The Brat Pack

After highschool graduation (for some) in the summer of 2001, the three childhood buddies Anton, Magne and Kjetil renamed themselves Andy, Mandy and Candy and began the painstaking task of starting a band. Beeing fans of bands like Green Day, Weezer and Blink 182 since junior high, the triggering effect was discovering the influences behind these bands. Acts like The Hard-Ons, The Queers, The Damned and of course The Ramones had until then been a mandatory history lesson and remained an unknown treasure. The three friends had played in several groups before, and came to the conclusion that to play as sloppy and carelessly as the old guys they would have to swap instruments. The guitarist taking on the drumsticks, the drummer trading in for the sixstring and the bass player, well he wasn't that good to begin with. The singing part would have to be done by all three, since none had a better voice than the other. One of the original ideas of the band was to make punk-covers of old Rat Pack hits after finding a best-of LP among one of their father's old records, hence the name The Brat Pack. Not realizing that a brat is a snotty, upperclass kid (not a snotty, middleclass punk) nor that there was an obnoxious group of actors in the eighties beeing referred to as such, the name stuck.
The debut show after six months of rehearsal was at a christmasparty in the livingroom of Mandy's father's house in their hometown of Lunner, Hadeland. The setlist consisted of a couple of originals, some Hard-Ons songs and a cover of one of their new favourite bands, the Oslo-based girlband Umbrella. The concert was a complete success, disregarding the playing and singing, and also introduced a trademark for the group; the white shirt and old-school thin, black necktie. Not very original, but hey, it worked for The Rat Pack. In the fall of 2002, the band was all due for military service, but claimed to be pacifists and was sent to community service. This led to the first demo EP Waiting For The Summer Rain, recorded at Top Room Studio, Hadeland with producer Børge Finstad (paid in full by the welfare office of the community service department).
The following years after relocating to Oslo, the three began playing shows wherever there was a stage, mingling with the up and coming "stars" of the punkrock scene. Getting instant praise for the amusing shows, The Brat Pack went back to the studio in 2004 to record a live album demo. The recording suffered by massive alcohol consumption and was discarded for the time beeing. Two songs did get the stamp of approval and was issued as the Captain Spoon single in 2005, the b-side featured Andy singing lead vocals on the track What About Don. The single was well recieved and got airtime on the national radioshow Urørt on NRK P3. This year saw another defining moment for the brats, beeing given a headlining spot at the local Kloppstock Festival, making a remarkable show between Kurt Nilsen (World Idol 2004) and Wig Wam (Eurovision Songcontest finalist 2005) with Peady Pedal (Silver) as a special guest on air-guitar.
In the spring of 2006 the band booked studiotime with Kåre Joao Pedersen (Kåre and the Cavemen) and Johan Fodstad Larsen to record the debut album. The process was not without problems again due to some alcohol abuse and this material remains unreleased. Two songs has gone into the history books as the band made a guest appearance as the house band in two episodes of the norwegian drama series Seks Som Oss. During the year, a frustration with the slow movement of the band combined with the formation of a new country project led Andy to leave the group. At christmastime the band celebrated five years together and said goodbye to a devoted member. The first era of The Brat Pack was at an end.



After a while of debating, Magne and Kjetil invited their long time companion Zito to join the group, a talented drummer who brought new spirit and a set of fresh ideas to the band. The shirts and ties got the boot and was replaced by a determination for greatness by The "new" Brat Pack; Mags, K. and Zito. A few shows have been performed, with massive positive feedback, and the new era of The Brat Pack is just at the beginning.



Newshcool @ Elm Street, Oslo - August 2007



Cpt. Spoon @ Elm Street, Oslo - August 2007



Punkrock Chick @ Elm Street, Oslo - August 2007