{"id":852,"date":"2019-08-03T10:34:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T09:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fr-nt.nl\/?p=852"},"modified":"2022-06-07T22:51:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T21:51:10","slug":"daniel-norgren-hervindt-zichzelf-tussen-zonneschijn-en-regen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fr-nt.nl\/en\/2019\/08\/03\/daniel-norgren-hervindt-zichzelf-tussen-zonneschijn-en-regen\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Norgren rediscovers himself between sunshine and rainstorms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things just didn\u2019t go to plan with Daniel Norgren's new record. The Swedish songwriter lacked the focus to fuse a collection of songs into a bigger story. After a barren period, a traumatic event in his personal life convinces Norgren to throw his album in the trash and start over when the air clears. Then he and his band move into a nineteenth-century textile farm, deep in the forest. It turns out to be the perfect birthplace for the playful yet thoughtful Wooh Dang<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by:<\/strong> Dirk Baart
Photo: <\/strong>Larry Limp

Daniel Norgren has been making a name for himself over the past ten years with blues and folk that are clearly inspired by American traditions, but from which the Scandinavian darkness never completely disappears. The thirty-something debuted in 2007 with Kerosene Dreams<\/em>, an album that Norgren largely recorded with homemade instruments. In the years that followed, he broke through with Outskirt<\/em> and Horrifying Deatheating Bloodspider<\/em>, albums that conquered the hearts of roots lovers from all over the world, but that always remained connected to Norgren's home base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That home base is located in the forests of southern Sweden, around Norgren's hometown Bor\u00e5s. He lives there among the tall trees and runs Superpuma Records with his trusted producer Pelle Nyhage, the label on which all his albums have been released. His wife Petra is the label\u2019s art director and his brother Christian is his tour manager. A while ago, the company discovered a gigantic house during a walk, not even that far from Nyhage's own studio, but completely hidden within the greenery. \u201cIt was completely untouched, like it was frozen,\u201d recalls Norgren, who just got home from a visit to the factory that is printing his new album. \u201cWhen we entered the house, it was like traveling a hundred years back in time. You could smell that it had been abandoned for a long time, but everything still worked. The heating was just on.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Petra Norgren<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Norgren is immediately in love with the house. For hours he peers out through the crooked windows and marvels at the way they seem to distort the landscape. Soon Norgren instructs his bandmates to move all their belongings from the studio to the house. For a few months they spend large parts of the day there. \u201cIt kind of felt like we were on vacation.\u201d The group settles in the large living room, where a large piano turns out to be left behind. \u201cThat was one of the reasons I wanted to record there. I pinged on it a bit and fell head over heels for it. It was a bit out of tune, but you can hardly blame it, it's been in that house for a hundred years.\" Not only does the piano not always sound the way it should, the guitars on Wooh Dang<\/em> also sound a bit crooked at times. \u201cThat was because we initially forgot to bring our tuners with us,\u201d explains Norgren. \u201cBut after that we decided that we wouldn't bring them anymore at all. To trust our ears, our guts, and not rely too much on all kinds of equipment. Here and there the guitars sound a bit out of tune, but that's exactly how I wanted it.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are even a few first takes on the album,\u201d Norgren says. Nyhage, who has built an impromptu production room a few courses away, records them without the band noticing. \u201cIt was just like rehearsing with my friends for a gig. The first time we were in the house together, we were like puppies wagging their tails with excitement. The only rule was that there were no rules. Of course I was hoping to make an album, but it was more important to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n