Magne to take part in ‘Choreography Of Sound’ symposium

Magne will be in Karlsruhe, Germany on Tuesday November 5th, to take part in an international symposium called “Choreography Of Sound – Between Abstraction and Narration”.

He will do two different presentations in the afternoon:

3:45 pm: “Everybody is a Composer – Art Slam with Magne Furuholmen”
“In projects like “Everybody is a Composer” (Oslo National Museum) or “Cathedral Footsteps” (Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin) Magne Furuholmen examines the conditions of a space and the dynamics between performer and audience together with the artist-collective Apparatjik. Through audience participation, new compositions emerge as collective works of art. How does everyone become a composer? How does such a heterogeneous sound find its form? How does rhythm become image? This presentation takes the form of a dialogue with author and pop-expert Jenni Zylka.”

4:30 pm: “Complicate Your Life – Decomposing and recomposing a pop song”
“Since Pete Townsend – inspired by his encounter with Gustav Metzger – in the 60’s made the destruction of instruments into a dramatic live gesture, destruction and decomposition have become as fundamental to rock music as its connection with visual art.
In Magne Furuholmens workshop the participants will experience how de- and re-constructing a pop song can create new meanings. By reconfiguring pop songs Furuholmen refers to the emergence of sampling in the 90’s that radically challenged questions of ownership and copyright.”

More info is available on the symposium’s website. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations need to be made before October 31st.

2013 BMI London Awards

Morten and Magne in London, October 15th

Morten and Magne in London, October 15th
(Picture from BMI.com)

Morten and Magne attended the 2013 BMI London Awards on October 15th, where they were presented with the BMI Million-Air Award, in recognition of “Take On Me” having been played four million times on U.S. radio.

A video clip of them receiving the award can be seen here (starts at 03:10). There is also a short interview clip on YouTube.

More pictures are available on BMI.com and Zimbio.com here and here.

Morten and Magne previously received the same award at the BMI London Awards in October 2007, when the song had been played three million times on U.S. radio.

Morten joins Scorpions at MTV Unplugged shows in Athens

Morten and Klaus Meine on stage, September 11th (Picture by Marietta Photography)

Morten and Klaus Meine on stage, September 11th
(Picture by Marietta Photography)

Morten joined German veteran rockers Scorpions on stage at the outdoors Lycabettus Theatre in Athens, Greece last night, to sing the band’s 1991 hit “Wind of Change” together with vocalist Klaus Meine.

The live performance can be seen on YouTube.

And check out this blog for some good photos from the show.

Scorpions are doing three MTV Unplugged concerts in Athens this week (September 11th, 12th and 14th) as “Scorpions & Friends”, with several surprise guests. Morten is supposed to come on stage again tonight, but not on Saturday.

Two of the shows are being filmed, and will be released as MTV Unplugged – Scorpions Live In Athens on CD, DVD and Blu-ray later this year.

Morten is known to be a friend of Scorpions, and attended one of their concerts while on tour in Russia last year. On Monday he appeared at an Athens restaurant together with Klaus Meine, there’s a picture on Instagram.

Update: “Wind of Change” had to be performed twice on the second night (Sep. 12th), as Morten seemed to miss his cue the first time. Here are YouTube clips of both versions:   Version 1    Version 2

Magne records EP with Marius Beck

Marius Beck and Magne, interviewed during The Voice last year

Marius Beck and Magne, interviewed during The Voice last year

Marius Beck, who was one of the top five talents on Magne’s team on The Voice last year, recorded his first EP at Kensaltown Studios in London last week.

The EP is produced by Magne and Martin Terefe, and is planned for release soon.

“Big ups to Magne Furuholmen and Martin Terefe for producing and playing”, Beck wrote on Instagram today.

“Marius is a great performer. Ever since the first time I heard him, I’ve been convinced that he’ll go far – be it with The Voice or on his own. His songwriting is continually improving and he’s on his way to something very exciting”, Magne said in an interview last year.

Marius Beck’s first single “Back With Me” was released in October 2012 and is available on iTunes.

Morten attends The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones premiere

Inez and Morten in Fredrikstad last night

Inez and Morten in Fredrikstad last night

Morten and Inez attended the Norwegian premiere of Harald Zwart’s new movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones in Fredrikstad last night.

“Harald is above all very talented, which he has proven time and again. But he’s also got an incredible drive and an impressive staying power. And they’re also a great team, Harald and his wife Veslemøy. It’s all very impressive, and that’s why I’m here tonight”, Morten told TV2.

A few of the actors from the movie were also present in Fredrikstad; Lily Collins, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jamie Campbell Bower and Robert Sheehan.

Pictures: VG 1   VG 2   Fredriksstad Blad   Video interview: FBTV

 
Earlier this month, on August 3rd, a-ha fan Ari Benjamin met Morten in Kristiansand. The story of his meeting with Morten can be found on his blog at aribenjamin.net.

