26 million streams after the single "Backbeat" was released a little over a year ago, Dagny concludes that the streaming code is cracked with good songs and a little luck.
/ 23/12/2016 / codexText: Willy Martinsen/TONO, photo: press photo at top, other private photos belonging to Dagny
When summarizing the Norwegian pop year 2016, one cannot ignore streaming successes such as Kygo, Matoma, Seeb, Astrid S, Alan Walker and not least Dagny Norvoll Sandvik. The single "Backbeat" has led The Guardian to call her "… one of pop's brightest new hopes”, while VG rolled a 5 and called the EP Ultraviolet ”So shiny that your ears need sunglasses.The follow-up single "Fool's Gold" has so far surpassed 8 million streams on Spotify.
And now here we are, at the end of the breakthrough year, where Dagny is home in Tromsø to celebrate Christmas, and is recharging for a new, hectic year. And Skypes with TONO about songwriting:
– When your songs are streamed so much, you're doing something right. Is there anything here that others can learn from?
- Phew, this might sound a bit silly, but it's all about making a good song first. But apart from writing Backbeat, I didn't do anything to get it to 26 million streams. That's a bit of luck too. It was picked up by radio DJ Zane Lowe on Beats 1, the radio channel for Apple Music. And when Spotify started pushing it, it started to take on a life of its own.. But there is a lot of good music that doesn't have as many streams, of course. You can't always equate good music with popular music.
– Is there a particular song on the EP Ultraviolet that you are particularly happy with?
- I love everyone, but if I had to say something, it's probably Backbeat. When I wrote it, it was very different from anything else I'd done before. I was basically making folky singer-songwriter music, but then Backbeat came along with punch and drive, drums, electric guitars, and things I'd never used before. I wasn't sure if it would be loved or hated, but it was the one that started it all. And I love doing it "live", because of the energy in it. Several of the songs on the EP are perhaps more well-written than Backbeat, which just came about on pure instinct. But it's an important song to me.
"I would argue that a lot of the topline you write in the studio is 'accidental.' Someone thinks you're singing something, and then it ends up being the finished result."
Backbeat was the savior of a multi-day songwriting session with Sam McCarthy (who has also written with, among others, Harry Styles from One Direction) that didn't yield much results. They had been struggling with the same song for a long time without any success, until McCarthy remembered another chord loop he had lying around. They started working on that instead.
– We had the “track” ready in a very short time, and then I started singing the melody and some random words over it, and then it was done. I would say that a lot of toplines you write in the studio are “accidents”. Some people think you sing something, and then it ends up being the finished result. And then you have to consider whether you just want some cool words and keep the mood of the song or whether you want to work harder to get a clear message across. That’s what took a while with Backbeat, but it actually came out really quickly and smoothly.
Dagny wrote her first songs 10 years ago, at the age of 16. We have a teacher and Eva Cassidy to thank for that.
- There were two experiences in particular that were important. One was a composition project in 10th grade, where I ended up in a group with two people who had never been to school. Then I thought, “Damn, I have to do this myself,” and so I did it. The teacher was so excited that he started putting on concerts with me in Tromsø. The first one was at Stortorget, where I played right before Tone Damli Aaberge, which was a bit nerve-wracking. The second was that I saw a program with Eva Cassidy on TV. I had a pretty dramatic love life at the time, and started writing songs about it on the bathroom floor with a guitar. There were both good acoustics and warm floors.
– Do you write the songs to process your own life, or to give the audience something you think they need?
- When I started out, I wanted to be a songwriter. And then it was all about my own experiences. Over the years, the It's gotten harder, it feels a lot more daring now. I often write from observations I make around me, but it's the songs where I dare to be honest that I connect with the most. The EP was almost revealing.
"I'm best at choruses. Verses are tricky"
Normally she writes songs with as few co-writers as possible (“then there are fewer people who have to agree”), but the songs on Ultraviolet are written with up to three others per song. It worked because the chemistry was so good.
– How do you work on the songs?
– If I'm going to work in a session with new people, I like to come without any special preparation. That way I feel we get a quicker understanding of each other as songwriters. I often start with a groove. And then it's about finding the right chords, hooks and things that are catchy. Pop music is a lot about form. If you spend time finding the base of the song, it's easier to work with the topline, i.e. melody and lyrics. Then I often just sing freely over the music until I find something that works. I'm best at choruses. It's easier to settle for a half-decent verse. If you want to make a fantastic song, you have to tackle the verses. Verses are tricky.
