HighasaKite

Norwegian indie rock band Highasakite formed when vocalist Ingrid Håvik met drummer Trond Bersu while studying jazz at the Trondheim Jazz Conservatory. Starting as a duo, they soon recruited producer Thomas Dahl to help out on bass and guitar, while also adding Øystein Skar to play synthesizer. Once bonded together, they spent six months working on their debut album. All That Floats Will Rain was released in early 2012 by Riot Factory Records in Norway, and the tightly wound, dramatic style of indie rock on display found favor with critics. After the album's release the band began to play live shows, adding Marte Eberson on synthesizer and Kristoffer Lo on guitar, percussion, flugabone, and tuba to fill out the sound. The band played many prestigious festivals during 2012, including Øya in Norway and Iceland Airwaves. While working on a follow-up album, the band turned to the U.S. market in early 2013 with the release of the In and Out of Weeks EP (which consists of the first five songs from All That Floats Will Rain) on Propeller Records. They entered the studio with Norwegian producer Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim (Ida Jenshus, Katzenjammer) and recorded their debut full-length, Silent Treatment, which arrived in 2014. The album was a major success in Norway, reaching number one on the pop charts and earning Highasakite a Spellemannprisen (the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy Award) for Pop Group of the Year. Their follow-up, the more politically minded Camp Echo, arrived in the spring of 2016. ~ Tim Sendra