Archive for the ‘Magne’ Category

Magne and Steve Barron at The Arts Club

Posted by Jakob S on June 2nd, 2015
The new book cover, designed by Magne (Photo by Judith Heinrich)

The new book cover, designed by Magne
(Photo by Judith Heinrich)

Magne and director Steve Barron appeared at The Arts Club in London last Thursday, May 28th, to celebrate the release of a new special edition of Barron’s 2014 memoir Egg n Chips & Billie Jean: A Trip Through the 80s, for which Magne has designed the cover.

“I’ve read the book and it’s hilariously funny. And not just the parts that I was a part of (laughs). There are some amazing stories in there and I’m happy that you let me contribute a little bit with the cover”, Magne said.

Paul Stolper introduced the two of them, who talked for an hour about Barron’s work with a-ha – he directed eight music videos for the band between 1985 and 2010 – and the other music videos he’s done. Barron also read an extract from his book about the time he and the band were in Montana filming the “Crying In The Rain” video in 1990. Afterwards they did a little signing session.

Magne and Steve Barron signing books (Photo by Judith Heinrich)

Magne and Steve Barron signing books
(Photo by Judith Heinrich)

“The first three [a-ha] videos that you did, they were all your ideas. They were all you. We were kind of just kids coming in. We might have been allowed to say something about it, but we just kept ourselves back. I don’t think it was until Manhattan Skyline that we said ‘Steve, we really want to talk about our situation’. The media are referenced and Brazil – the Terry Gilliam film – about this guy disappearing in newspapers and we started interacting about [that concept]”, Magne said during the conversation.

Some photos from the event were posted by Paul Stolper on Instagram:
Photo 1    Photo 2    Photo 3

Thanks to Judith Heinrich for the info.

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Morten and Magne attend Echo Awards

Posted by Jakob S on March 28th, 2015
Echo Awards

Echo Awards

Morten and Magne attended the 24th Annual Echo Awards in Berlin on Thursday night (March 26th), to present the award for Best German Music Blu-ray or DVD.

“I thought we were here to get a prize for ‘most comebacks in a band history'”, Magne joked on stage, before presenting the Echo award to Helene Fischer for her live DVD Farbenspiel – Live aus München.

A video clip of Morten and Magne on stage can be seen at ardmediathek.de.

Two short interviews with them before the show have been posted on YouTube here and here. Plus a clip of Morten signing a few autographs here.

Paul was unable to join the others at the award show, as he had a flight to catch earlier in the day. But all three of them did appear together on Wednesday night (March 25th), as they attended the Echo Award 2015 Charity Dinner at Grill Royal. Some pictures of a-ha arriving can be seen at gettyimages.de and purestars.de.

And if you missed the a-ha press conference on Wednesday, a new 24-minute video of the band in conversation with Tom Bromley has been posted on YouTube.

The ticket pre-sale for the 2016 Cast In Steel a-ha tour in Germany, Switzerland and Austria started yesterday, while the general sale starts on Monday, March 30th. Visit a-ha.com for info on how to buy tickets.

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‘Apparatjik World’ book now available

Posted by Jakob S on February 7th, 2015
Book cover

Book cover

The long-awaited Apparatjik World book has now started shipping from Norwegian online bookstores. It was supposed to be published on January 15th, but was apparently delayed a few weeks.

The 352-page softcover book features lots of photos from a variety of Apparatjik projects over the years; Everybody is a Composer, Pupparatjik, The Apparatjik Suite, Everybody is a Pixel, Roskilde, A Greener Youniverse, Rudolph the Chrome-nosed Reindeer, Sound of Silence and much more. It also includes many of the Q&As and graphics that have been available online.

Apparatjik World can be ordered from haugenbok.no, bokkilden.no and tanum.no.

Update: The book is now also available on amazon.co.uk.

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Magne attends Bent Sølves Orkester exhibition opening at Rockheim

Posted by Jakob S on January 30th, 2015
Magne at Rockheim, January 29th (Screenshot from NRK Midtnytt)

Magne at Rockheim, January 29th
(Screenshot from NRK Midtnytt)

Magne attended the opening of a new exhibition at the Rockheim pop and rock museum in Trondheim yesterday. The exhibition, which he has helped put together, tells the story of his father Kåre Furuholmen’s dance orchestra Bent Sølves Orkester.

