The Kid Arctica story started back in 1993 when Kim E., who hails from Bergen,
Norway, was taught how to play the guitar by a classmate, Christer. It didn't
take long before the limited guitar skills led to the composing of simple tunes.
Most of them were horrible, as they always (almost at least) are in the start,
but eventually, she improved.
Kim's musical background includes playing the piano since age 6 (although she
was never any good at it), singing in a good choir (now called Voci Nobili)
and studying music at University level for two years. She has played in several
bands since 1993.
After the bands all kind of fell apart after a while, Kim decided not to pursue
a band anymore and started working on her own. She had a period where not much
happened, then she found new inspiration when a friend, Kristian, introduced
her to the music of Radiohead. Getting back into music, she got more things
going. This ended in collaborations with Death Cookie Man from Vadsø,
Ent from Bergen and Karianne Berg from Hamar. In addition, she worked with her
roomie Harald when recording stuff at home. Now, she records her songs on her
own.
Having recorded some material for an EP, Kim took the name Kid Arctica. The
name has several references. Apart from the obvious Radiohead reference, the
Kid part symbolises that Kim never really wants to "grow up" or grow
into what is the convention. The Arctica part refers to the EP material being
recorded above the Polar Circle.