Lofoten, Norway
Bendik plays dreamy, haunting pop, drenched in harmonies and reverb. Originated as the solo project of singer and multi-instrumentalist Silje Halstensen, Bendik grew it’s branches and became a trio this winter, embracing Erlend Elvesveen and Eivind Helgerød, all living in the beautiful city of Trondheim, Norway. They are already playing on numerous norwegian festivals this summer, including Slottsfjellfestivalen in Tønsberg, Huset ved sjøen-festivalen in Nesodden, and Pstereo in Trondheim!
To Bendik, nature has a special room in our hearts, and we all know many beautiful places we would love to share. And some to keep secret. But we all share a dream of visiting what we know will become one of our favorites - Lofoten in Northern Norway! We dream of sleeping in the open under the midnight sun, hiking the mountains, dive in the sea, and listen to the silence of the prettiest place on earth. One day soon!
Bakklandet, Trondheim, Norway
Photo: Scanpix
Angelica’s Elegy plays melancholic indie pop inspired by Beach House, Deerhunter, Yo La Tengo og Madlib. The band was started by Simen and Erik at Trøndertun Folk high school. They have cooperated with people from Dråpe and Bendik (who’ll appear on this blog on tuesday).
Our favourite place is more of an area of the city we live in, than a specific smaller location. The place is called Bakklandet, and is an old part of the city laying next to the Nidaros river. This place is all “brick road, old tree houses, old shops and bridges”, with several cozy pubs and coffee shops. Also, the fact that Simen and Karl’s Greener Productions is located in a studio called Trondheim Studio at Bakklandet makes this place very relevant when we reminisce over “what made all of this the way it is?”, “how did Angelica’s Elegy come to this point?”
Angelica’s Elegy is playing at Slottsfjell festival in Tønsberg this summer!
Bergen, Norway
Foto: Embla Karidotter
Razika is the most honest indie-ska-punk band in Norway at this time. Their first album, Program 91, was released 2nd of may 2011 and their single Vondt i Hjertet is currently B-listed on NRK P3.
Our favorite place on earth is Bergen. All of us are born and raised her, this is the city we have a relationship with. We are all city-kids from the centre and “need” what a city can offer: shops, cafés, parks, cultural offers etc. And in addition to that, Bergen hare 7 amazing mountains and a harbor. Can it possibly get any better.
Yes, it’s one of the cities in Norway with most rain, but when the sun is out the city just explode! Everybody is outside and there’s a good atmosphere everywhere. Also, Bergensere (people from Bergen) is without doubt the coolest people in Norway. As Agnar Mykle once said, Oslo is the dog, Bergen is the cat. We support each other in Bergen patriotism. Just like the amazing musical environment: there’s no competition because everybody does their own thing and therefore everybody support and help each other. If it wasn’t for Bergen, the coolest city in the world, there wouldn’t be any Razika!
Slottsfjell artists
We are, as everybody else with a little sensibility, super excited about the festival summer. I can’t wait to get dirty feet on festival ground, buy the funkyest hat I can find, hang out with my old friends, make some new friends and sing on the top of my voice! I am also pleased to see that some of the bands that contributed to this blog is playing at the Slottsfjell festival in Tønsberg, Norway, one of the festivals I’m definitely going to :D
If you work with music and want to contribute to this blog: send an e-mail to marie@ufa.no and tell me about your favourite place and who you are (about your career) and a picture of the place.
Risør, Norway
Bergtatt is a folk rock band, containing members from the southern and the western part of Norway. The band’s music is a blend of rock music
and traditional folk music, and one of its trademarks is the
combination of old acoustic folk instruments and the classic rock band
instruments. And the cherry on top? Intriguing, powerful female
vocals! The band released it’s debut record “Røtter” in 2009 to
critical acclaim and is currently testing new material live as part of
the work for the second album.
When I was asked to write about my favourite place, I immediately
thought of my home town Risør. This small, peaceful, secluded and
idyllic town is crammed between rocky hills and has the ocean as its
closest neighbour, surrounding most parts of it. All the houses are
made of wood, painted white and lies on each side of the harbour. Just
wandering in the streets is soothing and if you’re anything like me,
it can make your mind drift away, thinking what it might have been
like here long ago. Because when visiting Risør, it is pretty evident
that it’s quite an old town and that it has a lot of history to it.
The church in the town centre dates back to 1641, and in the 1700s and
1800s Risør was an important and prosperous town in Norway for the
expanding ship building industry. The marine culture is still very
prominent in Risør and is still a vital part of the town’s identity.
The outskirts of Risør consist mainly of woods and wild nature, and
two of Bergtatt’s members grew up here. This, combined with the
previously mentioned fascination and interest of the past, makes up a
big part of what Bergtatt is influenced by as a band, as well as our
songs.
