Apparatjik
Encyclopedia
Apparatjik is a group formed in 2008. The band is a supergroup
that consists of bassist Guy Berryman
from Coldplay
, guitarist/keyboardist Magne Furuholmen
from A-ha
, singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre
of Mew
and producer Martin Terefe. The band's name literal translation is "agent of the apparatus". Apparatjik is the Dutch word for apparatchik
, which is a word of Russian origin and is used to describe "people who cause bureaucratic bottlenecks in otherwise efficient organisations".
called Songs for Survival
. The album was produced by Martin Terefe and Molly Oldfield, and the band produced the first track on the album, "Ferreting". This track was used as the theme music for the Amazon
series on BBC 2. Subsequently they continued to work together in Magne Furuholmen's studio in Norway, and created more tracks that were periodically made available on their MySpace and YouTube pages. They also have a complex website, through which they released various videos and song snippets. They have an alliance with the "Eye On Committee" and aim to bring fans into their world, "inside the cube", in their uniquely odd way by claiming "you too can be an Apparatjik". On 30 November, they released the first official track, "Electric Eye", from their then-upcoming album through their website.
Apparatjik's first live performance was at the eleventh edition of club transmediale
, an annual festival in Berlin, which took place from January 28 to February 7, 2010. This gig consisted of the band performing inside a specially constructed cube at the WMF on February 1, 2010. The same day saw the release of their debut album, titled We Are Here
, for digital download via their official website. They have since released further singles, their 4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead extended-play, and on June 15, 2010, they re-released We Are Here on iTunes
in standard and deluxe versions.
After playing at the Flø festival in Norway in June, on 23 September 2010, the band played their third concert in London. The cube was transported to the red summer pavilion, designed by Jean Nouvel, when Molly Oldfield brought the group to the Serpentine Gallery, in Hyde Park, London. As a nod to the fusion of art and music in their performances, they were invited by the Serpentine Gallery to play at the Future Contemporaries party.
Performances by Apparatjik are an eye-catching affair, with specially-created visuals and silhouettes of the four band members being projected onto all four sides of the cube.
Apparatjik's first song to be played on BBC Radio 1
was a radio edit of "Datascroller", which aired on June 14, 2010.
In November 2010, Magne Furuholmen revealed the promise for "a few very exciting things with [Apparatjik] in 2011" during a BBC Radio 2
interview.
Apparatjik launched a new project called agreeneryouniverse on 11 February 2011. This project invites people across the world to plant a tree, make a picture and upload it to their website. The first 1,000 people in doing so would receive new music as a gift.
A new download-only single was released on 28 March 2011 called "Combat Disco Music".
On 11 November 2011, Apparatjik released their second album called Square Peg In A Round Hole as a free iPad
application. Four days later it was given away as a gift as part of the agreeneryouniverse project. The initial target was to release new music upon reaching 1,000 newly planted trees across the world, but the album was released to a wider public after 727 trees had been planted.
The iPad application contains a date of 21-02-2012 (21 February 2012) which has led to discussions about the album being released in a physical format on that date.
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
that consists of bassist Guy Berryman
Guy Berryman
Guy Rupert Berryman is a Scottish musician known as the bassist for the groups Coldplay and Apparatjik. Berryman is left-handed but chooses to play the bass right-handed.-Coldplay:...
from Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
, guitarist/keyboardist Magne Furuholmen
Magne Furuholmen
Magne 'Mags' Furuholmen is a Norwegian musician. He is best known as the guitarist and keyboardist of the pop band A-ha.-A-ha:Furuholmen has been the keyboardist with A-ha since their formation in 1982, though he also plays guitar...
from A-ha
A-ha
A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
, singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre
Jonas Bjerre
Jonas Bjerre Terkelsbøl is the lead singer and guitarist of Danish rock-trio Mew. Jonas Bjerre is also a visual artist and creates animated videos for Mew's live shows....
of Mew
Mew (band)
Mew is a Danish alternative music band consisting of Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist Johan Wohlert was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006...
and producer Martin Terefe. The band's name literal translation is "agent of the apparatus". Apparatjik is the Dutch word for apparatchik
Apparatchik
Apparatchik is a Russian colloquial term for a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party or government; i.e., an agent of the governmental or party "apparat" that held any position of bureaucratic or political responsibility, with the exception of the higher ranks of management...
, which is a word of Russian origin and is used to describe "people who cause bureaucratic bottlenecks in otherwise efficient organisations".
History
The band first came together for a charity album for Survival InternationalSurvival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...
called Songs for Survival
Songs for Survival
Bruce Parry Presents Amazon - Tribe - Songs for Survival is a double album released by Kensaltown Records in support of a tribal peoples charity.-Background:...
. The album was produced by Martin Terefe and Molly Oldfield, and the band produced the first track on the album, "Ferreting". This track was used as the theme music for the Amazon
Amazon (2008 TV series)
Amazon is a BBC documentary television series co-produced by the Endeavour Productions and Indus Films, and hosted by Bruce Parry.-Show content:...
series on BBC 2. Subsequently they continued to work together in Magne Furuholmen's studio in Norway, and created more tracks that were periodically made available on their MySpace and YouTube pages. They also have a complex website, through which they released various videos and song snippets. They have an alliance with the "Eye On Committee" and aim to bring fans into their world, "inside the cube", in their uniquely odd way by claiming "you too can be an Apparatjik". On 30 November, they released the first official track, "Electric Eye", from their then-upcoming album through their website.
