Simen Aanerud (born 28 June 1981) is a Norwegian musician from

Nes The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

. He is best known as a pianist. Aanerud is known as a blues pianist, both in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He has played with artists such as

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

Gin Wigmore Virginia Claire Wigmore (born 6 June 1986) is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Featured on the Smashproof single "Brother" in 2009, Wigmore went on to release four albums'' Holy Smoke'' (2009), '' Gravel & Wine'' (2011), '' Blood to Bone' ...

, Amund Maarud, Stellar* and Darcy Perry.

Life and career

Aanerud's career as a musician started as a 12-year-old, with Amund Maarud and Henrik Maarud in the band MaarudKara. This band came second in the national TV-show Talentiaden on

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

in 1997, and released the album ''First Blues'' on Tylden & Co. In 2001 he moved to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, where he furthered his career as a pianist. He joined blues guitarist Darcy Perry in 2002, and shortly after released the album ''Blues4Dad''. In 2003 and 2005 they also released the albums ''Don't Hold Back'' and ''Heavy Rain''. While working with several artists in New Zealand, Aanerud also created his own bands, Handsome Giants and Blue Devils. Handsome Giants released their live DVD ''Live on Bow Street'' in 2005. In this same time span, he also contributed on the New Zealand Idol-winner

Rosita Vai Rosita Angelica Gibbons Vai (born 4 June 1981) is a New Zealand singer who rose to musical fame as the winner of the second season of ''New Zealand Idol'' in 2005. Early life Rosita Gibbons was born in Wellington, brought up by her grandmother ...

's solo album ''Golden''. In 2006, Aanerud joined the band of former

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

and

Crowded House Crowded House are an Australian-New Zealand rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Paul Hester (drums), who were both for ...

front man Tim Finn. This band also consisted of Brett Adams (guitar), Matt Eccles (drums) and Mareea Patterson (bass). Together with Tim Finn he toured New Zealand,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Europe and the US, before returning to Norway in 2009. In New Zealand Aanerud is also known under the artist name Simen Taylor. Back in Norway, Aanerud rejoined Amund Maarud in his solo project, and recorded his album ''Electric'' in 2001. This album won

Spellemannsprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by IFPI Norge and FONO. It was first awarded in 1973 for the recording year 1972, and has been awarded every year since. It is ...

in the Blues category. The following year saw the release of Amund's album ''Dirt'', which was nominated for Spellemannsprisen in the Blues category. In 2012 Aanerud officially founded his own company, Aanerud Industries. This is a company which makes interiors, lamps, toys, machines and other design items. The company has a workshop in Skogbygda. In December 2013 he was asked to do a talk at a Pecha Kucha-event in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, about his creative process. Simen released his first solo album ''Medicine'' in September 2014.

Discography

MaarudKara

* ''First Blues'' (Tylden, 1999)

Darcy Perry

* ''blues4dad'' (RMA, 2002) * ''Don't Hold Back'' (RMA, 2003) * ''Heavy Rain'' (RMA, 2005) * ''Phoenix'' (RMA, 2008)

Handsome Giants

* ''Live on Bow Street'' (Live DVD, 2002)

Various Artists

* ''Harmonica Masters of New Zealand'' (RMA, 2007)

Amund Maarud

* ''Electric'' (Snaxville Recordings, 2011) * ''Dirt'' (Snaxville Recordings, 2012)

Simen Aanerud

* ''Medicine'' (Snaxville Recordings, 2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aanerud, Simen Living people Norwegian blues musicians Norwegian male pianists 21st-century Norwegian pianists 21st-century Norwegian male musicians 1981 births