One thing I've noticed pop up a couple times in Scandinavian popular fiction and movies is the depiction of certain (sometimes quite small) towns having a strong association with a certain (often American in origin) pop music subculture, such as rockabilly, outlaw country, and later, various forms of punk and metal. Even if based on American music, some of these (from the brief references in pop culture) seem to be thriving local subcultures with a significant amount of homegrown variation. Can anyone elaborate on this phenomenon or point me towards sources (scholarly or popular)?
I think I am able to help you out on this one, especially when talking about punk/hard rock/metal music. I'm Norwegian and there are very few English sources on this subject.
Punk came later to Norway than other countries. One major reason is NRK (Norsk rikskrinkasting/Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), a government owned media network. NRK had monopoly on radio and TV up until early 1990`s. NRK chose early not to broadcast punk music due to provoking lyrics and such. The major turning point was the concerts held during the summer of '77 by Sex Pistols in Oslo and Trondheim. Norwegian youth "never" looked back. Hardcore/punk bands were being started in garages everywhere in Norway. But one house in the capitol of Norway, Oslo, was going to take Norwegian punk to another level and spawn several punk/hardcore bands. The Blitz-house in Oslo was founded in 1982 by young anarcists/communists/left-wing radicals. They occupied a block of flats, before they moved into an abandoned building in Pilestredet in Oslo. Many young men and women found a safe haven for their radical thoughts and ideas, and in between political protests (often violent) many started bands inspired by the punk movement in the US and UK. Example of bands that got popular even outside of the borders of Norway are Kafka Prosess, Life... But how to live it?, Stengte Dører and So Much Hate. Mostly their fame was restricted to Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark by the way.
Blitz-house also spawned Norsk konsertarrangør, one of Norways largest concert organizers.
Sources: Norwegian: Gleder meg til år 2000, Norwegian punk and hardcore discography 1979-2014, written by Robert Dyrnes, Kjell Arne Sandvik and tore Stemland Tre grep og sannheten - Norsk punk 1977-80, by Trygve Mathiesen http://www.konsertarrangor.no/ http://www.nrk.no/organisasjon/nrks-historie-1.6589747 http://www.blitz.no/
English: http://nopunkhc.blogspot.no/ Wikipedia is not often to be trusted, but I have read through the Blitz page and it's accurate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_(movement)
EDIT: I totally forgot sources. I'll try to find some english/translated ones.