Welcome to Rocking In the Norselands!
This is NOT a news site. While some of the articles might certainly be about new music, you will probably not get the latest news or learn what is currently going on in the world of music here.
However, if you are interested in reading about how classic songs (and some future classics) came to be, learn about the inspiration behind various songs and pieces of music, and amuse yourself with evergreen tales and crazy stories from the world of rock’n’roll, this page may have what you’re looking for.
Rocking In the Norselands started as a Facebook page in November 2017. I had come home from a Deep Purple concert, and after ending up with a signed CD from legendary musician and long-standing DP tour technician Mickey Lee Soule I felt like writing something about it – and the resulting piece ended up containing a short look at his career as well. I put it up on my personal page at first, but quickly felt inspired to set up a Facebook page for similar musical scribbles.
Up until then, my writings had always been under someone else’s logo. I had been playing with the idea of creating a more dedicated page that was my own, and the Mickey Lee Soule post was what actually triggered it. That became the first real post on my then-new Facebook page.
Once I had started, the pieces kept coming. There was no real plan at first, and the posts were undeniably rather random. I wrote about new arrivals in my collection, personal music memories, and whatever I observed or thought of. Slowly but surely, the page started to feature the result of deeper research, more informative write-ups from the world of rock (and beyond), and even interviews with some of the artists I reached out to. After posting these on Facebook for the next two and a half years, the sheer amount of posts combined with changes to the Facebook platform which made older pieces hard to find, made me look into setting up a more permanent and independent home for the articles – thus this website was born.
The articles delve into the stories behind specific songs, crazy moments, specific shows, and overall memorable and interesting events. Ultimately, it’s all about music I like, things I find interesting, and stories I find funny and/or memorable. This page really is the culmination of a lifetime of listening, collecting, reading and obsessing about music.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a life-long music lover from Norway (which really is what gives the page its title) with an above average interest in the facts and info behind the music. I was a metal head in my teens, and still get a kick out of that loud rock’n’roll sound. My curious nature and instinct to learn more and look wider sent me digging further into classic rock from the 1970s and 60s, moving on to discover progressive rock, folk-rock, punk, krautrock, and even poppier stuff – whatever I liked, I would explore further. All these years later, I am still enjoying that search and keep exploring acts I never knew about.
This is reflected in the only criteria I have for writing about something: if I like it and get the inspiration to dig into it there and then, a text will usually follow shortly after. There is no master plan – you’ll see posts about whatever I feel inspired to cover at any time. I never know what I’ll cover next. No thought is given to what is fashionable and/or popular, primarily because I am oblivious to such trends in any case, but also because I think this would be irrelevant to music fans of my own ilk, which are the ones most likely to explore these pages.
As far as topics I have written about previously and the publications I have been printed in: I have written about my interests most of my life, covering topics as diverse as gaming (Imagonem, NRF Nytt, and Drakkar), fantastic literature (Angerthas (Tolkien magazine) and Sirius), movies (High-Def Magazine, Filmmagasinet), and music (Norway Rock Magazine, Filmmagasinet, and reviews for daily newspapers Dagbladet and BA). I have also been a co-host for the world’s best only Big Country podcast The Great Divide since 2012. I got the opportunity to write the liner notes in the booklet that accompanied the deluxe box set of the Big Country album Why the Long Face in 2018, which was a dream come true.
Thank you for following my musings as I endeavour to talk about such topics in the only way I know how. I hope you’ll take a look around the site and keep checking back. Please follow the Facebook page to stay up to date on new posts, leave a comment there if you like, and please tell a friend about the page if you like it and invite them to follow the Facebook page or Instagram account. Keep checking back for new articles. I appreciate you following my musings.
If you want to get in touch with me for whatever reason, the easiest is to send a message through the Rocking In the Norselands Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/norselandsrock.
