Blue Foundation is a Danish band. Their cinematic dream pop,

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

and electronics inspired compositions are known for being featured in films such as ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

'', ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'' and on TV shows including ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

'' and ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

''. Danish Tobias Wilner founded the group in 2000 recruiting a rotating cast of traditional musicians throughout the band's history to inspire creativity. Since 2003 the core of the band has been Tobias Wilner and Bo Rande, based in

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Prospect Heights is a neighborhood in the northwest of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The traditional boundaries are Flatbush Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway – beginning at Grand Army Plaza – to the ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Blue Foundation released their fifth album ''Blood Moon'' worldwide on 2 September 2016. The album featured appearances from Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon/ Red House Painters), Erika Spring (Au Revoir Simone/ Nice As Fuck), Jonas Bjerre (Mew), Sonya Kitchell, Sara Savery (aka Drop the Gun) and Findlay Brown.

History

Blue Foundation released their first 7" via

Moshi Moshi Records Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label founded in 1998 by Adrian Pike, Michael McClatchey and Stephen Bass. The label has released music by bands including Lykke Li, Fimber Bravo, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, Hot ...

, and their first, self-titled, album was released shortly thereafter. Three years later, in 2003, the band signed with EMI/Warner Music releasing 2 critically acclaimed albums, released in the US through Astralwerks Records. In 2008, Blue Foundation established their own imprint, Dead Peoples Choice, that so far has released two albums and one remix album. Blue Foundation gained major recognition with a remix by Zeds Dead of their song "Eyes On Fire", reaching a no. 3 ranking on iTunes Electronic Music Chart (2014). Today "Eyes On Fire" has more than 35 million YouTube plays, while the "Zeds Dead"-remix has exceeded 110 million YouTube plays. During the years Blue Foundation have expanded their audience, embracing today both the underground and the alternative mainstream. Blue Foundation has been featured in major films such as ''

'', ''

'' and on TV shows including ''CSI: Miami'' and ''The Vampire Diaries''. Their music is sampled by ex Lil Durk feat. French Montana on "Fly High", Young Thug on "She Noticed" and on Curren$y's "Hustler". Today's live line-up includes Italian Federico Ughi on drums (The Cinematic Orchestra) and American Sonya Kitchell. Despite her only 28-years, US Grammy-winner Sonya Kitchell already released three solo albums plus appearances on Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell albums to her name. Blue Foundation have toured extensively around Europe, Asia and the US through the years, performing alongside bands like Faithless, Mew, The Killers and DJ Krush. Bo Rande is an accomplished musician, songwriter and producer, as well as a trumpet-player known for his tone and style. His style encompasses jazz, world music, pop music and ambient. He is also a member of the Danish band The William Blakes (two-time winner of the Danish Music Awards) and the sought after klezmer orchestra Mames Babegenush. He has toured the world with Mames Babegenush, playing both Carnegie Hall, Argentina and around Europe. Besides that he has been a sought after musician, playing with Mew, Apparatjik, Efterklang and many many others, both live and on recording. Blue Foundation's brainchild Tobias Wilner 2011

Blue Foundation's brainchild Tobias Wilner 2011

In October 2005, Tobias Wilner released an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

with his

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize a ...

, Bichi. The title of the album is ''Notwithstanding,'' and is released by

Thomas Knak Thomas Knak is a Danish electronic musician who has also produced work under the name Opiate. He worked with Björk on her ''Vespertine'' album and has produced remixes for Bomb the Bass and Coldcut. He also produced original music for the 20 ...

on his label, Hobby Industries. Some of the Bichi work would later turn into Blue Foundation songs. The Blue Foundation song, ''This is Goodbye,'' from the movie ''

Manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

,'' was originally the instrumental song ''Revolve In The Sun/My Footfalls Are Superfluous,'' from the

''Notwithstanding''. Also, the Bichi song ''It Begins'', featured in the movie ''

Waking Madison ''Waking Madison'' (originally titled ''Mad World'') is a 2011 American independent drama film written and directed by Katherine Brooks and starring Sarah Roemer and Elisabeth Shue. The film was screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival, in Cos ...

,'' by

Katherine Brooks Katherine Brooks (born March 15, 1976) is an American film writer and director. Brooks is a member of the Directors Guild of America, a Jury Member for Samsung Fresh-Films 2007 (the largest teen filmmaking program in the USA) and is the recipie ...

