BiografieExplodes through all musical barriers on album No. 2 – with a little top-class technical help.



It’s impossible to please all the people all the time ... but it never hurts to try. That pretty much sums up the spirit within the three members of Carpark North who refuse to accept that a mountain can be too high or a valley too low. On their second album, All Things To All People, the hard-working -- and successful -- lads explode through all broadly accepted borders of sonic- and genre-related limitations. By working their asses off, applying unique musical skills and sky-high ambitions, they have created an album that is completely timeless, absolutely un-modern, incredibly dynamic, and in a word: fantastic.



Ignoring the confines of contemporary trends, Carpark North has further developed the hard-hitting ‘80s-inspired electropop that propelled the band’s eponymous debut album to the top of the charts. With a nod to everything from The Beatles to Europe to Depeche Mode, Lau, Søren and Morten have again tested the limits of their songwriting abilities and the pushed the envelope of a sound studio. The offshoot is an album that is on the one hand Carpark North’s familiar sound and style, but on the other hand pumped up and extreme: the rock elements have more edge and power; the pop choruses have more depth of melody; the electronic samples are bolder, with more presence. Add to all of that, a 36-man-strong choir and top-class technical assistance, and you have a fair picture of Carpark North in the year 2005.
Veteran star producer Joshua, a.k.a. Jon Schumann, who has produced for acts such as Kashmir and Mew, repeats the feats he demonstrated on Carpark North’s debut. Guitarist-vocalist Lau Højen tells how Joshua has virtually assumed a role as the fourth band member: “We have developed a close friendship and a very dynamic collaboration with Jon. He’s almost more excited and enthusiastic about the music than we are. And a lot of work has gone into our efforts. A typical day started at noon and continued until 3 in the morning, and we worked simultaneously in two studios. If one of us was playing in the one studio, the other two were most likely programming in the other studio, or vice versa.”



Despite the tender young ages of the band – two guys are 24 and the other is 23 – all its members are skillful musicians and computer programmers. They pulled out all the stops for All Things For All People. A pre-production of the first single, “Human,” found its way to Michael Patterson’s (Beck, B.R.M.C., P. Diddy, J Lo, and others) console in Los Angeles. He became so enthused by what he heard that he promptly mixed the track -- and later, the rest of the album. Chris Athens (Beastie Boys, R Kelly & Jay C, Nelly, N.E.R.D. m.fl.) mastered the set.



When Carpark North released the debut album in 2003 the band made an exceptional leap right to the top in Denmark. They debuted with a number-one album on the sales chart, sold more than 46,000 units, logged sell-out concerts everywhere they went, and “Transparent and Glasslike” held the number-one slot on national public broadcaster P3’s Tjeklisten – at the end of the year the track was recognized as the most-played song on the same station. Just two years have passed since the debut album appeared, but the period provided bales of experience for Lau, Søren and Morten who matured in record time. One of the most dramatic experiences Carpark North has under its collective belt was a performance at Camp Eden in Iraq, where they were invited by Danish troops to play for them.



“At first we said, ‘No thank you,’ to what seemed like sticking our heads into a hornets nest. But we eventually agreed because it was the soldiers themselves who expressly requested that our band play for them,” Lau says.



The week Carpark North spent in Iraq last summer was documented by a TV crew from national broadcaster DR2. The experience really opened the band’s eyes to the many facets of war.



“In principle we were against the war before we departed, but our stay there showed us things are not simply black and white,” says Morten, and Søren explains: “We discovered the Iraqis were very happy about the presence of Danish troops, as opposed to American dominance. First and foremost, it taught us that reality is far from being as simple as it is often projected in the media.”



Even though the music they love is the hub, and success has been both sweet and overwhelming, Lau, Søren and Morten still have their feet planted firmly on the ground. And they are totally convinced about the need for comment and input from sources outside the music and media industries.



“We went from playing 10 concerts a year to playing larger and larger venues that were always sold out, and where people were almost fighting to get a spot close to the stage. It was crazy, though a fantastic experience. But after a while we needed to just be ourselves again and absorb another kind of input. We were well aware of the fact that we didn’t have to play music to have a life, but we had to have a life to be able to play music. So, I took a half-year to attend a session at an alternative school, and Morten took a course in photography,” Lau says, but emphasizes that Carpark North is 100% prepared to deliver once again.



And there’s every indication that the ever-toiling Carpark North – who consider standing still to be a form of death – will continue making music at the levels of popularity where they left off in 2003. “Human,” the first single from the upcoming album, was Pick of the Week at P3 in mid-February and got massive airplay on the station. At the same time, the track “Rest” opens the current Danish cinema hit, Nordkraft. Carpark North has left its parking slot and zipped right into the fast lane once again.
Quelle: http://www.carparknorth.com/Discografie2006 All Things To All People

2003 Transparent and Glasslike
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