Biosphere is the Ambient production alias of Norwegian producer Geir Jenssen.  Jenssen had been active in various other acts such as Bel Canto and Bleep before commencing the Biosphere project in 1991.  The Biosphere sound is experimental and often minimal Ambient.  There have been 13 Biosphere albums to date.

Early Years: 1991 to 1999

Prior to commencing the Biosphere project Jenssen was part of Norwegian synth trio Bel Canto and then active as a solo artist under the aliases E-man and Bleep.  Jenssen mothballed the Bleep alias in 1991 and embarked on a new music direction as Biosphere. 

The first Biosphere single - 'Fairy Tale' - came the same year, as did the debut album ‘Microgravity’ (Origo Sound 1991).  ‘Microgravity’ had been rejected by his former record label SSR as ‘unmarketable’ but received critical acclaim when it was finally released.

Two years later Jenssen released the follow up album ‘Patashnik’ (Origo Sound 1993).  ‘Patashnik’ is still held by many to be one of Biosphere’s high water marks.   The album included a higher share of beatless Ambient tracks than its predecessor, such as the creepy ‘Phantasm’ and the atmospheric ‘The Shield’.  ‘Patashnik’ did though also include a number of more up-tempo, beat driven house tracks, such as ‘Novelty Ways’ which was used by Levi in 1995 for their TV ad campaign, the first time Levi had used an Electronic Dance Music track on its TV ads. 

‘Novelty Ways’ subsequently hit the charts in several countries but Jenssen veered away from the subsequent boost to his profile and turned down a number of resulting collaboration opportunities presented to him by his label and peers.

By 1997 the Biosphere sound had evolved to pure beatless Ambient as showcased on the album ‘Substrata’ (All Saints Records 1997).   ‘Substrata’ is widely viewed as Biosphere’s most accomplished album to date.

Later Years: 2000 to present

In 2000 moved to UK label Touch and released the album ‘Cirque’ (Touch 2000) which continued on Biosphere’s ambient path but with an increasingly minimal feel. 

The transition to more minimal soundscapes was taken even further with the drone-driven   Pure Ambient album ‘Autour De La Lune’ (Touch 2004).

In February 2011 Jenssen released ‘N-Plants’ (Touch 2011) an album dedicated to Japanese post-war reconstruction and especially the Japanese nuclear programme. 

A dedication which proved to be unfortunately timed in the light of the subsequent accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant following the Japanese tsunami.

Geir Jenssen’s Biosphere sound has evolved a lot over the couple of decades he has been active.  The transition from house music origins wasn’t an immediate step change, but by the noughties the minimal Pure Ambient sound  ‘Autour De La Lune’ an hint of house music origins is long gone.  Always more comfortable on the fringes, Jenssen appetite for i has resulted in music that is innovative but not always accessible.

Geir Jenssen is an accomplished mountaineer and a trained archaeologist. When he got his first synthesizer and composed his first piece of music he claimed inspiration from his archaeological studies, especially of the Ice Age and Stone Age eras.