Harrys gym (sometimes misspelled as Harry's Gym) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

pop group. The band consisted of Anne Lise Frøkedal (

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 ...

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 ...

), Erlend Ringseth (

keyboard 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 ...

), Bjarne Stensli (

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 ...

), and Ole Myrvold (

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 ...

). The band was formed in 2006, released their debut album, ''Harrys gym'', in October 2008 and split up on 11 January 2013.

History

Formation

All four band members were previously a part of

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

, along with Ole Øvstedal, former guitarist of

Euroboys Euroboys is a Norwegian band. They were formed in 1990 under the name Kåre and the Cavemen, but changed their name to Euroboys in 1997 for releases outside of Norway. In 2000 they changed their name to Euroboys for all releases including insi ...

. In 2004 they released the album '' Dreamland, Baby'' to positive reviews. Vocalist Anne Lise Frøkedal wrote two of the songs for the album, the rest were provided by Øvstedal. "We were young ... maybe we were naïve", drummer Bjarne Stensli later said of the album; "the band was unfinished, it sounded strange". In a 2004 interview, Frøkedal mentioned a distinct difference in songwriting style between herself and Øvstedal. These differences eventually led to Øvstedal's departure. Bassist Ole Myhrvold later referred to it as "a musical divorce". The remaining four members decided to stay together and reformed under a new name, "Harrys gym". Whereas the name "Dharma" had been inspired by the novel ''

The Dharma Bums ''The Dharma Bums'' is a 1958 novel by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The basis for the novel's semi-fictional accounts are events occurring years after the events of ''On the Road''. The main characters are the narrator Ray Smith, based on ...

'' by

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

, the new band was named after an abandoned

fitness center A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health ser ...

in the same building as their rehearsal space. The band deliberately omitted the

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from the name, to adhere to Norwegian grammatical rules. According to Frøkedal, Harrys gym is a "more pure pop band" than Dharma, with a "cleaner and more stringent sound".

Debut album

Harrys gym released their

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous debut album, on 27 October 2008. The album was produced by Stensli, with all songs written by Frøkedal. ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

'' rated it 5 out of 6. According to the reviewer, "Anne Lise Frøkedal's vocals doesn't sound like leaves on the ground, but rather snow in the air, swirling and massive, weightless and fragile ..." ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' rated it 4 out of 6, characterizing the music as "fascinating dream-indie". One of the songs from the album, "Whisper", is played twice in the Norwegian

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

Cold Prey 2 ''Cold Prey 2: Resurrection'' ( no, Fritt Vilt II) is a 2008 Norwegian slasher film, directed by Mats Stenberg. It is the sequel to the highly successful ''Cold Prey'' (''Fritt Vilt''), and premiered in Norway on 10 October 2008. Written by Roar U ...

''. "To sit in Colosseum Kino and hear our own song in that setting was insane", Stensli later said. Another song, "Brother", was put in rotation by

NRK P3 NRK P3 is a nationwide digital radio channel operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and was the result of the NRK radio channel reform initiated in 1992 by radio dire ...

in November 2008. The song caught the attention of Universal Music Norway, and after several meetings, the band was eventually signed.

What Was Ours Can't Be Yours

Harrys gym released their second album 'What Was Ours Can't Be Yours' in the UK and mainland Europe in February 2011 on Oslo-based label Splendour. The band worked on the album with UK producer James Rutledge.

Festivals

Harrys gym has performed twice at the by:Larm festival. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' placed them in their top 5 list of artists of by:Larm 2008. Their performance also received a positive notice from ''

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

s reviewer, who was particularly impressed by Frøkedal's vocals and guitar. He lauded the band for an "entirely engaging set, equal parts delicate and muscular". Their 2009 performance was well received by '' Clash'', who highlighted the "stupidly talented drummer", and Frøkedal's "acerbic vocals" for particular acclaim. He compared the latter to the vocals of

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

and The Knife.

Breakup

The band announced their breakup on 11 January 2013 on their Facebook page.

Discography

*''Harrys gym'' (2008) *''What Was Ours Can't Be Yours'' (2010)

References

External links

Harrys Gym
at MySpace {{Authority control Norwegian pop music groups Musical groups established in 2006 2006 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Bergen