The Postyr Project is a five part group out of Denmark consisting of:
On their debut album the five singers strive to explore the border land between the natural softness and vitality of the human voice and the uncompromising and merciless roughness of electronic instruments. Growing up singing vocal music since early childhood the members of The Postyr Project met through the inspiring musical environment that have emerged around the world famous choir, Vocal line, and the award-winning vocal group, Vox 11. Having had the opportunity to perform with international artists such as Grammy-winner Bobby McFerrin, Swedish jazz-legends The Real Group and Danish newcomers Mads Langer and Julie Maria, the five friends decided to take their passion for the fragility of american singer-songwriters, the edge of electronic music and the evocative soundscapes of avantgarde pop to the next level by founding The Postyr Project in October 2009.
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History
Although Denmark is one of the smallest countries in the world, some people think of Denmark and especially Aarhus as the European centre of contemporary vocal music. Some of the world's most respected and succesful rhythmic choirs are Danish, and Scandinavia's largest festival of contemporary vocal music, AAVF, takes place in Aarhus.The world famous XL-vocal group, Vocal Line has as their proclaimed goal to act as a front-runner of the development of rhythmic choir singing. This is the foundation from which the new electronic vocal group, Postyr, arise.
Postyr was founded due to a deep desire to renew the a cappella genre by creating new music written especially for this ensemble type and new arrangement techniques that make use of electronic equipment such as loop stations, kaoss pads, laptops and a new kind of software developed exclusively for Postyr. Postyr was formed as a group in October 2009. The group initially consisted of Tine Fris, Line Groth, Andreas Bech, Kristoffer Fynbo Thorning and Christian Steen Noringriis. For the first couple of months Postyr spent most of their time in the "a cappella lap" trying to figure out what styles and genres fit them the best. Just before Christmas, Christian announced that he wanted to spend more time on his piano studies at the Royal Academy of Music, and therefore had to leave the group.
At the beginning of the new year the rest of Postyr searched for a new singer and the choice fell on barytone, Morten Vinther. Shortly after Morten's arrival, Postyr headed for the Corona Studio to record their first three songs. In the studio the Postyr sound began to take shape and after the recording sessions the group was finally ready to enter the stage for the first time.
Postyr released their first EP in June, 2010. Shortly thereafter the group won the 1st price at the competition of the SoleVoci A Cappella festival in Varese, Nortern Italy. And after returning to Denmark they appeared on Danish Television for the first time. This was a very happy and eventful time for Postyr, but at the same time it marked yet another turningpoint in the short life of the group. Morten Vinther had been asked to join the world famous vocal group, The Real Group, and had to move to Sweden in the fall, 2010.Postyr was both happy and proud on Mortens behalf, but also worried about which consequences it would have for Postyr. Fortunately, the group was introduced to barytone, Anders.
Hornshøj. Anders studies singing and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg, Denmark and sings in the awardwinning Danish vocal group, Vox11.
Anders joined Postyr in the beginning of August 2010. In the fall of 2010 Postyr started the preparations for the recording of their debutalbum writing new songs, exploring the possibilities of the ever evolving technical setup, raising money and making arrangements with new the people involved in the process. Once again Postyr decided to record and mix the tracks at Corona Studio - that is most of the tracks. Morten Vinther invited Kristoffer and Andreas to spend a weekend recording with him in The Real Studio. Watch the podcast from the trip here…
Morten also came to our aid as a true life saver, mixing the last track "An Open Chapter" only a few hours before the deadline. As the final icing on the cake, Line and Andreas went to Copenhagen to have Jan Elliasson master the final mix of the album. A long the way Tine and Kristoffer had met up with graphic designer, Ruth Crone Foster, who had agreed to come up with a the cover art for the album and the webite Kristoffer had been working on day and night since February. You can read Ruth's blog about the process and watch the final artwork here…Only a few days after the album had gone into press, Postyr was heading for Germany and the Netherlands for their very first tour abroad. You can read the blogs from the tour here…
On the way home we got some great news. A few weeks before we had met up with Gunnar Madsen, head of ROSA and Spot Festival, who had agreed to become our adviser. Driving on the Autobahn, we received a phone call with the news that we had been selected to not only open the Spot Festival, but we were also given the opportunity to perform a showcase at Bremen in Copenhagen.
