KRAAK FEST HIGHLIGHTS: Statoil

How did you guys meet and start playing together?

We became friends in 2014, the first year of our music studies, but the talk of starting a band first emerged after an improv show we did in 2019. In 2022 we pulled the trigger, started Statoil and recorded Black Gold.

Your bio and song titles jeer at hypercapitalism and allude specifically to the oil industry. How does this drive your process as a band?
Most humans, animals, trees and flowers, insects, etc are affected by the massive greenwashing, cruelty and double morale of big corporations, governments, and rent-seekers, so in that sense everyone's process is driven by this. We try to make it a focus point and take inspiration from the fight against it and the push towards a more humane life (for all living creatures) and channel this through loud sound waves.

Besides oil, what influences your sound?
We are inspired by the machine in both the concrete sense, as in the sound of a machine, but also the machine of society that takes very little care of its inhabitants. The way all individuals can see that something is clearly wrong, but cannot stop the machine from destroying nature, humans, animals, etc. You could call it some sort of apathy creation device for the individual.

From what we could gather you don’t all live in the same city? How does this affect the band's dynamic?

It makes it very on/off. It forces us to be quite efficient. Black Gold was composed and recorded in a weekend.

Will there ever be a follow-up to Black Gold?

Yes, we are currently working on our second album, it’s being mixed at this very moment and we will present new material on our Refilling Europa Tour.