Album – Released Oct. 19th 2018
Life has a lot of good things on the menu, and so has KaiRo on his first solo album «Stew of Life». He has created a playful and diverse album with 14 distinctive songs. This spicy guitar-based stew is a blend of free-range rock, pop, country and a pinch of murder ballad. Ingredients are both local and exotic, ranging from harmonica to mariachi trumpets and ukulele, with a taste of gospel choir, shanty choir and the sound of waves.
Rock´n Roll Head Chef
Kai Roger Gjestemoen has been a hobby musician for many years. He played in the mariachi-death-surf band Los Plantronics for seven years and participated on their first three albums as a songwriter and guitarist. One of his songs, Dia de los Muertos, has 230,000 streams on Spotify. Stew of Life is his first project with the artist name KaiRo. In addition to writing all the music and lyrics he plays guitars and sings on all the tracks.
Ingredients
Stew of Life contains a flavourful assortment of ingredients and contrasts: acoustic and electrical, vocal and instrumental, major and minor, joy and gloom. Inspiration has been harvested from diverse places such as Durban and Uvdal – and sporadic spots along the trail, between the two.
Preparation time
Stews need to simmer for an extended period of time, as did the Stew of Life. This project originated during a stay in South Africa from 2011-2014, where many of the songs were conceived. The album is partly recorded at KaiRo’s home studios in Pretoria and Lillestrøm, as well as recorded and finalized in 2017-2018 at Stan Studios, alongside technician and producer Stian Haslie.
The Stew Crew
Stew of Life has tantalizing and intense flavours thanks to these musical chefs: Tor Mikael Stav-Larsen (drums and percussion), Guro Maria Vikingstad (backing vocals), Morten Kvam (double bass), Stian Haslie (bass, guitar, backing vocals), Kristian Wentzel (keys), Thomas Husmo Litleskaret (trumpet), Stian Borgen (backing vocals), Ingrid Berg Mehus (violin), Knut Lowzow (vocal), Karina & Synnøve (backing vocals).
