Thomas Dybdahl

Multi-award winning Thomas Dybdahl is hailed as something of a shooting star in Norway.  Nearly a decade long career has spawned to date four albums and propelled him to a level of success that has put him on a pedestal over and above many other singer-songwriters from the Norwegian music scene.  Yet UK audiences would be hard pushed to have heard of him before now, for his music has not yet transcended the boundaries outside of Scandinavia, and that is something he is now embarking on changing.

Recently signing to Last Suppa in the UK, Dybdahl has the supportive infrastructure in place to finally release his music over here to bring him out from the shadows of the underground to widespread mainstream notoriety.  A decision for many reasons he didn’t take lightly:

“I don’t really know the business here in the UK yet, but I do know its hard of course; obviously because there being like 10,000 bands here trying to make it at any one time, its always going to be hard to break through that kind of sound barrier, but we are hopeful” Dybdahl explains to me before his UK show supporting Peter, Bjorn & John at the re-opening of the Relentless Garage. 

Sat in a sundrenched park behind the venue and chatting over a beer, it’s obvious to me that Dybdahl is not resting on his laurels when it comes to making an impact in the UK, nor upon his fame at home.  “I’m not a hit machine in Norway to say the least but they have all gone platinum which is a huge thing for me.  But things change quickly, this is my first release for 3 years and 3 years in a pop cultural scene is a long time” he muses.  “You have got to keep working all the time and it’s always a good sign if you are getting busy.  That’s what people try to do in music and arts, because that means you are doing alright, you are playing gigs and people like what you are doing.  So I will be thrilled if things happen like that for me in the UK”.

Indeed that already seems to be the case, with the support of Last Suppa, a much touted preliminary ep release 'B A Part' and the forthcoming self-titled LP, as an introduction if you like to the previous works of Thomas Dybdahl.  So, I ask him why Last Suppa was the label he chose to work with at this stage in his career, to bring his music to the UK masses.

“Basically because its run by some very enthusiastic guys who love my music and who go at it like crazy” he replies, laughing as he adds “we’re not used to this pace of working in Norway, but there is so much energy, I love it!  We are building up to the release which is a great time and everyone is really psyched about things”. 

The album, which is set to be released in September, takes the format of a composite album for the UK market, incorporating some of the previous releases that gave Dybdahl such acclaim in his home country.  Songs like the gorgeous ‘From Grace’ and his infamous track ‘John Wayne’ are part of the package, displaying the beauty of his song writing and the lushness of the musicality contained within his back-catalogue. 

“I think it’s a good way of easing in gently, getting my face out there, getting my voice out there and simply seeing if people like what I do, I mean everything is as easy as that isn’t it?” he questions as we talk about where he thinks his audience will come from.  “If people don’t like it then you are kind of screwed anyway, but people like all kinds of music so there is an audience out there for everything.  It’s just about finding it and that is what takes time, finding out who those people are.”

That is a fair assumption for an artist such as Dybdahl who is in essence regardless of his career to date, starting from scratch.  His sound however harnesses the poppier edges of the acoustic alt-folk scene, whilst incorporating influences from everything from roots, soul, rock and country; therefore potentially with so many elements to his music a larger demographic of audience could be within his grasp. 

“If you want to see what I do the easy way then think of me as a singer-songwriter with a focus on acoustic music.  But the influences are very broad, even soul music is a big factor; I mean we are not a soul band and I’m not a soul artist, but the way I kind of attack it is as a soul singer” Dybdahl reflects. 

And what about any contemporary influences on his music?

“Well there are a lot of contemporary influences and classic contemporary, like I love stuff by Arvo Part and Morton Feldman and then there is the movie music aspect, which I am huge fan of!  I always love it if we can make things a little bit cinematic at times”.

Dybdahl certainly could never be accused of sticking to the safe, tried and tested formula that resounds with many singer-songwriters today.  The music respects diversity, whilst expressing emotions, influences and a plethora of distinctive instruments all making the sound as exposed as possible.  Lyrically he conjures up imagery as a storyteller, moving away from traditional autobiographical approaches at song writing and creating interesting characters represented through the verses. 

“My writing comes from stories and ideas, whatever gets my creative juices flowing is what a song will become.  Sometimes it’s just a riff on the guitar, or maybe it’s a sentence, a story or an angle that begins to flow.  It’s not autobiographical at all”.

I ask him whether that is because he dislikes the idea of making his songs too personal or because that is what naturally comes easiest to him.  His reply is matter of fact, simply because he is not one of those songwriters who is good at writing about every day mundane things.

“I’m not good at that at all, some people can make it work but I can’t.  My life isn’t always that interesting, so I can’t just pull out stuff like that to make a song, but I guess it has to come from somewhere.  A mix of the people I meet, a little of myself and whatever else makes the character interesting”.     

Already working towards album number 5, Dybdahl is signaling a progression in sound or at least a departure from his last record ‘Science’ released in 2006.  A simply willingness to try something new and to keep challenging himself musically is the reason for making changes and of course to maintain a freshness in today’s saturated marketplace. 

“It’s [album 5] a work in progress, but it’s a long process because I needed to depart a little from the sound I had become accustomed to working with and whenever you are doing something new it takes time.  But I want it to feel natural of course, it can’t be a forced change.”

“It’s a very cool process, but it’s a very frustrating process also, so hopefully the album will show that we were torn in all sorts of directions and that there is some tension in there.  I think that’s what it needs some tension, I need to be able to take those aesthetic choices of taking something beautiful and making it sound not so beautiful”.

Our time together now at an end, Thomas Dybdahl later that night played to a packed crowd of many fellow London based Norwegians who relished the chance to see him in more intimate surroundings.  His set was a stunning showcase of his talent as a storyteller and musician, conveying complex emotion, dreamy melodies and his trademark breathy and startling vocal, at times promoting goose bumps.  It’s delicate, yet powerful and he clearly relishes each performance he has to chance to play alongside his backing band of musicians. 

True the road ahead of Dybdahl cracking the music industry in the UK is long and winding, but he has much of the capability of reaching its lucrative and pivotal end.  Let’s just hope the over-exultation of electro-pop and the current 80’s renaissance doesn’t get in the way of more refined tastes, because Thomas Dybdahl can offer a lot more to audiences than a sampler, synth and a Macbook Pro. 

The ep ‘B A Part’ is out now and the self-titled album is out in the UK on September 14th.

www.myspace.com/tdybdahl

Words: Francesca Strange 

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