The six-piece orchestra, named Bent Sølves after Magne’s favorite teddybear, was formed in Oslo in June 1967.

With Kåre Furuholmen on trumpet, the orchestra toured extensively around Norway, including residencies at hotels and showboats. They also appeared regularly on television.

Disaster struck on 1 May 1969, when on their way to a gig in Sweden, their plane crashed near Drammen. The pilot and all the five musicians onboard died. Only their saxophonist survived, as he had decided to drive instead.

Kåre Furuholmen on stage in 1968

Kåre Furuholmen on stage in 1968

“I have vivid memories of him practicing his trumpet, but a lot of the other memories I have of him are family stories that have been told so often they become memories”, Magne told Adresseavisen yesterday (subscribers only).

“The first time I met Morten Harket, we walked home together after a party. It was a long walk, and when we had talked about the important stuff – what music we liked – we needed to find other topics of conversation. What our parents were doing, things like that. I told him that my father died in a plane crash in 1969. Morten remained completely silent for a while, before he told me that he was an eyewitness to the plane crash in Drammen. Together with his parents he was so close by that he saw the plane hit the ground. That’s quite a special coincidence”, Magne said.

Magne has previously talked about his father in an Aftenposten article in 2008 and the NRK documentary Dance for Daddy – a portrait of Magne Furuholmen in 2011.

More info about the exhibition can be found at rockheim.no. Update: There was also a short TV report from the opening on NRK Midtnytt on February 2nd.

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a-ha Fan Weekend 2014

Posted by Jakob S on October 28th, 2014
Terry Slater, Harald Wiik, Magne and Tini Flaat Mykland on stage at Samfunnsalen, Oslo

Terry Slater, Harald Wiik, Magne and Tini Flaat Mykland on stage at Samfunnsalen, Oslo
(Picture by Jakob)

Fans from all over the world once again gathered in Oslo on October 24-25 for the a-ha Fan Weekend 2014, which included Morten’s last two concerts of the Brother tour at Sentrum Scene, an a-ha convention with a Q&A session and a fan party.

Many were looking particularly forward to hearing former a-ha manager Terry Slater, who provided interesting stories from his long career and shared his thoughts on the music business then and now.

Current a-ha/Morten Harket manager Harald Wiik talked about the upcoming release plans in connection with the 30th anniversary of Hunting High and Low in 2015:

“The plan is – don’t hold it against me if not everything happens – but as of now there are plans for a 5-disc set of Hunting High And Low, with lots of new material. Plus heavy vinyls of all the first five albums. Also a box set of the vinyls called The Warner Years, for the first five albums. And then Deluxe Editions of Stay On These Roads, East Of The Sun and Memorial Beach. And some other things that I can’t tell you about now. But save your money!”

Morten at Sentrum Scene, October 24th

Morten at Sentrum Scene, October 24th
(Picture by Jakob)

Magne came to Oslo straight from the opening of the new concert house in Fosnavåg, where he did two performances with Apparatjik on October 23 and 24. He brought along two early copies of the long-awaited Apparatjik World book, of which Terry Slater was given one copy, while the other was donated as a prize in the Red Cross charity raffle held during the fan party:

“It should be out before Christmas at some point. I was hoping to have enough copies to bring tonight, but the printers couldn’t make it in time.”

While on stage at the a-ha convention, Magne also talked candidly about how he wasn’t satisfied with how the Beatles movie turned out:

“I wanted to make a much more radical score than what ended up [in the movie]. There was a struggle, a fight between me and the director, who came in a little bit late in the process, to make him understand what I was trying to do. So to my mind, the last version that I heard was a compromise where they had used my music in a way that I wasn’t a hundred percent satisfied with. I won’t be able to give you a percentage, as I haven’t seen the finished one. (…) The album is different, because I made the album afterwards, a bit more like I wanted the movie to sound.”

Magne previously talked about his problems with the Beatles film project in a radio interview on NRK P13 last month.

