JAQUELINE - Official Homepage of the Norwegian Rock Band

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UPCOMING GIGS:

August 29. 2008:
Venue:
Sound Garden
Town:
Elverum, NO
Spot: Jaqueline's 10-year anniversary celebration

September 19. 2008:
Venue:
Garage
Town:
Oslo, NO
Spot: Support for Karaoke From Hell

JAQUELINE BIOGRAPHY, SUMMARY:

Founded in 1998, ten years of rock'n roll has offered two critically acclaimed albums and about 150 concerts for the hard-hitting power trio Jaqueline from Elverum, Norway - which plays rock music based on classic rock and old school heavy metal, with a pinch of alternative rock. The band consists of Morten Wærhaug (lead vocals, guitars, bass), Marius Drogsås Hagen (vocals, bass, guitars) and Bjarne Ryen Berg (Drums).

Morten, Marius and Bjarne practically grew up together. Carrying various strange

bandnames, the band's initial years were spent playing local clubs, recording lots of EPs, and most importantly: Rehearsing an awful lot. In fact, Morten and Bjarne started playing together in 1995 - at the age of 12 and 11. On why they decided to form a band, the Jaqs subtlely states: "There wasn't much else to do". What goes without saying, however, is that the threepiece has a genuine love of playing and listening to rock music. Morten states: "It's a permanent disease. It won't go away". Over the course of ten years, baring in mind that these three guys collectively spent their teenage-days locked up in a rehearsal room, it's no wonder they're notorious for their tight sound, and intuitive playing. Jaqueline also stands as living proof that the dark forrests of south-eastern Norway not only are capable of nurturing black metal.

Achievements: Rave reviews nationwide on their two album-releases, "Idiots" (2005 - dubbed "Norwegian rock debut of the year" in nationwide Dagbladet) and "Reaping Machines" (2006), both recieving the score 5 / 6 in Norway's three biggest newspapers; VG, Dagbladet and Aftenposten. Official By:Larm artist 2007. "Ukas urørt" on NRK P3 in July 2006. Multiple interviews and features in the nationwide press; NRK P3 (Harald Are Lund, Pyro, Urørt), NRK P2, Kanal24, P4, Dagbladet, TV2, Moox TV, Scream Magazine, etc. Over 150 gigs in their belts, including two extensive tours in Norway, alongside with support gigs for WE, Amulet, Ricochets, Animal Alpha and Stonegard, and festival spots in Germany. Booked twice for Terje Håkonsen's infamous "The Artic Challenge"-event. Three successful music videos aired frequently on ZTV and NRK Svisj.

JAQUELINE BIOGRAPHY, THE LONG VERSION:

By request, here's a longer version of Jaqueline's biography, which includes line-ups over the years:

Band constellation # 1: TAPEWORMBLITZER 1998 - 1999 Morten Wærhaug (vocals, bass) Bjarne Ryen Berg (drums) Marius Drogås Hagen (guitar) - In 1998, Morten and Bjarne had already been playing together non-stop since 1995, in different bands. Morten and Marius had met at a local beach in Elverum in the summer of 1997, discovering a common love for rock'n roll. In November 1998, the threepiece		Photo: Unknown photographer. Shot in Elverum, December 1998. From left to right: Bjarne, Morten, Marius.
joined forces to form a brand new band. Morten started singing for the first time ever. Tapewormblitzer was born. It stands as the direct ancestor to the band known as Jaqueline today. Tapewormblitzer released the homemade, obscure EPs "Flipper EP" and "Toiletmonster EP" on a local level (see the Records-page for further info).

Band constellation # 2: DHARMA GARAGE 1999 - 2001 Morten Wærhaug (vocals, bass) Bjarne Ryen Berg (drums) Marius Drogås Hagen (guitar) - The band changes their name to Dharma Garage, and releases the EPs "Number Three EP", and "Sing Me A Song I Sing Along EP" on a local level. Both EPs are made in collaboration with producer and engineer Henning Ramseth in his Space Valley Studio, Stange. One		Photo: Aslân W.A. Farshchian. Shot in Elverum, the summer of 2000. From left to right: Marius, Morten, Bjarne.
song off "Number Three..." was recorded with producer Asbjørn Holmseth. "Sing me a song..." recieves great reviews in the local press. The band also records the yet unreleased "The Lost Tapes"-album, with producer Thomas Meidell Wien. On this album, Jaqueline as we know it today starts to get sonically recognizable. (See the Records-page for further info).