 
Magne, who will be showing his Norwegian Wood exhibition in Oslo next month, also appeared in public recently. On August 16th he attended the Moods of Norway 10th anniversary celebration in Oslo Spektrum, where the fashion label presented its latest collection called Pop Factory.

Magne and Heidi could be seen in the audience in the live webcast from the show, where they enjoyed the Moods of Norway house band – featuring Matt Sorum (drums), Nick Perri (guitar) and Maya Vik (bass).

Morten to perform in Vennesla – UPDATED

Performing at the Haydom fundraiser in 2009

Morten performing “A Change Is Gonna Come” at the Haydom fundraiser in 2009

Next Sunday, August 18th, Morten will once again be performing with his relatives in the Harket Choir at the annual fundraiser meeting to support Haydom Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania.

The fundraiser takes place in Vennesla in Southern Norway, outdoors in a garden owned by Morten’s uncle. Several hundred people show up each year for the event.

Morten has previously performed at the Haydom fundraiser in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2011. In 2009 he also did a mini solo-concert, in addition to singing with the Harket Choir.

Update, August 19th: Although Morten was scheduled to take part, he did not appear at the Haydom fundraiser after all (for reasons unknown). But the Harket Choir performed without him and 104000 kroner was raised for the Haydom hospital.

Lowell and Magne jam session

Lowell and Magne, July 3rd (Screenshot from Vine clip)

Lowell and Magne, July 3rd
(Screenshot from Vine clip)

Elizabeth Boland – aka Lowell – did a week-long music and art workshop at Stolper + Friends in Oslo earlier this month, following her concerts at the Go With The Flø festival. Entitled Sex cells – sound and vision under the influence, the workshop was held between 1 – 7 July.

Here’s a quote from her Facebook page:

“Many people came out to the concerts at night, and one night we had Robyn Hitchcock (The Soft Boys) with Norwegian indie rock band “I was a King”. One day we also had a stunning violin duo playing violin and the saw along with me. Other days, Magne F (a-ha, Apparatjik) and I jammed out for hours on various distortion instruments until our fingers were tired.”

Over the last week, Lowell has been posting audio clips on Soundcloud from the two-hour jam session she did with Magne on July 3rd. Here are the links:
Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4

Other links:
Lowell Facebook pageSex cells info and gallery
Art on Canvas blog – pictures from Lowell workshop
Northern Transmissions – interview with Lowell about working with Apparatjik

Magne co-writes song for new Backstreet Boys album

Magne has co-written one of the songs on the upcoming Backstreet Boys album In a World Like This, which is released on July 30th. The song is called “Breathe” and was written by Martin Terefe, Andreas Olsson, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, Nick Whitecross and Magne Furuholmen.

This is the group’s eighth studio album, and was partly recorded at Martin Terefe’s Kensaltown Recording Studios in London. In total, Martin Terefe has co-written and produced four of the songs on the album (plus an iTunes bonus track).

“Breathe” can be heard on YouTube.

Paul joins Spark Management

Still busy in the studio

Still busy in New York

Paul is now represented by New York-based management company Spark Management, which was founded earlier this year to “develop the careers of exceptional artists, songwriters, producers and mix engineers”.

The company’s roster of clients also includes Mark Saunders (who co-produced a-ha’s Foot of the Mountain album) and Dan Romer (who did the music for Beasts of The Southern Wild).

Paul is described as “an active songwriter and producer for other major label artists” on the company’s website.

Spark Management founder Ollie Hammett, who previously worked for Elton John’s Rocket Music Management, said in an interview with sonicscoop.com last year:

“I think we’re in a unique position to help develop the careers of producers, in both traditional ways i.e. producing records for artists as well as new ways, too, through opportunities in digital, interactive, film, television and theater. It’s an exciting time for music producers and there are many opportunities to rewrite the rule book.”

Although Paul has reportedly been writing and producing for other artists since January 2011, nothing has been officially released so far (that we know of). These projects all seem to be shrouded in mystery for the time being.

 
Update, July 16th: A Norwegian fan met Paul in Bergen on Friday, July 12th. When asked if there would be a new Savoy album, Paul said that “various things are gonna come up soon”. More info on the WOTM Forum.

Go With The Flø festival 2013

Picture from Sunnmørsposten

Picture from Sunnmørsposten

Magne and his wife Heidi were at Flø this weekend, where they attended the annual Go With The Flø art festival. The festival included an exhibition by Damien Hirst and two concerts by Lowell.

But this year Magne was not exhibiting or performing himself:

“This time I’m only here to enjoy myself. Go With The Flø is great opportunity to make a visit to Western Norway and meet friends and acquaintances. And I’m here together with my London gallerist, Paul Stolper, who is also Damien Hirst’s gallerist”, Magne told Sunnmørsposten.

The festival’s Facebook page has a few photos of Magne and Simen Staalnacke (Moods of Norway) fishing and standing in front of a new ice cream van.

Articles:
Nye lydar på Vonheim    Kunstivalen i bilete (slideshow)
Kunstfestivalen på Flø større enn noen gang

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