About

Norman was born on July 30, 1962, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, and grew up in the city of Shawinigan, located in the Mauricie area. He received his first solfege and piano lessons from his mom, who would play for them at night around bedtime. He was about 10 years old when a first song came to him.

While studying graphic design in 1980, Norman had the chance to meet British musician Gary Numan on two different occasions, and it had a very positive impact on him. Norman recalls, “Despite all the success and hype about him, and the cold futuristic persona he projected on stage in those days, Gary was an extremely kind, friendly, and caring person. I shared with him my desire to make music, and he was very supportive, giving me the stimulation to just go for it. That opened a lot of doors within me.”

After graduating from art school, Norman bought himself a synthesizer. He would work as a graphic designer during the day, and experiment with his keyboard at night. “My primary intention was mostly to have fun expressing my creativity with sound.” When he accumulated enough material, he started performing in small venues, adopting Norman Iceberg as his stage name as well as an androgynous look.

Norman had the pleasure to work with a lot of great musicians and vocalists through his gigs. Some of them happened to be synth wizard Mario Spezza, a former member of Rational Youth, and stand-up comedian Claudine Mercier. It was around this period that dance music producer Tony Green, who had enjoyed great success with France Joli's disco hit "Come To Me", signed Norman to his record label in 1985, with distribution by RCA, who eventually became BMG in 1987. A decision to give Norman's material a more commercial and danceable sound was then made. "Be My Human Tonight" was the result of this new direction.

Then came Person(a) released the following year, with more emphasis on synthesizers, and featuring superb performances by talented musicians including Mario Spezza, drummer/percussionist François Lalonde, and keyboardist Lenny Pinkas from Men Without Hats.

It was followed by "Gotta Move", and the cheerful and upbeat "Kiss The Beauty" who got a good response on many dance floors in 1989, and for which a fast-paced, catchy and colorful music video was created by young film director Erik Canuel. The follow-up "We Act" was Norman’s very last dance project under the banner of Norman Iceberg.

1992 started on a beautiful note with a series of performances with a much more spontaneous approach. Norman started introducing some brand new acoustic songs sometimes along with actor/musician Robert Consoli, and sometimes accompanied by a five-piece band. “Pierre Lareau (Pete Lareau) blew me away with his amazing drum performance on "His Own Story". I remember people being very receptive, smiling, and really enjoying the sets. Sadly, my good friend Robert Consoli left us in 2005. I loved performing with him. Rob was very creative, generous, dedicated and fun to work with. He added a very warm and theatrical touch to the shows. I only have fond memories and a lot of gratitude when I think of him. I believe we all are eternal, and that we always get reunited with our loved ones. I'm looking forward to that day.”

In 1993, after an invitation from choreographer Marco De La Cruz, Norman had the pleasure to perform at Prince’s Glam Slam alongside a group of dancers including Viktor Manoel, who had been a member of David Bowie’s Glass Spider Tour, as well as Carrie Ann Inaba and Luca Tommassini, who would both embark on Madonna’s Girlie Show Tour later in the year.

Then, Viktor also opened the show for some of Norman’s other gigs. “Viktor was an outstanding performer. His stage presence was just so fabulous.” In 1994, Norman recorded The Man Who Never Was, a demo album, in California as Norman Joseph. He was then accompanied by the talented musician and composer Roberto Deus, with whom he had been collaborating with ever since the recording of the album Person(a), and with Ron Everett. After this project, he would also eventually decide to finally come back to Norman Bedard, his birth name.

Back in Montreal, Norman reunited with a few longtime friends and collaborators such as Roberto Deus and Kevin Komoda, a former member of Rational Youth, who had also produced and collaborated with various artists including Sarah McLachlan during his tenure with CBC-FM’s Brave New Waves. “Our intention was just to come up with some new material that would sound good, at least to us. We recorded these new stripped down songs in various locations. Sometimes we’d record the guitars over at Kevin’s place, and I would then record the vocals at my place, and if needed, the keyboards, the cello, the piano, and percussion at some other studio. We also had the chance to record several songs that required keyboards and some more complex arrangements while at Men Without Hats’ home studio. We just couldn’t dream of a better place.” These recording sessions gave birth to an abundance of demos and brand new songs such as "Sleepytime", "Vital", and "Space", as well as some new fruitful collaborations with Yoshi Mochizuki and Cheng-feng Lin.

In July 2007, Norman was embarking on another beautiful artistic adventure as he started working on his next musical project Vital, with co-producer Jean-Sébastien Brault-Labbé. “My main goal with this album was to come up with a nice collection of songs that would hopefully contribute to uplift and make us have a good time.” The digital version of Vital, released on 15 July 2009, featured 2 exclusive bonus tracks: "A Day With My Self (Return Of The Bumblebee)", as well as "Space (Zak B Remix)", a fantastic remix by Osaka-based producer Zak B. A remastered version of "We Act" was also released on the same date, completing a super double feature.

Soon after, in March 2010, two new singles were also being simultaneously released: "Wonderful", featuring a fabulous remix by Mike Waring from a new British electronic band named Kiss The Beauty, as well as "Crawl (Alternate Version)", a Norman Iceberg favorite re-recorded in the 1990s and newly remastered. It was followed with another double release in June: "A Day With My Self" and "1+1=2". The next singles included "Thank You" in October, "Sleepytime" in December - to coincide with the holiday season, and "Space" on February 8, 2011.

A revamped version of the Vital album, featuring brand-new mixes of each of the original 11 tracks, and re-titled Vital Forever, came out digitally in November 2019, and then a few months later on vinyl and CD. In August 2020, an edited, newly-mixed and remastered version of the title track "Vital" was also released as a digital download and streaming single.

Vital Forever Electronica, a compilation album featuring a selection of dance and electronic versions of songs from the Vital Forever album, created and reimagined by Mike Waring and Zak B, was released digitally and on CD in December 2020, and then, on vinyl in February 2021.

This is the story so far…

"And once again, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone involved, every single friend and collaborator who have accompanied me and helped me get through the many different stages that were part of all these projects during all these years, each with their own beautiful, unique energies, vibrations, creativities, abilities, skills, and talents, and who have also contributed to my happiness and to so many pleasant, precious and unforgettable moments too. I can't thank you enough for being there with your kindness, dedication, time, and generosity.

I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who enjoyed the creations resulting from these projects. Your enthusiasm, love, encouragement, and heartwarming messages over the years have always been so deeply appreciated. I'm incredibly thankful for the amazing support you've given me and I love you." – Norman