Morten visiting the fan party (Picture by Jakob)

Morten visiting the fan party
(Picture by Jakob)

At the fan party in the evening, Morten showed up on stage to meet the fans. One fan asked him about his plans for next year:

“I’m being asked if I have plans – big plans – for next year, which I believe I have. And those plans might include you guys. (…) It will be an interesting year, next year”, Morten said.

“We should have a lot of fun with numbers over the next year. Keep on guessing!”, Harald Wiik told the fans earlier on Saturday – referring to the numbers recently posted on a-ha.com’s Facebook page; 44 and 365, which have led to fan speculations about a possible a-ha reunion in 2015.

Check out more coverage of the a-ha Fan Weekend on a-ha.com’s Twitter profile and Facebook page.

Other links:
TV2 Nyhetskanalen – interview with Morten at soundcheck, Oct. 24th
NRK Østlandssendingen – report from Sentrum Scene
dbmag.no – Morten Harket concert review (5/6)
Vimeo – Safe With Me (Oct. 24th) by After Event Productions
Vimeo – Whispering Heart (Oct. 24th) by After Event Productions
Vimeo – Brother (Oct. 24th) by After Event Productions
Facebook – Sentrum Scene photos by StageWorks
Facebook – Sentrum Scene photos by Christina Galbraith
YouTube – Morten visiting the fan party
YouTube – Harald Wiik speaking at the fan convention
YouTube – Terry Slater speaking at the fan convention

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Magne and Tini on Senkveld

Posted by Jakob S on September 28th, 2014
Magne and Tini performing "You Can't Have It Both Ways" on Senkveld, September 26th

Magne and Tini performing “You Can’t Have It Both Ways” on Senkveld, September 26th

Magne and Tini Flaat Mykland were guests on the TV2 talkshow Senkveld on Friday night, to promote Tini’s debut album Undo My Heart which will be released in Norway on October 3rd. The album features several songs written by Magne, including Tini’s new version of “Running Out Of Reasons” from Magne’s solo album A Dot Of Black In
The Blue Of Your Bliss.

“Tini initially appeared a bit secretive and didn’t quite fit the format of The Voice, as she didn’t really try to show off in her performances. Instead she stood out by being very pure and focused on the music. When I brought the talents I wanted to work with over to England, Tini was the one who got the best reactions and who people wanted to help develop”, Magne said.

“It’s been really exciting. Magne is a fantastic mentor who has helped me a lot, not least by allowing me to grow my ambitions. He has also introduced me to a great network of people, both in Norway and abroad”, Tini said.

Following the interview, Magne and Tini were joined by a few additional musicians and performed a live version of the new single “You Can’t Have It Both Ways”, which has also been written by Magne.

Senkveld is available online through TV2 Sumo (subscribers only).

More info about Tini: tinispage.com

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‘Self-Portraits’ exhibition in Oslo

Posted by Jakob S on September 6th, 2014
From A-magasinet, September 5th, with Magne in front of one of the self-portraits, My self as an alphabet, inspired by Edvard Munch's The Scream.

From A-magasinet, September 5th, with Magne in front of one of the self-portraits, My self as an alphabet, inspired by Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

Magne’s latest solo exhibition Self-Portraits opened at Kunstverket Galleri in Oslo on Thursday, September 4th.

The large woodcuts that make up this new exhibition are not traditional self-portraits, but rather Magne’s own idea of what a self-portrait could be.

“I have not been interested in portraying myself in a traditional way. Under the guise of the exhibition title, I’ve been more interested in pursuing an idea. The idea has been to explore different sides of myself; the one I think I am, but perhaps also someone I’m not. It’s also about imagining what it would have been like to be someone else”, Magne said in 6-page interview in A-magasinet yesterday, which is also available online at aftenposten.no.

The interview was done by well-known psychiatrist and author Finn Skårderud.

“I’ve been collecting my whole life, been inspired by others, listened to music, like John Lennon, looked at artworks, and now I’m putting it on display. These images references a lot of things and people that have made an impact, and which have influenced me”, Magne said.

