Kaizers Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Kaizers Orchestra is a Norwegian
alternative
rock
group
formed on January 1, 2000. The two leading members, vocalist Janove Ottesen
and guitarist Geir Zahl
, had known each other for years, and first played together in a band called Blod, Snått & Juling (Blood, Snot & Beating) in 1989.
Kaizers Orchestra are notable for being among the first non-black metal
Norwegian bands or artists singing in their native language to become popular beyond Scandinavia. To other Norwegians, the band is instantly recognizable both because of their unique, unpredictable style, and because of vocalist Ottesen's marked Jæren
dialect, shared by four of the other band members.
called Mys. Of its 1000 copies, only 500 or so were sold the first year, and they were pretty much ignored. However, they were known well in the area around Stavanger
in Norway, having played as the local band Blod, snått & juling, and one of the songs they wrote after Mys called "Bastard" got good crowd response. A line from "Bastard" ("A certain Mr. Kaizer took me in/He is the proud owner of the world's heaviest siamese cat") and the song's overall crowd response became a source of inspiration for Ottesen, and after gnom dissolved after disappointing record sales, he formed Kaizers Orchestra.
In 2000, Kaizers Orchestra recorded the Kaizers Orchestra EP
, an EP containing four songs: "Bastard", "Bøn fra helvete", "Katastrofen" and "Dekk bord". During by:Larm
, a Norwegian festival focusing on up-and-coming artists, the band's songs were played frequently on the radio. Kaizers Orchestra's special sound and creative use of instruments was noticed by the small, Scandinavian label Broilerfarm. Their first album, Ompa til du dør
, was released on this label in September 2001. It was critically acclaimed and became a success, first in Norway, later in Denmark and the Netherlands. The album won a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy) for "best rock album", as well as two Alarm-awards (underground version of Spellemannprisen). Ompa til du dør also made Kaizers Orchestra the highest-selling rock debut to be released in the Norwegian language. The second album, Evig pint
, was released in February 2003.
was released on August 15, 2005 in Norway and Europe. In connection with the release of Maestro, Kaizers Orchestra signed an international record deal with Universal
Germany
, taking them from one of the smallest labels to one of the biggest.
Their October 5 and 6, 2005 performances at Vega, in Copenhagen
, Denmark, were recorded for a live DVD, titled Viva La Vega
, and double CD, Live at Vega
. A book, written in Nynorsk
by Geir Zahl's older brother Jan, called Kontroll på kontinentet was released October 18, 2006. It is close to 300 pages long and include almost 150 pictures documenting the 2005 Maestro tour. At the book signing in Oslo to promote its release over 400 copies of the 3,000 first editions of the book had been sold. The book was also sold during their 2006 "Grand Finale Tour", a tour which included the bassist, Øyvind, painting a picture throughout the concerts and selling it at the end. In 2007, the members of Kaizers Orchestra took a break from playing live. All members (bar Helge) are involved in some sort of side-project, and they concentrated on these in their break time. They only played three shows in 2007; one in Hungary
, at the Sziget
Festival, one in Norway, at Cementen, and finally at the German art expo Documenta
.
, Germany
, assisted by producer/engineer Mark Howard. The audio mixing for the album was done in Los Angeles, California
. The album title was revealed to be Maskineri
in December 2007, and around the same time, the first single, "Enden av november" was released. The album was released on February 18, 2008, with Sony BMG. They claimed to have chose the smaller label instead of working with Universal for more freedom.
On December 11, 2007, Kaizers Orchestra received "Bragdprisen" (Achievement Award) from the county of Rogaland
, due to their efforts to promote their native Bryne dialect. Helge Risa was the only one available to show up at the award ceremony, as the rest of the band were busy doing the album mixing.
In February 2008 the band released their fourth album, and toured to support it, recording the audio of all the concerts. Not long after that, in fall of 2008, they released a live album called 250 prosent
. The live album consisted of what they thought were the best songs recorded while they were in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The album was released primarily on vinyl, but it was made also available as a digital download through the iTunes store. They supported the release of that album by a "rarities" tour, playing songs they rarely played live.
