A few months ago, we received our first email from what has turned out to be one of the most gifted artists that I've had the opportunity to interview.  Bergen Norway is the hometown to Jorn Lavoll, musician, artist, composer and arranger.  

At 26, Lavoll has written dozens of scores for theatrical performances, video, and documentaries, has had over 47,000 downloads at his personal MP3.com page and lives the life of a professional musician without the hardships of the road.

The closest thing I can compare Lavoll's music to is Japanese genius composer, Kitaro.  Lavoll's compositions are nothing short of genius in their own right, with arrangements ranging from classical to ambient, Indian to American Indian, Japanese to Chinese to Norwegian...each composition is a masterpiece of rhythm, texture, and arrangement.  

I reviewed his CD Ambientness last December, and was so blown away by what I heard that I knew I had to do a more in-depth follow up interview.  Jorn Lavoll is one of the brightest, most talented, most humble and witty artist I've interviewed to date.  It was a pleasure, and I'm sure with his attitude and talent he'll be in demand in many different avenues of music or theatre.  

<HotBands> I knew when I first heard your music that I wanted to interview you

<Jorn> Why? or.. thanks!

<HotBands> Because your music was totally different...earth sounds. Similar to Kitaro. How would you classify your music?

<Jorn> I have this standard (description) I use because it is so hard to classify my own music. The music I write often travels into various genres, but most of the time it is rooted in subjects and styles I find interesting: folklore, mythology, classical and folk traditions. Often the results are sonic dreamscapes, astral textures and haunting melodies.

<HotBands> That pretty much sums it up! I couldn't have said it better myself! You're obviously a very accomplished musician. How old were you when you got your start? Explain a little about your childhood music experience

<Jorn> I started playing trombone at age 8, then piano/synth at 10. Fortunately, my first little keyboard had a sequencer in it, so I started my own composing right then.

<HotBands> How old are you now?

<Jorn> I'm 26

<HotBands> Did you have any formal training on piano or are you pretty much self-taught?

<Jorn> I continued with keyboard and piano lessons through childhood, and played in lots of different bands… reggae, pop, folk, progressive, funk, church music. In all the bands, I usually ended up being the arranger.

<HotBands> Was there a defining moment in your life that made you decide to pursue this as a career?

<Jorn> Hmm… that's a hard question. I can't remember one specific event, but I can remember always knowing that music is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life

<HotBands> When did you make that realization?

<Jorn> I’m not really sure, but the last few years is when I have focused more on composing.

<HotBands> Is music your full time gig, or do you play music on the side?

<Jorn> My time and life is divided. I'm also a theatre director here in Bergen Norway, as well as a composer and consultant at the college of Bergen. The director and composing jobs overlap each other a lot…in the most recent performance (a type of modern dance thing) I was the producer and composer and director…but it's not three different hats, just one big hat…it’s difficult to explain.

<HotBands> Who is doing the vocals on the track ‘Sung’?

<Jorn> The ‘Sung’ vocals are just samples that I made because I wanted to test out an effect chain that we used in this last theatre performance.. a looooong fx chain on the voice.

<HotBands> It sounds like a woman speaking in another language

<Jorn> Yes, Chinese

<HotBands> That's all sampled? Do you know who it is and what she is saying?

<Jorn> No, but I could find out if you want to know. The ‘final’ version of that song (from the performance) http://jorn.lavoll.no/taichi/ha.mp3 

<HotBands> So this was written for a theater performance?

<Jorn> http://jorn.lavoll.no/taichi/ha.mp3  was. Sung was written to test out some musical ideas at an earlier stage. http://jorn.lavoll.no/taichi/  is the homepage of that performance

<HotBands> As director of the theater, do you write and arrange the music?

<Jorn> Ah yes, but you can't think of it as a director in the traditional sense

<HotBands> Why is that? What do your duties involve?

<Jorn> That varies a lot. For this latest one, the idea for the performance was mine, so I sketched out what the video artist and dancers should do, and I made the music myself. I also do all the practical production work, rehearsal space etc.

<HotBands> So you not only write and arrange music, but you write plays?

<Jorn> It's not a play. It’s performance art. More like dance.

<HotBands> I see...like the stuff you see at the Olympics?

<Jorn> yeah, kind of

<HotBands> Who would you say was your greatest influence musically?

<Jorn> That's so hard to answer everything I like is an influence to me. In fact, every I don’t like is an influence to me also. Things I do and see also influence my music.

<HotBands> Nightfall sounds very 'American Indian'

<Jorn> That is very American Indian. Three circles around the moon is inspired by a Tai-Chi Sword exercise. I own a big collection of all kinds of flutes from every corner of the world.

<HotBands> So you're playing the keys, and flutes

<Jorn> And drums, and mouth harp. All strings, horns, etc. are sampled from synths mostly.

<HotBands> ‘She wrote what?’ is very 'classical' sounding

<Jorn> Yes, that was written to sound like British murder mystery music. That's also synthesizer.

