Solbakken

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Solbakken was a Dutch prog threesome^[1] formed after the demise of the experimental Frisian band LUL, bass player/vocalist Klaas Schippers and guitarist/vocalist Empee Holwerda teamed up with drummer Michel Wijdeveld to start anew in 1995. In 1999 Wijdeveld was replaced by Jelle Buma, formerly of legendary Frisian New-wave act Deinum.

Solbakken have a unique post-rock/math rock style, in which the strange complementary voices and intimate guitar- and bass sounds of Klaas and Empee play the lead roles. Their lyrics are often obscure and alienating as their primary goal, so it appears, is to provide a sense of atmosphere and not to convey any meaning.

The name Solbakken was chosen because it is the name of an ancient Icelandic deity that was believed to have helped the people of that island in reusing their natural resources. This was highly necessary in ancient times because the Icelandic people had very little resources to begin with. In essence, Solbakken was a god of recycling and the band seem to find this very important. Their cd sleeves are exclusively manufactured of recycled paper.

Although this is the band's official explanation regarding the origin of their name, it is surprisingly difficult to find outside sources that confirm the existence of the mythical figure of Solbakken. The word solbakken does mean 'sun hill' in some Scandinavian languages. This suggests that the recycling story is another typical example of the band's strange sense of humour. It seems more likely that the name was taken from a soccer player Klaas and Empee admire.

Aside from Klaas and Empee appearing as hosts in the Dutch television show Waskracht, where they asked embarrassing questions to Dutch politicians, Solbakken do not seek any publicity for themselves or their music. This attitude has earned them a small following of people that respect them solely on the basis of their musical merit, instead of a media image.

Solbakken release their records under the Hooverflag label, which is owned by the band themselves. They are officially a division of the Amsterdam based Konkurrent label.