Paul Voza prides himself on being organised and structured. And by his personal admission he isn’t feeling both of these issues on the time of our dialog. It’s two months earlier than the brand new cocktail menu is scheduled to launch at Himkok, the Oslo bar the place he heads up theR&D aspect of issues. And if you understand something concerning the latest menus at Himkok, you’ll know that one thing intelligent, cool and groundbreaking is within the offing.
It began 4 years in the past after they collaborated with multimedia artist and photographer Olav Stubberud. The following 12 months they upped the ante after they teamed up with famend illustrator Esra Røise and launched the primary cocktail menu to discover the NFT house. Final 12 months they stored the arty theme however took it in one other path after they partnered with clothier Eline Dragesund who interpreted the brand new menu in a full catwalk assortment. So the large query for Himkok followers is, what subsequent?
Cue drums, cue bass, cue vocals, cue an incredible roster of dwelling grown expertise – the theme for Himkok’s 2024 cocktail menu is music!
We all know, we all know, music and cocktails has been achieved earlier than. However not like this it hasn’t. In true Himkok model, there’s extra to this menu than merely choosing tracks to accompany the brand new drinks. They’re going massive. And after we say, massive, we imply extra-large. What number of cocktail menus have you learnt the place a significant document label commits to eight of its artists participating in a menu launch, with unique tracks created particularly to suit the temper, model and flavour profile of 13 new drinks? We predict the reply is none.
After we heard, there have been so many questions buzzing round in our heads however after we sat down to talk to Paul, we needed to begin with…
How did the music theme come about?
Keep in mind final 12 months, I advised you that our objective was for artistic folks to come back to us with concepts for menu collaborations? Effectively, that’s what occurred! Anja, one of many individuals who was serving to us with the style collab advised us that she had an concept contact at Sony and we took it from there.
Which after all led on to the remainder…
It’s all effectively and good having the concept however how did you get log off?
Anja put us involved with this superb man known as Jonas who’s answerable for advertising new tendencies and new requirements. Our first assembly was again in December. We talked a bit, pitched the challenge and he completely liked it as a result of it actually represents what Sony likes to do with a brand new, uh, upcoming artists.
Your fame should have helped?
Sure. Himkok is a really robust identify and we’re famend for our professionalism. After we went to that preliminary assembly we had every part lined up: the concept, the idea, every part – simply as we did with the briefings for our earlier menus. I assume they inquired about us a little bit bit too, and so they signed off on the challenge immediately.
What concerning the artists, had been they conscious of Himkok?
Really, no. The primary time we met up with the artists, 95 p.c of them hadn’t been to Himkok. For us, that was really unbelievable as a result of our core enterprise is centred round 22-35-year-olds. Give it some thought, the bar is already 10 years outdated, which signifies that the individuals who had been coming after they had been 25 at the moment are 35 – lots of them now have children and don’t exit on a regular basis. So it’s essential for us to do issues like this, as a result of as Norway is a particularly darkish market, it’s tremendous robust for us to maintain attracting new folks, particularly after a decade.
What number of artists are on board?
There are eight in whole, starting from up-and-coming bands by to the very well-known. As with all of our initiatives, all the artistes are Norwegian.
Are you able to inform us a bit about them?
Certain, we now have two 19 year-olds, one is a hip-hop artist known as Destina who’s presently a viral sensation on TikTok, the opposite is Linnea Ruud, referred to as LilNeya, who fuses dance, hip-hop, R&B and reggae. Then there’s Mari Bella, who was the youngest winner of Idol Norge on the age of 15. She’s now 18 and is a nationwide success after participating within the Eurovision Track Contest’s and that includes within the charts on plenty of events.
We’ve got a home music DJ known as Mat Duo who collaborates with a number of the coolest artists in Norway, in addition to a five-piece indie band known as PandaPanda. Swingklubben are a mixture of social gathering music and dance bands mixed with humour and storytelling.
The 06 Boys are all about summer season vibes and good occasions and are favourites at festivals throughout the nation. Kapteinen is an indie/pop act whose songs stand out by their catchy melodies, energetic orchestration and poignant lyrics and final however certainly not least, we now have Erica Norwich who has a sort of Rihanna model. She’s one other TikTok star – her tune Til Lillebror noticed her climb into the Prime 20 on the Spotify streaming charts and seen her notch up over two million streams so far. All in all, it’s a fantastic cross part of artists and we’re actually excited to see what they give you.
