by:Larm News Thursday Feb 16th 2012

MIKHAEL PASKALEV page 14

MAYHEM AND BLACK METAL COME IN FROM THE COLD page 10

DEPORTEES • SANDRA KOLSTAD • LEMAITRE • Mmm • KORALLREVEN • MIRROR LAKES • NORDIC MUSIC PRIZE • STREAMADELICA • ANE BRUN • ICE AGE • TONY ALLEN

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

INTERVIEW

ÅRETS

Det skjer hvert år – at en artist får sitt gjennombrudd under by:Larm. I år skal dette virkelig markeres. Norsk Tipping har gjennom flere år vært sponsor og samarbeidspartner for by:Larm, og nå skal vi sammen med en jury bestående av konsertarrangører tilknyttet Norsk Rockforbund kåre årets gjennombruddsartist – . Vinneren får opplagt nok en turnébuss til disposisjon i fem dager. Juryen vil følge buzzen under by:Larm – både på konsertstedene, i media og på sosiale flater.

Du kan påvirke resultatet ved å tvitre om den artisten du mener fortjener ekstra oppmerksomhet og hjelp til å komme seg ut på veien.

Norsk Tipping bidrar til å utvikle unge norske musikktalenter gjennom støtte til musikkbinger, Frifond og turneer i regi av Den kulturelle skolesekken.

Hele overskuddet fra Norsk Tipping går til samfunnsnyttige formål. Bare i fjor fikk norsk kulturliv tilført 1250 millioner kroner fra spillemidlene.

Norsk musikk blir bedre hvis du spiller.

Vi gir drømmen en sjanse

INTERVIEW

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Statoil i samarbeid med by:Larm presenterer 5-årsjubileum for utdeling av Statoil-stipendet

Live konsert Mathias Eick

Ida Maria Ingrid Olava

Kvelertak

Folketeateret Lørdag 18. februar

Vi støtter morgendagens helter

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Ida Lyxzén

HILDE HOLTA-LYSELL

(EMI) Kristine Bjørnstad

EDITOR FOREIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

(Tuba/Cosmos)

WYNDHAM WALLACE

Rannveig Falkenberg-Arell (Journalist, Kamille)

EDITOR ASSISTANT HELGE BREKKE

ADMINISTRATION ERLEND MOGÅRD-LARSEN

CONTRIBUTORS

ØYSTEIN RONANDER

JOAKIM HAUGLAND

JOAKIM HAUGLAND

HENRIETTE K. JOHANSEN

MALIN KULSETH

HILDE HOLTA-LYSELL

MARK VAUGHAN

ATLE RICHTER SCHIE JOHN DORAN

DESIGN

IDA MADSEN HESTMAN

BRENNERIVEIEN.NO

SEAN SCULLY MINA EVENRUD

PRINT

FRODE SKAREN

NR 1 TRYKK/DAGSAVISEN

ASTRI BARBALA PHIL HEBBLETHWAITE

COVER

TOBBEN ÅRSLAND

Mikael Paskalev

WYNDHAM WALLACE

shot by: Hilde Holta-Lysell

Festival main progamgroup: STIFTELSEN BY:LARM Sigrid Hvidsten

FREDENSBORGVEIEN 24F

(Redaktør, Fredag)

0177 OSLO

Anne Gunn Halvorsen

TLF: 22036955

(Journalist, Dagens Næringsliv)

FAX: 22036969

Line Kleppe Olsen

EMAIL: INFO@BYLARM.NO

(Manager, Made)

INFO@BY:LARM.NO

Big dreams needs... funding: All musicians have big dreams, and where would festivals such as by:Larm be without dreams and hope of great careers? We took a closer look at Frifond a cultural funding program initiated by Norsk Tipping one of the by:Larm partners and asked Pål Enger, Head of Communication in Norsk Tipping, a couple of questions: members must be under 26 years.

Still, the whole point is that it should be easy to apply. The threshold for granting the application is low, and it is up to the bands themselves to decide how the money should be used. Causes can be purchase of new equipment such as a bass guitar, or money for fuel for the tour bus etc.

Jørgen Hegstad (NRK P3, Urørt)

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS

Erlend Øye

THAT MAKES BY:LARM 2011 POSSIBLE

(artist) Thom Hell (artist) Julius Diesen (Beyond Records)

Thanks to our sponsors:

Thanks to our PARTNERS:

1) What made you create Frifond?

All profits from Norsk Tipping go to cultural and other good causes.

Nevertheless, we experienced difficulties ensuring that the money went in the right direction. This was especially a challenge when it came to cultural causes. Therefore the profits were earmarked for Frifond, both to give young musicians’ dreams a chance, and also to more clearly show where the money was going. Just as by:Larm gives new bands a chance, we hope the money can be a small, but welcome stepping stone for exciting new artists.

2) Who can apply for the Frifond grant?

All bands can apply for Frifond grants, but there are some requirements.

Among other things, most of the

3) What makes a candidate stand out?

The artistic content has no say in who will receive money from Frifond.

All bands are welcome to apply. The amount of money bands received may vary slightly based on their application, but every musical genre or performances counts equally among the applicants. All are welcome to apply. More information can also be found at frifond.no.

4) Are there any grant recipients playing at by:Larm this year?

Yes! We are happy to see that several bands playing at by:Larm this year received grants last year: Astaroth, Bendik, Bugge Wesseltoft presenterer Moskus, Casa Murilo, Casiokids, Dark Times, Envy, Highasakite, I am Sound, Jabba The Butt, Lemaître, Machine Birds, Sandra Kolstad, Skadne Krek, SynKoke, Team Me, Vestindien and Casual Friday.

INTERVIEW

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

F F U T S T H G I R THE E H T H WIT D W O R C T H G I R rent friends in Put diffe ail, m e o t s p u o different gr m all in one go e IM or text th

facebook.com/nokianorge

COMPETE AND WIN IT! © 2011 Nokia. All rights reserved. © 2011 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

WELCOME

We’ve done our best to put together a program that will excite and thrill. We have listened to over 1500 demos and, throughout the last year, we’ve travelled all over the Nordic countries to see bands.

Welcome to Oslo and welcome to by:Larm 2012!

AV JOAKIM HAUGLAND

W

elcome to by:Larm 2012, and to our 15th anniversary. This year seems to represent the turning point in making the festival a full-on Nordic event. Three years ago we started work to make by:Larm Nordic: an event that would showcase the very best of Nordic music, a place to bring the Nordic countries together, and a Nordic window to the world. We’re now a good way towards reaching these goals: never before have we had so many Nordic and international participants as this year. As I write, the figures are actually up 172 %.

The Nordic Music Prize has been an important factor in making this a reality, and we were off to a great start last year with Jonsi winning the prize, which was presented by The Crown Prince of Norway.

The nominated albums this year indicate that Nordic music is better than ever, and we are delighted to present three of the nominees live at the award ceremony in

the Jakobskirken on Thursday: Ane Brun, Iceage and Anna Jarvinen.

We’ve done our best to put together a program that will excite and thrill. We have listened to over 1500 demos and, throughout the last year, we’ve travelled all over the Nordic countries to see bands.

With the amount of talent we`ve seen and heard, it’s been a truly pleasing experience. by:Larm is all about being inspired. And, in whatever you do, you need to be inspired.

So we have invited great people that we believe will inspire. We are extremely excited to have Todd Rundgren as a guest this year. We`re pretty sure that his 75 minute talk with Norwegian journalist and Todd-head Audun Vinger will be one for the history books. We are also proud to present the best music writer around, Simon Reynolds. Having written one of the best books of 2011, Retromania, we think this will be one of the hightlights of the festival.

Also check out the Q&A with Swedish music biz legend Dag Haggquist, as well

as the Q&A with Tony Allen, the inventor of the afrobeat, Fela Kuti’s drummer and, according to Brian Eno, “the best drummer in the world”.

New this year is our collaboration with Red Bull Academy. This means that we, together with with Red Bull Academy and Eno Magazine , will host exclusive DJ-sets and Q&As/lectures with disco legend DJ Harvey and one of the true innovators of electronic music over the last 10 years, Four Tet! Also this year we have help hosting our venues, and we want to thank Eno Magazine, Gaffa, France’s Tsugi Magazine, recordshop Tiger, Finland’s premier avant label Fonal, Norway’s very own jazz master Bugge Wesseltoft as well as 730.no for curating venues with us. We hope you will enjoy by:Larm 2012 as much as we have enjoyed making it!

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

FEATURE

by:Lines

Some have been around for long, others are new.

Some dream of saunas and coconut world:Larms, others of champagne or outer space. by:Larm is a place where memories are born and dreams come true. Magical, blurry or blue, here are the unforgettable moments and insider guidelines of the ones that makes by:Larm fifteenth-anniversary enjoyable (/possible) for you!

JOAKIM HAUGLAND 1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Play your best songs. Be concise and as effective as possible during your set. Remember that people move around fast during ByLarm. So you need to give your very best to keep their attention.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

Somewhere. Still rockin 3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

Meeting Bill Drummond from KLF 4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Not easy to pick one, and I may be disqualified as I release their music, but the collaboration between Diskjokke, Todd Terje and Lindstrom felt like magic in the making.

5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

Packed clubs with an enthusiastic and happy audience.

Head of registration/project management

Artist contact

Marketing/Press

text: Henriette Kverneng Johansen illustration: frode Skaren

Head of festival programming

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MALIN KULSETH:

JOHANNES LUND

1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Make your schedule beforehand - (if you have smartphone, make a profile here: http://bylarm2012.sched.org/ and have it with you at all times. If not, make a printable version) 2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

In 15 years by:Larm is the biggest festival & music conference in outer space.

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

The last show in the tent in 2010, when I realized that my first year of working with by:Larm was finally over/beginning, and the following afterparty where I was dancing/crying more or less all night and other people fell asleep while standing.

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

It’s hard to pick one, especially since my memory from before I started working with by:Larm is kind of blurry, but I think maybe Deathcrush might be one of my all tme favourites.

5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

My dream by:Larm scenario is that in the future by:Larm is the biggest festival & music conference in outer space, with all the best bands in the universe. LOL. 

1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Plan your evening. Make a list of bands you wanna check out and don’t go for the obvious gigs. Check out new stuff.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now? by:Larm will grow into becoming bigger and even more important for the nordic and european music business.

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

The cold cold gigs at fabulous Doga when by:Larm visited Trondheim 4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

A young Karpe Diem playing by:Larm in Stavanger 2005 5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

That would be Oslo giving us nice weather with sun and degrees above -0

MARK VAUGHAN 1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Dont stop. Its freaking cold. Keep moving all the time. This helps keep the body warm and allows you to get to as many shows as possible!

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

I think bylarm will be even more heavily Nordic based in 15 years, there is already a lot more Nordic bands this year than ever before.

Maybe in a neighboring country?

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

When Peter Eikland gave me a free bottle of champagne in the tent last year it was pretty magical!

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Ulver, Silver, First Aid Kit at Mono, Susanna Sundfor in the church last year, Ost & Kjex, Lars Vaular, Serena Maneesh, Harrys Gym could be Gus Gus and Iceage also after this years festival 5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

Maybe a tropical version? Where the whole thing could be moved to Hawaii or something and instead of thick jackets we wear hawaiin skirts and walk around with drinks in coconuts!

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

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1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Despite being in the middle of the winter, by:Larm is exactly that, a festival. Make time to just hang out with friends in the Nokia-tent and just soak up the festival feeling. There´s always plenty of hidden gems at by:Larm, take a few chances and drop by some gigs just to see what happens.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

Hopefully at the same place as the music...

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

Probably Bigbang transforming from an unknown band into shooting stars during 30 minutes on stage in 1999. Honningbarna in front of the Rockefeller crowd last year is also up there.

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Bigbang, Briskeby, Rockettothesky, Casiokids, Kvelertak….

5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

Witnessing a fantastic gig that leads directly to international stardom for the band...

WYNDHAM WALLACE 1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) It’s a basic thing, and definitely not a secret, but amazingly some people make little effort to check out music on the by:Larm website beforehand. I can’t see the point in coming all this way at this expense and then not doing some research beforehand. But then again, some people expect their food to not only be cooked for them, but cut up and fed to them too.

2.15 years has gone by. Where is by:Larm in another 15 years from now?

Why mess with the formula? I miss the adventure of discovering new places when it used to change city every year, but it works in Oslo very well, and the city is perfect for an event like this. Having said that, sending by:Larm to Svalbard might sort the men from the boys...

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

Where to start? I mean, the first time I went, in 2006, I went huskie sledging by moonlight in the snowy hills outside Tromsø before hearing Adjagas sing yoiks in front of a blazing fire while I drank karsk and ate reindeer stew. And the last time I went, 2011, I ended up with my coat catching fire while standing in a tiny bar. And I was still wearing it. Maybe that’s not such a good memory after all, but it’s the kind of madness that always seems to happen at by:Larm, and I had to laugh, especially since no one around me seemed to think anything out of the ordinary had happened!

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Jenny Hval stands out wherever she plays, and I think my finest musical memory was her show in the Kultukirken Jakob last year. She never fails to bring tears to my eyes. But Loney, Dear in Trondheim in 2007 was spectacularly joyful, and special mention goes to Olafur Arnalds, though I wish he’d get a real drummer.

5. Dream by:Larm scenario....

Ane Brun and Jose Gonzales performing ‘Worship’ (from her latest album) in front of a log fire at the Frognerseteren restaurant that overlooks the city, while eating fresh fish with some of the rather fine Norwegians I’ve got to know over the last few years. To make it perfectly dreamlike, of course, someone else will need to pick up the bill.

Sponsoring

MINA EVENRUD Intern

PETER EIKELAND 1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Definite must is to sit down and make a plan, by:Larm is so much better when you can just stroll around from venue to venue and see great, live music. Make sure you don´t fill up all the slots, but have time to check out good tips from friends.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now? world:Larm?!?

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

Tromsø in 2006, my first and so far best by:Larm. Just loved the energy in the city, and all the bands seemed to pick up on that vibe and gave it their best.

