MARIUS ZISKA
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MARIUS ZISKA

Fuglafjørður, Eysturoy, Faroe Islands | MAJOR

Fuglafjørður, Eysturoy, Faroe Islands | MAJOR
Band Alternative Folk

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"4 out of 5 glidemagazine"

Are you looking for a great new American indie-folk singer? Look no further than… Faroe Islands native Marius Ziska. Following on the heels of Britons Mumford & Sons, whose songs have reinvented banjo-driven Americana, Ziska is making great American music – far from American shores.

His new album Recreation, not yet released Stateside, is quite catchy, a perfect balm for whatever may ail you. It opens with a track featuring the best whistle hook since Peter, Bjorn and John, the straight ahead pop number “Nice Day.” Carrying on, the album carries tracks in shades of everything from Simon & Garfunkel (to wit, “Restless Mind”), to vaguely Beatles-esque (for some reason the clapping on “Into the Silence” brought to mind “Ob-La-Di,Ob-La-Da”), to David Gray (see “While You Were Dreaming”). Ziska’s voice is beautiful, his singing (in accented English) solid alone and at times complemented marvelously by other voices, as on the haunting “The Middle Way.” The instrumentation on the album ranges from lightweight guitar to fun (see the honky-tonk sounds on “One in the Masses” for an example). Production is a bit rough, but the quality of the music shakes that off.

Overall, this is a great effort from a new (to the US) musician. You will helplessly finding yourself humming its tracks endlessly as you proclaim, to the annoyance of those outside of your headphones, “just how darn catchy - glidemagazine


"He is an amazing singer / songwriter. You'll be drawn into his music, it's really comfortable and warm. He has a very unique sound."

Nordic Spotlight er navnet på bloggen, som henvender sig til amerikanere, men handler om skandinavisk musik. En af stifterne, Peter Scwinge, rejser fra USA til Danmark for at deltage på Spot Festival. Her vil han tage en føler på, hvad der rører sig inden for den skandinaviske musikscene - og spotte nye bands til New Yorks hotte spillesteder. For de skandinaviske bands er i øjeblikket hotte i staterne.

aOa har fanget den musikglade amerikaner til en snak om Skandinavisk musik i USA, og så fik vi et par anbefalinger til koncerter i Aarhus under dette års Spot Festival, officielle som uofficielle. Læs og hør hvilke bands han har i kikkerten og hvorfor:

(Skype-interview i bunden af artiklen)
Marius (FO)
Lørdag 05-05-2012 | 18:50 på Kedlen
Han er en fantastisk singer/songwriter. Du bliver draget ind i hans musik, det er virkelig komfortabelt og varmt. Han har en helt unik lyd.
- http://www.nordicspotlight.com/ns/


"Iceland Airwaves"

Da am Mittwochnachmittag noch nicht so viele Konzerte angesagt waren, wollten wir unser Airwaves-Abenteuer mit einer Färöer Band starten. Beim charmanten CD-/LP Laden Havarí angekommen, waren wir überrascht. Anstelle der angekündigten „Sakaris“ baute Marius (ebenfalls FO) gerade die Instrumente auf. Da wir seine Bandmitglieder Brandur (Drums) und Heðin (Gitarre) schon länger kennen, fragten wir bei denen nach. Es hiess, „Sakaris“ hätten krankheitshalber absagen müssen. Sodass jetzt sie die ausgefallenen Termine zusätzlich noch übernehmen würden.
Nach kurzer Zeit begannen sie dann, und stellten vorwiegend neue Songs aus ihrer EP „Masses“ vor.

Die 5-köpfige Band: Hans Marius Weihe Ziska (Gitarre, Gesang), Heðin Ziska (Gitarre), Sveinur Gaard Olsen (Xylophon, Background Gesang und andere Instrumente), Brandur Jacobsen (Schlagzeug) und Bjarki Meitil (Bass) musste eng zusammenrücken, damit es für die interessierten Zuschauer genügend Platz hatte. Die ruhigen, folkigen Songs kamen beim Publikum sehr gut an und man konnte auch der Band ansehen, dass sie viel Freude hatte, an diesem speziellen Ort zu spielen.
Ein slowakischer Journalist meinte dann auch nach dem Konzert: „dies ist ein grossartiger Auftakt in ein hoffentlich spannendes, entdeckungsreiches Airwaves Festival“. - nord pool


"Marius copenhagen songwriters festival"

Marius

Marius, et fire mand stort orkester fra Færøerne, havde i anledning af aftenens koncert tilsyneladende hidkaldt alle herboende færinger. Salen var spækket og stemningen høj. Hans Marius Weihe Ziska var frontvokal, flankeret af to velsyngende backing- eller medvokaler. Musikken kan bedst betegnes som nordisk inspireret folk tilsat slideguitar. En sparsom, men effektfuld instrumentføring og vokal, der i de stille numre trak referencer til bands som Fleet Foxes.