Band constellation # 3: DHARMA GARAGE (# 2) 2001 - 2003 Morten Wærhaug (vocals, guitar) Bjarne Ryen Berg (drums) Marius Drogås Hagen (guitar) Tord Ø. Knudsen (bass) - Tord Ø. Knudsen (The Wombats), who had played with the guys in several other band constellations earlier, moves back to Elverum for a while, and joins Dharma Garage as the bass player. Morten puts the bass on the shelf, and picks up the		Photo: Unknown. Shot in Elverum, August 2003, just prior to Tord moving to England. From left to right: Tord, Bjarne, Morten, Marius.
guitar again - for good. This line-up teams up with producers Hans Jørgen Støp and Henning Ramseth, and starts the recording sessions for the album which will eventually be released as Jaqueline's debut album - "Idiots" in Ramseth's Space Valley Studio (now relocated to Hamar).

Band constellation # 4: DHARMA GARAGE (# 3) 2003 - 2004 Morten Wærhaug (vocals, guitar) Bjarne Ryen Berg (drums) Marius Drogås Hagen (guitar) Jon Øyvind Nordby (bass) - Tord moves to England, and the Hamar-based bass player Jon Øyvind Nordby steps in as Tord's substitute in Dharma Garage. Due to a poorly recorded bass guitar on the "Idiots"-recordings, Jon Øyvind re-records almost all the bass		Photo: Unknown. Shot on November 13. 2003 at Betong, Oslo. From left to right: Jon Øyvind, Morten, Bjarne, Marius.
guitar tracks on the album. This line-up lasted for just a matter of months, before Jon Øyvind decided to quit - forcing the band back to it's power trio roots (which will prove to be a success-formula).

Band constellation # 5: JAQUELINE 2004 - Present Morten Wærhaug (vocals, guitar) Bjarne Ryen Berg (drums) Marius Drogås Hagen (bass) - Jon Øyvind Nordby quits the band to focus on other projects. Marius picks up the bass guitar, and the original power trio is reinstated, with the exception that Morten and Marius have switched instruments since back in 1998. The band is renamed Jaqueline on May 1. 2004. The		Photo: Øyvind Wærhaug . Shot on May 4. 2004 in Elverum, right after a long rehearsal. From left to right: Bjarne, Marius, Morten.
band first appears as Jaqueline on stage at Lt. Kreutz in Kongsvinger on May 3. 2004. This has been the current line-up in Jaqueline ever since.