Apparatjik's first live performance was at the eleventh edition of club transmediale
Club transmediale
The annual CTM Festival festival is a music and visual arts event held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1999, the festival originally focused on electronic music, but has since evolved to cover a wide range of genres under the banner "festival for adventurous music and related visual...
, an annual festival in Berlin, which took place from January 28 to February 7, 2010. This gig consisted of the band performing inside a specially constructed cube at the WMF on February 1, 2010. The same day saw the release of their debut album, titled We Are Here
We Are Here (Apparatjik album)
"We Are Here" is the debut studio album by rock supergroup Apparatjik and was released first on February 1, 2010 for digital download via their official website...
, for digital download via their official website. They have since released further singles, their 4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead extended-play, and on June 15, 2010, they re-released We Are Here on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
in standard and deluxe versions.
After playing at the Flø festival in Norway in June, on 23 September 2010, the band played their third concert in London. The cube was transported to the red summer pavilion, designed by Jean Nouvel, when Molly Oldfield brought the group to the Serpentine Gallery, in Hyde Park, London. As a nod to the fusion of art and music in their performances, they were invited by the Serpentine Gallery to play at the Future Contemporaries party.
Performances by Apparatjik are an eye-catching affair, with specially-created visuals and silhouettes of the four band members being projected onto all four sides of the cube.
Apparatjik's first song to be played on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
was a radio edit of "Datascroller", which aired on June 14, 2010.
In November 2010, Magne Furuholmen revealed the promise for "a few very exciting things with [Apparatjik] in 2011" during a BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
interview.
Apparatjik launched a new project called agreeneryouniverse on 11 February 2011. This project invites people across the world to plant a tree, make a picture and upload it to their website. The first 1,000 people in doing so would receive new music as a gift.
A new download-only single was released on 28 March 2011 called "Combat Disco Music".
On 11 November 2011, Apparatjik released their second album called Square Peg In A Round Hole as a free iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
application. Four days later it was given away as a gift as part of the agreeneryouniverse project. The initial target was to release new music upon reaching 1,000 newly planted trees across the world, but the album was released to a wider public after 727 trees had been planted.
The iPad application contains a date of 21-02-2012 (21 February 2012) which has led to discussions about the album being released in a physical format on that date.
Band members
- Jonas BjerreJonas BjerreJonas Bjerre Terkelsbøl is the lead singer and guitarist of Danish rock-trio Mew. Jonas Bjerre is also a visual artist and creates animated videos for Mew's live shows....
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(2008–present) - Magne FuruholmenMagne FuruholmenMagne 'Mags' Furuholmen is a Norwegian musician. He is best known as the guitarist and keyboardist of the pop band A-ha.-A-ha:Furuholmen has been the keyboardist with A-ha since their formation in 1982, though he also plays guitar...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
(2008–present) - Guy BerrymanGuy BerrymanGuy Rupert Berryman is a Scottish musician known as the bassist for the groups Coldplay and Apparatjik. Berryman is left-handed but chooses to play the bass right-handed.-Coldplay:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2008–present) - Martin Terefe – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2008–present)
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
NOR Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
IRL Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
ITA Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
NED Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
SWI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
||
| 2010 | We Are Here We Are Here (Apparatjik album) "We Are Here" is the debut studio album by rock supergroup Apparatjik and was released first on February 1, 2010 for digital download via their official website...
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2011 | Square Peg In A Round Hole
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||
Extended plays
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead
|
4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead
Singles
| Year | Single | Release date | Peak chart position | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
||||
| 2009 | "Ferreting" (Download release) | September 15 | — | — | — | Songs for Survival Songs for Survival Bruce Parry Presents Amazon - Tribe - Songs for Survival is a double album released by Kensaltown Records in support of a tribal peoples charity.-Background:... |
| "Electric Eye" (Download release) | November 30 | — | — | — | We Are Here | |
| 2010 | "Antlers" / "Electric Eye" (7 inch vinyl, 1000 copies) | February 8 | — | — | — | |
| "4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead" (Download release) | May 23 | — | — | — | 4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead | |
| "Datascroller" (Download release) | June 14 | — | — | — | We Are Here | |
| 2011 | "Combat Disco Music" (Download release) | March 28 | — | — | — | Square Peg In A Round Hole |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||
Unreleased songs
- "Flum"
- "Granule" (live only)
- "Intermission" (live only)
- "Kijtarapperaew" (Track is We Are Apparatjik entirely backwards.)
- "Look Kids (Premix A)"
- "Self Torturers"
- "The Birth Of Apparatjik"
- "Wordcluster" (live only)
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Electric Eye" | Martin Terefe |
| "Antlers" | Jonas Bjerre Jonas Bjerre Jonas Bjerre Terkelsbøl is the lead singer and guitarist of Danish rock-trio Mew. Jonas Bjerre is also a visual artist and creates animated videos for Mew's live shows.... |
|
| 2010 | "Datascroller" | unknown |
| "4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead" | unknown | |
| "Supersonic Sound" | unknown | |
| "Arrow And Bow" | unknown |