Blåsemafian is one of the most renowned brass bands in Norway and Europe and consists of Sigurd Evensen (27) from Oslo on trombone, Stig Espen Hundsnes (32) from Stord on trumpet and Jørgen Lund Karlsen (27) from Fredrikstad on saxophone. They collaborated with famous artists such as Marcus & Martinus, Madcon, Cezinando and Angelina Jordan. Featuring artist at their entry “Let Loose” is Caroline (Hazel) Teigen.

Hello Sigurd, Stig and Jørgen, you are better known to the Norwegian audience as Blåsemafian (the Blowing Mafia) the choice of the name is obvious given the fact that all of you play brass instruments but what was the full story behind the name?

It´s true, the blowing part is obvious, but the full name comes from about 5 years ago, when we toured Norway with the famous rap artist Onkl P. Great guy, but he could never seem to remember our names when introducing us to the stage, so he just started to say “Blåsemafian”, and we immediately though “Yes, that´s us”, so we kept it! 

How did you decide to apply for Melodi Grand Prix?

We are an artist who for a long time have been working for and behind other great artists, but over the past years, we thought: Why can´t the horn section be the artist itself? So we started to produce and write songs of our own, which among others resulted in “Let Loose”. MGP is a circus where everything is possible, so we said to ourself: Lets join, and do something has never been done before! Hence, we are the first instrumental artist in MGP history, a fact that we are very proud of.

How did your cooperation with Hazel (Caroline Teigen) start?

We had the pleasure to work with Hazel (Caroline) the autumn of 2019, which actually was the start of Let Loose. She had been working with the producer, SFRNG, before, and he said “Hazel is such a great talent, let´s have her in on this project”. And of course, after one session, we were convinced.

Can you tell us what inspired you to create “Let Loose” and what does the song mean for you?

The song is honestly a feelgood EDM-banger, and it´s all about having that great groove and feeling in your body. We hope that the audience will feel the same way, and will get up off the couch and dance. As the title says: Let Loose!!

Can you reveal us more about your performance which we will see this Saturday?

Well, some secrets have to remain of course, but what we can say is that it will be a firework of a show, combining different scene settings and some awesome visual content. Due to Covid19, there obviously won´t be audience present, but that also has some benefits. For example will the scene itself probably be bigger than ever, which is pretty cool!

You cooperated with many artists including Marcus & Martinus, Madcon, Cezinando and Angelina Jordan which out of all cooperation is your favourite and brings you the loveliest memories?

That´s such a difficult question, because they´re all great artists and wonderful people. However, our best memory is probably from when we played with Marcus & Martinus on Voldsløkka in 2016. Wow, that was an amazing experience, playing for about 40k people screaming their lungs out. We still remember that feeling!

This year’s Melodi Grand Prix will be held without the audience how will that affect your performance?

Hopefully, not at all. It´s of course always better to play for an audience, but rest assure: we will give it a 100% no matter what!!

Do you watch Eurovision regularly, if so would you like to share a memory which you have of it or a favourite song from the contest?

Yes, absolutely! Eurovision is always so much fun, and there´s always so many great, interesting, and different songs. As wind blowers it´s hard not to mention Moldova´s Epic Sax Guy here, haha! We have some cool moves and choreography as well, but that guy was of the charts. And one of our favorite songs has to be Madcon´s Glow, that was such a banger, and so cool to see the the entire audience dancing. And having worked with them on several occasions, we have to say they are just as fun as they look.

What are your hobbies?

Also a tricky question, because a musicians life is so full of many different things and experiences within music, so that is pretty much both our work, hobby, and how we choose to spend our free time. But we try to keep in shape, at least Jørgen…

What are your plans after Melodi Grand Prix?

We have so many awesome new songs we can´t wait to show you! We also plan is to release our debut album, which we look forward to a lot!

Thank you so much for your time Blåsemafian. We wish you the best of luck at Melodi Grand Prix. Do you want to share something else or you maybe have a message for followers of escbubble?

LET LOOSE!!!

Give a listen to their entry “Let Loose”  on Spotify  or at Youtube below:

If Blåsemafian is your favorite in the first semifinal which will take place this Saturday 16th of January, make sure you cast your vote for them in our poll right here:

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