En musiker i
verdensklasse
Article in the
'CC Christmas magazine 2017''
Complete article from the magazine
(pages 28-31)
with a translation below, with thanks to Dag Sirnes.
| Translation: CC Christmas magazine 2017 - Silje Nergaard - A world-class musician [Note: CC is a shopping center in Hamar.] page 1: With the debut single "Tell Me Where You're Going" in 1990, Silje Nergaard had great success as a 24-year-old. The single ended up in the Top 10 both in Scandinavia, England and as No. 1 in Japan. Since then, she has kept a steady footing on the accelerator pedal and today can boast a number of awards, including Spellemann of the Year - The Norwegian Music Grammy Award (2004) and Grammy nomination for "best arrangement" with the album "A Thousand True Stories" (2010) , and still sits on the top podium as Norway's best-selling Jazz artist with the album '' At First Light ''. For the past year, she has been relevant as a participant in the last season of TV program "Every time we meet", and is now highly relevant with the new album "For You a Thousand Times" - the 16th in a row. ''Silje Nergaard - the artist who just IS!'', Jens Pikenes had said on the phone when he called Silje and asked if she would be part of his show at Rockefeller in December. She reproduces it in imitatated northern Norwegian dialect and laughs. ''Jens Pikenes show seemed incredibly fun. Had heard of his shows before, so when he called and asked, there was not much to wonder about.'' There is a kind of truth in the statement of the Mr Pikenes. Where other artists tend to be influenced by ever-changing trends, undergo radical changes of style and tremble on the musical slippery slope, Silje has throughout her career been true to herself and her musical expression. 35 years of uncompromising approach to musical work, gives an undeniable reverberation of integrity. '' I have probably never been much concerned with being like everyone else, nor was I as a young person in Hamar. I think young people today are characterized by an extreme herd culture '', says Silje and tells about her own upbringing without an environment interested in music: When she did not struggle through the piano lessons with the little-dressed Mrs. Noodt, the interest in music was something she mostly had for itself. It was after a jazz course at Toneheim Folk High School - Toneheim folkehøgskole (ca. 3 km east of the center of Hamar) that Silje decided to focus on music - the rest is history. page 2: '' I got a band, and then we just started booking jobs, as many as possible. I've been doing that since. Lately, I have actually started taking singing lessons, but only to practice technique, the artistic is nobody allowed to touch '', she says and smiles. Silje is currently touring in Germany, then the road continues to Japan (where they have even made a wine named after her). The repertoire includes the album "For You a Thousand Times", which she released on October 13. The album is inspired by people and stories that hit her, and it all started with an old couple from each side of the Korean border. It is not only stories from the East that have inspired Silje's latest release. When she was on holiday in Italy last summer, it was a singing coconut seller on the beach who caught her attention. ''He sang so well 'and I did not get the melody out of my head. One day I followed him and recorded the song, and when I got home I found the chords and based the song "Cocco Bello" on them. We vacationed at the same place this year and he was still there with the same song. I showed him the song I had made and then he started crying. It was incredibly moving.'' Text (siljenergaardmusic) at the bottom - to the left of the image: ''I see and experience an incredibly much of different things when I travel. When I came across the photograph of an old Korean couple who finally met after being separated by the border between North and South Korea, something touched me. Every day for a number of years they had sent each other a promise of love, and it became both the title and the starting point for the entire album "For You a Thousand Times". Text next to the image on the right: After the Germany, Japan and Rockefeller shows, there will be a break until after Christmas - that time is reserved for family and Christmas celebrations. But even though Silje loves the close family life and the good atmosphere, she is skeptical of the gift-rush. ''There are so many disadvantaged people who are overlooked in favor of our Christmas gift rush. It is difficult to swallow. It's a feeling I was trying to put into words with my Christmas album ''If I Could Wrap Up a Kiss''. For me, Christmas is about caring and togetherness, not how much money we spend on things we do not need.'' |