Alexander von Mehren is a 28 years old musician from Kristiansund/Bergen, Norway. He started playing the piano at the age of four and began receiving classical piano lessons when he turned seven. During his ten years of classical training, von Mehren gradually developed an interest in alternative music and started writing his own compositions, especially inspired by French, German, Italian and British library music, 60s/70s soundtracks, alternative pop à la Stereolab and The High Llamas and the Chicago-based post-rock scene. von Mehren established his own studio, The Guestroom, outside Bergen and gradually filled it with recording equipment and instruments such as upright piano, Fender Rhodes, Moog, keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, bass, guitars, drums and percussion, allowing him to work with a variety of sounds in his music. In 2006 von Mehren started the recording of his debut album, developing an airy and organic soundscape with a meticulous approach to songwriting within the alternative pop scene, presented in lively instrumentals as well as songs with French and English lyrics. Playing most of the instruments himself, and continually helped by guitarists Fredrik Drønen and Erlend Alm Lerstad, vocalists and strings and brass performers, von Mehren finished the recording process in the summer of 2010 shortly before spending two weeks in Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago mixing the album with producer John McEntire. The album is currently scheduled to be mastered in the spring of 2012 and also features contributions from members of The High Llamas, Tortoise, Jaga Jazzist, Orwell and Modular. Furthermore, von Mehren appears live with a six-piece ensemble consisting of guitarists Fredrik Drønen and Erlend Alm Lerstad, bassist Chris Holm, drummer Kim Åge Furuhaug, vocalist/pianist Nathalie Nordnes and saxophonist Erlend Hausken. The band debuted at a sold-out Landmark in Bergen December 2009 before performing at Kvarteret in Bergen and the by:Larm festival in Oslo February 2011 as well as Jassbox/Bergenfest in April. von Mehren also performs regularly in the live bands of Sondre Lerche and Nathalie Nordnes and has contributed live and in studio with acts such as Bobby Hughes Combination (piano/keyboards), Kinny & Horne (piano), Chris Joss (vibraphone), Orwell (strings and brass arrangements, piano, percussion), Le Futur Pompiste (vibraphone), Milk / Taro Umebayashi (drums/vibraphone/vocals), Young Dreams (vibraphone), The Sheriff (piano/keyboards/vibraphone), William Hut (piano/keyboards), Hypertext (piano/keyboards/vibraphone) and The Alexandria Quartet (strings arrangements). February 2007 saw the release of von Mehren’s version of Stereolab’s Hillbilly Motobike on The Politics Of Photosynthesis - A Tribute To Stereolab, available on iTunes Store and Amazon.