Highasakite is an

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The band formed when vocalist and songwriter

Ingrid Helene Håvik Ingrid Helene Håvik (born 1987 in Ålesund, Norway) is a Norwegian songwriter and vocalist. She is best known as the lead singer of Highasakite but has also released a solo album under the artist name Ingrid. Biography Håvik is a former membe ...

met drummer

Trond Bersu Trond Bersu (born 4 January 1984 in Skjåk, Norway) is a Norwegian drummer and producer. Career During his music studies on the Jazz program at the Trondheim musikkonservatorium Bersu started the band PELbO together with fellow students Ine ...

whilst studying jazz at the Trondheim Jazz Conservatory. In 2010, after just six months, the duo started working on their debut album. The album ''All That Floats Will Rain'' was released in 2012.

History

Formation and ''All That Floats Will Rain'' (2010–2012)

Vocalist Ingrid Håvik and drummer

met while Bersu was studying

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

at the Trondheim Jazz Conservatory; after starting out as a duo, the two recruited Thomas Dahl, a producer, to help out on bass and guitar, and Øystein Skar joined the group to play synthesizer. After bonding they spent the next six months working on a debut album. Their debut album, ''All That Floats Will Rain'', was released in Norway in February 2012 on the record label Riot Factory, and was produced by Juhani Silvola and Thomas Dahl. The album reached #16 on the Norwegian Albums Chart. After the album's release the band began to play live shows, adding Marte Eberson on synthesizer and Kristoffer Lo on guitar, percussion, flugabone, and tuba to extend their layered instrumentation, and flesh out their sound. Highasakite started out opening for other musical projects like Your Headlights Are On, PELbO and Sacred Harp. The band later performed at many festivals in 2012, including

Øyafestivalen Øyafestivalen is an annual Norwegian music festival held in the Tøyen Park, Oslo. It has grown quickly since its modest start in 1999 and has become one of Norway's biggest and most important music festival The festival has previously featur ...

and the

Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival annually held in early November in Reykjavík, Iceland. The festival spans four days (Wednesday - Saturday) and its main focus is showcasing new music, both Icelandic and international. The festival's main sp ...

''Silent Treatment'' (2014)

Their second album, ''

Silent Treatment Silent treatment is the refusal to communicate verbally and electronically with someone who is trying to communicate and elicit a response. It may range from just sulking to malevolent abusive controlling behaviour. It may be a passive-aggressi ...

'', was released in February 2014 and reached #1 on the Norwegian Albums Chart. It was named the second best album of the year by Norwegian music critics in a list published by ''Dagsavisen''. The group toured extensively this year, mostly in Norway. They also toured with the Icelandic band

Of Monsters and Men Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic indie folk/rock band formed in Reykjavík in 2010. The members are lead singer and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer and guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, lead guitarist Brynjar Leifsson ...

during their Europe tour. At the 2015 14th Annual Independent Music Awards, Highasakite was the winner in the "Pop Album" category for ''Silent Treatment''. The band had the first album with 92 consecutive weeks (and counting) on the Norwegian ''Billboard'' "Topp 40" at

VG-lista VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...

. For the album, Highasakite won the "Pop Group of the Year Award" at the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Awards,

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

; additionally Håvik was nominated in the categories "Composer of the Year" and "Writer of the Year", winning the former. The same year the band won the

Bendiksen Award The Bendiksen Award, or Bendiksenprisen in Norwegian, is a music award granted by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and awarded by the Norwegian Artists' Association, GramArt. The award was established in 2009. The Award is meant to contribute to t ...

, an award and grant given to up-and-coming artists to help develop their talent, winning 100,000

Norwegian kroner The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''øre ...

''Camp Echo'' (2016)

The third album, '' Camp Echo'', was released on 20 May 2016. The first single from the album, "Someone Who'll Get it", released early 2016, received significant critical acclaim upon release, highlighting an anticipation for their third album. The second single, "Golden Ticket", was released in April 2016. On 2 December 2016 the band released the ''Acoustic Versions'' EP, consisting of four previous tracks from ''Camp Echo'' and ''Silent Treatment''. The EP features band member

Marte Eberson Marte Maaland Eberson is a Norwegian keyboardist and composer, known from bands including Morning Has Occurred and Highasakite. She is the daughter of the guitarist Jon Eberson. Career Eberson was born in Oslo, and obtained her formal musica ...

on the piano, and shows off lead singer

's arrangement ability and powerful vocals. Highasakite was one of several performers, alongside artists including

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

and Halsey, who played at the

Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2016 The Nobel Peace Prize Concert ( Norwegian and Swedish: '')'' has been held annually since 1994 on 11 December, to honour the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The award ceremony on 10 December takes place in Oslo City Hall, while the concert has bee ...

on 11 December, performing songs "Golden Ticket" and "Lover, Where Do You Live?". Their album '' Camp Echo'' was shortlisted by

IMPALA The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...

(The Independent Music Companies Association) for the Album of the Year Award 2016, which rewards on a yearly basis the best album released on an independent European label. Highasakite Oslo Spektrum 2019 202331

Highasakite released the single "5 Million Miles" in April 2017.

''Uranium Heart'' and ''The Bare Romantic'' (2019–2020)

On 16 November 2018, the band announced their fourth studio album ''Uranium Heart'', produced by Bersu with all tracks written by Håvik. The album was later released on 1 February 2019, and the band embarked on an arena sized tour across

. In October 2019, the band released the first part of a two part mini album titled "The Bare Romantic", with first single "Can I Be Forgiven" reaching #26 on the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Norway top 200. The second part of the mini album, released 7 February 2020 contained the single "Under The Sun" which received a sync in the Norwegian film Tunnelen. In February 2020 Highasakite were nominated for the "Pop Group of the Year Award" at the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Awards.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Highasakite Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian indie pop groups Propeller Recordings artists Musical groups established in 2011 2011 establishments in Norway