"After seeing them live twice in a short while I realized that
there was nothing to it. This I've got to sign. Regardless of the fact
that I didn't plan to sign new artists at that time". In early
1995 Mine signed a recording contract with Massproduktion. The band
at then was a trio; bass, saxophone and vocals - and their lively yet
quiet and unobtrusive music was striking. At the time we were enthusiastic.
Now we are ecstatic!
The recordings began in June 1995 with Martin
"Nĺid" Landquist as producer. Martin
proved to the exactly the right person to bring out
both the mildness and the bite of Mine's music.
It took a long time and many different studios,
but the record kept growing. From the original trio
the size of the band has both grown and shrunk,
consistently with vocalist Emma Holmér as a natural
hub and focus. Her imaginative songs and fantastic
voice is a natural center in Martin's peculiar
soundscape. The result is music which is difficult to
define and categorize. It contains influences from
many different sources, and where they meet there is
only Mine. Emma's background in everything from punk
to cool, sophisticated jazz- and folk combos makes
her move softly and playfully between the different
genres. On the different tracks we find musicians
like Sebastian and Örjan from The FleshQuartet,
piano player Lars Pollack and Blacknuss All
Star-trumpet player Goran.
The final mix was done by Johan Vävare, who in turn has added yet another
dimension to the material.
The cover art was done by Stefania Malmsten, one of the most talented
young art directors around and we are very proud over the fact that
the Minecovers and posters represented young new Scandinavian design
at the prestigious Bauhausmuseum in Berlin in fall 1997.
The end product is big music without ever getting
obtrusive. Mine shows that stillness speaks louder
than thunder.
The debut album was released in the Nordic countries on March 17th
1997 and got a very good reception. We can't recall a debut getting
this good reception for ages.
The single Little Pieces was released 21th of
April and spent 7 weeks on rotation on National
Swedish Radio Channel 3 and also got high rotation on
several local stations. The video also got rotation
on Z-TV.
During the summer they played some
of the most important festivals (Arvikafestivalen,
Slottsfestivalen, Vattenfestivalen among others) and
the fall of 1997 was spend rehearsing and writing new
material with the new band.
The fall also included a deal with Stockholm Record
for the new album and licensing outside of the Nordic countries and
Asia for the first album.1998 was the start of Mines work abroad and
also recordings for the next album. In July it was released in Japan
and in September in Taiwan. The recordings for the new album was finished
during spring 2000 and their second album was released in Scandinavia
by Stockholm Records during 2001. The first single - "Wouldn't
mind the waiting" was released on the 11:th of September 2000.
The band have also recorded a cover of The Confusions
song "Time" for the Massproduktion 20 years celebration CD
- Were
only in it for the money.
Mine of today is: Emma Holmér - vocals, Lars Pollack
on keyboards, violin and sequencers, Ove Dahlqvist on bass and Roland
Högdahl on drums.
Emma also now and then does gig with just Emma and a keyboard.
| Discography |
| Mass CD-68 |
Mine, album (1997) |
| Mass CDS-71 |
Little Pieces, single (1997) |
| 561 399-2, Stockholm Rec |
Wouldn't mind the waiting, single
(2000) |
| 159 109-2, Stockholm Rec |
Freedom Gone Mad, album (2001) |
| 158 358-2, Stockholm Rec |
In And Out Of Love, single (2001)
|
| Mine also appears on the compilation Sisters Of
Garbo (MNWCDX 20) with an alternative take of "Ready to
love"and the song "Mine"on the German
compilation Heavenly Grooves II (Hyperium CD 39101862) and
"Inside" on Heavenly Voices V (Hyperium CD 39101952)
and "Time" on Were
only in it for the money (Mass CD-86) |
| Videography |
| Little Pieces (1997) Directed
by Erik Olsson, Emma Holmér and Paula
Holmér, Photo Tomas Boman |
Reviews:
MINE Mine (Massproduktion) In producer Martin
Landqvist's hands the debut album from Mine has
turned out one of the most varied Swedish albums for
long. Vocalist Emma Holmér is the centre over a kind
of modern Everything But The Girl-mix But with Martin
Landqvist's ability to spin music on a trip
hop/techno base Mine brings out a rich fusion of jazz
tones, dub (a'la Massive Attack) and folk music. -
CO, TOPP 40 Scandinavia (Nordic equivalent to
Billboard magazine)
MINE : S/T -CD (Massproduktion)
Classy, tranquil, jazzy, elegant nuanceful, atmospheric, spacy and soulful
are words to describe this album. Emma Holmér's voice on her debut piece
is enchanting kind from the beginning. Dark blue sounds produced by
Martin Landqvist creates such a perfect art from Emma's songs. Only
thing to what I can compare this velvet album to is Portishead. A couple
of boys from Fleshquartet f.e. are on guest list. Take a swig of good
red wine and sit beside your lady/man in the candlelight and enjoy.
(jk), HOOTCH (Finland)
For more information, mail to: info@massproduktion.y.se