Roar Kopperstad has for many years been a part of the local punk and hard rock scene, playing in bands such as Kvelertak, Humbug, Helldiver, Nova and Egg and Majones. As a solo artist he goes in a completely different musical direction, as heard previously on his EP 's "Honesty" and "My Way Back", and now on his new EP "Two Those I've Left"

In April, Roar Kopperstad, a.k.a. Hear Me Roar, will release his third EP - "Two Those I've Left". Four new songs with timeless melodies about never-tiring themes. A lot of heart, at least as much pain, darkness but fortunately beams of sunshine too. Kopperstad's melodies and lyrics are the kind that bring a tear to the eye, in a good way.

Hear Me Roar's story is that of a punk rocker who got tired of screaming in peoples' faces all the time. The story of an intensely honest songwriter who struggled in the dark and used songs to light the way out.

Having survived a subdued existence in his head, these beautiful songs found their way out to a small audience. And so the rumours began to spread about a formidable singer songwriter hidden in Stavanger. Suddenly Kopperstad found that people were touched by his songs.
'People began to boast. This music has been very much encouraged by its audience', Kopperstad smiles modestly.
The Stavanger region has been known for heavy metal and cool electronica in recent years, but if you ask many in the city's music scene to highlight one local songwriter, Kopperstad is often mentioned.

His adolescent years were spent in several punk bands.
'I was angry. It was pure aggression, a way to vent emotions', he explains.
Eventually he grew tired of power chords and screaming, and the classic American music he grew up with re-surfaced. 
'I have found that this is the way I should express myself musically. Something is still the same. I use songwriting to ease the pressure. It is pure therapy', he says.

The instrumental arrangements on the EP have been composed gradually by the session musicians; a cluster of highly skilled names.
'It's been a real group effort, so it is an honor that so many talented and busy musicians have asked to be involved.'

Some would probably argue that Kopperstad's style is not particularly original. For that he has a subtle and self-revealing answer:
'There is at least no one else who can write and sing about what I feel as good as I can!' he chuckles.

It sounds genuinely intense and beautiful. It is perhaps a challenge to promote this kind of artist in today's hype-hunting music industry, but such songwriting talent should not be allowed to remain a local secret for much longer.

PS: A question many are probably wondering about: After Roar debuted on disc, a certain song from Katy Perry appeared. The song has made it a challenge to find relevant information about Hear Me Roar through Google.
'I just think that her song is really about me', he grins.

Featuring on "Two Those I've Left" EP:

Roar Kopperstad
Ivar Aasheim Myrset
Ådne Sæverud
Torje Fanebust Aas
Erlend Aasland
Steven Grant Bishop
Thea Emilie Wang
Maria Klåpbakken
Katrina Noddeland Myhren

All songs written by Roar Kopperstad
Produced by Steven Grant Bishop




Brand New Day

Helldorado's sixth release, "Volume" 1 is the first of two releases where Helldorado pays tribute to some of the composers, artists and performers who have inspired them as a band and as music lovers. Volume 1 is available on CD, digital/online and vinyl (vinyl will be released in 2016)

Helldorado is a fantastic live band and their gigs are legendary. Combine their abilities as a live band with their natural coolness and a bunch of rocking tunes that other bands would kill for, and you have a success in the making. So get into your 65 Chevy, a few bottles of Whiskey, grab some good looking, mini-skirts wearing girls and drive through the night, waiting for what will happen.

The band evokes the burning sensation of the sun on your neck, with sand grinding between your teeth, lips thirsty for the double whiskey, churning your otherwise empty stomach with the smell of bacon, beans, gunpowder, leather & sweat drifting pass like a tumbleweed, as a shaky finger fondles the trigger of a Colt 45 under the silhouetted vultures circling the clear blue desert sky.

They draw on a strong tradition of combining blues, country, rock and hardboiled crime. Murder, prison, crime, confession, remorse and punishment runs like a dark stream from the music of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and Stan Ridgeway among others. Helldorado brings this tradition into the new century by giving you the music, colours, smells and atmosphere usually connected with the image of southern USA and Mexico

Helldorado presents cinematic music inspired by Morricone and Tarrantino, epic and dramatic murder ballads, Americana, and Rock Noir with a flare for B-movies ala Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill! Horn sections are added like habanero peppers to an open wound. Under the open sky, and across hot desert landscapes, the faithless characters of Helldorado’s world burn holes in our souls

Diskografi
Lost Highway (CD) – CCAP019 - 2001
Lost Highway (10”) – CCAP020 – 2001
Teenage Queen (CDS) – CCAP028 - 2004
Directors Cut (CD) – CCAP029 - 2004
The Ballad Of Nora Lee (CD) – CCAP040 - 2005
Sinful Soul (CD) – CCAP085 - 2009
Bones In The Closet (single, 7”) – CCAP140 - 2012
Bones In The Closet (CD) – CCAP164 - 2013
Bones In The Closet (LP) - CCAP170 – 2013
Volume 1 (CD) - CCAP186 - 2015

Night Of The Vampire

Helldorado's seventh release, "Volume 2" is the second of two releases where Helldorado pays tribute to some of the composers, artists and performers who have inspired them as a band and as music lovers. Volume 2 is available on CD, digital/online and vinyl (vinyl will be released in 2016)

Helldorado is a fantastic live band and their gigs are legendary. Combine their abilities as a live band with their natural coolness and a bunch of rocking tunes that other bands would kill for, and you have a success in the making. So get into your 65 Chevy, a few bottles of Whiskey, grab some good looking, mini-skirts wearing girls and drive through the night, waiting for what will happen.

