Important Information

Lorraine

Blackroom formerly known as Lorraine are a 3-piece band from Bergen in Norway consisting of Ole Gunnar Gundersen (vocals), Anders Winsents (guitar) and Paal Myran Haaland (keyboards, programming). They signed to the major record label RCA Records in 2007 after parting ways with Columbia Records. The band cite their influences as Depeche Mode, a-ha, Pet Shop Boys and New Order.In the summer of 2000 the band, now in their late teens, decided not to go back to school. Paal's bedroom was traded for a workspace, 45 minutes outside Bergen, in a decaying factory building. The units surrounding Lorraine's studio were filled with either crackheads or car mechanics. The heating didn't work. It's cold anyway in Norway, but in this ice-pocket it was often so cold that floppy discs would freeze into the band's sampler. The band stayed there for twelve months - it was like self-imposed boot camp. The trio would record a rock song one day, a pop song the next day, and maybe a techno track the day after that. Some days they would start with a lyric, others with a bassline, or a keyboard riff. No two songs would fall together in the same way.Their first releases was two 7" singles "Twenty Years Under Water" and "Lovesongs For An Ugly Girl" with remix of Twenty Years Under Water made by Paal as b-side . The song "Twenty Years Under Water" was put on a compilation "This is Norway". After this, in 2003, the band released their first CD - Lorraine EP featuring new song "Echoes". This was the first Lorraine's steps. In the same year, they were able to release their debut album. They reworked songs "Twenty Years Under Water" & "Sold Out" for album, so their sound "grew up" and became more professional. Lorraine have been described as an electronic rock'n roll band. Their music is filled with plenty of references to the modern rock and electronica scene. In Norway the press have been throwing superlatives at Lorraine's first album. The Perfect Cure is produced by Bjarte Ludvigsen and is mixed by Nille Perned (The Wannadies, Bob Hund and Kent). This album was inspiried by such bands as Placebo, The Cure, The Smiths, Joy Division, Prodigy and others. Lorraine have already done lot of concerts in Europe; in 2003 they have done approximately 100 concerts in countries like France, United Kingdom, Holland, Germany and Norway. In 2006, the band had a top-thirty hit in the UK with "I Feel It". They went on to tour with Pet Shop Boys.In late 2008/early 2009, Lorraine changed their name to Blackroom. Blackroom was chosen because their rehearsal studio where their equipment was housed in Bergen, Norway was destroyed in a fire and they had to buy replace equipment.In May 2009, the band released their album Pop Noir, featuring new tracks "A Million Colors" and "Imagine This".