Serena Maneesh

Infobox musical artist
Name = Serena Maneesh

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Img_capt = Serena Maneesh playing live in Australia. nowrap|From left: Eivind Schou, Einar Lukerstuen, Emil Nikolaisen, Hilma Nikolaisen, Øystein Sandsdalen
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Origin = Oslo, Norway
Genre = Indie, shoegaze, noise pop, alternative
Years_active = 1999–present
Label = HoneyMilk, Hype City, VME, PlayLouder, TouchMe, Remote Control, Naīve
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Serena Maneesh (sometimes spelled Serena-Maneesh or shortened to S-M) is an alternative rockband from Oslo, Norway.

In an interview with "Village Indian", Emil Nikolaisen, the songwriter of the band, explains the rather mysterious word-constellation the following way:

’Serena’ is an adaptation of the Norwegian word for veil...The name came out from this veil you can see, you can see the melody through a stressful storm of noise. That’s what I love about music – you can work with this veil. There is so much stress in the world, you know? Serena could also mean serenity, serene. There are all these connotations. Then you see glints -- you see something incredible, but it’s in the moment. It’s through this veil. ‘Maneesh’ is a rewriting of the Norwegian word manesje, which is the area around a stage. Sirkus Merano, remember that? We later found out it was also the Hindu Lord of the Mind. But it is more a picture…if you look at a stage in a circus or opera, there’s an area surrounding the stage containing a lot of elements. Small, subtle elements that make the stage presence that much more powerful. That’s incredible. If you take that to the sound world…The whole thing is talking about the sound elements...For that reason, it's perfect. If ever two words conjured the elemental nature of this band’s sound, they are Serena-Maneesh.

Biography

The team of musicians who each contribute to the band's sound is organized around its main protagonist and songwriter Emil Nikolaisen. Emil has previously appeared as a guitarist and songwriter in the indie band Royal, played the drums in Norwegian punk rock band Silver as well as in the retro-pop orchestra The Loch Ness Mouse. He even has a past as guitarist in the metal band Extol.

Important sources of musical inspiration are amongst others Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Amon Düül, The Stooges, Swans, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Stereolab, Royal Trux, Neu!, and George Gershwin. As these names indicate, Serena Maneesh is a band built upon a love of musical tensions. Intense noise and pulsating rhythms often reveal hidden harmonies and melodies, while crooked and distorted blues-riffs are replaced by psychedelic strings and vague vibes, flutes and organs. The structure of the songs is often unorthodox. The vocals of Serena Maneesh serve as an instrument, yet the merely decipherable words reflect the tensions existing in the music itself: the struggle within a soul simultaneously threatened to be choked by darkness, despair and superficiality, yet searching for light, hope and spiritual depth.

In late 2005, the band toured Europe in support of The Dandy Warhols. In early 2006, Serena Maneesh landed the opening gig for British band Oasis during its UK tour. They supported Nine Inch Nails on the Australia/Japan leg of their 2007 world tour. [http://www.nin.com/tour/]

The highly acclaimed self-titled debut album was released on the Norwegian record-label HoneyMilk in the autumn of 2005. In December of the same year, the Norwegian vinyl label Hype City released an LP print featuring two exclusive tracks, and the Spanish indie distributor Touchme Records published the CD. In March 2006, the band announced its transfer to the PlayLouder-branch of the Beggars-group established in Europe (UK, Germany & Italy), North America (United States & Canada) and Oceania (Australia). In June 2006, the band released an international edition of its self-titled album (both CD & LP) through the international label PlayLouder.

In June 2008 Emil Nikolaisen went underground with some friends to start recording new songs for their up-and-coming album.

Band members

Current members:

*Emil Nikolaisen, vocals and guitar.
*Hilma Nikolaisen, bass.
*Eivind Schou, viola.
*Einar Lukerstuen, drums.
*Øystein Sandsdalen, guitar.
*Tommy Akerholdt, drums.
* Anders Møller, percussionPrevious or associated members:

*Sondre T. Midttun, guitar.
*Ann Sung-An Lee, vocals, percussion and organ.
*Lina Holmstroem, vocals, percussion and organ.
* Håvard Krogedal, organ and cello
* Marco Storm, Drums

Discography

Albums

*"Serena Maneesh (bonus)" - 2LP
** (December 20, 2005) flagicon|Norway Hype City Recordings HCR-011
** (May 9 2006) flagicon|Canada Playlouder Recordings/Beggars Group PLAYR4LP
** (May 23 2006) flagicon|USA Playlouder Recordings/Beggars Group PLAYR4LP
** (June 23 2006) flagicon|Germany Indigo/Beggars Group 80041
** (June 24 2006) flagicon|Australia Remote Control Records/Beggars Group PLAYR4LP
** (June 26 2006) flagicon|UK Playlouder Recordings/Beggars Group PLOU42
** (June 27 2006) flagicon|France Naïve Records/Beggars Group PLAYR4LP