– And if you get stuck?
- Then I watch a YouTube clip of John Cleese talking about creativity. He says you need time and space to be creative, and I think that's absolutely right. And I'm most creative when I'm experiencing or learning new things. Maybe that's why I'm most creative when I'm traveling, often on an interrail or as a backpacker.
- How do you know if a song you've written is really good?
- The first person I play my music for is always my sister, who isn't into music but is almost as dedicated as I am. If she listens to a song 50-100 times in the first week, I know it's a really good song.
"Rights are incredibly important. You need more legs to stand on, and being a songwriter is therefore important to me."
– What do you think about writing for other artists?
- I really want to do that! That was the dream to begin with. At the same time, as a musician today, rights are incredibly important. You need more legs to stand on, and being a songwriter is therefore important to me. I wrote for a German DJ last year, and the exciting thing about writing for others is that you are freer to throw out ideas. You are still critical, but in a different way than when you write for yourself.
– Have you always written in English?
- I started with poems in Norwegian, but I find it easier to express myself in English. You get a distance, in a positive way. My lyrics are quite direct, and I'm afraid it would have become a bit banal in Norwegian – although I may well release an album in Norwegian eventually. But it's important to write proper English then. When I was a teenager playing concerts in Tromsø, I performed a song for probably a year that we called "Putting on my army". We actually meant "Putting on my armor". Ha ha. But people took it for granted.
– What kind of music influences and inspires you?
- I love bands and artists with strong, female frontmen who can kick ass. Music with energy, and that is often commercial, but that has organic elements and is band-driven. I'm a fan of The Cardigans, Veronica Maggio, First Aid Kit, Susanne Sundfør, Tove Styrke and Mø, but also The Hives and Ryan Adams. But I'm also a real pop girl. At parties we sometimes play "guilty pleasures", but my problem is that I don't have guilty pleasures. I can enjoy a Backstreet Boys song just as much today as I did in the 2000s. A good pop song is a good pop song, right?
Dagny is "signed" to Propeller Recordings i Norway, Republic in the United States and Iceland in the UK. So perhaps she has left all business operations to the record companies, and is concentrating only on creating and performing the music?
- No, I have a fantastic team around me who work hard and are passionate, but I like to be in control myself, and I would recommend that to anyone entering the industry. It doesn't have to mean much if you get signed to a major label if you don't know what you want yourself. I've really only had positive experiences with the industry, and there's a lot more business to it than you might think from the outside. By the way, I've been a TONO member since 2009. I come from a musical family, and have always known about TONO. Mom (Marit Sandvik, editor's note) is also a member.
“I love the Shure SM7!”
Several studios, on several continents, were used in the recording of the songs on Ultraviolet.
- We recorded "Backbeat" in Urchin studios in London, with the whole band and a technician. We did "Fools Gold" partly in a home studio in LA, and partly in London. We did "Too Young" and "Fight Sleep". Conway Studios in LA. We recorded the song "Ultraviolet" partly in London, and partly on a mountaintop in Malibu in a studio that looks like a spaceship. A completely surreal place.
She does the vocal recordings with a Shure SM7, known both for having been used by Michael Jackson on Thriller, for its warm sound and for being able to withstand a punch:
- I hate it when we get to the point in the process where we're going to make demos and the lyrics aren't quite finished and you're making things up, standing alone in a cubicle, and the other people in the studio are people you barely know. Then I usually defuse the situation by grabbing an SM7 - which I love - and bouncing around the room while I sing the demo. It works like hell.
And speaking of equipment:
- Roland Juno synths are great, but a little unhandy. That's why I bought one Roland JU-06 Boutique, a very nice little thing that still has big and nice Juno sounds. It will be on the next tour. Otherwise we use a lot of Fender guitars. I got two new ones in 2016, one American Elite Telecaster, which is absolutely beautiful, and a Mustang, which came out in a brand new version this October. And I really like the vintage sound in Ludwig-drums.
– And 2017 then? What are you doing next year?
- "It's going to be a lot of work, and very exciting. And I have a goal of meeting Taylor Swift during the year," she says, grinning broadly.