TERJE EIDE & BENNECH LYNGBOE (ON THE RISE)

On The Rise have just released their debut CD via Frontiers and what a top slice of melodic AOR it is! Well worth a listen.

1. What are you currently up to?

At this moment we're in a process to complete the line up for live performances.

2. Who is/were your influences?

Terje's comments : - My influences in music are Van Halen, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, Ronnie James Dio, Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow, Journey, John Farnham, Steve Perry, Kiss, Steve Vai, Gary Moore & Toto. Bennech's comments : - In early days my musical influences was Bruce Springsteen. Later on I discovered bands like TNT, Journey, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Dokken, Iron Maiden, Lynch mob, Toto, Van Halen and some others....

3. Brief history of the band plus the style of music you play.

It's been a natural process to work and to date our style of music we play on our debut album, cause individually the AOR/melodic rock music has been a part of our lives for a long long time. Here are some words about each song we wrote on our debut album : Beat Of Your Heart : I wrote this one with an old friend of mine. Me and Bennech wanted to put it on the album because of it's catchy groove and good melody. It's a story about having a glamorous life and loosing it, to keep on wanting and hoping for it to return. Lift You Up : Bennech's comments : I wanted to write an uptempo song and while I was jamming, I found the lyrics who became the chorus later on. It's a song about the promesis we make for each other, but somehow we can't manage to keep. Terje's comments : Bennech came up with this idea and I started to work on it right away as well as putting the arrangements together with him. The World Of Change : It all started with a acoustic guitar and a melody I've always wanted to complete. Then I tried to combine it with a rhythm I've always wanted to use. It all came down pretty well. I had some thoughts about the lyrics. Everything that I had in mind came easily down to paper. You know everybody's got their own thoughts and upinions about the politicians and what they've accomplished or not, and it combines the reflections of our history and the natural disasters as well. Writing lyrics like this isn't because you want to change the world, but if it gets the attention and people starts to think then I'm happy. Memories Forever : It didn't take me long to make this song. I even finish doing the lyrics before I finished the arrangements. This is a song about when you've had enough of heartbreaking stories, and then you want to spread your wings and fly. Do your own stuff for a while. Think things over. But when it's far gone, you'll never forget the love that ment something. No one can change that. Pride : Bennech's comments : This is a song I wrote back in 96 and it inspired a friend of mine to write the lyrics and the story of himself. Terje's comments : We both wanted to make it rougher than the earlier version, and I started to explore different angles on how to settle the right guitar chords. I wanted to keep on going for the policy of "less is more". Leaps And Bounds : This is one of the first songs I made for this record. I felt we needed a song to unite our voices in harmony. Basicly I felt like making it rougher, but I didn't do it until we were suppose to record it on the album. Lyrically I came up with the idea of making a point out of the world's scientific eruption. I just had some thoughts about how fast things are going these days. Take your time out and look around. Do we dare !!? We forget to live our lives sometimes. Running In The Night : This is an old song of mine and it's a part of my history/collection as a songwriter. Lyrically it's a about the wars and the fights that surrounds us every day. How hard it is for the young ones to grow up and how to experience the first moment of showing up and to be accepted. It could take place anywhere and this guy has got the guts and confidence, but that's not enough in a world who's not too safe. Keep Our Love Alive : I wrote this song for this album and I believe it's the fastest song I've ever made so far. This is a song about when love is growing, dying and tearing us apart. It's about not giving up a long lasting love by seeking more of the unknown knowledge of each other. It all depends on how much we care about our valuable time together, if we're gonna keep our love alive. Stay Away : In this song you can catch a glimpse of two different styles of music. I enjoyed singing it. This is a song about the guy who observe that time is running by and he feels like not having enough time to do everything that he wants to do, and his reflections upon why we never learn to stay away from all the unneccesarry troubles we're making out of our ordinary day of life. Sadness Hits Like A Stone : I wrote it a few years ago and a friend of mine said I had to put it on a record sometime. He wrote the lyrics as well. I started this year to finish the new arrangements. It all went pretty well. Sadness is a part of us all and loneliness is something that surrounds us everyday and do we really care about the ones who's too lonely ?? Two Young Hearts : Bennech's comments : This is the first song I wrote for this project. I came up with some basic chords and a melody where we both contributed to the arrangements of the song. Terje's comments : I completed this song with the solopart and wrote some words about the guy who's looking back at the days when he was young and certain things like a certain scent can remind you of someone once very special, at a time when life was easy. These are just some of the things you never forget. These memories do last a lifetime. Could Have Been The Last Time : Bennech's comments : Actually I had the plan of making this song as a powerballad, but in the process it became as you all can hear today. This is a story about me and a girlfriend. Terje's comments : Bennech came up with this brilliant song. He had some thoughts about the story and it was my contribution to substantiate the story by writing the lyrics and completing the arrangements. Stranded : This song is about a man who's tired of the ordinary day. He wants to break out and realise his dreams to come true. There's always uppertunities in life, it's just the matter of believing in it and to grab a hold on those few chances you'll get. The Moment : This is the song of my heart. We wanted to end this record as easy as we could. Without drums and bass. I think it was a nice choice to make. When you've met someone special and it's your love of life, then it's not so much to tell by words but to listen and to keep the moment forever. We All Gotta Change : Frontiers asked for a bonus track and I had a collection of songs that Bennech replied on and together we decided to give this one for the release in Japan. I wrote this song with a friend of mine. We both were having thoughts about how we all gotta change, and we still do...!! ;-)

