BIOGRAPHY
When you hear of Norway, you might think of fishing or Fjords but not Rock Music. That was exactly the situation that five young men from Oslo found themselves in the Summer of 1994. Amongst the five were Biff Malibu and Captain Poon, who set out to change this. They formed a cover band to play some Misfits songs at a New Year's Eve Party. They liked it so much that they decided to turn it into a proper Rock Band which they called Gluecifer. In the mid 90’s Rock Music still wasn’t popular in Norway, with the few bands playing this style of music consigned to the underground scene, that Gluecifer thought that they would be part of. The name Gluecifer has no significant meaning; it's composed of the words glue and Lucifer (one of the archangels who disobeyed and rebelled against God, who would become Satan). It simply sounds cool, like the music they were playing! Gluecifer started out just to have fun, doing their own thing with irony, with tongues firmly in their cheeks. They weren't supposed to be taken seriously and that’s what set them apart from the more straight laced Heavy Metal bands which did. Their second name of "Kings of Rock" also came about at this time. It became clear that they were pretty good with them thinking that this might turn into something more. Within the first six months of the band forming, guitarist Kaare Pedersen was replaced by Sindurun Khan.
In 1995 Gluecifer released their debut single "God's chosen dealer", as far as we know they recorded it on a pig farm. The band played a lot of shows in the smaller and more seedy clubs of Oslo but it helped them bring their kind of music to people who really appreciated it.
1996 Gluecifer released the very limited Mini-LP "Dick Disguised As Pussy". This today is very hard to come by. After its release guitarist Sindurun Khan quit the band to become a cartoonist and designer. Sindurun was replaced by Raldo Useless who soon turned out to be a big asset for the band. In photographs and on stage he is the most anonymous band member. Hence the name "Useless", even though he is an extremely talented musician.
In 1996 Gluecifer saw The Dictators playing a gig in their local bar supported by a new Swedish band called The Hellacopters. In The Hellacopters the band felt they had found some musical soul mates. As a result of this friendship, Nick Royale, the singer from The Hellacopters put in a good word for Gluecifer with White Jazz Records who quickly signed the band. The band went on to release three albums for them.
In May 1997 Gluecifer released their first album (recorded in Stockholm) called "Ridin' the Tiger". They made this record spontaneously with no idea how it would turn out. Internationally though they waited three years to release anything because they thought their records wouldn't sell and didn't want to overstretch themselves believing that it's better to take things one step at a time.
On the strength of “Ridin' the Tiger" the band became big in a short period of time and started to play at several festivals with a small tour of Europe. The next one to leave the ship was drummer Glueros Bagfier in the autumn of 1997. He was replaced by Danny Young who was used to playing hard, heavy music but he wasn't prepared for how hard and physically demanding playing with Gluecifer would be. After a couple of songs at the first rehearsal he was worn out. Leading Danny learning how to increase his stamina.
Early in 1998 Gluecifer went on their first proper real tour as support to The Hellacopters across Europe which gained them a lot of attention. Playing live was something that Gluecifer lived for, subsequently playing 150 shows during the year.
The recording for their second album started in June 1997 and was finished a year later in the in summer of 1998. In September "Soaring with eagles at night to rise with the pigs in the morning" was released where it sold 35.000 copies, proving that the band had achieved what they had set out to do three years earlier by making Rock Music much more popular in their home Country. The following year saw Gluecifer release in the US the split-CD "Respect the Rock America" with The Hellacopters. Later they signed a record deal with the American Sub Pop Label. In the autumn of 1999 Motörhead’s Lemmy invited the band to tour with them in the States with Nashville Pussy.
In December of 1999 Gluecifer began to record their third album "Tender is the Savage" in Malmö (Sweden), which was released in 2000. With this record they succeeded in capturing their live energy in the studio which characterised Gluecifer.
January 2000 saw bassist Jon Average, who had recently become a Father, saying goodbye to the band with Stu Manx filling the vacant role. When Biff called Stu and asked if he wanted to try out for the band he went straight into his boss' office and resigned. Stu definitely improved the band with his excellent backing vocals and decision-making, because the others had a tendency to over think things, arguing about a sixteenth note or something just as inconsequential.
Due to external factors the band lost the deal with Sub Pop and at the same time their contract with White Jazz also came to an end. Without a label in either Europe or the States the band forged ahead on their own terms without label interference, being only answerable to themselves.
So Gluecifer went into the studio to put down tracks for what would become their fourth album, "Basement Apes" which was released in April 2002. It was their first album they had made on their own without a safety net. In the autumn of 2001 the band signed a new record contract with Sony/Epic for Norway and Sweden and a contract with SPV/Steamhammer for the rest of the world. The fact that some people described "Basement Apes" as commercial and Gluecifer's softest record didn't bother them because this was the kind of record they wanted to make. Gluecifer just wanted to be a band with a relatively large fan base and make good albums. They always pushed themselves into being a better band. If a band starts concentrating on the commercial aspect and that's the main focus they'll probably lose the joy of making music. And Gluecifer definitely didn't want that to happen.
To coincide with Gluecifer's tenth anniversary, on the 26th January 2004, the band released "Automatic Thrill" their fifth album. They had a good time during the recording process and it’s an album that they are very proud of, going so far as to say it's the best album they've ever done. For the rest of 2004 Gluecifer spent the year touring to support the album, introducing "Automatic Thrill" across Europe, playing with the likes of Monster Magnet, Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen and playing several festivals. Towards the end of the year they headlined their own shows. To crown the year off, and themselves, they released their first live DVD "Royally Stuffed" on the 15th November to celebrate their tenth anniversary. "Automatic Thrill" was nominated for "best rock album" at the Alarm Awards in Norway.
Gluecifer broke up in 2005. They played a farewell tour and released one final song, "Desolate City".
In November 2017 Gluecifer announced that they will play together again in 2018 and confirmed a couple of festivals in Europe as well as four shows in Oslo.
MEMBERS
Vocals
Guitar
Guitar
Drums
EX-MEMBERS
Stu Manx (bass)
Stu Manx played in the band from 2000 - 2005.
Kåre Joao Pedersen (guitar)
Kåre Joao Pedersen was a founding member but left Gluecifer after six months. He played for a long time in a band called Kåre & the Cavemen, who became later on the Euroboys. In January 2002 Kåre published his solo album "Sideman".
Kåre was replaced by Sinduru Khan.
Sinduru Khan (guitar)
Sinduru Khan was in the band for less than two years. He decided that he would rather work as a Cartoonist, leaving Gluecifer after the release of "Dick Disguised As Pussy".
Sinduru was replaced by Raldo Useless in 1996.
Glueros Bagfire (drums)
Glueros Bagfire played for Gluecifer from 1994 to 1997. He decided to join the Euroboys and was replaced by Danny Young.
Jon Average (bass)
Jon Average played for Gluecifer from 1994 to January 2000. He left the band after recording "Tender Is The Savage" to spend more time with his family.
Jon was replaced by Stu Manx.