Like most of the many tourists that visit Risør and people that spend
their holiday here would say, I would agree that Risør is at its
finest during summertime. It’s at this time of year that the town gets
a special, almost magical, glowing aura. Try having dinner at
“Stangholmen” (a restaurant lying on a close-by island) late in the
evening, or quench your thirst with some beers on the rooftop of the
good old bar “Prommen” during sunset, and you’ll see what I mean. Yes,
I am biased, being from Risør and having my mind packed with memories
of growing up in this place, but it’s definitely worth a visit!
By Rolf-Erik Solstad Karlsen for Bergtatt
Risør is here
Damsgårdssundet, Bergen, Norway
The Urørt (Norwegian BBC Introducing equivalent) team described Lovecult as “the sound of of the 60s successfully mixed with 70s krautrock and 80s shoegaze-pop, a place where finishing your songs with blissed out fuzz cacophonies and feedback orgasms is de rigueur. You don’t always have to be on the way somewhere, sometimes it’s nice to just be!”
On the shadow side of Bergen, just across Puddefjorden, you find Damsgård, an area awaiting major gentrification but sort of in limbo due to the financial crisis. It used to be an active shipping and industry area, but in the recent years it’s sort of been left to its own, ever more rapidly decaying. The area is quite ugly and all in all pretty dodgy, but it’s just so beautifully demised. There are several classic old brick and tile buildings with that unique old industrial atmosphere. Perfect for New York-style loft apartments and creative studios. When we first moved our rehearsal-studio there a few years ago, the area was mostly empty, but only since last year, more and more musicians and artists are filling in the vast spaces of old factories and storages. You can always hear music from one of the several rehearsal spaces in the area, or if you’re lucky, stumble upon an atelier. This is not an obvious place to visit, even if you live in the city. We probably wouldn’t be familiar with it if our studio hadn’t been located there. It’s close to the centre of Bergen, but there never seems to be anyone around, except the occasional junkie or jogger.
The reason why we chose the Damsgård area is that it is so filled with opportunity, contrasts, and inspiration. It’s a place that makes you want to explore and imagine what all these run down spaces could be used for. Since there never seems to be anyone around it’s a great getaway from everything. There’s also a couple of weird and sort of creepy David Lynchy elements in the area, like a small café under the Puddefjord bridge, crammed in between two huge industrial buildings, with an old army-tank parked in the backyard, or a ferry on the docks turned into a houseboat. This only adds to the sort of special mood of the area. Crossing the Puddefjord Bridge and walking down dusty Michael Krohns street always fills us with anticipation.
In the summer it’s nice to bring some cold beers to the docks, watch the sunset under the bridge and dream of what could take place here if enough people took the opportunity, before it is all turned into hi-end real estate. Bring a camera and capture images of an area caught in limbo. Finish the tour with beers at Bien bar!
Bakklandet , Trondheim , Norway
Ida Jenshus is a 23 year old americana/country artist from Steinkjer, Norway. After releasing her debut album “Color of the sun” (2008) and her follow up “No guarantees” (2010), she has been crowned Norway’s new country queen. See her tour schedule at www.idajenshus.com.
When I had to think of one favourite spot , the first place that came to mind was Bakklandet. This area in Trondheim has been my home for the last 4 years . It’s just the nicest place to live, and to come home to between being on tour or working in the studio. I`ve grown up in a small town myself, so I fell completely in love with this small-town-feel-area in the heart of Trondheim. It`s got this old bohemian look, with crooked houses, small cobblestone streets, vintage shops, small cafes and the Nidelven river running through .
In the summer I love to sit around the benches down by the river with my morning coffee, music on the ear and a book, Ive written a lot of lyrics and songs down there. It´s kind of a peaceful and quiet area, although it’s in the middle of a bigger city. I love the way I can sort of “hide away” here, be in my own world if I want to and find peace to work on my music, but at the same time it has got its pulse.
On sundays the street cafés are always crowded, especially in summer or whenever the sun is out. Try the sweet chilli coffee at Dromedar, it`s the best! Or catch a outdoor concert and a beer at Rabarbra. The Baccalao for lunch at Baklandet Skydsstation is also a favourite of mine, so is the carrotcake. Whenever I need new dresses or outfits to wear on stage, I usually go to the small vintage/re-design shop Stella Snella, where I design my clothes with the sweetsweet owner Hege Biermann . She has the loveliest pieces and the biggest smile .
Watch out for my little black kitten “Søta” ( Cutie ) running around .
Åmli, Larvik, Norway
Jonas Alaska makes music inspired by the old singer/songwriter tradition with strong elements of folk and americana. His backing band consists of a clean and tight rhythm section, CSN and gospel influenced backing-vocals as well as honkey keys and guitars.
His album is expected in June, 2011.
My favourite place is my hometown, Åmli.
Åmli is a small village deep inside the woods somewhere in the south of Norway. I haven’t lived in my hometown since I was 16. I currently live in England but I tend to write a lot when I’m home visiting my family. I’ve got a guitar and a borrowed el-piano standing by the window so when I write songs I’m staring straight into the woods.
