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Einar Stenseng

Born in 1982 in Oslo. Einar took a trip to Berlin in 2003 and ended up staying there for more than three years. Enjoying the cheap rent and alcohol of the German capitol, he became a well-known figure in Berlin's underground music scene. His debut album was recorded in Phil Freeborn's Claustrophobia Sound Studio in Berlin in the spring of 2005, with Einar supported by Australian drummer Chris Hughes (Hugo Race and the True Spirit) and British bass player John C. Barry (Nikki Sudden and the Last Bandits). Various overdubs were provided by a cast of mainly Berlin based musicians. Among these were but one German (Jochen Arbeit of Einstürzende Neubauten/Die Haut fame). The musical relationship between Einar and British rock legend Nikki Sudden (Swell Maps, Jacobites) started in 2004, when they bumped into each other at their favourite Berlin watering hole. Nikki is heard playing guitar on Einar's debut album, as well as helping out with arrangements and production. Einar returned the favour by playing organ, guitar and piano on Nikki's posthumous album, The Truth Doesn't Matter, as well as appearing with him on various other occasions. Sadly, Nikki passed away in March 2006. Einar was one of six singer/songwriters portrayed in the documentary BerlinSong, directed by acclaimed German filmmaker Uli M. Schüppel (The Road to God Knows Where, Der Platz). The movie was selected for and shown at the Berlinale film festival in February 2007, and was released in German theaters in the fall of 2008. In 2007 Einar moved back to Oslo and wrote songs for what has become the follow-up to his 2006 debut. Stenseng II was again recorded by Phil Freeborn in Berlin in May 2009. It was chiefly a live-in-the-studio recording, with the Messrs. Hughes and Barry, as well as Norwegian guitarists Frode Bjørnstad and Roger Græsberg. In Oslo a number of guest musicians broadened the musical palette under the supervision of engineer Andreas Berzcelly.