Blog

Feb 26, 2012

New press photos!

A cold winter day in January, I was lucky enough to spend time with photographer Åse Holte, while she tried her best to make me feel comfortable in front of her camera. Here are two of the photos we settled on:

More will come soon!

Feb 6, 2012

As Norway has been freezing cold this week, I've spent time indoors preparing pianos at the academy of music in Oslo, as well as playing banjo, lap harp, recording my own voice and making nice synthesizer sounds out of it. The result is a song called "Fire" that I just finished today.

Here you go: 

Nov 3, 2011

Alternativ Julekalender, Maja Nilsen & 101 Reykjavik!

I can't really say where these past two months disappeared to, but it feels like quite a long time since our ten days of recording in Ocean Sound Recordings. Looking back at the photos, summer feels quite distant, considering how much time I've spent lately wrapped up in a wool blanket fighting the draft from my window. 

These past weeks, I have been working on a lot of different projects. For instance, I have made music for one of the doors in a Norwegian e-mail based Christmas Calendar - Alternativ Julekalender. As usually experimenting with things I have no idea how to do (like making hip electronic beats & nice vocal sounds through internal microphones). Alternativ Julekalender have a pretty nice concept where anyone can sign up to get a free song every single day from the 1st to the 24th of December. Send an e-mail to alternativjulekalender@gmail.com if you'd like to join the fun!

I have also worked (and am working) a lot with making music for a video installation at an exhibition with artist Maja Nilsen (Rogaland Kunstsenter 17th of Nov - 18th of Dec). She makes stunningly beautiful collages, installations and drawings, and I recommend paying a visit to her website. It's incredibly inspiring and demanding to work on music for something visual. I try to interpret Maja's descriptions, text fragments and pieces of film, and little by little the music is taking form. It's a constant challenge to try and make the music support the art rather than overshadowing it. Hopefully I'll manage to do just that. A little music treat from the process, can be found here: 

skisse #1 by momomomom

My tiny "studio" cave. (Considering what kind of studio I am in at the moment, my own studio setup looks rather ridiculous, but it definitely has it's very own charm.)

Other than making music for others, I have been working quite heavily with finishing some of my own. As I had a rather bad cold when we were recording at Giske, I was forced to postpone the vocal recordings, and these past days I have been lucky enough to work on vocals in the wonderful environment of Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik. Like in Giske, Mio Þórisson is twisting the knobs (and feeding me with proper amounts of Draumur chocolate and coffee to keep me going). Finally the songs are coming together, and we have even started mixing some of them. I can't wait to get this music released!

For now, you'll have to settle for this first teaser:

Sep 4, 2011

Vi er i begynnelsen av dag sju i studio, og både Giske og studioet begynner å føles kjent og hjemmekjært. Alles eiendeler ligger spredt utover huset. Sokker, headset, joggesko, gensere, sjokoladepapir, brukte kopper. Sakte, men sikkert, begynner også låtene å ta form. Dagene er lange og intensive med innspilling, venting, småspising og idémyldring. Jeg har blant annet fått testet ferdighetene på ukulele og lekt meg med preparering av piano. Heida har laget beats og skipslyder med tuba. Hanna og Katrine har laget knitrete pizzicattoregn på fiolin og cello.

Jeg har laget en ny låt, som jeg spilte inn på et rustent piano for noen dager siden. Først kom piano og vokal på plass, og etter en time i innspillingsrommet, hadde Hanna tegnet opp et ark fullt av ideer til strykerarrangementer med prikker og mønstre. Hun veivet entusiastisk med armene, mens hun prøvde å forklare meg hva de betydde. Jeg nikket og smilte. Totalt uforstående selvsagt. 

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We're in the beginning of day seven in the studio, and both Giske and the studio has begun to feel familiar and homelike. Everyone's belongings are spread throughout the house. Socks, headsets, sneakers, sweaters, chocolate paper. Slowly, but surely, the songs are beginning to take shape. The days are long and intensive with recording, waiting and brainstorming. I have tested my skills on the ukulele and played with preparing the studio's grand piano. Heida has made beats and ship sounds on her tuba, and Hanna and Kathrine have created scattering pizzicatto rain with violin and cello.

I have made an entirely new song, and while I was in the studio recording voice and piano, Hanna had drawn up a sheet full of ideas to string arrangements. It was full of dots and lines and made absolutely no sense to me. She waved enthusiastically with her arms as she tried to explaining to me what they meant. I nodded and smiled (without understanding anything, of course).

Hanna's string arrangements. They're copyrighted.

We have also found time for swimming. "Men æ vil ikke bli blaut!"

Eating.

Posing.

And looking silly.

Sep 1, 2011

Vi lager plate! / We are making a record!

Vi lager plate! / We are making a record!

I snart fire hele dager har vi vært i fantastiske Ocean Sound Recordings på den lille øya Giske, og jobbet med det som etter hvert skal bli en debutplate. På forhånd har jeg vært nervøs, redd, spent, klar, uklar og gledet meg på samme tid. Det har lenge vært innmari merkelig å klare å se for seg sangene mine som en helhet, som noe som kan bli en plate. Noen av dem, har jeg spilt i flere år, mens enkelte av låtene har blitt til i løpet av sommeren eller i studio. Etter å ha vært i studio noen dager, merker jeg riktignok at det kommer til å bli en riktig så fin plate, og at den blir både lavmælt, høylydt, leken og (av og til) nesten dansbar!

I studio med meg, har jeg disse fantastiske menneskene:

Hanna Furuseth (fiolin), Katrine Schiøtt (cello), Ida Løvli Hidle (trekkspill), Heiða Karine Mobeck Johannesdottir (tuba) og Hans Hulbækmo (drums). Lydteknikeren/mentoren/prodsenten/bestevennen/knappemesteren vår er Mio þórisson. Alt i alt en ganske så fin gjeng med fabelaktige musikere og venner som glimter til med magien sin på disse sangene!

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For almost four days now, we have been in the amazing studio Ocean Sound Recordings, on a little island called Giske, recording songs that eventually will turn into a debut record. On beforehand, I've been nervous, scared, ready, unready and looking forward to it at the same time. It has been very strange to imagine these songs as a wholeness, as something that can turn into a record. Some of the songs are several years old, whilst some of them have been made during the summer (one of them in the studio!). After having been here a few days, I feel very certain that we'll manage to make something beautiful and whole, and that the record will be both quiet, loud, playful and sometimes almost dancy!

In the studio with me, are these wonderful people:

Hanna Furuseth (violin), Katrine Schiøtt (cello), Ida Løvli Hidle (accordion), Heiða Karine Mobeck Johannesdottir (tuba) and Hans Hulbækmo (drums). Our sound engineer/mentor/producer/best friend/ knob twister is Mio þórisson. Alltogether a pretty nice bunch of great musicians and friends working their magic on these songs!

Studioet ser sånn her ut / This is what the studio looks like:

I have found a nice little place for my harmonium.

Hanna steals the cello for a while.

Hans and Ida investigates the possibilities of the accordion.

We are checking out our surroundings...

...and making some new friends.

Super-Mio!

Feb 1, 2010

©Line Bergersen

©Line Bergersen

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