Sondre Lerche’s South By Southwest In His Own Words: “I had fun at SXSW. It’s always nice to be busy there and feel sort of important, rushing from showcase to showcase. I guess at an event like that that is a good thing. We were just starting a U.S. tour so it was a nice warm-up and workout doing 12 performances in two days. That’s good for your touring muscles, whatever they might be. SXSW is cool cause everyone’s there – I mean, there were almost 20 bands from Norway alone — and they all looked cooler and more indie-hip than yourself, which I guess is also a good thing.” This session occurred Thursday, March 15th in Austin around dinnertime. Sondre and his band of Norwegian merrymakers arrived with his publicist and the man in charge of Astralwerks. It must be strange for him to arrive anywhere without a sea of screaming girls welcoming him, I remember thinking at the time. He was warm and fun, as were his bandmates and it made for quite the hour. His hair seemed to be in the same state of greasiness as our own heads of hair so we felt immediate kinship, but then felt nothing at all like him because there’s more scary good pop genius in that young man than is legal. He’s nothing like anyone. – Sean Moeller