Alexander Bard

Alexander Bard

born on 17/3/1961 in Medevi, Östergötland, Sweden

Alexander Bard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Alexander Bard

Background information
Birth name Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard
Born March 17 1961
Motala, Sweden
Genre(s) Pop
Occupation(s) Musician
Associated
acts
Baard, Barbie, Army of Lovers, Vacuum, Bodies Without Organs

Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard (born 17 March 1961) is a Swedish artist, music producer, and philosopher.

Background and education

Bard was born Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard in Medevi, Motala Municipality, Sweden.[1] After he had completed his upper secondary education, Bard studied in the United States and in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. While living in Amsterdam, he earned part of his living as a sex worker.[2]

Bard returned to Sweden to study at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1984 to 1988. In addition to his studies in Economics, he took a strong interest in Philosophy and Social Theory with the explicit aim of becoming a writer. Bard has given lectures since 1996, specializing on the social implications of the interactive revolution, and is one of the leading speakers on the European lecturing circuit.

Bard has written three books with media theorist Jan Söderqvist, the first called Nätokraterna (published in English in 2003 as Netocracy: The New Power Elite & Life After Capitalism, as well as in 14 further languages) a second book titled Det globala imperiet (originally published in 2003, currently in translation to English as The Global Empire) and a third book titled Kroppsmaskinerna (originally published in 2009, currently in translation to English as The Body-Machines), in which he presents his philosophical vision for society following the interactive revolution.

Musical career

Bard began his musical career in 1982 with the single Life in a Goldfish Bowl released under the name Baard, a synth-punk fusion project he had formed together with two female striptease dancers. He later had some minor success as Barbie, which saw Bard in drag singing dance-oriented pop.

After abandoning work on a second Barbie album, Bard formed Army Of Lovers with two of Barbie's entourage, Jean-Pierre Barda and La Camilla. Army Of Lovers had over 20 Pan-European hits, the biggest being Crucified, Obsession, and Sexual Revolution, while their presence in the U.S. and the UK was limited to repeated club chart successes. They released five studio albums, made over 20 music videos, and became phenomenally successful across Eastern Europe, before Bard disbanded the group in 1996. Army Of Lovers have later earned a widespread iconic status in the gay culture, often referred to as a perfect example of the postmodern take on the ideals of camp.

Following the demise of Army Of Lovers, Bard founded Vacuum, a symphonic synthpop project featuring Bard, Marina Schiptjenko (formerly of synthpop group Page), and newcomer Mattias Lindblom. Their debut single I Breathe was one of the fastest selling singles in Sweden in 1997 and also topped the singles chart in Italy. Further releases did not do as well, except in Russia and Ukraine, and Bard left after only two albums. He reformed Army Of Lovers briefly in 2000 for a handful of new tracks and a greatest hits collection, and later co-wrote and co-produced the first two Alcazar albums.

Since 2005, Bard has been working and performing with the band, BWO (short for Bodies Without Organs), together with Marina Schiptjenko and new vocalist Martin Rolinski. Their debut album Prototype generated seven top 20 hit singles in Scandinavia and across Eastern Europe and reached platinum status. A second album Halcyon Days, was released in April, 2006, which shipped gold and generated four additional hit singles. 2007 saw the release of a third album, Fabricator, followed by a 2008 compilation album and the 2009 release of a fourth studio album, Big Science.

Besides the groups mentioned above, Alexander Bard has also worked as a songwriter and producer for several Swedish artists, in the 1980s mainly with Ola Håkansson and Tim Norell, in the early 1990s with Anders Wollbeck and Per Adebrattespecially on the early 1990s Columbia Recordssigned African cult act Midi Maxi & Eftiand more recently mainly with Anders Hansson and Henrik Wikström. He was a co-founder of Stockholm Records and runs several internet and music-related businesses.

Religious and political views

Bard began to study Zoroastrianism in 1983, and was inducted to the faith in Gothenburg in 1997 where he had his navjote performed by a priest (mobed) named Kamran Jamshidi.[3] His close friend Trita Parsi, who afterwards went on to become the founder and President of the National Iranian American Council, was inducted in the same ceremony.

On several occasions, Bard has caused much controversy by appearing on Swedish national TV and radio, and writing articles, propagating the use of narcotic substances and a liberalisation of the stringent Swedish drug laws. He has also been a political activist for the rights of prostitutes and sexual minorities. A self-proclaimed bisexual libertine, Bard lived in a much-publicized relationship in the 1990s with Swedish anthropologist and writer Petra Östergren. Bard has also been a member of both the Swedish Liberal People's Party and its youth wing, the Liberal Youth of Sweden.[4] He returned to politics in June, 2008 as one of the founders of the cyberliberal network Liberati, initially organised as a support group for Swedish Member of Parliament Camilla Lindberg, a close friend of Bard's.

References

  1. According to official national registration records.
  2. Strage, Fredrik, Åsiktsmaskinen Alexander Bard, Dagens Nyheter, 2006-03-03. URL accessed on 2007-11-22.
  3. Grubanovic, Ognjen (2003), The Army of Lovers Network, Nürnberg: armyoflovers.net (fan site)
  4. Johan Ingerö: En första maj-talares bekännelser

External links

  • Alexander Bard at the Internet Movie Database
  • Video interview with Alexander Bard (English)
This page was last modified 13.09.2009 19:45:05

This article uses material from the article Alexander Bard from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.