Utter skull-crushing jaw-dropping controlled chaos, Storm’s music has to be heard to be believed. New album ‘Join the Storm’ is an unapologetically passionate and personal thunderous clout of metalcore, pop punk, rap, electro explosions – with a ballad thrown in. Storm has created a loud, loving safe space. He’s the most exciting thing to come out of Norway since the Vikings, although at times sounds just as scary. Oh and this guy is 16 years old. 16!!!!! Devolution’s Jo Wright was super lucky to have a chat with Storm and found out all about his influences, ideas, ambitions and inspirations.
And felt really, really old…
Because for someone in their mid-teens, Storm is already phenomenally talented and successful. Does he get tired of people talking about his age?
‘Not really!’ he smiles. ‘There’s this thing about becoming a ‘child star’ but I don’t see it as a problem. People haven’t treated me differently because I’m younger. I work with a lot of people and it doesn’t feel weird or anything. Me and my producer – he’s like 30-years-old, but we’re best friends. So, I’m not tired of being asked about my age, to be honest.’
‘Join the Storm’ is a mix of so many musical styles. Where does Storm’s inspiration come from? ‘I have so many influences. I’m inspired by everything, from Michael Jackson to Bring Me The Horizon, Post Malone, Billie Eilish… I listen to so much different music. I’m very much influenced by metalcore – that’s kind of the base, but on top of that I like to do a lot of other different things because I’m influenced by so many artists. It’s kind of like, one day I want to be a rapper, the next day I want to be a pop punk artist. It changes everyday and I love to have the freedom to do anything. I have so many influences. I could talk about them all day!’
Storm makes music with no boundaries. He doesn’t allow himself to be limited, and he doesn’t let what the outside world wants sneak in with any restrictions either.
‘That album is a result of me being creative in the studio,’ he explains. ‘When I work at home I never think I should make pop punk for this album, or I should make it heavy or anything like that. I just make whatever feels right that day. It kind of works like my head does because it’s super chaotic!!!! I have all these different things that I want to do and it changes every day! All the songs are just a result of what I wanted to make the day I made them.’
Not only does he want his songs to totally embrace his true vision, he wants his fans to embrace theirs too. Storm wants to see authenticity from every angle.
‘That’s why I named the album ‘Join the Storm’, because storms are chaos and chaos is everything,’ he says. ‘Ever since I was a kid I’ve always been kind of a ‘different guy’ – the guy with eyeliner and bleached hair, and I felt how it feels to be an outsider. I think a lot of people can relate to that. It’s not weird, because humans are made to be part of a crowd, and we don’t want to stick out too much. But it’s also important to be yourself. Sadly, it’s very hard to be yourself. It should be easy, but people try to bring you down as long as you stick out. I think it’s like that everywhere. It’s very much like that where I’m from in Norway. But I don’t think it’s only like that for people my age, at school and stuff. I think it’s like that for people starting a new job for example – you have to fit in and you have to change yourself. I don’t think you should have to do that. So that’s what I’m trying to say – you should join the chaos. We have to embrace that we are different and we have different qualities.
‘I love people who are just being themselves and embracing who they are.’
And people are loving the album and this vibe. Storm tells us, ‘The reaction has been amazing! I’ve been working on this album for so long and now it’s finally out. People seem to like it. People are sending me DMs telling me they love the album. I love to see it. I feel like I can get a lot of people listening to this album because of all its different genres.’
And if all that doesn’t make you prick your ears up, the frequent comparisons to Yungblud will. ‘I love hearing that! I love Yungblud! I really want to meet him sometime. He seems like a really nice dude,’ Storm smiles.
Storm has such a lovely soul. He’s friendly, engaging, and has zero sense of entitlement. ‘I’m just so grateful for every opportunity that I get,’ he says. One of these opportunities was a slot at Download in 2024.
‘That was so cool!’ he smiles. ‘We had so much fun at Download. We had people who were singing all the lyrics. I didn’t know there were people in England who knew our songs! We were sharing the backstage area with big bands like Escape the Fate, Queens of the Stone Age… it was surreal. I was going around, talking to everybody and getting pictures!’
It won’t be long before bands are asking for pics with Storm. Where would he like to be not too far in the future? Storm tells us, ‘The honest answer is as successful as possible! I just want to spread my music as much as possible – that’s the dream. It would be sick to do a tour and play a lot of festivals in Europe, especially Norway. I want to do as much as possible. I can’t take breaks! I just want to do stuff all the time. I love it!’
There’s nowhere to hide from this storm. Chase it and embrace it.
‘Join the Storm’ is out now via Indie Recordings
Interview by Jo Wright
Photos By Elisabeth Jakobsen