Magnet (musician)

Desperate Guys Group

Even Johansen was born on June 7, 1970 in the city of Bergen , Norway . He was brought up in a musical family: his older brothers played in different musical groups, and his father, as a well-known banker of Bergen, acted as a jazz musician, playing a thrompet in a dance group of the 60s and 70s called "Kontiki". When Even turned 14, and his parents divorced, he was passionately interested in playing the guitar, which had a very detrimental effect on his studies. However, in 1989 , thanks to his new enthusiasm, together with the group “Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin”, the young artist wins the annual Bergen music competition “Kronstadfestivalen”, after which, in January 1991 , as a guitarist, joins the team “Desperate Guys” ( Unge Frustrerte Menn, abbr .: UFM) with whom Sigma Studio records its first Minion “Snakes and Snails” (Slanger og Snegler).

Chocolate Overdose Group

Already in March, Geir Luedy, songwriter and producer of Desperate Guys, forms them into a new band called Chocolate Overdose, which included Johansen, keyboardist Paul Andersen, drummer Frood Unneland (Frode Unneland) and bassist Bjorn Ivar Tysse. Three months before the release of their first full-length album in 1992 , the band took part in the Glastonbury Festival, which was very opportunely noticed by the chief manager of the American rock project Green On Red, Martin Elbourne, who liked the demo version of Chocolate overdose. " Together with Ole Petter Drønen (the group’s current manager), Martin organizes the recording of the album to play in front of 15,000 spectators at the British festival. Critics of the English music magazine NME were amazed by the Bergenians and released a double CD of the group, calling the songs "Overdoses" the most burning club alternative music that sounded on their stage, along with the works of The Orb, Senser and Blur ". ^{[1] [2]}

With the help of their debut album “Everybody Likes Chocolate”, the team received great success at home. Thanks to the previously unknown style of “Overdose” and other young Norwegian stars “Barbie Bones” and “Pogo Pops”, a new term appears: “The Bergen Wave”. Journalists from the editorial office of the main channel of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK1) go to Bergen and make a documentary about this newly-made phenomenon, which as a result was sent to the music festival in Cannes.

Although the album's sales were disappointing, (About 5,000 discs), however, “Chocolate Overdose” was invariably hot news in the press. Luedi helped become Johansen a professional musician and in 1993 , after his debut at Sigma Studio, the band, already a quintet, went to the Danish studio Puk Recording Studios, one of the best recording studios in Europe. As a result, the group records a new album, “Sugar Baby,” and its new producer is Michael Ilbert, who previously worked with bands such as Union Carbide Productions, Sator, and former Thin Lizzy lead singer Simon Winstock ( Simon Vinestock). A few months after the release of the album, on air for the first time in the history of the Overdose existence, their songs “Under This Blanket”, “This Seed” and “Let's Light Up Right Now” competently distributed on the radio waves. Having become the favorites of music critics, Chocolate Overdose was full of expectations, but neither originality, nor the presence of a major label and expensive producer could ensure success in the absence of specific material results. While Barbie Bones and Pogo Pops, colleagues in the genre, received prizes at Spellemann-pris, where the former was recognized as a genius and the latter had several honorable places on the Norwegian charts, Chocolate Overdose did not have such an effect. The project needed a break to review priorities. In 1994, Warner music’s interest in the Bergen wave of pop rock rapidly declined and the artist decided to leave the band.

Libido Group

So Even becomes a full-fledged pop-rock star in the promising group Chocolate Overdose, which became the progenitor of Bergen rock as a genre as a whole. But Johansen did not want to stand still while the producers decided what to do next, and already in 1996 moved to London to become a soloist and songwriter in the rock group Libido, which was rising to the starry sky. Bassist Cato Eikeland, a former member of Butterfly Garden and Jørgen Landhaug, a drummer for UFM, also joined the band. For some time the team worked at Dokken Lyd Studios, where Even was also a sound engineer. The name of the group, the musicians chose the title of one of the episodes of the German criminal series " Inspector Derrick ." ^[2] In London they were starving, speaking literally for bread and water, until he began to appear in the press. Having pre-recorded half of the album, "Libido" sign a contract with the British label "Fire". The new Bergen Britpop had a lot of attention in the British press, and NME reporters, in particular, were some of the band's most ardent fans. After several singles (“Blow”, “Supersonic Daydream” and “Overthrown”), launched on BBC radio, and a concert tour of England and the USA , in 1998 “Libido” released his first album, “Killing Some Dead Time” (Killing Some Dead Time). ^[3]

