Beats of Bergen: Why does this small Norwegian town produce some of our favourite music producers?

The small, sleepy town of Bergen on the west coast of Norway is famous for its rain. It rains, I’m told, more than anywhere else in Europe. On the day I arrive in my heavy raincoat and boots, the sun is shining. Bergen is centred around a fjord, surrounded by imposing mountains. In the summer months it becomes a magnet for tourism – the stunning landscape and the colourfully painted buildings that sit on the wide waters attract visitors from all over the world.

Like so many Scandinavian towns, Bergen is cold and dark for much of the year and wet for the rest. But Bergen also holds a secret that very few people know: it is home to some of the most recognisable electronic music producers in the world. They haven’t fled to the more traditional EDM capitals of Miami, Berlin or London, but remained in this unique little town.

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On the drive from the airport, we wind through the hilly roads of Bergen. Wooden houses painted in vibrant reds, whites and yellows dot the lush green mountain sides, overlooking the dark flat sea. We stop halfway up a narrow street that leads to Ulriken – the tallest of Bergen’s seven mountains – to pick up the first of our trilogy of musical maestros: the hip hop producer Payday.

Ulriken is where Payday goes to walk, to meditate, to think and find inspiration and it’s easy to see why. The thick grey clouds tumble down the hills, rolling into the dark fjord below. Payday opens the door of his house with a freshly shaven head, shoulders hunched to avoid the arriving drizzle, he scuttles into our small car, squeezing into the back with the cameraman. Payday might not be a household name just yet, but he is one of the leading producers of rap music. His tracks get millions of plays on YouTube – the platform where he broke out – and he produces songs for the biggest names in the genre.

Payday is a little nervous. He has intentionally remained anonymous and has never been interviewed before. There is only one blurry photograph of him online. We make it to the top of Mount Fløyen, overlooking the entire city, but visibility is poor as the fog sets in and the rain starts to fall. We sip our coffee waiting for the clouds to clear so we can start the shoot.

Payday was born outside of Bergen but moved here with his mother when he was four. “When I was maybe seven, eight years old, my mom started buying CDs and I pretty much just became obsessed with all kinds of music.” He notes that a Boyz II Men album was a particular standout. At the age of 20, Payday moved to Oslo where he spent a decade working in logistics for UPS.

“When I was working my day job all I could think about was music. I started following music producers online who were making a living out of selling beats and once I saw them do it, I knew I could do it myself.” Payday, whose real name is Harald Hjermann Sørebø, explains that his stage name comes from the fact that he wanted to make money from music. It was when he was away on holiday in Croatia that he decided it was time to finally learn how to capitalise on his talent.

“I was looking into marketing, researching what people want and I found out that the only thing is just to make unique music.” His YouTube channel blew up pretty much instantly, he says. From there, he connected with a lot of rappers and singers and started to build his network. Within a month, he was contacted by UK rapper Octavian, US rapper Ugly God and DJ Snake, from France.

“It gave me a lot of confirmation that I should continue on my path,” he says. “I wouldn't be anywhere without social media because you can connect with whoever you want in the world. If you are a music producer, you already have maybe a hundred thousand friends out there you can collaborate with.” Suddenly the sun breaks through the clouds and the photographer is beckoning him out. This shy man who has spent so much of his career behind his computer suddenly comes to life. His Norwegian good looks make him an easy subject.

We talk more about what makes Bergen so special for musicians. He references the “very bad ” weather, which causes people to stay inside but, interestingly, he also points to the relatively small size of the town and the fact that it lacks record labels. “Maybe that gives people the chance to grow as an artist, and instead of getting into the hands of the big labels straight away, they can mould the sound,” he says. Payday declines our offer of a lift home, instead preferring to walk down the mountain in the drizzle and reflect on his first public appearance.

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Down from the mountains and into the centre of town, we meet Alan Walker under the bridge that spans the two halves of the city either side of the fjord. Walker arrives in his silver Porsche, decked out in designer gear. Walker is just 24 but already feels like a veteran. His 8.5 million Instagram followers from around the world attest to his DJ superstar status.

He was 16 when he released his song Fade and started to make a name for himself on the internet. He remastered the song to create Faded, released at the end of 2015, and suddenly he was globally recognised as one of the biggest names in EDM. Before long, he was touring from the US to Asia and everywhere in between, wearing his trademark hoodie and face mask.

Still, he comes back to Bergen every time. “It’s known as the city of rain and it’s charming and beautiful and joyful here,” he says. The mountains, he says, provide a peacefulness that allows him to think outside the box. He grew up in the small town with his British father and Norwegian mother although, he says, he feels 95 per cent Norwegian.

He started experimenting on his computer during the long wet winter months. “People joke that the reason why there is so much good music coming out of Bergen is because it rains so much. I would like to disagree with that statement but it kind of low-key feels like it's true.” He also credits Norway’s world-leading education system, which allows experimentation with computer science and other technologies, as part of the reason he discovered music production.

