On November 13, Down South Pepper band published their song 'Boots And Overcoat,' which is about a local fisherman and how he lived his life. This is a catchy, melodic, traditional tune. Down South Pepper is a band from the far north of Europe (Finnmark, Norway). They play americana and roots music that is influenced by American roots music as well as the harsh weather, open sea, and lappish culture of Finnmark. The music is catchy and typically has a witty message. Their music is commonly heard on independent radio stations worldwide. To find out more I invite you to read the interview.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey DSP band, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What have you been up to over the past year in this big old mess?
So cool to chat with you too Kamil, and yes the last year has been quite a challenge for us and everyone in this business. But we feel we have made the best of it; writing new songs, spent time in studio and trying to make plans for the time to come.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
We think our music suits in the americana/roots/country category, inspired by great artists like Neil Young, Steve Earle and Toby Keith mixed with elements from traditional norwegian and irish music. And we even some times get inspiration and feelings from our indigenous lappish background. The stories we try to tell are often about persons or phenomenas we observe or have experienced ourselves. The songs often have a humourous twist, both in the lyrics and sometimes in the music itself. We feel that we have a recognizable style of music and stories that people seems to like.
Your latest song is 'Boots And Overcoat'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
Boots and Overcoat is a song that is inspired by a couple of characters in the village where we grew up. There were a few older fishermen who lived like that, free lives with a strong connection to the sea and nature and not very concerned about material things, time or regulations. The melody and instrumentation was a result of inspiration from folk music and that Runes wife Sylvelin had a brilliant idea of using a flute to get the right atmosphere in the song – this is the first time we used a flute in a song. The names we used in the song Neil and mr Smith is inspired from the radio/podcast DJ Neil Smith in Nashville who frequently used to play our songs on his show “Under Country Music”.
Do you have trouble with performance anxiety?
There is always some anxiety when we do performances live. It’s important to give a good show to the people who spend their time and money on our show, so with that in mind there will always be an anxiety. But on the positive side, it is a good thing because it helps to sharpen our performance and not do a show on just routine.
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
There are lots of real-life situations that inspire us. It can be people that we know or meet, it can be events that we read about in the media or it can be un-justice that we observe in life. One example is the song “That’s How the Money Gets Around” that is about a mayor who had misused his position to gain economic advantages. We can not tell you the name of that mayor because of potential lawsuit, but have a listen to the song and you’ll get the idea.
What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five to 10 years?
The next years we will continue to make more songs and catchy americana music with a hint of Lappish and Norwegian folk music. Until today we had more than 500,000 airplays on radio and we are hoping that the number will keep on growing and that we’ll get on a festival stage again when the pandemic situation allows us.
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
If it was not for our music career we would probably be vagabonds wandering around. We can’t really see that we have any other talents or possibilities than music.
What is your creative process like?
When we write a song it is often starting with a vague idea about which phenomena or situation we want to write about. Other times the song can just come to us when we’re sitting with our guitars and jamming. Suddenly a feeling, a riff, or a chord progression is born and can develop into a whole song. The writing of a song can take us from one day up to several years.
Recording new songs is always a lot of fun. There are always so many choices and paths to choose from, that will all lead us in different directions on the song. Shall the song be with acoustic guitars or do we need a more solid wall of sound behind the vocals, shall we have the country twang sound, or will it work better with a bluesy guitar sound? Then if it is the bassline, shall it just support the rhythm, or does the bass need its own voice? Who will be the best fit on bass for this song? And then, piano, organ, jaw harp, and other instruments…Which one shall we choose? And how shall the lead vocal and the backing vocals harmonies be, do we need single backing harmony lines in the verses? How do we get the refrain to be outstanding? Arranging and recording a song can be a complex task, but sometimes it comes to us just like that.
What is the best advice you’ve been given?
One of the best advice we’ve been given is to focus on our goal, believe in ourselves and not give up if there are obstacles in the way. Our success did not come easy, but as a result of continuous and hard work.
What are your plans for next year?
Next year we have several new songs coming up, we have a couple of festivals on our list and we will do all we can to get on a stage near you. The pandemic has been a pain, but we think we see a light in the tunnel now and doors are soon opening and we’ll be ready.