The name on the records

Forged in the North

Written, played and produced by Roger Johannesen

This is the name on the streaming services. Look for the name, not for me.

Where to hear it

For me, music is more than melodies and rhythms. It is a way of giving shape to thoughts, emotions, and experiences that words alone cannot fully express. Every composition reflects who I am, the stories that have shaped me, and the way I see the world.

Thirty years Clarinet and saxophone the whole way, with flutes of many kinds alongside them, and percussion for the pulse.

My thoughts through music

Underneath everythingEven the lines played by a virtual instrument are written by someone who knows what a real one asks for.

Music has been part of my life since childhood, and I have spent thirty years as a wind player. The clarinet and the saxophone have been my main instruments through all of them, and alongside those I have played flutes of many kinds, from the concert flute to simpler traditional ones. Thirty years with a reed and a mouthpiece teaches you things that no plugin can: how a phrase needs to breathe, where a line wants to lift and where it should be allowed to fade, and how much character lives in the small imperfections of a real instrument. I have also played percussion for many years, which gave me the feel for pulse and space that still decides how I place things in a bar. All of this sits underneath every melody I write, even the ones performed by a virtual instrument. I have always been drawn to the sound and character of traditional Viking and Nordic instruments as well, to their raw, organic tones and the cultural heritage they carry.

Drawing on Norse mythology, history, and the timeless landscapes of the North, I aim to create music that resonates on a deeply human level and invites listeners to find their own meaning in every note. Ancient influences are brought to life through modern production. My primary digital audio workstations are Cakewalk Sonar and Reaper, where I work with a wide range of virtual instruments. Much of my playing goes in through a Nektar Impact LX61 mk3, a 61 key MIDI controller with velocity sensitive keys, faders, and pads. The 61 keys give me enough range to play string and brass lines with both hands rather than programming them note by note, and its tight integration with the DAW lets me control transport, mixer, and plugin parameters straight from the keyboard, so the arrangement keeps moving while the idea is still fresh. Not everything is played on a keyboard, though. When a piece calls for a real wind line, I still bring out the clarinet or the saxophone and record it straight into the session through a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, so the breath, the attack, and the small human details of the performance end up in the final track rather than being approximated by a sample library. Parts that need the precision of the piano roll are programmed there instead. Together this setup lets me blend traditional musical inspiration with contemporary orchestration and sound design, and craft immersive, expressive musical journeys.

The method Play what wants to be played. Program what wants to be exact.

In the workshop

WORKSTATIONCakewalk Sonar and Reaper

CONTROLLERNektar Impact LX61 mk3, 61 velocity sensitive keys

INTERFACEFocusrite Scarlett 2i2

PLAYEDClarinet, saxophone, flutes, percussion

The same list as the paragraph above, for when you would rather scan than read.

Release

Høvding fra Romsås

2026

Høvding fra Romsås

My son Odin Johannesen. Yes, his name really is Odin, and I couldn’t imagine a more fitting one.

Høvding fra Romsås is a Norwegian musical journey through my own childhood and teenage years in Romsås, Oslo. More than just a song, it is a story filled with memories, familiar places, and the spirit of a community that shaped who I am.

For those who grew up in Romsås during the 1980s and 1990s, the lyrics will bring back moments of laughter, nostalgia, and recognition. It is a heartfelt tribute to the neighborhood, celebrating its unique identity while also reflecting on how time has changed both the place and the people. Through personal storytelling, the song captures the contrast between the Romsås I remember and the one that exists today.

1 track

Listen on

Spotify YouTube Music Apple Music Tidal

Credits

Vocals: Roger Johannesen and Synthetic vocals
Artist: Roger Johannesen
Lyrics: Roger Johannesen

