Skatebård

Originally a heavy metal drummer, Bård Aasen Lødemel, aka Skatebård, got into techno and rave during the '90s before he became a producer of retro-futuristic disco, house, and techno. Hailing from a small town called Ørsta on the Norwegian west coast, Lødemel moved to Bergen in the year 2000, where he quickly became part of the town's growing club scene. After handing over a homemade demo to Tellé Records label boss Mikal Telle, Lødemel was signed to Tellé offshoot label Tellektro in 2001. His first release under the name of Skatebård, a concise vinyl-only album called Skateboarding Was a Crime (In 1989), was released in 2002, and slowly but surely Skatebård's reputation started spreading beyond Norway's borders. Shortly thereafter, Lødemel suddenly became a hip-hop cult figure in his home country, as the sidekick MC in Side Brok -- an ensemble that, during 2004, was one of Norway's best-selling hip-hop acts. Despite his sudden hip-hop stardom, Lødemel never left his dance roots, and continued to release 12"s on different international labels such as Keys of Life. Although he was busy with productions, remixes, and DJ'ing, as well as duties with Side Brok, Lødemel still found time to start his own label, Digitalo Enterprises, which landed a deal with the distribution wing of Cologne, Germany's Kompakt. Midnight Magic, released in 2006, had a strong Italo disco feel to it and received great reviews both in the Norwegian and international music press. Cosmos (2008) and the digital download-only Vill Stil (2011), also released on Digitalo, veered from raw, jacking house to sleek Euro-disco. CDIII (2015), the third Skatebård album released on compact disc, was his most diverse and refined release, as it drew from Moroder-style disco, Krautrock, and several post-disco styles, including Italo-disco and early Chicago house. ~ Ketil Mosnes & Andy Kellman