Geir Aule Jenssen (born 30 May 1962)Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman, , p.197-198 is a Norwegian

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

ian and composer who records as Biosphere. A resident of

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

within the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

, Jenssen is well known for

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

ambient house Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It ...

pieces, often inspired by Arctic or mountain settings, and his use of loops and peculiar samples from science fiction and natural sources. His 1997 album '' Substrata'' was voted by the users of the Hyperreal.org website in 2001 as the best all-time classic

album.Se
"Classic Ambient Recordings: The 2001 Survey"
at Hyperreal.org He has also composed several film scores.

History

Prior to Biosphere (1962–1991)

Jenssen was born on 30 May 1962 in

, a city within the Arctic Circle in the northernmost portion of Norway. He was inspired by the music of artists such as New Order,

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

Wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

, and

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

, which he described as "like discovering a new universe—a universe which I wanted to be a part of". In 1983, he bought his first synthesizer and composed his first piece of music, taking influence from his archaeological studies, later stating "Studying the Ice Age and Stone Age has definitely influenced my music." In 1984 Jenssen issued his first album, "E-Man", released on cassette only on the Norwegian indie label Likvider and credited to E-man. In 1985, Jenssen was part of the newly created Norwegian moody synth trio

Bel Canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

with Nils Johansen and singer

Anneli Drecker Anneli Marian Drecker (born 12 February 1969, in Tromsø, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of Tromsø. She is the frontwoman for the dream pop band Bel Canto. Life and career Drecker's father Peter, a German from Biele ...

. The band signed with Belgian label

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 400 albums and 300 ...

and to

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

in North America, and relocated to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Jenssen, however, soon returned to

, collaborating with the other band members by post, and continuing with his solo work. Bel Canto released two albums while Jenssen was a member, ''White-Out Conditions'' and ''Birds of Passage''. In 1990, he left the band in order to pursue a different music style altogether, and began using a sampler. Throughout the late 1980s, Jenssen used the moniker Bleep, under which he produced various 12" records, now releasing records via the Crammed Discs subsidiary SSR. His early influences were from

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

and

New Beat New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that fuses elements of new wave, hi-NRG,Simon Reynolds: ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.'' Routledge 1999, , p. 124. EBM and hip hop (e.g. scratching).Timor ...

music. Released in 1990, '' The North Pole by Submarine'' was the only album recorded as Bleep. Further singles followed in 1990 and 1991 before Jenssen abandoned the Bleep moniker and again changed musical direction.

As Biosphere (1991–present)

Following the release of ''The North Pole by Submarine'', Jenssen began releasing his music as Biosphere on obscure Norwegian compilation albums. His first Biosphere releases were the 12-inch single "The Fairy Tale" and the album ''

Microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

'', both of which were rejected by SSR as unmarketable. ''Microgravity'' was released in 1991 on the Norwegian label

Origo Sound Origo Sound is a Norwegian independent record label formed in 1990 in Norway by Harald Lervik. The initiative to start the label was taken after Tormod Opedal, an employee in Lervik's software company, in 1989 had decided to close his own label ...

, and saw wider release via the

R&S Records R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1983 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple that created the label. R&S Records has had several subsidiaries, most notably Apollo R ...

subsidiary Apollo in 1992, to much critical acclaim. In 1992, Jenssen contributed "I'll Strangle You" to

Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...

's ''Sahara Blue'' project. In 1993, Jenssen collaborated with German ambient musician

Pete Namlook Pete Namlook (born 25 November 1960 as Peter Kuhlmann in Frankfurt, West Germany – 8 November 2012) was an ambient and electronic music producer and composer. In 1992, he founded the German record label FAX +49-69/450464, which he oversaw. He ...

on The Fires of Ork. In 1994, the second Biosphere album, '' Patashnik'' was released, through which Jenssen continued to explore his ambient-house stylings to an even greater extent, employing the theme of a lost

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

drifting aimlessly through space. ''Patashnik'' contained the first hints of the reduction in beat-driven song structure that would mark later Biosphere releases. Unlike the first album, ''Patashnik'' was quickly picked up by a comparatively large international audience, which brought Biosphere greater recognition. Jenssen also recorded as Cosmic Explorer, scoring a hit in Belgium with the EP ''The Hubble''. In 1995, Levi Strauss & Co. was searching for a new angle to add to their television advertisement campaign (which up to that point had never featured electronic music), and they decided to use the uptempo track "Novelty Waves" from ''Patashnik''. Shortly thereafter, "Novelty Waves" was released as a single (featuring remixes by various other artists), and managed to chart in several countries, reaching #51 in the United Kingdom. Although Jenssen never regretted his approval for use of the track, he also never sought this kind of fame and subsequently turned down various requests by his record company and peers to collaborate with well-known

