This is the story about a little Norwegian girl from Bergen with a voice, a piano, a worn-out notebook filled with songs, and a smile. Although she may seem to be living in a dream, she has lately been camping in her apartment in Oslo. And late at night her melodic, rustic and girlish pop tunes flow out through her window.
Although a Norwegian newspaper called her the Norwegian Norah Jones, Kristin says she is influenced by the likes of Tracey Chapman, Rickie Lee Jones, Janis Joplin, but also younger artists like Sufjan Stevens, Julian Berntzen and Sondre Lerche.
"People ask me all the time what my songs are about," she says. "Most of my inspiration comes from simple observations. A ray of sunlight painting itself on a brick wall, a bluebird on my window sill, a peculiar feeling I haven't felt since I was sixteen, a conversation, a smile from the man in the coffee shop. Anything that jumps in my head, actually."
"I have been writing songs as long as I can remember. My songwriting has always been a highly emotional business. I try to capture and encapsulate a feeling. But a song isn't a time capsule, a song tends to lead a life of its own."
Kristin Minde grew up in the island village Frekhaug in the hilly West Norwegian countryside. It was clear from early age that Kristin was destined for music. Being the oldest daughter of a Lutheran minister, she started her career singing for the parishioners, fair attendees, in-mates on the island. She started playing the piano five years old. Already before she was six she had written her first songs.
"My first experience on the stage was on a church fair when I was five or six. In a whim, my dad asked me if I wanted to sing a song," Kristin recalls. "After my performance, a cheery old lady next to me gave me the doll I had been wanting all night." The doll is long gone but the singing has kept on.
She was a member of the folk song group in Nordhordland, and travelled to many Norwegian folksong competitions. At twelve she was touring western Norway and making television appearances with her singing in the Norwegian folk song tradition, steving. Her singing took her later to the International Youth Music Festival in the Netherlands in 2000, representing Norway with her self composed music. At the same time she sang on several music productions for local artists in Frekhaug.
"My maybe main musical education was through practicing and singing with five of my closest friends for several years," she tells. This resulted in the vocal group "Nardus". With this group she has toured Norway, Sweden and America and performed on shows in the national broadcaster NRK three consecutive years. In 2002 they recorded the album "Uncovered".
For some years now, Kristin has been working with her own material with several talented musicians in Oslo. In spite some detours, she has now finally found the right musical expression. This is also a lot thanks to her band: Andreas Lønmo Knudsrød on drums, Jonas Vemøy on trumpet, Håkon Sagen on the guitar and Torkild Sannes Søby on base guitar. They have the last years been playing at festivals and clubs in the southern part of Norway. During the spring 2007 they recorded the EP "Cinemascope".
"Even when I'm at a party or having the night off, music never leaves my heart nor my head," Kristin says. The little Norwegian girl is still looking for a new dream, a new treasure, or a new song to scribble down into her worn-out notebook.