Poetry slam champ from UCPH: »If one guy relates, it’s worth it«

The sun is shining from a cloudless May sky and is bringing on a sweat.

Fitting for what the University Post has come out to talk to 28-year-old Valdemar Brobæk about. As Valgtemig — his stage name — he has just released his debut album Køterdage, a Danish rendering of ‘dog days’ — meaning the hottest days of summer when everyone is irritable and acts unpredictably. It is a metaphor that matches the theme of the album.

»I was so nervous about releasing the songs. They’re not the coolest things to write about. But now I’m really looking forward to it.«

With his ‘dog days’ debut album, Valdemar Brobæk puts into words a time marked by his own loneliness and mental distress — in the hope that his honest lyrics will inspire others to open up.

Bolt from the blue

Many of Valdemar Brobæk’s lyrics come to him while he’s out on the bike, like his stage name Valgtemig, meaning ‘chose me’, which in Danish rhymes with his first name. The pun struck him like a bolt from the blue. He had to get off his bike to write it down. It just felt right.

»I wanted a stage name that reflects the fact that I take on a persona when I perform, while also keeping it real — it’s still Valdemar who’s behind the lyrics.«

‘Valgtemig’, pronounced ‘Val-tuh-my’, was the perfect compromise. The name makes space for the artistic persona that Valdemar Brobæk steps into on stage, while also reflecting the honesty in his music. It gives him the distance he needs when performing, but still resembles his real name enough so he doesn’t become someone completely different.

»A concert is always a performance. The premise is that people have bought a ticket to see you. So you have to deliver something as an artist. I’m still practising how to relax and be more outgoing on stage, so I can give something back.«

The path to poetry

His path into poetry began at a young age. He lived in the US for the first nine years of his life, and at the school he attended, students could go once a week to a creative school and be taught different disciplines. In first grade, he was given a poetry course, and the experience stuck with him.

Making the album was the first step towards becoming aware of how I was feeling

Valdemar Brobæk

»I think it makes a huge difference to get some creative instruction from an early age. Even though it took a long time before I really understood how great poetry is, that class in first grade still stayed with me.«

In fact, it wasn’t until 2019 that Valdemar really picked up poetry again. He wrote a few texts, found a beat on YouTube that matched, and uploaded it to Soundcloud.

»I was a bit self-absorbed back then. I thought everything I made was amazing. When I listen to it now, I don’t think it’s very impressive. But I guess it was that self-important attitude that kept me writing poetry.«

A lot has changed since Valdemar Brobæk sat in his room uploading demos to Soundcloud. He’s gained two good friends and collaborators, Thomas Christiansen and Jonas Johansson, who help with the music and have produced all the instrumentals on the album. He’s become better at writing lyrics. And he now performs his poetry both through music and on the poetry slam stage.

Danish champion in poetry slam

Valdemar Brobæk prefers to describe himself as a poet who makes music. Much of his creativity also finds expression through poetry slam.

He ended up on a poetry slam stage somewhat by accident. He had previously attended various open mic nights to read out his poems and was looking for more events like that, when a Google search led him to a poetry slam in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby. He had no idea what the concept was, but showed up with his poems and got drawn into the scene.

Poetry slam is mostly a competition, says Valdemar Brobæk. ‘Slammers’ — the people who perform the poems — need to be good at engaging the audience, because it’s up to them to vote for the evening’s winner. Everyone sits with a scorecard, which they hold up at the end of the three minutes a slammer performs a poem. If you’ve pleased the audience, you move on to the next round, until a winner is crowned.

»Because it’s a competition, there’s also a big entertainment element to it. The poems become a bit more accessible and a little less introspective,« says Valdemar Brobæk, explaining that some slammers become very theatrical in their performance. They memorise their poems and perform them with gestures and acting.

»I have a lot of respect for those who put that extra effort in. I usually just stand and read my poem.«

But despite Valdemar Brobæk’s perhaps more understated approach to poetry slam, he still managed to go all the way when the Danish championships were held in 2025. He will be heading to both Paris and Germany over the summer to compete for the title of world champion. But first, the debut album has to come out.

Dog days

»We didn’t agree on any themes beforehand. I just wrote songs about how I’ve been feeling over the past few years. And so the album ended up being about mood swings and being in a bad mental space, because that was a big part of my life.«

I’ve become much more aware of both sharing more about myself and asking more specific questions.