Tracks

01 Høvding fra Romsås Original edition

Stream onSpotify YouTube Music Apple Music Tidal

or just listen

Stream only

Lyrics 70 lines

Verse

I was born in granite and concrete where the Grorud Valley lies

Where the tower blocks stand like longships raised against the skies

The eighties and the nineties, a kid with the North in his blood

I learned to rule my kingdom on asphalt, snow and mud

Verse

At Svarttjern, in block one-sixty-six, sixth floor up in the air

That's where my saga started, and everything led from there

A little concrete fortress, but a kingdom in my eyes

Where childhood grew up mighty, near mythical in size

Verse

We marched like Vikings upward to the Romsås tower's crown

Where the wind sang ancient verses and childhood settled down

We stood there like the chieftains and watched the city sprawl

As if the whole of Oslo lay in our hands, so small

Verse

In the wind up from the tower I can hear the lur cry out

Like echoes out of sagas that never fade or doubt

The goat horn gives its answer from valley and from height

And the tagelharpa's singing of evening and of night

Verse

A lyre softly whispers of memories that stay

And drums of hide are beating till the heart is swept away

Like Vikings in a rhythm on asphalt and on stone

On Romsås, where my childhood is forever mine alone

Chorus

I'm a chieftain from Romsås, in the heart of stone

With memories like fire and a childhood my own

From Svarttjern to the schoolyard, we ruled all the way

Romsås, my kingdom, lives in me today

Verse

We swam down at Stemmern, in Steinbruvannet's glass

Where summer lasted forever and the days were paradise

Cold water, blazing daylight, we screamed as if we'd won

Like Vikings in the breakers, with laughter burning on

Here we found our peace when Valhalla needed rest

Verse

On tohundrern the racetrack was where we ran our best

Small warriors of plastic and metal, we lived on hope

Who's fastest, who's king of the bend, or a crash by the sheds on the slope?

That was the asphalt saga, that was what childhood was made of

Verse

Svarttjern housing estate, I knew every wall by heart

Every stairwell, every corner, every secret little part

It was my little kingdom, my fortress made of stone

Where echoes of our footsteps became a childhood song

Verse

Bjøråsen school, where the saga was turned into words

Where we learned how to dream, where we grew up as a herd

From pencil on to future, from play to what was real

But we carried Romsås with us, a mark that time can't steal

Chorus

I'm a chieftain from Romsås, in the heart of stone

With memories like fire and a childhood my own

From Svarttjern to the schoolyard, we ruled all the way

Romsås, my kingdom, lives in me today

Verse

The youth club called the pack in, where the saga came alive,

A splash at Romsåsduppen, no fear, just pure drive.

Romsås Grand Prix, full throttle down every single hill,

Humleby was always cooking, day and night, it never stood still.

Verse

We jumped from shed to shed along the ledges and the trails

With creativity as strategy, we never seemed to fail

We climbed the roofs and garages with courage in our chest

Local Vikings in the asphalt, in the rubble and the rest.

Verse

We found our own ways forward where others said "no more"

Used our wits and found the pathways from the bottom to the top floor

Whatever blocked our road became a game, became a leap

And the whole estate became a passage we could keep

Verse

And when I look back over the great wide sea of time

Romsås stands like a fortress in all I've dug from mine

In memory, in dreaming, in everything I've grown

A chieftain out of childhood, in Nordic runes of stone

Chorus

I'm a chieftain from Romsås, in the heart of stone

With memories like fire and a childhood my own

From Svarttjern to the schoolyard, we ruled all the way

Romsås, my kingdom, lives in me today

Verse

We were never only children on a hill of concrete and stone.

We were kings within the saga, in a Valhalla of our own!

Verse

Romsås, our kingdom, our strength and our creed

It lives inside the blood, it gives me the calm I need

I carry it onward, every day, every year!

The whole song, on its own page

Vers

Jeg er født i granitt og betong i Groruddalens gryte

Der blokkene står som langskip mot himmelens dype rute

80 og 90-tallet, en unge med nord i blod

Jeg lærte å styre mitt rike fra asfalt, snø og ro

Vers

På Svarttjern, i blokk nummer hundreogsekstiseks i etasje seks

Der startet min saga, der alt fikk sin vei

En liten borg i betong, men for meg et helt kongerike

Der barndommen vokste seg stor og nesten mytisk

Vers

Vi gikk som vikinger opp mot Romsåstårnets topp

Der vinden sang gamle sanger og barndommen ble ett.

