Jørgen Sandvik from Real Ones could win another Spellemannpris on March 30. This time in the Blues category for the album "Permanent Vacation".
/ 15/03/2019 / Willy Martinsen(All photos: Gaute Singstad)
Jørgen Sandvik has been a member of the double Spellemann-winning Bergen band Real Ones since their inception in 1994, but in recent years has also devoted more time to his first musical love – the blues. On March 30th, he could win another Spellemann. This time in the Blues category for the album "Permanent Vacation".
Name: Jorgen Sandvik
Age: 43
Current with: Nominated for the Spellemannpris for the album Permanent Vacation
TONO member since: 1997
– What is your musical background – from the Real Ones to the blues?
– I started playing guitar when I was 9 years old. Then I learned the song "In The Early Morning Rain" from my dad, and that was it. I actually started with blues, and I've been playing it my whole life, I just haven't made a pure blues record until now. Real Ones started as a folk band, but started making their own music more and more. There's always both blues and folk in the music I made for Real Ones and everything else.
– How does your music come about?
– It's a little different, but it can start with a harmonic idea. A progression that I develop further into a song, or it can become an instrumental.
– When did you find the blues? Or did it find you?
– Blues was the first thing I started playing and I was quite young then, so it's been there all along. Maybe we found each other?
– How do you juggle Real Ones with the blues you're doing now?
– I've been playing in the Real Ones for 25 years, and of course I'll do that for the rest of my life. At the same time, I play blues with myself and my band Permanent Vacation. It's really fun, both ways. So it's a really good relationship.
– What is it about the blues that you love so much?
– It's hard to give a good answer to that. But I've been playing blues for as long as I've been playing, and listening to it even longer. So for me it's a kind of musical base. I experience the blues more as a state than a genre in that sense.
– What are you working on now, and what does 2019 bring for you?
– Today I finished a mix of a new blues song called "Regrets", which will be released not too long from now. I'm working on it right now. There will also be some cool festivals with my band Permanent Vacation.
– What is your greatest musical experience?
– It's a bit difficult to answer, I think. But maybe I should answer that it was when I learned "In The Early Morning Rain" on guitar. At least then I was getting started.
– What was the name of the first piece of music you ever wrote, and what was it about?
– I wrote a song with a friend when I was quite young called “The Santa Claus gallops through the forest”. It was about the Santa Claus. I have developed a bit as a songwriter since then. Ha ha.