Johannes Groth: ‘I think some of the beauty of art is that it’s open to interpretation’

Johannes Groth comes from a family where music is hardly unfamiliar territory – Apoptygma Berzerk‘s Stephan and Jonas Groth are his cousins – but his own path leads somewhere quite different. The Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer moves between jazz fusion and progressive rock, surrounding his melodic ideas with odd time signatures, unexpected turns and some seriously accomplished collaborators. With a debut album ahead, Johannes is finally putting his own name and music firmly at the centre. We talked about childhood obsessions, perfectionism, family ties, unlikely collaborations and why sometimes it takes a little push from your wife to finally get things moving.

Johannes Groth interview

Britta: Let’s start with the obvious one for readers discovering you for the first time: who is Johannes Groth, and how would you introduce the music you’re making today?

Johannes Groth: I’m a 39-year-old family man with a lovely wife and two kids. I live in a small place in Norway called Froland. Music has been a very important part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve been able to do this for a living for most of my adult life.

I’m an artist, but I also do a lot of freelance work as a musician, producer and engineer. I run a recording studio in Arendal, where I spend a lot of my time producing and mixing music for different artists and bands. So music is a huge part of my everyday life, in many different ways.

When it comes to my own music, I would categorize it as jazz fusion, but it definitely has a rough edge and sometimes leans heavily towards prog rock. There are a lot of different time signatures, unison runs and unexpected turns, while maintaining a strong focus on melodies.

This project is strictly instrumental, and that has always been a very natural way of expressing myself. So basically, this is still me being a kid and having fun with music.

Britta: Your relationship with instrumental music goes all the way back to childhood. What do you remember about that young Johannes who could disappear into music for hours? And how much of him is still there when you sit down to create today?

Johannes Groth: I remember being passionately interested in music. Whether it was listening to records or playing myself, it was something that happened on a daily basis, often many times a day.

My parents tell me that when I was two years old, I would listen to and rewind the same part of a cassette tape again and again. When they asked me what I was doing, I said, “Listen to that guitar solo!!”

When I was four, my parents bought me a Hammond organ. Yes, a Hammond, although not the tonewheel organ we usually think of when we hear that brand name. It was more of a low-end home organ, but for me it was an incredible source of inspiration. I spent many, many hours playing that organ while growing up. I even used it as a guitar amp for a while, before I could afford a proper one. I also recorded myself playing using an old Walkman with a built-in condenser mic. No editing tools available in those days.

To me, music has always been a free space. Not that I need to escape the real world, but it’s like a little universe of its own where I can be fully immersed and forget about everything else while I’m doing it.

And I think that’s pretty much the same now as it was when I was little.

Britta: You’ve been working professionally in music for a very long time, with different artists, productions and projects. Was there a particular moment when you realised you wanted to step forward with something entirely your own and put your own name at the centre?

Johannes Groth: I actually started recording my own album back in 2011. That one had vocals as well, but for some reason I just couldn’t get it together the way I wanted, so it ended up collecting dust and was eventually abandoned.

Now and then I would make a short video of myself playing some instrumental stuff and put it on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. I always really enjoyed the process of making those videos. In 2022, I made a Christmas calendar on SoMe, and it was a lot of fun, so I followed it up the next year. Little did I know that I would end up having a viral video that connected me with a lot of great musicians from all over the world.

That’s when I decided to prioritize my own music more and start doing collaborations with some of these great musicians I now had a connection with.

I also remember my wife saying around the same time, “I don’t want you to become 60 before you release your own music.” So that was kind of a kick in the butt to finally get me started.

Britta: Instrumental music gives you nowhere to explain what a piece is supposed to mean. Does that make releasing your own material more personal for you? Are there things in your music that you probably couldn’t – or wouldn’t – say in words?

Johannes Groth: I view music as a language in and of itself, and sometimes it speaks louder than the words we could put to it.

Some of my tracks are just made for fun, like “Coin-OP”, which plays off the idea of an arcade-type machine, only with the coin slot placed on an instrument instead. But some of my tracks have a deeper meaning from my perspective. I tend to hint at that in the titles.

For instance, the song “The Beginning of Wisdom” is a humble attempt to paint a picture of something bigger than us, the divine, and what I’ve placed my faith in.

I think some of the beauty of art is that it’s open to interpretation.

Britta: You write and arrange the material yourself, then bring musicians such as Larnell Lewis into the process. How much room do you leave for their own ideas – and has a collaborator ever taken one of your compositions somewhere you genuinely didn’t expect?

Johannes Groth: First of all, let me just say that I feel incredibly privileged to be working with these amazing musicians. I have to pinch myself every time! I’m so thankful for the opportunity.

