Magne in Germany

Magne with students at the workshop in Halle, May 24th
(Picture from page-online.de)

Magne and fellow Apparatjik member Jonas Bjerre are in Germany this week, to hold a workshop for art students at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in the city of Halle.

The workshop started on Monday, May 23rd, and will continue throughout the rest of this week.

The idea is apparently to create new objects by using auto parts from a Smart car – continuing Apparatjik’s ongoing collaboration with the German car manufacturer.

Daily updates from the workshop project can be found here.

 
There was also recently an Apparatjik workshop in Moscow, following their concert there on May 13th. Here is some info from the Strelka Institute website:

After the performance at Strelka, Apparatjik will lead a closed workshop with Russian artists and musicians. Together they will work on a new interactive installation, which will connect Apparatjik’s creative work with local Russian context. The results of this collaboration will be shown at the Yota Space Festival in St. Petersburg this fall.

(Thanks to Carmen and Maria)

Apparatjik in Moscow

The cube in Moscow
(Picture by Marina Lystseva)

Apparatjik played their first concert in Russia this Friday, May 13th, at the newly established Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow.

There were initially only 200 invitations available for two people each, by registering on the Strelka website, but this week anyone who added their name to the event on Apparatjik’s Facebook page were automatically added to the guestlist (which ended up being 188 people). So there must have been at least 600 people in the audience (a Russian fan claims there were as many as 1500-2000 people).

A selection of pictures from the Moscow performance can be seen here.

And here are some YouTube clips:
Deadbeat    Datascroller    Snow Crystals    Supersonic Sound    Look Kids    Quiz Show

Simen and Peder from Moods of Norway accompanied the other apparatjiks on the trip to Moscow, and a couple of pictures have been posted on their Facebook page, including one with Magne and Karl Oluf Wennerberg in front of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Update: Check out this cool video clip from the Moscow concert on Vimeo.

Ending On A High Note chart update

Ending On A High Note entered the UK album chart at #43 this week, with 2,966 copies sold. It was actually in the top 15 in the first midweek chart update, so there was a significant drop in sales later in the week. Still quite good though, considering there doesn’t seem to have been much promo for it in the UK so far.

In Germany EOAHN is at #9 this week, and has now spent an amazing four weeks in the top 10 on the album chart. And after dropping down to #7 last week, it climbs to #4 in Norway.

“zbig1” on the WOTM forum has put together the following list of all European countries where the live album has charted so far (Updated 15 May):

1. Norway – Best place #3, All places: 6-3-7-4-6 and 5 weeks in Top-10
2. Germany – Best place #3, All places: 3-7-8-9-14 and 5 weeks in Top-10
3. Poland – Best place #21, All places: 21-35-42-27-39 and 5 weeks in Top-50
4. Russia – Best place #24, All places: 24 and 1 week in Top-25
5. UK – Best place #43, All places: 43 and 1 week in Top-100
6. Switzerland – Best place #56, All places: 56-59-98 and 3 weeks in Top-100
7. Austria – Best place #61, All places: 61-72 and 2 weeks in Top-75
8. Belgium Wallonia – Best place #70, All places: 70 and 1 week in Top-100
9. Netherland – Best place #72, All places: 72-86 and 2 weeks in Top-100
10. Belgium Flanders – Best place #87, All places: 70 and 1 week in Top-100
11. Spain – Best place #92, All places: 92 and 1 week in Top-100
12. France – Best place #163, All places: 163 and 1 week in Top-200

And here’s how the DVD has performed in the music DVD charts around Europe
(Updated 15 May):

1. Norway – Best place #1, All places: 1-1-1 and 3 weeks in Top-10
2. Germany – Best place #1, All places: 1-1-1-1 and 4 weeks in Top-10
3. Austria – Best place #1, All places: 1-10-5 and 3 weeks in Top-10
4. Sweden – Best place #1, All places: 3-6-1-8-6 and 5 weeks in Top-20
5. Hungary – Best place #6, All places: 6-20 and 2 weeks in Top-20
6. Switzerland – Best place #6, All places: 6 and 1 week in Top-10
7. Ireland – Best place #7, All places: 7 and 1 week in Top-10
8. Netherland – Best place #11, All places: 20-11 and 2 weeks in Top-30

(Thanks to zbig1 and tryffel for the chart info)

Chart success for Ending On A High Note

 

The CD version of Ending On A High Note – The Final Concert has entered the official German album chart at #3, which is an impressive result for a live album.

In Norway it entered the album chart at #6, before climbing up to #3 this week. Other first-week chart entries include #21 in Poland, #61 in Austria and #72 in the Netherlands.

 
The DVD entered the German music DVD chart at #1. In Sweden it entered the music DVD chart at #3, before dropping to #6.

Despite the two missing songs, the DVD/Blu-ray features a brilliant production. High quality filming and audio all the way, which can really be experienced in full on the Blu-ray disc. And although there’s not much bonus material, the 15-minute documentary is a nice addition.

 
In Norway, the reviews have been quite good. The newspapers VG, Dagbladet, Bergensavisen, Østlandets Blad and Romerikes Blad all give Ending On A High Note 5 out of 6. Trønder-Avisa even gives it 6 out of 6.

 
In the UK, Ending On A High Note will be released on April 25th. The four available versions can be pre-ordered from amazon.co.uk through the links on the left. And remember that all sales help support this site.

Magne pays tribute to Harald Zwart

 

The Norwegian director Harald Zwart, who has made movies such as One Night at McCool’s and The Karate Kid, was the main guest on the talkshow Litt Av Et Liv on NRK1 tonight.

a-ha fans also know him as the director of the “Velvet” and “Forever Not Yours” music videos.