, was re-recorded and later released as a Blue Foundation version. On 1 February 2009 Tobias Wilner established DPC Records, mainly to release Blue Foundation, Bichi and his band Ghost Society. Later that year Blue Foundation went

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in USA for the Twilight Soundtrack. The album was certified double platinum on 16 April 2009. The Blue Foundation song ''Watch you Sleeping,'' with singer songwriter

Mark Kozelek Mark Edward Kozelek (born January 24, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and founding member of ...

( Red House Painters,

Sun Kil Moon Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist M ...

), and former member Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg was released as a single on DPC. Blue Foundation contributed with two songs for the soundtrack of the award-winning documentary film ''Tankograd,'' by director Boris Benjamin Bertram. One of the songs signals a change in female vocalists. The lead vocals are done by Sara Savery (Ghost Society and People Press Play). Blue Foundation also did the soundtrack for the short film ''Go All Day,'' featuring professional skateboarder Chaz Ortiz, Directed by

Steve Berra Steve Berra (born May 10, 1973) is an American professional skateboarder and director, and is also the cofounder/co-owner of the skateboarding website The Berrics. Early life Berra grew up in both Nebraska and Missouri and he explained in 2007 ...

and Colin Kennedy, and Produced by

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

and

The Berrics The Berrics is a private indoor skatepark owned by professional skateboarders Steve Berra and Eric Koston. It is also a website providing content filmed in the skatepark, as well other skateboard-related media. The facility's name is a portmante ...

. The score was later released as the Blue Foundation single ''Red Hook,'' in a cooperation between The Berrics and DPC Records. DPC Records announced that the band is working on a new album in their Brooklyn studio. It is meant to be released in 2016.

Influences

When Blue Foundation started out they were influenced by bands like My Bloody Valentine,

Stereolab Stereolab are an Anglo- French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a repetit ...

Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

DJ Krush , better known by his stage name DJ Krush, is a record producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature and extensive use of jazz and soul samples. Early life Ishi was born i ...

, Friction and Can.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Blue Foundation Blue Foundation is a Danish band. Their cinematic dream pop, shoegaze and electronics inspired compositions are known for being featured in films such as ''Twilight'', ''Miami Vice'' and on TV shows including '' CSI: Miami'' and '' The Vampire ...

'' (April Records 2001) * '' Sweep of Days'' (Virgin 2004) * ''Solid Origami'' collected, reworked and remixed (Pop Group 2006) * '' Life of a Ghost'' (EMI/Astralwerks 2007) * ''In My Mind I Am Free'' (Dead People's Choice 2012) * ''In My Mind I Am Free / Reconstructed'' (Dead People's Choice 2013) * ''Blood Moon'' (2016) * ''Silent Dream'' (2019)

EP

* ''Dead People's Choice'' (EMI 2006) * ''It Begins'' (Dead People's Choice 2011) * ''Live In Zhangbei'' (Dead People's Choice 2015)

Singles

* "Hollywood & Hide" 7" (Moshi Moshi Records 2000) * "Hollywood & Wiseguy" 12" (April Records 2000) * "As I Moved On" 12" (Virgin 2003) * "End of the Day" (Virgin 2004) * "This is Goodbye" (Virgin 2005) * "Embers" 7" (Jack To Phono Records 2005) * "Crosshair" (Virgin 2006) * "Enemy" (EMI 2007) * "Eyes on Fire" (EMI 2009) * "Watch you Sleeping" feat. Mark Kozelek / "Dream (3:11PM)" (DPC Records 2009) * "Heads on Fire" (DPC Records 2011) * "Broken Life" (2011) * "Red Hook" (DPC Records 2011) * "Lost" (Dead People's Choice 2012) * "Live From Brooklyn" (Dead People's Choice 2016)

Remix work

* Klart Der! ''Jorden Kalder'' Blue Foundation & Mixologists Remix (2000) * Fauna Flash ''Mother Nature'' Blue Foundation Remix (Compost 2001) * Mew ''Symmetry'' Blue Foundation Remix (Evil Office 2001) * Zeds Dead "Eyes On Fire" Blue Foundation Remix (2007) * Jonas Bjerre ''Window Pane'' Blue Foundation Remix (PLUK 2011) * Ghost Society ''Under The Sun'' Blue Foundation Remix (DPC 2012) * Apparatjik ''Datascroller'' Blue Foundation Remix (DPC 2012) * Allies For Everyone ''Supernatural'' Blue Foundation Remix (KID Recordings 2013) * Ninety's Remix "Bonfires" Blue Foundation Remix (Trap City 2013)

