Norwegian grungy alt-pop duo Ask Carol have been drumming up some serious noise over the past few years, gaining global traction with their unique approach to creating one of the biggest sounds around.
Our Horus Music Brazil team were delighted to catch up with the duo ahead of their return to this year’s edition of SXSW. Arguably the biggest and most sought after conference and festival for up and coming musicians across the globe, Ask Carol are returning to Texas for the second time in their career later this month.
Q: What is it like to perform not once, but now for the second time at SXSW? Are you more excited to be called back after your initial success or did you expect to be asked to perform this year?
Ask Carol: Yes, it is way more exciting this time, partly because we have changed so much, and evolved and developed a new and more unique style than we had last time. Also because it has been 3 years of isolation during Covid, and this will be the first real trip since before it all started in March 2020. Finally!
Q: Are there any new songs from your repertoire you’re looking forward to performing? Are there any songs you wish you had done at the event in 2020 that didn’t make the final cut?
Ask Carol: We will do some of the old songs in a totally new style, and that is definitely something we’re looking forward to. We’re also very much looking forward to playing new songs like Tonight, but most of all, we are considering doing a world premiere of one of the songs off of the album that has never been performed live before…. But that will be a surprise!
Q: Are there any other artists you’re looking forward to seeing at SXSW?
Ask Carol: Oh, there are so many bands and artists at SXSW, and actually very many we would love to see. Sadly we won’t be able to see all of them, as we are playing a lot ourselves
Q: Do you have any touring plans in the US after SXSW? Any particular venues you’d like to visit or play?
Ask Carol: We will not do any touring this trip (or playing at all for that matter, apart from SXSW), but we are planning a real, big tour of the US in October and November this year. That will be our first time ever playing outside of SXSW in the US, and we’re so much looking forward to that. There are so many great venues, like the legendary Troubadour in LA, or Whisky-A-Go-Go, that would be awesome to both visit and play at.
Q: Nice! Have you got any opening acts in mind for when that happens or anyone in particular you’d like to tour with?
Ask Carol: We’re hoping to meet some fellow bands and artists while at SXSW, who we could play with in the Fall. Not just bands from the US, but also from the rest of the world, like Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Korea. We’d love to do some touring all those, and other, places.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share with your fans or any artists you’ve been listening to lately?
Ask Carol: We are a duo, and we love other duos as well. So we have made a Spotify playlist with some of our favourite duos for our fans to enjoy. Listen here.
Q: Aside from SXSW, what else is happening for Ask Carol right now? Any new releases or plans for the near future?
Ask Carol: Yes, we have a lot of exciting stuff coming up, aside from SXSW! For example, we’ve been working on starting up a new series of releases, apart from our regular albums and singles. It is music taken from our Backyard Jam videos, that we are re-recording for release on streaming services as well. There has been so many people requesting the songs on Spotify etc, so we thought why not go for it. The first one will be out some time after SXSW, it’s a cover, but which one will be a surprise! Another thing, we recently had a successful Kickstarter crowd funding campaign for the release of our very first Vinyl LP! We sent everything to the factory today, so hopefully it is finished by the time we come back from the States.
Ask Carol will be hitting the stage at SXSW on March 18th @ The Drafting Room 9pm-9:40pm.
You can listen to their latest record AC I: Control You on all digital platforms now.