There is only one street in Åmli. I know that street inside out as I used to skateboard when I lived there. There are also three hairdressers on that small street in the middle of the woods!
I really like living in the city though, and I hope I get to move to New York soon, but my dream is to build myself a cabin somewhere in my hometown with a studio in it. That way I can still live in the city, and write new songs the way I like it.
I sometimes like to think of my hometown as upstate New York, in the Woodstock area, where Dylan, Young, The Band and a bunch of other artists bought a house, made good coffee and recorded some awesome music.
Hubroåsen “the eagle owl hill”, Vestfold, Norway
The acoustic core of piano, double bass and drums gets challenged by simplistic, analogue elektronics, which in Splashgirls hands creates a distinctive, instrumental music somewhere between improvised music, ambient and experimental rock. Genres aside, Splashgirls music contains a concentration, a graveness and a focus on details matched by few others. Aside from touring most of Europe, Splashgirl spent the fall of 2010 recording their coming album with Alex Kloster-Jensen. Their third album further investigates the referances to drone from their last album “Arbor” (Hubro 2009), and the new album is mixed by none other than Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn 0))), Jesse Sykes). The record will be released on Hubro in april.
My favourite place in the world is called Hubroåsen, “the eagle owl hill”. It is a small hilltop with an overhang, a view and a bonfire. The hill is not particularly high, but it is still quite spectacular. If you are not afraid of steep hills it only takes 20 minutes to walk there. That is, unless you end up in the much-feared triangle at the start of the bridge. The triangle is only a couple of hundred meters away from the hilltop itself, still my father has gotten lost amongst the scrubs and bushes, and he grew up by these woods. If you are not paying careful attention to where you put your feet, you might end up somewhere completely different, and much, much later than intended, something my brother and I did one Christmas Eve. We just about made it home for dinner.
To get to Hubroåsen you have to drive from Oslo towards Larvik in Vestfold County, and turn at the junction with a sign towards Hedrum Church. After about 4 km on a country road you will arrive at Ulvedalen, “the wolf valley”, where one of the paths towards the hill starts. Here you will probably have to sneak quietly past some cattle before you get to the actual path. It usually goes well, the cows are mainly concerned with grass and clover, although they might stare at you for a long, long time.
We go to Hubroåsen to make coffee on the fire and not much else, and sometimes one does not need to do more than that. When the water is boiling and the coffee pot has been ceremoniously sunk seven times to make the coffee grounds sink, we sip coffee whilst looking out over the large fields with lazy cattle, woods and a country road where once in a while a car or a tractor drives by. If one feels particularly adventurous, one can sit at the tip of the overhang and contemplate the 150 metres of air between the feet and the ground, but that I have almost never done.
By Andreas Stensland Løwe for Splashgirl
Ravnastua Mouintainhouse/ Gárdin duottarstohpu, Karasjok, Norway
Elin Kåven – The arctic fairy.
Singer, songwriter and dancer from Northern Norway. She belongs to the sami people wich are the nomad people north of the arctic circle. Known as the Arctic fairy, she seduces you with etheral, mystical pop into a dream of the hidden Sami tundras…
My favorite place in the world may not be a surprise to any of you, but it is in the middle of the tundras of northern Norway. This place is called Gárdin Duottarstohpu/Ravnastua Fjellstue/Ravnastua Muontainhouse. It is a place to stay for campers and other guests while travelling in the wild. You can rent rooms there and they also have showers, sauna, dinner, meetingroom and a small stage. My grandmother ran this place for 50 years, and now my uncle is running it.
It is 1,5 miles from the road, so getting there you have to either walk, use the jeep, 4WD or traktor, and ski or snowmobile in winter. It is a nice trip up there. Summertime I usually spend 4 hours hiking up to this place, with 2 stops where I make a fire and drink water from the rivers and springs. Hiking on the tundra inspires me so much, it’s like every tree, plant and rock is singing with me!
When you come up to Ravnastua you see mountains, a river, tundra, forrest, and a field of flowers. This place has everything! In addition to all this there is also a lake close to the house. We call it bathing-lake, because there’s not much fish in that lake, but there is a small beatiful beach. This is the most beutiful place in the whole world! You can lit a fire by the lake and just relax, and if the weather is nice, go for a swim.
For all artist nerves are an issue, and this place is my special place that I think of when I want to feel safe. I think about this place before I go on stage. I visualize myself sitting by that lake, looking at that peaceful, nature, the shine of the water and the wild tundras surroundig it. It calms me down and grounds me when I feel myself being there. The smells, sounds and wind. And that way I make the stage be that special place…. My favorite place!
My album ”Jikŋon musihkka-Frozen music” released 2009 is my soundtrack of Ravnastua wintertime.
Ravnstua’s website
Map (Karasjok)
Contact Elin: elink@arcticnet.no
