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'The Alexandria Quartet'
DEBUT ALBUM OUT NOW!
ORDER: CD | Download
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'The Dark Side Of The Blues'
NEW SINGLE OUT NOW!
ORDER: CD | Download
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Martin Skålnes - vocals, guitar, keyboards
Øystein Braut - guitars
Kim Åge Furuhaug - drums
Chris Holm - bass
Originally from Bergen, Norway, but now residing in the East End of London, The Alexandria Quartet have been holed up in studios and rehearsal rooms around Europe for the last 18 months perfecting a collection of beautiful songs… stepping out every now and again to play shows, including a recent European tour with Travis. “The tour was insane! We came directly from our tour in the UK and played the first show in front of 1800 crazy Danes in Copenhagen. We were blown away!” says TAQ frontman, Martin.
His thoughts on relocating to London are just as enthusiastic. “London is a huge city compared to Bergen so the move was a big change for us. Just the fact that you are 15 minutes from the centre of a world metropolis is really overwhelming. Moving to a completely new place to follow your dreams really makes you feel that you’re a part of something that not a lot of people have experienced or dared to do. It does something with the mentality within the group and also makes you become closer as a band.”
Martin was born in Kopervik, a small city on the west of Norway best known for, as he puts it, “its drunks and its Christians.” Martin soon found out how to set his own agenda and while his friends were at church his parents would be playing him music - he states without hesitation that the first song he heard was ‘Needles & Pins’ by The Searchers, although REM would usually be on the car stereo and it wasn’t long before he fell in love with Oasis. By the age of 6 he was working out his first chords on the guitar and by 7 he was playing the piano. His first song, ‘Maybe’, was written when he was 11.
The band’s story began when Martin’s friend Øystein – The Alexandria Quartet’s future guitarist – moved to Trondheim and met Kim, a drummer, on the gig circuit. When Martin called from Bergen one day to tell his friend about a label who were interested in his music Øystein and Kim were on the next train. Last to join was bassist Chris Holm, and ‘Into The Light’ - the first song the band wrote together and one which is captured brilliantly on the album - became a key song for the band. “I was in a completely new environment,” Martin remembers, “and the lyrics are about a relationship whose communication problems are spelling the end.” These little snapshots help to bring The Alexandria Quartet’s songs to life.
During the making of the album, another standout song was written - ‘The Dark Side Of The Blues’. “Sometimes when you write a song it just slips out of you,” Martin explains. “I love to name songs weird things. The title ‘The Dark Side Of The Blues’ just popped into my head one day. I guess the name fits how the song became. It’s kind of bluesy, it’s dark and also has a psychedelic side to it. I also remember we struggled for a while to get the drum beat right. It's really weird how it just completed the song. I think it’s perfect. I love the disco/blues combination!”
Just one thing! Don’t ask the band about their name – they took it from a series of novels by Lawrence Durrell, which none of them have yet read. “We just thought the name sounded good,” Martin laughs. “I tried reading one of them, but it’s a bit long…”
WRITTEN ABOUT THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET:
"Whatever songwriting/production well TAQ drink from, it's a deep one, drawing on the influence of many a great band but with also a little something that is entirely their own. If they can continue to craft albums as good as their debut album Nettwerk will release in '09, the world should rightly be their oyster."
- Mark Jowette, Nettwerk Records.
"... First up is The Alexandria Quartet, who were ones to watch in my eyes before the festival started - having now seen them live I am feeling warmly smug about myself in that they are more than worthy of the hype. "..." the guys do a sterling job with their set, filling the room and making me want to jump up and down a lot"
- National Student Magazine
“It felt great to hear some classic rock where the lyrics revolve around tales of love and heartbreak, especially with such a captivating energy.”
- Jo Cotterell, musicmedication.com
"From the blatant singles of opening “The Dark Side of the Blues” and “Into the Light” to the morose “Ace upon the Sleeve”, they manage to cover a lot of musical bases without losing their focus, and each song manages to have elements that you can easily imagine a friend raving about to you."
- Phil Singer, theregoesthefear.com
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