<HotBands> Each of your songs available at MP3.com take you to a different place!

<Jorn> Yes, which probably confuses the listeners a lot!

<HotBands> So you think things up like "I'm going to write a British murder mystery theme" and where does it go from there? I'm interested (and think there are others that are too) of how your thought process works from the time you are inspired to the time you have a final version that you're happy with.

<Jorn> it is different every time.. but sometimes, yes. i get an idea to write something that sounds like something else I've heard, and I think, I wonder how it would turn out if I tried it. Sometimes I just have a mood inside me that wants to come out in music, sometimes there are certain instruments that I want to write for, or sometimes, it’s a mixture of all of these things. I think it’s feelings and moods most of the time that inspire.

<HotBands> To me, each of the sounds I’m listening to are 'thoughts' that were created by you. Music tells a story, and your arrangements take a lot of twists and turns.

<Jorn> Yes….sometimes specific stories, sometimes just a. mood. It’s a series of changing feelings.

<HotBands> Have you had scores used for television or movies?

<Jorn> Some documentaries and short movies. There was one on national Norwegian TV that's big here.

<HotBands> You've had an amazing amount of downloads at MP3.com What would you attribute that to? How do you advertise yourself?

<Jorn> I don't really, but one song went to number 1 on the Indian and Asian charts. The newspapers here in Norway started writing about that, which in turn generated a lot more downloads. Sometimes the downloads just spike on a day. I guess someone has found one of my pages that has 62 songs on it and decided to listen to every single one!

<HotBands> Wow! That's amazing! Which song(s) went to number 1 in India?

<Jorn> ‘Sandhya and Jorn’ was #1. My download numbers are high especially since this is ‘special interest’ music. It’s not what you'll hear on the radio, but that's the a good thing about the Internet... if you have a more (he-he) ‘advanced’ taste in music, you can find lots of great music on the Internet… things you would never hear otherwise.

<HotBands> Your music is very different for sure. Are all the vocals on Sandja and Jorn yours?

<Jorn> No.. hahahahaha.. that's Sandhya!!!! She does sound kind of manly in the beginning at least.

<HotBands> Who is Sandhya? Is she speaking in Indian?

<Jorn> It's a tarana.. It’s a word she makes up as she sings them and she choses them for their rythmic quality.. gibberish Indian. I'm doing some other things with another Indian singer these days.. his name is Ganesh. That music should be on my page in a month or two.

<HotBands> I reviewed an Indian artist named Tushar Parte in December. I think one of the greatest things about the Internet is that you can get music created in different parts of the world that is inspired by totally different influences than what most Westerners are used to.

<Jorn> I agree totally

<HotBands> I'm listening to Ugly Edith's piano solo….Yeow! It sounds like a bad dream!

<Jorn> 100 points to you.. it is from a DREAM PLAY! That one is from a theatre production by Strindberg. It was a terrible dream!

<HotBands> Am I good or what? J

<Jorn> Very impressed !

<HotBands> How did you get your song on the Indian charts? Did somebody just find it and start emailing it around to their friends?

<Jorn> Lots of people downloaded or played it. I didn’t do anything special

<HotBands> What types of shows do you play? Do you play in bands as a keyboardist or is your performance in the theatre?

<Jorn> Studio work is what I do most of the time, and that is the type of work I'm pursuing. I'm not going after a musician type of career.

<HotBands> I guess I meant you don't play live (in smoky bars)

<Jorn> when I do play live, it is usually performance (as in theatre or similar) related…no more smoky bars for me. When I had my ‘band’ period, I played in a lot of those types of places, so you are right… I'm not a gigging musician in that sense at all. Besides, my dreamy music wouldn’t fit in a smoky bar except maybe in Twin Peaks!

<HotBands> What is your next step? Are you continuously writing and creating CDs from your arrangements?

<Jorn> Well, what I am mostly interested in, and what I do when I write music ‘for me’, is do just that.. I write music that I think is interesting. I'm very strict about the quality for my own music so I write honest ‘Jorn’ music, and that's what's important. I think that maybe the honest quality in my music is what people like.

<HotBands> I'm not sure you can grasp honest or dishonest from the music, but it definitely is unique and wonderful.

<Jorn> For now, I'll continue writing music ‘for me’, and for theatre, and for other media.

<HotBands> Your career looks like its moving into the fast lane if you market yourself right. There are a lot of musicians that aren't in to the gigging aspect. What would be your advice to them to get to where you have? Since we do have a lot of beginning artists that are looking for direction, what would you recommend, or do you have anything to suggest?

<Jorn> Write music they like to listen to. I suppose I could be more technical… it depends on a lot of things…what type of music, what type of production sound etc. If they want to have a radio hit… don't write music like I do!

<HotBands> I want to thank you for taking the time for the interview

<Jorn> No problem! Thank you!

For more information on Jorn Lavoll, CLICK HERE

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