The band was formed in 2002 by Toschie, Thomas Tofthagen, Arve Isdal aka Ice Dale, Kjetil Greve, Tom Cato Visnes aka King ov Hell and Herbrand Larsen. Although some of the members were known from more extreme, progressive or black metal bands, Audrey Horne was to become a more melodic hard classic rock band
Leading up to the band's first album they released the 4-track EPConfessions & Alcohol. The title song from the EP was the single from the upcoming album while the rest of the songs are only found on this EP. The song "Halo" later resurfaced as a live song on some Audrey Horne concerts in 2009. The band's debut album No Hay Banda was released in April 2005. Recorded at Earshot Studio in Bergen it was an Audrey Horne/Joe Barresi co-production and mixed by Joe Barresi at Bay7 Studios in Los Angeles. The album received generally good reviews and also won them a Norwegian Grammy Award in the Best Metal Act category in 2006. Due to unfortunate circumstances concerning management and booking they didn't get as many gigs as they wanted, although the reception from the audience was very good. They mostly toured the club scene in Norway and played at the 2005 Quart Festival as a warmup act for Audioslave.
''Le Fol'', and changes in the lineup
In 2007 Herbrand Larsen and Tom Cato Visnes left the band. Tom Cato to put more effort into Gorgoroth and Sahg, Herbrand Larsen because he needed more time at his job as a primary school teacher and playing with Enslaved. Herbrand has continued to work with the band in the studio both as a keyboard player and producer/engineer. In August 2007 Audrey Horne released their second albumLe Fol on Indie Recordings, produced by Ice Dale mixed/co-produced by Herbrand Larsen. Once again recorded at Earshot Studio in Bergen. The band wanted to work with Joe Barresi for this album too but his busy schedule would have postponed the record by at least six months so the band decided to go ahead on their own. Produced by Ice Dale and co-produced and mixed by Herbrand Larsen, who also played all keyboards on the album, it became an all in-house production. Le Fol received good reviews in both Norwegian and international press and earned Audrey Horne their second Norwegian Grammy Award nomination in the Best Metal Act category in 2008. This time management and booking was in order and the band progressed from playing mainly club gigs in Norway to playing clubs and festivals in Norway and Europe and at the end of 2008 they went on a European Tour with Enslaved and playing no less than 40 gigs in a month and a half starting November 6 in Copenhagen and ending in Bergen on December 20. The tour visited Denmark, Germany, Belgium, UK, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Czech Rep., Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden before the final gigs in Norway. The grueling schedule took its toll on Toschie's voice to the point where he could hardly sing at the end and caused him to stop smoking. He hasn't started again since.
Present and future events
In September 2009 the band once again teamed up with Joe Barresi at his JHOC studio in Los Angeles to record their third album to be titled Audrey Horne, again on Indie Recordings. Release is set for late February/early March 2010. Joe Barresi is the producer/mixer/engineer on the album. Drums, guitars and vocals were recorded at JHOC before the band returned to Bergen and Earshot & Conclave Studio, to record bass, keyboards and additional vocal and guitar tracks. All was sent to Joe Barresi and mixed at JHOC. Espen Lien plays bass and Herbrand Larsen and Eyolf Nysæther plays keyboards.
