home

Article Mangfoldige Silje / Diverse Silje

Article in the Norwegian newspaper'Østlendingen' - 18. March 1986

 



enlarge


 

Translation by Dag Sirnes:

 
Diverse Silje

By Arne Trolldalen


''Melody Grand Prix was a fun experience, I believed in the song I did - Say it, say it - but it's completely wrong to build your career around participating in the Grand Prix. Now I feel done with it'', says the 19-year-old Hamar girl Silje Nergaard, who adds that she will probably watch TV on Saturday.

Grand Prix participation is far from a ticket to success and fame. "I have talked to several organizers who will not believe that I was in last year's final," says Silje, who also has to operate as her own and the band's booking agent. 

But even if we do not get to see the talented Hamar girl on screen on Saturday, there is good evidence for the claim that 'now it really swings around Silje'.

Since last fall, she has lived as a professional musician. There have been many and long tours across the country, either with the band Mellow Yellow or with Kristin Berglund and Reidar Skår in the trio "Blue Girls".

"I enjoy myself when we are out on tour," says Silje Nergaard. The five guys in Mellow Yellow are a very pleasant travel companion. "The band is swinging well too and we have received a lot of good response."

"How is the leap from being a singer to a vocalist in a band?"

''It's great to sing with a band that swings as well as Mellow Yellow. I feel that this is also an important part of me as a musician.''

To the Molde festival

But Silje gets to use her musicality and voice also in other ways than with the pop / rock / jazz group Mellow Yellow. Together with Kristin Berglund and Reidar Skår she travels with the trio ''Blue Girls''. Here the crew is guitar and synthesizers and the music is a bit more delicate. ''Naked music'' according to Silje herself.

"Blue Girls" she sees as a useful and nice challenge. Recently she also received the good news that ''Blue Girls'' had been put on the program during this summer's jazz festival in Molde. And the Molde festival will always stand as something special for Silje - it was here that she spontaneously jammed into the heart of jazz connoisseur Randi Hultin in 1983. Which resulted in a full-page report in Dagbladet about the young girl from Hamar, with a jazz feeling in her voice completely out of the ordinary.

The Jazz stamp

"I do not like to be put in any particular musical category," says Silje Nergaard. ''That's why I struggle a little to get rid of the jazz stamp. That said, I'm very happy with the background I've had in jazz music. I have learned a lot about both phrasing and improvisation which I now use in other musical contexts."

Exciting LP project

One of these connections is the collaboration with the well-known and experienced musician Hans Petter Gundersen who was behind Hot Project a couple of years ago with Lynnie Trekrem as vocalist. Now Gundersen is working on a new hot project in Studio Bohus in Gothenburg, and this time it is Silje from Hamar who is the vocalist. The job will culminate in an LP this autumn with a launch over large parts of Scandinavia - in the first instance ......

Østlendingen's emissary was so lucky to hear the first sample recordings on a cassette - and it sounded promising - very promising. Captivating and modern music, where Silje gets to use all the floors of her voice.

'' I work especially in the depths at the moment '', says Silje and smiles. ''Goes for myself and hums deep tones - I SHALL fix it!''

There are many indications that 1986 could be a decisive year for Silje Nergaard. The girl has both legs planted on the ground, but must admit that a lot is going her way at the moment. She appreciates the experience she gets ''on the road'', playing at discos, clubs and community centers. At the same time, it is exciting and challenging to crawl into a dark studio with only oneself, microphones and earphones.

"I go one hundred percent for this record," says Silje, clenching her fist in her lap and looking very determined. We believe her!


The picture: Things are happening around the Hamar girl Silje Nergaard (19) at the moment. Now she is working on two touring band projects, plus she is recording LP in Sweden. (Photo: Erik Larsen)