Flunk

It all started back in early 2001 when Folk & Røvere members Ulf Nygaard and Jo Bakke were experimenting with a side project focusing on instrumentals and sampled vocals. With no particular ambition, nor any idea where they were going with it, they licensed one of their completed tracks to a compilation on nearby Norwegian label Beatservice Records. This led to a record deal and a summer spent laying out tracks until singer Anja Øyen Vister became involved. She brought sweet, improvised vocals and lyrics to the project while Jo added his layers of guitar and Ulf worked the knobs. Flunk was born.

In spring of 2002 they released their smash debut single, New Order’s signature anthem “Blue Monday” to astonishing success. It became an instant classic ending up on countless compilations and adding background to numerous TV shows and films. Their follow-up full length, “For Sleepyheads Only” was launched in April resulting in gigs all over Europe and landing them a license deal in the US with Guidance Recordings as well as in other parts of the world.

A remix album followed later that summer while they began work on their next album, traveling to Paris in October 2003 to finish recording. “Morning Star” debuted the following spring with their first single “On My Balcony” getting picked as the “summer single of the year” by Norway’s top commercial radio station. It also got the attention Miami-based label, Kriztal Entertainment, who licensed the album with additional exclusive tracks, subsequently releasing the new US version in October 2004. The following spring the band reached a milestone when “Play” was selected for an episode of the musically groundbreaking hit Fox TV show, “The O.C.” and was then selected for volume four of the show’s popular music compilation series, “Music From The O.C.”. This led to numerous licensing opportunities that year including “NUMB3RS”, “CSI”, “The L World” and “Big Love”, among others.

Finally, in the spring of 2006, Flunk made it to the US for a west coast mini-tour featuring stops in Seattle (the band’s strongest market by far), San Francisco and LA. They stopped in at Seattle’s legendary alternative station, KEXP, for an acoustic live session, which they later released as an EP. During the remaining year the band’s members were busy with other projects and personal pursuits until they finally reconnected in the fall and were able to dedicate themselves to the completion of their third album, “Personal Stereo”. Featuring Anja’s trademark elfin vocals, the new album is perhaps darker than its predecessors but borrows from the first album’s notion of cutting and pasting from the last thirty years of popular music, as exemplified by the title track and “Change My Ways”. Of particular interest is “Haldi” a smooth and vibe-y trip hop piece featuring samples of “outsider” artist and cult favorite, Daniel Johnston.

The band is currently hosting a remix contest, open to the public, and will release those tracks as an EP later this year.