Holst - Johan Fredrik Holst

Holst was born on July 12th, 1979, in a small town called Stokke (Norway). He began exploring his creative abilities at an early age. Music became an important ingredient throughout his childhood, especially since his parents got divorced. He took piano lessons from the age of 8, but switched to acoustic guitar at 13.

From that point he embraced the wide singer/songwriter genre, carrying with him the influence of U2, Simon & Garfunkel, Pink Floyd’s ”the wall”, Roger Waters, the Norwegian guitarist Knut Reiersrud and others. Later on Dave Matthews Band, Daniel Lanois, Gavin Friday, Ben Harper and Radiohead became other important sources of inspiration.

Another turning point was meeting Øyvind Aamli, who became a very close friend and fellow musician. Aamli was the man who gave Holst his first gig at the age of eighteen. Aamli has been a great support to Holst ever since. He would later co-produce, engineer and mix Holst debut album ”Between concrete and steel”.

At the age of 20 Holst moved to Oslo, to study music and religion. Here he met guitarist Øyvind Ekse, with whom he would start the band ”Demure”, later called ”Ed.Note”. However, in 2003 the band was dissolved. Holst went on to pursue his solo career, though Øyvind Ekse would still remain a close co-worker. Ekse would also be responsible for gathering Holst’s backingband called ”distance to empty”. The band features Svenn Liodden on drums, Håvard Måseide on bass, Magnus Køhn on keys, and Øyvind Ekse on electric guitar.

In 2005 Holst and his band recorded the unreleased EP ”Jealous Morning Sky”. Most of the songs would later find their way to Holst's debut album ”Between concrete and steel”, recorded in August-September 2007.

So what makes Holst interesting as an artist? Well, let it be said, that you’ll seldom find such honesty and presence in a songwriter. Holst is not afraid of being straightforward in his lyrics. Inspite of his creative freedom, Holst is always personal in his songs. His creativity is his emotional outlet, or in Holst’s own words, his ”garbage can”. The songs represent the thoughts, feelings and ideas of a songwriter who still enjoys his creative journey.

This is only the beginning....