Bård Torstensen
Bård Torstensen (born 13 September 1961) is a Norwegian guitarist and record producer, best known as a founder and longtime member of the rap metal band Clawfinger. Torstensen also plays guitar in the ice skate-country band Melkesyra and the jazz/metal band Okavango, both of which are from his home town. Before founding Clawfinger in 1990 with Zak Tell (lead vocals), Jocke Skog (keyboards) and Erlend Ottem (guitar), he and Ottem played in a local band named Theo.
Also recorded as Bård Sverre Torstensen
Bård Torstensen

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- Name
- Bård Torstensen
- Born
- 13 September 1961
- Birthplace
- Arendal, Norway
- Occupation
- Musician, producer
- Nationality
- Norway · Sweden
- Fields
- rap metal
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Documentary summary
Bård Torstensen (born 13 September 1961) is a Norwegian guitarist and record producer, best known as a founder and longtime member of the rap metal band Clawfinger. Torstensen also plays guitar in the ice skate-country band Melkesyra and the jazz/metal band Okavango, both of which are from his home town. Before founding Clawfinger in 1990 with Zak Tell (lead vocals), Jocke Skog (keyboards) and Erlend Ottem (guitar), he and Ottem played in a local band named Theo.
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Bård Torstensen (born 1961) is a Norwegian and Swedish composer, guitarist and musician, among other activities. The composer was born in Arendal Municipality. Bård Torstensen is a member of Clawfinger, Melkesyra and Okavango, among others. Genres include rap metal.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1795043 · wikipedia · Bård Torstensen
In this article
Biography
Biography
Torstensen worked across musician, composer, guitarist, record producer and speed skater. The registers place that work in rap metal. This article rests on 42 catalogued compositions and 1 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

Clawfinger var headliner for Canal Street 2018.
Birgit Fostervold
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Bård Torstensen • Born — 13 September 1961 • Birthplace — Arendal, Norway • Genre — Rap metal, country, jazz • Instrument — Guitar • Occupation — Musician, producer • Years Active — 1982–present • Website — clawfinger.net
Equipment and gear
Equipment and gear
During his time in Clawfinger, he can mostly be seen playing various Gibson Les Pauls, most mostly relied on Gibson Les Paul Studios. He could also be seen playing Les Paul Customs and Standards, as well as an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Baritone which was used for songs that required Drop A tuning. He could also be seen using guitars from other brands, such as a Schecter Celloblaster C5-X Baritone and an Ibanez Xiphos 7-string, both of which were also use in drop A tuning, although the Schecter was sometimes tuned to an alternate tuning where the lowest 3 strings are tuned to G in 2 octaves, and the remaining strings were tuned to D, and G above an octave (G-G-G-D-G). This tuning can be heard on songs like "Nothing Going On". For amplification, the band claims to have never relied on traditional amplifiers; solely on pre-amps, speaker cabinet emulation, multi-effect processors, and amp modeling. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Torstensen mostly relied SansAmp preamps, starting with the original pedal Sansamp in the early-mid 1990s. A Boss ME-5 processor was used along with it. During the late-1990s and early 2000s, he relied on a small rack unit that contained a Tech21 SansAmp PSA-1 analog pre-amp, Digitech 2112 multi-effects processor for speaker emulations, and a wireless unit. From 2001 to 2004, he began using a Boss GX700 pre-amp and multi-FX processor that ran into the Digitech or a Matchbox MB10 for speaker simulations. Sometime after the release of Zeroes and Heroes, he switched to using Line6 processors, relying on the PODxt series. This change is apparent in the band's next album Hate Yourself With Style, due to the guitars sounding less "processed" and more "metallic". In the studio, the POD would be run into a PA system power amp which fed into a Line6 4x12, which would be picked up via microphone. Live, the POD would run straight into the venue's PA system. Sometime during 2009, the band began using Fractal Axe-FX processors, which he would use until the end of the band.
Identity
Identity
Bård Torstensen is recorded with the occupation record producer. Recorded with the occupation speed skater. Classed in the genre rap metal. Recorded as musician, composer, guitarist, record producer and speed skater. Established in Discogs under 649865.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1961
Bård Torstensen was born on 13 September 1961.
Discography (as guitarist)
• Illustration — Torstensen in 2007 • Theo – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1988) • Tone Norum – Don't Turn Around(1992) • Clawfinger – Deaf Dumb Blind (1993) • Clawfinger – Use Your Brain (1995) • Clawfinger – Clawfinger (1997) • Clawfinger – A Whole Lot of Nothing (2001) • Clawfinger – Zeros & Heroes (2003) • Clawfinger – Hate Yourself With Style (2005) • Melkesyra – Hurtigløpskøntri (2006) • Clawfinger – Life Will Kill You (2007) • Melkesyra – Melkesyra går allround (2009) • Okavango – Phonogene (2011) • Neonato – The End of Music (2015) • Melkesyra – Rett fram og til venstre (2018) • Grown – For Life (2021)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Bård Torstensen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1795043: Bård Torstensen
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Heavymetal-no – Bulk med video og album Uhørt.no – Demos by Bulk Webarchive. 27 May 2012.
- 2.Allmusic – Clawfinger Groove.no – Bård Torstensen Bnr Metalpages – Clawfinger Allmusic – Bård Torstensen
- 3.Agderposten – Alt for lite skøytecountry.
- 4.Canal Street – Okavango.
- 5.Agderposten – Full sal venter gamle helter.
- 6.Rock City – "The Real Deal" – Hvordan funker musikkbransjen?.
- 7.NRK – Videos with Bård Torstensen.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Citizenship
1- SwedenPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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