Norwegian alt rock band Peel have twenty solid years behind them, and still going strong! A band known for their celebrating skinned knees, bruised hearts and dislocated souls, their career kick started with their self titled album released on Edel Records/Playground Music containing several nationwide and international radio-hits (Natalie Somewhere, Breath, Comes Down…OK, Neverending).
In 2108 they released the critically acclaimed and praised concept album Ghosts And Shadows, while their latest release from 2019, End Of Summer merges the raw, in your face attitude from grunge rock with sweet and mesmerizing electro-pop. Along the way they’ve gathered loyal Peelgrims to join the Peel universe.
Pim from the band joins us for a Why I Love on The Beatles.
too obvious?
It almost feels too obvious to say The Beatles — like admitting gravity exists — but some things are obvious for a reason. No matter what phase I’ve been in musically — whether it was my goth years, my metal phase, indie obsessions or falling deep into synth pop — I’ve always come back to The Beatles. They’ve been this constant gravitational pull in my life as a listener, songwriter, and human being.
I grew up with The Beatles. My parents played their records all the time, alongside Queen, The Band, The Shadows, Bee Gees, Bob Dylan, ELO, Thin Lizzy… not to mention the great classical composers that filled the house. Looking back, I realise how much that “education” shaped me — not only as a songwriter but also in developing an openness and curiosity for all genres. That musical upbringing didn’t just introduce me to chords and melodies — it taught me to listen.
creative spirit
The Beatles were always at the centre of that. Their songwriting — the melodic instinct, the emotional honesty, the constant innovation — it still blows me away. And it wasn’t just what they did as a band, but how each of them carried that creative spirit into their solo careers. You can feel their fingerprints all over the music that came after. In fact, pretty much every band or artist that’s shaped me — whether it’s Radiohead, The Cure, Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys, The Smiths, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, early TOOL — they all, in one way or another, owe a debt to The Beatles.
For me, it’s impossible to pick just one favourite song or album. It depends on the day — sometimes it’s Eleanor Rigby with its stark, aching strings, sometimes it’s Tomorrow Never Knows, where they practically invented modern psychedelia. Other days it’s Something, which might be one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. Their catalogue is a universe you can lose yourself in endlessly.
the attitude
But more than individual songs, it’s their attitude that stays with me. The constant need to explore, to evolve, to question, to risk. They were never content to stay where it was safe — they kept pushing, kept turning left when everyone expected them to go right. As an artist, I can’t think of a more important lesson.
That’s why, no matter how much music I discover, no matter what genre I fall into next — The Beatles are always home.
Our thanks to Pim for taking the challenge and doing what sometimes has to be done – stating the obvious.
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