Part 1 of our 4-part interview with Danish rock icon Claus Berthelsen (Naïve).
Origins, post-punk Copenhagen, soundscapes, line-up changes, and the “Marble Afternoon” legacy.

The Far Distance Band Podcast is back — and we’re kicking off with a 4-part deep dive into Danish rock history.

In Part 1, we sit down with Danish rock icon Claus Berthelsen — songwriter, singer, and radio host — best known as the driving force behind Naïve.

We rewind to the early years: Copenhagen in the early 80s, post-punk energy, changing line-ups, and the moment the name Naïve lands. Claus shares what it’s like to carry a catalogue that still sounds fresh decades later — including the legacy of “Marble Afternoon”, and why the band never quite became as big as the songs deserved.

If you’re into songwriting, band chemistry, and the stories behind the sound, this one’s for you.

Time codes: 00:04:16 Introduction

00:11:35 The early years

➡️ Next month: Part 2 drops (the next phase of Naïve’s evolution).

Naïveofficial site: https://naive.dk/

Naïve onFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoriginalnaive/

Naïve onInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoriginalnaive/

Naïve onSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FSDmz8mvH7FxYhDwsQBC6

Having bands in for band interviews is one of the nicest things about the podcast we have established. And this month we can present our first band interview with an established band that has released records and is touring regularly.

The Danish band Ring Them Bells is a band with their roots in indie rock music from the 90’s, but has developed over the years into something more nuanced. The band has references to Madrugada, U2 and Iggy Pop and is hovering in a space between punk, atmospheric rock, indie rock and pop music.

They just released their third studio album and we invited the lead singer and song writer of the band, Johannes Nidam, for a talk about how the album came about, the creative processes, how they work in the band, studio recordings and marketing, promotion and concerts.

It became a very nice conversation and enlightening for guys like Anders, Thomas and I that never came so far with Blue On Blue. This is great content and insights for any upcoming band to get an idea of how todays music industry works at the lower tiers of the system. Hint: no one is paying you a private jet!

Summer is here and The Far Distance Band Podcast will having a break until August. When we are back we are ready to share new Blue On Blue music with you and interesting band interviews.

We were supposed to have another band interview, but that crashed and then we decided to take a talk about Anders and his sample music he has been making over the last 25-30 years.  Anders takes us back to how he as a teenager started experimenting with cassette recorders to make sampled music through to the days of his first sampler to make more professional sounding electronic sample music back in the early 1990’s.

It is a wonderful conversation where Anders opens up the world of sampled music, how it works and how he is making his sampled music creatively.

Anybody with interest in sampled music will find this episode great with lots of insigths on how to make sampled music and how to find creative inspiration in the process of creating electronic music.