Knut Bjørnar Asphol

From His Own Site With More Than 15 Years Of Experience As A Professional Musician Music Producer Mastering Engineer And Song Writer Knut Bjørnar Asphol Has Worked With Numerous Bands And Artists Within A Variety Of Genres. Unparalleled Knowledge And Insight Into Music Production And The Music Business Has Enabled Him To Contribute His Own Productions To The Eurovision Song Contest As Well As Other Nationally Televised Charity Events And Even Film Scores. An Ever-Growing Resume Includes The Participation In Over 200 Released Albums Including Production Duties On The Latest Release From 2009's Eurovision Song Contest Winner - Alexander Rybak - Entitled "Visa Vid Vindens Ängar". A Former Member Of The Band Postscriptum 2005-2009 Asphol Has Also Been A Long Time Member Of The Band 7 Days And A Miracle. Born In Molde Norway Knut Bjørnar Wasted Little Time To Begin His Journey With Music. First Playing The Guitar At The Tender Age Of 6 It Was Not Long Before He Had Written And Recorded More Than 80 Songs On A Cassette Recorder For His Nearest And Dearest Family Members - And All Before His 13th Birthday. Early On He Was Heavily Influenced By Bands Such As Kiss And Deep Purple And Spent The Majority Of His Time Practicing Scales Chords Solos And Mimicking His Heros' Stage Moves In Front Of The Mirror. The Town Of Molde Annually Plays Host To One Of The World's Most Celebrated Jazz Festivals - The Molde International Jazz Festival. This Festival Proved To Be A Key Ingredient In Asphol's Development And A Significant Channel For Him To Explore Great Musicians And Provided An Open Door For The Discovery Of Improvised Music. Soon Knut Bjørnar Found Himself Shifting Influences From Gary Moore Yngwie Malmsteen And Jimi Hendrix To The Improvisational Genius Of Players Like John Scofield Pat Metheny And Terje Rypdal. In 1998 Asphol Completed His Masters Degree In Music From The University Of Oslo. His Main Dissertation Was Based On His Research In The Development Of The Distorted Sound. This Essay Entitled "Exploring Distortion" Was A New Direction For Subject Study Within The University. Staffan William-Olsson And Eivind Aarset Two Of His Guitar Teachers And Advisers At This Time Helped Knut Bjørnar To Embark On His Journey Into These Previously Uncharted Waters. Eventually His Work And Life As A Freelance Musician Provided The Perfect Platform To Start Masterpool Studio Where He Began To Record And Produce Music For Other Artists. Then Delving Even Further Asphol Established A World-Class Analog Mastering Studio. In 2003 He Participated In The National Eurovision Final With His Band Monopole And As A Composer. Knut Bjørnar Then Joined The Band Postscriptum In 2005. Two Years Later 2007 Saw The Release Of The Group's Widely Acclaimed Album "Prophet Deny". Postscriptum Then Embarked On A Heavy Tour Schedule Throughout Norway And The Rest Of Europe In Support Of Said Album. In 2009 Our Hero Decided To End His Relationship With The Band - Due To His Increasing Demand As A Producer And Mastering Engineer. Through The Midst Of Playing The Gothic Rock Of Postscriptum And Simultaneously Producing Commercial Music Asphol Found New Inspiration From The Emerging Scandinavian Jazz Movement. Releases Such As Bugge Wesseltoft's "New Conception Of Jazz" And Nils Petter Molvaer's "Khmer" Were Particularly Influential. Massive Attack's 1998 Release "Mezzanine" Quickly Became One Of His Favorite Records And Further Established His New Found Interest In Combining A Variety Of Genres And Sounds From Samples Beats And Guitars. In 2007 Knut Bjørnar Asphol Composed The Soundtrack For The Documentary Film "Tikopia". This Project Provided Him With A Unique Opportunity To Utilize His Background In Jazz And Electronica. With The Distinguishing Voices Recorded From The Island Of Tikopia He Combined Soulful Songs Of Local Elders With Beats Guitars And Programming. All Of These Elements Resulting In The Record "Organic Ocean" February 2008 Under The Artist Name A'spool. The Album Will Be Re-Released In January 2012. October 14 2011 Celebrates The Awaited Release Of Knut Bjørnar Asphol's Latest Opus "Mnemonic". Many Of The Early Ideas For This Album Were Recorded In The Autumn Of 2008 But Like A Fine Wine It Would Need Time To Fully Mature And Be "un-Corked". Finally Near The Closing Of 2010 The Stars Were Officially Aligned And The Project Received The Green Light To Completion. An Influx Of World-Class Musicians Provided The Tools Necessary For The Realization Of Asphol's Vision. The Inclusion Of The Masterful Torstein Loftus Shining Elephant9 Mathias Eick On Drums Was The First Piece Of The Puzzle And Set The Tone And Direction For Remaining Tracks. The Addition Of 3 Eminent Bassists Audun Erlien Nils Petter Molvaer Eivind Aarset Dhafer Youssef Lewi Bergrud 7 Days And A Miracle Narum And Magnus Westgaard Fountainheads A1 Compliment The Tracks In Their Own Signature Way. A Particular Climax In The Record Is The Track "Spaces". Featuring The Celebrated Arve Henriksen On Trumpet "Spaces" Was Created A Mere 4 Hours Before The Drum Session Started And Is Only First Takes. A Musicians Worst Nightmare Happened To Me The Day Before I Started Recording The "Wilderness Exit" Album. While Doing Some Carpentry At My House The Hammer Slipped And Hit My Left Index Finger. It Ached Intensely! Full Of Energy And Despair I Entered The Studio The Next Morning. I Had Never Wanted To Play The Guitar More Than That Particular Morning So I Just Had To Start Working With A Bandaged Finger. My Finger Was Actually Broken. I Edited Some Loops Recorded One E-Bow Guitar A Clean Guitar. Two Takes And The First Track "Zonograpich" Was Recorded. I Needed To Figure Out How To Play The Guitar Without My Index Finger Through This Handicap I Figured Out A Whole New Method With Which To Play The Strings. The Song "Koppilopp" Dandelion Was Born. Before I Knew It I Had The Last Track Of The Album Finished As Well. I Had Framed The New Album And Was Ready For A Lunch Break. The Album Was Finished October 2012. Knut Bjørnar Produced Lots Of Albums For Different Artists In This Period So The Album Was Ready For The World In June 2013. He Was Lucky To Get Many Of His Favourite Musicians On "Wilderness Exit". This Great Team Of Musicians Made The Album To A Fantastic Atmospheric Journey Nils Petter Molvær Helge Lien Stian Carstensen Harpreet Bansal Magnus Westgaard Zotora Torstein Lofthus Martin Hystad And Sanskriti Shrestha. In March 2013 He Recorded A Duo Album With The Great Violin Player Harpreet Bansal. She Participate On Two Tracks On "Wilderness Exit". This Is A Great Ambient Album With Violin Guitar Electronics And Tabla. The Album "Ragatronic" Will Be Released In The End Of 2013. read less