CLASSIC ROCK! HANDCRAFTED IN NORWAY!
The Norseman Company is a Norwegian classic rock project and the brainchild of drummer and song writer Geir Arne Dale.
Geir Arne has always been very dedicated to what he has been doing musically and he has never played in more than one band at the same time.
The reason, for him, is obvious and simple:
-If you play in two bands, you're down to 50% effort pr.band. And if you play in three bands at the same time you're down to 33,33% effort. How can you get anything going for yourself by putting in only 33% effort...?!
You may think it doesn`t matter but it does...! You might not end up owning the world if you put 100% effort into it, that`s not what I`m saying, but if you give it anything less, your failure is guaranteed! 100% is the ONLY THING that can get you anywhere!"
The Norseman Company was formed after Geir couldn't take his former band any further. He wrote the majority of the songs and organized two albums with the Norwegian classic rock band Humbucker. They also went on a three weeks long European tour as a support act for Canadian rock legends HELIX.
-In 2016, after six years of intense 24/7 work of marketing and building the band Humbucker, I realized that to make a third album, I just had to start over. The rest of the guys in the band was not "into it" anymore like I was, so I decided to make a solo-album and that has worked out great! I wrote 9 songs for the album, we re-recorded one song I wrote in my Humbucker days, and my producer, Hallgeir Rustan, at Stargate Studios in Trondheim-Norway, wrote the music for the bonus track "One Step Behind". Thinking about the marketing effect, I didn't want my name on the album though. I thought it would work better with a cool "project name"! After the cover came about, it all came together. It struck me that I am from Norway...so I'm a "Norseman"! I can only play drums so I will need a company to record this...of course: THE NORSEMAN COMPANY! That was a smart move if I may say so myself. It has worked out great, generating way more interest for the project that way!
There's only one problem in Geir's writing process: He can not play guitar! Well, he can put together chords to make songs but that's just about it! He can't play any guitar riffs! He has the riff's in his head though, he is just not able to play them!
-In Humbucker I sang the riffs to the guitar players and they figured it out on the guitars. Now, I had no guitar player! Luckily my good friend Jo Henning Kåsin from the band KAASIN came to rescue and helped me out! I sang him the riffs, he played them on his guitar while I recorded them on my phone and then I sent it to Hallgeir who arranged and recorded the songs in Trondheim with hired musicians."
I like to say that yes, I wrote the songs, but Hallgeir MADE them! In my mind he is the best producer anyone can get! There's just no end to his ideas! His head is full of them all the time! He's absolutely brilliant!"
Geir think that if someone should use their hard earned money on his product, they should get the absolute best he can do. And like he says:
"If you want to deliver your best, then you need help from the best! It goes without saying. Because the best is not yourself! Many people clearly think it is but it`s not. If you are a musician and you write a song, you think that`s the way the song has to be. And if you play the song live before you record it, then the song is set! It works live then you think it is what it should be. But it`s not...! A producer can lift that song to new heights with his outside ear. Him or her hear things that you didn`t think about, he or her hear things that you didn`t WANT to think about. A ton of homemade albums out there lose out on a lot, and could have been so much better, if more people realized that they are a songwriter, not a producer - they are a songwriter, not a mixer - they are a songwriter, not a master engineer! If you want to build a house and you want it to be as good as possible...you hire a carpenter, right? I could easily have produced the album myself, but to me that was not an option, because I wanted to release the best album I possibly could!"
And so the album was recorded and produced at Stargate Studios in Trondheim-Norway, by producer Hallgeir Rustan (Stage Dolls, Cher, Elton John etc...) and mixed and mastered in the US by legendary producer Beau Hill (Ratt, Winger, Warrant, Alice Cooper, Europe etc...). The cover was made in the US by the amazing artist Luna Ridgeway and the CD package was designed and put together in the UK by acclaimed designer Hugh Gilmour (Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin etc...,)
(To see all the musicians on the album, please check out the "Personnel" link button at the Album section at the top of the page!)
The album was called THE COMING OF THE CHORD and was released digitally, and on CD, world wide on US label, Perris Records. The reviews have been awesome and Geir is truly proud of it!
The ballad "Since You've Been Gone" has reached more than 300,000 plays on Spotify alone, it has got rawing reviews, and radio host and writer Welch Gene, at POWER PLAY MAGAZINE in the UK even think that THE NORSEMAN COMPANY's THE COMING OF THE CHORD album...
"...might be the best debut album ever made"!
Now, Geir works on writing a new album and he is also working on releasing a vinyl edition of THE COMING OF THE CHORD that will be released sometime in 2023. And he's also been busy establishing a brand new The Norseman Company merch online store. Norwegian mercc company ARTISTMERCH in the town Halden in Norway are taking care of everything so Geir is very happy about that cooperation.
