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Trio of Askild Hagen (bs/ gt/ keys/voc), Håkon Johnson (gt/bs/keys/prg/voc) and Stein Viem (keys). All members had previously played in Nedbør, so the band chose a name that reflected their heritage; Nedbør means “precipitation”, ie. rain, snow, hail etc, while El means “flurry” or “shower”, ie. of rain.
Nedbør disbanded not as a result of any animosity between the members, but because they felt they had had the success they could as a new wave band from a small town. Also, after finishing school, the members all moved around the country. Askild Hagen moved to Oslo, where he set up a tiny studio in his bedsit. He also took with him the label name, Piivv, which Nedbør had chosen for their cassette release. Johnson, meanwhile, started his studies in Gjøvik.
Both Johnson and Hagen had bought new equipment in early 1985 – each a synthesizer, Johnson a drum computer, Hagen a 4-track porta studio - and the duo format (Viem generally not contributing to the songwriting process) enabled them to capture their ideas to tape with a minimum of time and effort. It did not take long before they felt they had enough songs to start playing live, and by mid-85 they had started looking for bookings and rehearsing the material with Viem.
Their live debut was in the small town of Brumunddal, at a battle-of-the-bands type local gig with a total of ten bands. As Nedbør had enjoyed a high profile locally, Hamar newspapers wrote extensively about the new group, and their debut gig was well received: “El from Hamar were the most exciting band of the night. Mournful, melancholy music, with personal, nuanced lyrics”, according to Hamar Arbeiderblad’s reporter.
Soon, they had assembled “Demo 85”, a one-sided promo cassette release of five songs, which was simply copied onto spare copies of the Nedbør album. Distribution of this was naturally limited, but music paper PULS misunderstood and thought it was a commercial release – and reviewed it in September 1985. Piiv (ie. Hagen) issued a statement which was printed the following month, explaining that the cassette was not intended for release (or indeed, review). “We are hoping to release an EL-product, but as yet, economy has put a stop to this.”
Their first performance in Hamar came on March 02, 1986, at an outdoor fest in Strandgateparken. Hagen was interviewed before the gig, explaining the band’s purpose and sound: “Simply put, we play modern rock in the European spirit. Most people find our music very depressive, but this is a misconception - to us it is decidedly positive.” Did they have any international ambitions, following the footsteps of a-ha or Fra Lippo Lippi? Hagen gives three reasons why this will not happen: “Firstly, we sing in Norwegian, that’s never been very popular abroad. Secondly, we’re not interested in prostituting ourselves to make money. And finally, we’re not as pretty as Morten Harket.”
El’s first properly released songs were “Svart Egg” and “Kontrast”, both on the first Piivv compilation tape, “Til og med her kan det være vakkert”, which came out in spring 1987. The compilation got its name from the track Kontrast (a track from ‘Demo 85’). By now, El had achieved their signature sound; rumbling bass guitars, screeching guitars (often played in overtones), cold synth lines in the background and a chopping drum machine rhythm, with a naked voice over the top, singing words that had originally been written as poems.
El had their most high-profile performance at the “Ur-festivalen” – the primeval festival – at Høvikodden, an arts centre outside Oslo. As reported in Hamar Arbeiderblad by no lesser authority than Sissel Ambjør (of Nedbør fame): “They delivered a 40-minute set, full of variation and humourous skits. They opened with two songs by Ym:Stammen, who had played the festival earlier that day, and continued with two songs originally released by Adrian Cox.“ Much of their performance was unseen by the masses, as the gig coincided with that of the festival headliners Wire, but by the end of El’s show, the hall was packed and response was very good.
Strengthened by the relative success at Urfestivalen, El began work on their vinyl debut – a three-track 7” EP. All three songs were written in 1985: “We played a lot then, and were very creative. It’s been variable since, as we all study in different parts and can’t always meet as often as we’d like to”, said Johnson to Hamar Arbeiderblad. Two of the songs, “Visshet” and “Lykkeønskninger” could be found on the 1985 demo cassette, while “Et Hvilested” had been released on a compilation cassette “FFFFF” in May 1986. All songs were re-recorded for this release however, and there were notable changes in the arrangements. The songs were recorded at Wide Studio, a small studio run by the members of Den Tredje Generasjon in the basement of legendary Oslo punk squat, Blitz.
The EP was pressed in 500 copies, hand numbered by Hagen and released on their own Piivv Grill imprint in January 1988. At this point, however, the DIY movement had all but imploded, distribution was becoming difficult, and the record sold poorly.
Possibly as a reaction to the general criticism of their melancholy, El’s next recordings were surprisingly two covers of popular Norwegian children’s songs, released on Piivv compilation cassette “Souvenirs Novelties Partytrix”, released for the label’s 5th anniversary in 1988. The last song they released was back to form again though; “Hjemkomst”, a 90-seconds effort with a melancholy strumming guitar and Hagen’s poetry recital, issued on Piivv comp “IFA” in 1989.
By the time these two cassettes were released, Johnson, Hagen and Viem already had started several projects that would spell the end of El. First, Hagen wrote a bunch of songs for Viem to sing, as a joke project called “Mormor og de 8000 ungene”. This project enjoyed freak success in the student circuit – no promotion other than word of mouth, playing the cassette at parties and such, but Mormor soon became a student hero and their first cassette reportedly sold 1000 copies!
Johnson, Hagen, Jan Staff and original Nedbør drummer Lage Thune Myrberget (né Børresen) started a new band, P.O. Latvia. This was a somewhat more upbeat-sounding, ‘rockier’ band compared to El, not least due to the live drums. P.O. Latvia (which may have meant “Piloter Over Latvia”) would go on to make some demo tracks and contributions to compilations, as well as play a handful of gigs, but P.O. Latvia got placed on the back burner as Johnson and Hagen started a new duo, the Psycho Halvorsen Brothers.
More a comedy performance act than pop music, their performances saw the Brothers perform highly un-impressive acrobatics like they were the most brilliant feats, sometimes also singing very stupid or nonsensical songs the while. They pretty much spawned a new generation of humourists in Norway at the beginning of the 90s, and in fact, they are active writers in the field of humour still today.
Known demos/ unreleased material
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