4. What do you think of the current state of radio and the live music scene?

Suprisingly we've noticed a lot of music from the 80's on the radio in Norway lately. It could've been more activity on the live music scene of course, but I think that will change. We can't afford to lose that important exposure.

5. How easy/hard has it been to get exposure for the band?

It hasn't been hard at all. We've been busy from the first day we launched the schedule of our debut album.

6. What has been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?

Actually there's been a lot of highlights. Those few moments of lowpoints hasn't been that important and hasn't influenced the process to keep going on.

7. Who have you toured with and would like to tour with in the future?

We haven't toured with this concept yet, and it would've been great to tour with someone in the future of course.

8. If you could create a fantasy band - what would be the line-up and why?

Terje's comment's : - Steve Vai - guitar, Dan Huff - guitar, Mike Brignardello - bass, Jonathan Cain - keyboards and Deen Castronovo - drums. Bennech's comment's : - Dann huff - guitar, Neil Schon - guitar, Hugh Mcdonald - bass, Jonathan Cain - keys and Mickey Curry -

9. Could you take us through some personal highlights of the new album please?

We enjoyed recording the whole album and there's been a lot of hard work to finish it, but of course there's been some highlights. Terje's comment's : - I liked doing "RUNNING IN THE NIGHT". It's been a part of my story as a songwriter and I enjoyed doing the vocals as well as the guitar solo. The biggest passion of mine have been the background vocals. I like to make 'em mighty and wide. "THE MOMENT" is another highlight where I wanted to keep on holding on to the basic arrangements. It's a passionate love song that I enjoyed singing. "STRANDED" is one of the most heavy songs on the album, and I was pretty satisfied with the results in the studio. I really enjoyed doing the arrangements on "COULD HAVE BEEN THE LAST TIME". It's a pretty nice song. Bennech's comment's: - It was very special for me to do "PRIDE", cause it`s been an old favourite of mine. I recorded that song in a studio a few years ago, but this time I was very satisfied with my vocals. "LIFT YOU UP" came out very easy in the studio. I love that kind of vocal and it was quite fun to sing on the background vocals on this record as well.

10. The Stage Dolls recently got to number 2 in the Norwegian album charts. Is there a healthy rock scene in Norway? Any other Norwegian bands we should check out?

Visit our official website at www.neuralmass.com to be updated. We believe there's a healthy rock scene in Norway. The results of Stage Dolls latest collection of best songs confirms it. The rock music has always survived the market. You can blame all the big record companies for their bad priority of music and why the market has a priority to an overflow of bad music these days. They want the music to sound special, but what is so special in what they do today ?? Just try to strip down the arrangments on different records and you'll be even more surprised. You could check out the following artists like TNT, Street Legal, Jorn Lande, ...!!

10. Message to your fans...

We would like to thank the fans of AOR/melodic rock for all the amazing feedbacks, thanks. See ya' All The Best Terje & Bennech

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