norway³
   biography

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stage 1. norway history
founded in 1996 by eric melzer and doug huibregtse, norway has always been about originality. catchy songs are made in the traditional style of pop music with finely crafted sounds from analog and other synthesizers being used as instruments. that is the basic foundation for the music. but from there, the music has changed and evolved in many different flavors, starting with norway's first full length album, the essense of norway. released on tooth and nail records under the newly formed "plastiq musiq" sub label in march of 1999. the essence of norway had a euro pop dance sound to it, with big "four on the floor" beats and high energy analog sounds. shortly after that album was released, norway played several shows and festivals, including cornerstone 2000, and tomfest festivals in washington and colorado.

stage 2. norway²
the next 2 years saw several big changes for norway. doug left the band on good terms to pursue other interests, leaving eric to record the second norway album, geometry not geography, on his own. armed with a large synthesizers.com analog modular synthesizer, an MPC sequencer, a vocoder, and pro tools for recording, eric created an album that was heavy on the drums, and rich in sound effects. of course, the catchy pop format was still retained, which allowed for an album that was somewhat experimental, yet still very easy to listen to over and over again. the album was released as norway² in the spring of 2001. eric did some solo shows with the new album as well as cornerstone 2001, and autobahn 1 and 2.

stage 3. the album that wasn't.
the year was 2004, almost three years later and a new album was nearing completion. 15 songs were written and recorded in a slightly different style, with new instruments, with the same pop format evident in all the songs.

if all went according to plans, the new cd, tenatively entitled "iditarod" (after the alaskan dog race), was to be released in march 2004 at the autobahn 3 festival in ohio, where norway was be one of the performers...

...well, norway did perform, but the album was not ready. after that, things were silent. very silent. no new album, not even a new song, except the single "life in 1982" written by ronnie martin and recorded in collaboration with norway. that song ended up being recorded by joy electric for one of their recordings and the norway version disappeared into obscurity.

stage 4. the dream recorder.
fast forward to 2005 and all of a sudden norway is back with a new album of 12 songs entitled "the dream recorder". it is available for digital download from sites like itunes, musicnet, and napster, and will also be available at shows and by mail order on CD. order now and experience the songs and sounds of the dream recorder.

the future
a new EP is planned for spring 2006, as well as some concert appearances for the first time in over a year! check here for info on upcoming shows.