pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
duo composing and performing music since 1997. The duo consists of singer Dorthe Gerlach and guitarist Michael Hartmann.
History
Michael Hartmann has a past as a
speed metal
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It is desc ...
guitarist and musician for singer-songwriter Marie Frank, but in 1997 he chose to work with his own ideas. He met Dorthe Gerlach when she was singing as a busker in the streets of
Randers
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 (). and at first they formed a group with three other musicians, playing with more tempo and rock than later. In 2000 the duo agreed to play a more calm and simple music, and they moved to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. Here they tried for some time to get a record contract, but did not succeed despite radio rotation and a movie appearance.
The duo decided to go to a showcase in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 2002 playing for the English music industry, where
Tina Dico
Tina Dico (born Tina Dickow Danielsen on 14 October 1977) is a Danish singer-songwriter. She founded her own record label and releases her music independently, enjoying large success with her albums in her home country as well as critical acclai ...
set them up with her English manager Jonathan Morley. He arranged for them to go to
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
to exchange ideas with American songwriters in 2003, and this trip reaffirmed their belief of having a special musical expression. Another showcase in London brought good reviews in the British music press, and finally they got a contract with
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
. In 2004 their first album ''A Lifetime'' sold 20,000 copies in Denmark.
Since then, they have toured in various countries including UK and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, sometimes with support of musicians such as Sally Barris, other times acting as support for Turin Brakes and
Stephen Fretwell
Stephen Fretwell (born 10 November 1981) is an English singer-songwriter. He has released four studio albums and is often compared with acts such as Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, and Tim Buckley. Though receiving critical success, Fretwell has enjoyed l ...
in 2005,
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...
in 2006, and
Runrig
Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald (musician), Rory MacDonald (bass, vocals) and Calum MacDonald (musician), Calum ...
in 2010. Various artists have contributed to their music, including Billy Burnette.
In 2005 the duo agreed with VW about using the song "Lovestruck" from ''A Lifetime'' in a
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an commercial for the
Polo
Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
.
Music
The group differs from most pop groups in using instruments such as
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
and
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...
.
Discography
*''A Lifetime'' (2004)
*''For All the Right Reasons'' (2007)
*''Backroads'' (2008)
*''Dark Horse'' (2011)
*''Sand'' (2018)
Awards
The group was nominated for five categories in the 2005
Danish Music Awards
The Danish Music Awards (DMA) is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called ''IFPI-prisen'' ("IFPI Award") until 1991, when it changed its name to ''Dansk Grammy'' ("Danish Grammy"). It was c ...
, but did not win.
They won a European Border Breaker award in 2005 as one of the European artists whose debut album have sold the most in the EU outside their own country.
MySpace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...