In addition to having friends and family of Zwart in the studio, the show also included several video greetings from people he has worked with, such as Michael Douglas, Steve Martin, John Cleese
– and Magne Furuholmen.

 
Here’s what Magne had to say:

Hi Harald. Congratulations on all your amazing success. In many ways you are the film industry’s equivalent to a-ha; a Norwegian with success abroad. You are also similar to us in that you just keep getting better and better with time. So I’m happy to see that you are succeeding, which I never really doubted you would.

Harald Zwart

We have worked together on a few occasions, we have been to Cuba together and you have also made what is possibly a-ha’s most controversial music video…in a freezing morgue in Hamburg. And each time we have worked with you has been a very enjoyable experience.

I am sure that you will keep making even greater things in the years to come and make a lot of people happy with the things you do. You have the guts, you are skilled and you are fearless. And you also have a great wife to support you – just like I have. So then you’re all set.”

 
Litt Av Et Liv can be seen on NRK’s web-TV here (only available for viewing within Norway).

Apparatjik on NRK2

Magne performing inside the cube in Berlin.

Apparatjik wrapped up their project at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin with two performances on March 26th and 27th.

The culture programme Nasjonalgalleriet on NRK2 in Norway had a report about Apparatjik’s Berlin project in tonight’s broadcast, with comments from all four band members and the director of the gallery.

The report can be seen on NRK’s web-TV.

 
For more footage from Berlin, check out two videos on vimeo.com here and here, plus a German TV-report from RBB on YouTube here.

 
Apparatjik also appeared on NRK1 last week, in a documentary about the small village of Flø, where they performed as part of the “Go with the Flø”-festival in June last year.

The documentary can be seen here. Magne and Apparatjik appear between 5:20 – 6:00 minutes and 22:00 – 27:30 minutes.

 
Apparatjik’s latest single “Combat Disco Music” is now available on iTunes and in the Apparatjik online store.

Morten on Skavlan

 

Morten appeared on the Norwegian/Swedish talkshow Skavlan last night. He was the first guest and sat through the whole hour.

Other guests on the talkshow, which was taped in Stockholm on Thursday, were Arja Saijonmaa, David Garrett, Lykke Li and Yusuf Islam.

The interview centred around a-ha memories, like the Maracana concert in 1991, life as a celebrity and his knowledge as a teenager that he would one day become a international singer.

Talking about the relations between the band members in recent years, Morten said:

The last two years have been intense. We have simply been working quite a lot. It’s been more brutal when it comes to disagreements between us, where we have taken decisions that we didn’t do before. So what separates the last two years from all previous years is that it’s become a much more binary process. We have just moved on without caring if one of us doesn’t want to, as long as the other two wants to. It’s become a more brutal process in that sense, and that’s been healthy. It’s meant that we’ve been able to follow through on our decisions to a larger extent. Imagine if we’d been able to do that before!

Apparently there are many offers coming in about different projects, but he wouldn’t say much about future plans:

I refuse to say what I’m planning to do in the year ahead, at least at this point. But I consider it very likely that I’ll keep singing. I haven’t quit doing music.

The whole interview can be seen on SVT’s web-TV here.
It’s also available on NRK’s web-TV here.

Morten in Berlin

 

Morten has been in Berlin this week, to promote the live DVD.

On Thursday, March 24th, he was a guest on Radio Berlin. A video clip of the full interview can be seen at radioberlin.de. There is also a picture gallery on the same website.

He was also interviewed on WDR2 radio. A part of the interview can be heard at wdr2.de.

In the evening he appeared at the Echo Awards show, to present the award in the “Best international female artist” category. The winner was Amy Macdonald and a video clip of Morten presenting the award can be seen on YouTube here.

Then on Friday, he made a surprise appearance at an a-ha.com fan party which featured a full screening of the new live DVD.

 

Next Friday, April 1st, Morten will be one of the guests on Skavlan – the most watched television talk show in Northern Europe. Skavlan is broadcast on NRK1 in Norway and on SVT1 in Sweden. Morten has appeared on Fredrik Skavlan’s talk show twice before, in 2002 and 2003.

Preview clips from upcoming DVD/Blu-ray

The first preview video clips from the Ending On A High Note DVD and Blu-ray from Oslo Spektrum are now available at Universal Germany’s website:

DVD trailer (w/ Stay On These Roads)
Scoundrel Days
The Living Daylights

LiveIN magazine interview

 

Magne is interviewed in the spring 2011 edition of the free trend magazine LiveIN Asker, where he talks about moving into his new atelier at Galleri Trafo:

From having my own atelier at home at Nesøya and being able to use it whenever I want, it’s obviously a transition moving into Galleri Trafo. But my hope is that Trafo will be a dynamic and active place to be, with lots of exciting art projects in every corner of the building.

Magne has rented two rooms in the gallery. One will be his private atelier and working space, while the second room will be used for other activities of his choosing.

I’m planning to involve other artists through collaborations or joint projects eventually. It was very inspiring to visit Olafur Eliasson in Berlin recently, and see how he has organized his “Institut Für Raumexperimente”. A school operating as a workshop, where he collaborates with students and artists on different projects, and which is also used as a forum for exchanging ideas from different viewpoints.

Asked how 2011 is shaping up to be, Magne says:

Much more hectic than I had thought, but according to my wife that’s something I’ve been saying every year since we got together in 1980.

A PDF file of the full interview (in Norwegian) is available at livein.no.

(Thanks to Béatrice for the link)

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