At the age of 40, Erik Lukashaugen quit his secure finance job to pursue music. Giving his dream a chance is the scariest and smartest thing he's ever done. - It's more beautiful to have freshly pressed vinyl on the record player than freshly laid tiles in the cabin.
/ 25/10/2019 / Kristian DugstadName: Erik Lukashaugen
Current with: The single "Carved in Stone"
TONO member since: Early 2000s
Who is Erik Lukashaugen?
Full-time singer and songwriter from Elverum.
Tell us about your musical background?
I bought a used electric guitar for five hundred kroner when I was 15. It had the four thickest strings, was star-shaped and had a shiny metallic finish. Perfect for someone who wanted to play heavy rock. It turned out that most of the songs I wanted to play were impossible to learn, so I quickly started writing my own songs that were more suited to my own skill level. It's basically been that way ever since.
Even though you have been composing since your youth, was it only as an adult that you pursued a music career?
It was never in my mind to pursue music even though I have always enjoyed writing songs. For many years, a party cover band was the only music project I had, but I eventually got really tired of imitating other artists and started writing my own songs with a friend instead, mostly for fun. It was Americana with English lyrics and I became more and more hooked on songwriting, but there was something about the genre and the language that felt foreign to me. Then I read my first Hans Børli poem in 2011 and it changed everything. The unadorned and precise language hit me like an axe and I ended up setting music to about 20 of his poems over a few weeks. Suddenly I had switched to writing songs inspired by folk music, two genres I had very little knowledge of before. Nevertheless, I quickly felt that I had found my own voice.
I decided to produce an album and thought I could make the launch as proper as possible, but I couldn't get any dialogue with the established record labels. So I just had to start reading up on the music industry and establish my own record label.
In 2013 you released your debut album "Av en sliters memoirer" and in 2014 you quit your job in the financial industry to pursue music. Tell us about this journey?
The reception of the album took me completely by surprise. I think I got close to 30 reviews and it was nothing but praise. Requests for concerts started coming from all directions, but as a new father of two with a demanding middle management job, the cup was already full. Finally, my body gave me a warning and I realized I had to choose something. I reasoned that the worst thing I could do was not give my dream a chance and decided to focus 100% on music and let it go. Ironically, I made this choice just when I turned 40.
This is another step that many dream of daring to take. What would you say to them?
I think it's a good idea to ask yourself how important this dream really is to you. Is it that it would be fun to pursue art, but you're not willing to expose yourself to the financial risk and stress it would entail, or do you think that the biggest risk you can take is to just continue in the same rut as you are now? If you dare to put these things against each other, it's easier to argue to yourself that it's more fun to have freshly pressed vinyl on your record player than freshly laid tiles in your cabin. Maybe you could get a leave of absence from work for a year or two? I know three people who have taken advantage of such an offer, but none of them are back in their old jobs today.
Two of your albums are poems by Hans Børli set to music. What does his poetry mean to you and your songwriting?
Børli's poems made me see the power of simplicity and honesty, of creating art on your own terms and being proud of it. The first album almost came by itself, but after the record was out I had had enough of Børli and felt no inspiration. Until his poems suddenly started appearing on my bedside table and creeping up into my bed. I discovered the greatness of his poetry in a completely different way and realized that I had covered a very narrow part of his poetry on the first album. Eventually I had a fairly long list of poems that I thought were great and then there was no going back. "Vi eier skogene" is, to my ears, very different from the debut album and a necessary end to a life-changing project.
On September 27th, you released the single "Hugget i stein". Tell us about it?
It's a song that takes as its starting point what grey everyday life can do to a relationship. I got the idea for the song after my son and I were fascinated by how the continents on Earth have managed to drift so far apart despite a speed of a few cm a year. I feel that the song musically is a gentle step out of the wilderness and into built-up areas even though I can still hear the rustling of the forest inside.
What made you start writing music?
At first, I started writing because the songs I wanted to learn were too difficult, but eventually I realized that it was much more rewarding to create my own melodies than to copy or interpret what others had created.
Where and how do you write? What inspires you?
I rent an office where I have instruments and recording equipment. I try to use this space only for creative work and do what I can to avoid interruptions. For me, the key to success lies in the lyrics, which is why I rarely start with the music. I either start with a poem or a finished text that I like, or I start writing a draft text or a synopsis for a text. When I have got enough down on the sheet that I think it is starting to resemble something, I start playing with notes and try to capture the mood of the text. After that, there are often many rounds where the text and melody alternate in deciding where the song should go. I get inspired when my head has come up with a topic that I can write about.
Your songs draw elements from Americana and Nordic folk music, among other things. How do you think about genre when you write?
I really like it when the music balances somewhere between genres. If a song really has a country feel to it, it's not very tempting for me to bring in a steel guitar because it quickly makes the song predictable and boring. Then I try a key harp instead. Studying a style in order to master it according to all the rules of the art is incredibly boring for me, but I spend a lot of time trying to find my own expression. One of my few musical role models, Tom Roger Aadland, has called my music "Forest Blues". That's a description I like very much.
Do you have equipment and tools that are indispensable in the writing process?
A phone to sing into and something to write on. And preferably a guitar or a pedal organ.
When can we expect new music from you?
As of early November, my calendar is practically empty so I thought I'd use the next few months to write new music before I inevitably have to start booking jobs again to secure some money for the album. If it doesn't quite work out, I'm guessing there will be a single in the spring and a new album within a year.
What are your plans for the fall and winter?
Writing music and booking 50-80 jobs for next year.
What is your career highlight so far?
It was great to be on a two-month cultural center tour with the band last fall and meet mostly full houses and enthusiastic audiences. The two months after the tour were a similar low point.
Can you share one of your greatest musical experiences – as a listener?
I was in Ireland a few years ago and went to a random pub in a small town I can't remember the name of. There was a troubadour there who sang and played so well that I ended up having to ask the bartender if he was a world-famous artist or something and if he had written all the songs himself, but the answer was that he was just a friend who used to drop by one night a week and clink on some Irish trad tunes "just for fun". Afterwards I realized that it was his genuine joy in playing that struck me the most.
