Kari Berg

Kari Berg is a Swedish singer-songwriter, actress, model, DJ and author. She was born in Östersund, Jämtland in Sweden. She was the female singer of Ashbury Heights and is now part of the EBM-band Chaos All Stars and doing a solo career. She has starred in a film and has modelled for designers in several genres.

Kari Berg
Birth nameKari Berg
Born (1986-08-18) 18 August 1986
Östersund, Sweden
GenresAlternative, EBM, Electronica, Synthpop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, model, actress, dj, writer
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2005–present
LabelsOut of Line Music
Associated actsAshbury Heights, Chaos All Stars, Dark Side Cowboys
Websitekariberg.com

Personal life

Kari was born 18 August 1986 in Östersund, Jämtland in Sweden and lived on a farm in the small village of Borgvattnet, Jämtland (famous for its haunted vicarage). Kari currently lives in Umeå, Sweden.[1]

Modelling

Kari was called The Chameleon by a photographer after seeing how many different looks she had when modeling. For example, she does high fashion, alternative and latex modelling. The Chameleon is now her trademark.

During the years Kari has been published for example in Kamera & Bild, Skin Two, Kupé, Marie Claire and Göteborgsposten, worked with designers like Atsuko Kudo, Mimi Tran and Naucler Design, appeared in advertisement for Mariart & Sveriges Frisörföretagare and done runway shows at Umeå Fashion Week and STHLM Fashion Market among many more.[2]

Kari have been represented by Nocturnal Agency. Stockholmsgruppen Models and Wicked Talent.

Kari is also hosting events and has for example been the Mistress of Ceremonies 2012, 2014 and 2017 at the German Fetish Ball that is held yearly in Berlin, Germany. Apart for presenting the whole event she has also announced the European Fetish Awards from 2012 to 2017 (except for a break in 2016).

Acting

Kari started out her entertainment career as an actress, with around 7 years in theatre school. This later inspired her to go into modelling. In 2008 she was the main character in Thomas Di Leva music video Öppnar mitt hjärta[3] and has also participated in an Elegant Machinery music video. In 2012 she had the female lead in a film called We are like Oranges, a film about racism in Sweden.[4]

She has a small speaking role in the 2018 film Iron Sky: The Coming Race, where she plays Lena The Jobsist.[5]

We are like Oranges

The film We are like Oranges is a Swedish film made by Cecilia Gärding. They explain the story as The film's point of departure is the experiences of a young afro-Swedish guy in secondary high school. The film deals with the consequences of that youth in Sweden don´t learn about Sweden's racist past such as that Sweden hade slave trade- a race biological institute that sterilized 63000 Swedes. Kari plays the role of Sarah, a spoiled but lonely girl who is trying to find where she belongs. The film got standing ovations in Braga, Portugal on the first screening.[6]

Music

Kari has played on bigger stages like M'era Luna Festival, Amphi Festival and Gothic Festival Waregem (now Shadowplay Festival). She was the female vocalist of the synth-pop duo Ashbury Heights from 2008 until the band disbanded in 2010 due to the other half of the bands argument with the label. In late 2010 she joined the EBM-band Chaos All Stars.

Kari is a mezzo-soprano.

Solo career

In the end of 2010 Kari announced that she was pursuing a solo career. She started it with a collaboration with Chaos All Stars on a song called We Are The Sinners which ended up with Kari joining the band instead. She has also done collaborations with bands like Ad Inferna, Psy'Aviah and DE_TOT_COR. For the song Deep Dark Desire with Psy’Aviah she also did a photo shoot in a red latex dress by Naucler Design. In an interview with Psy’Aviah, Yves stated that they were doing another collaboration with Kari.

Yves: Working with Kari was awesome, in many ways. She has a great sense of humor, she writes her stuff fluently, she has great looks and a very special sound in her voice. I found it a pleasure to work with her and I have just agreed with her that she will do another collaboration with us in the near future. – Peek-a-boo Magazine[7]

In August 2012 she and Morlock's front man Johann Strauss released a song together called The Sound of the Alarm.

In 2012 Kari also started to guest sing in the band Dark Side Cowboys. She is featured on both Chronicles and Chronicles III.

