"Carl Espen"
"Carl Espen"
Carl Espen Thorbjørnsen was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1982. In English he calls himself Carl E. He is the oldest of three siblings, and grew up in a family with much love for music. Carl was raised by his mom, with his two siblings. They lived on an island outside Bergen, called Osterøy. Even though the island is not more than a 40 minutes drive from Bergen city, it is a very rural and idyllic place. Carl has always loved to spend time in the nature, and was a real fishing enthusiast as a boy. His mother sang a lot, and his childhood home was always filled with music.
Carl’s mother had a close relation to her sister, and her brothers in law. The extended family spent a lot of time together. Among cousins, aunts and uncles, you find the woman behind the song «Silent Storm», Carl’s cousin Josefin Winther.
Four years younger than her cousin, Josefin has no problem recalling a day in her life being 12 years. Carl Espen had entered a local music competition on Osterøy, and Josefin was standing with her aunt in the audience. Carl performed «Wild World» by Cat Stevens, and ended up winning the whole competition. Josefin was so proud. Since then Josefin has pursued her own career in music, and established herself as a critically acclaimed artist and songwriter. That fact that Josefin has followed her dream, has always been a big inspiration for Carl Espen.
As a young man Carl enrolled in the military, and served a half a year in Kosovo. In his grown-up life Carl became a carpenter, specializing in frames and glass. The last 12 years he has working in different companies within these industries. He has also done a lot of volunteer work for cancer research, and in the nighttime he has worked as a doorman at Bergen’s rock bar «Garage».
The music has always been a big part of Carl’s life, and he has carried his dream with him all along. Josefin has always thought that more people should hear his beautiful and unique voice, and August 2013 she finally sat down a wrote a song for Carl only. She saw that he had so much inside of him that needed to be expressed, and she wanted to give him the opportunity to express it through a song that was truly his own. The result was «Silent Storm». She played it for him and he knew instantly that this was his song. They decided to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, and the song was chosen for the Norwegian finals.
The steps onto the Eurovision stage on the 9th of March will not be big or many. But for Carl they will be crucial. Time has come for him to show the people that he has a dream. And he feels that it's now or never. He knows that to perform «Silent Storm» properly, he needs to be 100% present in the words he is singing, and really dare to show that he is still hoping that «Someday I’ll be calm».