Photo: Nucleus
Synne Vo
Synne Vo from Lesja has conquered the country with her dialect and lyrics that people recognize. But the journey there has been a long one.
/ 04/04/2025 / Audun Fegran KopperudThe story is taken from our campaign page for background music in customer premises. musicamplifier.no
– At first I had prejudices against myself. I speak Gudbrandsdøl and am from the countryside. Was this something I should embrace or distance myself from? asks Synne Vorkinn.
We know her better as Synne Vo. The 26-year-old has charmed the entire country with her songs in the Kav Gudbrandsdal dialect.
Her debut album was only released this year, but she has been releasing songs regularly for the past five years. Not to mention all the songs she has written for famous artists such as Emma Steinbakken, Hkeem and Chris Holsten. For the latter, she co-wrote "Smilet i ditt eget speil" which was the song of the year at the Spellemannsprisen in 2021 and a double winner at the Musikkforleggerprisen 2022. In 2023, she received "Breakthrough of the Year" at the Musikkforleggerprisen.
Synne is glad she has pursued both the songwriter and artist path, even though she had doubts.
– I've been at odds with myself about whether I wanted to be an artist or just a songwriter for other projects. Being an artist means so much more, says Synne.
She finds the promotion part of the job the hardest. People are not only interested in the music, but also the person behind it. That's why sharing yourself on social media has become a regular part of artists' everyday lives. Synne thinks it can be fun sometimes, but she also sees the downside.
– Most of what I post on TikTok I actually think is a little silly to post. But you have to go inside yourself and find out what you are comfortable sharing. It's about finding your own jargon, and I feel like I have done that.
In the apartment in Bislett, Synne is sitting and relaxing between working on the second part of the album "Maybe It's Going to Hell", which will be released in 2025. All the songs are in order, but need a little polishing.
– I hope people want some love songs. It gets a little more optimistic in the second part of the album, reveals Synne.
The more light-hearted sequel is titled "PS. Maybe it will work." Until now, there has been a lot of focus on heartbreak in Synne's works. She herself has had two breakups that have had a hard time, and has also written about friends' breakups.
Now that she has had a boyfriend for a few years and is in a better place in life, she is giving the relationship itself a chance to be a theme in her songs.
– Heartbreak is easy to write about because it's about a two-sidedness where the person has meant a lot to you, but at the same time it's over. If you're in a good place, it's very one-sided. I'm trying to find the complexity of a relationship. Is there something I'm afraid of anyway?
In addition to heartbreak, growing up and getting older are a recurring theme in "Maybe It's Going to Hell." Between the songs, we can hear audio recordings of conversations between Synne and her mother about, among other things, heartbreak and growing up on Lesja.
– It wasn't entirely voluntary, because I took it up in secret, but it went well. I think she thinks it's nice to be useful, because I'm doing something that's completely distant to her, says Synne.
Where she could always consult with her mother and father growing up, life in the music industry becomes difficult for them to relate to.
Synne's mother is a nurse and her father works offshore. As with Daniel Kvammen, there was a two-row player in close family relations, this time his grandfather. Otherwise, she comes from a fairly unmusical family.
Her real introduction to the stage came through the children's choir at Lesja, which took her on to small singing assignments at funerals and weddings. The idea of music as a way of life was far from her for quite some time.
– I knew no one else but the organist at Lesja Church who made a living from music. The plan was to study after high school, but then I ended up at Trøndertun Folk High School just outside Trondheim, she says.
At the folk high school's singer-songwriter program, she was supposed to finish her hobby before "real studies." It didn't work out that way. Around her were people her own age with a completely different attitude. Among them was Hedda Mae, the woman Synne lives with today.
From being "the one who sang" at Lesja, she had now become part of a community of young aspiring songwriters, most of whom wrote in English. Synne felt that she was far away.
– If I was going to contribute something there, I would have to write in Norwegian, she concluded.
At school there was a songwriting competition where a few people were chosen to have their song produced and a music video recorded. Synne was one of the chosen ones and also got help pitching the song to the radio. "Lær meg å leve" became number one on P1 and Synne's self-confidence grew.
– Then I thought, “Is it that easy?” I gave myself another year and thought that now I will get into the industry, she says.
But then her feet were firmly planted on the ground again. The year after folk high school, she didn't get a response anywhere when she contacted record labels and artists she could relate to.
– I remember talking to Odd Nordstoga for a long time during a Spellemann. Then he sent me a message on Insta the next day. Then he must have seen the message he didn't reply to at the time. Really embarrassing, says Synne and laughs.
She couldn't get anywhere on her own, so a year at the music production school Limpi in Lillehammer was her salvation. The entire year felt like one long songwriting camp that gave Synne time and opportunity to master her craft.
– There was so much songwriting that I ended up just being a songwriter on other projects, she says.
Even though her artistic career was put on hold, she had received money from the Lesja municipality's business fund to finish a song she started the year after folk high school.
– I had the money, so it had to be released. I got help pitching it to the radio, and then it became the song of the week on P3, says Synne happily about the song "Ikkje tenk på meg".
The calendar showed 2021 and Synne signed a contract with Warner. She continued to write for others while she seriously started her own artist project.
Since then, Synne has been known to many who follow Norwegian music. The song "Lykke te" from 2022 has received a whopping nine million plays on Spotify and she tours the country with her music. Or she is in the studio creating songs for other famous artists.
– Where does the road ahead for Synne Vo go?
– I hope I can continue to make a living from both my artistic and songwriter career. It gives me a break from my own head, while still being able to do what I find most fun.
Being both a songwriter and an artist demands a lot, but Synne makes sure to completely disconnect from music as well. When she does, she often hangs out with friends who do something completely different, and preferably someone from the same area.
– We've talked a lot about school closures lately. I really like the districts and I'm very afraid of what the villages will look like in thirty years if the schools disappear.
Synne has not given up on the idea of moving back home to Lesja. She wants the same safe environment for her children that she had herself.
– But it's less tempting if you know that the children have to move to dormitories to go to high school, she says, pointing to the school closures.
Synne first became aware of TONO in high school, when they were writing poems that a composer would set to music. She was encouraged to join this project.
– So I've been a member long before I really needed it, but TONO has been an important partner for me. After all, it's through them that I get almost half of my income.
Being a songwriter can be a thankless job because you don't earn anything from being in the studio writing a song. That's why Synne thinks it's good that TONO takes on the task of collecting money on her behalf.
– Where the artists help decide when the song is released and when it will be played in concert, the songwriters are only at the mercy of being reported when it is played. It is an unpredictable existence, she points out.
For the same reason, she believes it is important that businesses spend money on TONO, rather than license-free music. Those who make good music must get paid, says Synne.
She starts laughing when she thinks about the royalty-free music that plays after the podcasts she listens to. Synne thinks it sounds like AI music.
– Are you afraid of AI's entry into the music industry?
– No, not really. AI can never replace a person delivering their personal stories, and standing on the festival stage in the summer.
A confident quote to end the portrait with.
Synne smiles, gets up and puts on his outer jacket. The trip goes to the studio to polish the new album. We will hopefully hear the result in April.