"Catchy choruses" and "lyrics people can recognize" come up again and again when we ask some of the country's leading and most active songwriters within the dance band genre what is important when they write their songs.
/ 21/11/2017 / Willy MartinsenText: Kai Lofthus, photo above: Arild Hansen
A record executive once told me that he would like to have the sales of certain dance bands. However, the A&R culture at this record company was a bit too pop and rock-driven for anything to ever come of it. In the meantime, companies like Tylden & Co., Busk Records and Bare Bra Musikk were sucking in the millions that no major players would dedicate resources to earning. Furthermore, the music has always fallen far outside the playlists of a good many radio stations with their own definitions of “what people want to hear.”
Dance band songs are catchy
Regardless of your relationship with dance band songs, the songwriters have undeniably cracked the code when it comes to songs that appeal to the masses. There are countless songs where the underlying strength is most evident when performed on just piano or guitar – or in alternative versions.
Kristoffer Tømmerbakke, one half of the hip-hop duo Erik & Kriss, realized this a while ago. He contacted Ole Ivars' songwriter, bassist and vocalist William Kristoffersen to ask for his blessing to make a cover version of "Jag trodde änglarna fanns", a big hit since 1999 for Ole Ivars and Kikki Danielsson. The new dance version was released under the artist name Kamferdrops. At the time of writing, it has been streamed over 33,2 million times on Spotify and has 762,035 monthly listeners.
Artist development still central
At the same time, dance bands are far from dependent on dance remixes to keep going. There is still an impressively high level of activity in the field despite the reduced concert market. Carl Martin Kisen of LS Booking, who previously ran the Mariann label for Warner Music, estimates that it has halved over the past decade. Against this backdrop, Grammofon's Øyvind Sauarlia, based in Notodden, started the label Slager to continue the spellemann tradition. Tylden & Co. is now owned by Tom Hovde, and is run by him and his family in Sætre. Marketing manager Tonje Hovde says that the decline in the market is now moderate and has almost stabilized. Both companies experience that there is still a market for CDs, while old and new fans are also driving the development of streaming. Ole Ivars' "King of the Camping Site" recently received a digital platinum trophy.
Kisen at LS Booking is optimistic about the genre.
– As long as there are people in the countryside, there will be a market, but it will probably change over time. The basic form of what we do will always be there. CD sales are still bigger than downloading, but that is changing completely and streaming is on its way to taking over as there will also be fewer outlets for physical CD sales. The streaming store has all editions and is open 24/7, so it is only getting bigger and more important every day.
Øyvind Sauarlia at Grammofon is doing good business with artists such as Contrazt, Anne Nørdsti, Steinar Engelbrektson and Picazzo. He is also optimistic about the future.
– I started a new label within Grammofon last year. “Slager” is a label that wants to preserve the spellemann tradition. Artists with a joy to play, and an honest and popular musical expression. The market for typical dance parties has probably decreased somewhat in recent years, but the best orchestras still have a stable and good number of jobs. Dance bands are probably the genre that still sells CDs, even though streaming is taking over more and more. Contrazt’s new album “Luksusliv”, which was released in June, has passed 3,500 physical copies. That’s very good regardless of genre in today’s market, while the band also has nice streaming numbers. Contrazt is probably the dance band in Norway that plays the most, with just over 90 jobs a year.
Tonje Hovde adds:
– We have been actively working to get artists to sell physically at their concerts. This has given a good boost to sales. Streaming has increased by 30 percent so far this year, and we are very pleased with this trend. The dance band audience is discovering Spotify and other digital platforms.
High Spellman Expectations
The 2017 music year is almost over, and as usual there is great excitement about who the top candidates are for Spellemann nominations and the trophy during the award ceremony at Oslo Concert Hall on February 25. Those we have contacted suggest that the strongest are Anne Nørdsti, Contrazt, Hanne Mette Band, PK & Dansefolket, Mona-Jill Band and Bjørns Orkester. Ole Ivars is not in the race this year since they are currently only singles, but they are still highly productive.
William Kristoffersen from Ole Ivars says that changes in distribution make it unpredictable to plan releases and marketing. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic, and continues to make music in the same way as before. He writes an average of 30 songs each year with a new album in mind. They released a new single, “Tanajoiken”, at the end of October, and will continue to make individual songs for the digital market towards a possible album release via Tylden & Co. next summer.
This is how William Kristoffersen and the rest of Ole Ivars work
All Ole Ivars songs are still composed by William on a Technics U90 organ. He acquired it over 30 years ago, and has followed every single move. The melodies come first, with a strong focus on being danceable. Then the lyrics are written, which should describe something people can identify with. Then he records demos at home, copies them to each of the other band members, and sends them an overview of all the songs, ticking off which ones they like best/least. They try to stay far away from modern technology.
– When we are in the studio we start from scratch, he says. – There are three or four people in the studio who create the basic beat. When we get the groove that we think is good, we record that beat, and build from there. It is important to get all the drums to fit, with the groove and the right breaks. It is important that it is recognizable as Ole Ivars. The songs should have catchy choruses, and the records must be danceable from the first to the last song.
The genres that Ole Ivars moves within include swing, folk music, old dance, organ music, old rock, evergreens, country, tango, rumba, samba, cha cha cha and waltz. Some of the rhythms can be a mixture of swing and reinlender (swinglender).
– Country has influenced me a lot, he says. – All big dance bands have recorded cover versions of American country songs over the years. I have written many songs that are closely related to this form of music. It is only the Norwegian language and Norwegian songwriter that are the difference, I would say. Of my country-inspired songs, I can mention “Full fart i Orlando”, “I Louises gate 7”, “Gamleskolen”, “Vi dro på cruise”, “Alt var skylda mi”, “Nå er det up tel deg”, “Sommergitaren” and many others.
The genre heirs
When we ask Kristoffersen about other songwriters he values, he mentions Per Erik Gjedtjernet in Picazzo and Frank “Scott” Haugskott in Nordans. We called Haugskott to hear a little about how he works.
– I write music for many different genres; rock, country, dance bands and so on. I don't really think about dancing that much. I don't dance myself, so for me the most important things are lyrics, melody and a catchy chorus. It should be simple and easy to understand. I have tried many ways to make songs where I would try to impress with how good I was at making difficult things, but in this genre it doesn't work. Humor is important, and creating images with simple expressions.
It all starts with a song
It's a cliché, but no less true, that everything starts with a song. For Ole Ivar, it was their cover version of an American song that launched their career. Lasse Hovd did a translation of John Gummoe's Rhythm of the Rain, Regnets rytme, which became a huge hit for them in 1968. It is also important for Haugskott.
– It was one of the first songs I practiced and I actually play it live to this day. I also recorded my own version of it.
It is rumored that Audun Tylden, while studying in San Francisco long before his years at PolyGram, Slagerfabrikken and Tylden & Co, found a copy of the Ole Ivars version in a hippie collective there. He played it for the residents of the collective and received comments like “yeaahh maaan” and “wooow.”
– There might not have been any Ole Ivars without that song, and Audun said that there might not have been any Tylden & Co. without Ole Ivars, concludes Kristoffersen.