So how does it work: did the artists select a drink they needed to work on or did you allocate the drinks to them in accordance with their model?
It was really actually cool to see as a result of we invited them to the bar, they tasted the drinks and so they all selected their very own which cocktail they needed to create music for. It was like, “I would like this one; I’ve had an concept for a tune and that is precisely what this drink jogged my memory of.”
They usually’re creating unique music for the menu?
Sure, it’s all unique music, which I discover completely unbelievable. When Maros Dzurus and I sat down with them, our first query was, ‘Is that this even doable?’ I’m not a singer. I’m not an artist – it could take me like 10 years to put in writing a tune. However they had been like, ‘No drawback, we will do that.’
The drinks had been created forward of the brand new tracks, did you play music within the background when you had been creating them? And if that’s the case, what model of music is your go-to?
After we’re in our prep room, we at all times play old skool hip-hop.
Apart from the music, what are the important thing components that come into play if you’re devising your menus?
We at all times supply domestically, our menus must be financially sustainable, we at all times put Norway in a glass and satisfaction ourselves on top quality at value.
How does a challenge like this evaluate to these you’ve undertaken beforehand?
It’s utterly completely different in as a lot as there are such a lot of folks concerned. That is the primary time that we’ve had a giant firm like Sony concerned which has been superb however there are additionally components that we’ve by no means needed to consider earlier than as a result of there’s a lot authorized stuff concerned. All the things must be accredited. They must get attorneys, every artist has a supervisor, in order that they needed to undergo all of the managers. After which the artists must approve the content material. It has to comply with the artist model id. So it’s an enormous, large challenge. On a scale of 1 to 10, my nervousness ranges are most likely at 10 proper now as a result of every part is out of my management. I’ve been assured that every part is on observe and we’ll get to listen to the music very quickly. Like they mentioned to me, it’s Sony Norway, they ship on time
Inform us about a couple of of the drinks
After all! There’s Smoked Malt, which we describe as boozy, smoky and umami. Like all of our drinks, it’s a celebration of Norwegian flavours and tradition captured in a glass. It’s wealthy, it’s intriguing, it’s smoky and shall be delivered to life PandaPanda, who may also be deciphering Karsk, a easy, dessert-like cocktail that mixes Himkok Vodka and Aquavit with a Karsk, a conventional Norwegian drink blended with espresso and vodka.
We’ve got one known as Carrot Cake, which is a twist on a well-known Norwegian dessert served at festivals and celebrations. It’s Fireball, fats washed with a carrot cake combine and it’s completely scrumptious, it’s actually like consuming a carrot cake. The artists completely liked as a result of it reminded them of their childhood. Mari Bella is recording a tune for that one.
Seabuckthorn is a candy, bitter and fruity drink with Buffalo Hint Bourbon, Cocchi Americano and a cordial made with seabuckthorn and brown cheese – tremendous easy however very tasty. That’s considered one of two that Erica Norwich went for, the opposite is Strawberry, a extremely fluffy, creamy and fruity cocktail made with Remy Martin 1738, Himkok Vodka and recent strawberries. Different drinks embody Blueberry, Cloudberry, Thyme, Lingonberry, Liquorice, Peach, Quince and Raspberry.
We will’t wait to strive them! The menu is launching on September twenty sixth, what do you’ve gotten deliberate for the large reveal?
We’re having a personal live performance on the twenty sixth and shall be inviting company to pattern the cocktails on the bar. We’re additionally printing some vinyls and sending them out as a thanks to our supporters who at all times comply with our journey.
Lastly, why do you do that elaborate menu launches?
We all know we will make drinks, however doing issues like this, it’s at all times a plus for our followers, our neighborhood, our bartenders, they completely adore it. With all these initiatives we get to fulfill new folks, make new contacts and these collaborations actually assist us past that, as a result of, as I discussed earlier than Norway is a darkish market. We will’t promote alcohol so we now have to be intelligent and inventive with how we get our message on the market. Fortunately a number of the artists have agreed to say some manufacturers within the songs and for us and the manufacturers participating, that’s actually large.
The Beats Meets Sips menu launches at Himkok on twenty sixth September 2024. Discover out extra @himkok.oslo