Back in Denmark our minds were now set on the release concert on the opening night of Aarhus Vocal Festival. We had invited to guest stars on stage with us: Cellist Johanne Andersson and beatboxer Jake Moulton. It was a very special night for all of us, that we will never forget.
Only a few days after the spectacular events in Aarhus we packed our bags to go on tour. First we hit Hannover, then the Spot Festival where we also did our first radio-interview and live performance, then Marburg alongside Bauchklang, then Tampere Vocal Music Festival in Finland and finally Leipzig.
In the fall of 2011, Postyr Project will be on the road again with concerts in Denmark, Germany, Austria and Slovakia.
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References
"Specialising in the combining of human voice and electronics, the ensemble gave a high-quality performance in the contest (…) Postyr Project were one of the few original and innovative participants in the contest."
Amulehti, Finnish newspaper
YOU ARE GREAT!!!! Congradz from Acappellica.
Dominique Heidle, A Cappellica
"Die Energie, mit welcher Tine und Line, die beiden Damen der Vokalgruppe POSTYR die mehr als 100 Zehntklässler anleiteten war hochgradig ansteckend. Neben Übungen zu Timing, Subdivisions und Groove waren es vor allem die Experimente mit den Möglichkeiten der Stimmfärbung, welche die Teilnehmer nachhaltig beeindruckten. So verwundert es nicht, dass am Ende des Workshops der bereits zuvor durch die Musiklehrer der Schule vorbereitete Song "The Day Ater Tomorrow" dreistimmig nicht nur sicher, sondern zudem mit unerwartet ausgefeilter Musikalität von den Schülern dargeboten wurde.
Ihr Können nicht nur als Gesangspädagogen sondern vor allem als ausübende Künstler präsentierte das insgesamt fünfköpfige Ensemble POSTYR im Anschluss an den Workshop in der vollbesetzen Aula den Schülern der HLS. POSTYR ist alles andere als gewöhnlich: geschickt kombinieren sie skandinavische Sounds mit geloopten Beats. Diese moderne Art der Vokalmusik fand bei den Schüler sehr großen Anklang und machte viel Werbung für dem kreativen Umgang mit der eigenen Stimme fern der Nordkurve."
Frank Katemann, singer in Juicebox and teacher at Helene-Lange-Schule, Hannover
I am totally in love with the unique version of In Vernalis Temporis! So well done, Line, and so well performed, Postyr :-)
Jens Johansen, Vocal Line
The level of music and innovation coming out of Vocal Line and POSTYR coupled with the talent and inspiration from the world's best vocalist, The Official Bobby McFerrin Page, has inspired a new dedication to my art that will keep me busy for a long time. Thank you, AAVF for making all this possible!
Jake Moulton, House Jacks
"Walking" by Postyr is one of the best songs I've ever heard. I'm honestly not sure I can handle how much I'm in love with this track."
Tom Anderson
"Thank you so much for that great concert in cologne yesterday - i love you guys - your musical approach, your songwriting, arranging, singing - it´s fresh and very special: just great! keep on doin´what you do!! (…)
Sascha Cohn, Bonner Jazzchor
"Postyr (…) presented an amazing fusion of popular songwriting, experimental electronics and no fear of including a cello or an acoustic guitar if they think it fits. Tine, Line, Andreas, Kristoffer and Anders were just following their concept of "singing outside the box." It became clear again: Future innovation in vocal music will certainly be driven by groups from the Northern European countries."
Florian Städtler, Vocal Blog and SpielPlanVier
"(…) For me, this was the discovery-delight of the festival. Peder (Karlson, formerly the Real Group) had warned me of their awesomeness, and they did not disappoint. We scurried from the back table where we'd been chilling with Bill, Jussi, Jake (House Jacks), Jonathon Minkoff (SingStrong), Tobi (Swingles), John Kjøller (Basix) to the front for their set. It opened with one guy and his laptop, and a cellist (point two for "vocal" music versus "a cappella" in our festival titles). It's like I'm hearing a mix of Hanne Hukkelberg and Bjórk on stage – and mostly a cappella. Tine and Line, the two ladies of the group, form an epic light and dark diva-duo – like the yin and yang of the group. Their harmony lines, often built from perfect fourth intervals give it an earthy and folky feel. Then they just...well, they freakin wail. And it's awesome."