I usually have a pretty clear idea of what I want a track to sound like. That includes the parts for all the different instruments, so I always make a demo where I present my vision with a lot of detail. At the same time, the musicians know that I want them to add their own personality to the music. I often tell my collaborators: “This is my vision, but feel free to make it yours. Bring your own ideas and solutions.”

One exception is the percussion. I’ve never given the percussionists any specific parts or clear instructions about what to play. Both Nate Werth and Axel Fagerberg have come up with all of their parts themselves. I really want to leave that space open for them to interpret the music in their own way.

Working with such great musicians as Larnell Lewis, Nate Werth, Justin Raines, etc., I’ve never had a situation where I wasn’t more than happy with the result. They always elevate my music and take it to new dimensions. They have such a high level of professionalism, and I really appreciate the respect they show me as a composer. They often stay very true to my initial idea while still bringing their finesse and expertise to the music.

So, I wouldn’t necessarily say that they’ve taken one of my compositions somewhere I genuinely didn’t expect. It’s more that they have a way of showing me possibilities within my own music that I wouldn’t have come up with myself. And that’s one of the things I value most about working with them.

But I’ve definitely had many jaw-dropping moments listening to the files these guys send me. As I said, they always elevate my music tremendously, and hearing what they bring to the music is one of the most exciting parts of the whole process.

Britta: Around Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad – and beyond – Groth is hardly an unfamiliar name in music. Do you feel you’re continuing a family story or writing your own chapter? And musically, where do you see the biggest similarities and differences within the family?

Johannes Groth: I’m very proud of my family and all the great musicians and singers we have. Many of them have made a big imprint on the music scene in the area you’re talking about, and some have reached far beyond it as well.

I definitely see myself as part of the story, but I’m not necessarily trying to continue it deliberately. I’m the only one in my family doing fusion music, so I feel like I have a somewhat different identity and set of influences. At the same time, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with many of my fellow family artists and musicians over the years: my father, Hans-Erik Groth, my uncle Jan Groth, and my cousins Jonas and Stephan Groth. I also had the privilege of producing an album for my sister, Maria Groth, about ten years ago.

I think one of the things we have in common is a need for music to have some punch, energy and rawness to it. Even though we’re all suckers for a great ballad as well! There’s definitely a strong musical connection within the family, but I think we’ve all developed our own identities and ways of expressing ourselves.

Britta: You’ve released this project piece by piece, but there’s a debut album ahead. When you finally hear all of it together, what do you want that album to say about Johannes Groth that the individual singles can’t?

Johannes Groth: I believe the album will be a good representation of my love for the different styles and palettes of music that I’m drawn to, and that, despite all the different elements, it still makes sense as a complete album. That’s why I describe my music as fusion, combining different styles and influences and making them work together as one.

My goal is to take the listener through different moods, almost like a journey where you experience different sceneries along the route. The individual singles can give you a taste of that, but I think the album will show the bigger picture and how all these different sides of my musical personality fit together.

Britta: After all these years of making music professionally, what are you still insecure about? And on the other side of that: what do you know now that you wish the much younger Johannes had known?

Johannes Groth: Knowing all the holes in my own musical competence, I still have quite a few insecurities. I have no formal music education, I’ve never taken a lesson from a music teacher, and I only learned musical notation in later years, and I’m still learning. The list is long!

But I think the main thing is that I tend to compare myself to musicians who are on a much higher level than I am, and then I never quite reach the standard I set for myself. I’m starting to realize, though, that my own “voice” is bringing joy to a good number of people, and that’s fulfilling and actually more than enough.

What I wish I had known when I was younger is that I should have had the courage to prioritize my own music earlier and not let my perfectionism hold me back. I’ve spent a lot of time waiting until I felt that something was good enough, when maybe I should have just put it out there and kept developing along the way.

Britta: Let’s throw the musical rulebook out for a moment. What would happen if you pushed Johannes Groth completely outside the box? Is there a genre you secretly want to try, or a collaboration so unlikely that nobody would see it coming?

Johannes Groth: At the moment, there isn’t another particular genre that I feel a need to explore. I’m still in the starting phase of developing my fusion concept, so it feels natural to focus my creativity in that direction right now. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, though, and I could probably enjoy making music in many different genres. And I kind of do when I’m producing for other people. There have been a lot of different styles making their way through my studio over the years.

There are definitely artists I would love to collaborate with, and Laila Biali is someone who comes to mind. It might not be the most unlikely collaboration, since our musical worlds overlap a little bit. She’s actually been so kind as to play one of my songs on her radio show, “Saturday Night Jazz,” on CBC.

