The band from Narvik called Groms Plass

A band called ''Groms Plass'' is a band from Narvik and they have been playing together for over 2 decades now and took their name from a park in Narvik with the same name. Their music is about the city of Narvik and its surroundings, history, and traditions. Another important band from Narvik is My papa's band.

The members

Knut Erik Haugen – guitar, vocal

Øystein Gravrok – mandolin, flute, banjo, sax, vocals

Rolf Andreas Markussen – guitar, vocals

Ørjan Pleym – contrabass, vocals

Bjørn Fredrik Framnes – accordion, harmonica, vocals

Pure local

These guys are perhaps the most genuine cultural thing that came out of Narvik. It's not like when you visit a city and there are places with traditional things for tourists. These are people invested in the culture of Narvik which wanted to express that through music for the locals to enjoy. After that, they decided to expand their art. The point is that the message is very honest and not commercialized. It's like that underground coffee store that only the neighborhood knows about.

Old school lifestyle

They say that if they could decide, we would still use Vinyl and Telefax. Usually, this is a very old school of thought. It's like admiring the past. Or it might mean that a simpler life is preferable. These are the guys who were awarded as ''Æresrallare'' in 2007, which is an award for honorable people in Narvik.

Their dialect

They sing in their dialect which is a pride for Narvik. It is common to sing in dialect if you sing in Norwegian. It is nice that we can keep our own voice and remain relevant instead of putting on a filter of someone else's way of speaking.

The music style

Their style of music is like that of a small city or a village. They play country music, sad blues, and psalms from the mountains in the north of Sweden. They have made 5 CDs out of this during their career and a DVD and 4 singles.

The actual Groms plass

Groms place is a place dedicated to a Polish soldier who fought for keeping Norway Norwegian instead of German during the 2nd world war. He has a statue where he holds tanks ammunition in his hands. The band uses this statue as their logo.

Going international

These guys do not only play in Norway. They are also having concerts in Sweden and even Poland. It makes sense, they salute the Polish war guy in the name of the band, and they go to Krakow, Poland to play songs. They took part in the biggest Shantie festival there.