So … who is Johan?
A few months ago I was sitting at a popular uptown wine bar in Oslo, before attending a jazz recital at the Italian Cultural Institute. A well-dressed and well-spoken young man at a nearby table introduced himself and struck up a boundless conversation. Unusual for Norwegians, he and I both are Norwegian internationals — multilingual, well-traveled, and at times restless. His name is Johan, and he plays the saxophone. As the conversation deepened I learned that he has been forming an entertainment management business offering yet another new wave (nouvelle vague) in lounge music. I shared my own music entertainment history from Manhattan and my artist rights work in Norway, and we agreed to meet again. A couple of months later he invited me to one of his gigs at a restaurant in Oslo. There I got to experience Johan in action for the first time, and subsequently to learn about his project. In the interview that follows, I will ask Johan to give a personal presentation of Johan the man/person, Johan the musician, and the history and development of his very interesting project.
a man of many cultures
Adam: Yo, Johan! Welcome. Can you begin by telling curious readers about your personal history: Your place of birth, nationality, where you have lived, your work and pleasure interests, civil status, etc?
Johan: I was born in Romania, in Bucharest, and moved to Norway when I was 4. My dad is a mathematician and a classical pianist, and music has always been an integral part of his life. He had the chance to come to Norway with a musical band in the late 80s, and after repeating that a few times he decided he wanted to take my mom and me and move to the mountains of Norway, to a small place called Gol. This was the early 90s and I have still vivid memories and videos of myself holding the mic and mimicking my dad, playing along on different tunes, etc. I picked up English and Norwegian very early on.
I have lived many places: Romania, Norway, US – Berkeley/SF, and in different parts of Spain. I have also been to France many times to study French over longer periods of time.
I have a nice non-music job (something to live off and which gives me a stable income), which is in the technology sector; in addition to my role as a facilitator/enabler.
I also have something to live for, and that is where music comes in. Music has always been a driving force inside of me. I eventually started organizing cool events in Barcelona, bringing live musicians together to enhance the experience. At one point I realized that the saxophone had an interesting sound, and I recall instantly wanting to be able to to play that instrument.
Not knowing what it takes to learn to play an instrument I found a teacher and started blowing my first notes. I had played around with the guitar when I was 17 for a few months but I was never musically literate or even remotely able to produce music, improvise or perform. I had learned by heart the fingering mechanism for some songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers… and that’s it. My saxophone teacher from Gran Canaria, Suso Deniz, told me that the process of learning music would change me as a person. I remember that I smirked, and changed the topic. This was in August of 2015, so more then 8 years ago. I have had 4 different teachers since that time, and my current one is surprisingly one I had classes with in the beginning as well. His name is Fredrik Carlquist, a brilliant musician from Sweden, who has lived in Sitges, just outside BCN, for the past 17 years. There is much more I can say about this journey, obviously, but the most important is that I have never looked back and just kept studying the saxophone as much as I possibly could, next to my work and my beloved fiancée Andrea.
My other passions include art and literature. I am the manager of Bert Van Zelm, a dutch painter based in Barcelona. One of my stepsisters, Miruna Cojanu, who lives in Bucharest is also a painter. She does quite well for herself! I also enjoy sports; I have played tennis since I was a kid and continue to hit 3-4 times a week in a tennis club. I love swimming and do yoga as well.
interest in music runs in the family
Adam: Wow! And where did your interest in music performance come from?
Johan: My interest in music performance has developed over time. When I started playing, it was all about the sound of the saxophone, especially the smoothness of it. I was not into jazz or samba, I had hardly listened to those genres of music. I still remember the first time my teacher from Gran Canaria, who lived in Barcelona at that time, Suso Deniz, introduced me to Miles Davis and Kind of Blue. I did not understand anything of it. My teacher just kept pointing me to great legends, and slowly, very slowly, over the course of the years, my interest towards jazz and bossa nova took hold of me and I was finding myself enjoying that sort of music more and more. I would say I had no musical life before I started playing the sax, and that my life suddenly became quite rich afterwards.
I was 28 years old when I started, with no musical background except the family heritage I mentioned. At that age, most musicians are reaching their peak. It is probably way too late for me now to reach an extraordinary level of greatness. On the other hand, the musical joy and psychological wealth and perspective that the process of integrating music in my life has given me is priceless and worth a lot more for me then reaching some kind of musical pedestal or accumulating prizes. I take a Zen approach to it now and don’t force anything anymore.
