Morten in Musikkpraksis magazine

Musikkpraksis 3/2014

Musikkpraksis 3/2014

Morten appears on the cover of the current issue of Norwegian music magazine Musikkpraksis.

Inside there’s an 8-page article detailing the writing and recording process of the Brother album, featuring interviews with both Morten and producer Peter Kvint.

“We have built up this trust between us and have a really good collaboration going. There are creative sparks flying constantly and we always end up with something when we sit down to write. Often we’ll just sit there and jam, make melodies and just kind of float”, Peter Kvint tells the magazine.

The song they struggled the most with on the new album was “Safe With Me”, which Morten feels suffers somewhat from the production:

“That’s a very primal song, basic and simple, but also very distinct. So we had remove all the extra fluff and crap. Still we didn’t manage to remove enough crap, there are still things in there that disturb the pure nature of the song. But that’s OK, it’s not too bad. I’m at peace with it. (…) But that’s also one of the songs I like the most on the album. That one, “There Is A Place” and “Brother”. Those songs have the clearest identities.”

Morten is also honest about how Out Of My Hands and the collaboration with Steve Osborne didn’t end up exactly as planned:

“What happened was that Erik [Ljunggren] and I didn’t reach the level of contact that we really wanted with Steve Osborne. (…) Steve really has a lot to offer and is a very interesting musician and producer, but I didn’t feel that we managed to bring out the best in each other.”

Peter Kvint is asked about Morten’s abilities as a guitarist:

“I think he plays really great! Of course he doesn’t know guitar tabs and things like that, so there’s no use in suggesting ‘F major’, he he. It’s like he doesn’t want to learn those things, he wants his head to be clear – and that works for him. He likes things that are a little odd, unusual chord progressions for instance. He’ll often slip in a chord you wouldn’t have expected.”

The full article can be found in Musikkpraksis #3/2014, available now.

Moscow concert announced

Morten will return to Moscow on October 20th, to play a concert at Crocus City Hall, management announced today.

He played at the same venue on the Out Of My Hands tour in April 2012. No further Russian concerts have been announced yet.

Morten to perform on Sommeråpent

NRK 1’s traditional summer talkshow Sommeråpent will be back on Norwegian TV for six weeks this summer, starting on July 8th. This year Sommeråpent is broadcast live from the roof of the Oslo Opera House.

Morten is one of the artists scheduled to appear on the show. He will be performing on Friday, August 15th.

Attending the show is free and open for everyone.

Magne prepares Apparatjik performance

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.

Photos from Over Oslo Festivalen

Some photos I took at Over Oslo Festivalen (click to enlarge):

Over Oslo Festivalen, June 20th

Morten and new guitarist Vicky Singh at Over Oslo Festivalen, June 20th

Morten and new guitarist Vicky Singh at Over Oslo Festivalen, June 20th
(Picture by Jakob)

Morten played the first of his Norwegian summer concerts last night, at the Over Oslo Festival at Grefsenkollen – quite a spectacular venue overlooking the city.

He was backed by Lars Danielsson (bass), Per Lindvall (drums), Christer Karlsson (keyboard) – and new guitarist Vicky Singh from Denmark, who seems to be replacing Peter Kvint on the summer tour.

Morten’s voice seemed to be back in good shape after last month’s throat infection.

Picture by Jakob

Picture by Jakob

Being a festival, the setlist was five songs shorter than on last month’s solo tour. And there was no encore. But two songs from Letter From Egypt were added; “Movies” and “Send Me An Angel”.

Full setlist, with links to some video clips I filmed:

1. Do You Remember Me?
2. Oh What A Night
3. Spanish Steps
4. End Of The Line
5. Movies
6. Safe With Me
7. Send Me An Angel
8. Did I Leave You Behind
9. Wild Seed
10. Los Angeles
11. Whispering Heart
12. Brother
13. A Kind Of Christmas Card

Additional concerts in September

Four additional Morten Harket concerts in Norway in September were announced by the official site today. The dates are:

19 September: USF Verftet, Bergen
20 September: Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger
26 September: Maritim Hall, Haugesund
27 September: Kilden, Kristiansand

Articles:
Bergensavisen    Rogalands Avis

Exhibition at Soli Brug

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.

Morten at Sentrum Scene in October

Morten will return to Sentrum Scene in Oslo on October 24th, for a special concert in connection with the a-ha fan weekend on October 24-25, the official site announced on Friday:

We are excited to share the news that Morten will return to Sentrum Scene in Oslo, Norway on October 24! The fan pre-sale will take place on Monday, June 16 at 9:00am CET. The public ticket sale begins on Thursday, June 19.

Here is the link to buy tickets in the fan pre-sale on Monday, June 16 – please note it will not work until 9:00am CET: FAN PRE-SALE

For more details, visit mortenharket.com.

Apparatjik to perform in Fosnavåg

Magne on stage at Roskilde, July 2012

Magne on stage at Roskilde, July 2012

Apparatjik will be performing at the opening of the new concert house in Fosnavåg, Norway, on October 23rd. This was announced at a press conference today.

They will be joined by The Norwegian Radio Orchestra for a special performance of music made by movements captured on surveillance cameras placed around Fosnavåg – similar to the “Everybody is a composer!” project in 2012.

This news follows an announcement on the official Apparatjik website – “Everybody is clapping!” – where they invite fans to record video clips of themselves clapping their hands, to be used in connection with a new recording project.

Apparatjik’s last performance was in Copenhagen in May 2013.

Articles:
Vikebladet   Sunnmørsposten   Herøynytt

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