Exclusive Interview: Datarock’s Fredrik Saroea

When Electronic Arts’ music department selected Norwegan band Datarock for its upcoming game, FIFA Street 3, it was a match between gaming and music made in heaven. Datarock’s unique sound, created by Fredrik Saroea and friends Ketil Mosnes and Kevin O’Brien (O’Brien left the group in 2000), has been featured on the soundtracks of games including Need for Speed and Madden NFL 08.

In an exclusive interview with Fredrik Saroea (Ketil Mosnes was not available at the time), I had a chance to ask him about his group’s unique brand of music. Despite a few language hurdles, there was plenty of fun and laughter as we tried to find the right words to understand what Datarock music was all about. He said that the band is inspired by a lot of different styles ranging from 1977 to the ’90s although the origin of Datarock’s sound came about quite by accident.