A photo gallery from the preparations and the exhibition opening has been posted on Kunstverket Galleri’s Facebook page.

Self-Portraits will be on display until September 28th.

There is also an article about Magne in the September issue of Art, a German magazine. A photo gallery from Magne’s atelier in Asker in connection with the article can be seen at art-magazin.de.

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‘Beatles’ soundtrack now available

Posted by Jakob S on September 6th, 2014
Album cover

Album cover

The soundtrack album for the movie Beatles, featuring original music composed by Magne, was released digitally in Norway yesterday and is now available on Spotify, Wimp and iTunes.

30-second samples can be heard at wimp.no.

The album includes 17 tracks, of which 13 are instrumentals by Magne. It also includes a version of “Come Together” by Apparatjik (Feat. Icona Pop & Erik Hassle), “Et Kyss Til” by Hvitmalt Gjerde (taken from their recently released second album), “Sukker og Salt” by Rosenberg Allstars, plus Magne’s own fragile version of “Yesterday”.

“Yeah, that’s me singing. Someone wanted to include “Yesterday”, and we initially tried to use the original Beatles version, but that particular scene screams for something less perfect, and I thought it could be worth a try. It was of course necessary to do a completely different version, as I could never get close to the original one, but the idea was that it needed a certain roughness to match the atmosphere [in the scene]”, Magne told Dagbladet in a recent interview.

When recording the string parts at Abbey Road, Magne brought in a group of musicians from London Philharmonic Orchestra, while David Davidson was flown in from Nashville to oversee the arrangements.

“David Davidson has a PhD in Beatles-strings and is a fantastic guy. He has done string arrangements for a-ha in the past, so I know him well”, Magne told Dagbladet.

Beatles had its nationwide premiere in Norway on August 29th. Although the reviews have been mixed and the box office results have been weaker than expected, Magne’s music has been well-received.

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Magne prepares Apparatjik performance

Posted by Jakob S on June 28th, 2014
Magne interviewed by NRK in Fosnavåg, June 25th

Magne interviewed by NRK in Fosnavåg, June 25th

Magne was in Fosnavåg this Wednesday, together with Stefan Brunner from Audiokolor, to install the surveillance cameras that will turn movements into music for the upcoming Apparatjik performance at the opening of the new concert house in October.

“In many ways you could say that we’re turning Fosnavåg into sheet music, and letting the locals create the sounds”, Magne told local newspaper Vestlandsnytt.

Three cameras will capture movement patterns in different parts of Fosnavåg over the next two weeks.

“We want to urge people to be creative and perhaps do something out of the ordinary, as we think that could result in some great music. When we go through the recorded material afterwards, we will be able to locate the parts that have the most activity in front of the camera. These parts will then be edited into a musical piece of around 20 minutes, that Apparatjik will perform together with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra”, Magne says.

He adds that people who are curious about this project could also visit the Go With The Flø festival this weekend, where the Apparatjik/Audiokolor installation “Everybody is a composer!” can be experienced.

Magne was also interviewed by NRK Møre og Romsdal’s local TV news. The video clip can be seen at nrk.no.

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Exhibition at Soli Brug

Posted by Jakob S on June 18th, 2014
Magne in front of his ceramic jars

Magne in front of his ceramic jars

Magne is one of the artists taking part in a summer exhibition at the Soli Brug gallery in Sarpsborg, Norway, which opened on Saturday, June 14th.

In addition to paintings and graphic prints, Magne is exhibiting a collection of ceramic jars, which have been placed on top of six concrete manhole covers in connection with a new wastewater treatment system.

“The surroundings here are very beautiful and idyllic. But these new manhole covers were apparently necessary to add, and so I was asked if I could do something in connection with them. Most of what I do is about trying to turn something negative into something positive, and I feel this installation turned out really well”, Magne said in a radio interview with NRK Østfold on June 12th.

There is also a video interview with Magne at nrk.no.

The exhibition is open until June 29th.

Magne has also recently collaborated with Henrik Haugan to design the bottle for a limited series of XO Contemporary Cognac for Braastad. He was in France on June 10th to discuss the final design. More info in this French article.

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