SCANDINAVIA – GREETINGS FROM EX-OTAGO

Remember the Ex-Otago guys we recently hung out with in the—to use a mild expression—HOT and sunny Genoa? To our jumping-up-and-down-like-tween-girls joy, they sent us a postcard from Bergen where they’re currently recording a new album. Behind a tasteful image of the Norwegian fjords was a note written in the kind of impeccable handwriting only achievable by people—Italians or frogs—who’ve studied penmanship since they were old enough to focus their attention long enough to spell a word. Too ashamed of our sad excuse for a handwritten reply, we decided to call them up instead.

VICE: Hello you warm-blooded Ex-Otago Italians you, how are you getting along in the so-called Bergen “summer” full of depressed black metal fans?

Ex-Otago: Haha, benissimo (pretty well) and the recordings sound fantastic-o. We brought that organic wine you guys drank with us, maybe that helped.

Yeah, that stuff was great. What else have you been up to?

Well we had the guys from “I Ragazzi della Prateria”, who made the Ex-Otago videos “Rhythm of the Night” and “Giorni Vacanzieri” follow us around. There’s a video in the making but we won’t tell you what happened, it’s funnier on video.

I’ve pre-ordered your record, which according to your site makes me an associate producer. Just so you know, I’m expecting to become a millionaire when the record comes out.

I don’t know about becoming a millionaire, but thanks for contributing. To fund the record, we asked our fans to become associate producers by buying it in advance. A business model we call “ANCH’IO PRODUCO GLI EX-OTAGO ” [roughly translated: “I AM PRODUCING EX-OTAGO TOO”] and we’re very proud of it. It has enabled us to sidetrack big labels but more importantly—produce the record.

FOR MORE ON EX-OTAGO, GO TO VBS.TV/CLOSEUP