27-year-old rapper Eivind Øygarden aka Ivan Ave grew up in the famed Telemark county in north-eastern Norway, but is now firmly based in Oslo where he works as a grade school teacher and is part of the creative collective Mutual Intentions. Who says you can't be a superhero both day and night?
After collaborating with Norwegian producer/DJ Fredfades on several stellar albums, Ivan Ave released his debut solo full-length in early 2016 on German label Jakarta Records. The eleven outstanding tracks on 'Helping Hands' were produced by Mndsgn who will also be producing the next album.
The sublime "Free Shit" as well as the outstanding "I Do" (Featuring Nanna B.), and "The Circle" all showcase Ivan Ave's superb voice and style to great effect.
The videos leave something to be desired, but they do possess a certain DIY charm.
The artist played a number of solo, supportive and festival shows in the UK and continental Europe this year, but currently there are no gigs listed on Facebook or on Songkick.
NOTE: I blogged about Mndsgn last week:
http://latenightdj.blogspot.dk/2016/09/mndsgn-cosmic-perspective-intro-cosmic.html
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/helping-hands/id1074292929
https://www.facebook.com/ivanave
https://soundcloud.com/ivanave
