The Blue Van Are Hung Over

The dudes in Copenhagen, Denmark's The Blue Van are fucking hung-over. When I finally get through to them (intending to speak to lead-singer/guitarist Steffen Westmark), keyboardist Soren Christensen answers his lead-singer's cell.

"Uh, sorry man, can you call back in ten minutes?" he apologetically murmurs through a thick Scandinavian accent. When I do, Westmark answers and is equally apologetic that he's kept me waiting. But it's not his fault. The Blue Van released their sophomore effort, Dear Independence (TVT), days before and are just nearing the end of their longest tour to date. A little bit of sleeping-in has certainly been earned.

"Sorry man, we all just woke up," he laughs. "But now you've got me. The tour has been going good but we're at the end of it now. That's why we just got up. We're starting to have some really late nights! I think tonight is the 39th show. It's been a long haul for us. We've never done 40 straight gigs before, but we've gotten to go all over; Boston, New York, New Orleans, Texas, all over America."

40 nights in a foreign country as a member of Denmark's greatest export since Carlsberg is a helluva way to spend a month a half. However, it's still a little too fresh, (or a little too early in the morning), for Westmark to really be able to process the experience. While the boys in the Van love hitting the road with their guitars and Hammond organ in tow, they're not used to this kind of schedule. In their native Europe, they normally only play a half-dozen or so shows in succession so coming to North America for such a barrage of shows and close-quarters traveling is a little out of their element. But The Blue Van have spent most of their lives together and their coping skills are pretty rock solid.

"We definitely get a little homesick touring over here," explains Westmark, "but we've known each other for a long time. Soren and I have known each other since kindergarten and we've known the other two, (drummer Per Jorgensen and bassist Allan Villadsen), since we were eight years old or something. So we've been together for a really, really long time and we know where our boundaries are, when to back off before shit hits the fan. It's something you learn on the road; how to be together."

The tour may be almost over for them, but the Blue Van have a couple big shows before they head home, opening for Aussie garage-rockers, Jet, a band to whom The Blue Van's Hammond-heavy boogie rock is oft lazily compared.

"Ya, that's gonna be the highlight of our career so far! It's gonna be some mean-ass exposure right there! I still can't believe it. I'm very much looking forward to it. I do think (the comparison) is a little weak. I mean, we do play rock music and so does Jet, but I think they're much more traditional, where we try to really create our own sound."

A sound which they've perfected on Dear Independence. Westmark describes it as "wider" than their 2005 debut, The Art Of Rolling. Less dependent on garage-rock rave-ups, Dear Independence focuses on acoustic guitars and their trademark Hammond organ, an instrument which Westmark claims is utilized far too little in modern rock.

"It's so heavy!" he laughs. "Stupid of us to carry around a big organ like that. But it sounds so good. Classic."

(originally published March 2007. Gasoline Magazine. Toronto.)