The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #12

In February, before we had manipulated the rest of the lads into joining, Chris and I, accompanied by our ladyfriends, went to see a Norwegian band with an excellent name "Tommy Tokyo & Starving For My Gravy". It was an important time for us as we were still trying to find out what it was that we wanted to be as a group (bearing in mind there was only two of us and we hadn´t found anyone who was suitable for the project yet. The afternoon of the show Tommy himself had done his back in and was limited in his movement but he still managed to blow us away. Tommy himself looks biblical and uses a loudspeaker to great effect. Here is the band playing on Swedish TV.



And live in Tromsø, kicking ass.



The album "Smear Your Smiles Back On" is excellent and does all sorts of things that we want to do. Lyrically, it´s excellent, which I have to say is not all that common for Norwegian bands writing in English, though there are a few examples of really good writers working now, The Little Hands Of Asphalt being one we´ve already mentioned a few times on the blog. What I like most about Tommy is his sense of drama, both live and on record. He´s a bloody big presence but still manages not to take himself too seriously. Quite the balancing act.

Go and buy the album, you wont be disappointed.

Merry Christmas. x

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #11

Mere moments after our first gig, at Habibis on May 8th 2009, we were approached by Mr Eivind Fadnes, a fine gent of Molde stock who made an instant and lasting impression. He politely presented himself as impresario of a Norwegian festival, "Feriefestivalen", a name that will surely echo through the ages. He must have seen something in us that night as he asked us to play that summer, not only on the main stage aside such luminaries as The Little Hands of Asphalt and El Otro Sonido.

Thus began a wonderful relationship, not only with Eivind but his whole family, all wonderful, passionate people who are something of an inspiration to us in Casa Murilo. We are very close and we continue to make oversized plans together. Eivind in particular has a big part to play in our future and we wish him all the best for his trip to Latin America in January.

Big manly hugs to all those who were at Feriefestivalen to witness the first ever cave gig and a lovely wet kiss to the Fadnes family.

Merry Christmas!

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #10

Its difficult to remember exactly, but I think this was the second song we wrote. It was certainly one year ago this week. Vaer så godt.

Murilo I Love You

With ideas on my hands and a head full of plans
Should I keep my cool, sit on my hands and just wait
I said wait a second but you left in a flash
I got the brains but you got the cash and I´ll pay

So we told a few lies just to cut around the corners
and the princess at the door says Murilo I love you
the horse is on the floor as the show goes on around him
and the newspapers report Murilo I love you

You chase the questions and I´ll set the traps
set up an escape plan and stick pins in the maps on our way
They´re all growing up and I´m still getting high
It´s hard to see straight through the red in my eyes but I´ll try

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #9

Bodø has had a pretty good year in 2009 as far as their music scene goes I´d say.

We won´t mention the football team.

There seems to be an incredible group of bands emerging from the mountainous scenery of the north at the moment and Gouranga are most certainly one of the ones making the most noise. And what a beautiful noise indeed.



Gouranga is a young band, all their members are under 18, but listening to the music they make would offer no indication of this. They have already been described as Bodø´s most visually exciting live band, a huge compliment when you consider the competition, and played one of the most impressive sets during last months Bodø Harcore Festival. Catchy guitar hooks, clever melodies and the beautiful contrast of Elise Pernille Gryt´s and Kjetil Aleksander Bjelvin´s vocals seem to be setting Gouranga up for big things in 2010. Æ gleda mæ, as they say up in those parts.

They are currently working on recording their debut EP which should be finished in the early part of next year but in the mean time you can have a listen here. Enjoy.

Casa Murilo loves Gouranga and so should you.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #8

King Of The Keys
The Cucumber
Håkon Møller

Though many vie for the title, there can only be one, undisputed ladies man in Casa Murilo. Lock up your daughters. And your mothers for that matter. That man is Håkon Møller.

I would put Håkon´s entry into the fold down to damn good fortune. We were in the studio putting together our first demo when Vegard, our producer, asked if we wanted keys. "Of course" we replied, little knowing that the angelic figure who soon floated into our ragtag midst would become an integral part of our sound and a damn good friend to boot. It didn´t take long before we realised how excellent he was and within half an hour I had what´s known as "The Business Finger" out and was telling him he should drop all other musical projects to focus on being a member of our band. Even I realised that that was ridiculous but we at Casa Murilo HQ have never let a trivial thing like objective reality get in our way.

Håkon is a gifted pianist, organist (plenty of practice), accordionist, harmonica player and come to think of it, a better guitarist than me or Chris. He is involved in numerous other bands as a session player, writer and fronts his own band by the name of Jocelyn. Go and listen to his band here without delay.

Should you spy this fine specimen of a Normann on these wintery streets then give the man a high five. Ladies are likely to find themselves instantly pregnant.

Merry Christmas Håkon. You are loved.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #7

Drunken Promises

Wake up, shake up, smoke a cigarette
Have a coffee, take time trying to forget
All the things you said you´d do,
When last night´s drinks were coursing through.

Stop dead, sit down, have a look around
Have a think about exactly what it is you found
Move where you gotta move, sit on another roof
Staring at the world that turned when she walked in.

Give up the weed the wine and the white for you,
You know that I´d fight for you
Give up the white the wine and the weed for you
And I´d probably bleed for you
Give up the white the weed and the wine for you
I´m not sure if I´d die for you, but I suppose no one ever is
Oh girl
Is that what love is?

Stop thinking about that swimming pool
Penthouse, Esmeraldo
All of the cheap drinks and all of the cheap drugs
Could never replace the things that she does no

Wind blows snow flakes at my window
Hey mans Murilo very power will he ever know
That I´m freezing under the moonlight
They´re catching the sun
Throwing round wild plans for a party

Give up the weed the wine and the white for you,
You know that I´d fight for you
Give up the white the wine and the weed for you
And I´d probably bleed for you
Give up the white the weed and the wine for you
I´m not sure if I´d die for you, but I suppose no one ever is
Oh girl
Is that what love is?

Til Astri.

The Casa Murilo Advent Calendar #6

The biggest man you will ever see.
So good they named him twice.
Vice President Fredrik Baden is a god among men.

The first Norwegian member of Casa Murilo and the first man that we ever worked in a studio with. Is there anything he can´t do? No. Simply, no.

We never thought that finding a drummer for the band would be easy, so when Mr B arrived at a party at my place in February of last year and told us in no uncertain terms that he didn´t want to be in our band, we were not surprised. However, a few weeks later and many a business finger pointed VP Baden was in. The best drummer in Oslo was in our band.

Most of you in Norway will have heard of and listened to a band from Bodø called Kråkesølv and be aware of how good they are, Fredrik Baden recommends them. Listen to their song Privat Regn here and then go and buy their record here in a range of formats. You won´t regret it.

Casa Murilo are a better band because of Fredrik Baden so, next time you see him, make sure you give him a nice big hug and say thankyou. I always do.