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

My Midnight Creeps and their live performance in Tromsø 2006, amazing experience.

5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

Sold out, packed at all venues from the first to the last concert and a ton of happy people thinking that by:Larm is the best festival ever.

And of course a big Sauna in the NOKIA Tent..

1. How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ?

Use the schedule and make a plan for the all the concerts you wish to see, stay up late and forget about sleeping.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

On the moon!

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

When Jónsi won the first ever Nordic Music Prize!

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Sadly, by:Larm 2011 was my first ever by:Larm, but I already have some favorites among the artist playing this year, I hope the live up to my expectations live!

5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

Isn’t by:Larm a dream scenario?

LIVE JØRGENSEN Registration 1. How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ?

Be careful to invest a few hours to get through all the dreary details about where to get your wristband, remembering the street address of the convention hotel and how to get there or when the bands you want to see is playing.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

It’s the European answer to SXSW in size, and it’s as famous as SXSW as well. And it’ll be the coolest weekend of the whole winter in Northern Europe. No, wait! It already is...

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

As I’ve been working most of the time the past few years, unfortunately I’ve missed a lot of cool things too. But I remember the Shining-gig at John Dee in 2010 in particular.

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Shining and Your Headlights Are On, but Kollwitz, Aristillus and Death

By Unga Bunga also made an extreme impact on me.

5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

That I get to see more than one concert a day...

ERLEND MOGÅRD LARSEN 1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Don’t drink too much, be sharp from 09.00 – 02.30. Do not act as if you belong to the music business 2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

Probably the most influensial music event in the world.

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

When Tony Wilson started his key note speech in 1999 with “If you like the artist, buy the album. DO NOT sign them”.

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Bigbang, Cloroform, Wunderkammer, Kill, Wildbirds and Peace Drums, Deathcrush, John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen, Lars Vaular, Tommy Tokyo + + 5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario.. by:Larm 2015 – Thursday Oslo, Friday Tromsø and Saturday Svalbard. It can work…

Volunteer Coordinator

ØYSTEIN RONANDER

Editor Foreign Contributions

Head of seminar programming

Head of seminar programming

FEATURE

MARIA AMELIE 1. What´s your greatest advice on: How getting the most out of the by:Larm festival ? (secrets appreciated) Learn where the venues are before bylarm. Have some cava and burger at Q before you go out. See as many concerts as you can, alone or with friends.

2. 15 years has passed since the first by:Larm. Where will by:Larm be in another 15 years from now?

Have no idea where, but hope it still be a great festival and conference.

3. What´s your best by:Larm memory?

So many! Cold starry winter nights, magical snow falling down from the sky, so many cool people at the seminars and concerts, amazing volunteers, and this festival feeling that reminds you of summer.

4. Who is your all time favourite by:Larm band(s)?

Lykke Li without a doubt 5. Describe you dream by:Larm scenario..

Some new amazing band, Oslo skyline, dancing at Stratos with old and new friends.

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

FEATURE

Mayhem And Black Metal Come In From The Cold

NOWEGIAN METAL TOUR FRIDAY 09:00 AM

FEATURE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

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On the 25th anniversary of recording of the notorious //Deathcrush// EP, John Doran declares he has had enough of hearing about the murder, the suicide, the political extremism and the arson. It’s time to recognize Mayhem as artistic innovators and True Norwegian Black Metal as fearlessly ground breaking music Text: John Doran photo: Atle Richter Schie/ DAN DENNISON NORWEGIAN METAL TOUR, FRIDAY 09:00

H

as there ever been such a huge disparity between the colossal amount of people who know a rock band’s autobiography and the mere handful who have actually listened to their music with any serious intent? The answer, in this case, is probably not.

In a genre that has always thrived on notoriety, the quite literally named Mayhem are seen as the overlords of chaos, controversy, and violence for very good reason. The Ozzy Osbourne US tour of 1982 that saw the former Black Sabbath singer urinate on the Alamo while wearing a dress, bite the head off a live bat and lose his lead guitarist in a stunt involving a light aircraft and a barn, pales into insignificance when compared to the events that led up to the recording of Mayhem’s full length debut De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas a decade later. Various high profile court cases and hearings involving much more mainstream bands such as Judas Priest, Slayer and Twisted Sister couldn’t hold a candle to the murder and arson trial of Varg Vikernes in 1993, which kept Norway and the rest of the world gripped with intrigue. And forget about The Dirt: Confessions Of The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band, which detailed the excessive exploits of Mötley Crüe, or Hammer Of The Gods, which lifted the lid on the nefarious leisure activities of Led Zeppelin - no music book

held the attention of everyone from teenage metalheads to social commentators like Lords Of Chaos: The Bloody Rise Of The Satanic Metal Underground. (Though it should be said that one of the authors, Michael Moynihan, was hardly bi-partisan and painted what could easily be termed an aggrandizing, morally questionable and overly sympathetic portrait of some of the main players in the biased best seller.)

The cover of the book – an equally compelling and horrifying litany of suicide, mutilation, murder, misanthropy, occultism, outsider spirituality, nihilism and general extremism - features a famous image of a beautiful wood framed, stave church engulfed in flames. This was one of over 50 such attacks in Norway that took place between 1992 and 1996 (although it is likely that a significant proportion of these were not committed by members of Black Metal bands but various imitators).

The most important of these fire bombings was carried out by a trio of arsonists, Bård Eithun [aka Faust of the band Emperor], Øystein Aarseth [aka Euronymous of Mayhem] and Varg Vikernes [aka Count Grishnackh of Burzum], who burned the Holmenkollen chapel to the ground on August 21, 1992. The chapel took pride of place at one of the highest points in Oslo next to the ski jump and, when it was torched, the entire capital looked up in dismay. For all that it was a terrible act of vandalism on a cherished building, as a piece of political theatre, it was exquisitely judged, being an attack not only on the country’s adopted Christian religion but on its very national pride and new found economic wealth, given that ski-jumping is Norway’s number one sport and the

towering concrete slope was a symbol born of a booming economy based on oil reserves discovered in the late 1960s and 1970s.

The three men were part of the so-called ‘Black Circle’ – a group of like-minded teenagers and twenty somethings - who used to congregate at Helvete Records which is now a Vietnamese-run coffee shop called Vårt Daglige Brød, which translates deliciously into English as Our Daily Bread. (Anyone taking the excellent Black Metal Coach Tour during the by:Larm weekend will get to descend the vertiginous stairs into The Circle’s former lair, where the daubed inscription ‘BLACK METAL’ is still clear on the wall. The ‘T’ of ‘Metal’ forms a Satanic, inverted cross.) Members of this gang would go on to become the founders of True Norwegian Black Metal (TNBM) and become key players in such groups such as Darkthrone, Emperor and

“The only thing you could say collectively about Mayhem is that they really did live up to their name.”

Satyricon, but none would be as important as Mayhem.

Probably the most controversial musical outfit ever formed, they were fuelled partially by a desire for 360 degree extremism but also powered by chaotically divergent ideas and philosophies about how to achieve this. Nihilistic frontman Per Yngve Ohlin, known simply as Dead,

was preoccupied with mortality – especially his own. To give himself a cadaverous air he would wear corpse paint and even bury his clothes, digging them up just before a gig, so he would look and smell like he had just been disinterred. He would go into trancelike states while singing, often cutting himself with knives and broken glass.

During 1990 the band moved into a remote house outside of Oslo to begin work on what would become their most notorious album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.

Perhaps unsurprisingly Dead (partially spurred on by the deeply misanthropic world view promoted by all the other band members) took his own life in April 1991. He cut his wrists with a hunting knife and then turned a shotgun on himself. His suicide note apologized for all the blood and for firing the weapon indoors. On finding his friend’s body, the band’s guitarist and owner of Helvete, Euronymous, took photos. (One would end up adorning the gruesome front cover of bootleg album Dawn Of The Black Hearts.) Then he gathered up skull fragments which he would later clean and make into necklace pendants to give to musicians he admired. Then, and only then, did he call the authorities.

Mayhem’s temporary bassist Grishnakh joined the group after Dead’s suicide.

He was a notorious publicity fiend and already an outspoken Neo Nazi. This angered Aarseth greatly who thought that the movement should remain a secretive society based on other outsider, cult groups such as the Hell’s Angels or Free Masons, and after the Holmenkollen arson became opposed to further burnings. It is one of many misapprehensions that surround the

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

group – there was little or no agreement on the church burnings. In fact most members of Mayhem were opposed to them and the negative publicity they drew toward the group.

(Another common misunderstanding is that the band were fascists. Grishnakh, who effectively left the group when he was arrested, was a neo-Nazi, but the only thing the rest of the group had in common politically was they were all at the outermost fringes. No one is claiming that Mayhem were a particularly nice bunch of men but the only thing that you could really say about them collectively is that really did live up to their name.)

Annoyed with (or potentially jealous of) the group’s newest member, Euronymous began telling people that he planned to torture his rival in the middle of a forest and leave him there to die. Whether it was this threat; or the less prosaic idea of a squabble over a record deal; or the more prosaic idea that Grishnakh couldn’t stand the idea of not being the “most evil” member of the Black Circle - something tipped him over the edge and the result was murder. Grishnakh, driven by Snorre Ruch [aka Blackthorn of the band Thorns], visited Euronymous at his flat on August 10, 1993 and didn’t leave until he had stabbed the guitarist 23 times – once straight through the forehead. The police – and eventually a jury – did not buy Grishnakh’s claims of self-defence and he was found guilty of murder and four of the church burnings later that year.

Anders Odden – member of Satyricon, recent winner of a Spellemannprisen and tour guide on the hugely enjoyable True Norwegian Black Metal tour - is still visibly upset by the events that ended up overshadowing the entire movement.

Odden, who takes interested parties round Oslo, to the rebuilt Holmenkollen Chapel, to the former Helvete shop and to the modern day Aladdin’s Cave of Black Metal, Neseblod record store, describes the murder

FEATURE

and suicide as an “intense shadow of bad things” that fell across the music he loved, forcing him to turn his back on the scene for six years. He pinpoints the catastrophic tipping point: “As l remember it, the suicide of Dead was the starting point of things going darker. Until then it was like it is in other countries: young people into extreme music and imagery finding their own way of expressing their teenage angst. It haunts me still and I wish it had never happened.

It was a tragedy, not a marketing strategy.”

His other point about the music is very convincing as well: all of these acts of violence detracted from the simple truth

“They were like Lucifer’s very own Village People or the exact opposite of The Spice Girls.” that TNBM was not just heavy metal but an extremely new avant garde musical form. He says: “Aarseth [Euronymous] loved Kraftwerk. He loved any kind of music that was not commercial. Metal heads were into AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Metallica… Black Metal was something else.” He cites the involvement of Conrad Schnitzler of Tangerine Dream and Kluster in the creation of the early 1987 Mayhem track ‘Silvester Anfang’ as evidence.

And Odden is far from alone. Not only was the sound of TNBM undeniably leftfield, it was the most exciting sonic leap forward in the genre since the emergence of thrash groups such as Slayer and Metallica nearly ten years earlier. While people often talk of the ‘spirit’ of a record without really explaining what they mean, Mysteriis is steeped in an otherworldly coldness and harsh introspective beauty, which is undeniably fed by the fact it features the last vocals Dead sang just before his

suicide; the last guitar parts Euronymous recorded just before his murder and the last bass parts Grishnakh recorded before he was jailed for 21 years. (He was released on bail in 2009.)

Mayhem lived up to their name like no other band, given that their music was powered by a self-harming Swedish nihilist; an avant garde Stalinist, Kraftwerk fan; a horrifically nasty minded evangelical Nazi; a misanthropic Satanist and an esoteric Hungarian throat singer who liked dressing up as an old crone giving birth to a sturgeon. They were like Lucifer’s very own Village People or the exact opposite of The Spice Girls. But also the power of the sound came from the solipsistic nature of Scandinavian life, the seasonal lack of sunlight, the astounding natural beauty of the country, the isolation, the country’s Pagan past, the sudden influx of money that created a newly mobilized bourgeois middle class with a large disposable income placing massive importance on material goods, smart expensive clothes and physical fitness. Black Metal – like Oslo’s terrible problems with suicide and heroin addiction among young men – was partially born out of a backlash against these rigid social conditions.

But out of all of this ugliness, loneliness and extremism comes something beautiful – a unique musical sound that literally couldn’t have been born anywhere else at any other time.

It might be a hard sell to non-metal fans, but for me their debut is one of the best of all time. The thunderous blast beats of ‘Funeral Fog’; the much slower angst ridden doom of ‘Freezing Moon’ (said by drummer Hellhammer to have the potential to make people take their own lives); the almost operatic title track; and the machine gun hail and necrotic howl of ‘Pagan Fears’ mean that it is a difficult listen, but one that eventually rewards many revisits.

Along with early EP Deathcrush and the caustic document of Live In Leipzig,

their first studio album is the spark that has helped keep metal both relevant and forward looking globally over the last two decades where most other genres have tended to struggle or even wither on the vine. Euronymous’ original wish for the band was for them to make completely unlistenable music and he considered gigs to be failures if anyone turned up to watch them. He applied this harsh aesthetic to his record shop as well. He would often throw potential customers out for wearing trainers or even for talking or for having girlfriends.

It was this attitude of “splendid“ isolation that kept Black Metal little more than a cult concern for years but the truth is, musically and aesthetically, it was just too good to be kept among a small group of friends in Oslo.

Nearly two decades later, when Grishnakh – now known by his family name Vikernes again – was released from jail, he would have struggled to recognize what TNBM had birthed. Sure, there were local bands such as the (excellent) 1349 – named after the year the bubonic plague arrived in Norway – who wore corpse paint and played necrotic and brutal Black Metal, but elsewhere the scene had effloresced into a savage and bizarre bloom. Another Oslo BM band Ulver had ditched some of their guitars for synthesizers, samplers and record decks, sounding more like English dubstep act Burial or Mezanine era Massive Attack than they did Darkthrone.

