Typical Situation had a fairly untypical formation. The Los Angeles-based quintet started due to a fateful encounter between guitarist Cy Passley and singer Ronja Petersen. During their time at the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, Ronja went across the hall to ask Cy, “do you have a black marker?” and Cy asked, “can you sing blues rock?” The rest as they say, is history. With the addition of Matt Barreca (drums), Anne Seidler (keys), and Michael Marigliano (bass), the band has played shows throughout Southern California and recently at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas to be featured on Project Rock Warrior. Recently, Bestnewbands.com caught up with the band to discuss their style, how having two Danish band members has added a European flair to their sound and what Ranja was really thinking when Cy asked her the question that changed their collective lives.

What inspired you guys to start playing music?

Mike Marigliano: Being with friends that played inspired to me to play and learn from them.

Ronja Petersen: I grew up with music my entire life. I had a strong drive to make music and there was no way I wasn’t going to do it.

Anne Seidler: I started playing because of my best friend. She taught me how to play and I fell in love with the piano.

You have an interesting sound, what would you describe it as and who are some of your collective influences?

TS: We’ve been told it sounds similar to a funky Maroon 5 with Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan influenced guitars, heavy rock drums, and vocals similar to The Cranberries. Some of our collective influences include John Mayer, The Police, Muse and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

Your singer, Ronja Peterson, and keyboardist, Anne Seidler, are from Denmark. What type of sounds do they bring to the table and who are some the artists they listened to that are uniquely Scandinavian?

TS: Hahaha, they say pretty sounds. Ronja and Anne listened to a lot of Scandinavian artists such as Thomas Helmig, Tim Christensen, and Lisa Ekdahl.

 

“Blamed For Peace” is a song that is both poignant and powerful. Is there s a specific situation in the world that inspired you guys to write this song?

TS: A number of events inspired us to write it. The purpose of the song is to feature people that are helping our world.  We believe that by doing this, the actions of those people will inspire others to create a more positive environment throughout the world.  Hunger, war, terror, and natural disasters are the focal point of our media outlet.  Our goal is to demonstrate to everyone how much good is being done for our world.

During that infamous first encounter between Ronja and Cy, was there any nervous moments, especially after he pretty much called her out on the spot?

TS: Ronja was thinking, “This is not gonna work out,” but when she looked over shoulder and saw Cy do a thumbs up to a drummer, she knew it could just work. She’s been enlightened to the style of blues by Cy since she hadn’t sung it before that time.

 

What’s the plan for the rest of 2010?

TS: We’re planning to finish our first album by the end of the year. We’re also looking for a great manager, a booking agent to book us a national tour, investors for our “Blamed For Peace” campaign, and as much exposure as we can get!