Formula Indie Sessions Interview with Birgitte Damberg Trio
BIRGITTE DAMBERG TRIO is a trio with a unique sound, blending jazz and indie with singer/songwriter, blues and contemporary music. As a listener, one is drawn into their musical universe, without thinking about genre. The musicians bring their different backgrounds and sounds to the music, and make this band their playground. They offer warmth, humour and brilliant musical interaction. Beautiful harmonies and surprising dissonance provide both the light and shadow the lyrics need to reach the audience. Since 2001, the trio has released three albums, several singles and videos and has played numerous concerts at festivals and in clubs.
On their fourth album “What If” Birgitte Damberg has written music to poetry by the award winning poet from Nagaland, north-east India, Easterine Kire. The release includes a book with the same name, containing the lyrics and hand written sheet music.
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Some of my earliest memories are listening to my father playing classical guitar in the evenings when my brother and I had gone to bed. Our whole family belonged to a musically community, where I from an early age learned to perform on stage.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I have always been singing. At the age of 8, I started to play the clarinet in an orchestra. I early found that creating music was a way of prosessing emotions. It became my kind of diary.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
I have written my own music and lyrics for over twenty years, and made several albums with my trio called BIRGITTE DAMBERG TRIO (BDT). My current project started when I received an email from a woman in 2021. She had accidentally heard my music on the internet and liked it very much. The sender was Easterine Kire, an award winning poet from Nagaland in north-eastern India who now lives in Norway. – She attached one of her poems and wondered if I would like to set it to music.
Now the result is ready. The album What If was released on October 10. The book with the same name was launched on the same date. In addition to the story behind the project and sheet music for all the songs, the book contains the poems used on the album and my adaptations of the same poems.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Our earlier albums have a stronger jazz influence than the later ones. We like to describe our music like this: BDT is a trio with a unique sound, blending jazz and indie with singer/songwriter, blues and contemporary music. As a listener, one is drawn into their musical universe, without thinking about genre. The three musicians bring their different backgrounds and sounds to the music, and make this band their playground. They offer warmth, humour and brilliant musical interaction. Beautiful harmonies and surprising dissonance provide both the light and shadow the lyrics need to reach the audience.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
The most important for me when I write music, is to be true to my self. Not trying to make music to please other people.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
I have a dog, and I love beeing in the forest with him. My creative process often starts in the forest, just letting ideas flow. When something worth keeping comes up, I record it on my phone. When I get home I work it out on the piano. The software we then use is Cubebase. Our music is released on our own label “LYDPRESSA”.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
There are so many good artists out there…..If I may mention some norwegian ones, I would say Susanne Sundfør and Emilie Nicolas. They both have that little extra that makes me really listen. I love it when I get surprised musically, it makes me stay curious.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
My professional career started as a classical clarinet player. I have played and also sung in a lot of different genres and styles from classical music to free jazz. I think what you hear in my music is a mix of all my musical experience. That is maybe why I have heard people say that it is a very original kind of music. You can easily hear it is BIRGITTE DAMBERG TRIO! My artistic vision is simply to work hard and make good music!
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I hope they become a little bit more curious about their own life and emotions. I have always only written music to my own words. The reason why I decided to write music to Easterine’s words is that her written universe talks to me as I want my music to talk to people. It opens up my own world.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
We are all just human beeings!
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
There are so many cool venues and festivals! Maybe there is one that could fit us in Italy? We would love to bring our music to Italy!!
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
A dream scenario would be Sting, Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Costello on the same stage as me! They have all in very different ways been musical mentors to me. Maybe something very interesting could come out of this crowd, I am confident it would have been an amazing experience!
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I hope to write and perform music as long as it feels good. It is a very essential part of my life. I am looking forward to playing this current album for a big audience, and I am especially looking forward to touring in India in October 2027 together with Easterine Kire.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I just hope that they like our music. I am honored when I am told that my music is meaningful in someone elses life.
If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂
Live from the release in Ski outside Oslo, Norway featuring Easterine Kire.
