Rebekka Karijord

Rebekka Karijord is a singer-songwriter from Northern Norway, from Lofoten. She is active in indie and piano-based music, and her work draws on both Norwegian and Swedish connections: she has a Swedish family, lives in Stockholm for four years, and later describes Sweden and Norway as her two homes. Both of her parents are artists.

Early life and training

She lives with her mother throughout childhood and moves house 17 times before her 18th birthday. She starts composing at a very young age, writing her first song at the age of three and recording her first demo of her own material at eight. She also learns piano and violin while growing up. At 12, she begins writing songs in English.

Karijord also works as a vocalist, songwriter and actress for children’s records and NRK during her youth. She studies at several performance institutions, including the Norwegian Musical Theatre, the Academy of Ballet and the Royal Academy of Acting in Stockholm. During her theatre education she creates a musical-dramatic monologue called Rebekkas Saga, using bows, percussion, music and text; it is performed 30 times in Oslo and Stockholm and later appears as a drama book.

Recording career

At 17, she is contracted to a major record company, but leaves when it tries to control her artistic direction. She then buys her own computer and begins composing digitally on her own. Her approach combines electronic and acoustic elements, with vocals, violins, bows and story-based writing. She is interested in Nordic vocal techniques and modern forms of joik, and aims to use voice as a way of telling stories rather than simply singing in a conventional style.

Her debut album is Neophyte, released in 2003 under the name Rebekka. In 2005 she releases Good or Goodbye with Peder Kjellsby as Rebekka & The Mysterybox. In 2009 she releases The Noble Art Of Letting Go under her full name, Rebekka Karijord.

Artistic identity

Her music is closely associated with Northern Norway, especially Lofoten, where her family lives. The contrast between synthetic sound from the computer and organic vocal performance is central to her work, which she presents as dramatic, playful and emotionally direct.