A Chat with Transcending Into The Unknown (26.03.25)
Drawing together individual differences, styles and inspirations, musical group Transcending Into The Unknown is a mishmash of eclectic music intriguingly making its way into your ears. A family affair, Norway-based Filip Dahl, Robert Dahl, and Stian Dahl, traverse from the dark unknown to empowered enlightenment with each of their melodies. We speak with Transcending Into The Unknown (TITU) about their new EP, The Journey, 21st-century music production, what music means to them, and more.
OSR: Always the most cliché of questions, but here we go: how did Transcending Into The Unknown come about? What brought you all together to form this new band?
TITU: This is in fact a very good question, as it is quite interesting for us looking back at how TITU actually came about. It all started back in 2023, when Filip, Robert and Stian decided to get together and try to record a guitar based instrumental track. The three of us are, as indicated by our surnames (Dahl) related, and Filip and Robert are brothers while Stian is Filip’s son. We have all three been involved in the music scene in Trondheim, Norway for many, many years, but in very different ways. We had in fact, prior to the idea of trying to record this track popped up, never previously collaborated or played together. This might sound a bit strange to some, but maybe not so strange if you are considering that we basically have very different musical backgrounds, preferences and playing styles. It was initially quite challenging for us to try to cooperate and combine our playing into something that would not end up as just sounding like a cacophony of various music styles.
The title of our family band project – Transcending Into the Unknown – turned out to be an obvious choice, as we all felt that this was like entering, and taking part into a new, exciting and totally unknown experience. Anyhow, we ended up having so much fun recording the self-titled track, that we decided to release it as a debut single. It turned out to become a critically acclaimed release and this really inspired us to continue our project.
The next step was to try to write some music which also included vocals, and Filip came up with the initial, basic musical idea for ‘Giants’, while Robert wrote the lyrics to it. Robert has traditionally used growling vocals on his solo releases as the artist pzyroks, while Filip has a more traditional rock vocal on his solo projects. We found it to be quite interesting to try to mix our singing styles on ‘Giants’, and it turned out to be a great idea which really helped us to continue to chisel out the identity and sound of TITU. However, we wanted to try to expand and explore the musical possibilities of our project even further, so we decided to also include Filip’s old bandmate Eva Halsetrønning Rambraut on vocal in 2024. Her crystal-clear timbre brought in a unique and very interesting contrast to Robert’s growling, and Filip’s rock vocal. This has indeed contributed to find and finalise the identity and sound that we have achieved today
OSR: You recently released your EP, The Journey. What can you tell us about the release? Is there any backstory or theme?
Filip: The title is in many ways meant to indicate that we have embarked on a musical journey that we want to share with our listeners. We know where we started from, but the direction of the journey is constantly changing from station to station, and the final destination is not in any way yet decided.
Robert: The overall theme could probably also be seen as a transcending beyond the artificially imposed limits we tend to put on ourselves in our daily lives. For us, as initially quite different musicians, the TITU project is about going beyond our individual limitations and creating a greater whole. This EP is in many ways the story of evolution, and how embracing the unknown will take you to brilliant new places.
OSR: What does The Journey mean to you, and what do you hope listeners take from it?
Filip: The Journey has turned out to become a real milestone in my long musical career, both as a musician and record producer. It has been extremely challenging and incredibly exciting to put it all together into a complete album that really would show what TITU is, in a way that would excite and embrace our listeners.
Robert: More than anything I hope that listeners will be inspired to trust their instincts and dare to take the leap into what would hopefully be their own journey into something great and satisfying. It is really frightening to go beyond your comfort zone (I actually hate it myself 😊), but sometimes that is what it takes to get to the “greater good”.
OSR: Which aspect do you find more challenging when creating a song – the lyrics or the melody?
Filip: The most challenging part is definitively to create good and meaningful lyrics that suits a musical idea. Robert is the one of us who has been responsible for writing all the lyrics to the tracks featured on The Journey, so I guess that he can elaborate a bit about how the writing process has been.
Robert: I strive to write something that people can relate to or find interesting, while at the same time the words have to fit the music and “sound good” when they are performed. However, that can be really frustrating sometimes, and writing music and playing guitar solos is in comparison much more fun. The way we usually work, the music comes first, and then the lyrics somehow “spawn” from that. I’ll typically listen to the music on repeat until an idea pops up in my head; it might be just one sentence or an idea for a theme, and then the process of building the lyrics develops from that.