*"Serena Maneesh" - CD
** (Aug 29 2005) flagicon|Norway HoneyMilk Records HONEY020
** (December 11 2005) flagicon|Spain TouchMe Records
** (May 9 2006) flagicon|Canada flagicon|USA Playlouder Recordings/Beggars Group PLAYR4CD
** (June 23 2006) flagicon|Germany Indigo/Beggars Group 80042
** (June 24 2006) flagicon|Australia Remote Control Records/Beggars Group PLAYR4CD
** (June 26 2006) flagicon|UK Playlouder Recordings/Beggars Group PLOU41
** (June 27 2006) flagicon|France Naïve Records/Beggars Group PLAYR4CD

EPs

*"" - ECD (June 20, 2005) flagicon|Norway HoneyMilk Records HONEY019
*"Fixxations (bonus)" - 12" (September 22, 2003) flagicon|Norway Hype City Recordings HCR-005
*"Fixxations" - CD (December, 2002) flagicon|Norway HoneyMilk Records HONEY002

Singles

*"Drain Cosmetics (bonus)" - ECD (June 12 2006) flagicon|UK Playlouder Recordings PLAYR7CD
*"Drain Cosmetics (Pt.2)" - 7"SP (June 12 2006) flagicon|UK Playlouder Recordings PLAYR7S
*"Drain Cosmetics (Pt.1)" - 12"SP (May 23 2005) flagicon|USA Playlouder Recordings PLAYR7T

Splits

*"Serena Maneesh / Blood On The Wall" - 7" (February, 2006) flagicon|USA Insound: Sapphire Eyes (Serena-Maneesh Refix) 3:12
*"Serena Maneesh / The Parkas: Singles Club #4" - 7" (2004) flagicon|Australia Low Transit Industries LTID012: Drive Me Home The Lonely Nights 3:13

Compilations

*"Counter Culture 05" - 2CD
** (February 17, 2006) flagicon|Germany Pinnacle I/Rough Trade Shops VVR1037732
** (January 23, 2006) flagicon|UK V2/Rough Trade Shops VVR1037732: Drive Me Home The Lonely Nights 3:13
*"The Pet Series Volume 1" - CD (July 20, 2002) flagicon|Netherlands Sally Forth Records SF1059: Leipziger Love Life 8:02
*"Ŏya Festivalen: Oslo 08-10 Aug 2002" - CD (May 1, 2002) flagicon|Norway Øya Festival: Blues Like Beehive 3:23

Digital Singles

*"Drain Cosmetics" - MP3/WMA/AAC (February 12, 2006) flagicon|UK PlayLouder: Drain Cosmetics promo video (Podcast) 3:16

Serena-Maneesh LP promo

*Drain Cosmetics (promo video) - (June 4 2006)

Fixxations EP promo

*Drive Me Home The Lonely Nights (promo video) - (May 1, 2003) written & directed by Ola Bratt

Media links

Serena Maneesh LP
* [http://media2.7digital.com/motion/Serena_Maneesh_Drain_Cosmetics_High.mov Drain Cosmetics promo] Hi-Fi QuickTime for Win/Mac

Drain Cosmetics SP
* [http://www.ampunited.com/ecards/serena-maneesh/download/Sapphire_Eyes_(Serena-Maneesh_refix).mp3 Sapphire Eyes (Refix)] legal MP3

Fixxations EP
* [http://yannickbarcelo.free.fr/catosalsaexperience/more/premium/downloadroom.serena_maneesh.html# Blues Like Beehive] legal MP3 (DowloadRoom! from GrandRockStation.tk)
* [http://yannickbarcelo.free.fr/catosalsaexperience/more/premium/downloadroom.serena_maneesh.html# Drive Me Home The Lonely Nights promo] Quicktime for Win/Mac (Reactive Flyer from GrandRockStation.tk)

External links

* [http://www.serena-maneesh.com/ Official website]
* [http://urbanpollution.com/music/serena_maneesh/articles/11214 Urban Pollution Interview]
* [http://www.draincosmetics.com/ Drain Cosmetics PodCast]
* [http://www.draincosmetic.com/ Drain Cosmetic official fanpage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/serenamaneesh Official Myspace]
* [http://www.subculturemagazine.com/reviewdetails.php?id=243 Subculture Magazine's review of "Serena Maneesh"]
* [http://www.honeymilk.no/serena_index.html Serena Maneesh@HoneyMilk (domestic label)]
* [http://www.hypecity.no/serena.htm Serena Maneesh@HypeCity (domestic label)]
* [http://www.beggars.com/us/serena-maneesh/index.html Serena Maneesh@Beggars US (USA label)]
* [http://www.indigo.de/unser_programm/titel/8004/ Serena Maneesh@Indigo/Beggars Group (German label)]