Apparatjik

Apparatjik
The members of Apparatjik as "Cubeheads"
Background information
Genres	Electronic synthpop
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Meta Merge Un Ltd
Website	apparatjik.com
Members	Guy Berryman Jonas Bjerre Magne Furuholmen Martin Terefe

Apparatjik (/æpəˈrætʃɪk/ ap-ə-RAT-chik) are a multi-national band formed in 2008. The band is a supergroup that consist of bassist Guy Berryman from Coldplay, guitarist/keyboardist Magne Furuholmen from A-ha, singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre of Mew and drummer/producer Martin Terefe. The band's name literal translation is "agent of the apparatus". Apparatjik is based on apparatchik, which is a word of Russian origin and is used to describe "an official or bureaucrat in any organization"^[1] but has in the past had other meanings, including "Communist agent or spy".^[2]

History

The band first came together for a charity album for Survival International 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 28 January to 7 February 2010. This gig consisted of the band performing inside a specially constructed cube at the WMF on 1 February 2010.^[3] The same day saw the release of their debut album, titled We Are Here, for digital download via their official website.^[4] Their 1st public performances took place at Deutsche Bank towers in Frankfurt/Main Germany from 2 to 4 March 2011: http://db-artmag.de/en/64/feature/creative-tripwiring-magne-furuholmen-on-the-absurd-universe-of-a/ They have since released further singles, their 4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead extended-play, and on 15 June 2010 they re-released We Are Here on iTunes in standard and deluxe versions.^[5]

After playing at the Flø festival in Norway in June,^[6] 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.^[7]

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 14 June 2010.^[8]

In November 2010, Magne Furuholmen revealed the promise for "a few very exciting things with [Apparatjik] in 2011" during a BBC Radio 2 interview.^[9]

Apparatjik launched a new project called agreeneryouniverse^[10] 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.^[11] 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 by fans about the album being released in a physical format on that date.

The band collaborated with Canadian singer Lowell, who drummer and producer Martin Terefe had been working with beforehand, and released the extended play If You Can, Solve This Jumble (stylized as Apparatjik Presents Lowell: if YOu_ _ caN, 5olve thi5 jumble?) on 29 October 2012. Each track in the extended play features lead vocals by Lowell.^[12] The debut single "Shake Him Off" has been played on BBC Radio 1 and became single of the week in Canada on iTunes.

Group members

• Jonas Bjerre – lead vocals, guitar
• Magne Furuholmen – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Guy Berryman – vocals, bass
• Martin Terefe – drums

Discography

Albums

• We Are Here (Released: 1 February 2010)
• Square Peg in a Round Hole (Released: 19 March 2012)

Extended plays

• 4 Can Keep a Secret If 3 of Them Are Dead (Released: 21 May 2010)
• If You Can, Solve This Jumble (with Lowell) (Released: 29 October 2012)

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

• Official Apparatjik Website
• Eye On Committee Website
• Official Apparatjik YouTube Page
• Apparatchick: Unofficial Apparatjik Fan Site
• RunOutGrooves: Apparatjik (discography for collectors)