Erlend Otre Øye (born 21 November 1975) is a Norwegian composer, musician, producer, singer and songwriter from Bergen, best known for being one half of the indie folk duo Kings of Convenience, along with Eirik Glambek Bøe. Among other musical projects he is front-man for the band The Whitest Boy Alive, and has contributed to tracks by electronic music artists such as Dntel and Norwegian duo Röyksopp. He is also the co-founder of the independent label Bubbles Records. Since 2012 he has lived in Sicily and played extensively with trio La Comitiva.
Erlend Øye | |
|---|---|
 Øye in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Erlend Otre Øye[1] |
| Born | 21 November 1975 |
| Origin | Bergen, Norway |
| Genres | Alternative dance, electronic, indie folk, indie pop, synthpop |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, musician, producer, singer, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | !K7, Astralwerks, Bubbles Records, EMI, Service, Virgin |
In addition to his native Norwegian, he also speaks English and some Italian.[2][3]
Biography
editBergen
editErlend Øye was born on 21 November 1975 in Bergen, his parents met in 1974 in a demonstration in support of the victims of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état against Salvador Allende that took place in Bergen, at which time his father read a poem, which allowed him to meet Øye's mother.[4] Having grown up listening to Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Suzanne Vega and The Smiths, during high school in the early-mid 1990s, he and some of his friends formed the band Skog ("forest" in Norwegian), taking inspiration from the famous song "A Forest" by The Cure. In 1996 he joined the band Peachfuzz as electric guitarist, playing several times in London between 1996 and 1998.[5]
In 2008 he started to collaborate on a project with Mikal Telle of Tellé Records and they created the independent label Opplett with the aim of producing young talent from Bergen and the surrounding area. The label Opplett published three projects: the album Opplett 2008 that contains seven songs by seven different artists (as Lars Vaular, John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen and Razika, 2008); the first single of Indie rock band Razika called Love is All About the Timing; and the first album of the band Fjorden Baby!.
London
editIn 1998 he moved to London and then in 1999 to Manchester. When he was back home in Bergen for vacations he jammed with Eirik Glambek Bøe, his former high school and Skog mate. The duo formed Kings of Convenience in 1998 and released the debut record, Quiet is the New Loud, in 2001.
Berlin
editIn the same period, he collaborated with the electronic Norwegian duo Röyksopp, lending his voice for the song "Poor Leno" and "Remind Me" on the record Melody A.M.. As a result, he became interested in electronic music and spent the next years in Berlin from 2002 to 2006 or travelling around the world, recording his solo album Unrest in ten different cities with ten different electronic music artists. He toured as a DJ, singing along with the records that he played and released a remix record for the DJ Kicks series in 2004. In the same year, Kings of Convenience released the second record Riot on an Empty Street. Meanwhile, he founded another project in Berlin, The Whitest Boy Alive.[6] The band originally started as an electronic band, but slowly developed into a band with no electronic elements, releasing the debut record Dreams in 2006, while the latest record entitled Rules was released in 2009. Both the records were released by Bubbles Records, the independent label founded by Erlend Øye and Marcin Öz in 2006. In 2006, he appeared in the Italian movie Shooting Silvio acting as DJ during a house party. In 2009, Kings of Convenience released the third record Declaration of Dependence. In 2011 and 2013, he produced the records Hest and Six months is a long time by fellow Bergen band Kakkmaddafakka.
Sicily
editIn 2012, during a small concert organized in a vernissage in Ortigia in Sicily, he publicly stated that he had bought a house in the city of Syracuse to move there with his mother. In 2013, he released a new single, entitled La Prima Estate, sung in Italian and inspired by his time living in Italy, which is accompanied by a videoclip shot in Syracuse. He is currently working on more songs in Italian, which will be made into an album. In 2014, The Whitest Boy Alive announced the end of the project. On 3 October 2014, he released his second solo album Legao, recorded in Reykjavík with Hjálmar, a reggae group from Iceland, which was anticipated by the single Garota with a videoclip shot in Seoul. Despite currently living in Sicily, he is still involved in the Bergen music scene, promoting local bands and assisting the organization of the annual Traena Music Festival.
