TrollfesT is a Norwegian folk metal band, formed in 2003 by John Espen Sagstad (Mr.Seidel) and Jostein Austvik (Trollmannen). Their demo was released in 2004, their first album, “Willkommen Folk Tell Drekka Fest!” in 2005. Some of their lyrics are written in the fictional langauge of Trolls (Trollspråk), a mixture of Norwegian and German. They also use saxophones and accordions in their songs and they also describe their music as Norwegian Balkan Metal. TrollfesT will soon release their ninth album. We had a chat with the vocalist of the band Jostein Austvik after they have been revealed as one of the acts which will be performing in the second chance round this Saturday 12th of February.

Hello TrollfesT, first of all I would like to congratulate you for advancing from the first part of the second chance round as one of the four acts which will compete this Saturday. How does it feel?
– It feels pretty good to be honest, it was a bit nerve-wrecking to watch it, but our nails will grow back eventually so all in all we are very happy and excited.

You formed the band back in 2003 and the style you perform is described as the “True Norwegian Balkan Metal”. Can you tell us a bit more about how the bend was formed?
– I believe most bends are formed by a combination of water eroding dirt and some types of dirt being more compact than others, or simply by not following the directions from your diving instructor. But on a perhaps related note we formed our band because we were sick of the record collection we had available at the time and we needed some new music.

Have you ever been to the Balkan and which song or artists from the Balkan is your favourite or you’d like to cooperate with?
– Not all of us have been to the Balkans yet unfortunately, but we are hoping very much to rectify that situation asap. I think our dream cooperation would be with Ferus Mustafov, we usually listen to his songs before going on stage every time we play!

What made you decide to take part at Melodi Grand Prix 2022?
– We felt there were a lot of circumstances that seemed to be just right for participation, but the main one was probably our song. We think it is a catchy, cool, brutal, funky and original tune that can spread cheer and joy!

Can you tell us how did “Dance Like A Pink Flamingo” came to existence given the fact that you are the authors of it?
– Like a lot of what we do in Trollfest the idea for dance like a pink flamingo came about while we were on tour some years ago. On a particularly merry evening the concept was born and for the following year or so we pondered and wrote music for the concept trying out different ideas and debating lyrical details. We usually spend anywhere between a couple of days and a couple of years writing a song.

In your video we saw a crazy Flamingo choreography, and in the first semi-final we saw your pinktastic performance, do you plan to change something this Saturday or your performance will be totally the same like in semi-final round?
– We are absolutely hoping and aiming to up the ante and deliver an even bigger, better, bolder and more brilliant show!

You toured over the world do you have any anecdote or a memory which you could share with us?
-There has been so much fun over the years, we had a barbecue on stage where our technician cooked and served food while we performed once, fans have showed up in much better costumes than ours and once brought a live sized Kaptein Kaos Troll Muppet, people have crowdsurfed from the stage and into a river for a swim, entire crowds have briefly left our shows in a conga-line to dance in the streets before returning in bewildered amusement, we have played on the twelfth floor of a boat, because of a volcano eruption we had to miss a gig and hang out at Hooters, we almost missed a flight because our accordion tested positive for explosives, we started a smoke machine in our backstage room five minutes before reading a sign that said setting off the smoke alarm would result in a substantial fine (we miraculously managed to not set it off), backstage at a festival we played balkan music loud enough to have a rock star tell us to turn down the volume but most recently we have been thoroughly enjoying our time being a part of the biggest happening in music.

You released eight albums and the newest one is already prepared waiting for its release can you give us a hint what can we expect? Are there any new surprises or you are keeping the signature style in this album too?
– Musically our new album is quite varied and eclectic, we like experimenting with many different styles of music and we have  outdone ourselves in that regard this time around, there will be a lot of flamingos on our new album, but I think there might be a couple of surprises coming out as well so I would keep an eye on it if I was you.

Melodi Grand Prix has long history, 62 years have passed from the first edition, What is your favourite song which competed at the stage of MGP and tell us why did you choose it?
– I think I will have to go for Nocturne by Secret Garden, it is just such a beautiful melody, such a lovely arrangement and I also remember when it came out so it pulls the nostalgia strings for me.

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?
– Some of us watch it religiously while others are not quite there yet, but we all liked Little Big with their song Uno.

What are your plans after Melodi Grand Prix 2022?
– We are planning to release the rest of our album, play some shows in Scandinavia and a festival in Netherlands during spring and if all goes well we will hopefully do a tour in the last half of the year.

Thank you so much for your time TrollfesT. We wish you the best of luck this Saturday. Do you want to share something else or you maybe have a message for readers of escbubble?
– We would like to say thank you to everyone for making this the glorious wonder that it is, and an extra huge WE LOVE YOU to everyone who has supported us one way or another!!

You can listen to “Dance Like a Pink Flamingo” on Spotify , check their MGP journey HERE or watch the performance video below

If TrollfesT is your favourite act at the second chance round of of Melodi Grand Prix 2022, don’t forget to vote for them below!