ME: I obviously saw you perform for aurora which is how I found out about you and your music. How did that happen?
METTESON: We live in the same city and have a lot of the same connections. She saw me at a festival for up and comers in Oslo and she really liked me. She told me she approached my manager and I approached hers. Her manager had come to my show the summer before. We all thought it would be a good idea and it was such a dream playing for her audience, such a force of an audience. I feel at least that our values are much the same.
ME: what was that experience like touring with her?
METTESON: It was so much fun. I think it was a test for me and my band, we'd only done single shows here and there, especially with covid, we didn't have that stamina built up, but it was a quick learning curve. London was incredible, to practice and take that stage was amazing. I lived in York for a while so to be back and experience those places again was so fun, it was amazing but it flew by! I wish it was a longer tour and that I had more time in every place we visited.
ME: the hat you wear on tour is incredible, it's the first thing you notice! is there a story behind it?
METTESON: It's my favourite thing. I saw a friend of mine, an acquaintance who went art school with me make hats for a project of his. He does costumers for theatre and opera in Oslo and Norway then made this hat for himself. You should see his house, it's like a witches, covered in fabric. I was doing a shoot for my EP and asked if I could borrow a couple things. When I was going on tour with Aurora I felt like I needed a statement, I had to take control and can't be the big star she is but I can wear a big star, so that's where the starfish hat came from. He made it especially for me, and it's so funny because it's become it's thing of it's own. He's now going to make me a new one so whoever sees me next will see it. I didn't want to take myself too seriously and be playful. As an educated actor, costumes come natural to me and owning them.
ME: you’re performing in London very soon, is performing here something you like doing?
METTESON: Yeah, absolutely. Writing English lyrics, it's always been a dream of mine to reach out of Norwegian borders. There's a connection to the music. Experiencing the audience whilst touring with Aurora really made me believe I could have something to do overseas. It really feels like an opportunity worth checking out. It really has a pull on me, it's gritty and quite gay. It feels quirky and odd, no matter the area.
ME: I loved your music when I first heard it and your lyrics are very profound, do you write from experiences and personal stories and feelings?
METTESON: If I was just writing about things I'm feeling or things that are happening, I don't feel it would be that amazing or exciting. I think I like to build on feelings and see how far they can go, my life is very ordinary.. You start to imagine how things would be if things were greater, passion was deeper. It's really an imaginary world, but it definitely comes from a personal place. I've been to London three times since the gig and written with others but I still feel the ones I write alone, at my bedroom in night are my favourite.
ME: I also thought you were such a good performer, and you had choreography and everything - which makes sense since you have a background in theatre. Not many artists involve choreographed moves into their work, why was it important for you to do it?
METTESON: I love dancing. If something moves me, I can't help but dance. I want to encourage people to let loose and not be uncomfortable. I like to move and always find it effective when people use choreography and staging, a lot of musicians put that aside way too much. It's just fun!
ME: You also obviously have a bunch of people who perform with you - your band, which you mentioned, how did you meet them all and come up with the idea to do this together?
METTESON: So I have my producer who also does my tracks and keys and we made a couple of songs and wanted to establish the band. He suggested we take on our backing singers as they're from jazz musician schools. Their voices are mind boggling to me, and we spent a lot of time rehearsing the three of us just finding the voices between the three of us. It was integral we had them. But them being jazz musicians, we really had to work a lot to get them to feel comfortable with moving and dancing. It's been great seeing their growth in that aspect, they're much more accomplished musicians than I am. And then our guitarist, if you're going to have a guitarist it's integral to have someone who indulges and knows how to use that guitar. it was important to me that sometimes I could take a step back, and that all the musicians could have their own moments. We're all artists, and this is my solo project, but I want us all to shine a bit.
ME: Your cover for never let me go has a white figure on it of a man, and that same figure was on some other posts of yours too. What is the story behind that design?
METTESON: I saw an art nouveau poster from Germany, a really old one from the theatre, with this naked women clinging to this sinister man. I saw it and thought oh that's never let me go! This friend of mine, who is an artist, I thought he'd be a great person to draw these naked men to cling to me. Never Let Me Go came about quickly, so I thought something very simple, as I love his drawings, was good. I thought we needed backdrop for our tour in Norway and I thought it was right to have all these naked men raining down. It's funny I had this opportunity to be seen by so many people and show my aesthetic and bring in friends and their aesthetics. It's not very deep, I thought it was cute and sexy and I wanted to work with that artist! Sometimes easy does it.
ME: you’ve had so many interviews and articles written about you, how does the attention and exposure feel? Was it something you expected to receive one day?
METTESON: No, I never expected it. It's been so much more and so much bigger than I could ever imagine. It sounds weird, of course now I have big dreams for the project, but so many things I've accomplished were things I expected after five or six years of trying. I played my dream festival in Norway this summer. I'm really just trying to come up with new dreams and new goals. I've gotten a lot of attention from media and I've been very lucky that way. It's a mix of the project being fully formed very early, so it's easy to engage, I have a very clear idea of who I want to be and how I wanted to be presented.
ME: you’ve also done many festivals - what have they been like? Do you feel people who don’t know you or your music at festivals hear you and receive your music well?
METTESON: I would always prefer a closed setting where I can have complete control because I really wanted a theatrical arch and lure in the audience. I think at a festival it's hard to have the audience find that focus. I really had to rethink the shows a bit. But playing live is my forte. I think the music is great on spotify but what we do and what I'm best at is playing live. In a way it really feels like I should've been doing this twenty, thirty, forty years ago because thats when you experienced things live, not via TikTok, which is not my thing, I really wish it was, but it's not. Travelling with Aurora and doing these festivals really builds me up. When I tour and do live shows I can see people get attached in real time.
ME: how did your journey with music begin?
METTESON: I lived in Bergen and worked in a national theatre for five years. I felt I needed a project of my own. I always had a passion for music but I didn't think it would be good enough to put out there. I wanted to direct something, not just be directed. My music was getting increasingly better, then I met my producer and that really pushed me forward. With covid hitting, the theatre closed down, I still got paid but I had the time to do the project, and eventually I quit my job to pursue the music. I make far less money but I've never been so happy or free. I'm in a really fun place.
ME: in a lot of your covers or photoshoots you’re shirtless or dressed very eclectic and they’re all extremely artistic and creative - do you come up with these ideas and if so, how do you come up with them?
METTESON: I have full creative control. You're constantly being told to talk about themselves and their private and personal life and I really think I've always been more drawn to the fantasy of artistry and I really like to create more of a dream world and artistic space and really create this whole world around Metteson. You know, I love Frank Ocean, he's great but I don't know what he eats for breakfast. I think it's more interesting that way.
ME: what is something you want to tell your listeners and fans? What is your music trying to communicate to them?
METTESON: I think a lot of the music I've already made is become almost a reaction to music I'm inspired by and my twenties and I have this bank of experiences and thoughts that I have. Now I have more time and I'm writing my debut album, if I want to have a strong message, Aurora's of course is very inspiring as she knits in her integrity and her political stance into her music, but I don't have a specific message. I try to keep it a bit open. When people come to my shows I want them to see it's an open queer space that is fantastical.
ME: You mentioned your debut album - what would you say is your next goal with your music?
METTESON: I'd like to create an album I am to the core proud of that I've been a part of the process from the early sketches to the last tweaks. I can't wait for that to happen because it's happening. There are a lot of interesting people coming to the show in London so I truly hope that I find new collaborators so I can expand as I think I need more muscles to penetrate that crazy market. I really believe if Metteson is able to get that tiny push I believe I can create this artist on the fringe with devoted fans. I want to build steadily and slowly.
ME: is there any chance of new music we can expect, or any new projects, prior to the album?
METTESON: I think because I have so many great songs I have to share, but I really want the next singles to come out to feel like a start of something new, to lead into an album. Everything will be connected to the album. The concept isn't fully formed or finished. I think I might be releasing a single, a ballad, before Christmas, just to keep the people enticed. I'm playing in Iceland and then recording there, so I'm really excited about that.
ME: To end this interview - What is your favourite song you've released and why?
METTESON: I don't think it's my best to perform but I think my most popular one too would be Under Your Shirt. I was in the kitchen and thinking about how the most intimate thing to do is put your hand under someones shirt, to get warm. It was so crazy how quickly everything came to me, just in one evening, the melody and everything. I got a lot of response from it and it was the song to make me feel like I'm actually a good musician. I just think it's always going to be a very big song for me, a moment that I'll always keep with me. It's so essentially Metteson.
Metteson's next gig in London is on the 12th of September - head to his page to get tickets. Come back here the following week for his first headline show's review!
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