FLTY BRGR GRL

Instagram has been very good to me during the last few months of quarantine.  While browsing its endless amount of content, I discovered this great Norwegian duo with a pink-hued aesthetic called FLTY BRGR GRL.  In addition to their pink-centric vibes, they’re into burgers, which I’m very much down with.  Not to mention, they know how to write a catchy tune.  Their first two singles, “Be My Boy” and “Slow Dance” fuse classic sugary melodies and garage rock harmonies with wispy synths and danceable beats.  Their lyrics add a special lovesick touch, delving into heart-fluttering dance floor girl crushes and unrequited love. It’s a delightful combo.

I recently caught up with the Oslo-based duo to get the low down on their sound, their love of In-N-Out Burger, and their favorite bands from their hometown:

Hi Beatrix and Sarah! What roles do each of you play in the band?

Hi Tom!

Beatrix is on vocals, bass guitar and brings those sweet lyrics, while Sarah does the backing vocals and guitar. 

I love your first two singles, “Be My Boy” and “Slow Dance.” How’d they come together and what was the recording process like? 

Thank you so much! Wow, where to begin… We already knew what kind of vibe we wanted to have on these songs and we almost always start with the bass guitar, because we feel it deserves a bigger role than it usually gets. Beatrix had already started to work with “Be My Boy”, which was inspired by an unrequited crush, it had a quirky bass and it found its form when Sarah added those dreamy guitars. With “Slowdance” on the other hand, we wanted a more naive and Lynch-gone-high-esque vibe. The song was inspired by girl-crush on the dance floor so we guess that’s why it became so swaying- and shoulder rolling-friendly.

Everything we do is pretty DIY, like we record our demos by plugging our iRig cables to our phones and recording in GarageBand, often at Sarahs place. “I love having Beatrix over, says Sarah. “We hang out in the living room, and when it’s my turn to record the guitar Beatrix just lays there on the couch with her eyes closed. Haha, it’s a very chill, but also creative energy somehow”.

Our producer, Richard, is this talented dude who just gets the sound we want, and luckily for us he also happens to be an excellent drummer as well. It is honestly so important to work with people that just get you.

I particularly love “Slow Dance.” I feel like it evokes feelings of being young and nervous, being infatuated with someone on the dance floor. What inspired that song? 

All our songs are inspired by falling in love and crushes. Honestly, I suck at love, says Beatrix. “So I really do act like this nervous and awkward girl when I see someone I like, or feel something, that I can’t explain, for someone. “Slowdance” was inspired by such a moment, and we tried to capture the dizziness and pink haze in a way”.

You’re from Oslo, Norway. Tell us a little bit about the music scene there. How has the city influenced your sound? 

The music scene is pretty cool. Where we are from and our background will always influence us. When it comes to Norway we’re kind of always dreaming about the summertime and kind of just that need to get away from the cold… That been said, we do feel California inspires us more when it comes to that beachy sound, but the dating scene and the awkwardness that comes from it is definitely all Norway!

Did you collaborate prior to this project? What’s the origin story behind FLTY BRGR GRL? How’d you meet and how’d the project start? 

We first met at a concert for Level and Tyson in Sarah's backyard. Beatrix was a member of that band at the time, and we just bonded over a mutual friend crush and appreciation of each other's coolness. We then met up again at a summer camp, became roomies and the rest is history.

FLTY BRGR GRL was already forming in Beatrix's head at this point after an existential crisis led her to a trip to Los Angeles and a final day meal at an In N' Out Burger shop where she ordered a burger menu, "animal style", and ended up feeling like a…filthy burger girl. Instantly she knew this had to be the name of the project and set about immediately registering an Insta account in the name, beginning the pink theme that we still have to this day.

Beatrix brought in Sarah to work on what would become the first single "Be My Boy" and the chemistry was perfect. "I knew she was the one, it just clicked" says Beatrix. "Sarah plays the most beautiful guitar melodies and it really elevates the songs. We each bring our own quirk and feel like we complete each other, haha.”

Yeah! I read that about the In-N-Out Burger. Very cool.  We don’t have those on the East Coast of the states, but I love going there when I’m out West.  What did you order while you were there? Did you love it?

Beatrix: I don’t remember the exact menu, but I do remember that people talked about that secret menu (but not so secret) called Animal Style, so that’s what I went for. Everything was very messy, greasy with loads of melted cheese and jalapeños. And I felt so dirty and badass at the same time. I loved it, and still dream about that burger and those cheesy and spicy fries. Like oh my gaaaawd.  

How’d you come up with the name? 

Beatrix: It’s a very stupid story, as shared early, but when I was eating that dirty burger, the name kind of just came to me. It seems like such a cliché but I was having a hard time before I left cold and dark Norway on my solo trip to warm LA, but everything kind of made sense there somehow. Like that burger had a message for me, and that message was FLTY BRGR GRL, lol. I guess it got those creative juices flowing?

What bands/artists would you say most influenced your sound?

Best Coast, Mitski, Deerhoof and Blonde Redhead inspire us and you can probably add many garage-pop touchstones to that. Crucially, it's the vocals of Deerhoof's Satomi that majorly inspire. They appeal to us because they in a way don’t sing “perfect” in that traditional sense, we’re very into disharmony and stuff like that. That being said we’re also very inspired by punk and hip hop, mostly because of the attitude artists from those genres usually represent.

Who are some bands/artists from Oslo that you’d recommend checking out?

There are loads of cool bands and musicians to check out from different genres that are based in Oslo. If you’re into rap music check out Musti, for indie and alternative rock lovers; Richard Noir. Want noise rock? Mokri. Honestly we could mention so many more, we’re also fans of almost all of the Norwegian artists that have already reached the big world, like girl in red, so it’s nice to be able to share some of the acts you might not have heard about yet.  

What’s next for the band?

We just wanna start having concerts and hopefully start touring as well, like East Coast we’re coming for ya, but yeah, right now we’re making more songs, recording, and basically working on our debut album, skipping that whole EP-step. Because world domination next, right?

Check out FLTY BRGR GRL on your streaming platform of choice. You can also purchase their music via Bandcamp. Follow the band on Instagram.

Cover photo by Fuksia.

Photo by Fuksia