Chile
editOn numerous occasions Øye has visited Chile. His first presentation was in 2006, during his tour in South America. In 2017 he traveled to Chile to spend a season at the home of a close friend who lived in Santiago, where he mainly dedicated himself to composing songs on the ukulele. After playing at the "En Orbita" Festival, he met Tiare Galaz (a member of the Chilean band Niña Tormenta), who also played the ukulele. After talking with Tiare backstage, they agreed to meet another day to share their experiences on the instrument. After being invited to dinner the next day by Tiare, he met Diego Lorenzini, who brought him a chord notebook. Some time later, he was invited to a series of concerts of the Matiné Uva Robot, where he met musicians Rosario Alfonso and Javier Bobbert. In an interview with CNN Chile, he said "from that moment on we started to play regularly while I was in Chile. It was very surprising to see how the musical search of these four Chileans was very similar to what I was doing with the support band that I had formed with three Sicilian friends - called La Comitiva -, so I finally decided to invite them to open my tour of Germany together".[4] Chilean artists were invited to a tour with Øye through Europe, where he established a great friendship with Chilean musicians. During the summer of 2018, he returned to Chile to accompany the Swedish-Argentine singer-songwriter José González, and later accompanied Niña Tormenta, Diego Lorenizi and the band Salanca Selector at an outdoor concert in the Chilean town of Pirque. [7] In 2019 Øye collaborated with Diego Lorenzini in his song Me voy a Valparaíso from his album De algo hay que morir (UVA Robot, 2019). In late 2019, The Whitest Boy Alive announced a new series of performances in Chile and Argentina and in 2020 released the non-album single Serious, the project's first new material since 2009's Rules.[8]
Mexico
editIn the beginning of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Øye found himself stranded in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. In a hotel that came equipped with a recording studio, Øye and Sebastian Maschat, the drummer of Whitest Boy Alive, recorded the album Quarantine At El Ganzo.[9][10]
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Year | Album | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Kings Of Convenience | Kings Of Convenience | Duo with Eirik Glambek Bøe; limited release (North America only); many tracks reappear on Quiet Is The New Loud |
| 2001 | Quiet Is The New Loud | ||
| Versus | Compilation of remixes, collaborations, and alternate versions | ||
| 2003 | Unrest | Erlend Øye | |
| 2004 | DJ-KiCKS: Erlend Øye | Compilation in the style of a DJ mix; for the series by !K7 Records | |
| Riot On An Empty Street | Kings Of Convenience | ||
| 2006 | Dreams | The Whitest Boy Alive | Four-piece band, with Marcin Öz, Sebastian Maschat, and Daniel Nentwig |
| 2009 | Rules | ||
| Declaration Of Dependence | Kings Of Convenience | ||
| 2014 | Legao | Erlend Øye | Recorded in collaboration with the Icelandic band Hjálmar |
| 2020 | Quarantine At El Ganzo | Sebastian Maschat and Erlend Øye | Recorded at a hotel in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | Peace Or Love | Kings Of Convenience | |
| 2024 | La Comitiva | Erlend Øye & La Comitiva |
Singles
edit| Year | Song | Artist | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Brave New World" | Kings Of Convenience | Kings Of Convenience | |
| "Failure" | ||||
| "Toxic Girl" | ||||
| 2001 | "Winning A Battle, Losing The War" | Quiet Is The New Loud | ||
| "Toxic Girl" (alternate version) | Re-issue; different tracklisting and artwork | |||
| "Failure" (alternate version) | Re-issue; different tracklisting and artwork | |||
| 2002 | "Ghost Trains"[11] | Erlend Øye | Unrest | |
| "Symptom Of Disease"[12] | ||||
| 2003 | "Sudden Rush" | Music video directed by Jarvis Cocker[13] | ||
| "Sheltered Life" | ||||
| 2004 | "The Black Keys Work" | DJ-KiCKS: Erlend Øye | ||
| "Misread" | Kings Of Convenience | Riot On An Empty Street | ||
| "Inflation" / "Dance With Me" | The Whitest Boy Alive / Cosmo Vitelli | Kitsuné Midnight | Split 10" vinyl single promoting a compilation album by the label Kitsuné Music; early version of 'Inflation' | |
| "I'd Rather Dance With You" | Kings Of Convenience | Riot On An Empty Street | ||
| "Know-How" | Featuring Feist | |||
| 2006 | "Burning" / "Inflation" | The Whitest Boy Alive | Dreams | Double A-side single; album version of 'Inflation'; 'Inflation' music video directed by Marcin Öz[14] |
