The Whitest Boy Alive is a German-Norwegian musical group based in Berlin. It was originally active from 2003 to 2014; after a five-year hiatus, the group reformed in 2019. The band is composed of singer and guitarist

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 ...

Kings of Convenience Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway, consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe. History Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on 21 November and Bøe on 25 October) and have known each other since they ...

, bassist Marcin Öz, drummer Sebastian Maschat, and Daniel Nentwig on

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

and

Crumar Crumar was an Italian manufacturer of electronic musical instruments. It was established by Mario Crucianelli in the late 1960s, and manufactured synthesizers and keyboards during the '70s and '80s. Its name is a portmanteau of "Cruci ...

History

The Whitest Boy Alive started as an electronic dance music project in 2003 in Berlin, but since slowly developed into a band with no programmed elements. The name of the band comes from the idea of a naïve, shy northern European boy that their music is about. The band's German

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

was Bubbles. Their debut album ''Dreams'' was released on 21 June 2006 in Germany. In July 2007,

Modular Records Modular Recordings (known simply as Modular) is an Australian record label founded in 1998 by Steve Pavlovic that is currently owned by Universal Music Australia. It has released music from local artists such as Eskimo Joe, Ben Lee, The Avala ...

signed them to their UK imprint and the band played their first UK performance with

New Young Pony Club NYPC (also known as New Young Pony Club) are an English electronic music band from London. The band was formed by Andy Spence and Tahita Bulmer in 2004. Their influences are predominantly post-punk and new wave artists. Career Forming and sig ...

at the

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further developme ...

in September 2007. The album was released in the UK with the single "Burning" in November 2007. The band released their second album ''Rules'' in March 2009. It was recorded in a newly built studio located on Punta Burros,

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Their single "1517" was also featured in the soundtrack of the video-game ''

FIFA 10 ''FIFA 10'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 10'' in North America) is a Association football, football Simulation video game, simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was release ...

''. The band started ''The Whitest Boy Alive + The New Wine tour'' in April 2009, visiting Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. In 2011 the band travelled to China with promoters

Split Works Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

. In June 2014, the band announced via their

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page that they were "no longer composing or playing together as The Whitest Boy Alive". On 4 August 2017, Erlend Øye announced via

that The Whitest Boy Alive would perform a 45-minute one-off reunion show on 20 August 2017 in Siracusa, Italy, to celebrate the birthdays of Marcin Oz and Daniel Nentwig. Further, on 3 September 2019, the band announced via their Facebook page that they would play Fauna festival in Chile on 9 November of the same year and expressed an interest in booking further shows, with the conditions they play shorter sets and less frequently than before, due to frontman Erlend Øye's

tinnitus Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no corresponding external sound is present. Nearly everyone experiences a faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely quiet room; but it is of concern only if it is bothersome, interferes with normal hearin ...

. On 5 March 2020, after more than a decade without releasing any new material, the band released a new single, "Serious", which was recorded and mixed in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. A further session to record another new song was planned in Spring 2020, but was aborted when the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

led to the members becoming physically separated while in

for a festival that later was cancelled. Confined to the state of

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

, members Sebastian Maschat and Erlend Øye used the hotel recording studio that had been intended to be booked for The Whitest Boy Alive to record solo material (as a duo) which was released as the album '' Quarantine At El Ganzo'' in July 2020.

Band members

– guitar and vocals * Marcin Öz – bass * Sebastian Maschat – drums * Daniel Nentwig –

and Crumar synthesizer

Discography

Albums

* ''

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, alth ...

'' (2006) * ''

Rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule perta ...

'' (2009) * '' Quarantine At El Ganzo'' (2020)

Singles

* "Inflation" (2004) * "Burning" (2006) * "Burning" (UK version) (2007) UK Sales No. 78 * "1517" (2009) * "Serious" (2020)

References

External links

*
Erlend Øye at Astralwerks website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitest Boy Alive, The German musical groups Musical groups reestablished in 2019 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups established in 2003 Smalltown Supersound artists Musical groups from Berlin Love Da Records artists