Apparatjik has released a new song called “Julia” today. It’s an homage to Julia Pastrana and their first new release since 2012. The lead vocals are by Jonas Bjerre, while Martin Terefe sings the second verse and Magne the last verse.
“it’s 10 yrs since apparatjik made our first album apparently (tsk,tsk), so we (rather apptly) celebrate with a new song from our ongoing julia pastrana project…”, Magne wrote on Instagram when he posted a short teaser for the song last month.
This month marks the 10th anniversary of Apparatjik, as their very first single “Ferreting” was released in September 2008.
Tomorrow a retrospective exhibition of Apparatjik’s various projects over the years, with graphic prints and video installations, will open at Pumphuset gallery in Landskrona, Sweden. The exhibition will also feature new graphic prints, created in collaboration with the New York-based artist Foxito.
Magne, Martin and Jonas was at the gallery yesterday to meet the local press. A picture was posted on Magne’s Instagram and articles later appeared on the websites of Helsingborgs Dagblad and Landskrona Direkt.
The Pumphuset exhibition will be on display until 28 October.
There will also be a retrospective Apparatjik exhibition as part of the MDF Festival in Szczecin, Poland, opening on 19 September:
This exhibition presents a retrospective look at visual works, objects, books and films from the Apparatjik oeuvre. Part of the exhibition is an experimental typographic poster wall by students of Prof. Sven Völker from the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam. Using words and sentences from old newspaper articles about Julia Pastrana, the work creates a fresh portrait of the life and death of an exceptional woman.
And as previously mentioned, Apparatjik will also be performing during the MDF Festival, on Sunday 23 September at the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall.
The first part of the concert is called “The Sound of Szczecin”, and has been created in a partly similar way as “The Sound of Fosnavåg” four years ago, in collaboration with Audiokolor:
This composition is the result of an exceptional project carried out on 17th and 18th April 2018 in Szczecin. The city streets were cruised by specially marked cars equipped with devices collecting geodata from the streets, which were later transformed into binary codes, and these – into music codes. (…) The piece will be performed for the first time during the final of the MUSIC.DESIGN.FORM festival by the Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the synth-pop group Apparatjik. It will be a unique opportunity to hear how Szczecin sounds.
The second part of the concert is called “A Heroine for our time – the artist Julia Pastrana”, and will once again feature special guest Concha Buika on vocals:
“A Heroine for our time – artist Julia Pastrana” is the world premiere of the orchestral version of the song “Heroine of our time”, based on musical material for an upcoming opera detailing the tragic life of Mexican circus artist Julia Pastrana. The story of a peculiar woman with a beard, her fate and loneliness, will be told by music and light images created jointly by Apparatjik, Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, as well as Concha Buika – a Spanish vocalist and composer.
A video clip of Rune Bergmann and Magne talking about the upcoming Szczecin performance can be seen here.
The story of Julia Pastrana was also the inspiration for Apparatjik’s “Day of the Dead”-performance with Buika in Bergen two years ago. Buika’s latest single “Deadbeat”, released in June, is a cover version of the Apparatjik song from 2010.
Magne on stage with Apparatjik in Bergen, 3 June 2016
Last month Magne paid a visit to Szczecin in Poland, which was mentioned by the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall on Facebook.
In an interview with Dagbladet (paywall) about his new Imprints book and the Summer Solstice album, Magne mentions the reason why he was in Poland:
“I recently visited Szczecin in Poland, to check out the concert hall where I’ll be performing with Apparatjik during the Music and Design Festival next year. That gave me an opportunity to hear Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsing a symphony by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, which sounded wonderful and was a nice discovery for me.”
The exact date is yet to be confirmed, but this will be Apparatjik’s first live performance since Day of the Dead feat. Buika and Void during Bergen International Festival in June 2016. Check out an extended video from Day of the Dead recently posted by Void here.
Apparatjik in Bergen, with striking visuals by Void (Picture by Thor Brødreskift)
Apparatjik presented a unique and captivating “Day of the Dead” performance at Grieghallen in Bergen on Friday, June 3rd, as part of Festspillene i Bergen (Bergen International Festival).
Magne Furuholmen, Martin Terefe and Jonas Bjerre were joined on stage by Spanish singer Concha Buika, a string quartet, plus Karl Oluf Wennerberg on drums and Even Ormestad on bass – all of them in appropriate face paint.
