Önkel Renate

Önkel Renate was a short-lived Norwegian experimental rock band founded in 1991. Originally created for the sake of ”performing” a playback of Mötley Crües Live Wire at a cultural evening at their school, the five young boys ages 12-13 soon decided they wanted to start a real band. Their choice of name was a joke, ”onkel Renate” being Norwegian for ”uncle Renate” (Renate is a female name), and also intended to be in the tradition of the ”heavy metal umlaut”, although in the case of Önkel Renate, the umlaut was pronounced. By the time of their first recording, the band was down to four members, called Önkel Sigrid (guitar), Önkel Agnes (bass), Önkel Helga (keyboards) and Önkel Linda (drums and lead vocals). Most of the songs were written by Önkel Linda, the youngest member, and the first collection of songs was recorded directly to stereo cassette. Called ”Neue Schlägers” (1991), the recording hinted to alternative rock. A second cassette, ”Time Warp” (1992), had a more experimental sound, with a blend of fusion, but still retaining a hard edge. The two cassettes were not commercially released, and was forgotten, until member Önkel Linda (now known as musician and producer Eth Eonel) rediscovered them in 2009, planning to release them on CD and digital release. Önkel Sigrid does no longer make music. Önkels Agnes and Helga’s real names and whereabouts are not known.