| 2007 | "Burning" | |||
| 2008 | "Golden Cage" | Music video directed by Mauro Vecchi[15] | ||
| 2009 | "1517" | Rules | ||
| "Mrs. Cold" | Kings Of Convenience | Declaration Of Dependence | ||
| "Boat Behind" | ||||
| 2013 | "La Prima Estate" | Erlend Øye | Non-album single | Music video directed by Gabriele Galanti and Marcin Öz[16] |
| 2014 | "Garota" | Legao | Music video directed by Mike Beech (as 'Michael Beech')[17] ft. Lee Ha-na | |
| "Fence Me In" | Live studio session video filmed by Magnus Atli Magnusson | |||
| "Rainman" | Music video directed by Clara Cebrian[18] | |||
| 2015 | "Estate" | Onde Nostre: Guarda Dove Ti Ho Portato | Originally by Bruno Martino; from the soundtrack for the documentary 'Peninsula', directed by Luca Merli[19] | |
| 2019 | "Paradiso" | Erlend Øye and La Comitiva | Non-album singles | Featuring Stargaze;[20] music video directed by Mike Beech[21] |
| "For The Time Being" | Originally by Phonique | |||
| 2020 | "Valdivia" | Featuring Stargaze; music video directed by Abril Shaw | ||
| "Serious" | The Whitest Boy Alive |
EPs
edit| Year | EP | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Tom Tids Tale | Skog | Four-piece band, with Anders Waage Nilsen, Øystein Gjærder Bruvik, and Eirik Glambek Bøe |
| 2000 | Playing Live In A Room | Kings Of Convenience | Limited release (France only); live session |
| 2001 | Magic In The Air | ||
| 2010 | Kings of Convenience's Live Acoustic Sessions – Milan 2009 | Live session | |
| 2023 | Winter Companion | Erlend Øye | Recorded in Mexico City January 2023 |
Collaborations and Guest appearances
edit| Year | Song | Artist | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "The Eternal" | Skog | Balance. From The Joy Division Reservoir | Compilation album; originally by Joy Division |
| 2001 | "Talco Uno" | Jollymusic | Jolly Bar | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit; music video directed by Scott Lyon[22] |
| "Poor Leno" | Röyksopp | Melody A.M. | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit | |
| "Remind Me" | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit | |||
| 2002 | "No Train To Stockholm" | Erlend Øye | Total Lee! The Songs of Lee Hazlewood | Compilation album; originally by Lee Hazlewood |
| "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Safety Scissors Spilled My Drink Mix)" | Dntel | (This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan (EP, 12") | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit | |
| "I Shall Not Die" | Ash | Envy (Single, CD2) | Guitar | |
| "Last Christmas" | Erlend Øye | Seasonal Greetings | Compilation album; originally by Wham! | |
| 2003 | "Keep On Waiting" | DJ Hell | NY Muscle | Featured vocalist |
| "The Partner" | Ragazzi | Friday | Choir vocals; music video directed by Jeff Benefit[23] | |
| 2004 | "A Place In My Heart" | Star You Star Me | Simple Things | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit |
| "For The Time Being" | Phonique | Identification | Featured vocalist; music video directed by Casper W. Rasmussen[24] | |
| 2005 | "Lessons In Love" | Kaos | Hello Stranger | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit |
| "Criticize" | Marco Passarani | Sullen Look | Featured vocalist; credited as Orlando Occhio | |
| "I've Been Waiting So Long" | Korsakow | Ears | Featured vocalist and lyrics credit; credited as Orlando Occhio | |
| "Friends And Lovers" | Erlend Øye | Friends And Lovers: Songs of Bread | Compilation album; originally by Bread | |
| "Cool My Fire" | Ada | Blondix 2 (Single, 12") | Featured vocalist, guitar | |
| "Sunlight's On The Other Side (Long Distance Love Affair)" | Safety Scissors | Sunlight's On The Other Side (Single, 7") | Featured vocalist, guitar | |
| "Breastbone" (alternate version) | Featured vocalist, guitar | |||
| "Sunlight's On The Other Side" | Tainted Lunch | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit | ||
| 2006 | "S'kcorratiug" | Schneider TM | Škoda Mluvit | Guitar |
| "All The Way To China" | James Figurine | Mistake Mistake Mistake | Featured vocalist | |
| "All Ears" | Kompis | Non-album single | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit; uses elements of the song from Dreams | |
| 2007 | "Casualties" | Phonique | Good Idea | Featured vocalist, lyrics credit |
| 2011 | "Crush" | Palmy | 5 | Featured vocalist |
| 2014 | "Flashed" | Dena | Flash | Guitar, producer; music video directed by Chardchakaj Waikawee[25] |
| 2019 | "Me Voy A Valparaíso" | Diego Lorenzini | De Algo Hay Que Morir | Co-vocalist[26] |
