'- Don't wait for inspiration. Set aside time and work on things. Then both inspiration and creativity may follow and join the journey, says Eigil Berg about songwriting. Now he has released his first solo album in seven years.
/ 18/06/2018 / Willy Martinsen– Don't wait for inspiration. Set aside time and work on things. Then both inspiration and creativity may follow and join the journey, says Eigil Berg about songwriting. Now he has released his first solo album in seven years.
In addition to the completion of the twenty new songs on the current double album "Nye spor", the seven years since the last solo album have been active years in the service of music. Berg wrote all the songs for New Jordal Swingers' latest album "11 songs" (2014), he has provided new material for artists such as Trond Granlund, Åse Kleveland and Svein Finjarn, he has delivered commissioned works, given concerts around the country and traveled under the auspices of Rikskonsertene in a collaboration that also brought him behind the piano on stage in Mexico.
When Eigil Berg releases a new album, it will be 50 years since he first had songs on an LP release. He began to make a serious mark in 1971 with New Jordal Swingers, who to date have released more than 60 albums and singles that have sold more than a million copies. The band is still active on the concert front, including a sold-out concert at Olavshallen in Trondheim in April. Berg has also released a number of albums under his own name over the years. With the double album "Nye Spor", Berg presents twenty new songs, where he has written all the music himself while Ingvar Hovland and Terje Nordby have contributed lyrics, in addition to Eigil himself.
– I like to take my time when I write songs, but last year I had a bunch that I thought deserved to be released, says Berg, and last fall he took them to the studio: – I started at NRK with technician Øystein Halvorsen, then at Amper Tone Studio with Bård Ingebrigtsen and finally at Urban Studio with Jock Loveband. Most of the studios I used have grand pianos, which many people can't afford now, says Berg.
He had a bunch of top-notch musicians with him: Rune Arnesen on drums, Geir Sundstøl on guitar and marxophone, Jørun Bøgeberg on bass, David Wallumrød and Lasse Hafreager on keyboards and Terje Gewelt on double bass. Arne Ertnæs was also there and Frode Alnæs contributed to "Show the guards home". Berg mixed it together with Bård Ingebrigtsen.
The album, which has been available since May 18, has received rave reviews, including in Dagsavisen and music blogger Erik Valebrokk. Dagbladet recommended the album "from a rock legend" with the closing words "Solid is just the first name!" The reviewers use words like "songwriting art" and Eigil is described as "a national treasure."
– Does it bother you to receive such publicity?
– It's probably easier to take off if you're declared a genius or are set by a record company or management to conquer the world when you're very young. After all, reviews are about opinions, there are plenty of examples of that. That said, it's always nice to have good reviews, especially from reviewers you respect and hold in high regard. But not everyone is he says. We pretty much know what we're doing.
– Who are you writing for?
– I make music that I think is good, and if I get something that I think is good enough to record and release, I have learned that others out there can also share my opinion. Whether there are a lot of people or not quite that many is of little importance. I already have some sales trophies on the wall. If my music manages to touch others, I will be eternally grateful. I was responsible for a concert in Oslo last year in memory of the music of Chuck Berry and was determined to distribute 23 Berry classics among the soloists, but I deliberately chose to omit Berry's only No. 1 hit throughout his entire career, a silly little pig song called "My Ding-A-Ling". Rock's greatest anthem "Johnny B. Goode" reached 8th place on the charts, and the mediocre nonsense song went to the top. What do you give me? You have to follow your heart when you write. Then you will see that you can also reach the hearts of others, whether you top the sales charts or not.
– You have extensive experience as a songwriter, and therefore perhaps you have some good advice for others, and perhaps especially younger songwriters?
– Free yourself from strict genre boxes. Don't let yourself be led by the music police. Listen to a lot of different things and be inspired by diversity. My good friend Sigurd Køhn once said that we are probably the last generation of autodidacts. Ray Charles knew his jazz and his Quincy Jones, but had a sincere love for country music via the Grand Ole Opry of his childhood on the radio. John Coltrane played from the Sound of Music and Miles Davis from Cindy Lauper. My great songwriting hero Jimmy Webb was a court purveyor to country artist Glen Campbell, but also wrote "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress" which opens Toneff and Dobrogosz's "Farytales". I once considered calling an album "But is it rock?" to get ahead of the music police. There was scandal and abuse when Stravinsky presented "The Rite of Spring" in 1913. 40 years later, the masses loved "West Side Story" by Stravinsky's student Bernstein. As a lifelong fan of Bernstein's "West Side," it was interesting when many years later I registered the influence of what Stravinsky had caused a scandal with over 40 years earlier. Be open to diversity. When I, like my quiet heroes Randy Newman and even Cohen, am categorized as rock, none of us are related to Satyricon and Metallica. As pop, we can't compete with Marcus and Martinus, so it can be problematic to categorize genres. Call it music. And don't expect inspiration and creativity to just appear all by themselves. It's nice when they do, but you have to set aside time and work things out too. Then it's possible that both inspiration and creativity will follow and join you on the journey.
Listen to the album on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5mWhcEhesiYvKcM1FKWgrb?si=R61vZ3blRly7H7pJtrpXrQ
For more information:
www.eigilberg.no
https://www.rockipedia.no/artister/eigil_berg-7088/#
https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigil_Berg