The “unthinkable” had happened as well – BM had caught on in America, ranging from the deadly earnest, corpse paint clad, suicidal Malefic aka Xasthur to the gin sodden, Bukowski reading Cobalt via the self-sufficient, ecologically conscious, farm inhabiting Wolves In The Throne Room. In fact most rock critics in 2011 had nothing but praise for the hipster Brooklynites Liturgy (and their transcendent Black Metal album Aesthethica released on Thrill Jockey) and they are more likely to be found reading books on critical

FEATURE

theory and shopping for vintage clothes in Williamsburg thrift stores than making jewelry out of their friends’ skulls and stock-piling weapons in case of Ragnarök.

But anyone who wants to see how much the scene has changed in Vikernes’ absence should look at Mayhem’s most recent album, the sublime Ordo Ad Chao. Front man Attila Csihar had taken some of the lessons he had learned in his own arcane studies and from years spent collaborating with leftfield doom drone act SunnO))) and reapplied them to his day job. The results were stunningly inventive and won them a Spellemannprisen for best metal album in 2007. Combined with the efforts of such forward looking bands as Årabrot, Ulver, Shining and Wardruna, it is clear to see where the future for extreme Norwegian music lies – in open minded artistic endeavor, not in closed minded entrenchment and hate politics. Compared to these bands, Vikernes’ post incarceration work as Burzum has had occasional flashes of brilliance but has been, for the most part, the worst thing Black Metal can be – utterly boring.

Before I sign off I should point out that I’m not claiming that everyone should drop what they’re doing and go and watch Mayhem live. If you’re a fan of Snow Patrol fan who listens to Primal Scream when they fancy “rocking out”, you’re never going to like this music. Also, the band haven’t become toothless, like a tribute act to themselves. But those who are willing to look beyond decades of garish headlines and hear just beyond the pummeling wall of noise should be able to experience something close to sublime.

The Black Metal Coach Trip departs from Royal Hotel Christiania at 09:00am (sharp) on Friday. Mayhem play Sentrum Scene at 01:00 on Saturday 18th

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

13

14

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

INTERVIEW

‘People say it sounds like I’m a russian villain. I’m not, but I like the fact that I sound like one.’

INTERVIEW

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

15

‘by:Larm is awesome! I remember last summer, I was writing a list of all the things that I wanted to work towards. by:Larm was at the top of that list. I knew that if I got to play at by:Larm, it would lead to a lot of other positive opportunities. I have put down a lot of work in making it to by:Larm,’

text: Ida Madsen Hestman photo: hilde Holta-Lysell

MIKHAEL PASKALEV, 22:00 John dee

H

e’s talking about his artist name; Michael Paskalev.

‘My real name is Jean Michael Skaaden. I think it’s kind of embarrassing’, he admits, followed with an awkward giggling. Then he leans forward in the couch, explaining: ‘First of all: Bad name. Secondly, I wanted to have a name that was close to me. I didn’t want a “David Bowie”, and my dad’s name was Paskalev.’

It’s Sunday, three hours after lunchtime, and Paskalev is waiting. He is about to do a photoshoot in an old industrial building.

This Sunday comes with the kind of weather that made Paskalevs flight one and a half hours late. But when we get inside, the radiators fights off the cold.

Paskalev studied at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), better known as the Paul McCartney school. Paskalev doesn’t exactly fancy the expression ‘to develop himself as an artist’, but starting at the school in the beginning wasn’t either an easy choice.

‘I was extremely sceptic to that school before I started there. I have a very lovehate sort of relation to it. That might be going too far in talking about a school you’ve attended. I’ve got lots of respect for it, no doubt there, but I feared I was about to begin on a “Mickey Mouse Club”-kind of school, to be honest. I thought I’d be very molded by it, wandering around in the hallways singing and stuff. That it would be a bit convulsive.’

Despite his scepticism, Paskalev did go to the school. It turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise.

‘You get to actually pretend that you are a real musician for three years without worrying about your grades or about how

‘I think I decided to be a musician the day i found out that I didn’t want to become a cop.’

He’s smiling, looking into the air. Then laughing over the thought of having only two options for a job career - being a cop or being a musician.

Maybe it’s true.

‘I think I decided to be a musician the day i found out that I didn’t want to become a cop.’ He’s smiling, looking into the air.

Then laughing over the thought of having only two options for a job career - being a cop or being a musician. Maybe it’s true.

He has musicians on both sides of his family, so you couldn’t blame either of his parents for being the sole cause for his great talent. ‘I’ve got a lot of help from my family ending up where I am today, but I have also been working really hard myself. There’s always been a lot to do. And I’m not a lazy person,’ he assures.

the program is at school, because you know that you have to work tough as nails to make it. I would absolutely have done the same thing over again for three more years if I had the possibility.’

Paskalev didn’t expect to meet the same type of people as himself at LIPA. This also became a positive surprise.

‘I was actually prepared to be sitting alone in my room, doing stuff and playing the guitar all by myself’, Paskalev says. Little did he know that he was about to meet Billie Van and Jonas Alaska at the same school, two of the people who would turn out to take big parts in his musical career.

Today Michael Paskalev lives together with Jonas Alaska (who’s playing tonight at

Rockefeller). They also do backing vocals for each other, and play at the same stage most of the time. This means they have to plan their gigs to fit with each other, so they basically end up spending the most of their time together. But according to Paskalev, there hasn’t been any arguing yet.

‘We’ve become a real trio’, he says about Jonas Alaska and Billie Van. ‘I know it sounds like we’re trying to make it look like that, but actually it’s just the truth’.

‘I hope it reflects in my music, that we’re a group with good energy and there’s no hired musicians, even if that also can be cool,’ he says quickly. ‘But we’re a group who knows eachother in and out and we’re having a great time together. That’s something we get back in the good energy we have together.’ This remarkable element in Michael Paskalev’s music, the impression of good energy and powerful songs was also what the judges pointed out when Paskalev won the price as this year’s Urørt (a national music-competition and webplatform for unsigned bands) earlier this year.

The fact that Paskalev both have become this years winner of the Urørt-prize and being picked out as a by:Larm artist, reflect the critics’ predictions of Michael Paskalev as having a promising music career ahead.

Paskalev himself describes what he thinks about it in short words: ‘It’s awesome,’ he says with a grin. He uses the word a lot describing things that are happening right now. ‘by:Larm is awesome! I remember last summer, I was writing a list of all the things that I wanted to work towards. by:Larm was at the top of that list. I knew that if I got to play at by:Larm, it would lead to a lot of other positive opportunities. I have put down a lot of work in making it to by:Larm,’ he says.

Paskalev isn’t exactly bragging when describing his everyday-life after becoming a well-known person in the norwegian music industry.

‘People might point at me when they recognize me, and that’s fun, but I’m not

exactly a superstar. And of course, it’s very nice to hear that people like my music. It is very fun to have managed to get to this point in my life. It’s what I’ve worked for.’

Paskalev also get a lot of inspiration from film when he makes his music. ‘The finest complement I’ve ever received is that my music is very cinematic. That made me very happy. It’s probably because I watch a lot of movies and think more like that.

I watch too many movies,’ he says with huge energy. Then he starts listing up.

‘Deerhunter! It made me all paralyzed.

Band of Brothers was also a series that that inspired me a lot. And Sopranos, of course!

It’s the mightiest in the whole world.’

Paskalev is a huge fan of the big old heroes.

‘Pacino. Nick Nolte and… Cape Fear! Cape Fear!’ he says with great enthusiasm. ‘That film is awesome! Twin Peaks should also be mentioned. That series is a real kick! I don’t think I’ve ever been so afraid since i was 13 years old. Bob is so scary!’

Paskalev might well have imagined himself making music for film. Maybe that’s why he wrote ‘Come on and Jive’ to the character Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks.

‘That would be the biggest dream in the whole world; To get one of my songs in a film’, he says.

Maybe it was his huge enthusiasm for film that inspired him to become a ‘russian villain’ by name, but despite the sound of his name, Michael Paskalev himself must probably be the nicest person that walks the earth this day.

16

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

Søndag 19. februar:

INTERVIEW

Lørdag 3. mars: OLGT! UTS

Fredag 23. mars:

Fredag 27. april:

Lørdag 24. mars: ERT AKONS EKSTR

Lørdag 25. februar:

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS “Soul Time!” ute nå!

AFTENPOSTEN

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

“Hatred, Love & Diagrams” ute nå!

RB DAGBLADET VG

Supp.: RIBOZYME + TRAINED TO BITE

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Bill. kr. 250,- 18 år leg.

Fredag 9. mars:

Fredag 30. mars:

ENVY 5 STAR FESTIVAL Bill. kr. 175,-. 18 år leg.

Lørdag 28. april:

Torsdag 23. februar:

TRYGDEKONTORET Trygd Across Norway Tour 2012

Hitmakeren bak låtene “Ring meg!” og “Bordet”!

Med: THOMAS SELTZER, LEO AJKIC, HEINE FJORDLAND, TRYGDEBEISTET, ANNE KAT HÆRLAND, ODD-MAGNUS WILLIAMSON. Musikalsk gjest: STEIN TORLEIF BJELLA

gabrielle

NB! Begr. ant. bill. i salg.

Tirsdag 13. mars

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Debutalbum ute 2. mars!

Bill. kr. 200,-. 18 år leg.

TEAM 10/10 “To the Treetops” nå!

ME ute Musikknyheter.no + JONAS ALASKA

Special guests: ADMIRAL P + JAA9 & ONKLP + HERRELØSE + SISI

Nytt album ute 20. februar!

Bill. kr. 200,-. 18 år leg.

Lørdag 25. februar:

10/10 “Jonas Alaska” ute nå!

Musikknyheter.no

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Fredag 16. mars:

Supp: MIKHAEL PASKALEV

Bill. kr. 200,-. 18 år leg.

RT

KONSE

EKSTRA

Supp.: CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN + THE CUBICAL “Blues Funeral” ute nå!

DAGBLADET VG

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Tors. 23.2: Bill. kr. 175,-

HIGH PLACES (US) Supp.: HEARTFELT

Fre. 24.2:

NARUM GUREN HAGEN FRIDA ÅNNEVIK KNUT ANDERS SØRUM

Tors. 1.3:

Bill. kr. 200,-

Tirs. 6.3:

Bill. kr. 200,-

“Endgame” ute nå!

Bill. kr. 320,-. 18 år leg. i hovedsal. Fri alder på galleriet.

Lørdag 10. mars:

NB! FÅ

BILL.!

Supp.: HANNE KOLSTØ Gjesteartist: JENS CARELIUS

Bill. kr. 200,-. 18 år leg.

Lørdag 17. mars:

Nytt album ute 2. mars!

Supp.: DISKOTEK Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Tirsdag 17. april:

Bill. kr. 270,-

Perform “CLOSER” A Joy Division Celebration

Fre 9.3:

Bill. kr. 200,-

Kathleen Edwards(CAN)

“Voyageur” ute nå!

AFTENPOSTEN, DAGSAVISEN Supp.: HANNAH GEORGAS(CAN)

Ons. 14.3: Bill. kr. 125,Releasekonsert:

PHONE JOAN

www.gracefordrowning.com

Tors. 15.3:

Bill. kr. 300,-. 18 år leg.

Supp.: THE YUM YUMS Lør. 17.3:

CASS MCCOMBS

Ons. 21.3:

Bill. kr. 150,-

Fre. 23.3:

Bill. kr. 150,-

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE ZUGLY

The Little Hands of Asphalt

Lør. 24.3:

Bill. kr. 150,-

Releasekonsert:

Nytt album ute 10. februar!

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Lørdag 24. mars:

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Onsdag 9. mai:

LIDO Debutalbum ute nå!

LIDO AFTENPOSTEN

Tors. 29.3: Bill. kr. 175,-

(CAN)

Forsalg: Posten, Supp.: www.rockefeller.no, WE ARE THE OCEAN Narvesen, 7-Eleven, tlf. 815 33 133.

Søn.

1.4: Bill. kr. 270,NB! Bill.avg. 18 år leg.

(US)

Supp.: DRM + PHATS Lør. 28.4: Bill. kr. 100,Releasekonsert:

the JAYHAWKS ”Dic.Nii.Lan.Daft.Erd.Ark”

Bill. kr. 175,-

Releasekonsert:

Lørdag 5. mai:

THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES + THE AMAZING

Bill. kr. 200,(US)

Fredag 4. mai:

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

“Alle Snakker Sant” ute nå!

AFTENPOSTEN, DAGSAVISEN

(S)

PETER HOOK AND THE LIGHT

Fredag 13. april:

siri nilsen

Bill. kr. 200,-

En efta med trassviser og tordenskrell

Bill. kr. 390,-. 18 år leg.

Tirsdag 28. februar:

“Mockingbird Time” ute nå!

DAGBLADET

(S) SAMLING Supp.: LAST HEAT

Ons. 7.3:

Fredag 16. mars:

MARK LANEGAN BAND

Bill. kr. 150,-

raymond (S) & maria

Søndag 29. april: An evening with:

Lørdag 31. mars:

“Balls Out” ute nå!

Supp.: THE TREATMENT

NB! F

Bill. kr. 300,-. 18 år leg.

I samarbeid med Musikknyheter.no

Releasekonsert:

Onsdag 7. mars:Å BILL.!

Nytt album ute 16. mars!

Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Fredag 24. februar:

NICO D

TALIB KWELI

Supp.: BOW TO EACH OTHER Nytt album ute 16. mars!

Bill. kr. 175,-

(S)

Ons. 22.2:

Supp.: DREAMON Bill. kr. 350,-. 18 år leg.

Susanne Sundfør

Tirs. 21.2:

Kjøpte bill. refunderes

PING

ute nå!

“Paralytic Stalks” ute nå!

Fre. 4.5: Bill. kr. 100,Supp.: CHUCK PROPHET på utsalgssted innen 23.5.

Bill. kr. 300,-. 18 år leg.

Supp.: KISHI BASHI Slippfest: Bill. kr. 350,-. år leg.

Bill. kr.

250,-.

18Posten, år leg. www.billettservice.no.

Forsalg på18Posten, Forsalg tlf. 815på 33Posten, 133, www.billettservice.no.