After that it was believed they were taking a break, for the members to work on their other projects and work on writing songs for the next album, but on February 14, 2009, they revealed that in January they had recorded several songs for a compilation album
scheduled for release on April 20, which was then pushed back to April 27 for marketing reasons. The album, Våre demoner
, consists of surplus material from each of their previous studio albums. Both singles from the album, "Die Polizei" and "Prosessen" received a modicum of success. On December 18, 2009, "Ompa til du dør" was voted as the best Norwegian song of the decade in a public poll on the website of NRK P3
, one of the biggest radio stations in Norway. "Kontroll på kontinentet" and "Maestro" got 3rd and 4th place in the same list. The band performed all three songs live on the radio after being announced as the winners.
In January 2010, the band performed new material as part of Eurosonic in the Netherlands. In February, they announced the title of their next album, which will be a trilogy of albums. The album's title is Violeta Violeta
and its recording sessions will be financed by the income produced by their tour in February 2010. People attending the tour are to be given special edition versions of the album. The released their first single from the trilogy, "Philemon Arthur & the Dung", in August, 2010. They released the sheet music for their second single, "Hjerteknuser", in October; in the same month, the single and its accompanying music video were released. The first volume of the trilogy was released on January 31, 2011. Stian Kristiansen has been said to be directing a music video for a song from the album, however currently the only video, "Hjerteknuser", has been directed by Thomas Berg. Their tenth anniversary concert, which coincides with the final performance of the supporting tour, was held at Oslo Spektrum
on April 9, 2011. The performance was recorded and will be released as the live DVD/CD, Live i Oslo Spektrum
on November 11, 2011.
For the most part, lyrics and music is written by Janove Ottesen, although Geir Zahl has also contributed many compositions. By the release of Violeta Violeta Volum 2 Geir has written 18 songs, where three of them is co-written with Janove. He performs the vocal on seven of his songs both on the albums and live.
The lyrics vary from album to album, and many of the songs' storylines are intertwined, with recurring characters being explored during the course of several songs. This led to the upcoming musical Sonny, expected November 2011, which is based on their first 3 albums. The lyrics of Ompa til du dør
consist of stories of a handful of characters; involving war, the resistance, and the mafia. Their second album, Evig Pint
consists of less characters, and more focused, darker themes; life, death, betrayal, drugs, and once again, the mafia. Their third album, Maestro
focuses on things happening in a mental institution and the corruption involved.
For their fourth album, Maskineri
, they attempted to break their tradition and made none of the songs connected, they also stopped using characters. The songs were still stories, but they had no connection with each other or their other albums. After the release of this album they decided to release their compilation album Våre demoner
, which consisted of many older songs that were cleaned up, so the lyrical content of that was similar to their first 3 albums.
Recently they have been working on the Violeta Violeta
trilogy. The lyrics of which are based around 3 characters, a crazy mother, Beatrice; her daughter, Violeta; and her father, Kenneth. Violeta was taken from her mother, by her father, and the only way they can see each other is in their dreams. Janove has explained the lyrics are magic realism and they are similar to a Tim Burton film.
s ending with "Kaizer", similar to the stage names of The Ramones.
Ex-band members
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
formed on January 1, 2000. The two leading members, vocalist Janove Ottesen
Janove Ottesen
Janove Ottesen is a Norwegian musician, born at Bryne, Rogaland, Norway. He specializes in vocals, guitar and barrels, and is a leading member of the Norwegian band Kaizers Orchestra.-History:...
and guitarist Geir Zahl
Geir Zahl
Geir Zahl is a Norwegian musician. He is known for playing guitar in the Norwegian rock group Kaizers Orchestra. The band was founded by Geir Zahl and Janove Ottesen who had both played together in some other bands, namely Blod, snått & juling and gnom...
, had known each other for years, and first played together in a band called Blod, Snått & Juling (Blood, Snot & Beating) in 1989.
Kaizers Orchestra are notable for being among the first non-black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
Norwegian bands or artists singing in their native language to become popular beyond Scandinavia. To other Norwegians, the band is instantly recognizable both because of their unique, unpredictable style, and because of vocalist Ottesen's marked Jæren
Jæren
Jæren is a traditional district in the county of Rogaland. The others are Dalane, Ryfylke and Haugalandet.Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in Norway, stretching from the municipality of Randaberg in the north to Hå in the south. The coast is flat compared to the rest of the Norwegian coast,...
dialect, shared by four of the other band members.
