Description
The only record The Merchants Of Venus was Wish Across The Land (1994), with music somewhere between the Beatles, XTC and Pixies. They started in 1993, by Rune Annaniassen (bass), Aslak Nygren (vocals) and Charles Norman (guitar). The band's origin story is special: The American supergroup Guns N' Roses (GNR) miraculously came into possession of the Sister Rain CD Wild Flowers Grow, and liked what they heard very much. So much so that Norman, who belonged to the circle around GNR, contacted Nygren and Annaniassen from Sister Rain when GNR visited Norway in June 1993. After a party and a jam in the studio, the Americans went back to Los Angeles. Norman, however, wanted more, and returned to Norway. Sister Rain had just disbanded, and when Norman wanted Annaniassen and Nygren to come to the US with him, neither of them had any doubts. In January 1994, they started studio recording in LA, and the band Merchants Of Venus was a reality. The album was the result of an intense desire to make pop, inspired by the pop that the three main members themselves enjoyed, from the 60s, 70s and 80s, from the Beatles via XTC to the Pixies. The album was followed up with live performances, and the band was reinforced with Annaniassen's colleagues from bands such as Cut and Matchstick Sun – Ivar Eidem (keyboards), Brian Hayes (guitar) from the Dutch Bug, and Lars Pedersen (drums) from Holy Toy, When and Last James. The album was nominated for the Spellemannprisen in 1994.