About me

Photo: Eirill Delonge

Bio

I grew up in the town Bodø in Northern Norway. After a while I moved south and have now settled in central Oslo.

At 16, I discovered the banjo by chance and immediately fell in love with the sound of bluegrass music and the weird instrument with its distinctive sound. It didn't take long for me to figure out that I wanted to devote my life to the banjo. Since then, I have studied music teaching at Nord University, music theory at the Norwegian Academy of Music and musicology at the University of Oslo, all with the five string banjo as my main instrument.

I have toured with many different bands all over Norway, and many countries in Europe. I have also been able to go over to the US a couple of times to meet my banjo heroes, and educate myself about bluegrass music and banjo playing with lessons and at workshops.

The last years have given me many opportunities to perform as a singer, and I sing lead and/or high tenor harmony in most of my musical projects.

Together with band colleagues Jakob Folke Ossum and Nikolai Storevik, I launched the bluegrass music school Grasrota Musikkskole in 2020. The school offers private banjo, guitar, fiddle and mandolin lessons.

Since 2018, I have been booking and arranging the bluegrass concert series Bluegrassaften Oslo.

Recording

In early 2020 I recorded, produced and mixed my band Buster Sledge's debut album Spirit, and since then I have been working more and more with music production. Mainly I have been recording banjo and vocals for my own and other's projects, but also producing and releasing smaller projects for myself and others. I have also produced several streaming concerts and done smaller video productions, both with my own cameras and editing for others.

If you want me to play to your recording, or are interested in hiring me for any other recording, video production or broadcasting projects, feel free to contact me.

Gear

Instruments

My main instrument is a Deering Tenbrooks Saratoga Star (with a Krüger tone ring), with a custom arm rest from Little Mountain Music. It has a set of Rickard tuners, and is strung with strings from American Made Banjo Company (gauges 10,12,14,22w,10). I recently upgraded to stainless steel frets, and I use an Elliott Elite capo.

For electric purposes I use a Deering Eagle II outfitted with an EMG ACB-5 pickup, sometimes through a Line6 HX Effects board.

I also play and own other instruments, including guitars, basses, mandolins, a dobro and a console steel guitar.


Recording gear

Computer: MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro

Interface: Focusrite Clarett 4Pre

DAW: Studio One 5 Professional

Microphones: Audio Technica 4033, Røde NT-5 stereo pair, DPA 4099

Video production: Canon EOS R6, GoPro Hero6 Black, miscellaneous lenses and accessories

Portable audio gear: Zoom handheld recorders, power banks etc.

Software: Miscellaneous audio and video editing software and plugins