Early years (2000-2004)
In 1995, childhood friends Janove Ottesen and Geir Zahl released their only album by their band gnomGnom
gnom was a Norwegian folk music band, the third band started by Janove Ottesen and Geir Zahl. Despite being relatively obsolete on the Norwegian musical scene, it is an important part of the creation of Kaizers Orchestra.- History :...
called Mys. Of its 1000 copies, only 500 or so were sold the first year, and they were pretty much ignored. However, they were known well in the area around Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
in Norway, having played as the local band Blod, snått & juling, and one of the songs they wrote after Mys called "Bastard" got good crowd response. A line from "Bastard" ("A certain Mr. Kaizer took me in/He is the proud owner of the world's heaviest siamese cat") and the song's overall crowd response became a source of inspiration for Ottesen, and after gnom dissolved after disappointing record sales, he formed Kaizers Orchestra.
In 2000, Kaizers Orchestra recorded the Kaizers Orchestra EP
Kaizers Orchestra EP
The Kaizers Orchestra EP, also known as the Gul EP, was the first EP ever recorded by the Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra. It consisted of four tracks, including "Bastard", the song that gave birth to Kaizers Orchestra. Only a 1000 copies were made, and today, it remains rare and...
, an EP containing four songs: "Bastard", "Bøn fra helvete", "Katastrofen" and "Dekk bord". During by:Larm
By:Larm
by:Larm is a music festival and conference held annually at different locations in Norway since 1998. Since 2008 the festival has been held in Oslo....
, a Norwegian festival focusing on up-and-coming artists, the band's songs were played frequently on the radio. Kaizers Orchestra's special sound and creative use of instruments was noticed by the small, Scandinavian label Broilerfarm. Their first album, Ompa til du dør
Ompa Til Du Dør
Ompa til du dør is the debut album of Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on September 1, 2001.- Background :...
, was released on this label in September 2001. It was critically acclaimed and became a success, first in Norway, later in Denmark and the Netherlands. The album won a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy) for "best rock album", as well as two Alarm-awards (underground version of Spellemannprisen). Ompa til du dør also made Kaizers Orchestra the highest-selling rock debut to be released in the Norwegian language. The second album, Evig pint
Evig Pint
Evig pint is the second studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, recorded in November and December 2002 and released on February 3, 2003.- Background :...
, was released in February 2003.
Maestro, Vega, and a book (2005-2007)
The third album, MaestroMaestro (Kaizers Orchestra album)
Maestro is the third studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on August 15, 2005. It was later released as a 2CD Limited Edition with bonus tracks and videos....
was released on August 15, 2005 in Norway and Europe. In connection with the release of Maestro, Kaizers Orchestra signed an international record deal with Universal
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, taking them from one of the smallest labels to one of the biggest.
Their October 5 and 6, 2005 performances at Vega, in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark, were recorded for a live DVD, titled Viva La Vega
Viva La Vega
Viva La Vega is a Live DVD featuring the Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra produced by the Norwegian company Amazon Film. It features their concert at Vega in Copenhagen, Denmark on 6 October 2005, as well as documentaries, music videos, a biography, and stills...
, and double CD, Live at Vega
Live at Vega
Live at Vega is a two-disc live album released by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, on March 6, 2006. It features their recorded concert performance at Vega, a concert hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 6, 2005...
. A book, written in Nynorsk
Nynorsk
Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...
by Geir Zahl's older brother Jan, called Kontroll på kontinentet was released October 18, 2006. It is close to 300 pages long and include almost 150 pictures documenting the 2005 Maestro tour. At the book signing in Oslo to promote its release over 400 copies of the 3,000 first editions of the book had been sold. The book was also sold during their 2006 "Grand Finale Tour", a tour which included the bassist, Øyvind, painting a picture throughout the concerts and selling it at the end. In 2007, the members of Kaizers Orchestra took a break from playing live. All members (bar Helge) are involved in some sort of side-project, and they concentrated on these in their break time. They only played three shows in 2007; one in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, at the Sziget
Sziget
The Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe. It is held every August on the Northern Budapest Óbudai-sziget , a leafy island of 108 hectares on the Danube. Sziget stands for Island...
Festival, one in Norway, at Cementen, and finally at the German art expo Documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
.
