Berøst Leven – Bergensvenn rocker Stundik'en i kveld

Preview of the concert the same evening at Den Stundesløse (“Stundik'en”) with an interview. Leven (49) says he is lucky: nobody steers him, he is with a small company that lets him get on with it – quite unlike Van Morrison or Bob Dylan, who always have someone above them. The reviews of Defending Ancient Springs are overwhelming; Rolf Sejersted, who brought him back to Norway, sees him on the verge of the big breakthrough, and a big American label has offered him a contract – “then freedom is probably over”.

Asked whether “The Working Man's Lovesong” might be about the closure of the shipyard in Laksevåg, Leven answers that he believes everything goes in circles. His songs are more joy at having experienced something good than blues; he shares an African view of death as a reunion with the ancestors. Inspiration: poets, philosophers, Chet Baker, R. L. Burnside, Johnny Dowd and “David Munyan”, who inspired him to write “Single Father”. One should not analyse his music to death, but see the images. Turning 50 feels good, he never liked being young.