Danish musicians go abroad like never before to make it in showbiz. In some cases the export actually triggers traffic in the opposite direction. Mads Mouritz – in the SPOT line-up in both 2003 and ‘05 released his debut (with English lyrics) in 2004 and spent most of 2006 in New York. All this time he spent playing as many gigs as possible at various venues for singer/songwriters in the city.
“My own band from Denmark went over here to join me. In one week of August we played four gigs at my regular venue, and we repeated it in November”.
When his Danish band wasn’t in town, he played with other friends who were visiting or local musicians. And little by little he established his own network of contacts in the music world.
This year he comes to SPOT with a new album which to a large extent has been created with help from his network. The album was recorded with a Canadian producer and an international group of musicians. Yet, this time the Lyrics are in Danish!
Obviously quite a lot of the musicians on the album are North American. Some of them actually crossed the Atlantic to play with you here in Denmark as well. How have you managed to make ends meet?
“My own and the other Danish musicians’ travelling has been possible mainly due to financial support from ROSA and other organisations. It has been a niggling job with the Canadian musicians, who appear on the album, but some of them were touring in Europe this spring and was interested in playing with me again. I even managed to get some of them a few extra gigs. We had to club together to pay for one of the tickets though”.
How has the fact that you have worked with an international crew of musicians affected the musical expression of the album?
“It has had a great impact on the sound of the album. Just to mention one thing, the Canadian choristers sing in Danish. Their foreign pronunciation is simply unique”.