In September 2016 Kari released a song and musicvideo featuring the band Psy’Aviah called It's Just Words. The song and video took up the subject about bullying and discrimination.[8]

In the end on 2016 Kari released the album Music from Fjärilarnas stad, a soundtrack she had written for the book Fjärilarnas stad on which she was cover model and the inspiration for the main character Vega.[9]

Ashbury Heights

Kari joined Ashbury Heights as the new female vocalist in the later part of 2008 and got a lot of attention from the press. Many were curious about her voice since she hadn't released anything earlier, but also since she was already a known model in the alternative world. After playing at Gothic Festival Waregem (now Shadowplay Festival) they got very good reviews and the worries about the change in the line-up decreased. The band continued getting good reviews after live gigs and also being praised for their album Take Cair Paramour which was released in 2010. In the end of 2010 the band disbanded after a long fight between the label and the male vocalist of the band, this went public with a letter from the male vocalist to the press.[10]

Chaos All Stars

In the end of 2010 she joined the EBM-band Chaos All Stars. Shortly after that, they released the song We Are The Sinners exclusively to the visitors of the festival ElectriXmas in Sweden. In July 2011 the song Forget Them was released via a compilation album by Side Line Magazine. In December 2011 they released the song Autumn Nights with a music video where Kari was featured in, with the video having a strong Gothic feel with rococo furniture and also a pillar room.

In 2012 the band released a CD on 24 February which was called "I Need It All". The response from the media was really good and they got top reviews on the CD. Several reviews also brought up their joy over hearing more of Kari and only positive reviews of her voice has been mentioned. When Kari is on stage with Chaos All Stars she wears latex, the latest outfit from Naucler Design. It has a strong military vibe. In 2013 they released the follow-up "I Need It All – Addendum". In 2014 they released the EP "Legacy".

Their song "Iron Sky" is featured in the Director's Diary for the Finnish movie Iron Sky.

DJ

Apart from making music, Kari is also a DJ that plays on events, mostly playing 80-90s music, goth, synth/electro and Visual Kei.[11]

Activism

Kari is vocal about having the right to be yourself and works with an anti-discrimination project.[12] Kari is also an official ambassador for The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.[13]

Awards and nominations
  • Orkus Award 2010 For Best International Singer ("Kari Berg") – Nominated (Placed 9 of 21)[14]

Discography

Albums / EP
  • 2010: Ashbury Heights – Take Cair Paramour
  • 2012: Chaos All Stars – I Need It All
  • 2013: Chaos All Stars – I Need It All – Addendum
  • 2014: Chaos All Stars – Legacy
  • 2016: Kari Berg – Music from Fjärilarnas stad

Singles
  • 2011: Chaos All Stars – Autumn Nights
  • 2016: Kari Berg feat. Psy’Aviah – It's Just Words

Compilation albums
  • 2011: Side-Line Magazine – Face The Beat Vol. 1 with the track Forget Them (as Chaos All Stars).
  • 2013: KF Kretsen – Mixat 2013 with the track The Iron Sky (as Chaos All Stars).
  • 2013: Absolute Grrrls Manifesto [chapter 1] with the track Under The Light feat. Jean-Marc Lederman and the track We Are The Sinners (as Chaos All Stars).

Collaborations
  • 2011: Ad Inferna, with the track French Kiss Of Death, as released on the album There Is No Cure
  • 2011: DE_TOT_COR, with the track Distant Lights, as released on the album Gothic Light
  • 2011: Psy'Aviah, with the track Deep Dark Desire, as released on the album Introspection / Extrospection
  • 2012: Strauss ex Machina, with the track The Sound of the Alarm.
  • 2013: Dark Side Cowboys, on the album Chronicles.
  • 2014: Dark Side Cowboys, on the album Chronicles III.
  • 2016: Ingrid Remvall, the audiobook of the book Fjärilarnas stad. Features the music from the soundtrack Kari made for the book.

Remixes
  • 2009: Blutengel, with the track City Nights (Remix by Ashbury Heights), as released on the EP Soultaker

References
  1. Kari Berg. "Kari Berg's Facebook". Kari Berg. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  2. Kari Berg. "Kari Berg Model". KariBerg.com. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  3. Gr8Muzik. "Thomas Di Leva – Öppnar mitt hjärta". YouTube.com. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  4. IMDB. "We are like Oranges". IMDB.com. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  5. IMDB. "Iron Sky: The Coming Race". IMDB.com. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  6. We are like Oranges. "We are like Oranges Facebook". We are like Oranges. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. "PSY'AVIAH Interview". Philippe BLACKMARQUIS. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  8. Cold War Night Life. "Kari Berg featuring Psy'Aviah – It's Just Words". Cold War Night Life. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  9. Side-Line Magazine. "Kari Berg releases book soundtrack 'Music from Fjärilarnas stad'". Side-Line Magazine. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  10. Side-Line Magazine. "Ashbury Heights blames label, The Simpsons, in short the whole world for not having success". Side-line.com. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  11. KariBerg.com. "DJ Kari Berg". KariBerg.com. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  12. The Fetishistas. "Kari Berg, GFB's 2017 MC, releases anti-bully music vid". The Fetishistas. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  13. KariBerg.com. "Ambassador". KariBerg.com. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  14. Orkus. "Orkus Magazin". Orkus.de. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
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