Sometimes the most compelling stories come from the most unlikely places. Take Norway – not exactly the first country you’d associate with underground house music, is it? Yet for the past fifteen years, two artists named Vegard “Lil’” Wolf Dyvik and Christian Steenstrup have been quietly crafting some of the most distinctive electronic music to emerge from Scandinavia under the moniker Of Norway.
Their sound? Well, imagine if voodoo, disco, techno, electro, and house music decided to have a proper session together and somehow ended up wandering through the Norwegian wilderness. That’s probably the most accurate description you’ll get, though like most truly interesting electronic music, Of Norway defies easy categorisation. One moment they’re serving up warm, dubby dance floor grooves that could soundtrack a sunset at Burning Man, the next they’re delivering chilling, drone-like landscapes that feel more suited to a 5am moment in some Berlin basement.
What’s particularly impressive is how they’ve managed to earn respect from some seriously heavyweight selectors, we’re talking Dixon, John Digweed, Sasha, Nick Warren, and ND_Baumecker championing their tracks. That’s not name-dropping for the sake of it; that’s a testament to the quality and uniqueness of what they’re putting out there.
Their live performances have taken them from the hallowed concrete of Berghain to the sweat-soaked floors of Fabric, from the sun-drenched stages of Fusion Festival to the underground chambers of Tresor. Not bad for a couple of Norwegian lads who’ve spent the better part of two decades perfecting their craft away from the usual electronic music hotspots.
The thing about Of Norway is that unpredictability, you genuinely never know what you’re going to get next from them. In an industry that often rewards formula and plays it safe, that’s both refreshing and rare. We caught up with Vegard and Christian to dig into their story, their process, and what it’s like being Norway’s best-kept electronic music secret, on the back of their latest collaboration with Island Hill ‘In My Mind’, out now on Budakid’s Flores label
You describe your sound as “like if Voodoo, Disco, Techno, Electro and House decided to have a party together, and got lost in the woods of Norway.” After 15+ years together, how has this unique sonic identity evolved, and what does being “lost in the Norwegian woods” mean to your creative process? Do you find that the isolation and natural landscapes of Norway actually influence the way you approach making music?
We chose this description, kind of tongue in cheek, to cover all bases of our influences, and musical output. We’ve been DJing and into music for so long, that our inspiration pool is larger than the Atlantic Ocean, which makes us both diverse, and maybe also a little unpredictable. We both live outside Oslo City Centre, where there’s not much going on. This lack of external stimuli leads to multiple hours spent in Vegard’s basement studio – which is more hood than wood(s), in all honesty. We were very much into Black Metal aesthetics, when we first started Of Norway, and this kind of formed the way we presented our selves, and has kind of stuck.
From playing legendary venues like Berghain and Fabric to Norway’s own Øya Festival, how do different spaces and crowds influence the way you approach your live sets versus your studio productions?
Experience has taught us that our crowds are more interested in our music, than us as musicians. Earlier live set-ups were more gear focussed, and more visual, which led to dance floors more looking at us, than actually dancing. Too many flashing lights can be distracting, and too much noodling/jamming/improvisation is maybe more interesting for us than the average dancer. So we’ve gradually made our live set-up leaner and maybe more immediate – we put a lot of focus on having a fluid set where we can play more of our tracks, rather than drawn out jams.
In regards to different venues, we might tweak the set-up a little, but we try to keep it very club oriented.
You’re currently working on the third album of your Norwegian Summer trilogy for Connaisseur Recordings. Can you tell us about the concept behind this trilogy and how each album represents a different aspect of the Norwegian summer experience? What particular memories or moments from Norwegian summers have found their way into the music?
The concept was a 24 hour summer day/night in the Norway of our youth. The first album was titled “Smeigedag” which is a local expression for a warm, balmy and sweltering day – in a very positive sense. Being from Norway, these days are not in abundance. This was followed up by “Fløyelskveld” – which quite literally means “Velvet evening” a natural following of “Smeigedag”. And we’re working on the last one now, called “Tropenatt” – which is a Norwegian name for a night which never dips below 20C, also quite rare.
We also felt that this is a nice representation of our musical career and life, starting out young and naive, and growing up. This is also reflected in the cover art (the 2 kids on the cover of “Smeigedag” is actually baby pictures of us, and on Fløyelskveld its a picture of us as young adults partying, and we hope to have a similarly, to us, meaningful and stylistic follow up cover to the last album). Musically we are trying to pay homage to almost every electronic, and beyond, genre that has formed us as, DJs, collectors, and music lovers, over the years.
After focusing on this trilogy for the past six months, how has the creative process differed from your previous releases? What sonic territories are you exploring in this final installment?
As mentioned, we’ve searched for inspiration all the way from our childhood years and up into the present. And we hope that people will recognise some of the little inspirations throughout, Tropenatt, as well as the other 2 albums.
Your collaboration with Island Hill on ‘In My Mind’ for Budakid’s Flores label showcased a beautiful fusion of styles. How did this partnership come about, and what did Island Hill bring to your signature sound?
It all began back, many many years ago, when Dibby pre. his Island Hill days, approached us for a remix for his label Dharma Records. It was for a track called “Are You There (No I am Not)” by the artist Kelly Pavan. 10-12 years later, they launched the Island Hill project, and was looking for collaborators. We did a collab for Bedrock Records first, and then this one for Flores came a few years after. Island Hill supplied both great vocals and some acoustic instrumentation for us to play around with – so its very much a fusion of our sounds, which we are very happy with.
