The band was formed in 1990 to play the material that was composed
by Pål Søvik and Tore Bø. It was called "The Stinking Rich",
as most of the lineup came from the wealthy west side of Oslo.
It consisted of three male and two female members.
After a few months, the one girl who played keyboard left, but
was soon replaced by another.
A second drummer was added, making it a total of six members for a while.
This band was called "The Fool". The band soon had songs to do an album,
but the extra drummer left before recordings started.
During the course of the recordings, the female vocalist also left
making it into a fourpiece consisting of Steffen Holthe (guitars),
Tore Bø (bass and keyboards), Siri M. Seland (keyboards and bass)
and Pål Søvik (Drums). The name of the band was changed to "Fruitcake".
The CD album "Fool Tapes" was released on Briskeby Records in 1992
with Siri and Pål sharing the vocals. A few concerts were held in
the Oslo area before Steffen had to leave to do his service in the
armed forces. The band decided to wait for his return while working
on new material and trying to get a better recording deal
outside Norway.
Fruicake was signed to
Cyclops records, the premier British
progressive label. As it became uncertain if Steffen would be rejoining
the group, recording of the next album started with two session guitarists.
"How to make it" was internationally released in 1994 on Cyclops Records.
The band also did a concert in Sweden with Robert Hauge on guitar,
and was well received at the Crimson Festival, but was never paid
the promised fee by the association. Tore Bø left the band soon thereafter
to build his own recording studio and persue his career as a composer.
As the band looked for a replacement, superb reviews started to come
in from all over the world.
The record company wanted new material, and recordings were started in 1995
with Gunnar Bergersen on bass and Jens G. Sverdrup on guitar. One song was
delivered for The Second Cyclops Sampler, then a new album was recorded for
release in the spring next year. The master tapes were delivered to Cyclops
as Siri left the band to follow a caeer abroad. A new keyboardplayer,
Helge Skaarseth, was found and the band started rehersals. As the album
"Room for surprise" was released, the band went touring in the northern
parts of Norway and then played at festivals in the summer.
One new song for the Third Cyclops Sampler and another song for
"The Alien Killer Orange" compilation CD were recorded and released
before the band disintegrated in early 1997.
However- Fruitcake reformed immediately, and this time included
Robert Hauge (from 2. album) on guitar and his friend Olav Nygård on bass
in addition to Helge and Pål.
The band started rehersals and played concerts in Oslo before recording a
new album in the summer. "One more Slice" was released on Cyclops in the fall
of 1997 and composing for a fifth album was commenced.