John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen (translated as ''John Olav Nilsen & Company'') was a Norwegian rock-pop band from

Loddefjord Loddefjord is an urban settlement in the borough of Laksevåg in the municipality of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which c ...

, Bergen, Norway. It was fronted by singer-songwriter and main vocalist John Olav Nilsen (born 20 December 1982). The lyrics are entirely in Norwegian.

History

Initially, the band played several concerts in Bergen and Western Norway during 2007 and 2008. Their song "Diamanter & Kirsebær" was released on a compilation disc titled ''Opplett 2008'' produced by the label ''Opplett'', founded by

Erlend Øye Erlend Øye (born 21 November 1975) is a Norwegian composer, musician, producer, singer and songwriter from Bergen, best known for being one half of the indie folk duo Kings of Convenience, along with Eirik Glambek Bøe. Among other musical pro ...

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, and featuring music from Bergen-based acts including Fjorden Baby!,

Kommode , label = , past_members = * Anders Waage Nilsen * Øystein Gjærder Bruvik * Eirik Glambek Bøe * Erlend Øye , website = Skog (''forest'' in Norwegian, taking inspiration from the famous song "A Forest" by The Cure) was a rock b ...

, The New Wine,

Razika Razika was a Norwegian alternative indie pop band from Møhlenpris, Bergen with various indie rock, punk, ska and reggae influences. While their early work featured some tracks in English, they primarily composed songs in their native Norwegian. I ...

, Di Kjipe and

Lars Vaular Lars Nesheim Vaular (born September 20, 1984) is a rapper and songwriter from Åsane, Bergen, Norway. He started rapping in 2003. He initially released songs under the duo Tier'n og Lars before going solo. Tier'n & Lars Vaular had his beginnings ...

. In addition, they opened for Norwegian rock band Fjorden Baby! in a major concert on 18 December 2008. The band was featured on ''NRK Urørt'' broadcast on P3 in 2008, and one of the finalists for best act in Urørt's annual show finishing in third place. In February 2009, they performed at the by:Larm music festival in Oslo. Also in February 2009, they were signed to Norwegian record label

Voices Music & Entertainment Voices Music & Entertainment is a record label based in Oslo, Norway established in 1988 by Ketil Sveen and Dag Krogsvold. In the first years the company was a label focusing on signing and developing Norwegian rock acts. Since then the company ha ...

(also known as VM&E). The band's debut album was released on 14 September 2009 and well received by critics and selling over 15,000 of the album. During Spellemannprisen equivalent to the Grammys held on 6 March 2010, they won the classic rock award in addition to being nominated for "best newcomer of 2009". On 7 February 2011, the band released their second album ''Det nærmeste du kommer'' followed by a single ''Vinterkarusellen'' with Nils Bech in February 2012. In September 2013, Nilsen declared that the band was history. On 13 February 2015, the band's front man and namesake, John Olav Nilsen, was convicted of violence, theft and possession of amphetamine. Nilsen was sentenced in

Bergen District Court Bergen District Court ( no, Bergen tingrett) was a district court in Vestland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Bergen at the Bergen Courthouse at Tårnplads 2 in Bergen. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the ...

to 60 days of prison. . The drug charges was later dropped.

Discography

Albums

* ''For Sant Til Å Være Godt'' (2009) * ''Det Nærmeste Du Kommer'' (2011) * ''Den Eneste Veien Ut'' (2012)

Singles

*2009: ''TI Ganger Tusen'' *2009: ''Valiumsvalsen'' *2009: ''Hull I Himmelen'' *2011: ''Skrekkfilm'' *2011: ''Hundeår'' *2011: ''Klokkene'' *2012: ''Vinterkarusellen'' *2012: ''Eurosport'' *2012: ''Nesten Som Eg Lever'' *2013: ''Bensinbarn''

Awards

*2009: Spellemannprisen in the category Rock, for the album ''For Sant Til Å Være Godt''

References

External links

* *
John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - Hull i Himmelen
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:John Olav Nilsen and Gjengen Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 2006 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Bergen