You have releases coming on both Suleyman Recordings in late 2025 and music from a “secret alias” on a new German/US label. Can you give us any hints about these projects, or what draws you to work under different identities?
The Suleyman records track is in the same vein as “In My Mind” – kind of atmospheric and warm. We promised ourselves to keep our secrets secret, so our secrets will stay secret… sorry 😉
The thing that draws us to use different aliases is probably our chaotic output, we never know what kind of music will come of a studio session, and not all of it fits our Of Norway moniker. Having more aliases means we can just enjoy creating whatever works in the moment, rather than trying to shoehorn tracks into boxes of the wrong sizes.
Your music ranges “from warm to sometimes chilling, from soothing drone-like landscapes to driving dance floor mayhem.” How do you balance these contrasting elements when crafting an album or even a single track? Is there a particular time of day or mindset that lends itself better to creating the more introspective pieces versus the club bangers?
As we touched on earlier we are not very good at deciding “let’s do this track now”, so an album process is not very linear. Our albums are quite eclectic in styles within each set, so we always end up with a wide array of genres. Sometimes tracks bang and sometimes they don’t! Thanks to our record label Connaisseur Recordings for putting up with us all these years! We usually produce two days a week after work so the time of day is always a set one when we produce, but mood is definitely an important factor.
Having been supported by artists like Dixon, John Digweed, Sasha, and ND_Baumecker, what do you think it is about your “alternative house and dubby dance sound” that resonates across such diverse DJ styles?
By producing an array of styles of music we have been lucky enough to appeal to great selectors such as the above who are always really good at sourcing new and unheard music for their sets.
You’ve been active for over 15 years, witnessing massive changes in electronic music. How has the Norwegian electronic scene evolved during this time, and where do you see it heading? Are there any newer Norwegian artists that you’re particularly excited about right now?
It’s kind of like the global scene – everyone’s a DJ, everyone’s on social media. We guess it’s both a blessing and a curse. One the one side, the scene is bigger, more things are happening, interesting djs and producers that probably wouldn’t be given time before now emerge. But on the flip-side there are more people fighting for space, and things sound more and more homogeneous and generic. From Oslo we think Boring Crew are doing some super cool stuff.
From playing across electronic music capitals like London, Berlin, Miami, and Amsterdam, what differences do you notice between these scenes? How do the crowds vary, what’s the culture of going out like in each city, and does this change dramatically during winter months versus summer festival season?
To be honest, a great club night is a great club night – the biggest difference we notice is comparing the rest of the world to Norway. Due to strict licensing laws in Norway, everything closes at 3 o’clock – which makes it hard to run a proper club night with longer sets. Which again means that Norwegian DJs might, in general, be more “peak time” oriented.
Can you walk us through your live setup process? What gear do you rely on for performances, and how does your technical approach differ between intimate club sets and larger festival stages?
At the moment, our live setup consists of an Akai Force as the brain, with Maschine+ and some attached Elektron synths and effects. We focus on club friendly setup.
What advice would you give to up and coming producers in 2025? With so much technology available now, what should they focus on to develop their own unique sound and break through? Do you think the barriers to entry being lower has made it harder or easier for artists to stand out?
Focus on the music, not the career – cause a career might, and probably will, ultimately fail – but the joy of making music will never fail you.
When you say “You never know what you’re going to get next from the boys,” how much of your creative process is spontaneous versus planned? Do you consciously aim to be unpredictable?
We are hardly conscious at all when making music. We do what comes naturally and never plan the end product.
With multiple release plans for 2025 and beyond, including your secret alias project, how do you envision Of Norway’s sound developing? Are there any genres or collaborations you’re eager to explore? The electronic music landscape seems to be getting more experimental lately – are you tempted to push into even more abstract territory?
We have a few exciting collaborations coming up, both for our album and for a free standing release. Both are work in progress so we can’t really drop any names yet. At the moment we’re kind of in a very throw-backy housey vibe… if that is even a word. This might end up being black-metal-ambient in the end, but at the moment we’re kind of in a dancey state of mind.
After 15+ years as a duo, what keeps the creative partnership between yourselves fresh and exciting? What would you tell other long-term musical partnerships about sustaining creative momentum?
The absolute love of creation is a driving force, also that we don’t spend time together every day. We have scheduled 2 evenings a week for our music production, and that keeps it fresh. It’s both a social and creative meeting point in our lives.
Tracklist:
- SOUNDBWOY KILLAH – PANG
- SUPERPITCHER – SMILE IT’S A NEW DAY
- ISLAND HILL & OF NORWAY – IN MY MIND (EXTENDED MIX)
- JURGEN PAAPE – IT’S TIME
- SID LE ROCK – FIRST KISS
- GERBER & KALBATA – AKROPOLIS
- OF NORWAY – FLØYELSKVELD
- EDEN BURNS – INTRO MANUS
- BENOIT B – DRUMS SYMPHONY
- ISLAND HILL & OF NORWAY – LEAVING
- DJ METATRON – OH AH
- LITTLE ENSEMBLE – BEDTIME
- HAMATSUKI – SEA OF NOTHINGNESS
Of Norway’s collaboration with Island Hill ‘In My Mind’ is out now on Budakid’s Flores label, featuring a remix from the label boss, plus from Ivory.
Buy / Stream at https://hypeddit.com/islandhillofnorway/inmymindivorybudakidremix
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