Game Changer: Røyksopp 'Melody A.M.'
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Røyksopp 'Melody A.M.' (Wall Of Sound, 2001)
How a largely instrumental album by an unknown Norwegian duo became a word-of-mouth million-selling sensation at the start of the decade, thanks to some unique hooky melodies and different ways of getting their music out there...
“We formed a musical partnership soon after we met at the age of 12 and 13, and it was only a matter of months after we met that we bought our first synthesiser and started doing things with it together,” dark-haired Svein Berge tells DJ Mag, sat in a swanky London hotel on the southside of Blackfriars Bridge.
The more talkative of the Røyksopp partnership, Svein explains how the two of them began as principally a covers act, doing tracks by Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode, before moving on to making their own stuff. With some pals they had a release on R&S as Aedena Cycle in 1994, and then started a band called Drum Island. “There's an age difference of one year, Torbjørn finished school one year before me and moved to Oslo, whereas I finished school back in Tromsø — where we come from — and then I had to do military service for 10 months,” Svein says. “We were apart during that time, and after that we met up again — about 1997 — and formed Røyksopp.”
A small scene was developing in Norway — specifically Bergen, the second biggest city in Norway (population approx 250,000). Based around small club nights and the Tellé label set up by their friend Mikal from their local record shop, other Norwegian acts like Kings of Convenience and Annie were also around at the time. “That scene really only consisted of about seven or eight people, but it was a good time and it got a lot of attention internationally,” says Svein.
They pressed up a mere 500 copies of their debut Røyksopp single 'So Easy', but it got them a lot of props from other territories. “It got into the hands of the right people,” remembers Torbjørn Brundtland, the fairer one. “It started buzzing really quick.”
Various labels started chasing Røyksopp, but they eventually signed to maverick UK independent Wall of Sound. How come? “We were taken by [head honcho] Mark Jones’s charisma,” says Svein, smiling. “And also the fact that the man who was the head A&R of the label even brought Banksy to Bergen to spread his art. So you have to take into consideration that we are two simpletons from north Norway and we are easily impressed by those things. I guess that was it.”
Svein tells of how Banksy, the now-infamous street artist and Wall of Sound associate at the time, did some paintings around Bergen but the city council painted over some of them thinking they were 'just' graffiti. “Banksy was staying at people’s houses, and for that and for friendliness he was giving them paintings,” says Torbjørn. “One guy we know later sold his painting at Sothebys, and that was enough to start his own business — his shop is named after the [Sothebys] lot number. At the time Banksy was an unknown artist, and it was like ‘OK, thank you, I like this’, and later [our friend] decided to use it to start his business — now a thriving clothes shop in Bergen.”
Svein then explains how Banksy painted some limited-edition hand-painted copies of their debut album 'Melody A.M.' as well, which was all recorded in the living room of the bedsit where they resided in Bergen. “The way that we have always worked is that we have a very limited amount of equipment — a lot of outboard analogue stuff,” Svein explains. “Stuff that we bought when we were kids, we still use that — we know it and love it. It was quite a lo-fi thing for us in that respect. It was recorded on the same equipment that we still use.”
“The key was an Akai sampler, a really simple mixer and a reverb that somebody, not us, nicked from a radio station,” outlines Torbjørn. “That was the core of it.”
“The opening track on the album ['So Easy'] was made on an Atari computer — quite vintage,” adds Svein. “This was in the age of MIDI, or audio editing as we know it today.”
Torbjørn doesn't really want to go into any more detail about how 'Melody A.M.' was made. “It would function almost like trainspotting and bragging if we were to go into that,” he says. “When we talk to people, they expect us to have more special equipment than what we really have, which is sparse. And we love that. Limitations force creativity.”
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Buy The Inevitable End - http://royksopp.com/music/the-inevitable-end/
Røyksopp 'Melody A.M.' (Wall Of Sound, 2001)
How a largely instrumental album by an unknown Norwegian duo became a word-of-mouth million-selling sensation at the start of the decade, thanks to some unique hooky melodies and different ways of getting their music out there...
“We formed a musical partnership soon after we met at the age of 12 and 13, and it was only a matter of months after we met that we bought our first synthesiser and started doing things with it together,” dark-haired Svein Berge tells DJ Mag, sat in a swanky London hotel on the southside of Blackfriars Bridge.
The more talkative of the Røyksopp partnership, Svein explains how the two of them began as principally a covers act, doing tracks by Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode, before moving on to making their own stuff. With some pals they had a release on R&S as Aedena Cycle in 1994, and then started a band called Drum Island. “There's an age difference of one year, Torbjørn finished school one year before me and moved to Oslo, whereas I finished school back in Tromsø — where we come from — and then I had to do military service for 10 months,” Svein says. “We were apart during that time, and after that we met up again — about 1997 — and formed Røyksopp.”
A small scene was developing in Norway — specifically Bergen, the second biggest city in Norway (population approx 250,000). Based around small club nights and the Tellé label set up by their friend Mikal from their local record shop, other Norwegian acts like Kings of Convenience and Annie were also around at the time. “That scene really only consisted of about seven or eight people, but it was a good time and it got a lot of attention internationally,” says Svein.
They pressed up a mere 500 copies of their debut Røyksopp single 'So Easy', but it got them a lot of props from other territories. “It got into the hands of the right people,” remembers Torbjørn Brundtland, the fairer one. “It started buzzing really quick.”
Various labels started chasing Røyksopp, but they eventually signed to maverick UK independent Wall of Sound. How come? “We were taken by [head honcho] Mark Jones’s charisma,” says Svein, smiling. “And also the fact that the man who was the head A&R of the label even brought Banksy to Bergen to spread his art. So you have to take into consideration that we are two simpletons from north Norway and we are easily impressed by those things. I guess that was it.”
Svein tells of how Banksy, the now-infamous street artist and Wall of Sound associate at the time, did some paintings around Bergen but the city council painted over some of them thinking they were 'just' graffiti. “Banksy was staying at people’s houses, and for that and for friendliness he was giving them paintings,” says Torbjørn. “One guy we know later sold his painting at Sothebys, and that was enough to start his own business — his shop is named after the [Sothebys] lot number. At the time Banksy was an unknown artist, and it was like ‘OK, thank you, I like this’, and later [our friend] decided to use it to start his business — now a thriving clothes shop in Bergen.”
Svein then explains how Banksy painted some limited-edition hand-painted copies of their debut album 'Melody A.M.' as well, which was all recorded in the living room of the bedsit where they resided in Bergen. “The way that we have always worked is that we have a very limited amount of equipment — a lot of outboard analogue stuff,” Svein explains. “Stuff that we bought when we were kids, we still use that — we know it and love it. It was quite a lo-fi thing for us in that respect. It was recorded on the same equipment that we still use.”
“The key was an Akai sampler, a really simple mixer and a reverb that somebody, not us, nicked from a radio station,” outlines Torbjørn. “That was the core of it.”
“The opening track on the album ['So Easy'] was made on an Atari computer — quite vintage,” adds Svein. “This was in the age of MIDI, or audio editing as we know it today.”
Torbjørn doesn't really want to go into any more detail about how 'Melody A.M.' was made. “It would function almost like trainspotting and bragging if we were to go into that,” he says. “When we talk to people, they expect us to have more special equipment than what we really have, which is sparse. And we love that. Limitations force creativity.”
Website: http://www.djmag.com
Top 100 DJs: http://www.djmag.com/top100djs
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1tr9sNh
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1AxeMR6
Google+: http://bit.ly/1k6xlq5
SoundCloud: http://bit.ly/1pE3QIU
Mixcloud: http://bit.ly/UK6i8
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