Forsalg tlf.

815 på 33 133, tlf. OBS! 815Bill.avg.

33 133, kr 25,-. www.billettservice.no.

OBS! Bill.avg. kr 25,-.

OBS! Bill.avg. kr 25,-.

Fredag 2. mars:

Mannen bak radio-hiten “The A Team”!

Torsdag 22. mars:

LALEH “Sjung” ute nå!

DAGBLADET Bill. kr. 270,-. 18 år leg.

Torsdag 19. april:

Supp.: DUNDERHONNING + IZAKAYA HEARTBEAT

Tors. 3.5:

Bill. kr. 225,-

(US) OGSÅ: playing Nytt album ute 5. mars!

Forsalg på Posten, tlf. 815 33 133, www.billettservice.no.

Forsalg HUSK på OBS! Posten, Bill.avg. kr 25,-. tlf. 815“It’s 33 133, www.billettse a shame about Ray” Bill. kr. 300,-. 18 år leg.

24.2: M83 UTSOLGT! Lør. 5.5: Bill. kr. 150,26.2: WILCO UTSOLGT! WOLVES LIKE US + 29.2, 1.3 og 2.3: UTSOLGT! KOLLWITZ + BOMBUS (S) KAIZERS ORCHESTRA Ons. 23.5: Bill. kr. 125,Releasekonsert: 6.3: FEIST UTSOLGT! 17.3: THÅSTRÖM UTSOLGT! 26.3: RICK ROSS Nytt album ute 17. februar!

Supp.: PASSENGER 1.4: LEON RUSSELL Forsalg: www.rockefeller.no, Posten, Supp.: CORTNEY TIDWELL Sentrum - Oslo (v/Rockefeller) Bill. kr. 225,-, 18 år leg.

Narvesen, 7-Eleven, tlf. 815 33 4.5: Scene TINIE TEMPAH Forsalg på Posten,Forsalg tlf.

815 på 33 133, Forsalg tlf.

815 på 33 133, tlf. OBS! 815Bill.avg.

33 133, kr 25,-. www.billettservice.no.

OBS! Bill.avg. kr 25,-.

OBS! Bill.avg. kr133.

25,-.

Bill. kr.

300,-.

18Posten, år leg. www.billettservice.no.

Bill. kr.

225,-.

18Posten, år leg. www.billettservice.no.

Forsalg: www.rockefeller.no, Posten, Narvesen, NB! Begr. ant. bill. i salg.

Lambchop Farmers Market

BILLIE VAN

NB! OBS! Bill.avg. 18 år leg. på tlf.

33 133, www.billettservice.no.

OBS! Bill.av Forsalg påForsalg Posten,Forsalg tlf.Posten, 815 på 33 Posten, 133,815 www.billettservice.no.

Bill.avg. kr 25,-. tlf. 815 33 133. NB!133, Bill.avg. tlf.7-Eleven, 815 33 www.billettservice.no.

Forsalg påForsalg: Posten, tlf.

815 33 133, www.billettservice.no.

OBS! Bill.avg. kr 25,-. www.rockefeller.no, Posten, Narvesen, 7-Eleven, tlf. 815 33 133. Gruppe- og bedriftssalg: kontakt post@rockefeller.no / tlf. 22 20 32 32. NB! Bill.avg. orsalg på Posten, Forsalg tlf. på Posten, 815 Forsalg 33 133, tlf. på Forsalg 815 Posten, www.billettservice.no.

33 133, på tlf.Forsalg Posten, 815 www.billettservice.no.

33 på 133, tlf.

Forsalg Posten, 815 www.billettservice.no.

OBS!33 Bill.avg. på 133, tlf.

Forsalg Posten, kr815 25,-. www.billettservice.no.

OBS! 33 Bill.avg. på Forsalg 133, tlf.

Posten, kr 815 www.billettservice.no.

25,-.

Forsalg OBS! 33 påtlf.

Bill.avg.

133, Posten, 815 påkrwww.billettservic Posten, 25,-.

OBS! 33tlf.

133, Bill.avg.

815 tlf. www.bi kr33 25,-.

815 OBS! 133 B Fullstendig program og info: www.rockefeller.no

Forsalg på Posten, tlf. 815 33 133, www.billettservice.no.

Forsalg på OBS! Posten, Bill.avg. kr 25,-. tlf. 815 33 133, www.billettse

SEMINAR

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

17

Next stop, Queen of pop

Thursday 8 pm, Mono Sandra Kolstad is one of the most exciting and talented acts to emerge from the deep sea of artists in Scandinavia. With clear elements of industrial techno and dance-friendly electropop, she’s taking the 21st Century synthpop revival thing to a whole new level.

With the voice of Björk, sounds of Little Dragon and downbeats of Fever Ray, her music is smart as a whip and simply amazing.

And yes, I can assure the sceptics that Sandra Kolstad is not one of many hypes that are easily forgotten. I mean, why else would she be one of ten nominees for this year’s prestigious Statoil grant? A prize previously won by Ida Maria, Mathias Eick, Ingrid Olava and Kvelertak?

Kolstad is, however, one of the musicians you MUST see live. Kinda like the

opposite of Chan Marshall, for the sake of namedropping. We almost guarantee you that the Norwegian will put on a fully visual and unpredictable show, giving you a real musical trip you’ll scarcely can recover from.

Further more, every time her name is mentioned, there’s always this question loosely followed: Who will become the new Norwegian pop queen? This cliché question is inevitable

in these days now that the Bertine Zetlitz has been idle for some year. This may be as difficult to answer, as the battle for the throne itself. Nevertheless, we do believe that Kolstad is one of the most promising contestants, and know for a fact that you’ll be kicking yourself if you miss out on her at By:Larm. … since you already like: Björk, Little Dragon and Fever Ray.

18

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

PLAYING TONIGHT

Kjære samarbeidspartnere og venner 2012 er et meget spesielt år i Rikskonsertenes mer enn 40 år lange historie. Det offentlige konserttilbudet har stått sentralt fra dag én, og bidratt til at kulturhus og lokale arrangører over hele landet har fått et bredt programtilbud. Slik har et stort publikum fått møte fremragende kunstnere og artister, ofte med større konsertforestillinger. De offentlige konsertene har vært toppen av det Riksmusikalske fjellet. Grunnfjellet består av verdens beste skolekonsert-ordning, som når ut til alle norske skolebarn med mer enn 9000 konserter per år. Fra høsten 2012 blir den offentlige konsertordningen avviklet, og skolekonsertene blir selve navet i virksomheten.

Det nye er at musikere og artister som sendes ut på turné, skal få møte ulike publikumsgrupper gjennom et større mangfold av konsertformer og -arenaer. Flere skal få oppleve levende musikk, og Rikskonsertene samler all konsertvirksomhet i én avdeling, på tvers av publikums- og arrangørgrupper. Det vil bli flere oppsøkende konserter, også utenfor skolen, og arbeidsplasskonserter er et nytt satsningsområde. Vi styrker den internasjonale, flerkulturelle satsningen som vi er så stolte av, samtidig som Oslo World Music Festival skilles ut som en selvstendig stiftelse. Rikskonsertene har vært i stadig utvikling i tråd med norsk musikk- og kulturliv for øvrig. For å lykkes med det fornyede oppdraget, vil forpliktende samarbeid og forankring være viktigere enn noen gang.

For meg personlig er 2012 også et spesielt år. Mitt åremål utløper, og førti år etter at jeg turnerte de tre nordligste fylkene som soloartist for Rikskonsertene, avslutter jeg med å dra på turné med Nyttårskonsertene, et samarbeid med Den Norske Opera & Ballett. Takk til alle Riks-venner og samarbeids-partnere, og lykke til når et nytt kapittel i Rikskonsertenes historie nå skal skrives. Åse Kleveland Direktør

FOR BILLETTER OG MER INFORMASJON: WWW.RIKSKONSERTENE.NO

PLAYING TONIGHT

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

(SE)

19

Thursday Stratos, 09:30pm Korallreven (English The coral reef) is as dreamy and pretentious as its name clearly echoes.

The Swedish electronica pop duo, made up of Marcus Joons and Daniel Tjäder (the guy from The Radio Dept), plays breathtaking Samoan dance-inspired beats disguised as everyday indie-pop. Only it’s not – it’s so much better. However, it was not until the release of their critically acclaimed debut album, An Album of Korallreven, in November 2011, that the group caught the eye of the surface’s wagging tail. No wonder, when it’s gemmed with collabs with no other than Victoria Bergsman from bands such as Taken By Trees and The Concretes, who played at By:Larm last year, and the amazing Julianna Barwick.

We are already over the moon about Korallreven and happy we booked them, and so will you be! ... since you already like: Jj, Saint Etienne and Air France (the band, not the airline)

FOTO: PRESS

(SE)

FOTO: PRESS

Thursday 00.30 am, The Crossroad Club Deportees (2003-) are an indie pop band consisting of the two brothers Anders and Peder Stenberg, Thomas Hedlund and Mattias Lidström from Umeå in Sweden.

Their breakthrough came with the critically acclaimed album Under the Pavement – The Beach (2009), followed up with yet another successful record in 2011 (Islands & Shores).

More recently the band has settled for a more pop-ish sound than previous, after boldly experimenting with genres such as soul, country and punk. As Peder Stenberg humorously pointed out in an interview, they, unlike a lot of American bands, could play around with all sort of American genres without being noticed or disrespectful, being isolated in North of Sweden.

wrap up this article by saying how insanely skilled the drummer Thomas Hedlund is.

Besides playing for Deportees, he plays drums for Phoenix, Cult of Luna and the Perishers. Bands that of course need no introduction. Hedlund’s raw power, drive and stamina are stunning, and even though he’s well placed behind the band, he’s always noticeable.

This, or at least some of it, you may already know, so I’m not gonna bore you with the rest of their biography. Instead I want to

Having said this, I feel the need to stress how brilliantly the band’s other musicians are.

They too deserve to be mentioned. Anders

Stenberg, for instance, is Lykke Li’s guitarist.

Peder Stenberg has the perfect voice to fit to the band’s profile. Not to forget Mattias Lidström, of course.

Deportees is in fact one of the headliners here at By:Larm this year, in my opinion. If you believe differently, you’ve been deceived by dishonest journalism. I, for my part, won’t lie to you.

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

Thursday 08:30 pm, Stratos Lemâitre is one those irritating names people neither can spell or pronunciate properly unless they’re French. Admittedly, their name is a typo of Georges Lemaître’s surname, making it way more ironic and fun. (OK, so I did a background check, and apparently these guys are fond of popular science.)

They have nevertheless been a hot topic in the streets of Oslo the last year. Lately, also across the globe, much thanks to Johannes Greve Muskat surreal Lemâitre music videos.

The publicity is well deserved, too, to be honest.

PLAYING TONIGHT

Lamâitre consists of Kjetil and Ulrik who make glitch with heavy beats, clearly under the influence of... err, influenced by Daft Punk, Røyksopp and Justice. True to the essence of the genre, their music almost pushes you up on the dance floor, giving you maximum confidence to dance for.

On stage they combine live instruments together with not so live instruments and live vocals, giving the crowd a real run for their money. Word on the street has it that Lamâitre aims for more ass-kicking shows this year than previous, so if you haven’t experienced the Lemâitre experience yet, do yourself a favor and do it now. … since you already like: Røyksopp, deadmau5, Daft Punk

NORGES ENESTE

MASTER I MUSIC MANAGEMENT Campus Kristiansand

Masterprogrammet er en tverrfaglig og praksisorientert utdanning som gir deg muligheten til å utvikle din spisskompetanse, tett på den internasjonale musikkbransjen uia.no/studier

Søknadsfrist 15. april

INTERVIEW

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012 FINNMARK ROCK COUNTY: Promoting new and inspiring artists from the north

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ENTREPRENEUR OR COUCH HERO – WHICH ARE YOU? Find out now! Choose either A or B, and go with your gut.

1. Are you a creative person?

A: I like to buy stuff others make.

B: I love to develop my own ideas and want to see them realized.

2. What kind of education would be ideal for you?

A: Whatever my friends choose, so we can hang out.

B: An education that gives me everything I need to live my passion.

3. How do you feel about living close to nature?

A: I just watch tv anyways.

B: I find it inspiring, soothing, or both.

4. What’s your dream job?

A: Some random place where I don't have to do much and still get paid a lot.

B: I don't want a regular job, I want to live and thrive and work with my own projects on my own time.

5. What do you think about the future?

A: Everything was better before.

B: The world needs some work, but we have everything we need to make the future a great time to live in.

Most A's: Well, thanks for being honest.

Most B's: You are most definitely a Rock 'n' Roll Entrepreneur at heart.

Check out the new bachelor program at Finnmark Univercity College, before it’s too late! Can you afford to miss it?

Make a living doing what you love

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

PLAYING TONIGHT

FOTO: PRESS

Thursday 11 pm, Last Train Mirror Lakes itself isn’t very famous per se. In fact, most music lovers haven’t heard of Mirror Lakes – yet. The band has nevertheless already signed to the major record label Warner Music Norway. Why, oh why? I’ll tell you why. In fact, I’ll give you five good reasons:

Frode Fivel (vocal) from Hello Goodbye and lately as a solo artist,

Maneesh (By:Larm, 2010) and I Was A King (By:Larm, 2011),

Knut Schreiner (guitar) from Turboneger and Kåre & the Cavemen/Euroboys, Amazing not so fun fact: he was head of last year’s jury of the Statoil grant.

Arne Mathisen (drums) / from Heroes & Zeros.

Trond Mjøen (guitar)/ from Euroboys, Håvard Krogedal (bass) from Serena-

Musically, the band members all contribute with music from their previous bands and works, adding a somewhat melodic touch to the hard rock genre, through Fivel’s distinctive voice. Even though this

Norwegian superband hasn’t released their debut yet, the exceptions are sky high given the fact that these veterans have been working on it since 2010. Øya har already booked them, but I see no reason to wait ‘til then, when you can see them at By:Larm. … since you already like: Euroboys, Turboneger and Frode Fivel

FOTO: PRESS

Mmmaking it cool Thursday 10 pm, Dattera til Hagen

Mmm (NO) is an electropop duo consisting of Johanne Isefiær McDougall og Ida Eline Tangen playing on synths.

