GAFFA calls Dyveke Kuløy "the next big thing from music Norway." Here, the former LIPA student talks to TONO Magazine about her debut single "Gabriel" (2013), about the occasional need to "kill one's darlings" and how she has brought in a stellar cast of indie musicians on her upcoming debut album.
/ 19/06/2015 / Janne SieversDyveke Kuløy's "Gabriel" is the first in a series of four singles that she has released on her own since 2013. Moss Avis called it a veritable goosebumps song, and has led to her receiving a lot of idealistic support from local and American cream musicians for her debut album, which is out in May.
Text: Kai Lofthus/Photo: Kaja Bruskeland
Like many other musicians, Mossingen Dyveke Kuløy has spent a lot of time outside the borders of her hometown. She has studied in Liverpool and lived in Oslo, but – as Lillebjørn Nilsen sang – a migratory bird likes to return, and she is now settled closer to her hometown, more precisely in Fredrikstad. Although the time in Oslo, according to her, “wasn’t the easiest year,” it freed up a lot of creative energy to write the critically acclaimed “Gabriel,” which was released digitally and on vinyl in 2013. It originally blossomed into six different versions, and she received excellent assistance from American producer John Agnello (known from collaborations with artists such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Patti Smith, Kurt Vile, Madrugada and Turboneger) to shape the final version.
– When you start writing, all ideas can seem very good, and John was very good at helping me to weed out things; to 'kill my darlings', says Dyveke.
About helping yourself
The enduring artist myth of performing well when everyday life is not entirely optimal apparently also applies to this song.
– I wrote it when I was living in Oslo and met a peripheral acquaintance who was Christian, and that's not me, she says. Dyveke continues:
– “Gabriel” is a slanted look at God and angels. It’s about a person who has made mistakes, fallen on hard times, struggling a bit, and asking themselves for help, pulling themselves up by the hair. I lived in Frogner, and it never got light in that apartment. The sun never came up that year, so to speak. Dyveke worked out the song alone on a Yamaha electric piano bought in England, with headphones so as not to disturb his roommate, and with pen and paper.
– I always write with pen and paper, and preferably with a good pen!
Dyveke Kuløy has given us permission to reproduce the text, which goes like this:
“And so it was
Gabriel got his wings
He cut them off
A sleeping sphinx
They say they appear whenever he drinks
His connection to heaven has feathery links
Dear Jesus, turn this wine I just drank into water
They found out I'm the boatman's daughter
And I can't stand this brutal slaughter
of angels and sphinxes crossing the border
Begging me,
Carry me, carry me, carry me across the water
Bestow on me, bestow on me, bestow on me, my wings and absolve me
(x2)
I lifted myself, I lifted myself by my hair
Now Gabriel is waving me over
Draining the last of his beer
He said: Get me out of here.
Begging me, carry me, carry me, carry me across the water
Bestow on me, bestow on me, bestow on me, my wings and absolve me
(x2)
(Instrumental part)
Carry me, carry me, carry me across the water
Bestow on me, bestow on me, bestow on me, my wings and absolve me
(x4)
And so it was
Gabriel got his wings.”
Writing to inspire
She says she is concerned with being personal, but not private.
– My problems drive people crazy, but if I can write about something that touches people, I've done my job. Music can be a friend and a psychologist, and is there to entertain and inspire, not just consume and then forget.
Throughout the production period, she also received an impressive amount of goodwill from musicians and studio owners.
– When John and I were in New Jersey, he said he would ask some of his friends if they wanted to join, without saying who those friends were, she says.
The lineup ended up with people like Heather McCintosh on cello (played with Gnarls Barkley and Lil Wayne), Steve Shelley, (drummer in Sonic Youth), Rami Jaffee (keyboardist in the Wallflowers and played with Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and Coheed and Cambria), Mark Spencer (steel guitarist in Son Volt), Tad Kubler (guitarist in the Hold Steady), William Wittman (bassist with Cyndi Lauper, the Hooters, David Letterman and Ellen DeGeneres), Stig Amundsen (bassist in Gluecifer) and Thomas Peterson (drummer in King Midas).
The album was completed in an impressively short time: just six days, thanks to the help of idealistic forces. In addition to her time at Water Music Recorders in Hoboken, New Jersey, Dyveke was given a free week at Cakehouse Recording Studios in Rygge outside Moss. The studio owner, Bjørn Myrås, called Moss Avis after reading an article about her and said he wanted to help the self-financing musician. John Agnello then came to Rygge for five days during his summer vacation in 2013. They also received help from Philip Mohn at Spinner Studio in Halden.
The review of “Gabriel” in Moss Avis
It doesn't really come as a big surprise that Dyveke Kuløy delivers a veritable goosebumps song with her new single – "Gabriel". She has shown on several previous occasions that something big can be afoot. Still, this is more than one could have strictly hoped for.
A little gem of a song
With American John Agnello in the producer's chair and a team of exceptionally competent American musicians behind her, she has created a little gem of a song. Agnello is best known for being behind noise rockers like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, while on "Gabriel" he puts on the silk gloves - without it in any way becoming smooth and unresisting. Both Dyveke himself and the musicians ensure that.
Causes a lump in the throat
When Mark Spencer from Son Volt sneaks in with his pedal steel in the second chorus, it's so beautiful it makes your throat hurt. Add a brilliant vocal performance, and we're talking about a near-perfect single.
Discography
Singles:
Gabriel / Beg, Steal and Borrow, 2013
Gratitude, 2013
Little Darling, 2014
Father, 2015
Albums:
Dyveke Kuløy, May 2015.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-EDg6Kn7BA
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/track/5V3GuNwLQHWEsZTHUfkxBZ
wimp: https://play.wimpmusic.com/artist/4843987
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/no/album/gabriel-single/id605545518