In early September the good and generous people of Apollon Records handed this scribe a vinyl copy of an intriguing-looking work titled Under Overflaten by the Norwegian artist Duesund, and it turned out to be one of those magical, life-affirming, and unforgettable encounters that stays with you forever. With songs that harbor deep-seated emotions and perfectly encapsulate what it means to be human, the sophomore album is a genuine treasure and one that sees Trine Duesund Straume (vocals) weaving various influences together rather effortlessly, thereby spawning an eclectic batch of honest, heartfelt songs that defy both description and categorization. We caught up with Trine in late September to learn more about her music.
Hi Trine, how is your day going so far, and what have you been up to lately in terms of musical affairs and endeavors?
Trine: Hi Jens! And thank you for asking! My day has been full of little magical moments with family and friends, hide-and-seek ending with someone hiding in the laundry basket, receiving heaps of hand-me-downs that are now covering my bedroom floor, and, in the middle of all of this, a female brain very much affected by the luteal phase.
Lately, I’ve had two release concerts, and both went really well and were unique in their own ways. In Voss, we had guest musician Gaute Ullestad Moen on jaw harp, who made the song ‘Løgner’ from my first album absolutely magical. Check it out on Instagram! And at the concert in Dale, the legendary Per Jørgensen showed up with his trumpet and improvised his way into three of the songs.
Apart from that, I’ve been doing quite a few side gigs, providing entertainment at various conferences and events. I’m also practicing a lot for a Joni Mitchell tribute concert in November, and I’ve been writing quite a bit for the new album!
With respect to genres, I mentioned in my review that Under Overflaten encompasses traits and elements from pop, Americana, jazz, and singer-songwriter, which is a huge part of its seductive quality and appeal. One gets the impression that you draw on a lot of different musical influences, so I am curious as to which styles of music, and which bands and artists out there, have inspired your own work.
Trine: Yes, I move around in quite a few different musical landscapes, and I really like allowing the songs to remain the way they were when they first appeared in my head.
I’ve probably been very influenced by a lot of the music that was around me during childhood and adolescence: the music my mum and dad listened to. Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, to name just a few. Their best friend was the Norwegian artist Elg, who also inspired me a lot growing up, as there was always guitar playing and singing during our holidays together.
My brother was the world’s biggest Michael Jackson fan, and my sister loved Janis Joplin. Naturally, I learned to love the same music, because they were my idols after all.
I’ve had many different musical eras in my life, from Spice Girls to Danzig and The Misfits. But if I were to mention some artists I didn’t inherit from my family, it would probably be Nick Drake, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Kari Bremnes, Susanne Sundfør, Sarah Vaughan and Cyrille Aimée. Oh! And Noga Erez. I love hip-hop.
It’s really an impossible question, because there is just so much great music out there. I’m always happy to receive recommendations if anyone wants to share!
To these ears there is an inherent, albeit subtle melancholy present in your songs and words. Where does this originate from, and is it shaped by things like everyday encounters, conversations with those closest to you or just people in general, small observations, and so on?
Trine: My first album was shaped a lot by the transition into motherhood, which was a very difficult transition for me. I’ve been open about experiencing prolonged depression after both of my births, and I want to use music both as a form of self-therapy and as a way of helping others who might need it.
On Under Overflaten, or Under the Surface, I’ve explored quite a few taboo subjects that people would often rather leave alone. I genuinely believe the world becomes an easier place to live in if we can talk honestly about everything under the sun.
Some of the tracks and their accompanying lyrics that really stood out to me were ‘Bånsull til Anna og Knut’, ‘Klar til å Dra’, and ‘Glasshus’. They appeared slightly darker and more brooding than the others, and you really make the listener feel as if you have “lived” these songs. Could you briefly touch on some of the themes that course through those particular tunes?
Trine: ‘Bånsull til Anna og Knut’ is a lullaby I wrote for my children, inspired by traditional folk music. The song takes you through the changing seasons, with winter turning into spring, as a metaphor for gradually feeling better after going through something difficult.
One in three parents who don’t get enough sleep develop depressive symptoms, and for parents to sleep, their children need to sleep safely and well.
The first verse, translated into English, goes:
Winter turns to spring again,
the days grow longer,
the birds fly home once more,
close your eyes and hear them singing.
Soon the night will be here again,
and soon you’ll get to sleep,
sleep safely with Mama near,
sleep, you can sleep.
‘Klar til å Dra’ is a song inspired by my time working as a nurse. I spent one year in a neurology ward and seven years in an emergency department, where I met many elderly people on the final journey of their lives.
