Emmerald: You are from Stavanger, Norway. There is so much great music in the "nu jazz" vein coming out of the Scandinavian countries-- Koop, NuSpirit Helsinki, Royksopp... Is that a new "phenomenon," no pun intended. Or does it seem to you that Scandinavian artists are just finally getting the attention they deserve.
Fenomenon: I think that Scandinavian acts have always been good at what they do, but the focus has been on other European countries like England, Germany and France. I think that is because these countries have all the "pioneers" in the electronic flavor and thus have taken most of the attention. But there is no doubt that acts like you described above have put Scandinavia on the map and made it easier for other acts to get attention. Another thing that I think is unique for Scandinavian acts is their level of creativity, there is always something fresh brewing, styles, beats and so on, as opposed to other countries that seem to be stuck with one feel, like breakbeats, or bossa soul or whatever. The Scandinavian acts seem to put a stew of different genres within the beat scene, and that is also recognisable.
Emmerald: How did Fenomenon get started?
Fenomenon: We started in 2000. A mutual friend introduced Hobie and I. We talked a lot about music, and found out we had the same ideas about how to make music. We started off with throwing ideas at each other, and one song became several, and we thought... "hey this sounds good" so we started sending around our stuff and Nuphonic picked us up a few months later.
Emmerald: What are yours and Havard's individual musical histories? What are your roles in Fenomenon?
Fenomenon: I had been with a Norwegian soul band for 8 years and Hobie had done a lot of stuff on his own before we got together. Hobie does all the keyboard stuff and I play some guitar parts. But my main role in Fenomenon is producing and vocals. Hobie does all the programming and sound engineering. We both attended courses for instruments, Hobie on the keys, and myself on guitars. This has helped us get a wider understanding of music and of how to use the right chords for any given song. I think that is where we differ from a lot of other electronic acts that are mostly DJs going after what rocks on the dancefloor. Hobie and I write and produce our material in the good old singer/songwriter style.
