Artist Spotlight: Noise Of The North, Kristoffer Lislegaard
I first met Kristoffer Lislegaard via Soundcloud. As a fellow amp and noise lover, we immediately hit it off and began discussing our various musical ideas and standpoints. Kristoffer is a multifaceted artist who’s implementation of digital and analogue generated sound stretches across many genres, from droning ambient laptops to lo fi noise with analogue tapes and shoegaze inspired post rock soundscapes via dying guitars.
Kristoffer was born in to a family mostly interested in boats, engines and marine work, in Drøbak, Norway. Although loving the sound and smell of the sea Kristoffer did not share his two younger brothers fascination for boating, and was early on trying to figure out his own way of doing things. He found inspiration not from maritime attractions but rather from video games and guitar playing. Growing up on bands like Guns N’ Roses and Slayer as well as various punk bands, Kristoffer saw himself moving solely in the territory of traditionalized rock with a developing interest in black metal. But this phase was not to last, as Kristoffer explains, “one of my good friends ‘tricked’ me into joining him for an electronica concert. After this I got really interested in recording my self on our crappy home computer and see what I could do with the sound.” From then on he was hooked, listening to artists such as Four Tet, Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk, eventually working his way in a round about fashion to post-rock and post-metal outfits.
Kristoffer got his start in musical performance in various smaller bands with his friends, who’s members also moonlighted as the local music group playing musicals such as Fame and 1001 Night. From these modest beginnings Kristoffer would take his passions to the university level, studying live electronics at Oslo’s Norges Musikkhøgskole (known in English as the Norwegian State Academy of Music) after completing two years at the music school NISS (Nordic Institute of Stage and Studio) becoming the first student to ever finish the two years of popular music study with “laptop” listed as their main instrument.
When asked if he believed himself to be a strict academic musician or if he identified artistically as outside of the university confines, Kristoffer responded “Off course learned a lot, but I wouldn't go as far as calling myself a typical schooled musician, and not academic, no. I have always been interested in doing stuff my own way, finding my own creative solutions to things. I was more interested in using the schools studio, learning about production and having laptop classes than practicing my piano lessons. At the live electronics study I knew most of the stuff from before actually, so it was more about connecting with good people, have some interesting workshops and be in a creative environment.”
Nowadays Kristoffer finds himself involved with several musical projects. He performs in the shimmery and intense electronic pop duo Sgrow with vocalist and love interest Vilde Nupen. They are currently working on their debut EP as well as a whole visual overhaul for the planned album-supporting tour. Look for tour info and links to their new music here: www.sgrow.org
Sgrow photo by Berit Fredheim
Kristoffer also occupies his temporal lobe as the other half of another duo, the drone inspired thunder machine known as Noiser, who are soon to release a very limited edition vinyl record for your enjoyment. Listen to the tracks and look up the buy it now link here: http://noiser.kristofferlislegaard.com/
Noiser is operated with fellow musician Alex Gunia. A powerhouse in his own right, Gunia heads up the 300 Acting Spaces, a series of multi national live streaming concert events.
“300 acting spaces is an open public, independent and non-commercial artistic research project initiated by the electronic musician Alex Gunia. It deals with the installation of especially designed underground performance laboratories for electronic and elctro-acoustic music located in Oslo, Berlin, New York, Beijing and Tokyo during the years 2012 until 2015. Together with national and local artists, these facilities will be used to go into an open, creative process of performing three hundred concerts. 300 acting spaces shall mainly be recognized as an open arena for modern musicians, but in addition to that, there will be a constant interdisciplinary exchange with visual artists.” -Via 300as
Read more info and catch some live streaming performances on the 300 Acting spaces website: http://www.300as.com/
And check out Kristoffer and Alex’s recorded streaming performance below
Last but not least there is Kristoffer’s solo work, which extends from his progressive metal roots all the way to full-blown noise and remix sessions. Kristoffer currently has a new album dropping, an analog cassette release entitled Pocket. CNC has the exclusive streaming link to this album before it hits the market, so check it out: http://soundcloud.com/kristofferlh/sets/kristoffer-lislegaard-pocket/s-ALPgy
Beyond this, Kristoffer also has other work available for download and streaming via soundcloud. Give it a click, wont you? http://soundcloud.com/kristofferlh/sets/downloads/
Kristoffer Lislegaard is truly a powerhouse of ambient music, with a forward thinking attitude and a proven track record of tireless exploration and monstrous creativity. We here at Cookies ‘N Cream look forward to his next sonic move, because if history is any proof, it will be far more astonishing than the northern lights (and a hell of a lot louder too!)
Facebook links: https://www.facebook.com/sgrowmusic https://www.facebook.com/noisermusic https://www.facebook.com/Lislegaard