Jaqueline lands their first record contract with Norwegian indie-label Pop Partner Records. The contract is signed on June 25. 2004, and covers the release of two albums in Norway. Kristian Liljan at Pop Partner came up with the Jaqueline-name, after having seen a documentary on the Discovery-channel regarding insomnia, one late night. The girl in the documentary suffering from insomnia, carried the beautiful name.
Jaqueline's debut album, "Idiots" is released in Norway on March 21. 2005 by Pop Partner Records / Musikkoperatørene. The recording sessions for "Idiots" started in 2003, and featured the producers Hans Jørgen Støp (Locomotives) and Henning Ramseth (Ram-Zet). Studios: Space Valley Studio outside of Hamar, and Rottereiret, Oslo.
"Idiots" recieves massive critical acclaim in the nationwide press in Norway. "Idiots" is given the score five out of six in Norway's three biggest newpapers, among others. Anders Grønneberg at Dagbladet dubs the album "Norwegian rock debut of the year".
April 2005: Jaqueline's first-ever music video - on the song "Hellbound" off Idiots - is playlisted on ZTV and NRK Svisj. The video was shot outside of Hamar in September 2004, and is directed by Øyvind Saugerud.
May 1. 2005: Jaqueline signs a management contract with the Oslo-based This Is Management.
In the wake of "Idiots", Jaqueline hits the road for their first tour of Norway, alongside with Liverpool-act Auden Prim. 12 Norwegian towns are visited by the fierceful combo.
On January 21. 2005, a couple of months prior to the split-tour with Auden Prim, Jaqueline did a support-gig for WE at Hydranten, Hamar. This night spawned a special relationship not only between Jaqueline and WE, but also between Jaqueline and WE's record label Nun Music, with a mutual hope of a future collaboration. This eventually led to Pop Partner Records' kind gesture of releasing Jaqueline from the binding contract which was signed in 2004. This took place on July 19. 2005. On September 1. 2005, Jaqueline signed their second record contract - with Nun Music. The contract covered one album-release in Norway, scheduled to autumn 2006.
Not only did Jaqueline hook up with WE's label, Nun Music - the Jaqs also hooked up with WE's very own Don Dons, who has a long merit list as a producer in Norway (Euroboys, My Midnight Creeps, etc). On November 11. 2005 Jaqueline started the recording of their second album at Don Dons' Hangaroundsounds studio in Oslo. The album did not get wrapped up until some seven months later, when Don Dons and Morten returned from legendary Björn Engelmann (Rammstein, Kent) at Cuttingroom, Stockholm, on May 4. 2006.
March 13. 2006: Jaqueline is booked as the only band to play the snowboarder-Mekka event Artic Challenge in Lofoten, Noway.
On May 24. 2006, Jaqueline starts a formal collaboration with booking agency Mentometer (Turbonegro, Satyricon), alongside a limited collaboration with marketing agency Bpop for the promotion of Jaqueline's forthcoming second album.
July 2006: Jaqueline is elected "Ukas urørt" at NRK P3 in July 2006.
July 2006: Jaqueline makes their second music video, this time in collaboration with director Anders Timo. The song selected is "Demon Seed", off the "Reaping Machines" album. The video is launched in August 2006, and airs frequently on NRK Svisj and ZTV.
"Reaping Machines", Jaqueline's second album is released in Norway by Nun Music / Sonet on August 21. 2006. The album recieves standing ovations from the Norwegian press. VG, Dagbladet and Aftenposten greets the album with a five out of six rating. Østlendingen's rating hits the jackpot with six out of six possible stars. Solid five out of six ratings are also handed "Reaping Machines" by Adresseavisen, Oppland Arbeiderblad, TV2.no/Side2, Fædrelandsvennen, Saltenposten, StudVest, Exact, Groove.no, Hamar Arbeiderblad, Scream Magazine, Plan B, Bladet Tromsø, Rockeweb.com, and Musikknyheter.no. Jaqueline does several high-profile interviews in the nationwide press, for example in Dagbladet and NRK P3.
In the wake of Reaping Machines, Jaqueline does a 20-date long tour of Norway throughout the fall of 2006.
Christmas 2006: When the nationwide daily papers summerize up 2006, "Reaping Machines" is to be seen on several "best of 2006"-lists in both VG, Dagbladet and Aftenposten.
January 2007: Jaqueline and director Anders Timo release their second music video off "Reaping Machines", being Jaqueline's third music video ever. The song selected is "Medicine Man". The video features a supernatural medievil-drama unfolded on the screen (with none of the Jaqs actually in the video). The video is elected "Pick of the week" on ZTV in January, and also airs a lot on NRK Svisj.
February 2007: Jaqueline is an official by:Larm-artist of 2007. Throughout the event, Jaqueline plays two concerts at Dora, Trondheim - a submarine-bunker from WWII. The Jaqs also seize the oppurtunity of getting drunk with the great guys at Pyro from NRK P3. Jaqueline records an hour-long imprumptu rock DJ-session for P3 with Pyro, which airs nationwide some weeks later on.
March 3. 2007: For the second year in a row, Jaqueline is booked to play at the Artic Challenge festivities, this year located at Rockefeller, Oslo.
April 2007: Jaqueline hits the stage at Rockefeller, Oslo, being a part of Coke and Itunes' joint-venture "Take-off"-concept. Based on this performance, Jaqueline is booked to the twin festivals Southside and Hurricane in Germany in the summer of 2007 - being Jaqueline's first appearance in Germany - alongside with several Norgwegian festival spots.
Jaqueline enters songwriting-mode in the fall of 2007.
January 2008: After a tough combo revisit at Garage Bergen and Garage Oslo, Jaqueline is invited to perform at by:Larm for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, the Jaqs have to cancel the show in Oslo because of illness. This is the second time Jaqueline has cancelled a show - ever.
March 31. 2008: Jaqueline once again enters Don Don's Hangaroundsounds studio in Oslo, to start the recording of their third album. The Jaqs finish the tracking of drums, bass and the main guitar in a matter of few days. The recording sessions are then moved to Lowrider Inc / Black Sails Studio in Elverum for overdubbing. Don Dons will mix the album in August 2008.