Serena Maneesh

Biography

Serena Maneesh (sometimes spelled Serena-Maneesh or shortened to S-M) is an alternative rock band based in Oslo, Norway and formed in 1999. The network of musicians who each contribute to its unique sound is organized around its main protagonist and songwriter Emil Nikolaisen. Emil has previously appeared as a guitarist and songwriter in the indieband 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 guita...

Serena Maneesh (sometimes spelled Serena-Maneesh or shortened to S-M) is an alternative rock band based in Oslo, Norway and formed in 1999.

The network of musicians who each contribute to its unique sound is organized around its main protagonist and songwriter Emil Nikolaisen. Emil has previously appeared as a guitarist and songwriter in the indieband 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, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Suicide, 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 hide beautiful harmonies and melodies. Crooked and distorted blues-riffs are replaced by psychedelic strings and vague vibes, flutes and organs, and the structure of the songs are often unorthodox. The vocals of Serena Maneesh serves its function as an instrument amongst others.

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.

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 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. By far the greatest band name to ever grace the planet. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.