HIGH STORY

goldenboy hasn't always been golden : things and people have changed : sun has followed rain has followed sun : this page is dedicated to the history of the band : all the deviations, setbacks, highlights and prospects for the future : come back for more insight and hindsight when the story has been written and the future seems more predictable :

"…it all started back in '99!"

Actually the goldenboy story started way before this point. pNils and Toke have been neighbours and best friends since they were about five years old (and probably still in their diapers). They have attended to the same schools and hung out way too much, kinda like overgrown monkeys…

Their interest in music started quite early. Toke started playing the classical guitar when he was eight and kept it up (the guitar playing that is) until he was eighteen. pNils' career as a waldhorn player in his school's big band was a lot shorter, but he also took some lessons banging the piano…

When the two good neighbours were about 17, they found out that they had to do something extraordinary to get the girls' attention. The solution was to form the pop-indie-grunge band Plush together with Øystein Handegard (today in a prog-rock (!?) band) and Torbjørn Williams (today: a pilot! Wow!). Plush lasted for a couple of years with a lot of gigs in their hometown Bergen and recording of two demo-tapes. Toke's and pNils' families & friends LOVED this band. A few girls took a liking to us, but most of them joined ALL of the boys hated it (at least at school…). Plush went to sleep in 1996.

Time went by, but still pNils and Toke kept dreaming about playing in a band. Their music influences and favorite bands changed a bit during the next years, and they both found out that they wanted to play ultra-melodic-catchy-pop-punk in their next band-project. At some point rumours whispered that they were looking into a new genre; the so-called "heavy-metal-boy-band-in-suits" but for some reason this was turned down by their mother's who posed a serious threat to both their careers and hairstyle.

Toke met g-moNey when he studied at Bergen College to become a teacher. g-moNey was a good guy from Trondheim with a blurry past as a heavy-metaller. This was to be goldenboy's fancy guitarist. All that was missing now was a drummer. During fall '99, goldenboy started rehearsing with a quite good drummer called Espen. The goldenboy story was a bit slow in the start, so he soon decided that he wanted to quit to concentrate on another project. g-moNey and Toke both studied music at Bergen college, so they started hunting for goldenboy's new human drum-machine among their fellow students. They found the answer at choir-practice (!!!) in their very own school. BT took about 15 seconds to convince the rest of goldenboy that he was the right man to juggle the sticks.

The first months with BT gave goldenboy both faith and talent. The band rehearsed like mad and made a lot of new fancy tunes. Early goldenboy sounds like a combination of slow pop-punk combined with some faster ska-punk tunes. Time went by and goldenboy did their debut-concert at a crowded "Stundesløse" (Bergen) in May-2000. During summer, they played another show at "Garage" and also started to record their first demo-EP "entertaining your girl". The release-party for the EP was a huge success, with crowded house and nice feedback both from a growing number of fans and the local press.

goldenboy was happy, but not satisfied. The band was not content with the sound-quality of the record and the quality of their songs. The band did a lot of shows in Bergen and also in Trondheim and Stavanger the next year. Combined with a lot of rehearsing and songwriting, this made wonders for goldenboy. The style of their music changed a bit during this time. The poppy punk songs became faster and finally the band decided to let the ska-influence rest in peace. Newer goldenboy sounds like pop-music, with catchy tunes and sing-along choruses. At the same time it has the punch and the kick from punk-rock. goldenboy still has the main focus on the melody. If the melody's no good, it is NOT a goldenboy tune.

During summer 2001, the band recorded the new EP "never ending happy ending" in Rec 90 studios with Bjørn Ivar Tysse as producer. The band is quite happy with this one and believe that the four tracks on the record reflect the soul of the band.

The release-party for this record was also a great one. The band combined it with a "goodbye-party" for their westcoast US-tour which they did in sept 2001. goldenboy played 5 shows in San Diego and Orange County during three weeks, and got enough positive feedback to go back to the US (this time East) for next summer.

goldenboy will use 2002 to play as many shows as possible in Norway, to record a new record and to go on another tour to the US. The band will also do their best to get support from a label to avoid being hit to hard by the global recession in the economy.

It's a wrap!

the goldenboy cocktail

they are all lazy sods in this band : this page has been around for ages but they all seem so caught up in their future that they have completely forgotten about the past : a dirty rotten shame : surely they will all end up with serious identity problems : they are already showing the signs when they're drunk : which is quite often these days : how appropriate then to present the official goldenboy drink on this empty page : not made by the band but haphazardly found in a "drinks for dummies"-book : tasty and strong : quite the opposite of....okay i'll stop here :

• 4,5 cl. bourbon
• 1,5 cl. rhum
• 6 cl. orange Juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 spoon crushed ice
• 1 dash grenadine

Mix all the ingredients but the grenadine in a shaker : pour in chilled glass : add grenadine : get smashed and send us loads of money :

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