I watched them move from uncertainty and fear towards a kind of peace, security and acceptance. I also saw relatives standing on the sidelines, often unable to go through the same process, unable to let go even when the person lying there was ready to leave and wanted to die.
It has made me reflect on how good we humans are at making other people feel guilty about all sorts of things, and whether sometimes people who have lived an entire life also end up feeling guilty for dying.
So, the song ‘Klar til å Dra’ portrays the inner dialogue of a person approaching the end of life, based on what I’ve witnessed from the sidelines, and from the hands I’ve held.
‘Glasshus’ is an outro song, and in many ways, it is about putting our own problems into perspective. Living in Norway, we are incredibly privileged, and many of the things we struggle with can seem very small when viewed against the suffering and crises happening elsewhere in the world.
At the same time, that awareness can be overwhelming. ‘Glasshus’ is almost a desperate cry from the feeling of not being able to help everyone who is suffering. It’s about that helplessness: knowing that there is so much pain in the world, wanting to do something about it, and having to live with the fact that you simply cannot save everyone.
As to your upbringing and formative years, I am curious as to whether you come from a musical home. Do you recall what piqued your interest in music in the first place, and was there ever a revelation somewhere along the way that made you fall deeply in love with music and the idea of crafting your own compositions? When and where did you discover that you wanted to sing in a band and portray your own thoughts and feelings through melodies and words?
Trine: I’ve always loved dance and music. I started dancing when I was three and playing piano when I was six. My father taught me some basic guitar when I was twelve, and the best Christmas present I’ve ever received was probably the year I got my own guitar, when I was around thirteen.
The first song I remember writing was when I was sixteen and experiencing my first real heartbreak. But I never sang in front of anyone. Mostly I just sang in bed in my bedroom.
And that’s how I continued: writing and singing for myself, while expressing myself socially and creatively through dance.
Then I moved from Bergen to the smaller town of Voss, and suddenly the dancing stopped completely. I went from dancing six days a week to nothing. I became quite depressed and eventually realized that I needed to find other ways of letting the artist inside me out.
But since I was too scared to sing in front of people, I basically had to start by practicing doing exactly that, so I joined a choir (where, in the beginning, I barely dared to sing along during the warm-ups) and I joined the hospital revue to practice being on stage.
The house band from the revue production then approached me and said they wanted to do a concert with me and another person from the revue.
And that was that!
In our e-mail exchange you mentioned that you are working on new compositions and that they will be sung in English. How is that working out so far, and do you find it difficult to translate complex thoughts or emotions into a language different to your native tongue? It sounds like an interesting evolution within Duesund. Is there an album title in play that you can share with us?
Trine: Yes, I really want to move a little away from my own stories and thoughts and work more on capturing other people’s stories.
When I write in Norwegian, something happens where the ball always somehow bounces back to me, so I want to explore whether writing in English will allow me to remain more objective in the stories I tell.
I’m also considering writing a little in Spanish, because I had so many wonderful encounters with people when I spent three months in Cuba as an exchange student, and I would love to bring some of those people and experiences into a song.
I’ll definitely have to work quite a bit to improve my English, but I think that can only bring me closer to the rest of the world. Because I’ve heard there are quite a few people who speak English.
The first song has already been recorded and is ready for release, and RAMzine readers will be the first to know that it’s called ‘Build Her an Ocean’.
What are you into outside of music?
Trine: First and foremost, I’m into my husband and my two children, who are four and six. We live on a sheep farm out in the countryside, about an hour from Bergen.
Here I live the happy farmer’s life, and now that autumn has arrived, there’s quite a bit of deer hunting going on. I’m actually the first woman on the farms around here to have shot a deer.
I’m also completely in love with CrossFit and running, which I use as my daily antidepressant pill.
I work as a midwife two days a week and have a passionate commitment to improving support for families during the first 1,001 days of a child’s life.
What do the rest of this year and 2027 hold for you and your band, and can we perhaps look forward to some live dates and mini-tours?
Trine: The rest of the year will be fairly quiet on the Duesund front. Mostly because I’ve been turned down for absolutely every cultural grant I’ve applied for, and I need a little break from that before I try to push things forward again. It has been quite difficult to deal with. Maybe that’s a slightly disappointing answer, but it’s the honest one!
So, 2027 is a blank page, and I really hope to put together a series of concerts so that we can bring the music to audiences both at home and abroad.
Under Overflaten is out via Apollon Records.
