Mikkel explains his talent, “I interpret musical and lyrical expression - that's my instrument.” Raised by amateur musicians, he was surrounded by the sounds of jazz, blues and folk music. Over the years, he honed his skills both as a musician and a vocalist, so when he and Kasper met up for the second time he was ready to take on the world. He explains it as, “Going from searching all answers and found nothing, to searching for nothing and found it all.”
Kasper’s working class upbringing was sprinkled with the voices of legends like Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Roger Miller with a bit of Irish folk music thrown in for good measure. He explored many genres on his own. The path he traveled leading him from learning the trumpet while studying the jazz greats, to rock n’ roll and punk. After the garage band left his parents basement, he went on to play with people much older and having to sneak his way into bars to play his pre-grunge tunes. All the while trying to find his place in the musical world, he created compositions developing his own style.
Salem’s first collaboration exploded in a combined style unseen in the Danish rock arena, “we were the ones to introduce drama, tragedy and pathos through pop music,” they explain.
To them music isn’t an option, it’s a necessity, “We do it because we have to. It means the same to us as breathing does to others.”
Now working on their fifth album, their goals are lofty, but noble, “We'd like everyone to get the chance to hear our music. We'd like to end all ignorance, wars and pollution.” Listening to their bold, confidant music you start to believe they might just be capable of accomplishing just that.
| written by Debbie DuBois Miller
