Ok, yeah, Copenhagen’s music scene is pretty cool and internationally known. Aarhus is musically catching up as well. Aalborg maybe, Odense slowly. And Roskilde sounds familiar, because of – yes, exactly – Roskilde Festival. But what about other parts of the country, about regions far away from those bigger Danish cities?
I mean, have you …ever heard of Thy?
Your answer won’t be “no” for much longer, since a bunch of young musicians from said part of the Danish country are about to change that and are aiming to get their home region Thy up on the music map of Denmark.
They joined forces under the self-explaining name Thy Music Collective and started to present themselves to the world last month with the launch of a collective website, the release of a mixtape and a debut concert at Alive Festival.
The generally very professional approach is not by chance: members of Thy Music Collective include already better known (and knowing) bands like Quick Quick Obey, Mont Oliver or Artificial Brothers, who are taking along some rather unfamiliar, yet very exciting projects. (Projects, we probably hadn’t known if it weren’t for the collective… but on which we’ll keep an eye and ear on in the future!)
To not only introduce the Danish region Thy into Good because Danish’s blogosphere, but also the idea and spirit of Thy Music Collective, we had a little chat with the guys behind it:
Good because Danish: Foreigners are most likely not very aware of what or where Thy is. How would you describe the region with a few words?
Thy Music Collective: Thy is a tiny area on the northwestern outskirts of Jutland, pretty far away from any of the major cities. It’s a place with lots of wild, untamed nature and there’s something about Thy that aspires a lot of artists to live and work here. There’s a growing cultural community – run especially by the youth. We do have the mundane atmosphere and the tempo of an outskirt area, but you can actually go see jazz, rock and indie shows on the weekends and meet up with a lot of like-minded people.
What are 3 things Danes connect with Thy?
First of all, the Brewery “Thisted Bryghus”, largely considered the best beer in all of Denmark! Then the amazing nature. “Nationalpark Thy” is the first national park in Denmark and has a lot to show for. And finally, surfing – “Cold Hawaii” is the only place in Scandinavia that hosts world championships in surfing.
With the establishment of Thy Music Collective, people might soon also connect the region’s exciting music scene with the name Thy. What would you generally describe as your main goal with the collective?
The goal with Thy Music Collective is first and foremost to establish a network where all the aspiring young bands from Thy support each other with know-how, mentions, sparring and exchange of ideas. The network has been there for a while, but we want to expand it and make use of it for good. The idea is also that it could open up for more artistic crossovers between bands – shared songwriting, new constellations, guest appearances, production and much more.
The network is basically a facebook group and a handful of live shows and internal workshops. This is where everyone can meet and get support from each other. We’ve organized a couple of workshops already, where we invite some cool people to do a course on a cool subject, and we plan to have 1-2 workshops a year. For the first workshop we had a speak from one of the guys from Copenhagen Collaboration which created a great discussion and helped us get closer to what we want with our collective.
Secondly, with our website, social media and live shows the collective is one joint brand that makes an external platform for all the bands. It is also a main goal for the collective to make people aware that we ARE many great bands and musicians from Thy that have a professional approach to our music, our live shows and our businesses. The collective as a brand and a story is a great eye catcher – people find it interesting in so many ways, and this of course means our bands are being noticed more. When producers, labels or press look for new upcoming music, they now have one shared platform for the Thy-based music scene. This is all built on the fact that we are genuinely proud of each other and care to see each other’s projects succeed – it is not a smart PR stunt :)
Does Thy’s location, its landscape and nature affect creativity in one way or the other?
Thy’s location is the perfect type of environment for creative thinking. Without as much cultural activity as in the major cities, we are forced to create our own culture. With a lot of the music coming out of Thy, you can easily imagine the landscapes and nature if you close your eyes and listen. There is often a wide spectrum of sound and a feeling of calmness.
Do you think there is something all the bands of Thy Music Collective have in common? Something that maybe springs from their home region Thy?
Thy Music Collective is a statement that we work together as bands, but in a way we always have. Not in terms of approaching the music business – which is what TMC is trying – but more in terms of inspiring each other and having an understanding of what other bands were trying to convey, even if you play a totally different genre in your own band. There is a great respect for anyone trying to express themselves artistically. In terms of creativity, the idea of creating something from nothing applies very well to bands of Thy. What has been created in the past few years is now being further developed, giving the apparent link between the bands.
Make sure to check out Thy Music Collective’s website, give them your like on Facebook and listen into the great first mixtape consisting of 10 “Sounds from up North”:
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