Vi sto der som høvdinger og så over byen som lå under oss

Som om hele Oslo lå i vår hule hånd.

Vers

I vinden fra tårnet hører jeg lurens rop

Som ekko fra sagaer som aldri tar stopp

Bukkehornet svarer fra dal og fra fjell

Og tagelharpa synger om natt og om kveld

Vers

En lyre som hvisker om minner som består

Og trommer av skinn som får hjertet til å slå

Som vikinger i rytme på asfalt og stein

På Romsås hvor barndommen alltid er min

Refreng

Jeg er høvding fra Romsås, i hjertet av stein

Med minner som flammer og barndom så rein

Fra Svarttjern til skolen, vi herska vår vei

Romsås, mitt rike, det lever i meg

Vers

Vi bada på Stemmern, Steinbruvannets speil

Der sommeren var evig, og dagene føltes som paradis

Kaldt vann, varme dager, vi skrek som om vi vant

Som vikinger i bølger med latter som brant.

Her fant vi fred når vi trengte et pust fra vårt Valhall.

Vers

På tohundrern var banen der vi kjørte våre løp

Små krigere i plast og metall, vi levde i håp

Hvem er raskest, hvem er kongen i svingen, eller ble det smell i boden?

Det var asfaltens saga, det var barndommens ting

Vers

Svarttjern borettslag, jeg kjente hver en vegg

Hver trapp, hvert hjørne, hvert hemmelige steg

Det var mitt lille kongerike, min borg i betong

Der ekko av fottrinn ble til barndommens sang

Vers

Bjøråsen skole, der sagaen ble til ord

Der vi lærte å drømme, der vi vokste i kor

Fra blyant til framtid, fra lek til alvor

Men vi bar Romsås i hjertet, som et evig spor

Refreng

Jeg er høvding fra Romsås, i hjertet av stein

Med minner som flammer og barndom så rein

Fra Svarttjern til skolen, vi herska vår vei

Romsås, mitt rike, det lever i meg

Vers

Ungdomsklubben samla flokken, der sagaen fikk liv,

Splæsj på Romsåsduppen, ingen frykt, bare driv.

Romsås Grand Prix, full fart ned hver kneik,

Humleby kokte alltid, dag og natt, uke etter uke.

Vers

Vi hoppet fra bod til bod langs kant og sti

Med kreativitet som vår egen strategi

Vi klatret på bygg og garasjer med mot

Lokale vikinger i asfalt og rot.

Vers

Vi fant våre veier der andre sa stopp

Brukte kløkt og fant stier fra bunn og til topp

Det som sto i vår vei ble til lek og til sprang

Og hele området ble til vår egen gang

Vers

Og når jeg ser tilbake fra tidens store hav

Står Romsås som en festning i alt jeg har gravd

I minnet, i drømmen, i alt jeg er blitt

En høvding fra barndommen, i nordisk skrift

Refreng

Jeg er høvding fra Romsås, i hjertet av stein

Med minner som flammer og barndom så rein

Fra Svarttjern til skolen, vi herska vår vei

Romsås, mitt rike, det lever i meg

Vers

Vi var ikke bare barn på en ås av granitt og betong.

Vi var konger i sagaen, i vårt eget Valhall!

Vers

Romsås, vårt rike, vår styrke, vår tro

Det lever i blodet, det gir meg min ro

Jeg bærer det videre, hver dag som går!

The whole song, on its own page

Release

To stemmer

On one side, light speaks in certainty and hope. On the other, darkness questions everything. In the space between them, a mind tries to decide which voice deserves to be heard.

To Stemmer is a Norwegian story told through sound, where light and shadow coexist within the same mind. It is not just a song, but a dialogue between hope and doubt, joy and despair, confidence and fear.

Two voices collide in an emotional struggle that many will recognize as their own inner dialogue. One reaches upward, striving to believe and keep moving forward. The other pulls back, questions everything, and reminds us of every fall.

Yet neither side truly wins. Instead, something more human emerges, the understanding that both can exist at once.

This is a song about mental health, inner conflict, and the fragile but persistent nature of hope.

0 tracks

Not on the streaming services yet.