Reflections of a Former Fanboy: Marit Larsen & M2M

Ten years ago, if I were writing this, I’d be unable to suppress my overzealous enthusiasm and would likely start off with a capitalized proclamation about how Marit Larsen is incalculably and utterly adorable…much like an obnoxious teen’s status update on Facebook.  

Thank God I'm no longer 19.

Make no mistake, Marit--officially pronounced “MARR-it”--is a beautiful woman.  But, so what?  That’s the tip of the iceberg.  What makes her so incredibly appealing lies under the surface, as any member of her dedicated fanbase will attest. But we'll be discussing that next time.

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Marit Larsen has held the position of my favorite artist ever since the release of her first solo album in 2006. However, that’s not actually where I first discovered her.

I had the privilege of meeting her while she was still part of the ill-fated and under-appreciated pop duo M2M in the early 2000's.

A Brief History of M2M

If you've never heard of M2M, I'm not particularly surprised. They were a part of the late 90s explosion of corporately-backed teen and young adult musical talent.  But they weren't members of the “varsity” team, if you’ll indulge my analogy.

While big ticket names like the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera got massive followings, (and were mined completely dry by their record companies) legitimate young bands and musicians like M2M and british male trio BBMak were trying to strike gold with the same demographic, while sticking to stronger convictions.  These groups were met with much less financial backing from their labels and, as a result, much less success.  Very few pop groups or artists felt it crucial that they either write their own songs, or (at the very least) be a part of the song writing process of the music they would record.  But this duo from Norway wasn’t going to budge.

Marion Raven and Marit Larsen (thus "M 'to' M") weren’t just cute faces and sweet voices. At the time of recording their debut album Shades of Purple, they were two Norwegian fourteen year-old musical prodigies who wrote, performed and sang their own songs on record and in concert.  To an American teen who was drowning in catchy, but entirely manufactured, soulless pop groups and stars every time he turned on the radio, M2M served as a breath of fresh air and a respite from the “fake”.  It could also be quite reasoned that they both served as beneficial role models for their female fans.

No choreographed dancing. No lip-syncing. No cash-grab attempts at sex appeal or innuendo.  M2M was the female version of Hanson; vocals, guitar, and piano—played and sung live—and they were determined to make it on those principles come hell or high water.

"DON'T SAY YOU LOVE ME"

Perhaps M2M’s biggest misstep in their short career was how they (or their label) decided to make their name initially known.  M2M’s first single, “Don’t Say You Love Me”, a brilliantly executed earworm track about the importance of taking things slowly in a dating relationship, debuted on the soundtrack to Pokemon: The First Movie. 

This decision probably kept the majority of young adult listeners from discovering them or ever taking them seriously.  While Pokemon has a huge nostalgic fan following today (even with adults) at the time of its inception, it was not often seen or discussed within the walls of a junior high—and definitely not a high school; the two demographics that M2M’s appeal would have been best marketed toward.  

Yes, the soundtrack also had songs from Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and 98 Degrees, but these were artists that already had established their fanbases.  M2M’s first (and arguably only) big single was “playing to the kiddies”, and as a result, likely caused mainstream pop radio to nearly blacklist the rest of their singles from regular radio play when they debuted.

M2M’s eventual breakup was a painful thing to behold for their fans, but over the years has become bittersweet.  For over 3 years I felt as though I personally watched M2M slowly dissolve as the cute blonde guitarist continually received the raw deal. Marit was almost always being pushed to the back so that Marion, the brunette, “hotter” counter-part could receive the majority of the attention and eyes of the doting fans.

This decision is understandable from a marketing standpoint.   Marion was the lead singer, and of the two, she did have more power behind her vocals.  Early on, she  appeared to be the elder of the two, and she spoke more than Marit during shows—seeming to possess a bit of a more confident stage presence at the time.

Correction: THIS was the biggest misstep.

By the time the duo’s second album The Big Room was released, Marit could only be heard distinctly on about half the songs. It was becoming abundantly clear which “M” Atlantic Records was banking on.   The Big Room received a decent amount of critical acclaim, but was a financial flop—unsurprising, considering Atlantic Records did almost nothing to promote the album to teens at large.

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Meeting M2M

On the night of one of their final performances as a band, I met Marit and Marion for the first time as they stood outside their tour bus talking with their band mates.  The 17 year-old blonde young lady indulged my uncontrollably excited fanboy antics like a saint, even trying on a ridiculously oversized shirt I designed for her that said “Guitar Chicks Rock”, which was a quote I had seen her write on several of her blogs.

Marion asked what I thought of the show, at which point I responded as a friend would.  I told both of them that they looked “tired” and asked if they were okay.   I think Marion was blind-sided and/or offended by the response, as shortly after this, she boarded the bus, leaving me to speak with Marit one-on-one.  I intended to express myself as concerned for their well-being rather than as a dissatisfied customer, but for all I know, they may have already had their hearts crushed by the label. Reflecting now, it’s possible that they had already received the news that they were getting dropped.

I’m sure I embarrassed myself several times while attempting to keep a coherent conversation going, trying not to seem like a completely star-struck dweeb. We talked about their recent tour through Malaysia where they had shot their video, “What You Do About Me” as well as how we had occasionally interacted on various online fan forums and sites when M2M held a live chat session online.

The two did seem utterly exhausted and I was honestly worried about them, particularly after hearing from multiple sources online that Marit had actually passed out a just a few days prior to the concert.  Marit confided in me that they had been running extremely difficult 18-hour-a-day schedules, which left little time for sleep between interviews, photoshoots, radio performances, etc.  It seemed to be that they were flown and driven all over the place internationally, which had led to multiple bouts of sickness, jetlag and other unpleasant circumstances.  For as ultimately unknown as they were, and as far as I could gather from her—without her directly saying it—the label was running them absolutely ragged.

All told, I think Marit gave me about 10-15 minutes of her undivided attention, before telling me she needed to get some rest and joined Marion on the tour bus.  I bid her a very thankful good night and left the venue.  Sure enough, two short weeks after that, M2M was no more.

Ultimately, Atlantic exhausted and euthanized the band before they could ever leave much of a mark.  When the dust had settled, Marion was offered a contract with Atlantic as a solo artist; Marit was hung out to dry.  From here, she seemed to entirely leave the world of music for nearly 3 years before she could no longer deny the unquenchable passion that was always inside her.

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OTHER M2M MUSIC VIDEOS: