By Keith Walsh
Robert Heggdal of Norway’s Permafrost takes a melodic approach to playing bass. “Well, I sort of learned to play bass by listening to Joy Division,” he told me. “That really fascinated me, that multiple string playing, and the melodic part of being a bassist – that the soul of the bass could sort of hold the melody in the song. I don’t really like, just being a standard bassist. I like to be part of the melody somehow.”
On the new tracks coming from Permafrost, who got together a few years ago after intermittent stints starting in the early 80s, Heggdal gets a chance to show off these bass chops. Their new single “Restore Us” is an anthemic post-punk plea for healing in the age of COVID. The bass tone is full and round, hitting some of the deepest frequencies on the instrument. Which in this case, was a Warwick semi-acoustic.
Heggdal said he appreciates everything from electronica to jazz, but for Permafrost his influences are Joy Division, New Order, Interpol, The Cure, and other bands scattered around the post punk/new wave categories. He said an early influence was Kraftwerk, which astonished him when he heard it on the radio at the age of 12 or so.
The Backstory
In the early 80s, Heggdal started out playing in a punk band called Anfall (meaning ‘attack’ in the German language) in the scene around Molde, Norway, the same scene where Frode Heggdal Larsen and Kåre Steinsbu, on guitars and vocals respectively, formed the original lineup of Permafrost. Heggdal kept in touch with them. “Let me think, maybe 94 or something. I moved to Oslo and there I met up with Frode and Kåre again, because they live there, and I asked them to reunite the band, and I wanted to be part of it.”
Heggdal speaks glowingly about Heggdal Larsen and Steinsbu, telling me they were “in another league” musically, that “they came from ‘music knowing’ families’” where they heard the Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart, and other adventurous sounds. Permafrost went through some changes even after Heggdal approached them in the 90s. “We started off more or less like an acoustic band, in my apartments, mainly because of the neighbors.” By 2001 or so, Heggdal, Heggdal Larsen and Steinsbu, along with drummer Trond Tornes, were playing together regularly. In 2016 they added keyboardist Daryl Bamonte, who toured with Depeche Mode for many years in a managerial role.
‘Music For The Masses’
In the past couple years, Permafrost achieved chart success, with two #1 singles on the Indie Disko Top40 with “Closed Eyes” and “Femme Fatale,” as well as Top 5 on the Deutsche Alternative Chart and the Native25 Chart. Heggdal told me: “I think the fun part about the German and the indie top 40 list is that it’s made up of DJs and college radio. They sort of score each song, and then they send the score into some administrative place, and they add them up and it becomes a list.”
The video for “Restore Us” consists of footage captured by Bamonte on the road during Depeche Mode’s 1987 “Music For The Masses” North American tour. The vintage feels of the grainy video, the post punk sounds of the tune, the passion of the lyrics – it’s all too good.
For more about new music by Permafrost, check out my coverage at synthbeat.com which features more of my interview with Heggdal.
Permafrost On Bandcamp
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Permafrost On Instagram
Permafrost On Spotify
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