Joe Henriksen on SoundBetter

Session guitarist from Norway who has long experience in writing and recording guitar parts for a wide variety of genres. Previous work consists of studio sessions, live television, talk-shows and live-work.

I can offer you professional sounding guitar parts for your songs, both electric and acoustic. Wether you have a specific guitar part in mind or want me to come up with one (or more), either way I'll be able to help you. Typically we will discuss what you want for the song and what vibe you want it to have. To make sure you are happy and confident with the direction of the guitars, I will record a demo for you listen to. If changes are necessary this will happen free of charge.

At my home studio I always mic up the acoustic guitars, and for electric I use different amps and UAFX amp-pedals. I have a variety of guitars that I use to best fit the sound of your music.

I have an Associates Degree in Guitar Performance from Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, and a bachelor in Popular Music from Kristiania University College (former NISS).

Since graduating from Kristiania University College I have earned my living as a guitar player. I've done sessions and a lot if events a band called The Feelgood Orchestra. With The Feelgood Orchestra we've done live-tv and a talkshow in Norway called "Stian Blipp Show". We've also been the backing band for some of Norways biggest artists such as Nico & Vinz, Julie Bergan, Dagny, Sondre Justad, Morten Abel and Ylvis.

I specialize in pop, rock, blues, soul and country, but can also be of service in other genres.

Send me a note through the contact button above.

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Interview with Joe Henriksen

Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Analog for the sound, digital for the flexibility. So a mixture of both.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I promise to treat your music as it was my own and to always do what I feel is best for the song.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: That I get to use my creativity to help others, and to work with other likeminded artists.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That it´s not a real job. People in the music industry usually work a lot more than most people.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: To be very clear about what you want, and to provide the best possible demo to play to.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A MacBook pro, a UAD apollo, a neumann U47, an XLR-cable and a Martin 00028.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started playing at the age of 14. My first music school was Musicians Institute in LA where I lived for about a year and a half. Then I took a bachelors degree in popular music in Oslo in 2016 and have been working as a guitar player ever since. Lately Ive also been doing more Pro Tools work, as in editing songs for others, producing etc.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I would describe my style as rootsy. I love rootsy music like americana, blues, country and those are usually the sounds I naturally go for. If the song calls for something else I obviously will go there.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Jason Isbell, because he's the best songwriter alive today.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Leave space for the music to breath, and don't seek to be perfect. What makes productions sound good to me, is to leave some room for it to be human.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I usually find myself doing work in pop, americana, country, blues and rock.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My strongest skill is that I always play to serve the song. If I feel that the song only needs a simple campfire strumming part, that´s what I play. If the song needs multiple electric parts all dubbed, and a blazing guitar solo, that's what I'll play. But everything needs to be serving the song.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I feel like I bring a musicality to a song that help the song be what its supposed to be.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I usually listen through the demo of the song and make a chart. Then I try to tap into the vibe and feeling of the song to get into the right mindset. Then I just try to play through the whole song and see what ideas come up. After that I refine and record it.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a simple but quality setup at my home studio. I have a couple of small wattage amplifier which I can mic up. I also find myself using my quad cortex a lot as an amp and then using my pedalboard for effects. I also have a couple of really nice microphones which I use for acoustic guitar. Everything goes into a SSL interface and then into Pro Tools.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: As a guitar player I´m inspired by a lot of different people. Ranging from session players such as Tom Bukovac, Jedd Hughes, Duke Levine, JD Simo and Rob McNelley to artists such as Jason Isbell, John Mayer, Foy Vance etc. As far as production goes I´m loving the work of Dave Cobb.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I find myself mostly recording acoustic and electric guitar for my clients. It varies from entire songs with multiple electric and acoustic guitar parts to just one acoustic track and everything in between. Most commonly I get a demo with a full song and make up parts and hooks within the chord progression, but I can also write chord progressions on a melody.