Even though technically, Skambankt take a break this year, the band from Klepp could not break with the Christmas tradition at The Only One - which this year includes an tiny little gift for those under 18 years.

- The concert in Kleppe is basically our Christmas party, and it seems that it is one for many others as well, Terje Winterstø Røthing, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of Skambankt says.

Saturday, December 17, will start with a concert without age limit, before the night concludes for those over 18 years. With the exception of a gig at Kjetil Wold's memorial concert in January, the Christmas concerts at The Only One are the only concerts that Skambankt play this year - and next year, for that matter.

- We've only had about four or five concerts for people under 18 years before, but never in Klepp, bass player Tollak Friestad says.

- They get one chance now, and they must prove that they deserve it. Just come by, Winterstø Røthing proclaims.

Becoming harder

To prepare for this year's "Christmas party", the rockers have started tinkering with brand new song material. But they are saving the songs for later. The band members feel that they have to return a favor and plan to take their time for their next project.

- We are very hungry for this album. We are a bit annoyed, Winterstø Røthing says. He elaborates:

- It's not that things went badly with the previous album. It was a good tour, and I know that many people like the album a lot. Some of the best songs we've made are on it, but the packaging ended up different than what we had wanted.

- So you are not satisfied with "Søvnløs"?

- No, he replies without hesitation.

- What went wrong?

- First and foremost it's about the production. We are not satisfied with the record's concept as a whole.

- Did you go too soft, as some critics claimed?

- There were a few who said that, yes. And we can say that we agree. We got lost in ZZ Top and various blues-rock before we started recording, the singer jokes.

Instead of playing classic rock, something that characterized the "Søvnløs" album from 2010, they now plan to develop the hard Skambankt routines, which were the band's trademark on the first three albums.

- It's starting to show that this will be a harder record, but we are just getting started. There's still a lot of work to do.

- Will it be out next year?

- No, we'll take our time. This time we won't release the album before we are ready, Winterstø Røthing answers.

- If we wait until 2014, we can use it as part of our 20th anniversary. We were maybe not that active during the first ten years, but we did at least release a tape.

He looks at the bass player.

- And we sold out all 50, Friestad adds.

Comedy concert in Denmark

The reason that Skambankt are in a so-called "resting period" and wait until at least 2013 to release the album has to do with Terje Winterstø Røthing's role in Kaizers Orchestra, who used this year to tour with "Violeta Violeta Vol. I" and will use much of the next year to tour with "Violeta Violeta Vol. II".

Of the four or five under-18 gigs that Skambankt have done in their career, the band members remember a performance in Denmark a few years ago as a kind of climax - at least for the history book.

Skambankt had agreed to participate in a competition of the Danish radio station P3, where the prize was an intimate gig with the band. Suddenly, Skambankt ended up in a school canteen and played in front of a crowd who probably had an experience they had never been close to before.

- So we played full blast in front of a bunch of 5-graders, in the middle of the day, somewhere in the countryside. The teacher was a super fan and thought it was great, while the students looked rather bewildered, the singer says.

- It seemed a bit comical, Friestad says.

- You could call it a slapstick.

Almost sold out

There are still many tickets left for the under-18 concert in Kleppekrossen, but the main concert is almost sold out. Demand is high from all over the country - and there will be blood fans coming from Sweden as well. Winterstø Røthing is not worried that the main concert will not to be sold out.

- Kjell, who manages the ticket sales for The Only One, is sitting in his driving school office and receiving phone calls. He says that never before have so many people called him. So if anyone has plans to attend the concert, they should give Kjell a call very soon.