For instance, I felt that the music for the track ‘Noir’ clearly had the vibe of a film noir with a dark and seedy nightlife setting. So, then I tried to write something that told a story within that kind of “universe”. On the other hand, the lyric idea for the track ‘The Valley’ started simply from the chorus sentence, “Down in the valley” (“borrowed” from Springsteen’s The River), but then the rest took several months to elaborate on. While you absolutely can express feelings and moods through instrumental music alone, it gets much more personal end exposed when you have to put it into words. Something which also can be quite daunting at times.
OSR: If you had to introduce a new listener to your music, which track would you recommend and why?
TITU: Hmm, that’s a really tough question, because the concept of TITU is very much about the variety and the “unknown” factor of the music. But if we had to choose one it would probably be ‘Winternight’. It’s arguably the one that contains most of the different (current) styles of TITU in one and the same song, and also where the unique mix of Eva, Filip and Robert’s different vocals is one of the most important and prominent elements. However, we can’t guarantee that our next songs will be like that, though. We might end up trying to do some country-rock or black metal next time.
OSR: I could refer to you as veteran artists with experience from the late 80s onwards. What advice do you have for emerging musicians about the music industry?
TITU: We can indeed be labelled as veteran artists, since Filip and Eva in fact have been in the music business since the 70’s. Anyhow, this is something which has brought us all a lot of valuable experience.
The main difference now, from way back then, is probably that everyone more or less has access to tools that lets you create music of high quality, sound wise. It is therefore possible for anyone to release music today as an independent artist. This is in many ways a great development, but it also means that it has become increasingly difficult to getting noticed in the extreme flood of music that is released every day. We do believe that great music produced with heart and soul always will appeal to listeners, so our advice to young, emerging musicians, is to stay true to their vision, and don’t try to create something only according to what is believed to be commercially viable.
OSR: Over time the music industry has changed exceptionally from LPs and cassettes to today’s streaming sites with AI – to name but one change. What do you think is the most significant change over the years, and how do you feel about the use of new technology, particularly AI, in music?
Filip: I started off my career as technician and record producer on four track reel to reel tape recorders, back in the late 70s. So, I have indeed been through all the changes and developments that has taken place in recording techniques. The change from analogue recording techniques to digital is in my opinion the most significant change we’ve been through, and also the thing that has enabled everyone to record and release music. However, as being an old school, it really warms my heart to see that the use of analogue studio gear and microphones equipped with tubes is getting back for full now. The same is actually the case with the return and interest in vinyl LPs, and the warm and authentic sound that you only can get from them. I’m personally not a big fan of AI when it comes to creating music (guess that I’m getting old), however I believe that it can be a great tool for creating images for music videos. We have actually just got a new music video produced for ‘Noir’, where our AI-generated characters are given roles as actors in a “movie” from the 50s. I would recommend everyone to check it out on: https://youtu.be/D3WQGVLMS9A?si=9bazCqG65Hw_iCDd
Robert: As a creating musician myself who has spent countless hours trying to learn scales, modes and honing technical skills on the guitar, I should probably be very negative to AI in music. But, I actually believe that AI is just a new tool like electric amplification, synthesizers, digital recording etc. was at one time in history. New technology is more than not always viewed as “cheating”. The end result is always what counts in my opinion, not how you get there.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
TITU: We all love music, and it is and has been such a big part of our lives! The way it can change your mood and how you feel is really astonishing. While we are quite reconciled with the fact that we might never become rock-super-stars by now, the process of creating and playing music is super-important for us and our everyday well-being. If we additionally get feedback that someone likes and connects with what we’ve been a part of creating, it’s absolutely awesome!
OSR: What can we expect from Transcending Into The Unknown in the future? Any tours or more tracks in the works?
Filip: The Journey has as mentioned been such a milestone for me and the response that we have got so far is indeed triggering me to carry on and write more music for TITU. We have so far been a studio project band where the four of us have played all instruments and sung all parts. It would of course be great to take our music on a tour, but it would also require to put together a band with musicians that could play all the required parts. I guess that this would be another step in transcending into the unknown, so let’s see what the future will bring 😉
Robert: Although we have solo projects going on, I certainly think we’ll make more music as TITU. For me personally it is really cool and interesting to collaborate with musicians with so different viewpoints as we have in TITU. It always takes the music in far different directions than it would if I’d do it as a solo project, and I really love that!
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
TITU: While the mainstream music industry can be quite boring and predictable at times, there is still a lot of great music being produced now. However, sometimes you have to make an effort to find it. Don’t always listen to just the music that is “fed to you”, try to seek out the underground music community sometimes. That’s where the really interesting art is being made. If you are a musician yourself: always make the music you want to, not what you think you ought to.
Many thanks to Transcending Into The Unknown for speaking with us! Find out more about Transcending Into The Unknown on their Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