Back under the bridge, Walker keeps his mask and hoodie on. He claims he wants to keep his anonymity and create a persona, but I wonder if there is also an element of hiding himself away. Walker hit fame at such a young age – the period of our lives when we are most vulnerable and insecure. It would make sense that he would perform in front of tens of thousands in a form of disguise. His live shows are known for his trademark bounce (he complains that his knees ache) and his love of pyrotechnics.

He has toured supporting the likes of Rihanna and Justin Bieber and when I bump into Walker a few weeks later on a flight to London, he is on his way to a show in Las Vegas. As we queue up to get through customs he tells me of his gruelling schedule and navigating the complexities of travel during Covid. He laments the fact that his touring schedule often doesn’t allow much time for sight seeing. Although he was pleased to have met the Norwegian royal family at an event in China, of all places.

But for all the superstar DJ cool that he exudes on stage, this former video game programmer still feels very much like the local boy next door. His girlfriend of many years joins him on set and he’s more at home living the quiet life in Bergen than in the superclubs of Vegas. “The pandemic allowed me to relax, actually, and it's been great because when I was touring on a full-time schedule, I could travel for half of the year.”

We talk a little about his childhood. “Growing up, my mum wanted me to learn to play the piano, but I wasn't that interested because music was never, ever going to be something that I would work with. But little did I know...” He figured out that to really be able to produce music well, he would need to know how to play. “So I started just looking on YouTube tutorials on how to play the piano. And since then, I've been working on getting better.” During his 2019 Aviation tour, he performed with a full band – something he describes as a totally unique experience.

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Although Walker might have the most Instagram followers, it is 30 year old Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, better known as Kygo – who is Bergen’s most recognisable DJ and music producer. Kygo was born in Singapore, but his family settled in Bergen when he was young. We meet him on the grounds of his impressive house. Word on the street in Bergen is that Kygo bought the most expensive house in town and has spent the same amount renovating it.

“Actually, I grew up a two minute walk from here. It's kind of hidden a little bit between trees, so I never really saw it up close when I was younger,” he says. “When I was younger, I thought: ‘this house is going to be mine when I'm older,’ but I never thought I was going to actually buy it.” A couple of years ago, the house came on the market. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to actually buy my dream house by the water,” he says. It’s more of an estate than a house, with recording studio, tennis courts, swimming pool and its own jetty leading on to the water. A sign of the success that a decade in the house music business has bought him. It’s easy to see why he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I love Bergen. It's a beautiful city and it's very cosy and it's very nice for me to come back to when I have time off. Touring life and travelling around the world can be hectic, it can be very busy – obviously I'm really lucky to be able to do it – but it's very nice to come home. In Bergen, I feel like I can kind of just relax and recharge my batteries,” he says. Kygo has collaborated with everyone from the late Avicii to Coldplay and Selena Gomez. He started as a teen, putting out remixes on Soundcloud. Now he's making history. His fifth single, Stay, was the fastest song to ever reach a billion downloads on Spotify and he was the first house DJ to close an Olympics in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro.

He also has a soft spot for some of the classics. His 2019 remix of Whitney Houston’s song Higher Love reached number 1 on the Billboard dance charts, and last year his remix of Tina Turner’s What ’s Love Got To Do With It stormed the dance floors of clubs around the world. Kygo's Instagram shows off a lifestyle made up of Miami sunsets, private jets and champagne-fuelled parties . With a permanent cheeky grin, his preppy hair cut and boyish good looks, he certainly appears the most comfortable of the trio in his superstar role, but he says that hasn't always been the case.

“As the shows have been getting bigger and better, I've gotten way more comfortable being in front of a crowd,” he says. “In the beginning, I was very nervous before every show. I still get nervous, but not nearly to the same level that I was in the beginning. I'm just, you know, getting more comfortable with being in front of tens of thousands of people and having to put on a show. ”He says that the lack of distractions and tranquility of Bergen are good for his creativity and making music. Here, he can relax with friends and spend time with his four siblings – all of whom now have matching tattoos.

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Tattoos have become his latest hobby. He recently got one on his hand of the tree that sits in his garden. “It reminds me of home," he says. “I'm definitely very patriotic, towards Bergen. That's very typical Bergen saying that we love our city. We always talk about and brag about Bergen. That’s probably the most Bergen thing about me – that I'm always bragging about my city.”

I’m beginning to see the appeal of Bergen. The dark nights may be helpful for creativity, but they also create a uniquely cosy feeling – known as ̔Hygge̓ – where long evenings curled up by the fire bring a calmness and tranquility rarely found outside of the region. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first crop of artists to come out of Bergen; in the early 2000s the ̔Bergen Wave' broke the likes of electronic duo Röyksopp and the DJ Annie.

“I feel like a lot of people who are not from Norway, or Bergen, will probably think it's pretty sad and depressing, thinking, ‘Oh it's so cold, you can't really be outside.’ But to us Norwegians, we think about it as cosy. We can light a fireplace, watch TV. I feel like we have a lot of time to just focus on ourselves. It's cosy. And it's relaxing. It's chill,” says Kygo. As I head back to the airport, along the coast road, past the brightly coloured wooden boat houses and bright green hills, it does feel relaxing, it is chill. I suddenly feel an urge to write music...