The band evokes the burning sensation of the sun on your neck, with sand grinding between your teeth, lips thirsty for the double whiskey, churning your otherwise empty stomach with the smell of bacon, beans, gunpowder, leather & sweat drifting pass like a tumbleweed, as a shaky finger fondles the trigger of a Colt 45 under the silhouetted vultures circling the clear blue desert sky.

They draw on a strong tradition of combining blues, country, rock and hardboiled crime. Murder, prison, crime, confession, remorse and punishment runs like a dark stream from the music of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and Stan Ridgeway among others. Helldorado brings this tradition into the new century by giving you the music, colours, smells and atmosphere usually connected with the image of southern USA and Mexico

Helldorado presents cinematic music inspired by Morricone and Tarrantino, epic and dramatic murder ballads, Americana, and Rock Noir with a flare for B-movies ala Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill! Horn sections are added like habanero peppers to an open wound. Under the open sky, and across hot desert landscapes, the faithless characters of Helldorado’s world burn holes in our souls

Diskografi
Lost Highway (CD) – CCAP019 - 2001
Lost Highway (10”) – CCAP020 – 2001
Teenage Queen (CDS) – CCAP028 - 2004
Directors Cut (CD) – CCAP029 - 2004
The Ballad Of Nora Lee (CD) – CCAP040 - 2005
Sinful Soul (CD) – CCAP085 - 2009
Bones In The Closet (single, 7”) – CCAP140 - 2012
Bones In The Closet (CD) – CCAP164 - 2013
Bones In The Closet (LP) - CCAP170 – 2013
Volume 1 (CD) - CCAP186 - 2015
Volume 2 (CD) - CCAP187 - 2016
Volume 1 & 2 (LP) - CCAP190 - 2016

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Charro

Funnel Of Love

Mr Eliminator

Boss Hoss

Alone Again Or

Christmas For Cowboys is a collaboration between four fine roots / country / americana bands from Stavanger on the Norwegian west coast: Helldorado, Flying Shoes, The Tramps and The Brigade

The collaboration is a tribute to some of the  songwriters and artists the bands on the album have been inspired by

The four bands have picked two songs each for this collaboration
The songs chosen have been previously been recorded by renowned country and americana songwriters and artists such as Willie Nelson, The Handsome Family, Jackson Browne, John Denver, John Prine, The Band, Buck Owens, Chris Hillman and Glen Campbell. 

Several of the musicians represented on this recording are member of more than one of the bands, and a few of them are actually member of all bands. 

Helldorado, Flying Shoes, The Tramps and The Brigade have been involved in previous collaborations, but this is the first time all bands are represented on one recording.

NORSK
Christmas For Cowboys er ett samarbeidsprosjekt der fire band fra Stavangerregionen har gått sammen om å lage ett julealbum som en hyllest til den amerikanske, og irske, musikkarven som bandene er inspirert av. Helldorado, Flying Shoes, The Brigade og The Tramps teller alle noen felles medlemmer, og selv om de musikalske uttrykkene er forskjellige representerer de alle "roots"-relaterte og inspirerte genre som Americana, Country og Folk.

Bandene samarbeider fra tid til annen om både turneer og konserter, men dette er første gang alle fire band deltar på ett felles plateprosjekt og en felles julekonsert.

Christmas For Cowboys

Helldorado - Little Altar Boy

The Tramps - Blue Christmas Light

The Brigade - So Much Wine

Flying Shoes - Christmas Must Be Tonight

The Brigade - Christmas In Prison

Helldorado - Pretty Paper

The Tramps - Rebel Jesus

Flying Shoes - Christmas For Cowboys

FordRekord om sin nye singel: Fjern er uten tvil en av de sterkeste utgivlesene FordRekord har kommet med så langt. Låten har vært med oss i øvinglokalet en stund, vi har hele tiden visst at den har potensiale. I studio fikk den sin form med hjelp av produsent Kjetil Ulland og mixmaster Anders Bjelland.

Fjern

FordRekord - Fjern

Winter On Europe

Rub A Dubs - Winter On Europe

The fifth album release from Norway's premier reggae band, "Winter on Europa" combines singer-songwriter qualities with roots-reggae. 

Rhythmical yet honest in it's Scandinavian approach to the familiar off-beat of reggae. 

The release boasts strong tunes like "Voodoo", "Left for Dead", "Invictus"(Yes, the old poem) and "Dancing Desert" to mention a few, but is carefully crafted as a conceptual album within a story-telling tradition of old.

Rub A Dubs - Voodoo

The fifth album release from Norway's premier reggae band, "Winter on Europa" combines singer-songwriter qualities with roots-reggae.

Rhythmical yet honest in it's Scandinavian approach to the familiar off-beat of reggae. 

The release boasts strong tunes like "Voodoo", "Left for Dead", "Invictus"(Yes, the old poem) and "Dancing Desert" to mention a few, but is carefully crafted as a conceptual album within a story-telling tradition of old.

Rub A Dubs - Don't Ever Go

Checkpoint Charlie Audio Productions (CCAP) is an indipendent record label based in Stavanger, Norway. For more music, videos, links, information etc, please visit www.facebook.com/CCAPno

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