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and

drum 'n bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...

artists or to create a follow-up album in the same style. During that same year, Biosphere contributed the song "The Seal and the Hydrophone" exclusively to ''Apollo 2 – The Divine Compilation'' released by Apollo Records. '' Substrata'' (1997) is a purely atmospheric ambient Biosphere album, released on

All Saints Records All Saints Records is a British independent record label specialising in post-rock, downtempo and ambient music. History All Saints Records was established on 1 November 1991 by Dominic Norman-Taylor (formerly of Opal Records). Originally ...

. ''Substrata'', which marked Jenssen's embarkation towards an intensely minimal style, is not only often considered to be Jenssen's best work to date, but is also seen as one of the all-time classic ambient albums. ''Substrata'' contains samples from the American TV show ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

''. In 2000, Jenssen released ''

Cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...

'' on his new home

Touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

, an ambient album driven by muffled beats, samples, and minimal atmospherics. Though ''Cirque'' briefly revisited territory covered by earlier Biosphere releases, the rhythm section throughout the album remains an element of the background, unlike Jenssen's first two Biosphere releases, wherein the drums occupied a dominating proportion of the foreground. In 2002, he released '' Shenzhou'', the fifth full-length album under the name Biosphere. This album was a more abstract work, comparable to

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

's 1994 album ''

Selected Ambient Works Volume II ''Selected Ambient Works Volume II'' (abbreviated as ''SAW II'') is the second studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias Aphex Twin. It was released on 7March 1994 through Warp Records. ...

''. The material on the album draws from elongated, pitch-shifted loops taken from

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

's '' La Mer'' (''The Sea''), and ''

Jeux ''Jeux'' (''Games'') is a ballet written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" (literally a "danced poem"), it was written for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to th ...

''. Released in 2004, '' Autour de la Lune'' stands as the most minimal and austere Biosphere album to date. The drones employed on this album are comparable to Coil's 1998 album '' Time Machines'' in their timbre and slow rate of change. The bulk of this work was originally commissioned and broadcast in September 2003 by

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

Culture for a musical evocation of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

. In 2006, Jenssen released ''

Dropsonde A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the dev ...

'', a half beatless, half rhythmic album composed of jazz rhythms evocative of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

' 1970s

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

works. A partial vinyl sampler was released a few months earlier in 2005. In 2009, Biosphere issued '' Wireless: Live at the Arnolfini, Bristol,'' his first live album, containing new tracks such as "Pneuma" and "Pneuma II". Jenssen has scored a number of films, including ''Eternal Stars'' (1993) and ''

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

'' (1997). He collaborated with German ambient composer

on ''Fires of Ork'', and has also worked with

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

's Invaders of the Heart and with Bobby Bird of Higher Intelligence Agency. In 2010, two soundtracks were announced on Biosphere's website, for German film "Im Schatten" and Norwegian " NOKAS". On 27 June 2011, Geir Jenssen released the album '' N-Plants'', inspired by

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

and

nuclear plants A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In 2016, Jenssen released ''Departed Glories'' as Biosphere. The thematic focus of the album draws inspiration from the defence of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

from Nazi invasion during the Second World War. Jenssen conceived of the album while living in the city. On 5 February 2021, Jenssen released the

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

- classical album ''Angel's Flight'' which features twelve tracks based on

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's String Quartet No. 14. In January 2022, Jenssen released ''Shortwave Memories'' as Biosphere. The album marked a sonic departure from Jenssen's previous work - using manually-programmed analogue synthesizers from the late 70s and early 80s to create a more vintage sound. On 14 October 2022, Jenssen released Substrata (Alternative Versions) on Biophon Records, featuring ten alternative versions picked from the '' Substrata'' recording sessions that took place between 1995 and 1996.

Live

Biosphere regularly performs live during electronic music festivals and in clubs throughout Europe and various other locales around the world. Live performances usually consist of Jenssen performing improvisations or variations on newer tracks on a laptop while video art is projected behind him; for example, full-screen video art was projected in his Picturehouse cinema tour in April 2006. Although these performances are rarely tied specifically to a recent album release, the uptempo material from the Bleep and ''

''/'' Patashnik'' era is occasionally featured in Biosphere performances. In May 2004, Biosphere's first United States performance took place in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. In 2008 Jenssen announced a year-long break from touring due to his reported hatred of "airports, security checks, unhealthy food, air conditioning, hotels, etc.". However he resumed concert activity in 2009 and 2011.

