i'm gonna sing this song with all of my friends

I am dedicating this post to my friend Shane, the reason I am the violinist in a Norwegian band.

In September of 2006, my dear friend Shane made a post on his Xanga in which he introduced his circle of friends to a band he had just discovered. He had come across a low-budget music video the band had made, which was awkwardly hilarious. For people who don't like clicking on hyperlinks, I have shared the video below for your internet convenience:



The band is called I'm from Barcelona, and they are singing a song called "We're from Barcelona." The band is not, however, from Barcelona. They are from Sweden. According to Wikipedia, the band was born in 2005 when lead singer Emanuel Lundgren wrote some songs, assembled some friends, and gathered them together to record them. I liked the tune of this song, so I listened to some more of their music on YouTube and enjoyed it as well. So I prompty tried to download the album off of Swedish iTunes, which Apple would not allow me to do. Fortunately, a few months later the album was added to American iTunes, so I could use my virtual dollars instead of trying to convert them into virtual kronor.

Let Me Introduce my Friends quickly became one of my favorite albums, and when I got some iTunes gift cards for Christmas at the end of last year one of the first albums I downloaded was the band's new release Who Killed Harry Houdini?


Now, let me interrupt here to remark on how this story exemplifies the power of social media. Were it not for Xanga, YouTube, iTunes and Facebook, none of this would ever have happened. This is a distinctly 21st Century tale, born out of the participatory culture revolution that is shaping our world.


So, another one of the albums I purchased with my Christmas money was Skeletal Lamping by Of Montreal. Of Montreal is not from Montréal, but rather from Athens, Georgia. So one day, when updating my Facebook status, I wrote something along the lines of "Andy appreciates that I'm from Barcelona is from Sweden and Of Montreal is from Georgia." I know, I'm just that witty.

Facebook allows people to comment on one's status, and quickly I received a comment from a young woman named Hanne, an international student from Norway. We were casual acquaintances, being in the same program at Fuller and having several classes together, but I cannot recall a time when we hung out together prior to this status post. That does not matter on Facebook. Hanne posted in reply, "Hey, I love I'm from Barcelona, I have some friends in that band!"

I appreciate personal connections to moderately obscure bands, so thus began a Facebook correspondence about the wonders of I'm from Barcelona. It turns out that Hanne has two friends in the band, which is actually pretty low percentage-wise considering there are twenty-nine members, but it's still pretty cool nonetheless. It was an interesting conversation, and it gave me the opportunity to know a casual friend better, but I expected nothing more to come out of it.


Now, let me interrupt here to explain something. The first track on the album Who Killed Harry Houdini? is entitled "Andy," which, as you are probably aware, happens to be my name. The chorus of the song goes, "We could need someone like you in our band, A-a-a-A-a-a-a-a-and-e-e-e-e..." And I happen to play the violin, something I had happened to do in one class at Fuller where we opened every class meeting with some hymns and praise songs.


It happens that Hanne had heard me play my violin in class, and that she knew the chorus of the song "Andy." It also happened that she and her friend Ruth were putting together a band, and that they needed a violinist who would have some appreciation for Scandinavian music.

So, one day I received a Facebook post from Hanne, quoting that I'm from Barcelona song and asking if I'd be interested in helping them out playing some songs, mostly Norwegian songs. I laughed pretty loudly, then happily agreed. The band is called Dråpe (roughly pronounced TROH-puh, only the first consonant is not exactly a "tr" but not exactly a "dr" either), and it is made up of an eclectic blend of Americans supporting the two Norwegian vocalists. We had our first rehearsal a week ago yesterday, and have our first performance at Zephyr Coffee House tomorrow.

That's not much time to practice, but I think we're all pleased with how it's come along. I am excited for the coffee house show tomorrow, showcasing some covers of Odd Nordstoga and various other artists.


So, Shane, through the wonders of technology you have led to my membership in a Norwegian band playing at one of the best coffee houses in Pasadena, California. I'll remember you one day when we're headlining a major music festival in Oslo. I promise.