Their music style is something in between 80’s synthpop and modern chillwave, drawing inspiration from artists such as Sebastien Tellier, Nouvelle Vague, Eurythmics, and many more. At least that’s what they say.

though, is the fact that they’re a rare, yet illustrious example of so-called “bedroom acts” in Norway that make striking catchy chillwave, following their own set of rules – with a few compromises on the way. It’s ambitious, it’s daring and it’s cool. Best of all, these synth-loving students have nothing to lose!

What’s makes these hot milkshakedrinking chicks in Mmm frikkin’ cool,

They have already performed at various well-respected scenes in Oslo, making

By:Larm a natural step up in rank.

Don’t be an old fart! Chillout with the chill sounds of Mmm on a chilly February day with a chill … OK, you get the picture. Or what was it? Anyway.

They’re awesome, check them out! … since you already like: Toro Y Moi (who doesn’t?), Eurythemics, Erik Enocksson

INTERVIEW

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012 JAKKA

Gr at i s i n n på by :l a rm 2013

alle jakker er n ummerert

halv pris på by:l armpass 2 0 1 2

k val i t et sp l a gg

kulhetsgrad: 9 ,7

fi n nes k un 20 ja kker

HAR DU FÅTT TAK I DEN OFFISIELLE BY:LARM-JAKKA FOR 2012?

Dette er den offisielle nummererte by:Larm-jakka. Når du kjøper denne jakka får du halv pris på by:Larmpasset for 2012, du kommer gratis inn på by:Larm i 2013 og du er med i trekningen av av et års gratis WiMP (Finnes 10 stk WiMP-abo. - 50% sjanse for å vinne). Jakka og flere andre produkter finner du i Resterödsbutikken i by:Larm-teltet og ved akkrediteringen.

Det finnes totalt 20 jakker for salg, samt hettegensere, t-skjorter og luer - alt i limited edition.

Produktene er produsert av Resteröds for by:Larm og for å kikke på produktene klikker du deg inn på resterods.com/bylarm.

resterods.com/bylarm

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NORDIC MUSIC PRIZE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

The Nordic Music Prize The Nordic Music Prize is a celebration for the best Nordic album 2011, and the art of making one. The first ever Nordic Music Prize was won by Iceland’s Jónsi for his solo debut “Go” last year under by:Larm 2011. H.R.H. The Crown Prince of Norway presented the prize to Jónsi. This year the Danish Minister of Culture, Uffe Elbæk, is announcing the Prize in JAKOB Church of Culture on Thursday the 16th.

Rob Young is one of the jury members for the second time. Young is the author of the new book Electric Eden, former editor of the Wire, now writer for Uncut and the Wire. By:Larm News contacted him to get his thoughts about this new initiative.

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his is your second year as a jury member, why did you say yes to participate in the jury the first time?

– I’ve been supporting a wide variety of music from the Nordic countries in my writing for many years and I was glad to hear about a prize which could have the possibility of raising the profile of the region’s creativity internationally as well as among the participating nations. Also it seems less ’industry-driven’ than equivalent prizes in the UK, for instance, such as the Mercury - the selection process meant that the final shortlist was generally of a pretty high quality.

How did you experience last year’s ceremony?

– I really enjoyed it. I’ve done other judging panels where the arguments have raged for hours. Here the winner was decided

within two, only a few hours before the ceremony began. That evening there was some fantastic live music although it was potentially uncomfortable, having the judges’ tables so close to many of the artists who didn’t win!

What does the jury look for when they decide which is the best Nordic album in 2011?

– I think we should be allowed to keep that our little secret, don’t you?

What is Nordic Music Prize to you?

– A celebration of a region whose music is unfairly overlooked by the rest of the world.

About Nordic Music Prize − − −

Inspired by the British Mercury Music Prize Initiative of the by:Larm conference in Norway The prize is the first of its kind in this region. The winner will be presented on Thursday February 16th during by:Larm. − Aims: to create a stronger unity across the regions industry, to increase international interest and awareness of what the region has to offer musically, and refocus on the full length album as an art form − 12 Nordic albums are nominated; each of the Nordic countries forwarded their own nominees for the award. After an exhaustive selection process involving each country’s domestic recording industry. One represents from each nation meets in Oslo with ten albums each, and whittled down to the final 12 nominations. The Nordic jury is represented by Ralf Christensen (Denmark), Jan Gradvall (Sweden), Ilkka Mattila (Finland), Audun Vinger (Norge) and Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen (Iceland).

On the same day as the winner announcement, the international jury consisting of Rob Young, Andres Lokko, Laurence Bell, Jeannette Lee, Zach Kelly, Jonathan Galkin and Mike Pickering meets and decides the second winner of the best Nordic Album and a prize of €20,000.

(Source: http://nordicmusicprize.com/)

FEATURE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

nor dic m usic pr i ze be st e nor di sk e a l bu m 2 01 1 Utdeling av Nordic Music Prize Kulturkirken Jakob Torsdag 16. februar 2012 kl 20:00 Live performance by: Iceage (DK) og Ane Brun Prisutdeling

De nominerte er:

Ane Brun It All Starts With One

Anna Järvinen Anna Själv Tredje

Björk Biophilia

Goran Kajfes X/Y

Gus Gus Arabian Horse

Iceage New Brigade

Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes

Malk De Koijn Toback To The Fromtime

Montée Renditions Of You

Rubik Solar

Siinai Olympic Game

The Field Looping state of mind

Sponsored by:

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FEATURE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

Cultural Funding:

To Sell Out or Not to Sell Out – Is That Still the Question?

Whether corporate funding of bands and musicians is right or wrong has divided the music industry for decades. For the artists themselves, the question of financing is a double-edged sword.

astri barbala illustration: frode skaren

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his Saturday, a Norwegian band or solo artist with international potential will be awarded with the Statoil Scholarship, consisting of one million NOK (increased last year from 800.000), for the fifth consecutive year. Since 2008, several nominees have refused to take part in the running for the grant, and simultaneously the debate has been raging: Is accepting “oil money” unethical? Are you compromising your artistic integrity as a musician if you consent to financial help from corporate sponsors; does it make you a classic example of a “sellout”?

For the artists in question, it has since day one been a Catch 22: If you refuse to take

part, you are taking yourself too seriously, screaming for attention you wouldn’t have received otherwise, or accused of believing in old-fashioned, utopian ideals. If you happily accept being a nominee, seeing it as a great way of possibly kick-starting your long-awaited music career, you are a hypocrite and selling out. Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

Being a player within the music business in this day and age sure isn’t easy. From day one of deciding on setting foot in the industry you are expected to have a crystal clear idea about who and what you want to be and stand for, making sure each tweet, each stage outfit is thoroughly planned to fit in with your chosen artist persona and career goals. As an artist wanting to make it in the trade you are, whether you like

it or not, inevitably a product, a package that comes with certain promises for the buyer. And that goes whether you choose to pursue the audacious money-hustling path of the “eight figure nigga by the name of Jigga” – yes, Jay-Z in his own words, that is – or a die-hard DIY disciple. As music critic Simon Reynolds argues, the “no sellout” also needs to be sold, and there are currently plenty of hustlers in the underground staking out a niche market and readily supplying it with products.

Marketing activity, in one shape or the other, is in place even at the countercultural wing of the music industry. Although it is seldom executed as shamelessly as the badly masked sellable rebelliousness of Bono’s self-labeled “punk rock” RED campaign, where his social criticism is carefully

wrapped so that financial sponsors and the mass media won’t get offended and the money machinery is always going ka-ching, even earning indie cred is impossible if nobody but your mum knows who you are.

Where there is culture there is undoubtedly also counterculture, visible or not on the surface of the establishment. But thanks to the Internet and social media, there is almost always a corporate eye on new, sexy underground subcultures, and if you’re not willing to sell the contents of it yourself, someone else will pick up your ideas and thoroughly package it up and sell it back to you in a market-friendly way. An example from the 90s is the Riot Grrrl movement and its hard-hitting punk rock feminism, whose members would soon choke on their Kathy Acker watching their “revolution girl style now” message and way of dressing be

FEATURE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

transformed into a cutesy capitalist version of themselves, complete with come-hither Lolita looks and Girl Power-clad crop tops.

If you don’t have either everlasting mainstream success or bottomless buckets of underground cred, another musical suicide awaits you: In between the hardcore do-it-yourself artists and the successful million-selling sellouts lies the far-stretching, massive grey zone that is Mediocrity. This is where you in the eyes of both music critics and consumers will end up if you attempt to make it in the mainstream music business, meaning you accept to take part in anything that involves making money, but still make the mistake of not becoming the new Beyoncé or Michael Jackson. And once you’ve been doomed to mediocrity as a failed sellout, there is no path leading back to the underground.

If that wasn’t enough for the extremely masochistic hopeful music artist, I have more bad news. The sell-by date on bands is in 2012 shorter than ever, and if you have been celebrated as the next big thing one day, the chance is likely that you have become yesterday’s news the next. A recent article in UK newspaper The Guardian, while simultaneously declaring indie, the last decade’s most successful music “genre” (if the extremely vast and unclear term can be classified as a category, that is), to be dying, points out how both the mainstream music press and major music festivals now stay away from putting newcomers on their covers or as headliners, and rather choose to showcase established acts that are sure to bring in the dollars. So if a band wants to earn a living from their passion while they can, who can blame them? Musicians have to pay their bills too. At least most of them.

Selling out, taking the corporate dollar, fame-whoring; the concept has many – hardly flattering – names. Earn mainstream media attention, sell records, upsize your show venues to accommodate your growing fan base, and bam, the sellout stamp will from now on be attached to your name like a groupie to a hair metal backstage area.

Especially if you at the same time happen to release a couple of not-so-brilliant (often meaning “pretty OK”) records after an underground-approved debut, you can be sure to be written off as a patron saint of Artistic Integrity Gone Wrong. But lets face it; the amount of artists who manage to churn out masterpiece after masterpiece, year after year is next to none. Unless, some will argue, the band in question is called

Motorpsycho or Sonic Youth.

Is the combination artistic integrity and commercial success – that possibly might involve a financially helping hand – necessarily that absurd? And can you still label someone a sellout despite there being no actual promise beforehand of a lifelong dedication to non-profit activities?

As this never-ending debate has shown, the opinions are many and divided. I’ve got to admit that if an artist – musical or otherwise – stand up for something else than just an unabashed indulging of money, sex and drugs, it definitely means a fat golden star in my book. But does it really have to be a crime if a young, talented artist who wants nothing more than to produce amazing music agrees to a little financial help on the way, be it from an oil company, a shoe brand or a governmental institution, if he or she in no way feels pushed into changing his or her music or opinions as a result of it? Hardly. If a band or an artist make choices that are slightly off their previous track and hence seem to relate more to human beings than a sharply defined product, we are quick to point a judging finger. If said choices seem to be pleasing to a wider, more commercial public, and are made after a change in record labels and/or a big financial boost in some way or the other; sure, a discussion of integrity might be appropriate. But often the way some highbrow music critics disapprove of any moneymaking activity within the music business is bordering on elitist, irrational snobbery. Although a whole other discussion, the debate also begs the questions of what the function of art is in 2012. It may seem as the previous argument of l’art pour l’art has been switched out with le scandale pour le scandale, both in the music and the art industry, where it is the rebels without a cause that currently seem to be the ones earning the most widespread praise from their audiences.

On an ending note, why does corporations want to have anything to do with the music industry? One can argue it might be to attempt to normalize destructive activities, and sometimes that might even be a very valid point. But there is also the possibility that they see a win-win situation, and genuinely want to support what will hopefully continue to be a burgeoning cultural landscape for the future.

Corporations may seldom be democratic institutions, true. But then again, many rock bands really can’t be said to be either.

Ane Brun Marit Larsen Seigmen 120 Days Dreamon Envy Graveyard (S) Insense King Krule (UK) Sondre Lerche Stein Torleif Bjella Team Me Casual Friday Daniel Nordgren (S) Hymns From Nineveh (DK) Mikhael Paskalev Promise And The Monster (S) Sandra Kolstad Sóley (ICL)

På Kastellnatt Autolaser

mye mer kommer snart! www.slottsfjell.no

Is the combination artistic integrity and commercial success – that possibly might involve a financially helping hand – necessarily that absurd? And can you still label someone a sellout despite there being no actual promise beforehand of a lifelong dedication to non-profit activities?

Kjøp billett her:

.no www.slottsfjell

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

FEATURE

From Our Foreign Correspondent

Phil Hebblethwaite is the editor of cult UK paper and website Stool Pigeon. He’s also one of by:Larm News’ three foreign correspondents this year, offering an international perspective on the event. We asked him to share his thoughts on previous experiences on the festival. Come on, baby: light our fire!

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here comes a point — regardless of how big your ambitions are for a certain project, and regardless of how much time and money you’ve spent on that project — when you have to take a step back, see the bigger picture and say, “Okay, tell the fuckers to torch the lot of them.”

That was an order I gave to Melissa Bohlsen, who used to work for my London-based music newspaper The Stool Pigeon, a couple of days before By:Larm 2010 started. She was in a small, cold customs office at the port of Oslo. I was in Peckham, South London.

Oh, bastard luck. It had already cost over £500 to ship 40 bundles of Stool Pigeons to Oslo and now customs were demanding a staggering £650 to release them — a massive surprise. Everything we do here is done on a wing and a prayer, but we did check this; we did call the port in December 2009 to confirm the levy. “You’ll be charged V.A.T. on the value of the goods,” we were told, which wasn’t going to be much. Then, on January 1, 2010 the authorities decided importers had to pay by weight — great news if you’re importing diamonds, but a meagre 40 bundles of Stool

Pigeons weighs just shy of half a tonne.

“Okay, tell the fuckers to torch the lot of them.”