The team received good reviews and a lot of attention. But due to the ambiguous attitude of the audience to the reviewers' album in some parts of the world and the financial discord with the record label, Even took his share of the fee and left the group. This happened for the reason that in the same year he married a Scottish woman named Becky, who gave birth to a girl (Francesca). In 1999, a family of three moved to the Scottish village of Dumfries, which is located several miles outside the city of Glasgow ( UK ). Along with life changes, Even's musical style has undergone changes. ^[2]

Solo career

While working with the Libido band, the musician wrote a song that didn’t suit the collective in terms of style. By the spring of 2001, Johansen had combined such songs into a single album, dubbed Quiet & Still, Quiet & Still, which he released under the pseudonym Magnet (Magnet; everywhere except the US ). The album was recorded in a home studio in Bergen, and all the music was played exclusively by one Magnet. The only element of the album from the outside world was a cover of the song “Dancing In The Moonlight”, the original of which belongs to the classic Irish rock band “ Thin Lizzy ”. The album successfully supplemented the repertoire of the Bergen record company Rec90, which publishes in 2000 a CD, which receives albeit uneven, but very positive reviews from critics. In addition, in honor of its tenth anniversary, Rec90 organizes a concert tour of all its previously produced artists in Norway. In addition to Magnet, the bands Sister Sonny and Poor Rich Ones participate in it. Two years later, when Even's son Tobias is born, he signs a contract with the British label Ultimate Dilemma, which organizes the distribution of new minions Where Happiness Lives and Chasing Dreams. In Norway, the discs were distributed by Warner.

The second album of 2003, “On Your Side”, part of which was recorded in the Scottish city of Lockerbie , and the other part in Dumfries , at home, was also released under a pseudonym and was praised by critics. In just six months, over 20,000 discs were sold in Norway. In the same year, Magnit goes on a tour with his album and is loved by all music lovers from his native Norway to distant Australia. The British music magazine NME has proclaimed Magnet "One of the most significant new composers" ("en av de viktigste nye artistene"). The musician and producer Jørgen Træen participated in the creation of the album. In addition, Tarjei Strøm and David Aasheim contributed. All three supported Magnit on his concert tour until the very end. On a UK summer tour, Magnet performed as the opening act for the popular British band Doves . Various songs were sounded at the concerts: from the debut album, from the Chasing Dreams mini-album, as well as those recorded with the group and Steve Osborne (producer of groups such as Suede, U2). In November, Magnet performs as the opening act for the band Beautiful South. “On Your Side” is also notable for the fact that it included an extremely hit cover for Bob Dylan's classic “Lay Lady Lay”, which later became a single and received flattering reviews from the press. On a tour, Magnet returned to Bergen before Christmas 2003 and brought home a number of first places with all kinds of charts, including the prestigious VG Lista Topp40 album chart, where On Your Side lasted all summer. For the album, the artist also received “Alarm-prisen” awards for the best pop disk (Årets Pop-plate) and “Spellemann-prisen”, in the nomination “Best pop soloist” (Årets Mannlige Popsolist).

The third album, “The Tourniquet,” recorded in May 2005 in Los Angeles, was met somewhat worse. This year, the musician also participated in the recording of the soundtrack for the film " Mr. and Mrs. Smith ." His songs served as the soundtracks of such series as Lonely Hearts and The Client Is Always Dead . ^[4] In 2006, four songs of the musician were played in the game " Dreamfall: The Longest Journey ". The fourth album was released in 2007 under the title “The Simple Life”. It was for this work that on February 2, in Oslo, Magnit was awarded the title "Best Artist of the Year" according to the annual Norwegian festival "Spellemannprisen". Satisfied with the success of On Your Side, Johansen decides to return to Norway to settle down and buys an abandoned farm in the town of Askoy far from Bergen .

