by Konstantin Chilikin
— Columnist —
2021 brought quite a few new names to the hard rock and AOR scene. NESTOR is probably the biggest surprise, but if you like it hard and solid, than you must be aware of a sensational project called THE NORSEMAN COMPANY. Just think about any of the fabulous hard rock albums with big production which bands like HELIX, DOKKEN or Y&T released in the 80’s— yes, it is THAT good! So here we are talking with Geir Arne Dale, the drummer and the mastermind of the band.
Hardrock Haven: It took a while to deliver the album. What caused a few delays since 2018?
Geir Arne Dale: So it just took longer to get everything together than I thought in the beginning.
Hardrock Haven: You were an executive producer of the album. It’s not something new for you as you did it in HUMBUCKER but this time you worked with so many people. Wasn’t your head spinning at times?
Geir Arne Dale: You are right. There was a lot of work and I thought a few times that maybe I should stop. But as soon as I found the right people everything clicked into place because they are not just musicians but also my friends. And I know that if I decide to do another album that will be much easier.
Hardrock Haven: The title “The Coming of the Chord” sounds like you did find the lost chord. Do you feel like that?
Geir Arne Dale: Yeah, you can say that. I’m a big fan of Y&T and they have a song called “Rock & Roll’s Gonna Save The World” from 1984 and there is a line in that song — “the coming of the chord”. I’ve always remembered that line and when I was about to release my album I thought that would be a perfect title.
Hardrock Haven: In the press release, you called this album a continuation of your work with HUMBUCKER. Why did you choose a solo format? Tired of the devil-may-care attitude from your ex-bandmates?
Geir Arne Dale: I always wanted to release at least 3 albums. With HUMBUCKER we released 2 albums and then the guys wanted to calm down a bit and play only occasional shows but I didn’t like that. When I decided to do another album I was thinking about asking the guys from HUMBUCKER to play on it, but you know we played together for many years and I thought, “Why not try new people?” I think the album sounds more interesting because of different styles of playing and with a different singer,s it’s more like a compilation album.
Hardrock Haven: What amazes me most about THE NORSEMAN COMPANY is that drummers are you rarely write that much butcomposed 10 songs! Was it a hard task for you?
Geir Arne Dale: No, it wasn’t. Since I learned that Peter Criss, the original drummer of KISS, wrote a few songs I was inspired by that. And also Leonard Haze, the original drummer of Y&T, wrote almost all lyrics on the early albums of the band. So those guys were a big inspiration for me. And then, I’ve always had a stretch of the imagination, so writing songs is pretty easy for me. I know that it’s unusual when drummers write songs but it doesn’t matter what instrument you play if you write songs they are songs!
Hardrock Haven: I believe you started writing songs when you were in VIGILANTE. Could you tell me a bit about this band? When did you join them and who else was in the band?
Geir Arne Dale: That was when I lived in Trondheim from 1986 to 1992. We played very melodic music, almost like hard pop. That was when I started writing songs more seriously. We were friends and played a lot of live gigs in Trondheim and the area around. That was a very cool time.
Hardrock Haven: I guess “Wings of Love” was one of the first songs you’ve ever written?
Geir Arne Dale: That wasn’t the first song. The first one I wrote when I was in school. Actually, that was the guitarist who wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics, so “Wings of Love” was the first song I wrote completely.
Hardrock Haven: Jo Henning Kaasin helped you to write down the riffs, which you sang him. Did he record exactly what you required or did he offer different versions?
Geir Arne Dale: He did exactly what I required. I play guitar but I only know the chords, so I can hit the chords and imagine the riffs in my head but I can’t play the riffs. When I was in HUMBUCKER, I had a guitarist to play the riffs, and now I asked Jo Henning. He came to my office, we sat down, I sang him the riffs, he played them, I recorded them on my phone, showed them to my producer and he recorded them properly.
Hardrock Haven: You and Jo have been friends for many years and you live close to each other, so how come you haven’t played in a band together yet?
Geir Arne Dale: That’s a great question and I don’t have a good answer to that! When I was in Trondheim, Jo formed his own band, COME TASTE THE BAND, and that was a DEEP PURPLE tribute band, they played a lot of shows. And Jo Henning is like me. When he is in a band he is in it 100% and totally focused on that. And I am the same, I can be only in one band at a time.
Hardrock Haven: Hallgeir Rustan helped you with the arrangements. How substantial was his contribution?
Geir Arne Dale: He is a great friend and one of the guys who I got to know in the ’80s. In the ’90s and 2000’s, he did really well working with CHER and many other artists. He has an unbelievable ear when it comes to arrangements and knows what to put in a song. There were some songs on my album that he re-arranged completely. One of them was “In This Neighborhood”. I was thinking about recording it with just guitars and vocals and Hallgeir offered different ideas which I wasn’t sure about. But Hallgeir is better than me when it comes to producing, so I thought, “Let’s see what happens. I can always say no if I don’t like it”. And of course, it turned out great. I can say that I wrote the songs but Hallgeir made them the way they were recorded.