We really wanted to see if the paper would work in Norway. Crazy as it sounds to me now, we had plans to launch in Oslo permanently, and then possibly also Bergen.

You Norwegians obsess over music in a very similar way to the British. You also drink too much and have a cruel sense of humour. What could possibly go wrong?

As a starting point, by:Larm seemed perfect — every music nerd from every corner of Norway, and the other Scando countries, all together in Oslo for three full days of carnage. We’d push our silly paper under the noses of the lot of you and MAKE YOU LOVE US FOREVER. But we’ve been foiled by a change in the import rules, and we were bleeding.

“Okay, tell the fuckers to torch the lot of them.”

We had a party planned, with a killer line-up. The gorgeous Samfunnsalen venue was ours for the Thursday night and Altaar began by filling it with thunder.

Contemplative, resonant, necrotic doom… it suited our frames of mind perfectly. Not many people turned up (they were on too early), but word of their power spread and a show the following night in the roof-top Stratos bar was, like eardrums, bursting.

Denmark’s Oh No Ono, with their brilliant, skewered pop stole our party, and the first night of the festival. They ended up on the front of the by:Larm daily paper the next morning and deservedly so. But our headliners, Ungdomskulen — picked because they’re a band of the people, especially when the people are hammered — weren’t on form. “They sound like an amalgamation of every band that ever played //Old Grey Whistle Test//,” someone quipped. Sounded about right. It was galling to see them play an incredible set in London a couple of weeks later as part of the Ja Ja Ja night. In Oslo, they flopped.

I knew the feeling. Customs told us it would cost just as much to destroy the papers as it would to release them, so, arsecheeks clenched tightly, we paid the levy.

Melissa, along with our good friend Andy Inglis, began to distribute them around Oslo. I flew out the next day to help. But our spirits were down. There was no way

we were ever going to be able to afford to ship future issues over. Those 40 bundles were a one-off and, it transpired, excellent at mopping up melted snow at the entrance to venues. The cheek!

Of course, I ended up having an excellent time at By:Larm. With the two good fellas who run The Quietus website — John Doran and Luke Turner — I saw Wardruna at the old opera house on the final night and I’ll never forget it. Absolutely awesome. We left their performance on Saturday seriously pumped up, and found a party. Beer, almost frozen by being kept outside in -20°C temperatures, kept turning up from a magical room next to where a DJ was playing tracks from that superb Lindstrøm & Christabelle album. It was the end of the three days and one of the best house parties I’ve ever been to. Everyone was dancing. Everyone was slaughtered, too. It was 7am when I left. I slept a bit, then got turfed out of the hotel.

Killing time before flying home, I saw a rotting, discarded kebab on the pavement.

It was wrapped in pages from a copy of The Stool Pigeon. I almost burst into tears.

This time, I’m only bringing 25 copies.

FEATURE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

Trengs det øvingslokaler i ditt nærmiljø?

Musikkutstyrsordningen har gitt tilskudd til 130 musikkbinger i hele landet. I fjor gav vi tilskudd til bygging og utbedring av over 40 nye øvingslokaler.

Musikkutstyrsordningen gir også tilskudd til øvings- og fremføringsutstyr og akustiske tiltak.

Vil dere bli de neste?

Vi har søknadsfrist 1. mars og 1. september.

musikkutstyrsordningen er den nasjonale tilskuddsordningen for teknisk utstyr, akustikk og lokaler.

Les mer på våre hjemmesider eller kom innom vår stand under by:Larm. www.musikkutstyrsordningen.no Gode musikkopplevelser hver dag!

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FEATURE

STREAMADELICA From a wild and anarchistic digital piracy bonanza, to a legal fan frenzy and industry money maker.

Here’s a 15 year timeline of music streaming history!

1997:

The CD is well established as THE way to listen to music. Even though the mp3 format saw its release in 1993, it is still unknown for most people. Not including tech freaks and computer nerds, nor pirates. The WinAmp player, soon to be a classic freeware media player, is released.

1998:

The mp3 is rapidly gaining popularity. The US based web site Mp3.com is launched - a legal and free music sharing service, about to become the place to be for independent musicians. New solutions for streaming and downloading music are popping up.

RealAudio Player becomes one of the first and most used media players capable of streaming media over the Internet. The first ever portable mp3 player is released, sending shivers through the record industry.

Rimoteca.com becomes one of the first online mp3 music stores, teaming up with Universal, Sony, BMG and Warner. EMI releases the first digital album on the internet, when “Mezzanine” by Massive Attack becomes the first album to be streamed online. Norway gets its own legal mp3-site, Freetrax.com, where the artists themselves decide the cost of their music.

1999:

Piracy explodes. From nine million downloaded music files in 1998, the numbers for 1999 are approximately two billion! Peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing services like Napster, Audiogalaxy and Direct Connect are appearing. Mp3 is now the most used digital audio file format. The music industry is experimenting, and Metallica decides to allow their new album “S&M” to be streamed prior to the official release date.

2000:

The record industry, fronted by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) are focusing mostly on legal actions and passing of new laws. Technologically, the pirates continue to speed ahead.

Napster is by far the biggest site for illegal file sharing, and they eventually find themselves sued by Metallica, Dr. Dre and the RIAA. Industry giants Sony, Universal and BMG launch their own online stores, but the limited artist selections cannot compete against the virtual feast available through illicit means. The album “...

Hours”, by David Bowie, becomes the first legal digital album download. In Norway, The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

(NRK) releases “Urørt”, a web site where young artists can upload and share their music for free.

2001:

The music industry is winning in court and record companies are buying up their illicit competitors. Napster peaks, with their 25 million users and 80 million songs, only to be shut down in July after losing in court against the RIAA. The industry sees a glimmer of hope. However, new illegal P2P services continue to pop up. Bertelsman (BMG), EMI and Warner join forces and launch MusicNet, a website offering legal streaming and downloading of 75.000 songs from 1.000 artists. Apple releases iTunes and the iPod.

2002:

Sony and Vivendi Universal release PressPlay, which only lasts for about a year. The record companies’ own streaming and downloading sites all fail to make an impact, mostly due to the limited number of artists and songs being offered by each service. The illegal sites offer everything for free - and are much more user friendly.

2003:

Finally, a legal downloading service becomes a hit: the iTunes Store. Another groundbreaking service sees the light of day this year, as the social networking site MySpace is launched. On MySpace, artists create their own profiles and visitors can stream their songs for free. On the other side of the law, The Pirate Bay is released, soon to become the world’s biggest site for illegal file sharing. In Norway, the iPod sales explode and experiments with music streaming via mobile phones are made at the Quart festival and Norwegian Wood.

2004:

The number of legal downloading sites is increasing, but no-one can offer music from all the major record companies. Sales from legal downloading is nevertheless increasing in the US. The iTunes Store establishes itself as the market leader, much due to the success of the iPod. Microsoft releases their iTunes-competitor, MSN Music, but fails to grab any particular market share. Over one million users subscribe to legal streaming services like Napster 2.0, Rhapsody, Musicmatch and MusicNet.

FEATURE

Full stream ahead!

By:Larm News talks to Sveinung Rindal and Per Einar Dyvik from WiMP to get a sneak peak into the future of streaming Where’s the streaming business going in 2012?

WiMP and other services will be made available in even more ways and on even more platforms.

WiMP is already popular on the wireless HiFi system Sonos, and we recently lauched WiMP

2005:

The iTunes Store opens for Scandinavians.

By the end of the year, iTunes-sales have surpassed 800 million songs. However, illegal downloading is still very dominant, and new P2P services are constantly emerging and facing legal actions. YouTube is launched, quickly becoming a popular place to stream music videos. MSN Music is also made available for Scandinavia, subscribers now being offered one million songs.

2006:

3G technology now allows streaming music to mobile phones. Traffic escalates on the Norwegian wireless mobile broadband.

Mobile phone operator Telenor opens their music store for all their subscribers, which is a great success. In June, MySpace surpasses Google as the most visited website in the United States.

2007:

Apple’s iPhone is released, kick-starting the smart phone revolution. Everything becomes easier. MySpace peaks, being the most visited social networking site in the world. The site has approximately 8 million

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012 on TV in association with Canal Digital. We think this is the beginning of a wave of dedicated stereo systems supporting WiMP. We are opening up for the producers of external music players to develop their own WiMP clients.

We’re also going to make it a lot easier to use WiMP in your car. In other words: Even more music even more places!

What particular issues will be up for debate?

The debates we have seen up until now will probably continue. It’s always healthy to discuss and enlighten all areas of new models. We’re in a phase where a whole new way of distribution and new business models are being tested.

New technology and new consumer trends have always challenged the music industry, and streaming is probably one of the biggest paradigm shifts we’ve seen so far. Record companies and musicians will adapt, and we reckon the future will bring new ways of both releasing and promoting music. There will definitely be discussions concerning use, spreading and price, but we hope that the debate will focus on how to make the best use

bands and artists available for streaming and more than 110 million monthly active users. In Scandinavia, streaming of high-definition television is launched.

The “Piracy kills music”-campaign aims to change the way young Norwegians feel about illegal downloading. As a PR stunt, Viking metal band Enslaved publishes a video where they are supposedly stealing sheep from a Norwegian politician who is pro-file sharing.

2008:

Legal music streaming services are becoming more user friendly. Swedish Spotify is launched, and it is an instant hit. In this initial phase only invited users are allowed access. Spotify manages to secure contracts with all the big record companies including Universal, Sony BMG, EMI Music and Warner. By offering a free version financed by advertising, Spotify quickly gains popularity. MySpace also signs a deal with the biggest companies, thus allowing free streaming of their enormous back-catalogues. At this point in Norway, 99,8 % of the population has broadband Internet access. TDC, Denmark’s largest telephone company, launches a music subscription service for

of all these new possibilities. ”The Scandinavian model” is the talk of the town this by:Larm. How would you explain the Scandinavian streaming success?

Scandinavia is leading the streaming development much due to a high level of technology and fast networks. The Scandinavians have easy access to smart phones and tablet computers, and we’ve got both 3G and new 4G networks coming up.

Almost everyone has access to broadband and the Internet in general. Scandinavians aren’t afraid of checking out new things, and they have been very eager to explore the streaming services. We’ve also seen the last years that the music business has welcomed the new models, thus enabling Scandinavian streaming services to be successful. Scandinavia is therefore a kind of ideal that other countries will look to. It’s fun to know that it all started up here in the North!

How can you please the musicians that still aren’t happy with the streaming model?

We have been through a transition, and such changes will always raise doubt. “How will this

their customers called TDC Play. The Pirate Bay is sued.

2009:

The record industry is fully opening up towards streaming and downloading through subscription services. Musicians and users are also more and more positive.

The long awaited turnaround, when the music business embraces cutting edge technology instead of fighting it, is happening. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the amount of music being streamed goes up almost 1200 percent compared to 2008. Spotify is now a household inventory in Norway, with over 600.000 users, no one seems to party without it. Available in six countries, Spotify has a total of 7 million registered users. After a while, however, both musicians and the record industry express frustration over the poor income generated by Spotify streams.

2010:

Digital music sales skyrocket on a global scale, and the CD sales are crashing.

Norway, Sweden and Denmark are leading the development. TONO, a corporation administering copyrights for music in

31

new system work?” A musician used to make all his/her money a few weeks and months following a record release. Now, the income through streaming will be spread over a longer period. The income is generated when the user is actually playing a song, not when he is buying it. This will change the way records and artists are promoted. We are absolutely confident that the music business will experience a financial growth through streaming, and those who will be most pleased are those who are able to adapt to the new technology. By the way, artists and record companies are welcome to come have a chat with us at our stand!

What are WiMP’s goals for 2012?

Well, we now have over 350.000 subscribers in four countries. In 2012 we’ll launch our services in at least five more. We haven’t set a goal for the amount of users, but we want to increase our turnover by 80 percent in 2012. We expect to grow in the countries where we are already established. We see that more and more people are discovering streaming and all its possibilities, ready to be explored!

Norway, predicts 2010 will be remembered as year 1 in the age of digital music.

Streaming and downloading sales are up 75 percent from 2009. A big reason for this is that the streaming services now opens up for everyone, not just for the invited. A new streaming and downloading service, WiMP, is launched in Norway, offering their subscribers 13 million songs. In May, Spotify opens for everyone. The iPad is released in January.

2011

For the first time in the music business, the digital music sales top the physical sales. The dark years seem to be over, but meanwhile reality has changed completely.

The business now has to think in an entirely new way. It’s streaming, publishing and synchronizing. Songs must be made available on different platforms. Companies and artists must interact with fans. Selling music is a whole new craftmanship. As an example, WiMP expands drastically by being included in the television subscription to one in three Norwegian households through an agreement with Canal Digital.

Yet many artists and record labels are still unhappy with the streaming model, so the debate goes on...

INTERVIEW

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INTERVIEW

BRUN SUGAR

With a Nordic Music Prize nomination under her belt, Ane Brun arrives in Oslo for a special show and film screening. Wyndham Wallace talks to a Norwegian who now calls Sweden home…

Text: WYNDHAM WALLACE

I

t takes a special kind of talent to take on a classic, especially when it’s a duet, and especially when you’re singing it with one of the original performers.

Imagine, then, what it must be like to find yourself playing the role of Kate Bush for Peter Gabriel, night after night, on the immaculate, perfectly poised masterpiece, ‘Don’t Give Up’. But that’s what Ane Brun did when she joined him on his recent New Blood tour and, extraordinarily, she made it her own. But, then again, Ane Brun is a pretty extraordinary artist, something that her latest album, the Nordic Music Prize nominated It All Starts With One, proves with bells on.

“I met Peter Gabriel after a show in Norway in 2005,” she told me in an interview last September. “He came up to me after and said “Great set!”, which made me very proud since I’ve listened to his music on and off since I was 10. When I got an email from Real World (Gabriel’s label) 5 years later asking if I wanted to join him on tour as a support act, backing vocalist and duetpartner, I was quite shocked and honoured!

