Trond-Viggo Torgersen has been a TONO member since 1976, and has written a long series of lyrics that have truly become part of "the Norwegian thing". We talked to him about songwriting. Read the interview here!
/ 13/10/2015 / codexMuch of the music industry is built on copying and imitating others: Cover versions, sound and image based on established hits and successful songwriters and artists can ideally constitute a less risky path into the charts and in the media. At the same time, there are others, like our all-time favorite Trond-Viggo Torgersen, who go further in “thinking soulfully” when they create music. – I am still myself inside myself, he says in an interview with TONO-Nytt at Marienlyst where he started songwriting around 40 years ago.
Text: Kai Lofthus, photo and video: Willy Martinsen
No matter what Trond-Viggo Torgersen has done during his years as a presenter and comedian in NRK, songwriter, artist, doctor and children's advocate, he has always been Trond-Viggo. He has been inspired by and covered others as well; ”Tramp på en smurf”, based on Sandford & Saker's ”Stamp On A Skurff Today” (publisher: Cherry Music, sub-publisher: Frost Music, publisher: EMI, 1978), but he made it largely his own.
Next year will be 40 years since his debut album "Kua med fletter og juret på tvers" was released, and everything he has made since then appeals as much to adults as to the children and young people for whom it was written. At a time when children's music was largely made by more traditional legends like Margrethe Munthe and Thorbjørn Egner, he characterized his songs with a linguistic swing and unique storytelling style that even rappers should be envious of. He has also dabbled in hip hop a few times, as in "Hvorfor det", "Drømmer om et sted" (with MGP Jr duo To Små Karer), "Rappe Pølser" (with Trond Kirkvaag) and "Body Roll". Erik & Kriss have even name-dropped him in the song "Hvis du vil ha meg", with a video inspired by Trond-Viggo's TV series "Kroppen".
What is a good text, asks TONO-Nytt:
– It's when something goes up in a larger unit. No one really knows when they're going to make a hit. The guy who wrote a lot for Carola, Lasse Holm, was very good, he answers.
Many of the lyrics have moral, humorous and musical dimensions that few others have been able to imitate. Gustav Lorentzen in Knutsen & Ludvigsen is said to have said that he was almost a little irritated that he had not written the lyrics to "Hjalmar" himself.
– My great inspiration was André Bjerke, reveals Trond-Viggo, who says he learned a lot about fairy tale dramaturgy from him. Humor was also naturally central to him, especially the absurd form he got impulses from via Wesensteen and especially Harald Heide-Steen Jr., with whom he had a close friendship through NRK and a mutual acquaintance, a nurse who Heide-Steen was with. Children have also always been central to the music.
– I am concerned that children should receive a little more attention and a little more right than wrong, something I have also been honest about in my artistic work, he says.
In 1975, the then 22-year-old Trond-Viggo had freelanced as – in his own words – a “hallodame” at NRK for a year while he completed his medical studies. At that time, he had also slowly begun to dabble in music that would end up on his debut album, which was released a year later. He became a member of TONO in 1976.
Although he was self-proclaimed “word blind on music” and “didn’t think (he) could write lyrics,” he could play the piano and discovered that he had a talent for playing out melodies and singing them for assistants who could arrange, compose, and produce. His first musical collaborator was Kåre Grøttum, who also worked at NRK and assisted on the debut and the follow-up “Harunosågirebort” (1977).
– Kåre Grøttum was the one who discovered that I had a flair for this, says Trond-Viggo, explaining that Grøttum, in addition to composing melodies for some of the lyrics, helped arrange the musical ideas he came up with.
Eventually, Trond-Viggo came into contact with the more established musician George Keller, who would prove to be a chemically much more bubbly collaborator.
– He had a great talent for hearing what I wanted to say. We were a real songwriting team where we influenced each other both ways. George couldn't do anything until he got something from me, and I couldn't finish without him, he says.
“Det by´ner nå!” (1981), which was made with Keller, and had songs like “Tenke sjæl”, “Stilig”, “Far” and “En kugutt fra Strømmen”, won the Spellemannprisen in the children's album category. Three years earlier they had hits with songs like “Hjalmar” and “Slapp reggae”.
– Which songs is he most proud of?
– It depends on the mood, but I'm very proud of "Hjalmar" and "Tenke sjæl". Also "Far", which is a strong story about having children and being vulnerable. I also like silly lyrics, like "Once upon a time???!!…and one??")".
On the phone from Copenhagen, where George Keller has worked for many years, he also emphasizes how well-coordinated they were.
– I think it started with me making music for some of the TV shows he worked on, like “The Body”, and then it developed. We became really good friends, he says. – We worked very easily together and never stuck to anything. Lots of ideas came up all the time. We were always playing out the songs. When we wrote together again in Copenhagen a few years ago, we experienced the same thing again: After two chords, we sang together and 30-40 years had been erased.
The work usually took place at their own homes, and also in the studio, but everything was usually always ready – with sheet music – before they recorded the songs with the musicians.
– The whole time with Trond-Viggo stands out to me as one of the best times in my career. Even though I now write film music for the whole world and perhaps have more success that way, what we did was more satisfying, says Keller, and elaborates: – Even though a lot of it was play, we were incredibly serious. It was all based on joy and the good chemistry. We were very good at inspiring each other, and also had many talented musicians around us. We were a group that worked a lot together and knew each other.
George Keller also highlights the importance of originality and authenticity:
– In their quest for success, many people look at everyone else but themselves. That's why there are so many copycats and one-shots, and then they're gone afterwards. Be a pioneer and do your thing! The essence must be the joy in what you're doing, and that it's happening for the right reasons. Without blaming everyone, many of the new people in the industry today have other, different reasons for becoming famous, pop stars or rock stars, and that contributes to so many terrible fates, he says.
Trond-Viggo reflects how central joy is:
– Music is just like laughing and having sex. It's a total joyous experience! We're gradually learning a lot about the effect of music on us as humans. There's so much that's stimulated in the brain. When you sing and play something you've made yourself, your brain gets fired up. And with an audience present too! It blows all the fuses!