“I always have a melody in my head that has to get out”

Text: Michael Kirkeby Photo: Freddy Billqvist

In summer 2018, Sofie Randrup Mouritsen was stranded on a tiny island in eastern Thailand. She’d run out of money and her credit card was about as useful as a chocolate teapot since they didn’t accept payment by card there.

“I couldn’t leave. So what do you do then? Play music! I convinced the owner of a little restaurant to hire me for a few hours every evening in exchange for food, lodging and a little money. It was an amazing experience. I learned something and it was a great way to get over my fears,” she says.   

When Sofie isn’t playing ukulele to get home from the other side of the world, she works at PostNord’s large office in Aarhus. There, she takes care of corporate customers over the phone in what may be the most musically inclined customer service in the world.

Because when the workday is finished, the music takes over. That’s when Sofie looks to Aske Normann Brix and Emil Christopher Christensen sitting a few meters away. They’re not only her colleagues, but also the saxophonist and bassist in their band, Nordlys. At least a few times a week, they leave work together to rehearse with the rest of the band. She plays piano, guitar, saxophone and ukulele. And she sings. A lot.

“I always have a melody in my head that has to get out. I started playing piano when I was six years old, and things have just kept going from there. I’ve been singing classically for eleven years. I used to be part of the Aarhus Girls’ Choir for many years and I’m involved in a project with Danish National Opera, and I play in two bands.” 

“One band is Nordlys, and we compose and play our own music, which is a blend of jazz, funk, pop and a little hip-hop. It sounds incredible. The other band, Heyya, is a classic covers band; it’s all about anything you can dance to. Everything good from the 1980s, but also Pharrell Williams, Rihanna and stuff like that. Feel-good music!”

"The atmosphere is good, colleagues are helpful, the coffee is free, the pay is okay and there are a lot of musicians. What more could you ask for?"

Sofie started working at PostNord in 2017. Her friend from high school, Mathias Lundbæk, recommended she apply for the job. He also works in customer service and plays in a band: the heavy metal band Galge. 

 “Yeah, actually four of us here play music. Mathias said PostNord is a good workplace, and he was right. The atmosphere is good, colleagues are helpful, the coffee is free, the pay is okay and there are a lot of musicians. What more could you ask for?” says Sofie, laughing. 

Aarhus may be much smaller than Copenhagen, but it has long had a reputation as Denmark’s most thriving music town. A disproportionately large number of bands on the Danish music scene are from Jutland’s capital on the Kattegat. PostNord’s corporate customer service could have been on a stage, but instead the office faces the city’s train station. But that makes sense for Sofie Randrup Mouritsen as she’s as keen on travel as she is on music. 

“I feel like adventure is waiting out there, and I think you’re likelier to find it if you travel alone, so that’s what I do.  I was in Asia in 2018, in Cambodia, South Vietnam, the Philippines and a few islands in eastern Thailand. I had my ukulele with me, which is nice and small.”

But what about the music? What great stages does she dream of appearing on when she thinks about the future? Surprisingly enough, Sofie’s response is rather cautious. 

“Right now, music makes me happy and I almost can’t get enough. But I don’t know if it will be my career and livelihood. Maybe I’ll apply to a music college at some point, or maybe I’ll choose something else entirely.”

“I’m very aware that if it were my profession, it would also entail a strong element of obligation. It would be horrible if music stopped making me happy. You have to protect what you love.” 

Sofie Randrup Mouritsen
Position at PostNord: Works at corporate customer service in Aarhus.
Closest colleagues: Kim Slot, Mathias Lundbæk (guitarist in heavy metal band Galge), Emil Christopher Christensen (bassist in Nordlys) and Aske Normann Brix (saxophonist in Nordlys).

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