Mother's death and creative break

While the artist lived abroad, his mother had problems with alcohol. ^[five]

“This damn thing started when I was twenty years old. Many years passed before I realized how serious this was. ”

In the fall of 2008, her mother was detained for drunk driving after she was refused to sell beer to a minimarket, where she was already a guest. The blood alcohol content was 2.9 g / liter. During a week-long hospitalization, she was told that a second such case would kill her. Having canceled all the concerts and paused his career, Even took her to his home. For five months she lived with the Johansen at their farm. Once Magnit was agreed to give a concert in the Nidaros Cathedral of Trondheim. The concert took place on Wednesday, February 25, 2009. Becky's wife also joined Even, deliberately stipulating the situation with his mother so that she would stay at home with the children for several days. When the couple returned home, Even's mother was already dead. She was 64 years old. The artist recalls:

“She bought a huge amount of alcohol, locked herself in an apartment and drank until her heart stopped. Of course I blame myself for leaving her. But I could not have done more for my mother, unless I only tightly bound her. However, I am not a supporter of total control ... "

Return to Stage

In December 2011, Magnet released its fifth album, entitled "Ferrofluid", in support of which in 2012 went on its first ever concert tour.

Albums

• Quiet & still
  • October 10, 2000 - Norway
  • May 15, 2001 - US (real name in the USA )
• On your side
  • June 23, 2003 - Norway
  • July 7, 2003 - UK
  • September 28, 2004 - US
• The tourniquet
  • May 30, 2005 - Norway
  • August 22, 2005 - UK
  • February 14, 2006 - US
• The simple life
  • March 26, 2007 - Norway
  • September 18, 2007 - US
  • March 24, 2008 - UK
• Ferrofluid
  • March 26, 2011 - Norway

Singles / EP

• Where Happiness Lives EP (June 3, 2002) (CD, 10 ")
  1. "Where Happiness Lives"
  2. "I'll Come Along"
  3. "Heaviest Heart"
  4. Nothing Hurts Now
• Chasing Dreams EP (September 23, 2002) (CD, 10 ")
  1. "Chasing Dreams"
  2. "Little Miss More or Less"
  3. "Home Song"
  4. “I'll Come Along” (Psychonauts Remix)
• The Day We Left Town EP (April 21, 2003) (CD)
  1. "The Day We Left Town"
  2. "Clean Slate"
  3. "Dead Happy"
  4. "The Big Black Moon"
• "Last Day of Summer" single (November 24, 2003) (12 ")
  1. "Last Day of Summer"
  2. Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos Vox Remix)
  3. Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos Deep Dub)
• “Lay Lady Lay” single (March 22, 2004)
  • CD:
  1. Lay Lady Lay (with Gemma Hayes) (Radio Edit)
  2. Wish Me Well
  3. Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos Vox Remix)
  4. Lay Lady Lay (enhanced video)
  • 7 "vinyl:
  1. Lay Lady Lay (with Gemma Hayes)
  2. “Clean Slate” ( The Bees Remix Edit)
• Minus EP (November 29, 2004) (Norway only)
  1. "Let It Snow"
  2. "Clean Slate"
  3. "Heaviest Heart"
  4. "Dead Happy"
  5. "The Big Black Moon"
  6. “Clean Slate” (The Bees Remix)
• “Hold On” (August 15, 2005)
  • UK double 7 "set:
  1. Hold On
  2. "The Mute"
  3. "The Pacemaker"
  4. "Good Mourning"
  • US Tour EP CD:
  1. Hold On (Radio Edit)
  2. "The Mute"
  3. "Good Mourning"
  4. "Grinder"
  5. Hold On ( Metronomy Remix)
  6. Hold On (Hans-Peter Lindstrøm Remix)
• “Fall at Your Feet” (December 5, 2005)
  • CD:
  1. “Fall at Your Feet” (Jack Joseph Puig Mix)
  2. "This Bird Can Never Fly"
  • 7 "vinyl:
  1. "Fall at Your Feet"
  2. Hold On (Metronomy Remix)
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Soundtrack EP (April 5, 2006)
  1. Be With You (previously unreleased)
  2. "My Darling Curse"
  3. "The Pacemaker"
  4. Nothing Hurts Now
• Lonely No More (June 30, 2008) ( Internet only)
  1. Lonely No More
  2. "Pennydrop"
  3. "1997"
  4. "Selfhelper"

• Official site
• The official page Magnet in the social network Facebook
• Myspace Magnit Official Page
• Twitter magnet