Songs played included “Deadbeat”, “Quiz Show”, “Look Kids”, “Arrow and Bow”, “Snow Crystals”, some new songs and songs by Buika in Spanish. Among the highlights was a Spanish version of Magne’s “In a Quiet Corner” – here is a little sample of it:
Buika’s intense presence and vocal delivery really took the show to another level, enhanced by the four solid musicians on string instruments.
The scenography by Void was amazing, with projections onto layers of see-through fabric on stage creating a stunning 3D-effect. Whereas the visuals Void created for a-ha’s “Afterglow” concert didn’t live up to the expectations, this time it really worked wonderfully.
Near the end of the show, Magne strapped on his electric guitar and rocked out with Karl Oluf and Even – listen here:
Although the Julia Pastrana story was merely hinted at, this was a spectacular, bizarre, funny, innovative and moving performance which will probably never be seen again in this form.
“Normally, a production like this would have been set up as a tour to try and make money on it. But we’d rather spend all the money and then some, to make it as cool as possible for one single night”, Magne told Bergensavisen.
Watch a short video clip from “Day of the Dead” on the Facebook page of Festspillene i Bergen. There’s also a photo gallery.
Earlier in the day, Magne, Martin and Jonas took a stroll around Bergen in full Apparatjik costume, together with Buika, inviting people to the concert. Bergensavisen has pictures from this and an interview with Magne. There’s also a video clip by Festspillene on Facebook.
Bergens Tidende had an interview with Buika on Friday (subscribers only), where she talked about her work with Apparatjik.
“I love this collaboration. The guys are crazy. This is one of the most incredible things I’ve done in recent years”, she says.
Buika, who first performed with Apparatjik at the opening of Fosnavåg Kulturhus in October 2014, got involved with the guys through Martin Terefe who produced her latest album.
“Martin asked me. And then Magne called. We met, and there was an instant chemistry. Magne is a maestro, a master. He is full of ideas and is able to change direction in seconds. That’s how I love to work.”
Magne Furuholmen, Martin Terefe, Concha Buika and Jonas Bjerre, as they are presented on the Bergen International Festival’s website
In addition to being the new chairman for Bergen International Festival, Magne will also be performing at this year’s festival together with Apparatjik.
This will be a special performance, inspired by the true story of “the ape woman” Julia Pastrana, where Magne, Jonas Bjerre and Martin Terefe will be joined by Concha Buika and Void. Some info from the festival’s website:
The Day of the Dead is a colorful Mexican festival that eases the spiritual passing of those who have died. This festival is central when Apparatjik, in collaboration with Void and Mexican artists Laura Anderson Barbata and Concha Buika, present a staged concert production to honor Julia Pastrana both as an individual and an artist.
“The story of Julia Pastrana is one of the most fascinating stories I have ever come across, both as an artist and as a fellow human being”, Magne said back in 2013, when he announced plans of an opera based on the Julia Pastrana story.
The Apparatjik performance will be held at Grieghallen on 3 June 2016. Tickets are available now from billettservice.no.
The upcoming Apparatjik performance at the Pavilion stage in Karlsruhe, Germany on September 12th has unfortunately been cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation, which was announced on zkm.de.
But while they won’t be appearing in Karlsruhe, Magne and fellow Apparatjik member Guy Berryman (who hasn’t actually performed with the others since 2011) had a car trip through Italy and Switzerland last week, as seen in this picture. Check out more pictures from their trip on Magne’s Instagram account.
Apparatjik will be performing a free concert at the Pavilion stage in Karlsruhe, Germany on September 12th. The concert is held as part of GLOBALE – 300 days of artistic events in connection with the 300th anniversary of Karlsruhe.
“Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman, MEW singer Jonas Bjerre, the A-HA keyboard player Magne Furuholmen as well as the music producer Martin Terefe in a unique constellation: They have produced for the stage a unique show in which auction tickets for bidding are distributed among the public: one uniquely produced and mastered vinyl record will be auctioned, live on-site!”
Apparatjik’s latest project The Sound of Fosnavåg, performed together with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra at Fosnavåg Konserthus in October 2014, was broadcast on NRK P2 on May 20th – or at least parts of it. It can be heard online at radio.nrk.no, where it will be available until November 16th. There’s an interview with Magne at 1h 9mins, while the performance itself starts at 1h 16mins.
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.
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 (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)
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.
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.
"In the first a-ha book of its kind, Barry Page looks back on an extraordinary 40-year musical odyssey". Hardback edition. Colour pictures. 400 pages. English language.
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