"I am in the process of building the store with new products and it is really coming together. This is a nice way of funding future recordings because the business is what it is, so you need that extra money from merch sale to make it work. I truly appreciate any purchase BIG OR SMALL and you can check out all the Norseman Company merch by pressing the STORE button at the top of this page and thank you for doing so!
AND:
A ONE NIGHT ONLY LIVE SHOW - ON SEPTEMBER 30TH 2023 - WITH AN ALL STAR BAND, IS BEING PLANNED!
About this, Geir says:
"This live edition of the Norseman Company is downright insane! You will hardly believe it...! LOL!
Stay tuned...
THAT'S RIGHT! LET'S ROCK!
The Norseman Company, name and logo, is a registered trademark owned by Geir Arne Dale.
GEIR ARNE DALE uses SPAUN DRUMS - STANBRIDGE DRUMS - MURAT DIRIL CYMBALS - AND THE "NORSE-STICK"!:
Geir Arne buy his drum gear from Norway`s finest drum store, Trommeslager.no.
"Owner, Jarle Ringseth, is an active drummer himself, with decades of experience, and he always knows exactly what you need, no matter what level you`re at! I highly recommends this store!".
Visit Trommeslager.no by pressing the store logo to the left.
I am living in- and run THE NORSEMAN COMPANY from a small place called Akkerhaugen. Akkerhaugen is a village in Midt-Telemark municipality in Telemark. Akkerhaugen is located by the Skiensvassdraget, exactly where the Sauar-river flows into the lake Norsjø. Akkerhaugen was the administrative center of the former Sauherad municipality. The place has a long tradition as a port of call for boats on the Telemark Canal. Akkerhaugen is located more or less in the middle of Telemark county, south-east in Norway. Here is a historical summary and description of Telemark county, the home of THE NORSEMAN COMPANY:
Telemark county was established as the fief Bratsberg in the late Middle Ages, during Norway's union with Denmark. With the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1662 it became a county, and it was renamed Telemark in 1919 and became a county. The county administration is in the port town Skien, which was in the early modern period Norway's most important city, ahead of Christiania.
Telemark consists of several distinct historical regions. It takes its name from the largest of them, which is now called Upper Telemark, but which was historically simply called Telemark. Telemark is named for the Thelir (Þilir in Old Norse), the ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited what is now known as Upper Telemark since the migration period and during the Viking Age. The Norse form of the name was Þelamǫrk. The first element is the genitive plural case of Þilir while the last element is mǫrk "woodland, borderland, march".
Traditional Telemark, i.e. Upper Telemark, is located in the inland and comprises more than two thirds of it according to its traditional definition. Both in medieval times and later (Upper) Telemark was the region of Norway with the most self-owning farmers. It retained Norse culture to a larger degree than any other region in Norway, with respect to its more egalitarian organisation of society, religion, traditional values and language. Thus the people of Telemark were often described during the Middle Ages and early modern era as the most violent in Norway. The dialects of Upper Telemark are also the dialects of Norwegian that are closest to Old Norse. The farmers of Telemark were marked by a strong-willed conservatism and belief in their traditional values that often defied the central authorities of Denmark-Norway; for example they held on to aspects of both Old Norse religion and later of Catholicism longer than other regions in Norway. (Upper) Telemark traditionally lacks cities entirely.
Grenland and the Skien fjord are flatter regions located closer to or at the coast. Historically Grenland referred to what is now called Midt-Telemark, but over time the name Grenland has come to refer to the Skien fjord area. The latter is traditionally characterized by its cities and its involvement in seafaring and trade. It also includes several larger agricultural properties and estates, as well as industry. The culture and social structure are more urban, far less traditional, more influenced by contact with continental Europe and far less egalitarian. The most important city of the region, Skien, was historically one of Norway's most important cities, although its importance declined after the Napoleonic Wars. The playwright Henrik Ibsen was a native of Skien, and many of his plays are set in places reminiscent of the city and area.
During the Dano-Norwegian union the traditional regions of Telemark and Grenland/the Skien fjord became the fief (len) and later county (amt) of Bratsberg (Bradsberg). The fief and county was named after the farm Bratsberg, since this was the seat of the governor. In 1919 Bratsberg county was renamed Telemark. Despite this, Grenland retains a separate identity that is distinct from Telemark proper; the minority in the Storting voted for the name Grenland–Telemark in 1918.
(Upper) Telemark, particularly Kviteseid, is known as the birthplace of skiing as a modern sport. Telemark lent its name to Telemark skiing, a style invented by Sondre Norheim, and the characteristic Telemark landing of ski jumping. Telemark is also known as the centre of the Bunad movement. Telemark has more buildings from medieval times than any other Norwegian region. Nisser Lake in Nissedal is Telemark's largest lake.