I went over to London to meet him and we rehearsed and then it was all set!

orchestra. The challenge of singing new stuff, his music, was great for me and my vocal techniques. I found some new sounds, and I think that has influenced my songwriting for this album. I also enjoyed the experience of being a part of such a large production in such big venues. The support act set was enormously fun, playing alone with my guitar in front of thousands of people. I’ll never forget the feeling when I played at the Hollywood Bowl. And singing the stunning song ‘Don’t Give Up’ was so special every night.”

“I’ve done close to 40-50 gigs with him in these last 16 months and it’s been an amazing adventure, both musically and personally. I’ve been very inspired by singing with him and the magnificent symphonic

Such magic is not restricted to her work with Gabriel, however. Without doubt one of the strongest contenders for the Nordic Music Prize, It All Starts With One was a genuine highlight of 2011, a beautifully

produced, diverse and ambitious release that swung from the Afro-beat tinged single ‘Do You Remember’ to the heartbreaking jazzinflections of ‘The Light From One’ via a majestic duet with Jose Gonzales, ‘Worship’.

Critically acclaimed across the world, it’s her eighth album since 2003’s Spending Time With Morgan – if one includes her live albums, and since they showcase her remarkable ability to reinterpret her own songs, one should – and her forthcoming performance at by:Larm will be, without a shadow of doubt, one of the weekend’s highlights. If you hear a sweeter voice delivering songs more artfully crafted than hers, then you’re a lucky person indeed.

Fresh from attending the Gothenburg International Film Festival, where the

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

INTERVIEW

Foto: istockphoto.com

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Ingen har alt Ingen har nok opplevelser

THURSDAY FEB. 17th 2011

INTERVIEW

premiere of her film One took place, Ane took time out to talk about her forthcoming appearance in Oslo…

Is this your first performance at by:Larm?

AB: I’ve played by:Larm two 2 times before.

I remember 2005 quite well. I had just released my second album and it got a lot of attention, and I did a solo gig in a crowded room in Stavanger.

Will you have time to check out any other acts over the weekend?

AB: I’ve just decided to take a little time off in Oslo the day after my gig, so I will try to see some shows. I’m gonna see my friend and collegue Linnea Olsson, who’s just about to release her solo debut. Hanne Hukkelberg is interesting and it would be fun to see Donkeyboy. I haven’t seen any of them live before. I will try to see mostly Norwegian music, since I don’t get to do that so often in Stockholm where I live.

Your show at by:Larm will be different to the shows you performed late last year.

Could you tell me in what way?

AB: It’s a smaller band than on the “It All

«I’ve played by:Larm two 2 times before.

I remember 2005 quite well. I had just released my second album and it got a lot of attention, and I did a solo gig in a crowded room in Stavanger.»

Starts With One” Tour, and we’ll do some songs that usually don’t fit into the toursetlist.

You seem to take great pleasure in changing the manner in which you present your work on stage. Do you do this more for your fans or for yourself?

AB: I guess it’s a mix of logistics and creativity. Sometimes it’s just not possible to bring the whole band and crew, and sometimes it fits better with a solo show than a full band. I also like the variation to make it interesting for me on stage on a long term basis. I usually tour a new album for 2 years, and it’s important to keep it vibrant.

I gather you will also be showing a short film called ‘One’. Could you tell me more about that?

AB: We’re screening the short film “ONE”, by director Magnus Renfors, which is a wonderful tale built on four songs from my latest album. It’s an apocalyptical musical in four acts about a murder committed in the form of a show, where everyone except the main character knows the ending. The Swedish theatre giant Iwar Wiklander appears as the main character.

You’ve been nominated for the Nordic Music Prize. How does that make you feel?

AB: Very proud and excited!

Why do you think Nordic music has become such a powerful force?

AB: There’s a lot of interesting music with a lot of character and personality coming out of the Nordic music scene at the moment.

And once the door has opened wide, it

35

seems like there’s a never-ending stream of great acts. I think that Nordic musicians often have a strong knowledge and access to international pop rock music (mostly performed in English), and also identify themselves with this scene. This, combined with bringing in something different from the Nordic music scene such as a ‘Nordic sound’, makes the music edgy but a natural part of the international scene.

There’s barely a review that’s been written about It All Starts With One that doesn’t reference your geographic roots. Does it bother you that people are so intrigued by the connection between where musicians come from and what their music sounds like, or do you think the link is important?

AB: I guess with the vast amount of music out there, there is a natural need to distinguish between artists and tell new stories. And the geographical roots are easy to use. I don’t mind it myself: it is what it is.

Which of the other nominees do you find most exciting?

AB: I don’t want to mention any specific names. They’re all amazing!

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

FEATURE

HERE COME THE NEW

The Quietus’ Noel Gardner knows punk like no other - so when he says that Iceage’s New Brigade album is one of the finest punk rock records of recent years, you should pay attention…

”I

t is energy, mad and not least the youth vigorous.” Not my words, but those of the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, writing breathlessly about New Brigade – the debut album by Iceage, four vigorous youths from Copenhagen who formed in 2008. And then put through an online translator by me. Ekstra Bladet is about the closest thing Denmark has to the Daily Star, although as far as I know it doesn’t actively support the notion of

groups of extreme right wing football hooligans forming political parties, and isn’t owned by a man who should literally be assassinated. All the same, you probably wouldn’t expect much from their music criticism, yet I’m with Henrik Queitsch on this one. (He is a board member of the Association Of Danish Music Critics, mind you.) ”Just find that they four 18-19 exuberant boys to Iceage amid parody ’ingen future, by forever playing by a

intensity and fandenivoldskhed, there’s decideret liberating and refreshing.” Real talk.

You won’t need to speak Danish to read the lyrics to any of the twelve songs on New Brigade, which came out last year and is, might be, whatever, one of the best punk rock records released in years. (Unlike most people who write that in non-specialist music magazines, I don’t mean ”one of

about three punk rock records I’ve heard in years,” either.) They communicate almost wholly in English – on the album, on their debut seven-inch from 2009 which you can still buy from the Escho label, on their blog – but are also given to obfuscation and abstract imagery. In a sense, this gives them a transatlantic kinship with ’mysterious guy hardcore’ bands of the last few years (Sex Vid, Dry Rot, Cult Ritual, some other people who probably broke up), but Iceage

FEATURE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

W BRIGADE

How is the Danish punk scene right now?

Iceage: Better than ever. Here’s some of the newer bands we like: Skurv, Kolyma, Pregnant Man, Love Potion, Jackman, Even Dwarfs, Red Flesh, Pagan Youth, Sexdrome, Fathom Suns, Girlseeker, Garrotte, and more. Shows with good local bands tend to be the best in my opinion, although once in a while foreign bands come by and do great shows. And yes, people seem pretty good at coming out to gigs. The last time two times we have played people have been rejected ’cause there couldn’t be any more people in the venue.

I’ve heard it said that you guys are part of a Copenhagen scene called The New Way Of Danish Fuck You. Is this a real thing? What are the things that tie the bands together and what are they saying fuck you to?

IA: It’s true that there is a lot of new great bands coming out of Copenhagen, and that we are all friends or know each other in some way or another. Most people involved are pretty annoyed that people are calling it ’New Way Of Danish Fuck You’. That was just something our friend Lukas has tattooed on his leg, not supposed to be the name for the ’scene’. We hope people will come up with something better.

What are Iceage songs about? The lyrics are really cool but hard to understand. Are words or phrases used because of how they sound, rather than what they mean?

IA: Every song is about something. Our lives, what surrounds us, feelings, states we’ve been in, thoughts. Subjects include lucidity, sex, brotherhood, time, visions. But it’s not our job to explain the songs, and it’s kind of hard to give you an answer as the songs concern various subjects.

are a breed apart from this messageboardbred strain. Their records have production values worthy of being called that, and sometimes tangible bursts of melody.

They even made a video, albeit a fucked up and budgetless one for ’Broken Bone’, the most indie-rocker-friendly song on the album. If I said it was kinda like Liars trying to ape Jay Reatard, I wouldn’t feel too much like I was playing to the galleries. It’s strange, though: when I listen to New Brigade, I hear a band unmoved by chinks of commercial light and writing songs for no-one but themselves and, perhaps, the gaggle of kids in their nameless Copenhagen scene…

I get the impression that the band Sexdrome are kind of your closest buddies in rock, as you play a lot of shows together and Loke helped you do the lyrics on ’White Rune’. Who’s more popular in Denmark, Sexdrome or you guys?

IA: Yes, they have very good lyrics. Loke Rahbek, the singer of Sexdrome, recently released a collection of poems called Pornografisk Værk. Also very good. But that’s in Danish. We have probably gotten wider exposure as our music is more accessible, but most of the people who usually go to our shows also go to theirs.

Reprinted with kind permission of the author and www.thequietus.com, where a full version can be read

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38

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

SEMINAR

THE ALLEN KEY

To many people who make music, including Brian Eno and Blur’s Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Afrobeat innovator, is simply the greatest drummer alive. John Doran finds it hard to disagree after talking to the Nigerian living legend‌

THURSDAY FEB. 17th 2011

SEMINAR

TONY ALLEN, RAGNAROCK 3 PM text: John Doran photo: press

T

ruly revolutionary music has to fulfil several criteria. The strong social, spiritual or political message must be delivered by those at the heart of the action, not external observers; the form of the music must be as revolutionary as the message itself; in the most basic sense it must be avant garde (ahead of the curve) yet it must also be populist enough to catch like wildfire and it must have a complete aesthetic identity that helps generate a fervent fan base.

These are the bands and artists that come once a generation and seem to be in the right time and at the right place to voice the anger, frustration or aspirations of entire groups of people who are desperate for some kind of fundamental game change in the way they live. Public Enemy, The Sex Pistols, James Brown, Black Flag, Napalm Death, Afrika Bambaataa, N.W.A., Lee Perry, Derrick May, Bob Dylan…

For many Nigerians in the 1970s, the revolutionary musician that all other revolutionary musicians must be judged by was Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and he still remains the most visible face of Afrobeat in the world today (despite – or perhaps because of – dying relatively early, his body weakened by police beatings and the ravages of AIDS). But as the ambient pioneer and world famous “non-musician” Brian Eno pointed out, during that decade there were only three revolutionary rhythms worth talking about and they hardly brought their inventors wealth and fame. They were the funk break beat perfected by James Brown’s drummer Clyde Stubblefield; the trance inducing motorik 4/4 devised by Neu!’s Klaus Dinger and the combination Yoruba, Jazz and Highlife rhythm that powered Afrobeat invented by Tony Allen.

Born in 1940, he picked up the sticks while 18 and working at a radio station, playing in several Highlife bands before teaching himself how to drum like jazz legends Art Blakey and Max Roach. He met Kuti in 1964 and by the end of the decade the pair had invented Afrobeat, which hinged rhythmically around the sticksman being able to play completely different patterns simultaneously with all four of his limbs.

Kuti, not unreasonably, claimed it was like having a quartet of drummers in his band.

Allen, a laconic 72-year-old from Lagos who lives in Paris and is still quite rightly revered as a musical powerhouse today, also pushed Afrobeat out into wilder more electronic, dub and hip hop influenced directions in the 1980s and has enjoyed some chart success again in recent years via various collaborations with Damon Albarn, most notably with The Good The Bad And The Queen, which also features Paul Simonon of The Clash. He is currently working on another project with Albarn called Rocket Juice And The Moon, which also features Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

What can you tell me about Rocket Juice And The Moon?

Tony Allen: Rocket Juice And The Moon, right now, is the latest thing I’m involved in.

We started after the seven day long Africa Express Festival in Lagos in October 2008.

That’s where I met Flea for the first time.

He had been looking forward to playing with me for some time, apparently, and then this occasion came around. We got together in Lagos and played. I really liked his approach, you know, as a white guy playing bass in the Afrobeat movement. It all clicked, so when we arrived back in London we went into the studio with Damon [Albarn] and tried to work out how his bass would fit with my drumming and that was it. We started to build it up from there.

You work with Damon quite a lot. Did you meet him after he name checked you in Blur?

TA: Yeah, someone played me that song [‘Music Is My Radar’ a single released in 2000, which ends with the repeated phrase:

TA: No, I never met them. From The J.B.s I remember Bootsy Collins. He was the only one I met properly because when he goes to Lagos he always comes to our club there; he is the one who turns up properly. He is one of the guys – he is one of us.

Obviously American jazz was an influence on your drumming, but what about funk?

TA: Well, funk and Afrobeat have the same kind of groove, you know, but the point is that funk is one particular groove.

Afrobeat has many different grooves.

Afrobeat is not actually one particular beat.

What I am doing when I am playing is, I am creating patterns. I don’t think like just funk… I think that it should be a mixture of everything… Africa… America… Wherever!

How rare is it for a drummer to be able to play four separate patterns simultaneously with four limbs all doing different things at the same time?

To many people who make music, including Brian Eno and Blur’s Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Afrobeat innovator, is simply the greatest drummer alive. John Doran finds it hard to disagree after talking to the Nigerian living legend…

“Tony Allen got me dancing.”] That was ten years ago you know! It goes by just like that! Anyway, I was looking for someone to sing on the last song on my album //Home Cooking// in 2002 as a guest, and a musician introduced me to him. And it was as simple as that. He just came down and did it. The first day he was in the studio, we did two or three songs together and after that I just said to him, ‘I’m looking forward to the day when we can get together some time and do a project from scratch. Do it from the beginning.’ He said, ‘Why not?’ But he had his career with Blur and Gorillaz at the time and he had to wait for that to finish. But then he called me and said, ‘Tony. I’m free now.’ And that’s how we started working together [as The Good, The Bad And The Queen] and we’ve been to Lagos together maybe three times since then.

He’s really into music from Nigeria and Mali right?

TA: Oh yeah, many things. He goes to Mali a lot and with me it’s the Nigerian connection.

You’ve hinted before a few times that you’ve been recording a second The Good, The Bad And The Queen album – when are we likely to see that?

TA: Ah, well, I don’t know, you know?

For now I just have to deal with Rocket Juice And The Moon. There’s no point in trying to write any of that other stuff while we’re still writing Rocket Juice. We need to get that out of the way and then see what happens.