Hardrock Haven: “In this Neighborhood” has a touch of loneliness. What inspired you to write it?
Geir Arne Dale: I was watching a movie whose name I don’t remember. It was about a guy who has no success. He tried a lot of stuff but he couldn’t finish anything and everybody in his community turned their backs on him. That inspired me to write this song.
Hardrock Haven: The album cracks up with an amazing “Here Comes Rock And Roll”! The song features a relatively unknown singer Magne Vikra. Could you introduce him, please?
Geir Arne Dale: Magne is from Western Norway, which is about 6 hours from the place where I live. He is one of the guys I found through Facebook. I placed a post that I was looking for singers and he was one of the 8 people who contacted me. I don’t think he had done anything seriously before. He was playing acoustic guitar and recording a few songs. He sent me one of the songs and I loved his voice. I also love his personality; he is very modest and very polite. I thought he would be perfect for “Here Comes Rock And Roll”, so I sent him plane tickets and he came to the studio, and we finally met each other. Magne learned the lyrics and was well prepared. He is a very nice guy and I really hope to do more with him in the future.
Hardrock Haven: There are some other new names on the album: Rudi Remme and Jostein Almaasbro. How did you discover them?
Geir Arne Dale: Jostein is from Trondheim and I knew him from my bass player, he is a great singer, I liked his voice and wanted him on a couple of songs. As for Rudi, I discovered him on Facebook. I remember I was sitting outside of my house on the porch, it was a warm summer day, and I was listening to one of Rudi’s songs and after like 5 seconds I knew I wanted his voice on “Since You’ve Been Gone”.
Hardrock Haven: And that was the right choice! Actually, there are no bad singers on the album.
Geir Arne Dale: I kinda feel the same way and I am very satisfied with the different singers on the different songs. I was a little bit lucky, too, because I had 3 songs with no vocals. A Swedish guy was supposed to sing them but then came the pandemic and the borders were closed, so he couldn’t come to the studio. At the same time Aage Sten Nilsen, the voice of WIG WAM and AMMUNITION, was in the studio with Hallgeir. So Hallgeir played him “Master of the Dark” and said we hadn’t had vocals for this song. Aage loved the song and wanted to sing it, so Hallgeir called me and I immediately said yes.
Hardrock Haven: Did you consider Jorn Lande as a possible singer for a song or two? He is probably the most known rock and metal singer from Norway and his name could help to promote the album.
Geir Arne Dale: I did but he was too expensive. I think Jorn didn’t want to do it and that’s probably why he asked this insane amount of money. I probably could hire Paul Stanley for this money!
Hardrock Haven: Well, the worse for him! And what about the guys from T.N.T.? Didn’t you want to invite someone from these legends?
Geir Arne Dale: Well, I could because I know these guys. I was thinking about different people but all of a sudden the album was finished, so maybe I’ll ask them to record something on the next one, we’ll see.
Hardrock Haven: Anyway, there are established guests on the album. Rowan Robertson played on “Gimme Some Rock and Roll”. How did his name pop up?
Geir Arne Dale: I love DIO’s album that he played on, “Lock up the Wolves” (1990), and when I was 16 or 17 I thought, “Wow, that is really cool!” So I’ve always liked his playing style. I don’t remember exactly how that happened, but somehow I found Rowan on Facebook, send him a request and he accepted it. When it was time to do the album and I asked him, “Would you consider playing a guest solo on one song?”, Rowan turned out to be the coolest guy! He said, “Of course!” I sent him the song and I think he did the solo in 2 takes and he also used a talk box in that song.
Hardrock Haven: Jo Henning Kaasin played on “Since You’ve Been Gone”. The song is so beautiful and lovely! Is it about a particular person?
Geir Arne Dale: This song is really specia, because I wrote it like 7 years ago. I wrote it for a 15 years old girl who had a voice like an angel, but too many people got involved in deciding her future, so I backed out. I didn’t believe in the plan they had for her. The song was kept in my office and I looked it up when I needed a ballad for this album. After some minor rewriting, it was ready. I’m glad it didn’t turn out earlier because then I would probably not have recorded It. When I decided to do this album, probably a year ago, I called Jo Henning and asked if he wanted to play a song on it, and he said, “Sure!” So a year passed by and when he came to my house to work on the riffs and we came down to “Since You’ve Been Gone”, he said, “What a beautiful song is it!” And I didn’t tell him that it was exactly the song I wanted him to play on. That was pure magic!
Hardrock Haven: There is a strong KISS vibe in “When the Hammer Falls”. Was it done intentionally?
Geir Arne Dale: Yes, it was. I love KISS very much and I wanted to pay a tribute to them in one of the songs. Everyone can feel that “Detroit Rock City”.