Valdemar Brobæk

The album grew out of Valdemar Brobæk’s head and reflects how he has been feeling over the past four years. Just as dog days are hot, uncomfortable days with fluctuating moods, Køterdage explores periods in Valdemar Brobæk’s life where his mood has been up and down, and where his mind hasn’t always been the most pleasant place to be.

Valdemar Brobæk describes his poetry as introspective. He draws on emotions, experiences, thoughts, and conversations he’s had with others. He boils this down into lyrics sprinkled with both classical and pop culture references.

»The lyrics are very personal. When I listen to them now, I actually think it’s a fairly immature album. I’m not particularly reflective. But making the album was the first step towards becoming aware of how I was feeling, trying to put words to it, and being honest about it.«

Valdemar Brobæk can feel that he’s grown older since he started writing the album. He’s more reflective and in a better mental place.

»I don’t know if it was writing the album that helped me. But when I listen to some of the early tracks, I can definitely see that there’s been personal development.«

»It shouldn’t be women’s responsibility«

Valdemar Brobæk is working on becoming better at opening up. He wants to take the initiative in starting difficult conversations by talking about how he’s doing. For him, this is the first step towards feeling better. His hope is that over time it becomes easier — and a bit more acceptable — to be the one who starts the conversation.

The musician credits his sisters for helping him become better at talking about the hard things in life. They were always good at sharing how they felt with each other and with him, and slowly Valdemar Brobæk also began opening up with them. But he finds it unfortunate that it was the women in his life who had to teach him how to talk about his feelings.

»We men are really bad at talking about difficult things. But it shouldn’t be women’s problem that we don’t know how to talk about how we feel.«

If there’s just some guy out there listening who can find some meaning in it, then it will all have been worth it for me

Valdemar Brobæk

That’s why Valdemar Brobæk is working on having deeper conversations with his male friends. He tries to open up himself and is more conscious about starting conversations where he asks his friends how they’re doing.

»With some of my friends, it just bounces off. It can feel strange to talk about yourself, so the conversation quickly dies out. But with others, we’ve had some really beautiful conversations and become much closer.«

Simple questions — whether his friends are happy in their jobs, what they do in their free time, or how they’re doing in general — are things Valdemar Brobæk never used to ask his friends about. When they met up, it would be over a game of dice at a bar, and the conversation would lack substance.

»There were a lot of things I didn’t know about my friends. I realised I could see people quite often and still only know them on a superficial level. I’ve become much more aware of both sharing more about myself and asking more specific questions. And just being curious.«

The difficult second album

The album is out, the debut concert is done, and Valdemar Brobæk can now finally wrap up a four-year-long project.

»I’m really looking forward to making new music again. The past year has been filled with all the practical stuff around the album, so it’ll be great to begin a new project from scratch.«

That doesn’t mean Valdemar Brobæk plans to become a full-time musician. He enjoys being creative, but sees the music industry as a tough world where a lot of compromises have to be made. For him, his music project is a space where he can express himself — and hopefully let others know that it’s okay to struggle.

»If there’s just some guy out there listening who can find some meaning in it, then it will all have been worth it for me.«

Valgtemig is an introspective project, and so the difficult second album will probably address similar issues as the debut, says Valdemar Brobæk. But he hopes the new lyrics will reflect that he’s grown older and is in a different place in life:

»Back then I felt like the lyrics for Køterdage were a big deal. When I listen to them now, it doesn’t seem like there is much depth in them. This has given me the drive to try and outdo myself.«

Neither in his music nor in his choice of studies has career been a big focus for Valdemar Brobæk. The most important thing has always been doing something he enjoyed.

»When I was choosing a degree programme, I just went through the list looking for something that sounded fun — and I didn’t get very far before stumbling on archaeology.«

He didn’t choose the education programme with a career in mind, but purely on the basis of what seemed enjoyable.

»I’ve loved it. I often draw on my studies when I write poems — it gives me a lot of inspiration.«

Valdemar Brobæk handed in his bachelor’s thesis in the winter, and has since taken a gap semester to focus on finishing the Køterdage album. This summer, he’ll be starting a master’s in information science — partly because it’s interesting, and partly to just secure his future a little bit.

»Career stuff is damned tricky. But I’m up for doing it on my own terms. I want to make sure there’s space for music and art in the future.«