Marit and Me

This was my first official call to Norway. Why, right? What made the experience interesting was the fact that the person I called was no loser! Excuse me, it just happened to be the blonde half of the teeny bop pop group M2M. (What happened to the other chick? She was on the other line, probably hassled by some writer from Indonesia or Thailand with typical "What’s your favorite color?" questions.) So I was to amuse—or be amused by—Marit Larsen, the group’s guitarist and back up vocalist.

For that, I was a little intrigued, but hardly thrilled. I did go to the phoner with positive disposition… that automatically got shot down by the good half hour it took me to connect! With a long sigh, and (finally!) a ring at the other end of the line, I decided to just be myself… and talk to this 18-year-old like she was one of my younger sister’s friends.

Excerpts:

Young Star Magazine: You’re back with a new album. You recorded The Big Room in "The Big Room," that famous studio where lots of huge artists recorded the world’s most popular songs! How was that like?

MARIT LARSEN: The place had a great vibe! It’s actually known as Bearsville Studio. "The Big Room" is one of the most interesting recording rooms there. It was so cool to see all the records hanging on the walls, the likes of Patti Smith and Jeff Buckley. These are people I look up to.

How about Eric Clapton? Apparently, your guitar play is highly inspired by him. Why him and not a great female guitarist? Or maybe a younger artist?

Yes, I listened to his Unplugged record a lot! Especially when I was taking guitar lessons. I do appreciate a lot of female artists as well like Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell is my favorite right now. Her Blue album made in ’73 is great! It sound so current, even if it was made all the way back then. She was ahead of her time.

Are we going to see a new side of M2M in The Big Room? More mature? Are your songs still truthful and personal?

You’re definitely going hear how far we’ve come. Our last album was made three years ago. We’ve grown as people, as songwriters. And we’ve experienced a whole lot since then. As artists, it’s natural to evolve, to improve. You don’t want to make the same record twice.

On your relationship with Marion… are you similar or different? And why do you think you’ve got great chemistry?

We are actually very different. We do share our love for music. And humor! We completely get along. Marion and I have the best time together. She’s very kind and I trust her. And we communicate on a musical level that is inexplicable. We just click.