Pop Scene // Denmark

27 September 2010, 10:00

When it comes to new music, Denmark is one of the most exciting places in Europe right now. The number of great bands coming out of this tiny part of Scandinavia has risen sharply in recent years. Think of Mew’s enigmatic quirkiness, Efterklang’s complex art-pop textures, Raveonettes’ glorious noisepop and Trentemøller’s imposing glacial beats. And yet Denmark – unlike its Nordic neighbours – hasn’t got any massive names to offer, like Björk or The Cardigans, not yet at least. On the other hand, there is a tremendous wealth of bands largely unknown outside their national borders that are begging to be discovered. As Efteterklang’s Rasmus Stolberg puts it: “feels like we have been going through a very creative and blossoming time. Five years ago I often had troubles naming Danish bands I liked. These days its like a new great Danish band pops up every month or so.” So things might be about to change for the scene. TLOBF travelled to the land of delicious pastries and beautiful people and spoke to a handful of its most important music representatives and local industry gurus in order to find out how the scene has been evolving over the years and what the future might hold for it.

It’s sticking that all the people I spoke to agreed that a turning point for the scene was when local bands realised they should stop copying what was going on elsewhere. Mew frontman Jonas Bjerre remembers: “When we started out the Danish scene was pretty bleak. The major labels had made fortunes in the ‘80s with local pop bands singing in Danish, and they had set up a formula for promoting bands that had completely stagnated. They put their money into boring bands that were completely derivative of what was going on in the UK, only 4 years later. So we endured a lot of Blur, Oasis and Radiohead copyists. It’s not that there weren’t any interesting bands – there was a ton of good bands – but they were just so underground that they never got any airplay and had a very hard time booking gigs. Most of them gave up their dreams and after a while, dedicated themselves to school, work, and family.” International dancefloor specialist Anders Trentemøller agrees: “Local bands wanted to sound like the ones from the US and DJs like someone from Berlin. But now Danish artists concentrate more on finding their own sound and doing something unique that often has this northern melancholic vibe, which you can also find in old Nordic folk music from 300 years ago. Now bands trust their own sound.”

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Fallulah

Charming 25-year-old songstress Fallulah (born Maria Apetri) is one of the most interesting representatives of a new breed of Danish sound. She also confirms the trend: “People are getting braver. When I made my album, I really didn’t want to have any influences on it, I just wanted it to be really original. I asked myself what I really wanted to say with my music. More people are doing this nowadays. Therefore I think it’s becoming more real. My music is all about being comfortable with being yourself.” Jonas Bjerre continues: “The Danish scene is thriving, bands have the courage and imagination to be unique, to be themselves. The majors are not doing well, but then this is a worldwide issue. Lots of smaller labels are doing good things with the small means they have.”

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A brilliant example of one of these labels is Good Tape Records – home to acts such as Murder and Bodebrixen. On the reasons why she started the label, Good Tape Records co-founder Kamilla Hannibal enthuses: “Our motive is to purely be just good people helping and inspiring other talented good people to do good stuff, and also to maintain an unpretentious way of thinking about music. Music is for sharing, both the sound and the experience. Artistic freedom and playfulness is what we stand for, and we always want to try out something new.”

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Is it hard for Danish musicians to survive these days? Jonas Bjerre thinks so. “Surviving on making music is harder than ever. The record sales dropping at an exponential rate, newer generations just don’t spend their money on compact discs, the vast majority opt for downloading illegally. Thankfully, the live scene is doing well, and there’s still some revenue in merchandise and touring. But the prospect of signing big deals with advances and great studio budgets is almost non-existent at this point, at least if you’re a relatively new band with a small audience.” Fallulah observes: “It’s not very acceptable here to want to make a living out of creativity. People are very focused on getting an education and making money. It is not very socially acceptable. We don’t have that much creative stuff. In Sweden for instance you can take dance classes in high school. I’m self-taught.”

Bodebrixen

When asked about any movers and shakers in the current scene Kamilla Hannibal comes up with a whole list of names: “A lot is happening right now. One of the big ones is the excellent DJ and booker at Bakken, Djuna Barnes. The label Tigerspring is doing amazing management. The guys behind Svedehytten and Ratpack are developing great concepts and are so positively unpredictable in their DJ bookings. Smash Bang Pow! Booking agency have got such good ears.” Fallulah adds: “Copenhagen is very good for musicians. You get to know people really fast, because it’s such a small community.” Anders Trentemøller agrees: “One of the great things about Copenhagen is that it is such a small city. Sometimes things happen just like that. You get a text message, and all of a sudden you are at an underground party.” He continues: “Bakken is my favourite place. It’s got a great vibe and a low-key feeling. Also V1 Gallery is great – they’ve even won an award for the best underground gallery in Europe. And Trailerpark Festival – because it’s so small and you can listen to many upcoming bands.”

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But what are the challenges for such a vibrant scene for the coming years? Anders Trentemøller believes that “it’s very important to continue being so open-minded, like in the last three years. A decade ago electronic and rock musicians were sort of antagonising. People are now much more working across genres. People are not afraid of mixing different styles anymore. I really hope that we will dare to have this open-mindedness in the future too. That’s the unique thing about the Danish scene right now. People have trust in their own sound.” Efterklang’s Rasmus Stolberg adds: “The challenge is to maintain the positiveness and the willingness to collaborate and help each other! This will make the scene stronger.” Jonas Bjerre highlights another issue: “Traditionally, the labels have had a steady flow of revenue from album sales. The biggest challenge now is to find ways of establishing new setups that can function in a world in which people can just take the music they want without paying, and in which there will still be a financial motivation to carry on having a music business. “

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Chimes & Bells

Kamilla Hannibal thinks that a priority should be to keep up internationally: “Denmark is a small country and if we want to get out there in the world, music needs to be played insanely well and bands need to work hard. And most of them do.” Rasmus Stolberg agrees: “We need more Danish bands to establish themselves internationally. More bands with successful international careers will turn more eyes and ears towards Denmark.” There has been a strong industry export push in recent years. Christian Buhl, strategy manager at joint venture between the SPOT Festival (main industry hub in Denmark), Music Export Denmark and the Danish Rock Council explains: “The Danish music industry has gone from being a very strong domestic market in the glory days of CD sales, where the love of local music made it a great business to release Danish CDs in Denmark, to the digital era that has necessitated international touring and activities. Exports and international activities have thus increased in kind. 2009 for example boasted circa 6000 Danish concerts abroad.” There have been many more collaborations with the Danes’ Nordic neighbours: There is a common Nordic music export office in the making (Nomex) and Ja Ja Ja, a monthly Nordic music clubnight was launched for the first time ever in the UK. Kamilla Hannibal underlines the importance of such joint efforts: “It’s great. We had Bodebrixen playing there. It was so much fun and I think it is a super initiative. That kind of showcase opens up for collaborations that otherwise wouldn’t happen.”

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But the UK still remains a difficult market. Kamilla Hannibal admits: “Of course it is hard to break in to UK – if you aren’t Swedish at least. The rest of Europe is easier.” Christian Buhl confirms:“Danish music has been extremely successful in Germany, but in the UK, where the domestic market is so healthy, it’s been obviously much more difficult to break in, but the UK music press has embraced Danish music.” Anders Trentemøller is hoping that: “more new Danish artists break outside of Denmark because they have something unique to express.” Fallulah sums up: “It’s our own responsibility to get it out there. We need to push harder. People need to believe more in themselves.”

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