Clare Wheeler, Swingle Singers
"YAAAA!!!! Im so proud of you guys! Good job!"
John Kjøller, Basix
"You rock!"
Tobias Hug, Swingle Singers
"Postyr is the shit!" .
Peder Karlsson, former member of the Real Group
"(…) talent og gode idéer." (Talent and good ideas.)
Gaffa, Danish indie music magazine
"(…) this year's winners, the Danish Postyr Project, also had a cool tech set-up that complemented the singers and was well-integrated into the ensemble. They also sang impressively acappella, and one the members said to me afterwards they were very surprised we'd chosen the looping/beat box numbers for the final concert. But it was those that gave them the edge, enabling them to be really creative with their own material."
John Potter, former member of the King's Singers
"...Aus unserer ganz persönlichen Sicht sind Postyr die Speerspitze einer neuen, zeitgemäßen Form von Vokalmusik. Ganz nebenbei haben sie gleichermaßen Talent für sehr eingängige Songs und grandiose Soundscapes aus Mensch und Maschine. Vielleicht nicht die ideale Musik für den Hausmann/die Hausfrau zum Bügeln, Spülen oder Staubsaugen. Aber perfekt als Inspiration für Neugierige, Hörhungrige."
www.acappellazone.com
"Postyr, you never cease to amaze me!"
Andreas Figallo, The Flying Pickets
"Let me say it right away - this mixed Danish group is sensational!
In terms of technique; intonation, time, blend, etcetera, they already possess everything you could ask for. (…) On top of their technical abilities, they feature very expressive soloists, innovative arrangements and a playful and relaxed attitude on stage. (…)
I believe they can make significant contributions in the future - they are already doing so!"
Peder Karlsson, The Real Group
"Finally something new on the vocal scene!"
Jens Johansen, Vocal Line
"I sleep better at night, knowing that you guys are in the world doing what you do."
Dr. Kirby Shaw
"Although the crowd was indeed prepared for a vocal experience beyond the ordinary, Postyr caught us with gaping jaws due to the melody, intensity, skill and joy of being together on stage. It was as great a surprise to learn that Postyr has only been singing together for 6 months. A shooting star in the international vocal scene is born."
Ulrich Klostergaard, Ollerup Efterskole
"...Beautiful, in perfect pitch, engrossing and high class musicality. Thanks for a fantastic concert at Esbjerg Kulturskole."
Jan Rohde Pedersen, Head of Esbjerg Kulturskole
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Was here
2011
Wabe, Berlin (DE)Princenbar, Hamburg (DE)
Stoy Munkholm, Århus (DK)
Klostertorv, Århus Festival Week (DK)
Leipzig A Cappella Festival (DE)
Tampere Vocal Music Festival (FI)
Marburg Nacht der Stimmen (DE)
Spot 11 (DK)
Pre-Spot, Bremen (DK)
Hannover A Cappella Woche (DE)
Aarhus Vocal Festival, (DK)
Huset, Aalborg (DK)
Bonn, (DE)
Parnassos, Utrecht (NED)
Hannover (closed) (DE)
Café Theater Schalotte, Berlin (DE)
Pinellodrom, Berlin (DE)
Esbjerg Kulturskole (DK)
Esbjerg Gymnasium (DK)
2010
Huset, Aalborg (DK)Indre By Kulturhus, Copenhagen (DK)
Testrup Højskole
Ollerup Efterskole (DK)
Vester Skerninge Skole (DK)
Aarhus Festuge, Aarhus, (DK)
Aarhus Studenterhus, Aarhus (DK)
Solevoci Festival, Varese (IT)
Oest for Paradis, Aarhus (DK)
RAMA 2010, Aarhus (DK)
Rytmisk Sal, Aarhus (DK)
2009
Fairbar, Aarhus (DK)Aros, Aarhus (DK)
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Links
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