Pain in life and anger towards society – from an Asian perspective, that’s why rockers need to have loud voices in order to be heard. And that’s how many people interpret rock and roll. But Nordic rock bands at SPOT 2014 distinguished themselves by their powerful happiness from traditional mainstream, furious music.
Inside by Chaoxi Wang and Meimei Qin; Photos by Meimei Qin. Jutland Station.
The Secret Power of PowerSolo
With beer in hand on the stage, Danish rock band PowerSolo frontman Kim Kix put on an intense show last night, bouncing around and banging his head to the catchy beats of his band’s songs. His energy was best captured during the song ‘Kat Nazer’, when many in the audience –from 16-year-olds to 60 and beyond fist-pumped to the strong beating music in screams mixed with laughter.
“Rock and roll is about making people happy and giving people energy,” Atomic Child, the rail-thin guitarist of PowerSolo told Jutland Station, revealing where the band’s secret power comes from. His brother Kix, the vocals and the soul of the band, who was once frustrated by being laughed at when he returned to Denmark from Tunisia aged 17, also told us the key-message in their music is “let’s be happy with rock and roll. Simply spend time with people you love, and do something to make your life happy.”
That’s the main reason for the wide appeal and the wild laugh, we summarized after the show. In a cross between rock, rockabilly, psych and anything else, PowerSolo teases the listeners with tall tales and stories which make it hard not to smile. Also, that’s the core of Nordic rock in our perspective: Happiness doesn’t mean powerless. Instead, it could be as powerful as anger. Behind Nordic rock music stands not only strong beat and fast tempo, but also a context of reflection mediated in political and ideological terms which determines the musical performance – the very image of true happiness.
Unlike PowerSolo, Euzen’s members come from different Nordic countries: Norway and Denmark. The band’s exotic name has its origins in old Greek and can be interpreted as “the path to the good life” and “the good life is to fulfil your true nature”.
Their female vocalist Maria Franz impressed our Asian ears with her distinctive Nordic voice – the strength, passion, clarity and power of woman’s sound. In her mouth, the unfamiliar words were melting, from her lips the exotic tones were gliding. Listeners could feel the physical pleasure of her singing and the overwhelming urge to express herself. From ancient times, it seems women of the Nordic countries have expressed their thoughts, desires and emotions through song. When listening to their music with your eyes closed, you could got a lot more out of it – we had the feeling of being in a forest and walking in the nature.
“Follow the nature of your heart” is the key message Euzen wanted to convey in their music. The keyboard Christopher Juul, who brought together clear-cut beats with organic Nordic tone, told Jutland Station what the band wants is “to tell people to be happy by following their true nature.” Playing tunes that span their career, Euzen didn’t hold anything back last night, and in fact had a few surprises up their sleeves, keeping the crowd engaged for the entire set.
Serious Message in a “Humorous Package”
Opening with fast rock music, I’ll Be Damned – five guys from Aarhus – set the stage for a 30-plus minute performance that was nonstop energy. Their voices are the source of their power. You’d expect their show to be loud, and they didn’t disappoint.
“Even life sucks, you should just free your mind and enjoy what you have now,” said Drummer Mathias, who shared the band’s core concept with Jutland Station. “People should be happy… We want to have fun and we joke. So a serious message is wrapped in a ‘humorous package’.” Vocalist Stig G added.
The inspiration and purpose behind I’ll Be Damned is to explore the intersections of self-expression and activism. They have been jamming and making music only for less than four years, but with last night’s intimate and exclusive performance, they proved they’ve got a lot to offer to the rock ‘n’ roll community.
Meimei Qin is Born and raised in Mao’s hometown. First interned at China Central Television but finally worked as an editor for the Wall Street Journal in China’s capital, now struggling for the Erasmus Mundus journalism master program in the World’s happiest country.
This article was produced independently by Jutland Station.
