Interview: Joshua De Laurentiis from From Oslo

Heavy riffin’ duo From Oslo have been causing quite a racket in Melbourne’s rock scene since their formation in 2013. The band’s DZ Deathrays mixed Royal Blood sound has seen them impress plenty of locals, and now the rowdy two-piece are gearing up for an East Coast tour in support of their debut self-titled EP. We threw some questions at frontman Joshua De Laurentiis about the band’s killer single No Sound, their song writing processes, and Frankencocktails.

For the uninitiated, how do you describe From Oslo’s sound and live show?

One guitarist and one drummer. Also Joel beats the living sh*t out of his kit, so that often means I’ve got to turn my amps up, then Joel plays even louder, so I turn my…it’s pretty much like that snake that eats its own tail. You know that thing? That circle? I don’t know what that means but yeah, our live show is like a snake that eats its own tail for some reason.

We’re loving your latest single No Sound, what’s the story behind the track?

It actually started out as a little soft grungy gospel kind of idea – just a late night recording with an acoustic guitar into my phone. I never show anyone those recordings because they’re often whispered vocals and horribly performed, but a lot of my ideas come from some shitty little recording done at the tail end of a big night or just whenever, really.

But when we actually arranged the song properly it got a lot bigger sounding very quickly, so after we recorded it we ended up chopping off a softer guitar/vocal intro so that intensity could kick in straight off the top. I originally didn’t think anyone would really have much interest in the song, so I’m pretty happy that people seem to be responding positively to it.

In the music video for No Sound you battle each other in what seems like a never-ending series of games what has to be the best apartment/bachelor pad. Is that apartment seriously where you guys live?

Yeah I lived in that place for a couple of years! I still live right in the heart of Collingwood so probably the bigger distractions are all the great bars around and gigs to go to. It’s pretty sweet that we can smash out a few beers and games of Donkey Kong at home and then cruise around the corner to Pixel Alley for, y’know, more beers and Donkey Kong. Probably just as likely to hit up a sweaty punk show in the Grace Basement. But it was a lot of fun playing as many sweet games we could get our hands on, and schooling Joel on the Rubik’s Cube.

The video ends with neither of you “winning”, what happened after you guys finished shooting the clip?

Oh there was definitely a winner – if you stop the tally just before we head out into the alley you can figure out the secret. We couldn’t agree on whose turn it was to buy the beers though so I think we planned on restarting the contest but just ended up combining all the almost empty bottles of booze to make some kind of Frankencocktail of sorts…it wasn’t good.

You’re a rowdy two-piece rock band, do you identify more with The Black Keys, Royal Blood, or DZ Deathrays?

Black Keys were pretty much one of the only two or three bands you’d mention when talking about two-pieces back in the day, but as far as founding fathers (and mother) of the contemporary duo go, you can’t not mention The White Stripes. Even just Jack White’s guitar sound inspired a thousand records. As for DZ, man, that debut record of theirs was just balls to the wall. First time I saw them was in the tent at Falls Festival when they played the post midnight set on New Year’s morning.

The sound was incredible and their energy was off the chain, so I definitely scored a bit of inspiration from that one. They’ve added a second guitarist for touring since then, but that’s fair. You can do a lot with one guitar these days but there’s definitely limits. Japandroids were a huge influence to us from the beginning too and meeting Brian King after they played like their 350th show of that tour was sick.

What are three things people should know about your next release?

Whatever we release next might not have even been written yet, although it may exist in some form as voice memo on my phone. Thankfully we work pretty fast in the studio, so the turnaround time from initial idea to complete song to finished recording will be pretty brief. But yeah, I’m trying to decide whether to pump it up or play it down…let’s go with it will meet your expectations (if you have expectations), but some might be a bit better, and some might not be better.

Lastly, if you guys weren’t rocking out as From Oslo, what would Joshua De Laurentiis and Joel Penman being doing with their lives?

I’d be a Yelp reviewer and Joel would probably be a retired pro skater.

From Oslo EP Tour

FRI 3 JUNE
Ric’s Bar, Brisbane
SUN 5 JUNE
Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney
SAT 18 JUNE
Cherry Bar, Melbourne
FRI 1 JULY
Crown & Anchor, Adelaide
FRI 15 JULY
The Brisbane Hotel, Hobart
SAT 16 JUNE
The Croxton, Melbourne (w/ Shihad & Grenadiers)

Get Tickets HERE