Atlanter

Atlanter is Jens Carelius’ and Arild Hammerø’s new band project. They play rock inspired by desert blues, by German krautrock and by old delta blues. All this is done with a Norwegian twist and point of view, and is perhaps best described as Norwegian mountainblues. Besides Carelius and Hammerø, the mountain plain blues ensemble Atlanter consists of Jonas Barsten Johnsen (CCTV, Frøy Aagre, Disaster in the Universe and others) and Morten Kvam (Jens Carelius, Siri Nilsen and a number of jazz ensembles). Jens Carelius has made a name for himself on the Norwegian music scene with the releases The First Songs (2008), The Beat Of The Travel (2009) and The Architect (2011). He has received brilliant reviews for all albums, especially the recent two, with mostly 5 and 6 out of 6 in most Norwegian newspapers. The Beat Of The Travel also made it onto Norwegian daily Dagbladet’s top 10 list of 2009’s best albums. Jens Carelius has sold a great number of albums, and was also the opening act on the largest stage at the Øya festival in 2011. Arild Hammerø released his debut album Dagen Som Gryr in 2008, which was well received by the Norwegian press. “Arild Hammerø is a folk singer who protects the heart-warming legacy of folk singers Lillebjørn Nilsen and Stein Ove Berg. Sensitive, lyrical and likeable”, wrote Norwegian newspaper Vårt Land. The album Flåte by Hammer & Hersk (Arild Hammerø and Daniel Herskedal) was released in 2012 and received good reviews. Hammerø and Carelius have previously been in the band Blues Run The Game together, along with Siri Nilsen. Arild is also a regular on guitar in the electronica duo Ost & Kjex, and participates on the album Cajun Lunch. Jonas Barsten Johnsen is a young percussionist with a Masters degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music, who plays with Frøy Aagre, Bendik Baksaas, Disaster in the Universe, CCTV and Bjørn Charles Dreyer. He is also crucial on the impro scene in Oslo, focusing on electronics, percussion and dance and has played more than 100 gigs during the last 3 years, including the most central festivals in Norway. Morten Kvam has played the string bass/electric bass and been an active musician in Bergen and Oslo within different genres such as jazz, rock, pop, improvisation and folk music. He has collaborated with musicians such as Siri Nilsen, Terje Isungset, Per Jørgensen, Olav Dahle, Walter Thompson (US), Kevin Dean (CAN), Arild Hammerø, klezmer band Ot Azoi, Bugge, Borge & Kvam, Polka Bjørn and Kleine Heine, Push and Ine Hoem. He has also contributed on all Jens Carelius’ records and Arild Hammerø’s debut album. Atlanter is Jens, Arild, Morten og Jonas. New album, Jewels of Crime is out noe! www.atlantermusic.no