Maskineri, 250 Prosent, and Våre Demoner (2007-2009)
On September 4, 2006, the band released information about their upcoming fourth album. The album was recorded in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, assisted by producer/engineer Mark Howard. The audio mixing for the album was done in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The album title was revealed to be Maskineri
Maskineri
Maskineri is the fourth studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on February 18, 2008. Recorded and mixed during November and December 2007, the album was released on the independent label Petroleum Records in Norway on February 18, 2008 and on Sony BMG in...
in December 2007, and around the same time, the first single, "Enden av november" was released. The album was released on February 18, 2008, with Sony BMG. They claimed to have chose the smaller label instead of working with Universal for more freedom.
On December 11, 2007, Kaizers Orchestra received "Bragdprisen" (Achievement Award) from the county of Rogaland
Rogaland
is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...
, due to their efforts to promote their native Bryne dialect. Helge Risa was the only one available to show up at the award ceremony, as the rest of the band were busy doing the album mixing.
In February 2008 the band released their fourth album, and toured to support it, recording the audio of all the concerts. Not long after that, in fall of 2008, they released a live album called 250 prosent
250 prosent
- Personnel :* Janove Ottesen – vocals* Geir Zahl – guitar* Terje Winterstø Røthing – guitar* Øyvind Storesund – double bass* Helge Risa – keys, marimba* Rune Solheim – drums...
. The live album consisted of what they thought were the best songs recorded while they were in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The album was released primarily on vinyl, but it was made also available as a digital download through the iTunes store. They supported the release of that album by a "rarities" tour, playing songs they rarely played live.
After that it was believed they were taking a break, for the members to work on their other projects and work on writing songs for the next album, but on February 14, 2009, they revealed that in January they had recorded several songs for a compilation album
Compilation album
A 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...
scheduled for release on April 20, which was then pushed back to April 27 for marketing reasons. The album, Våre demoner
Våre demoner
Våre demoner is the fifth studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra. Recorded during early 2009, it was released in limited quantities on April 27, 2009. Unlike their four previous albums, the material on Våre demoner consists of re-recorded versions of old material that...
, consists of surplus material from each of their previous studio albums. Both singles from the album, "Die Polizei" and "Prosessen" received a modicum of success. On December 18, 2009, "Ompa til du dør" was voted as the best Norwegian song of the decade in a public poll on the website of NRK P3
NRK P3
NRK P3 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and focuses on youth culture: principally music, together with humour, entertainment, and health education.Over the years NRK P3...
, one of the biggest radio stations in Norway. "Kontroll på kontinentet" and "Maestro" got 3rd and 4th place in the same list. The band performed all three songs live on the radio after being announced as the winners.
Sonny, Spektrum, and Violeta Violeta (2009-current)
At a press conference in August 2009 the band announced that they were working on a stage musical together with Tore Renberg (who wrote the stage play). It will be named Sonny, and is based on the text universe and characters from the band's first three albums. Several of the songs Kaizers Orchestra record in 2010 will be used in the piece. The musical will premiere at the Rogaland Theatre November 11, 2011.In January 2010, the band performed new material as part of Eurosonic in the Netherlands. In February, they announced the title of their next album, which will be a trilogy of albums. The album's title is Violeta Violeta
Violeta Violeta
Violeta Violeta is a series of studio albums by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, comprising their sixth, seventh, and eighth studio albums. The album trilogy is being released throughout 2011 and 2012....
and its recording sessions will be financed by the income produced by their tour in February 2010. People attending the tour are to be given special edition versions of the album. The released their first single from the trilogy, "Philemon Arthur & the Dung", in August, 2010. They released the sheet music for their second single, "Hjerteknuser", in October; in the same month, the single and its accompanying music video were released. The first volume of the trilogy was released on January 31, 2011. Stian Kristiansen has been said to be directing a music video for a song from the album, however currently the only video, "Hjerteknuser", has been directed by Thomas Berg. Their tenth anniversary concert, which coincides with the final performance of the supporting tour, was held at Oslo Spektrum
Oslo Spektrum
Oslo Spektrum is an indoor multi-purpose arena in east central Oslo, Norway. It opened in December 1990. It is currently owned and operated by Norges Varemesse , who also own and operate the Norges Varemesse conference center in Lillestrøm which is Norway's largest conference center...
on April 9, 2011. The performance was recorded and will be released as the live DVD/CD, Live i Oslo Spektrum
Live i Oslo Spektrum
Live i Oslo Spektrum is a live album released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray featuring Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra. It features their concert at Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway on 9 April 2011, the official celebration of Kaizers Orchestra's tenth anniversary...
on November 11, 2011.