Compilations

* ''Confusion'' (Compost Records 2003) * ''Benetton's Colors: A Nordic Compilation'' (Irma Records 2003) * ''Warp Factor'' (King Kladze Records/Time Warp 2003) * ''Who Shot Jacques Laverne?'' (Jack To Phono Records 2004) * ''We Got Monkeys: Five Years Of Moshi Moshi Records'' (Moshi Moshi Records 2005) * ''Paris'' mixed by Nick Warren (Global Underground 2007) * ''Sequential'' vol 2. mixed by Hernan Cattaneo (Renainnance 2007) * ''Director's Cut: Music from the Films of Michael Mann'' (Rhino 2007) * ''Sirenes'' (Spectacle Entertainment 2008) * ''Michael Moshi's Moshi Mixtape'' (Moshi Moshi Records 2010) * ''Compost Downbeat Selection, Vol. 1'' (Compost 2010) * ''Sound of Dubstep 3'' (Ministry of Sound 2011) * ''Together We Are Not Alone'' (THISTIME 2011)

Selected soundtracks

* ''

'' (Zentropa/EMI) 26 August 2005 * ''Nordkraft'' (Nimbus Film) 2005 * ''

'' (Atlantic Recording) 18 July 2006 * ''

'' (Chop Shop Records/Atlantic Recording) 4 November 2008 * ''

Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

'' (Bontonfilm) 26 March 2009 * ''Tankograd'' (DPC Records) 16 May 2011

Selected TV shows

* ''

The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...

'' - Season 2, Episode 7: ''The Family Ties'', feat. ''Save This Town'' by Blue Foundation (Warner Bros. Television/Fox Network) 6 January 2005 * ''

'' - feat. ''End of the Day'' by Blue Foundation (CBS) 2008 * '' Anna Pihl'' - feat. ''Crosshair'' by Blue Foundation (Cosmo Film/Danish National TV) 2008 * ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'' - 1 episode, Top 14 Perform feat. ''Eyes On Fire'' by Blue Foundation (19 Television/20th Century Fox Television) 1 July 2009 * ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, a ...

'' - feat. ''Eyes On Fire'' by Blue Foundation (20th Century Fox) 30 October 2011 * ''The Vampire Diaries'' - Season 4, Episode 8: ''Eyes On Fire'' by Blue Foundation 6 December 2012

Music for contemporary dance

* ''Overloadlady'' by Sara Gebran. Musical scores by Tobias Wilner (pre-Blue Foundation). Premiered August 1999 * ''Hurtdetail'' by Tim Feldmann. Musical scores by Tobias Wilner (Blue Foundation). Premiered at "Plovdiv Center of Contemporary Art" in Bulgaria, on 13 May 2000. * ''Hendrix House'' by Tim Feldmann. Musical scores by Tobias Wilner (Blue Foundation) and David Linton. Premiered at Pakhus 11 April 22nd 2003 * ''eXPLORnography'' by Tim Feldmann. Musical scores by Tobias Wilner (Blue Foundation). May 2005

Members

;Current members * Tobias Wilner –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, programming,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Bo Rande –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;Past members * Daisuke Kiyasu – vj (2003–2006) * Anders Bertram –

(2000–2002) * Tatsuki Oshima – vinyl manipulation (2003–2007) * Scott Martingell – spoken words (2003–2008) * Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg –

(2000–2009) * Frederik Hantho – spoken words (2000–2002) * Hans Landgreen –

, bass (2009–2010) * Mathias Hantho –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

(2009–2010) * Christoffer Ohlsson –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

(2003–2006) * Sune Martin – bass (2003–2007) * Anders Wallin – bass (2007–2008) * Nikolaj Bundvig –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2006–2007) * Emil Bernild Ferslev –

(2000–2001) * Lasse Herbst –

(2007–2008)

Side projects

* Ghost Society * Bichi * The William Blakes * Mames Babegenush

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control American pop music groups Musical groups from Brooklyn People from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Moshi Moshi Records artists Virgin Records artists

History

Influences

Discography

Studio albums

EP

Singles

Remix work

Compilations

Selected soundtracks

Selected TV shows

Music for contemporary dance

Members

Side projects

See also

References

External links