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The following information was written by Sivert Høyem and was added at this page with his permission:
"I was born in a town called Stokmarknes in Northern Norway on January 22 1976. In my family there have been farmers and fishermen for as long as anyone can remember. My mom is a social worker and a politician of sorts, my father was a lumberjack and an adventurer, my sister is a journalist. I grew up on a farm outside the small town of Sortland, we had sheep and chicken, cats and a dog. It's arctic country, there are northern lights and snow-capped mountains, midnight sun in June and July.
The first music I can remember hearing was the Swedish folk singer Evert Taube, he is one of my favourites even to this day. My parents also listened to Leonard Cohen and David Bowie. I had cassettes of Bruce Springsteen and Dire Straits and a few other things I'd rather keep to myself. I played trumpet in a marching band and wanted to be an architect.
When I was 14 I was singing and playing guitar in my first band, and in 1993 I met Frode Jacobsen(bass), Jon Lauvland Pettersen(drums) and Marius Almås Johansen(guitars). I joined their band Abbey's Adoption, and quickly warmed to the idea of becoming a rock musician full time. Robert Burås joined us on guitar in 1995 and we moved to Oslo that same year. Marius left the band in 1996. The remaining members now became the core line-up of what would soon be known as Madrugada. By 1998 the band had attracted the attention of Norwegian audiences and major labels alike, we were signed to Virgin Records and shortly thereafter released our first EP.
We went on to release five studio albums and a live album, and toured all over Europe in the years that followed. Madrugada is now Norway's premier rock band and has been so for years.
I produced my first solo album 'Ladies and Gentlemen of the Opposition' in 2003. It was mixed by Tchad Blake at Real World Studios and released in March 2004. Tchad was chosen for his work on albums by Tom Waits, Ron Sexsmith and Richard Thompson. That year I alternated between touring with Madrugada in England where we had finally startet to get noticed, and touring as a solo artist in Norway with my band The Opposition. The band consisted of Simen Vangen(drums), Lars Borg(bass), Mikael Lindqvist(piano) and Fredrik Viklund(guitar).
For the follow-up I recruited my friend Head who had recorded Madrugada's third album in Berlin. In the spring of 2006 recording began at SGS in Gothenburg, home to The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Sweden's greatest rock'n roll band. Børge Fjordheim had replaced Simen Vangen on drums, me and Fredrik Viklund were producing. 'Exiles' was released in November that same year to great critical acclaim and commercial success, and was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy in 2007. How I didn't win is still a mystery to me. That spring me and my new backing band The Volunteers played sold out shows all over Norway, and headlined several Norwegian summer festivals. At the Øya festival in Oslo we were joined on stage by Norwegian rock legend Åge Aleksandersen, another childhood hero of mine.
My dear friend and band mate Robert S. Burås was found dead in his flat in Oslo on July 12 2007. Even though we decided to finish the album we were working on this clearly was the end for Madrugada. The remaining band members and guitarists Alex Kloster-Jensen and Cato Salsa toured in support of the album for much of 2008, headlining the Norwegian Wood festival in Oslo, and playing sold out shows all over Europe. However, the end of the year would also mean the end of all touring activities for this 'new' version of the band."
New album "Moon landing" was released on Sept. 28, 2009.
