Archive for the ‘Magne’ Category

Apparatjik performance at Flø

The cube in action at Flø (Picture from Sunnmørsposten)

The cube in action at Flø
(Picture from Sunnmørsposten)

The four members of Apparatjik held their second ever concert/art-performance as part of Hugo Opdal’s “Go with the Flø” art festival on Friday, June 5th.

We are four musicians who perform and create things together within a short period of time. It may sound like a concert, but we view it more as a discussion forum“, Magne told TV2’s evening news.

The concert had been criticized in the local press beforehand, because of the steep ticket prices; 2000 Kroner ($309) per ticket. And according to Sunnmørsposten, not a single ticket was sold in advance (although Hugo Opdal claimed he had sold 20 tickets on Facebook). But the sales picked up when the price was lowered to 1000 Kroner shortly before the concert. Many local people at Flø and random people visiting were also allowed to enter for free, to fill up the venue.

Magne and Jonas emerging from the cube (Picture from Sunnmørsposten)

Magne and Jonas emerging from the cube
(Picture from Sunnmørsposten)

Apparatjik also launched their “Bolshevik Box” at Flø – a limited edition box set containing a CD, DVD, 12″ vinyl record and one of eight art prints. The Apparatjik prints were also exhibited on the walls of Hugo Opdal’s gallery.

An NRK news report about the art festival can be seen at NRK.no. There are some screenshots on the WOTM forum.

Moods of Norway has some pictures of the guys on Facebook.

 

And the latest clip in a series of Apparatjik video podcasts, this time featuring a heavily-distorted Magne, is now available here.

New exhibitions

A Magne F exhibition of 30 graphic prints, probably Alpha Beta, will be held at Galleri Elsa in Namsos from 24 April to 21 May.

We have been in a dialogue for a while, and it finally worked out. It’s always fun to get someone who hasn’t exhibited here before. It will be interesting for both the audience and the artist, and I’m really looking forward to it“, gallery owner Elsa Elden tells Namdalsavisa.

Magne will also be exhibiting as part of the annual Soddjazz Festival at Inderøy, which is held between 28 April and 2 May. He’s been named this year’s festival artist and Alpha Beta will be on display at Nils Aas Kunstverksted.

It’s not known if Magne will be able to visit Namsos and Inderøy himself.

Magne in Vestkantmagasinet

The magazine cover

The magazine cover

Magne is featured in the spring 2010 issue of Vestkantmagasinet, a free magazine distributed in the Oslo area.

In the interview he talks about the sculpture he made for the Nobel Peace Centre, working with his former mentor Kjell Nupen and the Alpha Beta project.

a-ha is also mentioned:

– What is important to you in 2010?
– 2010 is the year where we sum things up with a-ha, and for me that’s an opportunity to end a chapter of my life with dignity. I also hope to return to a healthier lifestyle – working double shifts every day is apparently not healthy in the long run, I’ve been told…

– And what are you most looking forward to?
– a-ha’s farewell tour this year. It will be interesting to see the world through “a-ha glasses” one final time.

The interview with Magne can be read in Norwegian on the magazine’s website here.

Magne talks with Chronicle Live

The Newcastle news site Chronicle Live has a small interview with Magne today, in connection with the UK tour in November.

The article states that the gig at Metro Radio Arena on November 16th will be the “first and last” a-ha concert in Newcastle. But they have actually played in the city twice before, in 1986 and 1991.

What would be the ultimate a-ha show? Something for everyone. We’re trying to make things representative of our career, while trying to do something that is not completely predictable. I want people to walk away thinking it was the best a-ha show“, Magne says about the upcoming farewell tour.

Read the whole interview here.

Magne hands out Statoil talent grant

Magne with Ingrid Olava and Oddvar Høie (Statoil's head of marketing)

Magne with Ingrid Olava and Oddvar
Høie (Statoil’s head of marketing)

This year’s Statoil talent grant was given to the Norwegian singer/songwriter Ingrid Olava at the by:Larm festival/conference tonight.

Magne has been the jury leader as usual and appeared at the Folk Restaurant in Oslo to reveal the winner, who will receive 800.000 kroner earmarked for international promotion.

The jury has been unanimous in its decision, and we have put emphasis on her noticeable artistic development. She is a solid live artist who has shown a certain unpredictability and madness in her performances“, Magne said about Olava.

This is the third year that Magne has led the Statoil talent grant jury. The two former winners were Ida Maria in 2008 and Mathias Eick in 2009.

 

In other news, the festival concert in Zurich, Switzerland on 17 July has now been confirmed by a-ha.com. Tickets go on sale at starticket.ch on 25 February.