Her ability to reharmonize a standard tune with so many layers and so much complexity, while still keeping the listener engaged and on the edge of their seat, is remarkable to me. I love both her original songs and the covers where she puts her own twist on them.

I think it would be really fun to do a collaboration with her.

Britta: You’re a multi-instrumentalist, which sounds impressive until someone asks which instrument you absolutely should not be trusted with. Is there one you’ve tried and thought, “Nope, this relationship is never going to work”?

Johannes Groth: I mainly play the typical band instruments like keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. I can also get by on some of the other common instruments, but trumpet, or any other brass instrument, is definitely not my territory. And when it comes to classical strings, I’m pretty much completely lost. Violin, viola, cello… I think that whole world is best left to the professionals!

I’ve never really had the urge to challenge those particular limitations either.

Britta: Open Mic. Before we wrap this up, the floor is yours. Anything we didn’t touch on that you’d like to talk about, clear up, or simply get out there?

Johannes Groth: I really want to highlight my Norwegian live band. I was fortunate enough to be able to pick exactly the musicians I wanted for the lineup, and I feel incredibly lucky to have these guys bringing the music to life on stage.

On drums, I have Andreas Skorpe Sjøen. Andreas comes from a background in metal and progressive rock, but he’s an incredibly versatile drummer with the ability to adapt to whatever the music needs. He has very strong technical ability and a rock-solid beat, but what really stands out to me is how musical he is. He could probably play any instrument in the band if you gave him a few minutes!

I remember hearing him play Snarky Puppy songs as an opening act for Ylvis, a band I’ve toured with since 2011, back when Andreas was only 18 years old. And he was killing it! Little did I know that about 12 years later, he would become the drummer of my own project.

On bass, I have Lars-Erik Dahle, a longtime friend and partner in many musical crimes over the years. A fun fact is that his very first paid studio gig was actually for my family’s album, which we recorded when I was 9 and Lars-Erik was 18. He’s an extremely musical and talented musician and composer, and he’s also been the bass player in Ole Børud’s band for the past 25 years.

On guitar, there’s Nicklas Myhre. Nicklas can play things that I only dream about playing. I absolutely love his tone, his feel and his choice of notes. What’s funny is that when I run out of things to play in my guitar solos, I can just point to Nicklas and he’ll take it way beyond anything I could have done! He has a big following on Instagram and is a highly respected guitar player, both as a live musician and as an educator online.

And on keys, Marcus Tobias Nilsen. Marcus Tobias is a great keyboard player, composer and producer who works with many of the prominent pop artists in Norway. From his choice of sounds and combinations to his voicings, everything is so tasteful and spot-on for this project. He has a fantastic musical instinct and always finds a way to make his parts serve the bigger picture.

He also runs the tracks in the band, which mainly consist of some percussion for a little extra spice.

I’m genuinely proud of this lineup, and I think they bring something very special to the music when we play it live.

Also, I’m thankful to daWorks Records and Jørn Dalchow for believing in me and my music, and for giving me the freedom and support to develop this project in my own way.

About Johannes Groth

Johannes Groth is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer based in Froland, in the south of the country. He grew up in Sarpsborg, joined a rock band there at 12, and moved through rock and prog groups as a teenager before settling on keyboards and guitar. He has worked as a freelance musician and producer since his early twenties, first from the PhatCat Studios collective in Oslo and under the name Groth Music, and later from his own studio in Arendal. His session and production credits include Ylvis, Ole Børud, Hanne Sørvaag and Trine Rein.

The instrumental project under his own name began in 2024, after short pieces posted to social media drew responses from musicians abroad. Six singles have appeared through daWorks Records: “Procession” on 29 November 2024, “Flying or Falling?” on 10 January 2025, “Before All Things” on 28 February 2025, “Coin-OP” on 16 May 2025, “The Beginning of Wisdom” on 4 July 2025 and “First Breath” on 13 March 2026. The credits across those releases include Snarky Puppy drummer Larnell Lewis, percussionist Nate Werth, bassist Justin Raines, percussionist Axel Fagerberg and vocalist Yoandy Vera Renyes.

His Norwegian live band is Andreas Skorpe Sjøen on drums, Lars-Erik Dahle on bass, Nicklas Myhre on guitar and Marcus Tobias Nilsen on keys. Groth is a cousin of Stephan and Jonas Groth of Apoptygma Berzerk, and has worked with both, as well as with his father Hans-Erik Groth and his uncle Jan Groth. A debut full-length album is still ahead, and the six singles released so far are the material that leads into it.