Norwegian DJ and producer SJUR has joined forces with Denmark’s fast-rising producer duo Boye & Sigvardt, for his next release – the antheming ‘Blame It On Me’ featuring vocals from Peg Parnevik.
With over a million monthly listeners on Spotify and global streams reaching into the hundreds of millions, SJUR has very quickly amassed a huge following for his unique brand of melodic, electronic music. Boye and Sigvardt have had a meteoric rise over the past year, culminating with the legendary LA-based label Big Beat Records signing them in 2018. They already have more than 16 million streams on Spotify alone. The track came together in Copenhagen last year in a session between SJUR, Boye & Sigvardt and the talented songwriter Caitlyn Scarlett.
“We tried different vocalists for the song, but we were sold when we heard Peg’s take on it. This song is filled with summer vibes and pumping beats!” – SJUR
Featuring on this track is also the Swedish American rising star Peg Parnevik. After releasing her Swedish chart-topping debut single ‘Ain´t No Saint’ in 2016, she had one of the biggest tours in Sweden during 2017 and was awarded a prestigious P3 Guld awards.
“It was amazing hearing how Peg’s voice raised the bar for the song and it all fell into place! Personally, we’ve never been more hyped about a song than this one, so we’re super excited to hear what people think” – Boye & Sigvardt
“I’m so excited to be featured on ‘Blame It On Me’. It’s the perfect summer song when you just want to dance with your friends and forget all the drama. I especially love the attitude in saying “I only came to the party so you can go ahead and blame it on me.” Like sorry not sorry, I just want to enjoy my night. So I hope everyone that listens gets that carefree, confident feeling” – Peg Parnevik.
Born and raised in the small Norwegian town of Sandane, Sjur Kristian Gimmestad grew up around DJs and nightclubs. His father was a DJ in the 80s and 90s, and ran a couple of clubs in his hometown. It was this family connection that saw a young Sjur entering a nightclub for the first time – underage, but hanging out during the day, watching visiting DJs and artists soundcheck. However, it wasn’t until high-school that he started playing himself.
Sjur moved to Bergen at the age of 19, to study computer science at university and got a job as a bouncer at a club while simultaneously taking the time to develop his craft. It was serendipity that saw him move back behind the decks for real. On a night off from his bouncer job, he received a call from the club owner; the booked DJ had failed to turn up, could SJUR stand in at the last minute? “I dropped everything I was doing and went to the club. I played a set which, when I look back, can’t have been great” he laughs, “but it was good enough – I was booked to play one night a week from then on.”
It didn’t take long for SJUR to make the transition from DJ to a producer. Spurred on by his friends and fellow local artists including Kygo, Seeb and Sonny Alven, SJUR started learning to make music with the aid of YouTube demonstrations and the help of his friends. His first proper releases on Spotify were covers of Major Lazer & Bieber’s ‘Cold Water’, and Mario’s ‘Let Me Love You’ followed, the latter seeing his debut on a major label, Sony.
He started with an unofficial remix; a tropical house version of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’. Getting around Soundcloud’s stringent copyright control algorithm, he sourced a new vocal topline from an artist he found on YouTube, Chris Chrone. The resulting track achieved over 1 million plays in just a few weeks – and support from his peers including Kygo, and even getting played at that year’s Tomorrowland Festival – an impressive debut!