Page 22 - ROCKNATION ISSUE 27

PAGE 22 ROCKNATION ISSUE 27
The Norseman Company
VOODOO MOONSHINE

Hello Geir with The Norseman Company and welcome to
Rocknation. Let’s start off with your “The Coming Of The Chord” CD.
Please tell us about some of the tracks.
Thank you for having me! Really appreciate that! Well, the opening song of the
album is called HERE COMES ROCK AND ROLL. That was almost a magic
moment when that one came about. Since this is my first solo album project
under THE NORSEMAN COMPANY name, I wanted a really cool song to open
up the album as soon as this one turned up, I knew I had it! In fact, the song
was very easy to write. It almost did not take any longer than the song actually
is! lol. And this time the music and the lyrics came at the same time. Usually
either the music comes first or the lyrics, but not this time. When I started and the first line “Here I am, I`m back again. Gonna plug it in, turn it up to
ten” I knew the opener was there! Pretty cool moment. I put an ad on Facebook, saying I needed a few singers and one that came back to me was
a guy called Magne Vikra. I was listening to the song he sent me to show what kind of voice he had and I knew he was going to sing HERE COMES
ROCK AND ROLL! It turned out great and I could not be more satisfied with the result! Even though that is the first “song”, the absolute opener
though is an intro with a guy driving to church in a thunder and rainstorm on his motorcycle to listen to REVENANT NORSE speak the Gospel! Rev-
enant Norse was brought to life by US Actor/author Gary Sturm, who I was friends with on Facebook. I wrote the words and sent it to him, asking if
he would do it and sure enough! Very few people have a cooler voice than Gary Sturm! Another song that I am very happy with is MASTER OF THE
DARK. I am a big fan of Dio and I wanted that kind of song on the album... One day a few years back I saw a TV interview during the Syria war with
an ISIS soldier. He said we were “sons and daughters of witches”... They were “bringing the light” and we “lived in the dark”. He went on and on with
that bla-bla-bla stuff... “What a complete moron!!” I thought, then I wrote “Master Of The Dark”.... I don`t write political songs and this one is not one
either. It’s just my “answer” to that ISIS soldier, without me thinking he will ever hear it...lol. Turned out to be one of the strongest songs on the album
though and people do say it sounds a bit like something Dio could have done, so again, I could not be more happy with the outcome! This is one of
the songs that producer Hallgeir Rustan really worked his ass off on. His arrangements on this one is mindblowing! And if that was not enough, I was
lucky enough to get one of Norway’s biggest rock stars, the amazing Åge Sten Nilsen (Wig Wam/Ammunition) to sing on it! Is that cool or what?

Who did the music and lyric writing for this release?
I did the writing myself for this one. When I had eight songs I decided to see if I could really write a whole album myself., My producer though,
Hallgeir Rustan in Trondheim-Norway, sent me the music for a track that was really good. He said I could use it if I wrote the lyrics, which I did. The
song is called ONE STEP BEHIND. It was a really cool rocker, so I decided to put it on the album as the song number eleven, a closing “Bonus
Track”. Then I could still write the ten songs that would make the album. As far as I am concerned I think this is the first time a drummer in the classic
rock genre has written a whole album. Of course, it doest matter what instrument you play. If you write songs you write songs, so it`s not a big thing,
but I do feel it`s a cool thing. Makes me feel good though. I am proud of that fact. All songs have been arranged by Hallgeir Rustan though and he
has a fantastic musical mind, so I say I wrote them but he made them!
Where did you record these tracks at?
I recorded the album in a town located in mid Norway, called Trondheim. I used to live there in the eighties and one of my friends from back then,
Hallgeir Rustan, has since become an incredible and very successful recording engineer and producer. He has worked with artists like Norwegian
rock stars, Stage Dolls plus international artists like Elton John and Cher, to name but a few. He founded Stargate, a Norwegian Grammy Award-
winning music production- and songwriter company in 1996 and together with Mikkel SE and Tor Erik Hermansen he had enormous success with the
company. When Mikkel and Tor Erik decided to move to the US, Hallgeir stayed in Norway. Today they are all still friends, sharing the same name,
but it`s two different companies. Hallgeir is like an idea source that never dries out! He can do wonders with any type of songs and I am very happy
to have him take charge of the production of the album. I recorded the drums at Juke Joint Studios in Notodden though, as I did not fancy taking my
entire drum kit all the way to Trondheim, which is a nine hours drive from Akkerhaugen, where I live. Some of the special guests recorded their stuff
where they live, but the album is mainly recorded in Stargate Studios in Trondheim.
You sent the music over to the USA to be mixed by a legendary producer Beau Hill (Warrant, Ratt, Winger, Europe, Alice Cooper etc…)
How did you line that up and please tell us details about the final sound.
Well, Beau and I actually go back quite a few years now. This is actually the third album we work on together. I
was running Norwegian classic rock band Humbucker for six years (From 2010 - 2016). I worked 24/7 building that
band and we released two albums (R.O.C.K.S in 2011 and KING OF THE WORLD in 2014). In 2016 I could not
take that band any further as I realized that the eager to rehearse and write songs wasn`t there from the
remaining guys in the band. I had already written four songs for our third album and so I left and wrote six more
and why change a winning team? So I emailed Beau and asked if he would mix and master the new album for me.
He sure would and here we are. He has become one of my dearest friends in the music business and we email
each other very often, telling each other the...degrees!! That`s it, just that! He might send me an email telling me
how hot it is in Austin and I will answer telling him how cold it is over here. It`s a funny thing...great guy with a big
heart! And he has put down a lot of work on this album too. It sounds great and I can only describe it as the big
arena sound from the eighties. The ballad SINCE YOU`VE BEEN GONE sounds so in your face that I am still
wondering how he does those things! The vocals on that song (Performed by Norwegian singer/songwriter Rudi
Remme) is crystal clear. In fact, I think everyone will be able to hear the entire lyrics the first time they hear the
song! That is what Beau does: He`s great at any instrument, but no one can handle voices and drums the way he
does! You will hear that on before mentioned MASTER OF THE DARK as well. That is the greatest drum sound I
have ever had from him. Just amazing work! The sound on the album is very much what made Beau Hill a
legend: Loud guitars, crystal clear vocals and big drums!