Style and lyrical themes
Musically, Kaizers Orchestra have explored many different genres of music, the most prominent being fast-paced gypsy rock and "Balkan brass". They are regarded as one of Europe's best live acts, with their 2002 Performance at Roskilde earning them several "Concert of the Year" awards, as well as "Concert of Roskilde 2002".For the most part, lyrics and music is written by Janove Ottesen, although Geir Zahl has also contributed many compositions. By the release of Violeta Violeta Volum 2 Geir has written 18 songs, where three of them is co-written with Janove. He performs the vocal on seven of his songs both on the albums and live.
The lyrics vary from album to album, and many of the songs' storylines are intertwined, with recurring characters being explored during the course of several songs. This led to the upcoming musical Sonny, expected November 2011, which is based on their first 3 albums. The lyrics of Ompa til du dør
Ompa Til Du Dør
Ompa til du dør is the debut album of Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on September 1, 2001.- Background :...
consist of stories of a handful of characters; involving war, the resistance, and the mafia. Their second album, Evig Pint
Evig Pint
Evig pint is the second studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, recorded in November and December 2002 and released on February 3, 2003.- Background :...
consists of less characters, and more focused, darker themes; life, death, betrayal, drugs, and once again, the mafia. Their third album, Maestro
Maestro (Kaizers Orchestra album)
Maestro is the third studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on August 15, 2005. It was later released as a 2CD Limited Edition with bonus tracks and videos....
focuses on things happening in a mental institution and the corruption involved.
For their fourth album, Maskineri
Maskineri
Maskineri is the fourth studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on February 18, 2008. Recorded and mixed during November and December 2007, the album was released on the independent label Petroleum Records in Norway on February 18, 2008 and on Sony BMG in...
, they attempted to break their tradition and made none of the songs connected, they also stopped using characters. The songs were still stories, but they had no connection with each other or their other albums. After the release of this album they decided to release their compilation album Våre demoner
Våre demoner
Våre demoner is the fifth studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra. Recorded during early 2009, it was released in limited quantities on April 27, 2009. Unlike their four previous albums, the material on Våre demoner consists of re-recorded versions of old material that...
, which consisted of many older songs that were cleaned up, so the lyrical content of that was similar to their first 3 albums.
Recently they have been working on the Violeta Violeta
Violeta Violeta
Violeta Violeta is a series of studio albums by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, comprising their sixth, seventh, and eighth studio albums. The album trilogy is being released throughout 2011 and 2012....
trilogy. The lyrics of which are based around 3 characters, a crazy mother, Beatrice; her daughter, Violeta; and her father, Kenneth. Violeta was taken from her mother, by her father, and the only way they can see each other is in their dreams. Janove has explained the lyrics are magic realism and they are similar to a Tim Burton film.
Music Videos
They have made nine music videos so far:- "Kontroll på kontinentet"
- "Mann mot mann" - CGI video.
- "Evig pint"
- "Maestro"
- "Knekker deg til sist"
- "Blitzregn baby (Live)" - video from Viva La Vega.
- "Enden av november"
- "9 mm" - Live video of fan-recorded concert footage.
- "Prosessen" - Live video of concert footage from Våre demoner tour.
- "Hjerteknuser"
- "Drøm videre Violeta" - Live video of concert footage from Violeta Violeta Vol. I tour and the 2011 Øya festival.
Band aliases
All members of the band have stage nameStage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
s ending with "Kaizer", similar to the stage names of The Ramones.
- Janove - Sjakalen (The Jackal) Kaizer
- Geir - Hellraizer Kaizer
- Terje - Killmaster Kaizer
- Rune - Mink Kaizer
- Helge - Omen Kaizer
- Øyvind - Thunder Kaizer
Ex-band members
- Jon - Lion King Kaizer
Albums
- Ompa til du dørOmpa Til Du DørOmpa til du dør is the debut album of Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on September 1, 2001.- Background :...
(2001) - Evig pintEvig PintEvig pint is the second studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, recorded in November and December 2002 and released on February 3, 2003.- Background :...
(2003) - MaestroMaestro (Kaizers Orchestra album)Maestro is the third studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on August 15, 2005. It was later released as a 2CD Limited Edition with bonus tracks and videos....
