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When singer-songwriter Ane Brun first left the security of the fjords of Molde, Norway to pursue a career in music, she busked on the street corners of Barcelona.
"It was my first live performance in front of strangers, and I think it made me braver, but I see it more as an adventure," Brun said in a Tribune interview.
Since then, the 36-year-old singer has relocated to Sweden and released eight albums, with highlights of her career including being tapped by Peter Gabriel to open and duet with him on his orchestral "New Blood" tour throughout 2010. In addition, on her last album she worked with Nico Muhly, the contemporary classical music composer who composed "The Edge of the World," the five-piano concerto which Muhly wrote for Utah pianists The 5 Browns.
Brun has left those secure jobs to embark on a rare U.S. tour, where she will display her pop craftsmanship — and incredibly nuanced soprano — that shows influences from the classical world. In an interview with The Tribune, Brun talked about growing up in Norway, collaborating with Gabriel and Muhly and singing during a Utah summer without air-conditioning.What do your covers of Antony & The Johnsons "Another World," Built to Spill's "I Would Hurt a Fly," and Mercedes Sosa's "Alfonsina y El Mar" tell us about who you are as a musician and what you are drawn to?I've listened to a very broad range of music all through of my life, from indie rock, Latin American folk music, classical music, alternative pop, jazz and commercial pop. I've done covers of music from the 1600s and contemporary music. The last cover I've recorded is a song by Arcade Fire. I'm drawn to good melodies, and I search for something in these songs, and also in my own songwriting that keeps my attention.What is Molde like, and how did it shape you?Molde is a small town in the fjords of Norway with a population of approximately 25,000. It's a magnificently beautiful place with a range of mountain tops and the beautiful blue colored fjords. It's a safe place to grow up — at least it was for me. The luxury of the closeness to nature was something I might have taken for granted while growing up there, but now I see it clearer and cherish it. I use the environment around me and also memories of environments to describe feelings and situations. I think physical images are easy to use to express a feeling. I am a person who grew up close to nature, but I love big cities too. As I get older I feel more and more the connection with the wild nature of Norway. I didn't before, but I can relate to it more now than when I was younger. I've used images of the ocean a bit on this new album. It's something very familiar to me. Music was a big part of my childhood, since my mum is a musician and a vocal-piano teacher. I learned a bit of piano in my teens and attended a choir, but I was most of all a dancer and a gymnast then. But the musical part of the dancing was very important to me, and I've been an eager listener of music since I was a little girl. I think the fact that Molde has an international jazz festival each year, with some of the biggest stars visiting every year in July, has influenced me. I got to see a great variety of music live from a early age. My mum who is a musician and music teacher, brought me and my sister and brother to concerts and we also had music at home all the time. It was very natural to sing along to everything we heard on the stereo or the record player, and even though I started my music career in my 20s it was always very natural to sing and to be around music. When it comes to musical influences I believe that it matters where you come from, because the music you hear through out your life becomes a part of a source of melodies, phrasing and tone in the music that I make myself. And growing up in Scandinavia means hearing and seeing music and culture from the English speaking world combined with the Scandinavian culture. So I believe my music is of course influenced by old popular Scandiavian folk music, I can hear that in some of my songs, like "Lullaby for grown-ups", but I believe that it's more a result of me listening to pop, jazz, classical music and music from other parts of the world mixed with traditional music from Norway and Sweden. I think of myself as Norwegian but I also feel very much a part of the Swedish society after having lived in Stockholm for 11 years. I call myself Scandinavian when travelling overseas, since it makes it easier for me to relate to it. I am a part of the Swedish music scene. What did you learn from working with Peter Gabriel?I met Peter after a show in Norway in 2005. He came up to me after my set and said, "Great set!", which made me very proud since I've listened to his music on and off since I was 10. When I got an e-mail ... years later asking if I wanted to join Peter on tour as a support act, backing vocalist and duet-partner, I was quite shocked and honored. I went over to London to meet him and we rehearsed and then it was all set. I've done close to 40-50 gigs with him in these last two years and it's been an amazing adventure both musically and personally. I've been very inspired by singing with him and the magnificent New Blood symphonic orchestra. The challenge of singing new stuff, performing as a singer in his music, was great for me and my vocal techniques. I found some new vocal sounds and I think that has influenced my songwriting for this album. I also enjoyed the experience of being a part of such a large production at such big and amazing venues. The support act set was enormously fun, playing alone with my guitar in front of thousands of people. I'll never forget the feeling when I played at the Hollywood Bowl or Red Rocks. And it was so special for me to get to sing his amazing songs, which I've loved for years, including the stunning "Don't Give Up," every night. I think the whole experience has made me braver and has given me a more open mind towards the fact that anything is possible. Whom will you be touring with (as a backing band), and do you believe this arrangement is an accurate, insightful presentation of your music?On this US tour I bring a drummer, keyboardist, cellist-bass player and a second vocalist-keyboardist. I play acoustic guitar myself, and it's a set up that will work out well for the sound of the album that is now being released. Have you ever been to Utah? If not, have you heard anything about it, and what do you hope to gain from a North American tour that includes Salt Lake City?I have played Salt Lake City once before, as a support act to Matt Costa. And it was a marvellous experience for both me and Matt. We played on a really hot summer's day in something I believe was an old cinema, and it had only natural ventilation, no AC. It was so hot in there, but the audience was maybe one of the most welcoming crowds I've played for. I loved it. I'm really looking forward to this U.S. tour. It's going to be fun to bring my own band on the road and to promote this album that I'm so proud of. I hope to meet old and new fans on the venues. You have worked with Nico Muhly — how did you work with him and what did he add to your music?Nico wrote string arrangements for my previous album "Changing of the Seasons." I have a soft heart for classical music, and in my own music I like to add virtuoso string arrangements that can bring the production to another level. {It is] another piece in the puzzle of making the recording of a song timeless and everlasting in the listener's mind. Nico Muhly is a musical genius, and I'm so happy and proud of the contribution he made to my third album.
—Ane Brun with Gemma RayWhen • Saturday, May 19 at 9 p.m.Where • The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake CityTickets • $14 at thestateroom.comWatch Brun at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lI30Qw69AQ