Sondre Lerche is currently touring in Norway. In an interview with newspaper Gjengangeren he mentions Paul, who he often meets up with in New York:
“It would have been fun to collaborate with Paul. He’s writing some great material at the moment and is showing no signs of slowing down, even though a-ha is history.”
"I get restless and disillusioned when I feel I'm repeating myself in my art", Magne tells Budstikka
Budstikka has an interview with Magne today, in connection with his anniversary exhibition Bouquet which opens at Galleri Trafo in Asker tomorrow.
“I hope this exhibition will challenge me to leave everything behind and start on something different. It may even be something other than art. I like to challenge myself and step out of situations that are starting to become successfull”, Magne tells the newspaper.
“I have a basic scepticism to being seduced by success. That’s probably a pop-injury. Ask people what they connect with a-ha, and 90 percent will answer “Take On Me”, which I wrote as a 15-year-old. That song has become so defining, and I don’t like to be defined”.
“I’m bored silly by artists who end up being slaves of their own success, and who don’t want to visit their darker sides, where everything is chaos”, he says.
The Bouquet exhibition, which has the same title as Magne’s outdoor installation nearby, will be open from October 25th to November 25th at Galleri Trafo (slightly different dates than what was first announced).
Oslo, October 23rd
(Picture from NTB/Scanpix)
Magne was one of the organizers of a torchlight procession in Oslo tonight, in support of a new Munch museum – or more specifically the Lambda alternative in Bjørvika.
Although Lambda won the architectural competition for a new museum, politicians in Oslo still haven’t been able to agree on which alternative to choose.
“It’s frustrating to see so little action and so much quarrelling about such an important topic as [Edvard] Munch. Lambda won the competition, that’s why it should be built in Bjørvika”, Magne told Dagbladet.
“It’s also fun to march in a torchlight procession for something, especially as this is the first time I’m taking part in one”.
Related links:
Dagbladet Aftenposten NRK.no newsinenglish.no
Although it’s not supposed to premiere until October 26th, the music video for Morten’s new single “I’m The One” is already available on Vimeo, posted by one of the directors.
Update Oct 26th: the video was later removed, but has now officially premiered on the website of Universal Germany. You’ll notice this final version is entirely in black/white, while the version on Vimeo was in color.
Shot in Berlin earlier this month, the video was directed by Frank Hoffmann & Christopher Häring and produced by Mutter & Vater, the same production company behind the “Scared Of Heights” video.
The release of the single (digital only), which features a new single mix, has been pushed back to November 23rd. Promotion in Germany will include an appearance on TV Total Turmspringen (Pro7) on November 24th.
Bouquet
(Picture from Budstikka)
Magne’s massive outdoor installation Bouquet was officially unveiled in Asker yesterday, in connection with the opening of group exhibition “Kunst Rett Vest”.
“Although this is more of a cover-up than an unveiling”, Magne joked.
By using a gigantic nylon sheet, Magne has completely covered a building called Torvgården and decorated it with tulip-coloured anagrams using the letters in “Kunst Rett Vest”.
This particular building is often referred to as the Aalto Vase because of its characteristic shape – a vase which is often used for tulips.
“I used the connections to the tulip vase as a basis, which in turn inspired the title and colour pallette. And then I’ve just used the letters in “Kunst Rett Vest” and made different anagrams. I’m not the one to judge the result, but I hope it freshens up the place a bit”, Magne told Budstikka.
Update: Magne’s upcoming anniversary exhibition at Galleri Trafo will apparently also be called Bouquet, according to an update from the Magne F mailing list. The exhibition is open from October 25th – November 25th.
Santiago, Chile, September 30th
Morten ended his South American solo tour on Sunday night, with a concert at the Caupolican theatre in Santiago, Chile.
Video clips: YouTube Photo gallery: agendamusical.cl
Morten is now going to do some sessions with Swedish producer Peter Kvint in October and November, possibly aiming for a new solo album in the fall of 2013.