Later released with a bonus CD (2005) - MaskineriMaskineriMaskineri is the fourth studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, released on February 18, 2008. Recorded and mixed during November and December 2007, the album was released on the independent label Petroleum Records in Norway on February 18, 2008 and on Sony BMG in...
(2008) - Våre demonerVåre demonerVåre demoner is the fifth studio album by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra. Recorded during early 2009, it was released in limited quantities on April 27, 2009. Unlike their four previous albums, the material on Våre demoner consists of re-recorded versions of old material that...
(Compilation of re-recorded demos, 2009) - Violeta VioletaVioleta VioletaVioleta Violeta is a series of studio albums by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, comprising their sixth, seventh, and eighth studio albums. The album trilogy is being released throughout 2011 and 2012....
(2011/2012)- Violeta Violeta Vol. I (Jan. 2011)
- Violeta Violeta Vol. II (Nov. 2011)
- Violeta Violeta Vol. III (Nov. 2012)
EPs
- Kaizers Orchestra EPKaizers Orchestra EPThe Kaizers Orchestra EP, also known as the Gul EP, was the first EP ever recorded by the Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra. It consisted of four tracks, including "Bastard", the song that gave birth to Kaizers Orchestra. Only a 1000 copies were made, and today, it remains rare and...
aka Gul EP (2000) - Død manns tango (2002)
- Mann mot mann (2002)
- MaestroMaestro (EP)Maestro is a single/EP released by the Norwegian rock band Kaizers Orchestra in 2005.-Track listing:#"Maestro"#"På ditt skift"#"D-Dagen"#"Sorti""D-Dagen" and "Sorti" are non-album tracks....
(2005) - Maestro Bonus CD (2005)
- En for orgelet, en for meg (2011)
Live recordings
- The Gypsy Finale (EP, 2004)
- Live at VegaLive at VegaLive at Vega is a two-disc live album released by Norwegian alternative rock group Kaizers Orchestra, on March 6, 2006. It features their recorded concert performance at Vega, a concert hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 6, 2005...
(2006) - Viva La VegaViva La VegaViva La Vega is a Live DVD featuring the Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra produced by the Norwegian company Amazon Film. It features their concert at Vega in Copenhagen, Denmark on 6 October 2005, as well as documentaries, music videos, a biography, and stills...
(DVD, 2006) - 250 prosent250 prosent- Personnel :* Janove Ottesen – vocals* Geir Zahl – guitar* Terje Winterstø Røthing – guitar* Øyvind Storesund – double bass* Helge Risa – keys, marimba* Rune Solheim – drums...
(2008) - Live i Oslo SpektrumLive i Oslo SpektrumLive i Oslo Spektrum is a live album released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray featuring Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra. It features their concert at Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway on 9 April 2011, the official celebration of Kaizers Orchestra's tenth anniversary...
(DVD/Blu-ray & CD, 2011)
Miscellaneous releases
- Stolpesko - Contributed the song "Markveien" (2002)
- Kontroll på kontinentet - Auto-biographical book by Jan Zahl (2006)
- Hjertestups - Contributed the song "Smil Far" (2010)
- Sonny - Stage musical based on Kaizers' first three albums (2011)
- There is also a Danish version, titled Maestro
Singles
- "Kontroll på kontinentet" (2003)
- "Di grind" (2003)
- "MaestroMaestro (EP)Maestro is a single/EP released by the Norwegian rock band Kaizers Orchestra in 2005.-Track listing:#"Maestro"#"På ditt skift"#"D-Dagen"#"Sorti""D-Dagen" and "Sorti" are non-album tracks....
" (2005) - "Knekker deg til sist" (2005)
- "Blitzregn baby (Live)" (2006)
- "Enden av november" (iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
single) (2007) - "9 mm" (iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Single) (2008) - "Apokalyps meg" / "Du og meg Lou, og din fru" (Vinyl single) (2008)
- "Die Polizei" (2009)
- "Prosessen" (2009)
- "Philemon Arthur & The Dung" (iTunes single) (2010)
- "Hjerteknuser" (2010)
- "En for orgelet, en for meg" (Pre-order bonus - 2010, International EP - 2011)
- "Diamant til kull" (2011)
- "Tusen dråper regn" (2011)
- "Drøm videre Violeta" (2011)