But as mentioned, my dad is a very accomplished musician. Unfortunately, we do not have any contact so the only real musical memories I have is from when I was a kid. We had a break between 4 and 20 so whatever musical memories are left are from an early age. In recent years, during our period of reconciliation, I have tried to bring us closer with the help of our instruments and our common love for music, without much success. That chapter is now closed, but the music goes on. For both of us, I hope.
Adam: But why the saxophone of all possible instruments? And where has your love of samba come from?
Johan: I am not sure why, but as mentioned earlier, I just loved the sound. It is close to the human voice and there is a unique connection between the player and the saxophone and how the sound is produced. And that love of that particular sound has grown warmer and deeper with the years.
Samba and bossa nova just stuck with me, in the course of my musical exploration. I also went to Rio in 2016 and that opened my musical perspective quite a lot. Brazil has such a rich pool of musicians, it is truly remarkable.
Building a musical network and connecting talent with opportunity
Adam: How do you find musicians to perform with and to promote? And how do you promote the acts you manage? In my day I made tape cassettes which I delivered in an application, but that was forty years ago. I performed at restaurants, weddings, bar mitzvahs, hospitals, parties — wherever there was work. But gigs at upper-class restaurants were the best paid and longest. I was a classical musician but supported myself as a classical-pop lounge musician. How is it for lounge musicians today?
Johan: I am a network builder. I find all kinds of people everywhere. That’s the easiest part, and one that comes naturally to me. Finding people, and connecting them to the right resources is one of my strengths. Being able to perform with them is just a great advantage. I feel like a kid in the candy store!
In terms of promotion, my beloved fiancée Andrea is handling all the details related to photography and online marketing in general. She has a passion for that and has a good eye for details!
Life for musicians is not easy. Every single one I know is struggling at some point or another. The life of the artist is paved with difficulties. At the same time, it is the most honest and pure labor there is. Schopenhauer said that “life is suffering, and that art is the only way out of it” or something like that. What he meant I guess, was that art takes us away from the daily banalities and into a realm of possibilities and dream-like stages, if only for a brief moment. That’s what artist and musicians do. They help us forget ourselves for a moment. It is a great feeling to be able to be able to get carried away like that into a mysterious realm. We all need that from time to time and we need the artists for that.
Adam: You have a great website for this work-in-progress! Tell us at what stage your project development is. What kind of music and groups can one hire, and how is it done? Will you advertise future events online and on social media? And finally, the question that almost every patron of the arts secretly has: when will you be famous … is fame a goal for you? If not, what is your definition of success: for yourself as a musician, and your management business?
Johan: The main thing with Romslo Entertainment is that you can have access to live music as a service. We help you find the right musicians for your event. Jazz and bossa nova are at the core, but we can deliver high end performances in more genres. We are working at expanding into soul, funk, rock, to mention a few. The whole idea is based on connecting brilliant musicians, who need the exposure, with clients who need the entertainment. There is a sustainability element in it, namely the fact that I am helping young artists with exposure and regular gigs and cool venues. I am also dealing with the administrative stuff on their behalf. The artists get called and perform, which is precisely what they want to do. They don’t want to sell themselves or deal with unpaid invoices and other non-musical related stuff. I handle that for them. That’s what the platform is for. And I also envision a sort of management program as well, where talented individuals can get coaching/mentoring along the way, together with exposure to interesting contracts.
We are still at a very early phase. We just launched the business this summer, after me and my former buddy went apart. We were a duo playing at different venues for years. We went under the name of J&J Lounge Music. I decided I was going to take my experience from Barcelona at organizing events, couple it with my love for jazz and bossa nova and do something about it. The result was Romslo Entertainment. And now I get to work with connecting the finest talent in town with the coolest venues. AND I get to be a part of the group, musically speaking. I can’t imagine anything better!
Everything we do is advertised on our webpage: www.romslo@romslo-entertainment.com and on Instagram and Facebook (Romslo Entertainment)
When will I be famous? Ha! I am not concerned with fame, it is not something that I think about at all, actually. I am concerned with doing things well and experiencing flow. For myself, for the people around me. When things are flowing in the right way, then I am most productive and inspired! So the vision here is really to create a strong enough brand so that both talented musicians and prime venues and clients come to us for the best possible service and experience. It is so simple; and yet difficult at the same time. Whether that brings fame or not is secondary. I sure hope it brings some money, because I will not paint a canvas here filled exclusively with humanitarian idealism. This is a business too, after all. But it is a business with music and humanity at its core. And that is what success is about for me: uniting the business side of it with the people side while at the same time making use of your unique God given talents. And being bold enough to take the calculated risk of putting it all together
