Ashbury Heights
Encyclopedia
Ashbury Heights were an electronic music
band formed in 2005 in Sundsvall
, Medelpad
, Sweden
. The group's original membership consisted of Anders Hagström (male vocals, songwriter, music, and programming) and Yasmine Uhlin (vocals). Yasmine left the band after the release of their EP, "Morning Star In A Black Car", and was replaced by Kari Berg
(female vocals) as lead female vocalist at the end of 2008.
In November 2008 it was announced that Kari Berg was the new female vocalist in Ashbury Heights.
Anders had previously met Kari was when Anders and Yasmine were being photographed for the EP 'Morningstar in a Black Car'. Kari, who had worked with the photographer before, was assisting with that day's shoot.
Later, when Anders needed a new singer, he found Kari on Myspace and asked her if she would be interested to be Ashbury Heights' new female vocalist. She answered yes, and moved directly to Gothenburg to begin recording.
Kari already had a career as a fashion and alternative model.
Ashbury Heights gained further acclaim at M'era Luna, Germany's biggest alternative festival, where a sound check in front of the audience turned into an impromptu a capella performance.
The magazine "Reflections of Darkness" said in their review of the show:
The following album had been delayed for various reasons, including the bankruptcy of their distributors. Kari wrote in the shoutbox on their page on LastFM that
The album was finally released on July 2, 2010 with the following tracks:
1. Anti Ordinary
2. Beautiful Scum
3. Scars Of A Lighthouse
4. I Can Kill You So Easily
5. Hope
6. Crescendo
7. Shades of Black
8. The Ashes In Her Breath
9. Night Creature
10. Medicine
11. Dancer’s Nocturne
12. Kingdom Confession
13. Unbearable Beauty
14. Invisible Man
A limited edition of the album was also released, including a bonus CD with remixes, demos, and exclusive tracks.
that he was disbanding Ashbury Heights due to ongoing disputes with his record label, Out of Line. Speaking about the label, Hagström wrote in his statement: "I feel that after five years with them without any real progress it wouldn't be fair to ourselves or to the fans to allow them to continue their mismanagement of our music." Hagstrom also indicated that he is currently in a contract with Out of Line that entitles them to ownership of any music he subsequently releases. The label has not issued any statements about the disagreement. It is currently unknown whether Hagström will release any additional Ashbury Heights albums.
Hagström and Uhlin reunited in December 2010 to perform a reunion show at electriXmas, an annual alternative electronic music concert held in Malmö, Sweden
.
In September of 2011 they stated that the band was back on their twitter page after a settlement was reached in court.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
band formed in 2005 in Sundsvall
Sundsvall
-External links:* - Official site from Nordisk Familjebok - Sundsvalls tourist information bureau. - The alternative guide to Sundsvall. - Blog with photos from Sundsvall....
, Medelpad
Medelpad
' is a historical province or landskap in the north of Sweden. It borders to Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The group's original membership consisted of Anders Hagström (male vocals, songwriter, music, and programming) and Yasmine Uhlin (vocals). Yasmine left the band after the release of their EP, "Morning Star In A Black Car", and was replaced by Kari Berg
Kari Berg
Kari Berg is a Swedish/Norwegian singer and model . She was born in Östersund, Jämtland in Sweden. She was the female singer of Ashbury Heights and is now in the band Chaos All Stars and doing a solo career.-Modelling:...
(female vocals) as lead female vocalist at the end of 2008.
Formation
Ashbury Heights was created when Anders Hagström asked his former girlfriend, Yasmine, if she wanted to sing on his demos. The newly formed band was signed by record label Out of Line soon after, and from then they attained wider recognition.Yasmine Uhlins departure (2008)
Yasmine announced her departure from the band in November 2008 in Hamburg at the last concert of the Out Of line festival tour. On her blog, she wrote:Kari Berg joins the band (2008)
Anders sought a new singer and found the Swedish-Norwegian model / singer / actress Kari Berg. Previous to joining Ashbury Heights, she focused mostly on singing opera, though she preferred to listen 80’s Goth.In November 2008 it was announced that Kari Berg was the new female vocalist in Ashbury Heights.
Anders had previously met Kari was when Anders and Yasmine were being photographed for the EP 'Morningstar in a Black Car'. Kari, who had worked with the photographer before, was assisting with that day's shoot.
Later, when Anders needed a new singer, he found Kari on Myspace and asked her if she would be interested to be Ashbury Heights' new female vocalist. She answered yes, and moved directly to Gothenburg to begin recording.
Kari already had a career as a fashion and alternative model.
Kari's début (2009)
The band met with positive critical reception, overcoming doubts about Kari's voice, at their first performance with their new lead female vocalist at Gothic Festival in Waregem, Belgium 24/7 in 2009.Ashbury Heights gained further acclaim at M'era Luna, Germany's biggest alternative festival, where a sound check in front of the audience turned into an impromptu a capella performance.
The magazine "Reflections of Darkness" said in their review of the show:
Take Cair Paramour (2010)
The record Take Cair Paramour is the first record with Kari Berg as the lead female vocalist.The following album had been delayed for various reasons, including the bankruptcy of their distributors. Kari wrote in the shoutbox on their page on LastFM that
The album was finally released on July 2, 2010 with the following tracks:
1. Anti Ordinary
2. Beautiful Scum
3. Scars Of A Lighthouse
4. I Can Kill You So Easily
5. Hope
6. Crescendo
7. Shades of Black
8. The Ashes In Her Breath
9. Night Creature
10. Medicine
11. Dancer’s Nocturne
12. Kingdom Confession
13. Unbearable Beauty
14. Invisible Man
A limited edition of the album was also released, including a bonus CD with remixes, demos, and exclusive tracks.
Disbandment (2010)
In October 2010, Anders Hagström announced via FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
that he was disbanding Ashbury Heights due to ongoing disputes with his record label, Out of Line. Speaking about the label, Hagström wrote in his statement: "I feel that after five years with them without any real progress it wouldn't be fair to ourselves or to the fans to allow them to continue their mismanagement of our music." Hagstrom also indicated that he is currently in a contract with Out of Line that entitles them to ownership of any music he subsequently releases. The label has not issued any statements about the disagreement. It is currently unknown whether Hagström will release any additional Ashbury Heights albums.
Hagström and Uhlin reunited in December 2010 to perform a reunion show at electriXmas, an annual alternative electronic music concert held in Malmö, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
In September of 2011 they stated that the band was back on their twitter page after a settlement was reached in court.
Live supporting musicians
- Johan Andersson – keyboards (2008-)
- Tomas Gunnarson - keyboards (2009 on Synapsi in Finland)
With Yasmine
- 2005: Angora Overdrive – DemoDemo (music)A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
- 2005: Parliament Of Rooks – DemoDemo (music)A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
- 2005: Ashbury Heights – DemoDemo (music)A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
- 2006: Angora Overdrive – SingleSingle (music)In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
- 2007: Three Cheers for the Newlydeads – AlbumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
- 2008: Morning Star In A Black Car – EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- 2010: Origins - CompilationCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of Three Cheers for the Newlydeads & the Morning Star In A Black Car EP.