Norway has a reputation for Black Metal where band members murder and each each other. Bergen in the north, however, is a meting pot of many styles of music all rubbing shoulders in a scene that’s got killer bands rather than bands that kill.
With one of Northern Europe’s most vibrant music scenes ablaze thanks to the patronage of Whitest Boy Alive, Datarock, Annie and Ralph Myerz, the scene is set for the next ‘Bergen Wave’ led by none other than angular glam rockers Ungdomskulen.
When faced with the age-old question ‘how would you describe your music?’ Ungdomskulen’s Kristian aptly replies, “I think we fit very well into the high-speed-experimental-jazz-prog-scene. It’s vocals, guitar, baritone-guitar and drums chasing a tone-burglar down the street.”
Ungdomskulen started out as three teenagers who, according to themselves, required a lot of practice before they came what they are today. “We weren’t very skilled at our instruments back then, and wanted to play more challenging and complex rock music. I guess Ungdomskulen was formed the day we had gotten comfortable in what we were doing prior to Ungdomskulen.”
Musically the threesome have been praised for their instrumental talent. “Our biggest strength must be our ability and courage to experiment with sounds and rhythms,” says Frode.
The band isn’t hesitant to divulge the secrets to their song writing processes either, as the moustached bassist continues: “We’re very good at pushing each other towards new directions. Our biggest strength must be our ability and courage to experiment with sounds and rhythms. Our musical skills are a side effect of that curiosity rather than something we aim for. Since we all make the music together, we all try to bring good spirit when we get together to write songs, and sometimes our bass player Øyvind brings cookies.”
They are certainly a happy bunch, and their glam stage presence belies hours of jamming, chasing their heroes such as The Zombies, E.L.P, Bob Hund, Gentle Giant, The Latin Kings, Nirvana and Wings. None of the band members originally came from Bergen. The decision to move to the second largest city in Norway was made with their aspirations in mind. “All babes move to the bigger cities eventually, and so did we,” explains Kristian. “Bergen has a laidback attitude, still the Bergensers are talkative and easily provoked in a charming way, with a lot of love for their city.
For being such a small town there are extreme amounts of resourceful and creative people that make Bergen a nice place to live, whether it’s the yearly film festival, dance nights or the D.I.Y spirit that is found everywhere.mBecause of the diversity of the bands and artists it’s not easy to describe the music scene as rock or dance oriented. One could probably, because of some of the bigger more successful acts hailing from Bergen, describe the Bergen scene as an electronic/dance scene. But you’ll also find a lot of other different styles and genres. Since it’s such an open-minded audience and a lot of nice artists helping and supporting each other, everything is kind of allowed.
That way it’s a creative scene which can surprise you and keep you on the alert. The music scene is really good. There are a lot of great bands in this city and there are a lot of bands coming to town to play. Bergen is the most important city in Norway when it comes to music, and if you have a band and want to get somewhere with your music Bergen is really friendly when it comes to building a network and get a chance to play at different venues. I guess we could say the constant rain is an influence as it makes us do our very best so we can get the hell away from it to tour in less humid places.”
A couple of special recommendations from the band:
Black Metal Mecca
“Given our history and how closely attached Black Metal is to our nation more should probably be made of Black Metal, but hanging out on a daily basis it really doesn’t feel that it’s a big Black Metal scene. It would be fun if there were a lot more though, that way we could all wear spikes, be angry and intimidating and tell everybody that Bergen is all about exotic black metal and nothing else.”
Eat local, think marmalade
“A great place to eat is Pingvinen, which serves good traditional Norwegian food. And there is a café called Knøderen, and they serve very good Svele. Svele is Norwegian traditional thick pancakes, served with brown cheese and marmalade. Ah yeah!”
24 hours in Bergen
“We would go to the aquarium for sure. It’s located on Nordnes, which is sort of a secluded area with little traffic and a lot of trees. There’s nothing that seduces our visitors as seeing the mating penguins or feeding of the snakes. After that we’d go to 3 Kroneren for a hot dog – they have the nicest sausages in town, and a lamb hot dog is the perfect lunch to eat on a bench somewhere looking at people and telling tall tales. After that we go to play goodminton in the Nygårds Park. Goodminton is where you want to keep your game going as long as possible – there is no net and no rules. We also bring beers and drink and play until the sun goes down. Then, after a quick meal somewhere nasty, we head to Landmark and dance the night away to contemporary dance music, and then we go down to the pier and watch the sunrise and bath naked in the ocean.”
Ungdomskulen’s A-Z of Bergen
Apollon or Robot
Two good record shops for vinyl.
Bien
Converted drug store now transformed into a bar.
BIFF
Bergen International Film Festival, a very good festival. They have a lot of good documentary films and independent stuff from all over the world.
Café Opera
Café Opera has a lot of club nights and a monthly favourite is a prog rock night hosted by our very own Kristian Stockhaus called Prog Rock Me Amadeus.
Hulen Unique
Bergen venue that’s an old bomb shelter inside a mountain and it’s dark and cosy and totally worth checking out.
Knøderen
Cafe serving very good Svele, which are Norwegian traditional thick pancakes, served with brown cheese and marmalade.
Landmark
Good for coffee or a rave. Ungdomskulen’s favourite hangout place in Bergen, with a high ceiling and nice sofas and general awesome atmosphere.
Line Ira
One of Bergen’s best music promoters.
Lydgalleriet
A really cool sound gallery.
Nøsteboden
An ancient wooden pub by the old harbour selling delightfully expensive beer.
Nordnesparken
A beautiful park with a real totem pole in it.
Øyvinds Place
The traditional restaurant where the annual Ungdomskulen Christmas Feast takes place in October.
Pepper
Funky clothes shop in Nygårdsgaten
Pingvinen
Good traditional Norwegian food like stewed lamb.
Razika
We’re impressed by this local band with just girls. They’re really young, really nice, polite and talented.
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Words by Matthew Bennett