Koncerten toppede musikalsk med de potente numre "Walk the Road" og "One in the Masses", og viser en lovende fremtid for folk-musik med frosne nordiske kanter. Det klædte drengene at spille til! Mindre lovende var de dog, når de næsten lullede sig selv og publikum hen i stille ballader.
- www.gaffa.dk


"Brilliant marius"



15-07-11

Brilliant Marius!


As most people on the Islands know, Marius has changed style. From being a band which plays rock, they are now playing music which sounds a bit more like Country or Americana. Hans Marius is a singer blessed with an amazing voice, and the voice is a prominent element in their new style. They have also emphasized the importance of the choir. Hans Marius' voice sounds great alongside with Anna Maria Olsen and Alllan Tausen's voices. In most of the songs the chorus is made for three vocals, and this what made the choruses one of the best parts of the performance.
It was a relaxing and meticulous performance, and hopefully we'll see more from this brilliant man from Söldafirði.








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- Gfestival


"Marius"

76% on mess - mess


"Marius Masses"

“This engaging record looks ahead to a less armored future of music and back to the emotional acuity of music in the 60s. An agile synthesis that also happens to rock.” - Rich Goldstein, Renowned Music Critic - Rich Goldstein


"5 out of 6"


5 out of 6 album review from Past and Present music!
Online music webzine Past and Present Music has a review of "The sky is our home", which goes like this:


Last year Marius won the "Global Battle of the Bands" competition in the Faroe Islands, which got them a place at the finals in London and against all odds they finished on a tied sixed place, which I think was great considering how few Faroese artists are even heard of outside of the Faroe Islands.

Marius was founded by guitarist, lead-singer and songwriter Hans Marius Ziska who has previously played in another Faroese pop/rock band called Flux where he already has proven himself to be a good songwriter with an ear for a catchy chorus and great melodies. Accompanying him is also Niels Jákup Í Jógvanstovu on bass, Jens Pauli Joensen on drums, Heðin Ziska Davidsen (previously in thrash-band Hatespeech among others) on guitars and keyboard-wizard Knút Háberg Eysturstein (also known as a solo-artist as well as playing in Gestir, Toxido Rebels and Petur Pólson Band) on keys.

People have been questioning if Marius was a solo-project by Hans Marius or if this, in fact, was a band. Marius has stated several times that this is a band-effort (with himself being the main-songwriter nonetheless), but if anyone should still think otherwise, their debut-album, "The Sky Is Our Home", should make the last doubting minds right.

This is a band alright! One Hell of a good one actually! And they know how to write good songs. Just try and listen to the title-track (www.myspace.com/mariusband) and hear what I mean! Seriously, how many totally unknown songs have you heard this year that match that one? Not many, huh? No, didn't think so! Me neither. Actually, I don't think I've heard a rock-song that catchy this year. With the right marketing it could be a huge hit, that is if there's any justice left in this rotten world.

Another song that I am totally crazy about on this album is "Mr. Headless", which is a re-recording of an old Flux-song, here slowed all the way down almost into Teitur-territory. Amazing song.

...And there is lots more. So if you're into alternative rock with hints of brit-pop, synth-rock and progrock and you're looking for something new, then I suggest that you start by checking out Marius. They deserve to get their music out there. (5 smileys out of 6 possible)



Nice one! Visit Past and Present at http://www.myspace.com/pastandpresentwebzine - past and present music


Discography

Recreation 2012 (tutl & stargazer)

Tokan single by Marius Ziska & Svavar Knútur (tutl )

Masses ep 2010 (tutl)

Photos

Bio

The music of Marius can best be described as singer/songwriter, although many different styles make their way into the mix. Marius started his musical career, age 16, with rockband Flux, participating in the Faroese talent show Prix Føroyar. This led to much acclaim nationally, and the band performed regularly on the Faroese scene, also releasing an EP(2001). After this Marius went solo, still keeping rock music as the main genre, releasing debut album "The Sky Is Our Home"(2005), which both by audiences and critics was considered amongst the best Faroese releases of that year. Marius has ventured into different parts of the rock genre, but with his new setup he relies on a more acoustic and intimate approach. The concept of experimenting with different combinations of acoustic instruments, gives Marius an exiting platform, where his songwriting truly flourishes, also bringing new nuances to his vocals. Marius performs both as a solo act, or with his band


Band Members