Hardrock Haven: “Dirty Nelly” is an old HUMBUCKER song. Why did you decide to re-record it?
Geir Arne Dale: When we released the song with HUMBUCKER it had too much distortion on the guitars. But when I wrote that song I wanted it to be more bluesy and groovy. So I decided to re-record it with Per “Peer Gynt” Taraldsen, a very good blues guitar player. I am pretty happy with the new version. After we re-recorded the song I wrote a continuation to that story and I hope we’ll record it because it has very cool and funny lyrics, and you know, writing 2 songs about the same subject is very interesting to me.
Hardrock Haven: Was Martin Steene your first choice for “Dirty Nelly”? This is not what he usually does with his band IRON FIRE and you definitely discovered the new side of his voice.
Geir Arne Dale: Yeah, Martin is actually a metal guy but he likes classic rock. I discovered him when I was in HUMBUCKER. At that time Martin was living in my neighborhood town just an hour away from me. When HUMBUCKER’s singer left, I asked Martin to sing for us and he did it. We played together during the last year of HUMBUCKER.
Hardrock Haven: Why did you decide to make “One Step Behind” a bonus track? Just because it is a bit different to other songs off the album?
Geir Arne Dale: That was because Hallgeir Rustan wrote music for that song. He sent it to me and said, “If you like it, just write lyrics and use it on the album”. But by that time I had 8 songs and I thought that if I wrote 2 songs, I as a drummer would do a whole album. I wanted to try that and see if I actually could do that. But I loved “One Step Behind” as well and I wanted it on the album so I decided to do it as a bonus track.
Hardrock Haven: It’s not the first time that you worked with the one and only Beau Hill. How did you get in touch with him?
Geir Arne Dale: When HUMBUCKER started recording the first album, I wanted it to sound great. Everybody release their own albums recorded in a living room and mixed in a kitchen but I wanted a perfect sound. I’ve always loved Beau Hill’s works and I’m a big EUROPE fan and I remember when I heard the band for the first time in 1985, I didn’t know it was Beau Hill, but I liked the drum sound. So I said to my bandmates in HUMBUCKER, “I’m gonna send our songs to Beau Hill” They laughed and said, “Yeah, sure! But he isn’t gonna do that”. But you never know until you ask. Beau said he would do it, so I sent him a couple of songs and he liked them. Later we became really good friends and I met him once, we had a lunch and he told me stories about the 80’s and we had a good time. Beau is like Hallgeir. He is a millionaire but he is a really down-to-earth guy. We chatted a couple of days ago and he asked, “When will you send me next songs to mix?”
Hardrock Haven: The album was released via Perris Records. Did they support you from the beginning of the project?
Geir Arne Dale: Yes. Perris Records always has been good to me. I know Tom Mathers for quite a few years now. When I was looking foa distribution for HUMBUCKER’s album, I asked Beau and he said that Tom is a great guy. I sent him an email and asked if he would be interested, he said yes and did a great job. So when I said Tom that I was working on a new project, he was immediately in. Perris Records is a great label to be on.
Hardrock Haven: Do you have any plans to bring THE NORSEMAN COMPANY on the road? Who would be in the band along with you?
Geir Arne Dale: I’ve been thinking about that but I don’t know what to do with it. I had an idea to play one show with everyone involved, with pyros and bombs, but then came the pandemic. As for touring, I’m not sure about it. That would be difficult because the album was recorded with 11 people… Make THE NORSEMAN COMPANY a 4 or a 5 piece band? I don’t think it’s a good idea, because the songs won’t be the same with just one singer.
Hardrock Haven: Well, maybe in the future, when THE NORSEMAN COMPANY will be a huge band like AVANTASIA, you’ll be able to bring everyone on the road!
Geir Arne Dale: Well, who knows what will happen? If that will work out, I can do that. I actually saw AVANTASIA in London 2 years ago and they played 2 hours and 15 minutes and no filler song. It was an amazing show with different singers. It was like a bigger version of THE NORSEMAN COMPANY I’d really love to see.
Hardrock Haven: Being in HUMBUCKER you toured with HELIX and became friends with Brian Vollmer. Could you tell me a bit about that tour?
Geir Arne Dale: I ended up being a tour manager for that tour because it wasn’t well organized. I worked from 8 o’clock in the morning to 2 o’clock in the night for 2 weeks. And yes, I became good friends with HELIX and especially with Brian because we were working so close. He invited us to his home in Canada, so my sweetheart and I went there and after that he invited us to Florida where he and his wife spend winters. I visited him there for 3 years in a row and he became one of my closest friends. Brian always runs around with his camera and he could do a few movies if he wanted, he’s been filming everything since the 70’s.
Hardrock Haven: What’s the next step for THE NORSEMAN COMPANY? Do you already have some new ideas for the next album?
Geir Arne Dale: Yes, I’m writing new songs and already have 12 or 13. So let’s see what happens.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.Norseman.Company.Official/