Other interests

Jenssen is also an active climber and mountaineer. This hobby is an inspiration on his work, as well as a source of natural sound samples. His highest feat was in 2001, climbing the

Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...

(Himalaya, 8201 meters) without oxygen; in 2006, he thus released '' Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet'' (as Geir Jenssen).

Discography

Solo discography

Albums as E-Man *''E-Man'' (1984) Albums as Bleep *'' The North Pole by Submarine'' (1990) Albums as Biosphere *''

'' (1991) *'' Patashnik'' (1994) *'' Substrata'' (1997) *''

'' (2000) *'' Substrata²'' (2-CD reissue of '' Substrata'' with ''

Man with a Movie Camera ''Man with a Movie Camera'' is an experimental 1929 Soviet silent documentary film, directed by Dziga Vertov, filmed by his brother Mikhail Kaufman, and edited by Vertov's wife Yelizaveta Svilova. Kaufman also appears as the titular Man. V ...

'', 2001) (

) *'' Shenzhou'' (2002) (

) *'' Autour de la Lune'' (2004) (

) *''

'' (2006) (

) *'' Wireless: Live at the Arnolfini, Bristol'' (2009) (

) *'' N-Plants'' (2011) (

) *''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (2012) *'' Patashnik 2'' (tracks recorded between 1992 and 1994) (2014) *'' Das Subharchord'' EP (2014) *''Departed Glories'' (2016) *''Black Mesa'' EP (2017) *''The Petrified Forest'' (2017) *''The Hilvarenbeek Recordings'' (2018) *''The Senja Recordings'' (2019) *''Angel's Flight'' (2021) *''Shortwave Memories'' (2022) *''Substrata lternative Versions' (2022) *''Inland Delta'' (2023) Soundtracks and sounds * ''Eternal Stars'' (1993 film soundtrack) * ''

'' (1996 festival soundtrack, 2001 release in '' Substrata²'') * ''

'' (1997 soundtrack for the original Norwegian version of ''

'') * '' Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet'' (as Geir Jenssen, 2006) (Ash International) * '' Nokas'' (2010 film soundtrack, as Geir Jenssen) * '' Kill by Inches'' (soundtrack to the 1999 movie '' Kill by Inches'', released 2012) * ''Stromboli'' - field recording from the

Stromboli Stromboli ( , ; ) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing Mount Stromboli, one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the seven Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sicily, and the mytho ...

crater edge - 2013 12" single released on

* '' Sound Installations (2000-2009)'' (2015) * '' The Good Nurse'' (2022 film score)

Collaboration discography

Usually as "Geir Jenssen" instead of "Biosphere": * '' White-Out Conditions'' (1987, in

) * '' Birds of Passage'' (1989, in Bel Canto) * ''Fires of Ork'' (1993, with

) * ''Polar Sequences'' (1996, live, with Higher Intelligence Agency) * ''Nordheim Transformed'' (1998, with

Deathprod Deathprod is the musical pseudonym used by Norwegian artist Helge Sten for his ambient music project. He is married to Norwegian singer Susanna Wallumrød. Biography Sten began creating music under this name starting in 1991, culminating with a ...

, remixing

Arne Nordheim Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. ...

) * ''Biosystems: The Biosphere Remixes'' (1999, collection of 8 other bands) * ''Birmingham Frequencies'' (2000, live, with Higher Intelligence Agency) * ''Fires of Ork II'' (2000, with

) * ''Stator'' (2015, with

) (

)

References

External links

; General * including
News
�

�

"De la Terre à la Lune"
(July 2003) Good biographical retrospective of Biosphere (at MIC Norway)

(July 2004) Comprehensive interview with Geir Jenssen (at The Milk Factory) ; Discographies
Biosphere discography (including lone tracks)
at

Beatservice Records Beatservice Records (established 10 October 1994 in Tromsø, Norway) is a Norwegian record label releasing electronic music. It was initiated by Vidar Hanssen who was DJing for a local student radio with the program ''The Beatservice Radio Show'' a ...

* Biosphere discography (with critics comments)at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Biosphere discography (with users comments)
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

; Lyrics, quotes, samples
An enhanced version of the "Biosphere Samples list v1.0 by Igor Boronenkov"
(Usenet archive)
Sources of voice samples in music from Biosphere
at S107

– including ''Fires of Ork'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Biosphere 1962 births Living people Norwegian electronic musicians Ambient musicians People from Tromsø Musicians from Tromsø All Saints Records artists Rune Grammofon artists Smalltown Supersound artists