There’s an excess of ten inches of snow on the ground, more in the process of falling and I am having difficulty getting a phone signal. In the end I am well over a half hour late initiating the scheduled phone interview with Norwegian arms. I am told there are "no worries" as in celebration of being stuck at home due to the sow, Kieth Birthday was making his Jitterbug 7" a free download on his bandcamp just for the day. Keith Birthday is Norwegian Arms: a minimalist "weirdo folk”outfit singing about the human condition and recreational slumming. He accomplishes this armed with only his vocals, a mandolin, synthesizer and occasional drums.
The album, Wolf Like a Stray Dog, (BigSchoolRecords) was primarily written in Eastern Europe and Russia; and the time in the tundra reflects heavily in the lyrics. We talk about the language barrier combined with the cold climate confining him indoors aside from the occasional trip to the corner store for cigarettes. The only option available was to write, and write he did. Birthday is a talented songwriter and creates an interesting juxtaposition of melancholy, almost nostalgic lyrics with an upbeat, New Dehli-esq tempo that conjures up images from Slumdog Millionaire. He describes his approach to the lyrics as “observation and self respective.” The interview waxes philosophical as Birthday touts change as necessary and something he seeks as a musician and in life in general.
Perhaps one of the main contributing factors to what makes Norwegian Arms' brand of folk different is the mandolin. I asked Birthday about his decision to center the album around this peculiar little instrument and while he played it as a child, he reasons portability was key in his decision to bring it over to Russia. Traditionally the mandolin generally isn't picked, and Birthday doesn't play with one. The mandolin on Wolf like a Stray Dog isn't picked, it's a nontraditional, beaten into submission, rhythmic style that is Birthday's alone.
A recent transplant to Brooklyn, always chasing change, Birthday is still strongly rooted in Philly and can't say enough about his love and appreciation for the scene here. In closing, I throw out the cheap question of which track on the album is his favorite to play and he gently chides me as "that's like asking which child is the favorite"; but since there always is a favorite child I am able to extract the title track "Wolf like a Stray Dog" Norwegian Arms is a fine testament to what boundaries Philly musicians are able to push and we look forward to what zones of comfort Keith Birthday pushes next.
