The National Bank is a Norwegian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

band, whose debut album was released in Norway in 2004 and featured the hit song "Tolerate".(17 September 2008)
The National Bank: hobbyproject ontgroeid
'' Brabants Dagblad'' (in Dutch) They came together in 2003, initially only to perform a one-time show commissioned by Vestfoldspillene music festival, one of the Norway's music festivals, and later as a band proper. Formed around the talents of brothers

Lars Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was borne ...

and

Martin Horntveth Martin Horntveth (born 20 September 1977) is a Norwegian musician (primarily drummer), composer and electronica artist. He was born in Tønsberg, and is the younger brother of tubaist Line Horntveth, but is best known as the drummer and key me ...

, who also happen to be the main driving force behind the highly successful and unique Norwegian

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

/ jazz/

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

combo

Jaga Jazzist Jaga Jazzist (also known as Jaga) is a Norwegian experimental jazz band, that rose to prominence when the BBC named their second album, ''A Livingroom Hush'' (Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune), the best jazz album of 2002. (in Norwegian) Biograph ...

, the band features musicians already well known in their native country, from such bands as ''

'' and '' BigBang'', and singer-songwriter

Thomas Dybdahl Thomas Dybdahl (born 12 April 1979) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Background Thomas Dybdahl grew up in Sandnes, Norway. His musical career started off as the guitarist in the band Quadraphonics. The band released ...

on vocals, the band is often referred to as a "

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

" in Norway. on AllMusic.com VG.no (in Norwegian) Although closely connected to the band ''

'', their music is completely different. The National Bank explore musical landscapes in more pop/rock oriented manners, with a focus on vocal-oriented orchestrated pop music suitable for the big stage. Their first single, ''Tolerate'' (2004), later released on the album'' The National Bank'' (2004), became an instant hit in Norway, and upon release was proclaimed by many Norwegian music critics to be the best Norwegian song of the year. Despite the grand success, all members continued their separate careers, yet there was talk of some work on writing and recording new material, and by 2007 all five members finally found the time to get together in the studio. The first new single, ''Let Go'' (2007), played on radio with an announcement that the second album, '' Come On Over To The Other Side'', would be seen in the spring 2008 release. They did perform a number of successful shows around in Norway, but all the band members subsequently returned to their primary outfits. To support another massive success, The National Bank toured Norway, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands for the rest of the winter 2008/09.

Band members

* Lars Horntveth ( guitar and

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

) * Morten Qvenild (

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 ...

and

Auto-harp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark o ...

) *

(

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

and guitar) *

Nikolai Eilertsen Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Niko ...

(

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and harmony vocals) *

(

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 harmony vocals)

Discography

*''The National Bank'' (2004) on Billboard.com *'' Come On Over to the Other Side'' (2008)

The National Bank (album)

''The National Bank'' is the eponymous debut

studio 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 ...

released by the Norwegian band The National Bank.

Track listing

#I Hear The Sparrow Sing #Tolerate #Hello, My Name is Fred #A Recorder in Red Plastic #Blue As We Like It #What is Left? #Look Twice #The National Bank #Half Blind

References

External links

The National Bank Official Website

Thomas Dybdahl Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Bank, The Norwegian musical groups