| 2022 | "Poesía Conspirativa" | Diego Lorenzini | Palabritas y Palabrotas | Featured vocalist[26] |
Other work
edit- 2004 – Bart Davenport – Live at the Chabot House (A&R, artwork, recording)
- 2006 – Berardo Carboni – Shooting Silvio (film) (Cameo role as DJ)
- 2008 – Various Artists – Opplett 2008 (Producer)
- 2011 – Kakkmaddafakka – Hest (Producer)
- 2013 – Kakkmaddafakka – Six months is a long time (Producer)
- 2013 – Kakkmaddafakka – Someone New (Music video co-directed with Marcin Öz)[27]
Covers
editErlend Øye often performs significantly reworked versions of other bands' songs during his concerts, which is reflected in the vocal interludes on his mixtape album DJ-KiCKS: Erlend Øye. Among his most-played covers are:
- Thirteen by Big Star
- Blowin' in the Wind and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right by Bob Dylan
- Redemption Song by Bob Marley
- E la chiamano estate by Bruno Martino
- Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits
- Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
- Sapore di sale by Gino Paoli
- Til þín by Hjálmar
- Una ragazza in due by I Giganti
- These Days by Jackson Browne
- Tram No. 7 to Heaven by Jens Lekman
- Happy Xmas and Jealous Guy by John Lennon
- No Train To Stockholm by Lee Hazlewood
- E la luna bussò by Loredana Bertè
- Grande grande grande by Mina
- Wonderwall by Oasis
- You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon
- Se a vida é by Pet Shop Boys
- Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
- Ignition by R. Kelly
- (They Long to Be) Close to You by Richard Chamberlain
- Norwegian Wood by The Beatles
- Ask, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
- Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want and There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
- Boys Don't Cry by The Cure
- Last Christmas by Wham!
Bands
edit- 1995–1997 – Skog
- 1996–1998 – Peachfuzz
- 1999–present – Kings of Convenience
- 2003–present – solo work
- 2003–2014 / 2019-present – The Whitest Boy Alive
- 201?–present – work with La Comitiva
References
edit- ^ <Tore Ødegård> (ed.). "Erlend Otre Øye". www.proff.no. Proff Forvalt. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Erlend Øye • The Therapy Interviewz". YouTube. 22 December 2015.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Kings of Convenience on Store Studio". YouTube. 23 September 2009.
- ^ a b CNN Chile, Diego Lorenzini lanza single junto a Erlend Øye: Nos unen las ganas de mantener las cosas en escala pequeña e íntima Archived 30 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NRK (18 June 2004). "Kings of Convenience". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ^ "Interview mit Erlend Øye: "Berlin ist mächtiger als andere deutsche Städte"". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 8 October 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ^ "Erlend Øye suma otra fecha en Chile (sí, otra más)" [Erlend Øye added another date in Chile (yes, another one)] (in Spanish). 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- ^ "The Whitest Boy Alive Reunite & Share "Serious," Their First New Song In 11 Years: Listen". Stereogum. 6 March 2020. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Stream Whitest Boy Alive Members' Album Quarantine At El Ganzo". Stereogum. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ "Erlend Øye On Kings Of Convenience's First New Album In 12 Years: "Will People Kill Us?"". Stereogum. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ "Erlend Øye - Ghost Trains". Discogs. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ^ "Erlend Øye - Symptom Of Disease". Discogs. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ^ Erlend Øye – Sudden Rush on YouTube
- ^ The Whitest Boy Alive – Inflation on YouTube
- ^ The Whitest Boy Alive – Golden Cage on YouTube
- ^ Erlend Øye – La Prima Estate on YouTube
- ^ Erlend Øye – Garota on YouTube
- ^ Erlend Øye – Rainman on YouTube
- ^ Erlend Øye – Estate on YouTube
- ^ "Erlend Øye". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ Erlend Øye – Paradiso on YouTube
- ^ Jolly Music feat. Erlend Øye – Talco Uno on YouTube
- ^ Ragazzi feat. Erlend Øye – The Partner on YouTube
- ^ Phonique feat. Erlend Øye – For the Time Being on YouTube
- ^ Palmy feat. Erlend Øye – Crush on YouTube
- ^ a b Carrasco, María Paz (10 October 2022). "Palabritas y Palabrotas: Diego Lorenzini estrena su cuarto disco". La Rata (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ Kakkmaddafakka – Someone New on YouTube