixed and engineered by Ole-Espen Kristiansen at STUDIO +/-
Track 6 recorded and mixed by The Anix
Track 7 recorded and mixed by Technomancer at The Technomantic Zone
Track 8 recorded and mixed by Kleinmelker
Track 9 remixed by Jonas Groth at Love Studio, Greåker
Final compiling and editing by Tomas Siqveland at Lydmuren. Greåker
Logo and design; Espenoo
Pre-production supervisor; Stephan L. Groth
Production office; Per Aksel Lundgreen
Worldwide digital distribution by Sub Culture Records – “Making everything great again”

UPDATED October 15th: Check their music video!

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange