Geir Jenssen (born 30 May 1962)Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman, , p.197-198 is a Norwegian

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

ian and composer who records as Biosphere. A resident of

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

within the Arctic Circle, Jenssen is well known for ambient and

ambient house Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It ...

pieces, often inspired by Arctic or mountain settings, and his use of loops and peculiar samples from science fiction and natural sources. His 1997 album '' Substrata'' was voted by the users of the Hyperreal.org website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.Se
"Classic Ambient Recordings: The 2001 Survey"
at Hyperreal.org He has also composed several film scores.

History

Prior to Biosphere (1962–1991)

Jenssen was born on 30 May 1962 in

, a city within the Arctic Circle in the northernmost portion of Norway. He was inspired by the music of artists such as New Order, Depeche Mode,

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

, and Brian Eno, which he described as "like discovering a new universe—a universe which I wanted to be a part of". In 1983, he bought his first synthesizer and composed his first piece of music, taking influence from his archaeological studies, later stating "Studying the Ice Age and Stone Age has definitely influenced my music." In 1984 Jenssen issued his first album, "E-Man", released on cassette only on the Norwegian indie label Likvider and credited to E-man. In 1985, Jenssen was part of the newly created Norwegian moody synth trio Bel Canto with Nils Johansen and singer

Anneli Drecker Anneli Marian Drecker (born 12 February 1969, in Tromsø, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of Tromsø. She is the frontwoman for the dream pop band Bel Canto. Life and career Drecker's father Peter, a German from Biele ...

. The band signed with Belgian label

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 375 albums and 275 ...

and to

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

in North America, and relocated to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Jenssen, however, soon returned to

, collaborating with the other band members by post, and continuing with his solo work. Bel Canto released two albums while Jenssen was a member, ''White-Out Conditions'' and ''Birds of Passage''. In 1990, he left the band in order to pursue a different music style altogether, and began using a sampler. Throughout the late 1980s, Jenssen used the moniker Bleep, under which he produced various 12" records, now releasing records via the Crammed Discs subsidiary SSR. His early influences were from acid house and

New Beat New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that fuses elements of new wave, hi-NRG,Simon Reynolds: ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.'' Routledge 1999, , p. 124. EBM and hip hop (e.g. scratching).Ti ...

music. Released in 1990, '' The North Pole by Submarine'' was the only album recorded as Bleep. Further singles followed in 1990 and 1991 before Jenssen abandoned the Bleep moniker and again changed musical direction.

As Biosphere (1991–present)

Following the release of ''The North Pole by Submarine'', Jenssen began releasing his music as Biosphere on obscure Norwegian compilation albums. His first Biosphere releases were the 12-inch single "The Fairy Tale" and the album '' Microgravity'', both of which were rejected by SSR as unmarketable. ''Microgravity'' was released in 1991 on the Norwegian label

Origo Sound Origo Sound is a Norwegian independent record label formed in 1990 in Norway by Harald Lervik. The initiative to start the label was taken after Tormod Opedal, an employee in Lervik's software company, in 1989 had decided to close his own label ...

, and saw wider release via the

R&S Records R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1983 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple that created the label. R&S Records has had several subsidiaries, most notably Apollo R ...

subsidiary Apollo in 1992, to much critical acclaim. In 1992, Jenssen contributed "I'll Strangle You" to

Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...

's ''Sahara Blue'' project. In 1993, Jenssen collaborated with German ambient musician

Pete Namlook Pete Namlook (born 25 November 1960 as Peter Kuhlmann in Frankfurt, West Germany, died on 8 November 2012) was an ambient and electronic music producer and composer. In 1992, he founded the German record label FAX +49-69/450464, which he oversa ...

on The Fires of Ork. In 1994, the second Biosphere album, '' Patashnik'' was released, through which Jenssen continued to explore his ambient-house stylings to an even greater extent, employing the theme of a lost

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

drifting aimlessly through space. ''Patashnik'' contained the first hints of the reduction in beat-driven song structure that would mark later Biosphere releases. Unlike the first album, ''Patashnik'' was quickly picked up by a comparatively large international audience, which brought Biosphere greater recognition. Jenssen also recorded as Cosmic Explorer, scoring a hit in Belgium with the EP ''The Hubble''. In 1995, Levi Strauss & Co. was searching for a new angle to add to their television advertisement campaign (which up to that point had never featured electronic music), and they decided to use the uptempo track "Novelty Waves" from ''Patashnik''. Shortly thereafter, "Novelty Waves" was released as a single (featuring remixes by various other artists), and managed to chart in several countries, reaching #51 in the United Kingdom. Although Jenssen never regretted his approval for use of the track, he also never sought this kind of fame and subsequently turned down various requests by his record company and peers to collaborate with well-known

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

and

drum 'n bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

artists or to create a follow-up album in the same style. During that same year, Biosphere contributed the song "The Seal and the Hydrophone" exclusively to ''Apollo 2 – The Divine Compilation'' released by Apollo Records. '' Substrata'' (1997) is a purely atmospheric ambient Biosphere album, released on All Saints Records. ''Substrata'', which marked Jenssen's embarkation towards an intensely minimal style, is not only often considered to be Jenssen's best work to date, but is also seen as one of the all-time classic ambient albums. ''Substrata'' contains samples from the American TV show ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...

''. In 2000, Jenssen released '' Cirque'' on his new home

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

, an ambient album driven by muffled beats, samples, and minimal atmospherics. Though ''Cirque'' briefly revisited territory covered by earlier Biosphere releases, the rhythm section throughout the album remains an element of the background, unlike Jenssen's first two Biosphere releases, wherein the drums occupied a dominating proportion of the foreground. In 2002, he released '' Shenzhou'', the fifth full-length album under the name Biosphere. This album was a more abstract work, comparable to Aphex Twin's 1994 album ''

Selected Ambient Works Volume II ''Selected Ambient Works Volume II'' is the second studio album by Aphex Twin, the pseudonym of British electronic musician Richard D. James. It was released by Warp in March 1994. Billed as a follow-up to James' debut ''Selected Ambient Works ...

''. The material on the album draws from elongated, pitch-shifted loops taken from

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

's '' La Mer'' (''The Sea''), and '' Jeux''. Released in 2004, ''

Autour de la Lune ''Autour de la Lune'' is an album by ambient musician Biosphere which was released on 17 May 2004. The album presents a striking difference from others in the Biosphere catalog due to its percussionless, minimalistic soundscapes consisting mo ...

'' stands as the most minimal and austere Biosphere album to date. The drones employed on this album are comparable to Coil's 1998 album ''

Time Machines ''Time Machines'' is a 1998 studio album by English experimental group Coil, originally released under the one-off project alias Time Machines. The album was created under the premise of psychedelic drone pieces named after corresponding hallu ...

'' in their timbre and slow rate of change. The bulk of this work was originally commissioned and broadcast in September 2003 by

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...

Culture for a musical evocation of Jules Verne. In 2006, Jenssen released ''

Dropsonde A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the devi ...

'', a half beatless, half rhythmic album composed of jazz rhythms evocative of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

' 1970s jazz fusion works. A partial vinyl sampler was released a few months earlier in 2005. In 2009, Biosphere issued '' Wireless: Live at the Arnolfini, Bristol,'' his first live album, containing new tracks such as "Pneuma" and "Pneuma II". Jenssen has scored a number of films, including ''Eternal Stars'' (1993) and ''

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

'' (1997). He collaborated with German ambient composer

on ''Fires of Ork'', and has also worked with

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

's Invaders of the Heart and with Bobby Bird of

Higher Intelligence Agency Higher Intelligence Agency (HIA) is the main electronic music project of Birmingham, UK-based Bobby Bird. They were featured on Warp's 1994 ''Artificial Intelligence II'' compilation. Biography HIA was formed by Bird in 1992 around the same tim ...

. In 2010, two soundtracks were announced on Biosphere's website, for German film "Im Schatten" and Norwegian " NOKAS". On 27 June 2011, Geir Jenssen released the album '' N-Plants'', inspired by nuclear energy and

nuclear plants A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces e ...

in Japan. In 2016, Jenssen released ''Departed Glories'' as Biosphere. The thematic focus of the album draws inspiration from the defence of Krakow from Nazi invasion during the Second World War. Jenssen conceived of the album while living in the city. On 5 February 2021, Jenssen released the

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

- classical album ''Angel's Flight'' which features twelve tracks based on

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's String Quartet No. 14. In January 2022, Jenssen released ''Shortwave Memories'' as Biosphere. The album marked a sonic departure from Jenssen's previous work - using manually-programmed analogue synthesizers from the late 70s and early 80s to create a more vintage sound. On 14 October 2022, Jenssen released Substrata (Alternative Versions) on Biophon Records, featuring ten alternative versions picked from the '' Substrata'' recording sessions that took place between 1995 and 1996.

Live

Biosphere regularly performs live during electronic music festivals and in clubs throughout Europe and various other locales around the world. Live performances usually consist of Jenssen performing improvisations or variations on newer tracks on a laptop while video art is projected behind him; for example, full-screen video art was projected in his Picturehouse cinema tour in April 2006. Although these performances are rarely tied specifically to a recent album release, the uptempo material from the Bleep and '' Microgravity''/'' Patashnik'' era is occasionally featured in Biosphere performances. In May 2004, Biosphere's first United States performance took place in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. In 2008 Jenssen announced a year-long break from touring due to his reported hatred of "airports, security checks, unhealthy food, air conditioning, hotels, etc.". However he resumed concert activity in 2009 and 2011.

Other interests

Jenssen is also an active climber and mountaineer. This hobby is an inspiration on his work, as well as a source of natural sound samples. His highest feat was in 2001, climbing the Cho Oyu (Himalaya, 8201 meters) without oxygen; in 2006, he thus released '' Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet'' (as Geir Jenssen).

Discography

Solo discography

Albums as E-Man *''E-Man'' (1984) Albums as Bleep *'' The North Pole by Submarine'' (1990) Albums as Biosphere *'' Microgravity'' (1991) *'' Patashnik'' (1994) *'' Substrata'' (1997) *'' Cirque'' (2000) *'' Substrata²'' (2-CD reissue of '' Substrata'' with ''

Man with a Movie Camera ''Man with a Movie Camera'' (russian: Человек с киноаппаратом, translit=Chelovek s kinoapparatom) is an experimental 1929 Soviet silent documentary film, directed by Dziga Vertov, filmed by his brother Mikhail Kaufman, an ...

'', 2001) (

) *'' Shenzhou'' (2002) (

) *''

'' (2004) (

) *''

'' (2006) (

) *'' Wireless: Live at the Arnolfini, Bristol'' (2009) (

) *'' N-Plants'' (2011) (

) *''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (2012) *'' Patashnik 2'' (tracks recorded between 1992 and 1994) (2014) *'' Das Subharchord'' EP (2014) *''Departed Glories'' (2016) *''Black Mesa'' EP (2017) *''The Petrified Forest'' (2017) *''The Hilvarenbeek Recordings'' (2018) *''The Senja Recordings'' (2019) *''Angel's Flight'' (2021) *''Shortwave Memories'' (2022) Soundtracks and sounds * ''Eternal Stars'' (1993 film soundtrack) * ''

'' (1996 festival soundtrack, 2001 release in '' Substrata²'') * ''

'' (1997 soundtrack for the original Norwegian version of ''

'') * '' Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet'' (as Geir Jenssen, 2006) (Ash International) * '' Nokas'' (2010 film soundtrack, as Geir Jenssen) * '' Kill by Inches'' (soundtrack to the 1999 movie Kill by Inches, released 2012) * '' Stromboli'' - field recording from the Stromboli crater edge - 2013 12" single released on

* '' Sound Installations (2000-2009)'' (2015) * ''

The Good Nurse ''The Good Nurse'' is a 2022 American drama film, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, about Amy Loughren, a night nurse, who suspects that her co-worker Charles Cullen is a serial killer. The film is based on the 2013 true-crime boo ...

'' (2022 film score)

Collaboration discography

Usually as "Geir Jenssen" instead of "Biosphere": * '' White-Out Conditions'' (1987, in Bel Canto) * '' Birds of Passage'' (1989, in Bel Canto) * ''Fires of Ork'' (1993, with

) * ''Polar Sequences'' (1996, live, with

) * ''Nordheim Transformed'' (1998, with

Deathprod Deathprod is the musical pseudonym used by Norwegian artist Helge Sten for his ambient music project. He is married to Norwegian singer Susanna Wallumrød. Biography Sten began creating music under this name starting in 1991, culminating with a ...

, remixing

Arne Nordheim Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. He ...

) * ''Biosystems: The Biosphere Remixes'' (1999, collection of 8 other bands) * ''Birmingham Frequencies'' (2000, live, with

) * ''Fires of Ork II'' (2000, with

) * ''Stator'' (2015, with

) (

)

References

External links

; General
Biosphere.no
– The official Biosphere website, including

�

�

�

"De la Terre à la Lune"
(July 2003) Good biographical retrospective of Biosphere (at MIC Norway)

(July 2004) Comprehensive interview with Geir Jenssen (at The Milk Factory) ; Discographies
Biosphere discography (including lone tracks)
at Beatservice Records * Biosphere discography (with critics comments)at AMG
Biosphere discography (with users comments)
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

; Lyrics, quotes, samples
An enhanced version of the "Biosphere Samples list v1.0 by Igor Boronenkov"
(Usenet archive)
Sources of voice samples in music from Biosphere
at S107

– including ''Fires of Ork'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Biosphere 1962 births Living people Norwegian electronic musicians Ambient musicians People from Tromsø Musicians from Tromsø All Saints Records artists Rune Grammofon artists Smalltown Supersound artists