Magne in Edinburgh and at by:Larm

Edinburgh, February 17th

Edinburgh, February 17th

Magne was in Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday to talk about his Alpha Beta exhibition, which is currently on display at the Edinburgh Printmakers gallery.

There’s a video clip from this event on mirror.co.uk, where Magne reveals that he is working on a new art book:

Right now I’ve come off a couple of exhibitions in Scandinavia and I’m also working on a book of my artworks that will be published later this year. And between [I’m] doing rehearsals for the final a-ha tour, which is due to start in the beginning of March“.

He also recalls working as an assistant at the Henie-Onstad Art Centre as a teenager, where he had the chance to meet artists like David Hockney and Yoko Ono.

There is also another short video clip from Edinburgh here.

 

On Thursday Magne was back in Oslo to attend the annual by:Larm music festival/conference, where Dagbladet observed him enjoying a concert by the Danish band Oh No Ono.

Apparatjik on Lydverket

Magne and a-ha lighting designer JoJo Tillmann discussing the Apparatjik cube

Magne and a-ha lighting designer JoJo Tillmann discussing the Apparatjik cube

Last night, Lydverket on NRK1 had a report about Apparatjik’s recent concert in Berlin. The whole video clip can be seen on Lydverket’s website here.

The whole idea of Apparatjik is that we are four professional people who approach the project with the spirit of an amateur. We all make videos, we all make music, we all sing. There is a good intensity and energy that emerges when we are able to get together“, Magne tells Lydverket’s reporter.

Magne interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland

Magne was interviewed by Janice Forsyth on the BBC Radio Scotland programme “The Radio Café” yesterday.

The 14-minute interview, which was mostly about Alpha Beta and Word Symphony, is available for listening on the BBC Radio Scotland website here until next Wednesday (starts after 1 min 30 secs).

Apparatjik perform in Berlin and release album

The Apparatjik members are starting to look surprisingly similar (Picture by Lydverket)

The Apparatjik members are starting to look surprisingly similar
(Picture by Lydverket)

Apparatjik played their first concert at the WMF Club in Berlin last night, as part of the music and art festival “Club Transmediale”.

The concert lasted around 40 minutes, with the band members playing inside a specially constructed cube.

This concert is as much an art performance, as a concert“, Jonas Bjerre told NRK’s Lydverket, which will have a TV-report about the concert next Wednesday.

The Berlin concert is the only Apparatjik performance that has been planned.

We would like to continue our collaboration, but if that will result in more music or something completely different, who knows“, the band says.

Morten by the cube (Picture by Lydverket)

Morten standing by the cube
(Picture by Lydverket)

Magne was not the only a-ha member in Berlin last night, as Morten had also come to witness the event.

[This was] refreshing, and even though Magne doesn’t really have time to do this right before our own tour starts, I think this is the best preparation he could have done“, Morten tells Lydverket.

 

The Apparatjik album was also released yesterday. It’s called We Are Here and can now be purchased as an MP3 album or pre-ordered as a CD/DVD set here.

The album cover

We Are Here album cover

Album tracklist:
1. Deadbeat
2. Datascroller
3. Snow Crystals
4. Supersonic Sound
5. Arrow and Bow
6. In A Quiet Corner
7. Josie
8. Antlers
9. Electric Eye
10. Look Kids
11. Quiz Show

Platinum awards / Echo nomination / Apparatjik album release

a-ha receiving platinum awards in Munich, January 15th

a-ha receiving platinum awards in Munich, January 15th

While in Munich to perform at the Bavarian Movie Awards on January 15th, a-ha were presented with platinum awards for selling more than 200 000 copies of Foot Of The Mountain in Germany, trade publication MusikWoche reports.

Considering the fact that “no one” buys CDs anymore, this is an impressive number. The album is still in the Top 100 German album chart after 31 weeks, currently at number 65.

 

More news from Germany: a-ha have been nominated in the “Best international group”-category for this year’s Echo Awards, which will take place in Berlin on March 4th.

The other nominees are U2, Depeche Mode, Black Eyed Peas and Razorlight. a-ha will not be able to attend the award show, as they are opening their farewell tour in Buenos Aires on that day.

 

In Norway the nominations for this year’s Spellemann Awards were announced yesterday, but a-ha did not get any nominations for their final album.

 

Producer and Apparatjik member Martin Terefe has posted a news update on his official website which says that the long-awaited Apparatjik album will be released on the same day as the band’s debut concert in Berlin next Monday, February 1st.

Since there has been no info about a CD release, it’s fair to assume that the album will be available only as a digital download.

 

Some info about last week’s Pupparatjik workshop in Trondheim can now be found here. One of the students who participated has shared some of his thoughts on the Apparatchick forum and he has also posted a set of pictures on Flickr.

And of course you can see the results of the workshop at apparatjik.com/pupparatjik.

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