“I’m seeing Peter when I’m done with the tour now. I’m going back home and we have a session set up to write more music. I’m curious, because it’s been very interesting to work with him”, Morten said last Friday, at a meet & greet with Argentinian fans backstage in Buenos Aires. There’s a 10-minute video from it here.
Apparatjik and Lowell, September 29th (From YouTube video)
Between 2500 and 3000 people found their way to the Apparatjik concert at the new Astrup Fearnley museum in Oslo last night.
Here are some YouTube videos, posted by Alyssa Nilsen, “eveghost” and “realme978”:
Supersonic Sound Unknown song Arrow and Bow
Shake Him Off Snow Crystals Josie
Pakt / Control Park / Time Police / Supersonic Sound / Do It Myself
Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 28th
Morten and his band played at the Gran Rex theatre in Buenos Aires yesterday, for an enthusiastic crowd. At the end of the show, he put on an Argentinian football shirt, to much applause from the audience. “Somebody gave me this. It certainly looks better on a footballer, but there you are”, Morten said.
YouTube videos posted so far:
Arriving at the airport Lightning Stay On These Roads We’re Looking For The Whales Out Of Blue Comes Green Crying In The Rain Foot Of The Mountain Applause at the end
Photo galleries:
Flickr set by Synth 101 Backstage “meet & greet”
Update: Check out this multi-camera edit of the complete Buenos Aires gig, filmed from the front row in excellent HD quality: YouTube playlist
Apparatjik did a preview concert for press and industry people at the Astrup Fearnley museum last night. Some videos have been posted on YouTube by “eveghost”:
Deadbeat Arrow and Bow Pakt/Control Park Unknown song/Superpositions
There are also some rehearsal videos from earlier on, posted by Alyssa Nilsen.
The main event – tonight’s free concert at Astrup Fearnley – starts at 9:00 PM and features a new cube.
“The new cube is made especially for this show. We were originally planning on positioning it above the water, but they’re expecting a spring tide, and combined with 220 volts through our instruments that wasn’t such a good idea”, Magne says in an interview with Dagsavisen today.
Guy Berryman once again seems to be busy with Coldplay, so he’s not taking part.
Outside the new museum, September 27th
Magne, along with Jonas Bjerre and Martin Terefe, attended the official opening of the new Astrup Fearnley museum in Oslo today. There’s a photo gallery from the event at vg.no.
Afterwards, they were guests on the radio programme Kulturnytt on NRK P2, to talk about their first impressions of the museum and the upcoming Apparatjik performance there on Saturday.
Magne was asked how the Apparatjik concept will fit in at the Astrup Fearnley museum:
“I don’t think it fits at all, because we’ve made it a specialty to fall between two stools. Most people in the art world think we’re way too pop-oriented. And those expecting to hear pop music think we’re too arty. So we have ended up somewhere in between, where we don’t manage to connect with anyone. But we do create music that we like, and the songs are quite structured. We’re not attempting to create very inaccessible stuff. We just don’t want to do things the way we’ve used to in our main projects.
We were shocked when we entered the stage at Roskilde this summer and looked out on an audience of 40.000 – 50.000 people, who stood with their jaws dropped for the first 15 minutes and then ended up jumping up and down to music they had never heard before. It was very exciting. I had never entered the stage before, without having at least a few hits to get the audience going. So it was incredibly fun. I think people with a certain sense of humour will feel this is something they should witness. And it takes place on Saturday at 9:00 PM”, Magne said.
“It’s important to stress that this is not a concert for the elite, but a free concert for the people of Oslo – and anyone who comes from out of town. We’re going to create a lot of noise, so this is not a part of those posh opening ceremonies”, he added.
The whole interview is available as an MP3 file at nrk.no.
Tonight, Apparatjik and Lowell did a “secret” warm-up show at DogA – the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture in Oslo. A few pictures were posted on Instagram by Monika and Tini from The Voice.
Be also sure to check out a couple of new videos from the Roskilde concert on Vimeo, here and here.