In the 1970s, Brian Eno famously said there were three important rhythms, that of the sort of funk James Brown played; the sort of motorik that Neu! played; and the sort of Afrobeat that Fela Kuti played. Given that you were the originator of the Afrobeat rhythm, did you ever meet Clyde Stubblefield of The J.B.s or Klaus Dinger of Neu!?

TA: Rare. Afrobeat is my creation, right?

But other drummers can play Afrobeat… it’s just that they need to pass through the school of Afrobeat first. It’s just not like any other drumming style – it’s totally different. It might be 4/4 in time signature but sometimes, if you don’t know anything about it, you have to be looking for where the ‘one’ is on the pattern and that is very dangerous if you don’t know where the ‘one’ is because you won’t be able to arrive at it. So I think the best thing is for you to pass through the school first and see how it all works. People can go on their way as soon as they know the rudiments of their instruments but not before. That’s the way I look at it.

Talking about drummers who come from a totally different background, what did you make of Ginger Baker?

TA: Well, Ginger Baker is my friend. We first played together forty years ago in 1971, in London, and then back in Nigeria in a studio that we built in Lagos. He and I we were very engaged with drumming all the time. And I went to the Zildjian Awards for drummers where he was honoured in 2008.

He is my friend and he is a good drummer.

The actual form of Afrobeat lent itself to very long gigs and very long songs… it must have kept you fit!

TA: Well, that was more Fela’s thing than mine. I tried to get back to playing shorter songs after I stopped playing with him. He was the only one I stayed with for a long time. If you look at what I do now I try to do more songs. I don’t just want to do two songs per album. I had played with five different bands before I met Fela and I had played a lot of different types of music.

So had you already started combining Yoruba, Highlife and Jazz when you met Fela in 1964?

TA: No, when I met him I was playing

39

strictly Highlife and then later we started playing all the European cover versions. And then when I started playing with him it was strictly Jazz for our first year. And then we decided to get into this Highlife Jazz thing.

And that was the Koola Lobitos band?

TA: Yes. We were the Koola Lobitos and then after that… that’s when the creation of Afrobeat happened.

Did you recognize in each other people who were interested in creating a futuristic sound – a new sound that had never been heard before?

TA: Well, yeah, that was when it happened.

And he was writing. He was writing for everybody. But he wasn’t writing for me, you know, because I needed to figure out what would sound best. Without him, I might not be known for this style but without me he couldn’t have written it the way it was. You understand?

Yeah. Out of the 30 albums you recorded with Africa 70, which are the ones you are most happy with, the ones that you are pleased to hear on the radio?

TA: Ah well, I don’t know… a lot of them!

Obviously my feelings are that they are good! That is how I feel about it. But you know, //Rotoforo Fight//, //Confusion//… around his second album you know.

What reason did Fela give you for not cutting you in on the royalties or a fair share of the money?

TA: Oh, you know, he just wanted to be fucking greedy. That’s all it was. At the end of the day promises are promises but also at the end of the day I don’t give a shit about it because I just believe in facing the world, which is a challenge and money isn’t everything, you know. As a matter of fact, today it doesn’t bother me if I don’t get those royalties. I am on my own and I think I can fend for myself anyway.

When you stopped working with Fela after 1980, your own solo material became much more progressive…

TA: I still maintained my Afrobeat. It was just a question of taking it into a different dimension.

But you really pushed it on with the electronics and the dub influences…

TA: Yeah, it was an experiment that was happening with my roots and electronics. It was me giving my beats to different DJs and they used them. And that was the beginning of that – trying to fuse electronics with my beats. Just to see how it would sound.

Q&A 3:00pm - 4:00pm

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

INTERVIEW

Geir skriver låter, som han registrerer hos TONO

Geir blir plukket ut til å spille på by:Larm, der han spiller sine egne låter. by:Larm er konsertarrangør, og har selvfølgelig avtale med TONO

P3 spiller Geirs låt i forbindelse med sin by:Larm-dekning. NRK har avtale med TONO, og rapporterer musikken som spilles

Logg inn www.tono.no/webtjenester

Ikke medlem?

Bli medlem på www.tono.no/blimedlem

Geir sender inn konsertrapport til TONO etter konserten på by:Larm. Rapporter konserten din på www.tono.no/webtjenester

TONO avregner og fordeler innbetalt vederlag til Geir og andre TONO-medlemmer

Spørsmål om medlemsskap? medlem@tono.no

– låtskrivernes organisasjon

SHOWCASE

THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

Ungdom og studenter halv pris.

Husk gyldig legitimasjon.

Ungdom f.o.m. 16 책r t.o.m. 20 책r og studenter f.o.m. 21 책r t.o.m. 31 책r betaler halv pris.

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THURSDAY FEB. 16th 2012

INTERVIEW

“GramArt har hjulpet meg med fondssøknader og rådgivning, noe som har hjulpet meg og mine prosjekter videre.”

Trine Rein

foto www.kristinogvibeke.com

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GramArt er landets største interesseorganisasjon for norske artister og har i dag omtrent 4000 medlemmer innen alle sjangre fra hele landet. GramArt taler artistenes sak i den offentlige debatten og jobber kontinuerlig for å bedre betingelsene for deg som er artist.

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Meld deg inn i GramArt i dag!

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INTERVIEW

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Stå støtt i en bransje som svinger Rock City har et tilbud til både nye og etablerte artister og andre som jobber med musikk.

Våre kurs og utdanningstilbud spenner fra låtskriving og scenerigg til kulturelt entreprenørskap og arrangementsledelse. Vi har en rådgivningstjeneste som retter seg både mot næringsliv og artister.

Det er nok av snubletråder i musikkbransjen. Du trenger ikke gå i alle.

www.rockcity.no

Folketeateret 19.00: Ida Maria (N) 19.30: Statoil Grant Ceremony 20.00: Ingrid Olava (N) 21.00: Mathias Eick (N) 22.00: Kvelertak (N)

Sunkissed:live @ Blå (Adr.: Brenneriveien 9) 22.30: Carmen Villain 23.20: Punani SS 00:10: 120 Days 01:20: Lindstrøm 02:10: g-HA & Olanskii

Live schedule Thursday 16th Scene

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Oppdatert pr. 8/2. Med forbehold om endringer. For oppdatert program, sjekk bylarm.no

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21

22

Last Train

23

00

:00 Mirror Lakes (N)

:00 Invasionen (S)

01 >

Victoria/ Nasjonal Jazzscene

:30 Hedvig Mollestad Trio (N)

:30 Møster! (N)

Jaeger

:30 Sykur (IS)

:30 Carl Louis & Martin Danielle (N)

:30 Icona Pop (S)

:00 Mmm (N)

:00 Gunnhild Sundli (N)

:00 Snorri Helgason (IS)

:00 Mira Craig (N)

Tsugi & Super presents Electric Dreams :30 Lemaitre (N)

Tsugi & Super presents Electric Dreams :30 Korallreven (S)

Tsugi & Super presents Electric Dreams: 30 Gus Gus (IS)

Tsugi & Super presents Electric Dreams: 30 WhoMadeWho (DK)

Tsugi & Super presents Electric Dreams :30 Maya Vik (N)

:00 Sandra Kolstad (N)

:00 The Avalanche (N)

:00 Beaten to Death (N)

:00 Anja Elena Viken (N)

:00 Gerilja (N)

:30 Alfred Hall (N)

:30 Hanne Kolstø (N)

:30 Siri Nilsen (N)

:30 Tove Styrke (S)

:30 Turboweekend (DK)

01:30 Casa Murilo (N) 02:30 WhoMadeWho (DK)

The NOKIA-TENT annex

:00 Linnea Dale (N)

:00 Jonas V (N)

:00 Highasakite (N)

:00 Dante (S)

01:00 Megafon (DK/N) 02:00 Grande Roses (S)

Sentrum Scene

Dagbladet presents: :00 Envy (N)

Dagbladet presents: :00 Soup (N)

Dagbladet presents: :00 El Doom & The Born Electric (N)

Dagbladet presents: :00 El Caco (N)

Dagbladet presents: 01:00 Sivert Høyem (N)

Gamla Stratos

Mono

18:00 Thea Hjelmeland (N)

The NOKIA-TENT

:30 SynKoke (N)

John Dee

730.no presents: :00 Sisi (N)

730.no presents: :00 Eye Emma Jedi (N)

730.no presents: :00 Kaveh (N)

730.no presents: :00 Oter (N)

730.no presents: :00 Mikhael Paskalev (N)

Rockefeller

:30 Magnet (N)

:30 LidoLido (N)

:30 Jonas Alaska (N)

:30 Loney Dear (S)

:30 The Raveonettes (DK)

:00 Thulebasen (DK)

:00 Siinai (FI)

:00 Torch (N)

:00 Astaroth (N)

:00 Execration (N)

:00 Linnea Olsson (S)

:00 Marie (N)

:00 Andrea Dahle (N)

:00 Goylem Space Klezmer (N)

:00 Gram Per Person (N)

Revolver

Tiger presents :30 Bendik (N)

Tiger presents :30 Maribel (N)

Tiger presents :30 Overthrow (N)

Tiger presents :30 Dark Times (N)

Tiger presents :30 Vestindien (N)

KULTURKIRKEN JaKob

:00 Nordic Music Prize Award, featuring Anna Järvinen

:30 Ane Brun (S/N)

THE CrossRoad Club

:30 Jørn Åleskjær (N)

:30 Andre Holstad (N)

:30 Bendik Brænne (N)

:30 Les Big Byrd (S)

:00 I Am Sound (N)

:00 Bendagram (FI)

:00 Emilio (N)

:30 Eik (N)

:30 Bloksberg (N)

:30 Sandra Kolstad (N)

:30 Pirate Love (N)

:30 Mathias Stubø Band (N)

Rockefeller annex Herr Nilsen/ ØSTKANTEN BLUESKLUBB

19.00 Østkanten Bluesklubb’s vorspiel: Ronny Klo (N)

Dattera til Hagen Gloria Flames Sub Scene

18:30 Casa Murilo (N) 19:30 Emilio (N)

:30 Jabba the Butt (N)

01:00 Beglomeg (N)

:00 Iceage (DK) :30 Deportees (S)

Seminar schedule Thursday 16th Ragnarock

Safety Pin

Bootleg

10.00 10.15 10.30 10.45 11.00

Gramart presents: How to work by:Larm With: Sarah-Chanderia, Hacate Ent. Group

11.15 11.30

Gramart presents: Ralph Murphy – part 1 Songwriters Masterclass (Closed workshop, registration with Gramart in advance)

Club7

Rockefabrikken

Ta kontroll over den kulturpolitiske dagsordenen! Ved: Arnfinn Bjerkestrand, tidl. leder Kulturkampen

Session 1: Sweet streams are made of these: the business of streaming music Moderated by Music Ally

La-la-la Florida Med: Knut Vareide (Telemarksforskning)

11.45 12.00 12.15 12.30 12.45 13.00

Offisiell åpning by:Larm 2012

13.45 14.00 14.15

15.00 15.15

Tony Allen – the godfather of afrobeat Interviewer: Jan Gradvall

15.30

Billettservice presenterer: Platekontrakten 2012 – Hva innebærer dagens platekontrakter? Med: Tore Østby (Gramart) og David MortimerHawkins (Sony Music Sweden)

Den popkulturelle rennessanse og den nye folkeligheten. Moderne markedsføring og sosiale salg.

Med: Paal Fure (CEO Isobar)

15.45 16.00 16.15 16.30 16.45 17.00 17.15 17.30 17.45

Kultursponsing: Tilsmussing av kunsten eller mulighetenes marked? Ordstyrer: Torgny Amdam

Musikkutstyrsordningen

10.30

10.15

10.45 Norsk Musikkforleggerforening

11.00

NOPA

11.30

11.15 11.45 12.00 12.30

Info:Larm Norsk Komponistforening

14.30 14.45

10.00

12.15

Kultur, næring og felleskap, et nordisk ministermøte Intervjuer: Per Sinding- Larsen Den svenske musikkbransjen i tall Med: Elisabet Widlund (Musiksverige) og Linda Portnoff (Volante)

Brak presenterer: Selvangivelseskurs Med: Kristoffer Vassdal (Vassdal & Eriksen regnskapsbyrå)

Annexet/Jordal/Atriet Other Info:Larm Norsk Rockforbund

Session 2: Monetising streaming music video…

Moderated by Music Ally

13.15 13.30

Edderkoppen

Billettservice presents: The future of ticketing With: Mark Yovich (President of Ticketmaster International)

Spotify and opportunities for artists With: Sung-Kyu Choi (Label Relations Director Nordic), Eva L. Madsen (Label Relations Manager Nordic)

Music Ally training sessions: Facebook With: Sarah Lewin (Music Ally)

Norsk Rockforbund: Bolystprosjektet Rom for kultur?

Ordstyrer: Esben Hoff (Kultmag)

Mobilise

13.00 13.15 13.30 13.45 14.00 14.15

Music Ally training sessions: Youtube With: Sarah Lewin (Music Ally)

Brak presenterer: Kurs i utenlandsturnéring Med: Ivar Peersen (Enslaved) og Tonje Peersen (manager)

Brak presenterer: Business Boot camp Ved: Yngve Dahle (Viaduct)

12.45 Gramart presents: Tom Jackson´s Live Music Makeover – Getting a Vision for Your Show Venue: Mono, free and open entrance

Session 3: Don’t cross the streams!

Streaming services, artists and the great royalty debate Moderated by Music Ally

14.30 14.45 Speed meetings

15.00 15.15 15.30

Kultur og lønnsomhet - som ild og vann?

Med: Knut Vareide (Telemarksforskning) m.fl.

15.45 16.00 16.15 16.30 16.45

Norsk Rockforbund presenterer: En grønnere konsertarrangør Med: Klaverfabrikken (DK), Malmöfestivalen (S), Pstereo (N)

Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Businesses and How the Culture Busineses Can Fight Back With: Robert Levine (Author)

Red Bull Music Academy Four Tet Venue: Blå

17.00 17.15 17.30 17.45