Biography
Otto Andreas Totland was born in Porsgrunn, Norway 1979. He started composing music using computers, but soon found the tools limiting effects on creativity. The simple complexity of the piano drew him further and further away from the digital – finding more joy in a single sustaining string than the limitless impossibilities of the virtual.
Being a self taught pianist; Otto developed a unique and personal compositional style. Drawing inspiration from a deep history of Norwegian folk music, romantic-era composers and early Scandinavian jazz – he weaves a minimalistic, melancholic and meditative soundscape.
His music transports you from the cacophony of life, to a cabin deep in the Norwegian wilderness. As you lay your head on the piano everything else fades away – it's just you, Otto and the piano – a fragile, beautiful and intimate space making way for quiet introspection.
Otto's career started with Deaf Center – an ongoing project in collaboration with his close childhood friend Erik Skodvin. Totland's gentle and melodic piano work provides a haunting relief to Erik's dark, sometimes brooding, ambient noise and deep strings.
In collaboration with Huw Roberts on the Serein label, Otto further cements his love for ambient music with Nest – creating a highly cinematic experience as he does with all his music.
Every composition takes you on a journey to a different place, weaving stories from sound – powerful yet gentle, always hopefully melancholic.
With Companion, Otto A Totland completes his trilogy of personal, sparse piano compositions, following in the footsteps of 2014´s Pinô and 2017´s The Lost..
All three records are released by Sonic Pieces in hand-crafted limited edition covers as a statement showing that craftmanship and humanity still exists in this world constantly moving towards the exact opposite.