This is how the song came about:
An English wind blew over Western Norway in the 90s. “The September When” broke through by breaking with the old-school rock of the time. And the audience was ready for it. – Important with a little fuck you, says Morten Abel.
/ 12/02/2025 / Kristian DugstadIn the transition from the 80s to the 90s, The September When grew to become one of Norway's most prominent rock bands. With the album Mother I've Been Kissed from 1991 they had their big breakthrough, and the song Bullet Me became a signature song for the band.
Morten Abel started his career as a frontman for Mods. The Stavanger band gained a lot of attention in the early 80s, and is perhaps best known for the immortal Abel song Tore Tang from the debut album Revenge!
– In Mods I made my first attempts at writing songs. Before you start to be afraid of making mistakes, you write very much from the heart. Those qualities are difficult to get back later in life. is a classic today, and bigger than anything I've done since, he says.
As a fledgling songwriter, Abel joined TONO in 1982. However, the Mods ended in 1984 and the members set out for a normal life with normal jobs. However, it wasn't long before the creative force forced itself forward again, and in 1988 several former Mods members joined forces to start The September When.
– We wanted to start something new and find new energy, says Abel.
The new project began as an acoustic trio, heavily inspired by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The band quickly gained attention and garnered praise from leading music journalist Tom Skjeklesæther, among others.
In the late 80s they traveled to England to record their self-titled debut album. With a foreign producer and hired musicians, Abel describes the process as a bit r. But they realized one important thing:
– We realized that we really wanted to be a rock band.
In the early 90s, The September When had expanded its lineup, gone on a study trip to New York, and met producer Knut Bøhn. The time had come to get started. the difficult second album, and abroad was alluring.
– At that time, there was only one thing that mattered – to get to a studio abroad and get inspired, preferably England. We thought we would record in New York, where we met Knut Bøhn, but luckily it didn't happen that way.
The dream of the American East Coast had to give way to the harsh Norwegian West Coast, and in the summer of 1990 The September When entered the West Audio studio in Stavanger to begin what would become Mother I've Been Kissed..
- It gave us better time and lighter shoulders to work here at home, and it was a fantastic time.
Producer Knut Bøhn can tell of a creative process characterized by intensity and spontaneity. The band was hungry and full of energy. He also believes it was wise to choose homegrown territory.
– Especially with a band, I always think it's more important to have plenty of time than to have fancy surroundings. The band had also played a lot of concerts that spring and summer, so they were very well prepared. The arrangements were largely in place before we went into the studio, says Bøhn.
The really big hit on the album was to be track number 9 – Bullet MeThe song does not have a crystal clear origin, but was rather, in a fluid time while the band developed its expression and tested songs on the audience.
– I don't remember exactly how we made it, but it was either through jamming in the studio, or me coming up with the verse on guitar and we built the rest together. It was a period where we all contributed creatively and are mostly credited equally, says Abel.
The song is an explosion of energy, but also bears the mark of various musical sources of inspiration.
– We were in New Orleans watching the Neville Brothers and James Brown-inspired funk bands. We were into groove, but at the same time we were a rock band. Bullet Me is a mixture of it all — an outpouring of energy, says Abel.
– We had a strong “fuck you” attitude. We wanted to do something new, something different. Everything wasn’t supposed to be so polished. I think that energy is what has made the song survive for so long, says Abel.
The September When disbanded in 1996, but have since reunited several times. As late as the fall of 2024, the band was back on stage. Although the tour was a celebration of the anniversary of the band's 94 album HuggerMugger, Bullet Me still on the setlist.
– It's incredibly fun to play that song live. It has an energy all its own. And the fact that people are still singing along and getting carried away shows that it still has something special about it, says Abel.
For Abel, The September When is an important part of his musical journey. Although he has had a long solo career and is one of Norway's most recognized artists, it means a lot to him to return to the band that shaped him.
– Playing with The September When is one of the most fun things I do. It's demanding material, it's raw and massive. And the fact that our music has stood up so well is absolutely fantastic, he says.
